A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1113: Miles West

Yiwu goes west,

Two thousand five hundred miles, west of Mount Dianhe and northern court of Western Turkic Khanate.

The terrain of the Western Regions is roughly three mountains and two basins, and the most important mountain range is the Tianshan Mountains.

The eastern starting point of the Tianshan Mountains is Yiwulu, which is also the gateway to the Western Regions and the throat of the Silk Road since ancient times.

This is the reason why Yugushe and Gaochang Kingdom had previously attempted to capture Yiwulu.

"Prime Minister Wu, I have seven large cities in Yizhou, and a thousand garrison soldiers in Yiwu. I can also recruit Hu soldiers from the seven cities, as well as Han people who live in the fields, and nomadic Hu people living near the city. I can gather 5,000 troops."

night,

In Yiwu City, Anxi Protector General Guo Xiaoke held a banquet to welcome the generals of the Western Expedition. At the banquet, the Duke of Yangdi proposed to recruit the Han and Hu people of Yiwu to join the expedition, and promised that he could get 5,000 soldiers.

"Prime Minister Wu, the Sogdians from the seven cities of Yiwu can send 3,000 young and strong men to join the expedition."

An old Sogdian man wearing a flowery jacket stood up.
Wu Huaiyu had just met this person, the Sogdian Shi Wannian.

During the Sui Dynasty, he occupied Yiwulu together with the Sogdian Hu people and proclaimed himself the King of Yiwulu. Later, he surrendered to the Turks. When the Eastern Turks were destroyed, Shi Wannian took the seven cities and submitted to the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty accepted the offer and established Xiyi Prefecture, with Shi Wannian still serving as the governor of Xiyi Prefecture.

At that time, Western Yi State was a vassal state.

But afterwards, the imperial court found an opportunity to take advantage of the civil strife in Yiwulu and sent Guo Xiaoke to lead his troops across the desert to enter Yiwulu to quell the rebellion. After Heisei, Guo Xiaoke remained as the Protector General of Anxi.

The imperial court also changed Xiyizhou to Yizhou, removing only one word, but in reality it changed the fundamental autonomy of Yiwu, changing it to a state directly under the Tang court, and the governor was appointed by Guo Xiaoke.
Shi Wannian entered the court and stayed in Chang'an for several years. He then requested to retire and return to his hometown. The court granted him the rank of Yinqing Guanglu Dafu, and he returned to his hometown in glory and was awarded the title of Changshi of Yizhou.

Shi Wannian was very famous in Yiwulu and was the leader of the Sogdian Hu.

"Shi Changshi's loyalty is commendable. He can quietly gather 3,000 Sogdians to strengthen the defense of the seven cities of Yiwu."

At this time, another local hero of Yiwulu also stood up. He was Shan Futuo, the leader of the Shanshan people of Yiwulu. He was also a legendary figure.

In Yiwulu, there were even more Shanshan people than Sogdian Hu people, but they were also outsiders, coming from Shanshan. Shanshan was formerly the Kingdom of Loulan. General Huo Guang sent Fu Jiezi to assassinate its king and changed the name of the country to Shanshan. From then until the Northern Wei Dynasty, the lineage continued.

In the past, Loulan repeatedly jumped between the Han and the Xiongnu, and finally provoked the Han Dynasty to destroy it and change its name.

After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, during the turmoil of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, a large number of Shanshan people moved to Yiwulu.

The ancestors of Shanfutuo also moved to Yiwulu at that time. At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Yiwulu was affiliated with the Turks and levied heavy taxes. Shanfutuo could not bear it. After the failure of the rebellion, he led his people into the desert and fled to Shanshan. Later, he lived in Tuyuhun.
But he could not settle down, so he fled to Yanqi and then to Gaochang, but there was no place he could live and work in peace. Later, he led his people back to Yiwulu.

Together with Shi Wannian, he decided to submit to the Tang Dynasty.

This man is big and strong. He has been able to lead his people around all these years and still keep them safe. He is a capable man.

But he is definitely an unruly person.

"We Shanshan can also send out 3,000 troops."

Wu Huaiyu nodded, "Then please ask Shan Sima to recruit 3,000 Shanshan people for the court to help defend Yiwu."

Whether it was Shi Wannian's 3,000 Sogdian soldiers or Shanfutuo's 3,000 Shanshan soldiers, Wu Huaiyu only let them stay to guard the seven cities of Yiwu.

