Chapter 885: How to Divide the World (Part One)

Zhang Zhao was already fifty-one this year, while Bai Congxin was about eight years older than Zhang Zhao, with just over a month to go before he turned sixty.

Time had left its indelible mark, without mercy, upon the face of this great general of the founding faction.

Since ancient times, famed generals have been like famed beauties — the world will not allow them to be seen with white hair.

Bai Congxin had followed Zhang Zhao through campaigns north and south in the first half of his life, and now, nearing sixty, he was still fighting here ten thousand li from home for the sake of his descendants.

Though his hair had whitened, his ambition had not faded — he could well be called an old steed in the stable, though the phrase carried a touch of sorrow with it.

So when he received a letter from the Great King of Anguo, Zhang Xianyu, asking him to come to Tianmen Pass for a meeting, Bai Congxin felt rather desolate at heart.

Zhang Xianyu had written very courteously, addressing him as uncle and using phrases like "your nephew respectfully invites," but that could not change the fact that Zhang Xianyu was about to become first among the kings of the Hezhong region, nor the awkward predicament of the Zheng domain falling back into the "cage."

For a moment, Bai Congxin even began to doubt whether his insistence on returning to Anxi and Hezhong to found a state had been right or wrong.

Was the Bai clan's state, which his ancestors had never ceased to yearn for, truly inferior to becoming a renowned minister and great general in the Central Plains?

In the new Zheng royal city, Bai Congxin did not set out after receiving the letter; he wanted to wait and see what plan Lu Sanlang's side would come up with.

Only after his eldest son Bai Xuanyi and second son Bai Xuanqi had come to urge him a third time did Bai Congxin slowly stir, and he could not help explaining to his two sons:

"It is not that your father is unwilling to go at once. It is that these years the Zheng domain has repeatedly encroached upon the lands of the Samanid Persians and the Jin domain. Though in total we have taken only three or four small cities, with a population of no more than ten or twenty thousand, it is still a transgression."

It seemed Bai Congxin had not yet grown senile — he still knew that what he had done was a transgression, and so he was quite full of misgivings.

"The Sage surely understands clearly in his heart the little tricks I have played. The Zheng domain bore the heavy task of pacifying the two rebels Li and Guo in the early stages, and also captured the city of Shiguo, providing the court an opportunity to intervene in Hezhong — yet now we are trapped in a tiny patch of land, unable to move.

These small liberties were in fact a way of seeking reward from the Sage, and that is why, over all these years, though there has been no shortage of impeachments, nothing has ever come of them.

But now the King of An has arrived bearing the imperial mandate with full authority, and in my heart, I truly have no confidence!"

Bai Xuanyi nodded with deep sympathy. He was most familiar with the King of Chu, Zhang Xiancun — the two were extremely close friends — but Zhang Xianyu he did not know well, so he too was very uneasy.

"The King of An is clearly about to come lead all the Xia peoples of Hezhong, yet apart from the imperial mandate he has nothing to rely on. If he wants to establish his authority, our Zheng domain is probably the most suitable target."

Father and two sons fell into silence. But before long, waves of cheering came from outside, so loud that even they, within the royal palace, could hear it clearly.

Bai Congxin quickly sent someone to find out what was happening. Before long, a guard came running in from outside, his face wild with joy, to report.

"My king, outside is a messenger from Dinghai City. He says that half a month ago, the Great King of Shu led thirty thousand tiger-and-wolf troops and, five hundred li northwest of Dinghai City, with inferior numbers struck and utterly routed the barbarian Hu.

In that battle, over thirty thousand were slain on the field, tens of thousands were taken captive, and several hundred thousand cattle and sheep were seized. The barbarian chieftain Danu Ximi was beheaded, and the northwest of the Dinghai kingdom has been pacified!"

The three Bais in the room immediately rose to their feet. After a long moment, Bai Congxin murmured:

"Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes! Back then the Sage was just this age, leading us below Polu Prefecture with two thousand foot and horse to hold firm against twenty thousand of Saktu's elite cavalry.

At the time we all thought we would surely die amid that sky-filling yellow sand. Only the Sage was certain that those fellows were no more than clay chickens and paper dogs — and so it proved.

Now the King of Shu, not yet even of age, can take thirty thousand troops of a detached army, march a hundred li a day, and shatter a hundred thousand Hu invaders. Is this not the fortune of the Zhang clan? Has Heaven's mandate truly settled upon the Central Lands?"

