Chapter 442
The Western Regions, pacified by a proclamation
...
On February 19th of the 22nd year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Zhao Yu appointed Tong Guan as the Pacification Commissioner of the Western Regions.
The weather in Beijing was very cold at the time, with scattered snowflakes drifting in the air.
Zhao Yu, dressed in plain clothes and traveling lightly, arrived at the city gate to personally see Tong Guan off.
Zhao Yu patted Tong Guan on the shoulder and said, "Minister Tong, I entrust all matters concerning the Western Regions to you. If you encounter any unavoidable circumstances, you may issue orders in my name."
Zhao Yu's words made it very clear that this was tantamount to granting Tong Guan imperial power.
The Western Regions were too far from Beijing, and the area was too large. More importantly, the various powers in the Western Regions were far apart, with grasslands and deserts in between.
Even though the Song Dynasty's telegraph network had reached Yumen Pass, it was still unable to contact the front lines in time.
Therefore, under such circumstances, if Tong Guan and his group waited for Zhao Yu and the court to make decisions on everything, it would definitely lead to mistakes.
Knowing all this, Zhao Yu simply delegated power to Tong Guan, allowing him to make all the decisions.
I can say that I have achieved the principle of "trusting those I employ and not employing those I don't trust."
It is worth mentioning that of the 100,000 troops that Zhao Yu allocated to Tong Guan this time, half of them were elite Western Army soldiers, while the rest were Song soldiers from nomadic tribes on the grasslands. They were all soldiers who could adapt to the harsh environment of the grasslands.
In addition to these 100,000 troops, Zhao Yu also prepared 100,000 reinforcements for Tong Guan, who were stationed at Yumen Pass, awaiting Tong Guan's orders to leave the pass at any time.
The main reason why Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers made such arrangements was to consider logistical issues.
In terms of the fighting itself, the Song Dynasty, which had already swept across Northeast Asia, certainly had no problem. The main difficulty lay in the transportation of provisions and supplies.
To resolve this issue, the Song army that went on this expedition, especially the Song army that actually went into battle, tried to adopt the tactics of the nomads, that is, to move out with light cavalry, mainly using archery and horsemanship, and carrying fewer heavy weapons such as firearms.
In addition, the Song Dynasty mobilized laborers to continue laying the railway, which had already been laid to the Kingdom of Kucha, westward into the Western Regions.
At the same time, cement plants were built in the Northwest region, and highways were constructed towards the Western Regions.
In short, the goal is to shorten the supply line as much as possible.
Tong Guan led his army westward out of Yumen Pass, traveling along the newly built railway at breakneck speed, and arrived at the border of Kucha in less than ten days.
King Baihelibushibi of Kucha had already led his civil and military officials out of the capital and thirty li away to welcome him. They were all dressed in Song-style brocade robes, holding the imperial edict and standing bowing.
Over the years, Kucha has maintained trade relations with the Song Dynasty. Porcelain, silk, and tea from the Song Dynasty were continuously imported into the Western Regions from Kucha, while jade, grapes, and Buddhist art from Kucha were also popular in the Central Plains. The exchanges between the two sides became increasingly close.
More importantly, the Kingdom of Kucha had been sending its adult princesses to Zhao Yu, and those princesses had already given birth to more than a dozen children for Zhao Yu.
Furthermore, the Kingdom of Kucha was very close to the Song Dynasty and knew of the Song Dynasty's military achievements in Northeast Asia. Its military strength was simply beyond what the small Kingdom of Kucha could resist.
In short, King Baihelibushibi of Kucha knew that the Song Dynasty was powerful, and considering that he was Zhao Yu's brother-in-law and father-in-law, and hearing that the Song army of 100,000 elite troops was pressing on the border and that reinforcements from Yumen Pass were eyeing the border, he had no intention of resisting.
The royal family and nobles of the Kingdom of Kucha all thought the same way.
