In 129 BC, after being trapped by the Xiongnu for ten years, Zhang Qian and his retinue Gan Fu prepared to escape. However, his wife begged to go with him. Zhang Qian refused without hesitation: "No, you guys walking with me will only add trouble, stay." After that, he quietly left the Xiongnu court with Gan's father, and galloped west on his war horse.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he tried to counterattack the Xiongnu, but did not find an appropriate way. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty always paid attention to the information related to the Xiongnu. At that time, many of the Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han Dynasty mentioned a country called Yueshi. They recounted that the king of the Yue clan had not long ago been used as a wine vessel by the Xiongnu Shanyu. Eager for revenge but struggling to find allies, the Yue clan was forced to move west.
When Emperor Wu of Han learned of this, he immediately realized that cooperating with the Yue clan would be beneficial in counterattacking the Xiongnu. However, at that time, the whole country did not know the location of the Western Regions, let alone the location of the Yue Clan. Moreover, to go to the Western Regions, you must pass through the territory of the Xiongnu, that is, the Hexi Corridor. Although the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu had not yet started a large-scale war, there were still conflicts in the surrounding areas, and it was not easy to safely cross the Hexi Corridor and penetrate deep into the Western Regions.
Emperor Wu was not afraid of this. He immediately issued an edict to recruit warriors from the Yue clan. It was at this time that Zhang Qian came to prominence. In 139 BC, Zhang Qian led a team of 100 people to embark on a journey to the Western Regions. The guide in the team, Gan's father, is a Hu man. They marched westward, but were captured by the Xiongnu as soon as they reached the Hexi Corridor, and then the whole regiment was escorted to the Xiongnu royal court.
Xiongnu Shan Yu learned of Zhang Qian's intention to go to the Yue Clan, and sneered: "The Yue Clan is behind me (it is actually the west, Shan Yu is deliberately misleading), how can the Han Dynasty send an envoy there?"Like if I want to send an envoy to South Vietnam, will your Han Dynasty agree?Although the Han Dynasty at that time was not a weak country, peace with the Xiongnu was often in exchange for beauty and wealth. The Xiongnu did not take the Han Dynasty into account.
As a result, Zhang Qian was detained by the Xiongnu for a whole decade. Shan Yu's original intention was to let Zhang Qian stay in the Xiongnu forever, so he married a Xiongnu woman to him. Zhang Qian and his Xiongnu wife gave birth to a son. If it weren't for the determination, I might choose to stay here. However, Zhang Qian kept in mind Emperor Wu's order, and he did not come here to stay in the Xiongnu, but to go to the Yueshi Kingdom.
Ten years later, the Han Dynasty thought that Zhang Qian was long gone, and the Xiongnu also thought that he would not return to the Han Dynasty. As a result, his imprisonment was gradually relaxed. Finally one day, Zhang Qian found a chance to escape, and he and Gan's father were ready to leave. Yet, again, his wife begged to go with him. Zhang Qian shook his head, left his family in pain, quietly left the Xiongnu court, and rode a war horse to the west.
Zhang Qian, who set off again, was full of confidence, but the difficulties they faced in moving forward can be imagined. Not only did they have to avoid being tracked by the Huns, but they also had to deal with the harsh environment, with food and water being a problem. Fortunately, the retinue Gan Father was highly skilled in archery, and he was always able to hunt wild beasts to satisfy his hunger every time he ran out of food.
When Zhang Qian arrived at the Yue clan country after many difficulties, he found that the Yue clan had changed, ten years had passed, and the fire of hatred had been extinguished. Zhang Qian could only return empty-handed. However, after returning home, he chose a different route to return, passing through several countries on the way. Zhang Qian brought the intelligence of these countries back to the Han Dynasty.
Nowadays, we have the Silk Road and the Hexi Corridor, all of which benefited from Zhang Qian's decision to go through difficulties and abandon his wife.
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