Chapter 4 four

In the year of Kuichou (1253), Kublai Khan received Jingzhao's land (now Xi'an, Shaanxi) and was busy building a mansion and farming.In August of the same year, soldiers entered Lintao (now Gansu), and sent envoys to Dali to persuade them to surrender, but failed, so they decided to launch a crusade.At the same time, Phagsiba wanted to go south to follow Master Uyuba to receive a monk's precept, and he stopped at Duogansi. At this time, he learned from the merchants that Master Uyuba had passed away. After the conquest of Tubo was completed, Mengge Khan formally distributed Tubo to the kings according to the spheres of influence of each sect, and the kings established direct relationships with each sect according to their own wishes.This practice broke the previous practice that the Mongolian royal family had to obtain the consent of the Sakya sect when dealing with Tubo affairs, and seriously shaken the special status of the Sakya sect.This change made Ba Siba soberly realize that if the Sakya sect wants to maintain its historical status and suzerain status, it must find a powerful prince from the Tuo Lei family as a backer, so Ba Siba Naturally thinking of Kublai Khan, the clever and wise prince who met in Liupan Mountain two years ago, he turned back halfway and met Kublai Khan, who was on his way to conquer Dali, in the Sichuan-Tibet area. Assassination (now Songpan, Sichuan).As a result, there was a historic meeting in which Basiba followed Kublai Khan, such as "the emperor of the ancestors, Long Deyuan Qian, the teacher knew that his life would return, and he traveled to the palace".

That day, Ba Siba and Kublai Khan will never forget it. On the grassland, the herds of horses and cattle are leisurely foraging for green grass, the pure white sheep are swimming on the grass like a weaving carpet, and the distant singing of the herdsmen returning from grazing blends into the green mountains and clear waters... Such a rich grassland scenery , seems to be able to evoke the endless reveries of Phagsiba and Kublai Khan. There are guards of honor everywhere, and Basiba rides through on horseback.In front of the palace tent, Kublai Khan ordered the soldiers to wait and stand with white khatas in their hands.This was the most solemn welcome ceremony specially prepared by Kublai Khan for Phagsiba.Walking near, Basiba got off his horse, took the khata with both hands, and walked towards Kublai Khan who was waiting eagerly in front of the tent. The two embraced and greeted each other cordially. The scene was extremely sincere, warm and touching.

Kublai Khan's aides and close generals were all waiting outside the tent, and Kublai Khan did give Basiba a very high courtesy.As a keen-eyed and clear-headed Mongolian prince, Kublai Khan knew very well how extraordinary significance this audience with Bhaspa had.If it was said that Bhasba had the intention of being ordered to go to Kublai Khan two years ago, then this time it was the decision made by the young Dharma master after careful consideration.History made Kublai Khan and Bhaspa choose each other, and also allowed them to gradually surpass political needs in the general sense in their future exchanges, and forged a lifelong deep friendship because of their trust and appreciation for each other.

The two went back to the palace tent and sat down hand in hand. "It's been two years, this king hasn't seen his master for two years!" Kublai Khan said excitedly. "That's right, after one or two years, the Prince's demeanor will remain the same!" "Is the situation in Tibetan areas stable?" "Stable, the prince has nothing to worry about. How are Princess Chabi and Prince Zhenjin in good health?" "They are all very well. I thank the master for caring about them. After two years of penance, I feel that the master's Dharma is more advanced."

Basiba replied: "Prince's praise, Buddhist disciples should strive for excellence." Kublai Khan narrowed his eyes, looked at the young, handsome and imposing Basiba with a smile, and asked slowly: "Master must still remember the scene of our first meeting, right?" "Of course I remember." Basiba replied affectionately, "It should be said that our meeting was by no means accidental. It was fate and chance that connected us together. This is the will of the Buddha." "Yes, in fact, the first person to have political contact with Tubo was the prince Kuoduan of Okuotai Khan. It's a long story, Master, do you want to know what's going on?"

"I would like to listen to the prince's instruction." "Speaking of which, the prince Kuoduan later managed Qin (now Tianshui, Gansu) and Gong (now Longxi, Gansu), which had a lot to do with the relationship between Mongolia and Song Dynasty at that time. During the first month of the sixth year of Wokuotai Khan (1234), he also That is to say, after the Mongols and the Song joined forces to destroy the Jin Dynasty, Mongolia and the Song Dynasty had already met each other. At that time, the Mongolian army captured Bianjing (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Jin Dynasty. According to the alliance between Mongolia and the Song Dynasty, Caizhou (now Henan) Runan) returned to the Song Dynasty in the south, and returned to Mongolia in the north of Caizhou. Therefore, the Mongolian army returned to the north, leaving only the general Subutai to guard Henan." Kublai Khan took a sip of sweet buttered tea and continued to recall: "I don't know As soon as the Mongol army returned to the north, Zhao Kui, the envoy of Huaidong in the Song Dynasty, suggested that the imperial court take advantage of the opportunity of the Mongolian withdrawal to send troops to recover the Central Plains. Emperor Liling was stunned and adopted this suggestion. On the one hand, he ordered Zhao Kui to lead an army of 60,000 to attack Bianjing. People attacked Luoyang from the west. Subotai led the army to repel the two attacks of the Song army in one fell swoop, and the plan of Emperor Song to take the opportunity to recover Bianjing, Guide, and Luoyang's "three capitals" completely fell through."

