Chapter 22 Chapter Eighteen

Sima Qian hurriedly said: "I understand that sometimes, a peace envoy is better than thousands of troops... I also understand that sometimes, when governing barbarians, Wenzhi is often better than martial arts..." In the front hall of Weiyang Palace, Emperor Wu sat on the nine steps and said happily: "General Lu Bode, you have successfully completed the mission of pacifying South Vietnam, and I want to reward you." Lu Bode came forward and said: "The emperor's kindness is mighty, the subjects submit themselves, and the final general is nothing more than not humiliating his mission."

Emperor Wu declared: "Reward General Lu Bode's daughter." Then the drums were played, and the court deacon came to the hall holding a red plate full of gold, and knelt down to present Lu Bode. "Thank you, Your Majesty, Long live Your Majesty, Long live, Long live!" Civil and military officials also shouted: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" Emperor Wu also said: "Now Xiyi still needs to be appeased. The late emperor sent Tang Meng and Sima Xiangru there, and some results have been achieved. At present, our northern border has finally stabilized, but we can't relax with Xiyi, so we must Send someone."

Emperor Wu looked around the group of officials and said, "Sima Qian listens to the order." Sima Qian rushed out. "I named you General Zhonglang, and I will go to Xiyi as an envoy to appease you." Sima Qian hurriedly said: "The minister receives the order." In the royal study of the palace, Emperor Wu said to Sima Qian: "Sima Qian, do you know why I sent you there?" Sima Qian said: "I am not talented, and I am willing to listen to the emperor's advice." Emperor Wu said: "Sima Qian, you are a civil servant. I see that you handle things well, impartial, neither humble nor overbearing. You are a model envoy. That's why I choose you to go. I hope you will spread the power of a big man to everyone's hearts, and You don't use force to suppress people, Sima Qian, do you understand that?"

Sima Qian hurriedly said: "I understand that sometimes a peace envoy can be better than thousands of troops. I know the emperor's good intentions. I also understand how to control the barbarians. Sometimes the rule of law is better than martial arts." "Okay, Sima Qian, you are indeed a talent, I wish you great success, go and come back quickly." "The humble minister will never disappoint the holy hope." Sima Qian was saying goodbye to his father on the sickbed. Sima Tan said: "The emperor sent you as an envoy to Xiyi, which means that the emperor thinks highly of you. Qianer, you must grasp the propriety and appease the Yi. Confucian benevolence and righteousness should be the most important."

"Father, the child remembers." Sima Tan also said: "A companion is like a tiger. When you serve the emperor, you must be more careful and don't speak too bluntly. Although the emperor likes you very much, since ancient times, kings have been very moody and officials have always fought against each other. So you Be more careful." "My child will remember." Sima Qian said. Ci Ma Tan also said: "The emperor likes to be pleasing to the ear. Look at people like Gong Sunhong who are good at catering, the emperor appointed him as prime minister, while Dong Zhongshu was pushed out by others for his integrity and integrity. It stands to reason that a person with high morals like Dong Zhongshu should be the emperor's right-hand man. Yes, but the emperor sent him as a side officer."

"That's right, it's a pity for Mr. Dong. He was pushed out by Gongsun Hong and went to the border country to serve as Prime Minister of Jiaoxi. He didn't even come back to the capital." Sima Tan sighed: "The emperor is using his schemes but not his people." Sima Qian said: "Don't mention Gongsun Hong, even the king of Huainan said that it is as difficult as heaven to make Ji An turn his back on, but it is as easy as lifting the lid to make Gongsun Hong change his mind. Fortunately, he died early, otherwise the emperor would still use him as a pawn." prime minister."

Sima Tan urged earnestly: "Qian'er, be careful along the way, don't be careless, so as not to hurt your life. Ask Qing'er to follow you, so you can have someone to take care of you." "Father, remember Qian'er. After Qian'er leaves, he can't wait on his father's sick bed. Father must take care of himself." Sima Qian and his entourage of more than a hundred people carried rich gifts and hurried on their way.Sima Qian's envoy this time was named Zhonglang General. He was dressed in the costume of a Han envoy and rode a big white horse in the front row, with Qing'er riding beside him.Behind it are the vehicles carrying the goods, their followers and guards.

