I

Bukhara city.

One bad news after another came, and King Abdullah Aziz did not care at first. He believed that three thousand heavy cavalry were enough to guard the Fergana Basin.

But the soldiers and Uzbek herders who kept returning finally brought the news that the governor was defeated and killed.

The whole country was shocked!

Abdul Aziz is not a pure fool, he is a bit like Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty. He also worked hard to govern the Bukhara Khanate and the Astrakhan Dynasty in his hands, reaching its peak in his hands.

Then, he began to be self-willed, started to govern the country based on his own preferences, and spent extravagantly to indulge in pleasure.

"How many enemies are there? How were my heavy cavalry defeated?" Aziz personally met the light cavalry who had escaped. As for the heavy cavalry, they had all been wiped out long ago, and not a single one of them escaped in heavy armor.

A light cavalryman said: "The governor asked us to stop the tribal rebels. I don't see how the heavy cavalry was defeated."

Several light cavalrymen said this, and finally someone said: "I saw a dagger installed on the front of the enemy's musket. All the infantrymen lined up with muskets instead of daggers. The heavy cavalry rushed over, and the horses slowed down and circled. Shot at close range by musketeers."

Aziz was surprised: "Didn't the musketeers flee when faced with the heavy cavalry charge?"

"No." The man replied.

Aziz looked at his minister: "Who can crack this method of warfare?"

A minister who knows military skills said: "The heavy cavalry's helmet completely exposes its eyes. You can modify the helmet to cover half of the horse's eyes so that the horse can only see the ground one step ahead. In this way, the horse can It won't slow down, and you can only see the enemy's weapons when you get closer. At that time, the war horse can't stop even if it wants to."

"Okay, order the craftsmen to renovate the horse helmets," Aziz said, "Gather armies from all over the country and send troops next spring to take back Fergana!"

The minister in charge of finance said: "Great Khan, there is not enough money and food."

"Then raise taxes," Aziz said.

The finance minister reminded: "Great Khan, taxes in various places have been increased to the limit. Any increase in taxes will definitely lead to rebellion."

Aziz said: "It's not like we have been raising taxes for only two years. In order to regain the land, shouldn't the subjects contribute to the Khanate?"

"Yes." The finance minister silently withdrew.

Another minister said: "Great Khan, the Khiva Khanate in the west has been encroaching on our country's grassland in recent years. On the border of our country, there are also Turkmen tribes who have defected to the Khiva Khanate with their grassland. If a large army is to go out next year, they must stay Some troops to prevent the Khiva Khanate from taking advantage of the situation."

Aziz said angrily: "Those damn Turkmen rats don't want to live in the powerful Bukhara, but go to the weak Khiva country. Are they all fools?"

No one dared to answer.

Of course, it was the king who imposed too heavy a tax that forced the tribes to surrender to the enemy.

At this time, the Khiva Khanate was ruled by a benevolent king. Not only are taxes very low, but they are also committed to mediating ethnic conflicts. The leaders of all ethnic groups are very convinced of King Shiva.

Comparing the two, any fool knows who to turn to.

Aziz ordered the collection of war taxes. After the news came out, the reaction of officials and people in various places was even more excited than when they heard about the fall of the Fergana Basin.

The governors in various places were very cooperative, and a little too cooperative.

If the king levies a penny of tax, they can collect one cent, and the official who specifically levies the tax can collect one dollar.

The northwest of the Bukhara Khanate is all dry grassland and desert. The tribes here were already having difficulty surviving, and suddenly they had to pay a large amount of war tax, which directly forced them to rebel.

Especially the tribes close to the Khiva Khanate went directly to the territory with their territory.

Anusha, the young and literary king of the Khiva Khanate, was overjoyed when he got the news. He quickly sent people to reward the defectors and ordered to gather troops to prepare for battle.

Immediately afterwards, Anusha received news that China had occupied the Fergana Basin.

"Instruct all armies not to cross the border or take the initiative to fight," Anusha said happily. "Let Braha fight China. No matter whether we lose or win, it will be good for us. Also, send people to contact those close to us. Our tribes of the Bukhara Khanate, tell them that I will not impose heavy taxes. As long as they come over, any race will be treated well."

After making the decision, Anusha took out the Persian version of the Tao Te Ching and studied it carefully in the palace.

This Chinese version of the Tao Te Ching was obtained from the envoy Xie Yuan. Anusha spent a lot of money to have a Persian scholar who had been to Nanjing translate it, and now he reads and comprehends it over and over again every day.

One of his sons was still studying in Nanjing at this time.

Historically, it was Anusha's continuous invasions that caused the Bukhara Khanate to lose territory one after another. The prestige of the King of Bukhara was severely damaged, coupled with the intensification of social conflicts, the Bukhara Khanate began to fall apart, and the governors and religious leaders began to separate themselves.

Now that China has taken on this role, the loss of the Fergana Basin has disgraced the King of Bukhara, and the governor and religious nobles are starting to make moves.

…

The tribal rebellion in the northwest region disrupted King Aziz's plan to send troops.

He had to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion first, and it was not until the following summer that the rebellion was finally completely quelled. At the same time, intelligence was obtained that the Khiva Khanate next door was secretly gathering troops, and it was obvious that they planned to take advantage of the situation.

Aziz did not dare to act rashly and sent people to the Fergana Basin to gather information.

The spies came back and reported that the Chinese army had massacred many Uzbek tribesmen. But there are many Uzbeks who are used as hard labor in building the city. They will be free as long as the city is completed. Also, all the slaves who were ruled by the Uzbeks were freed and became free people around the city of Khujand.

