The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 730 Sorry, Dayu doesn’t need you anymore
"Your Excellency, our prince is willing to lead the 150,000-man army of Samarkand and one million civilians to surrender to you. We are willing to offer you any wealth and women you need."

In Li Xianwen's base camp, the siege of Samarkand had not yet begun when the envoy of Prince Hassan Hussein, the governor of Samarkand, came to the camp to beg for mercy.

"As long as we capture this city, I can get all the wealth and women of Samarkand. I don't need you to hand them over to me!" Dong Jinfeng didn't want Li Xianwen to accept surrender from the bottom of her heart, so she immediately said with a sneer.

"No, General!" The messenger shook his head and said firmly, "Samarkand has existed for thousands of years. It has existed alongside those great dynasties of Taohuashi and has been conquered back and forth by various forces. If it hadn't been for its own strength, it would have been reduced to ruins long ago.

Whether it is the Huns, the Turks, the Mongols, or you Taohuashi people who come to conquer us, we have ways to deal with them.

For example, if we don't voluntarily hand over the gold and silver hoarded by the nobles of Samarkand, you won't get at least half of it."

The messenger seemed to be very proud. When talking about the strategy of kneeling down and begging for mercy and paying money to buy peace, he actually straightened his back slightly.

“And this is only the wealth within the city. Without us to collect the wealth from the millions of people outside the city, the general will never get it.

But as long as we do it for you, we can easily get everyone to take out all their money and hand it all over to the general as a life-saving payment."

This is indeed the case. Although there were banks at that time, they were not the mainstream of social savings wealth, and there were no certificates such as passbooks and bank cards.

Therefore, apart from the owner himself, no one else knows how much wealth this family has. If they hide it in a hidden cellar, it will be difficult to find.

"If the general is willing to support our prince to sit on the throne of the Emir of Bukhara, then we are willing to offer all the wealth of Bukhara." The envoy further raised the stakes and sounded sincere.

"May I ask what the envoy's identity is and how he dares to make such a promise?" Li Xianwen asked in a low voice.

"General, I am Omar, the uncle of Prince Hussein." The envoy thought the deal could be reached and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

"Hahahaha!" Li Xianwen suddenly burst into laughter, and his second son Li Xingtai and third son Li Xingcun also burst into laughter.

Li Xingcun, who had a somewhat gloomy personality, licked his lower lip and said, "You barbarian, how could you know the methods of my Celestial Empire? I will remember you and will never let you be killed by the warriors of the Western Army.

Because you belong to me, I will make you give up the last copper coin in your family."

"Hehe hahaha!" The civil and military officials in the room laughed strangely. Some of them just remembered that our Prince of Ningxia has a family origin.

Back then, they cooperated with Deng and Chen Chang in torturing and plundering people in Beihe. Once the ancestral torture rods were used, all the high-ranking officials in Beihe and Jinghan who did not want to return to Han were trapped in a dilemma. Even now, the words "King Li has arrived with the torture rods" can still stop the crying of children in Beihe.

Envoy Omar was so amused by these strange and playful smiles that he felt as if ants were crawling all over his body. He felt extremely uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and was about to open his mouth when Li Xianwen spoke first.

"No! Tell your prince to end his life before our army captures Samarkand. That way he will suffer less!"

Messenger Omar was terrified. Things seemed to be heading in the worst direction. They would not agree to such conditions. Could it be that these Peach Blossom Stone people really wanted to treat them, the Qarlugs, as the Dzungars?
"Your Excellency General, there are still 150,000 troops in Samarkand, with enough food to last for a year. If you don't give us a way to survive, we can only fight to the death." Omar straightened his back, and there was some threat in his words.

"Hahahaha!" The laughter got louder. No one would take these threats seriously, because they came here to completely destroy these people.

Messenger Omar didn't understand what was so funny about this, but when he thought of the prince's order and his own fate, he could only bite the bullet and continue:

“General, we, Prince Hussein, are truly willing to rule this land for the warriors. No one else has this determination except us.

As long as the general agrees to let us continue to govern Bukhara, we can meet any request."

Li Xianwen stood up, unwilling to continue playing the cat-and-mouse game. He said to Omar in a stern voice, "Our only condition is that you all disappear!"

