Chapter 41 Chapter 37 Su Wu’s Mission

Chang’an City Gate is a city gate with great historical significance. This gate once served as a grand march for General Zhengxi, also for Zhang Qian’s triumphant triumph, and opened for the Silk Road. This morning, the red sun rose in the east, and the golden light was brilliant. Flags fluttered at the gate of Chang'an, and crowds of people gathered. It turned out that General Su led more than a hundred people to the Xiongnu as an envoy of the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian and Qing'er stood at the city gate, and he wanted to see Su Wu off. "Teacher, you never show your face in public, why did you come to see Su Wu off today?" Qing'er asked.

"I want him to tell Li Ling a few words." When the auspicious time came, the drums sounded, and Su Wu and his party walked towards the city gate.Sima Qian saw Su Wu dressed in the costume of an envoy of the Han Dynasty and riding a horse with a banner in his hand. Next to him was the deputy envoy Zhang Sheng.Su Wu walked solemnly. When he arrived at the gate of the city, Su Wu got off his horse and bowed his hands to thank those who saw him off. Du Zhou, the imperial historian, raised his glass and toasted him on behalf of the emperor. Su Wu took it and drank it down. "Thank you, my lord."

"The Holy Majesty wishes you a safe journey. You must fulfill the mission of the court well, and let the Huns know the power of the Great Han Emperor." Su Wu hurriedly cupped his hands in the direction of the palace and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Su Wu is an envoy of the Great Han Dynasty, and he will never disgrace his mission." Sima Qian came over and said: "Master Su, Sima Qian, please tell Li Ling that although I have spoken for him, he betrayed and surrendered. No matter what grievances he has, he has lost his integrity. I will never reverse the case for him, and I must Inscribed in the history books."

Su Wu said: "Although Li Ling and I are close friends, his act of conferring humiliation not only insulted himself, but also the court of the Han Dynasty. He failed the trust of the emperor. I want to tell him that you were tortured for him and let him condemn yourself." "Sima Qian wishes you a safe journey." "thanks." Su Wu and his party bid farewell to their family members and relatives, and then rode on horses to bid farewell to those who saw them off again. Su Wu and his party traveled westward for more than three months before reaching the Xiongnu.After they found a posthouse to live in, they presented the diplomatic envoy to Shanyu Qieyunhou the next day.

Shan Yu summoned Su Wu, and Su Wu presented a generous gift, saying, "This is a gift from my Son of Heaven to your country." Seeing that there were bolts of brocade silk and gold, Shan Yu suddenly opened his eyes and smiled wildly. He laughed loudly, turned his head and said to the left and right: "This is a gift from the Han Dynasty, haha..." Seeing Shan Yu's crazy appearance, Su Wu was very disgusted in his heart, but when he thought of his mission, he said without arrogance or humility: "The great man wishes to form friendship with your country and communicate with each other. The envoy letter from the king to the emperor claims that the king is a junior." For this, the emperor appreciates it very much."

"Hahaha..." Shan Yu burst into laughter again, "Are you a junior? I will ask the emperor to give me more advice in the future." Su Wu immediately lowered his face when he heard this: "Please respect yourself, Your Majesty." "Self-respect, are we Huns juniors? We used to live in the Central Plains too. It was you big men who drove us to the Western Regions. One day we will fight back." After hearing this, Su Wu sternly retorted: "My lord, my Han Dynasty lived in the territory left by our ancestors. From Yanhuang and Chiyou's battle in Zhuolu, to Qin Shihuang's unification of the six kingdoms, and then to the emperor's expedition to the west, We all live in our own homes, and what we drive away are wolves..."

"Shut up! Who are you comparing to a jackal?" "Once again, we drove away the wolves who invaded our north of Mobei and attacked our western border." "Is that your territory?" "The Great Wall is the proof." "The Great Wall..." Shan Yu said disdainfully, "Sooner or later, I will completely tear it down." Su Wu said solemnly: "The Great Wall can be dismantled, but you can't dismantle the Great Wall built with the backbone of the Han people." "The Great Wall can be demolished, but it can't be demolished. It's not up to whoever decides. We'll see in the future... But you are still very powerful. Admiration, admiration, complaints, complaints, contacts, contacts, banquets, give it to you." The envoy of Han will take over." Shan Yu was stunned by this envoy.

