Yang Jiye is thirty years old this year, Brother Yeluxiu is thirty-one years old this year, Seljuk is twenty-four years old this year, Zhang Deqing is twenty-eight years old this year, and Lu Duoxun is twenty-nine years old this year.
Including Zhao Kuangyi, who went to Persia before, and the little black bears Zhang Liechao and Lu Duan, who are 24, 25 and 28 years old respectively.
Obviously, this is the team created by Zhang Yan for Zhang Xianjing, the fourth son of the emperor who is about to become the prince.
The biggest reason is that Zhang Yan is already fifty-one years old this year. He plans to take power fifteen years later, when he is around sixty-six years old, and will gradually begin to reduce the power in his hands.
By that time, most of Yang Jiye and others were in the age of forty to forty-five. They were young, powerful and experienced enough to assist the prince.
More importantly, these people grew up step by step under the influence of Zhang Xi, and their loyalty and admiration for Zhang Xi must be much higher than that of Zhang Xianjing.
With them as his team, Zhang Yan can ensure that after letting go of some superficial power, he still holds huge invisible power that is enough to subvert any status quo.
There is no room for much affection between father and son in the whirlpool of power. It is far better to make plans in advance than to be a loving father and a filial son.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that Zhang Hao is preparing to make some big moves again in the next fifteen years to lay the foundation for most of the roads that the Xiajun Yi people should take.
The reason for being so anxious is that there is no other way. An emperor holds great power and holds divine power in his hands. He also has strong claims on the grasslands and plateaus. He can adjust his position at any time and attack the enemy in all directions without blind spots.
It’s so buggy!
In this state, as long as he is willing, he can beat all his subjects, regardless of high or low, into slaves at any time. No one will have the slightest sense of security in front of Zhang Yan.
Especially as Zhang Yan gets older, this sense of terror and coercion will begin to increase rapidly among everyone.
This kind of power was never possessed by the First Emperor, Emperor Shi Zongwu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Wen of the Tang Dynasty, and not even the later Emperor Hongwu.
What a double-edged sword!
This kind of control under high pressure allows Zhang Yan to quickly mobilize all the manpower and material resources across the country to achieve his goals, but it can also easily lead to a major backlash due to excess or extreme fear.
Therefore, the time should not be maintained for too long. Fifteen years is a more suitable length of time.
. . . .
Then there is a need to train Zhang Xianjing's team and bring them closer to each other. As a commander-in-chief, Zhang Xianjing is not just a nominal commander.
But with the help of Yang Jiye, Brother Yelu Xiu, Lu Duoxun and others, he truly exercised his responsibility as the commander of the army.
Of course, this was before the war, specifically on the march.
Zhang Xianjing went all the way to the west, fully participating in all aspects of the march and fighting, and had great contact with Liu Zaisheng, the prince of Pingzhang and Linzi counties in Guanzhong Province before.
Pingzhang of Hexi Province, who had just returned to Liangzhou to take charge, the defense ambassador of Longyou in Hexi Province, and Wang Huguang of Julan County.
Pingzhang of Anxi Province, Defense Ambassador of Anxi Beiting, Guo Tiance, Prince of Yezhi County, etc. had in-depth exchanges and began to try and become familiar with dealing with these important ministers.
On Zhang Xianjing's way to Persia, the situation in Persia and Dashi changed greatly.
First of all, when the news of the disastrous defeat came, Ayad Daulai, who was left behind by the Bouveshi dynasty in Baghdad, immediately panicked.
After all, the Delam people are from Persia. Now that most of Persia has fallen, 30,000 of the 40,000 guards controlled by the Bouveshi dynasty have been captured and killed, and both the hinterland and the force have been lost at the same time. It can be said that Bouveshi The Xi family has reached the edge of destruction.
Therefore, Ayad Daulai forcefully blocked all news leading to Baghdad, and immediately led his troops into the palace of Caliph Muti, trying to order the Caliph to immediately issue an edict to recruit 50,000 warriors and place them under the control of the Bouveshi family. under the control.
