Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 567 Battle of Ganzhou + Alliance of the Western Regions + Southern Expedition (7000 words, please vote)

On the fifth day, the Uighur army was even timid to fight because of too many casualties, and they dared not launch an attack all day and delayed for a day.

The heavy casualties brought by the two thousand musketeers had already frightened the Uyghur army. On the sixth day, they could only deter the army from continuing to attack the city by killing their own people, but it still didn't work, and the city was not captured.

Soon, they will regret the one-day delay, and understand what every second counts and what speed is the most important thing to do.

On the eighth day, Ganzhou City was still impenetrable, and the Uighur Khan had no chance.

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Jilong's main force came back to help. The Uighur army who was attacking the city found that the flags behind them covered the sun, and the sound of horseshoes shook the sky, and the army was in chaos.

The Qin army began to attack after shelling.

The first wave of offensive easily entered the Uyghur camp, causing the overall collapse of the Uyghur army's front in one fell swoop, and the defenders in the city also left the city one after another.

Even the Uighur Khan was captured by a military academy of the Qin army among the rebellious army.

The Uighur army, which was attacked from the front and rear, was subsequently disbanded, and the Qin army chased and killed more than [-] people. This became the biggest turning point in the entire Hexi War, and it was also the battle with the greatest victory.

After this battle, most of the young and strong Ganzhou Uighurs were killed, and the main force suffered heavy losses. The strength of the strongest and most united Ganzhou Uighurs in Hexi declined sharply. Since then, no one has been able to compete with the Qin army in the Hexi Corridor.

There are still harassing enemies, but this kind of sporadic resistance can no longer affect the overall situation, nor can it affect the advance of the Qin army.

With 3000 people besieging Ganzhou, blocking the [-] Uyghur army, and killing and injuring many musketeers, the sound shook the northwest. Zhao Kuangyin also made great contributions.

Afterwards, the army continued westward without hindrance, and there were no obstacles except sporadic resistance along the way. The settlements and cities along the way offered their cities and surrendered one after another, and they reached Guazhou without fighting any battles along the way.

When the Qin army was fighting in the east, the Guiyi army also led by Cao Yangong regained the surrounding lost ground, and then welcomed the Qin army into the city in Guazhou. The completion of the two armies' meeting meant that the Hexi Corridor was completely opened up.

After more than a year since then, the Battle of Hexi came to an end, and the craftsmen of the follow-up secret department also began to build the Lotus Fort along the way, firmly controlling the Hexi Corridor.

Then the army marched westward, controlling Yangguan and Yumenguan, and guarding the north and south sides of Tianshan Mountain respectively, shaking the countries in the Western Regions.

The entire Hexi War basically came to an end, and all strategic goals were achieved.

Tens of thousands of troops from the Central Plains defeated the Tibetans. After the Ganzhou Uyghurs arrived at Yumen Pass, the Western Regions also quickly got the news. Ten days later, the Khotan Kingdom at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the Xizhou Uyghur forces occupying the eastern part of the Western Regions all sent envoys to ask for a visit.

In fact, the Uighur Khan of Xizhou had sent the eminent monk Fayuan to present treasures such as Buddha teeth, glazed vessels, and amber cups to Emperor Shi more than ten years ago, and he continued to pay tribute thereafter, showing a close relationship with the Central Plains.It's just that Emperor Shi was busy fighting at that time, and the road was blocked, so he just dealt with it and didn't pay attention to it.

Now when their envoys came to see them, they quickly talked about what happened at the beginning to show their friendship, and at the same time expressed their willingness to regard the great country of the Central Plains as their ancestor.

Presumably Ganzhou Uighurs and Tubo tribes were wiped out for more than a year, which shocked the Western Regions and reminded them of the fear from the East.

Li Jilong and the others only gave vague answers to appease them for the time being. How to arrange the strategy of the Western Regions, whether to attack or defend, whether to clear up thousands of miles or appease the prisons, still needs to be decided by Emperor Shi.

On the other hand, the envoys from Khotan had a much lower profile. Not only did they bring a lot of tribute, they also directly expressed their willingness to become a vassal state of the great Central Plains country.

At first, Li Jilong and others didn't understand why Khotan's attitude was so low.

