A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1154 Tingzhou
Xizhou, Gaochang City.

The weather is still extremely hot, and Wu Huaiyu now basically stays in the karezhan during the day, enjoying this natural air conditioning.

The royal family, ministers and powerful people of Gaochang were moved to the inland areas of the Central Plains. The registered population was checked, the land was measured, and the land was distributed equally to the people. Everything was in order.

"Ashina Helu united eight tribes to rebel,"

"Ashina Helu called himself the Great Turkic Sage and Holy Son of Heaven, Yibishaboluo Khan,"

"Ashina Helu gathered tens of thousands of troops to attack the Khan's Futu City,"

As news came back one after another, Wu Huaiyu remained calm and unhurried.

Sure enough, only half a day later, more news came back, and it was already good news.

"Cheng Chumo fought outside Futu City, killing 2,000 men and capturing 5,000 men."

"Shazhou Governor Liu Demin entered Helu's camp at night to persuade him to surrender, beheaded Chuyue Zhuxie's Queshijin Ajue, and took his head to persuade Helu, Luchuo, Quchuo and other leaders to surrender."

"Cheng Yaojin and Qibi Heli arrived at night with 5,000 cavalrymen, and all the more than 30,000 rebels surrendered."

······
Half a day later, there was more good news.
"Fan Xing broke through Mohe City, annihilated more than a thousand Zhuxie troops, and occupied Helu City."

"Wu Huaiyi led his cavalry to attack the Mukun tribes along the Heishui River, Yeye River, Donglin River, Xilin River, and Yanbo, annihilating more than a thousand Mukun tribesmen, capturing tens of thousands of them, and seizing tens of thousands of miscellaneous livestock."

······
"Reporting to the Grand Protector, the King of Yanqi, Long Tuqizhi, has arrived at the military gate."

Wu Huaiyu said to Dou Dan who was standing beside him, "This Long Tuqizhi must be here to claim the three cities and the people who were captured."

At first, Yanqi paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty and wanted to rely on it, and then reopen the Loulan Ancient Road to break Gaochang's monopoly on the Silk Road. Unexpectedly, this move led to a fierce retaliation from Gaochang.

Gaochang first destroyed three cities in Yanqi, looted their property and people, and occupied the three cities. Soon after, they joined forces with Yu Gushe to attack Yanqi again, destroying five more cities in Yanqi.

Yanqi is located southwest of Gaochang, 600 li wide and 400 li long. It is slightly smaller than Gaochang. It is surrounded by Gaochang to the east, Qiuci to the west, Yuli to the south, and Wusun to the north. It has the beautiful Bosten River and the fertile Kaidu Valley.

The Black Chicken Kingdom in Journey to the West is this country.

There is the dangerous Yinshan Mountain between it and Gaochang, and there is Tiemen Pass between it and Qiuci to the west.

However, Yanqi was a small oasis country after all, especially after it was defeated by the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Northern Wei Dynasty broke through its royal city and set up a military garrison there. The Yanqi King Long had no choice but to flee to Qiuci and become a live-in son-in-law.

Although the Northern Wei withdrew later, the Rouran and Gaoche controlled Yanqi successively, and were once destroyed by the Yanda. The Yanqi people could only go to Gaochang to invite the prince of the Qu family to be the king.
Although the Long family later resumed their rule, their strength had long since declined. Now there are only five major cities left in the country, with more than 4,000 households, more than 30,000 people, and 2,000 soldiers.

The Long family ruled Yanqi for a long time. It was during the Han Dynasty that the Long family ruled. Although the capital was attacked and the country was destroyed several times, they restored the country many times.

Before the Tang army marched west,
Yanqi was invaded twice by Gaochang and Western Turks. Eight cities were captured successively. Finally, three cities were occupied by Gaochang and one city was occupied by Qulichu, a minister of Western Turks.
Yanqi surrendered to Duolu Khan and was able to retain the five cities.

Four of the nine cities were lost and one-third of the population was taken captive.

Yanqi was a small country with few people, but they worshipped Buddhism very much and believed in Theravada Buddhism. There were monks and Buddhist temples everywhere, as well as Buddhist caves and statues everywhere.
In addition to the many Buddhist temples and monks in this country,

There were many bandits there, so it was called the den of bandits in the Western Regions. This was also because Yanqi was weak and very unstable, and the people there were generally rough and uncultured, but brave and warlike.

Although Yanqi was small, its geographical conditions were very good, with mountains on all sides.
Moreover, the oasis where it was located was very large. The royal city was built on the banks of the Kaidu River, close to the mouth of Lake Bosten, and had rich fishery resources. Therefore, Yanqi was one of the few countries in the Western Regions that had many fishery resources and many fishermen.

Lake Bosten is called the West Sea in Yanqi. On the shore of the West Sea there are Yanqi's fine horses, called dragon colts or sea horses, which can travel 600 miles a day. The Yanqi dragon colts are in no way inferior to the Dayuan Ferghana horses. They are agile, flexible, and have good endurance.

