Chapter 15: The Eve of the War of Reveal

When Beiting has entered a severe cold weather, the heat in Tianzhu has not yet ended. It is thousands of miles apart, especially the mountain roads blocking it, and the transmission of information is always delayed.

In July, with the arrival of the second group of Tiance officials who entered Tianzhu, Guo Bian, who had been promoted to deputy commander, learned about the war in Beiting. He wanted to fly to the north immediately, but he knew in his heart that this was impossible.

Among this group of official merchants, there were envoys from Ningyuan. He brought a new appointment: Yang Zhuo was appointed as the commander, in charge of all defenses from Tianzhu to Xiaobolu, and fully representing all actions of the Tiance Army in the Datianzhu area.

Compared with Ning Yuan, Tianzhu is simply another world. Generals and officials appointed here must have full authority to handle affairs.

"So," Guo Bian asked the envoy: "Brother... Is Governor Guo's advancement also dark?"

He asked anxiously, but the envoy said, "No, the governor did not move troops north, but sent more troops to the southwest."

"What!" Guo Bian's tone became a little louder: "The war in Beiting should be in full swing now! Why did he still divide his troops to Jie Su at this time!"

The messenger could not answer this question, and he just said, "Also, Liu Sima is going south too."

"Go to the south? Come to India?"

"No, I'm going to visit the border with you."

"All secret?"

The Jumi is located between Jiesu (now Dushanbe) and Ma'anshan Pass. After Guo Bian arrived at the Ma'anshan Pass, he went south not far. To the southeast was India and to the southwest was Junmi. So he knew the geography of this area and said in surprise: "Why is it Junmi? What exactly should my brother do?"

Liu An's position is Sima of Tiance Prefecture, and he is the highest position in the west. In fact, he should be a central bureaucrat. However, he has been active in Shule and Ningyuan, and Guo Luo cannot control him. This time he went to the Mumi, and the specifications were quite high, which almost represents Zhang Mai, not Guo Luo.

"In addition, before the snow covers the mountains, merchants may come to Yutian, Shule, Shache and Ningyuan." The envoy said: "And in the coming spring, merchants from Hexi and even the Central Plains may arrive."

"From Hexi and Central Plains?" Guo Bian was even more surprised: "How could this happen?"

"It was probably because of Saman's civil strife." He Chunshan said next to him: "Saman's civil strife, the Silk Road was cut off when it arrived in the Xiluo area. A large number of commercial flows have been accumulated in our Anlong line. If we cannot find a sales outlet, the commercial flow will be suffocated. Anlong will be afraid of huge internal troubles!"

The reason why the Tiance Tang Dynasty has had such a rapid development momentum in the past two years is impossible to rely solely on internal accumulation and development. He Chunshan, who was born in a business family, knew very well that the development of Anlong eyeliner business was largely driven by the promotion of commercial trade on the Silk Road. The entire territory of the Tiance Army almost became snake-shaped along the Silk Road. Although this increased the communication and defense costs within the Tiance Army, it was of great benefit in business.

He Chunshan continued: "I heard before that several states in Anlong have achieved good harvests. I can imagine that there should be no big problems with food this year, but war requires money! In order to support Beiting, the Silk Road cannot be cut off. Now that Samantha is in a civil unrest, Governor Guo is naturally anxious to open Jie Su as a supplement to the line from Bukhara to Xizhu. However, the Saman civil unrest itself is part of the dispute between the two major sects of Tianfang Sect, so the Jie Su branch line is probably not enough to completely replace the Bukhara line, so there must be a business road entering Tianzhu to supplement it - I think this is probably the reason why the governor sent us into Tianzhu."

Guo Bian was a little stunned when he heard this. He seemed very confused about Guo Luo sending him to India, and then he was a little surprised that his brother would think so far.

"He Zhanjun is right," the envoy said: "The governor told me the same way. Although Guo Duwei is in Tianzhu, you are also responsible for the success or failure of Beiting. Please ensure that Xiao Bolu has reached Jieluo's business road at any time. At the same time, we hope that by the beginning of next spring, when our merchants from Anlong and the Central Plains will be able to enter all parts of India smoothly. This matter affects the stability of Anlong. If it cannot be completed, even if we win the Battle of Beiting, we will have civil unrest due to waste of national strength."

