Chapter 434 Extra 1 (3) (2nd update)
Dahan...Dayong?
Shanshan was established because of the conflict between Han and Xiongnu, and the capital was chosen here under the auspices of the Han Dynasty.
This early position allowed the King of Shanshan to learn Chinese while inheriting the national authority.
Therefore, when Ma Chao shouted out that reply, he heard the response clearly.
Later, someone repeated Ma Chao's words in Tocharian and Kucha respectively to prevent him from having any problems in understanding.
But what is called——
"The Han Dynasty's kingdom has ended, and the Central Plains today is the world of Great Yong"?
The King of Shanshan looked at the generals and soldiers below in confusion.
In addition to Ma Chao's troops that appeared in the lead, soldiers were arriving at Yuni City one after another in the distance.
Their equally elite and extraordinary posture left the King of Shanshan with no doubt that with such a team, the enemy would not only be able to defeat his patrol team effortlessly when attacking from a distance, but also treat it as nothing when climbing up the city wall.
Just the various actions and equipment during this encounter are enough to convey this signal!
Considering that his several eastern outposts had not had time to pass on the news to him before the enemy troops were already at the gates of the city, it was not difficult for the King of Shanshan to understand that this was not only because the plan of Ma Chao and others to come here was unexpected, but also because there was a huge gap between his strength and that of the enemy.
Although the Hexi Corridor had not been officially launched for several years and the Protectorate of the Western Regions had been abandoned for many years, the King of Shanshan had never noticed that such a sudden change had occurred on the territory of the Han Dynasty. But at this moment, it made no difference whether it was the Han Dynasty or the Dayong Dynasty.
That is the gap that can never be bridged between the great country in the Central Plains and their tiny country located on the border.
"He'd better be more knowledgeable and sensible." Ma Chao looked up at the top of the city wall, his eyes showing a bit of eagerness to try.
It was not known whether it was Zhang He's illusion, but he felt that when Ma Chao talked about letting the other party be more knowledgeable and sensible, it sounded like he was saying that it would be better for the other party to resist so that he could have a proper fight.
For a young general like Ma Chao who was well-versed in Liang Province, marching across the desert dunes was not a problem that would hinder his pace.
In this march that would have been spirit-crushing for ordinary people, he actually maintained a strong enough offensive spirit throughout, so much so that the morale of his cavalry reached its peak when they were approaching Shanshan.
If it weren't for the terrain restrictions and the priority of marching objectives, perhaps if Ma Chao was given a strong army that obeyed his orders, he could really conquer the entire Western Regions by fighting to support the war.
This is a wild general who is born for war.
No wonder His Majesty sent him around to temper his character before returning him to this land!
Unfortunately, the place where he can perform well may be in Cheshi, or in the territory of Kangju where the Xiongnu live, or in the land of Kushan, but not in Shanshan.
"He won't fight." Zhang He said firmly: "Even if the Shanshan capital Yinni has its victorious troops and the people in the city, it will be difficult for them to resist our elite troops besieging the city. Moreover, they can't afford the cost of moving the capital and changing its name again."
From the old capital of Loulan, which was closer to Kongdao, to today's Yuni, and from Loulan to Shanshan, the changes they encountered were obviously not just a change of name.
If they were allowed to change their residence under the rule of the Central Plains dynasty and establish another ruler who would obey the other party, their strength and voice would definitely be reduced again, and they might even be in a position similar to that of Qiemo and Jingjue, and they might be annexed by more powerful countries at any time. What's the point then?
This is what the King of Shanshan thought as he looked down through the gap in the parapet.
The specific circumstances of the existence of Dayong replacing the Han Dynasty were indeed unknown to them in a foreign land, but the fact that they could come from afar with such an astonishing scale of troops was enough to show that the situation in the Central Plains could no longer be in a state of chaos.
He was even more powerful than when Ban Chao was sent to the Western Regions, and he could free up his hands and feet to deal with these small foreign countries.
What can he use to compare with the other party?
Perhaps the only thing that can be compared is the length of time the country was founded.
But this is something that can be rewritten by the other party at any time.
He gritted his teeth and made a decision after all the thoughts flashed through his mind, "Quick, send someone out of the city to surrender!"
The other party came from afar, and if they must kill them all, they can always send a few of them to escape by relying on the surrounding terrain. With their precedent, the other parties have to think about whether they should unite as soon as possible to teach these Dayong soldiers who invaded the Western Regions a lesson for the sake of their own lives.
When General Li Guangli of the Western Han Dynasty led his first expedition to Dayuan, only one-tenth of the soldiers who set out on the expedition returned safely. This is enough to show that numbers are of no use in this area which is extremely unfamiliar to the soldiers from the Central Plains!
