Chapter 217: Dotage Comes Mostly with the Passing of Years

The Kyzylkum Desert, a full three hundred thousand square kilometers in extent, is a truly bizarre desert.

For it is the only desert in the world hemmed in between two great rivers with abundant water, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya — and what is more, it is red.

Kyzylkum means "red sand" in Kazakh. At this time the Kazakh people did not yet exist, so the desert was simply called the Red Sands.

The only real difficulty in crossing these Red Sands is neither lack of water nor the scorching heat, but the fact that you may lose your way at any moment.

Compared with the dreaded Taklamakan, the Red Desert is not especially short of water; what it lacks is distinguishing features.

It is too flat, and even the low desert scrub all looks much the same, so there are no reference points at all by which to fix your position or pick out a route.

Fortunately, Zhang Zhao was not short of primitive compasses here, and through the descendants of the Eastern Cao he had also made contact with some remnants of the Western Cao people.

With these native herders, who lived among the oases of the Red Sands, to lead the way, and the compass to fix the general direction, they had never once strayed from their course.

A young Sogdian leading a camel raised a waterskin and offered it attentively to Zhang Zhao. He was a man of the Western Cao state whom Zhang Zhao had recruited.

After two hundred years of Islamic teaching in this land, the religion and the racial makeup of the people had largely been changed.

The only ones who had still managed to keep themselves from being submerged by the surging tide of Islamic culture were these Zoroastrian Sogdians, who would rather shoulder a heavy poll tax than abandon their faith. Among them were Eastern Cao and Western Cao people, as well as people of the Kang and Shi states.

Historically these peoples were in fact deeply connected with the Central Plains. Not to mention that the Guiyi Army's territory held great numbers of Kang and Shi people, Cao Yijin's family itself had intermarried with the Western Cao people.

In truth, even in places like Yunzhong and Daibei in the Central Plains there were large numbers of Sogdians of the Nine Zhaowu Clans, with the Kang and Shi surnames the most numerous.

From the Later Tang and Later Jin all the way to the early Northern Song, these places even developed a peculiar ethnic hierarchy of contempt.

At this time, of the three Daibei divisions of the the the Shatuo, only one was made up of true the the Shatuo; the rest were Sogdians surnamed Kang, Shi, and the like, whom contemporaries called false the the Shatuo.

Even when a false the the Shatuo rose to high office, he still felt a kind of ethnic inferiority before the true the the Shatuo.

The most famous example was none other than Kang Fu. A grand figure who was a founding marquis of the Later Tang and held the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi in the Later Jin, he actually envied a mere case-review official under his command.

This was because the the the Shatuo case-review official's ancestral home was Jincheng in Longyou, the birthplace of Li Keyong's grandfather Zhuxie Zhiyi. Kang Fu therefore envied him greatly, believing that he was a true the the Shatuo while he himself was a false the the Shatuo, and that his family standing fell far short of the other man's.

Damn it all — a pack of barbarians, and they actually go on about family pedigree. Truly a wonder of the ages.

Of course, there were also barbarians whom Kang Fu looked down on — namely the Xi and the Khitan beyond Daibei.

When Kang Fu was serving as Military Governor of Qinzhou, he once fell ill, and all the aides under his command came to inquire after his health.

Kang Fu, wrapped in a brocade quilt, sat up in bed to receive them. After they came out, one aide said to a companion with a laugh, "The brocade quilt is torn."

Originally this was only a joke, but Kang Fu, whose learning was not deep, misunderstood it. In a fury he summoned back the aide who had spoken and subjected him to a torrent of abuse.

"Though I was born beyond the frontier, I am a man of Tang. How dare you call me a rotten Xi?"

Who would have thought it — the Khitan and the Xi, whom decades later my Great Song would regard as a formidable power north of the frontier, were at this time of extremely low status, looked down upon even by the Sogdians of the Nine Zhaowu Clans.

The warriors of the Five Dynasties may have been rotten, but their martial prowess and ethnic self-confidence were still overflowing. When Yelu Deguang marched south into the Central Plains, he was repeatedly beaten in great defeats, and there is even a record of him fleeing alone on a racing camel.

