I

It was not until the Chinese army came to Salitash, which was the Chihe Station in the Tang Dynasty, that the garrison of the Bukhara Kingdom woke up from a dream.

For King Bukhara, the only function of Congling Ridge is to collect tolls for caravans.They didn't even bother to build checkpoints at the mountain pass, because the environment at the mountain pass was harsh, and it was not as convenient as collecting taxes at Chihe Station, which was a must pass on the Silk Road anyway.

Thousands of troops came, and the guard Said was stunned.

He knew that Yarkand was at war, so from last year to now, business travel has almost stopped.But I never thought that the Chinese army actually crossed the mountain pass and led troops to kill the city where they were stationed.

Said is called the guard, but he is actually a road tax collector.

The number of soldiers under his command is full, but the number is still less than 500-here is too poor, and it is not cost-effective to transport food long distances, so there are too many soldiers and it is impossible to support them.

Outside the castle, there are many merchants from Central Asia.

They came last year, but the Chinese army blocked the mountain pass and temporarily prohibited the caravan from passing through, so they had to retreat to Chihe Station to wait for the opening of the trade route.

Both defenders and merchants have heard rumors of the Chinese army and know that it is a group of soldiers who can summon devils.

At this moment, merchants outside the city ran away one after another.

But they don't want to go too far, they also want to go to Kashgar to buy Chinese goods and ship them to Central Asia.

Liang Zhen only brought four cannons, and the military order above was to try not to fire them.If the defenders are willing to surrender, allow them to safely withdraw from Congling, so that they will not completely tear themselves apart with the Bukhara Khanate.

"What? Let me surrender?" Saeed asked.

The envoy said: "Yes, as long as you surrender, you can safely withdraw from Pamir."

"Impossible." Said shook his head.

Chihe Station is very important because it can collect tolls.

All Chinese goods transported to the West by land must pass through here, and a huge amount of road tax can be collected every year.

If Said dared to surrender, not to mention the king would not let him go, even the governor would chop him down.How many people rely on the toll booth here for their money.

The envoy went back to report, Liang Zhen was too lazy to bombard slowly, and ordered: "Let's go up the hot air balloon."

This river valley is located at the confluence of two rivers, and the castle is surrounded by mountains, so there is no fixed wind direction.

Observers measured for a while and found that the wind direction was all chaotic.

The southeast wind blows for a while, and the north wind blows for a while, and the wind strength is also fluctuating.

In the face of this situation, we can only go up to the sky first. When hot air balloons are raised all around the city, one or two hot air balloons will always have the right wind direction.

"Jennie! Jinny!"

The defenders heard the rumors from the merchants, and at this moment they really shouted the devil.

"Boom boom boom!"

When tens of thousands of enemies threw themselves at the top of the city and exploded, these soldiers finally collapsed.

They only had more than 400 people defending the city, and their morale was already low.Rather than being frightened by the "devil", it is better to find a reason for himself to flee. The soldiers rushed towards the city gate, and no matter how Said stopped him, it would not help.

So Said ran away too.

The Datong Army's hot air balloon bombing gave Said an excuse to escape, because the Chinese army summoned the devil, so he really couldn't fight.It should... be forgiven by the governor.

Liang Zhen smiled and said, "Catch up, don't chase too hard."

China does not want to fight a big battle with the Bukhara Khanate, it just needs to drive the enemy out of Congling.

The defeated soldiers all fled north by boat, and the Datong army also grabbed some merchant ships and followed them northward to catch up.

Merchants from Central Asia hid on the shore ahead and witnessed this "chasing battle" throughout.

Lei Zhiji, the mission officer, led his troops to chase after him personally, and he wanted to investigate the situation along the way.He stopped halfway, grabbed a few merchants to accompany the army, and asked them to introduce specific information.

When I came to a village called Gulica, the river was divided into two. The merchant accompanying the army said: "Follow the river to the west, you can go to Osh, where the governor is stationed. Follow the river to the north, you can go to a A city called Uzgen. No matter where you go, as long as you leave the river valley, it will be much lower and flatter."

Lei Zhiji took a boat tour around the two rivers that diverged, and finally returned to Gulica: "You can build a city here, and if you get stuck here, you only need three to five hundred defenders to resist tens of thousands of enemy attacks."

