After Han Zhan inspected fifteen high platforms, it was already evening when he returned to the city.

As soon as he returned to the front of the mansion, Chen Da came to report to Han Zhan: "Lord, you are finally back. The military advisor and the chief minister have been waiting in the mansion for a long time."

When Han Zhan learned that Guo Jia and Xun Yu had already been waiting for him in the mansion, he quickly handed the reins in his horse to a soldier and followed Chen Dao to the conference hall.

When Han Zhan walked into the conference hall, he found that not only Guo Jia but Xun Yu were there, but also Xun You, Tian Feng, Xu Shu and others who had not visited for a long time were there.

Everyone who was chatting saw Han Zhan walking into the conference hall, hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, crossed his hands and saluted him in unison, "I'm waiting to welcome the lord back home!"

"No gift!" Han Zhan waved his hand to all his subordinates and said, "Please sit down for everyone."

After the counselors took their seats, Han Zhan, who was eager to learn about the affairs in the court, looked at Xun Yu and asked anxiously: "Sir, has the envoy of the Great Qin Kingdom ever met Your Majesty today?"

"Report to the lord!" When Han Zhan asked him, Xun Yu quickly stood up and replied, "I will lead the envoy of the Great Qin Kingdom to meet His Majesty in the morning."

"What does Your Majesty say?" Han Zhan was anxious to know Emperor Xian of Han's attitude and see if the other party intends to reopen the Silk Road. After all, the court's decision will have a significant impact on his next strategy.

"After hearing the purpose of the foreign envoy, Your Majesty immediately asked the ministers what they thought about this matter." Xun Yu said to Han Zhan: "The Grand Marshal, Grand Tutor, Shizhong and other ministers all said that they could reopen the business road. In order to convince Your Majesty, they also specifically mentioned the past when Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions."

"Oh, Emperor Wu sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions?"

Xun Yu was worried that Han Zhan was too young and did not know that Zhang Qian was on the Western Regions. After all, this was the old past three hundred years ago, so he took the initiative to introduce: "Short after Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he learned from the surrendered Xiongnu that in Dunhuang, the Dayuezhi lived in the Qilian area. When he captured the land of the neighboring Wusun, he had a conflict with the Xiongnu. By the time of the old Shang Shanyu, they were completely conquered by the Xiongnu. The old Shang Shanyu killed the King of Yuezhi and cut off his head and made it into a wine vessel. After this national crisis, the Yuezhi people were forced to move west to the Western Regions, drive away the original Sai people, and re-establish the country. But they did not forget their hometown and were always ready to revenge the Xiongnu, and wanted someone to help them to attack the Xiongnu. Based on this situation, Wu decided to join forces with the Dayuezhi and jointly attack the Xiongnu. So he ordered the selection of talents and missions to the Western Regions."

Although Han Zhan knew about Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, since Xun Yu took the initiative to mention it, he did not interrupt and patiently listened to the other party telling the story of the past three hundred years.

"In the second year of Jianyuan of Emperor Wu, Zhang Qian was ordered to lead more than 100 people, set out from Longxi, and a surrendered Hu Rentang was used as a guide and translator. When they walked west into the Hexi Corridor controlled by the Huns, they unfortunately encountered the Huns' cavalry and all of them were captured. After the kings of the Huns learned that Zhang Qian was an envoy of the Han Dynasty, they immediately sent people to escort them to the Xiongs' court and handed them over to the Junchen Shanyu, the son of the old Shang Shanyu.

When the military minister Shanyu learned that Zhang Qian and his party were about to go to the Western Regions, they would naturally not allow them to pass, so he detained them and put them under house arrest. In order to win over Zhang Qian and dispel his idea of ​​serving Yuezhi, the Shanyu carried out various coercion and inducement, and even married Zhang Qian the Huns woman as his wife and gave birth to a child.

However, the Shanyu's approach did not achieve his goal. Zhang Qian "don't disgrace the king's orders" and "holding the Han Dynasty without losing his moral integrity". He never forgot the sacred mission assigned to him by Emperor Wu, and did not shake the will and determination of the Han Dynasty to envoy Yuezhi.

In the sixth year of Zhiyuanguang, Zhang Qian, who had been under house arrest for ten years, found that the Huns' surveillance of their own was relaxed. So he took advantage of his unpreparedness and decisively abandoned his wife and children, led his entourage, escaped from the Xiongnu royal court, and continued to go west to the Great Yuezhi..."

Seeing that Han Zhan was enjoying his relish, Rob hurriedly approached his side and asked in a low voice: "Lord, it's getting late, I guess you haven't had dinner yet. Do you see if you are going to take the kitchen to prepare meals?"

When Han Zhan reminded Luo Bu, he immediately realized that he was not considering the problem thoroughly. If it was too late today, he asked all the counselors to accompany him to listen to Xun Yu's story with him on hungry days. He quickly ordered Luo Bu: "Robu, immediately instruct the kitchen to prepare meals. This marquis wants to entertain the ministers here."