The Camel God of War and the Donkey-Cart God of War — two great men of the same age, one echoing the other.

All in all, the influence of the Sogdian Nine Zhaowu Clans as a group on the Han people was in fact very great.

Among later Han surnames such as Kang, Shi, Bai, Shi, and Mi, there is a great deal of Sogdian blood. The Kang surname in particular — historically more than half of all famous people surnamed Kang basically have the shadow of the Sogdian Kang behind them.

At the same time, just as Li Keyong's family swept the three divisions of Daibei south into the Central Plains, so too the rise of Great King Zhang would likely see large numbers of Sogdians taking part.

Only, the Li family relied on the Kang-surnamed Sogdians, while Great King Zhang had locked in with the Cao-surnamed Sogdians.

His principal wife Cao Yanxi, as well as Lady Cao Sanniang's great-grandmother, was a Sogdian woman of the Western Cao. Queen Cao Yanmian of Saktu, seized at Shule, was a woman of the Eastern Cao.

And here in these Red Sands, those serving as his guides were directly Eastern Cao and Western Cao people, and their leaders had more than once expressed to Zhang Zhao their wish to return east with Great King Zhang.

Of course they were willing to return east. Cao Yijin's family, intermarried with the Sogdian Cao state, had already seized the great power of the Guiyi Army, and there would be no religious poll tax there.

Besides, Great King Zhang had married a whole string of Sogdian Cao women. In their eyes, Zhang Zhao was unquestionably one of their own. Their own man was the Great King, so of course they would follow him to a better life.

Six days and seven nights, traveling by night and resting by day, after a long trek of nearly two hundred li, Zhang Zhao personally leading seven thousand elite soldiers was at last about to emerge from these Red Sands.

Of these seven thousand elite troops, four thousand were mounted heavy infantry, another eight hundred were heavy cavalry with both men and horses armored, and two thousand were elite light cavalry.

Another two hundred were Zhang Zhao's personal guards — the Hanshan Capital armored warriors used as the hammer of assault — and in addition there were several hundred Eastern Cao and Western Cao guides.

The seven thousand-odd men averaged three warhorses each, plus over a hundred camels. Even though they had set out carrying great quantities of wine mixed with purified water, the journey had still worn them out badly.

"Great King, about fifteen li ahead there is a village of our Eastern Cao people, but they converted to Islam long ago. I beg the Great King to send two brave men to go with me and take a look. If we can persuade them, we will have a place to rest."

This young Sogdian was the very fellow who had spent the past several days carrying a waterskin and currying favor with Zhang Zhao. He was fifteen this year, and by seniority he was a nephew of Cao Yanmian of the Cao clan.

The little fellow understood things well! Why did he come to Zhang Zhao asking for a few brave men to go with him? Was it not precisely so that Zhang Zhao would not doubt him?

Along the way Zhang Zhao had also discovered that, although the boy had never been to school, he was a very fine veterinarian. Whether caring for warhorses or camels, his experience was extremely rich.

Considering his age, he could not possibly have had the chance to accumulate much experience, so this ought to be put down to natural talent.

"Would you be willing to take me as your foster father?" This was a talent, and one with a small connection to himself besides. Zhang Zhao decided to secure him on the spot!

The little fellow abruptly raised his head and looked at Zhang Zhao, his eyes blazing with fervent light, every inch of his face radiating shock and joy.

"Your child Huidog pays respects to Father!" Huidog dropped to his knees before Zhang Zhao with a thud and knocked his head against the ground with loud bangs.

Yan Jin looked on at Huidog with unconcealed envy and said to Zhang Zhao, "Congratulations to the Great King on gaining a foster son. Huidog lost his parents early, but he is quick-witted and clever, quite skilled at riding, archery, and horse-raising. To be taken as a foster son by the Great King — he will surely be a fierce general of our army in days to come!"

