Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The plan provided by the Privy Council was essentially a pincer movement.

The troops were divided into three routes: the central route for defense, and the northern and southern routes for attack.

They could either wipe out the Western Xia in one fell swoop, or stop halfway through the battle to consolidate their advantages and gradually develop their strengths.

Once the first step of the plan is completed, Western Xia will only have the Yinchuan Basin and some other scattered grasslands left.

Zhao Yuan said, "Bring the map over here."

A miniature map of the Tang Dynasty was carried into the conference room by guards.

Holding a slender stick, Zhao Yuan pointed towards the Western Regions and said, "According to information provided by merchants, the Black Khanate (Karakhanate) has long been divided into two countries, East and West."

"What Yelü Dashi annexed this time was the Eastern Black Khanate."

"This is Dayuan, where Emperor Wu of Han demanded the heavenly horses. It is surrounded by mountains and can be cultivated and grazed. Now it has also been occupied by the Western Liao."

"This is Talas, where the Tang Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat, and it has also been occupied by the Western Liao."

"This is the Tianshan Mountains. Today, both the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains belong to the Western Liao..."

As Zhao Yuan pointed out the territory of the Western Liao, the military officials, who already knew about it, remained calm, while the civil officials were extremely surprised.

"The Western Liao is that big?" Zhang Shuye blurted out.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "These are all the old lands of the Tang Dynasty."

Zhang Guangdao slammed his fist on the table and said, "Shoot them all down!"

Zhao Yuan then pointed to the Kereit and Mongol tribes in the northern desert: "We are not afraid of the Western Liao and Western Xia colluding, but if the Kereit and Mongol tribes are added to the mix, we will have to spend a lot of effort to deal with them."

Qian Chen said, "They're so far apart, I'm afraid they won't get involved."

“Others may not be able to, but Yelü Dashi can,” Zhao Yuan said. “Yelü Dashi originally came from the northern desert, and many tribes still remember him.”

"This man is a man of great talent and ambition; he will surely make connections with the Kereit and the Mongols."

"And the Kereit and the chieftains of the Mongols are also ambitious. Even if they don't go all out to go south, they will probably take the opportunity to raid the border."

"At that time, Yue Fei must do everything in his power to guard against the Mongols."

"Han Shizhong should also be prepared for both possibilities, to guard against the Kereit tribe crossing the Yinshan Mountains and moving south."

"Of course, Yelü Dashi's energy is focused on the West."

“As long as we don’t attack Western Xia, he certainly won’t start a war, because his goal is to swallow up the Western Black Khanate.”

Zhang Shuye carefully observed the large map, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

He considered himself knowledgeable about military affairs, but his vision was too narrow and he couldn't keep up with the current situation.

With a few casual gestures, Emperor Zhao encompassed Central Asia and the Mongolian Plateau, and even claimed that these regions would definitely collude with the Western Xia.

Zhao Yuan then pointed to the westernmost part of the map: "The Seljuks are not on the map. Many of their territories outside of the Western Liao were vassal states of the Seljuks."

Chapter 3547 The Envoy from the Western Regions

"Yelü Dashi's expansion in the Western Regions must have been most worrying for the Seljuks."

"I plan to send an envoy by sea to Seljuk to invite the Seljuk king to join me in attacking the Western Liao."

Zhang Shuye was even more bewildered; this series of alliances and counter-alliances had already exceeded the boundaries of the Tang Dynasty.

Zhao Yuan didn't expect the Seljuks to do anything; he just wanted them to cause some trouble for Yelü Dashi and, incidentally, bring back a few Arabian horses.

.....

In fact, the Seljuks had already sent envoys, even bringing Arabian horses with them, to the Ming Dynasty.

The velvet and glass mirrors that he brought back last time, as well as Chinese poems translated into Persian, really made the Seljuk Sultan extremely happy.

He wants more!

Incidentally, the Seljuk Sultan, who was at war every year, was actually an old literary enthusiast.

Fearing that the Arabian horses might die en route, the Seljuk envoys chose to travel by land, specifically the classic route through the Ferghana Basin.

Upon arriving in Samarkand, the Seljuk envoy received news that the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate had been destroyed by Yelü Dashi.

Furthermore, Yelü Dashi established a rule that any envoys or caravans from western countries...

Trade is only permitted to the Dayuan Basin; no further eastward crossing of the Pamir Mountains is allowed!

Yelü Dashi wanted to monopolize the Silk Road and isolate the Ming Dynasty from the Central Asian countries...

This spring, the envoy returned to the Seljuk capital.

The Sultan was furious!

But Gejining (of the Ghaznavid dynasty) was disobedient again, and the Seljuk Sultan planned to deal with that first, so he couldn't spare the time to teach Yelü Dashi a lesson.

Although Ghana had already declined by this time, its territory was still relatively large, encompassing most of Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.

Sanjar, the Seljuk Sultan, has never been defeated and has earned a formidable reputation.

But somehow, they won every year and fought every year.

The vassal states that had been subdued soon became disobedient again after a few years.

Even if you marry your daughter or niece to them to become queen, it won't work; those vassal kings will still cause trouble.

Sometimes, they would simply support their nephews or grandnephews to serve as the monarchs or governors of vassal states.

But once the nephews and nieces have grown big, they want to become independent.

Can't things be a little more peaceful?

Sudan is very tired.

……

Khorasan.

Seljuk Sultan Sanjar assembled an army of 100,000 and marched southeast.

A troop of light cavalry quickly returned to report that Sultan Aladdin of the Ghurid dynasty had defended the city and blocked the attack of Ghoshnin.

However, the capital city of Turquoise Hill was surrounded by the Göjinin army and requested Sanjar to speed up his march to its rescue.