"Go back, go back and prepare for battle, let us see the courage of you Qarlug people!"

Messenger Omar felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He stood there in a daze. Before he was dragged out by the guards, he collapsed and shouted:

"You will regret this, you will definitely regret it. You will encounter resolute resistance from all the Karluks. You are trying to do something that even Genghis Khan couldn't do. You will not succeed!"

"Tell the boys, we'll just rest for a day and start the siege the day after tomorrow. Once we take Samarkand, we'll spend a good New Year's Day in this city!"

Li Xianwen's face remained calm and he ignored the roar of Omar's envoy.

To be fair, the conditions proposed by Omar's envoy on behalf of Prince Hassan Hussein were very good.

This means that one can immediately obtain the wealth and women of the entire Bukhara Khanate without paying much price. If it were in the Han and Tang dynasties, they would definitely agree immediately.

But unfortunately, it is Dayu now.

Due to the limitations of productivity during the Han and Tang dynasties, the number of troops they could project to Hezhong was only about 20,000 to 30,000. If the number exceeded this, they could only rely on shortening the time to ensure the number of troops.

Moreover, during the Han and Tang dynasties, Hezhong was the key to the Silk Road. It was both prosperous and commercially developed. The Han and Tang dynasties needed a vassal state that obeyed the Han Dynasty and assisted the Han court in maintaining the Silk Road.

But unfortunately, it is Dayu now. First of all, Dayu's productivity will soon develop to the point where it can project 80,000 to 100,000 troops into the river at any time.

Secondly, with the demise of the Silk Road and the prosperity of sea transportation, the status of the Central Asian region, especially its economic status, is completely incomparable to that during the Han and Tang dynasties.

Dayu no longer needed a powerful foreign kingdom affiliated with the central government to serve as a guard on the trade routes.

In summary, during the Han and Tang dynasties, this place was required to provide sufficient emotional value (submission and tribute) and economic value.

As for Dayu, they only want the land here, not the people. If they want the land but not the people, then I don’t need you to be my dog anymore.

Of course, Li Xianwen could actually pretend to agree first, and then regret it after Prince Hussein opened the gate of Samarkand.

But after thinking it over again, Li Xianwen finally gave up the idea of taking a shortcut.

It's very simple. To conquer Bukhara and Transoxiana, the established strategy is to kill our way through.

When it comes to killing people, even if it's a massacre, there's a huge difference for soldiers between killing openly and honestly and killing through conspiracy and intrigue.

Soldiers, as the most concrete representatives of human violence, are not completely heartless. On the contrary, in the army, the majority are honest, stubborn, and simple-minded.

Too much fraud will damage the foundation of the army. It is best not to allow deception and deception to penetrate into the grassroots level of the army.

Simply put, for soldiers, their generals can be chosen by Khorne or Slaanesh, and can even engage in vicious conspiracies, but they cannot be sinister villains who go back on their words and say one thing and do another.

Seeing the envoys being driven away, Li Xingtai was extremely excited. He said loudly: "As long as this news spreads, the Karluk people will have no choice but to gather together and resist.

I think they will organize themselves like this and be eliminated by us without us having to search everywhere for them."

"Yes, get ready. Kill as many as you can on the battlefield." Li Xianwen said with a smile.

This is also the reason why he keeps sending out tough signals. It is better to let the Qarlugs and other ethnic groups come out and be killed on their own than to search for them one oasis at a time.

. . . .

Bukhara, Ark Emir Palace.

Things really turned out just as Li Xianwen had guessed. After the Qarlugs (Uzbeks) learned that Dayu was indeed going to get rid of them like the Qing Dynasty got rid of the Dzungars, a larger-scale mobilization began.

Ali, the Grand Imam of the Naqshbandi Order, walked quickly into the palace. Before he even entered Emir Murad's bedroom, a strong smell of medicine and a stench mixed with blood hit him in the face.

And the person who emitted this stench was Emir Murad himself.

"Grand Imam, I can't hold on any longer." When Emir Murad saw Grand Imam Ali coming in, a hint of excitement appeared on his pale face. As he spoke, he gently lifted the quilt covering him.

Under the quilt, Emil's abdomen was wrapped in fine white gauze. Under the gauze was a ball of black ointment, and around the ointment was seeping blood and body fluids.

