I will never be Renzong

Chapter 213 Western Regions
The Western Regions refer to the west of Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, Congling is the east of the present-day Pamirs, the east and south of Balkhash Lake and the vast areas of Xinjiang.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the Silk Road, there have been 36 countries in the Western Regions, namely Wusun, Qiuci, Yanqi, Ruoqiang, Loulan, Qiemo, Xiaowan, Ronglu, Mi, Qule, Pishan, Xiye, Puli, Yinai, Shache, Shule, Weitou, Wensu, Yuli, Gumo, Beilu, Wutanzi, Beilu Houguo, Shanhuan, Pulei, Puleihouguo, Xiqiemi, Jieguo, Huhu, Shan Kingdom, Cheshi Front Kingdom, Cheshi Hou Kingdom, Cheshi Weidu Kingdom, Cheshi Houcheng Kingdom, Beilu Hou Kingdom, and Weitou Kingdom.

In 138 BC, Zhang Qian went on a mission to the Western Regions, and Chinese culture began to spread to the west. In "Historical Records", Khotan, Shule, Shache, and Loulan are relatively large-scale countries among the 36 countries in the Western Regions.

The countries in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty were often the targets of the Han Dynasty and the Huns.But most of the dozens of so-called "countries" are small in scale, and some countries are even as small as a village.Loulan, a relatively large kingdom in the Western Regions, belonged to the sphere of influence of the Xiongnu before the arrival of the power of the Han Dynasty. The country acted as the eyes and ears of the Huns and sent troops to block and hijack the Han envoys. .

In 60 BC, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty formally established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, and since then the conquests among the countries of the Western Regions have temporarily ceased.During the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, Loulan rebelled, and was ordered to destroy the country and forcibly changed its name to Shanshan.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shache was annexed by Shule.

During the Tang Dynasty, Khotan and Shule were conquered by Tubo. In the 9th century, the Tubo, Uighur, and Tang dynasties successively declined.Khotan rose again, annexed Shule, and developed into one of the most powerful countries in the Western Regions.

In 907, the Tang Dynasty collapsed, and the Central Plains appeared in a state of separatism; the Western Regions also presented a three-legged situation of the Karahan Dynasty, Khotan, and Gaochang Uighurs.

In 912, Yuchi Poba succeeded to the throne as the king of Khotan, and named himself "The Clan of the Tang Dynasty".People call Khotan after Li Shengtian the Khotan Li Dynasty.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Uighurs officially entered the stage of history.At first, the Uyghurs originated in the Mobei area, and gradually established the Uyghur Khanate. They helped the Tang Dynasty to quell the Anshi Rebellion and repaired with the Tang Dynasty.Until it was defeated by the subordinate tribes because of its rule of Wudao, the Khanate officially perished.

After the fall of the Uyghur Khanate, it split into three parts: one part migrated to the Turpan Basin and was called Gaochang Uyghur or Xizhou Uyghur; one part arrived in Central Asia and formed the Karahan Dynasty with the Turkic-speaking peoples at that time; the other part reached the Hexi Corridor and was called They are Hexi Uighurs and Ganzhou Uighurs.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Han king of the Karahan Dynasty converted to Islam and began to sow the seeds of disaster.

In 955 AD, Christianity was officially designated as the state religion of the Karakhanid Dynasty.The Li dynasty was hated by the Kara Khanate.

In 962, the Karahan Dynasty launched a religious war against Khotan.At this time, most of the Hexi area was occupied by the Uighurs.In order to gain the support of the Northern Song Dynasty and Shazhou Uighurs, envoys of the Li Dynasty continued to travel between Kaifeng, Dunhuang and Khotan.

Both Li Shengtian and his son, Prince Li De, regarded themselves as defenders of China. Relying on their devout belief in Buddhism and the support of Gaochang Uighurs and Shazhou Uighurs, they defeated the attacks of the Karahan Dynasty many times and carried out military revenge.

In 998, the coalition forces of Khotan and Gaochang defeated Kara Khan's army and killed Ali Arslan Khan. Taking advantage of the victory, they pursued and occupied Kashgar, the eastern capital.