Ayad's plan is that there are only tens of thousands of warriors left in the whole of Iraq. First, recruit them and control them. Coupled with the caliphate who has been controlled for a long time, he should be able to barely prevent the Bouveshi family from being overthrown immediately.
But his plan soon went bankrupt, because without the presence of Aduad Daulai and tens of thousands of elites of the Bouveshi dynasty, Ayad Daulai did not have the authority to control the caliphate.
Under the secret instructions of Caliph Muti, the vizier (prime minister) Amid family chief, who has always been the head of the black-clad Abbasid dynasty's civil servants, and the current vizier of the Abbasid dynasty, Abu El-Far. Dele Mohamed Amid.
That is, the famous vizier Grand Amed in the history of the Black Era, immediately spread the news.
For a time, the cannibals who were dissatisfied with the Persians entering Baghdad and controlling the Caliphate set off a wave of opposition. The Kurds, Bedouin and other sturdy tribes living around Iraq also began to rebel frequently.
The greatest danger comes from the Hamdani dynasty, which mainly controls the area in present-day Syria.
Because Baghdad was originally controlled by the Hamdani dynasty, they were defeated by the Bouveshi dynasty eighteen years ago in 945 and had to retreat to Syria.
Now it is the turn of the Bouveshi dynasty to weaken. The Hamdani dynasty has recovered its strength in Syria and naturally wants to return to the throne.
In the fourth year of Qianyuan, AD 965, after a fierce battle, Ayad Daulai, the leader of the Bouveshi family, was trapped in Baghdad.
The Bedouin rangers who obey the orders of the Hamdani dynasty occupy Fallujah, the northwest gateway to Baghdad, and can launch an attack at any time.
The Buveshi family's failure is already doomed, it's just a matter of time and cost.
Later, in response to the threat from the east, through the mediation of the vizier Grand Amed.
Seif al-Dawlay, the head of the Hamdani dynasty, agreed to allow Ayad al-Dawlay to safely withdraw from Baghdad with the remaining armed forces of the Bouveshi family, and allowed them to continue to rule Khuzestan and Basra.
These two places are located at the estuaries of the Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia, controlling a large area of the Haikou Plain. They are the richest lands along the Persian Gulf. Basra, in particular, is a famous wealthy and cultural city in the territory of Guangdong at this time.
Ayad Daulai, who had no ambition and just wanted to save his life, immediately agreed. After he signed an agreement with the palace ministers of the Hamdan dynasty in Baghdad and declared that he would become a vassal of the Hamdan dynasty on the surface, he immediately withdrew from Baghdad. .
As soon as Ayad Daulai withdrew from Baghdad, the head of the Hamdan dynasty, Seif Daulai, quickly entered Baghdad with an army of 30,000 people.
This instantly dashed the Abbasid Caliph Muti's hopes of regaining power.
With the help of Vizier Grand Amed, Seif al-Dawlay, who entered Baghdad, rebuilt the power system that originally belonged to the Caliphate.
He gave up the honorary title of Daulai and instead ordered the caliph to appoint him as Sultan, and named him Sultan Alimu after his real name Alimu.
The word "Sultan" did not have the same meaning in later generations before this. It originally meant strength, judge, etc., but now it was coined by Seif Daulai, and it directly became the title of the highest tyrant in the Abbasid Dynasty.
Saifu Daulai became Sultan Alimu, which is like evolving from Prime Minister Cao to the King of Han and Wei who entered the court without any tendency, praised and worshiped unknown, and went to the palace with a sword.
Poor Caliph Muti worked hard for whom, but in the end even the symbolic meaning was almost lost.
. . . .
And just when drastic changes occurred in Baghdad, Zhang Xianyu was in Isfahan and had no time to pay attention to them.
Because after the Battle of Jiasanbao, the territories of southwest Persia and South Persia such as Isfahan and Shiraz controlled by Zhang Xianyu did not originally belong to Saman Persia.
And in fact, this is the core area of the Persian Empire in history, with rich products, a large population, and complex sects.
