First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 547 Grassland Situation

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Liu Hongji took a deep look at the several Hu Chiefs present, and finally nodded in satisfaction.

"Liu Dudu, I will present myself to the imperial court and ask for surrender." The sophisticated Ah Hui Suzhi understood it, and immediately went out to worship and fell to the ground, "Please take him in with the governor."

Dahe Mohui and others looked at each other, and they all got down from their seats and bowed down, "Please take him in with the governor."

Now that things have happened, they don't hesitate anymore, and they only blame the East Turks for oppressing them too hard.

If in the past, they were still afraid of Turkic retaliation, but this time Jieli's massive attack on Chang'an ended in vain, which made Jieli Khan's prestige plummet. It turns out that the Eastern Turkic Khanate is not what it seems sharp.

However, when the Hu chieftains asked to be attached, Liu Hongji shook his head and said with a smile: "You are not submitting to the Tang Dynasty, but to Sumomohe".

Dudi Ji heard the words and grinned. Li Shimin had already issued a secret decree to him about this point, and this was exactly Gao Chong's plan. As the saying goes, the grassland tribes should settle matters on the grassland.

Now the time has not come, and Datang is not suitable for starting a national war. Once the Khitan and other tribes directly surrender to Datang, it will definitely anger Jieli Khan completely, and Datang will also bear the reputation of breaking the covenant.

At that time, the Khitan and other ministries will submit letters to them, angering Jieli Khan, and it is not enough to fight. The Tang Dynasty is not strong enough, but it is even more impossible to refuse to accept the Khitan and other ministries, so this concept only needs to be changed.

This year was bitterly cold, and the Khitan and other tribes had difficulty surviving, so they attached themselves to the millet mohe in Yingzhou. Attached to Xieli Khan, there are layers of ownership, and the Turkic Khanate itself is a tribal alliance.

As for Jieli Khan's punishment of Sumo Mohe, it is even simpler. Tuli's little Khan has great talents and few talents. Intentionally contacting Tuli, when the time comes, pretend to be attached to Tuli, and Tuli will stand in front to resist the anger from Jieli Khan.

When Dahemo and the others heard the words, they suddenly realized, and immediately paid homage to Tudiji.

Tudiji was overjoyed, he never thought that Sumo Mohe would be able to get the surrender of the Khitan and other tribes today, but Tudiji was not complacent, he knew very well that the Khitan and other tribes did not really submit to Sumo Mohe, but surrendered behind his back Datang.

It is also this ideological awareness that made Tudiji's life start well and end well, live a rich life, and enjoy a long life.

After meeting with Tudiji, Dahe Mohui looked at Liu Hongji, hesitant to speak.

Upon seeing this, Liu Hongji said directly: "Chief Dahe has something to say."

Dahe Mohui hesitated for a moment, and then said: "This year, the grassland white hair style is very strong, and the tribe can't last long. Can I ask the court to help me with some supplies?"

Liu Hongji narrowed his eyes when he heard the words, which is also reasonable. These tribes turned their backs on the Turks and voted for Datang secretly.

"Chief Dahe, don't worry," Liu Hongji said with a warm smile, "Since you have joined Datang, you are citizens of Datang. I have written to the imperial court, requesting the allocation of food and grass to relieve the victims of disasters in various ministries."

When he said these words, Liu Hongji's heart was bleeding. Datang is also poor now, and the price of food remains high, but there is no other way. If we can win the surrender of these tribes by just supporting some supplies, it is quite a good deal.

Ogama will be overjoyed and thank you immediately.

At this time, Liu Hongji suddenly remembered the kit that Gao Chong had reserved for him at that time. At that time, Gao Chong said that he would open the kit after the Khitan and other ministries surrendered.

Liu Hongji didn't dare to delay, and immediately ordered someone to fetch the kit, but everyone didn't understand, so seeing that Liu Hongji didn't mean to say anything, they talked about it among themselves.

Ji Nianxu laughed suddenly and said: "You must thank the Emperor Tang for his gift, otherwise today's severe winter will be hard to bear, and you will only have to suffer from hunger and cold if you guard those cattle and sheep empty-handed."

Seeing Tu Diji's expression of "a villain's success", Ahui Suzhi and others did not deny it, and nodded in agreement.

"What the governor of Tudi said is that it's a pity that those cattle and sheep will freeze to death in half a month."

The first time Li Ji was chatting with Ren Gui, the two of them were ordered to suppress the battle, when they overheard Ah Hui Su Zhi's words, Li Ji's heart moved, and he immediately went to Liu Hongji's ear to whisper.

Liu Hongji's eyes lit up after hearing this, and the two immediately discussed in a low voice.

At this time, the attendant had already fetched the kit from the back office, Liu Hongji was stunned when he opened it, and immediately handed it to Li Ji.

Li Ji took a look and saw a piece of silk cloth on which it was written: "If Chief Hu asks for food and grass, he must exchange it with cattle, horses and sheep...".

The two looked at each other and saw a smile in each other's eyes. Li Ji sighed: "Youzhi has a long-term vision, and I have thought of this a long time ago."

