I

The entire Congling is under the jurisdiction of the Osh Governor of the Bukhara Khanate.

But there have been several governors in a row who have never set foot in the Land of Green Ridge - a plateau with an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters. Who would come here to wander around?

Congling is different from Jiang Liang's imagination. Although it believes in Green Religion, it is a secular tribal society.

Both the Yarkand Khanate and the Mughal Empire believed in Sufism at this time. In the vast plateau and mountainous areas of Congling, people believe in the Ismaili sect, which also incorporates primitive totem worship. They are extremely tolerant of pagan beliefs.

When Jiang Liang communicated with the Tajik businessmen, the two sides were purely talking.

Jiang Liang's goal is Congling, but Tajik businessmen think that China wants to capture Fergana and Osh. Both belong to the territory of the Tajik people, but their religious and cultural differences are very different, and even the sects they believe in are different.

Fergana and Osh are to the north of Congling and are the core areas of Tajikistan. Religion, customs, and culture were heavily influenced by Central Asia, with aristocrats and imams holding power.

The Congling area that China intends to seize is all plateau and mountains, and the economy is very backward. In this case, religious leaders have very little say, so the leaders of each tribe have the final say.

You can see green believers worshiping totems in the mountains of Congling, just like the green believers in Java Island worshiping Mazu... The style of painting is extremely strange, and they are all products of the fusion of beliefs.

Liang Zhen captured the Stone City Valley. The governor of Bukhara did not know about such a big thing.

It was not until the Chinese army arrived at Salitash, which was the Chihe Station of the Tang Dynasty, that the Bukhara garrison woke up from their dream.

For the King of Bukhara, the only function of Congling was to collect tolls from caravans. They didn't even bother to build a checkpoint at the mountain pass because the environment at the mountain pass was harsh and it was not as convenient as collecting taxes at Chiheyi. Anyway, Chiheyi was a must-pass point on the Silk Road.

Thousands of troops came to attack, and the guard Said was completely stunned.

He knew that Yarkand was at war, so from last year to now, business travel had almost been cut off. But they never thought that the Chinese army would actually cross the mountain pass and lead troops to the city where they were stationed.

Said is called a guard, but he is actually a toll collector.

Counting all the soldiers under his command, the number was still less than 500 - the place was too poor and it was not cost-effective to transport food over long distances, so he couldn't afford to feed too many soldiers.

Outside the castle, there are many merchants from Central Asia.

They came last year, but the Chinese army blocked the mountain pass and temporarily prohibited the caravan from passing through. They had to retreat to Chiheyi and wait for the trade route to open.

Both the defenders and the merchants had heard rumors about the Chinese army and knew that they were a group of soldiers who could summon devils.

At this moment, merchants outside the city ran away one after another.

But they don't want to go too far. They also want to go to Kashgar to buy Chinese goods and ship them to Central Asia.

Liang Zhen only brought four artillery pieces, and the military order above was to try not to fire. If the defenders are willing to surrender, they can be allowed to safely withdraw from Congling, so that they will not completely break up with the Bukhara Khanate.

"What? You want me to surrender?" Said asked.

The envoy said: "Yes, as long as you surrender, you can safely withdraw from Pamir."

"Impossible." Said shook his head.

Chiheyi is so important because it can collect tolls.

All goods from China transported to the West by land must pass through here, and a huge amount of toll tax can be collected every year.

If Said dared to surrender, not to mention that the king would not let him go, even the governor would chop him down. How many people rely on the toll station here for their money and water.

The envoy went back to report, but Liang Zhen was too lazy to bombard slowly and ordered: "Let's raise the hot air balloon."

This valley is located at the confluence of two rivers. The castle is surrounded by mountains, so there is no fixed wind direction.

The observer measured it for a while and found that the wind direction was all chaotic.

Sometimes the southeast wind blows, sometimes the north wind blows, and the wind strength is also strong and weak.

Faced with this situation, we can only take off first. If hot air balloons are raised from all sides of the city, there will always be one or two hot air balloons with the right wind direction.

"Zhenni! Zhenni!"

The defenders had heard rumors from merchants, and they were indeed shouting about the devil at this moment.

"Boom boom boom!"

When ten thousand enemies dropped on the city and exploded, these soldiers finally collapsed.

They only had more than 400 people defending the city, and their morale was already low. Rather than being frightened by the "devil", it was better to find a reason for themselves to flee. The soldiers rushed towards the city gate, no matter how much Said blocked them, it was of no avail.

So Said ran away too.

The Datong army carried out hot-air balloon bombing, which gave Said an excuse to escape. Because the Chinese army summoned the devil, he really couldn't defeat it. I should... be able to get forgiveness from the Governor.

Liang Zhen smiled and said: "Catch up, you don't have to chase too hard."

China does not want to fight a big war with the Bukhara Khanate, it just needs to drive the enemy out of Congling.

The defeated soldiers all fled northward in rowing boats. The Datong Army also grabbed some merchant ships and followed them northwards to catch up.

Businessmen from Central Asia hid on the shore in front and witnessed this "pursuit battle" throughout.

