It was so quickly confirmed that the narrow and dangerous path across the Qionglai Mountains in southwest Sichuan could lead to the Tubo Highlands. Shi Zhen, Han Gui and others were also very happy.
Speaking of supporting the remnants of the Khitan, they knew that this was necessary, and they also eagerly hoped that the remnants of the Khitan would take root at the western foot of Qionglai Mountain, otherwise they would not have sent Su Qiucheng to explore the route deep into the Qionglai Mountains via Jiazhou.
However, they also knew that supporting the remnants of the Khitan to take root in the western foothills of Qionglai Mountain in the early stage might be more difficult than detouring across the Dali border to support the remnants of the Khitan to settle in the southern region of Duogansi.
Su Qiucheng not only met the pathfinders of the remnant Khitan tribe, but also brought back the latest news about the remaining Khitan tribe and the Tibetan tribes in the Duogansi area.
The remnants of the Khitan moved southward, and overall it went smoothly.
The Chihu people's Hexi Military and Horse Capital General Mansion basically did not react. Only a small number of cavalry pursued them deep into the Tubo highlands, unable to pose a substantial threat to the remaining Khitan troops. However, the Tubo tribes along the Lushui River were in Buqu Temple.
After the army was defeated at the foot of Shenyu Mountain, they did not dare to act rashly again.
???????????????? These allowed the remnants of the Khitan to move south without any major military conflict.
However, the cruel climate and environment along the road were a severe test for the Khitan people who were new to the Tubo Highlands.
Nearly ten thousand women and children died on the road forever, and a large number of men, women and children fell ill, unable to adapt to such a harsh climate.
The loss of the herds that the Khitan people relied on for their livelihood was even more serious, and was reduced by more than half——
The loss of herds may have a more serious impact on the remnants of the Khitan, especially since the surviving herds are more delicate than humans. It takes a while to adapt to the plateau climate, in which there will be constant deaths from disease, and reproduction will also be suppressed.
This means that the Khitan people's supplies for survival will become extremely scarce.
At this time, the remnants of the Khitan retreated to the western foot of Qionglai Mountain. They had to face Duogansi and the Tubo tribes to join forces to suppress it. The Chihu people were also likely to intervene on a large scale in the Tubo highlands in advance. The pressure might be great, and it would not be one or two military victories.
It can be overcome.
Under such circumstances, the remnants of the Khitan still want to gain a foothold at the western foot of Qionglai Mountain. If Beijing and Xiang continue to do what they did when the remnants of the Khitan settled in Qinzhou in the past, and only send a caravan of two to three hundred people between the two places, it is obvious that
It's far from enough.
Roughly along the Dadu River in the Qionglai Mountains, there is a passage connecting Sichuan and Shu and Duogansi. However, the area along the Dadu River is where the Qingqiang and some barbarian tribes rarely recorded in history books have lived. They are only nominally attached to Dayue and belong to the
Under the rule of Xichuan Road.
The official positions of governors, magistrates, etc. in these places have always been hereditary to tribal leaders. Apart from occasional tribute, they basically have no other obligations to the court. This also means that the court has no substantial ruling power over these places.
Even if the imperial court finally allows Jingxiang to send reinforcements to the remaining Khitan tribes through the Qionglai Mountains in the name of the Zhufengtang caravan, the Qingqiang tribes in Lizhou will still most likely refuse the caravan to travel there regularly.
Even if Jingxiang uses force to intimidate, the Qingqiang tribes may openly submit, but secretly they may still allow bandits to plunder the caravans.
Once the conflict becomes intense, it is not unimaginable to directly resort to force to resist the entry of the caravan.
In addition, the road between Qionglai Mountain and Sichuan, Sichuan and Tubo is extremely winding, narrow and dangerous. Without investing large-scale manpower and material resources to repair and widen it, there is no way to transport materials, people and horses on a large scale.
Otherwise, the imperial court had already set up a market in Jiazhou and directly traded tea and horses with the Tubo tribes. How could it have been possible for the imperial court to sit back and watch as the Yunnan horses imported from Dali in Jingjiang Prefecture, Yongzhou and other places increased to more than 1,000 kilograms.
Can you exchange tea for a horse?
"We must control Lizhou to a certain extent..."
In the South Garden Study of Jingshenghou Mansion, Shi Zhen, Han Gui, Su Laochang, Xu Wiqi, Wang Ju, Zhou Jing, Zhang Xiongshan and others sat in attendance and discussed many things. Shi Zhen first concluded that it was simply a matter of one
A small caravan with more than a hundred elite guards was far from enough to support the remnants of the Khitan.
In the past, the remnants of the Khitan were able to gain a foothold in Qin State, mainly relying on the input of materials from Wuzhou and Hanzhong. Xu Huai dispatched merchants in the name of Zhufengtang.
The team went to Qinzhou mainly to maintain contact with the remnants of the Khitan, and the import of supplies was mainly soldiers and armor.
"How easy is it to control Lizhou?" Su Laochang lamented. "Thanks to the support of the late emperor, the overseas Chinese settled in Nancai County, but it was only limited to a corner of Jianghan. Now Lizhou is far to the southwest of Sichuan, and it is extremely sensitive to the remnants of the Khitan.
As for the issue of ownership, as long as the government has any brains, they will never allow us to get involved. What's more, the Gao family has already regarded Xichuan as their own back garden. If the matter spreads, the Gao family will not interfere with it?"
