On the seventh day of August, the army arrived at Congling Nanyuan.
The so-called Congling Nanyuan is actually a large intermountain basin at the southern foot of the Alai Mountains, located in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan in later generations.
In the Pamir Plateau, this is a rare area with an altitude of two thousand meters.
The easternmost end of the basin, corresponding to the Irkeshtan Port at an altitude of 2,400 meters, was an important passage on the ancient Silk Road. After the founding of New China, it was also the place where China and the Soviet Union exchanged mail.
The Kizilsu River flows through it, nourishing countless pastures along the coast. It is late summer again, the water in the basin is gurgling, and the grass is about to turn yellow, providing natural supplies for the cattle, alpacas, horses and camels that are arriving in droves.
"The location of this basin is really wonderful." Shao Shude climbed up a hillside and overlooked the panoramic view.
Later, he once watched a documentary about the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Highway.
The road passes through this area, and on the way there is a small town called Saretash, located on the mountain in the north, with an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. The local people herd cattle and sheep as their main livelihood.
Walking a short distance north from this tunnel, which is about three thousand meters above sea level, you enter the Fergana Basin.
And this road is also a commercial route and even a military passage with a very long history.
Gao Xianzhi attacked Talluos, all the way out of Qiuci, and walked all the way to the Congling Nanyuan. After the failure, thousands of remaining soldiers retreated in the direction of Bahan, which was also the same road they took. Li Siye used wooden rafts to hold back the Tibetan people who blocked the road.
The valleys that were shot down were mostly in the mountains to the north.
In the Song Dynasty, Khotan captured Shule, and the Karakhanid dynasty mobilized troops from Central Asia to counterattack, also following this path.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Agubai invaded eastward and still followed this path.
Because it has to cross two mountains, the cost of transporting grain on this road is high. Therefore, whether it is Gao Xianzhi, Buglahan or Agubai, they all drive cattle, sheep, horses and camels to graze while marching. The Congling Nanyuan is important.
The rest area in the middle is very ideal because the plain area here is large and the altitude is not high. There are rivers passing through it and mountains melting water.
At this time, a large number of livestock were driven in all directions, barking happily and gnawing the grass.
Shao Shude looked left and right on the mountain and was very satisfied.
Yang Liang's troops had passed through this area five days ago and headed north.
They carried a large amount of milk powder and meat floss with them, which could last for more than half a month. However, when passing through the Congling Nanyuan, the gang still went on a killing spree, beheading hundreds of people and looting all the herdsmen's livestock.
"These animals." Shao Shude smiled. He didn't even know who the herdsmen here were and who they were taking orders from, so he took action directly.
Everyone has seen the true face of the warriors. He is probably the only one in the world who can restrain the ferocious hearts of the warriors. Erlang can also control the situation, but his firepower is not enough.
Shao Shude went down to the foot of the mountain.
Satuk's wife Adesh came over with a cow, and her two daughters were kneeling on the ground, milking them hard.
After seeing Shao Shude, the three of them knelt down.
The Adie family was one of the ten Uighur surnames. Later, they usurped the Khan position of the Yaoluoge family. However, due to the iron rule of the Uyghurs, non-Yaoluoge could not be called a khan. Therefore, the Great Khan's family changed their surname to Yaoluoge, but the Adie family remained.
It is a large tribe and its status is very high.
Adie is considered a noble daughter. She has never done any milking work, and now she is a prisoner. Mother and daughter have to work, but they don't seem to be too dissatisfied.
Perhaps, they thought that I followed the grassland customs and married them into the Yan family? Shao Shude smiled, took out the girl's pink buds, laughed loudly, and went hunting on horseback.
This time, it was a standard journey of the Great Khan of the Grassland to march westward. Even if he could not capture Bukhanna, he would still rob them of all the wealth they had accumulated for decades.
******
There are still many records about Ba Khanna in the historical materials of the Tang Dynasty, saying that there were "six big cities" and "hundreds of small cities".
The six major cities from west to east are: Huzhen City (Chinese name Jiuzhan mentioned), Shumugar (no Chinese name), Hagistan (no Chinese name), Turmugan (Chinese name Humen), Men
City (no Chinese name), Bahanna (Chinese name: Kesai City).
The westernmost Huzhen is Hujande (Khujan) in later Tajikistan, and the easternmost Bukhan is Namangan in later Uzbekistan. It can be seen that they are basically lined up along the medicine killing water, starting from the southwest
Winding to the northeast - Yaoxi means "Zhenzhu", so it is called "Zhenzhu River" in Han Dynasty, and it is the upper reaches of today's Syr Darya River.
In addition to the six large cities, the one hundred small cities mentioned in Tang Dynasty historical records were actually towns. The number was more than one hundred, which was just an approximation.
In the late tenth century, Arab astronomer Muqadisi counted here that there were temples to the Creator in about 40 towns and villages throughout the Fergana Basin.
It seems that even half a century later, the majesty and love of the Creator only cover no more than 40% of Fergana.
Some things are really not that simple.
