Located in the hinterland of the ghost desert in western Xinjiang, although the land area is not large, and the population is not as good as that of Loulan and Shanshan, it has always had a vital influence on the entire region because it borders many countries and the roads extend in all directions. The Pope of the Flower God Sect was established in the royal city of Chechi, which made the people of all ethnic groups living in this vast land have an extraordinary identification with the Chechi Kingdom.

And Metasequoia City in Chechi Country is also in a critical location. It is located at the key point of the Silk Road trade route, and has always been valued by the Zhenjiang Metropolitan Protectorate, and before the Crescent Bay War, it maintained a garrison force of at least 1,000 people all year round.

After successfully defeating the two main armies of the Holy Tang, it is said that there is no longer a figure of the capital protectorate in the western frontier, but even this small Metasequoia City is still flying the eagle flag of the Holy Tang, preparing for war and fighting fiercely.

This surprising situation had already reached the ears of the new king of Chechi, Gelhan, and it undoubtedly added another trouble to him out of thin air.

Ever since Gelhan returned to the Chechi court and seized the throne with the help of the Turks, his troubles grew.

One of the biggest annoyances comes from his allies.

In the newly established Western Xinjiang Alliance, there are currently three major forces: Loulan, Shule, and Chechi. Of the three countries that were the first to participate in the rebellion, if purely in terms of military strength, Loulan was the strongest, Shule was second, and his Chechi country was the weakest. However, unlike the old king of Shule, Tajik, Gelhan was not willing to be at the bottom of the table, on the contrary, he always wanted to compete with the "leader" of the alliance, the king of Loulan, Alikjiang.

The reason is very fake, he was the first force in Western Xinjiang to join forces with the Turks, and he was also the first to send troops to confront the Shengtang army, so Gelhan thought that he was the most trusted by the Turks. With the support of General Doron, the leader of the Iron Pigeon Army, he deserves to sit on the throne of the alliance leader.

However, the reality was still very cruel, and the Turks finally chose the more powerful Alik River in order to control the western frontier.

In the era of chaos in the world, territory and population are the foundation of all strength, and Gelhan naturally understands this truth. So, he swallowed this evil breath for the time being, and planned to be one step ahead of Loulan in the battle for territory, so as to reverse the situation and regain the position that should belong to him.

Under the command of the Prince of the Temple, the Turkic army marched eastward into the Shengtang Pass, and the western frontier presented a vast power vacuum.

Although Gelhan wanted to grab more quickly, the weak army eventually made it difficult for him to cook without rice, and compared with Loulan, he suffered a lot of losses. Seeing that the fertile and rich good places were about to be occupied by Loulan and Shule, Gelhan couldn't help but be secretly anxious all day long.

However, at this critical moment, the Prince of the Turkic Temple and the leader of the Western Frontier Alliance, Alikjiang, respectively sent him orders, asking him to send troops as soon as possible to eradicate the remnants of the Holy Tang Army stationed in Metasequoia City and completely pacify the Western Frontier.

"His grandmother's!" Gerhan was so angry that he scolded: "They eat the big fat meat, and the hard bones are left for Lao Tzu to gnaw, why?!" It must be that bastard Alikjiang who is behind his back, coaxing the prince into putting pressure on me. When is it now, and who can control the Shengtang people? Slow down, there's nothing! ”

Gerhan coveted territory, how could he be willing to spend his precious military power on a lonely city. Besides, the painful experience of attacking Metasequoia before had already scared him, the Metasequoia City, which could be called his "nemesis", who cares about it, anyway, Uncle Gelhan ignored it.

Therefore, for the purging orders sent by the Western Xinjiang Alliance, Che Chi Wang Ting always tried every means to disobey the yin, saying that their deliberate delay was light, which was simply abusive and outrageous.

However, Che Chiguo's slack situation did not cause much concern from the Turks and the alliance. After all, Metasequoia City is in the territory of Chechi Country and belongs to Chechi's own town. The king is not in a hurry, so what are others anxious about? Besides, in a place the size of a palm, even if all the remnants of the Saint Tang were gathered, how big of a wave could they make?

Therefore, Li Jiangyao and his comrades-in-arms were really lucky, so inexplicably they avoided a sweep and survived the initial dangerous period peacefully.

And now, although the turf grabs have come to an end, King Gelhan of Chechi still has no intention of attacking Metasequoia, because all his attention has been drawn away by another important event.

That big event was the Persian Empire's merchant mission that had just arrived in Chechi.

When later historians look back on the Great Rebellion in Western Xinjiang in 821 and the Battle of Crescent Bay, which shocked the world, they are often concerned about one question: what role did the Persian Empire, its neighbor in Western Xinjiang play at that time?

As we all know, the reason why the 100,000 iron cavalry led by the Turkic Templar Prince Rohnya was able to avoid the scouts of the Zhenjiang army and unexpectedly plunged into the battlefield of Crescent Bay was entirely because they did not take the border between the Turks and the western Xinjiang, but made a detour from the Persian border.

According to reliable sources, at that time, it was the little emperor who had just succeeded to the throne of the Persian Empire who decided to secretly sign a cooperation agreement with the Turkic Khan Ashina Branch, and let Ronia and his army retreat through the Persian border unimpeded.

It's all a pure deal.

The Persian merchant mission, on the other hand, can be seen as a representative sent by the Persian emperor to receive remuneration for transactions.

Due to the continuous war in the ghost desert of western Xinjiang, the Silk Road trade route has been closed for nearly half a year. After such a fuss, Persia gradually couldn't sit still. They organized a large trade delegation to the area, intending to negotiate with the new masters of the area to restore trade between Persia and Western Xinjiang.