The Ghurid dynasty's territory was reduced to only northwestern Afghanistan.

These were all Seljuk vassal states. How could the suzerain state stand idly by when one vassal state wanted to annex another?

Sanjar was ordering his tribes to speed up when another messenger arrived from the north.

The messenger knelt before Sanjar: "Your Majesty the Sultan, the Eastern Sovereign who annexed the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, has proclaimed himself Jur Khan in Balasagun."

"They also dispatched a detachment to force the Karluk tribe to submit!"

Sanjar asked the scholar accompanying the army, "What does 'Jur Khan' mean?"

This Turkic scholar didn't actually know either, and just made up a story: "The great Sultan, Jur Khan, is the Khan of Ten Thousand Khans."

In fact, Jur Khan was just an ordinary Khan, and could also be translated as Chuluo Khan.

Chapter 3548 The Sweat of Ten Thousand Sweats

However, after Yelü Dashi, Juerhan did indeed come to mean "Khan of Ten Thousand Khans," and this title was subsequently used by some Mongol Khans.

This Khanate became prestigious because of Yelü Dashi.

Just like Li Shimin's title of Heavenly Khan, which is called "Tengri Khan" on the grasslands, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

After Li Shimin, it also became prestigious.

Sanjar sneered: "He is the Khan of Khans, but I am the Sultan of Sultans."

"Once I've punished Ge Jining, I'll definitely go and conquer this Juerhan!"

The Shah of Khwarazm, Ajis, said, “Your Majesty, if the Karluk tribe is conquered by Jur Khan, his territory will border us.”

"The next time I accompany His Majesty on a campaign, I may not be able to deploy more troops."

The Tsars here have different origins than the Tsars of Russia.

Shah was the title of the ancient Persian emperor, meaning "King of Kings".

Now it has evolved to mean provincial governor or king of a vassal state.

Alauddin al-Ajis was the king of Khwarazm, and his country bordered the Western Liao.

At the same time, Ajis was also Sanjar's most favored general, and he was always summoned to accompany him on every campaign.

“You don’t need to be afraid of that Jur Khan,” Sanjar said to Ajis. “If he leads his troops to attack Khwarezm, I will mobilize 300,000 troops to come to its aid.”

Ajis flattered, "With His Majesty's help, Khwarazm will never fear Jurchen Khan."

“Let’s go,” Sanjar said with a smile.

Ajis immediately rode after them and recited a four-line poem in Persian, praising Sanjar's illustrious military exploits.

As soon as the poem was finished, Sanjar burst into laughter.

Ajis laughed along, but what he was thinking was that after returning to Khwarezm, he would send a messenger to contact Yelü Dashi.

Ajis was a powerful figure in Central Asia, which can be summed up in eight words: flexible and unyielding, but lacking in martial ethics!

Historically, he first secretly colluded with the Western Liao and rebelled against the Seljuks.

Then they fought against the Western Liao, were defeated and forced to submit, and at the same time annexed the territory of the Seljuk.

When the Seljuks returned, he surrendered to them again, abandoning the Western Liao Dynasty...

He repeatedly betrayed and surrendered, eventually outliving Yelü Dashi and turning Sanjar into a puppet sultan. Then he amassed large territories of the Western Liao and Seljuk territories.

He also invited numerous renowned scholars and religious leaders, along with valuable gifts, to persuade the fleeing son of the Khan of the Zandi Khan to return to the country and succeed to the throne.

Upon the exiled prince's return to his country, he was immediately imprisoned and murdered, displaying no credibility whatsoever, and alienating the scholars and leaders who had spoken up for him.

This troublemaker from Khwarezm was a key figure in Yelü Dashi's victory over the Seljuks.

……

The Ming Dynasty is currently selecting officials for its diplomatic mission, which will depart once the winter monsoon arrives.

Not only did they need to visit the Seljuks, but they also needed to establish contact with various countries along the way, as a way to explore the future of the Ming Dynasty's voyages across the seas.

The gifts (goods) are still being selected, and the Enco event is about to take place.

The Jin Dynasty civil officials who surrendered either migrated with their families last year or stayed to help with the household registration and civil service examinations.

During this process, eight people were killed by the censors of the Censorate, all on charges of corruption, embezzlement, and concealing people!

The rest were all terrified and came to take the Enke exam this year with trepidation.

"The Eastern Capital during the Tang Dynasty, the Western Capital during the Song Dynasty, truly lives up to its reputation!" Zhang Hao exclaimed as he stood in the city.

He was standing in the southeastern part of the city, the most bustling commercial area in Luoyang.

Moreover, all the illegal buildings were demolished, and the streets appeared well-organized.

They had already checked into the inn, and Liu E (Liu E's brother) suggested, "Let's go and find out where the best restaurant in Luoyang is."

"Yes, yes, yes, let's first drink some fine Luoyang wine and slowly appreciate the charm of Luoyang," everyone praised.

This special imperial examination was specifically for the civil officials of the Jin Dynasty, with only twenty places for Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), yet more than three hundred people applied to participate.

In order to meet the registration requirements, some people even changed their age.

The group strolled along, inquiring about the restaurant.

But then someone came staggering over, and as they got closer, they realized that the person looked very familiar.

"Your Majesty...Wu Qimai?"

Zhang Hao blurted it out, then quickly changed his form of address midway.

Wu Qimai, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly looked up upon hearing this and saw these former Jin officials. His mind went blank and his face turned red.

Immediately, both of them turned away, as if they didn't know each other.

Zhang Hao beckoned his servant over and whispered something to him.

The servant secretly followed Wu Qimai and, after about half an hour, ran back to report: "Sir, Wu Qimai went to the pawnshop today and pawned the robe bestowed upon him by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to buy wine."