Although the political situation in the Sixteen Kingdoms period was complicated, Liangzhou was not damaged by war in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, and became a relatively stable and fertile area at that time, and one of the reasons for its richness was that it could benefit from east-west traffic. Although some small countries based on the liangtu had conquests among each other, their scale was not large, so as long as there was a little stability, they focused on the western region. For example, in the ancient Turpan region, "the long history of the Western Han Dynasty and the lieutenant of peng have lived here." Jin was known as Gaochang Commandery (高昌郡). Zhang Rail, Lü Guang, and Fengqu Mengxun all set up Taishou to unify the hexi region" and used it as a bridgehead through the western region. The most prominent of these is the Former Qin.
After Former Qin pacified Liangjing, it first operated the Hexi Corridor, and moved more than 10,000 households of the Jianghan people to Dunhuang, plus migrants from Zhongzhou and other places, so that there was a powerful relay station into the western region.
In the Era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Dynasty, there were many reasons to maintain the communication between China and the West, and the trade with the Western Regions was conducive to adjusting the economic deficiencies of the Green State, which was almost the common attitude of the Zhuliang regime. Tianshan Road, which is the main section of traffic between China and the West, did not have major turmoil at that time, and although the Hexi Corridor was divided, it was constantly traded. Since trade is favorable, of course the traffic continues. For example, a big income of Northern Liang is "cutting taxes and merchants Hu", so of course, then of course it is necessary to let the transit caravan continue, And Northern Wei said that it was inevitable to add to the crime of "breaking the travel", who would cut off their own way of making money?
In addition, it is also necessary to maintain the authority of the regime and experience the feeling of being an emperor in the so-called western envoys to pay tribute. Even later, a short-lived regime like Wan Qian Ugly Slave was named "Divine Beast" because of the lions sent by the Persian kingdom, in order to enhance the prestige of his short-lived son.
Although the Central Plains were in constant war at that time, and the small states of Zhuliang were not strong enough, at least in the Gaochang region (present-day Turpan, Xinjiang) they still maintained administrative organization and a certain military strength. As for Former Qin, who had unified the north, it was even more "to take Lü Guang as the commander of the horse, to oversee the western military, and to allocate 70,000 troops with the Lingjiang general Jiang Fei and the light cavalry general Peng Huang to discuss the western region", and Lü Guang did complete the mission later. The existence of these military and political forces has provided a certain security guarantee for commercial brigades, especially those from Middle-earth.
Throughout the period of the Two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, There were a large number of ethnic minorities in Middle-earth, some of whom were from or the same race as the Western Regions, and had the same living customs and languages with each other. The demand for daily necessities formed by the former provides opportunities for business, while the latter provides convenience for transactions.
Since the sixteen kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with the lifting of the ban on Han chinese monks and the belief of some monarchs, the spread of Buddhism in Middle-earth began to reach a climax, and the number of Buddhists increased sharply. Driven by the needs of missionary work, there was a steady stream of sutras and monks from the west. There are also more and more people who take the passage from east to west, and their travel, stationing and needs along the way have certainly contributed to the busyness of this traffic artery. Many of the kings along the Hexi Corridor embraced Buddhism and protected those who passed on the Dharma and learned the scriptures, which also constituted an element of smooth traffic between China and the West at that time.
For the Central Plains regime, the concept of the western region only indicates that it is the western region of the world, and the division of the frontier and the border neighbors is not very clear. At the beginning of the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the understanding of the Tongxi Region was limited to the ability to establish a prestige outside the Central Plains and collect rare treasures, so the Northern Wei felt that the operation of the Western Regions was not worth the loss. After Emperor Taiwu of Wei unified the north, the situation changed, and the military conquest of the western region was mainly based on three reasons. The first is to completely eliminate the remnants of Northern Liang. The second is to deal with rouran's needs. The third is due to the strength of the Northern Wei. Even in terms of doing business alone, a direct military presence would bring more benefits.
It should be noted that whether it is the Sixteen Kingdoms or the Northern Dynasty, the use of troops in the Western Regions is temporary, and only when it is very powerful, such as the former Qin Zhijian or the Wei Taiwu Emperor, it is possible, because the Western States located in present-day Xinjiang are not large, generally only one or two thousand soldiers, and the few such as the Mi State only have "hundreds of victorious soldiers", so it is not difficult for the Middle-Earth army to defeat them. But long-term garrison is also impossible, because they have few troops, because they are small oasis countries and cannot afford to provide for large armies, so it is not possible to carry out long-term military occupation.
