At this time, it is the best season in the Lianghe River Basin, on the south bank of the Kuzhang River, the vast prairie is verdant everywhere, dotted with small yurts. The white clouds are also like flocks of sheep, flowing on the grassland. On this green land, a long white dragon was rolling forward, and the Mongol cavalry, the Han cavalry infantry, the carts dragged by mules and horses, the camels carrying bronze guns, and the dejected captives of Semu who were tied to ropes and marched on foot, all the way south.

The victorious army of Kublai Khan was advancing southward at this time, aiming at the rich land in the middle and upper reaches of the Kuzhang River. It is the Fergana Basin, which is surrounded by the Tien Shan and Alai Mountains. It was the richest agricultural area in the valley of the two rivers, and the royal tent of Aruhu was located near Kuyu.

“…… When the valley is the foundation, according to the Yilie River in the north, and the Amu Darya River in the south, the road is placed in Alimari, Samalgan (Samarkand), Bhora (Bukhara), Yulong Jiechi (Khorezm Oasis), and Naheisha Bu and other cities. Promote Confucianism, govern the heart with Buddhism, and govern the country with Confucianism...... This is the best policy to control the three rivers and rejuvenate Mongolia! ”

This is Kublai Khan's number one adviser Liu Xiaoyuan giving advice to Kublai Khan. After the Battle of the Kuzhang River, the pair of monarchs and ministers often traveled side by side on the way south. While hurrying, we discussed the future of Greater Mongolia.

Liu Xiaoyuan's opinion was to abandon Mongolia's desolate headquarters and take the rich Ferghana Basin as its foundation. It occupies the Yilie River valley to the north and the Amu Darya River valley to the south. Lufu was set up as a local ruling body in the great cities of the Western Regions, such as Ali Mali, Sama Ergan, Buhuara, Yulong Jiechi, and Naheishabu.

Then they promoted Lamaism and Confucianism, used Lamaism to confuse people's minds, and governed the country with Confucianism. In this way, a new center of Great Mongolia could be established in the valley of the Three Rivers (referring to the Yile, Khuzhang, and Amu Darya) rivers.

The plan seems to be good. The Mongolian steppe is, of course, the birthplace of the Mongols. But that site is a bitter cold place. A few decades earlier, when the Mongols could still endure great suffering. It is certainly good to have the Mongolian steppe as a base. But now the Mongols have long been accustomed to it, and they have to occupy the Central Plains if they want to use the Mongolian steppe as a base. Use the wealth of the Central Plains to feed the Mongols on the steppe. The three generations of Great Khans of Ogedei, Guiyou, and Möngke all did this. When Kublai Khan arrived, the Central Plains was lost, and naturally there was no wealth to raise the grassland. With Chen Ming's strength, he may send troops to the grassland twice in three days to kill people and set fires, and Kublai Khan will be looking for death if he wants to use the grassland as a base again.

But the Mongolian steppe is the root of the Great Mongolian State and the symbol of the Great Khan's legal system. The Great Khan could not be resident in the steppes - Möngke before Kublai Khan did not reside in Horin, but had his base in Beshbali - but not without the Mongolian steppes. If there is no Kublai Khan of the Mongolian steppes who can be called the Great Khan, then the Belo of Sarai. Why couldn't Hulegü, who was already dead at this time, but Kublai Khan didn't know it, be the Great Khan?

And now, the Mongolian steppe has fallen into the hands of Haidu!

If Kublai Khan did not counterattack and recapture the Mongol headquarters as soon as possible, it was very likely that the Great Mongol State would completely fall apart and become four parts.

But that's not what worries Kublai Khan the most - even if the Great Mongol Kingdom is divided into four parts, Kublai Khan, who occupies the land of the Three Rivers in the Western Regions, still has a fairly large empire.

What worries Kublai Khan the most is the special relationship between Haidu and Chen Dexing and the Heavenly Taoism! According to Tachar's earlier report, Chen Dexing captured Guiyou Khan's daughter Baoyin Temur in Sichuan, and unceremoniously held hands. And Baoyin Temur is the princess of the Okotai line, and the cousin of Haidu Khan. It is reported that Haidu was fooled by her into becoming a Heavenly Taoist.

Promoted by Haidu and Baoyin Temur. It is very likely that Tiandaoism will be widely spread in Mongolia and even become the state religion of Mongolia itself!

At that time, the Mongol headquarters under the rule of Haidu will become a vassal of Chen Ming. The Mongols on the steppe may even become the Mongolian Eight Banners!

Will Kublai Khan still be able to sit firmly in the Three Rivers Valley by then?

Seeing Kublai Khan, he frowned and was silent. Liu Xiaoyuan already understood the Great Khan's worries, but he didn't pick up the stubble. A counterattack against Mongolia was simply unrealistic, and hundreds of thousands of followers followed Kublai Khan's westward migration. In the past two years, there has been no shortage of hardships. Now that you have finally occupied a piece of rich territory, why don't you let everyone enjoy it for two years?

At this time. Who will go on an expedition to Mongolia again? Besides, the sea is really in a hurry. It is not impossible to take refuge in Chen Dexing immediately......

Therefore, Liu Xiaoyuan did not mention the matter of counterattacking Mongolia at all, but continued to talk about how to govern the land of "Three Rivers".