After leaving the capital, he traveled thousands of miles and went through many hardships along the way. After traveling for more than a month, he traveled south through Bashu and arrived at Yelang Kingdom (now in the west of Guizhou).King Yelang with bird feathers on his head is extremely arrogant and defiant. He claims to have one hundred thousand elite soldiers. When Sima Qian arrived, King Yelang wanted to show his power, so he built a general tower, inspected his troops, and wanted to demonstrate to Sima Qian. He led his lieutenant general Gao Chen on the general platform, and his officials were in the audience. The parade ground was surrounded by soldiers holding swords and spears, shirtless and tied with belts.

When Sima Qian arrived, he saw drums and music playing, and two rows of soldiers were competing. "The envoy has arrived." With a loud shout, two rows of soldiers immediately lined up on both sides, holding swords and spears in their hands. Sima Qian showed no fear, looked straight ahead, and walked slowly inside. He bowed to the surroundings again, and then said loudly: "The imperial envoy Sima Qian is ordered by the emperor to come to greet the people of Yelang." After saying that, he led his followers to kneel and kowtow in the direction of Chang'an: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!! "

King Yelang said on the stage: "My lord, what are you doing in our domain this time?" Sima Qian said: "Lord Yelang, as I said just now, I was specially sent by today's emperor to appease Bian State and build peace together." "Hahaha, Lord Yushi, you can appease Bian Bang with more than a hundred people in your area, don't you see my soldiers?" With a bang, all Yelang soldiers raised their swords and spears at Sima Qian and his party. Qing'er hurried forward to protect Sima Qian. "Don't be afraid, Qing'er, they dare not." Sima Qian didn't change his face, and said with a smile: "Aren't you also afraid that your neighbors will invade? Our Han Dynasty has millions of soldiers, which is enough to pacify the world. I came this time to pass on the emperor's edict. Now, it is of great importance to you." The threatened Qilan country has rebelled, and the emperor has ordered that they be suppressed." Sima Qian turned his head around and said loudly, "General Chi Yihou accepts the order."

