[Lightscreen]
[The one who wrote to Second Phoenix was the last emperor of the Sasanian dynasty, Yazdegerd III.
As everyone knows, history has never lacked the unfortunate, and Yazdegerd was very much one of them.
Moreover, his script was one the audience knew all too well: a young ruler, a state wracked by suspicion, internal strife and external threats, with real power slipping from his hands.
The Sasanian dynasty had replaced the Arsacid (Parthian) Empire and, in doing so, also inherited its long-standing hostility with Rome.
Just before Yazdegerd ascended the throne, by sheer coincidence, the four-hundred-year war between the Sasanian dynasty and Byzantium finally reached a conclusion.
From 613 onward, both sides could be said to have exhausted themselves over this century-old feud.
Byzantium had Emperor Heraclius personally lead the campaign, enlisting the Khazars and the Western Turks as allies.
The Sasanian dynasty, for its part, imposed unprecedentedly heavy taxes to fill the treasury, and allied with the Slavs and the Avars for a joint assault.
The final outcome was a crushing defeat for the Sasanians. The political situation collapsed into chaos—five emperors were replaced in five years, with Yazdegerd becoming the sixth.
Yazdegerd, who ascended the throne in 632, was able to hold it not because of extraordinary skill, but because the Arabs who believed in the religion of Dashi (Islam) had appeared.
The Arabs launched attacks on both Byzantium and the Sasanian dynasty simultaneously. Four years later, they successfully captured the Sasanian capital, Ctesiphon, and the Persian emperor Yazdegerd began fleeing eastward.
And who lay to the east?
The Western Turkic Khaganate—and the Tang Empire.
Given that the Western Turks had previously helped Byzantium savagely beat the Sasanian dynasty, Yazdegerd could only pin his hopes on Li Shimin.
Over the ten years starting in 638, Second Phoenix received four earnest pleas for aid from Yazdegerd—and politely declined all four.
After all, from East Asia to the Red Sea was a straight-line distance of six thousand kilometers. A round trip would be nearly thirty thousand li even if one could fly. In antiquity, such a distance was simply impossible to overcome.
After Yazdegerd's death in 651, his son Peroz ascended the throne and continued writing letters to the Tang emperor asking for assistance.
The first time, Li Zhi spoke frankly: it was too far to help, and besides, the Western Turks still stood in the way.
The second time, the Western Turks had already been destroyed. Li Zhi, annoyed beyond endurance, sent an envoy and conferred upon Peroz the title of Governor of Persia.
In 675, the White-Clad Dashi, having completely swallowed the Sasanian realm, began advancing eastward.
Peroz, bearing the seal personally granted by Li Zhi, went straight to Chang'an and was appointed General of the Right Wei Guard.
The Niniye Shi that Pei Xingjian requested earlier was Peroz's son—the current King of Persia.]
For the ministers gathered in the Ganlu Hall, the future of the Tang was something they would all witness with their own eyes sooner or later.
By contrast, it was the customs and affairs of lands tens of thousands of li away that truly piqued their curiosity.
"So at this moment, Yazdegerd has not yet ascended the throne?"
Fang Xuanling calculated with interest.
"Mm… then this should be precisely the time of internal chaos and external peril."
"What, then, can we do?"
Li Shimin stared at the name Ardashir for a long while before finally setting it aside. After all, that man had likely been dead for nearly four hundred years.
As for the light screen's teasing tone, Li Shimin could only say he had grown accustomed to it. After all, it was not as though he could crawl into the light screen and beat up that reckless fellow.
Hearing Fang Xuanling's question, he shook his head.
"The only thing we can do is pacify our own frontiers. The Sasanian realm is replacing its ruler year after year—how could ambitious men possibly unite against the enemy merely because of a word from ten thousand li away?"
Then, with unmistakable envy in his voice, he added:
"This Dashi… has truly become the fisherman who reaps the benefit."
The implication was obvious: how did such a good opportunity never fall to me?
Du Ruhui frowned slightly.
"When the Sasanian dynasty had not yet fallen, these Arabs were called Dashi. After they completely destroyed the Sasanians, they were called the White-Clad Dashi."
"And by the time of Xuanzong, when Gao Xianzhi fought them fiercely at Talas, they were called the Black-Clad Dashi."
"What is the difference?"
With too little information, the group could only exchange puzzled looks. Fang Xuanling could only hazard a guess:
"From what is said, these Arabs all seem to believe in the Dashi religion. Perhaps that is the reason?"
For now, that was the only explanation they could offer.
Li Shimin, however, vaguely recalled:
"At the time of Talas, the light screen also mentioned that the Black-Clad Dashi were still locked in fierce battle with Byzantium. Could Rome truly have endured so long?"
If one calculated it that way, would not the Roman state have lasted at least seven or eight hundred years?
Du Ruhui was not entirely in agreement.
"Byzantium's relationship to Rome is perhaps like that of our Tang to China, to Huaxia."
"To outsiders, does not our Huaxia's state lineage also appear to have endured a thousand years without extinction?"
Li Shimin nodded, accepting this explanation.
Then he walked to the map, roughly measuring distances with his hand, and shook his head.
"Overland routes are a natural barrier, with hundreds and thousands of states obstructing the way."
His index finger tapped Chang'an, then traced an arc along the Hexi Corridor and the Congling Mountains, finally pointing at the Khyber Pass.
