The struggle of the reborn prince

Yelu Dashi 'accepted' Yelushu Xue's suggestion to talk peace with Song.As a pioneering monarch, he naturally has a clear head, quick thinking, knows how to choose and give up, and understands that cooperation with Song is obviously more beneficial.Not to mention, the [-] troops trapped in Gaochang are of decisive significance to the population-precious Xiliao at this moment. With them, there will be a little more chance of winning in the battle with Seljuk.

After persuading the ministers, Yelu Dashi immediately sent Yelushu Xue as a special envoy to Gaochang to negotiate with the Song army.They thought that the negotiations would be very difficult when the Song army had the upper hand, but they couldn't believe it turned out to be smooth.The Song army agreed to coordinate with the Xia army to release the Western Liao army back to the country, and ensured that it would not be attacked along the way; while the Xiliao had to recognize the fact that Gaochang was already owned by the Song Dynasty, allow the Song Dynasty and the caravans traveling to and from the Song Dynasty to pass through and ensure their safety and interests; it is proposed that Song and Liaoben are brotherly countries, and they are still willing to restore friendly relations with them.

Song Jun's request was reasonable and reasonable, and there was no excessive request. Xiliao had no reason to refuse, and they all agreed.At the time of parting, Gao Chong, the commander of the Song Army, said that they already knew that Xiliao and the Seljuks were about to go to war, and that they could send troops to assist Xiliao in resisting the invading enemy if necessary. After all, the two countries are still countries of in-laws.Moreover, the Seljuks occupied the trade routes, robbed and squeezed the caravans coming from the Song Dynasty, which had aroused the emperor's wrath, and hinted that his Song navy had reached the Persian Gulf, and they were going to punish Seljuks and help them if necessary. Xiliao gave a helping hand.

Then the Song army sent people to the Xia army camp to inform that Gaochang had surrendered, and the Song and Liao countries had reached an armistice agreement, and they could occupy the land of Gaochang east of the Qaidam River according to the previous agreement.The war is over.It's a big deal for nothing, Xi Xia has nothing to be happy about.Immediately gave up the attack, and the Xiliao army was able to escape.Return under the escort of Song Jun.The Xiliao people felt embarrassed at this time, and sent people back some food, cattle and sheep to reward the army to express their gratitude.

Regardless of previous suspicions, the Song people generously released the Xiliao army that had invaded Gaochang again, making Yelu Dashi and the officials of Xiliao feel the sincerity of the Song Dynasty's peace.They were also shocked by the news that the Song Dynasty navy had arrived in the Persian Gulf. This showed that the Song Dynasty not only had the strength to go on expeditions on the road, but also could do it at sea. Liao.

Yelu Dashi's re-acquaintance with the strength of the Song Dynasty made him pleasantly surprised.Surprised that Song's strength is so strong, his desire to restore the country has become out of reach, although the Song Dynasty claimed that they have a common enemy.But he understands that the Song Dynasty will not let him regain the glory of the former Daliao Kingdom. They marched into Gaochang and Mobei to warn him not to think about returning to the Central Plains. The troops and combat power of the army are enough to defeat Xiliao.Now they can be regarded as "better before the soldiers" when they show their favor.

Figured out the joints, Song also gave the steps, Yelu Dashi could no longer be ignorant of good and bad, and ordered to send envoys to the Song Dynasty in the name of visiting the princess of Shu Kingdom, and rebuilt the old friendship with Song Dynasty and became a country of brothers.Acquiescing to the Song Dynasty's occupation of Mobei and Gaochang areas, establishing a market for interoperable trade, and hoping to send troops to resist the invasion of the Seljuks when necessary, and reopen the ancient Silk Road.

Get Xiliao's response.Gao Chong relaxed a lot. Now that they lack ammunition and fight again, although they will not fail, they will definitely fight very hard.He reported the situation to Zhao Litong in Gaochang City.He also reported the victory to the emperor and asked the imperial court to send people to take over the newly occupied land, and sent troops to escort the Liao envoy to Tokyo.The task of the Western Expeditionary Army was also changed from preparing for combat to eliminating the remaining resistance forces.Receive and establish local government, appease the people to resume production.

While reaching a peace agreement with Song.Xiliao was able to deal with the Seljuks with all their strength, but when the swords were about to be ready for a war, the situation slowed down-the Seljuk vassal Khwarazimo wanted to become independent, and Sanjar had to deal with this sudden situation first. event.

Khwarazmo is located in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River and is also a vassal state of the Seljuk Sultanate. In the middle of the eleventh century, a personal guard named Anu Shi Teqin who was born as a slave in the palace was favored by The favorite of Sultan Malik Shah, like all his favorite ministers, he soon rose to the top and became an important member of the court, from a slave to a dazzling political star.

