Chapter 95: Shule

Shule — once one of the Great Tang's Four Garrisons of Anxi, and one of the richest, most populous, and most resource-abundant treasured lands of the Anxi region.

Yet in the two hundred-odd years after the An Lushan Rebellion, of the Great Tang's Four Garrisons of Anxi, Khotan fell to the Tibetans and afterward established itself as the Kingdom of Khotan, while Suyab had in fact already been lost during the Wu Zhou period.

Kucha and Shule were finally taken by the Tibetans a hundred years ago. Kucha now belongs to the Gaochang Uyghurs, while Shule is in the hands of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.

The city of Shule lay roughly where Kashgar would stand in later ages. In fact, this very era was the critical moment when the name Shule began its shift toward Kashgar.

The reigning Khagan of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, Satuq Bughra Khan, was a famous ruler in the khanate's history.

It was under his hand that the Kara-Khanid Khanate gradually began its conversion to Islam, and the policy of conversion by the sword carried out by him and his successor khans brought grave disaster upon all the peoples of Anxi.

Zhang Zhao rode atop a tall yellow horse, followed by several dozen fully equipped guards and mounted escorts. His present identity was that of a great noble from Yizhou — Pugu Feng'en, elder cousin of the Gaochang Uyghur Khanate's Dieluo Dagan, Pugu Cheng.

This identity had been carefully crafted. Pugu Cheng came from the royal clan of the Gaochang Uyghurs and was a descendant of Pugu Jun, a fierce general who had once served under Zhang Yichao and been a founder of the khanate — but he was of a branch line born of a consort, whereas Pugu Feng'en was of the direct bloodline of Pugu Jun.

Moreover, because Pugu Feng'en's ancestors of the previous two generations had intermarried with the Li-Tang imperial clan — and even Pugu Feng'en's mother came from the Shazhou Li family of the Li-Tang imperial clan, being the youngest sister of Li Mingzhen, the Guiyi Army general and Zhang Zhao's fourteenth uncle by marriage — his features rather resembled a man of the Central Plains.

This Gaochang Uyghur royal had recently converted from Manichaeism to Buddhism. When Wu Da'er, on Zhang Zhao's orders, went to Yizhou to demand ransom payment from Dieluo Dagan Pugu Cheng, he happened to encounter Pugu Feng'en, who was on his way to Dunhuang to study Buddhist scriptures — and so Zhang Zhao chose to boldly impersonate him.

There were two further important reasons. First, as a former Manichaean and current Buddhist, Pugu Feng'en would certainly not have been willing to go to Shule, and therefore the dignitaries of Shule had essentially never seen this man.

Second, Pugu Feng'en kept a low profile, and because of his ties to the Guiyi Army, he occupied a rather marginalized position among the Gaochang Uyghurs.

This perfectly avoided any eastbound merchant or Kara-Khanid envoy having seen him. Finally, his resemblance to a man of the Central Plains compensated for Zhang Zhao's own facial features.

The atmosphere in Shule at this time was rather tense, because the Kingdom of Khotan's large-scale mobilization to the south could not be hidden from anyone. Not only the mobilization, but also the forging of all manner of equipment and the stockpiling of grain and fodder had long since reached Shule.

In this age, for one state to launch a surprise attack on another was essentially impossible between great powers.

For unless it was one of those village battles involving a hundred or so armored soldiers and the conscription of one or two thousand farmers and herders, every campaign required enormous preparations beforehand.

For example, Khotan's war preparations against Shule: Li Shengtian had been preparing ever since the first month of 932, when Zhang Zhao showed him that Shule's walls could be breached by explosion.

Yet even now, in the third month, the preparations were still underway.

Feudal lords from every region were still drilling their private troops together with the royal standing army at the Khotan royal city.

Of the projected three hundred thousand arrows, one third had yet to be manufactured.

The thirty thousand troops required seven hundred thousand shi of grain, enough to sustain them for more than three months, and it had still not all been assembled in place.

As for the forging of the remaining armor and siege equipment, and the conscription of grain-hauling laborers, all of it was still in progress.

A mobilization on this scale — even a blind man could see it, and even a fool would know whom it was aimed at.

Khotan and the Gaochang Uyghurs were religious allies. Historically, after Khotan fell, it was the Gaochang Uyghurs who had prevented the further Islamization of Anxi, so Khotan could not possibly attack the Gaochang Uyghurs.

As for the Zhongyun state, three thousand men would suffice; thirty thousand were unnecessary, and it would surely be a losing venture. Li Shengtian was not foolish enough to attack Zhongyun. Therefore the only target Khotan could be aiming at was the Kara-Khanid Khanate.

Yet although Shule was tense at this time, it was not on a war footing. Instead, it had fallen into a kind of distorted prosperity.

