The Great Tang General

Li Xuan ordered Ma Lin to rest and stockpile supplies to stabilize the area.

After a while, march towards Libya.

Because the actual control of the Black Caliphate extended to the Libya region including Carthage.

The Tang Dynasty will not attack areas outside the territory of the Arab Empire for the time being.

The situation in this part of North Africa is very complicated.

There is not only the Arab religion, but also the Catholic religion.

There are also dozens of other religions, and all kinds of races.

There is also a group of primitive tribes.

It is impossible for the Tang Dynasty to reach the Strait of Gibraltar in one go.

For Li Xuan, as long as he occupied the most important areas in North Africa and stabilized it, it would be easy to advance westwards from the Libya region.

In August, Li Xuan set out from Jerusalem.

He ordered Li Guangbi to stay in Jerusalem, and he took the crown prince, the King of Yan, and accompanying officials to inspect the Egyptian region.

The people in Egypt were mainly Copts, among whom there were also some Arabs who did not choose to escape.

Most of the local leaders who now submit to the Tang Dynasty are Coptic nobles.

Li Xuan arrived in Fustat (now Cairo) in mid-August.

Ma Lin led his soldiers and Coptic nobles who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage to the Heavenly Khan.

Li Xuan accepted the Coptic nobles just as he accepted the nobles in the Mesopotamian region.

At the same time, they were rewarded with fine wine, candies, and jade pendants carved by Tang Dynasty craftsmen.

This made these Coptic nobles grateful and they shouted "Long live the Heavenly Khan".

The Copts were very good at changing their stance according to the situation. Just as they had destroyed Catholic temples before, when they surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, they burned down Arab temples and even caused a lot of bloody conflicts.

In a short period of time, the Arab Empire was completely defeated.

The Copts have great reverence for the Khan.

Like the nobles of Jerusalem, the Coptic nobles were also willing to carve statues for the Sky Khan after seeing his holy face.

Li Xuan's strategy was to win over the Copts and suppress the Arabs.

At the same time, the arable land and wealth left by the Arab nobles were distributed to the lower-class Coptic people in order to remove the fuel from the fire and gradually disintegrate the power of the Coptic nobles.

The Egyptian region was once an important province of the Arab Empire, and the governor was directly appointed by the Caliph.

This is the most important region in North Africa.

Li Xuan wanted to manage the Egyptian region from a cultural perspective, and like the Tulunid Dynasty in history, he would build water conservancy projects and irrigate agriculture in Egypt.

The Nile River Basin is also relatively rich.

At the same time, Egypt, with its unique geographical location, is also very suitable for the development of commerce and handicrafts.

During the rule of the Black Caliphate, Egypt was an important handicraft city.

After half a month in Frista, Li Xuan arrived in Alexandria (now Alexandria Port).

Alexandria is located close to the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second richest region in Egypt and its largest port.

Various Egyptian handicrafts were transported to the Roman Empire, Syria, Hoh Xil and other regions through Alexandria.

Li Xuan stayed in Alexandria for half a month to learn about the situation in the Egyptian region and the available trade.

At the same time, good news came.

After the fall of the Arabs, the Libyan region was leaderless, and Libyan nobles arrived in Alexandria to pay homage to the Khan.

Willing to submit to the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xuan admired their decision to abandon darkness and join the light, and immediately ordered Ma Lin to lead 8,000 light cavalry, with each man riding two horses, to enter the Libya region under the guidance of local nobles.

Any forces that do not submit and the remnants of the Arabs will be wiped out.

Li Xuan gave another order to Ma Sui.

He set out from the port of Jerusalem with a fleet of conscripted merchants and two thousand armored soldiers, heading for Carthage, one of the most important seaport cities in North Africa today.

The Tang Dynasty only needs to control the port of Carthage and open up the road to Libya.

By October, Ma Sui had captured the important seaport of Carthage after a fierce battle.

Ma Lin also basically stabilized the situation in Libya.