After Rob left, Han Zhan said politely to Xun Yu: "Dinner will be delivered soon, please continue to say, Chief Secretary."

Xun Yu nodded and continued to say, "...This kind of escape is very dangerous and difficult. Fortunately, Zhang Qian and others stayed in the Huns for ten years. Not only did they learn the road to the Western Regions in detail, but they also learned the language of the Huns. They put on Huns' clothes and were difficult to be seized by the Huns, so they successfully passed through the areas controlled by the Huns.

However, while they were trapped in the Huns, the situation in the Western Regions had changed. Wusun, the enemy country of Yuezhi, attacked Yuezhi in the west with the support and instigation of the Huns. He forced the Yuezhi people to continue to move westward, enter the Guishui area to conquer Daxia, and build another home on the new land.

After Zhang Qian learned about this situation, after passing the Cheshi Kingdom, he did not head northwest, but turned southwest, entered Yanqi, then went westward along the Tarim River, passed Kuche, Shule and other places, crossed the Pamir Mountains, and went straight to Dayuan.

After Zhang Qian arrived in Dayuan, he explained to the King of Dayuan about his mission to the Yuezhi and his various experiences along the way. He hoped that Dayuan would send someone to send him off. He also said that if he could return to the Han Dynasty in the future, he would report to Emperor Wu of Ming to give him money and property to express his gratitude. The King of Dayuan had long heard of the wealth of the Han Dynasty in the East and wanted to communicate with the Han Dynasty, but was hindered by the Huns.

The unexpected arrival of the Han envoy made him very happy, and Zhang Qian's words made him even more moved. So he agreed to Zhang Qian's request and warmly received, and sent a guide and translator to send Zhang Qian and others to Kangju. Zhang Qian and others arrived in Daxia through Kangju. With the help of the Daxia Kingdom, they finally arrived at the Dayuezhi.

But what is unexpected is that within ten years when Zhang Qian and others were trapped in the Huns, the Dayuezhi, which was attacked by Wusun, has now moved to the bank of the Amu River. Since coming to the Amu River and surrendering Daxia with force, the new land is very fertile and rich in resources. It is far from the Huns and Wusuns. The danger of foreign enemies' trepidation has been greatly reduced. The Dayuezhi King changed his attitude and was unintentionally even an enemy of the Huns in the east.

When Zhang Qian made suggestions to them, they had no intention of avenging the Huns. In addition, they believed that the Han Dynasty was too far away from the Great Yuezhi, and if they jointly attacked the Huns, they might be difficult to help when they encountered danger. Therefore, Zhang Qian and others stayed in the Yuezhi for more than a year, but they never could convince the Yuezhi people to join forces with the Han Dynasty and attack the Huns.

Zhang Qian stayed in the Great Yuezhi for more than a year, but failed to get the result, so he had to set off to return to China in the first year of Yuanshuo. On the way back, Zhang Qian changed his marching route to avoid the Xiongnu controlled areas. He planned to pass through the Qiang area to avoid the Xiongnu obstruction. So after crossing the Pamir Mountains, they did not go to the north road when they came, but changed to the southern road, passing through Shache, passing through Yutian and Shanshan, and entering the Qiang area. However, unexpectedly, the Qiang people had become vassals of the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian and others were captured by the Xiongnu cavalry again and detained for more than a year.

At the beginning of the third year of Yuanshuo, Junchen Shanyu died. His younger brother Zuo Guli made himself the Shanyu and attacked Junchen Shanyu's crown prince Yu Shan. Yu Shan failed to escape from the Han Dynasty. Zhang Qian took advantage of the civil strife of the Huns and fled back to Chang'an with his Huns wife and Tangyifu. This was Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions. He set out in the second year of Jianyuan of Emperor Wu and returned to the Han Dynasty in the third year of Yuanshuo, and had a total of thirteen years."

After Xun Yu finished telling the story of Zhang Qian's first mission to the Western Regions, Han Zhan couldn't help but applaud. Although Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions was familiar to him in later generations, Han Zhan knew the specific process unknown. Xun Yu's story was equivalent to giving him a history lesson.

"After listening to Changshi's words, I realized how difficult it was for Zhang Qian to open up the Western Regions' trade routes back then." Han Zhan said, "Now, there is finally a good opportunity to reopen the trade routes, so naturally we cannot give up easily."

"Lord is wise!" Xun Yu and Han Zhan finished speaking, immediately said with an excuse: "It is not easy for our ancestors to open up this commercial road. Now that the envoys of the Great Qin Kingdom have come on their own initiative, it is time to reopen the commercial road. After hearing the comments of the court officials, His Majesty decisively decided to reopen the commercial road and send a caravan to travel west after the beginning of spring."

Han Zhan nodded and asked solemnly: "I wonder who Your Majesty is going to send to form a caravan and prepare goods?"

"The new Shaofu Kong Rong and Kong Wenju!"
Chapter completed!