Chapter 47 1. Glorious dream

There are two important passages in the Western Regions, one is the South Road (the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang today), and the other is the North Road (the northern edge of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang today).The southern road was occupied by the state of Tian, ​​and Banchao had already resolved it.The North Road was occupied by the Kucha Kingdom, and Ban Chao also took it two years later. This year is AD 74.Relying on the strong national power of the Han Dynasty, Ban Chao conquered various countries in the Western Regions repeatedly, and the news quickly spread back to Luoyang.Luoyang is like a festival, the emperor Liu Zhuang, the three princes of the Han Dynasty and the ministers are all immersed in inexplicable excitement.

On May 5th, Liu Zhuang held a grand banquet.All civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty gathered in the Jinluan Hall and raised their glasses to celebrate.Everyone made a toast to Liu Zhuang, saying that His Majesty's kindness and prestige spread far and wide in the Western Regions, and no one could stop him. Liu Zhuang was elated when he heard it, but he replied modestly: "This is not my credit. If it weren't for Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu, how could our family enjoy this beautiful era." Thinking back to the founding of the country by the great ancestors, and the whips of the Han Dynasty, how chic and unrestrained, I can't express it in words.For decades, Guangwu ran north and south like a day, and saved the big man from the fire and water.Today, it will be me, Liu Zhuang, who will add bricks to the height of the Han Dynasty mansion.I, Liu Zhuang, inherit the past and usher in the future. I dare not speak of excellence, but I am determined not to be a mediocre emperor who gnaws on the old.

Half a year later, November, winter.Liu Zhuang gathered troops and used them abroad for the second time.This time, we will focus on dealing with the right arm of the Northern Huns - the Western Regions. Of course, the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions cannot be resolved with Ban Chao's power alone.Moreover, the northern Xiongnu had a long-standing root in the Western Regions, and their allies were deeply rooted. This time they dispatched troops to uproot a few big trees and establish the absolute prestige of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions. The main general of the expedition is Dou Gu, the captain of Fengche, and Geng Bing, the deputy general.All the cavalry were used, a total of 14,000 people.The army set off from Kunlun Fort in Dunhuang County and went straight to Baishan.

Dou Gu's goal is the Western Regions, and to cross the Western Regions, he must pass through Baishan.Baishan, that is, Tianshan Mountain, we also know that this ghostly place turned out to be the revolutionary base of the Northern Huns.Therefore, before entering the Western Regions, the revolutionary bases of the Huns in the northern Tianshan Mountains must be wiped out. Sure enough, when Dou Gu led his army into the eastern section of Tianshan, he encountered the Northern Huns Corps. The greatest pain for man is to fall twice in the same place.Unfortunately, someone is suffering again.Dou Gu's opponent was still the King Huyan who slashed and killed last time.However, Dou Gu was not interested in playing with King Huyan today. He only pushed his opponent back and continued to march forward.

The prey Dou Gu wanted to catch most was in the front, and its name was Che Shiguo (now Turpan City, Xinjiang). Che Shi, originally named "Gu Shi", was later renamed Che Shi.It was not someone else who changed the name of Che Shiguo, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Back then, General Zhao Puonu of the Han Dynasty led the army to take down Gushi and changed it to Cheshi.Time is not forgiving, after several years of vicissitudes, Cheshi Kingdom split into front and rear kingdoms and six northern kingdoms. The two kings at the front and back of the car division have not many troops, and they add up to 5,000 soldiers.But these two kings are not easy to deal with. Che Shi's former kingdom is five hundred miles away from the latter kingdom.Five hundred miles is not a problem, the problem is that there is an unattainable Tianshan Mountain between them.

The Tianshan Mountains are more than 5,000 meters above sea level and covered with snow all the year round.At that time, there were no planes or missiles, and it was not an ordinary difficulty for you to take down the front and rear kingdoms of Cheshi at the same time. But the question is, the Western Regions are so big and there are so many countries, why doesn't Liu Zhuang go to take other countries, but why does he want to have trouble with Che Shiguo? In fact, it's not that Liu Zhuang has trouble with Che Shiguo.But this country is too important.To what extent is it important? To use a very fashionable sentence nowadays, it is a battleground for military strategists.

It is located at the first stop of the North Road, on the main route of the Silk Road.It leads to Dunhuang in the southeast, Loulan in the south, Wusun in the northwest, and Xiongnu in the northeast.For such an important point, the Huns fought desperately to compete with the Han Dynasty. From Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, it never stopped.It is known as the "Five Fighting Car Masters" in history. In the most powerful era of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu wanted to snatch Cheshi hard. It can be seen that the Cheshi country is too important to the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty.If Liu Zhuang wants to open up the Western Regions, he must first eliminate the threat of the Northern Huns and strangle Che Shi by the throat.

Therefore, taking down Che Shiguo is Liu Zhuang's second plan.And this plan is related to the overall situation.Che Shiguo can't take it down, and the Han Dynasty's desire to control the Western Regions is simply nonsense. Whether it is Dou Gu, Liu Zhuang, or the Han Dynasty, Che Shiguo is a turning point for them.If you pass it, the future is bright, but if you don't pass it, the achievements are far away.However, the Tianshan Mountains are more than 5,000 meters above sea level, what kind of hurdle is this! Dou Gu encountered difficulties on this hurdle.He believes that the mountains and rivers in the Queen's Kingdom of Che Shi are far away, and it is winter, and the cold is oppressive.Therefore, he is going to abandon the distance and seek the near, and attack the former kingdom of Che Shi first.

