Strictly speaking, the city is no longer the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

It belongs to the rule of Tocharo, and the main race is no longer the yellow race that Yang Shouwen is familiar with, but mainly Indo-European Caucasians. As soon as you enter the Governor's Mansion, you can feel a rushing exotic atmosphere, which makes people feel inexplicably afraid.

Although the Broken Leaf River Valley has an exotic style, it is deeply influenced by the culture of Middle-earth.

The architectural pattern of the city is also imitating the construction of Chang'an City, and even the language is also a mixture of Hu and Han, without too many communication barriers.

But this ignores the city......

When it comes to the city of Kutan, we must talk about Tochar.

In later generations, the origin of Tocharian has been disputed, and there is no very authoritative official definition.

According to Yang Shouwen's understanding, this Tocharian was the earliest, referring to the nomadic people who settled in the Tarim Basin. Later, due to the westward migration of the Dayue clan and the continuous integration of the 36 countries in the Western Regions, the Qiuzi people, the Yanqi people, as well as the Cheshi and Loulan people were added...... Many races and tribes merged one after another to form what is now the Tocharians.

Whereas, in Tocharo, the official language is Tocharian.

Although the surname Zhaowu Jiu has a deep connection with the Tang Empire, Huaxia is not a popular language here.

Tocharian is an Indo-European language and is very different from Huaxia.

The people here are deep-eyed, fair-skinned and blond...... So much so that when Yang Shouwen and his party came to Kunon City, they felt as if they had gone abroad. The feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land has also deepened a lot.

"Ugly slave, do you speak Tocharian?"

Outside the city, Yang Shouwen couldn't help but ask Feng Changqing.

This time he came to the Western Regions by order, and Yang Shouwen specially studied Turkic language.

But he didn't expect that he would go through such a twist and turn, and he actually came to Kulun City, a place where the language was relatively unfamiliar.

Feng Changqing's face flushed slightly, and he shook his head lightly, looking ashamed.

"Master, I won't say."

He was ashamed that he couldn't help Yang Shouwen, and even secretly made up his mind in his heart that he must learn Tocharian well.

"If you don't say it, forget it!"

Yang Shouwen scratched his head, and didn't want to blame Feng Changqing.

He glanced back at Gao Lishi, then took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, let's go to the city first." ”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The name Tocharian originated from the ancient Greeks.

At that time, the Greeks collectively called the races west of the Pamirs Tocharian because in the Turkic language, the language spoken by the Tocharians twgry, which translates to Tocharo. Originally, the Tocharian lifestyle was close to that of the Yueshi people, but since the third century AD, Tocharian was ruled by the Persians, so many unique customs of the Persians were added to the customs, and gradually evolved, eventually forming a unique culture.

On the whole, the city is more like a western city.

A tall and magnificent castle is built on top of a hill overlooking the city.

The castle, where the Governor of Tianma is located, is the core of Kunon City, named after Tianma, also known as Tianma Castle.

On the other hand, Kunon Castle is a town that expands outwards from the location of the castle.

The walls here are not very high, only about three meters. The design and planning of the city is also chaotic and seemingly irregular. In the city, there are Buddhist temples and temples of Allah. No way, with the rise of the Great Men and the fall of the Persian Empire, the teachings of Allah spread eastward and have taken shape in Tochar.

Yang Shouwen found that in the entire city's monasteries, Buddhist temples accounted for about 40%, Allah Temple accounted for about 30%, and the rest also had various strange temples dedicated to different gods. Among them, there are even Christian churches.

It's a city of mixed beliefs!

"Everyone should be careful, follow the customs of the locals, and try to avoid conflicts with them on customs."

Yang Shouwen is well aware of the demagogic power generated by religious beliefs.

Some religions, always with very radical ideas, are likely to produce contradictions once they touch their bottom line.

This is not Datang, and Datang's influence here is far less huge than that of the Broken Leaf River Valley.

They are in a foreign land, and they have to be careful with their every move, not to mention, Yang Shouwen is still burdened with the mission of finding people.

When entering the city, Yang Shouwen and others were interrogated.

Fortunately, Buddhism was flourishing in Tocharian during this period. This can be seen from the number and scale of Buddhist temples in Kunon City. The status of monks here is much higher than that of ordinary people.

In addition, the Tang Empire was strong, and although the guards of the city of Kutan City checked it, they did not make it difficult.

At the same time, Yang Shouwen also got a piece of good news.

Although Tocharian was the official language of the city, as the Turks moved westward, Tocharian was inevitably Turkized, and in terms of language, Turkic was also quite popular, and many people were able to speak Turkic fluently.

"After the elder enters the city, it is best to find a Buddhist temple to place an order first, and at the same time try not to move in the northwest."

"Why?"

"Over there, it's the place where Allah lives."

The exclusivity of Allah is far more intense than other religions.

Although they were not as numerous as the Buddhists, they were the most powerful religion in the city. For no other reason, some of the teachings of Allah are relatively fierce and bigoted, and can easily lead to conflict. The guards of this city of Kutan, although they are not Buddhists, seem to have a good impression of Buddhism, so they specially reminded Yang Shouwen.

Yang Shouwen thanked him, and then took the three of Gao Lishi, led the horses and camels, and walked into the city.

"Master, what are we going to do now?"

Feng Changqing took Yang Shouwen's hand and asked softly.

Although he was born in the Western Regions, to be honest, it was the first time he was so far away from home. It seemed to him that the city was no different from that foreign land.

In the end, he is young, and he can't help but be afraid.

Yang Shouwen raised his head and looked at the sky, it was already past the unitary hour.

He thought for a moment and said softly: "Let's find a place to settle first, it's too late today, rest early, and meet your uncle tomorrow." ”

"Hmm!"

