readx; The city of Atil is located about 500 miles northwest of the city of Talas, and needs to cross the northern edge of the Fergan Basin, after passing through a vast Gobi desert controlled by the Gessars, you can reach the city of Atil, which is located on a vast plain, which was originally a city of the Gesar Khanate, the Gesa people are a branch of the Turkic people, their former residence was first in the Beiting area, and later most of the Turkic Gesa people moved westward to the vast area adjacent to the Byzantine Empire. Sadoman, the leader of the Gossar people, who had just arrived in a strange land, ordered 800 maidens to be sacrificed to the Caucasian Dryad King, and thus received the support of the Dryad warriors to help the Gossars defeat the Slavs, and the Gossars gradually settled down and eventually settled in this land. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After nearly 500 years of development, the Gesar people established the Gesar Khanate there to the west to Lake Balkhash and the Black Sea in the east, with the demise of the Western Turks, the Gesar Khanate gradually inherited the mantle of the Western Turks, and gradually became stronger, after moving westward for hundreds of years, the Gesar Khanate in the Middle Tang Dynasty has gradually westernized, and the religion they believe in has also changed from primitive shamanism to Judaism, but for the Tang Dynasty, it is difficult for them to distinguish the difference between the Gesar and the Turks, and they still regard them as Turks, at least in Anxi, It is still customary to call them Turkic Gezas.

The relationship between the Khanate and the Byzantine Empire was excellent, they had always been strategic allies, commercial interests made the Khanate inseparable from Byzantium, and the existence of the Khanate could help Byzantium resist the expansion of the Persians and Arabs, the kings of the two countries called each other brothers, and often visited each other's capitals, any Emperor Yanjing of the Byzantine Empire must attach importance to the Khanate of Gasa, and Constantine V was no exception, after the death of Constantine V's predecessor the year before, the successor queen he is now married to is the Ghassa, the year before last, He used 3,000 Anatolian horses as a dowry to marry Empress Gosa to Constantinople, and at his request, the Gosa Khanate also generously gave the city of Atil as a dowry to the Byzantine Empire.

This time Constantine V personally went to the city of Atil and the Tang Anxi Jiedu envoy Li Qing'an to meet, the Khanate of Gesar also provided great convenience and trust, not only allowed the Byzantine Emperor's 30,000 imperial army to cross, but also provided food and fodder along the way, and even the king of the Khanate of Gesa, Bran Khan, also participated in the meeting, the capital of the Khanate of Gesar is located at the mouth of the Volga River, called the city of Itier, and it is also a famous transit trade city, at the beginning, The Khanate of Gesar advocated using their capital city of Iter as a transit point for trade between the Tang Dynasty and Byzantium, but Pei Yu, the envoy of Anxi, did not agree, and he insisted on using the city of Atil, which was close to Talas, as a transit point for trade between the two sides.

At this time, the city of Atil has been a sea of people, 30,000 golden knights from the Byzantine Empire and 20,000 camel cavalry from the city of Itiel are stationed in the vast grassland outside the city of Atil, the huge tent can not be seen at a glance, the western part of the Gesar Khanate is sparsely populated, and the too vast territory makes them not cherish the land very much, at the beginning, Constantine V only had the city of Atil as a dowry, but the generous Gesa people also gave the grasslands and forests within a radius of 100 miles around the city of Atil, the Gesa people are not stupid, in this way, Their bond with the Byzantines was not only marriage, but also a piece of land that the Byzantines could not give up was a link that held them together.

The horn whimpered, and a team of 300 camel cavalry escorted the king of the Khanate of Gesa, Bran Khan, to the hinterland of the Byzantine army, in front of a huge golden horde, which was mixed with wool and five hundred catties of gold thread, and the whole horde was shining with gold, and it looked brilliant and dazzling in the sun, which showed that the Byzantine Empire was also known as the reputation of the golden empire, the gold of Rome, the silver of Arabia, which was a famous saying in the Middle Ages West.

Bran Khan is about forty years old, medium build, his face has the characteristics of both Eastern and Western blood, slightly flattened face and a pair of light blue eyes, although the appearance is not amazing, but Bran Khan is a very courageous man, from his national belief in Judaism can be seen, after the Battle of Talas, the power of the Tang Dynasty entered the river, which means that the golden age of trade is coming.

The Gesar Khanate has been westernized for hundreds of years, has long been off the horseback, under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, it has gradually established a route to establish a commercial state, the Silk Road to Byzantium has to pass through the Gesar Khanate, the favorable geographical location makes it make full use of its own advantages, but the Gesar people are a Turkic people, they seriously lack commercial blood in their bodies, and a large number of commercial interests are taken away by the Byzantine Empire, in order to make up for the weakness of their own nation in business, they can make profits in the upcoming prosperous trade, Bran Khan made a surprising decision to adopt Judaism in order to attract a large number of well-capitalized and business-savvy Jews to the Khanate of Godsa, and it was also a strategy to do both the Christian Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Arab Empire.