Yanqi is also an important node on the southern line of the Silk Road.
It can be said that this is also the reason why Yanqi has been prosperous for thousands of years.

"This Long Tuqizhi is also a fence-sitter," Wu Huaiyu did not like this king with the surname Long very much, because after coming to the Western Regions, he knew what kind of person the King of Yanqi was after getting to know him a little.

During the Sui Dynasty, the King of Yanqi, Long Tuqizhi, was subservient to the Western Turks while sending envoys to pay tribute to the Sui Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, Long Tuqizhi was still subordinate to the Western Turks while paying tribute to the Tang Dynasty.

Even during the turmoil in the Western Turkic Khanate in the early Tang Dynasty, Long Tuqizhi never cared who claimed to be the Khan, he would always be a vassal and call himself a slave.

No matter whether you are Shekui Khan or Moheduo Khan, or later Siyehu Khan, Dubu Khan, Xilibi Duolu Khan, Shabolo Dilili Khan, Yibi Duolu Khan, Yibi Shabolo Yehu Khan,

He doesn't offend anyone. If you call yourself Khan, he will pay tribute and submit to you.

Relying on this method of sewing the source from both sides, there was peace for a long time.

But later Yugushe established himself as Yibi Duolu Khan, and stood side by side with Shaboluo Yehu Khan Bobu and Nanting. Yanqi was assigned to Nanting, and Duolu Khan asked Yanqi to choose sides and join Beiting, and also sent Tutun to Yanqi to supervise.
The Longtu cavalry was unwilling to do this, and the Nanting side was naturally even more unwilling.

However, the Longtu Cavalry wanted to open up the Loulan Road to intercept Gaochang's flow. Gaochang sent troops to attack Yanqi first, and the Southern Court Minister Qu Lichu came to help.
He also led Gaochang to call in the troops that Yugu had set up.

After two battles, the Yanqi Kingdom was almost destroyed. Long Tuqizhi had to surrender to Beiting Duolu Khan, but the Nanting side refused to surrender. After all, although Long Tuqizhi was the king of Yanqi, he also had the title of Jie Lifa conferred by the Western Turkic Nanting.

He was a minister of the Southern Court of Western Turkic.
The important minister of the Southern Court, Qu Lichuo, led his troops to capture another city. Then the King of Yanqi, the Sixth, paid tribute to Duolu Khan while continuing to consider himself a minister of the Southern Court.
Not only did he accept Qu Lichu's garrison in Yanqi, he also married his daughter to Qu Lichu's younger brother.
Then Duolu Khan, also known as Yugushe, who had been defeated and captured and sent to Chang'an to "enjoy life", saw that the King of Yanqi was sitting on the fence, so he ordered Chubanchuo, the leader of the nomadic Shunishi people in the northwest of Yanqi, that is, in Yingsuochuan, upstream of Kaidu River, to serve as the Yanqi Tutun. He was responsible for monitoring the Yanqi Kingdom and making them pay taxes and serve in the army, and also for keeping an eye on Qulichuo who was stationed in Yanqi.

Yanqi was a small country that simultaneously paid tribute to the two Khans of the Western Turkic Khanate, the Southern and Northern Khans, and the Heavenly Khan of the Central Plains.

It was a small country, and the Southern and Northern Courts each sent a Chushe to supervise it.

Originally there were nine cities in the country, but four were occupied by Nanbei Ting and Gaochang, leaving them with only five cities.

But even though it was such a small country, when Wu Huaiyu summoned the leaders of various tribes and the kings of the Western Regions to meet him in Gongyue City, Longtuqizhi did not set off.
He just sent his younger brother, Long Li Po Zhun, to pay a visit with gifts.

It is obvious that the Dragon King was not very optimistic about the Tang army's westward expedition at that time. Even though Wu Huaiyu captured Duolu Khan, the Dragon Tuqizhi was still watching. Until now,

The Tang army not only destroyed Gaochang, but also captured Helu, who led the eight tribes in rebellion. Only then did Long Tuqizhi hurried to pay a visit in person.

"The King of Yanqi brought three hundred dragon horses from the West Sea, one thousand ounces of gold, one hundred thousand coins of silver, and five thousand bolts of silk and satin."

Wu Huaiyu was a little surprised when he heard about this gift. "King Yanqi spent so much money this time?"

Dou Dan disagreed. "He is the king of a country, but his gift seems a bit shabby. One hundred thousand silver coins are only worth 3,200 strings of cash, one thousand taels of gold are only worth 8,000 strings of cash, and the 5,000 pieces of silk are only worth 2,000 to 3,000 strings of cash. All together, it's only about 15,000 strings of cash."

Huaiyu smiled, "Is 15,000 guan not enough? It is quite a bit. The registered population of Yanqi is only 4,000 households, more than 30,000 people. This gift, if distributed to each household, would cost nearly 4,000 coins."

