I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 964: The New Era Suzerainty System (Combined Chapter)

The news of the former Cheshi Kingdom's surrender swept across the Bogda Mountains like a strong wind.

In the name of reviving the old dynasty and continuing the extinct, Su Yao abolished and executed the old king who had usurped power and rebelled more than ten years ago, and made A Luozuo, a descendant of the Chesi family, the king. He also established a county in Jiaohe City and appointed Han officials to manage the military farming affairs. At the same time, he used An Siyan's gold treasure house as military funds. This move immediately made the tribes in the former country, which had been in a panic, feel a little relieved.

Those tribal leaders rushed to Jiaohe City to pay homage to the new king and to find out the true strength of this Han general.

However, when they witnessed with their own eyes the iron-blooded army under Su Yao's command, all their little thoughts disappeared.

“Is this the Han army?”

A tribal leader looked at the cavalrymen lined up in neat formation on the parade ground, his voice trembling.

The knights were all wearing iron armor, which gleamed coldly under the blazing sun. They held long spears, had ring-handled swords on their waists, horn bows on their backs, and quivers hung next to their saddles. Their equipment was so sophisticated that it far exceeded the imagination of the Western Regions.

What is even more frightening is the look in the eyes of these soldiers - cold and determined, as if they have already disregarded life and death.

"I heard that they defeated 40,000 Qiang people with only 3,000 of them in Liangzhou, killing them so many that their blood flowed like a river."

"Shh, keep your voice down!"

The leaders whispered to each other, their eyes full of awe.

At this moment, drums suddenly sounded on the parade ground. The cavalrymen followed the order and instantly divided into three teams. Under the command of the flag, they changed into various complex formations.

Ma Chao led a team to bypass from the left, Yan Xing led a team to encircle from the right wing, and Zhao Yun rushed in the center. The three cavalry units cooperated well, both offensive and defensive, and everyone was stunned.

"This this."

An elderly tribal leader suddenly burst into tears: "I have lived for sixty years and have never seen such elite troops! It is a blessing from heaven that Cheshi can have such strong support!"

The other leaders also echoed and dared not have any second thoughts.

Su Yao sat high on the viewing platform and took in all of this.

Should we say that clothes make the man and saddles make the horse?
In just two days, Alozo, who used to be silent and hesitant, began to show his power.

He was wearing a Han-style royal ceremonial robe, but it was slightly different from the traditional one in that there was a four-clawed dragon pattern embroidered on his chest.

This was specially made by the court tailors before Su Yao set out on the expedition to the Western Regions. He brought a lot of it at one time in order to receive generous rewards during the expedition.

Although the practice of embroidering dragons on imperial robes can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty, the use of dragon claws to distinguish between different ranks did not begin until the Yuan Dynasty.

Allowing the four-clawed dragon to appear ahead of time is also a manifestation of Su Yao's reshaping of the Han Dynasty's vassal hierarchy.

The journey to the west is endless and it is impossible for the Han Dynasty to bring every place under direct rule. It will inevitably require the cooperation of local people.

For this reason, it is particularly necessary to set up different levels of vassal states to help govern the local area according to the closeness of the relationship and the degree of their submission and naturalization.

Therefore, it is only natural to divide the royal titles into different ranks.

The closest and highest-ranking one among them is naturally the emperor. The exception is "King of Tang", which is Su Yao's own title and the most transcendent existence among the vassal kings. After being awarded the Nine Gifts, the king can wear clothes with five-clawed dragon patterns and enjoy the same status as the emperor.

Next in line are the princes or dukes of a lower rank, embroidered with four-clawed dragon patterns.

In the country, they were not easily granted. Although the princes who were close relatives of the royal family enjoyed hereditary treatment, their titles had to be reduced in succession.

In foreign countries, those who were granted the right to rule more important regions or those who had closer relations with the royal family were called first-class vassal states, also known as close vassal states or nearby vassal states.

The characteristics of these countries are that they inherited the Han system, accepted officials sent by the imperial court, and appointed prime ministers to manage local state affairs. They were the vassal states with the strongest control power.

In addition, the three-clawed dragons are lower-level princes. They are county kings in China and second vassals abroad.

The title of county king in the country cannot be inherited. He only enjoys financial support from the fiefdom and has no actual fiefdom. Most of them are demoted from the princes. If someone makes great contributions to the country in the future, he may be granted the title of county king.

However, for now, no one below him is qualified to be called a duke, so the county king Su Yao naturally does not intend to send him out easily. He only uses it to clean up those princes of the "previous dynasty".

After all, the country is not currently experiencing a change of dynasty through brutal war, and there are still many Liu princes dividing up local fiefdoms.

For these people, Su Yao would naturally send people to investigate their illegal activities on the one hand, and deprive those who were dishonest or had ill intentions of their fiefdoms. On the other hand, for those who were more obedient and posed no threat, Su Yao would demote them to inherit the title, allowing them to naturally withdraw from the stage of history.

