Chapter 97: Who Are They

"My master the Dagan is willing to pay three thousand strings of goods and wealth in exchange for the twenty-seven eminent monks of Dayun Temple. I hope the Governor, for the sake of the friendship between our two states, will release them!"

Wu Yuan'er did not continue provoking Iltihad at this point. If he kept provoking him, the man might well go mad and actually kill him.

"If that is the matter, then the envoy may return. Until the noble Bughra Khan returns to Kashgar, no one can pardon those monks who violated the laws of the Khanate!"

Iltihad grew even more certain of his suspicion. He had heard of this Dagan, Pugu Feng'en — it was said that last year he had converted from Manichaeism to Buddhism, and he probably wanted to demonstrate his devotion to the Buddha by rescuing Buddhist monks.

But this envoy very likely harbored the intention of stirring up strife, or even war, between the Karakhanids and the Gaochang Uyghurs.

Iltihad was not particularly nervous about the coming attack from the Khotan Golden Kingdom. Although most of Shule's warriors had been taken away by Satuq Bughra Khan, he was confident that, relying on the city's strong walls and the fact that most of its inhabitants had already converted to the true faith, he could hold out until Bughra Khan returned with his army.

Moreover, the Khotan Golden Kingdom had besieged Shule several times over the past few decades and had never once succeeded. One could say the Karakhanids were already very experienced at fighting the Khotanese beneath the walls of Shule.

But if the Gaochang Uyghurs were added to the equation, it would be a different matter. The Gaochang Uyghurs held five wealthy cities — Kucha, Yanqi, Gaochang, Beshbaliq, and Yizhou — and their strength was roughly equal to that of the current Karakhanid state.

If they joined the war, not only would it become two against one, but their identity as Uyghurs would also exert an enormous rallying call upon the Uyghurs currently within the Karakhanid realm.

Fortunately, however, the Gaochang Uyghurs' Khagan, Wumuzhu, was old and feeble, and his several sons were fighting among themselves for power and profit, making it very difficult for them to unite and launch a war.

But if strife can be avoided, then avoid it!

Thinking of this, Iltihad, who had just flatly rejected Wu Yuan'er's proposal, slightly softened the coldness on his face.

"However, the envoy may report back to the Dagan Pugu that the Buddhist temples of Biancheng Prefecture (Yengisar) were recently discovered by this Governor to have concealed large numbers of people and underreported their lands. The monks of those temples are currently being escorted to Kashgar. If the Dagan Pugu is so inclined, he may send men to take them away."

Wu Yuan'er and Ma Yaozi exchanged a subtle glance. Biancheng Prefecture lay exactly between Shule and Ya'erkan (Yarkand), which was controlled by Khotan.

This was a coercive measure Iltihad had taken out of fear that the Buddhist temples and believers along this road would become Khotan's internal allies! Who knew how many more people would suffer for it.

Wu Yuan'er very much wanted to save these people, but his mission was not to rescue anyone — it was to ascertain the general situation of Shule. So he slowly shook his head.

"Governor, if you insist on refusing to release all the monks of Dayun Temple, then may I take away just one person?"

"Who? The envoy may speak, and I will first have General Hasan go and look!"

Iltihad asked coldly. He suspected that this was the real reason Pugu Feng'en had risked sending someone to Shule and was willing to pay three thousand strings of goods.

Wu Yuan'er slowly shook his head. "This man is a fellow disciple of Master Fan Haiyin, the Monk-Registrar of Shazhou. I have only seen his portrait, so I must go and see him in person to know for certain!"

Iltihad silently stared at Wu Yuan'er for several dozen seconds, and only then waved his hand.

"I cannot decide this matter myself. The envoy should go and rest at the post station for now. I need to request instructions from the Great Khan!"

"Then I shall await good news!" Wu Yuan'er cupped his hands in salute, then withdrew.

"Hasan! Send out mounted scouts to search westward. Best to send the fastest riders, traveling day and night, to Gumo (Aksu), and find out whether some important person from Yizhou has arrived!"

As soon as Wu Yuan'er had left, Iltihad said quietly to the officer Hasan beside him.

At this time, Gumo belonged to the Gaochang Uyghurs' jurisdiction, lying right near the border between the two states.

