The Western Turks are undoubtedly much weaker than the Eastern Turks. Even so, they are not an ordinary foreign power, but the suzerain state of many countries in the Western Regions, or the 'overlord'.
The Tang Dynasty destroyed Jieli, leveled the grasslands, and spread its prestige far and wide. But for the Western Regions, it was ultimately beyond its reach and could hardly have a major impact.
For the countries in the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty was too far away and the Western Turks were too close.
In the early years, when Jieli was still showing off with a knife on the grassland, the relationship between the Western Turks and the Tang Dynasty was very harmonious.
Because everyone has a common performance goal, to kill Jieli and merge with Turk International Animal Husbandry Company.
However, later the Western Turks discovered that, holy shit, before I even exerted my strength, the Tang Dynasty had already eaten the Turks and was still enclosing the grassland?
In this way, because of the unexpected power of the Tang Dynasty, the Western Turks have gradually become alienated from the Tang Dynasty in recent years.
Because, who doesn’t know that the Emperor of the Central Plains is very fond of great achievements, and any unified dynasty will definitely go to war with foreign countries.
The Western Regions were under the control of the Central Plains people in the early years.
Despite this, the two countries have not broken up now, but are in a relatively peaceful period.
This is not a win-win cooperation between the two countries, but each country has its own domestic problems.
"In your opinion, what should we do?" Li Zhiyun asked.
Yu Zhining said: "Choose an envoy to go to the Western Turks and order him not to help Tuyuhun."
Li Zhiyun thought for a moment and felt that this matter should be feasible. Because he had received news that the Western Turks had been very uneasy in the past two years.
Returning to Chang'an, Li Zhiyun held a small court meeting in Liangyi Hall. Six prime ministers, six ministers, and officials from nine temples were present.
Yu Zhining expressed his views on Tuyuhun's next move and proposed sending people to the Western Turks.
Yang Gongren said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the Western Turks will not favor Tuyuhun in the past two years."
"Why?" the emperor asked indifferently.
"The two powerful forces are fighting internally, so they have no time to deal with the trivial matters of Tuyuhun." Yang Gongren said.
The Western Turks and the Eastern Turks split relatively early. Two years after Yang Jian replaced the Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Turks officially split. The reason was that the Western Turks Datou Khan refused to recognize the East Turks Shabolu Khan who had just come to power at that time.
Coupled with Yang Jian's mischief, he successfully divided the most powerful grassland empire at that time into two parts, each occupying the east and west.
Despite this, the Eastern Turks still had an absolute crushing advantage over the Western Turks. At the same time, it also put great military pressure on the Sui Dynasty at that time. However, compared with the previous unified Turkic empire, there was only one Eastern Turk. For the Sui Dynasty,
The pressure will undoubtedly be reduced a lot.
Yang Jian used his wisdom to repeat the separatist conspiracy several times, constantly causing internal strife and division in the Eastern Turks. Finally, his troops came out of the grassland, captured the Eastern Turks in one fell swoop, and forced them to surrender. Later, the Eastern Turks rose and fell several times, and finally died at the hands of Li Zhiyun.
The Western Turks in the Western Regions were relatively calm. Because the Sui Dynasty was strong at that time, the Western Turks continued to fight among themselves and became weaker and weaker. It was not until Tong Yehu Khan came to power that the Western Turks gradually began to reverse the decline of the Western Turks.
Tong Yehu reigned for 12 years, annexed the rest of Tiele to the north, crossed the Amu Darya River to the southwest, and occupied the old land of Tochara. He claimed to control hundreds of thousands of strings, and his martial arts surpassed all the khans of the past.
In the past, when the Eastern Turks were still there, Tong Yehu sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, saying that they were willing to join forces with the Tang people to destroy Jieli.
But, later on, the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Eastern Turks themselves, so there was no problem for the Western Turks.
In the second year of Zhenguan, Tong Yehu was murdered by his uncle Mo Hedu because of his violent rule and harsh administration.
His uncle established himself as Mohe Duhou Quli Zhibi Khan. The Western Turks were very unhappy with this behavior, so they all recommended Nishu to be the khan. Nishu was determined not to ascend the throne and elected the son of Tongyehu Khan.
