On the Khorasan Highway east of Bakhna, there are horse-drawn carriages, bullock carts, pack horses, donkeys, and camels as far as the eye can see.
Some scholars who were obviously educated people were also sitting in the car. They were well dressed and had a lot of baggage on hand. They were obviously allowed to bring their own gold and silver, and their family members were also with them. This treatment was quite good.
Their next stop is Shule, and then on to Luoyang.
Shao Shude mainly recruits scholars on Central Asian geography, language, culture, art, food, mathematics, science, etc. Most of them are Sogdians, and a small number are cannibals and Persians.
After returning to Luoyang, they will be organized to learn Chinese, compile books, and communicate with Daxia scholars to see if there is anything they can learn from each other's strengths.
Culture requires communication.
When you work behind closed doors, you often lack inspiration. And when you always look at things with the same way of thinking, you often cannot get out of the original rut and bring forth new ideas. But what if you change your way of thinking? Maybe there will be a spark of thinking.
The collision produced new results.
After the scholars left, a large number of craftsmen, musicians, and even those who performed various tricks were taken away.
Their arrival will also make the crafts of the Central Plains more diversified and the artistic features richer.
During the pre-Tang Dynasty, music and dance from the Western Regions swept across the Central Plains immediately. Not only inside and outside the palace, but also among the common people loved to watch and listen to it. Because it is an art form that is very different from the traditional Chinese style. It is very lively, joyful, and easy to practice.
There are many people, and now they are gradually integrated into traditional Chinese culture, just like the food and clothing of the Western Regions.
We must not work behind closed doors, but must communicate with the outside world. This is a concept that Shao Shude has always advocated.
Confucius said, "When three people are walking together, there must be my teacher."
He did not look down on those who were inferior to him in talent and learning, but instead studied with an open mind. It is absolutely undesirable to be too arrogant and think that others have nothing to learn from.
One day after these were transported, the second group of troops also set out on the road, with a total of 120,000 cattle and sheep, rushing to Shule.
Cattle and sheep are definitely important supplies for Daxia's army. They started eating them many years ago. They don't eat meat, but mainly milk. Otherwise, no matter how many livestock they have, there won't be enough to slaughter.
This tradition was inherited from the Tang Dynasty, and various expeditionary forces have long been accustomed to it.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went on an expedition to the desert and the Western Regions, the logistics model mainly involved mobilizing the people of the Central Plains to transport food.
In the end, the country's population dropped sharply and society was on the verge of collapse. With his temper, he had no choice but to punish himself, which shows how critical the situation was.
However, in the Tang Dynasty, the expeditions to the desert and the Western Regions were fought farther and more frequently. There was more than one enemy, and the war was fought on multiple fronts. It lasted for hundreds of years, without stopping, and the war continued. As a result, the country's population continued to increase, and the social economy reached its peak.
Although they also transport food over long distances, they are not the mainstream. They rely more on recruiting cattle and sheep from the tribes to obtain meat and milk. Their logistics model is significantly closer to that of the grassland army, so they have little impact on the Central Plains - relatively speaking.
The agricultural technology of Bactria has made great progress compared to the Tang Dynasty. For example, when Wei Zhaodu was in Liangzhou, he mixed the residues produced by wine making into fodder to feed cattle, and the milk production increased sharply.
Later, cattle breeds in various directions were bred, such as those that are good at farming, those that produce more milk, those that produce more meat, etc. The advancement of breeding technology has been fed back to the military, further improving the military's self-sustainability.
Of course, these are all Bhanna cattle and sheep, which have not been specially bred, but they are still very important resources because they can produce milk.
On the tenth day of September, the third batch of teams carrying food left...
****
Shao Shude walked into the city of Bahan.
This is a city surrounded by a large number of vegetable gardens and orchards. It is the capital of Bakhna and ranks second or third in the Fergana Basin.
The palace of the Governor's Palace is located in the square of the outer city. This is the place where officials work. It is very different from small towns such as Guba, Wosh, and Uzkander.