Although ants are small, they can still kill elephants.
However, having said that, the King of Shanshan did not want to tear his face with the other party to this extent unless it was necessary.
People always want to survive, and this is especially true for someone like him who is already the leader of a country.
Fortunately, when his subordinates returned to the city, they did not tell the other party that they had to break into the city, but rather -
The Governor of Liangzhou, in accordance with the edict of the Emperor of Dayong to re-establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions, has arrived not far from Shanshan. If he is willing to surrender, as the first of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions to submit to Dayong, she can ask for the title of Marquis of Guiyi for the King of Shanshan.
But the prerequisite is that he needs to cooperate with Dayong in all actions in the Western Regions.
"This condition is not bad," said the second-in-command of the country, Fuguo Hou, when he saw that the King of Shanshan did not make a decision immediately after hearing the news. "We did not witness the change from Yong to Han, but since it is a new dynasty with a new atmosphere, we will definitely need new subjects. The two routes in the north and south of the Western Regions, with Shanshan and Cheshi as the beginning of each route, if we can seize the opportunity and develop the southern route with the help of Yong, it will be better than waiting for death as the resources of Puchanghai become increasingly scarce."
Seeing that the King of Shanshan did not respond, the Marquis of Fuguo continued, "I know what you are worried about. In the past, Loulan was renamed Shanshan because the Han envoy said that the Han emperor had a reward, but he killed the King of Loulan during the banquet. It is hard to guarantee that they will not repeat the same trick. But don't forget, if they really want to take our heads, why would they go through so much trouble!"
When Fu Jiezi went on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, he was accompanied by light cavalry, but where are the troops under the city this time?
During the period when the King of Shanshan sent people out of the city to surrender, the troops from Dayong that had come from afar had become increasingly overwhelming, like a dark cloud pressing down on the city.
He might still have a chance to inform the other party if he wanted to, but if he wanted to believe that his dying struggle could bring trouble to the other party, he was really dreaming!
They really don't have to regard the conditions offered by the other party as a trick.
Under such an easy siege, he was not worth being calculated at all!
"You are right..." King Shanshan muttered, but the next moment he raised his voice, "You are right. I really shouldn't hesitate on this matter when the enemy is at the gates."
He replied decisively: "We will leave the city as soon as possible!"
If I go too late, I might even lose my position as Marquis of Guiyi, which would be so unfair.
Judging from the direction of the advance of the Dayong army, they should have passed through the eastern settlement of Shanshan first.
And there, there are not only the Shanshan people who once migrated from Loulan, but also the Ruoqiang tribe that was annexed by them decades ago. Who knows whether they will look for an opportunity to revive.
With this thought in mind, when the King of Shanshan arrived at the rear camp of the expeditionary army and met Lu Yuan who was there, he did not even have time to be surprised that the Governor of Liangzhou, who was the commander-in-chief of this army, was actually a woman. He only quickly said that Shanshan was willing to submit to Dayong.
In addition to being willing to send envoys via Liangzhou to Guanzhong to send sincere greetings to the Emperor of Dayong who had recently replaced the Han Dynasty, he was also willing to guide the Dayong troops and point out the locations of Qiemo and Jingjue capitals on the southern route of the Silk Road.
"The country of Qiemo is located upstream of that river. Jingjue also lives by the water. Why do they need you to lead the way?" Ma Chao couldn't help but ask.
Does this King of Shanshan take himself too seriously?
Thinking of the troops led by the other party, the King of Shanshan calmed down and replied: "As the general said, Qiemo is located in the upper reaches of the river and lives by the water source, so it is naturally easy to find. Jingjue can be said to be like this, but it can also be said not to be like this."
"In summer, the place where they live is hot and humid, making it difficult to walk on. In winter, although it is less muddy than in summer, there are still dense reeds, making it difficult to find a path."①
"Your cavalry is indeed brave and valiant, and I'm afraid there are few in the world who can rival them. But I would like to ask you, if you were to fight in such an environment, with enemies that could suddenly appear from the reeds, what would your chances of winning be?"
"You don't have to consider the possibility of setting it on fire. The guards of Jingjue Kingdom have naturally considered this."
Ma Chao carefully looked at the King of Shanshan's expression and realized that what he said was not false.
"People living in muddy places, surrounded by swamps and reeds, can certainly adopt the strategy of having three burrows, but won't they feel that the situation is even more difficult and choose a more suitable place to live?"
But as soon as Ma Chao asked this question, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't ask this question.
Among the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, some of them may not even have a larger territory than a large county in the Central Plains.
