Li Zaixing was right, for their arrival, the king of Ningyuan, Asilandagan, showed great enthusiasm, especially when he heard that the governor of Khorasan Abu? Mu Xilin was planning to attack Thirsty City, he let out a long sigh, and his face became very heavy.

"What should come will come after all." Asiranda said, glancing at his queen, Princess Heyi of the Tang Dynasty: "I hope that this time the Tang Dynasty can help me get through the difficulties as it did back then." ”

Princess Heyi was very young, twenty-five or sixteen at best, and sat in front of Asirandagan, who was nearly sixty years old, not like his queen, but like his granddaughter. She was originally the daughter of the clan, and her father's name was Li Shen, because the branch was far away, she was no longer able to influence the imperial power, and she was appointed as a county magistrate. However, after being a queen for seven years, she has adapted to this identity, and she has the demeanor of a princess of a big country in every move.

"My king can rest assured, Ning Yuan's heart is to the court, the king's father and son are very cautious, and the Son of Heaven will not sit idly by." She comforted Asiranda in a soft voice and said a few words, then turned her head to look at Li Zaixing, and quietly gave a look: "The strong man has come to work hard, so he will rest in the thirsty city for a few days, and let my king do his best to make the land and soil suitable." ”

Li Zaixing understood, bowed down and said, "Dare not obey your fate." ”

Princess Heyi didn't say anything more, turned her head to look at Du Fu, and said with a light smile: "After leaving my hometown for eight years, it is common for me to be a Tang person, but there are very few poets. It's rare to have a great poet here. Can Du Jun have a masterpiece, let the concubine hear the Tang Dynasty again? ”

Du Fu was prepared, and quickly got up and recited a few poems. Poetry, like singing, must be in the official dialect, otherwise some tones and rhymes will not be accurate. When Du Fu spoke, he had a strong Xiangyang accent, and he chanted poetry, but it was a serious official dialect. When Princess Heyi heard two words, her eyes turned a little red, and she couldn't help crying.

"I didn't expect to hear my Tang Dynasty poetry again today." Princess Heyi smiled and burst into tears, and bowed: "Thank you Du Jun." ”

Du Fu was also a little moved. Along the way, he felt that he was the most useless person, not only unable to help, but also dragging others down. Now seeing Princess Heyi moved to tears because of his few poems, he suddenly felt that he had suffered unjustly along the way.

……

After the reception banquet, Asirandagan invited Li Zaixing to the harem, there were no ministers to accompany him, not even waiters, only him and the princess, obviously to have a secret talk with Li Zaixing. There was no interpreter present, Princess Heyi acted as the interpreter, and Asilandagan could understand a few words of Chinese, but not to the point where he could talk freely. Most of the time, he can only listen, and he probably doesn't understand it well.

"Does Du Wei know my Ning Yuan's origins?"

Li Zaixing knew something about Ning Yuan, but he knew that this was not the time for him to show off, and it was right to listen to Princess Heyi and his wife.

"Dare to ask."

Princess Heyi pondered for a moment, discussed with Asirandagan for a while, and slowly opened her mouth.

Ning Yuan, also known as Bahanna, was originally one of the nine surnames of Zhaowu and was one of the larger ones in the Zhaowu Kingdom. Before the infiltration of Middle-earth, it was the most influenced by Sassanid Persia, and King Bakhana had a special title called "Ikhshid", which is from the Persian language.

Bathhana is located in the middle of a large river valley called Ferghana, and the Pearl River, which originates in the green mountains, flows through the country and irrigates large areas of land on both sides. It's a beautiful place. Because it is located on the main road to Middle-earth west of the Green Mountains, Bathhana is a place where business travelers gather, and because of the abundant water and soil, Bathhanna is famous for its beauty and richness in the river, which has attracted attention from all directions.

Sassanid Persia is coming, the Turks are coming, Tibet is coming, and the Great Eclipse is coming.

Asirandagan is a descendant of the Turks.

On the contrary, Datang is the latest.

During the Zhenguan period, the Western Turks entered Palkhana and killed the king of Bathhana, Khibi, and the great-grandfather of Asirandagan captured the city of Thirsty. The Turks then engaged in internal strife, and the army withdrew from Pakhana. Rat Hide also died, and his son, the grandfather of Asirandagan, stayed behind and stationed in the city of Thirsty Sai, and out of consideration of the actual situation, the son of Kubo Zhi, Alisan, was appointed as the king and ruled the city. Thus Bakhanna was divided into two, and the two kings stood side by side.

At that time, the relationship between the Western Turks and the Tang Dynasty was very good, and the Emperor Gaozong sent tribute. In the third year of Xianqing, when the Tang Dynasty set up a state of detention in Bahanna, he took the city of thirst as the state of Xiuxun, and recognized the occupation of Bahana by the suppressor, but out of other considerations, he awarded the Ah Shen of Hucheng as the history of the assassination.

However, after the Tang Dynasty set up the state of Bondage, it did not have any actual impact on Bahana Khan, and soon gave up control of Bahana because of the battle in the court. At that time, Bahanna didn't take the Tang Dynasty very seriously, and during the Shenlong period, the Tang general Guo Qianqian entered Bahana and wanted to levy a tax on Jiama, but was rejected by Bahanna, and even caused a conflict.

Bahanna's real awe of the Tang Dynasty was because of the great battle in the third year of Kaiyuan, Zhang Xiaosong led his troops to rush thousands of miles, galloped to the aid of Bahanna, killed the Adida they set up, and repelled the Tubo and Dashi coalition forces. At that time, Asilandagan, who had already taken over the throne, saw the combat effectiveness of the Tang army, and only then did he have respect for the Tang Dynasty. From then on, Bahanna and the Tang Dynasty became increasingly close, and Asirand Dagan led his troops to accompany the Tang army many times, until he became the only Hezhong vassal state that was friendly with the Tang Dynasty.

