Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1376: The Survivors of the Liang World
Out of a sense of crisis of being isolated and greed for commercial benefits, especially the latter which was too tempting, Kwalu finally chose to submit to the Tang Dynasty and join this control system.

Li Tai did not deliberately use titles to suppress him, but instead gave him official titles that matched his status, naming him the King of the West Sea and adding the title of Grand Commander of the Heyuan Protectorate of the Qiang.

However, this official title also represents a reduction in the definition of Tuyuhun power, because whether it is the West Sea or the Heyuan, as a geographical concept, it is only a part of what is controlled by Tuyuhun power today, not all of it.

In particular, areas such as Jiaohe and Huangyuan, which were once the core areas of Tuyuhun's power, were not reflected in the official titles granted by the Tang Dynasty at all. This naturally meant that the Tang Dynasty did not support Tuyuhun's occupation of these lands and the population living there.

Of course, Jiaohe was still reflected. The Tang emperor returned this son to Kulu. As the only person in Tuyuhun who accepted the Tang Dynasty's appointment besides Kulu, his title was Duke of Jiaohe. In the Tang Dynasty's system of nobility, Kulu could use this cheap son to rule Jiaohe.

But the problem is that Jiaohe was originally the territory of Tuyuhun, and it can even be said to be one of the ancestral towns passed down from generation to generation. As early as the early period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tuyuhun made peace with the Southern Song Dynasty, and the title conferred by Liu Song was the Duke of Jiaohe!

But now that the Tang Dynasty is more powerful, the right to interpret relevant matters is naturally in the hands of the Tang Dynasty. Putting aside the long-standing origins, it should be noted that the last time the Western Wei Dynasty attacked Tuyuhun, Huangyuan, Jiaohe and other places, and even the current Tuyuhun royal city Fuxi City, were all occupied areas!

Although the Western Wei abandoned its garrison and withdrew to Longyou, neither the Western Wei nor the Tang discussed with Tuyuhun the issue of returning these territories. It was just that Tuyuhun took advantage of the withdrawal of the Wei army and quietly returned. So if Kualu really wanted to care about these issues, the Tang could legitimately ask him to get out of Fuxi City.

Because the Haidong area is close to Longyou and there is only a Chiling Mountain between them, the Tang Dynasty can no longer allow Tuyuhun to control it. At present, it is only trying to eliminate Tuyuhun's influence in this area by controlling the Di and Qiang tribes in Haidong. In the future, when the situation in Longyou is further stabilized, it will still be necessary to directly manage the garrison.

After initially completing the establishment of this set of control order framework, Li Tai then presided over a grand military review outside Guzang City. A group of Hu tribe chieftains who accepted the Tang Dynasty's mandate also led their troops to participate in this review, and they were shocked beyond words and had a more intuitive and clear understanding of the strength of the Tang Dynasty's army.

Apart from other things, the number of Tang troops alone was far beyond their previous knowledge. The army came all the way west from Guanzhong, and when it arrived in Liangzhou, the number of soldiers and horses had reached hundreds of thousands. If we add the conscripted laborers from various states to cooperate with the march, now there is a huge army of more than 300,000 soldiers and horses outside Liangzhou City!

The sheer number of troops and horses alone was enough to make people feel desperate and terrified. The weapons of these Tang army soldiers were so well-armored that they were breathtaking, with strong armor and sharp swords, which made people dauntless. Their troops were like a forest when still and like a landslide when in motion. The sound of drums and horns resounded across the wilderness, and all the spectators were discouraged and frightened. When facing such a powerful army, they felt that they were as small as ants.

When the Han and Hu armed forces participating in the review were lining up to simulate a battle, the Hu armed forces were in great confusion and could not form a battle array for a long time. Some Hu soldiers even threw down their weapons and surrendered. Even though they knew in their hearts that the battle was fake, they were unwilling to stand against such a powerful army.

As for the Hu chieftains who participated in the review, their feelings were naturally richer and more complicated. Many of them chose to move closer to the Tang Dynasty, but they did so simply to gain support, find a backer, and take advantage. It was really not a matter of them having any clear and strong positions or emotions.

