Du Zhongxiao said to Ren Ze: "As you said, only Black Khan and Gaochang can be called big countries in the Western Regions now, attacking each other, and the rest of the forces are not enough. Black Khan is the remnant of the Turks, and Gaochang is the Uighurs, and it is still the Uighurs against the Turks. ”

Ren Ze said: "Hui Jieshuai, that's exactly the case." The Uighurs started in Mobei, defeated the Turks and dominated one side, and in the Western Regions, they have always suppressed the Black Khanate. To the north of the Tien Shan, the Uighur forces reached the Great Qing Pond, and the Black Khan retreated step by step. Decades ago, the Black Khan destroyed the Khotanese state, and its power in the south of the Tianshan Mountains flourished, and in the past decade or two, it has gradually gained the upper hand. It's just that after the Black Khan was destroyed in Khotan, the brothers fought with each other, and the forces were somewhat scattered. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded. After the Black Khan was destroyed in Khotan, it was quickly divided, but it is still not clear which forces were divided into and how many shares there were. Ren Ze is just hearsay, of course, it is only approximate, and he can't understand.

Looking at Wang Pu on the side, Du Zhongxiao asked Ren Ze again: "The Black Khanate is located across the river and south of Tiannan, and the area is vast, and there is no news. What is the situation of them, have you ever heard of them? ”

Ren Ze shook his head and thought for a while before saying, "The Uighurs have been fighting with the Turks for hundreds of years, and the Black Khan and Xizhou have been attacking for more than a hundred years. The small one is just heard that there are half claws, or something is wrong, don't blame the handsome. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's okay for you to say. Right or wrong, it's none of your business. ”

Ren Ze said: "I heard that the Black Khanate is divided into Eastern Khan and Western Khan, and it is the Western Khanate that fights against Xizhou. They originally respected the Eastern Khan, but later the Western Khan produced a Ming lord named Baili Special Service, and established himself as the Taohuashi Khan, and no longer served the Eastern Black Khanate. ”

Du Zhongxiao couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "I heard that the people there in the river call the Central Plains Peach Blossom Stone, how can there be a Peach Blossom Stone Khan?" ”

Ren Ze said: "How do you know what those fanhus think?" In addition, they also called the Central Plains Qindi, which means that the Heavenly Empire is the kingdom of the Heavenly Empire. This King of the Western Black Khan, perhaps in the name of the Peach Blossom Stone Khan, shows that he is not under the King of the Eastern Black Khan. ”

There are many forces in the northwest, and the relationship is complicated, and Du Zhongxiao is very big. The Central Plains said that all of them were Fanhu except for the Han Chinese, but in fact, they were subdivided separately. For example, the party items next to it, the Han people, the party items and the Khitan people, are not among the Fan people, they say that the Fan people have a special reference. There was a difference in Gaochang, where the Uighurs and Han Chinese were not among the Hu people, and the Hu people generally referred to the Turks and Sogdians. Among them, the Sogdians were widely distributed in Gaochang, and most of them were engaged in commerce and officials who served as government officials, and sometimes they were not Hu.

Since ancient times, the forces in the area of the river have been called the Central Plains Dynasty in addition to the dynasty, and are also collectively called the peach blossom stone. How did the peach blossom stone come about, and what did it mean, Du Zhongxiao didn't understand, but he just heard people say so. When the Black Khanate was divided into an east, west and west, the east was Ali and the west was Hassan, and the two were brothers. The Eastern Khanate was honored, and the Western Khanate was vassal. Later, a special agent named Berry overthrew his relatives and became the powerful king of the Western Black Khan, no longer recognized himself as a vassal of the Eastern Khanate, and called himself Taohuashi Khan.

The king of Beiting Khan in Gaochang sent envoys together with the Yizhou forces, and Du Zhongxiao urgently needed to know the distribution of forces in the Western Regions, so he asked Ren Ze to inquire. I don't want Ren Ze to just be active in Gaochang, and I don't know much about the Black Khanate.

