The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 250 Guo Jing presents a gift, the Western Expedition begins

After arranging the government affairs in the court, Guo Jing also received a letter from Mongolia, which was stamped with the seal of Genghis Khan, inviting him to join the Western Expedition.

In the first year of the Shenwu reign of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Zhou, Guo Jing, led 20,000 cavalrymen to the grassland to meet with Genghis Khan of Mongolia, and jointly launched the second large-scale westward expedition in history, known as the Han-Mongol Westward Expedition.

"The government affairs of the court are handed over to you. To maintain peace, the affairs of the performance evaluation system must be implemented. Administration of officials is the foundation of the court and must not be neglected." Outside the city of Luoyang, Guo Jing gave the prince earnest instructions.

"My son understands."

In the pavilion, Guo Jing was still a little worried. "If you have any questions about internal affairs, ask the Prime Minister. If you have any questions about external affairs, ask your uncle Lu. These two are veteran officials in the court and can help you."

Guo Chengping just thought it was funny. When had he ever seen his father nagging like that? He just listened attentively without a trace of annoyance.

"Okay, you've said enough. When I'm not around, you'll be the monarch of the Great Zhou!" Guo Jing patted his shoulder, stood up, mounted his horse, squeezed his legs together, and the little red horse rode away.

Behind him, thousands of horses were galloping, raising waves of dust on the official road, like a long ochre dragon wandering across the land.

At the city gate, two women looked at the direction he left with dazed expressions until he disappeared.

……

Three months later, Hara and Lin.

The river meandered down, and Guo Jing, as the Mongolian prince consort and the Khan of Mongolia, had a smooth journey. When they came, they brought a lot of goods and exchanged them for food and supplies with the herdsmen in the grassland.

As soon as we arrived at the border of Kharakhorin, we heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Before the person arrived, the voice came first. Tuolei's voice came from a long distance, "Anda, you came so fast!"

The little red horse's hooves flew as it broke away from the group and walked forward, "Haha, I'm afraid of wasting time. I've been rushing all the way here and even changed horses twice."

"Come on, I will take you to the camp to set up camp first, and then take you to see the royal city of my Mongolia." Tolui's face was full of joy when he saw his brother.

Guo Jing smiled and followed him to a small valley, where there were woods all around and a river not far away, making it convenient to get drinking water. After instructing Zhang Rou to set up camp, Guo Jing led hundreds of his personal soldiers to the Mongolian royal city.

The group ran for half an hour and finally arrived. On the vast grassland, a towering city rose from the ground, with tall city walls and gatehouses, elite soldiers, open gates, camels, horse-drawn carriages, ox-drawn carts, and people coming and going in all kinds of clothes, there were even merchants wearing Han clothes.

The appearance of the city was very similar to Luoyang, but Guo Jing did not care. However, his attention was all on the pedestrians coming in and out of the city gate. The expressions on these people's faces were full of awe and admiration when they stepped into the city. The herdsmen here were all holding their heads high and feeling proud.

He had never seen such an expression on the foreigners in Luoyang City, and the Han people did not have that kind of confidence and pride. Perhaps, the scene in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty was the same hundreds of years ago.

"Well, it took us two and a half years to build this city. It's not worse than Luoyang, right?"

Guo Jing felt mixed emotions and nodded, "It's not worse than Luoyang, Tolui, the Khan is very satisfied with this city, right?"

Tuolei looked very proud and boastful. "Haha, after the city was built, my father was very happy. He even praised me in the letters from my elder brother and second brother. He never praised me like this before when I won a battle in the Western Regions."

"It must have taken a lot of effort for you to build such a city in two years." Guo Jing couldn't help but sigh as he entered the city.

"You really understand me. In the past two years, I have not been in charge of the Khanate's affairs. I have been personally watching over the affairs of the Royal City. You don't know that since the city was built, the people below have been corrupt and selling inferior goods as good ones. All kinds of things have given me a headache. I have chopped off thousands of heads."

"That's right. This is Mongolia's foundation and we can't neglect it."

The street was very wide, wide enough for eight horses to run side by side. There were many shops on both sides of the road, and it was very busy. Guo Jing couldn't understand some of their language clearly, so they were probably from the Western Regions.

"Let's go, we're here."

The personal guards stayed outside the palace, and Guo Jing led the two of them and Tolui into the royal city. The ground was paved with marble slabs, there were smooth white marble railings, towering buildings, and dome-shaped buildings that combined Chinese and Western characteristics.

The palace gate opened, and the main hall was decorated with sculptures of an eagle and a wolf, which looked very imposing. Guo Jing took a closer look and found that the big eagle was very similar to the pair of small white eagles he and Hua Zheng had raised back then, which were still raised in the Luoyang Palace.