The Chinese army not only used hard labor to repair the Khujand City Wall, but also built the Great Wall further west of the Khujand City, seeming to want to completely block the entrance to the basin.

After hearing the information, Aziz was completely speechless.

If we want to recapture Fergana at this time, we must fight a siege at the entrance of the basin. The Bukhara army is not good at attacking cities. Although they have mastered farming technology, they are still nomadic tribes at heart.

Moreover, as more and more intelligence comes back, Aziz has become frightened of China.

He heard from merchants that the Chinese army had destroyed the Yarkand Kingdom and that the capture of the Fergana Basin was just incidental. Last year, only a few thousand soldiers came, and there are hundreds of thousands of troops currently on the Yarkant side.

How dare he fight?

Other countries may be unfamiliar with China, but the Bukhara Khanate is too familiar with China. The previous overlords of this land all made their fortunes by controlling the Silk Road, and the Bukhara Khanate was no exception. Countless Chinese goods were transported here every year.

Aziz has heard since he was a child that China is a giant and the Chinese emperor is the richest monarch in the world.

Taking into account the domestic and international situation, Aziz lost Fergana by default. But losing the city and losing the land was disgraceful. He had to find someone to vent his anger, divert domestic conflicts, and re-establish his ruling authority.

"All the troops that have been gathered are heading to the western border. I want to take back the lost land!"

The target of Aziz's venting was actually the Khiva Khanate next door, because he thought it was the best place to fight.

After all, twenty or thirty years ago, the Khiva Khanate was still divided, and nearly a century of civil war had long since destroyed the country. He ignored the efforts of the previous generation of Shiva kings and the young and brave kings of this generation. He, a sluggish Khan, wanted to lead his sluggish army to conquer a prosperous country.

This pair of neighbors and enemies inexplicably went to war several years in advance because of the appearance of the Chinese army.

It has to be said that the Bukhara Khanate is indeed powerful, and its elite heavy cavalry is invincible.

After the war between the two countries began, the Khiva Khanate was defeated and retreated, losing its territory along the way and retreating to the city of Derian.

They encountered setbacks during the siege and even left part of the army to besiege the city. The main army circled the city and followed the river straight to the capital of the Khiva Khanate. This style of play is too arrogant and does not treat the enemy as a human being.

Aziz personally led the expedition. His idea was simple. As long as the enemy's capital was captured, the war would be declared a victory.

Who made the capital of the Khiva Khanate, not far from the eastern border, close to the territory of Bukhara?

Tens of thousands of Bukhara troops surrounded the capital of Khiva.

King Anusha of Shiva personally visited the city to boost morale and repelled the enemy's attacks many times in a row.

The people of Khiva, who have experienced nearly a hundred years of war, have finally been stable for 20 or 30 years, and they still have a benevolent king. The Bukhara army invaded, burning, killing and looting along the way, which aroused the common hatred among the people. Even many ethnic minority tribes came to fight for the country.

These ethnic minority tribes, especially the nearby Turkmens, did not dare to fight directly against the Bukhara army, so they ran to rob the Bukhara army's food routes.

When they saw the grain transport team, they ran away if there were too many enemies, and grabbed when there were few enemies. As a result, the Bukhara army was almost cut off from food routes.

Aziz could only send troops back to defend, and at the same time urged the rear troops to quickly knock down the city of Derian.

This war lasted from summer to early winter.

The defenders of Shiva City have almost run out of food. If they continue to defend the city, they will only eat people. As the attacker, Bukhara is also suffering. The most fatal thing is the renewed rebellion in the country.

Domestic rebellion made it impossible for Aziz to continue fighting, but he was unwilling to withdraw his troops directly. He sent an envoy to the city and said: "We can evacuate Khiva, but the Khiva Khanate must compensate for the losses and send all the food we consumed. And we must ensure that the Khiva Khanate will no longer take in defecting tribes.”

Anusha's answer was straightforward: "Kill this man!"

Killing the messenger is tantamount to breaking up, and there is no possibility of making peace.

After more than half a month, the rebels in the country became more and more powerful. Aziz finally ignored his face and ordered the entire army to withdraw to the country to quell the chaos.

Anusha refused to give up. After the Bukhara army left, he collected food as quickly as possible and led the troops of various ethnic groups who came to King Qin to chase the tail of the Bukhara army.

The two sides fought a decisive battle on the border between the two countries. The Khiva Khanate was originally at a disadvantage, but suddenly a noble in Bukhara defected.

But it was the brother of the nobleman who really couldn't stand the king and decided to separate his own country and secretly sent a letter to contact him to cause trouble in the army.

As a result, Aziz was defeated and fled with only a few thousand elites.

The Khiva Khanate took advantage of the situation to occupy the western border grassland of Bukhara and swallowed up all the territory in the northwest of Bukhara (which was actually of little value, either arid grassland or a large desert).

King Aziz of Bukhara, after escaping back to the capital, was unable to suppress the rebellion and could only send officials to Zhao'an.

Zhao'an was very successful, and the rebels immediately surrendered. What they wanted was to separate themselves and stand on their own.

The governors and hozos in various places separated themselves one after another and no longer obeyed the king's orders. Aziz could only control the capital and surrounding areas.

If you are self-willed, everyone will rebel against your relatives!

In particular, the Governor of Samarkand actually flirted with the Datong Army and happily ran the Silk Road together.