Chapter 439 Extra 1 (8) (Update 1)
The troops of Dayong...pacify the border?
The rulers of the southern Xinjiang countries might not have known about the change of dynasties between the Yong Dynasty and the Han Dynasty due to lack of information, but the Kushan King would never have known about it.
This monarch, who had great ambitions to rebuild the country, made up his mind to send troops as soon as possible after his envoy arrived in Liangzhou and heard about the unrest in the Central Plains and the birth of a new dynasty.
He wanted to take advantage of the time when the order in the Central Plains was still being re-established to pacify Khwarezm first and bring Kangju and Dayuan, who had broken free from their control, under his command, so as to get ahead of the emperor of the Central Plains and bring the Kushan Empire back to its peak.
If we can seize the Western Regions Protectorate, a place full of small countries, into our own hands, it will be a great achievement!
But it had only been two years since the establishment of the new dynasty, and they were already able to send troops to the Western Regions and even sweep the border?
This is too fast.
According to the information he had learned, the Eastern and Western courts had been divided in the Central Plains for six or seven years. Even if one of them was really strong under the leadership of the Emperor of Great Yong, it shouldn't be so strong...
Didn't she need to spend several years pacifying each state in the territory one by one, and then spend several more years building it up?
But there is no point in thinking about this at this moment. The important thing is that the troops of Dayong have really arrived.
They crossed thousands of mountains and rivers, passed through the Western Regions, crossed the Pamir Mountains, and went down into the river valley. Without him noticing at all, they had already arrived so close to him.
If the Pamir Mountains belonged to the Protectorate of the Western Regions, then his soldiers in the river valley below the mountains might indeed have crossed the line. But they sent out their troops without saying a word, which was really going too far!
The Kushan king, Bo Tiao, was young and strong, and needed a victory to establish his reputation. He could not tolerate such a blow at this great opportunity to recover lost territory.
"Is this the way that the great country of Central Plains demonstrates its national power?"
If he did not launch an effective counterattack against this move, he would inevitably lose his reputation among the soldiers and would also be embarrassed in front of the dynasty that had only been established for two years.
However, just as Bo Diao was about to mobilize his troops, he paused.
The big man's remaining power still weighed on him like a mountain.
He will never forget the lessons of his predecessors.
In the fourth year of Yuanhe, the Kushan Empire claimed to have made great contributions in assisting the Han Dynasty in attacking Cheshi. The Kushan king at that time was ambitious. After paying tribute to the Han Dynasty with treasures, he proposed to marry a Han princess. After being rejected by Ban Chao, he held a grudge and three years later sent 70,000 troops across the Pamir Mountains to attack Ban Chao's followers.
However, Ban Chao ordered all parties to strictly guard the granaries, and ambushed troops on the road that the Kushan army had to take on their way north to Qiuci to borrow grain, thus dealing a heavy blow to the Kushans and forcing them to surrender and return. In the following year, he successively recovered Qiuci, Wensu and other countries, and re-established the post of Protector General of the Western Regions.
This incomplete and disastrous attack is difficult to erase from the history of Kushan military campaigns, even though a hundred years have passed since then.
The Great Yong Kingdom replaced the Han Dynasty, and in terms of strength it was probably even stronger than the Han Dynasty at that time.
He does have a lot of soldiers and horses, but is he really a match for the other party?
If he was forced to negotiate peace with the Central Plains Yong in such a tragic way like the previous Kushan king, the opposition to him from within the Kushan Empire, which had annexed more than a dozen small countries, would inevitably erupt in an extremely fierce manner, which would be almost a disaster for him.
He can't afford to lose!
He immediately changed his words and said, "Send someone to ask why Dayong has such a move. Do you really want the two countries to go to war and fight to the death?"
It is absolutely unjustifiable from a standpoint to invade another country's territory without reason.
The Han Dynasty controlled the countries within the Protectorate of the Western Regions, but it only stationed troops there for mediation, and did not actually annihilate the small countries. If Dayong, which had just taken control of the eastern Chinese land, had made such a move, it would surely be able to unite with the countries within the Protectorate of the Western Regions and strike back at Dayong.
Back then, the Kushan army was unable to transport food and suffered a precise attack from Ban Dingyuan, who defeated a larger force with a smaller one. Now, it was not him who stretched the battle line to such a long extent!
But when his envoys rushed to the enemy's camp stationed under the Pamir Mountains, they received this reply.