At the table,

Another local figure with great influence was Zhai Pantuo, the leader of the Zoroastrian sect. Like Shi Nianwan and Shan Futuo, he had been to Chang'an and stayed there for several years.
The Huoao Temple in Yiwulu was believed in not only by the Sogdians, but also by the Yiwulu people from Shanshan and other places, so it had a great influence here.

Zhai Pantuo expressed his concerns.

That is, it was too risky for Wu Huaiyu to lead only 16,000 cavalrymen to attack Beiting over 2,500 miles. Could he have captured Gaochang and Khan's Futu City first?

His idea is also the idea of ​​many Yiwu people.

They were not really worried about Wu Huaiyu and his men going deep behind enemy lines. They were more worried that once the Tang army left, or even if the surprise attack on Beiting failed, Yiwu would suffer retaliation from Gaochang and the Western Turks.
They were worried that Yiwulu could not be defended.

This time Gaochang and Western Turks only harassed Yiwulu on a small scale and did not dare to attack openly, still worried about the Tang Dynasty. Now the Tang Dynasty directly attacked their old nest Beiting.
Then what are they worried about? They will definitely retaliate fiercely.

After all, Yiwu is small.
They couldn’t even defeat Gaochang, let alone Western Turks.

Regardless of whether these Yiwulu warlords were originally dependent on the Turks or later submitted to the Tang Dynasty, it was actually just a way of survival for small countries, relying on the strong to protect themselves and survive.

They strongly supported the Tang Dynasty's Western Expedition, but the prerequisite was that their interests had to be protected first.

"Master Zhai Ao, speed is of the essence in war, we must not alert the enemy."

"But don't worry. Yiwu has 1,000 Anxi Tang troops. Now Shi Changshi and Shan Sima have both said they can immediately gather 3,000 soldiers each. Then the seven cities of Yiwu can each have 1,000 soldiers."

"And to be honest with you, our Tang Dynasty has not only sent these 16,000 cavalrymen to the west this time. Behind me, there are also Qibi cavalrymen led by Qibi Prince Consort. You should be familiar with them. Back then, the Qibi tribe established the Tiele Khanate in the Western Regions.

There was also the Left Wise King of the Eastern Turks, Ashina She'er, who was leading the Eastern Turkic cavalry.

This She'er is now the consort of the Tang Dynasty and a general. When he led his troops from Mobei to the Western Regions, he settled in Khan Futu City and was supported by the tribes in the Western Regions, calling himself Dubu Khan. "

"There are also Li Zhonglie, the Tuyuhun's consort, and Xifeng Bulai, the Tangut's general, who are also leading Tuyuhun and Tangut cavalry here,"

"In addition, some of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are loyal and brave and are voluntarily joining the expedition, and they are also coming here later."

"Don't worry,"

"This time, I will lead my elite cavalry to Beiting to capture Yu Gushe first to prevent him from escaping. I will then come back to destroy Gaochang!"

Wu Huaiyu raised his glass.

Use tea instead of wine.

When the Yiwu nobles heard this, they were greatly encouraged.
Regardless of whether this is the case or not, they also know that they can no longer change the decision of Prime Minister Wu. Now they can only hope that as Prime Minister Wu said, more infantry and cavalry from the Tang Dynasty will arrive.

These Yiwu nobles didn't know at this time,
The great change that has not happened in a century has arrived.

Back then, when Xiliang was destroyed, Li Bao and his uncle moved westward with the intention of recovering their homeland, but the final result was that they rebelled against the Rouran, became a vassal of the Northern Wei, and led their people to move eastward to the interior.

After Yiwu was abandoned by the Li family, the Rouran State selected Gao Gaozi, a Han Chinese from Yiwu who was unwilling to follow the Li family in their eastward migration, to rule the area.
By the time of the Sui Dynasty, small countries like Yiwulü were in great turmoil. Later, the Sui Dynasty sent troops to cross the desert to attack. The king of Yiwulü was caught off guard and had to surrender in the face of Xue Shixiong, the divine soldier who descended from the sky.

When the Sui Dynasty in the Central Plains was in turmoil, the Yiwu Kingdom was also seized by the Sogdian Hu.
The Sogdian leader Shi Wannian surrendered to the Turks and later became a vassal of the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the Tang army is coming, they still don't know the seriousness of the problem. They think that the Tang army is just here for an expedition and will withdraw after the battle.

