Chapter 19 4. Businessman Huihe

Contrary to Tubo's taking advantage of the situation after the Anshi Rebellion, a northern minority became an ally of the Tang Dynasty during the turmoil.In the second year of Zhide (757), they helped Tang Suzong recover Chang'an, the western capital; in the first year of Baoying (762), they helped Tang Daizong regain Luoyang, Tokyo.Of course, some scholars believe that this army should actually be counted as mercenaries, and the high asking price is no different from taking advantage of the fire.But in any case, there is no doubt that this nation once showed its talents. Yes, we are talking about Ouigours here.

Huihe (read how) was originally a branch of Tiele. During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, it became independent from the rule of Luo Khan in the Nipuchu of Western Turks during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and officially declared its family name as Huihe.In the fourth year of Zhenyuan (788) of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty, they wrote Datang again, announcing that they changed their name to Uighur (pronounced Ruhu), which means that they are as light and nimble as a falcon bird. That's right, Huihe is really good at maneuvering. Like the Huns and Turks before them, the Huihe were originally nomadic peoples.The difference is that they basically get along very well with the Central Plains.Moreover, despite their inextricable relations with the Turks, they have always sided with the Tang Dynasty in all previous wars.In the fourth year of Zhenguan (630), Huihe assisted the Tang Dynasty in defeating the Eastern Turks; in the second year of Xianqing (657), they also assisted the Tang Dynasty in defeating the Western Turks.

Looking at it this way, they are really Datang's allies. However, there has never been a free lunch in the world, and returning to Ho to help Tang is definitely not a chivalrous act.To put it bluntly, they are profitable every time.After the destruction of the Western Turks, the lands of the Eastern and Western Turks returned to Huihe.Later, Huihe overthrew the post-Turkic rule, and Datang also reciprocated for help.On this basis, this nation established its own khanate, which was recognized and canonized by the Tang Dynasty. Datang and Huihe only used each other. The law of mutual utilization has always been that the big shop bullies the customer, and the big customer bullies the shop.When the Tang Dynasty was ruined and the two capitals fell, Huihe was the one who had the right to make an offer, and the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, known as the Khan of the People of All Nationalities, could only swallow his humiliation and ask for perfection.

This is how Princess Ningguo married Huihe Khan. Unlike Princess Wencheng who is only the daughter of the clan, Princess Ningguo is Tang Suzong's most beloved biological youngest daughter.Before leaving, the emperor held a farewell banquet in person, and the father and daughter bid farewell, and the banquet was shrouded in the desolation of life and death.In the end, the princess comforted the emperor with tears: For the safety of the country, why should the daughter die! Emperor Suzong burst into tears. The Huihe Khan did not have the respect and gratitude of Songtsan Gampo.Not only did he not leave the country to greet her in person, but he was wearing a yellow robe and a beard hat, and sat carelessly in the tent of teeth to meet the escort of the princess, Li Yu (pronounced as Ruyu), the king of Hanzhong, and his party.

Khan asked: Who is the prince in Tian Khan? Li Yu replied: The cousin of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Khan asked again: Who is standing above you? Li Yu replied: So-and-so eunuch in the palace. Khan said: eunuchs are slaves, how can they be above princes? The eunuch backed away in fright. Khan said again: "Why don't you worship Ben Khan when you see him?" Li Yu replied: Princess Ningguo is the daughter of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Khan is the son-in-law of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. How can there be any reason to sit on the bed of a beard to receive such grace?

Only then did the Huihe Khan stand up to accept the imperial edict. However, Li Yu's negotiation was only to save face for the dynasty, but in terms of benefits, Huihe refused to budge.According to the official history, according to the agreement of the year, the Tang Empire paid Huihe mercenaries as much as 20,000 bolts of silk every year, and this did not include their robbery, extortion, and additions in various names. The insatiable Huihe still wanted to buy and sell by force, and the price was one horse for dozens of silks.Once, Huihe transported 20,000 horses to Datang for a price of 500,000 silk.Datang really can't use so many horses, and really can't produce so much silk.After repeated negotiations, the transaction was completed at half price.