As for foreign countries, Su Yao was going to issue this level of rank to countries that came to express their submission and whom the imperial court had no plans to conquer for the time being.

This level is basically the tributary states that were common in the past. Their characteristics are that they are either far away or the local areas are poor and mountainous, and have little value in conquest.

Therefore, these countries only needed to pay tribute regularly and accept the imperial court's enthronement. The imperial court would not send officials to govern and would rarely interfere in their internal affairs.

However, compared with the traditional tributary states in the past, the tributary states under the new system will now sign a formal feudal treaty after accepting the enthronement to standardize governance.

The details of this treaty may have various additions, but the main items are fixed.

The first is to clarify the years of regular tribute and the standards for tribute based on the distance of the country.

The second is that the country must send its prince to study and live in the capital. At the same time, both sides must select princesses from their royal families, establish royal marriages, and so on.

The third is to set up an embassy district in the country’s capital to accept permanent or regular envoys from the court.

Fourth, the two sides signed a trade and friendship agreement, at least demarcating an area for trade between the two countries. The subordinate country had the obligation to protect the merchants and people of the superior country, and was not allowed to arbitrarily impose commercial taxes and tariffs, or grant extraterritoriality, etc.

The fifth is the military alliance clause, which states that the suzerain state has the obligation to protect the country's social heritage, and the vassal state should also respond to the court's call, provide troops or supplies, etc.

The sixth is the cultural clause, which requires vassal states to change the court language to Chinese, use Chinese as the only language in official occasions, especially in exchanges between the two countries, and gradually promote Chinese-style education.

Although these terms may seem harsh, they actually give vassal states more specific obligations and rights than the simple tribute system of the past, and also make the relationship between the two sides more standardized and institutionalized.

At this point, the standards for the title of king were over. A two-clawed dragon was not worthy of being called a dragon. Countries whose level or civilization was not high enough to be tributary states were all given python robes, and were granted titles of dukes, generals, captains or commanders according to their distance from the country.

Although these countries submitted in name, the imperial court had weak control over them and mostly adopted a policy of tributary rule, not interfering in their internal affairs for the time being.

However, as time goes by, the imperial court will gradually strengthen its influence on them through economic, cultural and other means, and eventually naturalize them.

As for the lowest class, those who are not even worthy of wearing python robes, they are the barbarians and must either be wiped out or wait to be wiped out.

This system had already been discussed with Wan Nian and other officials in the court before Su Yao left Beijing. Now it was being practiced for the first time in Cheshi State, and the effect was surprisingly good.

A Luozuo, wearing a four-claw dragon robe, sat upright beside Su Yao. This once timid boy now had a determined light in his eyes. He imitated Su Yao and nodded slightly to the leaders of each tribe. His every move showed the demeanor of a king.

"Everyone," Alozo said, "from today on, Cheshi will forever be a vassal of the Han Dynasty. I have ordered people to rebuild the tomb of the previous king and restore the sacrifices of the Cheshi family. All my people should work together to build our homeland."

The leaders of each tribe knelt down and said, "We will obey the king's order!"

Su Yao nodded with satisfaction, "Your Majesty, since these tribes are sincere in their submission, why not give them some wine and food as a reward?"

Alozo agreed respectfully and immediately ordered a banquet to entertain the leaders of the tribes.

At the banquet that night, Su Yao deliberately invited the Alyssa sisters to attend.

The former slave sisters transformed themselves into princesses in their best attire and stunned everyone as soon as they appeared on stage.

"It's the pearl of the Ches family!"

"Beautiful, so beautiful!"

"Just like the princesses of the past!"

The leaders were so excited that some even knelt down and cried. Faced with such a situation, the Alyssa sisters responded calmly. They spoke to everyone in fluent Cheshi language, telling them about the hardships they had experienced in a foreign land over the years, how lucky they were to be rescued by Su Yao, and what they had seen and heard in the Han area.

"The prosperity of the Han area is far beyond our imagination." Alyssa stroked her silk sleeves gently. "The general treats us like family and never looks down on us because we are a foreign race."

Alice added: "The Han people often say 'all men in the world are brothers'. As long as you sincerely submit, the imperial court will not treat you unfairly."

The leaders listened attentively, their eyes sparkling with longing. They toasted Su Yao one after another to express their submission.

Su Yao raised his glass in response: "Since you are willing to submit, the court will treat you well. From now on, Cheshi and the Han Dynasty are one family."

After regaining control of these former Cheshi people, the next thing to do was naturally to suppress the rebels in the north.

All the leaders responded immediately to Su Yao's proposal to attack the later kingdom and rescue the former king.

"We are willing to follow the general to fight against the rebellion!"

"It is our duty to save the late king!"

"I am willing to send 300 men to accompany the general!"

"I can send 500 warriors to follow you to the battle!"

The tribal leaders rushed to sign up, and Su Yao nodded with satisfaction.

