It is the second largest city in Qiuci, Aksu Xinhe County, which faces the capital of Qiuci 80 miles away across the Weigan River in the east, the reddish-brown Choletag Mountain in the north, and the Tarim River and the Great Desert in the south.Although the oasis here is not as large as Qiuzi City, it is also vast, the spring wheat outside the city has bloomed, the dense poplar forest is spread along the banks of the Weigan River, the city has five or six thousand residents, and business travel is frequent, it is a prosperous city on the Silk Road.But today, the gate of its Qiancheng was broken open by a group of Wusunites disguised as Sogdian merchants, and with it a mighty cavalry.Speaking of which, it is rare for Qiuzi to be infested by nomads, but a hundred years ago, how did the army of the Xiongnu Youxian King conquer this place, and how many killings did it create?
No one remembers it for a long time.The majestic Tianshan Mountains shielded them from the invasion of Wusun, and Qiuci, as the first city in the Western Regions, usually only annexed others, and no one had the opportunity to counterattack to the banks of the Weigan River.But this did not prevent the peaceful Qiuzi people from hearing some rumors from Gumo and Wensu: the Wusun people were reasonable most of the time, but once they were angered, countless horses' hooves would step on the oasis, trampling wheat and flowers into the dirt.As a show of force to intimidate the nations, the warriors of the Usun would cut off the scalps of the dead and hang them around their waists, wielding long whips in their hands, forcing young men and women to follow their horses and bring them back as slaves.What Wusun did to the oasis states was not fundamentally different from the Xiongnu's intrusion on the Han border.And now, it seems that this doom is about to befall its Qiancheng.The Wusun people killed the lord of the city, took control of the city, and camped on the banks of the Weigan River, while the inhabitants of the city were persecuted by the vicious Wusun people, and went from house to house to call them out of the city, telling them to sit down in turn.The Qiuzi people helped the old and the young, the women held their children, the husbands clenched their fists, and the old men held poplar canes, looking with fear at the head of the city lord hanging at the head of the city, and the bright swords of the Wusun people.The leader of the Usun people was a young woman wearing a peaked high fur hat and a Cypriot armor, who was said to be the princess of Usun.The princess was beautiful in appearance, but cruel in heart, and when the city was broken, it was she who shot the guard who guarded the gate with her bow, and the knife at her waist was still stained with blood, and she was standing at the head of the city, arguing with a Han man wearing a Han envoy's crown and holding a scepter."
King Qiuzi angered Wusun, Wusun wanted to destroy Qiuzi, first slaughtered it Qiancheng to test the knife, I am the messenger of the Tianhan, I will not sit back and watch this kind of tragedy happen, I will fight with it reason, persuade the Wusun people to give up this plan!"
Just now, the Han envoy told the Qiuzi people about the urgency of their situation through an interpreter, which caused a burst of weeping, but there was no other way.At this moment, the four or five thousand Qiuzi people all looked at the Han envoy's excited expression with trembling, and they believed that their fate was all counting on this brave retainer.Ren Hong was indeed persuading Yaoguang: "Princess Yaoguang, you can't do this, you have to pretend to be more vicious, hideous, and distorted!"
”Liu Yaoguang tried to widen his eyes and gritted his teeth.It's over, not only is it not vicious, but it's a little cute.Ren Hong was helpless, and while trying to make himself look anxious and persuasive, he pointed to Yaoguang: "Stride over and grab my clothes." ”Yao Guangguang did it, so the Qiuzi people saw that the murderous Princess Wusun began to act against the Han envoy, but her hands were too gentle, and her eyes softened, as if she was flirting with Ren Hong.She is obviously not good at cheating, and she held back a sentence for a long time: "Ren Jun, it's almost stopped, it's really difficult." ”"When I'm the king of Qiuzi, I'll try to slaughter it."
It's better now, Yaoguang's eyes suddenly showed a fierce look."
The knife is on my neck."
Ren Hong bared his neck."
Ren Jun, this" "You just do it." ”So the Qiuzi people saw such a scene: even if Princess Wusun used a knife across her neck and scolded him sharply, the young Han envoy still did not retreat half a step, but held Yaoguang's arm tightly with one hand, and slammed the scepter with the other, and said solemnly."
King Qiuzi is guilty, why is it innocent?
