Chapter 1054 1050 [On-the-spot investigation is reliable]
The entire Congling is under the jurisdiction of the Osh Governor of the Bukhara Khanate.
However, there have been several successive governors who have never set foot in the Land of Green Ridge - a plateau with an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters. Who would come here to wander around?
Congling is different from what Jiang Liang imagined. Although it believes in the Green religion, it is a secular tribal society.
The Yarkand Khanate and the Mughal Empire believed in Sufism at this time. However, in the vast plateau and mountainous areas of Congling, people believed in Ismaili sect, which also incorporated primitive totem worship. They believed in paganism.
Faith is extremely tolerant.
When Jiang Liang communicated with the Tajik businessmen, the two sides were talking purely.
Jiang Liang's goal is Congling, but Tajik businessmen think that China wants to take over Fergana and Osh. Both belong to the Tajik territory, but their religious and cultural differences are very different, and even the sects they believe in are different.
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Fergana and Osh are located to the north of Congling and are the core areas of Tajikistan. Religion, customs, and culture are heavily influenced by Central Asia, and power is controlled by nobles and imams.
The Congling area that China intends to seize is all plateau and mountainous, and the economy is very backward. In this case, religious leaders have very little say, so the leaders of each tribe have the final say.
You can see green believers worshiping totems in the mountainous areas of Congling, just like the green believers in Java Island worshiping Mazu... The style of painting is extremely strange, and they are all products of the fusion of beliefs.
Liang Zhen captured the Stone City Valley. The governor of Bukhara did not even know about such a big thing.
It wasn't until the Chinese army arrived at Salitash, which was the Chihe Station of the Tang Dynasty, that the Bukhara garrison woke up from their dream.
For the King of Bukhara, the only role of Congling was to collect tolls from caravans. He didn't even bother to build a checkpoint at the mountain pass because the environment at the mountain pass was harsh and it was not as convenient as collecting taxes at Chihe Station. Anyway, Chihe Station was
A necessary place on the Silk Road.
Thousands of troops came to attack, and the guard Said was completely stunned.
He knew that Yarkand was at war, so from last year to now, business travel was almost cut off. But he never thought that the Chinese army would actually cross the mountain pass and lead troops to the city where he was stationed.
Said is called a guard, but he is actually a toll collector.
Counting all the soldiers under his command, the number was still less than 500 - the place was too poor and it was not cost-effective to transport food over long distances, so he couldn't afford to feed too many soldiers.
Outside the castle, there are many merchants from Central Asia.
They came last year, but the Chinese army blocked the mountain pass and temporarily prohibited the caravan from passing through. They had to retreat to Chiheyi and wait for the trade route to open.
Both the defenders and the merchants had heard rumors about the Chinese army and knew that they were a group of soldiers who could summon demons.
At this moment, merchants outside the city ran away one after another.
But they don't want to go too far. They also want to go to Kashgar to buy Chinese goods and ship them to Central Asia.
Liang Zhen only brought four artillery pieces, and the military order above was to try not to fight. If the defenders were willing to surrender, they were allowed to safely withdraw from Congling, so that they would not completely break up with the Bukhara Khanate.
"What? Make me surrender?" Said asked.
The envoy said: "Yes, as long as you surrender, you can safely withdraw from Pamir."
"Impossible." Said shook his head.
Chiheyi is so important because it can collect tolls.
All goods from China transported to the West by land must pass through here, and a huge amount of toll tax can be collected every year.
If Said dares to surrender, not to mention that the king will not let him go, even the governor will chop him down. How many people rely on the toll station here for their money and money.
The envoy went back to report, but Liang Zhen was too lazy to bombard him slowly and ordered: "Let's raise the hot air balloon."
This valley is located at the confluence of two rivers. The castle is surrounded by mountains, so there is no fixed wind direction.
The observer measured it for a while and found that the wind direction was all chaotic.
Sometimes the southeast wind blows, sometimes the north wind blows, and the wind strength is also strong and weak.
Faced with this situation, we can only take off first. If hot air balloons are raised from all sides of the city, there will always be one or two hot air balloons with the right wind direction.
"Zhenni! Zhenni!"
The defenders had heard rumors from merchants, and they were indeed shouting "Devil" at this moment.
"Boom boom boom!"
When ten thousand enemies dropped on the city and exploded, these soldiers finally collapsed.
They only had more than 400 people guarding the city, and their morale was already low. Rather than being frightened by the "devil", it was better to find a reason for themselves to flee. The soldiers rushed towards the city gate, no matter how Said stopped them.
To no avail.
So Said also ran away.
The Datong army carried out hot-air balloon bombing, which gave Said an excuse to escape. Because the Chinese army summoned the devil, he was really unable to defeat him. He should... be forgiven by the governor.
Liang Zhen smiled and said: "Catch up, you don't have to chase too hard."
China does not want to fight a big war with the Bukhara Khanate, it just needs to drive the enemy out of Congling.
The defeated troops all fled northward in rowing boats. The Datong Army also seized some merchant ships and pursued them northwards.
Businessmen from Central Asia hid on the shore in front and witnessed this "pursuit battle" throughout.