After inquiring, I learned that the Khotan Kingdom was also in danger at this time.

About 20 years ago, Musa Khan, the Karahan Kingdom in the west of the Western Regions, declared Christianity as the state religion, and a religious conflict broke out between the Buddhist Khotan Kingdom and the Karahan Dynasty, which believed in Islam, and has lasted for 20 years. war.

At the beginning of the war, Khotan had an advantage. After repelling the attack of the Karahan Dynasty, it marched westward and once captured Shule (Kashgar).

Although the Karahan Dynasty regained Shule with the support of Muslim reinforcements, it did not turn the tide of battle, and its khan himself died in the war with Khotan.

But as time went by, after the war lasted for more than 20 years, the kingdom of Khotan gradually failed. Because they were small and small, even if they could fight, they could not withstand the long-term consumption of the Muslim coalition forces in the vast area to the west, so they urgently wanted to seek help.

Li Jilong didn't make a promise in private, but told the envoy that this matter must be decided after consulting the emperor. If the emperor begs them first, they will be protected by the army of the Qin Dynasty.

After that, Li Jilong also stationed tens of thousands of troops in Yangguan, Yumen and other places, and sent envoys to ask all countries in the Western Regions to go to the Central Plains to meet.

And this big victory was also timely for Emperor Shi. On the eighth day of October that year, when Li Jilong presented the Uyghur Khan Yeluohe Mili to Xuandemen, the alley was empty. .

In front of everyone, Emperor Shi once again declared his authority, proving to the world that he was wise and correct.Many disputes between the DPRK and China could also come to an end, and then the Uighur Khan was also sent to the Bianshui River for collection.

With Hexi's great victory, everything has been resolved, at least on the surface, there is a good relationship between the government and the people, Wen Zhao Wu Mu, everyone gets what he wants.

Emperor Shi's reforms were carried out without any suspense.Emperor Shi was very happy and bestowed on his son Li Jilong the title that had been removed from Li Chuyun.

After most of the opposition voices subsided, the new tax law was successfully implemented in the Central Plains, and there was no resistance. The tax revenue in the Central Plains was increased by [-]% that year, while the burden on ordinary people was greatly reduced.

With the abundance of finances, more things can flex their muscles.

It's just that in terms of reputation, Emperor Shi didn't improve much, because those who had a lot of power to speak were noble and powerful families, but Emperor Shi didn't care anymore.

Back then, the noble concubine of the Li family was also pregnant, and the princes and princesses were born one after another, so Emperor Shi's energy was still on other things.

After the great victory in Hexi, Emperor Shi conscripted Guanzhong, Bashu, and the people of Guandong to fill Hexi, and at the same time repaired the fort line to Hexi.

Regarding the conditions for immigration, Emperor Shi also issued a national policy. Any people who immigrate to Hexi will receive state subsidies. Although it is not much, it is enough to settle down temporarily. , There are still a large number of Uighur captives that can be used as labor.

The development of Hexi is a long-term project. After the Tang Dynasty was abandoned, no one managed it, and the management level of Tubo and Uyghur was not high, so that many cities and beacons in the Hexi Corridor have been abandoned.

Fortunately, the Great Wall of the Western Han Dynasty extended from the Hexi Corridor to the later Lop Nur, and it can continue to be used after repairs. This is not only a defensive line, but also a postal system, with many passes and beacon towers.

Hexi is a big project that can only be carried out slowly.

Emperor Shi used Dong Zunhui as the defense envoy of Guazhou, the military commander of Hexi, who was in charge of the Hexi Corridor.

……

Regarding Khotan’s request, Emperor Shi and his ministers agreed after discussion, because after the implementation of the heart tax law, taxes were paid according to the land, and when the money and food were sufficient, Emperor Shi could continue to increase troops in Hexi.

However, not many people in the Central Plains are willing to go to the Youyu Region. If they want to control and govern the Western Regions, they can only adapt to local conditions and use barbarians to control barbarians.

At the request of Khotan, Qin sent troops into Khotan to protect the dependent country.

This is just a reason. In fact, Emperor Shi's purpose was to curb the growth of the Kara Khanate.

