Thanks to the help of Jie Lipijia, Zhang Zhao's vow to kill all Pugujun's descendants will soon be completed.
Because before Zhang Zhao attacked the Gaochang Uighurs, as the winner of the four sons' succession, after Jieli Bijia came to power, he killed all his two elder brothers and one younger brother, plus more than twenty nephews and nieces.
To be precise, the only descendants of Pugujun are Jielibika and his son.
People like Pu Gucheng were just descendants of Pu Gujun's nephew. Pu Guluo, the governor of Tingzhou, simply had the surname Pu Gu.
You must know that the surname Pugu is actually the name of the tribe with the nine surnames Tiele. After the collapse of the Uighur Khanate, it became the surname of the Uighur king. Among the Uighurs, there are countless people with the surname Pugu.
However, it was not without problems. Jielipijia had three daughters and one son. Among the three daughters, the eldest was only six years old, and the other two were four years old.
This is a little easier to handle, because since ancient times, women will not be killed when they confiscate their homes and exterminate their families.
Not to mention anything else, just because of her status as the princess of Gaochang, she is also a scarce resource.
But the remaining son of Jielibijia is in great trouble. Don't kill him. Zhang Zhao has said that he will kill all the descendants of Pugujun to avenge him.
But Jielibiga's son was only over a year old, so if he really wanted to do it, it would be a bit too much.
But it was finally solved. Li Wang and Li Qilang came to Zhang Zhao. Since he was infertile, he begged Zhang Zhao to give him the child. From now on, he would be named Li and be the heir of Li Yuanzhong, the king of Ningsai County.
Zhang Zhao agreed immediately, which was considered a good solution.
At the same time, with the assistance of Yu Niang's father and brother, more than 40 Uighur nobles in Gaochang City had their homes confiscated.
More than half of the Uighur nobles were liquidated, and as many as a thousand men and women were imprisoned.
Zhang Zhao did not take care of this, but asked Guo Tiance and Li Xiaojie to handle it. Zhang Zhao's bottom line was to confiscate no less than 200,000 gu of property, so that Zhang Zhao could have enough money to reward the three armies.
Of course, these 200,000 yuan do not include the property of Jieli Pika and the entire Pugu family.
Zhang Zhao kept some of the large amounts of gold and silver confiscated from these families in the internal treasury, and used the rest to subsidize part of the cost of the military expedition, and part of it was used to reward meritorious officials.
After five days of repairs, Zhang Zhao left Guo Tiance and Feng Hui to lead an army of 3,000 to guard Gaochang City, and personally led an army of 30,000 to continue westward.
Among them, the size of the captive army used as cannon fodder reached more than 4,000, including more than 1,000 Geluolu people and nearly 3,000 Uighurs.
"First Evolution"
The reason why they want to continue westward is because after capturing Gaochang, the entire Gaochang Uighurs did not completely surrender.
Among the territories of the three states and two kings of the Gaochang Kingdom, the basic base of the Pugu family of Gaochang Khan is only Xizhou where Gaochang is located and Tingzhou where Beiting is located.
The rest of Yinzhou and the two kingdoms of Yanqi and Qiuci were not under the direct rule of Jielibijia.
Therefore, Zhang Zhao also wanted to win the surrender of these places just like the Gaochang Uighur Khan in the past.
It's just that Zhang Zhao's methods may be a little rougher.
At the end of Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Zhao's 30,000-strong army marched under the stars and at night. In less than eight days, they covered the nearly 800-mile road from Gaochang to Yanqi. This also gave Zhang Zhao a clear understanding of the vastness of Anxi. know.
A Gaochang Uighur with a population of only about 400,000 is easily eight to nine hundred miles away.
And that's not all. The westernmost territory of the Gaochang Uighurs is in Moman, that is, Aksu. From Yanqi to Moman, there are still more than 1,100 miles.
If you go from Yinzhou in the farthest east to Moman (Aksu) in the farthest west, it is a full 2,700 miles.
In such a place, with the current environment and strength, we can only arrange for the governance of a vassal town similar to that of Muying in the early Ming Dynasty.
Even the Qing Dynasty was unable to bring back the exiled officials. At most, the central government could dispatch garrison troops and garrison ministers.
But the problem is that Zhang Zhao does not have dozens or millions of 'minions' who can be used as confidants like the Manchu emperor!
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The governor of Yanqi who is responsible for guarding Yanqi is named Mi. From his name, you can tell that he is basically a Sogdian.
This is also true. Mi Huaiyu, the ancestor of the Mi family, was a Uighur-turned Sogdian, and it was rare that Pugujun had his own tribe.
In other words, Mi Huaiyu was not the Guiyi Army general assigned to Pugujun by Zhang Yichao, but originally belonged to Pugujun.
At that time, Mi Huaiyu was sent as an envoy to the Tang Dynasty by Pu Gujun. It was Mi Huaiyu who implemented the plan of separatist Yinbeiting to abandon the Guiyi army and take orders from the Tang Dynasty.
When Zhang Zhao arrived outside Yanqi City, people who had escaped from Gaochang City had already reported the information, and the defeated troops of Zetian Temple arrived at Yanqi.
In other words, they had received the news a long time ago, but at this moment, the four gates of Yanqi City were still closed, and the armored soldiers stood at the top of the city, which can explain the problem.
Based on the idea that if you are willing to die, I will be willing to bury him, Zhang Zhao is too lazy to surrender, so many of the young masters are in vain if they are not used.
Zhang Zhao immediately took the opportunity to hit the young master first, but secretly, under their cover, transported all the gold to the city gate in a carriage.
On the seventh day of the battle, Fenjindu blasted three times in a row, blowing a huge gap in the north gate of Yanqi. General Xiong and other generals led a heavy armored force to break in, and Yanqi City was quickly captured.