But when they really saw the power of the Tang Dynasty, especially when they thought that the Tang Dynasty was willing to be gentle and tolerant to them while having such a strong power, the original speculation in their hearts was gradually replaced by the sense of honor and steadiness of joining a powerful camp. From then on, who in the whole Longyou and Hexi dared to provoke them and the Tang Dynasty standing behind them?
However, the Hu chieftains like Kualu who still had the idea of ​​developing themselves and setting up their own faction felt much more bitter after seeing the strength of the Tang army. Some people felt that this was really a difficult task, so they simply gave up such thoughts and stayed firmly in the camp from then on, following the Tang Dynasty to drink soup.

However, a stubborn hardliner like Kwalu, who had once been glorious and was eager to achieve greater glory, was also deeply shocked, but for a while he could not get rid of the stubborn idea in his heart, and his heart was inevitably tormented and confused.

The grand review in Liangzhou was held with great fanfare and was extremely successful. The effect of showing off one's military power was maximized. Li Tai also ordered people to erect a monument outside the city of Guzang to record the event. The names of all the Hu chieftains who attended the meeting and were given titles were also recorded on the monument. Thousands of years later, their names might be known to future generations, so that they would not turn into a unknown dust in the vicissitudes of the world in Longyou.

Snow fell in August in the Hu Kingdom. Li Tai left Beijing for Long in early autumn. When he arrived in Liangzhou, it was already late autumn. He still had a long journey ahead and had to keep up with the pace of the northern division, so he did not stay in Liangzhou for long. After the grand review, he continued to set off westward.

After receiving the imperial edict, some of the Hu chieftains who had followed the emperor here from Longbian paid farewell to the emperor in Liangzhou, while others chose to lead their troops to continue following the western tour and recruited tens of thousands of Hu soldiers.

Tuyuhun Khan Kua Lu naturally did not want to continue to entangle, so he chose to bid farewell to the Tang emperor and return home. Li Tai's main purpose against Tuyuhun was to intimidate and appease him, and he did not deliberately make things difficult for him. He just told him to treat his lost son well, otherwise when he returned and heard that Kua Lu abused his son, he would be furious!
Li Tai was not sure whether this boy was Kua Lu's son. When Shi Ning and others led the army to attack Tuyuhun, they brought back too many personnel and supplies. At that time, this boy was still in his infancy and was raised by Kua Lu's wives and concubines, so he was naturally classified as Kua Lu's son. Anyway, it was all easy to get, and Li Tai didn't mind making a move on the upper echelons of Tuyuhun. If Kua Lu continued to commit suicide next year, at most he would let him die and support this boy to take the throne. Even if this boy could not convince the people, it could play a role in splitting the Tuyuhun royal line.

This time the army headed west again, leaving the traditional Longyou area, and the next stop was Guazhou Dunhuang in Hexi. Whether it was the road conditions, supplies, or climate, they were far worse than Longyou.

So this time the army no longer continued to advance as a whole, but was divided into several divisions and brigades. Linghu Yanbao, who was originally from Dunhuang, led the vanguard brigade of 10,000 divisions to continue advancing along the main road, passing through the traditional roads of Zhangye and Jiuquan, and exiting Yumen Pass to the west, opening the way for the army to go straight to Dunhuang.

Li Tai led the central army and divided it into two groups, front, middle and rear, with 20,000 troops each, and steadily advanced towards Dunhuang. By dividing the front and rear divisions, the rhythm of the army's advance was guaranteed, and the pressure on logistics supply was also reduced.

Han Guo, the governor of Liangzhou, led the remaining troops to Zhangye and then headed north, passing Heli Mountain, crossing the Ruoshui River and heading straight to Juyan Lake. On the one hand, they ensured the safety of the Hexi flank, and on the other hand, they joined the divisions of He Ruodun and the Turkic Shetu Khan at Juyan Lake, and then headed west to Jinshan together, heading straight to the Western Turkic territory.

