Tibet

"What request did he make?"

Constantine was cunning and cunning. He felt that since Li Ye used Kang Hua to threaten him, he must be trying to gain something?

"He made two demands. The first one is for us to make a decision. If we don't want to raise the war, he will submit the war to Bahna."

Giving up Juzhanti was a joint decision made by the nine Sogdian countries. They knew that Dashi wanted to seize this strategic place, so they gave up on their own initiative. Now that Dashi's power has been completely removed, can they take it back.

"Father, what's your opinion?" Comed asked his father.

Constantine shook his head, "Tang Jun is not doing charity. They won Juzhanti and returned it to us. They took a fancy to Juzhanti's strategic position. They just replaced Dashi. I said it last year, whoever gets Juzhanti will Anyone who fights will get into trouble, and Tosao knows this. They don't want to fight to the death, otherwise Hamil will definitely target Tosao when he comes to kill last year."

"But there are still more than 20,000 Sogdians in Juchanti!"

Constantine sneered, "The land is dead, but the people are alive. There were originally hundreds of thousands of people in Juzhanti, but now there are only 20,000 left. Are all the others dead? Aren't they all running back? If he wants to kill the Khan, then let him do it. We have exhausted all the people, and what he got is just an empty city. If the food army comes back in the future, he will definitely become the leader of the food army. The goal in it.”

"Thank you father for reminding me, I understand."

Constantine didn't care much about Juzhanti. He asked Amber again, "What is his second request?"

"He wants us, the countries in the river, to bear part of the military expenses. In other words, we need to pay him a protection fee every year."

Constantine nodded slowly, "This is his real purpose. Remember, all this and that are illusions. Money is his real goal. As long as the money is given, even if we don't go to Chang'an for an audience, He won’t pursue it!”

Amber sighed and said: "The Pope is so right. I feel the same way. He used Kanghua's descendants to threaten us for this purpose."

Kangmed frowned, "We have to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty every year and pay for his military expenses. I'm afraid it's too heavy. Father, we can't bear it."

"Don't worry!"

Constantine asked: "Did he mention the tribute?"

Amber nodded, "He mentioned it. He said that as long as we are sincere, even if we send a jar of soil all the way to Chang'an, it is not impossible."

"This bastard!"

Constantine cursed and said with a smile: "I guessed that he would pay tribute. He would not ask us to pay military expenses alone. The Tang Dynasty court did not allow it, so he asked us to pay him the tribute. In the name of paying for the military expenses, we gave him the money, and he was responsible for explaining the false things we did to the court. Even if the Tang Dynasty court was angry, there was nothing we could do."

"Then how much does he need every year?" Comed asked again.

Amber shook his head, "He didn't say anything, I just wanted to talk to him."

Constantine sighed slightly and said: "This guy is not simple! He is much more cunning and powerful than Gao Xianzhi. Gao Xianzhi only knows how to kill and plunder. This guy will make us willing to pay him."

Early the next morning, Li Ye led a thousand cavalry to inspect the Amu Darya River. The Amu Darya River was the name of the Great Eater and the Sogdians. On the map of the Tang Dynasty, this river was called the Wuhu River.

In the boundary agreement reached between the Tang Dynasty and the Great Food Kingdom, the northern section was bounded by the Amu Darya River, while the southern section was bounded by the Mughar River.

Of course, this was the result of the Battle of Talas, but in history, the Tang army was defeated, and the border between the two sides became Congling, and the Tang Dynasty even lost its broken leaves.

Historically, one of the biggest consequences of the Talos War was that papermaking was spread to Arabia. Among the prisoners of war of the Tang Army were craftsmen who were good at papermaking, and finally it was spread to the West from Arabia.

But there is also a theory that papermaking was introduced to Dashi from the Bakhna Kingdom. The Bakhna Kingdom had a close relationship with the Tang Dynasty and learned papermaking technology from the Tang Dynasty.

From a historical perspective, it is more reasonable for the Sogdians to spread papermaking to Dashi. They traveled between Chang'an and Baghdad, and they would definitely bring paper from the Tang Dynasty to Dashi. Paper was not as strict as silkworm breeding by successive imperial courts. Control, the Sogdians lived in Luoyang and Chang'an, where the culture was extremely developed, and it was normal for them to learn papermaking.

The Amu Darya River is not too far from Samarkand, only a day's journey by horseback. This section of the Amu Darya River is also a famous agricultural area with endless wheat fields, but most of it is desert.

Li Ye urged his horse to come to the Amu Darya River. It was indeed a big river with a width of several miles. Residents on both sides of the river traveled by ferry. However, it would freeze in winter, so you could also travel directly on the ice.

Li Ye found a city on the other side. He pointed his riding whip and asked, "Where is the city on the other side?"

The official accompanying Li Ye said: "Over there is Chalzhu City, which belongs to Anguo."

Li Ye frowned, "Are there any of the nine Sogdian kingdoms located west of the Amu Darya River?"

"Yes! Charzhu City, Umu City in An State, and Pusong City in Huoxun State are all west of the Amu Darya River, but they are still under the jurisdiction of Anguo and Huoxun State. Dashi did not occupy these three cities."

Li Ye had a strong intuition that the Great Eaters did not take the Amu Darya boundary seriously. Their current signing was only a temporary compromise. Once they stabilized and regained their strength, they would definitely expand eastward.

The nine Sogdian kingdoms also knew this, so they would not truly surrender to the Tang Dynasty. For them, they were too close to Dashi and too far from the Tang Dynasty.

After only patrolling the Amu Darya for more than an hour, Li Ye turned around and returned to Samarkand. He just had a look, and he had to attend the inauguration ceremony of the king the day after tomorrow.

It is said that Ziad will also send representatives to participate.

It was already midnight when Li Ye returned to Samarkand. The group was exhausted and fell asleep after entering the military camp. Li Ye was so tired that he didn't even take off his shoes.

The next morning, Li Ye was woken up by a soldier, "Captain!"

Li Ye slowly sat up. The sunlight outside was so dazzling that he couldn't open his eyes. He covered his eyes with his hands and asked, "What's the matter?"

"A Chinese lady came to see you, saying she was from the Saints' Association and wanted to deliver a message to you."

Li Ye nodded, "Let her in!"

It must be Aling who sent him the letter, but how could it be a Han lady?

After a while, a young lady wearing a white robe from the Order of Saints walked in. She was only about ten years old. She had a pair of big, lively eyes. She looked like a Han lady. It is rare to see Han people here, especially Han women. Very few.

She walked in, curtsied, and handed a letter to Li Ye, "This is the letter from the Silver Saint to the Governor!"

She spoke fluent Sogdian.

Li Ye smiled and asked: "Is it the Saint of Zuo Yin or the Saint of Right Yin?"

"It's Saint Zuo Yin!"

The saint Zuo Yin is Aling. Li Ye read the letter and there was only one sentence: Aling asked him to meet at the Sapphire Merchant Hotel tomorrow morning.

"What's your name? Do you know Chinese?" Li Ye asked with a smile in Chinese.

"My name is Kangming, which means Kangguo. Guangming Temple. General, you can call me Xiaokang."

The young lady spoke Chinese. Although she stuttered a bit, she still spoke clearly.

"how old are you?"

"This year. Ten years old!"

"How many years have you been here?" Li Ye asked again.

"I don't remember, it's been many, many years."

"Then where is your hometown? Do you remember it?"

Xiaokang lowered his head and whispered for a long time: "Luoyang!"