For the Northern Wei Dynasty, the most important thing at that time was to stabilize the north and fight against the southern dynasty. Therefore, starting from Emperor Taiwu, military towns were not only set up in Dunhuang, Baohan, Busan and other places, but also military towns were set up in Yanqi. Although the town of Yanqi may have been withdrawn due to the excessive operating costs, because it could no longer be found in the literature. However, it is always the case to hold on to the western end of the Hexi Corridor, because it can move forward and backward freely. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, some people proposed to abolish the Dunhuang military town, but they were opposed. The biggest advantage of this is to reduce the cost of transportation in the western region.
It is worth noting that although there is a barrier between the Northern Dynasty, the Western Regions and the Southern Dynasties also maintain certain political and economic ties. For example, in December of the fifth year of Song Yuanjia (438), "the State of Tianzhu sent envoys to pay tribute". In the third year of the Ming Dynasty (459), "Western Regions Sacrifice Horses". In July of the second year of Liang Tianjian (503), "Guizi and Zhongtianzhu sent envoys to pay tribute", and in April of the fifth year of Zhongda Tong (533) and the first year of Datong (535), "persian envoys sent tribute", and the tribute also included lions and so on. In the "Nanshi Yiqi Biography", it is recorded that those who paid tribute to the Southern Dynasty were Gaochang, Shuiguo, Baiti, Guizi, Khotan, Ohbatan, Persia and so on.
At that time, there was a road from Yizhou to the western region that was almost parallel to the Hexi Corridor. The People of the Southern Dynasty attach great importance to this position on the main road of transportation. The emphasis on and adherence to this connection is the natural circulation of interests and cultures between the two sides in trade, especially for the Southern Dynasty, which is more politically meaningful, first, because without the four parties to pay tribute, it will not become the atmosphere of the Son of Heaven, which the self-proclaimed orthodox Regime of the Southern Dynasty of the Eastern Jin Dynasty cannot give up. In fact, this is also an important reason why all the Central Plains regimes want to maintain contact with the Western Regions. Second, the strengthening of Jiangzuo's ties with the western regions could more or less form a kind of containment for the Northern Dynasty, so even if the cost of trade by land would be greater than that of the sea, the Jiangzuo regime would also have to make efforts in this regard.
Whether in the North or the South, military and political measures must ultimately be implemented economically and culturally. In terms of painting, a kind of painting spread from Central Asia was popular during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, similar to oil painting in today's sense. Because it came from the Western Regions, it was called Hu Painting." Buddhism and its statues in sichuan have factors from Jiankang in Jiangnan and also from the western regions.
It can be said that the trade between the Western Regions and Middle-earth has never stopped. Commerce and trade were a fundamental value of the Existence of the Silk Roads. The form of trade can be divided into two categories: tribute and general trade, the former is exchanged through this special name, which is essentially a kind of trade. This form of tribute and reward ran through each period of the two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
When describing the specialties of various countries, treasures, gold and silver, famous horses, etc. are often the main items listed. The military value of good horses goes without saying, and the nomadic rulers of the Northern Dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms certainly understood. Since there are few records of gold and silver mining in middle-earth in ancient times, it can also be said that Middle-earth lacks self-produced gold and silver. Gold and silver had outstanding qualifications as general equivalents, which had great superiority over the currency that was also used as a currency in the Central Plains at that time. Therefore, "the counties of Hexi may use the money of gold and silver in the western region, and the officials cannot help it." Other trade goods were also primarily intended to meet the needs of the upper nobility, but they were the rulers of the state, and their needs were often translated into official policy. Therefore, these things that flowed into Middle-earth were the reason why the imperial courts of the dynasties had to maintain sino-Western exchanges even if they encountered difficulties.
Trade with the Western Regions met the living needs of the dignitaries. For example, when Wang Yuanchen of The Northern Wei Dynasty was doing the history of Qinzhou, he "sent envoys to the Western Regions to ask for famous horses, as far as the Persian Kingdom, to get thousands of horses", and he also had "crystal bowls, agate crooked, glass bowls, and red jade bowls with dozens of pieces, with wonderful workmanship, nothing in Middle-earth, all from the Western Regions". Ordinary people also have the opportunity to profit, such as Han Zhao for the History of XiliangZhou, "Every time the merchants in the western region arrive, they first exhaust the poor city." As a result, the rich and the poor have gradually become even, and the hukou has been solid." It seems that the goods from the western region are not only gold and silver treasures, but also the daily things that can make the poor participate in the sale, I am afraid that they are pepper, walnuts, herbs, pomegranates and other daily things, and the number should be quite large, because there are many poor households after all, there are not enough goods, it is difficult to achieve "the gradual equalization of the rich and the poor".