Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1063 1058 [Chain Reaction]

Luoyang, military meeting in front of the emperor.

Zhang Guangdao stood in front of a map of the Western Regions, pointing at the map with a wooden stick and gesturing: "According to the news sent back by Wu Jie, Qiuci, Kashgar, and Hotan have been successfully captured, but the conditions for attacking Yili are not yet complete. The specific situation can be explained by Minister Li."

Li Yanxian's current title is Duke of Qin, his official position is Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and he has been promoted to Grand Tutor and Shang Zhuguo, and his military rank is General Guarding the Country.

Compared with all those titles and honors, his official position was the least impressive.

Li Yanxian pointed to the Ili River Valley and said, "This mountain range is the Northern Tianshan Mountains, and this mountain range is the Southern Tianshan Mountains. The two Tianshan Mountains separate the Ili River Valley, and we cannot send troops directly from the east."

"There are two routes to take."

"One is to go around the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and pass through a passage in the northern Tianshan Mountains (Guozigou Mountain Road). The other is to send troops from Qiuci and pass through a mountain road in the southern Tianshan Mountains (Xiate Ancient Road). If our army wants to take over the Ili River Valley, it is best to send troops from both routes at the same time, advancing from the north and south to capture the entire Ili."

"If we send troops from the north, we will also have to solve the problems of the grassland tribes. The imperial court has only stationed troops and immigrants in Zhangbali (Urumqi), and the tribes farther away have not yet surrendered."

"To the east of Zhangbali is Beiting City, which is the seat of the Beiting Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty and the summer capital of the Gaochang Uighur Kingdom. There are many tribes of all sizes there, and they all fled during the decisive battle last year. According to the news sent back by Wu Jie, the Beiting tribes are fighting with the Naiman tribe because the Naiman tribe suddenly moved south after the beginning of spring."

"To the northwest of Zhangbali is Yemili City (northwest of Tacheng), where Yelu Dashi established his government and called himself Khan."

"When our army marches from the north, we should first recover the tribes of Beiting and resolve the threat from the rear. Then we should make Zhangbali (Urumqi) the rear base of the northern army, send elite troops with civilians to the west, and build a city outside the mountain pass of the southbound passage. While defending the city against threats from Yemili, we should also store food and fodder in preparation for the southern expedition to Yili."

"As for Qiuci, the southern route of the army is extremely dangerous, and the Western Liao Dynasty is very likely to set up many passes. Qiuci, Kashgar, and Hotan were destroyed again this time. Huang Zuo slaughtered many local soldiers and civilians. More Han people need to be relocated to farm in order to ensure the supply of food and grass."

"It will take three to five years of operation and fighting for the northern and southern routes to basically consolidate the newly occupied territories and resume production and stockpiling of food and fodder. At least 40,000 immigrants will be needed, and it would be best if the garrison could be increased by another 5,000!"

"After conquering the Ili Valley, Ili needs more immigrants."

"While we are preparing to send troops to Yili, Western Liao will definitely not be idle. Western Liao will mainly build passes on the southern route, relying on the strong passes to resist the southern army of our Ming Dynasty. In the north, Western Liao will also build passes, but it will mainly rely on grasslands for fighting. Our first step is to subdue the various tribes in Beiting. Next, we should also subdue the Naiman tribe, at least to ensure that the Naiman tribe will not join any side."

"..."

What Li Yanxian said had already been discussed with the Privy Council, and now he was speaking to the emperor and the ministers.

Zhu Ming didn't say anything.

The seven cabinet ministers whispered to each other and raised some detailed questions from time to time.

Li Hanzhang said: "If we continue to increase the number of troops and settlers, the cost of money and food will be too huge. Can we just fight directly?"

Li Bao replied: "We can just fight. First, subdue the Beiting tribes and the Naiman tribe, and suppress the rebellions in Gaochang, Qiuci, Kashgar and other places. Then, regardless of the lives of the local people, forcibly collect more food and fodder, and bring the noble troops north and south of the Tianshan Mountains with us when we fight."

"We can take it that way," Li Yanxian said, "but our army can only occupy key cities. If we control the wider areas, it will be very easy for rebellion to occur in the future."

