Chapter 465: An Excuse Is Found

From a realistic perspective, now is not the best time to take back the Western Regions.

This has nothing to do with other conditions. The later you take it back, the less cost and national strength you will spend, and the more you will get.

After all, even if you don't take it back, after the destruction of the Western Xia, without the Western Xia intercepting Western Region merchants, the Silk Road trade between the Song Dynasty and the Western Regions is still very smooth.

Taking it back early not only requires higher military costs, but also more expensive governance costs, which is really not worth the loss.

The correct approach should be like destroying the Liao Dynasty.

Even if there were grenades and artillery in the early days, there was no need to rush to destroy the Liao Dynasty. It would be most appropriate to drag down the Liao Dynasty through an arms race and then destroy it easily.

The current situation is the same.

The problem with the Western Regions is that they are too far away. Gaochang is 3,000 kilometers away from Bianliang and more than 2,000 kilometers away from Chang'an. Even after the destruction of the Western Xia, the Song Dynasty controlled the two states of Sha and Gua in the northwest, which are nearly 1,000 kilometers away.

The long expedition, logistical support, and local governance costs can be said to be a very large amount, and the benefits obtained are far less than the cost.

The Tang Dynasty destroyed Gaochang because Gaochang colluded with the Turks. In order to prevent the Turks from fleeing westward and joining Gaochang, the army was dispatched to destroy Gaochang.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty destroyed Gaochang and controlled the Western Regions by the way, which had its own military strategic purpose.

The Song Dynasty was different.

The Liao Dynasty was already a grasshopper after autumn, and it would not last long. Even if it united with the Western Region Uighurs, it would be a dead end. Basically, there was no situation where it could unite with the Uighurs to attack the Song Dynasty.

If troops were sent to attack the Western Region Uighurs, food would be transported from Bianliang, and the land march would be more than 3,000 kilometers. The cost along the way would be an astronomical figure.

Not to mention that even if it was conquered, it would be difficult to govern due to the long distance, and it could only adopt strategies such as tributary rule or the Protectorate, and it was basically impossible to achieve actual control like inland areas.

Therefore, if the Song Dynasty wanted to send troops purely for the purpose of occupying and actually controlling the Western Regions, it could have waited for another ten years and waited for the inland railway system to be improved before making plans.

By that time, the railway would be built to Yumen Pass, and the logistical pressure and food loss would be greatly reduced, and there would be no need to waste so much national strength.

At the same time, it would be able to actually control it, instead of being able to control it remotely as it is now.

However, Zhao Jun had other plans.

In his view, taking back the Western Regions was not about restoring the territory of the Tang Dynasty and making the Song Dynasty look like it had to own so much land like the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Instead, it was about using such a large piece of land to make it have actual value and use.

The most intuitive one is the cotton economy.

The essence of the Western powers in the colonial era was to plunder natural resources.

So what else was there besides minerals such as gold, silver, and copper?

Of course, it was sugar, cotton, wood, fruit, etc.

The colonists often used force to force slave labor in the local area in the form of companies or manor operations.

The most famous ones were the southern manor owners during the American Civil War, the East India Company, the United Fruit Company, and the London Company.

Cotton is one of the most important commodities in trade.

The manor crop of the southern slave owners is cotton. Throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the United States was the world's largest cotton producer and exporter.

It was not until the second half of the 20th century that it was slowly surpassed by China and India, and became the third from the top.

It can be said that in the 21st century, the world's cotton looks to China, and China's cotton looks to Xinjiang. In order to suppress our cotton industry, the new era emperor deliberately fabricated various false news, causing an uproar around the world, which is enough to show that Xinjiang's cotton production has a pivotal position in the world.

At present, the Song Dynasty has actually collected the world's better cotton varieties. After ten years of promotion and planting, it has taken root in Guangnan East Road and spread throughout Guangdong.

However, planting cotton in Guangdong is just for fun.

If you really want to develop an industry, you have to go to Xinjiang.

The climate and light conditions there are extremely suitable for cotton planting, which is much better than Guangdong in terms of suitability.

Now the cotton industry is basically only piloted in Guangdong in the entire Guangnan East Road.

A large number of Ministry of Agriculture personnel participated in the experiment there, mainly breeding better cotton seeds, rather than relying on the small output of Guangdong to provide cotton supply to the whole country.

If the people of the whole country can wear cotton clothes and quilts in winter by relying on the small output of Guangdong, it is better to expect the Song Dynasty to import more animal fur from the north, and make some down jackets, woolen sweaters and the like.

So if we really want to achieve cotton clothing freedom and let all the people of the Song Dynasty have cotton clothes to wear and cover, the Western Regions must be recovered, and industrial layout must be carried out as soon as possible to complete the in-depth cultivation.

The next day, on March 10, the Song Dynasty court officially sent a letter to the Western Region Uighurs, asking them to disconnect from the Liao Kingdom and submit to the Song Dynasty, otherwise they would not have a good life.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is naturally an excuse.

