High-bridged nose, deep-set eyes, curly hair, a thick beard, and a portly figure with a face full of smiles. The one sitting leisurely in Purple Void Temple’s guest hall avoiding the rain was none other than Kang Su Mi, the Zoroastrian priest from Buzheng Ward’s fire temple, whom they hadn’t seen for several months.
Upon seeing Li Yuan Gui and his servant enter the hall, the old Hu merchant hurriedly rose to greet them, clasping his hands and asking about “the Prince’s well-being” in his heavily Sichuan-accented Chinese as they exchanged pleasantries.
It turned out he had just recently returned from the western regions of Shu and Long, and only learned upon reaching the capital that his left-behind manager An San and his sons, along with that Tuyuhun youth, had caused great trouble. Like Li Yuan Gui, he was frantically trying to make amends and avoid punishment through old friends like Chai Shao.
The attending Daoist nun Jing Xuan called for servants to bring towels and hot water. With no outsiders present in the hall, Li Yuan Gui didn’t hold back and first asked Kang Su Mi, “What exactly was your nephew Sang Sai’s true identity?” The old Hu merchant immediately cried injustice, saying “It’s all because my brother in Fuqi City wasn’t honest.”
Kang’s family had many brothers and sisters, each married and pursuing their livelihoods after reaching adulthood. The one who maintained the closest contact with Kang Su Mi was a brother who resided permanently in Fuqi City, the Tuyuhun capital, who was also a Zoroastrian priest there. After Sang Sai came to Chang’an from the northwest, he sought refuge with Kang Su Mi, bringing a letter from that brother claiming the youth was his sister’s son. Merchant families had their channels and code words for internal correspondence, so Kang Su Mi didn’t doubt the letter and accepted Sang Sai as his nephew, letting him stay. Although he later found the youth arrogant and bold, with subordinates constantly arriving from the northwest to join him, he didn’t grow too suspicious, merely assuming his sister had married into a noble clan.
It wasn’t until late winter and early spring that Kang Su Mi discovered Sang Sai’s collusion with An Yan Na, leading their men to sneak into the Forbidden Garden and burn down Ganye Temple, that he realized things would become serious. At the time, he ordered An San to severely whip his son and imprison him, and also gave Sang Sai a stern lecture, but unexpectedly Sang Sai refused to submit meekly, climbing over the wall of the priest’s residence at night, right when he encountered Li Yuan Gui and his servant…
“Wait, wait,” Li Yuan Gui stopped the old Hu merchant’s rambling and thought for a moment. “First answer me two things: One, why did Sang Sai want An Yan Na to lead them to burn down Ganye Temple? Two, I met Sang Sai outside Yang Zhengdao’s residence – why was he going to Yang Guang’s grandson’s house in the middle of the night?”
He strongly suspected Kang Su Mi and Sang Sai were in collusion, harboring thoughts of overthrowing the Tang dynasty from the beginning. Both incidents seemed vaguely related to the current Emperor’s legitimacy, and he wondered what they were plotting. Previously, when he had agreed to join Sang Sai in assassinating the Emperor Emeritus, he had asked the youth these questions, but Sang Sai refused to answer. If Kang Su Mi also didn’t answer, there could be no mutual trust, and there would be no point in further discussion.
The old Hu merchant chuckled for a while, then composed himself and said seriously:
“Fourteenth Brother is clever. We’re both caught up in such a major incident – it wouldn’t be right for old Kang to keep deceiving you. About burning the temple, it started with that kid asking me how to break the Heavenly Khan’s divine protection. I just humored him, saying many masters in Chinese lands understand the principles of palace and building construction. Look at the imperial palace – there’s a Buddhist temple to the west, and a Daoist temple too. Those are all heretical evil spirits, attracting Ahriman into this world, resisting divine power… Who knew Sang Sai would believe it and bribe people to sneak out and burn the temple…”
This explanation was probably seventy to eighty percent true. Li Yuan Gui remembered that after Ganye Temple burned, he and Chai Ying Luo had indeed discovered that the arsonists had also been active near Purple Void Temple, likely originally planning to burn down both the neighboring Buddhist temple and Daoist temple together. However, he noted internally that Kang Su Mi had glossed over “Sang Sai asking how to break the Heavenly Khan’s divine protection” rather vaguely – their original discussion was probably more direct, essentially about “how to assassinate Emperor Li Shimin.”