If Khorasan and Rai (Tehran) are not included, Isfahan and Shiraz alone have a population of close to four million. If Khorasan and Rai are included, there are a full seven million people. .
It is really difficult to occupy and pacify a population of 7 million with a military strength of 50,000 to 60,000, and to select a large number of people who are willing to follow Ansu (Mansour) to Baghdad to restore the Persian Kingdom.
Therefore, at the same time as the cannibalism and chaos in Baghdad, Zhang Xianyu, with the assistance of Zhang Liechao, Cao Bin, Zhao Kuangyi, Lu Duan and other civilian and military generals, began to enfeoff heroes in the Persian headquarters and Khorasan on a large scale.
In one breath, three princes, seven magistrates, more than forty gentlemen, and hundreds of inspection envoys were released.
Then Zhang Xianyu, still busy, mobilized a team of 20,000 people to completely wipe out the Safar dynasty entrenched in southeastern Persia, which later became the small coastal area between the Strait of Hormuz and Pakistan.
In this battle, the coalition forces beheaded more than 6,000 people and captured more than 10,000 people. They then carried out a shocking massacre, executing almost 30% of the men of the Safar dynasty, which had a population of only 5 to 6 million people.
However, although the rapid enfeoffment and defeat of the Safar Dynasty stabilized the situation and consolidated military morale, it made it almost impossible for Zhang Xianyu to launch another war against the Abbasid Dynasty.
Because the allied forces of the Hezhong Xia forces, numbering fifty to sixty thousand in total, had achieved such a great victory, all of them were already full.
The soldiers and generals who had received a huge amount of money and did not want to divide it were anxious to go back to the river to share the wealth with their families. It would be good if they did not make any noise to go back, but they would not want to go to Baghdad to risk their lives.
Instead of returning to the river, the soldiers and generals who stayed in Persia and Khorasan have all become vassals. The lowest patrol envoys have three to four hundred households with two to three thousand people who are basically serfs. They don't want to be drafted. The fight continued.
Those who were gentlemen and above were busy calling friends and relatives in the rivers and even in the middle of the country to stabilize the feudal country.
Jun Nan and the patrol envoys were busy marrying two beautiful concubines in order to develop confidants from the fiefdom, and then went around hoping to buy dozens or hundreds of serfs from Tianzhu to continue to reclaim wasteland and herd cattle.
This means that the army has no fighting spirit, this means that the army has no morale. If they are forcibly recruited to fight, they will dare to paddle on the battlefield at best, or disperse in a rush.
This is also a stubborn disease that all feudal armies, even the People's Liberation Army, could not avoid before Sanwan was reorganized.
. . . .
In the silent and awkward confrontation between the two sides, after eleven months of long journey, the expeditionary army led by Zhang Xianjing, the fourth son of the emperor, finally arrived in Rai (Tehran).
Outside Lai City, Anguo King Zhang Xianyu led all the civil and military forces to line up outside the city, waiting for Zhang Xianjing's arrival. He was still a little uneasy and unhappy.
Uneasy because he didn't know what Zhang Xianjing was about to bring to him.
Because since his father began to focus on training him, rumors began to spread throughout the court that Zhang Xianyu would be established as the prince. Although the queen and the Cao family did not target him much, there was still a gap between the two brothers.
Now that he is thousands of miles away, if Zhang Xianjing falsely transmits the imperial edict, he should not dare to do so, but Zhang Xianjing will definitely dare to use chicken feathers as arrows to embarrass him, and even deprive him of some rights, so Zhang Xianyu is very uneasy.
As for the reason for the dissatisfaction, it is even more obvious.
Even among princes, there is a difference between a mule and a horse.
Zhang Xianyu, who has no ancestral family and whose mother is in poor health and has a weak personality, is a perfect mule and horse.
Naturally, in Rome, father-in-laws like Zhang Xianjing, Miao Hong, and Zhang Xianxi took over everything.
Zhang Xianjing is darker and thinner, but he is more energetic.
He was twenty years old when he left, and he was almost twenty-two when he arrived. He had completely lost the immature and disguised demeanor he had in the divine capital, and was replaced by a completely different perseverance and approachability.