"They said that among the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, Kangju and Khwarezmian Fugu are not included, but Dayuan is under the jurisdiction and control of the Western Regions Protectorate. The imperial power of the Han Dynasty was entrusted to Dayong with the imperial seal, and the Western Regions Protectorate was also handed over to the new dynasty, so they should be concerned about the situation there."
The subsequent influence of Liu Xie presenting the imperial seal to Qiao Yan in public was that it gave her generals a seemingly absurd but actually plausible reason when they sent troops to the Western Regions.
Bo Diao's face darkened, and he heard his subordinates heading to the enemy camp continue to report to him:
"They also said that during the civil unrest in the Central Plains, the Kushans relied on their own strong military force and extended their hands to the Protectorate of the Western Regions, killing Dayuan soldiers and robbing Dayuan's horses without authorization, which was actually an act to make enemies with the Central Plains. Now that Dayong has conquered the thirteen inland states, Dayuan has asked the emperor to take back their resources and give us... a severe blow."
Were many of Dayuan’s BMWs stolen by the Kushans?
Of course a lot.
If not, how could Xu Rong, Ma Teng and others have taken advantage of the chaos in the fight to steal a batch of Dayuan BMWs, but no one ever suspected the Han people at that time.
Twenty years ago, the heyday of the Kushan Empire was also the darkest time under the rule of Emperor Ling of Han, when eunuchs were causing trouble. The Protectorate of the Western Regions completely lost contact with the Han Dynasty, which led to the King of Khotan annexing the surrounding areas and the Kushan invasion of Dayuan.
Now that the Central Plains has become strong again and has the confidence to spare no effort, it is only reasonable to teach this disobedient neighbor a lesson.
Originally, they were unreasonable in killing the Kushan soldiers, but now the unreasonable evil neighbor has become them, the Kushans!
Unfortunately, they were unable to verify with Dayuan at this time whether it was Dayong's troops that sent out the first attack, or Dayuan that asked the court for support.
It was just because Bo Diao was not sure whether it would be possible to send envoys from his location to Dayuan when the elite troops of Dayong had already crossed the Pamir Mountains.
He was even more unsure whether the resentment accumulated from years of confrontation would give him the opportunity to communicate normally with Dayuan.
He could only ask his subordinates who came to negotiate: "What kind of horses are those cavalrymen using?"
The subordinate hesitated for a moment and replied: "It seems to be the Ferghana horse from Dayuan."
In this expedition, the horses used by Xu Rong's vanguard were not the offspring of the mating of the Dayuan's fine horses and the famous horses of Liangzhou and Bingzhou, but were horses of real Dayuan bloodline.
This outward signal made Bo Diao believe that what they said about standing up for Dayuan was true.
Even if Dayuan had not presented the BMW to Dayong to induce it to send troops, it was still possible for it to arrive from the Pamir Mountains. At least all the small countries along the way had returned to the control of China. The appearance of Dayuan's BMW was either a tribute or it meant that Dayuan had surrendered because of Dayong's military action.
The disadvantage they had from coming from afar must have been gradually eliminated as they received support from the countries in the Western Regions. It would be extremely difficult to defeat them in one battle!
And this isn't even the biggest problem facing Wave Mode.
He then heard his subordinate say, "The other side also said that in order to make this battle to seek justice a quick victory, they have already captured our capital and cut off the communication at the pass of the Great Snow Mountain..."
"Since this dispute arose from the conflict with Dayuan, then we should end it on the land west of Dayuan and north of the Great Snow Mountain, saving trouble for all parties."
Hearing this, Bo Diao's face became extremely ugly.
How could he know that Xu Rong, Zhang He and others who sent troops from the Pamir Mountains did so only because they were waiting and seeing that their grain carts had not arrived yet. They guessed that Ma Chao and Yan Xing, who were heading for Fulusha City across the Xuandu Mountain, had lived up to their expectations and succeeded in cutting off the Kushans' retreat with an extremely dangerous journey across mountains and ridges. That's why they made such an excuse when Bo Diao sent an envoy to inquire about them. In fact, they did not really get the exact news.
After all, for the Kushan king, who was already feeling uneasy because the grain carts had not arrived, this was no different from a fact that was directly notified to him.
He no longer had time to think about how the other party had accomplished that nearly impossible cross-border entry. He only knew that he had to make a decision now.
Would he fight the enemy on the battlefield, in this Penchi River valley, to see if the team that could completely defeat his detachment could also defeat his main force, or if he could make a desperate counterattack when his retreat was cut off, or...
He should follow the example of his ancestors a hundred years ago and decisively seek peace with the other side. Even if he has to surrender to the other side by offering treasures again, he must preserve this already precarious dynasty!
