After learning that Zhang Qian was going to send Yue Jia, the military minister Khan said to Zhang Qian, "Yue Jia is in my north, so why can Han go?" Will Han listen to me if I want to turn over a new leaf? "That is to say, from the standpoint of the Huns, in any case, the envoys of the Han people are not allowed to go to Yueshi through the Huns. Just as the Han Dynasty won't let Xiongnu emissaries cross the Han area and go to the southern state of Yue. Zhang Qian and his party were detained and placed under house arrest.
Xiongnu Khan used all kinds of threats and inducements to soften and win over Zhang Qian and give up the idea of going to Ren Yue. He also married a Hun woman to Zhang Qian and gave birth to a child. But none of them achieved their goal. He "does not disgrace your life" and "sticks to the Han Festival without losing". In other words, I have never forgotten the sacred mission entrusted to me by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and I have never wavered in my will and determination to be the Vietnamese envoy to the Han Dynasty. Zhang Qian and others lived in Xiongnu for ten years.
In the sixth year of Yuanguang (BC 129), the enemy's surveillance gradually relaxed. One day, while the Huns were unprepared, Zhang Qian decisively left his wife and children and led his entourage to escape from Wang Ting, the Huns.
This escape is very dangerous and difficult. Fortunately, Zhang Qian and others lived in Xiongnu for ten years, learned the road of the western regions in detail, and learned the language of Xiongnu. They put on Hu clothes, and it is difficult for the Huns to catch them. So they successfully passed through the Xiongnu's control area.
However, during his stay in Xiongnu, the situation in the western regions changed. Wu Sun, the enemy of Ren Yue, with the support and instigation of Xiongnu, attacked Ren Yue to the west. The Vietnamese were forced to move westward from the Ili River basin, enter the Guishui area near the Aral Sea, conquer the summer and build another home on a new land. Zhang Qian is probably aware of this situation. Instead of heading for the Ili River basin in the northwest, they turned southwest, entered Yanqi, then turned back to the west of Tarim River, crossed Kuqa, Shule and other places, crossed the green ridge and reached Dawan (now Fergana Valley in the Soviet Union). After trudging on the road for dozens of days.
This is an extremely hard March. On the big Gobi, flying sand and stones, heat waves rolling; The green ridge is as high as the roof, covered with ice and snow, and the wind is biting. There are few people along the way and water resources are scarce. Plus, I fled in a hurry and the materials were not prepared enough. Zhang Qian and his party camped and prepared for hardships. When our dry food runs out, we rely on Tangyi to shoot animals to satisfy our hunger. Many followers died of hunger and thirst on the way, or died in the yellow sand ice cave, giving their lives.
After Zhang Qian arrived in Dawan, he explained his trip to Ren Yue and his experiences along the way to Dawan King. He hoped Dayuan could send someone to see him off, and said that if he could return to the Han Dynasty in the future, he must make a clear name and give him a lot of property and rewards. King Dawan had long heard about the wealth of the Eastern Han Dynasty and wanted to communicate with the Han Dynasty, but he was blocked by the Huns and failed to achieve it. Han's unexpected arrival made him very happy. Zhang Qian, more let him tempted. So he readily agreed to Zhang Qian's request. After a warm reception, he sent a guide and translator to send Zhang Qian and others to live in Comfortable (now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the Soviet Union). King Kangju sent someone to send them to Da Yue.
Unexpectedly, at this time, because the new land is very fertile, rich in products, and far away from the Huns and Wusun, the danger of foreign enemies is greatly reduced and the attitude has changed. When Zhang Qian suggested to them, they didn't mean to take revenge on the Huns. In addition, they thought that the Han Dynasty was too far away from the Yue people, so if they jointly attacked the Huns, it would be difficult to help them in case of danger. Zhang Qian and others stayed in Ren Yue for more than a year, but failed to persuade Ren Yue to form an alliance with the Han Dynasty and attack the Huns. During this period, Zhang Qian crossed the Guishui River and went south to Shilan City (now Khan Wazirabad) in summer. In the first year of yuanshuo (BC 128), he set off for home.
On his way home, Zhang Qian changed his marching route to avoid the Xiongnu-controlled area. It is planned to pass through the Qiang area in Qinghai to avoid the resistance of Xiongnu. So after crossing the Green Ridge again, they did not follow the "North Road" in the north of Tarim Basin, but turned to the "South Road" in the south of Tarim Basin and walked along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain. Starting from shache, it passed through Khotan (now Hotan) and Shanshan (now Ruoqiang) and entered the Qiang area. But what I didn't expect was that the Qiang people became vassals of the Huns, and Zhang Qian and others were captured by tarquin again and held for more than a year.