Shanshan, a powerful country on the southern route of the Western Regions, is in such a vulnerable situation, let alone those smaller countries.
The choice of such a living place can not only ensure sufficient water supply, but also ensure effective attack on invaders when the offensive weapons are not sophisticated.
It is indeed the best environment the other party can choose.
Lu Yuan obviously thought so too, "It is rare for a small country to have the wisdom to survive."
If these two countries are really as the King of Shanshan said, then in the territory of Qiemo, the vanguard army should advance and force them to land. As for Jingjue... it would be more appropriate to send an envoy with a team of elite soldiers to visit them and persuade them, imitating what Ban Dingyuan did in the past.
This decision was approved by Xu Rong.
So when Ma Chao and Yan Xing were heading straight for Qiemo to force it to surrender to Dayong, under the instructions of Lu Yuan, Jiang Tang and Ma Dai led fifty cavalrymen and, under the leadership of the Shanshan envoy, headed towards Jingjue.
The people of Dayong stationed in Shanshan originally thought that they would get good news from the west in a few days, but what surprised them was that five days later, Qiemo surrendered as quickly as they had guessed. Even the king tidied his clothes as quickly as possible and came here with Ma Chao and others to meet the envoy of □□. However, the situation of Jingjue was a little special.
When Jiang Tang rode back to Shanshan, he brought back the news of Jingjue's surrender, but also some other words that even Lu Yuan was surprised about.
"The current heir of the Jingjue Kingdom is a woman. After hearing about our military deployment and the situation in Dayong, the Queen of Jingjue wanted me to ask the Lord a question."
"She said that Jingjue's survival was difficult and they had to play both sides, Yutian and Shanshan. Even if they surrendered to Dayong this time, it was too far away to reach them. If there was a disaster of annexation, Liangzhou was far away and they would never get support from Dayong. So...what's the point of surrendering today?"
Perhaps it was because the Queen of Jingjue learned about the Empress of Dayong from Jiang Tang's visit, and the matter of recovering the Western Regions was entrusted to a female governor. Even the visiting envoy was a Qiang woman. This made the Queen of Jingjue see an opportunity to break the deadlock, so she made a rare and radical decision at this time.
Jiang Tang said, "She said that among the countries in the southern route, only Khotan and Shanshan are powerful, and Khotan is the most powerful. The King of Khotan annexed the tribes of Pishan, Qule, Ronglu, and Yumi in a short period of 20 years, and now has more than 30,000 victorious soldiers. Although not all of them are gathered in the capital, the envoys of Dayong have come from afar, and it is impossible to convince them with their eloquence. If they want to fight, the soldiers of Khotan will be well rested and tired, and the people of Dayong may not be able to win."
Although the faces of the people present did not become ugly because of this news, they all looked more serious.
Khotan's style of annexation is enough to illustrate the way of doing things of this King of Khotan.
The Western Regions are in chaos, and the capable will be king. This is an ambitious lord!
When Ban Chao arrived in Khotan on his mission to the Western Regions, the King of Khotan at that time would choose to kill the Northern Xiongnu envoy and submit to the court because Ban Chao killed the Khotanese wizard and stated the pros and cons of the confrontation between Han and Xiongnu. However, the King of Khotan today probably would not do that!
This battle is inevitable.
Lu Yuan chuckled, breaking the silence in the parliament tent. "I originally thought that this trip to the Western Regions was a time for the generals present to compete for military merits. Now that we have encountered the strong troops of Khotan, it is the right time to show off our skills. It seems that your competitors are not just your colleagues, but also the Queen of Jingjue."
Did she refuse to respect Dayong as her superior in order to undermine the morale of the soldiers of Dayong? Did she say that her surrender at this time was meaningless and that they would probably be destroyed by annexation in the future? Did she say that Yutian, located west of Jingjue, was powerful in both soldiers and horses and had the potential to swallow up the world?
Obviously not!
She is trying to gain an opportunity to perform.
As expected, Jiang Tang continued, "She said that the news of the arrival of the □□ army has not yet been leaked. If we don't take this opportunity to attack Khotan and let them know, their 30,000 soldiers will be seen by the elite generals as something that can be defeated in a moment, and sooner or later something unexpected will happen to them."
Wouldn't it be possible that an ambitious King of Khotan, faced with the chaos of the Kushan Empire in the west and the inability of the Dayong Empire to replenish its troops in the east, would not have some unnecessary thoughts?
And when the siege of Shanshan that Ma Chao and others had previously launched might not be effective given the large number of armored soldiers on the other side, they needed an attack against Yutian even more!
It was still a sufficiently sophisticated military operation.