Strange, why did Huihe ask for so much silk? Take advantage of the right time and place to make a fortune.A small part of the silk they stole from the Tang Empire became luxuries of the Huihe nobles, and most of them flowed to the West through the hands of Huihe merchants and Sogdian merchants.These silks even became the currency of commercial trade at that time, just like the silver coins of Persia and the copper coins of the Tang Dynasty. This is not surprising.Don't forget that the commercial channel connecting the two worlds of the East and the West is called the Silk Road.What's more, silk is easy to carry and expensive, and Westerners are still flocking to it, so it is of course a huge bonus to quickly sell it.

The Uyghur Khanate was rich in wealth. At the same time, the social nature of the nation changed.A large number of Huihe people have moved from nomadism to settlement and business, and they have lived a life that can be called "nomadic urban life".In the heyday of the Khanate, their Khan Court located on the upper reaches of the Orkhon River (in present-day Mongolia) was resplendent and magnificent. Palaces and temples stood row upon row in the city, and merchants and monks from various countries also walked around. The most eye-catching one should be the mage of Manichaeism. Manichaeism is an ancient religion that arose in Persia in the 3rd century AD. Its teachings simply say that light will eventually defeat darkness, so it is also called Mingjiao.This religion was introduced to the Western Regions by land from the 6th to the 7th centuries AD, and then spread to Huihe from the Western Regions.The Huihe people also quickly abandoned their original belief in Shamanism (Shamanism) and accepted Mani as the state religion.

what about this? According to the official history, Master Mani, who entered Mobei to preach, was so talented and eloquent that he fell in love with the Huihe Khan and nobles.However, why is the influence of Manichaeism in other areas far less than that in Huihe?Are the missionaries in those places ill-informed and stupid?Can't tell? Obviously, this statement is suspicious. What can be used as counter-evidence is the attitude of the Central Plains.Generally speaking, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and Confucian scholars did not like Manichaeism, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty strictly prohibited it in the 20th year of Kaiyuan (732).Only because of Huihe's meritorious service in rescuing Jia, Tang Daizong approved the establishment of Manichaeism temples in the third year of Dali (768), and granted Edayun Guangming Temple.But just after the Huihe Khanate perished, it immediately became a banned cult.

So, why is Manichaeism so coldly received in the Mainland? There are of course many reasons.One of them, I am afraid that in the eyes of many people, Master Mani is not pure-hearted.After they entered Chang'an, what they liked most was to hang out in the market and hook up with merchants. How could this be like a monk? What the Chinese scholar-bureaucrats dislike, is likely to be what Huihe likes.This nation seems to be born with a business mind, which is why they have managed themselves from a small tribe to a huge khanate, and built their khan court into a nomadic business city with a strong international flavor. Even in Chang'an, there is a wind of profit-seeking .

No wonder they hit it off with the Manichaeism.Because Persia was originally a commercial empire and had long served as a middleman on the Silk Road, Master Mani was more likely to do what he liked when he was preaching in Huihe and talked to them about business. The road of Huihe is destined to be different. In the fifth year of Tang Wuzong's founding (840), the khanate, which had been renamed Uighur, was suddenly attacked, and the country was destroyed and the city was destroyed.The subjugated Uighurs did not return to the nomadic era, but continued to advance in three groups.Some of them went south and integrated into Chinese farming civilization; some people entered Gansu and became the Ganzhou Uighurs in Zhangye and Shazhou Uyghurs in Dunhuang; more ethnic groups moved to Xinjiang, and merged with the aboriginals of the same ethnic group in the Western Regions to form Xizhou Uyghurs or Tianshan Uighur. This is the phoenix nirvana of a nation.Before, they had already made a gorgeous turn, from nomads to merchants.After that, they will settle in the northwest of my country and become the ancestors of the Yugur and Uyghurs, or one of the ancestors. The religious beliefs of the Uighurs who migrated westward also changed.The Yugurs in Gannan believed in the Gelug Sect of Lamaism (Yellow Sect), while the Uighurs in Xinjiang fully accepted Islam during the Karahan Dynasty established in the middle of the 10th century AD.In fact, this is not surprising at all.Because the early Islam was the nomadic and commercial civilization created by the Bedouins on the Arabian Peninsula, and it was also as agile as a falcon. But, that's something for later.

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