In the first half of the twenty-eighth year of Chengshun, the Chu Empire successfully captured the Kazakh Khanate. Its powerful military strength and huge ambitions for the Central Asian region made several other Central Asian countries very panic.
In the current Central Asia region, in addition to the original Kazakh Khanate, there are still several countries, namely the Bukhara Khanate and the Khiva Khanate.
To the south of the Shire Khanate was the territory of the Safavid dynasty of Persia.
And to the southeast of the Bukhara Khanate, which was the large area of Afghanistan in later generations, was the Mughal Empire.
By the way, the Mughal Empire, which ruled the north-central Indian region, was a standard foreign invasion regime compared to the indigenous people on the Indian peninsula. It had almost the same nature as the Liaodong invaders who occupied the Central Plains after being captured by the pass.
Even the process is very similar...
The Eastern Capture was brought in by Wu Sangui of Liaoning during the civil strife in the late Ming Dynasty.
The predecessor of the Mughal Empire was the Kingdom of Kabul in Afghanistan. Its founder was the Turkic Mongol aristocrat Babur, the sixth grandson of Timur. He had nothing to do with the indigenous Indians! He was invited by the Governor of Punjab, Laite Khan Lodi, to enter northwest India and began his career of conquering the Indian peninsula.
After years of conquest, he defeated the Lodi dynasty and other chaotic local indigenous peoples, and finally proclaimed himself emperor in northern India and established the Mughal Empire.
So far, the Mughal Empire ruled a large area of Afghanistan, northern and central India, and its territory was very large.
As for the southern part of the Indian peninsula, it is still in the independent state of many indigenous kingdoms or simply colonies of the Chu Empire, and has not been completely conquered by the Mughal Empire.
Throughout Central Asia, we currently have our own forces, namely the Great Chu Empire, the Bukhara Khanate, the Khiva Khanate, the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, and the Mughal Empire.
Among them, the powerful and ambitious Da Chu Empire naturally attracted the attention and precautions of the neighboring countries.
However, despite preparations, after news of the collapse of the Kazakh Khanate spread to the south one after another, the Bukhara Khanate and the Khiva Khanate unanimously sent envoys to the city of Turkestan (Turkistan City, Turkestan).
The first to arrive was the envoy team from the Bukhara Khanate. They paid a visit to Yang Mingda, the first governor of the two rivers of the Chu Empire, and presented a large number of gifts to Luo Zhixue, the emperor of the Chu Empire.
Then he expressed his respect for the Da Chu Empire and his respect for the emperor of the Da Chu Empire. He also hoped to be friendly with the Da Chu Empire for generations and exchange trade with each other. He even said that he hoped to marry the Da Chu Empire and so on. Their king intended to marry a A princess from the Great Chu Empire, and at the same time they would marry a princess to the Great Chu Empire.
Regarding the marriage proposal put forward by the envoys of the Bukhara Khanate, Yang Mingda, who was ordered to supervise the affairs of the Central Asian vassal and patrol the civil affairs of Lianghe and other places, became furious on the spot... and almost pulled down and chopped all these envoys.
You barbarians are so bold, how dare you marry me, the princess of the Great Chu Empire? Who gave you the courage to let me, the Great Chu Empire, send your daughter for marriage?
For those who don’t know, you might think that your indigenous army has arrived outside our empire’s Jinling City and wants to force us to sign an alliance under the city.
This outburst scared the indigenous envoy to the point of almost peeing on the spot, and then quickly explained in various ways, saying that he just wanted to strengthen the friendly relationship between the two parties, and so on. The princess he married was also a queen, and the child he would give birth to would be the crown prince... Never insult the will in the slightest,
Yang Mingda was still unhappy and said directly: "Are you worthy?"
You are so cool and want to marry the royal princess of our Da Chu Empire!
The first time I thought, I won’t argue with you because you are ignorant. Next time you mention marrying the princess of my Da Chu Empire, be careful of my empire’s million-strong army to defeat you and other small barbarian countries.