Those who were disloyal either continued to migrate westward or were wiped out by Ma Lin.

In November, Li Xuan inspected Carthage.

He stood in this place with rich history and looked at the Mediterranean Sea.

Once upon a time, the famous maritime civilization Carthage was defeated by the more civilized land civilization, the ancient Roman Empire.

The ancient city of Carthage was burned down, the ashes accumulated to a thickness of several feet, and all the prosperity turned to dust.

When Abogas was on a diplomatic mission to the Tang Dynasty, he presented Hannibal's sword to Li Xuan.

Hannibal was once the commander-in-chief and administrator of the ancient kingdom of Carthage.

In later generations, Xiang Yu had a very famous title "Hannibal of the East".

Perhaps Hannibal should be called "Xiang Yu of the West" from now on.

In the end, Li Xuan decided to establish the Xihai Protectorate here.

Carthage, Libya, and Egypt were all placed under the Western Sea Protectorate, with Carthage as its seat.

In fact, what the Tang Dynasty actually controlled was the green land along the Mediterranean, which was also the richest region.

Li Xuan appointed Ma Sui as the Grand Protector of the Xihai Protectorate and transferred him to a civil servant.

The Xihai Governor's Office was established, with Ma Lin appointed as the Xihai Governor. He was promoted from the rank of general to the rank of general, and was awarded the Jade Lin Medal.

He gathered some Han soldiers and recruited some natives to form the Western Navy, with a total of 40,000 soldiers.

While being responsible for the stability of the West Sea, he also prepared for battle and had the ability to advance westward.

After serving a term in the Xihai Protectorate, Ma Sui would be recalled to Chang'an by Li Xuan.

As for the Han soldiers who remained in the Xihai Protectorate, Li Xuan would decide whether to bring their families over according to their wishes.

After appointing various assistant officials to the Western Sea Protectorate, Li Xuan left Carthage and returned to Jerusalem.

On the way back, Li Xuan began to plan other protectorates.

The Syrian region, because it has two important cities, Jerusalem and Damascus, and is close to the Mediterranean Sea, has developed commerce. Therefore, Li Xuan named the Syrian region, including the Sinai Peninsula and the desert part of the peninsula, the Canghai Protectorate, with its seat in Jerusalem.

Li Xuan appointed Yan Jiming as the Grand Protector of Canghai Protectorate.

The Canghai Governorate was established, and Bai Yuanguang, who besieged and killed the Arab Caliph Abu Zarfar Abbas, was promoted to the position of Canghai Governor-General, with the rank of general and the title of Duke.

In the Mesopotamian Basin, this vast area stretches from Syria in the east to Armenia in the north, from the Persian Gulf in the south to Persepolis in the west. The Tang Dynasty established the most important protectorate in West Asia, the Mesopotamian Protectorate, with its capital in Baghdad.

Xiao Xin, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was appointed as the Grand Protector of the Lianghe Protectorate.

Although the Grand Protector and the Vice Minister were both of the second rank, Li Xuan conferred the title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi on Xiao Xin, which was equivalent to the first rank.

Let Xiao Xin take charge of the Two Rivers Protectorate, gather the resources of the two river basins, quickly clean up the mountains and rivers, and become self-sufficient.

The Governor-General's Office of the Two Rivers was established, and Li Siye was appointed Governor-General of the Two Rivers, stationed in Baghdad.

Li Xuan would promise to confer the title of marshal on the meritorious officials so that they would go down in history.

The Black Sea Protectorate was established in Azerbaijan and Armenia, with Lu Shaoyou, a doctor of the Ministry of War, as the Grand Protector of the Black Sea, with its capital in Baku.

The Caspian Protectorate was established in the area south of the Caspian Sea and west of the Caspian Sea, with Hamadan as its seat of government. Yu Qi, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, was appointed as the Grand Protector of the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea Governor's Office was established, and Zhao Huaiping, who had made great military achievements and followed Li Xuan from the Western Regions, was appointed as the Caspian Sea Governor's Office.