Lei Zhiji drew a simple map based on the merchant's description and his own field investigation.

Then, draw a circle in Gulicha and another circle in Chiheyi.Both places need to build cities, with three to five hundred troops stationed in each city, and this large area will be stable.

In the next three months, Lei Zhiji visited other areas of Congling.

Only then did I finally know that geographically speaking, there are eight regions in the Pamir Plateau, referred to as "Eight Pa".However, from the perspective of ethnicity and culture, it can be divided into six regions.Divided in terms of language, it can be divided into two major sections.

Ethnic composition is extremely complex, and Tajiks are not the only ones.

Some came from India, some from Persia, some from Siberia, and of course some from Xinjiang.

The only link between the various groups is the common belief in the Ismaili sect.Moreover, beliefs are also internally differentiated, with each region incorporating unique religious traits.

Lei Zhiji returned to Kashgar and handed in his investigation report.

He said to Jiang Liang: "The governor, the land of Congling, is isolated from the world, just like Tibet. The sects here are much gentler and more tolerant than those in Yarkand. There is no need to use iron fists."

"Continue." Jiang Liang nodded.

Lei Zhiji said: "The local tribes in Congling are also similar to those in Tibet, but they are slightly different. The religious leaders here do not have much secular power. The central area of ​​Congling is not suitable for farming, and it is more like Mongolia. The nomadic tribes on the border. The other areas of Congling are semi-cultivated and semi-pastoral, which is very similar to Kham.”

"There are big nobles in Kangzang, but there are no big nobles in Congling. They are all nobles from small and medium tribes. Surrender as soon as you come here, the Datong court is the same as the Bukhara Khanate.”

"Moreover, the external forces occupying here are all for the commercial tax of the Silk Road, and the oppression of the local tribes is not serious. After all, no matter how bullying the poor tribes in the mountains, they will not be able to squeeze out oil. If you send troops to urge Taxes, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, and the transportation of military rations is difficult, and the taxes raised are not enough to cover the military expenses."

"The great nobles and imams mentioned by the merchants are not in the land of Congling but in the large area of ​​Osh. It is also the territory of the Tajiks, but the religious beliefs are different, and they are much richer than Congling."

"The local tribes in Congling also have slaves, but there are not many of them. They often fight between tribes, and the prisoners of war become slaves, and the slaves are born slaves."

"You can free the slaves, but you can't stop the tribal wars. The tribes here fight because they're too poor and fight over pastures and farmland. Unless you can make them all rich, there will always be wars, and prisoners, and there will always be slave."

"Congling has eight pagodas, which can build eight big cities, each with 500 troops. There are also five key places where small castles can be built, and each castle can have tens to hundreds of troops. The total number of troops stationed in Congling , should be around 6000 people."

After finishing speaking, Lei Zhiji looked at Jiang Liang.

Jiang Liang shook his head and said, "There are too many garrisons of [-], and the transportation here is difficult. It is impossible to transport military food from Kashgar for a long time. If you want to obtain food locally, you can only garrison a small number of troops, otherwise it will intensify the conflict with the local tribe. After all, the food produced is So much, even if we spend money to buy it, it will cause a shortage of food in Congling. The garrison in Congling has a maximum of four thousand."

Lei Zhiji said: "Four thousand are unstable."

Jiang Liang said: "It's safe, you said it yourself, the local tribes are scattered, and even the language is divided into two parts. Eight big cities, each with [-] troops. The remaining [-] troops are stationed at each checkpoint."

"That's not enough." Lei Zhiji said.

Jiang Liang said with a smile: "Since the local tribes are poor, they should collect less tax. If they pay less tax, they have to fight for the court. If one tribe rebelled, let other tribes send troops to follow our Datong army to quell the chaos. If all All the tribes are rebelling, which means that there is a problem with the Han officials, who have forced all the tribes that were scattered in the sand to rebel."

The imperial court also wanted to build a school in Congling. At the beginning, it only recruited children of tribal aristocrats, and then gradually extended to the common people.

Since the denominations here are more moderate and do not interfere in politics, let them keep their faith.

To be honest, as long as the imperial court does not extort violently, the Tajiks are very docile, because they are used to submitting to the suzerain in order to obtain a relatively stable living environment.

