In the spring of 1665 A.D., Samarkand.

This ancient city was founded in the 5th century BC on a fertile oasis in Central Asia with a history of more than 2,000 years. When Alexander the Great of the Macedonian Empire occupied it in the fourth century BC, he was amazed by its magnificence. For the next 1700 years, Samarkand was the most prosperous and wealthy city in Central Asia until the arrival of Genghis Khan's army...... The city has just suffered a catastrophe!

More than 100 years after the Mongol Empire destroyed Samarkand, Timurid the Great, who claimed to be from the Mongolian beggars and was the same as Genghis Khan, spent countless financial and material resources to rebuild the city of Samarkand, and left countless exquisite buildings in the city of Samarkand, which are enough to be handed down to the world, so that the city is revitalized.

It is a pity that the empire left by Timur the Great did not stand on the land of Central Asia for a long time like the rebuilt Samarkand. After the Emperor's death, his empire began to decline due to the constant civil strife, which reached his grandson Abu Abu. Said, who was not succeeded peacefully, but won the throne in a civil war between Timur's sons and grandsons, was completely defeated by the Turkmen Aries dynasty, and the empire fell apart. In 1500, the newly rising Uzbek Khanate sounded the death knell for the barely thriving Timurid Empire, conquering Bukharan and then Samarkand. In 1501, the rule of the Timurid Empire in the river came to an end, and six years later, the remnants of the Timurid Empire in Khorasan were also wiped out by the Uzbek Khanate.

However, the Timurid dynasty did not completely perish because of the Uzbek attack. After losing his homeland, Saeed's grandson Babur went south to Afghanistan and Tianzhu to start a business, and actually opened up a Tianzhu Timurid dynasty, which is the so-called Mughal Empire.

And the kings of the Tianzhu Timurid Dynasty did not forget their homeland in the north because of the wealth and warmth of Tianzhu, at least in the hearts of the emperors (emirs) before the weakening of the Tianzhu Timurid Dynasty, they all had a dream of regaining the old capital and reviving the Timurid Empire.

This dream has now finally come true in the hands of Aurangzeb!

And what helped him realize this dream was the great emperor of the Eastern Celestial Empire who supported him to act as a shield for the West to shield the Jungar Kingdom!

Aurangzeb, who likes to overestimate himself, suffered a lot from the nomadic cavalry in his early years, so when attacking the Bukhara Khanate, he still maintained enough sober humility.

A whole 10,000,000 rupees of silver were sent by thousands of camels to the army of the king of the monks, and the mountains of silver won the king's favor and promise. Tens of thousands of iron horsemen of the Junggar Kingdom swept in from the Great Yuzi Grassland like a fierce storm!

This is not a traditional steppe cavalry, but a powerful army armed with arquebuses and 6-pound cannons produced by the Ming Dynasty!

Moreover, this new army of Dzungar was not only good at charging and galloping on horseback, but also dismounted and fought in formation, and even used trenches and artillery to siege the city - under the command of the king of the monk pavilion were two lamas who were both civil and military, named Mingzhu Lama and Sambao Lama, who were not only good at governing the country, but also proficient in military strategy, especially good at using artillery and digging trenches to siege cities. Under their command, the fortified cities of the Bukhara Khanate were all vulnerable.

In addition to wooing the Sangha kings of Dzungar, Aurangzeb also sent 5 million rupees of silver to Abhaqi Khan of the Khiva Khanate, and bought the cavalry from the Khwarazm oasis.

In addition, Aurangzeb also threw money on the Afghan plateau, bribing many Afghan tribal leaders with rupees scraped from the Indian Asan, so that this unruly land was temporarily subjugated under the banner of the Timurid Empire.

Eventually, Aurangzeb organized an elite expeditionary force of about 30,000 soldiers, consisting of Hindu Rajput cavalry and heavily recruited Zizlbash musketeers (composed of warriors from Persia and Central Asia), to embark on the expedition.

There are many people in India who oppose this war, which is very costly. Because Aurangzeb's father, Shah Jahan, once fought a game, and Aurangzeb also served as the commander of the former enemy, and finally returned with a feather.

Aurangzeb, however, insisted on waging war against public opinion.

Because in his opinion, although Central Asia is a poor country, but the poor country produces elite soldiers! Elite soldiers from Central Asia and Afghanistan have always been the pillars of force in the Celestial Sect of India.

If the Timurid dynasty in India loses its military resources from Central Asia and Afghanistan for a long time, it is only a matter of time before it weakens.

In the original history, Aurangzeb was also aware of this problem, but he could not attract enough strong allies, so he could only strengthen the fighting power of the dynasty by strengthening the Qing rules and precepts of the Heavenly Fang Sect...... Unfortunately, instead of succeeding, his efforts backfired, hastening the collapse of the Mughal dynasty.

But this time, he was lucky!

With the support of the kingdoms of Dzungar and Khiva, Aurangzeb's expedition to Bukhara went very smoothly, and within a year of his army, he was able to seize Tajikistan and Samarkand.

The old capital of the Timurid Empire has been restored!

So from now on, Aurangzeb is no longer some Mughal emperor or Hindustan emperor, but a real emperor of the Timurid Empire!

The great emperor of the Timurid Empire is now sitting quietly in the magnificent Tianfang Temple in front of the mausoleum of his ancestor Timur the Great, without saying a word, as if he is thinking about the great achievements of his ancestors, and seems to be thinking about where the revived Timurid Empire will go.

Although the empire was revived, it did not have the invincible deterrent power of the emperor during his lifetime. On all sides of the empire are enemies who covet the vast and rich lands it occupies.

What worries Aurangzeb the most now is the situation in the river. Although the Bukhara Khanate fell, the Khiva Khanate, which had taken possession of the city of Bukhara, was on the verge of taking its place – and it was easier for the Khiva Khanate to win the allegiance of the Uzbeks of the Bukhara than the Timurid Empire, which had been away from the river for more than 160 years.

And the Khiva Khanate also received aid from Persia...... Clearly, Abbas II of the ailing Safavid Empire of Persia feared that a revived Timurid Empire would come to him to regain lost territory (Persia had also been ruled by Timur).

And what bothers Aurangzeb even more was the Zhunger kingdom in the north of Samarkand - they contributed the most to the war against the Bukhara Khanate, and they received the most and best land! They took the rich Fergana Basin and the Syr Darya-Chirchik River region outside the Fergana Basin, which is one of the few rich plains in the middle of the river that can be cultivated and pastured.

Contrary to Aurangzeb's original assumptions, the Dzungars were not nomadic Mongols, they were good at managing cities and ruling agricultural areas.

So, after seizing the rich Fergana and Syr Darya-Chirchik regions, they did not just grab a handful of them, but began to occupy the cities one by one, and also began to occupy land outside the cities, set up tuntian farms, and began to pay taxes to villages in various places.

The most hateful thing is that these Mongols are not Celestials, but Buddhists. After occupying Ferghana and the Syr Darya-Chirchik region, they began to build lamas and Confucian temples in the city, and they also began to collect a poll tax from the Celestials!

Many nobles and people who were unwilling to be enslaved by the Dzungars poured into Samarkand like a tidal wave during this time, making this once somewhat deserted famous city once again crowded.

And the strength of Aurangzeb, the revival of the Timurid Empire, was greatly increased by the addition of a large number of strong men from Ferghana and the Syr Darya and Chirchik regions.

Aurangzeb the Great, who was contemplating in the Celestial Temple, thought: It's time to correct the mistakes made by the ignorant Mongols!