Qian Song

Chapter 484: Cultural Expedition to the West (please vote for me!)

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The Yellow River is far above the white clouds, and there is a lonely city, Wanren Mountain.Why bamboo flute complain willow, spring is not degree Pass.

The banners of the Han family are all over the Yin Mountains, and they don't send horses to return them.If I wish to have this life and serve my country, why should I be born in Yumen Pass?

Qinghai Changyun dark snow-capped mountains, lonely city looking at Yumen Pass.Yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and Loulan will never be returned if it is not broken.

Yumen Pass is one of the passes of the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty. It was first placed when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the road to the Western Regions and established the four counties of Hexi.During the Yuanding or Yuanfeng years, the Great Wall between Jiuquan and Yumen was built, and Yumen Pass was established accordingly. It was also the border pass for many dynasties after the Han Dynasty. Many poems describing border passes will mention this magnificent pass.

Now, Li Cun and his entourage also came to this great pass.

Shortly after the surrender of the Gaochang Uighurs led by Bi Lege, the Daqian Expeditionary Army, under the guidance of a group of small tribes and small forces who took the initiative to surrender to the Daqian Dynasty, easily swept through all the territory of the Gaochang Uighurs.

However, here in the Western Regions, in addition to the Gaochang Uighurs, the Daqian Dynasty also had an enemy - the Karakhanid Dynasty.

The Karakhan Dynasty was a local government created by a branch of the Mobei Uighurs who moved west to the west of Congling, and then united with other ethnic groups and tribal alliances active in this area at that time, such as Kangli, Geluolu, Yangmo, etc. .

Its territory extends southeast to the later Ruoqiang (southwest of Lop Nur), adjacent to the Xixia; due east to the later Aksu and Baicheng, bounded by barren mountains, Gobi and Gaochang Uighur Kingdom; northeast to the Altai Mountains, and the original Liao The country is a neighbor; to the north is the line of Lake Balkhash; to the west is the Aral Sea, including Khwarazm. Later, the Gejinin Dynasty occupied Khwarezm, and the Karakhanid Dynasty lost this area; to the southwest is A The Muhe River is bounded by the Gojin Dynasty; its due south includes the Wakhan Corridor, bounded by the Hindu Kush Mountains, and east of Congling is bounded by the Karakoram Mountains, the Kunlun Mountains, and the Altyn Mountains.

As long as the Daqian Expeditionary Force can defeat the Karakhanid Dynasty, it can pass through the Wakhan Corridor and cross the Amu Darya River to attack the Gojinin Dynasty near Ghazni.

Known as the crossroads of Asia, it is located at the intersection of East Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, and has an extremely superior strategic position.

Therefore, throughout history and into later generations, it has been the focus of competition among great powers.

As long as the Daqian Expeditionary Force captures it, they can attack wherever they want.

And capturing that place is also the first stage strategic goal of the Daqian Expeditionary Force.

But before that, the Dagan Expeditionary Army had to defeat the Karakhanid Dynasty.

By the way, after the Daqian Expeditionary Army captured the Gaochang Uighurs, the local Turkic tribes came to seek refuge with the Daqian Dynasty one after another. The leaders of some larger tribes and forces even had the opportunity to take the Daqian Dynasty's train to Chang'an City to pay homage to Li Cun. A gift to Li Cunlai.

These small tribes and small forces generally don't have any good treasures, but fortunately they all know that Li Cun likes beauties, so they all offer beauties to Li Cunjin.

Li Cun usually gave rich gifts in return, such as tea, glassware, fine porcelain, fine clothes, bicycles, light industrial products such as pots and pans, and other specialties of the Daqian Dynasty.

For these bumpkins in the Western Regions, these things are all good things that can greatly improve their lives. They all feel that they have made a lot of money.

More importantly, Li Cun allowed them to send armed forces to join the Daqian Expeditionary Force in the Western Expedition, and promised that as long as they made meritorious service, he would not be stingy with rewards.

Of course, Li Cun also put forward a condition, that is, their tribesmen who stayed in the Western Regions must accept the demolition by the Daqian court.

These small tribes and forces, some with tens of thousands of people per family, some with just a few thousand, or even only a few hundred or dozens of people, how could they dare not listen to Li Cun?

What's more, Li Cun said that he would move their tribe to rich areas or more fertile hinterlands. Why wouldn't they be willing to do this?

As a result, a large number of homeless people from the Western Regions joined the Daqian Expeditionary Army.

From the mouths of the local nomads, the Daqian Expeditionary Force learned that the Karakhanid Dynasty was also facing internal and external troubles, and it was the best time to eliminate it.