Waving his hand, Du Zhongxiao said: "The Black Khanate is still far away, let's do this for the time being, and then talk about it slowly." Let's talk about the situation in Gaochang. I thought they were one country, why did they divide into Yizhou? ”

Ren Ze said: "Jie Shuai, the little one is a Gaochang businessman, and he is much more familiar there." Gaochang is also known as the 22 cities, which means that there are 20 cities under the rule, but Yizhou, Qiuzi and other places are not in these 22 cities. During the Tang Dynasty, these 22 cities were either counties or townships, which remained roughly unchanged. At that time, each city had its own government, and the ruler was called the lord of the city. The Uighurs moved west to Gaochang, and first occupied the North Garden—"

Du Zhongxiao said: "This North Garden, is it the North Courtyard Protectorate in the Tang Dynasty?" ”

Ren Ze nodded: "What the festival marshal said is that it is where the Beiting Protectorate was located in the Tang Dynasty. When the Uighurs came west, they first occupied the North Court, and were called the Khan of the North Court as the king. Later, the Uighurs expanded their power, and Gaochang, Yizhou, Yanqi, and Qiuzi were all under his rule. The Uighurs ruled the country, as in the previous days of the Gaochang Kingdom, with the autonomy of each city. Yizhou is different from other places, where the guards have always claimed to be Tang generals, and the customs of the people are also a little different from other places. When returning to the righteous army, Zhang Linggong once sent troops to take Yizhou——"

Du Zhongxiao said: "This Zhang Linggong is Zhang Yichao, the leader of the Guiyi Army?" ”

"That's what the marshal said. Zhang Linggong and the people drove out the Tibetans and returned to the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and the people felt his kindness and called Zhang Linggong. Yizhou was under the rule of the Guiyi army for decades, and after the death of Ling Gong, it was once again occupied by the Uighurs. Later, the emperor of Jinshan sent troops to attack it, but he was not able to win. ”

The one who sent troops later was Zhang Chengfeng, the descendant of Zhang Yichao, but there was no Qiyi.

Ren Ze said: "Later, the party arose, sent troops to take Ganzhou and Suzhou, and destroyed the righteous army, and also occupied Yizhou——"

Hearing this, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help frowning: "This Yizhou is interesting, whichever one rises, it will occupy a period of time." ”

Ren Ze said: "Small place, isn't that the case. In Yizhou, there are only a few thousand households, how can they resist the army? It is said to be a state, but in fact, it is not comparable to a county in the Central Plains, and it is just the intersection of entering the Western Regions, so it is naturally often occupied by people. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Since it is so easy to occupy, and it is also an important way, how can there be no force to occupy it for a long time?" Even the Uighurs don't sound like a hundred or two hundred years have been subjugated to them for a long time. Needless to say, there are other reasons for the fierce local people. ”

Ren Zedao: "The local population is not large, and it does not produce much food, so it is useless to take advantage of it. Unless the surrounding forces have spare strength, no one will attack it. ”

Du Zhongxiao could not match the geography of this era with the geographical knowledge in his memory, and could only speculate according to some place names. Yizhou is between Yumen Pass and Gaochang, there is a flaming mountain near Gaochang, which should be the Turpan of later generations, then Yizhou should be Hami. Although I am not familiar with the Western Regions, I also know that Hami and Turpan are densely populated, so it sounds like the population of this era is not large.

After listening to Du Zhongxiao's doubts, Ren Ze said: "Jie Shuai, since the Middle Tang Dynasty, Tubo has entered the Western Regions, where there are constant wars. There were Tibetans, Turks, and later the Uighurs moved westward, and families fled, so how many people could there be? This is not only the case in Yizhou, but also in Gaochang, Qiuzi, Beiting and other places, and the households are not as good as they were in the Tang Dynasty. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Pu on the side said: "Outside, speaking of which, there are few people there, I have heard people say that they have seen and heard there, but I don't know if it is true or not?" ”

Ren Ze said: "What have you heard?" Let's hear it. ”

Wang Pudao: "I heard that the people there are very hospitable, and when guests come home, they will be hospitable. Wine and meat are enjoyed to their heart's content, and if the guests want to stay, the host's family will go out and not return to see them off until the guests are leaving. Is there such a thing? ”