The missionary officer Lei Zhiji personally led his troops to pursue him. He wanted to investigate the situation along the way. He stopped halfway and captured a few merchants to accompany the army and asked them to introduce specific information.
When we came to a village called Gurica, the river was divided into two. The merchant accompanying the army introduced: "Follow the river to the west, you can lead to Osh, where the governor is stationed. Follow the river to the north, you can reach a
The city called Uzgen. No matter where you go, as long as you leave the river valley, it will be much lower and flatter."
Lei Zhiji took a boat trip around the two separate rivers, and finally returned to Gurica: "We can build a city here and block it. We only need three to five hundred defenders to resist the attack of tens of thousands of enemies."
Lei Zhiji drew a simple map based on the merchant's description and his own on-the-spot investigation.
Then, draw a circle in Gulicha and another in Chiheyi. Cities must be built in both places, with three to five hundred troops stationed in each city. This large area will be stabilized.
In the next three months, Lei Zhiji visited other areas in Congling.
Only then did I finally know that geographically speaking, the Pamir Plateau has eight regions, referred to as "Bapa". However, according to ethnicity and culture, it can be divided into six regions. And then divided into two regions based on language.
Big plate.
The ethnic composition is extremely complex, and Tajiks are not the only ones.
Some come from India, some come from Persia, some come from Siberia, and of course some come from Xinjiang.
The only link between the various groups is the common belief in Ismaili. Moreover, the faith is also internally differentiated, and each region incorporates unique religious characteristics.
Lei Zhiji returned to Kashgar and handed in his investigation report.
He said to Jiang Liang: "Captain, the land of Congling is isolated from the world, just like Tibet. The sects here are much gentler and more tolerant than Yarkand. There is no need to use iron fists."
"Keep talking." Jiang Liang nodded.
Lei Zhiji said: "The local tribes in Congling are very similar to those in Tibet, but they are slightly different. The religious leaders here do not have much secular power. The central area of Congling is not suitable for farming and is more like Mongolia.
There are nomadic tribes on the border. Other areas in Congling are half-cultivated and half-pastoral, very similar to the Kham area.”
"There are big nobles in Kangzang, but there are no big nobles in Congling. They are all nobles from small and medium-sized tribes. Because they are isolated from the world and have a large number of tribes, they cannot integrate with each other. To put it bluntly, they are scattered. For them, who can defeat them?
If you come over and surrender, the Datong court and the Bukhara Khanate are the same."
"Moreover, the external forces occupying this place are all for the business tax of the Silk Road, and the oppression of the local tribes is not serious. After all, the poor tribes in the mountains cannot squeeze out money no matter how much they bully them. If we send troops to urge
The mountains are high and the roads are far away, so it is difficult to transport military supplies, and the taxes collected are not enough to cover military expenditures."
"The great nobles and imams that the merchants mentioned before are not in the land of Congling but in the large area of Osh. It is also the territory of the Tajik people, but the sects and beliefs are different, and they are much richer than Congling."
"The local tribes in Congling also have slaves, but the number is not large. Often the tribes fight with each other, and the prisoners of war become slaves, and the slaves are still slaves after birth."
"Slaves can be forcibly released, but tribal wars cannot be prevented. The tribes here fight because they are too poor and want to compete for pasture and cultivated land. Unless they can all become rich, they will continue to fight, produce prisoners of war, and exist forever.
slave."
"There are eight pas in Congling, which can build eight large cities, with 500 troops stationed in each city. There are also five key locations where small castles can be built, and each castle can be garrisoned with dozens to hundreds of troops. The garrison of the entire Congling
The total number should be around five to six thousand people."
After speaking, Lei Zhiji looked at Jiang Liang.
Jiang Liang shook his head and said: "Six thousand troops are stationed too many. Transportation here is difficult. It is impossible to transport military grain from Kashgar for a long time. If you want to obtain food locally, you can only garrison a small number of troops, otherwise it will intensify conflicts with the local tribes. After all, the grain produced is only
So much, even if we spend money to buy it, it will cause a food shortage in Congling. The maximum number of troops stationed in Congling is four thousand."
Lei Zhiji said: "Four thousand is unstable."
Jiang Liang said: "Sure, you said it yourself, the local tribes are scattered, and even the language is divided into two large parts. There are eight big cities, with 400 troops stationed in each city. The remaining 800 troops are stationed at various checkpoints."
"Isn't this enough?" Lei Zhiji said.
Jiang Liang smiled and said: "Since the local tribes are very poor, they should collect less taxes. If they pay less taxes, they have to fight for the court. If a tribe rebels, let other tribes send troops to follow my Datong army to quell the rebellion. If all
If all the tribes are rebelling, it means there is something wrong with the Han officials, who have forced all the scattered tribes to rebel."
The imperial court also wanted to build a school in Congling. At the beginning, it would only recruit children of tribal nobles, and then gradually extend to common people.
Since the sects here are relatively moderate and do not interfere in politics, let them retain their faith.
To be honest, as long as the court does not impose excessive taxes, the Tajiks are very docile, because they are accustomed to submitting to their suzerains in order to obtain a relatively stable living environment.
The Tajik brothers of New China have produced so many border guards. They are obliged to patrol the borders for the motherland, and even pay their own lives for it.