This time, the Tang army was not only mobilized on a large scale, but also deployed in an unprecedentedly vast area, covering a distance of thousands of miles. It was a huge test from the initial planning to the preparation and final execution. The main purpose of this action, in addition to stabilizing the situation in Longyou and Hexi, was to announce that the Tang Dynasty was making a strong appearance in the Western Regions!

Although there are many states in the Western Regions today, a new order is gradually taking shape. The grassland forces headed by the Western Turks are rapidly developing and establishing authority in the Western Regions. In contrast, the Tang Dynasty is lagging behind in this regard, and it can even be said that there is nothing to be said for.

The management of the Western Regions was not just to satisfy Li Tai's ambition to be the king, but it also had extraordinary significance for the development and growth of the Central Plains dynasty and the establishment of regional hegemony.

This has been fully verified in history. If the Western Regions cannot be controlled, the borders will be in turmoil and Guanzhong will be shaken. In particular, the Turks and even the Tibetan regime in the plateau were actively expanding their living space and sphere of influence. If the Tang Dynasty fell behind in this competition, it would be in an extremely passive situation in the future competition for regional hegemony.

Although the Tang Dynasty lagged far behind the Turks in their expansion into the Western Regions, and had not even taken a practical step to date, it also had advantages that the Turks did not have.

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The first point is that the Tang Dynasty has taken a direct lead in the competition with the Turks. Mugan Khan and Uzun Khan died one after another, and now the successor Shetu Khan is simply a puppet supported by the Tang Dynasty.

However, the Tang Dynasty could not use this opportunity to completely suppress the Turks, because as the Turkic throne was once again passed on in an irregular manner, there was a lot of resistance within the Turks. The prestige of Shetu Khan was unprecedentedly low, and he could only control the Turkic tribes north and south of the Yinshan Mountains and south of the desert. His Khan's tent was also established in the Yinshan Mountains, but he could not effectively control the Turkic tribes in the Jinshan Mountains in the north of the desert.

In particular, after the Western Turkic leader Shidianmi learned that Shetu had established his Khanate in Yinshan, he expressed his strong dissatisfaction and led his troops directly to the Jinshan Khanate to collect the Khan's flags and other tokens, and called on the Mobei people to migrate to the west of Jinshan. He also formally stated that he would not obey the orders of Shetu, the Khan, and called himself Khan. The Eastern and Western Turks were officially divided from then on.

Although the independence of Western Turkic Khanate made it difficult for the Tang Dynasty to influence and control it through the Khan Shetu, this action also greatly reduced the prestige and appeal of the Turkic Khanate. The prestige damaged naturally also included the self-righteous Western Turkic Khanate, which was bound to have a considerable impact on the Western Turkic Khanate.

In addition, compared with the rising star of the Turkic Khanate, although the Central Plains regime has neglected its management and control over the Western Regions in recent years, the origins and history of the two can be traced back to a long time. Unlike the Western Turkic Khanate, which was only based on military conquest, when the Tang Dynasty turned its attention to the Western Regions, it could take many more measures.

In particular, Li Tai was not only the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, but also a direct descendant of the Longxi Li family and the King of Xiliang, Li Hong. His ancestor Li Bao even once established the post-Xiliang regime in the Western Regions.

When this kind of friendship and loyalty had no power to be used, it was nothing more than a story that brought about a few sighs. However, now that the Tang Dynasty has risen strongly and has a strong desire to resume operations in the Western Regions, the value of united front work that can be tapped is very considerable!
Li Tai had a clear feeling after arriving in Dunhuang. Outside the city of Dunhuang, soldiers and civilians also came out to welcome the emperor. However, unlike the shouts of the people in other prefectures and counties welcoming the emperor, the shouts of the people in Dunhuang were less enthusiastic and more solemn: "The people of Liang and the people of Jian's mausoleum, welcome our lord back to his country! The elders of Liang have cried for generations, but the heavens will never abandon us. The wise king will return to his ancestral home!"