The main responsibility of the Caspian Governor-General was to guard the Roman Empire against the Black Sea Protectorate.

The Persian Protectorate was established in the regions of Fars, Sistan, Khorasan and Muruga.

Taking into account the special situation of Persia, the "Persian title" is retained.

Li Xuan appointed Lu Jing as the Protector-General of Persia and gave him the title of Yitong Sansi.

This was a large protectorate that could rival the Mesopotamian Protectorate. They cooperated with each other based on the prosperity of both sides and the Silk Road.

The Mulu Governor's Office was established, with Li Sheng appointed as the Mulu Governor, stationed in the Persian region to ensure that the Persian region could return to its peak.

Not all the soldiers in these military governor's offices were Han Chinese, because it was not possible for the Tang Dynasty to deploy a large number of Han troops in the west for the time being.

At least half of them will recruit local indigenous warriors of civilian origin.

As long as they meet the requirements of the Tang Dynasty, more arable land will be allocated to their families.

At this point, the Tang Dynasty added the West Sea Protectorate, the Canghai Protectorate, the Two Rivers Protectorate, the Black Sea Protectorate, the Caspian Sea Protectorate, and the Persian Protectorate.

Sixteen protectorates had been formed around the Tang Dynasty, and the Great Chinese Empire, which controlled thousands of miles of territory, was established by Li Xuan.

The Western Sea Military Governor's Office, the Canghai Military Governor's Office, the Caspian Sea Military Governor's Office, the Two Rivers Military Governor's Office, and the Mulu Military Governor's Office were also added.

This brought the Tang Dynasty's total number of military governorates to thirty.

If the governors of Anxi, Beiting, Zhezhi and other governorates are to be stationed in the new area, Li Xuan will promote those with outstanding military achievements to take over.

Li Xuan did not forget to set up the Jinyiwei in the six protectorate areas.

……

In February of the 13th year of Qianyuan, Li Xuan returned to Jerusalem.

Li Xuan planned to wait for three to five years until the protectorates became more stable before renaming these cities, mountains, rivers and lakes.

Moreover, the name cannot be changed casually. The geographers of the Tang Dynasty must survey the geographical features and then make changes based on the actual situation.

The surnames of the indigenous people should also be gradually sinicized.

For example, the Xiongnu and Xianbei in history all had Chinese surnames.

When necessary, Li Xuan would also grant the surname Li to some "people who have made contributions to the Tang Dynasty."

Some indigenous people would feel extremely honored to have the same surname as Tian Khan.

After returning to Jerusalem, Li Xuan formally announced the establishment of six protectorates and five governorates.

The officials and generals who had been identified by Li Xuan in advance immediately took office with Li Xuan's handwritten order.

Before leaving, Li Xuan explained some matters and development plans to them...

Li Xuan issued a personal order to the indigenous nobles, ordering the governors to send troops to attack and kill anyone who dared to cause trouble after the establishment of the Grand Protectorate.

The Tang Dynasty could directly control the six newly established protectorates and set up counties.

The problem is that there are no Han people, so immigration is impossible in the short term.

It can only exist in the form of a protectorate.

While the Tang Dynasty collected taxes from the nobles, it also established counties and towns and directly dispatched officials to govern the local people.

The Arab nobility collapsed, and a number of other ethnic groups were wiped out, leaving huge space for manipulation.

Each protectorate will control tens of millions of acres of arable land.

These arable lands were distributed to the indigenous people in the Tang Dynasty's way of "granting land" in order to win the hearts of the people.

Develop water conservancy projects according to the terrain; develop commerce and handicrafts along the Silk Road.

Statistics of gold mines, silver mines, and various minerals in various places.

The Arab Empire was able to issue gold and silver coins, and there were many gold and silver mines discovered within it.

It can be used by the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xuan hoped that the gold and silver coins of the Tang Dynasty could become the most credible currency.

It would be best to expel the Roman Empire's currency from trade.

