"It started a few years ago. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" Du Huan, who had been in the Western Regions for a long time, was slightly half a head behind Li You, and began to tell him about the situation in the Western Regions in recent years.

At this time, the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty were somewhat similar, due to the complex terrain and harsh climatic conditions in the Western Regions, it was difficult to give birth to a unified and powerful country, which was fortunate for the Han dynasty in the Central Plains, but unfortunate for the countries of the Western Regions; The Han dynasty in the Central Plains did not have to worry about encountering a formidable opponent in the west, while the smaller states in the Western Regions had to fight each other for survival or long-term hatred.

Until a hundred years ago, the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty, Cheng Zhijie, Su Dingfang, and Xue Rengui attacked one after another, defeated the Western Turkic Shabaluo Khan Ashina Helu who controlled the Western Regions and captured them, and the Western Turks have since perished.

Although the tributes and taxes obtained from the Western Regions could not support the expenses of the huge armies and officials of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Imperial Protectorate, these two institutions also maintained peace in the western borders of the Tang Dynasty and did not directly expose the Guanzhong region, the center of Tang rule, to the enemy.

The countries of the Western Regions have also obtained countless benefits from it, first, they can obtain excess profits from the Tang Dynasty through the tributary system, second, those merchants who traveled to and from the Silk Road have brought endless wealth to these small countries, and third, they do not directly rule these small countries in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the Beiting Imperial Protectorate, as long as they are called ministers and pay tribute, and obey the Tang Dynasty, they will be canonized by the Tang Dynasty and continue to maintain relative independence and autonomy, and when they suffer turmoil or are invaded by other countries, they can obtain the support of the Tang Army. This is extremely beneficial to them, who are often harassed by Tibet, and they also need a powerful country like the Tang Dynasty to protect their peace, so for a long time, the moderate rule of the Tang Dynasty has a strong appeal to all countries in the Western Regions, and even the Sassanid Persia and Tianzhu and other countries west of the Green Mountains hope to be protected by the Tang Dynasty through this relationship.

The powerful Tang Dynasty and the geographically advantageous Tubo had dealings with each other in the Western Regions, but on the whole they still maintained a balanced posture of sexuality, but with the rise of the Umayyad Dynasty, known as the Great Food of the White Clothes, the Arab iron cavalry entered the west of the Green Ridge and occupied the area between the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya River.

When Da Shi joined the dispute in the Western Regions, the original two-way confrontation between Datang and Tubo became a three-way game between Datang, Tubo and Dashi, and the situation became increasingly complicated; The deeds recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms seem to be reproduced in the Western Regions, and the strength of any of the three parties is not enough to defeat the other two countries at the same time, so sometimes the Tang Dynasty and the Great Food jointly deal with the Tibetans, and sometimes the Great Food and the Tibetans form an alliance to attack the Tang Dynasty.

This situation lasted until more than ten years ago, when the expansion of the White Eats reached its limit, they were defeated in the West by the Frankish court minister "Iron Hammer" Charlie Matte, the sectarian conflict in the country continued, several Umayyad caliphs died one after another at the hands of the Assassins, the major powerful factions in the country launched rebellions, and the White Clothes gradually withdrew from the competition for the Western Regions.

Tubo took the opportunity to use the method of affinity and military conquest to control the two largest countries south of the Green Mountains, Da Bolu and Xiao Bolu, Tubo Zanpu married his princess to the king of Xiao Bolu, Su Zhizhi, and took this opportunity to control more than 20 small countries in the Western Regions, resulting in the authority of the Tang Dynasty was greatly damaged, and the tributary road was blocked.

Li Longji was furious, and successively ordered Tian Renwan, Gai Jiayun, Fumeng Lingcha and other Anxi Protectors to crusade against Xiao Bolu, but for various reasons failed to achieve the final victory, until Anxi Deputy Protector, Duzhi Soldiers and Horses, and Gao Xianzhi, Deputy Envoy of Chongsi Town, launched the fourth attack to win.

Gao Xianzhi led the Modao general Li Siye, the forward Xi Yuanqing and other generals and 10,000 soldiers and horses from Anxi, all the way to the west, over the green mountains, to the territory of Xiaobolu (today's Afghanistan and Kashmir); This was a great march, and the Tang army endured the harsh climate and environment that ordinary people could not adapt to for more than a month on the plateau at an altitude of five or six thousand meters, and maintained the transportation of supplies and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers.

This feat far surpassed that of the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Bacca, who was talked about by Westerners for leading his army over the Alps to defeat the Romans, and the average altitude of the Alps is only more than 3,000 meters, which is far less than the green mountains.

Subsequently, Gao Xianzhi's army conquered the dangerous Lianyun Fort, cut off the rattan bridge on the water of Suoyi, cut off the path of Tubo to reinforce Xiao Bolu, recruited the defenders of Abayue City, and took the city of Xiao Bolu with a false way to destroy the city, captured the king of Xiao Bolu and the princess of Tubo, since the pacification of the small Bolu country, the Tang army was shocked, and the seventy-two countries of Fu Lak and Da Shi Zhuhu were shocked to surrender and annex.

Gao Xianzhi was also promoted one after another, successively served as the envoy of the four towns of Anxi, the general of Zuojin Wuwei, etc., and last year he went on an expedition to the state of exhaustion (in present-day Pakistan), defeated the army of the kingdom of exhaustion, and captured the king of exhaustion.

After these two conquests, the prestige of Datang and Gao Xianzhi in the Western Regions reached its peak at the same time, but at this time, the situation in the Western Regions also underwent new changes.

And Gao Xianzhi also exposed one of his weaknesses at this time, he did have a superhuman talent in marching and fighting, but the means to deal with the complicated situation in the Western Regions were somewhat insufficient, coupled with personal greed, which made him make a wrong decision.

He used the "Wufan courtesy" as an excuse to crusade against Shiguo, which had always been close to the Tang Dynasty, and pretended to negotiate and send envoys to deceive the king of Shiguo Na Juche Shi to Chang'an, and then took advantage of his unpreparedness to send troops to cover the attack and capture the Shiguo people. Later, Gao Xianzhi killed and plundered, and even the old, weak, sick and disabled refused to let go. In this operation, Gao Xianzhi obtained a total of more than ten pieces of gold from Shiguo, five or six camels in gold, and the rest of the horses and groceries were said to be in his home. On the way back from Shiguo, Gao Xianzhi slandered the Turgish rebellion, attacked the Turgish, and captured the transfer khan.

The encounter between Shi Guo and Tuqishi, who were close to the Tang Dynasty, caused a gap between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty, and the prestige of the Tang Dynasty declined repeatedly; After escaping, Prince Shi went to the Zhuhu tribe, and together with the Zhuhu tribe, he planned to unite with the black-clothed Great Food to attack the four towns of Anxi, and Gao Xianzhi's attack was to preemptively defeat the black-clothed Great Food. (To be continued.) )