Chapter 19: Special Envoy Descendants ()

Zhang Mai spoke: "I am really not a special envoy! But this imperial edict is true. It was issued by the Tang Dynasty to Guo Xingong and all the soldiers of the frontiers of Anxi Protectorate."

The Anxi Protectorate was a large administrative region under the rule of the Western Regions by the Tang Dynasty. Its area reached more than 5 million square kilometers in its heyday. It was an extremely critical section of the Silk Road. Its geographical location and military and political significance were very important. Before Guo Xin, all the previous Anxi Protectorate were led by the Li Tang royal family. In fact, the highest leader of the Anxi Protectorate was only the "deputy Protectorate". This time, in order to commend the soldiers of the four towns of Anxi, the court officially appointed Guo Xin as the Anxi Protectorate and the governor of the four towns, and ordered the soldiers of the four towns to be promoted to seven capitals.

"But how could this imperial edict and this fish talisman be in my hands?"

This sentence is exactly what everyone wants to ask.

"Do you still remember the Anshi Rebellion?"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat. They originally wanted to hear Zhang Mai say how he got the imperial edict and the fish talisman, but whenever they mentioned Anshi's turmoil, they were all led over - that was the pain in the hearts of all the people of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Empire, which was established in the East, was heading towards a low tide in this disaster! The reason why everyone here fell to where they are today is ultimately due to this disaster!

Although the Battle of Talas failed, the strength of the four Anxi towns did not hurt the true essence. If it weren't for the Anshi Rebellion, I wouldn't know how Gao Xianzhi would counterattack! There is no assumption in history, but it is always sad.

"After the Anshi Rebellion, the Hexi Corridor was cut off." Zhang Mai combined all the news he had heard before and what he still remembered in the textbook: "I heard that Guo Xingong sent a total of fifteen groups of envoys to Chang'an?"

"Yes." Lian Guo Shidao responded.

Zhang Mai said: "But there is only one who arrived in Chang'an in the end!"

Thousands of people were filled with a stern heart. Yang Dingguo sighed and said, "At that time, Longyou Road was blocked from Anxi to Chang'an, it was a long distance from Anxi to Chang'an, and there were barbarians everywhere. Every time I passed a mountain, a city was not easy! Except for the envoy who arrived in Chang'an, everyone else was afraid that they had already died in the middle of the journey..."

Everyone came to a silence for the fourteen messengers and for all the ancestors who shed their blood on the yellow sand and green grass!

"Yes, Guo Xingong's memorial was in Chang'an, and I had experienced many dangers on the way. Among the fifteen groups of envoys, only one of them arrived in Chang'an. The imperial edict and this fish talisman from the court..." Zhang Mai raised the imperial edict: "When he set out from Chang'an, the situation in the Hexi Corridor was many times more dangerous than when Guo Xingong issued the memorial. The road of tens of thousands of miles was intercepted by the Hu people. Therefore, halfway through the journey, the special envoy was intercepted..."

Just like telling a story, Zhang Mai said it more and more smoothly after he started talking, and the people who listened below were all attracted. Until now, Zhang Mai has not said why he told this story, but many people have already vaguely felt that this story must have something to do with him.

This time, Zhang Mai traveled to the northwest by train, passed through Gansu, Xinjiang, and then went abroad to Central Asia. So he remembered the place names along the way and learned some historical stories during the journey. So he even said and compiled them and rubbed the stories of bandits and horse thieves he heard along the way: "The special envoy was captured several times and escaped several times. His entourage and guards were separated from danger again and again, and died for his country. After going through a lot of hardships, he was the only one left when he arrived in Zhangye. Unexpectedly, he was captured by a group of Tubo people and treated him as a serf and shepherd!"

When the soldiers and civilians of Anxi heard that the special envoy was trapped, they were all worried, and at the same time they hated the Tubo people who were rude to the Tang envoys.

"At this time, the envoy's legs were seriously injured. He thought to himself that he was afraid he could not reach Kucha alive, but it doesn't matter if he died. The tasks assigned by the country must be completed!"

"Oh, what should I do?" The audience below were anxious.

"Fortunately, the envoy only sneaked all the way and did not reveal his identity. The Tubo people only thought he was a small businessman. The imperial edict and fish talisman were not confiscated because they were well hidden - this is the secret of the country and the secret in his heart. He never told the second person during the years on the road, and even in the decade of shepherding, until he met a Han woman who was also a wandering country..."

When Guo Fen heard this, he thought to himself: "What will happen in the future must have a lot to do with this Han girl."

Sure enough, Zhang Mai said: "The two met. At first, they thought that the other was an ordinary herdsman and a serf. They didn't say a few words when they met. They only waited for a few months after they met. On the Double Ninth Festival, the envoy suddenly felt intimate and blurted out Wang Wei's poem: 'I am a stranger in a foreign land. Every festival is full of missed relatives more. On September and September, there is one less person in the planting of dogwood.' When the shepherd girl heard this, she realized that the man in front of her was from the Central Plains. She really didn't expect to meet her hometown here, so she stepped forward to talk to the envoy. The envoy heard that she was also a citizen of the Tang Dynasty in the Middle Land. She was surprised and sad. After that, she became intimate again. The scene at that time was really like a fellow villager who saw her fellow villager and she was full of tears. From then on, the two people often talked together, like two fish falling into a dry mud pit at any time, supporting each other and relying on each other."