Because everyone knew that with Khotan mobilizing so much materiel and so many warhorses, it could not possibly attack soon. With the spring plowing preparations also a factor, at least two or three more months would pass before war broke out.

So everyone was seizing this lull to buy and sell all manner of goods. Merchants traveling the northern Silk Road were also hurrying through. Not knowing how long the war would last, they were all grasping at the last bit of time to earn a little more.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Zhang Zhao still chose not to risk entering Shule. Who knew whether the current governor of Shule — Ihtiyar Nasr bin Mansur, trusted confidant of Bughra Satuq Khan — might overreact.

After all, this fellow was a fanatical Muslim. It was under the guidance of his father, the Samanid prince Nasr bin Mansur, that Satuq Khan had converted to Islam.

The place where Zhang Zhao now was, was a small market called Jialu Guan. One could tell from the name that it had been named by Han people.

Less than ten li to the south of this place was the famous city of Jiashi, and roughly a hundred li beyond was Shule. There were not many Kara-Khanid troops nearby, and there were large numbers of Buddhists — a very good safe zone.

Wu Yuan'er stood beside Zhang Zhao, reciting over and over the characters on a sheet of yellow hemp paper. This was the task Zhang Zhao had given him.

He was now the envoy of the Gaochang royal Pugu Feng'en. His destination was the city of Shule, and his mission was to represent Pugu Feng'en in seeking to exchange goods and wealth worth three thousand strings of cash for the several dozen monks of the Great Cloud Temple imprisoned by the Shule governor Ihtiyar.

The Great Cloud Temple of Shule was the most important temple of Shule's Buddhist golden age. It had housed relics such as the "Buddha's bathing bed" and the "Buddha's alms bowl" used by Shakyamuni. Eminent monks of history such as Dao'an, Zhimeng, and Kumarajiva had all paid homage there.

Even in later ages, the ruins of the Great Cloud Temple could still be seen in Kashgar — the site known as the More Stupa ruins.

In this era, it counted as the place of faith for the Buddhists of Shule. Three years earlier, the Great Cloud Temple had been utterly destroyed on Ihtiyar's orders, and the monks who refused to convert were all thrown into prison.

And it was precisely this affair that thoroughly enraged Li Shengtian. Because of Ihtiyar's Samanid royal lineage, historically Li Shengtian had even sent envoys to the Samanid dynasty to threaten retaliation.

This is recorded in the Book of Treasures by the eleventh-century Arab writer Qadi Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Zubayr.

Zhang Zhao personally straightened Wu Yuan'er's collar. Wu Yuan'er looked at Zhang Zhao somewhat nervously.

This young man had previously only ever assisted his elder brother Wu Da'er. Now he not only had to serve as chief envoy, but also had to go do something so perilous — it was only natural he was a little nervous.

"Brother Yuan'er, you must remember my words. Since the Kara-Khanids already know Khotan is going to make war on them, they are bound to be even more reluctant to provoke the Gaochang Uyghur Khanate, because that could very well bring an attack from both sides.

So you can afford to be a bit haughty. As long as you memorize the information on this paper, you will not be exposed — and if you are not exposed, there will be no danger."

Wu Yuan'er drew a deep breath, then nodded heavily.

"Rest assured, young lord. I still mean to follow you in winning merit and building a career. This little matter — I can certainly handle it!"

"Good! Remember this: whether Ihtiyar agrees or not, you must find a way to see the monks of the Great Cloud Temple held in the inner-city prison of Shule, and if possible bring a few of them out!" Zhang Zhao said, scratching twice on the ground before continuing.

"This prison is in the inner city of Shule, and there are many important facilities nearby. You must memorize the surroundings thoroughly and come back to draw them for me. Whether our brothers suffer few or many casualties depends on you!"

Zhang Zhao of course was not going to rescue the monks of the Great Cloud Temple — even if he wanted to save them, they would not be released. So this was merely a pretext. What Zhang Zhao wanted was a more detailed map of Shule's inner city.

After giving Wu Yuan'er his instructions, Zhang Zhao pulled Ma Yaozi over. This time Ma Yaozi was to go along as deputy envoy.

"Yaozi, you have a quick mind. Pay special attention to the wall defenses. You can also put the word out — say that the Gaochang Dagan Pugu Feng'en has brought three thousand strings of goods and is waiting outside Jiashi to ransom the monks of the Great Cloud Temple!"

"Does the young lord mean to have someone snatch the Great Cloud Temple monks out?" Ma Yaozi glanced at Zhang Zhao in puzzlement, then suddenly broke into delight.

"The young lord wants to lure the greedy sorts in Shule over?"

"Exactly! Shule is not tightly governed. There are many so-called holy warriors — fanatical Muslims — from other places. When they hear this news, some of them will surely be unable to resist coming over.

Then we'll have our 'tongues' for probing deeper into Shule's true situation!" Zhang Zhao smiled sinisterly.

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