The other force in the Central Plains called the Xizhou Uighurs had no hostility towards China, and Emperor Shi had no intention of curbing them.

Unlike the Uighurs in Ganzhou, the Uyghurs in Xizhou call themselves the "Dafu Da Uighur Country", and they have the habit of half farming and half herding. Their system is based on the system of three provinces and six ministries in the Tang Dynasty. The official script used and official seals are all Chinese characters.

He has paid tribute to the Liao State many times, and also paid tribute to the Hou Zhou and the Great Qin many times.

A few years ago when I went to Daqin to pay tribute, I used a document in Chinese to call myself the "Nephew of Xizhou" of Emperor Shi.

It is a force that is very inclined to the Central Plains and occupies most of the eastern part of Xinjiang in later generations. Therefore, Emperor Shi simply sent someone to Gaochang City with a seal to canonize him as the King of Gaochang in the Qin Dynasty and the Jiedu Envoy of Xizhou.

However, the Black Khan (Karakhanate) forces occupying the western part of Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia in the later generations are not so friendly to the east, and Emperor Shi has clearly proposed to protect the Kingdom of Khotan in order to contain the Karahanate. power.

With the abundance of the central government's finances, soldiers from the Qin army continued to enter Khotan for "peacekeeping", and the successive increase in troops has not stopped for several years.

In the next few years, Hexi's business operations did not stop, nor did Emperor Shi's implementation of the New Deal.

In the 13th year of Kangding, border troubles occurred in Huangzhou, but they subsided quickly.Dong Zunhui in Hexi reported that there were two prisoner-of-war rebellions in March and June, but the scale was small. They killed 26 people and were quickly put down.

After two or three years, the Lotus Fort has been repaired to Yumen Pass. The Han Dynasty Great Wall along the way has been repaired almost, and can be put into use in general. Yang Pass, various forces and kingdoms west of Yumen Pass sent envoys to Daliang to pay their respects.

In September of that year, another major event happened. The Dali Kingdom sent envoys to request that it be attached to the Qin Kingdom and become a subsidiary state of the Qin Kingdom.

Emperor Shi summoned Zaifu to discuss. Everyone felt that there were many clans and powerful forces in Dali, and they wanted to use the prestige of the Qin Dynasty to suppress it.

Duan Sicong, the lord of Dali, died more than ten years ago, and Duan Sushun, the current lord of Dali, succeeded to the throne.In the same year, border chaos broke out in the east of Dali. Zongqi, the mayor of Yanzhong, and Dailian Nongtu, the leader of Qiuzhou, rebelled and captured Mi Nai and other three cities.

It was Duan Sushun who sent Dutong, Uncle Changhuang, Duan Zibiao of Buxie, the three armies of Dujian, Li Leshuang, Chang's son-in-law, Duan Yanzhen of Buxie and other troops to pacify the border villages, punish Dai Liannongtu, etc., and at the same time crusade against Lang Yu, A Fang, field hole.Afterwards, 37 chiefs were gathered in Shicheng (Qujing) for an alliance and awards, and then the situation subsided.

The southwest has high mountains and long rivers, and the high mountains are not like the hills and hills in the south of the Five Ridges. Instead, they are continuous and towering mountains that stretch for tens of hundreds of miles, causing inconvenient transportation and difficult communication. Therefore, there are many mountains and many forces.

The unique environment also created a strong local concept in that area. Soldiers may not be able to fight on the plains, but they have always had a good record in mountain warfare.

However, most of the time in this place in history, it was difficult to unite because of the geographical isolation, so even if the Duan family ruled Dali, they could not completely suppress the surrounding forces.

Its title of vassal, Emperor Shi, has been carefully thought about in his heart, and there are no more than two purposes.

First of all, I was really scared. The Qin Dynasty had a great reputation in the Southern and Northern Wars these years, and becoming a vassal state can guarantee its own safety.

The second reason is that the Duan family wanted to use the power of the Central Plains Dynasty to deter domestic forces. Once Dali Kingdom became a vassal state of the Qin Dynasty, the domestic forces would have to weigh up if they wanted to challenge the king.The Duan family wanted to use the emperor's prestige to consolidate their rule.