Before leaving, Zhao Yu instructed Tong Guan: "Kucha has long admired China and has long traded with our Great Song. They have also repeatedly sent princesses to me. We should use both kindness and force to make them surrender voluntarily and set an example for the tribes of the Western Regions."
Moreover, the Kingdom of Kucha surrendered, marking Tong Guan's first victory in the reconquest of the Western Regions and a successful start.
How could Tong Guan possibly refuse?
Therefore, faced with the Kucha Kingdom's voluntary surrender, Tong Guan rode forward alone, helped the Kucha King up, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is wise and righteous, and has turned your heart to China, which is truly a blessing for the Western Regions. His Majesty, mindful of the long-standing friendship between our two countries and the virtuous and obedient princesses, has specially decreed that Your Majesty may retain your royal title and be granted a royal residence in Beijing, so that you may come to the capital to enjoy your life. His Majesty also has another decree: if Your Majesty does not wish to come to the capital, you may also reside in Kucha."
Tong Guan then said to the ministers and nobles of the Kingdom of Kucha, "The same applies to you all."
Upon hearing Tong Guan's words, all the civil and military officials of Kucha were delighted and quickly welcomed Tong Guan and his entourage into the country, where they were treated with great hospitality.
The ambitious Tong Guan immediately reported the victory to Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu then issued an imperial edict:
The emperor was sent to heaven to carry the order, and the edict said:
I, by the Mandate of Heaven, rule over the four seas, and wherever the teachings of China reach, all admire and respect righteousness. The Western Regions of Kucha, long benefiting from Your Majesty's rule, have maintained friendly relations for many years, repeatedly presenting princesses as tribute, demonstrating sincere and commendable diplomatic ties. Now, Baihelibushibi has led his kingdom to surrender, showing his loyalty to China, which greatly pleases me. Therefore, I hereby issue this edict to establish regulations:
The Kingdom of Kucha was renamed Kucha Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Provincial Secretariat. A Prefect was appointed, headed by Zhan Du; a Vice Prefect, recommended by Baihelibushibi and familiar with both Kucha and Song Dynasty culture; and a Deputy Prefect, appointed from Kucha through the imperial examinations. These officials were responsible for all civil administration, criminal justice, and taxation within the prefecture, adhering strictly to Song Dynasty laws. The prefecture was further divided into counties, townships, and villages, with local virtuous officials and officials from the Central Plains jointly governing to ensure the well-being of the people.
Baihelibushibi was appointed King of Kucha, with the rank of First Grade, and the title was to be hereditary. Members of the royal family and nobles of the kingdom were granted titles and honors according to their merits: his eldest son, Bai Yanzhen, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Dingyuan, with the rank of Third Grade, and was given command of 3,000 elite cavalry from the old Kucha forces to accompany Tong Guan on his western expedition, gaining valuable military experience; his other sons were appointed to positions such as Fengyilang and Chengshilang, all receiving salaries from the court. Baihelibushibi was granted a residence south of Beijing for his lodging when he came to the capital, with his carriages, servants, clothing, and food all provided by the government, and his treatment remaining the same as before.
The royal ancestral temple of Kucha was preserved, and sacrifices were performed as usual throughout the four seasons. The imperial court allocated 1,000 taels of silver to repair the temple and appointed two officials to guard it and oversee the sacrificial rites.
Buddhist temples and monasteries within the territory are permitted to operate as they see fit, but government troops are strictly prohibited from harassing monks or destroying temples.
Famous temples such as Que Li Temple and Zhao Hu Li Temple were specially repaired by craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, who brought materials to restore them to their former appearance.
An imperial edict ordered the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College to select Confucian scholars and monks fluent in Sanskrit and Kucha to travel to Kucha to organize Buddhist scriptures. All scattered Sanskrit and Kucha Buddhist scriptures were collected, copied, and corrected for errors, and compiled into the "Kucha Tripitaka." One copy was kept in the scripture library of Zhaohuli Temple in Kucha Prefecture, and another copy was sent to Beijing by post and included in the "Hongwu Encyclopedia" to be passed down to future generations.