I, Ren Hong, today I want to save these thousands of lives for the Han!
”In the eyes of the Qiuzi people, Princess Wusun was finally persuaded by the Han envoy's words, so that the Wusun people put down their bows and arrows and promised not to slaughter the city.Its Qiancheng was finally "protected" by Ren Hong, and the Qiuzi people returned to their narrow homes and closed the door, leaning against the wall, their hearts were still beating in the ordinary, and they were afraid.Although it was necessary to provide some food for the Wusun people, it was better than being slaughtered and taken captive as slaves.Then they rejoiced and said, "Fortunately, there is still a Han envoy, and it was the Han envoy who saved it Qiancheng and saved us." ”According to the requirements of the Han envoys, its cadres also had to make some yellow flags and plant them at the head of the city, so as to ensure that during the war, it would not be invaded by Wusun.And in the felt tent outside the city, Ren Hong, who was acting with a dry mouth, was drinking water, but Han Dangdang didn't understand."
Ren Jun, is this necessary?
I was embarrassed to watch. ”"The Qiuzi people in Qiancheng can believe it."
Ren Hong disagreed.Han Dangdang knew that on the question of whether to slaughter the city or not, Ren Hong had already persuaded the right general of Wusun and Yuan Guimi on the way to it: all the cities of Qiuzi were ravaged by the Wusun people, and they could rob it as much as they wanted, but it was the only city that was intact."
Why does Ren Jun want to protect it alone?"
This is something that Han Dangdang can't understand.Ren Hong spread his hands: "I'm already thinking about how to clean up the mess after the war, don't you think that the size of Qiuzi is a bit too big in the Western Regions?"
”It is indeed too big, with more than ten cities, a population of 80,000, and more than 10,000 victorious soldiers, which is considered a powerful country among the 36 countries in the Western Regions.Coupled with some dance and music, the influence of the Qiuzi Kingdom can even cross the Taklamakan and radiate to the South Road, so that the Yakmi Kingdom can send the crown prince Lai Dan as a hostage.In the years when the Han army withdrew from the Western Regions, Qiuzi also took the opportunity to expand eastward, occupying Luntai and Wulei.If it weren't for Wusun and the Xiongnu in the north, Gumo and Wensu in the west would probably also be annexed by Qiuzi, which is something that will happen slowly in history.Therefore, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Qiuzi, who almost unified the northern province, became the enemy of Banchao."
When a country is big and there are many people, there will be undesirable ambitions.This time, Qiuci defected to the Xiongnu, and the siege of Luntai is an example, so why not take this opportunity to divide Qiuci into several small states?
”For empires from afar, divide and conquer is always the best method of indirect rule.In history, in order to facilitate management, a large country in eastern Xinjiang with a sensitive location like the Cheshi was even demolished."
Wouldn't it be too much to split the turtle into three parts after the war?"
Ren Hong wiped his mouth, stood up and looked at the map of Qiuzi that he had drawn on the sheepskin, already thinking about how to go under the knife.The country can be roughly divided into four regions, each with a large city.This is equivalent to the four counties of Kucha, Xinhe, Baicheng and Shaya in later generations."
Its east, north, and south can each set up a state, divide and rule, as for its Qiancheng located in the center," Ren Hong said with a smile: "It can be left to the Han to come here to Tuntian." ”Han Dangdang suddenly realized: "So Ren Jun has to make a show for its dry people, to let them remember that it was the Han envoy who kept it dry, and it will be much easier when the army is garrisoned in Tuntian in the future." ”As for why it was chosen as Qiancheng, Ren Hong also considered it, it is not only located in the central hub of Qiuci country, isolating the other three areas of Qiuci, but also bordering the big river in the east and mountains in the north, producing iron, copper, lead, etc., and Tuntianshi can mine and smelt iron here to meet military needs.In history, although the Western Regions of the former Han Dynasty was in the area of Luntai and Wulei, but in the Later Han Dynasty, Brother Ban Chao had already moved his base camp to Qiuzi, and he was in its Qiancheng from beginning to end!
And now, its Qiancheng can also become a base for the Wusun soldiers, and the next step is to attack Qiuzi City, which is eighty miles to the east."
Thousands of horsemen are mighty, we are in such a big battle, Qiuzi must have known and taken precautions, and it is impossible to attack Qiuzi like attacking its Qiancheng."