In 1006, during the Northern Song Dynasty, due to outnumbered, the Khotan army was defeated by the Japanese allied forces from Hezhong, Khwarizm, and Ghazni. The thousand-year-old kingdom was thus destroyed, and the Holy War ended with the Karahan Dynasty conquering southern Xinjiang.

So in the ninth year of Tiansheng, there were only two countries in the Western Regions, namely the Black Khan Dynasty, the Karahan Dynasty, and the Gaochang Uyghur Dynasty, also known as the Xizhou Uyghur Dynasty. The head Uyghur is attached to the Xizhou Uyghur, but at the same time maintains a vassal relationship with the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

Among the two countries, the Karakhan Kingdom is the most powerful. At its peak, it was comparable to the Liao Dynasty at that time, and its strength was still very strong. Therefore, in history, the Liao Kingdom often bullied the Xizhou Uyghurs, but it never had an enmity with the Karahan Kingdom. .

In 1009 AD, King Mansur of the Kara Khan Kingdom sent a mission headed by the Uyghur Luosiwen to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty with local specialties.

Originally, Luo Siwen also proposed to let Da Song pay a return visit in order to deepen the relationship.But Song Ting refused because of the long distance.However, this did not affect the enthusiasm of the Karakhan Kingdom. Since then, it has sent envoys and tributes many times, reaching more than 50 times, and the exchanges between the two sides are endless.But objectively speaking, most of them are caravans, but it can be seen that the economic relationship between the Karakhan Kingdom and the Song Dynasty is still very close.

In fact, the Karakhan Kingdom coveted the exquisite porcelain of the Song Dynasty, as well as the exquisite silk, tea and other commodities. The Karakhan Kingdom actually acted as the spokesperson of the Silk Road, that is, the merchants of the Song Dynasty went to the Karakhan Kingdom After conducting trade, the Karakhan Kingdom obtained silk, porcelain and other commodities, and then sold them to some countries in Central Asia at high prices to earn the price difference.

There was no Silk Road in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the trade with the Karakhan Kingdom was also on the side of making money, and to a certain extent, it also saved transportation costs and garrison costs, but the money earned from the same trade would be less than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties many.

Later, because Li Yuanhao established Xixia, the connection between the Song Dynasty and the Karakhan Kingdom was cut off, and the trade route to Central Asia was cut off.

But right now, in the ninth year of Tiansheng, Zhao Zhen, who had traveled through time, had already subdued the party, and Li Yuanhao fled to Xizhou Uighur in embarrassment after beating him.

In 951 A.D., Xizhou paid tribute to the Later Zhou Dynasty, with 630 taels of white sable skins, 250 taels of sable skins, and [-] taels of green mink skins.

宋建隆三年（962年）、乾德三年（965年）以及太平兴国六年（981年）和983年，高昌回鹘皆遣使献方物于宋。981年其王向宋太宗上书时，自称“西州外生（甥）”。

In the past, the Xizhou Uighurs paid tribute at different times, sometimes every three years, sometimes every five years, but since the fifth year of Tiansheng, after Zhao Zhen defeated Li Deming, the Xizhou Uyghurs and Huangtou Huihe will go to the court every year. But in the same way, Zhao Zhen will also give back a lot of things, so although Xizhou Uighurs and Huangtou Uighurs are very humble, Zhao Zhen did not bully them, but communicated on an equal footing, sending envoys to each other, Send caravans to each other for trade.

It's not that Zhao Zhen doesn't want to open up the Silk Road, but Song Dynasty still has one of the most powerful opponents, and that is the Liao Kingdom in the north.

In short, if the Liao Kingdom is not destroyed, Zhao Zhen will not dare to attack the countries in the Western Regions rashly. After all, even if the Xizhou Uighurs and the Yellow-headed Uighurs are destroyed, there will still be a powerful Black Khan dynasty waiting for him.

Therefore, Zhao Zhen's plan is to make friends and trade with the three countries of the Western Regions, and then attack the Liao Kingdom with them at the right time.

(End of this chapter)