Chapter 44 Western Regions: Intense Contest

Since the 12th year of Zhenguan (AD 638), the Western Turks were divided into two parts, the East and the West. The Khan Yipi Dulu in the west and the Khan Lishi in the east have been in a state of melee, and the two sides are evenly matched.At the end of the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 639), Helishi Khan was killed by the rebel subordinates, and another tribe under his command supported his nephew to succeed him as Shaboluoyehu Khan.Since then, Dulu's regime has been called the Northern Khan Court, and Shaboluo Yehu's regime has been called the Southern Khan Court.The Southern Khan Court inherited the foreign policy of profit and loss, and still had good relations with the Tang Dynasty, "sent envoys to pay tribute", while Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty "sent a letter of consolation". ("Old Book of Tang Turkic Biography")

In July of the fifteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 641), that is, after the Tang Dynasty conquered Gaochang, Li Shimin once again sent envoys to the Nanhan Court to give drums and flags to support the pro-Tang regime.However, from this year onwards, the power of the Northern Khan Court gradually became stronger, and "more and more countries in the Western Regions attached to it." Shaboluo Yehu Khan of the Southern Khan Court was killed in a subsequent battle. Dulu Khan then reunified the Western Turks. This is really very bad news for the Tang Dynasty. Because the defeat of the Southern Khan Court meant that the diplomatic efforts of the Tang Dynasty in the past few years were in vain, and the rise of the Northern Khan Court meant that the security of the Western Regions began to be seriously threatened.

Sure enough, after the reunification, Tulu Khan "arrogant because of his strength", not only sent troops to attack Tocharia, but also repeatedly "detained Tang envoys and invaded the Western Regions". (Volume 196) In September of the sixteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 642), the Western Turks suddenly sent troops to invade Yizhou (Yiwu). Since then, the fierce contest between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Turks in the Western Regions has begun. Since the Western Turks had just flattened Tocharia in one fell swoop, Dulu Khan's arrogance was very arrogant. He believed that the Tang Dynasty had only operated in the Western Regions for a short period of time, and the troops stationed there were also very limited. Therefore, in his opinion, it would be a piece of cake to defeat the Tang Dynasty's influence in the Western Regions and regain control of the Western Regions.

However, Lu Lu was wrong. The Tang Dynasty was not Tochara. What awaits them in the Western Regions will be an extremely powerful opponent. This person is Guo Xiaoke, the Protector of Anxi personally selected and appointed by Tang Taizong. Guo Xiaoke, a native of Yangzhai, Xuzhou (now Yuzhou City, Henan Province), is known in history as "the festival of few ambitions". At the end of the Sui Dynasty, he led hundreds of villagers to defect to Wagang.He was appreciated by Li Mi for his resourcefulness, and was sent to Liyangcang together with Li Shiji, and then descended to Tang Dynasty with Li Shiji.During the Battle of Hulao, Guo Xiaoke once suggested to Li Shimin that he advocated fighting on two fronts and encircling Luo to fight for aid, which was adopted by Li Shimin.After defeating Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, Li Shimin praised in public at the celebration banquet: "Guo Xiaoke's plan to capture Jiande is the right of everyone." ("Old Tang Book·Guo Xiaoke Biography") The governor of the four prefectures of Jing and Jing, due to his outstanding ability and outstanding political achievements, was promoted soon after, and entered the court as the Shaoqing of the Taifu, and then moved to General Zuo Xiaowei.

When considering candidates for Anxi Governor, Li Shimin naturally thought of Guo Xiaoke.Because he has made meritorious service in the founding war, is brave and resourceful, and has rich experience in local management, enough to be able to stand on his own. Such a talent is of course the best candidate to guard the Western Regions.Li Shimin immediately appointed Guo Xiaoke as the governor of Anxi and governor of Xizhou. Li Shimin's choice is correct. The Western Turks will soon suffer in front of Guo Xiaoke. The reason why the Western Turks invaded Yizhou was obviously not for the purpose of looting wealth and children, but for the purpose of testing the truth and showing off their military power.Because Yizhou is far to the east of the old place of Gaochang, if the Western Turks want to attack it, they must traverse the entire old place of Gaochang, which is the current jurisdiction of the Anxi Dufu (Xizhou). If it is only for robbery, it is obviously unnecessary to spend so much time , stay close and seek far.

Therefore, Guo Xiaoke immediately judged that this was just a tentative strategic attack, and the enemy's troops would definitely not be many.He immediately decided to give it a head-on blow. Guo Xiaoke personally led 2,000 cavalry to march forward lightly, and launched a blocking battle against the Western Turkic Army on the way, easily defeated the invading enemy, and gave the Turkic people a severe blow. The first attempt failed, and the Western Turks quickly organized a second attack. The intensity of this attack has obviously increased, and the front of the soldiers is pointing directly at the Anxi Protectorate.

