Chapter 34: Camel Bells (I)

The roads in the Western Regions were winding and tortuous, while those in River Region were crisscrossing in all directions.
Li Kuo was already aware of all this. Yet he never expected that Ashina Luosi would end up leading him down such a path!
To be precise, it could no longer be called a road at all!
Days of continuous spring rain had turned the road, compacted by loess, into a quagmire. Wooden carts loaded with tea and silk would sink into the mire and never be able to move again. The short-legged Sogdian horses snorted, exhaling puffs of white mist to express their dissatisfaction.
Li Kuo glanced atScattered Leaf City hidden beneath the dark gray clouds and sighed bitterly. At such a sensitive time, they had taken enormous risks to come toScattered Leaf City!
According to their guide Ashina Luosi, although the area aroundSuiye River was dangerous, once they passedScattered Leaf City, the road would become smooth and safe. They could simply follow the ancient tea trade route alongAlishan City,Kulun City, andDaros City to avoid the attention of the Arabs. Moreover, the tolls at the city gates here were fairer, so it made sense for large caravans to enter River Region through this route.
Now that Ashina Luosi’s interests were completely tied to Li Kuo’s Tang army, he was unlikely to play any tricks.
This time, they had come toSuiye River under the banner of the famous merchant firm Xiemisi from Shule. Xiemisi meant “sun” in Arabic. It was said that the Arabs worshipped the sun, believing it brought light and carried Allah’s voice to the distant East. In reality, the owner of this firm was a Sogdian, with most of its employees being Tang people or people from Lingdong, along with a small number of Turks. They adopted an Arabic name purely for the convenience of trade.
Unlike Tang caravans, those from the countries in River Region mostly operated as part of a merchant firm—meaning few individual merchants would appear in a caravan. In other words, all merchants were employees of one firm! Thus, uniformity in attire was extremely important. According to Ashina Luosi, although they were a caravan from the East, since they were going to trade in Arab territory, they had to dress exactly like Arabs. This would avoid many unnecessary troubles and make the Arabs instinctively regard them as one of their own.

Thus, everyone, including Li Kuo, put on large tunics made of white coarse linen. It is said that the Arabs believed white symbolized purity, sincerity, and bravery. Although this attire left the young men accustomed to robes somewhat amused, everything was done for the mission to the Khitans in the River Region, so Li Kuo naturally wouldn’t fuss over such trivial details.

With the documents from the Xiesmith Company, they didn’t have to worry about passage along the way—Ashina Luoshi would handle everything. All they needed to do was pretend to be ordinary laborers and muddle through.

Due to internal strife among the Black and Yellow Turkic tribes, a curfew had been imposed in the region around Suiye City, with entry and exit strictly prohibited in principle. But principles are weak in the face of money. After Ashina Luoshi gave a bag of Arab silver coins to the city gate guards, those who had sworn not to let even a wolf enter Suiye City didn’t even carefully inspect the goods carried by their livestock before waving them through.

Ashina Luoshi thanked them repeatedly in Turkic, then led everyone into Suiye City. Though none of them had ever been there before, they had often heard the veterans stationed in Shule talk about this magnificent city. It was said that before the seventh year of the Kaiyuan era, Suiye City had always been one of the Four Garrison Cities of Anxi. It wasn’t until the Turkic tribes took control of the city that this grand city, modeled after Chang’an, lost its Tang Dynasty influence.

Yet these Turkic tribes were pitifully weak—years of internal strife had drained them of strength. Not long after the Arabs invaded from the east, they surrendered and became mere puppets of the Arabs.

Due to years of warfare, this generation was no longer as prosperous as during the Zongzhang and Kaiyuan eras. The grasslands outside Suiye City were constantly eroded by the desert, trade caravans became fewer and fewer, and even the residents of Suiye City left or migrated. The once sacred city was on the verge of becoming a deserted place. If there was still any place in the city that could reflect its former glory, it was only the Turkic Khan’s Palace in the north. This building was originally the Suiye Governor’s Office, but after the Turkic tribes settled there, it was transformed into a splendid palace for the Turkic Khan to reside in. (Note 1) Of course, Li Kuo’s caravan didn’t have the leisure to admire the scenery of Suiye City—staying longer there only increased the risk. After replenishing their water and food, they set off again, passing through the city gate on the north side of Suiye and heading west toward Abulai City.