There was a figure sitting on the throne at the end of the palace. Guo Jing walked closer and leaned forward slightly. He did not lower his head, nor did he bow. He just bowed slightly and stood up straight. "Greetings, Great Khan."

Logically speaking, the ministers' attitude towards the Khan should not be like this.

But Guo Jing was the emperor of Central Plains, and even if Mongolia became more powerful, he was unwilling to be inferior to it.

The voice echoed in the hall, but no one answered. Tolui looked up in surprise, but saw his father Khan staring at Guo Jing with a serious expression. He was about to speak when a glance suddenly swept over him, so he had to shut up.

Guo Jing felt the gazes coming from above, an invisible pressure enveloped his heart, but he stood straighter, like a pine tree, and actually looked up to meet his gaze. The two majestic gazes collided in the air, and sparks flew as if electricity was generated in the void.

Even though he was standing below, Guo Jing was no less imposing than Genghis Khan. The atmosphere in the hall began to become tense. Tolui's expression became more and more solemn, as if he realized something, but he couldn't speak in this situation.

After a long while, Genghis Khan finally spoke, "Guo Jing, I have been waiting for you for so long, and you are finally here."

"The foreign father invited me with sincerity, so how dare Guo Jing break the contract?" His voice was deep and neither humble nor arrogant.

The more he looked at him, the more admiration Genghis Khan showed. "You have not wasted my efforts. If the next Khan of Mongolia can be like you, I will be satisfied."

"Tolui, bring some wine. I want to have a good drink with him."

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two had eased, Tolui breathed a sigh of relief, saluted Genghis Khan, and left in a hurry.

"Khan, this is the gift I prepared."

Guo Jing pointed to the box held by two people behind him and said, "This is the relic of Bodhidharma, the Zen Master of the Central Plains Buddhism. This is a precious sword made by the best craftsman in my Great Zhou."

In the past, Genghis Khan might have been focused on his sword, but as the Mongols conquered the Western Regions, various sects emerged one after another, and the local Shamanism could not withstand the invasion of the sects. He could only spread Buddhism and unite with the Tantric Buddhism in Tibet to maintain his rule.

Bodhidharma's relics are of great significance!

"Go, get it!"

Soon, the box was delivered to Genghis Khan. He opened the box containing the relic and saw a grayish-white finger bone relic placed in the brocade box. It looked like an ordinary bone, but there was a look of joy in his eyes.

"Okay, such a treasure is rare. I will order people to build a temple to enshrine this thing." He closed the box and looked at the other object. The scabbard was inlaid with several gems in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Genghis Khan took the sword and felt it was heavy in his hand.

When he drew the sword from its sheath, a sharp edge appeared before his eyes. It was a crescent-shaped scimitar, the blade was as clear as water, with a blood groove cut through it, through which a person's face could be vaguely reflected.

As the Great Khan of Mongolia, he had seen all kinds of magical weapons, and it was obvious that this sword was no ordinary thing.

The next moment, he drew the sword from his waist and used both arms to chop each other.

"clang!"

The sound of weapons clashing echoed in the hall, sparks flew, and Genghis Khan squinted his eyes. A tiny crack suddenly appeared on the blade of the precious sword that had been with him for many years.

His eyes lit up and he couldn't help but praise, "Good knife!"

A few years ago, he had conquered the Western Regions and had broken countless swords on his waist. The sword he carried was no longer the one he wore when he established the Mongolian Empire. This was a precious sword that he ordered Mongolian craftsmen to forge after he returned from the Western Expedition. It took him two years to do so.

There were a total of five precious swords that were unearthed. In addition to him, each of his four legitimate sons received one. He never expected that his sword could not compare to the sword given by Guo Jing.

He put his original sword aside and inserted the knife in his hand into the scabbard at his waist. It fit perfectly.

Genghis Khan: "I like these two gifts very much. You are very thoughtful."

"As long as the Khan likes it."

"What is the name of this sword?"

"Seven-star sword."

"Oh? This style is based on the stars in the sky, right?" Genghis Khan raised his eyebrows, took out the sword, inserted it into the original scabbard, and put it on his waist.

Why would he go back to wearing the old sword when he had a better one? For a veteran like him, a good sword is far more valuable than gold, silver, and jewelry. On the battlefield, a good weapon can sometimes save lives.

As the two were talking, a group of people came in from outside the hall, carrying tables and placing things in place.

"Come on, sit down!"

With the previous episode, Genghis Khan did not regard him as his junior, but rather as a person of equal status. Both Guo Jing's talent and ability, as well as the current strength of the Great Zhou, were worthy of his respect.

The two men sat opposite each other and talked about everything under the sun. Genghis Khan talked about the wars he encountered in the Western Regions and the difficulties he faced in ruling, while Guo Jing talked about the policies and measures in the Central Plains. Tolui, who was beside them pouring wine and serving food to the two men, listened in a daze and confused.