Emir touched it lightly, and a stream of black blood flowed out, but Emir himself did not seem to feel any pain. "The Peach Blossom Stone Man's muskets are very powerful, more powerful than those of the Russians and even the Caliph!

I was only shot twice, but no medicine worked. Ten days later, not only did the wounds start to fester, but I also lost all feeling."

Grand Sheikh Ali looked at the Emir, whom he was not very satisfied with, and now he felt a sense of desolation as if the rabbit had died and the fox had grieved for it.

"Grand Imam, can the Emirate of Bukhara still exist? Do we still have hope?"

A flush appeared on Emir Murad's face and his voice became weak. It seemed that he really didn't have much time left.

“Of course it will exist, Bukhara will always exist as long as we believe in God and follow the Prophet’s guidance.

Because Allah's followers are all over the world, and those who accept the Prophet's guidance are our brothers. As long as we raise the banner of jihad, all brothers in the faith will come to help us."

Emir Murad closed his eyes, as if he was exhausted, but in fact he was still thinking.

After a while, the Emir opened his eyes and looked at Grand Imam Ali, and said with some pleading:

“I was not devout enough in the past to God, so I suffered this misfortune and was injured by the bullet that the Peach Blossom Stone Man got from the devil.

Fortunately, it is not too late to repent now. My son Haidar is far more pious than I am. He is more suitable to be the Emir than I am to protect this land for the believers of Allah."

This means that the deeply religious Haidar will come to power as Emir, and Grand Sheikh Ali is delighted.

Moreover, Emir Murad also expressed regret for his past secularization, which is another good publicity point.

"So, I want my son Muhammad to go to Istanbul to express my repentance to His Majesty the Caliph in person.

I ask the Great God and His Majesty the Caliph, the Invincible King of the World and Protector of Islam, to forgive me."

Grand Imam Ali was surprised, but then he understood what Emir Murad was going to do.

Muhammad's full name is Muhammad Ya'qub ibn Daniyalbi. He is the twelfth son of Emir Murad. He is 24 years old this year. He is proficient in Persian, Arabic and Russian and is a famous writer and historian.

"Amir, are you not optimistic that believers in Allah can drive away the Peach Blossom Stone Man?" Grand Sheikh Ali, whose eyes only focused on religion, expressed his dissatisfaction very directly.

Emir Murad wanted to send his son away to ensure that the bloodline of the Mangit royal family would not be cut off.

"Grand Imam, Muhammad is only a scholar. He won't be of much use if he stays in Bukhara. His departure from Bukhara won't have any negative impact on you. This is my last wish."

Since Grand Sheikh Ali was so direct, Emir Murad no longer hid anything.

"I need the Emir to personally confirm that the sect is qualified to recruit soldiers on its own and recognize that the sect's reciters have the same power as iqta." Grand Sheikh Ali gave the final condition.

Under the governance of several generations of the Emir family, Bukhara's secularization has made great progress compared to fifty years ago. At least in big cities, royal power basically overwhelms religious power.

The biggest manifestation of this is that religious groups cannot have their own armed forces in large cities, and major religious leaders such as the chanters of various Muslim temples cannot have actual control over their own dioceses.

Now, Grand Sheikh Ali demands that the reciters have the same power as iqta (feudal lords), which is to aristocratize the high-ranking monks of the order and realize their dream of the unity of religion and politics.

"Okay, I agree!" Emir Murad agreed immediately without any hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Grand Sheikh Ali stood up angrily. What was this? This meant that he didn't believe that he could save the Emirate of Bukhara!
Otherwise, he would never agree so easily. In the past, even if it cost Emir Murad his life, he would not agree to it.

"Emir, the Order will definitely lead the Bukharan people to protect this great country. Just wait and see."

After saying this, Grand Imam Ali walked out angrily.

Emir Murad breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, and his twelfth son, Muhammad, who had been squatting in the secret compartment, came out.

"Go, go now. I'll give you fifty loyal warriors to protect your safety. You can take as many treasures as you want. Live a good life in Istanbul from now on!"

The twelfth son, Muhammad, cried bitterly, but knew that this was the best choice for him, so he chose to leave without much hesitation.

Five days later, on the third day after the twelfth son Muhammad left Bukhara with his envoy team, Emir Murad died of a high fever from suppurating wounds.

