Chapter 458 Rashid's Troubles

In March, the Yili River Basin is full of spring, and the endless grassland gradually turns green. The wind blows on the face, and a warm breath overflows between the sky and the earth. In the morning, a thin white mist of milky white covered the grassland. In the distance, a rapid sound of horse hooves broke through the tranquility of the grassland. A fast horse appeared in the mist and galloped towards the Demon Dragon City. Kurband immediately bit his lips tightly, and his eyes became desperate due to anger. He beat the war horse desperately, and the war horse rushed into the Demon Dragon City like a strong wind.

Yaolong City has been re-controlled by the Tang army. After the war, many indigenous residents who followed the Tang army to take refuge in the south have returned to their homes one after another. In the subsequent reconstruction, the first pier built by the Tang army was successfully completed, and twenty hundred stone transport ships were successfully launched. The construction of this pier connects Yaolong City and the Yili River through waterways, but this is only the first step of the Tang army. After completely controlling the Yili River Basin, the next step of the Tang army will expand to the Yibohai and complete the strategic encirclement of the Uighurs from the west.

The current military envoy of the Yaolong City is Shi Yang, the commander general. After this young general made great contributions in surprise attacking Bahanna, he did not make a fortune. His military post has not changed. He was transferred from Ashibulaicheng to the commander general. The only gain was that he was granted the scattered official position of General Ningyuan. This was only from the fifth-rank military officer rank. These rewards were obviously not worthy of the military merits made by Shi Yang. Even his deputy Lai Jinlin was promoted to the commander general. Ashibulaicheng's military envoy, and Shi Yang suffered an injustice.

Many people in the army sympathized with him, but Shi Yang himself was very happy. He finally settled the position of General of the Duwei for his military merits. In the future, no one would think that he was promoted because of his identity and background. This is what he valued. As for being transferred to the military envoy of the Demon Dragon City, Shi Yang knew even more that the smoke of the Great Food War dissipated, and the Tang Dynasty's repulsion against the Uighurs will be one of the efforts of the Uighurs. He transferred him to the Demon Dragon City and once again gave him a chance to make meritorious contributions.

Last night, he received news from the scout that the Yaolong River had already shown signs of thawing. If the Yaolong River thawing, the operation to use the Yaolong River to transport materials could begin formally.

Shi Yang led 500 cavalrymen to go along the river in person to observe the thawing of the river. As soon as the brigade of cavalry drove out of the dark forest, the sound of horse hooves came from behind, "General Shi Yang, Shi Yang!" Hearing someone calling him, Shi Yang looked back and saw a horse running towards him several miles away. Someone was waving his arms. The light in the forest was dim and he couldn't see his appearance clearly.

Soon, the war horse approached, and the war horse was Kurbend, a Khalids man, with a very anxious expression, 'Isn't he here not to come to the city? What are you doing here? Could something happened to Gudai?' Shi Yang couldn't think of any reason that would make Kurbend so anxious, so he stopped the war horse and waited for Kurbend to step forward.

"General Shi, Gudai has finally gone to Baghdad. I can't stop her. Go and get her back!" Kurbend's expression was extremely excited. Gudai's final shout seemed to echo in his ears, "Brother Kur, go back! Go fight for the people of Khigas, follow the woman, you will never become a real hero."

Gudai's words deeply hurt Kurbend's self-esteem. For this reason, he wanted to go back to the grassland to become a real hero, but he was worried about Gudai, so he came to discuss with Shi Yang. He hoped that Shi Yang could send someone to intercept Gudai and could not let her take risks in Baghdad no matter what.

"It is too dangerous for General Shi to pass on a letter to the Tang army of Shi Kingdom to intercept Gu Dai. She went to Baghdad alone."

After a while of silence, Shi Yang smiled faintly and said, "Do you think I can stop her? Besides, she went to find her lover a month later. That should be her careful choice. What reason do I have to not let her go?"