What the hell, you want to marry the princess of my Great Chu Empire, why don’t you go to heaven?
Our Great Chu Empire is not like those soft-headed dynasties in history that like to play with giving away daughters for marriage. In the past, the Ming Dynasty could not get married, and the Great Chu Empire will not do the same.
And according to the rumors, His Majesty loves all the princesses under his knees very much. If Yang Mingda dares to report this news and asks His Majesty to marry the princess to the barbarian, Yang Mingda can foresee his own end, and he will definitely be imprisoned. If you lose your official title or even be imprisoned, His Majesty will be so angry that he will directly send troops to destroy the Bukhara Khanate.
Don't expect to marry the princess of our Great Chu Empire. One more thing, I will immediately order the troops to be sent to the Bukhara Khanate... But it is still feasible to send your princess or something to the Jinling Palace to enrich the emperor's harem.
According to unreliable gossip, some blond and blue-eyed Thai and Western women were offered to the emperor before, and they were promoted within a few days.
If you get a few princesses from Central Asia and send them to Jinling City, you might get an unexpected surprise and your career will be smoother.
Then there are no shortage of various gifts from the Bukhara Khanate. Now the number of tributes has quadrupled, and it will be this number every year in the future.
There are also many conditions such as a comprehensive opening of the market, tariffs agreed upon by both parties, and extra-legal jurisdiction.
If one of them is missing, the imperial army will immediately move south.
Looking at the extremely harsh conditions put forward by the Chu Empire one after another, and then looking at Yang Mingda's ugly face that was extremely tough and always shouted and sent his troops south to destroy the country.
The envoy of the Bukhara Khanate could only keep laughing, but at the same time he was angry and desperate inside!
I had heard about the strength and domineering power of the Great Chu Empire before, but after all, there was the Kazakh Khanate in the middle, and the Bukhara Khanate had no actual diplomatic contact with the Great Chu Empire.
Now that I have actually come into contact with it, I know that the rumors about the strength and domineeringness of the Chu people are not lies. In fact, in fact, the strength, domineering, and even unreasonableness of the Chu Empire are even stronger than the rumors.
This is the first contact between the two parties, and there has been no conflict or hatred between the two parties before.
The Braha Khanate sent envoys over, but they still took the initiative to surrender and sent gifts, just to build a good relationship.
But the high-ranking official of the Great Chu Empire opposite... acted like he was a superior member of the Celestial Empire. He didn't look squarely at these envoys from the Bukhara Khanate, and the conditions he stated left no room for negotiation. .
After the envoy made some excuses, Yang Mingda directly issued a threat of war...
After some negotiation, no, after being trained, the envoy of the Bukhara Khanate looked panicked, and at the same time, he was angry in his heart, and he retreated in fear.
Then he prepared to return to the country with a punishment clause that was not much different from the conditions for subjugation and peace.
Are these conditions acceptable?
Definitely not. If they all agree, although the country will not be subjugated and it is still a little short of becoming a complete puppet, it is actually not far away.
The market was fully opened, and the tariffs were nominally negotiated by both parties, but the detailed terms were actually decided unilaterally by the Chu Empire.
These two points alone mean that the Bukhara Khanate will become a dumping ground for industrial products and a place for plundering raw materials for the Chu Empire.
Not to mention that the Chu Empire also required a portion of leased land in several of their important cities to build commercial buildings and even garrison troops, as well as the right to garrison troops, military passage rights, etc.
If this article is agreed to, it means that the troops of the Chu Empire can walk freely on the land of the Bukhara Khanate.
How is this different from a puppet state?
Although the Bukhara Khanate is afraid of the Great Chu Empire, it will not let the other party tell it and just become the puppet state of the Great Chu Empire.
Not to mention, the series of conditions proposed by Yang Mingda were based on the terms signed by several puppet countries in the Nanyang region, and they have not changed much.
As for whether the other party agrees or not...actually it doesn't matter.
If you agree, you will get a puppet country and a market for nothing.
It doesn't matter if you don't agree... Anyway, according to the Chu Empire's foreign expansion strategy, sooner or later it will be defeated...