There is a huge Temple of the Creator in the square, and Shao Shude strolled inside.
The body didn't have time to be cleaned up, but he didn't mind.
He walked through the gates, domes, corridors, and courtyards one by one, and even went up to the minaret to have a look - the name is a transliteration of Dashi, which actually means minaret, high tower, and watchtower.
A religious school is also located inside.
Shao Shude flipped through some books. The Shepherd of the Creator did not teach all religious knowledge. In fact, astronomy, geography, history, mathematics, and art were the main courses.
The content is actually pretty good, at least not lagging behind the average of this era.
There is also a library in the school with more than a thousand volumes. One of the books is quite interesting. Although Shao Shude cannot read the text, he looks at the drawings and roughly talks about astronomy and navigation. I don’t know where it came from, maybe it was
It must be in the private collection of one of the school's high priests.
After visiting the library, he overlooked the panoramic view from the minaret.
This is a very well planned city.
The houses of the rich were made of bricks, while the poor lived in mud houses.
The roof is covered with many things, which may have a thermal insulation effect.
The overall arrangement of the houses is relatively neat, and the walls are connected together. It is obviously planned, similar to what he saw when he traveled to Kashgar in later generations.
Most houses are small courtyards with two terraces. There are grape trellises and wells in the courtyard, and some even have stone mills.
Shao Shude took a few glances and saw that the courtyard was quiet. Occasionally, a child could cry, but it soon stopped abruptly, as if an adult had covered his mouth.
In a small courtyard at the end of the street, a Forbidden Army soldier walked out with his trousers held up. Behind him, the woman managed to gather her torn clothes around her body, took a bag of beans that the soldier threw to her, and started cooking.
But soon another new soldier rushed in, pushed the woman to the ground, and started to stir with all his strength.
After a while, a group of soldiers surrounded the courtyard, pushed the two warriors to the ground, ignored their pleas, raised their swords, and beheaded them on the spot.
If you say two days, then it's two days. Do whatever you want within two days. If you do anything evil after two days, you will be punished directly by military law.
Several tents were set up in the city, and doctors were gathered to treat the people's injuries.
Notices for peace of mind were also posted, which meant that order was restored.
The remaining people of Bukhan watched all this indifferently.
They were facing a group of extremely vicious warriors with strict military laws. Thinking about it carefully, they couldn't help but feel a sense of fear in their bones. When facing such people, perhaps surrendering is the best way?
I heard from the soldiers entering the city that Turmugan in the west directly collected the goods from the Bazari, loaded them into five hundred carts, and paid an additional 200,000 dirhan silver coins in exchange for these warriors not to attack their city...
…
If Governor Ismail had done the same thing, maybe they would have had a different ending.
Crows croaked and landed on the branches.
It's late afternoon, the city is filled with smoke, birds, and the aroma of food.
Xia Bing, who had finished his supper in advance, was busy transporting all kinds of supplies, which actually had to be transported overnight.
Several huge stoves were lit in the Grand Bazaar in the southwest corner of the city.
The sound of anvils and hammers is clanging, and Xia people are repairing armor, stomachs, and instruments.
High-value weapons will naturally be taken away, and some of them will be put into warehouses and well maintained for future use. After all, the Western Region is full of waste and its production capacity is not strong. Even the weapons commonly used by the Persians cannot be discarded at will.
In addition, King Zhao Shao Siwu is also in urgent need, and the saint will allocate part of it to his son.
The rest that they don't like will be left to the Turkic tribes.
Prisoners released from prison helped by melting all kinds of large copper idols and utensils that were difficult to carry, making them into money, and then stringing them together and taking them away.
Every time the Xia soldiers broke through a city, they would release the prisoners from the prison and incorporate them into the new auxiliary army to serve as cannon fodder.
The strength of this army has exceeded 8,000, which is comparable to that of Yin'anzhi - Shao Shude recruited several hundred Tibetan warriors into Yin'anzhi on Anxi Road.
