The Uighur royal city is located in the depths of the steppe, and the area is still above Chang'an, although the Uighur Khanate is already setting at this moment, it is still the center of the world in the minds of the steppe people, and the place where thousands of ethnic groups and hundreds of countries gather.

The customs here are very different from those of the Central Plains, and the Uighur nobles admired the civilization of the Tang Dynasty, imitating the Tang Dynasty everywhere from clothing to residence, but the country in the center of the grassland has its own pride, imitating the Tang Dynasty, but not blindly copying, they are eclectic, from clothing, food, architecture, and systems are all integrated, and unique, forming their own style.

In this vast royal city, the magnates had abandoned the felt tents they had lived in for generations, and began to build houses to live in in a style that was not East Africa, but also East and West.

At the beginning of the founding of the Uighurs, the Tang Dynasty in the south was in its prime, and all nations came to the dynasty and shook the east and west. During this period, the architectural style of the Uighurs tended to be the Tang Dynasty, whether it was the imperial palace, the official palace, or the powerful and wealthy merchants, the architectural style exuded a strong Tang Dynasty charm.

During this period, the Uighurs were full of great self-confidence, and their own style of clothing, food, and architecture was strong, so that the Uighurs' clothing and diet greatly affected the disastrous Tang Dynasty.

In order to welcome the Tang Mission, the Uighurs also made enough efforts, and the scarlet carpet used to welcome the mission alone was spread out for fifteen miles, and the screens on both sides of the road were all made of high-quality silk silk, and there were 200 knights in gold armor and gold helmets in the honor guard to welcome them, and all the weapons in their hands were wrapped in gold leaf, which was glittering and magnificent.

Officials in the mission who were familiar with the branch speculated that this alone was worth half a year's tax revenue from the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang Qi smacked his tongue and said: "Obediently, they all say that the desert is bitter and cold, how do I think this desert is richer than our Chang'an." ”

Xiao Ru giggled, pointed to the low and dilapidated mud and straw houses behind the screen, and said: "Whether the country is rich or not, you can't just look at the king, you have to look at the people, just these low thatched mud houses, are there any in Chang'an City?" ”

"Yes." Zhang Qi said with certainty, "Almost every family uses it, but it is only used to raise pigs and dogs." ”

Qin Mo coughed and said, "Chang'an's well-off family, even the kennel is better than these mud and straw houses. ”

Zhang Qi said: "The common people are a little poor, but the government is rich, you look at this red carpet, this screen covering the road, it is more than ten miles long, how much is this item worth alone." ”

Saying this, Xiao Ru laughed even harder, and Qin Mo scolded: "Say you're stupid, you say I insulted you, but the fact is that you're stupid, look at how big this carpet is." Zhang Qi looked carefully and found that the carpets on the floor were spliced together one by one, and each piece was only about one zhang long.

"It's not long, what's the point about that?"

"He's using it over and over again, you know?"

Zhang Qi shook his head: "I don't understand." ”

"I don't understand you. Come, Brother teaches you what learning is. Qin Mo lay on Zhang Qi's shoulder, and the latter suddenly felt like Mount Tai pressing on the top. See, every three miles we walk, they will come out of a prince and important minister, what are you doing, please let us drink tea, why do you ask us to drink tea? ”

Zhang Qi shook his head.

"A bowl of tea for a long time, and you can't finish talking, but you are hospitable? No, they're stalling for time so that the servants can take down the carpet we walked on and spread it in front. ”

"Ahh Zhang Qi was dumbfounded, still a little unconvinced.

Xiaoru said with a smile: "Do you remember the slaves who knelt on the ground to wipe the horseshoes before we went to the carpet, they wiped the horseshoes clean in order not to step on the carpet." If they were rich, they should have laid a mile of carpet first, sprinkled with water, and the soles of the horses and chariots would be clean when they walked through, but they didn't do this, which means that they don't have many carpets, and in my opinion they are just empty shelves, and the treasury is only afraid that it will be hollowed out early. ”

"Ahh Zhang Qi was dumbfounded, and he already had some faith.

Qin Mo said: "If you still don't believe it, you might as well climb on the roof of the car and look around to see if there is a large number of people running around carrying the carpet." ”

Zhang Qi jumped into the car and climbed on the roof of the car when he heard this, Le Xiaoru giggled and only smiled, Xiaoru's laughter attracted Li Mao's attention, he glanced back, and saw Zhang Qi who was about to climb to the roof of the car, the latter saw Li Mao, and suddenly saw a cat like a mouse, and quickly shrank back.

Due to the large number of people, Li Mao is not easy to criticize Zhang Qi's curiosity.

Seeing that Zhang Qi was sullen, Xiao Ru came up with another idea: "Actually, you don't have to climb, just see if there is any dust kicked up by trampling outside." Zhang Qi didn't listen to Xiaoru's words, sat for a while, stood on the saddle while Li Mao was not paying attention, stood on the saddle, stood on tiptoe and looked out of the screen.