"yes." Shan Yu set up a banquet outside the court, and Chan Yu Kaiyan (the queen) sat on the top seat. There were two rows of banquet tables on the left and right. Shan Yu raised his glass to thank the Han envoy for the generous gift, and as a reward, he gave the Han envoy buttered milk tea.Su Wu got up and saluted, "Han envoy Su Wu thanked the king on behalf of the Han court." The traitor Wei Lu raised his glass to toast Su Wu, but Su Wu turned his head to one side and ignored him, Wei Lu had no choice but to back away with a sneer. Wei Lu was originally from the Xiongnu, and later came to the Central Plains. Because he was a good friend with Li Yannian, he was recommended by him as an envoy to the Huns.Later, Li Yannian was exterminated for his crimes, and Wei Lu took refuge in Shan Yu because he was implicated. Because Shan Yu knew that he knew the inside story of the Han Dynasty, he named him King Ding Ling to participate in the political discussion.

Su Wu thought that this kind of person who betrayed the Han Dynasty and took refuge in the Xiongnu has no integrity, so he disdains to be with him. Beautiful music from the Western Regions played, and five beauties from the Xiongnu came out and danced. After the banquet, Shan Yu said to Su Wu, "How about the five minor branches?" Su Wu's face darkened, and he replied: "The sons and daughters of your country are all good." "Since that's the case, how about letting them accompany you tonight!" Su Wu said solemnly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness. I will save it to serve you."

"Hmph! Seeing off the guests." "yes." The evening sunset in the Western Regions is bright red, and the yellow sand in the desert is very spectacular, which makes people feel reverie.Su Wu looked at the yellow sand and looked at the hussars, and said to Hui Chang who was standing beside him, "Moxi is so beautiful, and there are so many BMWs, no wonder the emperor attaches so much importance to it." Su Wu frowned suddenly, and asked Hui Chang: "Hey, Hui Chang, why does Zhang Sheng always go out recently?" "My lord, maybe I went out with King Gou and Yu Chang."