A burst of military music sounded, and General Chi Yihou, who had just extinguished the South Vietnamese rebellion, came out on his horse, got off his horse and knelt down on one knee to receive the order. "Decree Day: Command General Chi Yihou to immediately lead the army to quell the Qielan rebellion and defend the safety of the Southwestern Yi. There must be no mistakes. I hereby." "The end will obey the order." Yelang's soldiers looked at the armored general Chi Yihou, Guo Chang, Wei Guang and other lieutenants, as well as the well-equipped warriors riding tall horses behind him, their arrogance was reduced by half. Sima Qian raised his head again and said to King Yelang: "King Yelang, since the first queen of the Qin Dynasty, you have all belonged to the Han Dynasty, and we have long been a family. Today, Yaozi cares about you very much. He once sent envoys to Tang Meng, Sima Xiangru, Dr. Gongsun Hong came to comfort you, and now he has sent his ministers to greet you, and sent generals to quell the surrounding rebellions and keep you safe, what doubts do you have?" "My king has no doubts, we are training soldiers!" King Yelang walked down after speaking, and other generals also followed. "A banquet." "Present a generous gift," Sima Qian ordered. The entourage presented the gifts from Chang'an one by one. King Yelang was very happy when he saw these exquisite silks. Yelang only has 100,000 elite soldiers, so I'm convincing you, but our Yelang has ten towns, which is big enough! How many towns do you guys have?" Sima Qian laughed secretly in his heart: Yelang is really arrogant!Then he said: "I see, Yelang is only as big as one county in the Han Dynasty, but the Han Dynasty has forty counties and thousands of counties." "Ah, that means, the Han Dynasty is thousands of times larger than ours." "Yes." Sima Qian said again, "I am here this time to help you build counties and counties, and you will be the governor of the county from now on." "what……" The song and dance performance started, and the beauties in national costumes came out and jumped up. King Yelang pointed to the girl in a pink dress leading the dance, and said to Sima Qian, "What do you think of that beauty, my lord?" Sitting upright, Sima Qian replied, "This place has beautiful mountains and rivers, so the girls are all naturally beautiful." Yelang Wang Daxi hurriedly whispered to Sima Qian: "If my lord likes it, then let her sleep with you tonight!" Sima Qian said with a serious face: "Sima Qian already has a family, so I don't accept it." King Yelang said in surprise: "I don't like her, so please choose yourself!" Sima Qian stood up and said, "No, Your Majesty, Sima Qian has important matters to attend to, so I won't accompany you." He left the table with Qing'er. King Yelang smashed his wine glass and said to his attendants, "This envoy is really powerful. He won't eat anything soft or hard." After Chi Yihou received the edict, he led eight soldiers including Guo Chang and Wei Guang to surround Qilan City, and after Lancheng was besieged for three days and three nights, Sima Qian shouted under the city: "King Qilan, I am Today, the special envoy sent by the emperor of the Han Dynasty to appease you, the emperor has a purpose, and the Qilan people and the Han people belong to the same country. China is a country with many ethnic groups, and the Qilan people are brothers of the Han nationality. Only when we unite can we not Only by being bullied can we keep safe for a long time." Sima Qian shouted again: "Qi Lan's subjects, and Lan Wang is guilty of rebellion, you should fight back and open the city gate. Today, the world is unified, Kyushu is one state, and Lan Guo is part of the Han Dynasty. We are a family of brothers." , so rebellion and separation are not tolerated." General Chi Yihou also shouted on his horse: "King Qilan, I have been ordered by the emperor to quell your rebellion. You have been surrounded by us. If you surrender, you will be saved from death, otherwise you will be captured." head to apologize." Sima Qian also said: "King Qilan, you have killed the envoy of the Han Dynasty and the prefect of Qianwei County. Your crime is unforgivable, but if you open the city and surrender, and let the people shed less blood, you will be spared. Think about it!" Seeing that there was still no movement in the city, General Chi Yihou ordered to beat drums to prepare for the ladder to break through the city. Suddenly, the city gate was opened, and King Lan's subordinates cut off his head, came out and surrendered, and the people were finally saved from bleeding. Sima Qian said to the surrounding subjects: "Fathers and brothers, I am the special envoy sent by the emperor today to appease you. Qilan County belongs to the Han Dynasty. Because King Qilan rebelled, the Han Dynasty sent troops to quell the rebellion. Now that the rebellion has subsided, everyone can go home and live in peace, the Han soldiers will not harm you." The common people went home half-believed. Sima Qian discussed with General Chi Yihou again, and drew up a military order that the Han army strictly observes discipline and does not allow the people to be harmed, and those who fail will be severely punished.After the Han army entered the city, Sima Qian and his entourage went to the gate of the city to post safety notices and notices, and visited houses to publicize. After the rebellion was put down, Sima Qian was ordered to rebuild Qianwei County there. King Yelang was terrified, and hurriedly went to the residence of Sima Qian's special envoy in person, expressed his willingness to form an alliance with Sima Qian, and agreed to return to Hanjian County. On this day, Sima Qian and General Chi Yihou waited happily outside the door for King Yelang.After a while, the drums sounded, and King Yelang, his queen and his cronies came over. King Yeliang said: "The Han army is really great, the power of the Han Dynasty is really great, and the little king is willing to submit to the big Han. The special envoys formed an alliance, and