Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1672

In February, the chieftains of various grassland tribes who came to the Central Plains to participate in the Zhengdan Great Court Meeting and Heaven Worship Ceremony returned one after another.

Although the connection between the grassland and the Central Plains has gradually become closer since the Northern Dynasties, the Xia Dynasty has reached a new height.

Grassland chieftains regularly come to the Central Plains to attend court meetings.Perhaps the leader himself does not need to come, but there must be a representative.

For the grassland ministries, this was an order from the Lifan Court and the Beiya.Today is different from the past. Now it is strictly controlled, and everything must follow the rules. The Han states have court envoys every year. The Zhengdan court will present account books, official evaluations, and tributes. In short, it has expanded to grasslands.

In terms of distance, they are not necessarily farther than the remote southern states and counties, and the horse riding on the grassland is fast, there is no reason to be absent.

Twenty thousand young men from the prairie formed the Beiwei Army, which has been stationed in the south for more than a year. This year, more than a thousand of the most brave and skilled warriors have joined the Forbidden Army.

Those who have come out of the separatist regime in the feudal town are very clear about the rise and decline of the Shence Army in the former Tang Dynasty.

This army rose up during the war years, and maintained its combat effectiveness for about 70 years by continuously annexing the towns and dropping elite soldiers, maintaining the injection of fresh blood.Its decline began precisely when it no longer recruited elite soldiers from the vassals and towns, and instead recruited people from Chang'an City.

The Great Xia Forbidden Army is not far away from the war at present, and its combat effectiveness is still maintained quite well.But people without long-term considerations must have short-term worries. Some rules must be established from the beginning, so as to avoid the trouble of changing them later.

This large-scale army must maintain a certain scale of fresh blood injection, and it cannot become a bastard army that is loyal to the party and replaces the father with the son.

A large number of children of grassland nobles also bought houses and settled down in Luoyang.

Except for a few people whose houses were rewarded by the imperial court, most of them settled down outside Luoyang City.

The imperial court has a plan for the population size of Luoyang City: similar to that of the former Tang Dynasty, no more than 25 people live within the city wall.

But the houses outside the city are actually not bad, the place may be more spacious, and the price is much cheaper.

It is a good thing that the children of grassland nobles bought a house here, which showed their approval of the new dynasty.

Scholars and common people in the Central Plains have been in contact for a long time, and found that men and women from the grasslands are just like that. They carry a head on their shoulders, drink and eat with their mouths, and work with their hands. The hole can also be used...

With the gradual dissemination of "Zhi Zhi·Geography", people in the Central Plains have a deeper understanding of the grassland.

They realized more clearly that the grassland surrounded by the Tianshan Mountains and the Altai Mountains was like a sharp sword hanging high, pointing at the vast area west of the Tianshan Mountains.

The tribes living on this prairie naturally have the potential to build a strategic position. Once they can break through to the west, there is nothing to stop them except the desert, and they can even rush all the way to the prairie north of Rome.

It's an endless road of conquest, with unimaginable achievements if you move your home too.

This, of course, is impossible for the Central Plains scholars.But it does not prevent them from broadening their horizons, knowing how big the outside world is, what kind of people it is, and what kind of regime it is.

The grasslands on the southern route connected various civilizations and brought the benefits of the Silk Road.

The grasslands on the northern route are an alternative to the southern route. It is relatively peaceful at present, but most of the time it is in the midst of vendetta and conquest.

This is what they understand.

In fact, it is not bad. The overall level of knowledge of the geography of the outside world by Daxia officials was already at the forefront in the classical era, which will also help them in their next decision-making.

******
On February [-], Shao Shude arrived in Guangchengze, Ruzhou.

Since the Han Dynasty, this place has been the place where the emperor herds horses and lectures on martial arts, and this dynasty is no exception—no matter how tight the arable land in Ruzhou is, this area composed of forests, pastures, farmland, hot springs and palaces has not been given up, and it still belongs to Ruzhou. For the royal forbidden garden.

Here Shao Shude inspected Yin'an Zhi, various units of the Forbidden Army, and Beiwei Army, a total of more than [-] cavalry sergeants, and entertained guests from afar.

The sound of hoofbeats sounded suddenly, and at first there were only dozens of horses in disorder.Soon, more hooves came in, hundreds, thousands...

The surging wave of cavalry galloped across the vast field, rushing towards the neatly arrayed infantry soldiers.

The soldiers held their rifles sideways, with a relaxed attitude.

Others pulled out long axes, wooden swords, and heavy swords, trying to shoot down the cavalry rushing forward.

The strong crossbowmen stepped forward quickly.They have Mo Dao and heavy swords slanted on their backs, and after firing their bows and crossbows, they will charge forward to face the cavalry and cut the enemy off their horses.

There are two or three thousand infantry on the left and right wings, ready to outflank.

