Chapter 388: Sogdian Leader

Chapter 388: Sogdian Leader

Chapter 388: Sogdian Leader
Yin Shishi led an army of 20,000 across the Hexi Corridor. They were equipped with 10,000 camels and 20,000 donkeys, and the soldiers were equipped with two horses. After replenishing supplies in Dunhuang County, the army marched along the Yangguan Road towards the vast Gobi Desert.

This road is the southern line of the Silk Road. The most difficult section is the one from Dunhuang to Puchang Lake, which is 1,500 miles long and is all Gobi Desert with sandstorms everywhere. It takes at least 30 days to walk there. There is no fresh water or food supply on the road. Sufficient supplies must be made in Dunhuang County until you reach Puchang Lake to get fresh water supply.

There is a dry food supply station in Puchanghai, but the price is very expensive. A five-cent dry biscuit is sold for a hundred cents, so it is also called a hundred-gold cake. Unless it is absolutely necessary, the caravan will not replenish food here.

When the caravan arrives at Puchang Sea, it will split into two routes. One route goes along the Chishui River to the north of the Tulun Desert, passing through the Yanqi Kingdom, the Qiuci Kingdom, and the Gumo Kingdom, and then crosses Lingshan to Suiye, where it meets the Northern Silk Road.

Another route goes along the southern Qiemo River to the south of the Tulun Desert, passing through the Kingdom of Loulan, the Kingdom of Jingjue, the Kingdom of Qiemo, and the Kingdom of Khotan all the way west, and finally from the Kingdom of Shule through the Wakhan Corridor to Tokharistan. This is the southern route of the Silk Road.

Yin Shishi led an army of 20,000 and took this route, but they did not have to go too far, as their target, Shanshan City, was already very close to Puchang Sea.

That morning, Yin Shishi led an army of 20,000 to the Puchang Sea. In the Han Dynasty, the Puchang Sea was a vast sea on land with an area of ​​four to five thousand square kilometers and fertile pastures around it. However, due to the gradually colder climate, many rivers flowing into the Puchang Sea dried up and the water became less and less. The Shanshan Kingdom went to extinction. By the early Sui Dynasty, the Puchang Sea was less than one thousand square kilometers. The originally lush aquatic plants had disappeared, and the water became bitter and barely drinkable.

However, the climate has gradually begun to change in recent years.

The guides for the Sui army were a father and son. The father was named Kang Siyuan and the son was named Kang Nian. Both of them were Sogdians from Kangguo. Three generations of their family had been doing business in Dunhuang. They also ran a side business, leading caravans through the Gobi Desert for more than a thousand miles to Puchang Sea. Their guide fees were very expensive, starting at at least a hundred coins for a camel, and the minimum could not be less than a hundred strings of coins. Even if there were only two camels, they would cost a hundred strings of coins.

But the caravans are willing to pay this money. Without a guide, entering the desert is a life-threatening situation. It is very easy to get lost, and once lost, you will definitely die of thirst or starvation, be drowned by a sandstorm, be burned to death by the scorching sun, or be swallowed by the killer quicksand. Only an experienced guide can lead the caravan across this sea of ​​death.

The team walked in the Gobi Desert for a whole month, paying the price of the deaths of more than 30 soldiers and nearly 100 horses, before finally crossing the devilish desert.

The soldiers couldn't help cheering when they saw the vast Puchang Sea. Kang Siyuan hurriedly said to Yin Shishi, "The water on the east coast is very bitter. You can't drink it. The more you drink, the thirstier you will get. You have to drink fresh water!"

"Where is the fresh water?" asked Yin Shishi.

"Near the southern river mouth!"

Yin Shishi immediately gave the order: "Order the entire army not to drink salt water, go to the river mouth to drink fresh water, and go south!"

The team had finished drinking all the water, so they endured the thirst and turned south. In the afternoon, a river finally appeared in front of them. The soldiers could no longer bear it and ran towards the river. Countless soldiers plunged into the river and drank wildly. This was a river formed by the melted iceberg. The water was clear and sweet, and it was high-quality fresh water. The 20,000 soldiers, horses, and camels drank heartily and filled all the leather bags containing water.

The army simply camped by the river to rest and recover their strength. Yin Shishi called Kang and his son and asked them, "How far is it from here to Shanshan City?"

"Reporting to the general, it's about two hundred miles away!"

"Do you know Shanshan City?"

