Kokand, the Great Wan Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty. Located in the Fergana Valley, it is the intermountain basin of the Tianshan Mountains and the Alai Mountains, with a basin of more than 600 miles from east to west and more than 300 miles from north to south, with a triangular shape.

The edge of the valley is a low, bare hilly terrain, and in the center of the valley is a grassland of salt flats and dunes. Many streams flow down from the mountains through the hills, irrigating a continuous stream of fertile oases. Winters are not too cold here, but summers are hot because the basin has many rivers for irrigation, making it the most densely populated place in Central Asia.

At this time, Kokand, like Andijan and other valley cities, was mostly Uzbeks who believed in Islan, and the valley cities were all part of the Bukhara Khanate.

Although the Bukhara Khanate was also mainly founded by ethnic Uzbeks, the Uzbeks in the valley, mainly the tribe, always wanted to establish their own khanate in the valley.

Especially the imams. Soon after the death of Khuri Khan, Nadir and Muhammad succeeded to the throne not long after, the major clans of Uzbekistan became increasingly powerful, and the internal struggles within the royal family were also very fierce.

More than 100 years ago, the Uzbek leader Shaybani led his troops into the Transoxiana region from the north, occupied Samarkand, overthrew the rule of Timur's descendants in Central Asia, established the Shaybani Dynasty, and later moved the capital to Bukhara, which was originally called the Bukhara Dynasty. Under the leadership of Shaybani, Bukhara continued to fight abroad, from the Caspian Sea to the Tien Shan, from the Syr Darya River to the Iranian Plateau, the vast land of Central Asia was under his rule for a time.

But now, Bukhara is falling, the local clans are divided, the royal family is infighting, and foreign tribes are constantly invading.

"This is not our war."

In the city of Kokand, Shahuk, the leader of the tribe, faced the emissaries of Bukhara Nadir Khan and directly refused to send troops. In the eyes of the clan leaders in these places, it was not necessary to join forces with the Han Empire in the far east to fight the Dzungaria, the overlord of the Western Regions.

The two powers are competing with each other, and there is no need for these small countries to get caught up in it.

"This is the order of the Great Khan." The messenger reiterated.

"The war has nothing to do with us, we refuse." Shah Rukh was a young man, but he was a fierce warrior who succeeded to the position of clan leader at a young age, but quickly won the support of his clan with his skills. Today's Kokand City is nominally under the control of Bukhara, but in fact, the entire Ferghana hundreds of miles away, including the cities of Xihan, are actually already named, and they are actually divided.

The declining Burraha was unable to control the valley at all, and when the old Khan was alive in the past, they were relatively restrained, and now that the new Khan had been on the throne for less than a year, even a young clan leader like Shah Rukh was very blunt and did not pay much attention to the new Great Khan.

The three clan leaders who controlled the other three valley cities such as Anyanji were also three large Uzbek clans, and although the leaders of the three clans were much older than Shahuk, they had already reached an offensive and defensive alliance with the Mingge tribe in Kokand, and in this matter, they fully supported Shahuk, and they refused to follow the emperor's orders to send troops.

made the hard not to be soft, but unfortunately Shah Rukh didn't eat the soft and hard, and finally had to throw off his sleeves and leave.

"Why hasn't this envoy left?"

Shah Rukh saw that the Great Khan's envoy had already gone away, but the few Han Chinese who had come with him were still there.

Zhang En smiled slightly, "Although I came with the messengers of Nadir Khan, I am not one of them. To re-introduce, in Xia Zhang En, a special envoy of the Holy Han Empire, it was very happy to meet the Shah Rukh patriarch. ”

Shah Rukh was a little surprised, and looked at Zhang En again.

"If you have anything to say, you might as well say it."

"Patriarch Shah Rukh is happy and quick to talk, and I like to deal with people like you. To be honest, I'm actually here to support the patriarch. ”

"Support me? Or do you want to bribe me to help you send troops to fight the Dzungars? Shah Rukh stepped aside and sat down leisurely, "The three khanates of Khiva, Bukhara, and Yarkand have all sent troops to attack Dzungaria, and it seems that the conditions offered to them by the Han are not low. I heard that you promised to give Nadir Khan firearms and artillery, help them train their troops, and exchange trade? ”

Zhang En nodded, "Indeed, but this can't be called bribery, but mutual benefit." Dzungar is like a mad dog, catching and biting whom, especially the people around him, so to destroy Dzungar together, this is also a benefit for everyone. As for strengthening business and trade cooperation, it is a matter of mutual benefit. ”

Shah Rukh simply said, "If that's all there is to it, then we in the valley don't want to make this muddy water for you." If you want to fight yourself, let's just watch the excitement here. ”

Zhang En also dragged a chair to sit down next to Shahuk, and took a pear to eat by the way.

