Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2766 The Demise of the Kushan Empire and the Three Great Naval Forces

In the ninth year of the Qianyuan era, the Great Jin Dynasty enjoyed peace and prosperity.

Apart from the continued investment of manpower and resources in the Grand Canal project, the imperial court was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as there were no more large-scale wars.

Or rather, the people of the world were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief in the ninth year of the Qianyuan era.

In recent years, with both canal construction and large-scale wars, the people of the world have reached an extreme state.

Following the conclusion of the eastern front of the Li Tang dynasty and the western front in Liang and Xi regions.

In January of the ninth year of the Qian Yuan era, as the new year arrived, the armies of the Great Jin Dynasty and the Sasanian Dynasty, also known as the Second Persian Empire, invaded Purusha. This marked the formal demise of the vast Kushan Empire, which was then divided among the three major empires.

As it turns out, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

The Kushan Empire, a vast empire, held out for four years against a three-front offensive from three other empires before finally coming to an end.

From then on, it was completely divided up by the three great empires and fell into the dust of history.

Among them, the Sasanian Dynasty was the first empire to start this war. In addition, when Batu and Hulagu left, they voluntarily gave up some of the land they had paid to this ally, thus temporarily isolating the spheres of influence of the Yuan Mongols and the Great Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, in this war in which the three empires divided up the Kushan Empire, Ardashir I gained the most, with 45% of the Kushan Empire's territory falling under his control.

Next up is the Great Jin Dynasty. Bai Qi has already taken over most of the arable agricultural areas in the southern part of the Kushan Empire. Now, more than 30% of the Kushan Empire's territory is under the control of the Great Jin Dynasty.

As for the remaining less than a quarter of the northern and northeastern regions, they were within the control of the Yuan Mongols.

When Zhang Qian traveled thousands of miles to the Sasanian Empire, after meeting with Ardashir I, both sides expressed their desire for friendly relations after some discussions.

Furthermore, in recent years, friendly trade relations have been successfully established, and tea, ceramics, silk, and refined salt from the Great Jin Dynasty have begun to be imported into the Sasanian Empire on a large scale.

Over the past few years, both sides have enjoyed the benefits of trade.

Since trade between the two sides was conducted by sea and the ports were located in the south, the large volume of commercial trade actually promoted the development projects of the Great Jin Dynasty in the south, which can be considered a win-win situation.

This increased the imperial court's tax revenue while saving on expenditures in the south, yet the progress in the south did not fall behind.

Just as the court officials had speculated, although the Sasanian Dynasty and the Yuan Mongols were allies, it was merely a mutual choice made under the circumstances at the time.

Even if someone is an ally, it doesn't mean you have to treat your ally's enemy as your own.

This has never been done before.

The relationship between the two countries has always been determined by interests.

There is no conflict of interest between the Great Jin and the Sassanid Persians, and neither of them has any problems, so why would they invite a powerful enemy into their lives?

Therefore, when one party extends an olive branch, the other party will naturally take the opportunity to accept it, and the two sides will begin to establish a friendly and cooperative relationship.

Of course, Ardashir I, having established a friendly trade relationship with the Great Jin, would not turn against the Great Jin for the sake of a so-called ally. At the same time, he would not help the Great Jin, this new ally, to deal with their old ally.

Dealing with the Yuan Mongols is currently not in the Sassanid Persian interest either.

Ardashir I did not want to see the Yuan Mongols expand excessively, nor did he want to see the Great Jin Dynasty expand into a behemoth after annexing the Yuan Mongols.

Even though Kublai Khan died and caused turmoil in the Yuan Mongol Empire, Ardashir I still had no intention of dividing the Yuan Mongol Empire with the Great Jin Dynasty, and he did not want to go to the grasslands to ride horses and hunt.

Establishing a stable rule on the grasslands has always been a huge challenge.

Especially considering that the powerful Roman Empire existed to the west of Ardashir I.

For them, a three-way power balance is more in their interest than a two-way confrontation.

Although the war with the Kushan Empire had ended, that region was still too far from the Great Jin Dynasty. Several months passed before the war report finally reached the Luoyang court.

At this point, Li Xiang once again enfeoffed ten princes, granting all ten of his sons, including the Prince of Jin, the land to jointly govern.

Of course, the largest and richest piece of land belonged to the Prince of Jin, who had made many contributions in this battle.

The central government's control over that region was truly limited. It could only maintain a semblance of rule through enfeoffment.

Establishing a stable rule like in the Central Plains is currently almost impossible.

For the Great Jin Dynasty at present, completing the development of the south and bringing Southeast Asia under its stable rule has become the strategic focus for a long time to come.

The limitations of the feudal era lay in this: it did not mean that the size of the land conquered could be ruled over.

As for the ten kings of South Asia, the population, development level, and area of ​​their fiefdoms were completely different from those of the eight kings of Southeast Asia. The two sides were not even on the same level from the beginning.

However, considering the issues in South Asia, after enfeoffing the princes, Li Xiang still reorganized the navy, planning to reorganize the existing naval forces into the East China Sea Navy, the Yangtze River Navy, and the South China Sea Navy within the next year.

Both the East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet primarily consisted of treasure ships. The East China Sea Fleet was stationed at the port of Donghai County in Qingzhou, responsible for strengthening control over the peninsula and the Japanese islands, while the South China Sea Fleet was stationed in Jiaozhou, responsible for strengthening control over Southeast Asia and South Asia.

These two naval forces were respectively commanded by Xu Cheng and Han Shizhong.

The Yangtze River Navy still consisted mainly of warships more suited to river navigation, and was led by Lü Meng.

As for Qi Jiguang, he entered the central government for his merits, was promoted to General of the Vanguard, and then to General of the Pacification of the Seas. His fief was increased to 10,000 households, and he nominally commanded the three major naval forces remotely.

Among the three major naval forces, the Yangtze River Reservoir was cut in half due to a significant decrease in its internal combat missions, retaining only a force of 50,000.

Or rather, each of these three naval forces was established with a strength of 50,000 men, and each was responsible for its respective jurisdiction.

At the same time, in the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan had been dead for almost a year, and the struggle there had reached a climax.