Chapter 226: A New Chapter in the Graveyard of Empires

Xiliuzhou — take that name on its own, and many people would instinctively assume it was in Guangxi, or even that it was Liuzhou itself.

But in fact it was not. This was a military prefecture established by the Great Tang in the region of present-day Afghanistan. Xiliuzhou belonged to the Tiaozhi Protectorate, and its prefectural seat was called Huwen City, located at what is today Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.

When the name Kabul came to mind, Zhang Zhao sighed for a long while. After he arrived at Huwen City, he felt an even more indescribable mix of emotions.

Because Huwen City was clearly built in the Tang style of fortification used in Transoxiana — rammed-earth walls with Chinese-style gate towers. Inside the city there were still several dozen residential houses that had not been completely destroyed, also built in the Chinese courtyard layout.

The great river passing north of the city — the later Kabul River — was still called the Xiliu River by the local people, in their strange accent.

When the great army entered the city, the inhabitants here still knew of their "people of Taohuashi."

The trembling city lord even made a point of leading Zhang Zhao before a tall, half-collapsed rammed-earth building and telling him that this was the City of the Tang King, and that long ago a man of Taohuashi had once ruled as king here.

Huwen City had originally been part of the Silk Road in those days, controlling the trade route from Transoxiana into India.

But after the An Lushan Rebellion, merchants traveling to India gradually ceased coming, and Huwen City went from being a flourishing trade hub to a remote little frontier town shut away in a highland river valley.

Unlike Bukhara and Samarkand, which still lay on trade nodes, they could not receive much information from the outside world.

The people here did not even know that the Great Tang no longer existed. Their impression of the outside world was still preserved from the time of their ancestors.

So much so that Zhang Zhao did not know whether he should be glad or sad. All the way here, he had encountered almost no resistance, because many of the people here still felt an inexplicable familiarity with that Taohuashi passed down by word of mouth from their ancestors — yet everything had already changed beyond recognition.

But just as Zhang Zhao, carrying a faint sense of mourning and wistful remembrance, looked around at his surroundings, Guo Tiance slowly sidled over.

"Great King, there should be no City of the Tang King here. Back then this was only a loose-rein prefecture, and they submitted to the court only after the Arabs pressed east and forced them to convert."

"Back then it took us enormous effort just to keep the states of the Nine Zhaowu Clans under control. It would have been impossible to send people to rule this place."

"But these buildings look like Central Plains style!"

Zhang Zhao also felt that no matter how powerful the Great Tang had been, Afghanistan was simply too far from the Central Plains; it could not have actually controlled this place.

Yet some of the buildings in Huwen City truly bore witness to the Great Tang's presence.

"These were probably built by the descendants of Peroz, King of Sasanian Persia, who brought Han craftsmen from Transoxiana."

"The remnants of Sasanian Persia once received titles and support from the court. They raised the Great Tang's banner here and fought against the Umayyads."

Fine. Only a little over two hundred years had passed, and already accounts were wildly conflicting.

More than a thousand years later, figuring out whether the Tiaozhi Protectorate and the Persia Protectorate that the Great Tang established in Afghanistan were ever truly under actual control would be even more impossible.

But fortunately, he, Zhang Zhao, had now come here. There was still a chance for everything.

"Make camp, and bring Prince Sadi to me!"

At that thought, Zhang Zhao's ambition surged. Whether or not the Great Tang had ever truly controlled this place — if I do it myself, won't that settle it?

After all these days! Prince Sadi finally felt that his little life was safe.

It had been almost two months since Eid al-Fitr, and those two months had been nothing short of a nightmare for him.

He had returned to Bukhara full of joy, believing he would soon become crown prince, only to be forced by his father, Nasr II, to kill his elder brother Hamid.

Then he himself had conceived the idea of killing his father too and becoming Emir — and in the end he had been thrown into a mass grave by the followers of his elder brother, Prince Hamid.

That had truly been despair. Prince Sadi could still remember the hellish wailing and shrieking around him.

In the vast mass grave, the Herat ghulams he had brought with him, the guards of the Ark Citadel — officers and soldiers alike — had all been shoved into the pit.

Earth filled the sky as if poured down from the heavens. An officer beside him wailed with his mouth wide open, endlessly shoveling the falling earth into his mouth.

As if that could keep the earth from filling the mass grave. Several guards who tried to climb out were simply stabbed to death in the pit.

Sadi himself had gone mad like the others, imitating them, opening his mouth wide and swallowing the falling earth into his belly. Even after he was dragged out, his mouth was still gulping.

"Sadi, come out! The Great King wants to see you!"

Clang. The door was pushed open, and a mighty, nearly bald giant of a man stood in the doorway, beckoning to him and shouting.