Qian Chen asked: "Is it possible to immigrate year by year in the future?"

Li Yanxian said, "Yes. But it is very easy to immigrate now. If we continue to immigrate year by year in the future, it will cause more conflicts with the local nobles and people."

After another round of discussion, Zhu Ming made the final decision:
"According to the Privy Council's strategy, the Cabinet and the various ministries should discuss and implement it. When selecting subsequent immigrants, make sure to ensure the supply of materials and don't let the immigrants freeze or starve to death."

"The telegraph antennas must be laid from the Hexi Corridor all the way to the westernmost part."

"For three years, we will not send troops to Yili. We must first consolidate the newly occupied territory. In particular, the tribes of Beiting must be subdued as soon as possible. Beiting City must also have garrisons and immigrants."

With the fighting power of the Ming army, they could certainly kill their way through and even obtain food and fodder along the way.

But what’s the difference between that and Yelu Dashi?

The Ming army simply occupied some important cities and made larger areas its subordinate forces, making it impossible to govern effectively.

That can be done for areas further afield in Central Asia, but the Ili Valley must be actually occupied and controlled!
You have to take it step by step.

It would take another three years to prepare just to capture the Ili River Valley, not to mention the entire Seven Rivers area and Hezhong Prefecture.

The ministers dispersed one after another, and Zhu Ming stared at the map for a long time.

It was like he was playing a coloring-in game.

The Mobei grassland, Junggar Basin, Yunnan, Yili, and even many areas of Guizhou still need Zhu Ming to color them.

Each piece painted represents war, death and conquest.

……

Bukhara.

The king here was also called Ibrahim, and was named Taohuashi Khan by Yelu Dashi.

The Western Liao Dynasty also left a "Shahena" to supervise the rule of King Ibrahim, just like the emperor of the Bukhara Khanate.

This spring, Ajisi led the Khwarezmian army to attack without waiting for his horses to grow fat.

Ibrahim urgently asked Western Liao for help.

How could they possibly wait for reinforcements? The Western Liao suffered heavy casualties in the war last year, and this year they received news that the Ming army was attacking Qiuci. Although the Ming emperor and his ministers decided to wait three years before attacking Yili, the Western Liao emperor and his ministers did not know.

They were always ready to resist the Ming army and did not dare to send troops to rescue Bukhara.

The city of Bukhara was besieged for three months and eventually fell.

Taohuashi Khan Ibrahim was taken prisoner, "Shahina" sent by Western Liao to regent was executed, and the wealth in Bukhara was looted by Khwarezm.

The scale of this battle was not large, but it had a huge impact in Central Asia and West Asia - it indicated the decline of Western Liao and its inability to protect its vassal states.

Far away in Mulu City, Sanjar received the news.

Sanjar called Prime Minister Mulek to discuss the matter: "The Ming Empire's expedition to Gaochang defeated the Black Khitan reinforcements, and I heard that they are still fighting. This is our chance. The Black Khitan is unable to rescue even its vassal state Bukhara, so there is no way they can resist my expeditionary army."

Mulek advised, "Your Majesty, now is not a good time to send troops. In recent years, the vassal states of the Seljuk have declared independence one after another, and there have been frequent rebellions in the country. Even the city of Mulu was looted by Khwarezm. Although we have basically eliminated the rebels in the country, the people are poor and cannot provide food and fodder. If we force the troops to go out, I am afraid that famine will break out everywhere, and then there will be rebellions wreaking havoc again."

"Military rations are not a problem. Wherever the army goes, the locals can provide rations." Sanjar planned to rob them along the way.

Mulek said, "If we really want to send troops, it is better to go north than east. We should attack Khwarezm first. It is closer and weaker, and Ajisi has betrayed us many times. The Black Khitan was beaten by the Ming Dynasty and was unable to resist. It is already declining. We can attack them at any time. But we cannot sit idly by and watch Khwarezm rise. Ajisi is our biggest worry!"

Sanjar thought it made sense and had been convinced by Mulek, and from a personal perspective he also wanted to beat Ajith.

How can an enemy be as hateful as a traitor?

And this traitor has betrayed again and again.