will set off to Chang'an to meet the emperor in person in the near future." Sima Qian warmly welcomed them into the house. Sima Qian said happily, "We are a family. We have a banquet today to celebrate Yelang's transfer to the county, to form an alliance with the new governor of Yelang, and to see the emperor off as the governor of Yelang enters the pilgrimage." So the entourage brought a big rooster, pierced a hole in the neck of the rooster with a knife, and the blood dripped into the wine bowl. King Yelang, Sima Qian, and Marquis Chiyi all drank the blood wine in one gulp.Sima Qian ordered his entourage to send textile machines, silkworm seeds, vegetable seeds, grain seeds, cattle... King Yelang was very happy. The banquet lasted until late at night. Sima Qian and his entourage left Yelang Kingdom and went south to Nanyi—Dian Kingdom (now Jinning, Yunnan). Dian Kingdom, located on the southern plateau of Yunling Mountains, is named after the beautiful Dian Lake. Dian Kingdom is a beautiful and rich kingdom.The old king of Dian learned that the Qilan rebellion had been quelled by the Han army, King Yelang had also gone on a pilgrimage to Chang'an, the South Vietnam rebellion had been subsided, and all the big and small countries in Youyu and South Vietnam had belonged to the Han Dynasty and were changed to counties. The old king of Dian thought that the general situation was over, Dian country might as well keep its own place, so when he heard that Sima Qian, the special envoy of the Han Dynasty, and his party had arrived, he dared not neglect and went outside the city to greet him personally. Sima Qian looked at the blue sky and the rippling Dianchi Lake in Dian on horseback and sighed to Qing'er: "Dian is so beautiful, and the seasons are like spring. Let's come here when we grow old!" Qing'er said happily: "Okay, Qing'er is willing to follow you." Hurry up and report: "My lord, the king of Dian led all his ministers to welcome you at the gate of the city." "Oh, that's great, let's go." Sima Qian raised his whip, and his mount galloped away. From a distance, he saw the flag fluttering, and the crowd was filled with darkness. When approaching the gate of the city, Sima Qian got off his horse and walked over quickly. When the time came, the drum and horn sounded, and the aged Dian king led all his officials to bow down: "Xiao Wang pays homage to the special envoy of the Son of Heaven." "The king of Dian, please get up quickly." Sima Qian helped the old king of Dian with both hands. "Envoy, please enter the city!" The King of Dian took Sima Qian's hand and drove into the city together in his chariot. The subjects on both sides of the street knelt down to greet him... The old king accompanied Sima Qian and others to visit the castle. On the high wall, the old king asked Sima Qian to inspect his soldiers and horses together.So, accompanied by the mighty sound of drums and horns and bugles, first a group of soldiers with bare upper body, armed with swords, spears and animal shields drove the formation of fire oxen. Sima Qian was very impressed by their bravery. Qing'er behind said: They are showing their strength.Qing'er nodded. Then there was flying cavalry and sharpshooting. Two rows of cavalry galloped and shot at the target not far away. Sima Qian praised each of them. Then there was a big sword contest, and amidst the shouts of killing, killing, the lights of the swords were shining, which made people dizzy. Sima Qian thought to himself that ethnic minorities are known for being fierce and loyal. If they are appeased, it will be a factor that cannot be underestimated for the stability of the Han Dynasty; This morning, the flags of the castle of the Dian Kingdom were flying, and the crowds were crowded. The old king of Dian held a grand ceremony in the castle palace to accept the seal of the king of Dian granted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The civil and military ministers were all dressed in splendid attire and stood solemnly in the main hall. When the auspicious time came, the king of Dian ascended to the palace, and the ministers loudly proclaimed: "The ceremony of the emperor of Han granting the seal of the king of Dian has begun." Drum music was played, and Sima Qian walked from the hall to the King of Dian holding the seal of the King of Dian in both hands, and said: "Han envoy Sima Qian received the mission of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to confer the king of Dian on his behalf, and the king of Dian took over the seal." So the King of Dian stood up and knelt down in the direction of the Son of Heaven to the north, and took the seal of the King of Dian with both hands. The officials shouted: "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" After the conferring ceremony of the king's seal, the king of Dian held a traditional welcome banquet for the Han envoys on the field in front of the stone forest.There was a circle around the banquet table, and courtiers dressed in costumes sat, and behind them stood layer after layer of people dressed in costumes of various ethnic groups.During the local Torch Festival, people hold torches to participate in the bonfire party. There are huge crowds of people and it is very lively. The banquet started, and the drums were played. Two big men came in holding a big python and stabbed its neck with a knife. The blood dripped into the wine bowls of King Dian, Sima Qian and the wine bowls on each table. There is no fear of wine, thinking to myself, if they can drink, I can also drink. The old Dian king picked up the wine bowl and said to Sima Qian: "This bowl of python wine wishes Dian and Han are one family." "Okay." Sima Qian shouted, "Cheers!" So everyone raised their necks, drank the wine, and looked at each other at the bottom of the bowl. Seeing that Sima Qian drank the boa constrictor wine without hesitation, the old Dian king was very happy. Then he clapped his hands together and started the animal show.Accompanied by a strange music, a half-naked beauty with a