And on the third day after Zhang Zhao captured Yanqi, a messenger from Khotan came from the west.
Qiuci City, which had been besieged by Li Shengtian's 30,000 cavalry for more than four months, finally could no longer withstand it.
After receiving the news that Gaochang City had fallen and Jielibiga was defeated and captured, civil strife broke out among the Kucha defenders in the city.
Huaishun, the governor of Kucha who persisted in resisting the Khotanese army, was killed by the rebels. The tribes in the city immediately surrendered to Li Shengtian.
As the western city of Gaochang, Qiuci, with important economic and strategic significance, was finally recovered.
Of course, the more important significance is that after the capture of Kucha City, among the four towns in Anxi in the Tang Dynasty, Khotan was recovered by the Yuchi family, Shule was recovered by Zhang Zhao on Li Shengtian's order, and Yanqi City had just fallen to Zhang Zhao in hand.
The recovery of Qiuci means that Li Shengtian and Zhang Zhao, the uncle and nephew, have finally completed their grand goal of recovering the four towns in Anxi of the Tang Dynasty.
The envoy sent by Li Shengtian was Li Congyu, the second son of Li Shengtian and Cao Yuanxing.
Zhang Zhao, the second cousin, looks a bit atavistic, with a typical Scythian appearance, unlike his eldest brother Li Congde who looks Han Chinese.
However, he speaks fluent Chinese and has a very sunny smile, which is very lovable.
"After the emperor captured Kucha, he never entered the city. He only stationed outside the city. He sent a special brother to invite the king's cousin to enter Kucha city with him."
Zhang Zhao couldn't help but be deeply moved. Li Shengtian had been waiting for him to enter the city. What a courage!
Of course, this is also Li Shengtian's test of the relationship between the two.
After all, for now, the Khotan Kingdom of Jin and the Kingdom of Liang are still two countries, but the entanglement between the two countries is too deep, and they need to find a point that both sides can accept.
Zhang Zhao stepped down from his seat and took Li Congyu's hand, "My uncle's great kindness to my nephew is unforgettable!"
With that said, Zhang Zhao smiled and pointed around and asked Li Congyu, "What do you think of Yanqi City?"
“Luxury of water and grass, criss-crossing streets, and cattle and sheep blocking the roads, it was indeed one of the four towns in Anxi in the past!”
Li Congyu's eyes were shining brightly, he was very excited, and he obviously understood what Li Shengtian meant when he sent him to deliver the message.
"As long as my cousin is satisfied!" Zhang Zhao laughed and clapped his hands, and three beautiful girls walked in from the outside. They were all sixteen or seventeen years old, and they were already radiant without any makeup.
"My cousin can choose any one of these three beauties. They are all the apples of the eye of the Yanqi wealthy family!"
When Zhang Zhao finished saying this, Li Congyu's face turned red.
This is exciting. The young man who is not yet sixteen years old has experienced this excitement for the first time.
However, he is indeed as cunning and fierce as Cao Yuanxuan, and he can be called the son of a female politician.
Zhang Zhao felt blood rushing to the top of Li Congyu's head, but he actually remained conscious to a certain extent.
"I dare to ask brother, among the three of them, which one is named An?"
"Hahaha!" Zhang Zhao looked up to the sky and laughed, reaching out and patting Li Congyu on the shoulder.
"Brother Cong Yu, you are truly a horse of a thousand miles! I will manage this place carefully in the future. Ten years from now, you and I will stand side by side towards the west. When the time comes, we will not be able to protect this great river and mountains for my brother and me!"
The reason why Zhang Zhao was so happy was because Li Congyu's question was very skillful and he was not blinded by the beauty.
Because among the wealthy Yanqi families at this time, there were two surnames: Mi and An.
The ancestor of the surname Mi, Mi Huaiyu, was one of the culprits who split the Guiyi Army. Now he is fighting against Zhang Zhao, and he is destined to be severely punished.
The ancestor named An Ning was an ally of Zhang Zhao's great-grandfather Zhang Yichao in the past.
An Ning was the controller of Xizhou at that time, which is now Gaochang, and called himself the nondescript name of Xizhou Mushou.
At that time, Pang Teqin, the ancestor of Bugla Khan Saktu, moved westward to Anxi. An Ning was Zhang Yichao's most important ally in attacking Pang Teqin.
But before he could attack Pang Teqin, Zhang Yichao was called into Chang'an.
An Ning lost his support and was finally forced to surrender to Pu Gujun.
Pugujun, who originally only had Tingzhou and Yinzhou, was also able to enter Xizhou. He claimed to be the Jiedu envoy of Yinxi and Yinzhou and deceived Guo Dalang. It happened after that.
Therefore, attacking the descendants of Mi Huaiyu and supporting the descendants of An Ning is Zhang Zhao's political correctness.
It's just that Li Congyu is still a little unclear. What does Zhang Zhao mean by protecting this great country for my brother? He thought he wanted him to guard Yanqi.
But Zhang Zhao didn't think so. Sooner or later, Anxi would be under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Plains court.
Li Congyu is the kind of Muying character Zhang Zhao wants to cultivate. His final destination is either to the Land of Seven Rivers or to the Caspian Sea.
Zhang Zhao's eldest son Zhang Xiancun (Li Zhun) was less than ten years old.
It will take too long to wait until the sons grow up to be able to stand alone, and someone like Li Congyu can just make the transition.
"These three are all daughters of the An family. There is no daughter of the Mi family. Go and choose the one you like best!"
Zhang Zhao laughed and continued, "Are you kidding? Of course he would not put Mi Huaiyu's heir here."
"He just came here after Chuan Ma Sha. After I told him some things, the army immediately broke camp and went to Kucha!"