This time, the alliance between the Byzantine Empire and the Anxi King of the Tang Empire moved the heart of Bran Khan, who knew that this was a golden opportunity to join this conference, and the Khanate of Gesar would be fully integrated into the tide of trade that was about to begin, so he also participated in this meeting as a notary.

"Your Majesty, it seems that your complexion is much more ruddy."

As soon as he entered the tent, Bran Khan laughed loudly, and called Constantine V's name directly, which seemed a little rude, but none of the guards on both sides said a word, Bran Khan was the father-in-law of His Majesty the Byzantine Emperor, and the father-in-law could always call his son-in-law a little more freely, although this father-in-law was a few years younger than his son-in-law.

Kopsaloni is the name of Constantine V, the Byzantine emperor was bowing his head and pondering things, but was interrupted by the rough and rude laughter of his father-in-law, although Constantine V was in good shape, he was not in good health, he was often sick, and he was also short-tempered, but today he was in a good mood, and the rudeness of Bran Khan did not make him angry at all, he got up and smiled: "Why, when you hear the news of my meeting with Datang, you can't sit still?" ”

The two hugged warmly, the guests sat down, the gold tent was more luxuriously arranged, full of glittering gold, exquisite gold utensils, gold pots, gold cups, gold plates, even the chairs were inlaid with precious stones and gold edges, the floor was covered with luxurious Persian carpets, the corners of the big tent were placed with fine porcelain from the East, and the tent wall was also hung with colorful Shu brocade, Bran Khan picked up a celadon wine glass full of wine and looked at it carefully, his eyes were a little bright, the ancestors of the Gesar Khanate were also from the East, He himself had collected a lot of porcelain, but this wine glass was of the highest grade that he had never seen before, warm and delicate, so pure that there was no trace of impurities, and it was as thin as paper, and there was almost no weight in his hand, which he liked at a glance.

"This is a gift from Li Qingan, there are two in total, if you like it, I will give you one."

"Then you're welcome!"

Bran Khan was not polite at all, he drank the wine in the glass, took out a piece of white satin, carefully wrapped the celadon cup, and put it in his arms, and then smiled: "Do you know what I regret the most? It is to give the city of Atil to His Majesty. ”

"Wait!"

Constantine V interrupted him with a wave of his hand, and said with a smile: "I want to make it clear first, Arthur City is not a gift from you, but a dowry for you to marry your daughter, and you can't go back." ”

"Originally, I wanted to go back, but since His Majesty said so, then I had no choice but not to take it back, but I had one condition."

"I've found a reason again, let's talk! What conditions? ”

Constantine V seemed very relaxed, and the relationship between him and Bran Khan did not have the same cautious seriousness as the two heads of state when they met, but like a meeting between two friends, Bran Khan smiled: "My condition is to give me a piece of the pie, so that we can also benefit from the trade with the Tang Dynasty." ”

"Both caravans are walking on your land, how can you not benefit?"

"Nope! I don't mean that, I mean to make the city of Itiel a transit trade city as well. ”

Bran Khan looked at each other without blinking, this is the fundamental purpose of his coming to the Golden Horde today, he wants to persuade Byzantium to give him a piece of the pie, generally speaking, transit trade cities are naturally formed in the process of doing business, such as Dunhuang, Qiuzi, broken leaves, etc., located on the Silk Road The important town has this opportunity, but it will also be affected by man, for example, Itiel is located at the mouth of the Volga River, the geographical location is very important, before the rise of the city of Atil, it has always been the largest trade transit city in the north, Now that the city of Artyr has risen, in order to transfer trade to his own city-state, Constantine V is likely to order that the official caravans are not allowed to go through the city of Itir, thus affecting ordinary merchants, and finally causing the city of Itiel to decline, so Bran Khan jokingly reminded Constantine V not to overdo it, otherwise he can take back the city of Attilr at any time.

Of course, Constantine V understood the hint of threat in the other party's tone, and he still smiled in a very relaxed tone: "Bran, you know that we are relatives, and I married your daughter, so I will also consider your interests, I will let my caravan go to the Volga River to take a bath, but I can't control the Tang Dynasty caravan, so you need to talk to them." ”

"I'll talk to them, but I want to get His Majesty's promise first." Bran Khan's expression gradually turned serious, and he asked relentlessly.

"Alright! I promise you. Constantine V said helplessly: "Let the city of Itiel continue to be used as a transit trade city." ”

"Then I won't disturb Your Majesty's thinking."