At the beginning of the third year of Yuan Shuo (BC 126), Minister of Military Affairs Khan died, his brother Zuo Wang became Khan himself, and the prince who attacked Minister of Military Affairs Khan was Khan. Khan failed to escape from Korea. Zhang Qian fled back to Chang 'an with his wife and father while the Huns were in civil strife. This is Zhang Qian's first trip to the Western Regions. It took thirteen years from the second year of Jianyuan (BC 139) to the third year of Yuanshuo (BC 126). There were more than 100 people when we set out, and only zhangqian and Tang Yi's father were left when we came back. What a high price to pay!
Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions was not completed in terms of scheduled tasks. Because he failed to achieve the goal of forming an alliance with the big moon family to attack the Huns. For example, in terms of its practical influence and historical role, it is undoubtedly a great success. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, Rong Di has lived in the north of Jingwei River. To the north of Qin Shihuang, the Great Wall was built to protect the Central Plains, but its western boundary is only the vast western regions outside Lintao and Yumen, which is still beyond our political and cultural potential. Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions made China's influence reach the east and west sides of the Green Ridge. Since then, not only the links between Xinjiang and the mainland have been strengthened, but also the direct links between China and Central Asia, West Asia and even Southern Europe have been established and strengthened. It was in Zhang Qian's footsteps that later generations walked out of the world-famous "Silk Road". Zhang Qian's contribution to hollowing out should be fully affirmed.
Zhang Qian's first trip to the western regions was not only an extremely difficult diplomatic trip, but also a fruitful scientific investigation. Zhang Qian made a field trip to the vast western region for the first time. He not only personally traveled to the small country of Xinjiang and the countries of Dawan, Kangju, Da Yue and Daxia in Central Asia, but also got a preliminary understanding of Wusun (south of Balkhash Lake, Ili River Basin), Chae Yeon (north of Caspian Sea and Aral Sea), rest in peace (Persia, now Iran), governance (also known as Dashi, now Iraq) and body poison (also known as Tianzhu) after returning to Chang 'an. The basic content of this report was preserved by Sima Qian in Historical Records and Biography of Dawan. This is the first and most accurate record of these areas in China and the world. Up to now, studying the paleogeography and history of the above-mentioned regions and countries is still the most precious information in the world.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very satisfied with Zhang Qian's achievements in his missions to the Western Regions. He specially named Zhang Qian as the doctor of the Imperial Cure House, and awarded Tang Yi's father as the "envoy" in recognition of their achievements.
Exploring new roads and developing southwest China
The rich knowledge about the outside world of the Central Plains gained by Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions played an active role in the political, military and diplomatic activities of the Western Han Dynasty and the war against the Huns, and had a far-reaching impact.
Before that, the monarchs and ministers of the Han Dynasty didn't know that there was a drug country in the southwest of China. In summer, Zhang Qian suddenly saw Sichuan native products, Qiongzhuzhang and Shubu. He was very surprised and asked their source. The people in Daxia told him that the merchants in Daxia bought it from the body poison. The poison country is located in the southeast of summer. After returning home, Zhang Qian reported this situation to Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. It is concluded that Daxia is located in the southwest of China, 12 thousand miles away from Chang 'an, and its poison is thousands of miles southeast of Daxia. The distance from summer to Chang 'an will not be farther than that from summer to Chang 'an. Sichuan is in the southwest of Chang 'an, and its poison is the product of Shu, which proves that it is not too far from Shu. On this basis, Zhang Qian suggested to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to send envoys south, from Shu to southwest, and to find another route through poisonous and Central Asian countries to avoid the danger of passing through Qiang and Xiongnu areas. Zhang Qian's inference is correct on the whole, but the estimation of the distance is not consistent with the actual situation. Of course, it is commendable that Zhang Qian reached this level of understanding nearly two thousand years ago. On the basis of direct contacts with Dawan, Kangju, Yueshi, India and Rest in Peace, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expanded his political influence and completely isolated the Huns. He readily accepted Zhang Qian's suggestion and ordered Zhang Qian to take charge of Qianwei County (now Yibin, Sichuan) personally.