This has also happened in history. The Duan family of Dali also asked the Northern Song Dynasty to be included, but the Northern Song Dynasty refused. They felt that the Duan family wanted to use their power.

Emperor Shi agreed, rather than Duan's taking advantage of his reputation, he was more afraid that the people in the Southwest would lose the Central Plains for a long time, and they didn't know the prestige and prestige of Emperor Shi!
But at the same time, it also requires Dali to open up commerce and trade, allowing the people of the two countries to travel and live at will, and Dali to send royal family and nobles to the capital to study (as hostages).The king of Dali replied that year, expressing his willingness to accept these conditions.

In history, the domestic struggle in Dali was very serious. The Duan family was quickly evacuated, and the powerful ministers actually took power. Build up and continue to hold power.

What Emperor Shi thought was to use the method that the Han Dynasty used to deal with South Vietnam, boil frogs in warm water, stabilize them first, then get married, and gradually sway their power. If you don't come, there is a reason to send troops.

At the same time, Emperor Shi also sent Cao Bin to lead his troops to station in the southwest to stabilize the situation.

After Southwest's strategy of boiling frogs in warm water against Dali, in the spring of the 14th year of Kangding, Emperor Shi's plan for the Western Regions also began to be implemented.

By the spring of that year, more than half of the Great Wall of the Western Han Dynasty had been repaired. The Qin army stationed more than 1 Qin troops in Khotan, including four artillery battalions, and 5000 troops stationed in Gaochang.

Last year, the forces of the Kara Khanate disregarded the warnings of the Qin State in the east and continued to send troops to attack Khotan, killing more than 400 people on the border. The Qin army's vanguard general Haijin led cavalry to chase after him, beheaded more than [-] people and returned. The two sides were completely torn apart. shameless.

Until this year, Emperor Shi continued to send Li Jilong to deploy as the capital of the Western Regions, and the commander of the camp at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains arrived in Khotan.

Taking Dong Zunhui as the commander of the camp at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, he led 5000 Qin troops and gathered [-] soldiers from various Uighur tribes in Xizhou. A total of [-] troops marched from the north of the Tianshan Mountains.

On the other hand, Li Jilong personally led [-] Qin troops, [-] soldiers and horses together with Khotan and Guiyi troops. A total of [-] troops went to Khotan (Hotian) and marched along the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and went straight to Shule (Kashgar).

In fact, compared with Qin and Liao, the power of the Western Regions is very weak. Historically, the Western Regions and Central Asia have always been pawns for great powers to compete for hegemony due to their special geographical location and geographical conditions, but their own strength is indeed very strong. It is difficult to shake the world pattern.

Just like when the Han and Hungarians fought for hegemony and the Western Regions struggled to survive in the cracks of the Western Regions, the Western Regions such as the Uighurs in Xizhou have paid tribute to the Liao Kingdom and the Central Plains in the past few decades, maintaining a kind of no one to provoke, An attitude that blames no one.

Now that the Western Region coalition forces with the Qin army as the main force marched, Dong Zunhui at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains advanced very quickly, breaking the enemy one after another all the way westward, and there was basically no force that could stop him along the way.

The biggest battle broke out near Bacishagun, the capital of the Kara Khanate. More than 1 black Khan troops were defeated and fled back to the city.

Due to the geographical conditions and technology of the Western Regions, their cities are far less solid than those in the Central Plains.Five days after the army besieged the city, the artillery fire of the Qin army smashed the city gate. Only more than a month after dispatching troops, the Qin army had broken through the accompanying capital Baci Shagun (in today's Kyrgyzstan).

After entering the city, the coalition forces looted for three days, and then executed those who dared to resist, while the rest escaped.

While the North Route Army's attack was rapid, the South Route Army's progress was a little slower.

Although the marching distance on the South Road was shorter, the Kara Khanate concentrated all its main forces in the south to defend their capital Shule, and encountered obstacles along the way.

But compared to the Liao army in the east, these are all small scenes.

The coalition forces smashed several resistances along the way, successfully marched to the city of Shule, and approached the capital.

But this time the Kara Khanate did not sit still. Their Khan organization assembled an army of [-], preparing to fight to the death with the coalition forces.

