Liu Ziqiu quickly asked: "Who can choose Zhao Aiqing?"
Zhao Ling smiled and pointed at the generals: "General Danai is the most suitable candidate!"
Shi Danai said hurriedly: "Mr. Zhao, please don't cheat Shi. Shi just wants to follow His Majesty loyally, but he has never thought of becoming a Khan."
Zhao Ling said with a smile: "First of all, General Danai's real name is Ashina, and he is from the Turkic royal family. Due to his status, he can be the Khan of the Western Turks. Secondly, General Danai is very brave and the Turks value force, so General Danai is the one to serve."
The Western Turkic Khan should be able to convince everyone!"
Liu Ziqiu pondered for a long time and then said slowly: "What Zhao Aiqing said makes sense. Brother Danai is indeed the best candidate to be the Khan of the Western Turks."
The geographical location of the Western Turks is very important. It is connected with the Western Regions, and the Western Regions are the foundation of Liu Ziqiu's career. Liu Ziqiu has special feelings for the Western Regions. Another important point is that the Western Regions have been the silk connecting the East and the West since the Han Dynasty.
Road. Liu Ziqiu has always attached great importance to trade. It is said that there is no stability without farmers and no wealth without business. This trade route to the West must be firmly in his own hands. If the turmoil in the Western Turks continues, it will inevitably affect the Western Regions
Liu Ziqiu would not allow this situation to happen.
However, Shi Danai was taken aback, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the general is in panic! How can the general be so virtuous and capable as to be a khan?"
Liu Ziqiu laughed: "You will do whatever I tell you to do. Pass on my will, make Ashina Danai the Khan of the Western Turks, and declare it to the world immediately!"
Wei Zheng looked at Shi Danai, who was still stunned, and laughed and said: "Khan, why don't you quickly thank the Holy Grace!"
"I accept the order and thank you!" Shi Danai could only bow deeply and said with a bitter face, "Your Majesty, how can I do this as the Khan of the Western Turks alone?"
Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, I will not only give you men and horses, but also policies!"
Shi Danai stared blankly with a pair of bull's-eyes, his face full of confusion: "Policy? What is that?"
This was a word that Liu Ziqiu casually came up with. He couldn't explain it clearly for a while. He had to cough twice and said: "In short, I will provide you with all conveniences. As long as the tribes of the Western Turks are willing to support you, you can do it."
Khan, for the new tea bricks produced in Jiangnan this year, priority will be given to ensuring the supply of the Western Turks. The scale of border trade between the Central Plains and the Western Turks can also be doubled, and salt, iron and other items can be traded freely."
…
Tea bricks are a new thing for the nomads who have been eating beef and mutton for a long time. Last year, only a few nobles from large tribes could get a small share. After drinking tea bricks and milk tea made from mare and goat milk, the number of times these nobles got sick.
have been significantly reduced, and the body is healthier than before, which has made many nobles understand the preciousness of tea bricks. These tea bricks are actually only processed from the leftovers of tea production, but for the grassland people who lack vegetables, they are a good way to obtain vitamins.
An important channel. Of course, the grassland people do not understand this truth. They only know that milk tea is very delicious. Liu Ziqiu stated in the edict that the newly produced tea bricks this year will be given priority to those Western Turkic tribes that support Shi Danai as Khan.
It will definitely cause an uproar among the Western Turkic tribes.
As for the scale of border trade, it has always been an important means for the Central Plains court to control nomadic tribes. For those nomadic peoples, salt, iron and cloth are materials that they are in very short supply. In particular, the salt and iron trade is strictly controlled. Among many nomadic families,
, iron pots are extremely important wealth. Now, the scale of the entire border trade can be doubled, and salt and iron can be traded freely. Once this news spreads to the Western Turks, the impact will not be limited to the aristocracy, but many ordinary herdsmen may have their own problems.
idea.
Whether it is the Western Turks, the Western Turks or the Xueyantuo tribe, it is not actually a political power in the true sense, but a loose tribal alliance. Each tribe in the alliance has a strong independence. The strength of the tribe depends on
Due to the number of young men they have, if most of the young men in the tribe die in battle, the tribe will die. Usually, there will be no life-and-death battles between tribes.
Able to maintain a delicate balance. Even if they invaded the borders of the Central Plains imperial court in the past, the purpose was only to obtain property and slaves. On the premise that they can obtain the required materials through other channels, preserving their strength has become the best choice for these tribes.
The edict issued by Liu Ziqiu soon spread throughout Mobei, causing a sensation on the grasslands. Mu Lin didn't care, he gave birth to a good daughter, and the emperor's reward every year far exceeded the trade of the other three khans.
As a result, Du Mi and Xue Shixiong both sent envoys to Luoyang, asking Liu Ziqiu to treat everyone equally and increase their trade quota. However, Daman was furious and ordered the three armies to immediately set off and invade the counties in Hexi. Shanshan County was the first to bear the brunt.
