Chapter 397 News from an old friend
Chapter 397 News from an old friend
Inside the palace, Yuchi Wusupi, the King of Khotan, was worried. Although the Sui army had said they would leave in two days, there was something wrong. Why did the Sui army come? After a 2,500-mile journey, would they leave empty-handed?
He said to Prime Minister Nikuer: "I am worried that the Sui army will suddenly attack and plunder Khotan. We will not be able to resist at all. Hundreds of years of accumulation will be destroyed in an instant, and Khotan will perish!"
Nikuer nodded. "The king's concerns are justified. The Sui army will never leave empty-handed. Since we once submitted to Tuyuhun, there is no problem in submitting to the Sui Dynasty. We should take the initiative to submit to the Sui Dynasty, and then go to the Sui Dynasty every year to pay tribute."
Prince Yuchi Bazhi said, "When father met the King of Chu today, the King of Chu said something that father may not have noticed. He said that the Sui Dynasty would take care of Yutian and protect Yutian. Father only heard that he would take care of Yutian and did not notice that he said he would protect Yutian."
Yuchi Wusupi was startled, "Ah! I really didn't pay attention, what does he mean by that?"
"I think there are two meanings. One is that we should submit to the Sui Dynasty and become a vassal state of the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty will protect us from foreign invasion. The second meaning may refer to the Sui Dynasty stationing troops in Khotan."
"wrong!"
Prime Minister Nikuer was very perceptive. He immediately said, "Taking care is an attitude towards a vassal state. Protection should refer to stationing troops. The king must find out the king's true intentions."
At this moment, the guard reported: "King, Abaku wants to see you!"
Abaku was the official who accompanied Xiao Xia. He was the minister in charge of external affairs of Khotan. He could speak Qiang and Sogdian, and had always been a close minister of the King of Khotan.
Yuchi Wusupi hurriedly said, "Let him in!"
Not long after, Abaku hurried in, put his hand on his chest and saluted, "Greetings to His Majesty the King!"
"Do you have any news while accompanying the King of Chu?"
"There is much important news to report to the king."
Yuchi Wusubi nodded, "Don't be impatient, speak slowly!"
Abaku then recounted the details of his afternoon with the King of Chu, and concluded by saying, “He made it very clear in the temple that he hoped to reach an agreement with Khotan and send a portion of the army to be stationed in Khotan.”
"How many troops did he say he would send?" Yuchi Wusubi asked a little nervously.
"I didn't say specifically, but it shouldn't be too much."
The mentality of small countries and big countries is different. The mistake we often make is to measure small countries with the mentality of big countries. Great countries certainly do not allow other countries to station troops on their own territory. It is related to the dignity of big countries, but small countries do not care. On the contrary, many small countries welcome the stationing of troops by big countries. In their view, this is a kind of protection. Otherwise, the United States would not have so many military bases in the world.
The same was true for the Kingdom of Khotan. Yuchi Wusubi did not care about the suzerain state stationing troops on his territory. It was also a kind of protection for him. He only cared about how many troops the other side had stationed. If there were too many troops, the national strength of Khotan would not be able to bear it.
Yuchi Wusubi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. Prime Minister Nikuer said, "The king can talk to him. He can accept less than a thousand people."
Yuchi Wusubi nodded, and then asked Abaku: "Does he like jade?"
Abaku nodded and said, "He exchanged a hundred pieces of silk for a box of jade in the Sogdian shop. He wanted to buy more, but the Sogdian said they had no more. In fact, they refused to sell."
Yuchi Bazhi smiled and said, "We have a lot in our palace, so we can give him some as gifts. In the future, we can just pay tribute to him with beautiful jade."
Yuchi Wusupi said happily: "I will talk to him again tomorrow morning, and give him a batch of beautiful jades, and then pick out some good ones to give to the Emperor and Empress of the Great Sui Dynasty!"
In the evening, the military camp was particularly lively. The soldiers had a great harvest. Each of them picked up at least a dozen pieces of beautiful jade, and some even picked up large jade weighing dozens of kilograms.
This time, Xiao Xia also brought 800 camels loaded with Tuyuhun spoils seized from Shanshan, including silk, cloth, tea cakes and porcelain. The Sui army sold them in the market at a low price, more than half cheaper than the Sogdians' prices, which immediately caused a sensation.