Shi Yang's coldness towards this matter is like pouring cold water on Kurbande. He stood there blankly, looking a little helpless, and wanted to chase Gudai again. He no longer had the courage to go back to Kurbans. But he couldn't let go of this love in his heart. Shi Yang seemed to understand his thoughts and patted Kurbande's thick shoulder heavily, "Follow me!" He urged the horse to rush up a small hill, pointing to the rising sky of the eastern morning glow, and said to Kurbande: "Did you see that the world is so vast and boundless, let us rush across, why do we have to be so exhausted for a woman? You and I are both men. A real man should make achievements on the battlefield. Why don't you have a wife? You and I will go back to Kurbans! I hope we can meet on the battlefield where the Uighurs sweeps the Uighurs."

Shi Yang's words inspired the bloodiness in Kurbande's bones. He looked at the boundless grassland in the distance. He suddenly let out a long roar towards the sky, and a sharp roar echoed between the sky and the earth. He then rode down the hill and rushed to the distant north, "Look at it! One day, my sword covered with blood in the enemy will make you understand what the hero of the Kievans is."

The outer city of Baghdad is still bustling, with the hawking of small vendors one after another. Teams of camels full of goods were walking on the streets, with all kinds of people and various languages ​​filling this international metropolis. Cui Yao was wearing black clothes of a big cannibal, riding on a camel, leisurely heading towards the inner city. He had been in the big cannibal for a whole half of a year, and language was no longer an obstacle for him. He could not only speak fluent Arabic, but also write poetry in Arabic. He introduced the poems and history of the Central Plains to the big cannibal. For this reason, Rashid specially opened an oriental history course for him in the Imperial Library, attracting more than a thousand noble children to listen to the course. Over the past few months, Cui Yao began to be quite famous in the upper class of Baghdad and was praised by the cool Baghdads as the "Oriental Star".

The war has ended more than four months ago. At the beginning of the defeat, the sky above Baghdad was filled with sorrow, prices soared, and the crying of the families of the dead could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys. The failure of the war not only did not affect his teaching, but also caused more people to pay attention to the Tang Dynasty. Cui Yao's students also increased from more than one thousand to nearly five thousand. The original teaching hall could no longer sit, so he changed to the main hall of the library to teach twice a week.

Cui Yao lived in the empty house of Uncle Muta in the outer city, and Uncle Muta went to Samarkand to purchase goods two months ago. After the Battle of Sacrifice, although his students did not mind that he was a native of the Tang Dynasty, ordinary people in Baghdad may not hold grudges, especially those relatives of the soldiers who died in battle, might give him a knife. Therefore, Cui Yao covered his face with a black scarf every day and traveled between his residence and the Imperial Library.

Today is not a class day. He is preparing to go to the library in the inner city to read books as usual. As soon as his camel walked to the gate of the inner city, he suddenly heard someone calling him behind him, "Mr. Cui!" His voice was soft, and he was a young woman.

Cui Yao turned around and saw an extremely gorgeous carriage coming from behind. The carriage stopped in front of him, and a beautiful face appeared in the car window. She was about twenty years old, with a charming smile, beautiful teeth and blue eyes with black eyelashes, and a silk screen covered with various gems on her chestnut hair. Cui Yao knew her. Her name was Abasai, and she was the real sister of Rashid Caliph and the most noble princess in Baghdad. She was Rashid's favorite person, even surpassing Rashid's own daughter. In order to keep her by her side forever, Rashid did not even allow her to get married, and she had only one nominal husband.

Abasai was also one of Cui Yao's students, but she learned Chinese, which originated from her love for Tang Dynasty poetry, especially her most admired Li Bai's poems. In order to have a deeper taste of Tang poetry, she began to learn Chinese from Cui Yao.

"I read a poem by Li Bai yesterday. Do you listen to it?" Abasai recited it in stammering Chinese like an elementary school student, "Look up at the bright moon, and bowed his head to think of his hometown."

"Not bad! Not bad!" Suddenly someone was applauding in the carriage. Cui Yao then found that there was another person in the carriage. He was an extremely beautiful man with amazing fair skin. He was about thirty years old and always had a dreamy confusion in his eyes. Cui Yao also knew him. His name was Zheerfair, the second son of Yehaya, and the tax manager of the Abbasid Empire. He held the financial power of the empire. In addition, he was also the most famous poet and writer in Baghdad, and wrote a good word.

