Later historians, when describing the "Western Xinjiang Rebellion" that occurred in the Spring of the Shengtang Dynasty in 821, were often accustomed to taking the "Attack and Defense of Metasequoia City" as the starting point of the whole event.

This is mainly because many important figures in the Shengtang Dynasty and the Turkic Empire, especially the high-ranking generals of the Zhenjiang Department, were involved at that time. Out of respect for these bigwigs, and also considering their various influences on the situation at the time, the Spring and Autumn Years written by the historian have their own unique appearance.

However, this is not the case with real history.

This "Western Xinjiang Rebellion", which affected the 36 countries of the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang and even the Middle-earth world, including the imperial capital, and lasted for seven years, had actually begun to brew secretly since 818 of the Holy Tang Dynasty.

The real outbreak of the great rebellion began with the rebellion of Loulan and Shule.

After three large-scale conquests of the ghost desert in Western Xinjiang in history, Li Shilun, the 24th emperor of the Tang Dynasty, pursued a unified statecraft strategy, advocating the adoption of a policy of "Huairou pacification as the mainstay, supplemented by heavy troops and ammunition".

In the face of the 36 countries in Western Xinjiang, which had a vast land and a large number of ethnic groups, Shengtang set up envoys and official and municipal offices, and arranged garrisons in important areas, gradually prospering the Western Xinjiang trade route connecting the eastern and western continents, and finally achieving the goal of stabilizing the territory and prospering the economy.

All countries along the trade routes enjoyed autonomy, and the Shengtang court only sent symbolic troops to protect the security of the trade routes, and strictly adhered to its duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the royal courts of the vassal states.

In this way, it not only ensured the influence of the imperial power of the Holy Tang Dynasty in the western Xinjiang, but also allowed it to live in peace with all countries and ethnic groups and maintain the strategic tranquility of the western region of the imperial dynasty.

However, nothing in the world is always the same.

In 799 of the Tang Dynasty, at the instigation of the Great Khan of the Turkic Empire, Shandu Yimer, twenty vassal states of Fanbang took advantage of religious incidents to launch a rebellion that shocked the western Xinjiang. Emperor Li Chengwen quickly sent troops to quell the rebellion, and then set up a special protection office to prevent the Turks from infiltrating and destroying again.

With the passage of time, the relationship between the Shengtang Imperial Court, the Zhenjiang Army and the 36 countries of Western Xinjiang is also quietly undergoing subtle changes.

Although the Zhenjiang Protectorate did not interfere in the internal affairs of the feudal domain according to the old practice, they were a powerful military presence after all, and it was impossible for any local force in the Western Ghost Desert to completely ignore their role and strength.

The long-term stationing of huge troops also made the will of the imperial capital extend to all strata in the western Xinjiang through the Zhenjiang Protectorate, which had a decisive impact.

Gradually, the social status of the Shengtang people living in Western Xinjiang increased day by day. Whether it was the court officials sent here, the rich and wealthy people who invested in business, or the generals and colonels of the Imperial Protectorate, they gradually became the newly rising aristocratic power in this vast land.

These people held supreme power and controlled scarce resources, and at the same time constantly befriended the chiefs of the various tribes in the western frontier, and in some cases, they could even influence the major decisions of the royal courts of certain feudal domains.

And such changes have also caused a very strong sense of crisis to some traditional aristocratic forces in the local area.

Not only the local aristocratic class, but also the ordinary people of Western Xinjiang really felt that there was an extra group of Holy Tang Lords out of thin air on their heads, rampant in the ghost desert, and acting as a prestige.

Although for a long period of time, the Shengtang court had no time to take care of the control of the western Xinjiang due to internal strife. However, the 100,000-strong Zhenjiang army is by no means an ornament. As long as they are there, the local aristocratic forces in Western Xinjiang will never be able to get rid of the sword hanging over their heads, and the days of bowing down and obeying orders still need to continue.

Until the advent of the Turks.

In fact, in earlier times, the ancestors of the Turks, the Aral Hagit, were the rulers of this place.