The people in the city rushed to buy. Khotan not only produced beautiful jade, but the Khotan River was also rich in gold sand, gems and beautiful jade. Every household in Khotan had collections. They exchanged gold sand, gems and beautiful jade with the Sui army. After half a day, half of the Sui army's goods were sold in exchange for a large amount of treasure. If they continued selling for another day tomorrow, they would basically sell out all the goods.
Xiao Xia was listening to a report in the big tent when a soldier came to report that a dozen monks had arrived outside the camp gate with two carts of jade, led by the abbot Guangzhi.
Xiao Xia quickly asked the soldiers to bring the abbot to his camp. Not long after, Abbot Guangzhi and two monks came to Xiao Xia's tent. Xiao Xia asked them to sit down. Master Guangzhi clasped his hands and said, "Amitabha, we heard that the Sui army was selling goods in the market. It was too late when we got the news. We also want to exchange jade for some goods. Do you have any stock?" "Of course, I wonder what goods the master wants?"
"We mainly want tea cakes and china, nothing else."
Xiao Xia nodded and asked his personal soldiers to take the two monks to exchange. He also asked the soldiers to serve tea to Master Guangzhi.
"I came to Khotan this time for a personal matter. About three years ago, an old Taoist priest came to Khotan and later disappeared in Kunlun Mountain. Master Guangzhi knows about this?"
"Ah! Your Highness is talking about Master Yuan!"
Xiao Xia was invigorated and said quickly: "Exactly, he is actually my mentor. Master, do you have any news about him?"
Master Guangzhi smiled and said, "After Master Yuan came to Khotan, he lived in our temple for about a month. He even asked the Sogdian caravan going to Chang'an to deliver a letter for him."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Yes, his letter was sent to me. Then what?"
Master Guangzhi said slowly: "Not long after, he said that he was ready, and walked to Kunlun Mountain alone. I sent a dozen disciples and Han people to Kunlun Mountain to look for him."
"did you find it?"
Master Guangzhi shook his head and said, "We went 300 miles deep into Kunlun Mountain and still couldn't find him. But miraculously, he came back last year."
Xiao Xia's eyes widened suddenly, "The Immortal Master is back?"
Master Guangzhi sighed and said, "He must have had a strange encounter. Although Buddhism and Taoism are not the same, even I believe that he has attained enlightenment. When he left, his hair and beard were completely white. When he came back, he seemed to be several dozen years younger and had become a middle-aged Taoist priest. This caused a sensation in Khotan."
"And then? Where did he go?"
"He stayed in the monastery for more than ten days, then followed a Sogdian caravan westward, and there was no news of him since then."
Xiao Xia breathed a sigh of relief. It was impossible to ascend to become an immortal. Xiao Xia was worried that Yuan Shoucheng would either die in Kunlun Mountain or achieve enlightenment through cultivation in Kunlun Mountain. It seemed that Yuan Shoucheng should have broken through the realm that he had been practicing for decades without success. This was also what he meant when he said that he was ready.
"Is there anything special about him after he came back?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"The most special thing about him is that he doesn't eat anything that comes to him. He only drinks water and eats fruit. He must have mastered the art of fasting."
"Did he tell me what happened to him in Kunlun Mountain?"
Master Guangzhi sighed and said, "I asked him too. He said that when he stepped onto the top of Kunlun Mountain, he felt the unity of heaven and man, and felt the changes in all things in the universe. Your Highness, my cultivation is too shallow, so I really don't understand."
At this point, Master Guangzhi suddenly shuddered and blurted out, "I know, I solved the puzzle!"
"What puzzle?" Xiao Xia asked anxiously.
Master Guangzhi suppressed his excitement and said, "Before he left, he left me something and asked me to give it to an old friend. I never knew who the old friend he was talking about was. Now I know. The old friend he was talking about is Your Highness."
Xiao Xia didn't say anything for a long while. Yuan Shoucheng actually knew that he was coming!
Master Guangzhi hurried back to the temple and came back soon. He respectfully handed a wooden box to Xiao Xia.
Xiao Jia took the wooden box and opened it. Inside was a folded white cloth. He opened the white cloth and found four sentences written on it. It was indeed Yuan Shoucheng's handwriting.
'In the myriad universes, in the myriad states of existence, in the myriad human worlds, time is eternal,'
Xiao Xia sighed in his heart. This was something that only a time traveler could understand. Don't worry about changing history. There are countless universes, countless worlds, and countless human worlds. Only time will not change. This is the secret of an enlightened person. He will look at everything in the world from a higher dimension.
(End of this chapter)