Although the Ming Dynasty failed to capture Yili during its expedition to the Western Regions last year, the subsequent impact of the war spread to West Asia.

The Seljuk Empire, regardless of the fatigue of its soldiers and the hardship of its people, forcibly mobilized a large army to attack Khwarezm.

Upon hearing the news, Ajisi was shocked and immediately sent envoys to negotiate peace.

He was willing to break away from the Western Liao and submit to the Seljuks again. At the same time, he returned all the property he had robbed from the Seljuks, plus some compensation, to Sanjar, and offered a tribute of 30,000 gold coins every year.

Since Western Liao was no longer a threat, Sanjar did not accept surrender as had been historically done.

He led his army all the way to the city of Khwarezm. The arrogant Ajis did not even dare to defend the capital, and fled the city overnight with his trusted troops.

Sanjar led his troops to plunder Khwarezm and established a puppet as the king of Khwarezm. He symbolically pursued and captured two cities, and then returned to the court after the plunder.

Immediately, Khwarezm became divided.

The puppet king supported by Sanjar and Ajisi who abandoned the capital and fled, each gathered a group of nobles and started a civil war.

By the way, Ibrahim, the King of Bukhara who was imprisoned in Khwarezm, was also rescued and released by Sanjar.

In order to repay the favor, Ibrahim betrayed the Western Liao Dynasty and returned to the arms of Sanjar. Bukhara thus became a vassal state of the Seljuks.

At the same time, there was also a fierce fighting in Hezhong Prefecture.

Since the Western Liao did not rescue Bukhara, the vassal states saw its decline. Therefore, the nobles of the Western Karakhanid Khanate rebelled. They first killed the puppet king and the governor of the Western Liao, and then fought with the remnants of the Western Xia who were settled there.

At that time, two to three thousand Western Xia soldiers and civilians in the Hexi Corridor fled to Western Liao.

Yelu Dashi settled them in Hezhong Prefecture and occupied a large amount of farmland and grassland of the Western Kara nobles. The conflict between the two sides became more and more intense. It was good with the Western Liao Dynasty suppressing them, but the conflict broke out immediately after the decline of the Western Liao Dynasty.

The Xixia people were caught off guard and fled to the Fergana Basin in a panic, where they joined forces with the Western Liao garrison there.

A decisive battle broke out between the two sides at the mountain pass. The coalition forces of Western Kara nobles were defeated and chased all the way to Samarkand.

A Tangut noble named Renduoxiuge led his army to attack Samarkand and carried out a bloody massacre in the city. He then appointed himself as the governor of Hezhong Prefecture and requested recognition from the Western Liao Dynasty.

Empress Gantian of Western Liao had to accept it reluctantly, and Hezhong Prefecture inexplicably fell into the hands of the remnants of Western Xia.

But the chaos in Hezhong Prefecture had just begun. Because the Tanguts were too brutal, the remaining nobles in Hezhong Prefecture joined forces to rebel. They did not attack Samarkand, but just occupied their own place and refused to obey orders, and from time to time sent troops to attack the Tanguts' territory.

Moreover, when the Tanguts slaughtered the city, they also slaughtered the temples inside and outside the city, looting the wealth accumulated by the temples for hundreds of years. Therefore, the radical Muslims also took revenge, and Renduo Xiuge was assassinated several times when he went out.

Renduoxiuge does not have the political wisdom of Yelu Dashi, and he has only one way to deal with it: kill!

Further south, the Ghaznavid Dynasty in Afghanistan also chose to attack the Ghurid Dynasty at this time.

The reason was that Gur had oppressed Gur too much. When Sanjar won the victory over Khwarezm, the Gur dynasty immediately sent envoys to pledge allegiance and seek protection from Sanjar.

King Gojinin was Sanjar's nephew. He had long since disregarded his uncle and brazenly sent troops to completely conquer the Ghurid Dynasty.

Sanjar was furious, and he led the Seljuk army that was returning and turned around to attack Gökinen.

The two sides were evenly matched, and after fighting for a while, they each withdrew.

Zhu Ming still doesn't know that his order for an expedition to the Western Regions has triggered a chain reaction, plunging the entire Central Asia into war.

(End of this chapter)