Chapter 72 The Thunder Kings Struggle, the Current Situation in the Northwest
In the past two years, there have not been much changes in the Han Dynasty. Political stability is often reflected in the stability of personnel. The three prime ministers Wei Renpu, Dou Yi, and Wang Pu have formed a
A stable leadership group, Wei Renpu is generous and tolerant, and takes care of the general situation; Dou Yizhi is a just and honest leader, and adheres to etiquette; Wang Pu is young and powerful, eager to learn, and is known as a prime minister.
The official system of the Han Dynasty has also been sorted out again, and it is not difficult to further distinguish the official positions awarded by the imperial court and the official positions granted by the imperial court. This is not difficult. It only needs to be based on the Tang system and combined with the current national conditions of the Han Dynasty. However, in this process,
Once again, a number of redundant officials were eliminated.
The biggest change in the title of the official position is that of the Third Division. In order to distinguish it from the Three Forbidden Offices, the Three Legal Divisions and the Three Local Divisions, the Financial Department was formally established, with jurisdiction over the Department of Branches, the Household Department, the Salt and Iron Department, and the Chief Financial Secretary.
He was called the Prime Minister and was written into the "Han Huidian". As a result, the authority and status of the Financial Secretary were further elevated, making him the first person under the Order of Zhongshu.
In the process of establishing the rectification and reform of the financial system, the first relatively fierce political conflict and struggle broke out in the Kaibao Year. The confrontation between the first three ministers Red Xiang and the Minister of Household Affairs Wang Pu.
Since Wang Pu returned to the court and was assigned to the Third Division, Red Xiang, the former chief of the Third Division, has always been in a haze. In Red Xiang's view, Wang Pu came to seize power and rely on the emperor.
His favor and influence in the Third Division actually caused him, a dignified strategist, to be excluded from the core leadership group of Kaibao's New Deal.
In terms of talent, Red Xiang boasts that he is not inferior to Wang Pu. However, in terms of popularity, everyone praises Wang Pu for his beauty and grace. However, Red Xiang is too upright, has an impatient temper, and often bullies superiors, so his reputation is not good.
More than one. When it comes to the close relationship with the emperor and the emperor's trust, there is no comparison.
Character sometimes does determine fate. After enduring it for more than two years, Red Xiang chose to fight and faced Wang Pu head-on, criticizing his words and deeds, and obstructing his work. This caused the three divisions to be in turmoil for a period of time.
Continuously, and even delayed the expenditure work.
In the end, the emperor was annoyed. As the emperor, Liu Chengyou was naturally happy to see competition and confrontation among his ministers, but he had to have a certain limit and a bottom line, and he could not interfere with national laws and delay official duties.
Emperor Liu couldn't tolerate it when Lei Xiang neglected state affairs due to personal grudges. In the end, Lei Xiang was dismissed from the post of Prime Minister and was transferred to Longyou to know Lanzhou. This arrangement also followed a tacit understanding.
According to the rules, Reid Xiang is an important minister in the court after all. Although he is not allowed to be in the court and is placed outside the court, he can still hold an important position.
Of course, it was also because in Emperor Liu's view, Leide Xiang was obviously lacking in leadership, and he was more than adequate if he was assigned to one party. In addition, the northwest region was the place to employ people.
As far as the results are concerned, the court struggles of the Han Dynasty have also begun to enter a relatively rational state, and they will not become bloody at every turn. This is also what Emperor Liu gradually developed after more than ten years after he came to power.
According to the rules, from Bian Guijian to Li Tao, and from Fan Zhi to Red Xiang, high-ranking officials and important ministers have been excluded from the capital every time, but they have not lost their important positions.
The Thunder King's War ended with Wang Pu's complete victory. Wang Pu took this opportunity to worship the Financial Envoy. From the beginning to the end, in the face of Red Xiang's provocation, he adopted three methods of response: one retreat, two tolerance, and three
Let, let go. At the end, the emperor intervened, and Leidexiang stepped in. He jumped into place and became the veritable number two figure in the political hall.