Dulu Khan ordered the Chuyue and Chumi Turkic tribes stationed near Xizhou to send troops to attack Tianshan City (now Toksun County, Xinjiang) in Xizhou.Not far to the northeast of it is Jiaohe City, where the Anxi Protectorate is located. It can be seen that the purpose of the Western Turkic attack was to go straight to Guo Xiaoke's heart and destroy the Tang Dynasty's command center in the Western Regions in one fell swoop. If Tianshan falls, Jiaohe will be in danger. Guo Xiaoke realized that instead of passive defense, it is better to take the initiative to attack.So the fire speed department entered Tianshan City to help and personally commanded the city defense battle.

Most of the Turkic army was cavalry, which was good at field battles and short at siege. What's more, Guo Xiaoke was in command this time, so the Western Turkic army couldn't get any advantage at all.Seeing that there was no hope of victory, the Chuyue and Chumi tribes had no choice but to pack up their tribe and head back home in despair. What they never expected was that Guo Xiaoke actually led his troops out of the city and bit them tightly. The Turkic people panicked and galloped quickly.But no matter how far they ran, Guo Xiaoke would chase them.This pursuit went straight to the lair of the Chuyue Tribe.The Chuyue people fled into the city, and before they had time to catch their breath, the Tang army began to attack the city.Moreover, in stark contrast to Tianshan City, which they couldn't chew, the Tang army broke through the city without much effort, and Chief Chuyue hurriedly led his tribe and fled again.

In contrast, the Chumi tribe seemed to be much luckier. They saw Tang Jun chasing the Chuyue tribe, and they exclaimed in their hearts that they were lucky.But they would never have imagined in their dreams that shortly after they returned to the station in embarrassment after crossing Ye Suo Mountain (a branch of Tianshan Mountain), Guo Xiaoke's Tang army unexpectedly attacked again. Chu Miren was completely dumbfounded—whether this Tang Jun has wings or knows how to avatar, how can he fight both ends at the same time? Before they could recover, Tang Jun's knife was already on their necks.

As a result, Chu Mi's fate was even worse than Chu Yue's—Chu Yue just lost the royal city, while most of Chu Mi's tribe surrendered to the Tang army. If he failed to steal the chicken, he lost a handful of rice. Such an ending really surprised Du Lu Khan, and at the same time made him terrified. He finally realized—this Anxi Governor Guo Xiaoke is really a formidable opponent. After two defeats in a row, Dulu Khan no longer dared to confront the Tang army, and turned to attack Kangju (now Samarkand, Uzbekistan) westward. , and broke it by the way, and captured a lot of spoils.