The cavalry attacking the infantry is limited by various factors such as the progress of the battlefield or the terrain, and may not be able to maneuver in a large area. At this time, the infantry who cannot maneuver on the battlefield to chase or outflank the cavalry should go home and farm as soon as possible——Facing the infantry Cavalry charges do not necessarily need to be formed.

Of course, the cavalry will not sit still.

They give full play to their mobility advantages, and firmly hold the initiative of fighting or not fighting.

The former enemy general carefully observes the flaws in the enemy's deployment, trying to maneuver to the flanks or even the back to attack, and retreat immediately if encountering strong resistance.

The military cavalry behind the infantry array keenly seized the opportunity, took advantage of the favorable opportunity for the retreat of the enemy cavalry group, rode tall horses, increased their speed to the extreme, held a thick horse lance, and shouted loudly, trying to scatter the enemy into chaos—— If the offenders were unorganized grassland cavalry, they would be defeated in just one blow, and even if they retreated for dozens of miles, they might not be able to gather the defeated troops.

The two sides come and go, and the fight is very exciting-of course, everything is done at the end, and it will not be played for real.

"What does the envoy think of the scene?" Shao Shude sincerely "asked" on the high platform.

As if waking up from a dream, Jacob bowed to Shao Shude and said, "Such troops are rarely seen, they are very elite."

"How is it compared to Rome?" After listening to the translator, Shao Shude nodded and asked.

The envoy was choked up, and after a long pause, he said, "It's hard to compare, they are all equally elite."

Shao Shude smiled without saying a word.

He is certainly not arrogant.Although the Tang people are called "tall" by the Arabs, they are all human after all. Even if the Tang people are taller and stronger than the Persians and Arabs, how tall can they be?

But history also gave him unparalleled self-confidence.

From the Huns and Rouran, to the Turks, the Uyghurs, and then to Khitan and Mongolia, wave after wave of grassland cavalry marched west along the northern grassland, which was called the "endless road of conquest" by later European scholars. The place is in turmoil.

Aristocratic serfdom is really a very suitable system for suppressing popular uprisings.

When the serfs rebelled with dung forks, they might have been suppressed by the heavily armed knights in the village with a group of servants and dogs before they even left the village.

But a stable life will inevitably bring about the fading of martial courage.The Juan King, who emerged from the frequent wars in East Asia, once marched westward, would be enough to make everyone tremble.

The Imperial Army of Daxia is well-equipped, experienced, and equipped with reasonable cavalry and cavalry. They can beat Khitan and Shiwei like dogs. He doesn't believe that anyone in the west can resist his invincible army.

Khazarians, what a fart!
"If Your Majesty marches westward with this army, the Shrewgas and Ogus will definitely flee." A Chuo, who came back from Linyuan City to report on his duties, said with a smile.

The leaders of more than ten tribes who were also standing on the high platform nodded repeatedly.

Apart from the Iron Cavalry Army, the Beiwei Army led the attack the most.

Most of the members of the Beiwei Army are warriors from various tribes in the grassland, and they are considered the strongest fighting force in the grassland. However, depending on the situation, they cannot shake the Forbidden Army of the Great Xia, which has a very good combination of infantry and cavalry.

The morale of the prairie shepherds is like that, once they are caught and beaten several times by the cavalry of the army, they will immediately disperse.Then there are people who turn against the water and surrender, and in turn lead the imperial army to chase them down, basically without any resistance.

"Why come to this!" Shao Shude laughed loudly, and said, "I'm not a murderer, why bother to drive people to death?"

After finishing speaking, he looked at the envoy and said, "Joseph Khan of your country is obviously very wise to send you to Luoyang. I also like the various gifts that I brought. Say hello to him for me and wish him the best of luck." In good health."

Jacob was a keen minded person. When he heard that Shao Shude's congratulations were "good health" rather than anything else, he immediately understood that he knew the grasslands to the west very well, and he even knew the common congratulations there.

"Joseph Khan also wishes His Majesty a long life." Jacob said.

"Longevity?" Shao Shude laughed again: "Then I really want to march west."

Jacob's face turned pale, and he hid his embarrassment with a smile.

"It's just a joke." Shao Shude waved his hand and said, "I heard that your country sent a mission to Baghdad more than 50 years ago, and invited the architects, imams and scholars of Baghdad?"

"Yes." Jacob was slightly surprised.

Shao Shude secretly thanked Tam in his heart.

This group of people wanted to leave, but Shao Shude kept them in the name of waiting for news from Bukhara.Just a few days ago, he specially summoned this person and rewarded him with a lot of property.

At the request of Shao Shude, Tam sorted out the situation of the tribes and khanates in the west, compiled them into a book, and presented them.

After reading it, Shao Shude was very impressed because it was written in too much detail.

The Khazarian is a big concept, originally believed in Tengger (shamanism), and has a very wide distribution.

In terms of race, they are Turkic, a branch of Western Turkic.