Early in the morning of August 9th, Satuk led a group of soldiers to inspect his new territory.
Samani is not here, but he is lucky.
He offended the previous Persian monarch Nasr I and was forced to flee.
After the death of Nasr I, the young master succeeded to the throne. Internal strife continued in the royal family, members withered, and there were many local rebellions.
After Samani fled back in embarrassment, the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) Jaihani, who assisted the new monarch, persuaded the new monarch to pardon his crimes and summoned him back to Bukhara. He heard that he had another appointment.
Sartuk's luck was not as good as Samani's. After a trip to Bukhara, he was sent to the east by the Grand Vizier to Woshi (now Osh, Chinese name) without even seeing the new king.
Ershi City), served as "Dikhkan" (noble lord), and led his remaining defeated soldiers to guard this eastern border town.
He arrived at a post station and frowned when he saw a large group of travelers eating and drinking.
Theoretically, the Samanid Dynasty cannot be called a country. The Samanid family is actually officials under the Abbasid Dynasty.
The official title of the Samanid monarchs is "Amir", which is the governor of the Great Khorasan region. They are theoretically responsible to the Caliph of Baghdad and are serious ministers.
Therefore, even though the country has actually been founded, some superficial work still needs to be done.
Baghdad has followed the rules that existed during the White Food Era. The stations along the entire Khorasan Avenue must provide free drinking water to newly converted believers in the Creator - "Build an inn on your land to facilitate the believers."
Come and go at any time, let them stay for a day and a night, and take good care of his livestock; if they are sick, provide them with hospitality for two days and two nights; if they run out of money and cannot continue their journey, provide them with provisions that will allow them to return.
Anything for home.”
This is a policy that only exists in newly conquered lands, and its main purpose is to attract people to convert. Unfortunately, Bukhan is a newly conquered land, and this policy needs to be implemented.
Actually, China has a saying that "there are policies from above and countermeasures from below", and of course foreign countries also have this saying.
This hugely expensive post station policy was destined to lack the support of the lords everywhere, so it was not implemented in practice.
Free food and drink? Come on!
However, when Satuq took office as a new official, he was afraid of being sued, so he did not dare to violate the law openly and secretly, but this was destined to cost a lot of money and food.
"Let's go." Saturk looked at it for a while, feeling upset, and quickly mounted his horse and left.
At this moment, several messengers came galloping over on horseback. They were overjoyed to see Satuk.
"Dikhkan, there were robbers who crossed the mountain and rushed down, burning, killing and looting everywhere."
"There are also people looting over there in Uzkander. They rob everyone they see and want everything. Livestock, food, money and even people. They kill anyone who resists the slightest. They are very cruel."
"I came from Aitbash, and there were robbers there, but it seemed like they were just preliminary reconnaissance."
Satuk frowned.
The essence of Bakhna is in the west, and Juchanti is the largest city, even more prosperous than Turmugan and Bakhna, which were once the capital.
Compared with those six big cities, Woshi, Uzkand, and Aitbash in the east can only be regarded as towns. Although they have a large population, they lack solid city defense facilities due to their late development - Uzkand
, that is, Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan in later generations, and Aitebash is today's Atbashi. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was named "Ate Bashi".
Taking Woshi as an example, Satuk has a castle that is very strong. Inside the castle there are officials directly under his management, a prison, a granary, and an armory. But outside the castle, there is only a low and weak earth wall.
, known as the outer city.
The outer city is where most of the officials, soldiers, merchants, craftsmen, scholars, and priests of Woshi live. There is a large temple of the Creator and a prosperous bazaar (bazaar).
Because there are many streams passing through the outer city, a large area of farmland has been cultivated near the outer city wall, and more ordinary people live there.
Can he protect these people?
"What does this person look like?" Saturk asked.
He originally set his capital at Karasha, but he knew that the area south of the Congling Mountains was mostly populated by small Turkic tribes, and they did not have the ability or courage to go north to plunder, so the origins of these people became very suspicious.
"Some people are wearing furs, some are wearing leather armor, and some are driving camels and pack horses. They are watching from a distance. They are not participating in the battle, so they cannot clearly see their attire." A messenger said.
After listening, the other two people nodded.
"With leather armor?" Saturk was surprised.
Although the grassland tribes have many cattle, sheep, horses and camels, and are rich in leather, this is two different things from leather armor.
After the leather is removed, it needs to be cleaned, tanned, and then layered to make leather armor. This is not a simple matter, and it often requires specialized craftsmen to make it. Otherwise, wouldn’t the grassland herders have a leather armor for everyone? But
What you see in real life is that they mostly wear furs and have less leather armor.
If you think about it from this perspective, things will develop for the worst...
"Let's go back to the castle and gather people!" Saturk no longer hesitated, and directly turned his horse's head and ran towards Woshi City.
The soldiers also waved their whips and followed quickly.
Everyone looked solemn and felt uneasy. Especially those who had followed Satuk and fled all the way from Karasha felt like they were mourning for their heirs, because they had already made some guesses.
