Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 423 Khotan Strategy (Thanks to book friends 16043379/20225017 for the monthly ticket!)
The next day, October 4, the 31st year of Kaixi, intelligence came from the battlefield in West Asia: the First and Second Front Armies of the Longxiang Army, totaling ten corps, besieged Bukhara, the capital of the Samanid Dynasty, for more than seven months and captured the city on September 2.

After more than ten days of street fighting with the Samanid army and the Star Cult coalition forces in the city, 270,000 enemy troops were annihilated and 120,000 fled.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Mansur, the king of the Samanid dynasty, retreated to the palace, ordered his most favored concubines to commit suicide, and then committed suicide.

The three princes were taken out of the palace by the imperial guards and fled among the people, but were captured by the Zhou army soon after.

The "Battle of Habur" lasted for eight months, during which the Star Sect coalition suffered 730,000 casualties, while the Great Zhou suffered around 70,000 casualties.

After the military supervisor eunuch led the Wude Division and the military police to count the national treasury, they found 12 million taels of silver, more than 5,000 rare treasures, and more than 1,500 captured beauties from the harem.

The Samanid Dynasty, as the most powerful Star Religious country, had a population of over 11 million, a land area of ​​2.85 million square kilometers, and more than 130 states.

After conquering the Samanid Empire, and with the newly incorporated Gaochang Kingdom, the population of the Great Zhou Empire exceeded 110 million in one fell swoop.

The Samanid Dynasty was founded in 874 and was destroyed in the 31st year of Kaixi (990) during the reign of Emperor Shizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chai Zongxun. It lasted for five generations and eight monarchs.

After reading the memorials from the front line, Chai Zongxun was very pleased and sent a decree to Huyan Zan, Jingsheng and other generals of the Longxiang Army, ordering them to take a temporary break and replenish the organization after pacifying the entire Samanid Empire. After the arrival of the court officials and garrisons, they would attack the two great religious powers, the Black Caliphate and the Khwarezm, after New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Since the Imperial Guards Commander Chen Jixing and Longxiang Army Commander Yang Yanzhao took over the remaining territory of Gaochang, their progress has been extremely rapid. The vast majority of prefectures and cities surrendered upon seeing the imperial edict, and there were less than ten battles during the entire process.

On October 20th of the 31st year of Kaixi, the entire Gaochang region was pacified. After Chen Jixing and Yang Yanzhao arranged temporary garrisons in various states, they rushed back to Gaochang City.

On October 21, Chai Zongxun summoned all the ministers around him to discuss the next strategy.

The commander of the Imperial Guards, Chen Jixing, said:

"Your Majesty, the war between our Great Zhou and the Star Cult coalition is now a sure win.

According to intelligence received yesterday, the court officials and garrison troops who are rushing to take over Gaochang will arrive the day after tomorrow.

Your Majesty personally led the army and conquered Gaochang in just one month. I think it would be better to take down Khotan in one fell swoop."

The Kingdom of Khotan was located on the main route of the eastward spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road. It had a strong Buddhist faith and was a center for the propagation of Mahayana Buddhism.

Politically, it was a monarchy, and had always had close relations with the Central Plains dynasty, being subject to the rule of the Central Plains unified dynasty and accepting its garrison troops;
Economically, it is mainly agricultural, with a developed textile industry and abundant jade.

Culturally, Khotan was good at singing and dancing, which were popular in the Central Plains. It had many Buddhist scriptures and was one of the sources of Buddhism in the Central Plains.

There is also a long-standing legend about the origin of Khotan's textile industry.

Xuanzang's "A Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty" tells the story of the Kingdom of Khotan obtaining silkworms and silkworm seeds. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the king of the Kingdom of Qusadan, also known as Khotan, proposed marriage to the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The princess of the Eastern Kingdom of the Han Dynasty hid silkworm eggs in her hat and brought the silkworm seeds to the Kingdom of Qusadan. She also built a temple for the silkworm seeds, called Mashe Sangharama, and issued an order not to harm mulberry silkworms. From then on, the Kingdom of Khotan began to have a silk weaving industry.

Khotan is Tibetan, meaning "a place where jade is produced".