Bran Khan put his hand on his chest, bowed gracefully, and withdrew, while Constantine V looked at his back and said to himself: "It is impossible to get commercial benefits without military efforts, dear father-in-law." ”

．．．．．．． In the early morning, 10,000 Tang cavalry had approached the city of Atil, and it was still more than 30 miles away from the city of Atil, and after the Tang cavalry crossed the northern mountains of the Fergan Basin, they had already entered the territory of the Ghsar Khanate.

Li Qing'an rode on his horse, looking around at this strange land, it was the first time he had come to the area north of Talas City, where the forest was dense, the population was sparse, the jade belt of rivers flowed through the great plains covered with green carpets, and everywhere herds of wild deer drank by the river, and they looked up blankly from time to time at the passing army in the distance, and were not frightened.

"Report to the general, there is a messenger ahead!" One of the guards shouted as he pointed into the distance.

Li Qing'an had already seen that a group of cavalry appeared in the distance like a small black dot, running closer and closer, it was a cavalry team of more than 20 people, Li Qing'an's vanguard of about 1,000 people had already gone to Arthur City first, to prepare for Li Qing'an's advance, Pei Yu, the envoy to Byzantium, and Yang Fengche, the deputy capital in charge of foreign affairs in Anxi, also went first, this time, many important officials who came with Li Qing'an to participate in the alliance talks came, in addition to the special envoy Pei Yu and Yang Fengche, who was in charge of foreign affairs, they were also Wang Changling's assistants, Hou Yiyun, who was in charge of official foreign trade, Zhang Chao, the judge in charge of Anxi's financial support, and Li Guangbi, the general, and several of Li Qing'an's staff, including Yan Zhuang.

As the head of Anxi, Li Qing'an does not participate in specific alliance negotiations, he only cares about some principled things, such as the degree of alliance between the two sides, whether it is only a close-knit alliance with cold lips and teeth, or a loose form of alliance.

Li Qing'an was still anxious, he had already made a plan to attack Sindh and Tocharo, at this time, he needed the Byzantine Empire to contain the main army of Dashi in the west, so that they would not have time to look east.

Li Qing'an looked at a group of cavalry approaching, and he suddenly found that the cavalry team was mixed with two strangely dressed men, wearing wide high hats, wearing robes cut from light cotton, and long and wide cloth belts tied around their waists, which were a bit like the Wusun people in Beiting.

"They are the Geza people." A pro-soldier whispered beside Li Qing'an.

In an instant, the cavalry team galloped forward, and an officer saluted Li Qing'an with a fist: "General, the king of the Khanate of Gesar has sent an envoy to meet him." ”

The two Geza envoys stepped forward and bowed together, saying, "See the general of the king of Anxi!" ”

They still spoke Turkic, and although they were a little different from the Turkic people of Broken Leaves, Li Qing'an could still understand them.

"Where is your king?"

"Tell the general that our king is twenty miles away, and he wants to see the general, hoping to get the general's permission."

Li Qing'an smiled: "Your king is too polite, I am now in the land of the Gesa people, it should be me to visit the king, your politeness makes me feel uneasy." ”

Li Qing'an's modesty stunned the two envoys, and they were overjoyed: "So, the general is willing to meet with our king?" ”

"Why not?" Li Qingan smiled slightly, "It's right here!" I will wait here for your king. ”

The two envoys immediately turned around and galloped into the distance, and Li Qing'an kept watching them disappear at the end of the grassland, and then turned around and asked Hou Yiyun: "What are the specialties of the Gesar Khanate, I mean something of strategic value?" ”

Hou Yiyun knew this aspect well, and he immediately replied: "Back to the Great General, the Gesar Khanate is rich in gems and silver, but their population is not large, so the production is not large, in addition, they are also rich in camels and war horses, especially camels, which are large in quantity and good quality, and many big cannibals also come here to buy them." ”

"Camel!" Li Qingan said to himself a little: "This is what I need." ”

He asked, "How much is the price?" ”

"In the market of the city of Itiel, an adult camel costs at least eight Byzantine gold coins, and a small camel is slightly cheaper."

Five gold coins are equivalent to eight guan coins of the Tang Dynasty, which is quite cheap, and in the Anxi market, an adult camel can be sold for at least about thirty yuan, which is really profitable.

"Why is it so cheap?"

"The main thing is that the Gesar people like to raise camels, and they are in large quantities, so the price is much cheaper, and if the general is interested, he might as well buy a few thousand from them as the main means of transporting supplies."

"I'm interested!"