As troops directly under the Khan Court, they will eventually withdraw with the Xia army.
To be honest, it would be impossible for them not to leave, because the people of Bukhan hated this army.
When it comes to evil deeds, they are simply more brutal than the Xia soldiers and have no bottom line. When Persia regains its lost territory in the future, if the new vassal army remains in Fergana, it will definitely end badly.
The last ray of light in the sky also fell.
The famous city of Fergana, Bakhna, ushered in the first night after the disaster.
****
On September 13, most of the cavalry had been sent to the west.
They did not defend passively, but took the initiative to attack, penetrated deep into Hagistan, and fought together in the Tibetan area. The vanguard even appeared on the outskirts of Sabat.
The main purpose was to intimidate the enemies, making them think that the Xia army was going to march westward in a large scale and plunder more money.
Xie Yanzhang, who led the team, sent people to report back. It was obvious that the enemy had implemented the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country. The number of people in many villages had been greatly reduced, and the wealthy households had even hid in the cities.
The Dikhkans scattered in the countryside armed themselves with the strongest men in their respective territories, marched to the vicinity of the big city, and set up camp.
At the same time, the men of Bukhan, who slowly reacted, began to gather cavalry to fight against the Xia army. Although many troops were scattered during the fight, the degree of militarization in the western half of Fergana was significantly improved.
Of course, these soldiers alone cannot challenge Xia's army.
Before the arrival of the main Persian force, their only role was to cause trouble for the scattered and looting Xia soldiers.
After all, it is impossible for the whole army to gather together when you are plundering. There are usually more than a hundred people, and hundreds of people work together. If they gather thousands of people, they can still win the battle with more people and fewer people.
To put it bluntly, it is just to curb your unscrupulous looting behavior - the Khotanese people just suffered a loss, and most of Li Shengtian's three hundred light cavalry were annihilated by Ba Khan.
But - it doesn’t matter!
Shao Shude didn't care, he had already made up his mind to retreat.
During this plunder, there were probably no more than 70,000 to 80,000 Bahan men who died directly at the hands of the Xia army or were kidnapped by them.
If you include those who starved to death after their food was robbed, it would be even more difficult to count - maybe they were lucky and had food hidden elsewhere, or they could hide in the mountains to hunt and collect fruits and vegetables, or they might seek refuge with relatives to obtain life-saving food.
, but such people are in the minority after all.
Although the Turks arrived late, they also robbed a lot of goods and slaves, and they still refused to leave.
This time the troops were sent out, most of the area east of Bukhanna was destroyed. To the west of Bukhanna, there were also many disturbances.
Let the Persians have a headache!
On September 15th, news came from the north: The army failed to siege Baishui City, so they went south to plunder the four cities of Jukvit, Belkuab, Sharab, and Inskuab. They defeated one of them and gave up the rest.
Go away.
Ogurchak was a little greedy and repeatedly plundered near Yinskuab, but was attacked by Shashi (Tashkent) soldiers and horses at night. Five thousand Sogdian cavalry defeated the Uighurs and robbed the furthest Gallulu.
The human losses were the heaviest, with more than 4,000 people killed and injured. The stolen goods and slaves were also rescued by the Persians.
Seeing the meaning behind Dalang's words, he was ready to retreat because the first snow had fallen in the area.
Shao Shude immediately sent a group of messengers northward and ordered a general retreat.
On September 17, reports came from Nanyuan that the first snow had fallen in Congling, and it quickly melted away.
Shao Shude ordered all ministries to speed up their operations and try to transport more supplies back.
That afternoon, he left Bakhna and officially embarked on his return journey.
When I saw the carriages and camel teams that were still coming in and out of the city gate of Bakhna, I felt very relieved: with the sponsorship of the Persians, the problem of resettling the families of soldiers in Shule Town could finally be solved in advance.
Otherwise, given the extremely tight transportation capacity in the Helong area and the fact that the local people are overwhelmed, it will take at least several years for the resettlement to be completed.
After fighting for a few years, I had to get this deal!
