Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1723 A century-old layout?

After drinking a cup of tea, because it was already cold, the palace attendant boiled a pot again.

This time, Shao Shude took care of Zhang and Wang's tea-drinking habits, and ordered the palace servants to add spices, ginger and other things to the tea.

He likes to drink plain tea with nothing added, but others don't.

Brewing tea is actually a major way to consume spices, but ordinary people can't afford to drink it.

After the freshly boiled Huang Lingmao was served, Shao Shude stretched out his hand to signal for tea, while he himself peeled the oranges slowly, waiting for the two to report.

"The emperor of Baghdad was in great embarrassment due to internal and external troubles." After organizing his speech, Zhang Yong said: "Decades ago, there was some excitement. After the rise of Safar Persia, they unified the Khorasan region, and then they The soldiers marched westward, peeping at the artifact. Fortunately, they were defeated by the army led by Prime Minister Dashi, and the crisis was saved."

After he finished speaking, he was worried that Shao Shude could not understand, so he explained again: "Safar Persia started out by suppressing rebels, and after unifying Khorasan, its strength increased greatly, just like Zhu Quanzhong's Xuanwu Army. After the rebellion, for The defeat of the king's division, the loss of all the elite troops, and the collapse of the country led to the rise of Saman Persia. The Saman Persians are like that of Hedong Town."

Shao Shude smiled and said nothing, only motioning for him to continue talking.

Zhang Yong really worried too much.He comes from a later generation, and he has a good understanding of countries with different cultures, systems, beliefs, and political ethics. There is no need to compare everything with the original. In fact, this analogy is inappropriate.

The rise of Safar Persia was extremely fast, aggressive, and unstoppable, but they lost a key battle.The most pitiful thing is that the investment in this key battle is too large. As Zhang Yong said, the elite soldiers will suffer heavy losses and will no longer be able to maintain a huge territory, which will eventually lead to the rise of Saman Persia.

Today's Safar Persia has shrunk to Afghanistan and almost became a puppet of Saman Persia.

And this "almost" also indirectly received the favor of Daxia.

In previous negotiations with Persia, Shao Shude clearly requested that Saman Persia not annex Safar Persia or control it as a puppet.Of course Bukhara would not agree, but they also lost a lot of land and population. The military pressure in the east and north was so great that Safar Persia was able to jump to the present day.

At the end of last year, the Prince Jian Guo sent an envoy from Luoyang to report: the Safar Persian envoy came to Luoyang via Tocharustan.

This mission was small in scale, and did not make any demands or requests, but only offered a generous gift: mainly the silver that was abundant in their country.

After Shao Shude heard the news, he discussed with the prime ministers, and finally judged that this mission was only here to fight in the front, and there would probably be people coming later, with only one purpose: to make good friends with Da Xia and maintain the survival of his own country.

Yes, survival is the most important thing.Anyone with a bit of blood does not want their country to become a puppet.If it is not really impossible, is Safar Persia willing to surrender?
"The emperor of Baghdad today can't control many places, and the princes of various feudal towns have separated themselves. On the surface, they respect the Caliphate as the main one, but in fact they are subdued and self-confident, and they are invincible." Zhang Yong continued.

"Do the princes pay tribute to Baghdad?" Shao Shude asked.

"Pay tribute. But there is more or less, so we cannot generalize. Those who are more submissive will pay more tribute, and those who are domineering will pay less tribute. That's it." Zhang Yong said.

"Where is Bukhara?" Shao Shude asked: "I heard that Bukhara has increased its tribute payments in recent years, trying to get Baghdad's permission to send more jihads eastward. What news have you heard over there? "

"This... I have never heard of it." Zhang Yong was a little embarrassed.

Shao Shude understood.

They have never seen the top power of Dashi at all, and the news they have inquired may be valuable, but the secret level must not be high, and it is widely circulated among the local nobles.As long as you gain the trust of one or two people, you can find out in daily chats.

However, on this question, Shao Shude no longer needed Zhang Yong to give a clear answer.

He judged with more than [-]% certainty that Bukhara must have surrendered to Baghdad, at least ceding considerable benefits in exchange for some degree of their support.

The battlefield has already shown signs of this.

Although he was patrolling in the south this year, the military newspapers from the Western Regions kept sending them over.

Shichiro is currently fighting fiercely with the infiltrating jihadists in Rahana.

The battle was cruel, and two of his sons who traveled west with him died in battle.

They died very aggrieved, not heroic at all, not soul-stirring at all: one died of a arrow, the other was injured by falling from a horse, and was trampled to death by a group of charging enemy cavalry.

But Shao Shude still gave these sons a very high evaluation, dared to face the enemy's sharp edge, and made a break with the corrupt life of the past 20 years, which is magnificent!

Of course, there are also failures.

After some people went to Bukhan, they felt that life was too hard and ran back.

Someone fought two battles and was lucky enough not to die, but was frightened and ran away, and was caught and beheaded by Lao Qi.In this matter, Shao Shude looked at Lao Qi with admiration. He usually showed affection, but on the battlefield, he turned his face whenever he wanted to.

The martial arts disciples who followed Lao Qi had never actually been on the battlefield.In the beginning, the casualties were not small, but after a long period of fighting, those who survived were all elite soldiers—in fact, with their aptitude, as long as they can perform normally, they will not be much worse. The problem is that it is difficult for recruits to perform normally.

Shao Shude also saw Lao Qi's evaluation of the jihadists: Brainless, rushing and fighting, although the equipment is poor, they are more powerful in small and medium-scale battles.