"The Queen of Jingjue volunteered to be the vanguard, and she used the excuse that Shanshan wanted to annex us and asked for help from Khotan, so as to open a breakthrough for our troops to advance straight in."
This is the only chance for the small nation of Jingjue to take advantage of Dayong's regaining control of the Western Regions and thus rise up.
So even if this move as a striker is too risky, she is still going to give it a try!
Lu Yuan looked at the faces of everyone present and found it amusing that when these guys found out that they had a new competitor, their expressions of being ready to fight became more and more obvious.
She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before replying, "I want to meet the Queen of Jingjue."
Although it sounds tempting to use the ruler of a small country in the Western Regions as the vanguard, it is actually a risky move.
After all, even without the help of the Queen of Jingjue, with the configuration they had when entering the Western Regions this time, taking over Yutian would not be too difficult.
However, if this move could strengthen the relationship between the Western Region states and Dayong, and allow for a screening and merger, it would undoubtedly be beneficial to Dayong's future management of this area.
So she had to meet the Queen of Jingjue in person to confirm her true attitude.
We also need to know whether she can shoulder the responsibility of being a pioneer.
Jiang Tang replied: "She is waiting ten miles away from the camp."
When the Queen of Jingjue stepped into the tent, what everyone saw was not the beauty from the Western Regions that people would associate with the words "Queen of Jingjue", but a woman who was a little introverted in both her face and temperament, showing a bit of aggressiveness only in her slightly deep outline and her strong arm muscles.
With the help of Jiang Tang's translation, she and Lu Yuan successfully completed the communication.
After just a few words of conversation, it was not difficult for Lu Yuan to tell what kind of personality the other person had.
The Queen of Jingjue, who calls herself Gulandu, has to plan a way to survive due to the small territory of her country. This attempt to make a small investment for a big gain may be a desperate move for her.
But once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. The moment she makes the decision, she must do her best for it!
"It's a pleasure working with you." Lu Yuan nodded and smiled at the other party.
According to Jiang Tang's translation, the Queen of Jingjue replied, "May the beautiful jades of Khotan fill the chariots of the envoys for this battle."
Khotan jade is...Hetian jade, which is also a specialty of Khotan.
This is truly a very practical blessing.
Lu Yuan felt that the Queen of Jingjue would probably get along well with their Majesty.
——————
At the end of December, a gift arrived in Chang'an along with the interim reports on the military campaign so far.
Qiao Yan touched the piece of Hetian jade in his hand, which was warm to the touch, and asked Cai Zhaoji, who happened to come to her to report on government affairs at this time, "What do you think if we change this thing into the material of lucky money for next year?"
The author has something to say:
What is this called? This is called an event-limited commemorative coin (x)
① From "Book of Han·Biography of the Western Regions"
Although it is located in the Tarim Basin, the environment of the ancient Jingjue Kingdom is very strange, with swamps and reeds.
There is actually no queen in Jingjue, only the ancient city of Jingjue.
But it's a bit of a stereotype 23333 It seems that when you mention Jingjue, you think of the Queen of Jingjue
It’s not a big problem. Liangzhou can have female generals, so why can’t Jingjue have a queen?
It is reasonable that the empress has queens of vassal states under her. (However, the Protectorate of the Western Regions will not maintain the status of thirty-six kingdoms in the future, it is just called this for now)
In case someone doesn't understand the current map, let me explain it briefly.
The Silk Road was divided into the South Route and the North Route in the Western Regions. It was currently impossible to advance both routes simultaneously, so under the leadership of Lu Yuan, the South Route was chosen. So the order is Shanshan-Qiemo-Jingjue-Yarkand, and over the Pamir Mountains is the Kushan Empire.
Cheshi-Kucha-Dayuan-Kangju are on the northern route, which was also the route Xu Rong took to rob horses before. During this period, the Northern Xiongnu had become dependent on others and lived in the territory of Kangju.
Flip the table, it's not that I want to continue to do 9 days a day, it's just that after the main text is finished, there are very few people who come back, and the income is even lower than before it was finished. I can only do 9 days a day, otherwise, at this rate, I won't be able to get on the completion list QWQ.
The ranking mechanism of Jinjiang is based on revenue. If the article is too long, there will be many plagiarized articles, and there is nothing we can do about it. Others are taking off when they finish the main text, but I am crashing on the spot, so I can only continue to update steadily for now.
Now I am very glad that I bought a cat two months ago. It is so healing and at least I can keep my mind stable. Cats are so cute. They are clingy, never get sick, and love to be clean.
See you tomorrow morning at 9:30, and keep getting up early until the end of the month.
The next book really won’t be long (shock!)
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