"Why did you go?" "I don't know." "He came back, you tell him to come to me, there may be internal strife among the Huns recently, tell him not to go out." "Yes, my lord." Sure enough, civil strife broke out in the Xiongnu. King Gou and Yu Chang conspired to seize power, but the matter was revealed, and Shan Yu led his troops to round up. King Gou was killed and Yu Chang was captured alive. Su Wu and Hui Chang were discussing, when the subordinate came to report: "My lord, Shan Yu sent someone here." Wu hurried out of the tent.The visitor said: "Han Chen Su Wu obeys orders, Shan Yu has an invitation." Su Wu felt something was wrong, so he hurried to Shan Yu's court, only to see Shan Yu's soldiers holding their swords high in the palace tent, and Shan Yu's face was full of anger, showing a murderous look.Standing next to them are two rows of Huns' important ministers. The traitor Wei Lu stood beside Shan Yu. "See Shan Yu." Su Wu saluted. "Has the Han sent Su Wu to convict?" "Su Wu was entrusted by the Son of Heaven to come to Guizhou in Tuanjie. He always obeyed the law and obeyed the law. I don't know what crime he committed?" Shan Yu stomped his feet and shouted, "Your lieutenant Zhang Sheng participated in the rebellion conspiracy, did you know?" Su Wu was taken aback, and said: "Zhang Sheng participated in the conspiracy, Su Wu really doesn't know, is there any evidence of crime?" Shan Yu waved his hand, and his subordinates called out: "Bring Yu Chang and Zhang Sheng." After a while, Yu Chang and Zhang Sheng were tied up and brought up. "Yu Chang, how did you conspire with Han envoy Zhang Sheng?" Shan Yu asked. "He...he promised that if I miss, he would help me take care of my mother and younger brother." Shan Yu hit the table and shouted: "Han envoy Zhang Sheng, is there such a thing?" "I...I..." Zhang Sheng fell to his knees with a plop, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Shan Yu waved his hand contemptuously: "I despise people who are afraid of death the most, get up, since you belong to me, I will save you from death." "Thank you, Your Majesty." "Zhang Sheng!" Su Wu pointed at him angrily and said, "As an envoy of the Han Dynasty, you participated in the rebellion, and now you are begging to surrender. You...you have tarnished the reputation of the big man, you...you...I feel for you shame……" Shan Yu shouted: "Su Wu, you still dare to be brave and tell you that your deputy broke the law, and you will be implicated too, unless you surrender me." Su Wu said angrily: "I am the official envoy sent by the Han Dynasty to your country. I have completed the mission entrusted by the emperor. I should go back. As for the deputy envoy who violated your law, that is their personal matter. They are personally responsible." Shan Yu shouted: "No, the deputy envoy breaks the law and the principal envoy sits together. This is our king's law, unless you surrender to us." "Shut up!" Su Wu replied angrily, "I am the envoy of the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and I would rather die than not be humiliated!" Shan Yuhou said, "If you don't surrender, I will kill you." Su Wuyi said solemnly: "Did your Majesty forget that the Dawan Kingdom killed the Han envoy, and his head was hung on..." Shan Yu laughed loudly: "The Dawan Kingdom is a weak country, and I, the Huns, are the most powerful in the Western Regions. How can I be afraid of you!" Wei Lu came over and persuaded Su Wu: "Brother Su Wu, Your Majesty is a very loyal person. I surrendered to Your Majesty and was highly regarded by His Majesty. He made me a prince and gave me 120,000 people. Now I have cattle and sheep all over the mountain." , the prosperity and wealth are extremely high, if brother Su surrenders, he will be as rich as me, and will be reused by the king, otherwise you will be killed, you think about it." Su Wu scolded angrily: "Wei Lu, you are a courtier of the Han Dynasty, the emperor treats you well, not only do you not want to repay the favor, but you bear the Han Dynasty on your back, you shameless villain, you deserve to talk to me!" Wei Lu became angry from embarrassment: "You talk about integrity, okay, I will fulfill you!" He raised his sword to Su Wu, and Su Wu said angrily: "Let me do it myself, how can I, Su Wu, be humiliated by a villain." Guo Wei Lu's sword wiped away at his own neck, but was blocked by Chang Hui behind him, the sharp sword had cut his neck with blood flowing... "My lord..." Chang Hui and his subordinates hugged Su Wu, and tore off his robe to stop his bleeding. Shan Yu was stunned by Su Wu's behavior. Compared with Zhang Sheng, Su Wu's integrity was really great, so he whispered to Wei Lu: "This Su Wu is a talent, lock him up first, and see if he surrenders or not?" "yes." "Put Su Wu down." Su Wu was locked in a cellar, and Shan Yu cut off his food and drink in order to make him submit.He was not given food or water to drink.It was snowing heavily, and Su Wu was cold and hungry, but he was indomitable. He thought he wanted to live and show the Huns what kind of backbone the envoys of the big man were, so he tore off the felt wool and chewed it, and then used it to fall on the ground. Snow in the cellar and swallowed to satisfy hunger. A week later, Shan Yu sent someone to the cellar to see if he was dead. Unexpectedly, he was still alive. Shan Yu was very surprised, so he came to the cellar and asked to carry him out. , but his gaze was like a sword, and he couldn't help shivering.I thought to myself, there are such resolute people among the Han people, since such a person is not used by me, let alone let him go back. So he asked: "Su Wu, have you endured the hardship? I value your integrity very much. If you can submit to my Xiongnu, I will definitely use you and let you enjoy the glory and wealth. How about it? Have you considered it? " Su