Although their stay in Suire City did not exceed two hours in total, Li Kuo felt a deep sense of humiliation! With sand filling the air and deserted streets, was this still the same Suire City that was once bustling with merchants day and night? One day, they would reclaim Suire City and extend the territory of the Tang Dynasty beyond the western mountains to Hexi. When the sun rises, it belongs to the Tang Dynasty!… To travel west to Talas, Ashibulai City was a necessary stop. The further west they went, the more desolate the scenery became, and the atmosphere grew more reminiscent of that of the Arabs. Since the Arabs invaded from the east, this region had long been deeply influenced by Arab culture—ranging from the style of city buildings to people’s clothing, all modeled after Arabs. The launch of the “holy war” allowed the Arabs to culturally invade Hexi, implanting the beliefs of Allah in the minds of every native there. Ashibulai City was built beside a large bridge, with earthen yellow city walls standing tall at the other end of the bridge. These walls were made by mixing glutinous rice, clay, and other materials before being compacted with yellow soil, making them extremely strong. The city gates were significantly smaller than those in Suire City, and the brass gates appeared like fragments of gold under the setting sun. Forty Arab guards stood straight on either side of the gate, staring straight ahead without looking away. Compared to the Turgesh people of the Suire River region, they were clearly more diligent, but this made it harder for them to pass through. Even Ashina Luosi, who was usually confident, frowned and muttered in complaint. These so-called “jihadists” were the most devoted supporters of Allah’s faith; they believed that by guarding the gates to the holy land, they could enter paradise after death and enjoy endless food, wine, and virgins. So even if a mountain of gold coins were placed before them, these “honest and selfless” warriors would not blink. “Dear friends, we are a merchant caravan from the east, hoping to stay in the holy city for the night. May Allah’s blessings be upon you!” He spoke in Arabic. Although Turkic was spoken in the countries west of the mountains, it was only used among ordinary people. Expecting these brainwashed Arab guards to speak Turkic was like expecting flies to give up a bowl of delicious broth! “May Allah’s blessings be upon you!” An Arab officer also bowed to Ashina Luosi. Allah taught them to show proper respect and reciprocate kindness toward friends! But Ashina Luosi didn’t enjoy his moment of happiness long, as the officer changed his tone: “Where are your documents, guests from afar?”

“Here, right here!”
Ashina Luosi quickly pulled out the documents from his cloth bag and handed them to the guard. These guards were not someone they could afford to offend; despite their low ranks, they were extremely difficult to deal with. It was better to avoid trouble now—there was no need to cause friction in such places.
“From Shule?”
The officer became noticeably more alert, scrutinizing the man before him. “They’re Turks!”
“What are you selling?”
“To my lord from Persia, we are legitimate merchants of the Xieshimis Company. What we sell are tea and silk from the eastern regions. If my lord desires it, I can prepare some for you…”
Though he loathed it deeply, Ashina Luosi still nodded and bowed, speaking in a low voice.
“Alright, alright, go in quickly. Allah teaches us not to take others’ property without permission, otherwise we won’t be able to enter paradise after death!”
Seeing that there was nothing amiss with the documents, the officer didn’t want to waste time chatting with Ashina Luosi and urged him impatiently.
“Ah, ah.”
Ashina Luosi was overjoyed and nodded eagerly.
“Hurry up and push the cart! Your master hired you not to spend all your energy chatting idly, you worthless wretches!”
Ashina Luosi vented his anger on the Tang soldiers. At that moment, the Bronze General’s soldiers couldn’t express their frustration either and could only grit their teeth.
After passing through a dark doorway, they officially entered the city of Ashibulai.
Dusk was approaching, and according to their plan, they would stay there for the night.
Li Kuo slightly shifted his headscarf and carefully observed the surroundings.
Each street was very narrow, with almost no windows in the earthen walls on either side. The already tight streets were even more crowded as they were filled with people who had entered the city with them. Among these people were farmers bringing fresh vegetables to sell in the market, as well as those bringing clean water and sweets to the small square in the city center.
Shifting his gaze slightly, the young man saw the varied scenes of Ashibulai City.
Pale-faced porters, arrogant soldiers, ragged-clad children, beggars, hens that had escaped from someone’s chicken coop, a lost yellow dog at a corner, slaves with bare feet and confused eyes…
People who hadn’t taken a bath had sharp eyes as they moved nimbly through the market filled with the stench of livestock, showing no sign of discomfort. The market was filled with middle-aged women haggling over every penny, and garlic and trash were scattered everywhere.
A foul smell came from the market at the corner of the city, constantly irritating the Bronze General’s soldiers’ nostrils.
Why were they still happy living in such an environment?

Selling laborers, selling youth? What enables the great devourers to rule the River Region so peacefully? Is it merely a true word from Allah?…
Note 1: Zongzhang was the era name of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi. It is worth noting that in the second year of Zongzhang (669), the Tang Dynasty’s territory reached its maximum size, which it has never surpassed since then.