Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1060 1055 [Kucha Still Wants to Fight]

The administrative system of the Gaochang Uighur Kingdom basically inherited the Xizhou system of the Tang Dynasty - the seat of the Tang Dynasty's Xizhou was in Gaochang City.

It has two systems.

One is the system of prefectures, counties, townships and villages, which are governed by officials appointed by the imperial court.

One is the system of control, which is to exercise control over nomadic tribes.

With the development of agriculture, there were fewer and fewer nomadic tribes in the area south of the Tianshan Mountains, and more and more prefectures and counties were established.

How are state and county officials selected?
Imperial examination!

This may seem counter-intuitive, but it is true.

The Western Xia, which was more deeply influenced by Chinese culture, did not start the imperial examination until the early Southern Song Dynasty. However, the Gaochang Uighurs in Xinjiang had been implementing the imperial examination system since the founding of the country.

However, as land annexation intensified, the imperial examination system here became more and more of a formality. In addition, the tradition of recommendation and merit inherited from the Tang Dynasty, combined with land annexation, led to hereditary nobles and military nobles stealing local power.

As for Manichaeism, which was separated from the masses, it even automatically became Confucianized very early on.

In order to strengthen the centralized rule of the King of Gaochang, Manichaeism, as the state religion, actively absorbed a large amount of Confucian ideas and advocated social order and ethical principles.

Manichaeism was abandoned by the rulers, and Buddhism came to dominate in Gaochang. The whole process was accompanied by the intensification of local autonomy.

During the Gaochang Uighur and Western Liao dynasties, power was still centralized in name, and officials were selected through the imperial examination system. But in reality, different oasis areas were ruled by nobles of all sizes, hereditarily.

Because the great nobles were detained by Li Yanxian, he was forced to move their families to Ningxia and western Liaoning through military threats.

The remaining minor nobles were no longer a concern. The Ming Dynasty could directly select civil and military officials to fill the political niche of the great nobles. Then, through the imperial examinations and the minor nobles, they could assist Han officials in ruling the prefectures and counties.

There are only two places that are difficult to deal with.

The first is the area north of the Tianshan Mountains, which was mainly ruled by the feudal lords.

Today, the Ming Dynasty only has garrison troops and immigrants in Zhangbali (Urumqi), and has no actual control over Beiting for the time being. The tribal cavalry in Beiting also fled quickly without surrendering after the Naiman tribe withdrew.

The second is Kashgar and Kucha, and we still need to fight a few more battles.

The capital of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate was Kashgar, and it ruled the area around Hotan.

For more than a hundred years, they launched holy wars repeatedly, attacked the Kucha Uighurs in the Aksu region, killed a large number of Buddhists, burned temples and Buddhist scriptures, and finally forced the Kucha Uighurs to become independent from the Gaochang Uighurs, and the Kucha Uighurs also became vassals of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate.

By the way, the Gaochang Uighurs originally belonged to a dual monarchy.

One was the Uighur King of Gaochang, and the other was the Uighur King of Kucha. They nominally ruled the country together.

After Yelu Dashi rose to power, he demoted the Great Khan of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate to the King of Kashgar. As a result, the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate became the Eastern Kara Kingdom and a vassal state of the Western Liao Dynasty.

The Kucha Uighur Kingdom also became independent and was directly under the jurisdiction of Western Liao.

These two kingdoms, one in Kashgar and the other in Kuche, only sent symbolic troops to participate in the previous war and suffered no losses, and the real nobles did not come.

In the next few years, in addition to consolidating its rule, the Ming Anxi Protectorate will also deploy troops to the following places:

First, Beiting. Completely conquer the grasslands north of Tianshan Mountain!
Second, Yili, which is now the territory of Western Liao.

Third, there were two kingdoms in the large area of ​​Aksu, Kashgar and Hotan that did not accept the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and the main religion had become desert religion.

Wu Juyuan traveled all the way to Yanqi and found that tens of thousands of people gathered there.

The 10,000 Han people who immigrated to Yanqi have begun to divide the land under the arrangement of officials.

The land was mainly distributed to the relocated nobles, but also to some minor nobles and civilians. The Anxi Protectorate had promised that those who were willing to sell their land would be redeemed by the government, and those who were unwilling to sell their land would follow the Ming army to rob - to give them more land in Kashgar and Qiuci for replacement!
Small and medium-sized nobles from other places can also join in the fight for land.

The 6,000 garrison troops of Kucha, the 3,000 garrison troops of Yanqi, and the 1,000 garrison troops of Hotan are all currently gathering in Yanqi.

Many small and medium-sized noble armed forces in Yanqi were also gathering.

The war is about to begin!
Immigrants going to Kucha and Hotan also needed to participate in the war, including Wu Juyuan who had just arrived.

Wu Juyuan and his group of immigrants arrived late and did not even have time for militia training, so they could only serve as temporary logistics and transportation personnel.

At the end of the spring sowing in the Yanqi area, the troops officially marched towards Qiuci: 10,000 regular Ming troops, 11,000 armed Han immigrants, 3,000 armed nobles from various parts of Gaochang, and hundreds of Yanqi civilians waiting for land compensation.

The 10,000 Han Chinese immigrants who immigrated to Yanqi also helped them transport food and fodder after the spring sowing was completed.

……

The Uighur King of Kucha was called Kui Yu. In another time and space, he sent envoys to pay tribute to the Jin Kingdom.

In this time and space, people naturally pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

But after the rise of Western Liao, Kui Yu cut off ties with the Ming Dynasty and became a vassal state of Western Liao.

