Chapter 43: Tianfang (6)

“May Allah’s blessings be upon you!”
For some reason, the other person spoke in Turkic. It was indeed strange to hear the blessings of Tianfang taught in Turkic.
Though the young man found it awkward, he still managed to understand the meaning.
“May Allah’s blessings also be upon you!”
The young man bowed to him, performing a Tianfang ritual.
With his obese build and beaming smile… the young man had largely figured out who the other person was. In the palace of Bakhna, who else could walk around freely without an introduction, except for His Majesty the King?
Of course, it was King Ashilanda of Bakhna. As the master of this palace, he could do whatever he wanted, anytime, anywhere. Throughout history, the study has always been the best place for men to handle secret matters.
Pour a pot of Fish Wine, invite two beautiful ladies, and indulge in a dreamy fantasy…
All decisions and decrees in the city of Bakhna originated from this unassuming study. This palace study, a blend of sanctity, vulgarity, and filth, now had an unknown, unidentifiable fool intruding upon it—which was quite amusing for Ashilanda.
“Are you here to see His Majesty the King?”
Ashilanda raised his eyebrows, his eyes narrowing even further. He loved this feeling of having control over everything, the pleasure of guiding others!
“You’re half right!”
The young man straightened his chest, wearing a peculiar smile.
Ashilanda’s lips twitched slightly. “If you’re not here to see the King, then why are you in this study on the second floor?”
His reasoning made sense. Since the study was where the king handled affairs, anyone looking to find him would naturally come here to try their luck.
“Though what you say seems reasonable, it’s completely wrong.”
The young man spread his hands. “First, when I came here, I didn’t necessarily know this was the king’s study, so I wasn’t trying my luck. Second, I arrived here first, and there was no one here at that time. So even if the king were standing in front of me now, it would still be him who came to me!”
The young man spoke slowly but with calm confidence.
Ashilanda smirked bitterly. “So, if I were the king, it would mean I’m the one who came to you?”

He found the young man before him increasingly interesting. As the king of Bakhtria, he had only encountered two types of people in the palace: loyal and upright ministers, and treacherous ones who tried to disguise themselves as such. He needed both types—not only must he use them, but he also had to manage their relationships and find a balance. But just like the women in the harem, no matter how beautiful they were, one grew tired of them after looking at them for too long. The young man before him was different from all of them. “Ahem… let’s just say I found you.” Ashilanda waved her hand at the young man and said, “Now that you know my identity, for fairness’ sake, young man, may I know yours?” The young man frowned for a moment, then laughed and said, “My identity isn’t important. But surely His Majesty the King is more interested in what I have here.” With that, he handed Ashilanda a tied-up scroll. “Oh?” Ashilanda eagerly took the scroll and untied the red ribbon. “So you are Li Kuo, the governor of Shule?” Ashilanda’s tone turned icy as she asked warily, “Do you realize that pretending to be an envoy is a capital crime…” “Why would His Majesty deceive himself?” Li Kuo cut her off before she could finish, “In these years of submitting to the Arabs, if others don’t understand, surely His Majesty does! Tax systems, punishments, the army—everything is under their control. As a king, he can’t even leave the palace gates; as a Zoroastrian, he can’t even uphold his own faith. What’s the point of being such a king?” Li Kuo blurted out all the grievances in Ashilanda’s heart in one go. Though he wasn’t sure if she would be angered by his bold words and threaten him, one thing was certain: if he didn’t speak openly, the barrier between them would never be broken! As for the consequences of such words, the young man was well aware. Ashilanda might kill him in a fit of anger. But he had to take the risk—he had no choice! “How dare you speak to me like this!” Hearing this, Ashilanda’s beard trembled with anger as she tried to calm her fury while sneering, “Even if what you say is true, so what? Since you know I’ve now sided with the Arabs, you should lower your stance. With what you just said, I could have you executed right away!”