On the grassland, in a cold winter like this year, the white hair wind is raging, and many nomadic cattle, horses and sheep will freeze to death. The grassland is a vast expanse of whiteness, with no cow and horse manure, no grass and trees for fire, no fresh horse milk, and no extra Salt to pickle those frozen horses, cattle and sheep.

So every winter is the most difficult time for nomads, especially this year's extremely cold weather.

Don’t think that in winter on the grassland, you only need to eat the frozen cattle and sheep. In fact, in this era, the lack of supplies on the grassland in winter is comprehensive. There is no warm clothing, no fire and heating materials, and one winter passes. There are countless cattle, horses, sheep and herdsmen who froze to death.

Li Ji just heard what Ahui Suzhi said, and he thought of exchanging cattle, horses and sheep. If it is said that food such as rice noodles is also scarce in Tang Dynasty now, but materials such as salt, firewood, and clothing are not so scarce.

The white disaster is getting more and more serious. The Khitan and other tribes can exchange their cattle, horses and sheep for the Tang Dynasty's salt, firewood, and clothing. With salt, the frozen cattle and sheep can be pickled, and with firewood, they can light a fire. To keep warm and barbecue, with clothes, you will not be afraid of freezing to death.

For both parties, there is no harm in exchanging what is needed.

Liu Hongji immediately stepped forward and proposed this strategy of exchanging needs. As expected, Dahe Mohui and others were very happy without any resistance.

Anyway, for them, those cattle, horses and sheep will freeze to death in half a month, so it is better to exchange for some salt, firewood and clothes, these are very practical supplies.

The two sides hit it off immediately, and Liu Hongji, Tudiji and others immediately ordered to prepare a large amount of salt, firewood and other materials in the area under their jurisdiction.

Yingzhou, Youzhou, Yanzhou and other places are all near the sea, so there is no shortage of salt, and the vast Yanshan Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, and the vegetation withers in winter, and there is no shortage of firewood.

Tuli rushed back to Youzhou Yazhang in a hurry, fearing that the rear would catch fire, but when he returned to Youzhou, he was dumbfounded.

Not only did the Khitan tribes not rebel, but they became more respectful to him, the little khan, and offered to donate a lot of cattle and sheep, as well as scarce materials such as salt and clothes.

Then Liu Hongji even claimed that under Li Shimin's order, he sent someone to send some supplies for the winter to Tuli. As a cousin, salt and firewood were not lacking in Tang Dynasty.

Tuli looked at the pile of firewood and the salt, and was stunned on the spot. He turned to look at his younger brother Ashina, and suddenly asked, "I asked you to guard the house in Yazhang. What did you do?"

The association rate looked blank, "I...it's freezing outside, and I haven't even had a tooth tent before."

Then the leader of the association stepped forward and happily picked up a bundle of firewood, "This is a good thing."

Tuli was silent for a long time, and then he grinned. This should be a gift from brother Li Shimin. It is the urgently needed supplies in the grassland. Mohe also donated some supplies to Tuli, which made Tuli Little Khan excited.

After Xieli returned to the tooth tent in Dingxiang City, after thinking about it, he finally felt that something was wrong, but he had missed the best time. Although Jieli was angry, he had no choice but to vent his anger on some tribes in Mobei, and Tuli in the east.

Needless to say, Tuli has always been dissatisfied with Xieli, but this time Xieli led the army to go south, and the tribes of Bayegu and Tongluo in Mobei were severely affected, so they refused to donate winter supplies to Xieli. Li was furious and decided to lead the Northern Expedition after the white disaster.

The white hair wind was still raging on the grassland. The herdsmen were starving and freezing. Many people shivered in tents and ate cold jerky. Horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock were killed and injured.

The nobles still sang and danced in the big tent. The burning horse dung and cow dung made the tent warm. The warm custard wine and the roasted beef and mutton made the nobles completely forget their people. is suffering.

At the same time, the situation in the western part of the desert is also colorful.

In the third year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Ashina Tumen, the leader of the Turkic tribe, was born. He defeated the Rouran, Tiele and other tribes in Mobei in one fell swoop, and established a Turkic Khanate spanning thousands of miles in Mobei, named Yili Khan.

Not long after the establishment of the Turkic Khanate, Yili Khan's younger brother, Ashina Shi, was ordered to conquer the Western Regions.

It took more than ten years for Ashina Shidianmi to conquer the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and Shidianmi was named the Western Little Khan of the Turkic Khanate, and his status was second only to the Great Khan.

Ashina Shidianmi established the Khan Court on Sanmi Mountain in the north of Kucha. At this time, it was still a unified Turkic Khanate, and Shidianmi, the little khan, was still under the rule of the great khan.

After the death of Ashina Shidianmi, his son Ashina Chanjue succeeded to the throne.

At this time, the Great Khan of the Turkic Khanate was Ashina, named Sabolo Khan.

Sabolo Khan is the grandson of Yili Khan Ashina Tumen. According to his seniority, Ashina Chanjue is Sabolo Khan's uncle.