There is no need to even wait for the northwest railway to be opened. It only needs the Chu Empire to manage the two rivers area for a few years. After the military reclamation and immigration have achieved results, it is time to start external expansion again.
Even though Yang Mingda is a civilian official, he is also very aware of the urinary behavior of the generals in the military... After accumulating some money and food in their hands, they will eagerly launch wars.
The previous several battles against the chieftain rebellion in the Qingkang area, against Zhungar, against Russia, and against the Kazakh Khanate all followed the same routine: sending troops to seize a place, then colonizing it, accumulating food and continuing the war, and then conquering new territory. Settling and farming for a few years, and then sending out troops...
In such a back and forth cycle, the Chu Empire made its way from Jiayuguan to the Kazakh grassland, crossed the Aral Sea, and drank the Mali Sea...
That's right, the cavalry frontiers of the Great Chu Empire have now reached the Caspian Sea.
This place was originally the Xiaoyuzi area of the Kazakh Khanate, and earlier it was the territory of the Nogai Khanate. After the demise of the Nogai Khanate, most of the territory was occupied by the Kazakh Khanate, which was occupied by the Chu army. After it is killed, it will naturally be succeeded by the Great Chu Empire in name.
After defeating the coalition forces of the Xiaoyuzi tribes on the western front, the Dachu Empire ended up on the edge of the Mali Sea. It is still fighting the remnants of the Xiaoyuzi tribes and even the Russians in this area.
After the main force of the Xiaoyuzi tribes was defeated by the Chu Army's Second Cavalry Army, they fled westward into the Ural River and Volga River basins, and gained support from the Russians.
However, because the battle line was too far away and supplies were extremely difficult, the Chu army had suspended its westward advance. Instead, it chose a place with rich water and grass suitable for settlement in the northeastern Black Sea area, hundreds of kilometers east of the Urals. Carry out city construction and prepare for long-term settlement and garrison in the local area to prepare for the continued integration of the remnants of the local nomads and the Russians who have intervened.
The city being built is called Xihai City.
The city is also the westernmost city in the Chu Empire.
However, at present, the Chu Empire's control in this area, and even the entire Kazakh region, especially the central and western regions, is not very good. It only controls along the main rivers, and for large areas of the inland, even the grasslands In fact, regional control is very limited.
The follow-up may require long-term conquests, clearings, and city construction to gradually transform this area into an actual control area.
In terms of pure military conquest, even before the opening of the Northwest Railway, the Chu Empire could fully rely on the grain and grass produced in Turpan and the Lianghe area to launch wars.
It's just that the fight is not efficient enough, and there are relatively large limitations, and it will be difficult to maintain the rule in the future. Even if the rule is maintained, there will be no convenient transportation links such as railways in the later period, and eventually the vast Central Asia and even the Western Regions will be connected with the Central Plains. The region becomes divided, eventually rebels and becomes independent, or is invaded and occupied by foreign enemies.
This has happened many times in history.
When the Central Plains Dynasty was strong, it expanded abroad. In the past, the Tang Dynasty also invaded the Western Regions, but in the end it could not hold on.
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This is a problem caused by long distances. It was almost impossible to solve in the agricultural era and could only be solved by relying on railways in the industrial era.
On the contrary, it is easier to maintain large-scale expansion and colonization in Siberia... Siberia seems vast, but its water network is developed. Relying on waterways, you can run all the way from the Far East to the Ural Mountains.
This is why the Russian expansion in history first captured Siberia and then Central Asia. It would take until the mid-to-late 19th century to completely colonize Central Asia, and complete control would only come after the 20th century. It's over.
Why?
Because there is no convenient water network transportation in Central Asia, transportation is extremely inconvenient.
These problems are also the problems that the Chu Empire currently faces when it expands in Central Asia. The lack of water networks makes troop mobilization and logistical supplies very troublesome, so that in the end they rely heavily on cavalry for combat.