There are always some innovative innovations, but this innovation will always become the fashion of Baghdad immediately. For example, his neck is very long. He wore a turtleneck suit last year. As a result, this turtleneck suit became the most fashionable style in Baghdad. It has been popular for a whole year and has not yet ended. Zheerfar is also one of Cui Yao's history students. He will be present on time and listen carefully every time he teaches. He especially likes to listen to Cui Yao's explanation of the Records of the Grand Historian, and his personal relationship with Cui Yao is also quite good.

The reason why Zheerfair was in a carriage with Abasai was because he was Abasai's nominal husband. They did not live together and rarely met normally. Only when a grand banquet was held in the palace would he sit with her in the name of Abasai's husband. However, today he met Abasai on the road and invited her to ride in a carriage with him.

Hearing Zheerfair's praise, Abasai blushed. She glanced at him charmingly and pinched him quietly. Although the movement was very subtle, Cui Yao still saw him. He pretended to be missing and bowed to Zheerfair and smiled slightly, "Zheerfair, have you convinced your father when I mentioned the printing method last time?"

The printing method Cui Yao mentioned was the printing technique of the Tang Dynasty. In fact, it was transmitted from the Tang army prisoners of war to Dashi decades ago after the Battle of Talas, but it was not accepted by the cannibals. It was mainly opposed by the Islamic Church. The elders believed that only by copying scriptures by hand was respect for Allah. Therefore, although printing had been passed on, it had not been adopted. After Rashid took office, he vigorously introduced Eastern and Western cultures, and a large number of cultures blended in Baghdad. He himself did not reject printing techniques, but the powerful minister Ye Haya opposed it. In order to print history textbooks, Cui Yao asked Zheerfar, hoping that he could convince his father to use printing techniques.

Zheerfar nodded and said, "Even I didn't expect it to be so smooth. My father agreed immediately. Not only was the history textbook of Mr. Printer, but he also agreed to promote printing in Dashi, and decided to be an envoy in person and set off for the Tang Dynasty in May to meet with your Emperor Emperor."

Cui Yao nodded silently. This is the change brought about by the war. The defeat of the Saiye made the cannibals pay unprecedented attention to the Tang Dynasty. Even the printing technology that had been shelved for decades was finally accepted by the cannibals.

At this time, a fast horse came from the inner city, and was immediately Rashid's guard. He suddenly saw Cui Yao, and then stopped the war horse and shouted: "Mr. Cui, I am about to go find you. His Majesty the Caliph is going to summon you and order you to enter the palace immediately."

Cui Yao immediately asked Aba Track: "It's still normal to attend class this afternoon. I will teach you another poem by Li Bai: "Wine in". I hope the princess can arrive on time."

After saying that, he bowed to Zheerfair again and followed the guards quickly. As soon as Cui Yao left, Zheerfair immediately lowered his face to Aba Track: "Your behavior was very rash just now. If someone was seen and reported to the Caliphate, he would doubt our true relationship. The consequences were very serious. Do you understand?"

In the Dashi Palace, Rashid and Zheng were all focused on watching a Turkic craftsman drawing the bow and arrow production process. The defeat of the Saiye Battle made Rashid begin to comprehensively review the military gap between Dashi and Datang. In terms of weapons of mass destruction, the Tang army had thunder bombs, but they had Greek fire. The power of the two was not far different. In terms of close combat, the Tang army had horizontal swords, and they also had Damascus scimitars, which were also between equal parts. The key was medium and long-distance attacks. The Dashi's spear throwing was obviously inferior to the Tang army's bow and arrows. It was officially a big leak in this link, which made the Dashi army pay a heavy price, and even an important factor in the failure of the war. For this reason, he learned from his mistakes and decided that the Dashi army gave up spear throwing and used bows and arrows, which were not only used to deal with the Tang army. Rashid realized that the Tang army's extremely penetrating bows and arrows could help him defeat the Byzantine and the Frankish kingdoms.