But among the Western Region Uighurs, only the Qiuci Uighurs paid tribute to the Song Dynasty, and it is an indisputable fact that the Gaochang Uighurs have always despised the Song Dynasty and only regarded the Liao Kingdom as their suzerain.

Now that the Song Dynasty has returned to the top of the East, it is natural to take back what it lost in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Not only the territory.

But also the status of the suzerain of all the surrounding countries and the reputation of the world coming to the east of the Wei River!

However, the Gaochang Uighurs obviously did not learn the lesson of the Gaochang King in the early Tang Dynasty.

Or.

The Western Regions lacked historical records, and many things were passed down by word of mouth. On the contrary, the Central Plains dynasties had many records of them and knew more history than them.

Two months later, in May of the eleventh year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, Gaochang State, more than 3,000 kilometers away from Bianliang, was the Turpan Basin in Xinjiang in later generations.

It was summer in May, and the vast Gobi Desert was covered with green grass.

There were herds of cattle and sheep on both sides of the Baishui River, which was the Baiyang River in Turpan in later generations. The Tianshan Mountains in the distance were covered by white clouds, stretching like a winding dragon.

On the bank of the Baishui River, a huge city stood. It was built of rammed earth structure, nearly four feet high, with flags flying on it.

There were many streets in the city, and people in various costumes shuttled through them.

There are Uighurs, Karakhans, Arabs, Tibetans, Seljuks, Shahis, Cinis, Ghis, Oghuz Turks, Khwarezmians, etc.

If we count the Han, Dangxiang, Khitan, Mongol, etc., I am afraid there will be no problem in getting a hundred ethnic groups.

As an important hub of the Silk Road, Gaochang's business was extremely prosperous. There were more than 30,000 people in the early Tang Dynasty. Later, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms did not affect it. The population developed and the permanent population exceeded 100,000.

In the center of the city is the Gaochang Palace. The Gaochang Uighur King Aqifuluo of this generation sat on the throne, looking up and down at the envoys in front of him.

There are three envoys, two of whom are the Langzhong and Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which were merged from the Honglu Temple, Guoxin Office, Duting West Posthouse, Protocol Court, Huaiyuan Posthouse, Tongwenguan and other diplomatic departments of the Song Dynasty.

The other one is the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites.

This time, the envoy was also sent to invite the King of Gaochang to the Song Dynasty to watch the ceremony, so naturally, officials from the Ministry of Rites were needed.

"If the king does not want to travel thousands of miles to Bianliang, he can also send an envoy."

Sun Youtong, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, said to Aqi Fuluo in a dignified manner: "My Song Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, and we are willing to make friends with all directions, gather all nations, and join the great cause of the Tang Dynasty!"

Aqi Fuluo did not speak, but just looked up and down, and then sneered: "Watch the ceremony? It's ridiculous, you want to imprison me."

He spoke in Uighur. In fact, the influence of the Han people in the Western Regions is very large. After all, they have been operating the Western Regions since the Han Dynasty. There have been Han people living in Dunhuang, Yizhou, Gaochang and other places for a long time, and many ethnic minorities can speak Chinese.

Among them, the nobles of those ethnic minorities are proud to learn Chinese. The most intuitive thing is that although Li Yuanhao and Yelu Zongzhen used to look down on the Song Dynasty, they actually speak Chinese and believe in Buddhism.

Therefore, Aqi Fuluo did not answer in Chinese, but in Uighur, which naturally showed his negative emotions towards the Song Dynasty.

The Song envoy didn't understand why he said that. After hearing what Aqi Fuluo said, Li Tao, a doctor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, glared at him and said, "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words. How could our Song Dynasty, a great country, do such a thing? You must not insult the state of the Song Dynasty!"

"Hmm?"

Aqi Fuluo said unhappily, "Are you teaching me how to do things? You are showing off your power in my Xizhou. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

"Then wait for the disaster of national destruction!"

Li Tao said fearlessly, "Nanyue killed Han envoys and slaughtered them into nine counties; the King of Wan killed Han envoys and hung his head on the Northern Palace; Korea killed Han envoys and was immediately killed. Now that Xixia has been destroyed and Liao has been defeated in the north, will your Gaochang disaster start today?"

"Uh"

Seeing his tough words, Aqi Fuluo choked up and opened his mouth to say something, but still didn't say it.

Because the current situation is like this, the Song Dynasty is strong, destroying Xixia in the west and defeating Liao in the north.

Although Aqifuluo did not feel this directly, he could sense that Xizhou was indeed much more stable now, after all, Li Yuanhao often invaded the border before.

"Then, I will consider it."

After hesitating for a while, Aqifuluo waved his hand and replied in Chinese: "Take the envoys to rest first. I will give you a reply tomorrow after I have considered it."

