A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1134 Parade
The sky is blue and the fields are vast,
The army of Tian Khan crossed Cheling and Shuanghe and marched along Huangcaopo. It was a grand and majestic armed parade.

"After passing the front, it is the territory of Yanbozhou Governor's Office."

"Well, that is Quechu's territory. He is the landlord, so we have to ask him to entertain us." Wu Huaiyu said with a smile.

Yanbo Prefecture is the Huluwu tribe, one of the five Dulu tribes in the east wing. Its leader is Quechu. As one of the five major Dulu tribes, Huluwu is in the middle of the five tribes in terms of strength. However, its leader Quechu does not have a very good relationship with Yugushe.

Originally, this fertile land with many oases, located north of Huangcaopo, east of Shiqi River, south to Tianshan Mountain and east to Manas River, was the nomadic land of the Huluwu tribe. But later, after Yugushe proclaimed himself the Great Khan of Duolu, he rewarded the Chumukun tribe that was loyal to him and exchanged the Huluwu territory with that of Chumukun.

Chumukun's territory was originally located in the north of Huluwu, east of Lake Zaisan, south of the Irtysh River, and northwest of the Junggar Desert.

It's much worse than Hu Luwu's territory.

After Hu Luwu was forced to move and exchange land, he became more and more dissatisfied with Yu Gushe.

After Wu Huaiyu captured Duolu Khan, he not only let the Chishi tribe and the Shesheti tribe exchange territories, but also let Huluwu and Chumukun exchange territories.

Hu Luwu was able to return to his hometown, and Quechu was naturally very happy and expressed his gratitude to Tian Khan and Prime Minister Wu.

There are two routes to Gaochang from the Shuanghe Military Governorate in Shesheti. One is to go north along Huangcaobo, enter the Junggar Basin through Alashankou, Yanbo Prefecture, Jinfu Prefecture, Yinshan Prefecture, and Fuyan Prefecture, all the way to the Irtysh River at the southern foot of Jinshan Mountain. Continuing northward, you can go to Mobei, and eastward to Shatuo Prefecture, Gaochang, and Yiwulu.

You can also go east from Huangcaobo, cross the Shiqi River, and cross the desert Gobi, which is the southwestern territory of the Huluwu tribe, the Xilin River, the Donglin River, the Heishui River, and the Ye River.
The Heishui River Basin was later known as the "Snowy Black Water" Wusu.

Wu Huaiyu had a deep impression of Wusu because of the deadly Wusu beer that was once popular all over the country.

This is a good place, known as the must-go place for three places and four directions, and it is also said to be the golden triangle of economic development in the Western Region.

Several rivers formed by the melted snow from the Tianshan Mountains have given birth to fertile oasis plains.

"We won't take the same route we came here. Instead, we'll cross the Shiqi River and head east," said Wu Huaiyu.

He summoned Huluwu's Quechu and said, "You lead the soldiers of Huluwu's tribe to lead the way for the army."

Quechu was a middle-aged man with a full beard. Although his hair and beard were gray, he was still tough and his eyes were like an eagle. The old man was very grateful to Wu Huaiyu for helping them get back their homeland, and he accepted the order without hesitation.

He patted his chest and said that although they had to cross the desert Gobi to the east, they were familiar with the road.

Although Luchuo of Chumukun was unwilling to move north, he could only endure it silently when he saw the mighty Tang army and the dependence of people like Heluo Shichuo, Quechuo and Tunchuo.

In the past they were dependent on Yu Gushe, and later they relied on Yu Gushe to help them exchange territory with Hu Luwu's tribe. Who would have thought that now Hu Luwu is relying on Wu Huaiyu to get the territory back.

Following the wrong person and standing on the wrong side is a common situation on the grassland.

Although nomadic tribes have their own territories, they are not static.

After crossing the Shiqi River, to the southeast of Huangcaobo, there is a large desert Gobi. This section of the road is difficult to travel. Even the local herdsmen rely on the bones of camels and horses along the road and the feces of camels and horses to find the way. If it is covered with heavy snow in winter or spring, the sky and the earth will be so vast that even they cannot find the way.