When Reid went west to take office, Wang Pu personally went to see him off. Although it was not that simple to forget the grudges with a smile, Wang Pu's reputation among the scholar-bureaucrats was increasing day by day, and his tolerance for people became his political label.
In addition, after returning to the court, Wang Pu also recommended many talents, making his position in the court more stable.
In the Kaibao era of the Han Dynasty, on this dazzling stage, Wang Pu was destined to be a political star, exuding a dazzling light.
When it comes to the northwest, it has to be said that it is not stable. Especially in the Hexi area, although the court has made a series of arrangements, especially the military garrison, which is even more powerful, the sequelae of excessive killings have also emerged.
, still undecided about their rebellion, and although they were forcefully suppressed by the Han army every time, there were always people who jumped out and resisted the rule of the Han.
In two years, the population that was originally under the control of the Uighurs in Ganzhou has been reduced by half. They all died or fled in the turmoil. Although it is hard to accept, the fact is that under the rule of the Han Dynasty,
The Gansu region was not as peaceful as it was during the Uighur rule.
Several groups of Uighurs who escaped from Gansu did not stop, especially the group that moved westward to the southwest of Shazhou. Within two years, they gathered to harass Guashan, Gansu five times. They had a small population and weak military strength.
, but he is well versed in guerrilla methods, just like flies and bugs, they can’t knock you down and their bites won’t hurt you, but they will annoy you unbearably.
The biggest one was that they united some Tubo people to invade the border and killed more than 300 people in Shazhou. For this reason, the Hexi garrison was preparing to conduct a raid to completely eliminate this annoying Uighur remnant and also attack those uneasy people.
divided by the Tubo people.
The Guiyi Army has completely withdrawn from the stage of history, enjoying the great titles and salaries of the imperial court. Cao Yuanzhong, the Duke of Xiping, and Cao Yuangong, the Bo of Guang'an, returned eastward in a high profile to enjoy the blessings in the capital. The local wealthy families also moved inward one after another and were scattered in the Guanlong area.
It can be said that the Hexi Corridor is completely in the hands of the imperial court, but the Silk Road is still cut off and business travel is difficult to develop. In addition to the unstable situation, the main reason is the situation in the Western Regions.
Nearly five years have passed since the Liao Army's Western Expedition. During these five years, the Liao Kingdom has reaped great dividends from the war. According to the information obtained from inside the Khitan, by conquering the Western Regions, the Liao Army plundered cattle, horses, camels, and various livestock.
More than 1.3 million heads, countless gold and silver properties, and more than 150,000 young men and women of all ethnic groups in the Western Regions were escorted back to Khitan as slaves...
The price paid was less than 20,000 casualties. After seeing the benefits of conquering the Western Regions, Yelu Jing, the Lord of the Liao Dynasty, sent a group of reinforcements to Yelu Xiezhen, totaling more than 20,000 tribal soldiers. Of course, in addition to
In addition to supporting the Western Expeditionary Army, because of the Han army's actions to capture Hexi, the Liao army in the Western Regions had to strengthen its strength to prevent the Han from stabbing them in the back.
In the winter of the second year of Kaibao, after Yelu Xiezhen successively defeated the main Uighur forces in the Luntai area, they once again concentrated their forces to march westward and attacked Qiuci. This time, the Uighurs failed to resist. By the spring and February of the third year of Kaibao,
, the city of Qiuci, which had persisted for a year and a half, was destroyed, and the Xizhou Uighurs were annihilated in the dust of history.
Although it is impossible to accurately calculate how much damage the Liao Army's Western Expedition brought to the Xizhou area, we can give a rough estimate. Before the war, the Xizhou Uighurs had a population of one million. After excluding the deaths, migrations, and plunders, the Uighurs in Xizhou had a population of one million.