"Records of the Grand Historian" records that "the source of the river is in Khotan, and its mountains are full of jade." Khotan is famous for its beautiful jade. Today, jade is called gyu in Tibetan and cities are called tong. Some scholars have inferred that the name Khotan should be the transliteration of the Qiang language "Wangcheng" (a place where jade is produced).

Jade mining and processing in Khotan has a long history. As early as the Xia and Shang dynasties, Khotan's jade was introduced to the mainland.

Since the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the territory of Khotan has expanded four or five times, the land has increased, and agricultural production has developed. There are five large cities and dozens of small cities in Khotan. The land is mainly planted with hemp, wheat, millet, rice, and five fruits. There are many gardens, and the mountains produce beautiful jade. Agriculture is prosperous.

The main crops such as wheat, barley and sesame had a good harvest. In addition to self-consumption, a large amount of grain entered the market for exchange. Other handicraft products were also relatively abundant, and the commodity economy was active.

By the 30th year of Kaixi during the reign of Chai Zongxun, trade between the two countries was frequent, with the annual commodity trading volume reaching around 30 million taels.

The Kingdom of Khotan has a long history and a long line of kings. In the 2nd century BC, the Kingdom of Khotan appeared in the form of a city-state, and the Yuchi clan established the country during the Western Han Dynasty.

The Yuchi royal court continued until the time of Chai Zongxun. The current monarch was Yuchi Sengkaramo, the son of Yuchi Bodhidharma, who ascended the throne in the 26th year of Kaixi (985).

At present, Khotan has 51 prefectures and a population of 3.7 million.

He Yao, the chief eunuch in front of the palace, said:
“Your Majesty had just taken Gaochang when news came from the front line of West Asia that the Longxiang Army had conquered the Samanid Dynasty. It was a time when the whole world was shocked by the victory.

Your Majesty only needs to send a general to lead the army to Khotan to give instructions, and Yuchi Sengkharama will be afraid of your majesty's divine power and will surrender with his entire country."

Now Gaochang has taken advantage of the internal strife to incorporate it into Zhou territory. If Khotan is also incorporated, the Hexi Corridor and Tubo areas of the Great Zhou and the Karakhanid area of ​​Central Asia will be completely connected, and there will be no foreign countries anymore.

Afterwards, the construction of water conservancy irrigation, the Great Zhou Straight Road, and the promotion of the "local worthy system" and the "jury system" will be ten or a hundred times faster under Chai Zongxun's Great Zhou Empire than under Gaochang and Khotan, and will surely greatly promote the economic development and political clarity of these regions.

Chai Zongxun frowned and said:

“What you two dear ministers have suggested is a good strategy.

However, our Great Zhou has always had friendly relations with Khotan, and it is also our vassal state. Its king, Yuchi Sengkhara, is even more respectful to me than his father.

Under what pretext shall I send troops to attack them?"

The ministers in the hall discussed for a while, and all felt that it was difficult to find a fair and justifiable reason to attack Khotan.

Chen Ding, the pacification envoy of the Wude Division, suddenly said:

"Your Majesty, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is time for our Great Zhou to take over Khotan. As long as the reason for sending troops is not too bizarre, it will be fine.

During our army's attack on Gaochang, a few followers of the Mo Zang clan and civilians fled to Khotan. I think we can use this as an excuse to send troops to attack Khotan. I believe Yuchi Sengkharama will not dare to resist. "

Chai Zongxun sighed:
“That’s all there is to it.

This time I am traveling with the imperial family to escape the summer heat, and it happens that an opportunity has come to capture Gaochang. We have already moved here for more than a month, and we must rush back to Bianliang to celebrate the New Year before the New Year's Eve at the end of the year.

The person sent to Khotan must be both wise and brave, and be able to intimidate the ruler and ministers of Khotan in one fell swoop. It would be best if he surrendered quickly.

If Yuchi Sengkara does not surrender, I will leave a general here to lead the army to fight, and I will return to Dunhuang and take the imperial family back to Bianjing."

When the generals heard this, they all vied with each other to request to go to war with Yutian.

(End of this chapter)