Zhang Xianjing has completely abandoned what he learned since childhood in the Shendu: eating slowly and carefully, being polite when picking up food, and being silent when eating and sleeping.
Now Zhang Xianjing is riding on horseback, taking a mouthful of kumiss and a mouthful of dried meat, mixed with sand and dust, and then swallowing it in his mouth.
His drinking capacity has gone from being drunk after drinking a bowl of rice wine to being able to draw a bow and shoot accurately even after drinking two or three kilograms of high-strength liquor.
The language is extremely vulgar, ranging from the most serious ones, such as "your mother and maidservant," to "fuck your mother, fuck your father," "dog basket," "big silly beep," etc., all of which are completely dirty.
He would no longer vomit because he couldn't bear to go to the toilet with soldiers, nor would he be overwhelmed by the smell of soldiers' sweat.
He could even sit down with some low-level officers, catch the lice on each other's heads, and then strangle them one by one.
He also had a more direct understanding of the dangers of war. He knew what a brave soldier meant to a family, and no longer regarded them as a series of cold numbers.
It is easier to know how to arrange troops and formations, and to skillfully use rewards and punishments to control subordinates.
Of course, the most important thing is that he finally knows how great his father, the great Emperor of Middle-earth, the Khan of the Grassland, the Buddha King of the Plateau, and the Sage Shah Shah of the Far West, has left him.
That way is equivalent to a seven or eight-year-old child who has no feelings about his father saying that the family has saved five million yuan for him.
But if you convert it into a golden arch and tell him that he can eat it all the time from now on, three times a day, until he dies, he will have a deep understanding of how much money five million is.
Today, Zhang Xianjing fully understands how vast and wealthy this empire is, and also understands how heavy the burden on him is.
He has been able to break away from the old idea that his brothers were threats and dividers of family property, which his mother, Cao Yanxi, had instilled in him for twenty years.
Zhang Xianjing deeply understood that such a large empire could not be maintained without the dedication of his brothers.
Only if their brothers can live in harmony and continuously strengthen their ties with blood as a bond, can they truly conquer such a vast world.
As for the future threats his brothers would pose to him and his descendants, Zhang Xianjing agreed with his father Zhang Xian's words.
'I have left the Middle Earth, grasslands and plateaus to you, but you can't defeat your brothers in the extreme west and extreme south. What qualifications do you have to be the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty? '
. . . .
"Second brother, second brother!"
Therefore, when Zhang Xianyu met his imaginary brother, Zhang Xianjing held a staff, wore court clothes, and met him with pride.
The music had not started yet, but after a brief communication by messenger, Zhang Xianjing himself rode a big white horse, called his second brother and ran towards him.
Zhang Xianyu opened his mouth so wide that he could almost fit an egg into it.
He stared blankly at the white horse in the distance, the dark, thin but energetic boy. It took him a long time to recognize that this was really the fourth brother he once envied and hated, the quasi-prince Zhang Xianjing.
"Shiro, Shiro!" At this moment, all the barriers were completely broken in these two affectionate calls.
Zhang Xianyu quickly jumped off his mount, and Zhang Xianjing also jumped off his mount. The two hugged each other tightly in front of everyone's attention.
In an instant, all the uneasiness and worries were completely eliminated at this moment. There was no music played, no formal etiquette, and the cheers were loud.
Thousands of Han men were present just outside the city of Rai. In front of a large number of Persian servants and maids, they hugged each other crazily, sang and danced. Even the civilian husbands accompanying the army were infected and danced happily together. dance.
. . . .
In the fifth year of the Qianyuan year of the Great Zhou Dynasty, AD 966, on the twentieth day of the first lunar month, brothers Zhang Xianyu and Zhang Xianjing met in victory in Lai.
After several days and nights of carnival, it was not until the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month that further integration and handover ceremonies began.
Zhang Xianyu returned the scepter given by Zhang Zhi during the last expedition and the gold seal and fish talisman deployed by the Hezhong camp, relieved the heavy responsibility of the deployment of the Hezhong camp, and disbanded the Hezhong camp.
