On the seventh auspicious day of the seventh month of the third year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong reviewed the troops in Shangyangyuan, the eastern capital, and swore an oath to practice. From then on, he began to dispatch troops and generals to attack Tibet. This is reflected in the chilly and tense atmosphere of Chang'an's markets, as well as the food stations set up in prefectures and counties along the pass.
When the first group of pioneers who passed through Tongguan/Taolin Road arrived at Xianyangyuan near Chang'an: Prince Li Hong also led the civil and military officials who stayed in Xijing and went there in person to reward and arrange camp; and hosted a banquet in honor of the leader. Wang Xiaojie, the former deputy general manager of the army and the pioneer soldier and horse envoy.
The two wanted to have a good chat, and they gave him a lot of medicinal materials and equipment, down jackets, tent rugs, maps, sand tables and other items on behalf of the East Palace. Half a month later, when Liu Shenli, Minister of the Ministry of Industry and General Manager of the March to the River Road, led a second group of troops through Chang'an, he was also received by Prince Li Hong.
While allocating and replenishing military resources on the spot, he also recommended more than a dozen generals to his command. For a long period of time thereafter, the marching team meandering westward seemed to have become the main force of Qinchuan's eight hundred miles. An everyday scenery; the restless hearts in Shayuan Prison gradually calmed down.
One of the conditions that Prince Li Hong strives for in private is to arrange for this new army of 30,000 people to be among the last batch of palace troops and backup; he also strives for these troops from different regions and belongings. More cushioning for practice and training and break-in.
At the same time, under the full supervision of the East Palace, the Shaofu Temple, the General Master Craftsman, the Arms Supervisor and the villas affiliated to the East Palace are all working day and night to build and rush to produce all kinds of clothing needed for the Tubo War. Bedding, equipment materials, plasters, pills and saddlery accessories.
In this case, Di Huaiying, who was the Zuocheng of Dali Temple, even asked two elders who stayed in the capital to organize a search with the Jingzhao Mansion to search the streets and markets; , the idle and profligate children, idle men and scoundrels were wiped out.
At least seven to eight thousand people were captured in one breath. Although it cannot be said that they were all caught in one fell swoop, it also greatly shocked the remaining fish that slipped through the net; they were hurriedly hiding at home or escaping from Chang'an overnight; together with Chang'an City, The order in the markets has improved a lot.
As for these captured idlers, except for a small number who were guaranteed and claimed by their relatives and swore to change their lives and find another legitimate livelihood, the rest were filled into newly developed mines, quarries and sand excavation sites. ; Use heavy labor to consume excess energy.
However, at this time, Di Huaiying's men once again uncovered several groups of spies who were spying on military affairs; but this time they were not Tubo people, but Turkic and Teller tribes from the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. The reason is also very simple. The Tang Dynasty raised troops and mobilized troops on such a large scale.
As the subject of repeated conquests and brutal beatings in the decades since the founding of the Tang Dynasty; examples of those who often plowed the courts and swept holes of the ruling monarchs and chiefs/great khans, and invited them to Chang'an to dance for the Emperor's banquet; It has long left a profound psychological shadow on later generations.
In addition, Silla changed its owner and canonized the occasion. Therefore, at this time when autumn is approaching, the usual warnings about Yanbian bandits are much less; and along the "Tian Khan" avenue originally built for Taizong, envoys from various tribes came to pay tribute and greetings. ; began to arrive in the Central Plains in an endless stream.
In the midst of this bustling commotion, another group of people joined the editing bureau established by the East Palace; but they were mainly outstanding painters and famous figures from all over the world who were invited. Among them, two are the most famous, one of whom is named Yanzhuang, and the other is named Yuchi Bamo.
The former is the nephew of the late Danqing Prime Minister Yan Liben, and the son of Yan Lide, the minister of industry and the great craftsman responsible for the construction of Taizong Zhaoling. Zuo Si, the imperial deputy commander, who once conquered Goguryeo and was one of the ten crown princes; his His wife Liu is the sister of Liu Shenli, Minister of Industry.