The history of Kegit is not much shorter than that of St. Don. Hundreds of years ago, at that time, the Aral Sea Kejit was in full swing in the western frontier, they crossed the desert steppe, occupied the intersection of the eastern and western continents, and were almost invincible.

However, strong strength is often accompanied by unbridled arrogance.

The rulers of Kegit never regarded the people of all ethnic groups in Western Xinjiang as "people". In their concept, those Western Xinjiang hillbillies are a bunch of two-legged animals that can be bullied at will.

With such arrogance, it is not difficult to imagine how tragic the fate of the people in Western Xinjiang will be.

Therefore, when the eyes of the Emperor of the Holy Tang Dynasty turned to the west, and the elite soldiers of the imperial dynasty rushed out of the Zijin Pass, the eyes of the people of Western Xinjiang were full of the majesty of the rescuer.

Everyone held flowers and fruits, held wine and delicacies, sang and danced, and welcomed the arrival of the righteous division of the Holy Tang Dynasty.

Under the fervent anticipation of the ghost desert in the western region, the rescuers from the east finally succeeded in driving out the once invincible Hagit people, bringing hope of rebirth to the thirty-six countries.

But unexpectedly, when everything settled, the original savior turned into a new ruler of Western Xinjiang unconsciously.

The power of the Holy Don began to quickly fill and replace the space of power left by the retreat of the Hagit. In the following hundreds of years, in order to consolidate its power in the ghost desert of western Xinjiang and suppress those unwilling local people, the imperial capital did not hesitate to launch many large-scale sweeps and expeditions, killing mountains and blood.

This kind of behavior seems to be no different from the Hagit people before it.

At least, this is indeed the case in the eyes of many Western nobles and ethnic groups with Hagit blood who are dissatisfied with the Holy Tang.

So, they began to miss their former masters again.

The power of time is too strong, strong enough to wash away the hatred of the past.

Some of the forces of the Western Frontier began to send secret envoys one after another, and frequently contacted the Turkic Empire in private, planning to use the power of Ashina Jin to one day get rid of the control of the Holy Tang.

Among them, the most representative are Loulan and Shule.

These two countries are interesting. They hated St. Tang because of their political wills and religious differences, but they hated their neighbors even more. Because many of the reigning kings in Western Xinjiang did not strongly oppose the rule of the Holy Tang like these two lords.

From an objective point of view, at least at the level of the imperial court and the commander of the imperial palace, the Shengtang still showed a considerable degree of respect and love for the countries of Western Xinjiang.

After all, this is the national policy set by the previous emperors, and the Shengtang Dynasty has been dealing with Western Xinjiang for many years. Except for a few black sheep riding on the head of the western frontier as a prestige, I really don't see any need to meet each other.

Besides, if you really want to meet each other, can you do it to the Zhenjiang Army?

This general psychology of pursuing peace is what makes Loulan and Shule most dissatisfied.

That's often the way people are.

When a person wants to challenge a certain authority or break a certain convention, what he hates and hates the most is not the authority and the convention itself, but the others who still insist on revering the authority and abiding by the convention.

Therefore, when the Spring Festival of 821 of the Shengtang calendar came, the Loulan Kingdom and the Shule Kingdom, which had been suppressed for a long time, finally with the secret support of the Turks, once again raised the banner of rebellion to the Shengtang Dynasty, challenging the entire Western Xinjiang Ghost Desert.

Later historians and military strategists have unanimously discovered an important issue when they reviewed and studied this dusty history, that is, the time when the rebellion broke out.

It stands to reason that winter in the western region is not a good time to start a war.

The bone-chilling winds, the snow, and the icy Gobi Desert mean incalculable danger to a large-scale military operation.

However, the rebels chose such a time to launch an offensive, and the only reasonable explanation is that the strong military strength of Shengtang will also be firmly trapped by bad weather.

In addition, the Turkic Iron Pigeon Army, the Ghost League horse bandits, and the rebel parties hiding in various parts of Western Xinjiang greatly distracted the energy of the Zhenjiang Army and the soldiers and horses of various countries through the harassment actions in the early stage.