Kang Su Mi insisted he didn’t know about the Tuyuhun prince’s identity, but Li Yuan Gui didn’t believe this either. Sang Sai might have come with an introductory letter from Kang Su Mi’s brother, but he had stayed at Kang’s residence for so long, busy bribing various people and plotting actions – how could such a shrewd old Hu merchant not know?
As a foreigner from the Western Regions, he couldn’t be expected to have any loyalty to any country’s court, only thinking about how to maximize his profits. During the Tang-Tuyuhun war period, his secret harboring – or detention – of the Tuyuhun prince was probably just to watch which way the wind would blow.
“As for running to Empress Xiao’s family home, that was just the kids making trouble,” Kang Su Mi answered his second question. “Fourteenth Brother knows that back in the Turk days, old Kang was quite familiar with that Yang family woman and grandson. In casual conversation and storytelling, Sang Sai probably just remembered that an empress lived across the street. Later when I questioned him after his capture, he didn’t even know which dynasty’s empress she was, thinking she was like their tribal Khatun, living independently and making her own decisions. So he got wicked ideas about sneaking over to kidnap her…”
In short, the Tuyuhun youth had come purely to cause trouble, while Kang Su Mi knew but pretended ignorance, only trying to control his actions to avoid bringing trouble upon himself. However, he soon had to leave the capital to handle his business, and things in Chang’an were left in unreliable hands, eventually still causing him embarrassment.
After explaining the past events, the old Hu merchant repeatedly apologized to Li Yuan Gui, first for implicating the Prince of Wu, and second, hoping Li Yuan Gui would put in some good words for him when possible. From his words, it seemed that after returning to Tang from the Turks in the fourth year of Zhenguan, he had developed substantial business with various temple supervisory offices, supplying the imperial family with fine horses, jewels, gold and silver vessels, spices and other goods in large quantities, naturally profiting considerably. If he lost his imperial merchant status because of this incident, Kang Su Mi would probably be devastated.
Normally, Li Yuan Gui definitely wouldn’t have gotten involved in such troublesome matters. But…
But, he thought, right now he needed to obtain fifty thousand bolts of silk quickly, and could only seek help from Kang Su Mi.
Such a large sum, of course, couldn’t be expected as a gift. Drawing up a contract for a loan, and agreeing to repay it gradually over a set period, would be more reasonable. But such a thing… how to bring it up?
His tongue turned many circles in his mouth, and he could only humble himself to tell Kang Su Mi “Yuan Gui has a favor to ask.” When the old Hu merchant inquired about details, he still couldn’t say the words “borrow money,” only feeling his face burning hot – probably the inner fire in his body had already dried up the rain from earlier.
With no choice, he turned back to look meaningfully at Yang Xin Zhi, wanting him to speak on his behalf. Yang Xin Zhi’s expression was quite reluctant – before entering the temple, he had been opposing Li Yuan Gui’s plan to gather fifty thousand bolts of silk for Cheng Yao Jin.
Unable to resist his master’s repeated urging gestures, the tall guard finally coughed and broached the subject of borrowing money with Kang Su Mi. When first hearing “need money,” the old Hu merchant’s expression remained calm, but upon hearing the enormous sum of fifty thousand bolts of silk, he immediately gaped in astonishment, his expression becoming as exaggerated as a wrathful guardian deity in a temple.
When the various Buddhas came east, the craftsmen who created their statues for worship in Central China must have been of Hu origin, or at least very familiar with Hu appearances, Li Yuan Gui thought. Looking at those protruding brow ridges, sunken eye sockets, nose bridge reaching to heaven, and enormous mouth seeming to swallow the earth – it was exactly like the temple statues… The Acala Wisdom King’s great wrathful countenance was for subduing demons and evil spirits – what was old Hu Kang trying to intimidate with such an expression?
“It’s just a loan, I will repay it,” Li Yuan Gui assured Kang Su Mi. “Words alone aren’t proof – we can draw up written documents and contracts. Although my brothers and I don’t have much income now, once we’re enfeoffed in various regions with official fields and permanent estates, we’ll be much more comfortable financially.”
Seeing his sincere attitude, unlike testing or joking, the old Hu merchant finally dropped that expression and began seriously inquiring about details, such as “What’s such a large loan for,” “When do you need it,” “Do you want gold and silver or silk,” “when do you plan to repay it,” “how will you repay it” and so on, revealing his merchant nature in bargaining.