Kang Siyuan shook his head. "We know how to get to Shanshan City, but we don't know exactly where it is. General, you can ask the people around Pu Changhai. They should know."

"Are there any residents nearby?" Master Yin Shi was surprised.

"Of course there are. This is the only place where people can live. How can there be no residents? Ten miles ahead is Puchanghai Town, which has more than 20 households. Most of them are Sogdian merchants. There are also several tribes around Puchanghai, all of which migrated from Shanshan. The living conditions there are getting worse and worse. There are winds and sandstorms all year round. The desert outside the city is visible to the naked eye. Water is as expensive as oil. It is almost impossible to survive." "I want to know about the situation in Shanshan. Do you know anyone there?"

Kang Siyuan smiled and said, "There is a dry biscuit shop in Puchang Town ahead. It was opened by a friend of mine. His grandfather and father were leaders of the Sogdians in the Shanshan Kingdom. His grandfather was killed by the Tuyuhun army, so his father fled to Puchanghai with more than 20 people and established Puchanghai Town in ten years. His father died of illness five years ago. Now he has inherited his father's position as a saboteur. I believe he is very willing to serve the Sui army."

"Could you please ask Master Kang to invite him over!"

Kang Siyuan nodded, "I'll go find him now!"

At dusk, Kang Siyuan brought several Sogdian merchants, led by a young Sogdian named Kang Yandian, a Sogdian Sabao from the southern line of the Silk Road.

Since the opening of the Silk Road, the Sogdians have been active on the Silk Road. For thousands of years, the Sogdians have firmly controlled this major economic lifeline. Their unique way of doing business has enabled them to remain prosperous for thousands of years.

The Sogdians were divided into two types: sedentary merchants and nomadic merchants. They first developed settlements as sedentary merchants, found important transportation nodes, began to settle down and multiply, and their descendants continued to move to the next transportation node. Kashgar was called Shule in ancient times, and Shule is actually the homonym of Sogdians, which means the Sogdians came out of the Wakhan Corridor and established settlements here. The Sogdian leader of each settlement was called Sabao.

Shanshan Kingdom was also an extremely important transportation hub. It could go to the West Sea to the south and to Dunhuang to the east. After coming from Shule, the Sogdians established a settlement in Shanshan Kingdom. The next settlement was Dunhuang, then Zhangye, and then Chang'an.

Each settlement was like a nerve node on the Silk Road. They conducted business, circulated goods, and provided supplies, providing strong logistical support for the Sogdians' trade, which made the Silk Road prosperous for thousands of years.

It was not until the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty and the opening of the Maritime Silk Road by the Southern Song Dynasty that the Silk Road gradually declined and finally disappeared during the Mongol invasion of the West.

Kang Yandian is about twenty years old, tall and majestic, with a loud voice, sharp eyes, and a strong leadership temperament.

"Meet General Yin!"

Kang Yandian can also speak fluent Chinese. His grandfather was killed by Tuyuhun and the Sogdian settlement was destroyed. His father took him and other Sogdians to flee to Dunhuang. Later, his father returned to Puchanghai to establish Puchang Town. He stayed in Dunhuang City until his father passed away five years ago. He came to Puchang Town to inherit his father's will, which was to restore the Shanshan settlement.

Yin Shishi nodded and said, "Why did the Tuyuhun people kill your grandfather and expel the Shanshan Sogdians?"

"Reporting to the general, the Tuyuhun people wanted to divert the Silk Road to Tuyuhun, passing through the south of the Qilian Mountains instead of the Hexi Corridor. They asked my grandfather to go to Fuxi City to build a Sogdian settlement, but my grandfather refused. The Tuyuhun people held a grudge against them. Later, due to unfair water use, the Sogdians and the locals had a conflict. The Tuyuhun army took the opportunity to kill the Sogdians. Three hundred people, including my grandfather, were killed by the Tuyuhun army. My father took me and the remaining hundreds of Sogdians to flee to Dunhuang."

"Are there any royal descendants in Shanshan?" Yin Shishi asked with a smile.

Kang Yandian shook his head quickly. "After the Northern Wei controlled the Western Regions, the Shanshan Kingdom perished, and the royal family was killed. Later, the Northern Wei established Shanshan County. After the Northern Wei was destroyed, Tuyuhun occupied Shanshan County. In the past few years, they began to build Shanshan County, preparing to build it into the western capital of Tuyuhun."

“Why build it as the Western Capital?”

(End of this chapter)