Wu tilted his head and replied, "I would rather die than submit." Although his voice was weak, he was firm. Shan Yu was even more admirable after hearing this, and said: "Message Su Wu, you value integrity, and I also value loyalty. Anyone who submits to me, I treat them the same as the Huns, regardless of each other. Look at Wei Lu, it is now He is my important minister, and I treat Zhang Sheng as your deputy..." "Shut up, please don't mention these villains in front of me again." Shan Yu said angrily: "You Han people have a saying that you don't eat fine wine when you toast, well, since you've made up your mind, I'll give you my blessing, come here." "exist." "Let me take him to Beihai and let him herd the rams." "yes." Shan Yu looked into Su Wu's proud eyes and said, "You want to go back to China? Wait for the day when the ram gives birth to a lamb!" Su Wu was escorted to the North Sea (now Lake Baikal), where Shan Yu's soldiers escorted him, threw a few rams beside him and said: "Envoy of the Han Dynasty, we can send the rams to lambs only after they give birth to lambs." You go home." Then he smiled and walked away. Su Wu raised his eyes, oh my god, the lake is white, snowflakes are fluttering, there is no one around, the biting cold wind is blowing, and the sheep are screaming from the cold. Su Wu held a banner in the cold wind and shouted to the east: "The court of the great Han Dynasty, I, Su Wu, swear here that I will never insult the Han Festival." Su Wu braved the cold wind to find an abandoned thatched shed on the bank, drove the sheep in, and then pulled some wild grass to feed the sheep. Curl up among the sheep, let the sheep's fur warm your body... In this way, Su Wu was grazing sheep by the North Sea every day with a banner in his hand... As spring and autumn came, day after day, Su Wu's hair gradually turned gray and his face became thinner, but his eyes were still shining... Spring is here, the blue waves of the North Sea are rippling, and the green willows on the shore are fluttering in the wind.Su Wu is holding the festival while shepherding the sheep, while looking at the east, he misses the Central Plains, misses his family... Before his eyes, he and his son were chasing sheep on the hillside, the son fell down on the grass and cried loudly, and he ran to pick up his son and coax him... "Oh, I don't know how the old mother, wife and children are doing at the moment?" "My son, father misses you..." Suddenly, there was the sound of horseshoes in the distance, and a group of hunters came to Beihai.They set up camp and prepared to hunt here for a while.A man dressed as a prince was very surprised to see Su Wu holding a banner and herding sheep by the lake. "Seeing that you are dressed in Han clothes, could it be that you are Han envoy Su Wu?" "Exactly. This is Su Wu, the envoy of the Emperor of Han." "Oh, you are Su Wu, disrespect, disrespect." The man jumped off his horse and saluted, "I am King Yu Jin, the younger brother of Shan Yu Qiemenhou. I have heard your name from my elder brother a long time ago. I am very sorry to see you today. pleasure." Wu Ye cupped his fists and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, it's a pleasure to meet you." King Yu Jin invited Su Wu to his tent to entertain him with wine and meat. He said, "I didn't expect you to survive. It's amazing." Wu said: "I am the envoy of the Han Dynasty, and it is the bounden duty of a minister to be loyal to my duty." "It's amazing, it's amazing, come on, have a drink." "thanks." King Yu Jin went to see Su Wu's thatched hut again, held Su Wu's hand very moved and said: "You are too miserable, I will leave you a tent." "No need to." "Master Su, this is not given to you by Shan Yu, it is given to you by myself, you don't need to mind." When King Jin left, he left some food for Su Wu. However, one day, when Su Wu came back from herding sheep, he saw that the tent and food had been stolen.Su Wu had no choice but to live back in the hut. One day, Su Wu was herding sheep by the lake, when he heard someone calling from afar: "Brother Su Wu, I'm here to see you." The man ran close, and Su Wu recognized his good friend Li Ling. Su Wu already knew about Li Ling's surrender, and knew that Sima Qian was tortured because of him, so he didn't want to talk to him, and seeing him wearing the noble clothes of the Huns, he hated him even more, so he glanced at him and turned his head away. Li Ling felt embarrassed, but still stretched out his hands to hold Su Wu's hand and said, "Brother Su Wu, I came here specially to see you." "I'm here to persuade you to surrender." Su Wu said coldly. Li Ling hurriedly said, "No, no, just to see my friends, only to see my friends." Su Wu looked at the emerald green lake and said, "That's right, you and I were close friends before, and I also know that you are a bloody man, that's why we became friends, but unexpectedly you..." "Brother Su Wu, I have something to hide, let's go into the room and talk." Li Ling's subordinates set up the tents they brought, and put out the wine and meat they brought. Li Ling took Su Wu to sit down and said, "Brother Su Wu, to tell you the truth, I was indeed sent by Shanyu to persuade you to surrender, but I will never To persuade you to surrender, I just took the opportunity to visit my friends, I... I am guilty... But, listen to me slowly." Su Wu saw that he was speaking sincerely, so he turned his head and said, "This is still a human saying, Li Ling, do you know that Sima Qian was castrated because of you, but you are here as a prince, where is your conscience?" "Brother Su Wu, listen to me. I am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death. I took the initiative to ask the emperor to fight with 5,000 infantrymen and 100,000 main cavalry of the Xiongnu. I fought to the death for eight days and nights