Silk Road Is Vast

In the third year of Emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was determined to open up the Silk Road that had been blocked for three hundred years. Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, all the countries in the Western Regions have been lost, and the Hexi Corridor has become the sphere of Turkic influence. Although Chang'an is the imperial capital, it is cut off from the Western Regions. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Li Jing to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Eastern Turks. Four years later, Jieli Khan was captured, and the Eastern Turks were destroyed. Li Xuandu, a young man from Chang'an, was born as a general. His father accompanied Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in his early expedition to the west outside Yumen Pass and never returned. Li Xuandu cherished his father's hatred, joined the army, and went out with the army. He witnessed the tragic destruction of the Eastern Turks on the battlefield, and even rescued Zhang Chengsi, a young Han Chinese who was taken as a slave by the Turks among the prisoners. The two became life-and-death friends. Zhang Chengsi told Li Xuandu about the mountains, rivers, geography, and tribal distribution of the Western Regions. From then on, Li Xuandu's obsession with the Western Regions was planted.