As everyone knows,
This time, the Tang Dynasty is plotting to take over the entire Western Regions.
After the welcoming banquet,

Wu Huaiyu moved into the Protectorate.
Perhaps Guo Xiaoke thought Wu Huaiyu was very young, so he specially found a few women to serve him.

"This is a remote place with simple conditions. Please don't despise me, Minister Wu."

Guo Xiaoke said with a smile, he also knew that he had failed in his duty as the Protector General of Anxi this time, so he tried his best to atone for his sins, and even tried to please Wu Huaiyu, his junior.

He personally selected several women.

Wu Huaiyu glanced at the women.
There were four of them in total, all of them were Hu girls, and they were considered young and beautiful.

"General Guo, don't worry about these things when you are on a military expedition. I need to rest now. We have to set off tomorrow morning."

"Maybe Prime Minister Wu dislikes Hu Ji. Yiwu also has some Han Chinese singing girls. I will arrange them right away." "Wait a minute, there's really no need."

Guo Xiaoke continued to explain that although Yiwulu was remote, there was indeed a Jiaofang Camp, and the women there were all exiled from the Central Plains and were considered criminals.

Most of these criminal women were implicated by their fathers or husbands, and some were even convicted of serious crimes and exiled to Yiwulu. It was difficult to do anything here.
The Jiaofangying was mainly engaged in singing and dancing. The official Jiaofangying of Yizhou was used by the government for official receptions and was also open to the public. To put it bluntly, it was no different from a brothel.

Anyone who comes here, no matter if they were rich daughters or wealthy ladies, has fallen into the mundane world.

"General Guo, if you have time, you should study the defense of Yiwu and the supply of the subsequent western expedition army, and send more people to keep a close eye on Gaochang and Futu City."

Wu Huaiyu didn't give Guo Xiaoke much face. He refused coldly, turned around and went back to his room to sleep.

His personal soldiers stood guard at the door like door gods and ignored this Supreme Pillar State, Duke of Yangdi and Protector of Anxi.

Although Guo Xiaoke was from the Wagang faction, he was Li Ji's man, and was not from the same faction as Wu Huaiyu. Although there were many people from the Wagang faction on Wu Huaiyu's faction, they were all Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, etc.

Besides, Guo Xiaoke would definitely be adjusted after this Western Expedition, so there was no need to be polite to him. Otherwise, when Guo was demoted, he would have to blame Wu Huaiyu for taking advantage of the situation and not doing anything.

Guo Xiaoke stood at the door for a while, then slowly turned around and left.

In the yard, a group of women stood there, all very quiet, no one dared to whisper to each other, but there was a hint of expectation in their eyes.

The people here, no matter whether they are Han or Hu, are mostly born as criminals. They were banished to the Yiwu Jiaofang, fallen into the secular world and lead a miserable life, but they all want to get ashore.

But how difficult it is,

Wu Huaiyu gave them hope.

To them, he was a towering figure. Even compared to their former noble status, Wu Huaiyu today was something they had to look up to.

If I could have the chance to spend a night with Wu Huaiyu and please him, maybe I could really ask him to take me away from here. For Wu Huaiyu, this would be just a matter of a few words.

No one wants to live this kind of life now, especially for those of them who were once born into noble families.

Many people like them gradually couldn't bear the huge gap in status and chose to end their lives. Some even went crazy.
They are still holding on, but they don't know how long they can hold on.

Guo Xiaoke glanced at them.

With a straight face, he said, "The Minister of War is going to rest. You all should go back and wait for the Minister of War to return triumphantly. We will see at the celebration banquet."

The women were all dim,

They felt that Wu Xiang looked down on their status.

Although some of them were once daughters of famous families, some were daughters of the six noble families in Guanlong, and many were from high-ranking families, nobles and high-ranking officials,

But now, everyone here has only one identity, a lowly music girl.

"Let's go."

Guo Xiaoke's mood at this moment was as dejected and lonely as these women. From Wu Huaiyu's attitude, he vaguely knew his own outcome.
Perhaps after this war, he will be demoted.

Guo Xiaoke felt a little wronged and unwilling. He came to the Western Regions with only a thousand soldiers under his command. He had to face Shi Wannian, Shan Futuo, and Zhai Pantuo all day long, and he was exhausted.
Faced with the hostility of the Western Turks and Gaochang Kingdom, he was powerless.