Zhang Mai is a fan of Jin Yong. He learned Wei Xiaobao's trick to tell lies from "The Deer and the Cauldron". He knew that there were irrelevant and fascinating details in a large number of lies. Instead, the key tampering can be blurred. He was originally talking about how difficult the envoy had been, but when he said this, he suddenly became romantic. However, the military and civilians did not feel impatient, but instead felt that it was real and credible.

A woman below couldn't help asking, "What happened later? They came together, right?"

"right."

"Ah, that's good!" Several young girls sighed: "That's finally a great blessing in the misfortune."

The women were concerned about the marriage of the envoy, but Guo Shidao and others were anxious to know what happened to the imperial edict later, but they were not easy to urge them. Guo Fen asked: "Then did the envoy tell his wife about his identity?"

"Yes." Zhang Mai continued to preach: "What else can't be said about the husband and wife? After the envoy told his new wife about his mission and troubles, he discussed escaping together. However, his wife saw that the envoy's legs and feet were inconvenient. The Tubo people were strict. Every family in the northwest had horses and the terrain was wide. She was afraid that she would not be able to escape far and she would be caught back. That would have missed the country's major affairs! The envoy's wife was also kind-hearted. After repeated thinking, she asked her to come up with another way."

When the story reaches this point, even Guo Shidao Yang Dingguo is eager to know what kind of solution this heroine has thought of, but it is difficult to interrupt.

"What is the method of the envoy's wife? She said: 'I am a woman, you are injured again, and you can't run far away. If you want to pass this imperial edict to Kucha, the only way is to give birth to a child and raise him and let him inherit your ambitions and fulfill the mission of the court.'"

Many people off the court yelled at the same time, feeling both unexpected and reasonable. Guo Shidao, Yang Dingguo and others even thought of their ancestors. Didn’t they fail to defend the four towns, wait for the call of Chang'an, and restore the Western Regions, and put these missions and expectations on future generations? Therefore, they all resonated with each other. Guo Shidao recalled the hardships of ancestors in the siege of the Han Dynasty. His nose was sore, his eyes were hot, and he almost burst into tears.

"The envoy's wife's words were an idea that the envoy himself did not expect. In this way, they gave birth to several children and cultivated their literary and martial arts since childhood. After more than 20 years, they selected the two bravest travelers to the west. However, the situation in the Western Regions changed a lot at this time. It had been more than thirty years since the imperial edict set out from Chang'an. When they arrived in Kucha, they could not see Mr. Guo Xin."

Guo Shidao suddenly burst into tears and knelt down in front of him: "We are not worthy. If we can hold on for a few more years, we might have to wait for the imperial edict from the court!" As soon as he knelt down, Guo Luo, Guo Fen and others also knelt down one after another, and the eyes of many soldiers below also turned red.

Zhang Mai often reads Waiwai novels and listens to crosstalk storytelling. Such stories are made into baskets. So many details were made up casually just now, but his story is fake, and the loyalty of the Tang army soldiers is real. At this time, they were infected by the emotions of everyone, and their eyes turned red. They sighed: "This is also impossible. Maybe God wants to temper us."

Yang Dingguo asked: "What happened to you later? How did these brothers do?"

"Later, the brothers also encountered the same dilemma as his father - their actions had already caused the Hu people's ideas, and soon a conflict broke out, the younger brother was martyred, and the older brother was seriously injured..."

Everyone was even more sad when they heard this.

"At this time, my brother still did not find the Tang army in Anxi, but he thought to himself: This is the father's lifelong wish and the country's mission. It doesn't matter if his life is gone. But he still has to try to complete this task. So he imitated his parents' methods and married a kind woman, gave birth to a child, and passed the imperial edict, fish talisman, dagger, and family mission to him. After this child grew up, he could not find the Tang army in the Western Regions, but they slowly inquired about the news. Because of the age, many of the literary and martial arts left by the special envoy were lost. In order to avoid being discovered by the Uighurs, they also kept the secret very deeply and did not dare to reveal the truth casually. But they walked west step by step, passing on this mission from generation to generation, and never gave up until today!"

His words made up the loopholes that he himself was not very literary, not very good at martial arts, and why he had just arrived. Moreover, this story is very malleable, and if any flaws are revealed in the future, there will be room for maneuver.

The story is coming to an end, and several Tang people below said, "We understand that although Zhang Lang is not the special envoy himself, he is a descendant of the special envoy."

Zhang Mai did not answer, but agreed, and said in his heart: "This sentence is not what I said... it is what you said yourself."

But it is really respectable that thousands of soldiers and civilians heard that their family made such a great sacrifice for the country. Guo Shidao said to the sky: "I am an soldiers and generals in the West, and I will hold on for generations, and the special envoy will travel west from generation to generation. If the special envoy has not met us, I am afraid that something has happened in the desert; if we have not met the special envoy, this time the city has been destroyed and the people have been destroyed under the siege of the Uighurs. But in the dark, we still let the remnants meet the descendants of the special envoy. This is a sign that God has not abandoned us yet! The Hu Yun will soon, the Han Dao will prosper!"

His words were a bit mysterious, but thousands of soldiers and civilians thought: "Yes, things have been so long and so difficult, but we can still survive. The envoy's family traveled west hard and passed on for so many generations, but the imperial edict was not lost. This must be God blessing us! The Hu fortune is not long, the Han Tao will surely prosper! The Hu fortune is not long, the Han Tao will surely prosper!"

Some people even shouted out what they thought—

"The Hu fortune is not long, and the Han road will prosper!"

"The Hu fortune is not long, and the Han road will prosper!"
Chapter completed!