Yuchi Bamo came from the Yuchi family of the Khotan royal family, but was famous throughout the world at the turn of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. His "Portraits of Foreign Figures", "Portraits of the Heavenly Kings of the Luohan Dynasty" and "Portraits of the Heavenly Kings of the Luohan Dynasty" are handed down to the world. The former Duke of Xihe County The son of Yuchi Yiseng; he is also a leading figure in the contemporary painting world.
The reason why they joined the editing bureau was to participate in the drawing of the masterpiece that Donggong had been planning for a long time, called "Atlas of the Overseas World". In a sense, this is also a systematic writing project that will be famous throughout the ages; it also involves the key points of astronomy, geography, hydrology and calendar.
Just for the qualification to be listed among them is enough for these contemporary painters, who are regarded as Fang Ji and others, to rush to join it. At the same time, Pei Xingjian's troops, who escorted the Prince of Persia to return to the country outside the region, finally sent back the news after a delay of one and a half years.
First of all, the elderly Prince of Persia, Belus, had successfully arrived at the important town in the land of the river, the capital of the Kang state, Samojian (Samarkand), and obtained the local Zhaowu nine surnames at the oath-taking meeting hosted by Pei Xingjian on his behalf. / All the countries in the river have different levels of sponsorship and support;
The number of athletes, oxen and horses accompanying him has also expanded several times. After a short winter in Anguo (Bukhara), he returned to the settlement in Tocharo (Northern Afghanistan) the next year and gathered the survivors who had fled to the Persian country. Finally, he gathered a tribe of one hundred thousand people.
But such momentum has undoubtedly attracted the attention of the northern land of Khorasan. The old aristocrats who had deserted the Sasanian dynasty of Persia and turned to the Umayyad dynasty, led by the Varaz family, one of the seven major Parthian clans, formed a coalition to conquer and attack;
As a result, a series of large and small conflicts broke out in the vast area between Tochara and Khorasan; finally in one of the four towns of Khorasan, the former capital of the Kingdom of Bactria (Bactria). Outside Lanshi City/Balihei/Xiaowangshe City, the two coalition forces suddenly encountered each other and a decisive battle broke out;
Among them, the Belus tribe, which led the troops to fight against the city, fought fiercely with the Khorasan aristocratic coalition under the city for several days. In the end, it was inevitable that the tribe was too large and gradually fell into a disadvantage. The Yanda people, Tocharians and Hezhong soldiers who followed the formation broke out one after another or left the battlefield.
In the end, even the Persian tribesmen gathered locally were shaken and rushed around the city; so that the soldiers around him were separated and surrounded by the enemy, but they still fought left and right and fought endlessly; it was about to repeat what happened to his father back then. Yazdgeld III was defeated in the Wuhu River.
At this time, the 20,000 Tang troops and Anxi Yicong, who were still stationed and recuperating in the territory of Anguo in Hezhong, crossed the black desert west of Wuhu River like divine soldiers descending from the sky. At the last moment when the Belus headquarters was about to be defeated, they arrived at the battlefield outside the Black City of Bali in time.
This time, facing the Tang army's sudden attack with Anxi cavalry and a small number of armored cavalry; the tens of thousands of Khorasan coalition troops who were exhausted from long battles, the hastily organized counterattack almost collapsed at the first touch; in the blink of an eye, they were rushed into the place where the baggage, old and weak were. in the rear formation; and then, not surprisingly, the entire army collapsed.
In the end, after this battle, the Khorasan Allied Forces, which claimed to have sent 50,000 troops, were beheaded and captured tens of thousands. There were also a large number of defeated soldiers who abandoned their helmets and armor, and were driven into the black desert in the north; the Varaz clan The hundreds of powerful nobles from Khorasan who led them suffered heavy casualties.
Including the contemporary patriarch Nahabad, thousands of Khorasan nobles' armored cavalry, and several times that number of retinue cavalry, were devoured by the thirst and heat of the black desert during their defeat and escape. So that almost no one could escape back to Mulu City, the capital of Khorasan Province.
The abandoned goods, armor, equipment, baggage, camels and horses amounted to hundreds of thousands; therefore, relying on these seizures and trophies, Belus regrouped in northern Tocharia; led a 30,000-strong coalition to make a comeback, and marched to the large oasis where the capital Mulu City was located. At that time, the locals had not even received news of the defeat.
