I

"Someone claimed to be a survivor of the previous dynasty and wanted to see the governor to give him advice in person. But judging from his high cheekbones and deep eyes, he didn't seem to be a Han, but rather a foreigner."

"Bring it in."

A middle-aged man of unknown blood was brought to Jiang Liang by the guards. He bowed and said, "Liu Qin, a survivor of the previous dynasty, pays homage to the Governor."

"If you can speak Chinese, do you mean you are a remnant of the previous dynasty?" Jiang Liang suddenly laughed and said, "You speak Chinese very well. It sounds like you learned it after growing up from a foreign race."

Liu Qin stated: "My sixth generation ancestor was Ji Shan in the palace of Prince Zhongshun of the Ming Dynasty. He was a serious Juren of the Ming Dynasty and was sent to Hamiwei to teach Confucianism. Hamiwei fell and King Zhongshun went into exile. My sixth generation ancestor has been following him. Later, King Zhongshun died suddenly, and the sixth generation ancestor was captured by Chagatai Khan and placed in Turpan to remarry and have children."

Jiang Liang asked: "Who is King Zhongshun of the Ming Dynasty?"

Liu Qin explained: "King Zhongshun of the Ming Dynasty was the commander of the Hami Guards, and his ancestors were Mongolian nobles who took refuge in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty did not interfere in Hami affairs, but it always sent Han officials to serve as chief historians and jishan. The sixth generation of my ancestors They are really Han people. Although they all married foreign women later, the Confucian classics under the control of Prince Jishan must be studied by every generation of descendants from an early age."

Jiang Liang asked again: "I have occupied Kashgar for half a year, why are you just coming to join us now?"

"It's a long way, I'm traveling a long way from Gurban Alimatu (Almaty)." Liu Qin said.

Almaty is the core territory of Dayuzi!

Jiang Liang asked: "What is the current situation in Dayuzi?"

Liu Qin said: "The Yarkand soldiers and horses were beaten by the governor and fled to Dayuzi. They conquered several tribes in the late autumn of last year. After the spring, the war started again. When I left, the Yarkand soldiers and horses were victorious. . However, the scattered tribes of Dayuzi were forced to unite to fight. Moreover, after the grassland area of ​​Dayuzi was conquered, there were still many cities that could be defended. Yerqiang’s soldiers and horses do not seem to be good at attacking cities. "

"What was the reaction of the Junggar tribe?" Jiang Liang continued to ask.

Liu Qin explained: "There is a tribe in Junggar Mongolia that is nomadic in the Ili grassland. This tribe is also fighting with the Yarkand soldiers and horses, but I heard that they suffered a defeat."

Even though Yaolewas was driven away by the Datong Army, when he arrived in Dayuzi and Ili, he was able to defeat the forces there.

Historically, if Yaolevas was not assassinated, it would be really difficult for the Junggar tribe to annex the Yarkand. If this person is given ten years to develop, he is very likely to unify the Yarkand Khanate.

Liu Qin suddenly asked: "Where are the governor going to attack?"

Jiang Liang thought for a while and decided to give a half-truth answer: "To the south, occupy the Pamir land and regain the Congling in the Tang Dynasty. As for the west, we will attack the territory of the Giljis. Now that we have captured both places, we have no plans to do so for the time being. Keep marching."

Liu Qin knew that his opportunity to make a contribution had come, and he said excitedly: "Captain, if you want to stabilize the Western Region, there are two places that must be captured."

"Oh, which two places?" Jiang Liang said with a smile.

Liu Qin said: "One is the Ili Valley, and the other is the Fergana Valley. If we capture these two valleys, the army in the Western Regions will have no shortage of food and grass. Moreover, these two valleys are also conducive to defense, as they are surrounded by mountains. .”

Ili must be recovered, but Jiang Liang really didn't want to occupy the Fergana Valley.

Jiang Liang asked: "In the Fergana Valley, I heard that the religion is very radical. I'm afraid it won't be easy to rule even if we conquer it."

Liu Qin explained: "No. There are radical sects and docile sects. Just support the docile ones and attack the radical ones. There are hundreds of races in the entire valley. As long as there is a strong army, they can be easily divided and governed. Moreover, After capturing the Fergana Valley, not only will we be able to obtain sufficient food and grass, but Pamir...Congling will no longer need garrison troops."

"Hundreds of ethnic groups?" Jiang Liang asked in surprise. The Tajik merchants did not tell him these contents.

Liu Qin immediately explained in detail: "There are three major ethnic groups in the Fergana Valley, the Uzbeks in the west, the Giljis in the north, and the Tajiks in the south and east. In addition to these three major ethnic groups, there are hundreds of smaller ethnic groups. All Races, both nobles and commoners, extremely hate the brutal rule of the Bukhara Khanate.”

The information Liu Qin provided was different from what Jiang Liang learned, and it was also different from what Lei Zhiji found out.

However, this information can be aggregated!

The Fergana Basin was later known as the "Powder Keg of Central Asia".

Because the land there is rich, the products are rich, and it is sandwiched between various forces, there are more than a hundred local ethnic groups. If anyone comes in to stir things up, it will easily explode if sparks are set off. Even hundreds of years later, it is the area with the most enclaves on the earth.

As long as Datong China occupies this place, whether it is immigration or not, it can solve the food and grass problems in Congling and Kashgar.

Precisely because the Fergana Basin is rich in products, the Bukhara Khanate exploited the local area far more than Congling. The local Uzbeks have revolted many times over the years. Historically, they will establish an independent country (Kokand Khanate) in another forty years.