The tax system of Kucha Prefecture was temporarily implemented with a tithe, and taxes were waived for the first three years to allow for recuperation and development. Trade routes, mines, and farmland within the territory were all under the unified management of the government, allowing free trade for the people and strictly prohibiting officials from extorting or plundering.
The railways and highways of the Great Song Dynasty continued to be laid westward, connecting Kucha Prefecture with various tribes in the Western Regions. Ten post stations were set up to transmit military intelligence and official documents, facilitating the travel of merchants.
As the Pacification Commissioner of the Western Regions, Tong Guan was in charge of the military and political affairs of Kucha Prefecture. He had to strictly discipline his soldiers, ensure they did not commit any offenses, and comfort the people.
After taking office, Zhan Du was to establish schools to teach Chinese etiquette and writing, promote agriculture and sericulture, and develop water conservancy, so that the people of Kucha would gradually be influenced by Chinese customs and share in peace.
A true ruler has no foreign powers; he wins people over with virtue. The surrender of Kucha is a pioneering act in the Western Regions. I hope all other tribes will heed this news and quickly submit. Those who stubbornly resist will be dealt with at my discretion, and I will send troops to punish them. Those who voluntarily submit will be treated with the same kindness and favor as Kucha. You, my subjects, must obey my commands, be of one mind and one heart, and work together to secure the Western Regions and assist me in achieving unification.
Admire this!
March 15th, the 22nd year of Hongwu
When Zhao Yu's imperial edict arrived in Kucha, after the decree was read aloud, Baihelibushibi led all the people of Kucha in three kneelings and nine prostrations to express their gratitude, choking with emotion as he said, "Your Majesty's benevolence far surpasses that of the wise rulers of antiquity! Kucha is willing to be a territory of the Great Song Dynasty and submit to you forever."
Baihelibushibi voluntarily allocated half of the royal pastures to the grassland tribes who followed the Song Dynasty as grazing land, which not only solved the problem of supplying the army, but also actively cooperated with Zhandu and others to take over the Kucha Prefecture.
After taking office, Zhan Du ordered that local laborers be hired at 30% higher wages than the market price to cooperate with the construction team from the Song Dynasty to build railways and highways. The railways and highways continued to extend westward to Yancheng, making Kucha a logistical hub for the Song Dynasty's management of the Western Regions.
Subsequently, Tong Guan led only his personal guards into the city to appease the people, while the rest of the army remained obediently at their posts, refusing to harm the people of Kucha in the slightest.
After entering the city, Tong Guan personally went to Que Li Temple to pay his respects. He saw with his own eyes that the meditation room where Kumarajiva translated Buddhist scriptures was still there, the Buddha statues were solemn, and the scriptures were intact. Seeing this, Tong Guan breathed a sigh of relief.
Tong Guan was truly afraid that these things would be lost in the war, and he would have no way to explain it to Zhao Yu.
To be honest, Tong Guan really didn't understand why Zhao Yu was so fond of preserving the culture of various places.
However, regardless of whether he understood or not, Tong Guan would do whatever Zhao Yu liked, and he would do his best to do it well, so that he would never fall out of favor and would have the power to do what he wanted.
Baihelibushibi personally entertained Tong Guan.
Fueled by alcohol, Tong Guan advised Baihelibushibi that the best choice would be to take the powerful and influential people of Kucha to live in Beijing, as that would be the wise choice.
Baihe Libushibi agreed wholeheartedly, and after seeing Tong Guan off, he took those who were willing to live in Beijing and went to the capital.
Zhao Yu meant "to buy a horse's bones with a thousand pieces of gold," so he bestowed the imperial surname upon Baihelibushibi and gave him a Han name, Zhao Yongzhong.