Four years after Kaibao, the remaining population of Xizhou was only about 400,000. This was still in the late stage of the strategy, and Yelv Xiezhen consciously controlled the killings.
It can be said that the history of the Western Regions has entered a period of decline, and we don’t know how long it will take to recover.
The destruction of the Gaochang Uighurs did not mean the end of the war in the Western Regions. After the pacification of Kucha, because Khotan sent troops to rescue the Uighurs and were enemies of the Liao army, Yelv Xiezhen sent his troops south with the intention of annihilating them all.
As a result, Khotan suffered a heavy setback. At this time, the official name of Khotan was "Dabao Khotan Kingdom", and its king was Li Shengtian, who had ruled Khotan for half a century. Under the leadership of the old king, Khotan actually defeated the Liao army.
More than two thousand prisoners were killed.
Yelv Xiezhen was furious and wanted to personally send his troops to attack, but even bigger trouble came. The Black Khan Dynasty, which had no way to vent its desire for expansion, officially joined the war. In the name of missionary jihad, they marched eastward.
The Black Khan army was not weak in terms of organization, and was well-equipped, and had the aura of holy war. However, the Liao army underestimated them and suffered a big loss because they did not understand them.
The first battle between the two sides was in March of the third year of Kaibao. They fought at Badaling. There were 20,000 Liao troops and 30,000 Black troops. As a result, the Liao army was defeated. Under the impact of the Black Khan's heavy cavalry and those fanatical jihadists,
, the Liao army, which had the intention of underestimating the enemy, was completely unable to resist and suffered more than 4,000 losses.
That battle was the biggest setback the Liao army had suffered since its Western Expedition. It was the first time that the Liao army was beaten with little temper, even though nearly half of the Liao army participating in the battle were Uighur servants.
Once defeated, there will be a second and third one. The army of the Black Khan Dynasty broke through the Tianshan Mountains and advanced eastward. They defeated the Liao army in Wachi, Moman and Gumo successively. However, they retreated all the way to Qiuci, and the Liao army finally defeated the Liao army in Yelusie.
Under the leadership of Zhen, we stabilized our position.
The Liao army suffered tens of thousands of losses before and after, including the Khitan army. The situation that followed was not optimistic for the Liao army, and could even be described as pessimistic, because their actions in the Western Regions could not fail, and
Once they fail, the Uighurs who were temporarily subdued by force will definitely be unstable.
The backlash came quickly. When the news of the Liao army's defeat spread, the old Uighur people in Gaochang immediately began to become restless and even riot.
At what can be called a critical moment, Yelv Xiezhen showed his military talents. After taking advantage of the Black Khans' consecutive victories, he advanced arrogantly and underestimated the enemy's lack of preparation. He secretly gathered elite troops and set up an ambush under the city of Qiuci. He relied on big sticks and heavy weapons.
Using the hammer and the tactics of cutting off the horse's legs, Hei Khan's heavy cavalry was defeated, and he pursued the victory for more than 20 miles, killing and capturing more than 5,000 people.
As a result, the crisis of the Liao army was temporarily relieved. However, in the next year, the Black and Liao sides continued to fight in the Tarim River Basin west of Qiuci.
Perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, even with a commander as talented as Yelu Xiezhen, the Liao army could not gain the upper hand. The most important reason was that the Liao army had too many problems, because it killed too many evildoers and the destruction of Xizhou was too serious, so it could not give enough
support, and the Khitan on the back is far away from the water and cannot quench the thirst.
In comparison, the Heihan people waited for Gaochang to be drained of blood, and after the Liao army was exhausted from a long battle, they took advantage of the gap and naturally gained the upper hand. Under such a situation, the Khitan people's situation in the Western Regions became increasingly dire.
In this way, Khotan breathed a sigh of relief and watched the show in the south...
The impact of the war in the Western Regions on the Han Dynasty was mainly reflected in the blockage of the Silk Road on land. Seeing the Liao army encountering the strong backbone of Heihan, they even felt a sense of schadenfreude.