It’s still summer now, and there are traces to be found.

Quechu could not wait to lead his subordinates to set off. They were still in the north and had not moved south. Although Prime Minister Wu had already divided the territory and let the two tribes swap places, such a thing would only be reliable if it was actually implemented. As long as they didn't move, they would not feel at ease.

"My little bastards, Tian Khan and Wu Xianggong have returned the fertile Black Water land to us, and we must repay them.

Let's go and clear the way for the army of the Heavenly Khan."

In his heart, Quechu actually hoped that there would be some unrest along the way. If the people of Chumukun refused to move north, and a few reckless guys came out, like Yuzhijijin and Chijifujijin, then once Wu Xiang took action, Chumukun would be chopped to pieces. Who would dare not move then? After their strength was weakened, Hu Luju would no longer have to worry about them coming south to grab territory one day.

In order to compete for better pastures, in Quechu's eyes, the Tang Dynasty was a friend, while the Chumukun tribe, which was also a Turkic tribe, became an enemy.

It's still early.

However, Wu Huaiyu had already ordered the army to stop marching and set up camp on the east bank of Shiqi River.

After crossing the Shiqi River, the further east you go, the more desolate it becomes. There are hundreds of miles of desert and Gobi, which is almost an uninhabited area with only a small number of herdsmen.

The tribes set up camp.

Wu Huaiyu was not in a hurry to rest. Instead, he put on full armor and led his own barracks to inspect the camp.

"The general manager is patrolling the camp!"

Wu Huaiyu's patrol team was very impressive. In the front were the ceremonial guards and the music and dance team, four pairs of drum and trumpet cavalry, five pairs of military cavalry, one pair holding large flags and four pairs of spears. There were five pairs of civil cavalry and one group of music and dance, eight people dancing and twelve people playing music.

At the front is a line of horizontal blowers, with four drummers and four horn players lined up on the left and right.

Next was the ceremonial guard. Behind Peng and Jiaoshou were two teams of cavalry, each with five men, divided into left and right teams. Each of them wore a polished and shiny bright armor, and they were all at the rank of captain. In front was a pair of large flags with words and patterns painted on them.

Then there was another team of small flags, the five-sided flags.

Behind them were five pairs of civil cavalry, forming left and right columns. These civil cavalry were also called Yaguan.

In the middle of the two teams of cavalry there is a group of dancers and musicians, with a total of eight people divided into two groups to dance in pairs. Beside them stand twelve musicians, with a pair of big drums, on the left and right. One person carries the drum on his back, one person beats the drum, and the other eight people hold clappers, pipa, waist drum, flute, and pipe, etc.

Wu Huaiyu was wearing the imperially bestowed Shanwen Mingguang armor and was in the middle of the team. Six personal soldiers holding flags were on his left and right, each with seven ribbons. Then there was a pair of flag bearers and a pair of small banner bearers with the words "Men Jing" inscribed on them. Behind them were three officers on horseback and four pairs of foot soldiers.
There were sixteen more men wearing bright red shirts with notched crotch, leather belts, white felt shoes, pheasant feathers on their hats, and holding silver knives. They were divided into two teams. Next came two teams of men holding silver halberds, sixteen in total, also divided into two teams.

There are sixteen silver swords and silver halberds each. This is also the ceremonial standard for Wu Huaiyu, who is a senior official of the Sikong rank.

Finally, the two riders came to lead the imperial carriage.

As the center of the entire patrol team, Wu Huaiyu wore the silver armor and golden robe bestowed by the emperor, rode a golden Dayuan horse, held a short whip, and looked majestic. Beside him was a tall flag-bearer holding a large flag, writing to the Minister of Works, Shang Zhuguo, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, to hand over the matter to the Grand Commander of the Hedao March, Wu, followed closely by a team of flag-bearers behind him.