Bai Congxin's words plunged everyone into silence once more. But suddenly his second son Bai Xuanqi sprang to his feet and cried out in some alarm:

"The King of Shu has crushed the barbarian Hu and lifted the prairie-fire crisis of the Grand Duchy of Dinghai. Riding the momentum of his great victory he comes from Dinghai City, and the King of Song can also march out from Talas — both must pass through our Zheng domain. Father, we must go to Tianmen Pass at once."

Bai Xuanyi shook his head. "Second Brother, do not be alarmed. The King of Shu has won a great victory and already established his authority. The Bai clan has nothing to fear."

Bai Congxin nodded. "We do indeed need to go to Tianmen Pass."

Then he shook his head again. "But not because of the armies of the King of Shu or the King of Song. It is because, if even the King of Shu with his abilities can only serve as second-in-command, then the King of An truly is, as the rumors say, the one the Sage has painstakingly cultivated to resolve the predicament of us Xia peoples in Hezhong."

In fact, Bai Congxin was not the only one who thought this way. Hmm — one should say that if even Bai Congxin had such misgivings, the others were all the more timid.

After receiving Zhang Xianyu's letter, not a single person had set out, but after receiving the victory report of the King of Shu, Zhang Xiantai, almost all of them set out at once, as a group.

Tianmen Pass lay at the mouth of the Ningyuan Basin valley — the Khujand of the historical Fergana Basin — the sort of mighty pass where, once the gate was shut, the entire basin instantly became a turtle shell no one could sink their teeth into.

Zhang Xianyu's choice of this place to meet Bai Congxin and the others was deeply deliberate.

Ningyuan, easy to defend, hard to attack, and rich, was the concrete embodiment of the Central Plains court in Hezhong.

It could serve both as a solid rear support for the Xia kings of Hezhong and as a fortress that kept them from harboring disloyal thoughts.

Though each still nursed his own private calculations, this was after all a gathering of the Xia kings of Hezhong, and the scene was grand indeed — to say nothing of the fact that Zhang Xianyu was an imperial envoy bearing the staff of authority.

The soldiers and officers below did not have as many schemes in their heads as those above, so they genuinely treated this as a rare great gathering. Yellow-headed servants of Hezhong attended them, and fine dishes and fine wines from every domain were brought out in an endless stream.

The top-tier Bodhisattva dancers whom Guo Zhou'er had trained in Anxi City (Bukhara) sang and danced, flitting about like butterflies, drawing wave after wave of laughter.

The climax of the banquet was the twenty thousand Kimek, Khazar, Oghuz, and Kipchak captives presented by Zhang Xiantai.

Strange as the names of this lot sounded, they were basically all remnants of the old Turkic Khaganate, and the chieftain of the Khazar tribe among them was even a distant kinsman of the Ashina clan of the Turks.

Since the plan was Xia lords ruling over Yi commoners, defeated captives were the finest spoils of war. After Zhang Xiantai presented them, Zhang Xianyu kept two thousand for himself and gave the rest, in the name of his imperial father Zhang Zhao, to the Xia kings present.

But to Lu Zhen, Lu Sanlang, alone, none were given.

This was not because Zhang Xianyu slighted Lu Sanlang — quite the opposite, it was a choice Lu Sanlang himself had made.

Seeing the astonished gazes drifting toward him, Lu Sanlang made a full round of salutes, then said with a smile:

"Gentlemen, I have accepted the King of Shu's invitation and have already submitted a memorial to the Sage, requesting that the Grand Duchy of Dinghai be moved westward once more. Now that the Kimek, Oghuz, and other tribes are like dogs who have lost their masters, this is a perfect opportunity to win merit and build a realm.

If the Sage grants it, I, Lu Sanlang, am willing to establish a duchy between the Ya River (the Ural River) and the Antila River (the Volga River). In days to come, of captives like these, there will be as many as one could want — ha ha."

The faces of the company first showed disbelief, but after a moment, they all took on expressions of sudden understanding.

Everyone seated here — whether Hu Guang, who managed territory on behalf of his son-in-law, or the Great King of Zheng, Bai Congxin, the Great King of Jin, Li Congde, and Guo Zhou'er — knew at least something of affairs in the west.