A month after Li Xuan returned to Jerusalem and arranged everything, when he was preparing to return to Chang'an, the Jinyiwei reported that the Roman Empire's special envoy Abogas had come to the Tang Dynasty again.

This time, following the order of Constantine V, he presented the most beautiful noble woman in the Roman Empire, a Roman princess who was already considered a daughter by Constantine V, to the Khan as a concubine to show the unbreakable friendship between the two countries.

This made Li Xuan silent.

He knew that the Roman Empire was guilty and wanted to avoid conflict with the Tang Dynasty through marriage.

The Romans were noble people. After their enemies were eliminated, they would take the initiative to fight against the Tang Dynasty if it showed signs of weakness in West Asia in order to restore their dream of a "Mediterranean Empire".

Li Xuan had been out for four years, and the imperial guards had been out for almost six years. Many of the soldiers had become sick from homesickness.

You know, most of the imperial guards’ families are in Chang’an and Luoyang.

No matter how high Li Xuan's prestige is, returning to his hometown is the wish of the soldiers.

Not only that, the troops from Anxi, Beiting, Zhezhi, Dunhuang and other places also had to take turns to go back to visit their families.

The Hu people who followed Li Xuan to fight also missed their hometown.

Moreover, Li Xuan is now setting up six protectorates to digest these territories.

Even if we use one or two years to defeat Rome, it is still a bit beyond our ability.

So Li Xuan prepared to meet Abogas again.

Isn't she just a concubine married to a foreign emperor?
Just bring her back to Chang'an and give her a place.

Once she arrived in Chang'an, her fate was no longer in her control. It was impossible for her to return to Rome or contact Rome.

It is equivalent to reassuring the Roman Empire and resuming trade between the two countries as soon as possible.

The Tang Dynasty needed the help of the Roman Empire to sell silk, tea, porcelain, new and old handicrafts to Western Europe and Eastern Europe in order to enrich domestic trade.

Wait until the Tang Dynasty has complete control over the six newly established protectorates and carry out some immigration.

By then, Datang's firearms will be taken to a higher level.

If the Roman Empire wanted to turn against them, Li Xuan would use cannons to blast open the Western gates and let them know how backward they were.

A month later, Abogaz returned to Jerusalem.

He presented a large dowry and constantly flattered the Khan.

My heart was in turmoil.

In his eyes, the Protectorate represented the Tang Dynasty's formal rule over the territory of the former Arab Empire.

Tian Khan is ambitious and has great ambitions. One day he might move north from the Syrian region.

Fortunately, Li Xuan verbally promised that the relationship between the two countries will be further improved.

In the future, we should achieve mutual benefit and win-win results so that both countries can enjoy peace and prosperity.

Abogas did not take Li Xuan's words seriously and only hoped that Irina could win the favor of the Khan with her beauty and charm.

But how could he know? Li Xuan was determined and would never be seduced by beauty.

Otherwise he would not have had only four wives from beginning to end.

You have ruled the world for more than ten years, but you have never chosen the most beautiful place in the world.

On that day, after taking a bath and changing her clothes, Irina came to Li Xuan's palace.

Irina was born into an aristocratic family in Athens and was influenced by Greek classical culture since childhood. She had skin whiter than snow, eyebrows as black as distant black, eyes as clear and bright as a spring, and her spirits soared when she looked around.

She was lithe and graceful, wearing a well-cut silk dress that fluttered as she walked.

Irina is both classical and elegant.

Even though Li Xuan was not interested in Westerners, he thought she was very beautiful. Perhaps this is what the goddesses of ancient Greece looked like.

Irina's heart was beating faster and her watery eyes were filled with panic, so that it was difficult for her to walk.

Because she had to face a man that even the Roman emperor feared.

God Khan!
Some Roman scholars translated Tian Khan as Lord of the World.

The king from the East rules the world.

The future Irene was a famous empress, the first empress of the Roman Empire.

But now she is just an inexperienced girl.

She only felt a majestic figure on the main seat, and she didn't dare to look up...

(End of this chapter)