From then on, Zhao Yongzhong's family enjoyed wealth and honor.
The news of Kucha's surrender and the establishment of prefectures and counties spread along the Silk Road to various tribes in the Western Regions, and within a month it had spread throughout the desert.
The document not only contained Zhao Yu's promise to "preserve the country with benevolence and virtue, and combine kindness with power," but also included the fact that Tong Guan had led hundreds of thousands of elite troops into the Western Regions. Furthermore, it explicitly stated that "those who submit should follow the example of Kucha, while those who resist should learn from the lessons of Liao and Jin."
Since the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the kingdoms of the Western Regions have been divided for a long time. Some were attached to the remnants of the Uyghurs, some were controlled by the Karakhanid Dynasty, and some small kingdoms and tribes were trapped in endless wars over water and pastures.
It is said that the Song Dynasty's heavenly army has arrived in the west, and the King of Kucha has been granted a hereditary title and his people have been exempted from taxes, causing great shock among the various tribes.
The Kingdom of Khotan had long been intermarrying with the Kingdom of Kucha and admired the etiquette of the Chinese civilization. Upon hearing that Tong Guan had led the Song army to Khotan, the king led his civil and military officials thirty li outside the city to welcome the Song envoy, presented a memorial to the emperor, and offered to surrender his territory. He also requested the establishment of a prefecture and the dispatch of officials to govern the kingdom.
Tong Guan granted his request, changing Khotan to Khotan Prefecture, bestowing upon its king the title of Prince of Khotan, and allowing his sons and brothers to study at the Imperial Academy in the Central Plains. At the same time, he dispatched officials from the Ministry of Works to supervise the construction of a railway branch line from Kucha to Khotan and to establish post stations to facilitate the travel of merchants.
Seeing that the Song Dynasty had shown both kindness and power, and that the royal families and nobles of Kucha and Khotan had been treated well after their surrender, and that the people's livelihoods were gradually improving, the two kingdoms of Shule and Yanqi successively sent envoys to visit Tong Guan, presenting the Imperial Seal of the State and earnestly requesting the court to send officials to govern them.
Furthermore, the Sogdian city-states, whose people had made their living through commerce for generations, saw that the Song Dynasty's railways and highways were connecting the Western Regions and that trade routes were about to flourish. They all vied to send envoys to offer treasures and pledge allegiance, willing to become the Song Dynasty's western hub and exchange goods.
Following Zhao Yu's imperial edict, Tong Guan granted all requests: Shule was renamed Shule Prefecture and Yanqi was renamed Yanqi Prefecture, both under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Provincial Secretariat. Their kings were all granted hereditary titles of Prince, their sons were granted official positions, and powerful officials were granted titles. Taxes were to be levied in the same manner as in Kucha, with a three-year exemption. The prefectural vice-prefects and assistant prefects were to be selected from local virtuous officials and officials from the Central Plains to govern together. Railways and highways were to be laid westward simultaneously, and the number of post stations was gradually increased to more than twenty, making travel between the Western Regions and the Central Plains increasingly convenient.
Subsequently, Zhao Yu appointed Li Gang to oversee trade in the Western Regions, establishing markets in Shule and Khotan, allowing merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions to trade freely, halving tariffs, which greatly benefited the Sogdian states, making them increasingly loyal to the Song Dynasty.
Within a few months, Tong Guan, in the name of the Song Dynasty's Pacification Commissioner, sent out proclamations everywhere, stating that the Song Dynasty intended to recover the Western Regions, build railways and highways from the Central Plains to Central Asia, allow free trade between merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and also allow free trade between merchants from the Western Regions and Central Asia. In the future, the Western Regions would become a transit point on this most prosperous trade route.
Wherever the proclamation reached, more than twenty kingdoms and fifty tribes in the Western Regions submitted to it.
Soon, the Song Dynasty faced off against the dominant power in the region, the Gaochang Uyghurs.