Datang attaches so much importance to Bahanna, of course, because of Bahanna's important position. But for Bakhanna, there was a big difference in who would occupy it. Before the Persians and Turks, and later Dashi and Tibet, after they captured Bakhanna, they would wantonly plunder the wealth of Bakhanna, and use Bathhana as their granary and treasury. However, the Tang Dynasty controlled Bahanna, but only levied some taxes for the army, and in many cases, these taxes were symbolic and did not make people feel unaffordable.

As an invader, the Turks were also very barbaric and brutal, after more than a hundred years of operation, the family of Kubo has regarded Bahhana as their own family, and their mentality has undergone a fundamental change, and they naturally welcome the entry of the Tang Dynasty. What's more, in terms of cultural level, these countries cannot look back on the Tang Dynasty. Everyone has a heart for goodness, and Asirandagan was originally a Western Turk, and of course he was willing to associate with the civilized and wealthy Tang Dynasty, rather than with the barbaric and greedy Dashi and Tibet.

But with the Tang Dynasty, Bahanna also pushed himself into a dangerous situation. During the period when the Tang Dynasty withdrew from the river, foreign forces came and went in the river, leaving a lot of traces. Sassanid Persia is dead, and now only a few languages and customs remain, and there is no major problem. The influence of the Great Cannibal cannot be underestimated. More than 30 years ago, the then governor of Khorasan, Qudibo, led his army across the river, and the front of his army once reached Pakhana. If it weren't for the killing of Qu Dibo due to the power struggle within Da Shi, I am afraid that he would not be able to wait for the Tang Dynasty to appear, and Ba Khan would have become a subject state of Da Shi like Kang Guo.

Now, most of the areas west and south of Kangguo are under the control of Da Shi. If the big cannibals go north, they will control Shiguo and take the city of broken leaves, and if they go east, they will take Bahanna, take the old road of the Sui period, cross the green ridge, and go straight to Shule.

As for the Tibetan people, it is even more coveted for a long time, which is the necessary passage for the Tibetan to enter and exit the river. In the third year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the Tubo people once joined forces with Da Shi and prepared to support Alida as a puppet in Bahanna. After being defeated by Zhang Xiaosong, the Tubo people did not give up, and after seizing Xiao Bolu from the Tang Dynasty, they were ready to send troops to Bahanna again, if it were not for Gao Xianzhi's expedition to Xiaobolu, which won a complete victory and cut off the way for the Tubo people to go out of the plateau again, the Tubo people should now also go to Bahanna.

Princess Heyi said in detail, for fear that Li Zaixing would not understand the point. Nominally, she said on behalf of Asilandagan, but in fact, most of it was her own opinion, including her own tone. Li Zaixing knew in his heart that for Princess Heyi, all her happiness was pinned on the relationship between Bahanna and Datang. If Datang quits Bahanna, then her happiness will be over, and it may even include life.

"Princess, please rest assured, this time I came to precursor to the high school, to proclaim the prestige of my Tang Dynasty in the countries of the river, not only to make Bahanna safe and sound, but also to drive Dashi and Tubo out of the river, and to return peace to the countries in the river."

Princess Heyi's eyes flashed, and she translated a few words to Asirandagan, judging from Asirlandagan's relieved expression, it should be a relay of Datang's determination to go all out to enter the Hezhong region, so that Asirandagan could be relieved.

"What are you going to do?"

"I was ordered by Gao Gao Cheng to come to inquire about the military situation, so naturally I want to go to the countries in the river to check the garrison of the big cannibals, so that Gao Gao Cheng can plan." Li Zaixing said his general plan, and finally asked sincerely: "I don't know if the princess has any good suggestions?" ”

Princess Heyi smiled, did not answer Li Zaixing's question, but said something inexplicable.

"Your surname is Li, so what is your mother's surname, and where is her name?"

Li Zaixing was stunned for a moment, raised his head in surprise, and looked at Princess Heyi. Princess Heyi smiled slightly: "My mother's surname is Xue, from the Xue family in Hedong, my maternal great-grandfather Xue Lantian, according to the generation, Chongjian Gong is my maternal grandfather." ”

Hearing Xue Lantian's three words, Li Zaixing fully understood. Xue Lantian is Xue Shao, who married Princess Taiping, known as the son of Lantian, Xue Chongjian is his second son, and his mother Xue is the same generation. In this way, if you count according to the seniority of the foreign family, he is the elder of Princess Heyi. Of course, the royal family must come according to the generation of the fathers. But the purpose of Princess Heyi not to talk to him about his seniority, but to tell him what she thought of from his appearance.

"Maternal ancestor Langzhong Xue Gongzhu, the same generation as Xue Lantian."

Li Zaixing said very vaguely, he specifically mentioned Xue Zhu, it was because Xue Zhu was his maternal grandfather, he was originally a not very outstanding child of the Xue family, and his daughter became the crown princess, so he had a name in the Xue family.

Princess Heyi understood, and was a little excited. Unexpectedly, the two down-and-out people of the Li royal family met in Bahan, and compared to her more distant bloodline, Li Zaixing's identity was obviously much more sensitive. After a long time, she asked, "Then you came to the river to make a contribution and expand the territory?" ”

"As the princess said, this is exactly what she meant, and I ask the princess to help."

"To each his own according to his needs. If you can gain a foothold in the river, I have something to rely on. Princess Heyi laughed: "If you really want to talk about it, you are still my elder." ”

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be."

Princess Heyi pondered for a moment: "Since you have a good martial arts, things are much easier." If you want to be powerful, start from Ningyuan. ”