“…… In the land of the three rivers, there are grasslands, deserts, big cities, and rich agricultural land. Its grassland is located on both sides of the Yilie River, which is the most fertile; The land of rich farming is located in the valley, the middle and upper part of the Khuzhang River and the Oasis of Khorezm; Its great cities, such as Samarkan and Bhora, are close to Persia and are located on the north bank of the Amu Darya River. In general, the land of the Three Rivers is dominated by agriculture, followed by industry and commerce in the big cities, and nomadic herding is even more secondary. If we want to firmly control the three rivers, we cannot just graze without farming and ignore industry and commerce. The defeat of the Central Plains has taught a lot of lessons, and now the battle is the first in steel-armored artillery, followed by archery and horse archery. In the nomadic land, there are only bow horses, and there is no steel armor artillery. Therefore, the Great Khan should make the Mongol and Han armies firmly control the agricultural land and the industrial and commercial city. ”

Kublai Khan also pulled his thoughts back to the land of the Three Rivers. The lesson of the defeat of the Central Plains summed up by Liu Xiaoyuan seems to be very reasonable. The nomadic cavalry has no advantage over the combination of steel-armored pikemen, artillery, and light and heavy cavalry, making people fight all over the ground!

In this battle with Aruhu, the Mongol and Han troops, which imitated the infantry of the Ming army to a certain extent, also exerted great power. The phalanx of spears was sufficient to withstand the onslaught of the cavalry, and the long-range firearms caused a great deal of confusion for Arukhu's cavalry. Kublai Khan's Mongol cavalry was given a chance to break through and crush.

Therefore, if Kublai Khan wanted to revive Mongolia, he had to carry out a thorough military reform. The cavalry-based army was changed to an army with infantry and cavalry, and firearms were valued. Such a military reform would inevitably make Kublai Khan's army more dependent on agriculture and commerce.

"How to control the land of agriculture and the city of industry and commerce?" Kublai Khan asked lightly.

Liu Xiaoyuan replied with a smile: "You can follow Chen Ming!" ”

"Emulate Chen Dexing?" Kublai Khan didn't mean to be angry. There is no shame in learning from the enemy, and it is a shame to be repeatedly beaten by the enemy in the same way.

"Yes, Meng Shijue, Han Eight Banners."

"Mongol Knight?" Kublai Khan asked, squinting his triangular eyes.

"The Mongols granted land and turned all the peasants of the land of the Three Rivers into tenants of the Mongol warriors, so that they could support the Mongol army. At the same time, let the Mongol warriors suppress the place for the Great Khan! ”

Liu Xiaoyuan's meaning seems to be to let the Mongols become the landlords of the land of the Three Rivers, but the kind of scholar landlords of the Great Song Dynasty are armed landlords, and it is okay to say that they are samurai.

"What about the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty?"

"The Han army is the Eight Banners, the military and the people are integrated, stationed in the big city, maintaining law and order in peacetime, collecting taxes, and urging craftsmen to build weapons. In wartime, they formed pikemen and firearms soldiers to charge for the Great Khan. ”

This is a bit similar to the real Eight Banners in history, but with more power and its own city management function!

"Great Khan, you have 300,000 Mongols, 150,000 Han people, one Mongol or Han people can manage ten color meshes, and you can also firmly control 4.5 million color people." Liu Xiaoyuan snapped his fingers and said, "Now the people in the land of the Three Rivers are about this number." ”

The Kuzhang River and the Amu Darya River were originally densely populated, but Genghis Khan washed them fifty years ago, and the population was nine out of ten, and after fifty years of recovery, it was four or five million people. It is mainly concentrated in the Fergana Valley, Khorezm Oasis and Bukhwarat, Samarkan and other places. The Mongols, on the other hand, were active in the steppes on both sides of the Kuzhang River and the Amu Darya River, which were originally large areas of arable land, but after being destroyed by the Mongols, most of them became deserts, and only a small part of the land close to the water source became grasslands and became the territory of the Mongol tribes. The urban and agricultural areas of the Kuzhang and Amu Darya valleys were largely self-governing by the Semu people, and the Mongols did not interfere in the past.

In fact, not many Mongolians used to live in the basin of the two rivers (Kuzhang River and Amu Darya River). It was mainly bred by a few thousand households that Genghis Khan had given to Chagatai, plus the garrison of the Central Ulus stationed here. There were simply not hundreds of thousands, and therefore they were unable to establish a consolidated direct rule.

But now, Kublai Khan has brought 450,000 people, and he will also incorporate the Mongols here in Lianghe, with a total population of at least 500,000 to 600,000. It doesn't seem like it's a difficult task to discipline millions of people with a million people.

"In addition, the people here in the Three Rivers will also give them a way to ascend." Liu Xiaoyuan continued, "One is the imperial examination, which examines the principles of Buddhism and Confucianism...... There should be some official positions in the court of the Great Khan for the Semu Jinshi; The second is military merit, the Great Khan can recruit Semu warriors as soldiers, establish a separate Semu army, with Mongolian generals as commanders, and rush to the vanguard in wartime to make contributions to the Great Khan. With meritorious service, the Great Khan can make them officials, make them knights, and also let them join the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. ”

Kublai Khan stroked his beard, frowned and pondered, and only after a long time did he nod heavily and laugh loudly: "Okay! Liu Qing, you are really my Zhang Zifang...... The Land of the Three Rivers will be governed according to your way! He said this, his thick eyebrows furrowed again, "It's just that governing the country is not overnight, and I am now being attacked from three sides by Brother Be'er, Hülegü and Haidu, what should I do?" (To be continued......)