Ashilanda really didn’t expect the young man to talk to him about this matter so bluntly. Although he personally favored the Tang court, that didn’t mean he could tolerate a governor speaking to him in such a manner.
It was like the cloth between one’s legs—although everyone knew what lay beneath it, no one would voluntarily pull it away.
He certainly knew how the Arabs treated him and how they treated Bawhanah, but that was his own business in Bawhanah—how could an outsider interfere?
“Oh? If Your Majesty executes me, will the Arabs ease their surveillance of you? If you execute me, will Bawhanah regain its vitality? If you execute me, won’t Mr. Nasir become suspicious? If my head is that useful, then go ahead and take it!”
Li Kuo, however, didn’t budge an inch and argued firmly with logic.
“You!”
Ashilanda took a deep breath, momentarily speechless under Li Kuo’s pressure. He wasn’t too concerned about the first two points—after all, he had gotten through so many years. But the last sentence hit right at his heart.
Nasir wasn’t a magnanimous person. Even if he executed Li Kuo to show loyalty to the Arabs, the meeting had still taken place. No one knew what they had said during that time. Given Nasir’s suspicious nature, he would surely intensify his surveillance of Ashilanda—in the end, it would be Ashilanda who suffered…
Besides, he had been hoping that the Tang army would march westward to drive the Arabs away for him!
It was just that this governor of Shule was too blunt in his speech!
“Whether the Tang Dynasty is more beneficial to Your Majesty or the Arabs is, I suppose, already clear in your mind.”
Li Kuo paused and said, “The reason you’re still undecided is simply because you doubt the determination of Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.”
Ashilanda’s thoughts were exposed, and his face immediately turned red. Although he indeed had such thoughts, having them revealed in front of others was something he couldn’t bear.
“Nonsense! I’m not the kind of person to stay neutral!”
Though his words were harsh, they lacked any conviction, and his gaze toward Li Kuo was uncertain.
“You claim to be an envoy of the Tang Emperor—what evidence does the governor of Shule have?”
It wasn’t surprising that Ashilanda was suspicious. All the Tang generals he had dealt with before were in their thirties or forties. Compared to them, Li Kuo was indeed too young. Moreover, for such an important matter, would a military governor dare to venture alone into enemy territory? If Ashilanda really decided to kill him, what chance would the young man have to resist?

“This memorial bears His Majesty the Emperor’s private seal; surely the one that conferred the title of King of Fenghua on you also had the same seal, right? As for this handwriting, if you’ve forgotten, you can ask Princess Yihe—was it indeed written by His Majesty in person?” (Note 1)
Li Kuo spoke in a measured tone, backed by logic, leaving Ashilanda speechless for a moment. He had earlier been granted a title by the Tang Emperor and married Princess Yihe, a member of the imperial family. If he were to switch sides so quickly, it would indeed be a betrayal of His Majesty.
Yet political matters couldn’t be resolved simply with a title or a princess. Without strong military support and tangible incentives, why would Ashilanda risk everything to rejoin the Tang forces? He needed a reason—a reason powerful enough to convince him!
After all, although the Arabs imposed heavy taxes in River Region, there were still far more barbarian states inclined toward them than toward the Tang!
“Of course, if you insist that there’s no seal from the Ministry of War and claim I’m a spy, I have nothing to say. You may behead me and hand me over to the Arabs to take credit for it. But whether they’ll accept your favor, you know better than I do!”
Li Kuo spread his hands, delivering all he had prepared. Since His Majesty didn’t want to cause panic among the people of the Four Garrison Towns, he bypassed the usual formal process of approval through the Secretariat and instead sent special envoys for secret negotiations.
Ashilanda certainly had the right to doubt him, but the young man was convinced that the other party would eventually trust him unconditionally. Not for any other reason, but because he no longer had any better options!
“Are you sure Gao Xianzhi will send troops by the end of the year?”
Ashilanda wasn’t interested in the rewards and titles mentioned in the secret letter. If the Tang army didn’t regain control of River Region, all of that would be like mirages. What interested him greatly was the emperor’s plan to send more troops. The Tang Emperor intended to send brave soldiers to reinforce Anxi!
The Four Garrison Towns had few troops, which was a key reason why Gao Xianzhi couldn’t advance further and take River Region. But in the letter, the emperor stated that ten thousand brave soldiers had already been sent to Anxi, with more to follow to the Western Regions. This was a clear signal: with enough brave soldiers stationed in the towns, the veteran troops in Anxi naturally needed to do something.
Now that the Arabs’ ambitions grew ever larger, with their reach extending beyond the Pamir Mountains, the Tang people certainly couldn’t stand by idly.

Ashilanda sensed the scent of an impending great battle. In this fight, what advantage could Ashilanda possibly gain?……
Note 1: Princess Heyi: According to the “New Book of Tang,” in the 27th year of Emperor Xuanzong’s Kaiyuan era, Wang Ashilanda helped suppress Tuohuoxian and was appointed King of Fenghua. In the 3rd year of Tianbao era, his country’s name was changed to Ningyuan. The emperor granted him the surname Dou from his maternal family and also sent a princess from the imperial family as Princess Heyi to marry him. It can be seen that Bahanna and Ningyuan were the same country, known as “Dayuan” during the Han dynasty.