However, the two uncles and nephews of Ashina Tanjue were at odds and attacked each other. After the Sui Dynasty's division strategy, the Turkic Khanate began a civil war that lasted for more than [-] years, and finally officially split into East Turkic Khanate during Kaihuang. The Khanate and the Western Turkic Khanate, Ashina Dianjue established himself as a Khan in the Western Regions, named Datou Khan.

From the second year of Emperor Kaihuang, when the Turkic Khanate split, to the eighth year of Wude, the Western Turks had passed to the sixth Khan, Tongyehu Khan, and the Eastern Turks were also the sixth Khan, namely Jieli Khan .

It is worth mentioning that the reigns of the two khans of Eastern and Western Turks, Tongyehu Khan and Jieli Khan, were both at their peak.

Needless to say, the Eastern Turkic Jieli Khan conquered dissidents, oppressed the grasslands, and invaded the Tang Dynasty year after year.

The Tongyehu Khan of the Western Turks was not simple either. Jieli Khan inherited his father and brother's foundation, and Tongyehu Khan also inherited his father's and brother's foundation. Tongyehu Khan's elder brother was Shekui Khan.

Shekui Khan is to the Western Turks, just like the Shibi Khan to the Eastern Turks. Both of them are the ones who established hegemony.

In the west, after Tongyehu Khan succeeded to the throne, he actively organized his army and prepared for war. Like Jieli Khan, he conquered non-officials, destroyed nine Tiele tribes in the north, crossed the Amu Darya River in the west, annexed Tocharia, and expanded thousands of miles. The center of gravity of the Khanate was moved westward, and the tooth tent was placed in Qianquan (now Tokmak) in Shiguo in the Western Regions.

Tong Yehu Khanxiong deeply understood the principle of "ruling the barbarians with the barbarians". After destroying the countries in the Western Regions, he enfeoffed the rulers of the Western Regions, known as "Qilifa", and continued to rule the old land, and then sent a Turkic nobleman to lead the country. The local army is responsible for collecting taxes and is known as "Tutun".

Relying on this policy of "ruling the barbarians with the barbarians", Tong Yehu Khan quickly stabilized his rule, and in the second year of Wude, he took the initiative to send envoys to the Tang Dynasty, requesting an alliance, and allied forces to resist the East Turks.

In the next few years, the Western Turks flourished to the extreme, from Dunhuang in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west, controlling hundreds of thousands of strings, and their national power was very strong. In terms of foreign policy, Tong Yehu Khan was very rational, and he linked up with the Tang Dynasty in the East to resist the East Turks. Western rejection of Persia.

In the second year of Wude, after the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Turks, Li Yuan adopted Pei Ju's strategy of "making friends from afar and attacking near" and sent Gaoping Wang Li Daoli to the Western Turks to express his marriage. In Hexi, the connection between Western Turks and Datang was interrupted, and the marriage had to be abandoned.

It can only be said that it was God's will. The East and West Turks have split up to now. The two khans are all heroes and dominate one side, but it seems that it is God's will in the dark. These two khans have become the same headstrong in their later years. Suspicious and conceited.

And on this point, Tong Yehu of the Western Turks is even better than Jieli Khan of the Eastern Turks.

In his later years, Jieli Khan extorted violently, was suspicious and suspicious, treated the tribal leaders who surrendered to him as slaves, flogged and insulted them at will, and finally forced the tribes of East Turks to rebel one after another.

However, Jieli Khan still had a bit of respect for the Turkic nobles. He not only named his nephew Ashinas Bobi the Tuli Little Khan, but also deliberately used the available materials in the clan, such as Ashinas Mofeng As a special service (noble title), Ashinasheer was granted the title of Tuoshe (little chief).

Those who first rebelled against Jieli Khan were those Mobei tribes, Uighurs, Xueyantuo and other tribes, not the Turkic tribes. bit.

But Tong Yehu Khan of Western Turkic was not the same. The people who rebelled against Tong Yehu were his own clan, even his close relatives.

Tong Yehu Khan adopted the uniform of enfeoffment and restraint, and appointed Turkic aristocrats as "Tutuns" in various countries in the Western Regions, in charge of the army, and collected taxes. In fact, these Tutuns were already independent princes.

The effect of this method in the early stage is very significant, it is conducive to the stability of the rule, and it can suppress countries very well.

However, in the later period of the reign, those Tutun began to sit big, similar to the local feudal towns in the late Tang Dynasty, and some thoughts that should not have gradually sprouted.

In addition, when Tong Yehu Khan was old, he had a very violent personality and killed the tribal leaders at will.

Finally, Ge Luolu, a nomadic Tiele tribe in the west of Jinshan Mountain (now Altai Mountain), took the lead in raising troops, and then many tribes rebelled one after another, and the Western Turkic Khanate was in chaos ever since.

Facing the chaos, Tong Yehu Khan asked the young Western Turkic Khan Ashina Quliqi and Teqin Ashina to lead troops to suppress the rebellion.

At this time, Tong Yehu Khan began to distrust foreigners. Ashina Quli was his uncle, and Ashina Kuli was his son.

However, it was Tongyehu Khan's move that killed him.

(End of this chapter)