Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1058 1053 [Killing Prisoners]

More than 20,000 Western Liao reinforcements were captured. Their weapons and armor were confiscated, and their bodies were carried from the battlefield to the desert 50 miles east of Gaochang City for burial.

Wouldn’t it be better to burn it down?
Sorry, that's too much of a waste of firewood.

Firewood is also a precious resource here.

Burning it is too troublesome, and if it is not dealt with, there is a risk of plague. Moving it to the desert and burying it is the easiest way.

The surrendered Gaochang nobles led their troops and followed the escort of the captives eastward.

Large pits were dug in the desert, but the number of pits was obviously wrong. It was just that the prisoners were separated and could not see the overall situation, so they didn't know that there were too many large pits.

The Gaochang nobles who were accompanying them gradually understood what was going on and became terrified.

Li Yanxian called the surrendered nobles to him and said, "The Ming Dynasty has never had the habit of killing prisoners, but this time is different. I have limited military rations, and there are also local starving people who need relief. I really can't afford to feed more than 20,000 prisoners. It's not good to release them. They are all foreigners who believe in Islam, and their hometowns are thousands of miles away. Once released, they will definitely burn, kill, and loot their way back. Many villages along the way are your territory."

In order to fortify their city and clear the countryside, these nobles robbed the people of Yizhou and Shanshan everywhere.

But they had not killed many civilians with their own hands, and now, looking at the more than 20,000 captives digging pits, some people's hands began to tremble with fear.

"Everyone, let's get started!" Li Yanxian urged.

The nobles looked at each other in bewilderment, and soon some of them rode back to their own troops, drew their swords, and shouted, "Kill the prisoners!"

One after another, Gaochang nobles led their troops to kill the captives from the Seven Rivers Land.

The captives thought they could survive, but when they encountered the unexpected incident, they fled in panic and were caught up by the cavalry and fell down in large numbers.

Li Yanxian and the Ming soldiers watched coldly. Some of them looked reluctant, but it was just reluctance. It was impossible for them to stand up and stop it.

The blood dyed the desert red, and body after body was carried back and thrown into a big pit and buried.

A few captives fled deep into the desert, and the nobles did not pursue them. There was no water or food in the desert, and it was about to snow, so anyone who survived was lucky.

After spending two whole days here, Li Yanxian led everyone back to Gaochang.

He called the surrendered nobles and said:

"The former Gaochang royal family must move to Luoyang with their entire family."

"Gaochang, Yizhou, Yanqi, Qiuci, Datun City and Zhangbali City (Urumqi), the nobles who occupied more land must move to Ningxia and western Liaoning. These are places with vast land and sparse population. If you go there, you will have land to reproduce and thrive."

"Who has any objection?"

No one dared to speak.

The great nobles were grief-stricken, while the lesser nobles gloated over the misfortune.

Moving all the great nobles away was naturally to make room for the Han people.

If these nobles in Xinjiang were dispersed and moved eastward, it would be like a few drops of water spilled into an oil pan, evaporating without a trace in an instant, and they would definitely be assimilated into the ethnic group in the future.

I certainly can no longer enjoy the power I once had, but I can still be a small landlord, and I can save the lives of my entire family!

Ningxia suffered from drought and war one after another, and even with the Han immigrants, the population was still a little small. Western Liaoning was even more sparsely populated, and if these nobles migrated there, they would be dispersed and mixed with the Han and Bohai peoples.

"Since there is no objection, then it is settled," Li Yanxian said with a smile, "The nobles will stay in Gaochang City. I will bring your families here after the snow melts in the spring. I will also allow you to bring a small number of your followers or tenants with you, so that you will not have to worry about not having help to farm in the new place."

A group of soldiers surrounded them. The nobles were shocked and angry, and were soon all taken away and placed under house arrest.

From the moment they were forced to surrender on the battlefield, they had become fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others. Allowing them to move to other places and become small landlords was already merciful enough.

Li Yanxian also said to the middle and small nobles: "You can take your troops back to your hometown now. When the Han immigrants distribute the land, if your land is allocated, I will allocate land from other places to exchange with you. If your children are between eight and twenty-five years old, you can send them to Gaochang City to study and learn Chinese next year. These young people can become officials after learning the skills, even in the rich Han areas."

"General, be merciful!"

The small and medium nobles all knelt down and kowtowed. Compared with the great nobles, they were undoubtedly the lucky ones.

The nobles left one after another, but Xiao Chala Abu walked in.

In order to identify the great nobles and the small and medium nobles, in addition to looking through the tax and service lists in Gaochang City, Xiao Chala Abu also helped to point them out.

"Excuse me, Marshal, how will you deal with me?" Xiao Cha La A Bu asked.

Li Yanxian said: "You will stay in Gaochang for the time being and help handle local government affairs. By the way, change your Chinese name, your name is too long and difficult to pronounce."

Xiao Cha La A Bu said: "General, you can call me Xiao Cha La."

Xiao Chala's whole family was in Western Liao, and his situation was extremely awkward. On the one hand, he was forced to help the Ming Dynasty digest Gaochang, and on the other hand, he wanted to return to Western Liao to reunite with his family.

As the small and medium-sized nobles and the army returned home, the Han people began to divide the land in Gaochang and Shanshan.

It had not yet snowed in Gaochang and Shanshan, and the laborers had settled in the suburbs surrounding the cities.

Twenty thousand Han people were settled around Gaochang City.

Three thousand Han people were settled in the vicinity of Shanshan.

They also quickly got wives, choosing from among the rescued women and children. It was even possible to get a buy one get one free or a buy one get two free deal, meaning they could get a wife and one or two children at the same time.

After the women were divided up, they would go to the local people's homes to marry.