If the imperial court could also give him 8,000 elite cavalry, the situation might be different.

inside the house,

Wu Huaiyu didn't care what Guo Xiaoke thought.
He washed up early and went to bed.

From Chang'an to Yiwu, it is thousands of miles away, and it is rare to have such good conditions on the march.

Seizing the time to sleep is the best way.

How could he have the energy to drink and chat with these young ladies from the Jiaofang Camp? He was not in the mood to listen to their tragic past, nor was he in the mood for romance.

He has only one thing on his mind now.

They drank at the banks of the Mayile River and planted their flag in the northwest courtyard of the Dianhe Mountain. They captured Yuguse alive and brought back his golden wolf flag.

Others are not considered for the time being.

There are still 2,500 miles to go.

There are two routes to Beiting, the north and the south, which are also the North-South Silk Road.

The northern route is Yiwu and Luntai, which is Urumqi. From here, we go west to Sayram Lake, and then to Yili.

Merchants who often traveled along the Silk Road commented that the scenery along the route was excellent, but many sections of the route were difficult to navigate.

If you go north from Yiwu and cross the Tianshan Mountains, it is a difficult route. There is Hanqigou in the east, Songshutang in the west, and Mingsha Mountain in the north.

Traveling through this area, you can see snow-capped mountains and glaciers, as well as vast forests. There are endless grasslands, and at the Mingsha Mountain you can also feel the desolation of the desert.

Further north is Pulei Sea, which was once the Pulei Kingdom of the 36 Kingdoms in the Western Regions and also the nomadic land of the Xiongnu. There are beautiful grasslands and lakes here.
Pulei Lake Grassland is even one of the three major grasslands in the Western Regions.

This journey involves crossing mountains and ridges, crossing icebergs and snow-capped mountains, and crossing desert grasslands.

These 2,500 miles are by no means an easy journey.

But Wu Huaiyu was still very confident.

Have a good night's sleep,
The next day, at dawn, Wu Huaiyu had already woken up.
The whole army also started cooking early. Although Guo Xiaoke had encountered difficulties yesterday, he still diligently provided good supplies to the Western Expedition Cavalry.
Killing cattle and sheep, various vegetables, and even a lot of fresh fish,
This breakfast is very rich.

Even the horses were fed with good concentrate.

Everything is ready,
Old Cheng found Huaiyu, and he took Huaiyu aside and said privately, "How about you, Erlang, stay in Yiwu to guard it, and I will go to Beiting to make sure that Yu Gushe is captured."

Wu Huaiyu smiled, sorting a small bag of beef jerky while hanging up the water bag, "Is Mr. Cheng afraid that I can't keep up with the team?"

"Of course not. It's just that I feel that if we set out again, we will be completely deep behind enemy lines, nearly three thousand miles deep."

"Are you afraid of something happening?"

"Who dares to say?" Old Cheng nodded. This action was still a bit risky.

Wu Huaiyu said, "It won't happen. Even if there is an accident, we won't go deep into the encirclement alone. You have to know that Yu Gushe and Bo Bu are separated in the North and South Courts. Where is the boundary between him and Bo Bu?
Yili River, where was the North Court of Yugu located? It was on the grassland west of Mount Dianhe, upstream of the Yili River, and where was the South Court of Bobu located?
Qianquan Mountain in the Stone Country."

The Shi Kingdom is located south of the Suiye River, and Qianquan Mountain is the Kyrgyz Mountain.

From Beiting on the Yili River to Nanting on the Suiye River, the distance is actually not far.

In other words, if the surprise attack was unsuccessful, Wu Huaiyu and his men could easily cross the Yile River and enter the territory of Yibishaboluo Khan Ashina Bobu.
Bobu is the orthodox Western Turkic tribe that has always been supported by the Tang Dynasty. In recent years, they have been severely suppressed by Yugushe.
If Wu Huaiyu went there, they would definitely help.

Moreover, Wu Huaiyu felt that if the surprise attack was really unsuccessful, it would not be that they were surrounded or chased by Yu Gushe. The more likely possibility was that they would alert the enemy, and Yu Gushe would flee upon hearing the news, while they would chase him for thousands of miles.

The most likely reason for this plan to fail is that Yu Gushe runs too fast and the Tang army cannot catch up.

In addition,
Wu Huaiyu had no other worries.
"It's getting late, let's pack up and set off," Wu Huaiyu said to Lao Cheng.

(End of this chapter)