Ren Ze couldn't help but be stunned for a moment before he said, "Yes, there is such a custom." But that's not the case for everyone, and not for all guests. If you are a Han Chinese, it is best to be able to read and write, and the host family likes it the most. ”

Wang Pu shook his head and muttered, "What a strange custom. Is it because there are so few people there? ”

Ren Ze said: "This custom has been around for a long time, and it's not because there are few people. In the past, it was densely populated, so there was this trend. ”

Ren Ze said it more tactfully, because for the people of the Central Plains, it was strange for people in the Western Regions to do this. In other words, the people there are not related by blood, and when the host leaves when the guests are entertained, they actually let their wives and daughters accompany the guests. It is not uncommon for a wife to have children who are not her own offspring, and there are even young girls who have children before they get married, and the husband's family is not only not to blame, but also very happy.

There must be complex historical reasons for the formation of this custom, but it is no longer clear what this era is. Compared with the Youyan and Dangxiang areas near the Central Plains, the centripetal force of the Western Regions on the Central Plains is stronger, and the status of the Han people is higher. The Han people who went to the Central Plains will be left vulgar by their masters, and if their wives and children give birth after leaving, they will feel very honored.

Du Zhongxiao doesn't think it's a good thing about this strange customs, and it is likely that there are blood and tears of alien invasion behind it. The nostalgia of the local people for the culture of the Central Plains thousands of miles away is expressed in this absurd form.

Du Zhongxiao asked Ren Ze: "In addition, what are the customs in Gaochang and Yizhou?" ”

Ren Ze said: "It is located in a remote area, the products are not abundant, and the food is simple. It's not as varied as Shengzhou here, there is no pot there, only an iron pan, which is used to cook bread. Rich or poor, eat only such a kind of dry bread. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Oh, I've heard of it." ”

Isn't this the predecessor of the later generations of naan? Just remember that naan is not baked with a pan, but baked in a pit. However, at this time, the food is simple, there are no baked buns and pilaf, only the dough beats the world.

Ren Ze said again: "There is another point, the people there don't value women in the fields, they only love wealth and jade." As long as they are given money, they can sell everything, and some even sell their lives, which is very different from the Central Plains. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the border areas, wars are frequent, and people's lives are in danger, not to mention the women who are born in the fields." There is such a custom, which shows that it is not easy to survive there. It is normal for people who are greedy for money, but the love of money has reached this point, and even violates human ethics, which shows that in those places, it is not easy for people to live. In a precarious situation, what kind of land and house, beauty and slave, everything will come to naught at any time, it is better to exchange it for cash. ”

Seeing that Ren Ze didn't think so, Du Zhongxiao said again: "Those who love money to this point, in addition to the Western Regions, there are also the Tubo people in Qingtang, the natives in Lingnan, and the barbarians in the mountains around Jinghu. One is difficult to survive, the other is a multi-part slave, people are the property of the master, men and women marry to have children and become a family, the meaning of the family is not much, and it is more important for the master to have a small slave for the master's family. The way of the world is like this, so it will love money so much. ”

The pursuit of floating wealth such as gold and silver has reached this pathology, one is social instability, and the other is the remnants of slavery. I can't even recognize the independence of my own person, let alone my family. What ethics and morality, what love and family affection, are worthless in their eyes, and there is no silver in vain to please people. This situation is not only in the Western Regions, but also in several border areas along the Great Song Dynasty. Not only does it exist in this era, but there are still people in later generations who continue to demonstrate it again and again. To put it bluntly, when the Han people of the Han and Tang Dynasties left, the people of the Western Regions no longer had the opportunity to form a stable society. All kinds of customs and folklore reveal a sense of absurdity, which makes people feel unreal.

Not all groups of people will naturally form a stable society like the Han people in the Central Plains, and ethics and morality will naturally appear. In the long history of mankind, there are not many ethnic groups that have developed a stable and civilized society. Most of the surrounding ethnic groups were influenced by the Han people before they entered the civilization, which was the indoctrination of the Central Plains Dynasty. When the Han people were driven back to the Central Plains, some were absurd, some were barbaric, and some disappeared into the yellow sand with tears in their eyes.