The news that arrived from the south two days later left him with no choice.
The subordinates who escaped from the city of Fulusha managed to cross the mountain from the side of the mountain pass guarded by Yan Xing and arrived in front of him.
According to the other party's description, the Dayong soldiers who descended from the sky blasted open their city walls and destroyed their palace with the power of divine thunder. After distributing rice to the people in the city and asking them to help defend the city, another powerful force headed north and cut off their way back.
There is no difference between what was described by the Dayong army in the north.
At the same time, the group that had succeeded under the Congling Mountains approached his camp for a distance, perhaps because he was unable to make a decision.
Accompanying the Dayong chariots and horses that crossed the border were not only food and drink, but also the crossbow carts that had been improved in the past two years.
When Bo Diao received the news, a heavy crossbow shot from the enemy camp had already penetrated into the air and split the big flag in his camp with one arrow.
In the silence where one could hear a pin drop, no one knew whose head the next arrow would hit, or whether it would directly take the life of the Kushan king.
And on the other side, ready to strike, were not only the crossbow arrows that could kill people from hundreds of meters away, but also their elite cavalry riding on Dayuan horses, wearing sophisticated armor, and holding sharp swords!
"Pass my order—" Seeing this scene, Bo Diao squeezed out a few words from his mouth with difficulty, "We will seek peace with Dayong."
It was not shameful to surrender to such an enemy whose attack was almost unimaginable. After all, his predecessors had done such things before.
But he never expected that the opponent, when they were sure of winning, would directly take advantage of him and his team of soldiers and horses to go with the troops of Dayong along the Northern Border Silk Road and travel thousands of miles to Chang'an to personally surrender to their Emperor Dayong.
"Ridiculous! If we really do this, our reputation will be completely destroyed!"
But before Bo Diao could finish his words, Jiang Tang, who came to discuss the peace talks under the escort of Zhang He, said calmly in the language of Kushan: "You can choose not to accept our proposal and still choose to go to war with us. Then we will defend the camp and harass the north, and another group of troops will attack from the south. At that time, we can still escort you to Chang'an as a prisoner. I think His Majesty may prefer you to come to the court in this manner."
"Whether we want to take control of this place ourselves or support the ruler of Dayuan or Khwarezm to become the new ruler, it is no longer up to you to decide."
"A smart person should know that it is useless to put on airs in front of us envoys. We have traveled thousands of miles, and none of us is afraid of death. We are just afraid that we will not be able to spread the style of our Majesty the Great Yong outside the Great Wall, and tarnish your Majesty's reputation!"
In the few months since Jiang Tang left the border last year, he had originally felt a little confused about facing foreign rulers, but these had all disappeared as his army advanced step by step, and he was left with only a firm belief in enhancing the prestige of his country.
Bo Diao couldn't understand how a newly established dynasty could be so popular, but he knew clearly that in the face of the strength displayed by the other party, he no longer had any capital to be arrogant and willful.
There was only one thing he could do - surrender.
Accept the conditions offered by the other party and go to Dayong to pay homage in person!
"In fact, he doesn't have to walk with such a fearless attitude," Lu Yuan rushed to the mountain pass north of the Pamir Mountains and met the Kushan queen. He said to Xu Rong, "Although Your Majesty wants to intimidate and subdue her, he doesn't want to kill her."
"Your Majesty, since you have the idea of teaching the methods of planting and farming in the Western Regions, so that the people of the thirty-six countries here will gradually assimilate into our Great Yong, I believe you will have some plans for this neighbor in the west."
The lives of the people outside the region are also lives. Since there is the method of using barbarians to control barbarians in Liangzhou, it is obvious that this method can also be applied in the Western Regions and the Kushan land.
However, Lu Yuan had no business asking about Qiao Yan's specific arrangements. For her, the most direct gain at this moment was that they would take the northern border road together with the Kushan army that was heading to Chang'an to pay homage.
How can this be just a way out?
Bo Diao had already been tied to the pirate ship by them, so even if he found out halfway, it would not matter since they had not yet recovered the northern border countries.
When a large number of troops passed through the border, countries such as Dayuan, Qiuci, and Cheshi would only know that before they received the news, the troops of the Central Plains court had already made the Kushan monarch surrender, and they would have no room for resistance.
This northern route, which is already more accessible, will be a route that countries in the Western Regions will come to surrender!
The author has something to say:
There is only one chapter left to go for the Western Region section.
I don’t want to write so much, the problem is that the current situation is different from that of Ban Chao’s time.
See you at nine o'clock in the evening.
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