After reading it, he directly ordered the three places where Buddhism is most prosperous, Yizhou, Xizhou, and Khotan, to organize eminent monks and great virtues to go west, accompanied by a large number of monks, soldiers and lay believers in Buddhism, to support Bahana.

The current situation can still be stabilized and controlled.

The Rehai Turk governor and governor both came to report that in the past two years, they had killed more than a hundred priests and sent secret believers to the east of the Tianshan Mountains and handed them over to Anxi Road to dig wells and canals in the desert, or Maintaining the post roads on the snowy mountains can be said to be "making the best use of everything".Through the reports from these two directions, Shao Shude was able to judge that Samambas must have reached some kind of cooperation with the Baghdad court.

This is what Shao Shude is most concerned about. He needs to confirm how much assistance the Baghdad court can give?Or, how much aid can Bukhara buy with money?It's a pity that Zhang Yong couldn't give him a satisfactory answer.

"Tell me about the enemies in Baghdad." Shao Shude said.

"Yes." Zhang Yong pondered for a while, and said, "I heard that there are endless grasslands for more than a thousand miles north of Baghdad. In the past ten years, tribes have been moving westward. These grassland shepherds are fierce, nimble, and predatory. They often cross Other tribes, going south to plunder, this is the biggest threat to Dashi."

"Well——" Shao Shude reached out his hand to stop Zhang Yong's words, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "If more tribes move westward, can the big cannibals be overwhelmed?"

Zhang Yong was deep in thought.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely possible." Wang Heizi said suddenly.

"Oh? Why is Wang Qing so sure?" Shao Shude asked with interest.

"Your Majesty, it is not a secret that the Turkic tribes moved westward." Wang Heizi said, "I have heard many rumors in Baghdad and Basra about the situation of the nomadic tribes. In the Khazar Khanate that we have made friends with, I heard that some people went south privately to plunder Dashi Prefecture."

"What do the big cannibals think of the Turkic tribe's fighting power?" Shao Shude asked.

"On the surface they think they can be easily defeated, but in reality they are facing a formidable enemy." Wang Heizi said.

"It seems that the cannibal has also fallen." Shao Shude said with a smile: "In the past, we could make a few gestures with Tang Jun, but now we can't. The cycle of prosperity, peak, and decline is really difficult to break. If it weren't for the assistance of the Creator Church, the Baghdad court would It might be even more embarrassing.”

"Your Majesty's words are very true." Seeing that Wang Heizi's words attracted the attention of the sage, Zhang Yong immediately echoed, "It is the general trend for the Turks to move westward. After they left, the Tatars and Uighurs also continued to move westward to fill the vacancy. I feel that in another hundred years, the number of ministries moving westward will reach a new height, and then the big cannibals will either send out a large army to wipe them out once and for all, or cooperate with them and recruit them in a big way."

"Your Majesty, the Baghdad court has hired Turks to fight for them." Wang Heizi added.

Zhang Yong felt angry, why is this guy so careless?Compete with me everywhere - for favor!
"Barbarian mercenaries, haha!" Shao Shude laughed suddenly: "Used well, it is a magical weapon. If it is not used well, it will suffer backlash. I know the situation of the big eclipse."

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Yong and Wang Heizi rushed to say.

Shao Shude looked at them with a smile and said, "Both of you will be awarded the title of County Marquis for your meritorious service on the mission. The rewards for the rest will vary."

"Thank you, Your Majesty Long En." The two responded together.

The others are still on the way, more or less able to get a Distinguished Official, and even the ten slaves are estimated to be able to obtain the status of "common people" and receive a financial reward, which is really a stroke of luck.

Shao Shude put the half-eaten orange on the table, got up and walked around twice.

The evening sun was still scorching hot, but he had already settled down in his heart.

Everything is under control!

It is impossible for the Dashi court to give Bukhara too much help, and this point is basically a certainty.

The jihadists coming from all over the Great Food Territory are trouble, but they are just trouble.Without the support of the huge economic and armed forces of the state apparatus, it is difficult to achieve things by relying on these fanatics alone.

Rather than worrying about how they are doing on the battlefield, their secret missions are more of a headache.But then again, this is not the 21st century, religion cannot be free!

In history, the entire city of Karasa could collectively convert three times within a few decades, so what is there to worry about?When Satuk attacked Gaochang, he found that he had to rely on a butcher's knife to successfully preach, and secret infiltration was impossible, which already explained the problem.

Coupled with the recent news that the Khitan has moved further westward, Shao Shude feels more stable.

When Abaoji left, there should have been 30 to [-] people. I don’t know how many people arrived in the Western Regions, but he should also be coercing and recruiting Uighurs, Miagas and even Turks. His strength should not be underestimated.

The Khitan's westward advance can be regarded as a major event in the history of Central Asia, an event that really changed the direction of history.

Their combat effectiveness is not comparable to that of Turks, Ge Luolu, and Ogus. Once they pass, it is very likely to set off a storm.

Persia and the Great Cannibals were threatened by this and were unable to look eastward, so the territory of the Great Xia court west of the Tianshan Mountains became more stable.

The precious window of peace has arrived, and we can concentrate on cleaning up hidden dangers, developing the local area, strengthening the foundation, and striving to completely wash away the local culture in a few decades.

In this way, it is possible to use this as a basis to further peep into the land further west—if it can be ruled stably.

"Here's an order to dispatch light cavalry from the Beiting Camp, and 'gift' A Baoji to go west." Shao Shude ordered.

"According to the order."

"The rest—" Shao Shude shook his head, and said: "In my whole life, if I have achieved this step, I am already worthy of history. Pass the order down, and set off for the north in three days."

(End of this chapter)