At the end of the team, there were 100 knights, divided into two teams. One team was made up of the descendants of Wu Huaiyu's troops, including the descendants of the Wu family, as well as the nephews and nephews of Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jin, Daqiu Xinggong, Fan Xing, Li Xiuxing, Liu Lancheng, etc. The other team was made up of the descendants of Turkic nobles.
Led by the running bull Amubuzai, they are all sons of tribal leaders of similar status to him. They are now accompanying Wu Huaiyu, but are actually hostages.

These Turkic noble sons all changed into the standard equipment of the Tang Dynasty, and each of them changed into Ming Guang armor. After being fully armed, they could no longer be seen as Turkic noble sons. They were no different from the Huer imperial guards in Chang'an.

The entire patrol team,

The most prominent part is the ceremonial guard in front, especially the banner bestowed by the emperor to Wu Huaiyu. It is a symbol of his power and also the power of life and death that allows him to decide life and death in the Western Regions.

There were many different kinds of flags in the team, which the Turks could not understand, but they thought it was very majestic. There were also many bands and dancers in the patrol team, who played music and danced while walking, which was also extraordinary, especially the military music.

The dance is also very vigorous,

Wu Huaiyu always thinks of the Yingge dance of Chaoshan, which is also danced while walking, magnificent and very entertaining.

Countless flags, passionate music, and exciting dance.

With armor on his body,

A company of knights and foot soldiers,
This made Wu Huaiyu's patrol of the camp seem both ceremonial and spectacular. Anyway, ever since Wu Huaiyu passed Cheling, he would lead this group of people to patrol the camp every day when he was stationed in the camp, and each time he would give the Turks a great shock.

I feel awe and envy, but now I'm used to it, and I just watch the fun and relax after a day's march.

The patrol took about half an hour to inspect the entire camp.
In the eyes of many Turks, it was not so much that the general manager was inspecting the camp, but rather that the general manager led a music and dance performance after the march to relax everyone.

"Heavenly soldiers of the Heavenly Khan."

"Yes, how can we defeat such a heavenly army?"

He Luo Shichu and several of his men stood in front of their camp, watching the patrol team coming from afar, feeling more and more powerless.

It has been a long time since the Western Turks had such a formidable opponent.

"Do you think that after Prime Minister Wu conquers Gaochang, he will really return to the capital?" Heluo Shichuo asked.

"It's impossible for the Tang army to stay?"

He Luoshi shook his head. "There is an old saying in the Central Plains that you may not have heard of, which is "If you get Long, you will want Shu." When Shi Wannian of Yiwu surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, he just wanted to raise a Tang flag and borrow the power of the Tang Dynasty, but now, Yiwu has become Yizhou.

Gaochang was about to become Xizhou.
But will the Tang army stop here? "

"No way. Although Prime Minister Wu is sending Dulu Khan to Chang'an, isn't he also appointing Moheduo Yehu Mishe as the new Khan?"

"That's just a trick. They say the Western Region will remain the same as before, the Southern and Northern Courts will continue to coexist, and the governor's office and prefectures will be set up, but they are still autonomous.

But when Wu Huaiyu returned to the east, he did not take all the soldiers with him. He left his adopted son An Lushan to guard Gongyue and established the Gongyue Military Town.

This is the first, but it certainly won’t be the last.”

Sure enough, that night, Wu Huaiyu held a bonfire party and invited the leaders of various tribes to eat roasted whole lamb. At the party, Wu Huaiyu, holding a wine glass, proposed to build post stations and beacon forts along the Silk Road, and work with the tribes to maintain the Silk Road, protect commercial goods, develop together, and promote prosperity.

With post stations and beacon towers, it is natural that troops must be stationed there, and farming and grazing must be done to be self-sufficient. Each department must also assign soldiers to be on duty, assist in guarding, patrolling, and helping with farming and grazing...
"Along the Silk Road, there is a beacon tower every thirty miles, a post station every sixty miles, and a military fort every one hundred and twenty miles..."