However, as soon as Dou Gu's opinion came out, someone rejected him.This person is exactly Geng Bing who didn't get anything during the last Hun expedition.Geng Bing, courtesy name Bochu, is tall and burly.As mentioned earlier, he is the nephew of the famous general Geng Yan. Counting from Geng Yan's father, he is a typical rich three generations. From a certain point of view, Geng Bing is comparable to Ban Chao. Both of them have common characteristics. Ban Chao was in a difficult situation, still looking up at the starry sky.This spirit, we call it pursuit.Geng Bing, standing on the achievements of his ancestors, is still looking for new heights.This pursuit is what we call defense.He is fighting to defend the honor of the country and the dignity of a hero.

Among the young and strong factions of the Han Dynasty, Geng Bing was a true hawk.He often believed that the unrest in the Central Plains was caused by the Xiongnu.To get rid of the Xiongnu, we must fight with war.Therefore, after he became a visitor, he often whispered in Liu Zhuang's ear that he wanted to fight the Northern Huns.Blowing and blowing, it becomes a reality. However, what made him feel uneasy was that in the last expedition against the Northern Huns, he actually hit an empty target and did nothing.Therefore, this time as Dou Gu's lieutenant general, he is more eager to make contributions than anyone else.

Extraordinary people, if they want to make extraordinary achievements, they must walk the extraordinary road.Geng Bing believes that the former king of Che Shi is the son of the queen king of Che Shi, and if the queen king of Che Shi is taken down, the former king of Che Shi must return.Therefore, he suggested that when Dou Gu came, he should not do anything at all, pick and fix the difficult ones, and directly take a car to the queen. Geng Bing likes the art of war, and Dou Gu also likes the art of war.However, Geng Bing's offensive plan made Dou Gu hesitant and dared not make a decisive decision. Geng Bing saw Dou Gu's concerns.This is a huge opportunity, he must rush to kill Dou Gu in front of him.So, he roared angrily, and shouted to Dou Gu: "Don't hesitate, I'll be the striker, and directly attack the Queen Che Shi." Dou Gu didn't understand what was going on, but Geng Binghou hurriedly jumped on his horse and led his army towards the mountains to the north. Dou Gu had no choice but to follow Geng Bing closely and move northward.Facts have proved that Geng Bing was right in his bet. After Geng Bing entered the Cheshi Hou Kingdom, he immediately ransacked and looted, beheaded thousands of people, and collected more than 100,000 horses and cattle.The good news continued to spread backwards to Dou Gu.However, the bad news continued to pass forward, to Queen Che Shi, which made him restless. The Queen of Cheshi told the generals, let's go out of the city and accept the surrender.The generals agreed tacitly, and the queen king of the car division immediately led hundreds of horses to go out of the city to meet Geng Bing.However, something unexpected happened. At this moment, a man galloped towards him, yelling to get back first, and not to leave the city in a hurry. Hearing this, some people may guess, is it because the Xiongnu reinforcements have arrived?Let me tell you, anyone who answers the word "Hun" will get zero points.The accurate answer is that the people who galloped to report were not the Northern Huns, but the people of Dou Gu.This person's name is Su An, the staff officer next to Dou Gu. The thing is this: Comrade Sima Su'an believes that Geng Bing charged ahead of the attack on the Queen of the Che Division this time, and made a big deal.But Dou Gu, as the commander-in-chief, led the army behind him, only made the last contribution, and couldn't afford to lose this man.So he made a crooked idea, wanting Dou Gu to take this great achievement all by himself.Only then did he secretly send a fast horse to tell the queen king of the chariot master that he could not leave the city and surrender until Dou Gu personally led the army to arrive. The queen king of the car master agreed without thinking.He is a loser, and the result is the same to anyone who surrenders.So he cooperated and withdrew back to the city.But at this time, Geng Bing quit. Dou Gu is very smart, but Geng Bing is not stupid.He was the first to discover the big deal of Che Shi Hou Wang, and he was also the first to come out to do it.He stared at this business like a fly staring at blood. If he missed it, he would fail.Is it a human job to count the money for others when you are married?Even if you want to grab it, you have to grab the credit back before Dou Gu. Geng Bing waited for a long time, and found that the Queen Che Shi did not leave the city to report on time. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something. He was so angry that he put on his armor and got on his horse. He led his fine riders to the front of Dou Gu's tent, jumped off his horse and shouted, "The king of the car master said that he would come out and surrender, but he fooled us not to come. Please allow me to let the horse go now and take him away." cut off his head to see you." As soon as Geng Bing finished speaking, he wanted to mount his horse again.Dou Gu was taken aback, and said, "Wait a minute, you must have messed up the matter when you went." But Geng Bing shouted loudly: "Accepting surrender is like accepting an enemy, I will take care of this job." As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped on the horse and headed towards the Queen's City of Che Shi. At this time, the queen king of Che Shi was waiting for the arrival of Dou Gu's army in the city.Unfortunately, he waited for a bad news - Geng Bing was going to cut off his head.The queen king of the car master almost fainted, even if he surrendered, he made Lao Tzu's left and right people confused, why are the Han people so complicated. The king of the car master couldn't sit still.Finally, he decided to go out of the city and surrender to Geng Bing.When he saw Geng Bing, he got off his horse, ran straight to Geng Bing's horse, hugged the horse's feet and cried bitterly, not knowing what to say.It doesn't matter what you say, what you want is this result, Geng Bing finally showed a triumphant smile.He escorted Che Shi Queen Wang back to the camp, and proudly handed it over to Dou Gu. As he expected, after the queen king of Cheshi surrendered, the former king of Cheshi also surrendered to the Han army in Kaesong.