The two sides fought on the banks of the Congling River (Yerqiang River). At the beginning, they faced each other across the river. A few days later, the Qin army bombarded the enemy on the other side with cannons, causing a lot of casualties and completely attracting the attention of the enemy.

But at the same time, General Haijin led the Khotan cavalry to smuggle downstream and attacked the Kara army from the side.

The frontal troops also took the opportunity to cross the river to join the battle, defeating the main force of the Kara Khanate in one fell swoop.

What's interesting is that when the Qin army joined the battle with cannons, many enemy soldiers thought it was the Lord's miraculous punishment.

Kara Khan was hit by a musket in the rebellious army, his horse fell off, and he was trampled to death. Ling fled westward.

After this battle, the Qin army was so powerful in the Western Regions that no one dared to challenge the authority of the Qin Dynasty in the Western Regions.

When the news of the victory came back to Daliang, Emperor Shi was very happy, and ordered to reward the soldiers and rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate to command the countries of the Western Regions.With Li Jilong as Qin's first protector of the Western Regions, he ordered the Great Wall of the Western Han Dynasty to be repaired, arrived at Lop Nur, and rebuilt the Governor's Mansion and sent troops to hoard fields.

By the 17th year of Kangding, many people finally realized the benefits of the new tax law. The state finances were gradually ample, allowing the operation of the Western Regions, and the burden on the people was greatly reduced. With the introduction of new rice varieties, grain production increased year by year, and rice gradually became a The most practical food.

As the Western Regions were brought under the control of the Qin army, commerce from Central Asia and the Mediterranean became safer, and many middlemen were reduced to earn the difference. The Western Regions, the Hexi Corridor and Chang'an also gradually recovered, and each year got better every year.

Emperor Shi was 47 years old this year, and he was already the father of 42 children. He was the wise commander of the empire, a man of culture and military strategy, a master of magic, and a perfect man who was invincible to thousands of people.

At this point, no one would dare to oppose the emperor's decision.

But the more this is the case, the more careful Emperor Shi is. After all, he has experienced thousands of winds and waves, known the rise and fall of 5000 years, received scientific education, and understood the vicissitudes of history.

He didn't think about forcibly changing his fate against the sky in the past, because objective facts must be respected, and whimsical fantasies must not be allowed.

Emperor Shi learned a lesson from the last reform and thought about promoting education to gain support from the grassroots, but after many tours and visits in micro-services, he found that this was unrealistic.

First of all, the popularization of enlightenment education must make knowledge cheap. The premise of cheap knowledge must be cheap paper and cheap words. These all require living papermaking, printing and industrial leaps.

The most important thing is to allow ordinary people to have time to study. Nowadays, ordinary children at the age of six or seven have to help the family with some light work. Teenagers are mature laborers who are self-reliant. Only by working hard like this can they live without time. to study.

The only way is that technological progress brings about the industrial revolution, the industrial revolution brings productivity improvements, and liberates the agricultural population.

Let them either go to work in factories, or have more free time when farming, and then they can have extensive education. After extensive education is popularized, ordinary people will wake up their thinking, and then there will be grassroots soil for nationwide reforms. Completely successful.

And these can't be realized overnight, the short is a century-old plan, and the long-term is a matter of hundreds of years.

The biggest problem is that it is unrealistic for the emperor to carry out this plan. Not everyone is like him, and the emperor cannot kill himself.

So things are often a deadlock, and the biggest change can only be initiated from the bottom up, not from the top down.If the people are not awakened, no matter how hard they try, it will be useless.

Emperor Shi understands the limits of his abilities, and has a clear logic for these things. He understands that he can only do better within the current framework and current rules, and also benefit future generations.

Therefore, he can only vigorously promote the teaching of mathematics and geography in high-level education, such as Guozijian, Jiangwutang, etc., and continuously improve their status with his own prestige.

At the same time, it leaves a lot of vigilance and guidance for future generations.

In the first half of China, the concept of humanistic morality advocated by Confucianism made it far ahead of the forest of nations in the world, but in the second half, this concept became another kind of imprisonment, and this change has For historical reasons, the Anshi Rebellion was a turning point in Chinese history.