The Ya River and the Antila River both lay on the northern shore of the Western Sea. The land between the two rivers had a suitable climate, not dry at all, and after successive development by the remnants of the Xiongnu and the remnants of the Turks, it had become quite suitable for farming.

From Shiguo City it was only about three thousand five hundred to four thousand li. For mere travel, that was indeed very far, but for moving one's domain there, it was not so distant after all.

In particular, the route was almost entirely flat, with none of the high mountains and deep valleys of Nanzhong or Qianzhong, and Lu Sanlang's Grand Duchy of Dinghai had a strongly nomadic character.

They could perfectly well send tens of thousands of foot and horse ahead to conquer the local people, then move their families over in stages across a few years to occupy the rich farmland and lush pastures.

Lu Sanlang had not made this decision on a sudden whim.

The foundation of the Grand Duchy of Dinghai was the more than four thousand herder households of the former Western Zubu people, plus the Central Plains armored soldiers Lu Sanlang had gathered in several great battles, with the defeated Oghuz as the bottom layer.

With just over a hundred thousand people spread around the Leizhu Sea, enemies in great numbers to the west and north, and the Oghuz below always stirring up trouble, rather than being run ragged as they were now, it was better to cling to a powerful patron.

Lu Sanlang had it all thought out. He would follow the King of Shu, Zhang Xiantai, further west, and once the King of Shu had built a vast realm between the Ya River (the Ural River) and the Antila River (the Volga River), he would serve as the greatest vassal under Zhang Xiantai — he was even prepared to give up the Grand Duchy of Dinghai entirely.

At this thought, Lu Sanlang glanced at Bai Congxin. This King of Zheng, the only one who was not a descendant of the Sage, and a great general of the founding faction at that, had ended up in such a miserable position — to say nothing of himself.

After all, who could be closer than one's own son?

Without the powerful backing of Sage Zhang, their good father, the rest of them could go out and rule over the Xia and Yi peoples as vassals, but to become independent lords was far too difficult.

When Zhang Xianyu heard Lu Sanlang say this, he could not help but glance at Zhang Xiantai and sigh inwardly.

Of the two beauties the heroes of Hebei had sent into the palace back then, it was instead the innocent Lady Fu, rather than Lady Gao who had already been married, who bore a child first.

After Hedong was pacified, the military merit families of the two regions, sharing the same origins, quickly drew close to one another, and all treated Zhang Xiantai as the apple of their eye. Combined with his father's doting, this nurtured in the Tenth Brother a character that was not only skilled in war but also very much his own man.

In his studies at the Dragon Strategy Academy, Zhang Xiantai had always ranked among the very best, and so he was not particularly pleased with his imperial father's arrangement to enfeoff him in Tokharistan.

To be sure, Tokharistan was a fine place: to the northwest it could threaten Transoxiana, to the southwest it could command Persia, and eastward one could descend upon India. Perched atop the mountains, one could come storming down to thrash whomever one disliked.

But Zhang Xiantai was not willing. He was not willing to go burrow into mountain gullies in Tokharistan. His ideal was to mount a tall, fine horse, lead a hundred thousand lions, and ride ever westward to flog the barbarians of the farthest west.

To make castle after castle and barbarian king after barbarian king tremble beneath his horsewhip, to have them queue up even to kiss his boots — that was what a real man ought to do!

"The Tenth Brother has clearly already made his choice. You wish to emulate Attila, last king of the Huns, and become the Scourge of God who lashes the western barbarians. Then your elder brother will submit a memorial together with you."

The moment Zhang Xianyu heard Lu Sanlang utter the name of the Attila River, he knew Zhang Xiantai's ambition, because their imperial father had once told them a story at the Dragon Strategy Academy.

It was said that after the Northern Xiongnu, utterly defeated by Dou Gu and Dou Xian, fled westward, their descendants intermingled with the local barbarians along the shores of the Western Sea, forming a new Xiongnu tribe that carried a measure of Northern Xiongnu noble blood.

Attila Khan of this tribe ultimately conquered dozens of barbarian tribes and kingdoms in the farthest west, and even once brought Great Qin to heel beneath his iron hooves, earning from the western barbarians the title Scourge of God.

This was the most popular story at the Dragon Strategy Academy, the one the students loved best. There was even a play at the academy about Khagan Attila's western campaigns.