The Tajik brothers in New China, how many border guards have come out, they volunteer to patrol the border for the motherland, and even sacrificed their lives for it.

Chapter 1051 [Dawan, Dawan! 】

"Someone claimed to be a survivor of the former dynasty and wanted to ask the governor to offer advice in person. But judging by his high cheekbones and deep eyes, it seems that he is not a Han Chinese, but a Huihui from a foreign race."

"Bring it in."

A middle-aged man with unknown bloodlines was brought in front of Jiang Liang by the guards, bowed his head and said, "Liu Qin, a survivor of the former dynasty, pays homage to the governor."

"If you can speak Chinese, you are a survivor of the previous dynasty?" Jiang Liang laughed suddenly, "Your Chinese is very fluent, and it sounds like you learned it after growing up in a foreign race."

Liu Qin stated: "My sixth patriarch was Ji Shan from the residence of King Zhongshun of the Ming Dynasty. He was an upright Juren of Ming Dynasty and was sent to Hamiwei to teach Confucianism. Hamiwei fell, King Zhongshun went into exile, and my sixth patriarch followed him all the time. Later, King Zhongshun died suddenly, and the sixth patriarch was captured by the Great Khan of Chagatai, and was placed in Turpan to remarry and have children."

Jiang Liang asked, "Who is King Zhongshun of Ming Dynasty?"

Liu Qin explained: "King Zhongshun of the Ming Dynasty is the Commander of Hamiwei. His ancestors were Mongolian nobles who defected to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming court did not interfere with Hami affairs, but there were always Han officials appointed as Chang Shi and Ji Shan. The sixth ancestor They are really Han people, although they later married women of different races, but the Confucian classics in charge of the royal family Ji Shan, every generation of descendants must learn from childhood."

Jiang Liang asked again: "I have occupied Kashgar for half a year, why are you here now?"

"It's a long journey, and I'm coming from Gurban Alimatu (Almaty) after a long journey." Liu Qin said.

Almaty is the core site of Dayuzzi!

Jiang Liang asked, "What's the current situation in Dayuzi?"

Liu Qin said: "Yerqiang's soldiers and horses were beaten by the governor and fled to Dayuzi. They conquered several tribes in late autumn last year. After the beginning of spring, the war broke out again. When I left, the Yeerqiang soldiers and horses were victorious. However, the various tribes of Dayuzi, which were scattered in the sand, were forced to join forces to fight. Moreover, after the grassland area of ​​Dayuzi was conquered, there were still many cities that could be defended. The soldiers and horses of Yarkand seem to be not good at attacking cities.”

"What's the reaction of the Junggar Department?" Jiang Liang continued to ask.

Liu Qin explained: "There is a tribe in Junggar Mongolia who nomads in Yinli Grassland. This tribe is also fighting with Yarkand soldiers and horses, but it is said that they lost the battle."

Even though Yao Levas was driven away by the Datong army, when he arrived in Dayuzi and Yinli, he was able to beat the forces there.

Historically, if Yao Levas had not been assassinated, it would have been really difficult for the Junggar tribe to annex Yarkand.If this person is given ten years to develop, he is very likely to unify the Yarkand Khanate.

Liu Qin suddenly asked: "Where is the governor going to fight?"

Jiang Liang thought for a while, and decided to answer half-truths: "The south occupied the land of Pamirs, and regained the Congling in the Tang Dynasty. As for the west, they conquered the territory of the Kyrgyz people. Now both places have been captured, and we don't plan to do so for the time being." Keep marching."

Liu Qin knew that his opportunity to make meritorious service had come, and excitedly said: "Commander, if the Western Regions want to be stable, there are two places that must be captured."

"Oh, which two places?" Jiang Liang asked with a smile.

Liu Qin said: "The first is the Yinli Valley, and the second is the Fergana Valley. If these two valleys are captured, the army of the Western Regions will not be short of food and grass. Moreover, these two valleys are also good for defense because they are surrounded by mountains. where."

Yin Li must recover, but Jiang Liang really didn't want to occupy the Fergana Valley.

Jiang Liang asked: "In the Fergana Valley, I heard that the religion is very radical. I'm afraid it will not be easy to rule if it is defeated."