The day after the Emir's death, his son Haidar Tulla succeeded to the throne of Emir with the support of Grand Imam Ali, Kushbegi (Prime Minister) Utkur Biy, and the new Grand General of the Guards Ahmed Hakim.

The first thing Emir Haidar did after he ascended the throne was to authorize Grand Imam Ali to mobilize all religious groups in the Emirate of Bukhara, allowing them to possess weapons.

After the real efforts of these extreme religious forces, the war potential of the Bukhara Emirate of more than two million people was finally released.

In one month, more than 100,000 people joined the religious army. They brought their own food and weapons and gathered in Bukhara.

In the angry atmosphere, there were grand rallies and angry denunciations under green flags, as if they wanted to burn the Peach Blossom Stone invaders to death with their rage.

There was no other sound in the entire city of Bukhara. The whole city was filled with chanting of scriptures and shouts of killing all the infidels.

Under such circumstances, a large number of believers in the rural areas of Samarkand Province were also organized. They were extremely active and attacked everywhere, trying to cut off the logistics supply lines of the Dayu Western Army.

However, Li Xianwen had already prepared a response plan. He brought 10,000 Kazakh cavalry, 6,000 Mongolian cavalry from the south, north, west and Junggar deserts to deal with this.

After these real cavalrymen, who had been armed by Dayu and had begun to recover their combat effectiveness, went to the battlefield, a large number of armed Karluk herdsmen died tragically at their hands, and the entire Samarkand province became a mess.

In mid-November, snowflakes had already begun to fall, but the city of Samarkand died on the eve of the cold that could have frozen away the Dayu Western Army.

After more than 30 cannons, especially four 24-pound cannons, were transported from the Dayuan Basin, the walls of Samarkand could no longer hold. With the continuous bombardment of these huge cannons, huge cracks appeared in the walls.

At the same time, a large number of mortars were transported from the trenches to the foot of the city wall. They not only knocked down the artillery of the Qarlugs on the city wall, but also continuously launched fierce bombardments into the city, eliminating the threat of guns and artillery on the city wall to the outside of the city.

A few days later, the Western Army soldiers, who had complete control of the situation, buried a large amount of explosives in the cracks that were blasted out. With a loud bang, more than ten meters of the northern wall of Samarkand collapsed.

Western soldiers took the opportunity to rush in and fierce street fighting began.

The Karluks (Uzbeks) in the city fought desperately, but the gap between the two sides was too big.

The Dayu Western Army really had 50,000 to 60,000 elite soldiers, and among the so-called 150,000 troops of Samarkand City, more than 140,000 were poorly trained armed citizens or armed herdsmen.

Moreover, there were still some people in the Western Army who had not been mobilized, namely 30,000 Kokand vassal troops and 10,000 Hui warriors.

Li Xianwen let these people take the lead as cannon fodder, which consumed a lot of the morale and strength of the Samarkand defenders.

After they had fought for more than three hours, with more than one-third of the Kokand servants killed or wounded, and hundreds of Hui warriors gone, the elite troops of Dayu finally entered the city.

Afterwards, the army was defeated like a landslide. The entire purge lasted for six days. Many Tianfang temples were destroyed by artillery or burned with kerosene.

Dong Jinfeng even had people block outside the temples, and shoot anyone who came out without hesitation. Every temple would be set on fire, and they would not leave until no one came out and the temple was reduced to a sea of fire.

Ten days later, outside the city of Samarkand, two or three thousand Kokand servant soldiers who were digging pits felt extremely fortunate. Looking at the densely packed corpses in the pits, they suddenly realized how lucky they were to be alive.

Liu Fenggao, a Hanlin scholar in the Hanlin Academy and a scholar in the National History Academy who was responsible for recording all of this, watched all of this coldly.

He was not as soft-hearted as Minister Wei, who wrote memoirs during the Aceh period. Although Liu Fenggao did not agree with this overly cruel way of doing things, he was still willing to protect his relatives.

So he picked up his pen and wrote a few words, "In October of the 20th year, the army captured Samarkand. Bloody battles raged in the streets, and corpses were scattered everywhere. Their stubbornness led to the death of the entire city. One hundred and three thousand bodies were collected and buried on the outskirts of the city."

(End of this chapter)