"This land is fertile. A military commandery could perhaps be established here, to ward off western foes."
The records of later ages still made Li Shimin itch with temptation. A mere small state of Tianzhu could, without even gasping, supply provisions for two hundred thousand men!
The wealth of this region might truly exceed imagination.
Watching His Majesty stand before the map, once again lost in contemplation, Li Shiji sidled up to Su Dingfang and chuckled.
"Dingfang, you've lost your beloved disciple. How does it feel?"
Su Dingfang's face darkened instantly. He replied flatly, neither salty nor bland:
"Anyone who catches His Majesty's eye serves the state. What is there to complain about?"
"Rather, it is General Maogong—"
Su Dingfang looked Li Shiji up and down, then suddenly smiled.
"I wasted thirty years lingering in Chang'an, yet still ended up ranked alongside you."
"And if I add another thirty years of campaigning…"
He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was perfectly clear.
Li Shiji snorted, having gained nothing but irritation.
Li Jing did not join in any of this. He merely sighed with a trace of envy:
"To think the Western Turks could also take part in the wars of such great powers…"
…
"The world is vast…"
Liu Bei murmured, recalling the light screen's earlier words:
"Small states have no sovereignty; weak states have no diplomacy."
"Those who have lost their state fare even worse."
Then, with a hint of yearning, he added:
"I wonder if, in my lifetime, I might see this Ardashir with my own eyes."
The Tang emperor faced the end of the Sasanian dynasty; they, on the other hand, faced the end of the Arsacid Empire.
But precisely because the distance was so great, conflict or cooperation alike seemed unlikely. At most, what could be achieved was cultural exchange.
Thus, Liu Bei found himself rather interested in the founding monarch himself.
Zhang Fei, meanwhile, looked thoroughly intrigued.
"If we were to send a letter exposing Ardashir's plan to rebel, what would happen?"
Kongming pondered carefully, then shook his head.
"The cost would be borne by Yide."
"As for what would happen—do it, and you'll find out."
Zhang Fei immediately backed down.
"Forget it, forget it. Spending money just to hear a sound—no interest in that."
Kongming burst out laughing.
Only Liu Ba still remembered their original purpose.
"The Tang intends to pacify unrest in the Western Regions. What does that have to do with the Sasanian Empire?"
Kongming replied listlessly:
"Nothing more than the stratagem of borrowing the road to destroy Guo."
"Just watch."
[Lightscreen]
[After obtaining Niniye Shi from Li Zhi, Pei Xingjian and his party set out.
The journey from Chang'an to the Western Regions was arduous in the extreme. Thus, upon reaching Xizhou, Pei Xingjian could not wait to activate his connections.
Having governed this region for twenty years, he could be said to have no local figure, great or small, who did not submit. All hurried over to welcome him and host banquets in his honor.
During the feast, the locals also learned the nature of Pei Xingjian's mission:
To escort the new Governor of Persia, Niniye Shi, to assume office in Persia.
At the banquet, Pei Xingjian loudly complained that traveling in the current summer heat was tantamount to seeking death, and that he intended to wait until autumn, when the weather cooled, before departing.
This information quickly reached the ears of the Western Turkic leaders secretly plotting rebellion. It greatly relieved them:
I told you—how could the court possibly send just a dozen or so men to suppress a revolt?
Pei Xingjian had long planned for this. He first summoned the chieftains of the Four Garrisons of Anxi, saying that with the grass and water now abundant, it was an excellent season for hunting, and asking them to gather some of their young men to travel together for sport.
No one suspected a thing. After all, when Pei Xingjian had been Grand Protector of Anxi, he had always enjoyed such activities.
Thanks to Pei Xingjian's own reputation, over ten thousand men were quickly assembled—clear proof of the success of his governance in the Western Regions.
Thus, under the pretext of hunting, this force of over ten thousand wandered left and right, and before long, quite unintentionally, arrived at the camp of Ashina Duzhi, who was secretly plotting rebellion.
Pei Xingjian was very reasonable. He had the ten thousand men wait in place, then sent a single envoy to "reason things out."
Ashina Duzhi was very sensible. He chose to surrender on the spot. Pei Xingjian then used Ashina Duzhi's command token to summon the other Western Turkic chieftains who were complicit in the rebellion—and arrested them all together.
Next, he selected an elite cavalry unit and launched a direct strike on the camp of another rebel leader, Li Zhefu, capturing him on the spot.
Thus, a rebellion that had not yet even erupted was extinguished without a trace. The chieftains of the Western Regions spontaneously erected a stone stele in Suyab City praising Pei Xingjian's achievements, and the two rebel leaders were escorted to Chang'an to present their captives and claim merit.
The unluckiest of all was probably Niniye Shi.
Pei Xingjian returned to Chang'an along with the merit-reporting entourage, paying him no heed whatsoever.
Used and discarded, Niniye Shi could only trudge off on his own to Tokharistan.
This last scion of the Sasanian royal house lived as a guest in Tokharistan for twenty years, never realizing his dream of restoring his state.
In 707, Niniye Shi returned to Chang'an and accepted the post of General of the Left Wei Guard from Emperor Zhongzong of Tang.
He ultimately died of illness in Chang'an, drawing the final curtain on the Sasanian dynasty.]