In order to better guard the front line of the Qinling Mountains, during the lifetime of Emperor Jianji, the four Chuanxia Roads were adjusted into the three roads of Xiqin, Dongchuan and Xichuan.
Nominally, Gao Junyang was in charge of the West Qin Road by establishing a pacification envoy, and Gu Jiqian was in charge of the Dongchuan Road;
, the main officials, including the envoys, were all appointed by the court.
It seems that Gao Junyang and Gu Jiqian are equals and are not allowed to interfere in the military and political affairs of Xichuan Road, but in reality there is a huge difference.
Gao Junyang was originally the military envoy of Xihe Road, and most of his troops were descendants of Xihe.
After the Chihu people invaded the south, in addition to the more powerful troops of Gao Junyang's direct line, hundreds of thousands of officials, generals and their families on Xihe Road, plus the hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated from Xihe Road, basically all evacuated.
Come down.
In comparison, Gu Jiqian's direct troops are extremely limited, less than 10,000. The current troops under Dongchuan Road are mostly broken troops collected during the retreat to the south; while the people who moved south from Linfu Road are
The scale was also extremely limited, with less than 40,000 people, and they were mainly settled in Jinzhou (today's Ankang).
Two years ago, the Chihu people launched an offensive against the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains. Gao Junyang also immediately abandoned Qizhou and other places, shrinking the defense line to the hinterland of the West Qinling Mountains. Finally, at a relatively small cost, he repelled the Chihu people in Wuzhou and other places.
attack; while Gu Jiqian once tried to defend Lantian, Shangluo and other places, and suffered extremely heavy losses.
In addition, the Gu family is a member of the party, and everyone from the imperial court to the local government has more reservations about the Gu family.
This actually resulted in the Gao family's influence and penetration being much stronger than the Gu family's in the entire Sichuan-Sichuan region.
Gao Junyang is also ambitious. Under normal circumstances, he may not be able to refuse Zhufengtang's caravan and sell goods to Xichuan Road, which is nominally unrelated to him. But Jingxiang really wants to imitate Nancai and sell goods to the southwest of Xichuan Road.
Taking an enclave, how could Gao Junyang not break his head to stop it?
"It's definitely not possible to directly appeal to the court. The Gao family will do everything possible to stop it," Shi Zhen said, stroking his beard. "We still have to try to hide the truth..."
"How can you hide the truth from the enemy?" Wang Ju asked, "There are probably only 30,000 to 40,000 barbarians living along the Dadu River, and there are only one or two thousand warriors at most, so there is nothing to be afraid of. In my opinion, the remnants of the Khitan simply retreated to the Qionglai Mountains.
, directly occupied Lizhou, I guess the imperial court and Gao Junyang could only pinch their noses and endure it! They can’t possibly expel them by force, right?"
"If this is really the case, it would be better to evacuate directly to Beijing and Xiangzhou," Han Gui said with a smile, "No matter how difficult the situation is in Beijing and Xiangzhou, if we can support an additional 80,000 or 90,000 people, there will always be no problem..."
In the current situation, if the remaining Khitan tribe with only 890,000 people were evacuated directly to Beijing and Xiangxi via Qionglai Mountain, Dadu River, and the Yangtze River waterway for resettlement, the imperial court would not impose much resistance, and Jingxiang would be able to gain seven more
There are eight thousand elite cavalry, but compared to the remnants of the Khitan remaining to the west of Qionglai Mountain, their strategic value is too low.
The remnants of the Khitan remained to the west of Qionglai Mountain. First, it would facilitate military expansion into the Tubo Highlands in the future. Second, if the Chihu people thought of making a detour to the south to attack the Dali Kingdom in the future, the remnants of the Khitan could contain them from the flanks.
Now the production company is trying every possible means to develop wool textiles. Only if the remnants of the Khitan tribes remain to the west of Qionglai Mountain can they use Duogansi to herd sheep on a large scale to provide wool and yarn. This will allow the production company to directly and conveniently cross the entire south through commercial means.
Shu, extending to the Tubo Highlands.
Wang Ju likes to go straight when making decisions, but Shi Zhen and Han Gui must think more deeply about Xu Huai.
"The Qingqiang tribes in Lizhou have a total of 30,000 to 40,000 people, and they are not in harmony. Maybe we can bribe one of them?" Zhou Jing pondered.
Over the past dynasties, the Central Plains dynasties have regarded the Qingqiang tribes as barbarians with a small population. A small branch may have only one or two thousand people. They also had transactions with the Han people in the Jiazhou area. Not only did they gradually converge in cultural customs, but they also recognized Dai Viet.
It's also high, it can be said to be a cooked potato.
At this time, it would not be too difficult to bribe one or two smaller Qingqiang tribes to secretly serve Beijing and Xiangzhou.
"We can't even talk about bribery. Next, we will definitely need to establish good relations with the Qingqiang tribes on both sides of the Dadu River, but this is not enough!" Xu Huai muttered, "It is necessary to open a remote place where large quantities of commercial goods can enter.
Qionglai Mountain Road will need to maintain a team of mules and horses with sufficient capacity in the future. Just buying one or two Qingqiang tribes will not be enough in terms of manpower. Let's hear whether Mr. Shi has any other plans to hide the truth.