Each beacon tower has at least six people, one beacon commander and five beacon guards. The beacon tower is a round platform-shaped building with a round small house on the top, three protruding battlements, and three stoves at the bottom. The four walls of the beacon tower have windows for observing the enemy's situation and arrow holes for attacking.

Because it is located on the border, the beacon towers are required to build defensive walls and store various materials, such as wolf dung, cow and sheep dung, water buckets, rockets, etc.
The function of beacons is naturally to provide an alarm. The requirement is that the beacon fire can reach a distance of 2,000 miles a day and a night. This is a faster way of transmitting information than a fast horse, but the prerequisite is that there must be enough beacons.

So one every thirty miles is a must.

A military fort would be set up every 120 miles, occupying a strategic location and controlling traffic. Soldiers would be stationed in the fort, and part of the fort would be responsible for patrolling the roads and checking the conditions of the beacons.

When enemy cavalry invades the territory, if there are more than 50 cavalrymen but less than 500, the beacon should be lit once. If the number is less than this, it is not allowed to light the beacon. When the beacon is lit, the cavalry must be sent to check the nearest military fort.

In addition to these tasks, military forts and beacon towers also had the responsibility of checking the passing documents of passing caravans, and even assisting in combating smuggling and banditry.

Wu Huaiyu told everyone that when they worked together to build this Silk Road warning system and jointly safeguard the Silk Road and the Western Regions, the leaders of various tribes actually had complicated feelings.

Everyone can see some of what Prime Minister Wu is thinking, but so what?
At this moment, Prime Minister Wu made such a "small" request, can anyone refuse?
Some leaders glanced at others furtively,
They hope someone will stand up and oppose.

But for a long time, no one said a word, and no one stood up.

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said,
"Who agrees with my proposal and who opposes it?"

Still no one said anything.

"No one said anything. It seems everyone agrees. Great minds think alike. Hahaha."

"Come on, let's raise our glasses together, cheers."

Wu Huaiyu raised his glass.
Although many of the leaders, both large and small, were still unwilling to give in, they had no choice but to accept the situation since no one stood up for them.
No one dared to object.
No one dared to offend Wu Xiang,

They all stood up, held up their wine glasses, and shouted "Cheers!" and drank the wine.

This wine tastes a bit bitter, but you have to drink it despite its bitterness.

"In the Shuanghe Governor's Office, the first batch of three forts will be established: Wenquan, Bole and Jinghe. Tunchuo, do you support it?" Wu Huaiyu poured a glass of wine for Tunchuo and asked the leader of the Shesheti.

Tunchu stood up. How could they refuse at this time? Moreover, it was only because of the grace of Prime Minister Wu that they were able to come to Shuanghe. Otherwise, they would still have to eat sand in the north.

"Yes, of course. Our Shesheti tribe will definitely do our best to help build the three forts, and we will also fully support the construction of the beacon towers and post stations behind them. After the beacon towers and post stations are built, our Shesheti tribe will also send people to assist in guarding the beacons and patrolling."

Tunchu patted his chest and loudly expressed his loyalty.

Wu Huaiyu filled his own glass as well. "Okay, I'll remember Tun Chuan's promise today. I'll toast to Tun Chuan. Cheers."

"I drink it too," Tunchu also drank it generously and returned the toast with another glass.

Wu Huaiyu struck while the iron was hot and announced that a beacon tower on the southern post road would be built within the territory of the Yanbozhou Governor's Office. Four forts were initially planned: Xilin Fort, Donglin Fort, Heishui Fort, and Yehe Fort. These four forts were all named after rivers, and they would be built along the four rivers flowing north, which were also several important oases.

After the completion of these four military forts, the Tang army was actually no longer able to only protect the Silk Road, but could also interfere deeply in the affairs of the Huluwu tribe's Yanpozhou.

Don’t underestimate the dots. By connecting the dots with lines, and finally using the lines to connect the surfaces, the whole thing can be covered.

(End of this chapter)