This was the case in the fight against the Kazakh Khanate. In fact, although infantry and artillery were also dispatched, they were basically useless. The main battle was basically fought by cavalry. Even the Battle of Tashkent seemed to be fought by infantry and artillery, but that was The issue of military merit distribution... If it weren't for giving some credit to the infantry and artillery, the cavalry would have taken it by themselves.
From this we can see why the Chu Empire was determined to build the Northwest Railway and spent huge sums of money on it.
Because of the Northwest Railway, the Chu Empire was not only able to better expand on the western front, but also completely incorporate the vast Central Asia region into its own rule.
It's just that the construction of the Northwest Railway is difficult, and there is no hope for it in a short time. Not to mention other things, just a section of the mountain railway from Baoji to Lanzhou, which is only a few hundred kilometers long, is expected to take several years to build.
There are still thousands of kilometers of Gobi Desert, desert, and plateau railways to be built in the future, and these will take time.
However, these difficulties still do not affect the dispatch of troops from the garrison in Central Asia to teach the Bukhara Khanate or Khiva Khanate a lesson when necessary.
It's just that the price is a bit high and you can't accept it.
Yang Mingda, the governor of Lianghe, knew these situations very well, so he had the confidence to intimidate the Bukhara Khanate.
Not only intimidating the Bukhara Khanate, but also intimidating the Khiva Khanate...
The Khiva Khanate also sent envoys over soon after, trying to avoid becoming the target of the Chu Empire's next expansion.
Then, their envoys returned with almost humiliating conditions.
As for whether they will agree to it, it depends on whether the senior officials of the Khiva Khanate are tough and courageous.
The situation in Central Asia changed drastically after the Chu Empire occupied the Kazakh Khanate, causing the Bukhara Khanate and Khiva Khanate to panic. Even Persia and even the Mughal Empire heard the news. Finally, everyone felt a little uneasy.
These two countries are also in contact with the Great Chu Empire. The Great Chu Empire has now fully accepted the colonies of European countries on the Indian Peninsula, and a considerable number of these colonies border on the Mughal Empire.
For example, Bombay and even Goa, apart from the colonies, were the territory of the Mughal Empire.
They had more contact with the Da Chu Empire, but they were fully aware of the powerful maritime power of the Da Chu Empire. However, what they did not expect was that in just one year, they heard that the Da Chu Empire was expanding in Central Asia. .
This means that in the near future, they will not only come into contact with the maritime power of the Chu Empire in the coastal areas, but also with the ground power of the Chu Empire in the north.
This is undoubtedly a huge threat to them.
However, the huge changes in the situation in Central Asia and the potential concerns of the Mughal Empire and Persia are all matters of the local indigenous people.
Within the Da Chu Empire, they actually paid little attention to the war in Central Asia.
After the empire's top brass finalized the decision to send troops to Central Asia to seize the Kazakh Khanate last year, they actually paid little attention to matters in Central Asia.
There are a lot of domestic affairs that need to be dealt with, and many of them are more important than the mere expansion in Central Asia. How can the empire's senior officials have the time and energy to pay attention to the situation in Central Asia every day? This new round of domestic industry The development plan is under discussion and is expected to be officially launched next year.
This new round of industrial planning is much more important than the situation in Central Asia. It is related to the rise and fall of many industries, and it is also related to the future development of the empire's overall industry and commerce.
Many high-level officials in the empire, including the business community, are very concerned about this matter.
Even ordinary people don't actually care much about the changes in the situation in Central Asia... They care more about jobs and income, and more about materials, rice, oil and salt. As for the war with the indigenous people thousands of kilometers away, to be honest, they don't care.
And this, I have to say, is also the tragedy of the neighboring countries of the Great Chu Empire... You are beaten, or you are worried about being beaten every day, but the people of Chu actually don't care whether you are beaten.
Be it the Bukhara Khanate or the Khiva Khanate, most of the people in the Great Chu Empire, and even some of the middle and upper classes with broader horizons, have never even heard of their names...even if they knew there was such a person after reading the newspaper. place, but only for a few days at most, and then just turn the page.
What is more tragic than being despised is being ignored.