The people around all came over one after another to congratulate Zhang Zhao, though of course even more of the congratulations were directed at Huidog, still on the ground, weeping with joy.

For although Great King Zhang had formed the youth army jokingly called the Foster Sons Army, that was only a joke. Zhang Zhao acknowledged them only as his students, not as foster sons. This Huidog was the first foster son Great King Zhang had ever taken.

"Get up! From now on you will follow me and take the surname Zhang, entered into my Zhang family genealogy. The name Huidog of course can no longer be used. You shall be called Zhang Liecheng!"

Zhang Zhao's family was descended from the Longshe Zhang clan, a branch of the Zhang family of Nanyang. For the past few generations their generational names had followed the sequence Yi, Huai, Yan, Zhao, Lie, Zhong, Zhen, Shi, Ze, Chuan.

Only, by the time of Zhang Zhao's father's generation, after his father Zhang Chengfeng proclaimed himself the White-Clad Son of Heaven, this sequence had fallen out of use. Zhang Zhao now happened to put it to use.

"Liecheng kowtows in thanks to Foster Father for bestowing this name! From now on, through fire and water, I swear to follow you unto death!" Having received the name from Zhang Zhao, Huidog, who had just stood up, knelt down again and made to kowtow once more.

Zhang Zhao hurriedly stopped him. "No more kowtowing. Take more men with you. Explain the great cause to them and entice them with profit. If they still refuse, then have a good talk with them about reason!"

Zhang Zhao deliberately stressed the words "talk about reason." Zhang Liecheng nodded heavily, and a crafty gleam shot from his eyes. Clearly he understood exactly how to talk about reason.

While Zhang Zhao was taking a foster son, Nasr II, the Emir of Samanid Persia, was considering how to deal with his own son.

Once one sits upon the throne of an emperor, all family affection, friendship, and love must be cast aside.

Among the several hundred monarchs over thousands of years of Chinese history, soft-hearted good men like the Hongzhi Emperor are rare indeed. Persia was the same — struggles involving imperial power were always exceedingly cruel.

In Nasr II's younger days, the clever and healthy Prince Hamid had been his favorite son.

Otherwise he would not have been willing, after defeating his own brother to become Emir, to give Prince Hamid the key post of Grand Salar, which held military power over the capital.

But as he grew older — especially since, despite his advancing years, his body remained healthy — his son Prince Hamid, now in his forties, gradually changed from a safeguard of imperial power into its greatest threat.

Which group of people most wants to enjoy life? Without a doubt, the elderly.

Because people of that age no longer have the energy of youth, their bodies will not allow them to scale new heights, and at the same time, faced with the passage of time, the anxiety of living one day less with each passing day steadily intensifies.

When confronted by young people brimming with vitality around them, they are filled with a pressing sense that their years are fading and their time is running short.

In such circumstances — especially for those who hold great power — family affairs, state affairs, and the affairs of the world are no longer what they pursue.

How to savor the sweetness of the mortal world once more in their limited time, or even achieve immortality — that is what matters most.

Of course, there is also the fact that after growing old and frail, with limited energy and no longer able to control everything, the fear of losing power also steadily deepens.

This is also the reason why no matter how brilliant and mighty an emperor may be, once he grows old, he often becomes muddled and foolish.

Whether it is an emperor for the ages like Emperor Wu of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang, or quite famous rulers like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang or Kang Mazi, as the years wear on, muddle-headedness becomes the norm — only the degree differs from person to person.

Nasr II was a typical case of this. In his youth he had worked diligently to govern, and under his hand Samanid Persia reached its zenith.

But as his age gradually increased, the four-piece set of extravagance, lust for women, volatile moods, and vainglorious ambition all came together at once.

Right now he simply wants to enjoy himself, wants to get money, wants to hold steady the power in his hands — and Prince Hamid, already too big to be easily dealt with, had become in his mind an unstable factor threatening royal authority.

Prince Hamid felt the same way: his father Nasr II had likewise gone from being a good father to a terrifying existence that could take his life at any moment.

The father-son showdown in Samanid Persia was about to begin!

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