Zhang Qi sat speechless, and said for a long time: "Although there is no red carpet, but people's screens, tsk, it's not bad." ”

Xiao Ru couldn't laugh anymore when she heard this, the Tang Dynasty was always on the weak side in the trade with the Uighurs in the silk horses, the silk cloth was of high quality and low price, but the Uighur horses were of inferior quality and high price.

This obviously unfair trade lasted for many years, and of course there was the price paid by the Tang Dynasty in order to win over the Uighurs against the Tibetans, but more importantly, the Tang Dynasty was at a loss and missteps after losing its self-confidence.

Everyone knows that this is wrong, but they have to do it, and they are powerless to change it, which cannot but be said to be the sorrow of a country.

In addition to the factors that caused today's situation in the Tang Dynasty, it is also directly related to the emperor who has enjoyed the country for more than 40 years but has not done much.

What is even more speechless is that the emperor, who has always had a prejudiced view of the Uighurs, made some small moves against the Uighurs in his heart, which made the relationship between the two countries hot and cold, and lacked the most basic trust.

On the one hand, he is suspicious, he can't trust Wenchen in the court, reuse eunuchs, can't trust vassal marshals to the outside world, reuse eunuchs, he can't trust anyone in the country, but he has attachment and dependence on the evil neighbors who hurt the Tang Dynasty the most.

He relied on the Uighur iron cavalry to contain the Tibetans and flank the security of western Beijing, and spent a lot of the benefits, but in exchange for the Uighurs colluding with the Tubo border plunderers, he exchanged the obviously unfair silk horse trade for the Uighur thin horses to equip the army, but such thin horses could not even cross the gate of Tongguan.

The Uighurs, although useless, were miraculously able to destroy the Tang Dynasty's horse administration, and the country's efforts for more than 100 years were in vain.

The Tang Emperor, who was mentally languished and weakened, and had no courage at all, even began to rely on Uighur swords and horses to intimidate the feudal towns in western Beijing.

"This silk cloth is all woven by my Tang Dynasty weavers and clever women, they are not worn on silkworm breeders, farmers in the countryside, soldiers in the border, and women in the forbidden area, but they have traveled thousands of miles to come here, and they have become a screen that covers our eyes."

Regarding Xiao Ru's feelings, Qin Mo replied disapprovingly: "Friends of states and countries, if you want to look far away and focus on the big picture, don't worry about these details." ”

Zhang Qi sneered and snorted: "What you said is light, the silk cloth is not your family, how good things are given to others in vain, and they can't be exchanged for a good sound." The officials and corrupt officials are chic in spoiling the people's fat and people's ointment, generous to the country, and begging for their own convenience. It's something. ”

Qin Mo said: "Hey, this kid screwed on me today, whatever I said, you said no." Those people's fat and people's ointment, if they are not generous to outsiders, they will not fall into your mouth. On the contrary, it is clean for outsiders, and the province harms our own brothers. ”

The two of them stared at each other, and both felt that it was not very interesting, so they closed their mouths and made a truce.

Morog, the eldest son of Huaixin Khan, personally led hundreds of the chief chiefs of his clan and the prime minister of the court out of the royal city to greet him, and the ceremonial grandeur was unprecedented. The overall situation has been decided, and Li Mao has little choice, so he told Mo Luoge in public that he wants him to prepare an incense altar to welcome the canonization edict of the Tang Emperor.

Mo Luoge had been prepared for this for a long time, and walked towards the incense altar that had already been equipped in the city with Li Mao's car, and there were still fences on both sides of the streets in the city. Except for the palace of the Khan and the occasional two-story building in the palace of the Uighur king, there were no tall buildings in the rest of the people's homes, and they could not see anything with a screen.

The Uighurs were deeply wary of the Tang envoys, not because the Uighurs were small-sighted, but because the Tang envoys who had been sent to the steppe in the past generations were always self-righteous and clever, asking questions and spying on the Uighurs.

Li Mao has always insisted that it is still necessary to keep a low profile in engaging in intelligence, and it is really not unwise to get out of the car in front of the master to spy on the situation.

The palace and pavilion in the king's tent (i.e., the palace) where the khan lived were surrounded by mountains and rivers, stretching for several miles, and the regulations were very grand.

In particular, the halls used for court meetings and banquets are completely imitating the style of the three major halls in the Daming Palace, and the architecture is magnificent, so that the people from a certain large country from Chang'an exclaim that the cottage is not exclusive to me, as early as many, many years ago, there was a country called the Uighurs in the depths of the grassland.

Not only did they start early, but they also had excellent business and great ambition, and they actually copied the landmark buildings of neighboring countries in a grand manner.

However, Li Mao soon realized that he had actually misunderstood the descendants of the Heavenly Wolf, and the cottage of the Tang Dynasty was limited to the three major halls of the previous dynasty, and as for the sleeping halls, other halls, and drinking halls in the extremely large harem, they mostly used the Western Regions architectural style.

The mixture of different styles of architecture in a royal palace ostensibly reflects the changing aesthetic tastes of the Uighurs, but in fact reflects the changing situation in the steppe in the past 100 years. (Dissertation College)