However, this battle is like a replica of the Battle of Mulu when the last Persian king, Yazdgeld III, fled eastward to the land of Khorasan. Because the army was exhausted and defenses were empty, and the hearts of the large and small oasis territories were shaken, almost no one could resist Belus' advance.
One after another, cities and towns knelt down under the leopard-skin and lion-headed flag of the coalition; and the last resistance gathered in Mulu City consisted of thousands of city militiamen and vassal tribal herdsmen, as well as a small number of governor-general guards. , noble private soldiers, and the defenders were also demoralized.
They didn't dare to go out of the city to fight, and while trying to hold on to the city and wait for help; when they saw the armor and flags abandoned in front of the city gate, they became even more panicked. As the last stronghold of the Persian Sassanids, there were also a large number of Persian remnants remaining in the city.
Therefore, when several supporting armies from other important towns in Khorasan, including Nishapur (today's Nishapur in northeastern Iran) and Herat (today's Herat, Afghanistan), were defeated one after another by the Tang army who could not ambush them in advance, they were defeated. After arriving near Mulu City, civil strife broke out in Mulu City not surprisingly.
Therefore, when the specific news arrived at the Yumen Station in Guazhou along with the fully loaded caravan, the Persian Governor's Palace that was originally conferred by the Tang Dynasty had been separated from its symbolic significance and was officially rebuilt in the former Persian Empire/Sasanian Empire. dynasty, in the ruins of the easternmost province of Khorasan;
The Persian Restoration Army led by Belus has even captured Marseille, a key mountain pass leading to the hinterland of Persia (the Iranian Plateau); it has also moved north to the Khwarezm area in the Aral Sea Basin, and fought with another army fighting on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. The remnants of Persia, bordered by the Zoroastrian state of Tiberis.
Therefore, the target of the great shock this time was also the turn of Damascus in Syria, the Arab Empire/White Food/Umayyad Dynasty. It was the penultimate year of the reign of Mu'awiya, the last of the four caliphs and the founder of the Umayyad dynasty.
According to the normal historical line provided by Jiang Tian. Soon after, Mu'awiya, who felt that he was old, would declare his son Yazid as the successor of the caliphate. This destroyed the caliphate electoral system originated from the Holy Prophet, and the Arab Empire became a feudal country ruled by hereditary dynasties.
But this also led to the rise of the largest domestic opposition, the Shiites and the Khawalijs, and protracted civil strife. This turmoil has even been accompanied by the entire dynastic lineage. But in any case, the Persian Restoration Army that accompanied the rise of Belus also gained a rare window period.
For at least a decade or two, the Umayyad dynasty, which originated from a large loose tribal alliance, would not have enough power to take care of the Persian Restoration Army in the eastern provinces before it suppressed the internal rebellions. The strategic offensive and defensive patterns in the entire Central Asia region were also reversed.
It is a pity that the current geographical limit of the Tang army represented by Pei Xingjian is limited to this. Otherwise, if the canonization of the Tang Dynasty can be used to fuel the civil strife in the Umayyad Dynasty, it will further fuel the civil strife of the Umayyad Dynasty. Light a few fires; create more variables and accidents...
In addition, the Abbas family who also rose up in Khorasan a hundred years later and established the Black-clad Great Food/Abbasid Dynasty would not know how to herd sheep in that corner; otherwise, they would use Persia to restore the country. At the same time, we easily cut the grass and roots; it also saves future generations from so many disputes.
But at least there is one thing Jiang Tian can do; that is, support Belus in the name of the Tang Dynasty and cleanse the faith in the Khorasan Province; use fire and sword to liquidate the old nobles who surrendered to the enemy and treason, and at the same time, also punish those who have changed the country. The local residents who soon received the letter came back again.
This requires more help from China. For example, his brother Arahant, who has retired to his home, can re-edit a modified version of Zoroastrianism from China to combat the penetration and influence of the Tianfang religion from the West. , at least become a buffer zone and isolation zone...
(End of chapter)