until I was injured. Am I afraid of death?" !" "But you were afraid of death later on." "I'm not afraid of death." "Yi can choose to commit suicide!" "That's because I was dissatisfied with Li Guangli, why didn't they reinforce me, I couldn't swallow this breath." "Later, why did you surrender?" "That's because the emperor believed Gongsun Ao's slander, saying that I was here to train Huns soldiers. In fact, it was Li Xu, not me. The emperor killed my mother, wife and children. He destroyed my family. Why do you have to go back..." Li Ling began to cry. "So you surrendered and married Shan Yu's daughter as your wife. You...you are so confused." "Brother Su Wu, I really have something to hide. I didn't really surrender at the beginning. I was looking for an opportunity to escape. I didn't expect... I didn't expect... Oh, my poor mother, wife and children..." Su Wu said: "Li Ling, it is a fact that you have surrendered to the Huns. This is unforgivable. Regardless of your reasons, you have done shameful things and become a disgraceful surrender." Li Ling lowered his head.Su Wu said again: "If you try to escape and make up for your mistakes later, Sima Qian will not be tortured like this. Sima Qian is an upright historian, but you..." "Yes, I have a hard time saying it, I'm guilty, I'm sorry Sima Qian." Su Wu said solemnly: "If you have regrets, try to return to Han, ask the emperor for forgiveness, and then lead troops to attack the Xiongnu, and pay off your merits." "No, brother Su, it's impossible. My whole family has been wiped out. Besides, the emperor will only reuse the relatives of his favorite concubine, not our Li family. Li Guang's death, Li Gan's death, I Li Ling's entire army was wiped out, isn't that enough to explain the interest?" Li Ling said again: "Brother Su Wu, if it were you, how would you choose?" Su Wu said firmly: "No matter what grievances I suffer, I will never surrender to the enemy. This is the minimum standard for me, Su Wu." Li Ling said sadly: "Although I enjoy their noble treatment now, in fact, I am also very bitter in my heart. With the reputation of a surrendered general on my back, I... I would rather die than live..." Su Wu raised his head to see that his eyes were filled with tears, he couldn't help feeling a little sympathetic, and his angry eyes softened slightly.Thinking to himself, Emperor Wu was indeed too cronyistic. If Li Guangli hadn't been arrogantly indulged, then Li Ling would not have gone deep into the enemy's army alone, and he would not have been in danger without help... Thinking of this, Su Wu eased his attitude a lot, and persuaded: " That being the case, from now on, I will persuade Shan Yu to do less damage to the Han-Hungarian diplomatic relations, and do more good things to integrate the two countries." "Remember brothers tell each other. Okay, let's not talk about these, let's talk about the old relationship!" Li Ling saw Su Wu's thatched hut, and was very moved. He also saw how much hair Su Wu's Jingjie had shed and was still stuck outside the thatched shed. The lake wind was blowing the hair on the Jingjie. Sighing while drinking... In the evening, the weather was hot, Li Ling and Su Wu sat on the rocks by the lake, the setting sun dyed the western sky red, Li Ling sighed: "Brother Su, I really envy you. Although you are living in a miserable life now, in the future you will be as magnificent as this." Like the setting sun, the sky was red for half the sky, your old age will surely go down in history and become a model for future generations, and I... what am I... Alas!" Li Ling sighed deeply. Su Wu comforted him: "Li Ling, don't be too pessimistic. You fought against the Huns with 5,000 soldiers and 100,000 main forces. You also did something earth-shattering. As long as you can return to the Han Dynasty and start a new life, you still have a bright future." "No, no... I have already become like this, I have no face to see the elders of the Central Plains... I don't want to see those who don't reinforce me when I am in danger, whether it is the emperor's order or their conscience... Sigh, I, Li Ling, don't accept it, I don't accept it..." Li Ling wiped away his tears, and then shouted in pain: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, why are you so unfair to the Shuang's goalkeeper? Could it be that we are not loyal?" Su Wu sighed and said: "The emperor is too partial, but as the gatekeeper of the Li family, he is supposed to honor his ancestors, but he surrendered and betrayed, humiliating the family. Although this is not all your fault, since ancient times, the case of surrender and betrayal cannot be overturned." , I wonder what you think?" "Oh," Li Ling sighed, "I was wrong. I only regret why I didn't die in battle? Why didn't that arrow go into my heart, but only on my arm!" Li Ling sighed again: "But now, it feels like an arrow is stuck in my heart forever, my heart hurts so much!" "Li Ling, knowing that repentance is a good thing, you should return to the Han!" "No, no, Wuyan go back, Wuyan...Brother Su Wu, if Shanyu doesn't let you go back, will you be herding sheep here forever?" Su Wu squinted his eyes and looked towards the east, and said firmly, "I would rather be herding sheep in the North Sea forever than surrender." "Then you are dead and no one knows?" "It doesn't matter if anyone knows about it after death. The important thing is to keep the integrity of the Han nation. Anyway, I, Su Wu, will never steal my life even if I die." Li Ling bowed his head in shame. "Brother Su, you are amazing, you are the real hero, I must help you return to Han." Li Ling stayed for a few more days, then left one hundred sheep and a new felt tent to Su Wu before he left. Li Ling saw Su Wu holding a banner and herding sheep from a distance in the carriage, filled with remorse and tears in pain...