Therefore, under the leadership of the local nomads, the Daqian Expeditionary Army crossed the Tianshan Mountains and continued to advance westward.

When the Daqian Expeditionary Force advanced westward and reached the Khuzel area, it encountered resistance of more than [-] troops led by Mahmud Khan of the Karakhanid Dynasty in the west.

The two armies fought, and the Karakhanids' [-]-strong army was easily defeated by the Daqian expeditionary force. Mahmud Khan fled back to the capital Samarkand.

This incident seriously shocked the residents of the Karakhanid Dynasty, and their panic and depression increased. They were waiting for the arrival of the Daqian expeditionary force, as were the residents of Bukhara and other cities in the river.

Perhaps because the pressure from the Daqian Expeditionary Force was too great, another ethnic conflict broke out between the Kangli people and the Geluolu people in the Karakhan Dynasty.

Mahmud Khan felt that the Daqian Expeditionary Force would not give up, so he asked for help from Sultan Sanjar of the Seljuk Turks in his overlord country.

Prior to this, after Mahmud Khan was defeated by the Daqian Expeditionary Force and fled back to Samarkand, he had actually sent envoys to Sultan Sanjar to ask for help, saying that Central Asia had encountered a catastrophe and encouraged him to defend Central Asia.

Sanjar had just ascended to the throne of Sultan not long ago, so he also wanted to use a hearty victory to consolidate his throne. Therefore, he rejected the minister's suggestion to send envoys to negotiate peace with the Daqian Dynasty, and instead started Organize a coalition and prepare for jihad.

At Sanjar's call, the kings of Khorasan, Sighistan, Ghazna, Mazenland and Ghor all led their troops to join.

Sanjar gathered more than 30 cavalry, and then personally led these more than 30 cavalry across the Amu Darya River.

When Sanjar heard Mahmud Khan's report about the conflict, he relied on his strong military strength to decisively attack the Gallu people.

The Geluolu people knew that this was a decisive battle related to the life and death of their clan, so they selected all the beauties in the clan and gave them to Li Cun, and asked Li Cun for help.

Li Cunzheng was worried about finding any excuse to kill the Seljuk Turks who had some friendship with the Daqian Dynasty.

——When Li Cun went to the Prince Continent for the first time, he passed by the Seljuk Dynasty and was warmly received by the old Sultan of the Seljuk Dynasty. The old Sultan of the Seljuk Dynasty also gave Li Cun many gifts.

Now when I am dozing off, I have a pillow.

Li Cun immediately ordered the Daqian Expeditionary Force to continue westward, cross the Congling Mountains, enter the Karakhanid Dynasty from the Wahan Corridor, and attack Samarkand, the capital of the Karakhanid Dynasty.

Congling is the Pamir Plateau in later generations. It means "flat-roofed house" in Persian. It is located in southeastern Central Asia and the westernmost tip of China. It is a huge mountain where the Kunlun Mountains, Karakoram Mountains, Hindu Kush Mountains and Tianshan Mountains meet. Knot.

The boundary that Li Cun divided for the mainland of the Daqian Dynasty is from the Ural Mountains - Congling - to the Himalayas - the west of the Indochina Peninsula - the Strait of Malacca. All land and seas connected to the mainland of the Daqian Dynasty to the west of this line are The territory of the Daqian Dynasty.

——There are two exceptions here, namely Qiongzhou Island and Liuqiu Island. Although they are not connected to the mainland of the Daqian Dynasty, they were also included in the mainland of the Daqian Dynasty by Li Cun.

As for other areas of the Daqian Dynasty, they are all vassal states entrusted by Li Cun. In principle, these vassal states protect the Daqian royal family, and the princes must obey the orders of the Daqian Emperor, pay tribute on time, and accompany them to fight and defend. Daqian royal family.

The Wakhan Corridor was the only land passage to western Central Asia at this time, and its strategic position was extremely important. It should have been controlled by the Karakhanid Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, the last time the Karakhanid Dynasty was defeated, even the soldiers and horses stationed in the Wakhan Corridor were withdrawn, allowing the Daqian Expeditionary Army to enter Central Asia through the Wakhan Corridor without any danger.

At Katwan, north of Samarkand, the Daqian Expeditionary Force met the Central Asian coalition forces led by Sanjar.

Yue Fei set up camp in Dalgam Canyon. Han Shizhong and Wu Jie each led 5 troops to attack the right wing of Sanjar's army. Zhao Li and Li Yanxian each led 5 troops to attack the left flank of Sanjar's army. Yue Fei personally led the remaining troops. Attacking the center of Sanjar's army.