Liu Qin explained: "No. There are radical sects and docile sects there. It is enough to support the docile ones and attack the radical ones. There are hundreds of races in the entire valley. As long as there is a strong army, they can be easily divided and governed. Moreover, After taking the Fergana Valley, not only can we get enough food and grass, but Pamir... Congling no longer needs garrisons."

"Hundreds of races?" Jiang Liang was surprised. The Tajik merchants didn't tell him about these things.

Liu Qin immediately explained in detail: "There are three major races in the Fergana Valley, Uzbeks in the west, Kyrgyz in the north, and Tajiks in the south and east. In addition to these three major races, there are hundreds of minor races. All Races, no matter nobles or commoners, all hated the brutal rule of the Bukhara Khanate."

The information provided by Liu Qin was different from what Jiang Liang learned, and it was also different from what Lei Zhiji heard.

However, this information can be aggregated!

The Fergana Basin was later called the "Powder Keg of Central Asia".

Because the land there is rich, the products are rich, and it is sandwiched between various forces, there are more than 100 local ethnic groups.Anyone who comes in to provoke it will easily explode when sparks are ignited. Even after hundreds of years, it belongs to the area with the most enclaves on the earth.

As long as Datong China occupies this place, whether it does not emigrate or not, it can solve the food and grass problems in Congling and Kashgar.

Because of the rich products in the Fergana Basin, the Bukhara Khanate exploited the area far more than Congling.The local Uzbeks have revolted many times over the years. Historically, they will establish an independent state (the Kokand Khanate) in another 40 years.

Jiang Liang asked, "Do you know how many troops of the Bukhara Khanate are in the entire Fergana Valley?"

Liu Qin said: "The garrison is only 10 to [-], but if there is a war, you can recruit soldiers from all ethnic groups and easily pull up more than [-] people."

"One hundred thousand enemy troops, it's not easy to fight. It's too difficult to transport rations." Jiang Liang shook his head.

Liu Qin knelt down violently, bowed down and said: "If the governor can be trusted, he only needs [-] soldiers and horses to take the entire valley!"

Jiang Liang was surprised by this, and said with great interest, "How do you fight with three thousand troops?"

Liu Qin said: "All races in the valley want to rebel, and they have been suppressed many times. I can contact the leaders of the various ministries in advance, claiming that 20 Chinese troops are coming. Even, they can spread rumors secretly, saying that Bukhara Khan wants to raise taxes. Spreading rumors requires the governor to win over merchants and promise to sell them more cheap goods. Merchants must be willing to cooperate in order to make money."

"Once the rumor spreads, even if it is false, it will become true. In this way, all departments are full of complaints, and I can take this opportunity to contact you."

"Which tribe is unwilling to rebel together, so spread rumors that if this tribe wants to rebel, it will be suspected by the governor of Bukhara!"

"The [-] troops of all ethnic groups can be used by me, but the enemy only has [-] to [-]."

Jiang Liang didn't immediately agree. Although Liu Qin's strategy was clever, but relying on this method to lay down a territory, future governance would be troublesome.

After thinking about it, Jiang Liang decided to make a move.

I will talk about the future things later, taking that place is a great military achievement.

According to the old name of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Pamirs are Congling, and the Fergana Basin is Dawan!

When the time comes, bring a horse to Zhao Han: "Your Majesty, this is a Dawan horse. From now on, all Dawan horses will belong to His Majesty."

"You go down."

Jiang Liangping retreated this person, and said to the guard: "Call Lei Zhiji here."

The plan was changed again, Congling is not in a hurry to build a city for the time being, as long as the Fergana Basin is taken down, Congling's garrison of one thousand will be safe.

Liang Zhen was the chief general, Lei Zhiji was the deputy general, and Liu Qin was the non-staff staff officer, leading 500 men on foot and cavalry.

Of course, before going out, you need to call the information station.

Jiang Liang immediately ordered the restoration of the Silk Road, and a large number of merchants poured into Kashgar. He took the opportunity to spread false news that the 20 troops were going on an expedition.

At the same time, they continue to meet merchants and obtain their basic information first.Specially select Uzbek and Tajik businessmen, and promise to issue them special licenses for a period of five years. Holders of this license can purchase goods at low prices in Kashgar first (Chinese merchants who sell their goods can get tax rebates).

After buying the merchants, assign tasks to the merchants.