Du Lu Khan is very good at fighting, but he has a big and small problem-stinginess. For ordinary people, stinginess may not be a problem.For a native rich man, stinginess may still be an advantage.But stinginess is a fatal flaw for a political leader. After Dulu Khan obtained these trophies, he kept them all for himself, and did not give any rewards to his subordinates.The generals were very dissatisfied, and one of the generals tried to seize it by force, but was chopped down by Dulu Khan.This act of killing chickens and monkeys immediately aroused the public outrage of the people. They couldn't bear it anymore and simply rebelled.Du Lu was caught off guard and was forced to flee to Baishui Hucheng (in present-day Uzbekistan).Afterwards, Dulu Khan's old department Ashina Uli and others sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, requesting to depose Dulu and replace him with Khan. This is really unexpected good news for the Tang Dynasty.Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, immediately issued an edict, canonizing Mo Hedu's son as the new Khan, called Yipi Shekui Khan.In order to express his gratitude, the new Khan hurriedly sent all the envoys of the Tang Dynasty who had been detained by Du Lu back to Chang'an. After the Tang Dynasty re-supported a pro-Tang regime in the Western Turks, the Western Regions gradually restored the peace of the past. However, such peace is short-lived and fragile after all. Because from a geopolitical point of view, the Western Regions, sandwiched between the two powerful countries of the Western Turks and the Tang Empire, are, to put it bluntly, a land of right and wrong, a land of four wars. Unless the Western Turks are completely destroyed, their contest with the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions will not stop. Just two years later, a new war broke out. This time the battle took place in Yanqi—the small country that Gao Chang beat up many times because of the road construction incident. Yanqi had always been close to the Tang Dynasty, but in order to win over the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks made a marriage marriage, allowing the younger brother of the important minister Ashina Quli to marry the princess of Yanqi.In this way, Long Tuqizhi, the king of Yanqi, naturally felt that the Western Turks were more amiable and more reliable, so he turned to the embrace of the Turks, and the tribute to the Tang Dynasty has been paid to the Tang Dynasty ever since. not enough. Guo Xiaoke, the governor of Anxi, immediately became angry. For this kind of guy who sees different things and wants to change, turns to Qin Muchu, and kowtows everywhere to recognize the boss, the best lesson is to flatten him. In August of the eighteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 644), after obtaining the consent of the imperial court, Guo Xiaoke led his troops to crusade against Yanqi and captured his king Long Tuqizhi alive.But Ashina Quli soon re-established a pro-Turkic puppet regime in Yanqi. In the next few years, the Tang Dynasty used troops against Goryeo and Xue Yantuo one after another, and temporarily had no time to take care of the Western Regions.In the 21st year of Zhenguan (AD 647), with the emergence of a new opportunity, Li Shimin immediately decided to send troops on a large scale to completely solve the problem of the Western Regions. This opportunity originated from another country in the Western Regions - Kucha. Qiuci is located in the north of the Tarim Basin and west of Yanqi. It has more than 80 large and small cities, and it can be regarded as a relatively powerful country among the countries in the Western Regions.Just like other countries in the Western Regions, Qiuci has always adopted a strategy of sitting on the wall between the Western Turks and the Tang Empire. Not to blame.However, when Guo Xiaoke attacked Yanqi, Qiuci made a serious mistake, not only "sending troops to assist" Yanqi, but also "self-serving as a tribute". ("Old Book of Tang: Biography of Qiuci") The reason why Qiuci aided Yanqi was probably out of concern about the loss of lips and teeth; and the reason why its tribute to the Tang Dynasty dropped sharply from then on was probably dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty's tough Western Regions policy. Regarding the mentality of Kucha, Li Shimin has a clear understanding. In the twenty-first year of Zhenguan, the old king of Kucha died of illness, and his younger brother Heli Bushibi succeeded to the throne.After the new king came to power, not only did he fail to repair the relationship with the Tang Dynasty in time, but also "gradually lost his courtesy and invaded neighboring countries." (Volume 198) By doing so, Kucha is undoubtedly suicidal. Li Shimin will never allow any vassal state to despise the authority of Tian Khan and ignore the status of the suzerain of the Tang Dynasty. He realized that the time was ripe to conquer Kucha and deter the Western Regions, so in December of this year, he appointed Zuo Xiaowei General Ashina Sheer as commander-in-chief, and Right Xiaowei General Qi Yuhe Li as deputy commander. Together with Guo Xiaoke's troops, the governor of Anxi, he gathered more than 100,000 cavalry troops from Tiele 13, East Turks, Tubo, and Tuyuhun, and joined forces to attack Kucha. This expedition was the largest one dispatched by the Tang Dynasty since it operated the Western Regions, and most of the troops from the supreme commander to the ordinary soldiers were Hu people from Siyi. Such an arrangement was by no means accidental.On the one hand, it shows Tang Taizong Li Shimin's determination to win and completely control the Western Regions. On the other hand, it also reiterates and emphasizes the Tian Khan system under the leadership of the Tang Empire-the armies of all countries must accept the recruitment of Tian Khan in a unified way. You can form a coalition to launch sanction wars against member states that break the peace. In October of the 22nd year of Zhenguan (AD 648), Ashina Sheer led a large army into five groups, crossing the border of Yanqi with the momentum of sweeping holes in the Liting, and the soldiers pointed directly at Kucha.King Xue Poanazhi of Yanqi abandoned the royal city and fled to Kucha.Ashina Sheer sent troops to pursue him, captured him, and cut him off without saying a word. He appointed his cousin Xian Nazhun as the new king, and ordered him to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty's vassal officials on time, so that he could be established in Yanqi. A pro-Tang regime was reestablished. Yanqi was defeated without a fight, and the whole country of Kucha was terrified, and the guards from all over the city fled. lost.The Prime Minister of Kucha, Nali, escaped from the pursuit of the Tang army, moved reinforcements from Western Turks, and aggressively counterattacked the city of Yiluolu where Guo Xiaoke was stationed.Guo Xiaoke was outnumbered and died heroically with his eldest son Guo Daizhao. Tang Jun then recaptured Yiluolu and captured Nali.After that, Ashina Sheer led the army to conquer the five big cities of Kucha one after another like the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves, and at the same time recruited and surrendered more than 70 small cities, completely occupying the whole territory of Kucha. After the Tang Dynasty successfully conquered Kucha, it was called "the shock of the Western Regions" in history, and "the Western Turks, Khotan, and Anguo competed for camel and horse rations" (Volume 199), expressing their surrender to the Tang Dynasty. The victory of this battle marked that the Tang Dynasty had the last laugh in the contest with the Western Turks for the Western Regions. Ashina Sheer erected a stone tablet in Kucha, engraved the illustrious martial arts obtained by the Datang Expeditionary Army on the stone forever, and then the team returned triumphantly.