"This..." He Chunshan said: "I'm afraid it's difficult. Jie Luo is just barely able to gain a foothold now, and there are still many hidden dangers that have not been eliminated. The local tyrants and the king still don't trust us..."

"It's hard to do it!" Guo Bian suddenly became bolder, "It's my lifelong regret that I can't go to Beiting to participate in the war. If I can't even do the things that my elder brother has given me well, then I'll be useless!"

He Chunshan thought to himself: "This is probably not a 'something'."

In addition to the Tang army, the merchants of Tianzhu also maintained contact with the outside world. They were full of vigilance about the Tang people entering the Jiami and Jiesu areas. In the Jiantuo area, some Persians who converted to the Tianfang Sect had been shaken, which shocked Tianfang City!

Seeing the Tang Dynasty further, the Tianfang regime took a step back. Will one day really give up all secular power and turn it into a pure religious organization?

In Beiting, as the weather became colder, the activities of the soldiers became less flexible than before. It is conceivable that almost everyone could not fight in the severe winter of the 39th century, but in Tianzhu, the battle time was much longer in one year.

Although Jiantuolu is located in the northwest of the Great Indian World, the Jiantuolu area of ​​this era is even hotter than in modern times. Although it has entered August, the scorching heat still dissipates, and there is occasionally a cool breeze after September - this cool breeze is a wonderful sound for the Tang army from the north!

In Beiting, the soldiers were afraid of the cold, but in India, the soldiers were afraid of the terrible heat.

Therefore, after the late autumn, the activity of the Tang army in Tianzhu increased.

"There will be a solution!" Guo Bian said: "And I have a premonition that this day will come soon!"

He Chunshan looked at Guo Bian. This young general with beards was becoming more and more independent.

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The business trips that came in the Tang Dynasty brought many silk and exquisite porcelain, as well as felt from the west and jade from Khotan. These were all luxury goods that the Brahmins and Kshatriya classes in the Great Indian region were longed for. Although India was divided, Brahmins could still use gold to be used as statues of gods several feet high. Kshatriya could still build wine ponds and meat forests. This shows the prosperity of the ruling class in this area. The goods transferred from Ningyuan and Ma'anshankou were really sold as much as possible. Many transit merchants were eager to order these goods in advance. After hearing the news, many people came from the Ganges basin and brought countless gold, pearls, rubies, sapphires and ivory to exchange silk porcelain.

Other countries in the Jiantuoluo area also changed their attitude towards the Tang army. Many kings and monks sent envoys to Jieluo City. The Jieluo, who was despised in the past, began to be respected during this period. They were very content with this change and became more attentive to the Tang Dynasty.

In the entire Jiantuoluo area, there was only one group of people who were full of hostility towards the Tang army, and another group of people who were full of guard against the Tang army were the Tianfang Cultists in Tianfang City, because what the Tang army did was actually what they were doing before. Since the Tang army monopolized the road to enter from the northwest, their interests were greatly damaged, while the King of Xiutuo was full of guard against the Tang army. Although Jieluo was small, the strength of the Tang Dynasty was unfathomable. Suddenly, such a force emerged around him. King Xiutuo was not worried, and even suspected that his previous decision was wrong.

The two anti-Tang forces have come closer. In Xiutu City, Ibn Tumeirt, the lecturer of Tianfang City, was smiling at Xiutu King Ali A and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to worry too much. Is everything the Tang army has done still under our calculations?"

"As a calculation?" Ali A said: "Now that the Tang army has entered Jieluo City, the Jieluo people have returned to them. Now Jieluo City is building a city defense fence again, and merchants from all over Jiantuo are also preparing to trade there. The Jieluo people and the Tang army you mentioned at the beginning have no sign of the situation."

Ibn Tumeirt said: "This is just a small mistake, but the Tang army has indeed crossed the river. What we have to look at now is the courage of the king. As long as you can make up your mind and call on the countries to siege them together, we will beat him tens of thousands of people, are you afraid that you will not be able to beat the other party?"

Ali A frowned and said, "But recently, the subjects heard that the Tang army was benevolent and righteous, and they had no intention of conquering us, so they didn't want to be enemies with them. Besides, he gave me a sweat-blooded BMW and a Tang Dynasty sword. If I go to beat them now, I'm afraid my subjects will say behind my back that I'm not trustworthy."