Walking with the Wusun people in the past few days, Ren Hong can see their combat effectiveness clearly: there are many people but there is no order, and there are actually very few real Wusun people, most of them are Sai and Yue, and they belong to different lords.To put it bluntly, Wusun is a tribal alliance, and Kunmi is just the co-leader.Such an army, the combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the Xiongnu, seeing that everyone is positive, once they encounter setbacks, they will retreat one after another, expecting these nomads to capture the city of Qiuci within a few days, I am afraid it is not easy.Fortunately, Ren Hong had a plan to seize Qiuzi City before he went to Wusun, so he asked Han Dangdang to summon the Sogdian Shi Bodao."
Is Szabao's injury healed?"
Ren Hong shushed his old friend and asked for warmth.Some time ago, Shi Bodao was imprisoned by King Gumo because of the tax problem of the Sogdians' residence, and he was beaten, his face was still a little swollen, and he saluted Ren Hong with palpitations: "It's no big deal, but if it weren't for Ren Jun's rescue, I'm afraid I would have died in Gumo." ”Ren Hong was not verbose, and went straight to the point: "Shi Sabao, although the king of Gumo was forced by the situation to agree to let the Sogdians settle in Gumo again, you also know that no matter where the Sogdian merchants go, they are not loved by the locals." ”"The Gumo people will even take their grudge against Sogdia for the grain they are forced to hand over, and similar conflicts and expulsions will break out again sooner or later, and you will not always be protected by me in time."
It is true that it was not uncommon for Sogdians to be slaughtered for business in the Western Regions, but the trade routes were so long that there were always trading stations to store goods for hoarding.In addition, people often die of illness on the road, and for the sake of the souls of their loved ones, they must have a place to hold the funeral of the Fire Zoroastrian religion, so it is necessary to have a place to stay.When Shi Bodao was silent, Ren Hong threw out his bait."
Shi Sabao, don't you want to have a city of your own in the Western Regions?
Shi Bodao raised his head and thought, why don't you want to!
They just want to have a place to do their own rituals behind closed doors, is it that hard?
Ren Hong pointed to the map and said: "Forty miles southwest of Qiancheng, there is a small town, which was used by the Wusun people to test the knife yesterday, looted and killed.It is indeed not big, more than 400 steps square, the surrounding oasis is narrow, not very easy to farm, but it is also close to the Silk Road, enough for more than 100 Sogdians to live. ”"Anyway, Qiuzi is dying, and this small town is already a terra nullius, so I will lend it to the Sogdians as a trading station to store the goods.In that way, no one will be able to criticize the Sogdians' funerals, and they will be protected by the Han troops stationed in its Qiancheng on weekdays. ”"Ren Jun's great grace!"
This is a great gift, Shi Bodao kowtowed and thanked him, but he also knew that the deal was fair, especially Ren Hong, a guy who was as shrewd as a fox, never let people take advantage of him in vain.Once this "gift" was accepted, it meant that the Sogdians had to give more.He knew what Ren Hong wanted.Shi Bodao lowered his voice: "When Ren Jun went to Wusun before, I asked me to send someone to infiltrate Qiuci to collect news, if it is appropriate, then I should cooperate with the outside to disturb the order in the city, before Gumo attacked us, five Sogdian merchants were ordered to set off, and they are waiting in Qiuci City at the moment!"
”When Ren Hong proposed this plan earlier, Shi Bodao's face was embarrassed, they could be spies to inquire about the news, but they were unwilling to get involved too deeply and cost the Sogdians' lives.But now, Shi Bodao understands that this must be done in order for the transaction to be effective."
As long as the Wusun people start to attack the city, Ren Jun will light a fire on the mountain north of the city, and the Sogdians hiding in the city will also set fire to the city when they see it, causing chaos in the city of Qiuzi."
Shi Bodao's eyes also seemed to be burning with flames: "Ren Jun was right before, the Han is light, and the Huns are dark.The Sogdians are going to help light overcome darkness, this is the oracle of Ahuramazda!
Since Guizi has to help the darkness to abuse, then "let Quelehodo come to Qiuzi!"
”PS: Chapter 3 at night.In addition, I recommend this history, the tired Tang remnant, the test flow, the wind is mature, and more than 2 million words can be killed.