If the people of Yanqi were really required to pay this gift, many of them would probably go bankrupt.

Fortunately, although Yanqi was a small country, its situation was similar to that of Gaochang. There were actually many hidden households, and their main income did not come from agriculture and animal husbandry, but from industrial and commercial trade along the Silk Road. In addition, the king, the Long family, had ruled Yanqi for a thousand years, and the wealth they had accumulated was quite astonishing.

"Let's leave this Dragon Rider alone for now. He's too cunning and unreliable."

Wu Huaiyu talked to Prince Consort Dou about another matter.
"Liu Demin did something amazing this time. I didn't expect him to go into the enemy camp alone and kill Zhuxie Quejijin. He was able to escape unscathed after killing him. He was even able to convince Helu and others to surrender before Cheng Yaojin, Qibi and Heli attacked."

Dou Dan was also shocked speechless by the news. To be honest, this is very enviable. Although this feat is risky, if it succeeds, it will be enough to be recorded in history and passed down through the ages.

In fact, in the early Tang Dynasty, there was an envoy who was sent to the Turks. When he met Jie Li, he wanted to assassinate him, but his plan was leaked and failed.

No one remembers the losers.
Only the successful ones will be remembered.

Liu Demin did something big this time, which even shocked the emperor.

"Liu Demin should be credited with a great achievement."

"Well, indeed. How does Prime Minister Wu plan to deal with these rebel surrendered soldiers?" Dou Dan asked. Although Helu's rebellion was quelled quickly and did not cause much damage, his behavior was bad and had a significant impact.

"The chief traitor must be punished. Helu will definitely be sent to Chang'an to be dealt with by the Saint Hou. It's just the Yaochi Governor's Mansion."

"Also, since Zhuxie's Que Jijin has been killed, there is no need to keep the Jin Manchuria Governor's Office."

As for the eight tribes that participated in the rebellion, and even the Xixiang Asijie tribe that participated secretly, we must deal with them selectively, pulling some of them away and beating some of them.

To divide them,
"Chu Mukun must also be punished, but Hu Luwu can be given a lighter sentence,"

"I think Hu Luwu should be severely punished. They are ungrateful and have let us down."

Wu Huaiyu just smiled and said, "Don't worry, take it step by step, we will have to settle accounts sooner or later, but don't touch Hu Luwu for now."

The reason for dealing with Chumukun first was simple. That was because they had supported Huluwu and attacked Chumukun from the beginning. This time, Huaiyi led his troops to sweep away the Chumukun tribes in the Heihe River and other river basins that had not yet moved.
Chu Mukun was first asked by Wu Huaiyu to move north, and now he was swept by the Tang army. The grudge is very deep, so let's continue to deal with him.

"Should we destroy the Shatuo tribe together?"

"No hurry, come one by one."

The Yaochi Prefecture and Jinman Prefecture Governorate were abolished, and the two vassal prefectures were merged into one prefecture directly under the imperial court.
"It was named Tingzhou, with Shatuo Desert as its boundary in the north, Yeye River as its boundary in the west, and Tanhan Mountain as its boundary in the south."

"I think Liu Demin should be appointed as the governor of Tingzhou,"

Wu Huaiyu looked at the map,

Huluyu did not move first, and the Shatuo tribe did not move either, not to mention Asijie.

This time, we will deal with the Helu and Zhuxie tribes first, and we will also suppress and weaken Chumukun.

"The Yanbo Prefecture Governor's Office occupied by Chumukun will be vacated immediately and given to the Huluwu tribe. However, in order to ensure the safety of the Silk Road, we will build several defense castles along the way from Tingzhou to Shuanghe through Yanbo Prefecture.

Build a castle on each of the four rivers: Yeye River, Heishui River, Donglin River, and Xilin River, and garrison a thousand soldiers on each river."

The land was still handed over to the Huluwu tribe.

But Wu Huaiyu also took this opportunity to ask Huaiyi's soldiers who were sweeping there to stay and build four defense castles at the four important river crossings.

There are 4,000 troops stationed there.

After this, although Huluwu got this fertile old land from Chumukun, it had 4,000 Tang troops stationed there and four castles, which were like nails nailed to the Silk Road in its territory.
This is not only to ensure the security of the Silk Road, but also to monitor the Hu Luwu tribe. If there is any unusual movement, troops can be sent to attack at any time.

"What if Quechu refuses to agree to build these four castles and garrison troops?" Dou Dan asked.

"Quechu wouldn't be so stupid, nor would he dare."

"Minister Wu, don't think they are so smart. If Quechu was really smart, he wouldn't be so stupid as to join Helu in rebellion."

Wu Huaiyu laughed loudly.
"If Quechu is really old and confused, it's not a bad thing. At most, we can include the four rivers such as Heishui in the west of Tingzhou, or set up another Zhengzhou, and let Hu Luwu and Chu Mukun eat sand together in the Great Desert State."

"Let's report the victory to the saint," Dou Dan said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)