The Gaochang State in Xinjiang is dominated by Han people but has taken refuge in Hu people. Li Shimin: Kill this criminal

In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, in AD 640, Tang Taizong Li Shimin decided to launch an expedition to Gaochang, a small country in the Western Regions. Unlike the small countries in the Western Regions that were mostly established by Hu people, Gaochang State is a country composed entirely of Han people.

The hometown of Gaochang State is in the present-day Turpan area of Xinjiang, which was originally the territory of Cheshiqian State. Both the exits of the northern and southern foot of Tianshan Mountain pass through here. Two of the three main passages of the ancient "Silk Road" passed here. Its southeast is only separated from the Hexi Corridor by the Gobi Desert. The water and soil in Turpan are very suitable for farming and grazing. Therefore, since the Western Han Dynasty, the central government has regarded the place as a base for ruling the entire Western Regions.

In 48 BC, the Western Han Dynasty set up Wuji Xiaowei in the Luntai area and sent hundreds of soldiers to farm there. From then on, the Han Chinese replaced the locals and became the main residents of the Gaochang area. During the Qianliang period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, military households were converted into civilian households, and Gaochang County was established. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Juqu family of Northern Liang moved westward and established their capital here, known as the Later Northern Liang Dynasty in history. In the first year of Heping in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Hou Beiliang was destroyed by Rouran. The Han people in Gaochang Kingdom took the opportunity to become an independent country and successively established four dynasties including the Kan family, the Zhang family, the Ma family, and the Ju family.

Since Gaochang State is a country of Han people, Chinese and Chinese characters are commonly used in the country, and the county system, household registration system, and land grant system are implemented, which are similar to those in the mainland. In addition, Confucianism is popular in the country. There are statues of Confucius hanging in the palace. The junior high school has a doctor of the Five Classics, who is an assistant teacher in Guozixue, prefecture and county schools.

The Gaochang Kingdom had the same language and race as the inland dynasties, so it maintained good bilateral relations with the Han Dynasty to the west of Yumen Pass. In the Sui Dynasty, Gao Changguo saw that the motherland had entered its heyday, so he had the idea of enclosing the whole country. At that time, under the influence of the Hu people in the Western Regions, Gaochang State formed the custom of braiding Hufu. But King Ju Boya of Gaochang issued an order, asking the people to untie the Hu people's braided hair, take off the Hu clothes, and restore the Chinese clothes.

However, Ju Boya's idea of returning to the motherland did not come true. It turns out that Emperor Sui Yang failed to conquer Goguryeo, and bandits in the country flocked, and the Sui Dynasty was already on the verge of extinction. The reason why Ju Boya dared to issue the order to restore Huaxia's clothes was because of the backing of the Sui Dynasty. After the demise of the Sui Dynasty, Gaochang State was directly exposed to the gunpoints of the Western Powers—the Western Turks.

With the support of Western Turkic Shekui Khan, independent elements in Gaochang staged a coup and killed Ju Boya. After twelve years of chaos, Ju Boya's son Ju Wentai ascended the throne. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan also sent envoys to congratulate him on his ascension to the throne.

From Wude to Zhenguan, Gaochang and the Tang Dynasty maintained a friendly relationship. Ju Wentai paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty many times, acted as the eyes and ears of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, and even crossed the desert himself to remonstrate Li Shimin in Chang'an. Therefore, Tang Taizong believed that the Gaochang Kingdom, which had the same language and the same species, would definitely surrender to the Tang Dynasty and return the sacred territory that belonged to China to the motherland.

However, in the twelfth year of Zhenguan (638), Ju Wentai suddenly changed his temperament. It turned out that the Western Turkic Khanate, which was entrenched in the Western Regions, ended its civil war, and Yipidulu Khan unified the various tribes of Western Turkic. The Western Turks occupy dozens of city-states in the Western Regions and have hundreds of thousands of people who control strings, becoming the most powerful Western Region country in history.

