Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1584 Grassland Craft
Dun Yu hurried to Karasa.

After a few months, he hardly knew this place where he had lived for more than ten years.

Near the villages, post roads, and woods, there are Turkic cavalry with swords and bows everywhere.Upon closer inspection, it turned out that they were looting the village.

I heard that the people of Khotan have been robbed once, and the Turkic people came again, so what are the common people left?For this, it is also euphemistically called "grain collection".

Dun Yu's face was a little ugly.

When passing a certain village, I met a carriage.The interior of the car is full, covered with reed mats.

With sharp eyes, Dun Yu saw several pairs of feet protruding from under the reed mat.

It turned out to be a dead body.

He felt that he was a bit over the top, and his own capital must be very uncomfortable to be harmed by outsiders in such a way.But he knew very well that he couldn't turn against the Xia people now.Even in the foreseeable future, he can't turn his face, he doesn't have the ability.

What he should do now is to take back his own capital as much as possible, even if it is a capital that has been destroyed by human disasters.If it can't be done, then persuade the Xia people to send troops together to gain more benefits in the west.

When entering the city of Karasa, Dagan Aligu and Linya Huannu came out to greet him.

He didn't have much intimacy with these two Xia officials who were born in Gaochang.

Leaving aside the old grievances between the Gaochang Uyghurs and the Anxi Uyghurs, the difference in life between the two is huge.

Gaochang Uyghur is too "Tang".

The city architecture is like the Tang Dynasty, the army is like the Tang Dynasty, the system is like the Tang Dynasty, and even the food and clothing are mixed with too many Tang Dynasty elements.Perhaps, after being contaminated with farming customs, it will gradually become like this.

On the other hand, the Great Uyghur Kingdom has become more and more Turkic in the past few decades. This certainly displeases Dunyu, but the Turks are always closer to people than the Tang Dynasty, right?

"The little prince will go to the hotel to stay for a few days, waiting for His Majesty to summon you." When he arrived at the gate of the hotel, Huoshan Nu said.

"The little prince should be very familiar with this place. It's not far from the palace, and he can see it every day." Ali said with a blunt smile.

Dun Yu glanced at the palace and asked, "The saint lives in the palace?"

"No, the sage lives in Satuk's house." Aligu said, "please, little prince."

Dun Yu hesitated, took two bags from his entourage, handed them to the two of them respectively, and said, "If possible, please help me a lot. The military situation is urgent, and I must see the saint as soon as possible."

Aligu and Huohannu hesitated for a while, but they didn't dare to take it and pushed it back.

They knew that, judging by the heavy appearance, most of the gold and silver coins in circulation in Persia were contained inside, which was quite a lot of money.But they really dare not accept it now, and some things are beyond their control.

"There is a rebellion in the kingdom of Persia, the opportunity must not be missed, and the time will not come. If you miss this time, it will not be so easy to fight when Persia recovers." Dun Yu was a little anxious, and pushed the bag back.

He was telling the truth.

After his father led his troops into the territory of Bahana, he heard that Karasa had been conquered by the Xia army, he sighed a few times, and after a plunder, he led his people back to Balasagon.

And it was this attack that allowed the father and son to see the weakness beneath the surface of Persia's strength, and after interrogating the prisoners again, they immediately learned more news.

Now he is in a hurry to tell Prince Da Xia the news, and then persuade them to send troops together.

In that case, even if you can't get Karasa back, as long as you can gain more benefits in the west, such as taking Talas, it is worthwhile.

Seeing Dunyu like this, Aligu and Huohannu took two steps back in fright, saluted politely, and left in a hurry.

Dun Yu sighed, returned to the courtyard lonely, and put the luggage into the room.

Several attendants sat with him, staring at each other with big eyes and small eyes.

"I'm going out for a walk." Dun Yu stood up irritably and said.

******
When Dun Yu came, Shao Shude was actually patrolling outside the city.

"The "Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty" records that there are a total of seven army fields in Shule, all of which are in the Chihe River Basin, right?" Shao Shude asked, pointing to an empty village.

There are two types of farming in the Tang Dynasty.

One is the land presided over by the Si Nong Temple and cultivated by sinners and slaves, with more than 20 hectares and less than 30 hectares as a village.

One is the military garrison, with 50 hectares as a tun.

There are seven military farms in Shule, or 35000 mu.

The largest military settlement is in Kucha, with a total of 26 settlements, or [-] mu, with an average annual income of more than [-] shi. The output is very high, and it is even enough to supply the military rations of the entire Anxi four towns. Transported from the mainland, Zhang Ji once wrote a poem "Ying Tuo Bai Lian to Anxi", which is what he said.

"Your Majesty, according to the records of Chang'an, it should be in that area." Yang Jue looked at the map in his hand for a while, and looked at the river, fields, and woods over there, a little uncertain.

"It doesn't matter where he is!" Shao Shude said: "It's good to be close to the city. It's not easy for my good boy to go to the Western Regions, so he can't be sent to the barren mountains? That village—"

"The king of Khotan, the great treasure, plundered with his troops, and there were many casualties, so it was empty." Yang Jue said.

"It's a nonsense!" Shao Shude was a little annoyed, and said: "Tomorrow, I will issue a decree to reprimand, and then issue an Anmin notice. The nonsense has been going on for a long time, and it is time to calm down. Well, the village is vacant, so we can't just waste it like this. Give it to Luoyang The decree was passed that the second batch of 3000 soldiers from Anxi Township can set off. The third batch of 3000 soldiers will be sent to Chang'an for training and set off after the Double Ninth Festival. The two batches of 6000 soldiers will all be placed in Shule. Those whose families are willing to follow are also You can come together. Each soldier will be granted [-] mu of land."