As a result, the two countries of Loulan and Shule suddenly rebelled, and the suddenness of the incident and the superiority of the military force immediately caught the Zhenjiang Protectorate a little off guard.

When Duolun's coalition forces began to set off and prepare to assemble and march towards Daban, the city of King Shanshan, hundreds of miles away, was reflected in the night sky.

The suffering of the people in Western Xinjiang has just begun.

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Alik Jiang, the king of Loulan, played with the "Nine Star Blade", and couldn't help but feel secretly proud in his heart.

This famous sword in the western frontier is forged from Xuanming meteoric iron, combined with the blue flame quenching technique of the famous Persian weapon craftsman, which is light and tough, and sharpens iron like clay.

The nine brilliant gems inlaid on the hilt of the knife come from the nine great feudal states of Western Xinjiang, and each one is brilliant and valuable.

The Nine Star Blade was originally a token of the Western Frontier Kingdom Alliance, held by the alliance leader jointly elected by the kings of the nine countries, which is extremely significant. Later, Sheng Tang took over the Western Frontier, and the previous alliance of kingdoms gradually withdrew from the stage of history, and the Nine Star Blade remained in the hands of the last alliance leader and was passed down from generation to generation.

Now, this divine weapon has been obtained by Alikjiang, as if there is a god in the dark, how can he not feel overjoyed?

Alekjiang gently stroked the blood groove on the knife with his thumb, but his heart was full of scenes that happened yesterday.

His own uncle, Nizi, the king of Shanshanguo, knelt in front of Alikjiang and begged bitterly, hoping that his nephew would raise his noble hand and spare him.

"You have betrayed the great god of Nanjin flowers, and you have also betrayed the name of your ancestors. I don't deserve to have this Nine Star Blade anymore! Alikjan loudly rebuked Niz in public, leaving the old king without saving any face at all.

"I beg you, child," said Nitsu, with tears in her eyes, raising her hands and crying, "for your mother's sake, let us go." You like the Nine Star Blade, I can give it to you, there is no need to let Loulan and Shanshan fight at all......"

"Hahaha, old thing, I don't just want the Nine Star Blade, I also want your kingdom. You have always been willing to work for the Shengtang people, didn't you think that there would be such a day? ”

With that, Alekjiang waved the scimitar in his hand and plunged it into his uncle's chest at once. With his movements, the surrounding Loulan warriors also raised their swords and pounced on the Shanshan royal clan who knelt in front of the palace gate.

Many of these people were brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and nephews of Alikjiang's mother, and they were all blood relatives of Alikjiang, the king of Loulan, but in his opinion, they were nothing more than a group of lambs to the slaughter.

The sudden fall of the Shanshan royal court immediately shocked the entire western frontier.

Loulan suddenly raised troops and attacked Shanshan, which was already beyond the expectations of many people, and what was even more surprising was that the disparity between the forces of the two sides was unbelievable.

In this sneak attack, Loulan almost exerted the strength of the whole country, with a total of 100,000 infantry and cavalry mixed army, and in a short period of time, it successively captured the seventeen city fortresses of Shanshan and Zhenjiang Duhufu, and directly besieged the Shanshan King City.

At this time, the royal city was guarded by less than 5,000 people.

In one day, the Loulan army broke the city, slaughtered the city, and burned the city. Nearly 1,000 Zhenjiang soldiers who assisted in the defense were beheaded by the enemy and hung on the flagpole outside the gate of the royal court. Hundreds of Shanshan royal families, including the old king Niz, were also slaughtered.

Soon after that, the arrogant Loulan army, under the command of King Alikjiang, conquered the three kingdoms of Jimo, Xiaowan and Pishan one after another, plundering 20,000 young men and women, and countless cattle and sheep.

At the same time, another line of rebels, the Shule soldiers and horses with a size of 80,000 people, successively defeated Shache and Wensu, and also burned and plundered all the way.