Daman originally distrusted the tribal leaders who were attached to him. Now Liu Ziqiu has issued an edict appointing Shi Danai as the Khan of the Western Turks, which makes Daman even more suspicious. In order to prevent these tribal leaders from launching a rebellion, Daman placed
Each tribe stationed its trusted men, who were called to facilitate communication, but were actually responsible for supervising the army. The men on the grassland were already used to being undisciplined, and Daman's behavior made the tribal leaders even more dissatisfied with him.
The Western Turkic army set out from Shiluoman Mountain, went all the way south, crossed Beihe and Shashan Mountains, and broke into Shanshan County in one fell swoop. The leaders of the two large Western Turkic tribes served as the vanguard, one was named Astet Tanli, and the other was named
Ashina Bodin. They are both Turks, but they belong to two major clans. However, Tanley and Bodin are related by marriage. They usually have close contact with each other, but they have not become enemies because of the conflict between their clan names.
Each tribe is a large tribe with tens of thousands of young men each. This time, under Daman's forced order, even young people and old people joined the army, and the size doubled.
After entering Shanshan County, they were faced with a vast desert. The grassland people did not carry food and grass with them to fight, but only drove some cattle and sheep with the army. They drank milk from cows and goats when they were thirsty, and ate beef and mutton when they were hungry. There were plenty of them on the grassland.
Fresh pasture, cattle, sheep and horses could forage anywhere, which greatly reduced the logistical burden of the prairie people's battles. But ahead was a desert with no water sources and no pasture, so the army came to a halt and refused to move forward. Tanley and Uncle
Ding Dingma came to the front of the team to discuss the next step.
Tanli complained: "If the Khan wants to quarrel with the Han Dynasty, there is no need to choose to march from here. He should go all the way east, take the road with Xue Yantuo, and go straight to Zhangye."
Boding sighed: "In the past, Xue Yantuo could only rely on me, the Western Turks. Now that his power is increasing, Xue Shixiong is almost on an equal footing with Khan. I heard people around Khan say that Khan is also very afraid of Xue Shixiong.
How can we borrow a passage from him? Let's just think about how to get through this desert."
Tanli thought for a while and said: "I remember that there is a swamp in the center of this desert called Puchanghai. If we march at full speed, we should be able to reach there within two days. At the end of Puchanghai there is a river called Shanshan River. Along the Shanshan River
You can go all the way west to Shanshan City. As long as you capture Shanshan City, all problems will be solved."
Bodin looked at the soldiers behind him and said worriedly: "In two days, the men and horses can still hold on, but I'm afraid these cattle and sheep will not survive."
Tanli was decisive and gritted his teeth and said: "Then kill all the cattle and sheep and have a full meal!"
This is a very risky decision. For them, no cattle and sheep means no food. If they cannot reach Shanshan City through this desert smoothly without the enemy attacking them, they will starve to death. As for whether they can capture Shanshan City
, Boding and Tanley have nothing to worry about. The cities in the Western Region are different from those in the Central Plains. Most of the cities here have low walls and are not very strong earth walls. With their 40,000 troops, there is no reason why they cannot attack them.
.
Bodin naturally understood the risks of doing this and hesitated a little: "I don't know what the Khan thinks. The new dynasty in the Central Plains is much more tolerant to us than in the past. It also allows some salt and iron to be sold to Mobei. Everybody."
We have just lived a peaceful life for two years, but now we have to go to war with each other."
Tanli shook his head and said: "I heard that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty made a new khan. As long as the tribes that adhere to this new khan can get many benefits."
Bodin looked back cautiously: "Hush, don't you dare say these nonsense!"
Behind them, a black-faced man galloped over on horseback and said in a rough voice: "Two leaders, why haven't you given the order to march? How long will this be delayed?"
Burdine hurriedly said: "Moret Qin, the desert ahead blocks the way. We are discussing the next step."
This black-faced man was the supervisor of the Daman faction in their tribe. He was very arrogant and domineering, and he never looked down upon the two leaders. However, they were frightened by Daman's power, and even Tanley and Bertin dared to get angry.
I dare not say it, but my heart is already filled with fatigue.
Morey raised his riding crop and said sternly: "Can a small desert stop my good Turkic man? I think you two want to delay it deliberately!"
Tanley could not bear it any longer and was about to have an attack when he was stopped by Burdine and said with a smile: "Moret Qin, I will order the slaughter of cattle and sheep right now, give the whole army a good meal, and then set off to cross this desert.
"
Morey snorted and said, "Hurry up and go!"
As the order was passed on, the three armies were in an uproar. After slaughtering all the cattle and sheep, they would definitely not be able to eat a meal, and the excess beef and mutton had no time to be made into dried meat, so they had to be discarded on the spot. But to the soldiers, these cattle and sheep were
The soldiers were naturally reluctant to part with their wealth. What was even more frightening was that after eating this meal, they would not be able to eat for two days. If they could not get out of the desert within two days, they would die.