Since ancient times, there have been many ethnic minorities living in southwest China, including southwest Sichuan, southern Qinghai, eastern Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places, collectively known as "Southwest Yi". At the end of the Warring States Period, Qiao Zhuang, a general of Chu, entered Yunnan to establish a state, but he was soon cut off. In the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Tang Meng and Sima Xiangru were sent to "develop" and "southwest Yi", Qianwei County and Du Qiong. Jurisdiction (now Xichang area), Zha (now Hanyuan area) and Hu Ran (now Maoxian county). Later, due to efforts to deal with the Huns, it stopped operating in the southwest. The ethnic minorities in southwest China are basically isolated from the Central Plains dynasty. The southwest passage was very difficult at that time.
In the first year of Yuanshou (BC 122), Zhang Qian sent four expeditions from Chengdu and Yibin in Sichuan to southern Qinghai, eastern Tibet and Yunnan. The ultimate destination is poison. The four-way emissaries traveled about one or two thousand miles, and were blocked in the minority areas such as Bianzhi, Zhazhi (southwest Sichuan) and Yu, Kunming (Dali, Yunnan). They failed to move on and came back one after another.
Zhang Qian's exploration of the new route in southwest China has not achieved the expected results, but it has made great contributions to the development of southwest China. The emissaries sent by Zhang Qian went deep into the Dian State established by Qiaozhuang. Dianguo, also known as Dianyue, is also called "elephant riding country", because soldiers are all sitting on elephants to fight in case of war. The messengers learned that before this, merchants from Shu often took their goods to Yunnan and Vietnam for trade. At the same time, we also know that the ethnic minorities living in Kunming are "no princes" and "good thieves". It was precisely because of the resolute obstruction of Kunming people that the envoys of the Han Dynasty had to stop moving forward. Before that, the southwest minorities knew little about the situation of the Han Dynasty. No wonder when the envoys of the Han Dynasty met with the king of Yunnan, the king of Yunnan asked curiously, "Which country in the Han Dynasty was bigger than ours?" When the messenger came to Yelang, Yelang Hou also raised this question. This became the origin of the allusion of "arrogance of yelang" in later generations. Only through the explanation and introduction of the Han envoys did they realize the power of the Han Dynasty. Since then, the Han Dynasty has paid more attention to strengthening ties with Yunnan, Yelang and other tribes. By the first year of Ding Yuan (11/years ago), the five counties of Pangke, Yueyou, Li Shen, Wenshan and Wudu were formally established in the Han Dynasty, and then Yizhou and Jiaozhi counties were established, which basically completed the development of the southwest.
Fight against Xiongnu, join the army and seal Hou.
After Zhang Qian returned to Chang 'an with the emissaries from the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty's war against Xiongnu entered a new stage. One year before exploring the southwest, Zhang Qian directly participated in the war against Xiongnu. In the sixth year of Yuan Shuo (BC 123), in February and April, General Wei Qing sent troops to attack the Huns twice. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Zhang Qian to take a captain from the general to attack Mobei. At that time, the Han army marched thousands of miles outside the Great Wall, and it was quite difficult to supply in the vast yellow sand and grassland. Zhang Qian used his familiarity with the Xiongnu army, desert marching experience and rich geographical knowledge as a guide for the Han army, and pointed out the marching route and camping plan. Because he "knows where the grass is and there are many soldiers", he ensured the victory of the war. Afterwards, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty named Zhang Qian "Bo Wanghou". Yan Shigu thinks that "broadening one's horizons" means "broadening one's horizons according to one's ability." This is an appropriate affirmation of Zhang Qian's extensive knowledge and knowledge by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
In the second year of Yuanshou (12 1 year ago), Zhang Qian was ordered to leave Beiping (now northeast Hebei) with General Fei to attack the Huns. Li Guang led four thousand riders as pioneers, and Zhang Qian rode behind. As a result, Li Guang ventured alone and fell into the encirclement of Xiongnu left 40,000 cavalry. Li Guang led his men to fight hard day and night, Zhang Qian arrived all the way, and the Huns began to clear up. Although this battle killed many enemies, most of the soldiers led by Li Guang died, and Zhang Qian's troops were too tired to pursue. Li Guang made two contributions to the discussion of crimes in the imperial court, but Zhang Qian was banished to Shu Ren for "late crime". From then on, Zhang Qian left the army life. But what Zhang Qian started is not over. Soon, he embarked on the second journey of communication with the western regions.