Sun Youtong looked at him and said: "Then please make a decision early. My Song Dynasty sincerely hopes that you can stand with the Song Dynasty instead of being an enemy of the Song Dynasty. On this point, the king should not make a mistake."

The envoy of the Song Dynasty was a bit aggressive, which made Aqifuluo very uncomfortable, but he was afraid, so he nodded and said nothing.

Soon the envoy was taken away.

Only Aqifuluo and several ministers were left in the room.

Compared with Aqifuluo, several ministers were more rational, but when they wanted to say something, they looked at the back room with fear.

At this moment, a woman came out of the back room, and said with an unhappy face: "My king, the Song people are riding on our heads, why don't you kill them?"

When Aqi Fuluo saw her, he quickly stood up and wanted to hug her, but was thrown away by the woman. He had to smile and said: "Don't be angry, Queen. I am helpless. Now the Song Dynasty is strong and cannot be provoked at will."

The woman was a Liao person, Princess Jingyang of the Liao Kingdom.

The situation of the Western Region Uighurs in the early years was not very good. The Song Dynasty was weak and was often invaded by Li Yuanhao on the border.

They themselves were often harassed by Li Yuanhao and many tribes were abducted by Li Yuanhao.

Including the Cao family, which was previously located in Gua and Sha states, originally formed an alliance with their Western Region Uighurs to fight against Li Yuanhao's allies, but eventually lost to Li Yuanhao.

For this reason, Gaochang Uighurs paid tribute to Liao for many years and became its vassal, hoping to get protection from Liao.

Originally, Liao did not want to deal with it, but a few years ago, when Song Dynasty rose, Liao wanted to resolve the hatred between Xizhou Uighurs and Xixia, and let them unite to attack Song Dynasty.

So they agreed to Gaochang Uighurs' request, and sent a clan woman, named a princess, to marry the King of Gaochang.

Princess Jingyang was very beautiful and was deeply loved by Aqi Fuluo. In addition, Liao Dynasty also sent a team of 5,000 people as a dowry, which gave Princess Jingyang something to rely on. Gaochang Uighurs naturally moved closer to Liao Dynasty.

But many times, plans could not keep up with changes. No one expected that Song Dynasty would send troops to defeat Liao Dynasty in one fell swoop a few years ago, and even Nanjing of Liao Dynasty was recovered. For a time, the situation of Liao Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse.

In addition, Xixia was soon destroyed by Song Dynasty, which made Gaochang Uighurs very embarrassed. They wanted to be close to Liao Dynasty, but Liao Dynasty was not strong enough. Want to be close to Song, but Liao has troops stationed there.

The situation is a bit like the relationship between Gaochang and Turks during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang.

Emperor Taizong of Tang went north to defeat the Turks. At that time, Gaochang and Turks were also in an alliance. Between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, because the Turks had troops stationed in Gaochang, Gaochang King Qu Wentai was forced to choose the Turks, and then was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty.

It is the same now.

In addition to the Liao having troops stationed in Gaochang, the most important thing is that Aqi Fuluo really dotes on Princess Jingyang.

Then Princess Jingyang put her hands on her waist and said, "Your Majesty, Song is more than 10,000 miles away from us. The journey is long and the expedition is long. I, a woman, know how difficult it is. Why should you be afraid of them?"

Aqi Fuluo frowned and said, "But the Tang army also went on an expedition to the Western Regions."

Although he didn't know what Qu Wentai was like, the reputation of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions and the deeds of the Tang army in the Western Regions were passed down by word of mouth.

Princess Jingyang said: "The Tang army can dominate the Western Regions because there is no army in the Western Regions that can resist them. If the king unites with the Black Khanate and the Liao Kingdom, and takes advantage of their long expedition and insufficient supplies to launch a surprise attack, the Song Dynasty will surely be defeated. By then, the king's reputation will surely resound throughout the Western Regions, and perhaps even the territory of Western Xia can be occupied by the king. At that time, the king can establish himself as an emperor, so why should he care about the Song Dynasty?"

"This"

Aqi Fuluo's breathing became rapid for a moment.

My wife is right.

If he can unite with the Black Khanate and the Liao Kingdom to wait for the Song army to come after a long journey, they will cut off the Song army's food supply, and then hold on to Gaochang. When the Song army runs out of food, they will surely be defeated.

At that time, perhaps they can also annex the former Western Xia territory and establish a huge empire spanning the east of the Western Regions and the northwest of Guanzhong.

Even if they cannot annex Western Xia, they can still rule one side.

It's much better than being a vassal of the Song Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Aqifuluo nodded slightly and said, "The queen is still wise, come here!"

The guard came in.

"Imprison the envoy of Song State and send someone to inform Song State. This is the price of humiliating this king!"

"Yes!"

The guard left.

Only a few ministers in the hall looked pale.

They knew it was over.

This will become an excuse for Gaochang to destroy the country!