The right wing of Sanjar's army was General Kumaji, the left wing was the King of Sighistan, and the center army was led by himself.

After the battle begins.

Although the Sanjar Army took the lead and launched the attack, the Daqian Expeditionary Army fought more and more fiercely, and soon defeated the Central Asian coalition forces with the help of red artillery.

The process is not described in detail.

in short.

Sanjar's wife, the two-wing commander Kumaji, and the King of Sighistan were all captured on the battlefield by the Daqian expeditionary force, and Sanjar managed to escape.

Rough statistics after the war showed that the Central Asian coalition forces suffered heavy casualties. Not counting the injured, the total number of dead alone was as many as [-].After the war, Yue Fei only sent a cavalry division and occupied Samarkand, the capital of the Western Karakhanid Dynasty.

Sultan Sanjar of the Seljuk dynasty took Mahmud Khan of the Karakhanid dynasty and fled to Termi in a hurry, crossed the Amu Darya River and entered Khorasan.

Since then, the Seljuk dynasty withdrew from the Transoxiana region, and the Daqian Expeditionary Force officially entered Central Asia.

The good news and the prisoners were quickly sent back to Li Cun. Since the Daqian Expeditionary Force had eliminated the Gaochang Uighurs, they marched westward to Xingqing Prefecture, the original capital of Xixia.

Li Cun unceremoniously took Sanjar's wife and the royal and clan daughters of the Karakhan Dynasty into his harem, while the royal men and clan men of the Karakhan Dynasty were sent away by Li Cun. Return to Wanguo City and be imprisoned.

After that, Li Cun decided to continue heading westward to Gaochang City, the winter capital of the Gaochang Uighurs.

At this time, the railway to Gaochang City through the Hexi Corridor had actually been completed.

Li Cun could have taken the train directly to Gaochang City.

However, since the Daqian Expeditionary Force has annihilated all the resistance forces in the Western Region, the officials sent by the Daqian court have also successfully taken over the Western Region. In other words, the Western Region has been completely integrated into the territory of the Daqian Dynasty, and there is no danger at all.

Therefore, when he arrived at Yumen Pass, Li Cun ordered to stop, and then took his concubines, children and entourage to take a look at this thousand-year-old pass.

It is worth mentioning that Li Cun brought many poets and painters with him on this trip.

Li Cun planned to ask the former to write some poems and songs to praise himself and the Daqian Dynasty for publicity purposes;

The latter was purely to record the places Li Cun had been. For example, when Li Cun was standing at the Jade Gate, they drew many portraits of Li Cun. In some of them, Li Cun even made a very neutral pose with scissors. modeling.

As for painters, Li Cun brought along hundreds of famous painters from the Daqian Dynasty, such as Zhao Ji, Zhang Zeduan, Li Tang, Liu Songnian, and Xia Gui.

In terms of poets, the more famous poets brought out by Li Cun this time include Li Qingzhao, Lu You, Xin Qiji, You Miao, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda, etc. In addition, there are more than a thousand literati who claim to be good at poetry who actively signed up. Go west with Li Cun.

Li Qingzhao doesn’t need to say more.

Although Li Qingzhao is now almost 60 years old, Li Cun still brought Li Qingzhao out and prepared a separate train for Li Qingzhao so that Li Qingzhao could continue to preside over the compilation of "Hongwu Dadian" on the train.

——Those literati who worked with Li Qingzhao to compile the "Hongwu Dadian" were also on the same train as Li Qingzhao.

Speaking of the "Hongwu Dadian", the part about the Daqian Dynasty has actually been compiled and has been widely praised by all parties, becoming the iconic representative of the Daqian Dynasty at the cultural level.

Even the collections of those countries that were previously destroyed by the Daqian Dynasty, such as the Liao Empire, the Jin Kingdom, Xixia, the Mongolian tribes, Dali, the countries in the Indochina Peninsula, Japan, including the tribes on the Prince Continent and the Indochina Peninsula The classics of the small countries above have all been compiled into the "Hongwu Canon".

This time, Li Qingzhao and Li Cun went on an expedition to the West to collect scriptures, histories, works, and collections from various countries, including books and records on astronomy and geography, yin and yang medicine, divination, interpretation of Taoist scriptures, drama, crafts, agriculture, etc. , compiled a set of world-wide encyclopedias to make the most systematic summary of human cultural inheritance and to better pass it on.

