Chapter 1380 The Common Leader of All States

Chapter 1380 The Common Leader of All States

A war that lasted for several months finally came to an end with the surrender of the Western Turks' Dianmi Khan. The forces in the Western Regions who were watching all the way were naturally delighted, but both warring parties secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As the battle progressed, they each had a deeper understanding of each other, and they all realized that they had underestimated their opponent's strength before.

As for the Tang army, when Li Tai was planning this battle, he did not have a deep understanding of the geographical environment of the Tianshan Mountains. As a result, the army was trapped in the Yiwu area and failed to achieve any effective cooperation with the divisions and brigades in the Jinshan direction. At the same time, no news came back from the troops sent west, so that in the second half of the war, they were completely struggling. Even if they master the passage in and out of the Tianshan Mountains, they no longer have the time to besiege Futu City on a large scale.

As for the Western Turks, as the losing side, there is no doubt that the mistake made by Shidianmi Khan was bigger and more fatal. The new Tang Dynasty was far stronger than any opponent he had faced before, and the emperors and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who fought with it this time were the most powerful troops who had just completed the unification of the country.

In particular, the West Route Brigade led by Shi Jing traveled more than 3,000 miles in the severe cold winter, passing through deserts, glaciers and mountains, and successively conquered Yanqi, Qiuci and other countries in the Western Regions. It took more than two months. Time, finally successfully arrived at the Yingsu River where the Western Turkic Khan's tent was located, and destroyed the Turkic Khan's tent in one fell swoop!

The defeat of Shidianmi Khan was certainly due to his underestimation of the enemy, but facing the soldiers of the Tang army who were able to complete such an arduous march, even if there was another similar battle, he would inevitably suffer the same fate.

After the Shidianmi Khan surrendered, Li Tai learned about the news about the western division. When he learned that Shi Jing and other soldiers had fulfilled their mission and completed this feat, he couldn't help but burst into tears with excitement.

This battle can be regarded as the first battle of the Tang Dynasty to show its power in the Western Regions. It can also be said that since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Han regime once again set foot in the Western Regions with a strong attitude. Shi Jing and others traveled thousands of miles to attack the Western Turks. The battle in the Khan's Tent was the most eye-catching battle in this battle and the battle that best demonstrated the tenacious fighting spirit and powerful combat effectiveness of the Tang army!

Although the Western Turks were forced to land in this battle, the strength of the Western Turks still existed, and there were still hundreds of thousands of Western Turk soldiers gathered inside and outside Khan Futu City. Once the war continues, the Tang Army can certainly defeat these Western Turks troops, but if these Western Turks really rebel, the situation will be difficult to control for a while, and now the Tang Army does not have enough conditions to stay here for a long time. Continue fighting to quell the chaos.

Therefore, the next step is to solve the problem mainly through consultation and negotiation. As the victorious party, Datang mainly proposed three conditions.

The first is to ask the Western Turks to give up their independence, re-recognize the identity and status of the Turkic Great Khan, and accept the rule of the Great Khan. Secondly, the tribes belonging to the Turks that were illegally annexed by Shidianmi before must give up control of them and let them return to the command of the Great Khan. The third point is that here in the Western Regions, the Western Turkic forces must withdraw to the west of Luntai and are not allowed to enter south of the Tianshan Mountains at will. The countries in the Western Regions that were controlled and enslaved by them in the past need to regain their freedom.

Each of these three conditions is a huge blow to the Western Turks. Khan Shidianmi had already publicly announced in the Jinshan Khan tent that he would no longer accept the rule of the Great Khan. If he bows his head again at this time, it will undoubtedly be an admission. to reveal his identity as a Turkic traitor. Although he had claimed to be disobedient Lao Hu when he surrendered before, he was speaking to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, not for taking pictures.

Therefore, Shi Dianmi showed great resistance to this first condition, and even said that he would rather be executed than accept the rule of Shetu.

After learning that Shi Dianmi had surrendered, Yiwulai rushed from the west foot of Jinshan Mountain to take pictures. After learning that Shi Dianmi had given this reply, he felt even more ashamed and angry. He bluntly said that the thief was so stubborn that it was better to be executed, and that he could take his place. Take charge of the Western Turks.

Of course Li Tai would not listen to what the photo said. He came here mainly to establish the majesty of the Tang Dynasty, and he did not really want to help the Turks restore their unification. He wished for the endless struggle between the East and West Turks. The reason why he proposed this condition was also Just to appear famous. Since Shi Dianmi is so resistant to this, he will naturally have to make concessions in other aspects, otherwise he is really looking for death.

Regarding this issue, the final result of the negotiations between the two sides was that the Tiele tribes taken away from the Jinshan Khan tent during the Shidianmi Western Expedition, including the tribes that had previously come from the east of Jinshan to the west and relied on the Western Turks, must be returned. If these people are willing to return to Turkic rule, they can return to the east of Jinshan Mountain. If they are unwilling to return, the Tang Dynasty will temporarily control them and choose a place to the west of Jinshan Mountain.

In later generations, the Western Turks were divided into ten surnamed tribes. Now these tribes requested by Li Tai are roughly equivalent to the Wudulu among the ten surnamed tribes in later generations.