"Well, it's delicious, the melons of Hami, the grapes of Turpan, and the pears of Fergana are really worthy of their reputation." This pear is refreshing and sweet, Zhang En finished speaking, wiped his mouth, "I won't go around the bend with the patriarch, my holy emperor of the Han Dynasty is very clear about the situation of the various departments of the Kokand cities, and he also knows that you want to establish your own khanate." ”

Shah Rukh and the others were not surprised or panicked by the Han envoy who told them that the Bukhara Khanate was weakening day by day, and it was very obvious that the major clans wanted to divide one side.

"So what?"

"As long as you are willing to help send troops to help the Han destroy the Dzungaria, after the matter is completed, the Han will openly support you to establish the country."

As soon as these words came out, not only Sharukh's face changed, but even the other leaders also changed their faces.

Although they have been in a state of separation, no one has dared to openly establish a state, because even if Bukhara is not strong now, it is still a camel bigger than a horse, and its strength surpasses theirs. Once they dare to openly rebel against the state, the outcome is still difficult to predict. The gun shoots the first bird, and no one wants to be the first to take the lead.

What's more, if the valley were to become an independent state, would it be a joint state, or would it be a separate state? These are all problems, and if the various ministries in the valley can't figure it out, then don't talk about anything else.

Now the Han people say that they are willing to support it openly, this is different, at least with the support of the Han people, they no longer have to worry about Bukhara.

"Why should we believe you without evidence?"

"Aren't you also in alliance with Nadir Khan now?"

"Our cooperation with Nadir Khan is that we sell him armaments and trade cooperation in exchange for them sending troops to attack Dzungaria, and it does not mean that we cannot support you to establish a state."

Zhang En's words made Shah Rukh and the others stunned for a moment, how could it still be like this?

"What if you regret it afterwards?"

"Dahan has always said that one is one, and he will never regret it, as long as we say it, we will definitely do it." Zhang En said quite arrogantly.

"You have to give us some reassurances, we can't believe it with just a few words."

Zhang En thought for a moment, "Indeed, if you just talk about it, it's really unconvincing. In this way, as long as you send troops, Dahan will immediately give you a batch of ordnance, five thousand muskets, and fifty mountain howitzers, how about it? This condition is sincere enough, right? ”

"When are we going to get these?" One of the leaders couldn't help but ask, "Five thousand muskets, this is simply a shudder of excitement." The valley was the Great Wan Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty, and the most famous was the sweat and blood BMW.

Up to now, the army in the valley is also dominated by cavalry, and it still fights with swords and arrows. In addition to the light cavalry, they even had some hoplites. It's exactly like it was in the Middle Ages.

But they also understand the power of firearms, but they are located in Central Asia, separated from the West by Persia and Turkey, these green religion countries have always been hostile and blockaded by Western European countries, and between them and the East, they are also separated by the Mongols. With the rise of maritime trade routes, the ancient Oriental Silk Road has long since withered, and the Central Asian countries in the middle of the Silk Road have also become closed and backward.

They also want to have firearms, but nowhere to get them. Except for some purchased at a small scale and at a high price, it is simply difficult to equip your own army on a large scale.

Now the Great Han is willing to give 5,000 at a time, even if there are many tribes here. But the valley is dominated by the four major clans of the four major cities, and one of the four major clans can always get a thousand first, and the remaining one thousand are given to those scattered small tribes, according to this division, the four major tribes can even divide ten artillery pieces into one clan.

Five thousand muskets and fifty mountain grenades were extremely low for the Han. Mass production on the assembly line has made the ex-factory price of each musket less than ten yuan, which is also the reason for the rise in prices and wages.