The level of making bows and arrows by the great cannibals was not high. The Egyptians were a little stronger, but they were far from comparable to the level of bow making in the Tang army. However, the Turks were able to imitate bows and arrows as sharp as those of the Tang Dynasty. For this reason, Rashid specially invited Turkic craftsmen with the highest bow making skills to draw patterns for him.

"Your Majesty the Caliph, this is the bow and arrow that the Tang army generally uses. They are usually made of willow trees and animal tendons. We can use Syrian oak or Armenian cedar here. It takes about two years from the shape, crimping, winding to the end of the bow, but bow and arrow are actually not the sharpest long-range weapon in the Tang Dynasty."

As Rashid heard, his brows frowned. It took two years to make a bow and arrow like the Tang army, and it was not the sharpest long-range weapon. His face immediately sank and said unhappily: "What is the sharpest long-range weapon? Why don't you draw it?"

The Turkic craftsman heard the dissatisfaction in the caliph's tone. He replied in panic: "Report to your Majesty, the most sharp long-range weapon of the Tang army is actually a crossbow. It not only has a long range, but also has a strong penetration. He only knows one or two about the humble position. I am afraid that he will not be able to achieve the effect of the crossbow arrow like the Tang army."

"You have to give it a try anyway. No matter how much manpower and financial resources I can use, I will give you a great reward if I make it, and I will give you a title. But if I can't do it, I will want your head!" After Rashid said that, he turned around and rushed away angrily.

Rashid was in a bad mood these days. After the defeat of Saiye, his authority was seriously challenged. Yehaya took the opportunity to provoke riots between the Egyptians and the Khorasans. In order to calm the serious situation in the local area, he was forced to give up power and replaced the governor of Egypt and the governor of Armenia with Yehaya's confidant. At the same time, Yehaya's eldest son Fadler was appointed as the Supreme Judicial Judge. In addition, his second son Zheerfar was the highest tax officer. The Bermak family almost controlled all the power of the Abbasid Empire, and Tarashid was about to become a puppet of their family.

As soon as Rashid walked to the door of the palace where he worked, the guard officer hurriedly came up, "Your Majesty the Caliph, Mr. Cui, a native of the Tang Dynasty, has been brought here and is waiting for him to see him outside the palace."

Rashid nodded, "Take him to my inner temple!"

He pushed open the palace gate, walked through the huge palace, and entered a small gate. This was his inner palace, which was equivalent to the imperial study of the Daming Palace. It was the place where he usually handled state affairs. The inner palace usually had two black eunuchs responsible for cleaning. They were all illiterate and could not pass on some of his secrets.

Rashid walked to the table and sat down. There were some reports on the table. Most of them were tax revenues in various places, but one report suddenly attracted his attention. Ye Haya actually went to the Tang Dynasty to discuss the redemption of prisoners of war in May. That means there were still two months left. Rashid seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn't see it clearly for a while.

While he was pondering, the door of the inner palace suddenly opened, and the guard led Cui Yao in, "Your Majesty, he is here."

Cui Yao stepped forward and bowed to him deeply, "See Your Majesty the Caliph."

Rashid's thoughts were interrupted, and he smiled and waved his hand, "Please sit down!"

The guard took the door gently, and only Rashid and Cui Yao were left in the inner palace. Rashid poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile: "Now everyone calls you Mr. Cui, it seems that you are very popular!"

"Your Majesty is too rewarded." Cui Yao said modestly with a slight hunch, "The main reason is that everyone is interested in the history of our Tang Dynasty. From the first one, there are more than a hundred people to the present five thousand people, it makes people sigh that Dashi is indeed a country that is easy to learn."

"You are very good at speaking." Rashid sat down, leaning against his chair, as if he was pondering something. After a long time, he smiled slightly and said, "I have read some of your Eastern history textbooks. To be honest, I am very interested in your character Qin Shihuang. I especially appreciate his domineeringness and skills. Unfortunately, your history textbook is too simple to read, so I invited you today just to let you tell me alone how this great man who created the unified history ascended the throne of the Great Qin Empire."

Cui Yao nodded, "Where does Your Majesty want to sound from?"
Chapter completed!