Lu You was born into a distinguished family and a book-collecting family in Jiangnan.His great ancestor Lu Zhen was a Jinshi during the Dazhong Xiangfu reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, and he was promoted to a doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs; his grandfather Lu Dian studied under Wang Anshi and was proficient in Confucian classics. etc. are important classics of the Lu family; his father, Lu Zai, was proficient in poetry and prose and was one of the earliest officials in the Daqian Dynasty.

——The Lu You family was one of the big families in the south of the Yangtze River that was forcibly tied to his chariot by the Li Gang. Lu You's biological aunt Xiu Yi, the Lu family, was one of the concubines taken by Li Cun at that time. Lu Zai was also forced to come to Daqing by Li Cun. One of the Jiangnan literati who served as an official in the dynasty, but no one mentions it anymore. Even the Lu family only thinks that Xiuyi and Lu entered the palace voluntarily, and Lu Zai took the initiative to become an official in the Daqian dynasty.

Lu You was extremely intelligent since he was a child. He studied under Mao Dezhao, Han Yougong, Lu Yanyuan and others. He was able to compose poems and compositions at the age of 12. Because of his father Lu Zai's meritorious service, he was awarded the position of Shilang due to his kindness.

Later, Lu You was lucky enough to be transferred to his side by Li Cun as a living man.

Xin Qiji is still only a seven-year-old child, and he is accompanied by his father, Xin Zan, a palace official.

Of course, this was also instructed by Li Cun.

As for other poets, I will not list them one by one.

In short, Li Cun brought a large number of literati with him on this trip.

These literati were all willing to go to a strange world at public expense to collect knowledge, and also have the opportunity to show off in front of Li Cun, and then obtain official positions.

This was the origin of the later famous Cultural Expedition to the West.

Ah, by the way, I forgot to mention that.

For a period of time, Li Cun was particularly fond of those talented women. He once lamented: "There is only one Li Qingzhao in the world, but it is a pity that Li Qingzhao is old!"

As a result, if the superiors do something good, the subordinates must follow suit. Those who like to work hard heard that Li Cun wanted a young Li Qingzhao, so they all tried their best to find those talented and good-looking beauties to donate to Li Cun.

Everyone knows that Li Cun would rather kill the wrong person than let him go.

As a result, a large number of talented women entered Li Cun's harem.

This includes the talented Southern Song Dynasty girl Tang Wan, the only daughter of Tang Hong, the ex-wife of Lu You in history.

——She was given to Li Cun by her grandfather Honglu Shaoqing Tang Yi, or it can be said that she was given to Li Cun by her family.

Not to mention that Li Cun knew that after Lu You married Tang Wan in history, Tang Wan's talent and Lu You's indulging in love aroused dissatisfaction with Lu's mother. Later, Lu's mother thought that Tang Wan was delaying Lu You's future and was not pregnant for a year after entering the house, so she ordered Lu You to marry Tang Wan. After divorcing Tang Wan, Lu You couldn't resist, so he had to accept it. There was no good ending between the two of them.

To say the least, even if Li Cun knew that Lu You and Tang Wan could live happily together, Li Cun, who could give in to anything except women, would definitely fight for Tang Wan's love.

Therefore, it is not said that after Tang Yi recommended Tang Wan to Li Cun, Li Cun happily included Tang Wan in his harem.

In addition to Tang Wan, Zhu Shuzhen, also known as Youqi Jushi, a famous female poet in the Southern Song Dynasty and one of the most abundant female writers in history since the Tang and Song Dynasties, also entered Li Cun's harem.

——Similar to Tang Wan's situation, Zhu Shuzhen was also sent to the palace by her relatives from an official family.

In addition, Wu Shuji and dozens of other talented women also entered Li Cun's harem.

Some of them came from the families of high-ranking officials, some came from the families of famous wealthy families, and some simply came from brothels (of course, the women who presented themselves to Li Cun must all be virgins).

Because of their travels, these talented women were naturally more favored by Li Cun and became the women who accompanied Li Cun the most.

While admiring the beautiful scenery, listening to the beauty reciting poems, not to mention, it is really unique.

However, Li Cun really has no artistic talent at all and cannot fit into this artistic atmosphere.

If Li Cun were forced to enter, Li Cun would think that if these talented women lined up in a row behind the Jade Gate, he would be behind them...

"I wonder what kind of poems they can make?"

All in all, Li Cun has gathered a large number of cultural people around him, and Li Cun is ready to take them through the entire world, allowing them to witness his own glory, write about his own achievements, and promote the culture of the Han people.

These literati are also gearing up. At Yumenguan alone, they have composed hundreds of poems and dozens of paintings...

……