Genghis Khan and Guo Jing were both mature rulers, but Tolui was obviously far from that. If Ogedei were sitting here, he might be able to have a good conversation with these two people.

That night, Guo Jing stayed in the Golden Horde Palace.

After he arrived at the Golden Horde, more and more troops gathered around Karakorum, and the elite cavalry of the Mongolian headquarters gathered here. Equipment and food were continuously transported to the city.

On weekdays, Guo Jing would travel with Tolui and help him with some government affairs, so he learned more about Mongolia.

Today's Mongolia is vast and is no longer the Mongolia he knew back then. The royal city is divided into several factions, fighting openly and secretly for the next generation of Khan. After he came, many people contacted him, but he just pretended to be friendly and did not intervene.

In fact, as Tolui's anda, if Tolui wanted to fight for the throne, he would definitely support him.

But the problem now is that Tolui's Khanate is the most powerful among the many Khanates of Mongolia, but he himself has never thought about competing for the Khanate, but a group of ministers naturally gathered around him and pushed him forward.

Although Karakorum seemed peaceful and prosperous, it was actually turbulent. After only staying here for half a month, he saw that Mongolia would be torn apart in the future.

Of course, he did not mention the alliance with Mongolia. It would be too late to help in an emergency. The top priority now was to march west, not to negotiate terms with Genghis Khan. Only by demonstrating the strength of the Zhou cavalry would it be easier to negotiate an alliance.

……

A month later, Karakorum assembled an army of hundreds of thousands.

The Mongolian headquarters assembled 80,000 cavalry, and the vassal states from all over the country contributed 150,000 troops. Together with the 20,000 cavalry brought by Guo Jing, the total number of troops was 250,000. Karakorum gathered more than 100,000 troops, and the rest were in the various countries in the Western Regions, waiting for reinforcements from the army's westward expedition.

On the grassland, there were a hundred thousand cavalrymen, galloping horses, eagles soaring in the sky, the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the earth was shaking continuously. Guo Jing, wearing black armor, commanded twenty thousand Han cavalrymen. On his side was Tolui's cavalry team.

On a high platform in the distance, Genghis Khan slaughtered livestock and offered sacrifices to the Eternal Heaven with great fanfare.

In the Han cavalry team, someone took out a piece of paper and pen from a cloth bag to record the grand occasion. "In November of the first year of Shenwu, Taizu and the Mongolian Khan had a military exercise in Karakorum. More than 100,000 cavalrymen were in great force, with flags covering the sky. The strength of the troops far exceeded that of the Khitan of the Song Dynasty and was better than that of the Xiongnu of the Western Han Dynasty..."

A few days later, the army set out for the Western Regions.

This Western Expedition was instigated by the remnants of Khwarezm. Jalaluddin, the son of the Khwarezmian king Muhammad, fled to the Caucasus when the Mongols conquered Khwarezm. The Western Regions were vast and difficult to pursue.

Unexpectedly, after the Mongol army left, Jalaluddin sneaked back to various parts of Central Asia. The Turkic people in his territory actually regarded him as their leader and allowed him to rebuild the Khwarezmian Empire.

However, Jalaluddin was fighting with a neighboring Muslim country, and the news reached Karakorum, which led to Genghis Khan's second westward expedition.

On the former territory of Khwarezm, Genghis Khan led 100,000 cavalrymen to fight a decisive battle with Jalaluddin. He appointed Guo Jing, Muhuali, Tolui and others as generals, and destroyed tens of thousands of Khwarezm remnants in one battle.

After their capital was captured, Jalal al-Din fled to Qerte, where he was stabbed to death by local villagers. The Khwarezmian Empire was thus destroyed.

……

"Everyone, drink with me!"

Inside the Golden Tent, Genghis Khan held a grand banquet for his generals and leaders of various forces in the Western Regions. Guo Jing sat at the table, looking at these foreigners with different skin colors and clothes with a puzzled look in his eyes.

These people occupied a vast land, but were so weak, which made him feel mixed emotions. These days, he set out from Kharakorum, traveled tens of thousands of miles, crossed mountains and rivers, saw many landscapes he had never seen before, and met different people.

These people from the Western Regions were far from being their opponents. In this battle, the 20,000 Han cavalry led by Guo Jing surrounded the remnants of the enemy and captured more than 10,000 heads. These people looked at him with fear and awe in their eyes.

Seeing their eyes, Guo Jing suddenly understood Genghis Khan at this moment. These people did not deserve these places. The Silk Road made them rich, but they only cared about having fun. It was not unfair at all that they were defeated by Mongolia.

(End of this chapter)