"Could it be because of this war that it became the fuse of Mongolia's determination to conquer Song Dynasty?" Kublai Khan fiddled with the exquisite tea bowl in his hand: "It can also be said that the world is impermanent! The result of the battle between the Mongolian and Song Dynasties was that in July of the following year, Ogotai Khan held the Kuliltai Conference and decided to send troops to attack the Song Dynasty. So the Mongolian army divided into three groups and launched a full-scale offensive against Song." "As far as I know, although Jin was destroyed at that time, there were still more than 20 prefectures of Qin and Gong, and Wang Shixian, the former commander-in-chief of Jin Gongchang's mansion, was defending himself."

"Gongchang is a battleground for military strategists. If Gongchang does not fall, it will definitely pose a great threat to the Mongolian army going south to attack the Song Dynasty. For this reason, Wokuotai Khan decided to send the prince Kuodan to Qin and Gong. At that time, the army was overwhelming and the trend was irreversible. Kuoduan sent an envoy to recruit Wang Shixian, and then sent his army into Huining, Dingxi, Lanzhou and other places in Gansu Province, and then returned to attack Luoyang. In August of the eighth year of Wokuotai Khan (1236), Kuoduan led Wang Shixian and others to go out Dasan Pass, let the gunners be the vanguard, break Dangchang, Remnant Stage Prefecture, attack Wenzhou, after the city is broken, attract ten tribes of Tubo, give both kindness and power, and give silver charms. The Tubo tribes in Lintan, Diezhou and other places in Gansu Province heard that It was from this time that the Mongolian royal family had formal official contacts with the upper echelons of Tubo, and appointed the head of the Tubo tribe to govern local affairs."

Ba Siba recalled the official documents that recorded this historical fact that he saw in the Kuoduan Palace, feeling a little depressed. Perhaps both conquering and being conquered are historical inevitability? Kublai Khan circled an open map with his right index finger, and his tone was full of heroic spirit: "The north of Tubo, as early as when Genghis Khan subdued the Uighurs (now Uyghurs) and destroyed Xixia, it had been with the Mongolia has directly joined the border. Except Dali in the southeast has not yet surrendered, it can be said that Tubo is completely surrounded by Mongolia's strategy. Even if Tubo is unwilling to surrender, it has no chance to dominate its own destiny. I say this, and the master agrees ?"

Ba Siba's face twitched, his expression embarrassed. Kublai Khan changed the topic with a smile: "Which great talents and strategies have appeared in your Tubo, can you ask the master to teach you a thing or two?" Basiba thought for a while, and replied: "The most outstanding figures in the history of our Tubo are the three grandparents and grandchildren of the Lord." "Oh? Please listen to what the master said?" "Songtsan Gampo, known for his integrity and profound wisdom, began to translate Buddhist scriptures and created Tibetan language. He was the incarnation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. He married the Tang Dynasty and married Princess Wencheng as his wife. After that, he sent Tibetan children to study in China. At the same time, we sincerely invite all kinds of Han craftsmen, monks, and doctors and fortune tellers to Tibet. By strengthening the cultural, economic, religious, academic and other exchanges between Han and Tibet, the rapid development of Tibetan areas has been promoted, and the country is becoming stronger and stronger; Chisongjian Zan, the heyday lord of the Tubo Dynasty, once occupied the four towns of Anxi, Hexi and Longyou under his jurisdiction, and once invaded Chang'an and Chengdu. He sent envoys to India to invite Bodhisattva, built Samye Temple, and established a monk group In his later years, he devoted himself to the reconciliation between Tang and Tibet, and he was the incarnation of Manjusri Bodhisattva; Chire Bajin, when he was in office, made a alliance between Tang and Tibet, and erected a stele of the alliance between Tang and Tibet in front of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, which symbolizes the friendship between Han and Tibet. Unity. Open a translation field, concentrate manpower and material resources to translate scriptures, and unify the name of the translation. Tibetan language tends to be standardized. When worshiping Buddhism, monks served as high-ranking officials of the dynasty and presided over the government. As a result, anti-Buddhist ministers were assassinated, and the Tubo Dynasty collapsed. Abyss. It is the incarnation of Vajrapani Bodhisattva."

"The king's plan is nothing more than this." Kublai Khan saw that Ba Siba's answers were fluent, and the conversation became more intense when he was delighted, "Then who in the Tubo region is respected in terms of learning merit?" Basiba took a sip of the highland barley wine and thought silently, this mellow highland barley wine is the origin of Princess Wencheng's teaching of Central Plains culture. "If you talk about the merits of learning, it is natural that Sakya Pandita, the master of the Dharma, is the most respected." "Master has followed Master Saban for many years, and he must have learned a lot of Buddhist scriptures from him?" In addition to Buddhism, Phagpa also has profound attainments in history. On the one hand, this is related to the careful teaching of Sakya Pandita during his stay in Liangzhou, and on the other hand, he also benefited from his own painstaking practice.Hearing this question from Kublai Khan at this moment, he remembered that Kublai Khan had asked a similar question two years ago when he and Kublai Khan met for the first time. It's just a scoop of water." Kublai Khan and Phagsiba both felt that they benefited a lot from the long talk.The most valuable thing is that Phagpa not only expresses the supreme historical status of the Sakya Sect's knowledge and virtue, but also shows his own humble and simple character.Kublai Khan couldn't help but recognized this Tubo youth from the bottom of his heart.