When it comes to sending Tang envoys, few Chinese people don't know, from the beginning of the seventh century to the end of the ninth century A.D., for nearly three centuries, in order to learn the culture of the Central Plains, the Wa Kingdom has sent more than a dozen Tang missions to the Tang Dynasty. The number of times, the scale of the event, the length of time, and the richness of the content can be described as an unprecedented event in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

It's one thing to know that the Tang envoy exists, it's another thing to know about the Tang envoy, and there is no information about the Tang envoy in the newspaper, who knows what these people are looking for themselves?

During this period, successive emperors paid attention to farming, built water conservancy, rewarded land reclamation, and greatly developed the social economy, and the Nara Dynasty at this time was influenced by the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and through the Tang Dynasty, the culture of India and Iran was accepted, so that the first cultural prosperity of the Japanese Kingdom appeared.

The Wa Kingdom in the Nara period was a copycat version of the Tang Dynasty, and the imitation of the Tang Dynasty was obsessed to the extent that almost everyone among the nobles could speak Tang dialect and was even more respectful to the Tang people.

The navigation technology of the Tang Dynasty was not yet developed, and even the most basic compass had to wait until the Song Dynasty to appear, and what sealed cabins, keels and other technologies were even more out of reach, and the difficulties of sea navigation can be imagined!

The Tang envoy boarded the ship in Namba and set off from Hakata through the Seto Inland Sea. According to different periods, the routes of navigation are divided into three types: northern, central and southern.

The northern route is to go north along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, then go west along the south coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, cross the Bohai Sea, land on the Shandong Peninsula, and then go west by land through Luoyang, and finally to Chang'an. Most of this route is along the coast, which is relatively safe, and there are fewer shipwrecks.

The middle route, that is, from the Goto Islands in the west of Kyushu to the southwest, crosses the East China Sea, lands in Suzhou and Mingzhou at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then goes north by the canal. This route takes a short time, usually about ten days, or even three days to reach, but the risk of wind and waves is basically the same as that of the south road.

The southern route, that is, from Kyushu to the south, along the southern Tanegashima, Yakushima, and Amami Islands, to the northwest across the East China Sea, landing at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then going north by the canal. This route is mainly sailed in the boundless East China Sea, which is difficult to dock and more dangerous. Both the North and Middle Routes take about 30 days or more.

No matter which route it is, it is extremely dangerous under the science and technology of the Tang Dynasty, and it is not easy to cross the rough sea. Storms often capsize ships or blow them far away in places like Taiwan or even Vietnam. After returning to China, someone described the sea journey as very terrifying: "From the clouds passing through the gates of hell, I saw the gloomy complexion on it, and heard the sound of hammer forging, which was very terrifying."

It was because of the difficulties that the Tang envoys were pious, and they left an excellent influence on the Tang Dynasty, and many Tang literati had dealings with the Tang Dynasty envoys, and even wrote poems as confidants.

For example, Li Bai's "Japanese Chao Qing resigned from the imperial capital, and the sail was wrapped around the tent." The bright moon does not return to the blue sea, and the white clouds are full of sorrow", which is one of the well-known songs.

Zhen Qian didn't like the Japanese people, but he had to admire their indomitable character, and traveled far and wide to put life and death out of the way, just to bring the advanced culture of the Tang Dynasty back to China, almost provoking the patience of the god of death.

"The Japanese people, what are you looking for me, I don't seem to have anything to do with the Japanese people, let them go back!"

Zhen Qian directly ordered the eviction of customers, and when the old bustard heard that Zhen Qian didn't want to see him, he immediately turned around and said, "Zhen Sihu doesn't want to see you, let's go!" ”

Led by a short man wearing a Tsing Yi Tang suit, it seems that there is a small official in the Tang court, hearing the words of the old bustard, he immediately handed the old bustard a handbag, which is afraid that there are a lot of yellow and white things: "Please spread it again, just say that we are here to see Zhen Qian, who wrote "Ai Lian Said", I hope to give us a chance to see Zhen Lang's style!" ”

The old bustard held a handbag in his hand, these Japanese people were really arrogant, and as soon as they made a move, they immediately agreed.