Later, Zhang Xianjing, surrounded by his brothers and ministers of civil and military affairs, read the emperor's edict and established the governor's office of the five provinces.
The area from Suiye and Talos to the Aral Sea was classified as Suiye Province.
The hometown of the nine surnames of Zhaowu is Hezhong Province.
Khorasan plus Rai (Tehran) are Baoshan Province.
Isfahan and Shiraz are Dingyuan provinces.
Tochar (Afghanistan) is the province of Xiliu.
Changing Lai to Tongzhi takes the meaning of the Zhang family brothers having the same spirit and joining the branches.
Changing Isfahan to Jinlan means that all people in the Western Han Dynasty are friends of Jinlan.
Shiraz was changed to Tongzhi, which meant that the vassals of the Western Han Dynasty worked together to govern.
Later generations mostly referred to these five provinces collectively as the Five Extremely Western Provinces.
After completing the basic framework, Zhang Xianjing took office as the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the five provinces and the governor of the military affairs of the five provinces, basically forming a pattern headed by him.
Naturally, it is impossible for Zhang Xianjing to stay in the five extreme western provinces for a long time, so in order to ensure that the Xia kings in the five provinces have an alliance leader.
In accordance with Zhang Xian's request, Zhang Xianjing held a grand Dharma assembly in Tongzhi City (Tehran) attended by three great masters of the Six Dharma Sects, announcing that Zhang Xianyu was the Western Medicine Master Glazed Light King Buddha, or Medicine Buddha for short.
This is not an honorable position that ordinary princes can obtain.
In today's Zhangzhou, only Murong Nobunaga, the great king of the Yan vassal, is as patient and immovable as the earth for the East, and his meditation is as profound and profound as the Vajrayana Buddha, that is, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Zhang Xiancun, the great king of the Chu vassal, was the great Buddha born in the south.
Now Zhang Xianyu has become the Medicine Buddha of the Far West, which has established his irreplaceable position and role in the Liufa Sect.
In places like the Five Far Western Provinces, where the Six Dharma Sect must be vigorously promoted, he will naturally become the first among the Xia kings in the Five Far Western Provinces.
Of course, Zhang Yan's arrangement has a deeper meaning.
That is, although the religious power in the current Six Dharma Sect is in his hands, the lower religious power is actually controlled by a group of great sages, masters, and monks.
Zhang Yan's position determines that he cannot go deep into the grassroots to personally control the teaching power. He must control it through great virtues and masters.
When he is here, this is no problem. If he is gone, it is not certain whether the Six Methods Sect will be too inverted.
So Zhang Yan chose to wholesale the Buddhist disciples who were one level below him, and let his sons compete for some more basic religious rights with the great virtues and masters of the Six Methods Sect on his behalf, so as to prevent the Six Methods Sect from becoming careerists in the end. A tool to persecute his flesh and blood.
For this goal, it is actually worthwhile to allow Zhang Xianyu to gain a certain amount of power in the five far-western provinces, even without excluding the possibility of becoming bigger in the future.
Therefore, after determining his future status, Zhang Xianyu began to assist Zhang Xianjing with all his heart, and the two brothers immediately mobilized the fighting desire of the armies of the five far western provinces.
As for the method, it's very simple.
When the new arrivals saw that the Han warriors from the original five provinces had received such great benefits, they were naturally envious and wished they could fight to Baghdad immediately without having to mobilize them at all.
As for the warriors from the five provinces, once so many people came to the court, the Persians below did not dare to cause trouble.
Secondly, their titles were only conferred by Zhang Xianyu, and the court did not recognize them. If you want to lie down and enjoy them now, you have to be careful that your title and wealth will be taken away by military law.
As a result, the sound of war drums sounded again at the top of Tongzhi City. In the great empire that was on par with the Tang Dynasty in the past, the Tubo people fell due to natural disasters and civil strife. Now there is still a large food empire with a caliph to support it, and it is about to usher in a new era. his final fate.