And the one who could play Khagan Attila in the play had to be the finest student in the Dragon Strategy Academy.

The students overlooked the fact that Zhang Zhao had never explicitly confirmed any direct connection between the new Xiongnu of the Western Sea and the Northern Xiongnu. What they wholly immersed themselves in was this: the Xiongnu whom the Great Han had sent fleeing in utter disarray had actually become the Scourge of God to the western barbarians of the farthest west.

And the Attila River — the Volga — was where Khagan Attila had grown up. In the old Xiongnu or Turkic tongues, a literal translation was "the land of the father," which could be rendered as "homeland" or "land of the ancestors."

After explaining this joke to everyone, Zhang Xianyu said with a smile to Zhang Xiantai, "My Tenth Brother has the aspirations of a roc — he shall be the Scourge of God of a new generation!"

Zhang Xiantai rose to his full height, clasped his hands, and declared with boundless pride, "This so-called Scourge of God was but a remnant of the Xiongnu. How could he compare to the might of our Great Zhou Han armies? Those western barbarians are utterly ignorant — how would they know where the true God is?

I have heard that the Great Qin which Attila attacked in former years still stands, and that Constantinople is the richest and mightiest city of the farthest west. I truly would like to go and see it for myself."

Well now, this was no easy task. One must know that the Byzantine emperor who had just ascended the throne at this time was the cuckold king renowned through the ages, the ultimate doormat, the White Death of the Saracens who sent pure-love warriors collapsing to the ground — the great military strategist Nikephoros II.

Even the John I who followed him, and Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer, were also famous soldier-emperors.

A new-generation Huo Qubing-style royal commander of the Great Zhou, meeting three generations of Byzantine soldier-emperors — that would truly be a fierce struggle between dragon and tiger.

Of course, none of those present — not even the transmigrator Zhang Zhao — were very clear on these matters, so the betting at the banquet continued.

If even Lu Sanlang could sense that one could not obtain large resources without being Sage Zhang's own son, how could Bai Congxin not know it?

He mulled it over briefly and suddenly realized: with Lu Sanlang's Grand Duchy of Dinghai gone, the problem of the Zheng fief being hemmed in on all sides was solved at a stroke.

Though going west was fraught with difficulties, it was still better than having a hero's talents with no field to use them. So Bai Congxin clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

"How can a hero like the King of Shu lack brave men to follow in his wake? My fourth son Xuande and fifth son Xuanzhao are skilled in bow and horse. I am willing to send one hundred elite riders, one hundred swift riders, and three hundred horse archers to accompany the Great King on his western campaign."

Old Bai still knew how to do business. The problem in the Zheng fief now was that there were too many masters: the more than one hundred thousand Han armored soldiers and steppe warriors he had recruited had to be supported by fewer than five hundred thousand locals — too heavy a burden.

As long as Zhang Xiantai was willing to go west, he was happy to shed the burden. He could also provide money and grain, buy a portion of the Grand Duchy of Dinghai's territory from Lu Sanlang, and then push north to conquer the Kimeks.

Therefore, he wanted to place a great wager on the King of Shu, Zhang Xiantai, so that the Emperor would see his intent and then agree to his annexing a portion of the Grand Duchy of Dinghai's territory.

Having said this, Bai Congxin glanced at Lu Sanlang and raised his white jade wine cup toward him.

Lu Sanlang had been mixing with Bai Congxin for over a decade, so of course he instantly understood Bai Congxin's meaning. At once he grinned and called out to Bai Congxin in a jesting tone:

"King of Zheng, I hear your fourth daughter is a rare beauty in the Zheng fief, exquisitely charming, and the King of Shu is a hero of the new generation. Why not become in-laws, father and son-in-law?"

Bai Congxin's fourth daughter was born of a Sogdian concubine of his. Though she was exceptionally beautiful, the Bai clan itself was of Tokharian stock, and if the mother was Sogdian on top of that, it became a bit awkward.

Generally speaking, a beautiful daughter with no Han blood at all like this was born for only one use: to be married off level as a concubine or married down to win over a man of talent.

That was why Bai Congxin did not care whether Bai Siniang became the principal consort, because to truly demand that would not be forming a marriage alliance — it would be an insult.