But even so, 5,000 muskets are only 50,000 yuan, and 50,000 yuan is really like a drop in the bucket for today's Han Dynasty, and a general soldier's annual money for raising incorruptible silver and ministers is more than 5,000 yuan.

50,000 yuan is enough to support a company of the Han Field Army for a year.

However, people are poor and short-lived, and a cold hair plucked from the leg of the big man also makes the waist of the Uzbeks in the valley thicker. They didn't even ask if the five thousand muskets were arquebuses or flintlock pistols, in fact, even if the big men gave them arquebuses, they would be very satisfied, after all, there were so many of them.

Zhang En deliberately waited for a while, and when Shah Rukh and the others couldn't help but ask again how to get this batch of weapons, he smiled and said, "The Kyrgyz people in the north of you have long been at odds with the Dzungars, since they were oppressed by Tsarist Russia in the early years and had to defect to the Dzungars, the Dzungars let them move from the upper reaches of the Yenisei River to the mountains to the north of you, which is also the jurisdiction of Anxi Broken Leaf Town established by the Tang Empire in the Central Plains. ”

"We will transport the equipment to Kashgar, and you can just come and receive it. Once you have your weapons, we hope that you will keep your promise and send troops to take down the Broken Leaf area occupied by the Kyrgyz. ”

Shah Rukh then asked a crucial question.

"After the broken leaves are broken, who will it belong to?"

"This valley and hilly area, which is surrounded by the Kyrgyz Mountains and the Yili Mountains and the Tianshan Mountains, naturally belongs to the Han Dynasty after it is defeated. Of course, the big man will not let everyone fight in vain, after the fight, the human and animal property will belong to you, and the land big man is willing to pay to take it back. ”

"The property of people and animals naturally belongs to us, but we also want this land." Shah Rukh is not small, he is clearly worth more than people. In particular, the area now occupied by the Kyrgyz is no smaller than the Fergana Valley.

The place occupied by the Kyrgyz is the town of Broken Leaves in the Tang Dynasty.

It is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, not only a key point connecting the European continent and the Middle East, but also a necessary place for the great powers to go south and north.

"Patriarch Shahuk, the price given by the Great Han will never be low, and we are willing to use firearms to offset the price. How much is the land worth, and how many muskets and artillery will be exchanged for you in the end? Patriarch Shahuk, think about it, without the support of the Great Han, even if you conquer this territory, it will be difficult for you to occupy it. But if you have the support of the Han Dynasty, you can exchange your land for armaments, and then you will have a large number of new firearms, and you will be able to establish a state immediately, not only will you not have to fear Bukhara coming to conquer them, but it is entirely possible that you can even turn around and destroy them. Isn't the valley of the two rivers to the east more fertile than the valley of Broken Leaves? ”

"If we were to cut down the Broken Leaves, how much arms would you be willing to give in exchange?" A patriarch was moved.

"20,000 muskets, 5,000 pistols, 500 mountain howitzers, plus a hundred field guns." Zhang En didn't open his mouth without the slightest hesitation, as for whether the imperial court would really agree to the content of his transaction at that time, or whether the musket would be an arquebus or a flintlock pistol, or an export simple version or with or without a bayonet, and the caliber of the artillery, etc., he felt that it was not a problem at all.

If the imperial court really wants to wait for the destruction of Dzungaria, how can it still allow this Kokand and other cities to establish a state? The small countries in the gap between these big countries can't even understand this, and are only tempted by the guns and cannons in front of them, the bright prospects of future nation-building, etc., and they can only say that they are too confident.

This is the way of building a big country.

As for whether it will be put together by these Uzbeks and take weapons and not work, Zhang En is really not too worried. Not to mention, once they agree, they will have to start preparing to cross the Kyrgyz Mountains now, and the first batch of weapons for support will have to be transported to Kashgar through Daowusizang, which will take some time.

In case they cut down the broken leaves and regretted not handing over the land, there was no need to worry too much, the court would clean them up.

Zhang En's purpose is only one, just move these valley tribes to send troops to break the leaves, and kill the Kyrgyz, the vassal of Dzungaria, or contain them.

One more friend, one less enemy, this is helpful for the entire current war situation with Dzungaria.

Shah Rukh stood up, walked up to Zhang En, and held out his hand to him.

Zhang En smiled and stretched out his hand, and the two hands were clasped tightly together. (To be continued.) )