Originally, Tong Guan thought that the Gaochang Uyghurs would be one of his biggest rivals in recovering the Western Regions.
Unexpectedly, Bilege, the king of the Gaochang Uyghurs, also took the initiative to send envoys to pay homage to Tong Guan, presenting the Imperial Seal of the State and earnestly requesting the court to send officials to govern the region, clearly indicating that he also wanted to submit to the Song Dynasty.
Tong Guan only learned the reason after meeting the envoy from the Gaochang Uyghurs.
It turns out that the Gaochang Uyghurs and the Kucha Uyghurs are of the same lineage.
To be precise, the Kucha Uyghurs were part of the Gaochang Uyghurs, so the Kucha people also called themselves the Western Uyghurs and referred to their territory as Western Kucha.
However, the Kucha Uyghurs had long since separated from the Gaochang Uyghurs and had been paying tribute to the Song and Liao dynasties independently in recent years.
Although the two Uyghur groups separated, they did not break ties. On the contrary, they maintained close contact and frequently engaged in trade.
From the Kucha Uyghurs, the Gaochang Uyghurs learned how powerful the Song Dynasty was, and even more so how profitable it was to trade with the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, when the Kingdom of Kucha paid tribute to the Song Dynasty, the Gaochang Uyghurs also paid tribute to the Song Dynasty. Bilege had already married his two younger sisters and three daughters to Zhao Yu.
In other words, Bi Lege was also Zhao Yu's brother-in-law and father-in-law.
In other words, Bilge's situation is actually the same as that of Bilge.
The only difference is that the Gaochang Uyghurs were one of the dominant powers in the Western Regions, with a population of about 300,000, of whom about 200,000 were said to be able to serve in the military. Their territory roughly extended from the Hami area of Xinjiang in the east, which was the border with the Western Xia Dynasty, to the west of Baicheng in Xinjiang, which bordered the Karakhanid Dynasty, to the Junggar Basin in the north, and to the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the south, covering an area of several hundred thousand square kilometers. They were undoubtedly one of the dominant powers in the Western Regions and one of the few forces in the Western Regions that could fight against the Song Dynasty.
Tong Guan felt that a dynasty as large as the Gaochang Uyghurs would never surrender without even putting up a fight.
Therefore, before setting out for the Western Regions, Tong Guan was prepared to fight a battle with the Gaochang Uyghurs.
However, the result was that the Gaochang Uyghurs, like other small and medium-sized forces in the Western Regions, surrendered unconditionally.
This really caught Tong Guan completely off guard.
Later, Tong Guan learned that the Gaochang Uyghurs originally had a population of 300,000, of which about 200,000 were able to serve in the military. However, as many small kingdoms and tribes in the Western Regions submitted to the Song Dynasty, the population and military strength of the Gaochang Uyghurs were reduced to less than half of what they were before.
The key point is that the Song Dynasty's record of sweeping across Northeast Asia is there for all to see. The nobles of Bilege and Gaochang Uyghurs did not think that they could defeat the Song Dynasty, which had destroyed the Liao and Jin dynasties.
Therefore, the Gaochang Uyghurs simply surrendered.
Tong Guan reported this matter to Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu issued an edict that, apart from dividing the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom into four prefectures, other rewards would be comparable to those of the Kucha Kingdom, with the honorary rewards being increased by half a grade.
After dismantling the Gaochang Uyghurs, the Western Expeditionary Army arrived at Yemili.
This area was already within the territory of the Karakhanid Dynasty. Tong Guan submitted a memorial to Zhao Yu, proposing to build a new city here to serve as a solid barrier for the western frontier of the Song Dynasty. At the same time, he wanted to use this city as a center to continue sending proclamations to the tribes east of the Pamir Mountains.
Zhao Yu approved and adopted Zhang Chun's suggestion, bestowing upon the city the name Suyab Castle...
...(End of chapter)