When Bai Congxin heard Lu Sanlang speak thus, he stroked his beard and chuckled without saying a word. His eldest son Bai Xuanyi at once shook his head with a smile beside him.

"My little sister was born in the border wilds and does not know proper rites. How could she be worthy of His Highness the King of Shu?"

But though the words were spoken thus, the Bai father and sons still looked toward Zhang Xiantai. The claim of being born in the border wilds and not knowing proper rites was clearly mere self-deprecation.

Zhang Xiantai's mind raced. If he could marry Bai Congxin's daughter, then Ningyuan's supplies could be shipped along the Yaxartes to the Aral Sea.

And once at the Aral Sea, the nearest point to the Caspian Sea was less than a thousand li away.

But that was not yet the killing stroke. The killing stroke was the ancient Uzboy riverbed.

This was an ancient river course, long dried up, of which only the channel now remained.

Several thousand years ago, the Oxus had once flowed into the Caspian Sea rather than the Aral Sea.

Even after it began flowing into the Aral Sea, the Aral Sea, because of its excessive water volume, had intermittently back-flowed through the Uzboy into the Caspian Sea.

This was the greatest secret Zhang Zhao had given Zhang Xianyu, and it was also the future killing stroke.

Once Zhang Zhou's power had gained a firm foothold on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, they would only need to dig a canal of a few dozen kilometers to bring the Oxus back into the Caspian Sea.

In this way, Zhang Zhou's power could rapidly enter the Caspian coast, and by establishing a Caspian fleet, could easily control the Caucasus Mountains and northern Iran. This would save several thousand kilometers of supply transport costs.

By then, even Byzantium, Syria, and Egypt would face the direct threat of the Han armies.

So now, having Bai Congxin and Zhang Xiantai become father-in-law and son-in-law, controlling the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, first crushing the barbarians on the northern shore of the Caspian to establish a stable base,

then pushing southward through the Caspian to establish strongholds and provide ample supply for the Arabs and Bactria — it was simply too perfect.

Zhang Xiantai had been watching Zhang Xianyu's movements the whole time. Once this elder brother whom he greatly admired gave a slight nod, Zhang Xiantai immediately stepped forward, gave Bai Congxin a solemn bow, and said in a clear voice:

"This young man is newly arrived. To receive your esteemed favor, Uncle, fills me with awe and trepidation. If I may have Siniang by my side, I shall treat her with the honor of a Liangti."

The Bai father and sons were all overjoyed. Now, with the Emperor's permission, the rear palaces of Zhang Zhou's outer vassal kings were arranged on the Crown Prince's establishment: below the principal consort there were two Liangti and six Liangyuan.

Within a vassal state, a Liangti was equivalent in status to an imperial consort at court, so the Bai father and sons were extremely satisfied.

Seeing Bai Congxin place his wager, the rest of those present all had to follow with a token gift.

A gleam of light flashed in Zhang Xianyu's eyes. He seemed to know how to resolve the Transoxiana problem. At once he stopped the others from their pointless additional wagers, and immediately dismissed all the servants, leaving only the vassals of lord rank and above.

A huge map was hung before all the Xia lords of Transoxiana. At that moment, Zhang Xianyu seemed as though his father Zhang Zhao had possessed his body. Pointing to the location of the ancient Uzboy river course, he said:

"If this river could be made to flow again, then our money, grain, weapons, and other supplies, even troops and horses, could be transported at minimal cost to the lands north of Persia near the Caspian Sea.

If we could then take Rayy — Tehran — and make it our foothold in Persia, then there would be nowhere in the world we could not go."

"Gentlemen, the Arab Empire alone is a great nation of thirty million people. Take a single bite and your mouth is full of grease — to say nothing of the Roman Empire."

The place Zhang Xianyu pointed to was Sari and the surrounding lands along the coast of what later generations would call the Caspian Sea. From there to Rayy (Tehran) only three hundred li remained.

But if one began transporting overland from the royal city of Xinzheng, even a straight-line route ignoring terrain would be three thousand three hundred li.

"Enough, more than enough!" Bai Congxin murmured. "Never mind swallowing the Arab Empire and Rome — even swallowing half of them would let our descendants all become kings."

A model father indeed. Even at a moment like this, what Bai Congxin thought of was still his descendants.

And no sooner had his words fallen than Guo Zhou'er, looking at a certain place on the map, began to shine with excitement in her eyes.

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