Eating people with a soft mouth and short hands, the bustard is still very professional, at least he knows how to do things with money.

"Zhen Sihu, those Japanese people are at the door, and they all came to ...... after hearing about "Ai Lian Said", saying that the old bustard put a one-foot square wooden box in front of Zhen Qian: "This is a meeting gift from the Japanese to Zhen Sihu!" ”

Zhen Qian heard that the Tang envoys were sent to Datang, and they liked to give gifts everywhere, and they were extremely generous, especially when they had a lot of gold and silver ingots in their hands, and they won the favor of many people along the way, and I am afraid that the old bustard also received a lot.

A snow-white white bear skin lay quietly in the wooden box, and several women around him screamed at once, their eyes full of greed.

A white bear skin is worth at least 100 yuan, not only precious but also rare, courtesy, there must be something to ask for, Zhen Qian is even more confused, is it because of his own song "Ai Lian Said" to see himself, he doesn't seem to be very famous!

Zhen Qian just wanted to refuse, but before the words reached his mouth, his eyes rolled and said: "Datang is a state of etiquette, please let them in!" ”

Several short widows walked into the room, and the first man swept over Hao Ren, and finally stopped on Zhen Qian's face, and saluted with a etiquette ten thousand times more standard than that of the Tang people: "A certain is the country of the rising sun to send the Tang envoy to record Fujiwara Shuxiong,...... I heard that Zhen Lang's song "Ai Lian Said" was shocked, and I came to visit! ”

After listening to Fujiwara Shuxiong's story, Zhen Qian felt that the Japanese people were really boring, it turned out that Fujiwara Shuxiong and the tenth Tang envoy came to Datang in Tianbao for ten years, and the envoys Fujiwara Qinghe and Kibi Zhenbei stayed in Datang for more than a year, learning the economy, culture, military and politics of Datang, etc., and after completing their studies, they were ready to return to the Japanese Kingdom.

There were more than 200 envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty, a few of whom died of illness, some continued to stay in the Tang Dynasty to study, and the rest were ready to return to the Japanese Kingdom together.

When the Tang envoy and his party walked to Luoyang, they occasionally heard "Ai Lian Said", and at first thought it was the masterpiece of that famous scholar, but after inquiring, they learned that it was the work of Zhen Qian, a little-known person in Hengzhou, and immediately had the idea of seeing Zhen Qian.

In ancient times, the traffic was inconvenient, the traffic basically relied on walking, the communication basically relied on roaring, the heating basically relied on shaking, and the public security basically relied on dogs.

What made Zhen Qian even more curious was that the Japanese people actually praised his "Ai Lian Said", and ran all the way from Luoyang to Hengzhou, inquiring all the way to find himself, just to meet him, this persistence moved Zhen Qian's "tears".

"Clumsy, I'm smiling!"

Fujiwara Shuxiong's face was extremely respectful, and he saluted Zhen Qian again: "When I was looking for Zhen Lang just now, I heard Zhen Lang's masterpiece again, can you put the masterpiece in the next view?" ”

Zhen Qian hated the servile spirit of wanting anything when he saw something, but he stretched out his hand not to hit the smiling person, and glanced at Xiaohe. Xiaohe reluctantly handed the handscroll to Fujiwara Shuxiong, just like Fujiwara Shuxiong had just taken away his first night, and he hated Fujiwara Shuxiong in his heart.

Fujiwara Shuxiong's hands are like holding a newborn baby, and he almost bathes, changes clothes, fasts for three days, burns incense and bows, his hands are shaking like eighty or ninety years old, his mouth is full of words, and his face is sweeter than eating honey.