The army helped to arrange marriages and the betrothal gifts were naturally grain. I believe many people are willing to marry their daughters. Because their family grain reserves were confiscated by Xiao Cha La A, there was little left. As for Yizhou, the land will be allocated and settled next year. The snow there is already half a foot deep, and it will be difficult to transport the subsequent military grain.

As for the more distant places like Kucha and Yanqi, they will of course also officially accept immigration next year.

The total number of Han laborers to be left behind in various parts of Xinjiang is planned to be 62,000.

In addition to civil officials, the court will also send agricultural promotion officials and education officials next year.

Agricultural officials are responsible for teaching immigrants how to farm. In fact, they also have to learn first and learn from local people who are familiar with agriculture. After all, the climate here is very special.

As an education official, your job is naturally to promote enlightenment!

Later generations unearthed cultural relics in Xinjiang, including a homework of a Tang Dynasty child, all written neatly in Chinese characters. When Qiu Chuji of the Yuan Dynasty passed by Xinjiang, he also found Confucian scholars in Xinjiang.

The Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty could do it, so why couldn’t the Ming Dynasty promote Confucianism in Xinjiang?

Food is enough for now.

In fact, Li Yanxian was not short of food. The military rations that Xiao Chala Abu had collected and the food and fodder for the reinforcements from Xiao Wulila were all seized by the Ming army.

……

Thousands of elite cavalrymen of Western Liao had no choice but to rob their way back because they had lost their food and supplies.

Many of the small and medium-sized nobles whose territories in the west were released by Li Yanxian suffered disasters, and some people's manors were directly looted.

They are in tears and what else can they do except consider themselves unlucky?

After walking on the snow and crossing mountains and rivers, Xiao Worila finally returned to Hu Sihan's ears.

Some nobles who were farther away had stationed their troops outside the city, waiting to reinforce the battlefield next year.

The battle is over, there's no need for reinforcements.

Some of them were left behind and sent to guard the pass next spring, while the rest were directly sent home by Xiao Worila.

The news of the Western Liao army's defeat spread farther and farther.

The Qarluk people did not rebel. They paid a small tribute to the Western Liao Dynasty every year, and they also needed the Western Liao Dynasty's help to intimidate Khwarezm.

Khwarezm directly rebelled!

The Khwarezmian king Ajis first betrayed the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar, then went back on his word and angered Yelu Dashi. Yelu Dashi beat him into submission, but Sanjar returned and beat him into returning his treasures.

While he was eager to break away from Western Liao and establish his own regime, he also sent assassins to kill Sanjar.

Sanjar had a better overall view. When he heard that Yelu Dashi had died, he immediately sent someone to contact Ajisi, hoping to form an alliance with this traitor to attack Western Liao. As a result, Ajisi actually assassinated him, and both assassins were caught and executed. Sanjar no longer trusted Ajisi at all.

Now, Sanjar is gathering the Seljuk army, intending to kill Ajis first.

"Did the Black Khitan really suffer a great defeat?" Ajisi asked in surprise.

"Really? Only a few thousand cavalry escaped."

Ajisi said with emotion: "Sanjar also sent the prime minister as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty. The prime minister highly praised the Ming Dynasty. Now, the Ming Dynasty has defeated the Black Khitan again. Their army is too powerful. I should also send an envoy to contact the Ming Dynasty and make an appointment to attack the Black Khitan from both east and west!"

Khwarezm paid 30,000 gold coins as tribute to Western Liao every year. Although this amount of money was affordable, it meant that Khwarezm's finances had no surplus.

Ajisi didn't want to pay tribute anymore.

After thinking it over for more than ten days, Ajisi decided to test the waters first and attack Bukhara in the early spring of next year.

Bukhara was originally the territory of the Western Karakhanid Khanate. After Yelu Dashi destroyed the Western Karakhanid Khanate, he separated Bukhara and established an independent country and enthroned a king.

It is far away from the core area of ​​Western Liao. When Ajisi sent troops to plunder Bukhara, Western Liao would certainly not be able to send its main force in time and could only send the army of its vassal states to rescue first.

If the armies of Western Liao's vassal states do not go to rescue, it means that Western Liao has lost its authority!
As for Sanjar, Ajith didn't take him seriously at all.

He has already outlasted Yelu Dashi, and one day he will be able to outlast Sanjar.

If Sanjar really led a large army to attack, Ajisi would not be afraid at all and would just surrender and become his vassal.

I already called you dad, why the hell do you still want to hit me?
If we really fight, both of us will suffer, so I'll give you a way out. Anyway, I have no shame, but you have gained face, so we can live in peace from now on.

Several Khwarezmian envoys mixed in with the caravan and headed to Gaochang.

Ajisi recognized Sanjar and Yelu Dashi as his fathers, and he planned to recognize Emperor Zhu as his father. Too many lice don't itch, too many fathers don't worry, and if there is a chance, he can become the father of the killer.

Unlike Ajisi's joy, Empress Gantian of Western Liao was gloomy.

"Is it really impossible to defeat the Ming Dynasty?" Xiao Tabuyan asked.

The generals knelt down and pleaded guilty: "We are incompetent and cannot help Her Majesty the Queen."

Xiao Ta Buyan said: "Is it true that the Ming army cannot be defeated?"

Xiao Wulila said: "The Ming army's firearms are too powerful, and there is no chance of winning in field battles. However... we can also train chariots, improve firearms and organize chariot formations. I see that the Ming army's chariot formations are mainly small cannons, so we can make a chariot with a shield. Even if it cannot defend against artillery shells, it can allow soldiers to hide behind the chariot and fight as close to the Ming army's chariot formation as possible."

Xiao Ta Buyan said: "According to your words, we must stop the Ming army!"

(End of this chapter)