boa constrictor wrapped around her body came out and performed the snake dance.The girl wrapped the snake around her neck for a while, and then around her waist for a while. The Han envoys shrank back in fright, but the Dian people danced with joy. "Oh my God!" Qing'er standing behind exclaimed, "This girl is really bold." Sima Qian smiled, but he was very nervous, for fear that the big snake would come over.After finally finishing the dance, Sima Qian's back was covered with sweat.But the crowd standing and watching shouted excitedly. Then five girls came out to dance the peacock dance. They were all dressed in blue, red, yellow, white and black tulle clothes, and they looked very slender. Their graceful dancing postures and the moving music made everyone pleasing to the eye.Most of the envoys who came with the Han Dynasty were from the north. They had never seen such a performance before, and all of them opened their eyes wide... Sima Qian accompanied Emperor Wu to watch many singing and dancing performances in the palace, but it was the first time to see such a performance. Then another burst of joyful music began, with a line of lads and five very plump and rough girls.The girl has loose hair, wears a mini dress that exposes her navel, and her thick thighs are exposed. They circle around the center and dance the song of pounding rice.The young men had bird feathers on their heads and wore animal skins and danced in various movements in the outer ring. The music was very cheerful, and their dancing postures were very aggressive. Next is a monkey show, an elephant show... A burst of drums sounded, and a monkey-playing man appeared on stilts.There are two monkeys standing on his shoulders, one monkey is standing upside down on the shoulders of the two monkeys, and another monkey is standing upside down on each of the outstretched arms of the monkey player. Five monkeys are on the monkey player. , jumped down, and then five monkeys performed fire hoops and somersaults, which attracted applause and laughter from the people. Then a girl from southern Yunnan, wearing a peach red crop top and a long skirt, appeared leading an elephant. The girl danced with the elephant to the melodious sound of the flute.Sima Qian was amazed when he saw it. The King of Dian said to Sima Qian: "I specially invited you from the tribes in southern Dian to welcome you." "Ah, thank you so much." While watching the performance, the old Dian king entertained everyone with roasted bacon, ham and rice wine, very enthusiastically. In the evening, a round of moon rose and bonfires were lit all around. The old Dian king and queen, the eldest princess, the second princess and the two princes were invited to dance.The old king of Dian came to invite Sima Qian. Sima Qian and Qing'er couldn't dance, so they had to go on stage, and then they stepped on the drums. The welcome banquet lasted until late at night... Sima Qian had a private talk with the King of Dian, and the King of Dian agreed to join the Han Dynasty.After Sima Qian successfully completed the appeasement task in Dian Kingdom, he was going to Qiongdi, and then returned to Beijing.The King of Dian said: "The Qiong people are very strong. I will send people to escort you to avoid accidents." Sure enough, as soon as Sima Qian and his party arrived in Qiongcheng (now Xichang County, Sichuan), they were shut down, and the gate of Qiongguo was closed. Sima Qiance immediately went forward and shouted: "Chief of Qiongdi, we are envoys sent by the emperor of the Han Dynasty. Please open the door and let us in. We have important matters to report. I have brought an official document to submit to your leader." At first there was no answer, but after a while, a man who looked like an official stood on the top of the wall and replied: "Hey, people below, listen up, we only know that there is the leader of the Qiong Kingdom, and we don't know who the emperor is, if you don't go away, We won't be polite." As he spoke, many soldiers with bows and arrows suddenly appeared on the top of the city, and they aimed their arrows at Sima Qian. At a critical moment, a person sent by the Dian Kingdom shouted: "Chief Qiong, I am a veteran of the Dian King, please open the city gate. The Dian King has a letter here." At this time, the leader of the Qiong Kingdom began to speak: "Oh, it's you, then let you in first, and then let the others back a hundred steps, otherwise we will shoot arrows." Sima Qian and the others stepped back a hundred steps, the door finally opened, and the veteran sent by the King of Dian entered.After a while, the gate of the city was opened wide, and the leader of Qiongdi led the crowd to welcome him out. He clasped his fists at Sima Qian and said, "Welcome the envoy of the Han Dynasty. I'm sorry that Xiao Wang doesn't know, and I have offended you." Sima Qian hurriedly cupped his hands: "The special envoy of the Han Dynasty, Sima Qian, met with the leader of Qiongdi." "Please." "Please." Qiongdi was originally a small country. During Qin Shihuang's time, it was also organized as a county in the southwest like Nanyue and Xiyi. Now that Nanyue Yi, Nanyi, and Xiyi all submit to the Han Dynasty, they dare not disobey it. Welcomed into the palace, Sima Qian presented the official document from Emperor Wu to the leader of Qiongdi.The leader of Qiongdi opened it and read it, and said to Si Wuqian: "Since the Holy Majesty trusts me and allows me to be the governor of Qiongdi, then I will lead the country to submit to the Han Dynasty." Sima Qian hurriedly said: "The leader is loyal to the Han Dynasty, and the emperor trusts you very much. This official document is to reiterate that you are the governor of Qiongdi." "Okay, thank you, Your Majesty. Set up a banquet." Sima Qian was about to return to Beijing, when a letter came quickly.Sima Qian took it apart and looked at it. He knew that his father was seriously ill and asked him to return quickly.Sima Qian was so anxious that he made arrangements with his subordinates, and then set off with Qing'er.