Ashina Zeli was named Khan, and his name was Yehu Khan.
As a result, the Western Turks started a civil war.
In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Mohe Duo was defeated and killed by Ni She. Si Yehu was elected as the Great Khan of the Western Turks by various tribes in the Western Regions.
It's a pity that this man is vicious, suspicious and suspicious, and he likes to kill heroes. Even the Nishu who supported him to rise to power were brutally hunted down.
At the moment, the two powerful forces that Yang Gongren mentioned are fighting between Siyehu Khan Zheli and Nishu.
In other words, the Western Turks split on their own without the intervention of the Tang Dynasty. This is why the Western Turks seemed powerful, but they never dared to provoke the Tang Dynasty.
Du Ruhui said: "Nevertheless, we have to guard against Ashina Zheli being selfish and cruel. We don't need to communicate with him. We can send envoys to the Yanqi Kingdom to pay a visit to Nishe."
After Ni Shu was chased by Zhe Li, he fled to the Yanqi Kingdom in the Western Regions. In terms of geographical location, the Yanqi Kingdom where Ni Shu was located was closest to Shanshan City, the center of the western region of Tuyuhun.
On the other hand, the distance between Siyehu Khan Ashina Zerli is further away.
"Nishu." Li Zhiyun was slightly disappointed. At that time, Nishu came to Chang'an on the order of Tong Yehu Khan and asked to marry the princess of the clan. However, Li Zhiyun did not agree at that time.
"Okay, send envoys to see Nishu." Li Zhiyun changed his voice and asked, "Who is willing to go to Yanqi?"
The ministers looked at each other, and few dared to stand up and ask for orders.
The main reason is naturally that Yanqi is located in the Western Region, with high mountains and long roads. There are countless dangers on the road, and few people are willing to take risks.
At this time, Su Shichang, the Prime Minister of Shangshu Youcheng, came out and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go."
"Good." Li Zhiyun said, "Then I will take Su Aiqing as my envoy and go to Yanqi."
"yes."
After the court meeting, Li Zhiyun returned to Ganlu Hall and ordered people to bring the "Map of the World" and piece it together on the ground.
He stepped on cotton socks and walked on this huge map.
This picture is quite huge, three feet long and more than two feet wide. It takes the Central Plains of the Tang Dynasty as the central reference point and expands outward to show the various forces in sequence.
At present, the Turks in the north have completely disappeared and have become the jurisdiction of the great governors of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, there are still some tribes further north, which are clearly marked and can be seen clearly at a glance.
The rivers, mountains and rivers above are all marked in different colors.
In the northeast, there are maps of the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. In addition, there are also tribes such as the Min tribe, the Shiwei tribe, and the Mohe tribe.
To the west is Tuyuhun, the map of the Western Turks.
Li Zhiyun touched his chin, walked to the Western Region, and looked at the Western Turks split into two, thoughtfully.
Tang Shang traveled all over the world, and naturally there was no shortage of detailed works sent by Li Zhiyun. In this corner of the Western Region, every area, every tribe, every country, and every major city was marked very eye-catchingly.
Naturally, Li Zhiyun found the city of Shanshan in the western center of Tuyuhun and the location of the Yanqi Kingdom.
Um?
He suddenly discovered that Yanqi and Gaochang were adjacent to each other.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is not a pity, because the current civil strife in the Western Turks is a great opportunity for Tang Dynasty troops to enter the Western Regions.
Unfortunately, Datang himself also needs time to cultivate himself.
But it doesn't matter. Taking advantage of the civil strife in the Western Turks, it should be no problem to destroy Tuyuhun within the next two years.
By then, the Tang Dynasty would have completely established its foothold in the Western Regions.
time!
Li Zhiyun sighed, if it had not been for the disasters in those years, the Tang Dynasty's troops would have arrived in the Western Regions long ago, so there would be no need to wait like this.
However, it is not a pity for him, because because of his existence, compared with Li Shimin's period in history, he has done many things in advance, and disaster relief has been done better than Li Shimin's time.
Moreover, destroying the Turks, destroying Xue Yantuo and the Uighurs, and building cement roads were all things Li Shimin had never accomplished in a short period of time.