．．．．．．．．．． In a moment, thousands of camel troops roared and stopped three miles away, and by this time Li Qing'an had already ordered a large white tent to be set up in the wilderness as a temporary camp for the talks between the two sides. Bran Khan and his two important ministers came to the big tent accompanied by dozens of guards, and Li Qing'an greeted him and said with a smile: "We have been neighbors for so long, and this is the first time we have met, it shouldn't be!" ”

Bran Khan was very surprised to hear that Li Qing'an could actually speak fluent Turkic, and he was even more emotionally moved to see him so young, he opened his arms and greeted him warmly, "Dear General Li, I have long admired your prestige, and my people say that you are the strongest eagle in Fergan. ”

The two laughed and hugged each other, patting each other's backs, the tip of their noses and foreheads, a kind of brotherly gift, and Bran Khan used the most solemn etiquette to show his welcome to Li Qing'an's arrival.

"Please go into the big tent and say!"

Li Qing'an invited Bran Khan into the temporary tent, which was carpeted and set up with a long row of tables, and several high-ranking officials of Anxi were already waiting in the tent.

Li Qing'an introduced Bran Khan one by one, "This is my chief staff, Mr. Yan!" ”

Yan Zhuang smiled at him and nodded.

"This is my general, General Li Guangbi, the governor of the war."

Li Guangbi did not smile, and clasped his fists and saluted him slightly.

"This is Hou Yiyun, the secretary in charge of trade in Anxi, and this is Zhang Chao, the judge in charge of money and goods in Anxi."

Compared with others, Bran Khan was obviously interested in Hou Yiyun and cordially held hands with him, so that Li Qing'an understood the meaning of Bran Khan, he came to talk about trade, and sure enough, the two high-ranking officials who came with Bran Khan were both in charge of trade.

The two sides sat down, and Li Qingan said with a smile: "When I built a city in Yibohai, some of my subordinates suggested that I also build a few castles on the west bank of Yibohai, and I also went to see it at that time, and it was uninhabited, but because of time problems, I didn't build a city west of Yibohai, and later I learned that the west of Yibohai was already the territory of your country, which was really offended." ”

Bran Khan smiled and said: "Our Gesar Khanate has a vast territory, but it is sparsely populated, and we mainly live in the Volga River Valley, and it is really difficult for us to manage the Yibohai side, and we almost ignore it, if the general is willing, I can give the land of two hundred miles west of the Yibohai Sea to the Tang Dynasty, so that the entire coast of the Yibohai Sea will become the land of the Tang Dynasty." ”

If it was before the Battle of Talas, the generosity of this king would inevitably move Li Qing'an very much, but when Li Qing'an got the entire Fergan Basin and the river, he knew that it was not an easy thing to manage a vast territory, he went to the river from Broken Leaves, and the time on the way back and forth would take a month, and a lot of his time was wasted during the journey, His Royal Highness the king was willing to give him the entire Yibohai, which was actually not much favor, their land was too vast, and a little was given to the Tang Dynasty. It doesn't matter at all.

Despite this, Li Qingan showed great gratitude to be able to take Lake Balkesh in its entirety, which was also one of his dreams.

"Then I thank His Royal Highness for his generosity, and I can build a castle west of the Ibokai."

"The general doesn't have to be polite, just go and build the castle."

Bran Khan gave up Yibohai, and with a psychological advantage, he could directly talk to Li Qing'an, "Today I came to see the general, mainly to talk about the trade between our two countries, our Gesar people have moved westward for hundreds of years, and they are no longer the nomads of the past, and the Gesar Khanate has changed to a trade state, I hope that the Tang Dynasty can not only establish trade relations with the Roman Empire, but also with us, let the Tang merchants come to my city of Itir, and I will welcome them in the warmest way." ”

Li Qing'an nodded and said with a smile: "I heard that the camels of the Gesar Khanate are very famous, and it just so happens that the Anxi official is going to establish several large caravans, I want to buy 10,000 camels from the Gesar Khanate, and hire another thousand camel servants, I wonder if His Royal Highness the King is willing to conclude our first deal?" ”

The purchase of camels is mainly to solve the transportation problem of the Tugulo Campaign, and even go south to Sindh, he can not establish a long supply line, even if it is established, it is easy to be attacked and interrupted, so Li Qingan plans to establish a huge logistics team, camels are undoubtedly the best means of transportation, today this opportunity, Li Qing'an can not seize it?

For Bran Khan, it was no problem to sell camels, and it was no problem to hire a thousand camel servants, he was concerned about the status of Itier City, and he must recognize it as a transit trade city in the Tang Dynasty.

"As long as the general agrees to regard my capital city of Itiel City as the same status as Arti City and become an important transit city for the merchants of the Tang Dynasty, I will not only sell the camels to you, but also lend you two thousand camel soldiers to help the general take care of these ten thousand camels."

"Good! We'll make up our minds! ”

(To be continued)