Jiang Liang asked: "Do you know how many troops of the Bukhara Khanate are stationed in the entire Fergana Valley?"

Liu Qin said: "The garrison only has 10,000 or 20,000 people, but if there is a war, we can recruit soldiers from all ethnic groups and easily pull up more than 100,000 people."

"It's hard to fight a hundred thousand enemy troops. It's too difficult to transport military supplies." Jiang Liang shook his head.

Liu Qin suddenly knelt down and prostrated, saying: "If you can trust me, the Governor, we only need three thousand soldiers and horses to capture the entire valley!"

Jiang Liang was surprised by this and said with great interest: "How can you fight with three thousand soldiers and horses?"

Liu Qin said: "All races in the valley want to rebel, and they have been suppressed many times. I can contact the leaders of each department in advance and declare that 200,000 Celestial troops are coming. You can even secretly spread rumors, say Bukhara The Great Khan wants to raise taxes. To spread rumors, the governor needs to win over the merchants and promise to sell them more cheap goods. The merchants must be willing to cooperate in order to make money."

"Once a rumor spreads, even if it is false, it will become true. In this way, all the ministries will complain. I can take the opportunity to contact you."

"If any tribe doesn't want to rebel together, spread rumors that if this tribe wants to rebel, the governor of Bukhara will be suspicious of it!"

"Then all the 100,000 troops from all tribes can be used by me, while the enemy only has 10,000 or 20,000 left."

Jiang Liang did not agree immediately. Although Liu Qin's strategy was brilliant, relying on this method to gain territory would make future governance troublesome.

After thinking about it, Jiang Liang decided to take action.

We’ll talk about what happens next. Capturing that place would be a huge military achievement.

According to the old names during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Pamir Plateau was Congling and the Fergana Basin was Dawan!

When the time comes, he leads a horse to Zhao Han and says, "Your Majesty, this is the Dawan horse. From now on, all Dawan horses will belong to your Majesty."

"You go down."

Jiang Liangping retreated and said to the guards: "Call Lei Zhiji."

The plan changed again. Congling was not in a hurry to build a city for the time being. As long as the Fergana Basin was captured, Congling could safely garrison a thousand troops.

Liang Zhen was the chief general, Lei Zhiji was the deputy general, and Liu Qin served as a non-staff staff officer, leading 3,500 infantry and cavalry troops to the expedition.

Of course, before setting out on the expedition, you need to call the information station.

Jiang Liang immediately ordered the restoration of the Silk Road, and a large number of merchants poured into Kashgar. He took the opportunity to spread false news that an army of 200,000 troops was going on an expedition.

At the same time, they continued to meet with merchants to obtain basic information about them. They specially selected Uzbek and Tajik businessmen and promised to issue them special licenses for a period of five years. With this license, they can purchase goods at low prices in Kashgar (Han businessmen who sell goods to them can get tax rebates).

After buying off the merchants, assign tasks to the merchants.

In the autumn of that year, all the merchants returning from Kashgar brought back the false news that "200,000 Datong troops were about to attack Fergana."

The merchants bribed by Jiang Liang spread rumors everywhere that the King of Bukhara wanted to increase taxes.

Two fake news came out at the same time, and the entire basin became turbulent.

On the one hand, the governor was nervous and sent people to various tribes to summon troops.

On the one hand, various ministries are complaining. The king has raised taxes several times. If he raises taxes again, he will push everyone to death.

Liu Qin, who had a foreign appearance, had disguised himself as a merchant and entered Fergana with goods.

He first contacted the nearest Tajik leader to promote the Chinese court's tax reduction policy. To add fuel to the fire, he told how powerful the Chinese army was and how it had beaten the Yarkand Khanate into chaos. Besides, once the 200,000 Chinese troops arrive, the Governor of Bukhara will definitely not be able to resist them.

If you don't help China fight the war, you have to help Bukhara fight the war. You can choose whether you live or die.

The Tajik leader immediately agreed and was willing to help China fight. Anyway, agree to it first, and then depending on the situation, whichever side has the advantage will help.

I visited several Tajik tribes in succession, and all the leaders agreed.

It went so smoothly, but Liu Qin felt bad, and he immediately changed his plan temporarily.

Liu Qin quietly contacted the bribed businessmen and asked them to spread the "truth." They revealed all the tribes that had promised to help and said that these tribes wanted to rebel. Finally, they simply said that the Tajiks wanted to rebel.

After the incident got serious, this guy immediately went to the territory of the Giljis.

After visiting a few more tribes, they spread the "truth" again, saying that all the Giljis in the north had defected to China. The Giljis in the Fergana Basin have been bewitched by their own people and plan to defect to help the Datong Army.

In the end, Liu Qin didn't bother to go to the west anymore and directly said that the Uzbeks in the west wanted to rebel.

This place was a powder keg, and King Braha's extortionate expropriations had already sparked many uprisings.

Now rumors are flying all over the sky, and the governor and the heads of various ministries all know that someone is causing trouble. However, the governor did not dare not believe it, and the leaders of various ministries also did not dare to believe that the governor did not believe it.

The Datong Army hasn't even arrived yet, and a fight is about to begin here.

The governor ordered that all ministries must gather their troops before winter, otherwise it would be regarded as malicious.

The governor wanted to scare the ministries, but the leaders of the ministries were frightened, thinking that the governor was going to take action in advance.

The most powerful Kokand tribe directly killed the officials of Kokand City and announced that he had been appointed governor by the Chinese emperor. This man is really rebelling!