Nowadays, the ten surnames of the Western Turks have not yet been formed. The Shidianmi Khan now controls the vast area of ​​the Western Region, mainly relying on these old troops brought from Jinshan. Now that the Tang Dynasty has forced him to hand over most of them, he is naturally not very happy. But no matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to nod and agree as he was currently weaker than others.

In addition, although the Western Turkic Khan no longer obeys the orders of the Great Khan, he still has to accept the orders of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and every two years he must lead his troops to Chang'an to guard for a month, or send his direct descendants to go there. The festival of ministers.

As for the withdrawal of the Western Turkic forces from the south of the Tianshan Mountains, this is also a condition that is not considered a condition. Now that the Tang Dynasty has made it clear that it wants to intervene in the affairs of the Western Regions, and defeat the original overlord of the Western Turkic in one battle, it is natural to take over the various interests of the Western Turkic in the Western Regions. Even if Shidianmi Khan does not agree, he has no power to compete with the Tang Dynasty.

But now that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has personally proposed this condition, it has given great comfort and encouragement to the Western Regions. In the struggle between the two major powers, these states can only stand aside, and they have no choice at all about who will govern them in the future. In contrast, they are undoubtedly more willing to accept the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty. After all, the Tang Dynasty is more civilized, and the previous exposition held in Dunhuang also allowed them to see the abundance of the Tang Dynasty's products, which naturally has infinite appeal to a number of Western Regions states.

Li Tai did not aggressively attempt to crush the Western Turks just because of a victory in a war. The conditions he proposed were basically what the Tang Dynasty needed at the moment and could be taken and digested by its strength. He did not make more requirements for the north of the Tianshan Mountains. Even the occupied Yingsuochuan and the nearby Ili River Valley of the Western Turkic Khanate were temporarily still under the control of the Western Turks.

For the operation of the Western Regions, it is not a good idea to be too aggressive. This will cause the management cost to increase sharply, and even shake the situation that a solid framework has not been built. The forces in the Western Regions are complicated, and the Tang Dynasty is not ready for the whole country to intervene.

Under the witness of the Western Regions, Shi Dianmi Khan officially handed over the jurisdiction of the Western Regions south of the Tianshan Mountains to the Tang Dynasty in the Tang Emperor's tent. The token representing this jurisdiction was a golden scepter presented to Shi Dianmi by the Western Regions.

After receiving the scepter, Li Tai ordered the scepter to be melted into goldfish amulets, and then returned them to the rulers of various states. He also announced that all taxes levied by the Western Turks would be exempted, and only a certain amount of commercial taxes would be collected to maintain the expenses of the Tang Dynasty stationed in the Western Regions to maintain stability.

Next, Li Tai announced the establishment of the Longxing Protectorate to manage military and political affairs in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. Longxing was the reign of the Later Western Liang established by his ancestor Li Bao in Yiwu. The territory was not large but the tone was not small. Now it was borrowed by Li Tai to realize the real Longxing.

The Longxing Protectorate has four towns under its jurisdiction, and Yiwu, Yanqi, Qiuci and Shanshan are temporarily set up. His third brother, King Lu Li Ao, who accompanied him on the western tour, served as the first Longxing Protector and sat in Yiwu. Shi Jing, who had just led his army to break through the Western Turkic Khanate and shocked the Western Regions, served as the Deputy Protector of Longxing and sat in Qiuci. Tang Yong, the governor of Dunhuang, served as the chief historian of the Protectorate. The Protectorate temporarily retained 20,000 garrisons, and at the same time, the Western Regions gathered 10,000 city-side armed forces to garrison in spring and autumn to maintain the security of the Protectorate, protect the operation of the trade route, and coordinate the conflicts among various parties.

After making these arrangements, Li Tai's western tour came to a temporary end. The troops returned to the court one after another. At the same time, the leaders of the Western Regions, including the Western Turkic Khan Shi Dianmi, all followed the emperor's eastward journey and went to the Chang'an court to admire the scenery of the Celestial Empire.

On the way back, the army was naturally cheered and applauded countless times, and the enthusiasm of the people was even greater than last year. When the emperor arrived at Yumen Pass, in addition to a group of Longyou officials who came to greet him, there was also Tuyuhun Khan Kua Lu, who had hurried back to his country after paying homage in Wuwei.

After meeting again after several months, Kwalu now had a flattering look on his face after seeing the Supreme, no longer showing the reluctant perfunctory attitude as before. Behind him followed the adopted son that the Supreme had given back to him before. It was said that he was now granted the title of King of Henan in his country by the Supreme, commanding all the troops of the Heyuan tribes.

"Your Majesty is not only the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the ruler of the Xia Dynasty, but also the father of all the Hu people! Even the Hu people can create their own titles to intimidate others and respect themselves. How can the father not offer his title to the world?"

Unlike before when he was still a little stubborn, now Kua Lu was as docile as if he had no bones and crawled in front of the Supreme's carriage. With a trembling voice, he said with excitement: "I dare to offer the title of 'Heavenly Khan' to the Supreme! Only this title can control all the countries. All of us are grateful and dare not disobey!"

"Heavenly Khan! Heavenly Khan!"

When the leaders of the countries who followed the emperor heard Kua Lu's words, their eyes lit up for a moment, and they bowed and shouted, and then danced around the holy carriage to congratulate.