Later, Anu Shi Teqin was appointed by the Sudan as the governor of Khwarazmo.His son, Kududin, continued to serve the Sultan with a respectful heart, kept the handed down territory, and at the same time won the title of "Sha" (king).Kududin died after ruling Khwarazmo for 30 years. His son Ahjis was ambitious and was not satisfied with being a vassal of Seljuk Sultan. He betrayed Sultan Sanjar and refused to pay tribute.He tried to establish an independent and powerful country at any cost, and Sultan Sanjar lost his temper for this, and made a mess...

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When Gaochang was captured by the Western Expeditionary Army, the Song Shui Army fleet also entered the Persian Gulf waters in May after half a year of arduous sailing, and their understanding of their future opponents was limited to a few words from businessmen, and they had never touched On the other hand, they don't know much about their combat methods. They only heard that they fought a beautiful naval battle hundreds of years ago and wiped out the once powerful Persian navy.

Along the way, Song Shuijun only came into contact with some pirates in sailing boats, but when they saw the tall and majestic warships of the Song Army, they avoided them far away and did not dare to go forward to fight. It's terribly aggrieved.After entering the Arabian Sea, in order to conceal their true purpose, they docked their fleet at the port of Soder on the west bank.It was a prosperous place in the seventh century, and it was an important trading port. However, the city was destroyed by an earthquake a hundred years ago and became a ruin. Now there is only one village left here, and all of them are poor people with nowhere to go. Control and Confidentiality.

At the time of the expedition, it was claimed to dispatch a thousand warships, but in fact there were not so many. The navy used five three-tier test ships, ten god-class warships, and twenty brave-class warships, and there were also infantry troops. More than [-] large transport ships and supply ships, mixed with the merchant ships, went to sea together.Although the city is abandoned, the port is still there, just hidden in it.Cheng Xishou followed the merchant ship and went to 'Ji Shi Guo' a hundred miles away to spy on the enemy...

In fact, the maritime history of Arabia is shorter than that of Central Plains. Even if they sailed in the early days, they were just doing business or being pirates, and their ships were only hired by Greeks or Copts to drive them. Arabs themselves never sailed. fight.Even those Arab ethnic groups who settled in the Arabian Peninsula were far inferior to the Persians in their navigation and shipbuilding skills when the Muslim Empire conquered and ruled the Persian Gulf area in the early days.

But after nearly a century of practice and progress, the Arabs in the Abbasid dynasty had inherited the nautical tradition and experience of the early Persians, using Persian sailors who had surrendered the Arab Empire and converted to Islam, and began sailing on the seas facing China. It has risen and occupied an important position in trade, and now it is the leader of the Asian ocean world, controlling the most prosperous waterway in the Middle East, and mastering the maritime dominance of East-West trade.

Shiguo is the name of the Central Plains people. In fact, it is a small island located on the east coast of the Persian Gulf about [-] miles long from east to west and [-] miles wide from north to south. The strait, this island replaced Corpse Siege City a hundred years ago as an important trade center with the Eastern countries.Cheng Xishou can be said to be an old businessman, and he has gained knowledge after traveling all over the sea for many years, but his eyes still shine after he came to the island with the caravan.There are a large number of merchant ships from the East and Arabia gathered here, and it is worthy of being the most prosperous envoy in the Persian Gulf.

The whole island is a big market, where merchants from various countries trade goods. On the one hand, merchants from Song Dynasty, Iraq, Yemen and Persia brought all kinds of silk, purple cotton, linen, cotton fabric, linen, wheat, barley, Various grains and dried fruits such as millet and rye were imported into the island for mutual market; on the one hand, Indian merchants imported a large amount of various spices.

The residents of this island make a living as intermediary merchants from the merchants on both sides, and the government collects heavy taxes from here or half-buys and buys goods and sells them further to Europe to earn huge profits.In addition to normal commodities, there is actually a slave trade center here. Pirates often go to the coast of Zanzibar in East Africa to plunder black people and transport them back to the Persian Gulf as slaves for sale to various countries.

Cheng Xishou lamented the development of commerce here, and finally withdrew his eyes reluctantly, and finally did not forget that he still had other tasks, and re-examined the island's defense measures.The Arabs built a walled city on the shore of the island near the port. The city wall is not very tall and has tall watchtowers.He visually measured the distance. If the battleship was close to the port, the naval guns could completely penetrate the city.

Dozens of giant sailboats are moored on one side of the port, which seem to be carved from a single giant wood. The hull is narrower and slender than the warships in the east. There are two layers of oars on both sides, and the length of the ship is about ten feet. The prow has a huge angle of attack.After careful observation, Cheng Xishou realized that these warships belonged to galleys in terms of their size and equipment, and they could carry about 300 soldiers, and more than [-] if sailors were added.The ship is not equipped with trebuchets, let alone artillery, so the original tactics of ramming the enemy ship and jumping onto the enemy ship should still be used... (to be continued...)