"Your Majesty, it will take 12 mu of land." Yang Jue reminded.

"How many people are left in Shule?" Shao Shude asked.

"Less than sixty thousand."

"It's a bit ruthless." Shao Shude said vaguely, and then said: "There is still enough land. If it is really impossible, a group of unreliable people will be designated as partisans of thieves, demoted to slaves, and find a way to get rid of them."

"Yes." Yang Jue replied.

When it comes to "ruthless", who can compare with a saint?

Shao Shude looked at those fields and rivers again, quite satisfied.

The population carrying capacity of southern Xinjiang is limited, and they mainly live near oases.

Li Shengtian said that Khotan had a household registration of 20 and sent [-] troops.Shao Shude was noncommittal at the time, but he knew that this guy was bragging.

The 15 Khotan army is already the limit, and it is impossible to exceed 3. In history, when Khotan attacked Karakhan, more than 20 horses were dispatched. At that time, its population could exceed [-]. .

The conditions in Kashgar are not worse than those in Khotan, or even better. Even if there are 50 more town soldiers, the population limit has not been reached.After all, during the Ming Dynasty in history, only the Yarkand Khanate in southern Xinjiang (excluding Yanqi) was left. Because of successive years of wars with the Mongols, the household registration decreased, and there were still [-] people at that time.

The land is nothing to worry about. What is difficult is how to let the new immigrants spend the first one or two years.This requires investment, and more precisely, consumption of food.

Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep will be sent over in the northern grasslands in mid-July. After fattening up, they can go south in batches, greatly alleviating the food shortage.

But how to put it, it is still necessary to store as much food and grass as possible.

Shao Shude turned his gaze to the west again.

After a long time, he said leisurely: "I have recently selected an envoy to pass through the southern plains of Congling and go to Bahana."

"Your Majesty, please clarify the envoy's mission." Yang Jue said.

Shao Shude pondered for a while, then said: "Rebuke the governor of Persia and ask him why he colludes with the Uighurs and messes up our territory."

"Follow the order." Yang Jue responded.

******
After Shao Shude arrived in Shule, it seemed as if a certain button had been activated. On the three thousand-mile post road from Gaochang to Shule, people, vehicles and horses came and went frequently.

Under the escort of the palace guards, the people staying in Gaochang began to move southward—they followed wherever the holy driver was.

By the end of the month, even merchants showed up.

These people with keen sense of smell and daring dare to do anything for profit.So much so that Shao Shude planned to sell all the treasures captured in the Uighur palace and treasury to merchants, and let them find a way to transport food.

On June 27, Shao Shude returned to Shule after his inspection tour, and summoned Dunyu in the old residence of Satuke.

"Greetings to Prince Da Xia." Dun Yu directly knelt down on the ground and paid homage.

"Get up, you don't need to kneel when you see me." Shao Shude said kindly.

Dun wanted to say thanks and sat down on a rope chair.

"I heard that your father retired? Why?" Shao Shude asked.

"The governor of Persia named Ismail bribed a lot of gold and silver from the Athai Turks and Geluolu people. The ministries were already full of plunder and had no intention of fighting, so they retreated." Dun Yu replied.

Shao Shude believed these words.

Nomads are indeed this kind of virtue, they will leave when they have robbed enough.If there is no hero to unify the various ministries, they may not have the idea of ​​occupying a certain place and taking it as their own for a long time.

At the same time, it can also be seen that Ogulchak's appeal is indeed not very good, and some tribes don't buy it.

"Bahan was originally the old land of the Uighur Kingdom? It has been taken away by the Persians for 20 years, so you have no idea?" Shao Shude asked.

"Father Khan still wants to regain the old land, but the leaders of the various ministries are useless. Every time this matter is mentioned, they push back and forth." Dun Yu said.

"How many soldiers can Bala Sagon send out?"

"There are still [-] to [-] riders."

Shao Shude silently estimated the population.

Generally speaking, nomads like to use accounts as the unit.Theoretically speaking, each account pays one dime.But most of the time, they will not attack with all members. There are 50 to [-] cavalry, and there are about [-] million people. The limit of conscription should be more than [-] cavalry.

No wonder Persia can only defeat the Uighur country, but it has never been able to destroy it.

It is not too far from Talas to Balasagun. After 20 years, Persia is only satisfied with driving them out and preventing these nomads from going deep into its hinterland to plunder.Occasionally, Li Ting swept the hole once, and won the frontal battle, but was unable to occupy it. In the end, he could only retreat, and the captured land was regained by the local warlords and tribal leaders of the Uyghur Kingdom.

"How about pulling sweat?" Shao Shude asked.

"There are many villages, and there are farmlands and vineyards everywhere. The local people dug many wells and ditches to water the fields, which are rich in wheat, barley, and grapes." Dunyu didn't understand what Shao Shude asked, so he just answered casually.

Shao Shude seemed to be hit.

"Speaking of which, I'm still sweating in the grassland." He suddenly smiled and said, "Leading Han soldiers to fight every year, but the skills of fighting on the grassland are a bit rusty."

"Your Majesty..." Dun Yu was a little puzzled.

"You are not qualified yet." Shao Shude said bluntly: "Let the male camel king come to see me and say that there is something important to discuss."

"Repeat my will." Shao Shude turned his head to look at Yang Jue, and said, "After arriving in Beiting, the Fan soldiers from the Qibei tribes should not return in a hurry. Beiting and Anxi tribes should recruit soldiers, horses, cattle and sheep. .”

"Your Majesty, this is..." Yang Jue asked.

"Naturally, it's what grassland warriors are best at." Shao Shude laughed, as if a little crazy.

(End of this chapter)