So Iltihad took it for granted that if Pugu Feng'en had really brought three thousand strings of goods to ransom people, the most likely place he would be waiting was Gumo.

But he could never have imagined that Zhang Zhao had already infiltrated to the vicinity of Jiashi.

South of Shule, in a food stall outside the post station, Ma Yaozi was already dead drunk. Holding a cup of purple fruit wine in one hand and a leg of mutton in the other, he was dancing about wildly and crazily, while the two attendants beside him also looked thoroughly drunk.

The three of them had turned the little food stall into a complete mess, and the Karakhanids around them glared at them furiously. If not for the extraordinary times, and the fact that they were men from Gaochang, someone would have long since gone up and beaten them.

After dancing for a while, Ma Yaozi tilted his head back and gulped down another large cup of fruit wine, his eyes growing increasingly unfocused.

Suddenly! He let out a loud shout, slammed the mutton leg heavily onto the table, then thrust out a finger and pointed in all directions.

"You Karluks have no sense of rank! What kind of man is our Dagan? He is a noble bearing the bloodline of the Great Tang imperial clan!

If the Great Tang still stood, you thieving barbarians would not even be fit to lick our Dagan's shoes!

Wuwuwu! Now our Dagan has personally come with goods and wealth, wanting to save a few people, and you actually refuse!"

As he spoke, Ma Yaozi actually burst into tears. Streaming tears poured from the eyes of this rough man in his twenties, and no one could have said they were faked.

In a corner of the food stall, several men wearing leather robes, who looked like sheep-trading herders from the sheep-and-horse market outside the city, exchanged glances, and delight appeared in their eyes.

The men exchanged a few more looks, and then one of them, who looked even more rough and burly, abruptly stood up. He too held a cup of wine, though it was the cheapest kind of grape wine.

"What mad talk is this from a Gaochang brat? Do you want a fight? Your so-called Dagan coming to Gumo counts as coming in person? That's still a full thousand li from here! Who knows whether your three thousand strings of goods are real or fake?"

Ma Yaozi cast a sidelong glance at the burly man, cracking his knuckles loudly. Just as the burly man thought he was about to charge over and start a fight, Ma Yaozi suddenly pulled from his bosom a handful of double-sided Uyghur Mouyu copper coins minted in Gaochang.

These coins were minted by the Gaochang Uyghurs in imitation of the Kaiyuan Tongbao, with the words "Gaochang Jili" inscribed in Uyghur script. In later ages they would become extremely precious, and even in this era they were fine coins that many powerful and wealthy families most liked to hoard.

With a clatter, Ma Yaozi slammed the handful of copper coins onto the table. These were coins that Wu Da'er had collected for Zhang Zhao from the Dagan Diluo.

"Look closely! Never mind three thousand strings of goods — our Dagan could even produce thirty thousand strings! Who says payment has to be made in Gumo? Let me tell you, Jiashi will do just fine!"

The food stall instantly fell silent. The burly man still wanted to ask something, but in the awkward silence, Ma Yaozi shook his head twice, as if he had realized something was off.

His expression shifted, and the two attendants beside him hurried over to help him put away the copper coins, then dragged and pulled him out the door.

The burly man very naturally walked to the doorway, blocking the exit for everyone else in the food stall, while his two companions hurried out.

What the burly man did not know, however, was that while he was blocking the doorway, the food stall owner was very naturally walking toward the back.

In the rear courtyard, a burly man with a face full of scars was chopping firewood, looking just like hired labor for the food stall.

"People from Gaochang have come! They're at the Jialu Post House! It's said they've come to ransom people — this is the best chance to rescue Master Daozhen!"

Having said this, the food stall owner fell silent for a long while. "But those Gaochang men's Chinese is really very good! Although they spoke very quietly, I'm certain it was Chinese."

The moon remained silent, and the scar-faced burly man was silent too. The food stall owner took a deep breath, as if he had made a great resolution.

"I gave them a token. If they really are Han people, they will surely know what it means. I... I can't hold on much longer!"

Upon hearing this, the scar-faced burly man set down the broken axe in his hands. He still said nothing, only let out a long breath and looked up at the sky.

The fur hat on his head fell to the ground, and a huge, equally scar-covered bald head gleamed brightly in the moonlight!

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