Honestly speaking, these three to five hundred tribal warriors are really uninteresting just by looking at their numbers.

But Su Yao himself did not expect these tribal vassal troops to resist Daliang. He just wanted an attitude.

Taking these tribal warriors to sweep across the battlefield would help to present his image as an invincible Han army.

When the idea that the Han army was invincible was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, he no longer had to go through the trouble of conquering the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions one by one, like stars in the sky.

At the same time, these people's participation has a very practical help.

That is, he has a larger talent pool and can easily select "guide" candidates.

Soon, Su Yao picked out a smart, capable, experienced and well-mannered middle-aged man from among the tribes, set him in the system wizard bar, and unlocked a detailed map of the area around Cheshi Kingdom.

In an instant, Su Yao discovered that in the northwest, which is the direction of present-day Urumqi, a large group of red dots were gathering there.

The later state of Cheshi, the city of Futu.

"What's the situation now? Have the reinforcements not arrived yet?!"

Just when the people of the former country were convinced that they were loyal, the five Cheshi countries behind the mountains were greatly shocked.

Mohula of the Cheshi Kingdom was so frightened after hearing that the Han army had destroyed the former kingdom in an instant like a divine force descended from the sky that he could not sleep or eat.

The country had 20,000 people and 5,000 soldiers, but was easily defeated by the Han army.

Although the people of his kingdom were tough and brave and good at fighting, after several years of war, his national strength had declined. Today, his population is only 15,000 and his soldiers are only 3,000. How could he resist the iron army of the Han Dynasty?
The only hope is the coalition forces of Wusun and Xianbei. If they can't arrive as soon as possible, I'm afraid I will have to pack up and flee.

"I'm coming!"

"Report to the general, the Xianbei coalition forces are close to Pulei State (southeast of present-day Barkol Lake) and will arrive in a few days. The Wusun reinforcements are even closer and have already reached Beilu. The general has nothing to worry about!"

"Have we reached Beilu?"

"Haha, hahaha!"

Mohura laughed heartily.

Beilu State was one of the states in the later part of Cheshi, located in the present-day Urumqi area.

Although this country is small, its land is rich.

But this is not the reason why he laughed and felt relieved. The most important thing is that the geographical location here is particularly important.

As mentioned before, the front and rear parts of Cheshi were divided by Bogda Mountain, and the Bilu Kingdom was located at the foot of Bogda Mountain in the west. If the Han army in the front wanted to conquer it, they had to go around here.

Therefore, this place has always been a key area for fighting between the two parts.

Now that the reinforcements from the Wusun Kingdom have arrived, he can finally rest easy.

"However." The official who came to report hesitated slightly.

"What's wrong again?" Mohuluo asked with a frown.

Under Mohula's questioning, the official finally spoke with hesitation.

As the saying goes, every gift has its price tag, and the help of the Wusun people was certainly not free.

After the Wusun army arrived at the Beilu Kingdom, they not only demanded local materials and tributes, but also began to expel the people and drove the tribes at the water source behind the mountains, as if they were here and would not leave.

"This"

Mohula's face changed drastically, but he had nothing to say.

As mentioned before, the location of the Kingdom of Beilu is extremely important.

This is not only because it is a key node connecting the front and rear of Cheshi, but also a key area for the Wusun Kingdom to enter the Western Regions.

Why did the Wusun Kingdom, which was obviously powerful and had tens of thousands of soldiers, always have limited interference in the Western Regions? Why did it always stay content with the status quo and lie flat in the Ili River Valley?

The most critical issue is that Wusun and the countries in the Western Regions are separated by a majestic mountain range, the Tianshan Mountains, one of the seven major mountain ranges in the world.

The Tianshan Mountains are the largest independent latitudinal mountain range in the world. They are also the mountain range farthest from the ocean and the largest mountain range in the world's arid regions.

This mountain range stretches across northwest China, dividing the Western Regions into two.

If the Wusun Kingdom, located in the Ili River Valley, wanted to enter the Western Regions, it could either go through the Fergana Basin in Dayuan to the west, or go through Beilu at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

It is precisely because of this key geographical location that after the Qing Dynasty lost Ili, Urumqi became the new residence of the Ili General and later the capital of Xinjiang.

Obviously, after deciding to send troops, Wusun also started to make its own plans.

They did not intend to just send troops to help and call it a day. They wanted to take advantage of the situation to annex Bilu and even capture the entire Cheshi. The purpose of their trip was to seize the key node for advancing to the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains.

Although Mohuluo, who had let the wolf into the house, was dissatisfied and wary, the development of the situation was no longer under his control.

Be it the Xianbei or the Wusun, neither of them could be controlled by his small country.

This is the result of interference from foreign powers.

But, their ambitions.
"What a beautiful thought!"

At the same time, Su Yao called out his generals in Jiaohe City:

"The army will follow me immediately, and I will make sure they never return!"

(End of this chapter)