The general leader of the Persian merchant mission was the business tycoon who "shook the Silk Road and connected the four seas" - Ameni. This man not only monopolized the popular business of jewelry, ironware, horses, carpets, and medicinal materials in the Persian Empire, but also made him richer than the rest of the country; Moreover, he is also the teacher of the little Persian emperor and the chief adviser of the emperor, just like the prime minister of the empire, he can be said to be a big man in the Persian government and the opposition.

The fact that Ameni personally led a delegation is enough to prove how much importance the Persian Empire attached to the resumption of trade.

Judging from the current situation, the Turks are still only manipulating the Western Frontier Alliance behind their backs, and on the surface, they claim to be equal allies. Therefore, the right to receive the Persian merchant missions still fell on the alliance itself, and the Turks only played the role of threading the needle.

Of course, in order to borrow the way for the army, Ashina promised all the benefits to the little Persian emperor were also paid by the Western Xinjiang Alliance.

The first stop in Western Xinjiang chosen by Aimeni for the merchant mission was Chechiguo, and the reason was still due to location considerations. Che Chi Guo is located in the core, and occupies the Pope of the Flower God Sect, and from there, it can play the effect of outline.

As the host, King Gehan of Chechi couldn't help but move his own thoughts.

According to rumors, Ameni had no children under his knees and only one daughter, named Effantia, who was regarded by the Ameni as the pearl of their palms. The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old, and was still unmarried. I heard that this time Emmeni went to the Western Frontier, and Effentia also came with him, if he could have a chance to get this little girl, wouldn't his power increase dramatically?

Not to mention that the future father-in-law has huge wealth and resources, and it is completely easy to boost Chechi's national power, and the status of Emmeni in Persia alone can provide Gelhan with unimaginable support. With the Persian Empire as a backer, even the Turks have to give him some face.

On this matter, one of his men once asked Gerhan: "Your Highness, if that Effantia is so ugly, will you marry her?" ”

"Don't say it's ugly," Gerhan pouted, and then said silly, "Even if she's an old goblin, I want it!" ”

Gerhan's intention to pursue Effentia was very determined, but it was very coincidental that his old enemy, Alikjan, the king of Loulan, also had the same intention.

Coincidentally, the pair actually wanted to go together.

Alikjiang thinks that he is young and handsome, he is not only the king of Loulan, but also the leader of the Western Frontier Alliance, and his status is no less than that of the Persian emperor, which can be described as noble and prominent. With such favorable conditions, he had the best hope of gaining the approval of Emeni and the heart of Effantia, and then successfully married Persia and became the strongest overlord in Western Xinjiang.

Therefore, three days before the arrival of the Persian merchant delegation at the court of Chechi, Alekjiang himself led 10,000 Loulan iron horsemen to rush here, ready to welcome the arrival of the "father-in-law" and "bride" as the supreme ruler of Western Xinjiang.

Seeing this, Gerhan almost didn't tilt his nose - why is there such an unlucky guy as you everywhere?!

At the grand welcome banquet held by the Chechi royal court, the two kings of the western frontier who were overflowing with spring finally met Emmeni and his daughter Effantia as they wished.

Emmeni was over fifty years old, not only was he not tall, but he also had a big belly, dressed in jewels, and looked like a profiteer nouveau riche, and looked very vulgar. This is quite in line with his status as a wealthy businessman, but he is far from the image of the chief adviser to the Persian emperor.

However, Ameni is not the focus, the focus is on his daughter.

Effentia's appearance directly amazed the entire banquet hall. Although Gerhan and Alikjiang were both from the royal families of Western Xinjiang, it can be said that they have seen countless beautiful women, but if compared to Effantia, those women before them can only be called extremely ugly.

Effantia was dressed in a white gauze skirt, with a silver fox shawl around her shoulders, and her tall figure was curvaceous and graceful. The veil, which is as thin as a cicada's wings, is reflected by the bright candlelight around it, making the face behind the veil looming. The delicate and flawless face seems to be carved out of white marble, and a beautiful mole near the corner of her eye is even more enchanting to set off her beautiful appearance.

Gerhan and Alecjiang immediately dispelled the last of their worries, and jumped up and down around the Ameni father and daughter as if they had been beaten with blood. That kind of jealousy and madness and ugliness almost couldn't stand it, even the representative of the Turkic side, Prince Gune, who was in charge of foreign affairs.

So as soon as the banquet was over, Prince Goune couldn't help but summon these two fools to the palace and reprimanded them softly and hard.

was scolded by the Turkic representative for no reason, and Alikjiang felt a little depressed. He didn't dare to directly confront Ashina's own brother, so he sprinkled all the evil fire on the head of Gelhan next to him.

In front of Prince Gune, Alekjiang led the topic to Metasequoia City, and laughed and ridiculed Gelhan, saying that he, as the dignified King Chechi, couldn't even handle Li Jiangyao, the captain of the Imperial Protectorate. Not only was it planted in the hands of the other party again and again, but it still makes people happy and happy, which is shameless.

Gerhan was mercilessly ridiculed by Alecjiang, although his face was red and white with anger, but he did not dare to refute directly, so he could only explain to Prince Gune in a reluctant voice that it was not that he did not go to exterminate Metasequoia, but he was really busy with state affairs before and did not have time.

However, what Alikjiang and Gelhan never expected was that Li Jiangyao, who was being talked about by them, was squatting less than five hundred meters away from them at this time, ready to steal.