Chapter 75: The Han Spirit of the Western Regions: The Kingdom of Khotan

In early 932, the third year of Changxing under the Later Tang and the twentieth year of the Great Treasure Great Sage Son of Heaven of Khotan, Zhang Zhao, after three and a half months of arduous travel, finally arrived at Khotan City, the capital of the Golden Kingdom of Khotan.

Khotan City, which in later ages would be Hotan, was at this time better than in the later Ming and Qing periods in both climate and vegetation, mainly because some of the oases and marshes that could regulate the ecology had not yet been destroyed or disappeared.

As Zhang Zhao looked up, Khotan City spread out vast before him, with the Green Jade River (the Karakash River) and the White Jade River (the Yurungkash River) rising from the Kunlun Mountains.

Like the Kunlun Mountains stretching out two arms, they held this most beautiful emerald of southern Xinjiang in their palms.

Between them, the Niya River, the Black Jade River (the Keriya River), and other streams also flowed through.

Thanks to such abundant water sources, the moat of Khotan City was absolutely second to none in the Western Regions, at least three or four meters wide and five or six meters deep, and with walls about three or four meters high and specially built barbicans, its defenses were extremely complete.

Looking at these entirely Chinese-style city defenses and gate towers, if he had not been told this was the Western Regions ten thousand li away, Zhang Zhao would certainly have thought he was in the Central Plains.

"I, Ma Furong, Honorary Grand Commandant of the Great Treasure Golden Kingdom and Administrative Assistant of Anjun Prefecture, have been ordered to welcome the envoy of the Guiyi Army of the Great Tang of the Eastern Kingdom!"

Zhang Zhao and his party stopped three li outside Khotan City, because they were an envoy delegation of the Guiyi Army, and by custom, as the Guiyi Army's hereditary in-laws, the Kingdom of Khotan was to send a high minister to welcome them as a sign of respect.

At this moment, Zhang Zhao could only stand to the side; Fan Running, who had merely been assisting him along the way, now stepped forward, for he was the Guiyi Army's envoy, while Zhang Zhao had come to Khotan to seek refuge with relatives.

Zhang Zhao had heard something of this Ma Furong; back when Zhang Zhao's legal mother, Princess Fengtian, had married his father Zhang Chengfeng, the escorting envoy had been Ma Furong's father, Ma Yuan.

And Ma Furong's younger brother, Ma Jirong, was even more famous in history; he had been sent by Li Shengtian to Luoyang to pay homage to the Later Jin, which then ruled the Central Plains.

"A surviving subject of the Great Tang, sixth-generation descendant of Ma Zhongliang, Legal Affairs Adjutant of the Anxi Protectorate, Ma Furong, pays respects to the Duke of Nanyang Commandery of the Great Tang, the Grand Guardian, and Military Governor of the Guiyi Army, Commander Zhang Yichao!"

Zhang Zhao had been standing to the side watching, observing Ma Furong and Fan Running exchange the formal pleasantries of friendship between the two states.

But to his surprise, after Ma Furong and Fan Running had exchanged a few words, he came directly over to Zhang Zhao, and he was not merely saying he paid respects — he actually prostrated himself.

To be honest, I, the transmigrator Zhang, having crossed over, am even more like a scion of a great clan of this era than the original Zhang Zhao.

But faced with Ma Furong's sudden grand prostration, he suddenly found he did not know what ceremony to use in return.

Zhang Zhao hesitated, about to step aside, when Zhang Zhong suddenly tugged at the hem of his robe. Following Zhang Zhong's gaze, Zhang Zhao realized that Ma Furong was not bowing to him, but to a great banner bearing the character Zhang behind Zhang Zhao.

Damn! Only then did Zhang Zhao realize that this "divine man" Zhang Zhong had stirred up trouble for him again!

It turned out that Zhang Zhong had erected two great banners in front of the six yak-tail standards, gate banners, and signal pennants that symbolized the Military Governor of the Guiyi Army.

One he held himself, a great Zhang-character banner symbolizing Zhang Yichao, Duke of Nanyang Commandery and commander of the Guiyi Army.

The other was held by Fan Shun, the Zhang clan's Sun-Moon-Stars Three Luminaries Banner of the Guiyi Army, passed down from Zhang Yichao's era and once used by Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Huading.

Well now! This was the guest usurping the host's place. It seemed Zhang Zhong's resentment toward the Cao family — or rather, outright hatred — was considerable indeed.