Sadi showed not the slightest displeasure at being addressed so directly by name. Instead, his face burst forth with boundless ingratiation, though there was also a trace of gratitude in it.

Because he had been pulled out of the mass grave by this giant called Manxiong. That feeling of being saved from hell was something Sadi would never forget for the rest of his life.

Passing through street after street, Sadi saw Zhang Zhao, busy at work.

He did not know what this young yet awe-inspiring Gur-khan wanted him to do, but Sadi understood that he had no choice.

Even if the Gur-khan now told him to eat shit, he would have to eat it — and not just eat it, but savor the flavor.

"Prince Sadi, come here!" Zhang Zhao, having finished arranging the next few days' schedule, beckoned to Sadi, motioning for him to come closer.

"Great Khan of Khans, there is no Prince Sadi here — only your loyal servant Sadi!" Prince Sadi nimbly dropped to both knees and then shuffled forward on them.

Damn! Zhang Zhao was taken aback. People nowadays were too shrewd — the fellow had robbed him of any chance to put on a show of force.

"Ahem!" Zhang Zhao could only cough twice dryly, then waved a hand at Guo Tiance.

"Have Ma Shacai bring the people in. It's time for them to meet."

Prince Sadi turned his head in surprise toward the doorway. A few minutes later, a beautiful woman with tears glistening in her eyes appeared at the door, leading three children as pretty as carved jade.

Prince Sadi's tears burst forth in an instant. This was his lawful wife and his children.

"Great Khan, Your Majesty! Sadi kowtows in thanks for your immense grace! Wuwuwu!"

Zhang Zhao watched for a few moments as Sadi knocked his head against the ground with loud thuds, then had Fan Shun beside him help the man to his feet.

Whether this was genuine emotion or an act, Zhang Zhao did not much care. He only wanted to find an opponent for Hamid, further weaken the Samanid Persians, and make it easier for himself to plunder India.

"I hear this is the princess consort's homeland. Is there anyone here familiar with the route to India?"

The place Zhang Zhao wanted to ask about was the Khyber Pass, but he did not know whether it still went by that name now.

In fact, Zhang Zhao had a rough idea of the Khyber Pass. After all, in his later life he had been a fan of full-contact armored combat and a Paradox player who liked conquering territory in games.

He knew that the Khyber Pass was actually a stretch of river-valley road following the Xiliu River (the Kabul River) from Kabul all the way to what would later be *** Fort in Pakistan, but he was not very clear on the specifics.

Because thirty years ago, Kabul had still been part of the Hindu Shahi dynasty that now ruled the Indus River region. Zhang Zhao was not sure whether the Khyber Pass was still defended now, or what condition the road was in.

"This slave's homeland is precisely here, and my family also has a caravan with some connections to India!"

When Queen Sadi heard Zhang Zhao's question, she hastily prostrated herself on the ground and answered.

Zhang Zhao nodded, then pointed at Rashid Salman, the Deputy Troop Commander of the Shunyi Left Army, standing beside him, and spoke to Prince Sadi.

"Allow me to introduce the prince to this man — he was the former garrison commander of Juzhanti, and is now my Deputy Troop Commander, General Rashid Salaiman. By my order, he will be stationed to hold this place.

However, General Salaiman is a military man after all, so local administrative affairs will still need a capable person to take charge.

And if that capable person can win my trust, General Salaiman will assist him in establishing a kingdom here to rule over Huwen City, as a vassal of the Great Jin Kingdom."

Prince Sadi understood at once — the Juer Khan wanted to establish a state here!

And it looked as though he was to be made the ruler of this vassal kingdom. To go from a corpse in a mass grave to the lord of a nation — of course Prince Sadi was willing!

Behind him, Queen Sadi's eyes lit up as well. This was her homeland. If Prince Sadi could become king here, what could be better than that?

"Great Khan, Your Majesty! Sadi shall forever be your slave, forever loyal to you!"

Overjoyed, Prince Sadi kowtowed on the ground again, and looked as though he was about to come over and kiss Zhang Zhao's shoes.

Zhang Zhao hastily stood up. This revolting etiquette was something he truly could not accept.

"Then my first requirement is this: someone must scout out for me the road from here to the Hindu Shahi dynasty in India, and find out the specific situation of the Hindu Shahi dynasty!"

"I respectfully obey the Great Khan's command. Sadi will see to it at once!" Prince Sadi did not hesitate in the slightest. As for the matter of being a vassal, of whether he would be a dog or not — such questions never entered his consideration.

As long as he could remain rich and honored, he was satisfied. Besides, the Juer Khan could not possibly stay in Huwen City for long, and even with Rashid Salaiman present, it would simply be a matter of one holding the senior post and the other the deputy post.

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