Living in the river of history, people do not have the perspective of God. They can only use history as a mirror and overcorrect.Much of the history after the Anshi Rebellion is the result of overcorrecting the lessons of the Anshi Rebellion.

Emperor Shi was more impartial and objective, so he overcorrected and tried not to overcorrect.

However, he could not predict where the giant ship would sail under his helm.

In the 18th year of Kangding, the use of hydraulic workshops was mature, and the new musket battalion was established.

Nowadays, almost every army of the Forbidden Army can be equipped with two musket battalions, and the tactics are constantly changing. At that time, the remnants of the Black Khans in the Western Regions tried to regain their homeland, but they were defeated by the Shule garrison, and more than 200 people were captured and killed.

At that time, Emperor Shi asked the Qin State to garrison troops in Dali. The ruler of Dali hesitated and dared not resist, and allowed the Qin army to send ten battalions to some passes in the northeast of Dali.

At that time, the Ministry of Industry improved the printing and papermaking techniques, and the emperor highly appreciated it and regarded it as a model for the world.

When Li Huan established the Qianli Dynasty (roughly today's Vietnam), Emperor Shi sent an envoy to ask him to return to the Central Plains, otherwise he would send troops to crusade.

Li Huan didn't know whether he was delayed or did not receive the news, in short he did not enter the court to see him.

Emperor Shi was furious, regarded it as a provocation, and prepared to send troops to conquer.

The following year, with Liu Qingchuan as the general, he led an army of [-] to the south to crusade, and conscripted a huge logistics supply corps for him from the southwest of Lingnan.

At the same time, more than [-] naval vessels, including [-] gunboats, supported land operations by sea.

What was different about this march was that 3 of them were musketeers and artillery, and the rest were cavalry and traditional infantry.

And Emperor Shi didn't send troops out of anger, nor was he angry that Li Heng didn't come to pay tribute, but he took the opportunity to send troops when he found out that there were many internal conflicts in the Li Dynasty and they were not united.

Liu Qingchuan's army bought some local opponents of the imperial court as guides, and then the army drove straight in. The terrifying lethality of the firearms along the way directly beat the southern Li Dynasty army into complete confusion, and they were defeated all the way.

Many forces that were originally dissatisfied with Li Heng also jumped up one after another, "the enemy attacked the outside, and the people attacked the inside", which made the army of the Qin Dynasty capture the country Thang Long (Hanoi) 20 days after dispatching troops.

Afterwards, they quickly headed south along the coast, constantly winning with the power of firearms along the way.

The ruler of Li State wanted to use traditional arts to go to sea to escape, and then wait for the weather to turn hot to continue to fight guerrillas, but was intercepted by the Qin Army navy fleet at sea, and a large number of ships were sunk by Qin Army gunboats in the sea east of Jiuzhen .

Afterwards, the Qin army went south all the way to the Rinan County Government established in the Han Dynasty (today's southern Vietnam), and restored the Jiuzhen and Rinan counties established during the Western Han Dynasty, but changed them to Jiuzhen Road, Rinan Road, Set up military town jurisdiction.

Unlike in the past, this time due to the large-scale use of firearms, coupled with constant local turmoil and disobedience to the rule, the Qin army killed a lot. Since sending troops all the way to the southern tip, they have killed nearly [-] enemies, which is more than that of a big country like Liao. Kill twice.

Someone in the court impeached Liu Qingchuan because of this, saying that he killed a lot, harmed the virtues of heaven, and did not conform to the way of loyalty and forgiveness of the saints. It is said that Emperor Wu killed the Huns too much.

However, Emperor Shi acquiesced to Liu Qingchuan's actions, turned a blind eye to the many impeachments, and thought that so many genocides in the colonial era, so many places were slaughtered for nothing, wouldn't it be necessary to revive the saint's spirit, and see if the saint would take care of it.

Morality itself is an imperceptible convention that is respected together to safeguard collective interests. What morality is said in the face of foreign enemies is either bad or stupid. Will the enemy protect the interests of the country?It must be maintained with a moral convention.

So Emperor Shi couldn't take it anymore after those people went to the court again and again, and scolded those speech officials in the court hall. Since then, his reputation has become even worse.

(End of this chapter)