God knows how safe the city is.

However, according to the guard's introduction, Yang Shouwen felt that the security situation in the city was not much better. It's getting dark, so let's find a place to settle down first. Thinking of this, Yang Shouwen and his party walked in the direction the guard said, and soon found a temple that didn't look very large, but more like a family temple.

In the monastery, there are only three monks.

The abbot is a man of Tianzhu who is over seventy years old, and can speak fluent Tocharian but does not understand Chinese. Fortunately, there is also a young man in this temple who can speak fluent Chinese. However, looking at his appearance, he does not look like a Han Chinese.

"The little monk's name is Poseri, and he is a Persian.

When I was a child, I went to Chang'an with my father and admired Datang. Later, when he returned to Tianma, he became a monk......

The biggest wish of the little monk in this life is to return to Chang'an one day and practice in the temples of Chang'an. ”

This Bo Seri speaks very slippery Chinese, but the tone is a little weird, giving people a sense of disobedience.

Pegasus City is the city of ignorance.

In the mouth of the Tocharian people, the sudden talk is the meaning of Tianma, and Yang Shouwen is also the first time he has heard of it.

Well, I feel that the name of this 'Pegasus City' is more comfortable than that of Ignorant City.

Poseli checked Yang Shouwen's degree, and after confirming the identities of the four people, he explained to the abbot. The abbot did not refuse, allowing Yang Shouwen and others to live in the temple, and then returned to the meditation room to continue to participate in meditation.

"Elder, there's something I want to ask."

"I don't dare to call the elder right, the mage should call me the law name."

"Elder Poseri, may I ask where is the Pegasus Street in Pegasus City?"

"Pegasus Street?

Easy to find...... Go out and turn right, turn left after three excuses, almost 1,400 steps, it is Tianma Street.

Mage, are you looking for someone? ”

"Oh, not really, but I heard that Tianma Street is quite bustling and lively, so I want to take a look."

"It's easy, we're going to Tianma Street early tomorrow morning, and the mage will go with us."

The Buddhist temple in Tianma City maintains some of the customs of Tianzhu Buddhism.

They do not give birth, they live on the offerings of believers and the transformation of karma, and every day they will go to the city early in the morning to make karma, and then return to the Buddhist temple to practice. According to their habits, they only have one meal a day, mainly wheat rice mixed with fruit juice, and their life is quite hard.

This can be seen from their humble meditation room.

Yang Shouwen admired this kind of ascetic monk.

He immediately agreed to Poseri's invitation, and at the same time wanted to take this opportunity to get to know Pegasus City......

"Our temple is shabby, please don't be surprised."

Poseri led them to the meditation room and said with a smile.

"Monks are all over the world, and it is enough to have food to wrap their stomachs and a piece of tile to shelter from the wind and rain.

Yang Shouwen hurriedly thanked him and motioned for the three of Gao Lishi to go in and clean up.

He and Poseri were standing outside the meditation room, when it was already dark, and in the meditation room in front of him, an oil lamp was also lit.

The two talked for a while, and Poseli excused himself to go back to chanting and bid farewell to Yang Shouwen. After he left, Gao Lishi walked over and asked softly, "Master, what are we going to do next?" ”

In order to disguise his identity, Gao Lishi also changed his name to Yang Shouwen as his master.

Yang Shouwen took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Everyone have a good rest tonight, early tomorrow morning, let's follow them to the fate, look at the environment and then make a decision." Moreover, Shiro has arrived in Pegasus City and currently does not know where he is.

Let's talk about it all after we meet Shiro! ”

"Yes."

Hearing this, Colliers bowed and retreated.

Yang Shouwen stood in the courtyard outside the meditation room, looking at the bright moon in the night sky, and secretly prayed in his heart: I hope that everything can go smoothly......

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In July of the third year of the holy calendar, after the deputy capital of Anxi Hutian became famous in Tian's forced retreat, he marched westward and joined forces with Feng Siye to attack Bo Lu.

At this time, Bo Lu, in the face of the Tang Army's flanking attack, was already tired.

However, relying on the complex terrain of Geluo Ridge and the secret support of the five crossbows, he still managed to maneuver with the Tang army.

On the sixth day of the seventh month, just when Bo Lu was about to lose his support, Tubo once again raised troops to attack.

The crossbow was commanded by the general Koji Mangbu with 30,000 elite soldiers from Shazhou and attacked Guazhou.

The Yumen army stationed in Guazhou was caught off guard and rushed to the battle without being prepared, and was defeated in one fell swoop.

It's no wonder that the Yumen army underestimated the enemy, and it was only not long after the crossbow learned that the troops had retreated, who would have thought that they would make a comeback? The soldiers and horses of Shazhou were taken away by Tian Yangming, so that the troops were empty. The Tibetan army in Shazhou can be described as a long drive straight forward, almost without any obstacles. By the time the Yumen army noticed it, the soldiers and horses of the Koji Mangbuzhi had already approached the city.

For a time, the smoke of Longyou rose again.

At the same time, the Turkic Khan raised his army again, and ordered the fire to bypass Shuofang and attack the Qarlu tribe in the west.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Qarlu tribe hurriedly sent people to ask for help from Guo Qianjun, the protector of the Beiting Metropolitan Protector.

Guo Qianqian was very happy, and immediately mobilized troops and horses to support.

Who would have thought that before the Tang army reinforcements arrived in Gelulu, Huoba Jielifa suddenly divided his troops and ordered his general Shi Moth to contain the Tang army's soldiers and horses in Wolf Mountain, but he led the main force to turn south and raid Longyoudao, causing the Tang army's position to be in chaos......

In just a few days, the Hexi Corridor, which was originally calm, suddenly became full of smoke, which changed the situation abruptly. (To be continued.) )