The reason why Ju Wentai maintained a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty before was because the Tang Dynasty was too powerful, and he was afraid that the Tang Dynasty would send troops to swallow him. From his heart, he didn't want Gaochang to return to the motherland, and he didn't want to lose his throne. Therefore, regardless of the hatred of killing his father, he threw himself into the arms of Western Turks without hesitation.

After that, Ju Wentai broke off diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty, and together with the Western Turks, attacked Yanqi, a city-state in the Western Regions attached to the Tang Dynasty. Regarding Ju Wentai's betrayal, Li Shimin chose to bear it at first. Afterwards, Li Shimin issued a decree to Ju Wentai, hoping that he could return those Sui Dynasty refugees who lived in Gaochang to escape the war to himself. However, Ju Wentai not only turned a deaf ear to it, but also punished those refugees to do hard labor and prevented them from returning to the Central Plains.

In order to further draw a clear line with the Tang Dynasty, Ju Wentai also ordered people to block the envoys of the Western Regions and prevent them from communicating with the Tang Dynasty. Not only that, he even provoked the relationship between some ethnic minority tribes and the central government of the Tang Dynasty. He openly said to the tribal chief Xue Yantuo:

"Since he is a Khan himself, and he is also an enemy of the Emperor of Han, why should he pay homage to his envoy."

The simple translation is, since you have become a khan, you are the enemy of the emperor of Han, why pay homage to his envoy.

In order to warn Gao Changguo, Li Shimin sent envoys to reprimand Ju Wentai many times. On the one hand, Ju Wentai apologized to the envoy, but on the other hand, he was repairing the city wall to prevent the Tang Dynasty from attacking. After the fortifications were stabilized, Ju Wentai showed an arrogant face. He arrogantly said to the envoys of the Tang Dynasty:

"The eagle flies in the sky, the pheasant runs on the pole, the cat swims in the hall, and the mouse rests in the hole, don't they live!"

Ju Wentai said that eagles live in the sky, pheasants live in the grass; cats live at home, and mice live in holes. Your Great Tang established your country in the Central Plains, can't we Gaochang be independent from the Western Regions?

Why is Ju Wentai so arrogant? On the one hand, Gaochang was backed by the Western Turks; on the other hand, when Ju Wentai entered the dynasty, he found that the Tang Dynasty was in decline due to the war, and there were no people in ten, and it was no longer the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty. Between the Tang Dynasty and Gaochang Kingdom, there was a desert that was hot and lacked water. In his view, Tang Chao dared not attack him at all.

Seeing that Ju Wentai was hopeless, Li Shimin ordered to send troops to attack Gaochang.

Subsequently, an unprecedented Western Expeditionary Army was formed, with as many as 250,000 people, led by famous generals Hou Junji, Qibi Heli, Niu Jinda and others. Those who are good at making siege equipment in Shandong area "send all of them to join the army". Historical records:

"Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, it has never been so prosperous."

In this way, Tang Jun crossed the desert with lightning speed and arrived at the foot of Gaochang City. Later, Hou Junji and Niu Jinda ordered the engineers in the army to cut wood on the spot and make catapults. The city wall that Ju Wentai placed high hopes on was like paper in front of the Tang Jun's stones. What's even more ridiculous is that the Western Turks, whom Ju Wentai regarded as their backer, sent tens of thousands of cavalry, but were frightened out of their wits by the powerful Tang army and stopped moving forward. In desperation, Ju Wentai died suddenly of illness. His son Ju Zhisheng tried to resist, but in the end he had to surrender.

After the fall of Gaochang, Li Shimin established Xizhou in his old place. And Gaochang, who had been separated from the motherland for hundreds of years, has since returned to the embrace of the motherland. And the prelude to the history of the Tang Dynasty's campaign in the Western Regions was also unveiled.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty had a far-sighted vision, resisted all opinions, and pacified Gaochang, which showed the extraordinary strategic vision and patriotic feelings of a generation of national heroes.

Author: Chinese warrior Long Yifeng https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv12821571 Source: bilibili