"Last year, the Liao Dynasty sent troops to rescue Gaochang. We also sent a thousand soldiers, two thousand civilians and a lot of food and fodder to join the Liao Dynasty's reinforcements and march eastward." "None of those soldiers and civilians came back. I heard that the survivors were all killed in pits."

"Now the Ming army is coming, do you have any suggestions?"

Kuma Yu is already in his fifties and is a little overweight.

His ancestors encountered holy wars many times, and countless temples, monks and believers of various religions were killed. Starting from his grandfather's generation, they were forced to convert to desert religion.

He was still very loyal to Western Liao. After all, it was Yelu Dashi who helped him break away from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate and gain independence.

Prime Minister Bayibuhua said: "Your Majesty should quickly gather the army and send envoys to contact the Ming army to see what they want."

Another chancellor, Turmishi, said, "Isn't it clear what they want? All the nobles of Yanqi have moved their families to Han territory, and the Han immigrants have divided up the nobles' land. Although the Gaochang Uighur King is in Hu Sihan's ears, it is said that the Gaochang royal family has all gone to Luoyang. People like us are either royal families or nobles. Even if we surrender, we will lose our land and be far away from home."

"The Liao Dynasty has suffered a defeat. Do you want to fight the Ming army?" asked Yousumute, the prime minister in charge of military affairs.

Turmishi said: "You can seek help from the King of Kashgar (King of East Kara)."

Yusumut sneered: "He is a monarch of a fallen country who can't even defeat the rebels. How can he help us fight against the Ming army?"

When the nine prime ministers had almost finished arguing, King Kuayu of Kucha said, "Let's send an envoy first. Is there anyone willing to be an envoy?"

The military prime minister Yusumut said, "I am willing to be the envoy."

The religious prime minister Ahmed immediately objected: "Your Majesty, he was frightened by last year's war. If we send him as an envoy, he will definitely surrender and sell out the country!"

Kumayu said, "Baibuhua, you go ahead."

Bayibuhua, with a few followers, traveled eastward at a rapid speed and met the Ming army on the way.

The main general of the Ming army was named Huang Zuo, who was originally a subordinate of Zhong Xiang. He was the Wang Zuo in "The Romance of Yue Fei".

Many of Zhong Xiang's generals defected to the Ming Dynasty and were disbanded and incorporated into various armies.

Huang Zuo was transferred to Shandong, where he fought against the Jin Kingdom with Guan Sheng and Han Shizhong. Later, he was incorporated into the Sichuan Field Army, where he was promoted for his meritorious service in fighting against the barbarians, and then transferred to Shanxi to serve as the commander of the field army. His immediate superior was Liu Qi, the general of Shanxi.

"The King of Kucha wants to surrender?" Huang Zuo asked.

Baiyibuhua said: "Kucha is willing to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and will be loyal to it from now on. Our king has long sent envoys to Kaifeng to pay tribute, and was also canonized as the King of Kucha by the Ming Emperor. It was only because the Liao Kingdom's military force was too strong that it was forced to cut off contact with the Ming Dynasty. Now it plans to return to the embrace of its motherland."

Huang Zuo said: "You can surrender. The royal family and nobles will all move to Han territory, and the land of Qiuci will be vacated for Han people to cultivate."

Of course, Baibuhua was unwilling to do so: "Can we both take a step back?"

"Not even a single step back." Huang Zuo sneered. He was still thinking about gaining military merit.

Baibuhua almost begged to continue the negotiations, but Huang Zuo refused to give in. He could only go back and report with a heavy heart.

At the same time, the King of Kucha also sent envoys to contact the King of Dongkala.

King Ibrahim was unable to suppress the rebellion, so he asked Yelu Dashi for help. In the end, Yelu Dashi annexed his territory and established the Western Liao Dynasty.

He is so young, only in his thirties, and a complete idiot!
Facing the Qiuci envoy, Ibrahim said in fear: "Last year, I sent many soldiers and civilians to join the Liao army to rescue Gaochang, but none of those soldiers and civilians came back. If even the Liao army couldn't defeat the Ming army, what chance do our two countries have of winning?"

The envoys from Kucha could only publicize the policies of the Ming Dynasty, relocate nobles, immigrate Han people, seize land, etc.

When these things were made known to the ministers of Dongkala, they were immediately furious.

Prime Minister Abdullah said: "Khan, we can launch a holy war and let all men join the army. We will definitely be able to defeat those infidels!"

Ibrahim hesitated and asked, "What if I lose the fight?"

"If we lose, we can flee to Husihan'erduo (the capital of Western Liao)," Abdullah said. "Even if we surrender, we will be exiled to Han territory. In this case, we might as well fight a battle. After being defeated, we can flee to Husihan'erduo and still be treated as nobles. Isn't that better than being exiled to Han territory?"

Ibrahim nodded and said, "That's right, then let's launch a holy war against the Ming Dynasty!"

Although the Kucha Uighur Kingdom was independent, its clergy had long been controlled by the Eastern Kara Kingdom.

When Dongkala launched a holy war, Kucha also quickly became turbulent. The monks all encouraged it to send troops, and if it was not agreed, it would probably rebel directly.

May.

The Ming army conquered a series of territories in the eastern part of Kucha and was approaching the royal city of Kucha.

The Kucha army was defeated one after another, and under the organization of clergy and nobles, they formed a holy war army and tried to defend the royal city.

At the same time, the jihadist army of Dongkara also came to rescue.

The combined number of holy soldiers from the two countries was as high as 50,000 to 60,000, but more than half of the soldiers did not even have decent weapons.

(End of this chapter)