Ibn Tumeirt sneered: "King, the more this happens, the sooner you have to do it. Think about it, it's less than half a month since the Tang army has entered Jieluo City, and your subjects have already said good things about them. If this continues, when they gain a firm foothold and let the Tang army gain the hearts of Jiantuoluo, will the people here listen to you again in the future? Although the Tang army's goods are good, they will not give them to the king for free in the future. If the king wants to use it, he will have to exchange it with your gold, silver and treasures. But if the Jieluo City is defeated, you can not only occupy Jieluo City again, but also annex Jieluo Country. As for so many goods and treasures of the Tang army, all of them will be yours by the King."

After hearing this, Ali A was greedy and wanted to take back Jieluo City and annex Jieluo Kingdom. He was also moved by fearing that the Tang army would threaten his rule. However, he could not make up his mind for a moment and said, "This day when the moon is full is the sacrificial ceremony of our Jiantuoluo. Let me wait until the sacrificial ceremony."

Ibn Tumeirt said: "When you encounter such a thing, you can make a decision early, and you must make a decision as soon as possible! I heard that the Tang army is increasing troops here. We must quickly defeat them, expel them from Jiantuoluo, and then send troops to block the import and export into the Xindu River. Otherwise, when the Tang army arrives, it will be too late to take action! Prince, take action. As long as you take action, our heaven will definitely support you with all our might!"

But Ali still couldn't make up his final decision and said, "Let's talk about it later after the sacrificial ceremony."

On this full day, Ali A ordered fifteen vassal states to pay tribute as usual. He put on the most exquisite clothes, silk and high-quality cotton cloth, a crown inlaid with rubies, a sword that had just been fed from the Tang army, and rode a sweat-blooded BMW to the temple to receive tributes from the various countries.

After entering the temple, he saw that the temple priest looked strange. Ali was a little surprised and didn't ask anything. When the sacrifice was about to begin, Ali suddenly felt that the number of countries that were offered sacrifices was wrong. Originally, fifteen countries should have come to pay tribute, but two were missing at this time. After asking, the priest said: "I heard that Jieluo opened the market today, and the price was reduced and silk was sold. The two kings went to Jieluo and just sent someone to take leave."

When Ali A heard this, he was furious and thought to himself: "How long has the Tang people been here? Today is the annual high sacrificial ceremony, and two countries have not come. If this continues, when other countries and subjects follow the example, I, the king, don't have to do it!" His face was as swollen as pig blood, and I couldn't speak for a long time. Ibn Tumeirt said: "King, look!"

In fact, the opening of Jieluo City today is just a coincidence. As for the price reduction and selling silk, it was He Chunshan’s plan to attract transit merchants in India, so that more Indian merchants will come to Jieluo in the coming year.

But when he arrived at Ali A, he immediately felt that Guo Bian was singing a stage drama with him!

"The Tang people bully people too much!" He yelled regardless of the sacrifice: "I saw them as far away guests, so I allowed them to gain a foothold in Jieluo, but they destroyed the sacred sacrifices that our Jiantuola has passed down for hundreds of years! If I can tolerate him like this, then what else can I have to be the overlord of Jiantuola! Come on!"

He called the Lieutenant General: "Let me order all the troops and horses, I want to attack the Tang people!" He also called the kings of the countries: "You will raise your army with me. After you step on Jieluo City, you will be divided into half of all the silk and treasures!"

The kings of various countries had heard that Ali's troops were frustrated before, and they were quite afraid of the Tang army's combat power and were unwilling to follow, but Ali's personal words were spoken and he could not do anything if he wanted to not follow, so he had to promise.

There were also people inside who were unwilling to do so, saying, "Tang Jun came from afar, but brought goods to trade with us. I heard that he did not deceive us, and just attacked them like this. It seemed that some troops were out of no way out."

Ali A angrily said, "Don't be deceived by these little favors! They are pretending to be gentle now because their foothold is not yet stable. If they have a foothold, they will seize our city, invade our land, and enslave our subjects!" He also said, "I have decided that whatever I don't want is to go against me!"

All the countries were afraid of Ali's power and were greedy for the treasures of the Tang army, so they all agreed.

At that time, headed by Xiutuo Kingdom, a total of 30,000 troops were summoned, of which the Three Thousand Elephants were the backbone of the Jieluo Kingdom.
Chapter completed!