No sooner had they left Dunhuang than he had come out to contend with the Cao family over the legitimacy of the Guiyi Army.

Fan Running's lips quivered several times, and finally he glanced at Zhang Zhao, but in the end said nothing.

Zhang Zhao's eye twitched as well. He did not look at Zhang Zhong, but instead glared fiercely at Fan Shun, staring until the man broke out in a cold sweat.

"Grand Commandant Ma, please rise! This young one greets the Grand Commandant. I am of shallow learning and still young, and on my first long journey, I can only borrow the prestige of my ancestors to give myself some standing!"

Ma Furong was bowing to Zhang Yichao, not to him, so Zhang Zhao could only wait until Ma Furong had finished his prostration, then quickly step forward from the side to help him up, while taking the matter upon himself in his words.

This Ma Furong looked to be well over forty, and was a trusted confidant of Li Shengtian; he absolutely must not offend the man before he had even begun to make his way in Khotan.

"What is the young lord saying? The Grand Guardian was the great benefactor of us sons of Tang in Hexi and Anxi. To be able to bow today before the Grand Guardian's six yak-tail standards and the Military Governor's staff of office is my good fortune!"

Zhang Zhao looked at Ma Furong in surprise, for he could not tell that Ma Furong was speaking falsely; it seemed very much like words from the heart.

"The young lord may not know this, but when I say the Grand Guardian was the great benefactor of the sons of Tang in Anxi, I am by no means exaggerating.

Back then, had the Grand Guardian not raised the banner of righteousness in Shazhou and cut off the Tibetans' line of retreat from Khotan, how could the former king have so quickly driven out the Tibetan bronze-lettered Dongdai garrisons in Khotan? How could we lost sons of Tang in Anxi ever have washed away the shame of being slaves to the Tibetans!"

"So that is how it is! Many thanks to the Grand Commandant for enlightening this young one!" Zhang Zhao nodded as he looked at this high official of Khotan, who was entirely Han in appearance and spoke Chinese with perfect fluency.

His claim to be a surviving subject of the Great Tang, descended from a Legal Affairs Adjutant under the Grand Protector-General of Anxi, appeared to be true after all.

And this also gave Zhang Zhao a hint: Zhang Yichao's uprising in Guazhou and Shazhou to drive out the Tibetans and restore the six commanderies of Hexi had not been an isolated action.

It was closely linked with the Tang army's defeat in Longyou of the Tibetan power-holder Lun Kongre, the Pacification Commissioner of Luomenchuan, and with the subsequent restoration of Khotan.

It had begun when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, known as the "Little Taizong," in the early Dazhong years led a somewhat recovered Great Tang court to defeat Lun Kongre and recover the three prefectures and seven passes.

Under the Tang court's powerful blows, the already fractured Tibetans could no longer maintain their dominance over all of Hexi and Anxi, and only then did Zhang Yichao's restoration of the six commanderies become possible.

And it was only because Zhang Yichao restored the six commanderies of Hexi and cut off the Tibetans' line of retreat in Anxi that the Yuchi family was finally able to drive out the Tibetans and restore their kingdom.

This can be seen from the timeline: in 847, the Tang dynasty recovered the three prefectures of Yuan, Le, and Qin in Longyou.

In 848, Zhang Yichao successfully raised the banner of righteousness in Shazhou and went on to recover Guazhou, Suzhou, and Ganzhou.

And just two years later, in 850, the King of Khotan, Yuchi Nanta, led the people of Khotan to drive out the Tibetans and successfully restore the kingdom.

No wonder that in history Khotan and the Guiyi Army intermarried for generations and were as close as if they shared one pair of trousers.

And no wonder that when Zhang Zhong brought out the six yak-tail standards and the staff of office from Zhang Yichao's era, Ma Furong, as a high official of Khotan, was willing to kowtow to a nineteen-year-old green youth like Zhang Zhao.

All of this was still the lingering blessing of Zhang Yichao from more than seventy years ago, sheltering his descendants!

"Young lord! Please enter the city with me! The surviving subjects of the Great Tang in Khotan City all wish to see the bearing of the Grand Guardian's descendants and our Great Tang warriors!"

Zhang Zhao nodded. The reason he had taken three months to reach Khotan City was, first, to wait in Yuechang (Qiemo) for Yan Jin and the others to catch up.

And even more so, to repair the armor and other equipment damaged in the bloody battle at Wuni City, so as to present the best possible appearance to the sons of Tang in Anxi, who had not seen anyone from their homeland in decades.

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