When the Uyghur Khanate was at its peak, it ruled many Khazars.After the Uyghurs weakened, the Khazars were scattered everywhere, and there are still a large number of Khazarian Uyghurs in the Altai Mountains.

Therefore, the Khazar Khanate can be said to be Turkic or Uyghur. After all, since the Huns, the steppe empire is not just a race, there are both yellow and white people.

The group of people from the Khazar Khanate moved west very early. As early as the early years of the Tang Dynasty, they were very powerful. Their leaders called themselves Khans—the official position was "Dagan", which was an official position of Turks or Uyghurs, but privately Li said Khan—Meeting with Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius.

At that time, Khan Zabir lent [-] cavalry to the Roman emperor to help them severely damage Sassanid Persia.

With this relationship, Eastern Rome and the Khazar Khanate have married many times.

Justinian II married the Khan's sister, Queen Theodora.

Decades later, Justinian V married the Khan's daughter, Empress Irani.

The relationship between these two countries is very close, and they are allies who jointly deal with the Arabs.

This alliance is of course beneficial.Although the Khazar Khanate is a nomadic people, it is the most civilized among the tribes in the west.They were good at trade and got rich through trade. The Romans continued to send people to help them build cities and trade bases, which made their country's power continue to rise.

The religious situation in this country is more complicated.

Seventy years ago, the Roman priest Saint Cyril established the first bishopric in Khazar.

More than 50 years ago, the Arabs went to preach again, and many people converted to the Creator.

But Judaism is more popular in Khazar.

Just last year, the Roman emperor persecuted the Jews. Countless Jewish businessmen and people poured into the Khazar Khanate and were sheltered by the upper echelons of the Khanate.

Today, the Khazar Khanate is actually on the decline.

"I heard that you are not on good terms with the Oguz people?" Shao Shude asked suddenly.

Jacob did not remain silent, and said directly: "Your Majesty, the Oguz people are getting stronger and stronger. They drove out the Pechenegs first, and made them flee their ancestral lands and migrate westward. The migrating Pecheneg Turks attacked Our territory has expelled our vassals, the Magyars. I can't repeat all the cruel things. They are fierce and powerful demons. The Oguz are even more powerful demons, and their desire to expand has risen It is unstoppable. I heard that Chinese missions were blackmailed for no reason when they crossed their borders, and they are such people, greedy."

Shao Shude nodded silently.

It was not easy for the envoys of the Khazar Khanate to come, and they had to go around a long way.

Shao Shude was not very interested in the Turkic civil war, but the Khazars warmly entertained Li Shouxin's mission and sent someone to send a letter back, which made him very happy.

Of course, if you are courteous to others, you must ask for something.

To the east of the Khazar Khanate is the territory of the Oguz Turks, while to the southeast of Oguz is the pastureland of the Camel King of the Great Xia clan. Whether it is near or far, they are all neighbors.

They sent envoys to the east, probably looking for a helper to attack the Oguz people with them.

Shao Shude is even sure that Oguz is definitely not the only enemy of the Khazar Khanate, and they must be looking for helpers all over the world.

He is really not interested in these chaotic wars, and he is beyond his reach. He only wants to do business, and connect with Eastern Rome to exchange culture and science.

"The Ogus haven't done much disrespect for the time being, so it's inconvenient for me to punish them." Shao Shude said, "However, I can send envoys from Balasagun to the Ogus pastures, asking them not to embarrass the merchants and let them Trade between us is smoother."

Jacob was a little disappointed when he heard the words, and couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty the Supreme Emperor, sooner or later the Oghuz will plunder your people, I can guarantee it."

Shao Shude shook his head and said, "Does the envoy really not know how far the distance is? Even if I drive away the Oguz people, those pastures will be occupied by other people sooner or later, and they will become your new threat. On their own."

Jacob was about to say something, but he saw Zhongguan Wang Yanfan approaching and reported in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there is news from Bukhara."

"Oh?" Shao Shude was overjoyed and said, "Send someone to Luoyang to invite Elbrus and Tam."

"News" of course refers to the news about the construction of the palace mentioned earlier.

Shao Shude didn't want to be drunk, so of course he was very concerned about it.

"The envoy might as well stay in Luoyang for a while longer. If you want to buy goods, you can go to Changxia Commercial Bank. I will ask them to receive them alone. You can buy anything you want." Shao Shude turned to look at Jacob and said.

After speaking, he left the lecture hall.

In the field, the soldiers were killed with swords and swords.After the rest, the departments started a new round of competition.

This time, the infantry fought in an array, and the cavalry chased and defeated the enemy.

Jacob watched quietly, thinking silently.

As a great civilization and military power in the East, the strength of the Xia Kingdom seems to be still higher than that of the Western power Rome.

It doesn't matter if you don't succeed this time, look for another chance next time.

Constantinople can't count on it, and they sometimes even collude with the Rus, so it's better to look east.

(End of this chapter)