Missionary officer Lei Zhiji personally led his troops to pursue them, and he wanted to investigate the situation along the way. They stopped halfway and captured a few merchants to accompany the army and asked them to introduce specific information.

When we came to a village called Gurica, the river was divided into two. The merchant accompanying the army introduced: "Follow the river to the west, you can lead to Osh, where the governor is stationed. Follow the river to the north, you can go to a The city called Uzgen. No matter where you go, as long as you leave the river valley, it will be much lower and flatter."

Lei Zhiji took a boat trip around the two separate rivers, and finally returned to Gurica: "We can build a city here and block it. We only need three to five hundred defenders to resist the attack of tens of thousands of enemies."

Lei Zhiji drew a simple map based on the merchant's description and his own on-the-spot investigation.

Then, draw a circle at Gurica and another circle at Chiheyi. Cities should be built in both places, with three to five hundred troops stationed in each city, and this large area would be stabilized.

In the next three months, Lei Zhiji visited other areas of Congling.

Only then did I finally learn that geographically speaking, there are eight regions in the Pamir Plateau, referred to as "Bapa". However, according to ethnic and cultural classification, it can be divided into six regions. Then divided in terms of language, it can be divided into two major sections.

The ethnic composition is extremely complex, and Tajiks are not the only ones.

Some are from India, some are from Persia, some are from Siberia, and of course some are from Xinjiang.

The only link between the various groups is the common belief in Ismaili. Moreover, beliefs are internally differentiated, with each region incorporating unique religious characteristics.

Lei Zhiji returned to Kashgar and handed in his investigation report.

He said to Jiang Liang: "Captain, the land of Congling is isolated from the world, just like Tibet. The sects here are much gentler and more tolerant than those in Yarkant. There is no need to use iron fists."

"Continue." Jiang Liang nodded.

Lei Zhiji said: "The local tribes in Congling are very similar to those in Tibet, but slightly different. The religious leaders here do not have much secular power. The central area of ​​Congling is not suitable for farming and is more like Mongolia. The nomadic tribes on the border. Other areas in Congling are half-cultivated and half-grazed, very similar to the Kham area."

"There are big nobles in Kangzang, but there are no big nobles in Congling. They are all nobles from small and medium-sized tribes. Because they are isolated from the world and have a large number of tribes, they cannot integrate with each other. To put it bluntly, they are scattered. For them, who can defeat them? Come and surrender, the Datong court and the Bukhara Khanate are the same."

"Moreover, the external forces occupying this place are all for the business tax of the Silk Road, and the oppression of the local tribes is not serious. After all, the poor tribes in the mountains cannot squeeze out money no matter how much they bully them. If we send troops to urge The mountains are high and the roads are far away, so it is difficult to transport military supplies, and the taxes collected are not enough to cover the military expenses."

"The great nobles and imams that the merchants mentioned before are not in the land of Congling but in the large area of ​​Osh. It is also the territory of the Tajik people, but the sects and beliefs are different, and they are much richer than Congling."

"The local tribes in Congling also have slaves, but the number is not large. It is often the war between tribes, and the prisoners of war become slaves, and the slaves are still slaves after birth."

"Slaves can be forcibly released, but tribal wars cannot be prevented. The tribes here fight because they are too poor and want to compete for pasture and cultivated land. Unless they can all become rich, they will continue to fight, produce prisoners of war, and continue to exist. slave."

"There are eight pas in Congling, which can build eight large cities, with 500 troops stationed in each city. There are also five key locations where small castles can be built, and each castle can be garrisoned with dozens to hundreds of troops. The garrison of the entire Congling The total number should be around five to six thousand people."

After speaking, Lei Zhiji looked at Jiang Liang.

Jiang Liang shook his head and said: "Six thousand troops are stationed too many. Transportation here is difficult. It is impossible to transport military grain from Kashgar for a long time. If you want to obtain food locally, you can only garrison a small amount, otherwise it will intensify conflicts with the local tribes. After all, the grain produced is only So much, even if we spend money to buy it, it will cause a food shortage in Congling. The garrison in Congling can be up to four thousand."

Lei Zhiji said: "Four thousand is unstable."

Jiang Liang said: "Sure, you said it yourself, the local tribes are scattered, and even the language is divided into two large parts. There are eight big cities, with 400 troops stationed in each city. The remaining 800 troops are stationed at various checkpoints."

"That's not enough." Lei Zhiji said.

Jiang Liang smiled and said: "Since the local tribes are very poor, they should collect less taxes. If they pay less taxes, they have to fight for the court. If a tribe rebels, let other tribes send troops to follow my Datong Army to quell the rebellion. If all The tribes are all rebelling, which means there is something wrong with the Han officials, who have forced all the scattered tribes to rebel."

The imperial court also wanted to build a school in Congling. At the beginning, it would only recruit children of tribal nobles, and then slowly expand to common people.

Since the sects here are relatively moderate and do not interfere in politics, let them retain their faith.

To be honest, as long as the court does not impose excessive taxes, the Tajiks are very docile, because they are accustomed to surrendering to the suzerain in order to obtain a relatively stable living environment.

How many border guards have the Tajik brothers of New China produced? They are obliged to patrol the borders for the motherland, and even pay their own lives for it.