Chapter 2000: The Four Great Reforms and the Camp-Garrison Reform

The so-called "destroying mosques" meant razing every mosque and Islamic building within the territory controlled by the Anxi army, and slaughtering all religious personnel inside the temples, including believers, without distinction—a one-size-fits-all approach that required no screening whatsoever. Those were certainly incorrigible hardliners, and death was their only destination.

"Eradicating the faith" meant confiscating and burning all Islamic scriptures and related doctrinal works, forbidding any recitation or study, offering rewards for informants, and executing violators.

"Changing attire"—more accurately, this should be called transforming customs and altering practices, bringing in Han customs and changing local conventions. Language, clothing, diet, and every other aspect had to align with Han customs, strictly adhering to the "Statute on Transforming Customs and Altering Practices" formulated by the Governor-General's Office, starting with the relatively simple and visible matter of clothing. As for violations, how to deal with them? Still that one word: kill!

As for "killing the bandits," that was even easier to understand. Religious bandits, religious followers, religious clergy, religious devotees—anyone with even a connection to Islam was to be executed. This was not only the task of the Anxi army; those surrendered auxiliary troops were also to assist in "suppressing bandits." Killing bandits earned rewards—the more you killed, the more rewards you got. This also applied to ordinary people.

This provision was also derived from the "pacification experience" of the Yulin Circuit back then, merely with slight modifications.

Next, all "non-citizens" under Anxi's rule would face a question: how to prove they were not believers or followers. It wasn't just about breaking various taboos and changing various old customs; the most direct and effective method was to prove it with the head of a "religious bandit." If one couldn't prove it, then sorry, but one's own head might become someone else's "proof of identity."

These four provisions were, for those remnant populations, a plan of utter extermination. Everyone would face an either-or choice, with their lives hanging by a thread at every turn. Cruel as it was, it was absolutely effective. If carried out according to Liu Min's design, perhaps within less than a year, the entire "religious bandit" problem in Anxi would be solved at its root.

As for the consequences and impact—was there anything worse or more intolerable than the current situation? As for criticism—here in Anxi, what fear was there of criticism? Who would dare criticize? And even if they did, what use would it be? Weren't they afraid of being accused of making veiled attacks on the handling of the "Yulin Rebellion"?

And the most crucial point was that Yulin already served as a precedent, with ready-made experience to draw from—why not try to learn from it? The post-war Yulin prefectures were certainly desolate and ruined, but at least they were stable and peaceful, with far fewer conflicts and disputes. Even the air seemed fresher.

On the other hand, the Anxi army also possessed the strength to carry out a "great cleansing." From the very beginning of the western expedition to this day, the Anxi Governor-General's Office had relied on the officers, soldiers, officials, and people of the Great Han. For over a decade, this had never changed, and it would remain so in the future. As long as they didn't develop problems within themselves, they would be difficult to defeat.

From the perspective of population, the Kara-Khanids' million or so people back then—after prolonged warfare and attrition from pacification operations—had died or fled, leaving fewer than two hundred thousand today, and that figure included the Türgesh tribes in the northeast as well as large numbers of elderly, weak, women, and children. Of course, this excluded the population of the Shule region; when Shule was still under Kara-Khanid rule, it had been an important political, economic, and population center.

Even adding the several hundred li of land, cities, and populations seized from the Samanid Empire after the Battle of Talas, along with various miscellaneous tribes and forces, whether all non-citizen populations combined reached five hundred thousand was still an open question.

With such a comparison of strength, the Anxi Governor-General's Office, governing three hundred thousand Han soldiers and civilians, had ample strength and confidence to carry out a "foundation-laying movement." It only remained to be seen whether Liu Min and the other upper echelons of the Anxi army, who held the helm, had the resolve.

For the answer to this question, one only needed to look at the reactions of those in the Hall of Diligent Governance—especially the generals. After hearing Liu Min's explanation of the four major policies he had proposed, all that remained in their eyes was the word "kill."

"The specific ordinances will be formulated and promulgated by the Governor-General's Office within these two days!" Liu Min declared with a tone of finality, saying in a deep voice: "What all of you need to do is to disseminate the Governor-General's Office's decisions to the soldiers and civilians, then obey orders and carry them out thoroughly!"

"Yes!" A group of Anxi officers rose and saluted, their voices uniform and resounding, full of momentum. Even Liu Fang nodded gently.

"We'll begin with destroying temples and eradicating the faith!" Following this, Liu Min turned his gaze to Liu Ye and said: "Thirteenth Brother, the auxiliary troops under your command should first undergo a round of screening to thoroughly eliminate Islamic indoctrination. Those who have killed enemy soldiers or 'religious bandits' should be screened out first; the rest should assist in the two operations. Every single person needs to present the head of a 'religious bandit' to prove their loyalty!"

Seeing Liu Min assign him such a task, Liu Ye, who had kept a stern face throughout, showed some emotion. A gleam of brilliance flashed through his eyes, and he cupped his fists and said in a deep voice: "Yes!"

Within the Anxi army, he was primarily responsible for managing the auxiliary troops organized and trained by the Governor-General's Office. After several reorganizations, they totaled over twelve thousand men. The number was considerable, but their combat effectiveness—well, one could imagine. As for loyalty, it probably wouldn't even reach the passing line; they were just earning their keep.

In ordinary times, they only assisted the Han army in maintaining order, suppressing rioters, and conducting tax collection sweeps, and even that they did with considerable difficulty.

Of course, not the entire force was without merit. Besides the Türgesh who had surrendered earliest, there was also a batch of auxiliary troops composed of former nobles, officers, and their subordinates who possessed a certain degree of combat effectiveness and morale. But these were only a tiny minority—all told, fewer than three thousand men—and among them, those who had earned military merit by killing enemies and suppressing bandits were even fewer.

In other words, even counting generously, perhaps two thousand had formally earned the Anxi mark. That meant the remaining ten thousand auxiliaries, if they still wanted to get by in Anxi—or rather, if they still wanted to keep their lives—would have to exchange ten thousand heads for it.

Given the current situation, as long as the auxiliary troops could meet their quotas, the cleansing operation would be more than half complete. Not everyone, not every faith, could withstand the threat of steel blades.

Back then, Islam had been established as the state religion of the Kara-Khanids, gradually excluding and eliminating other religions until it stood alone. Now, the Anxi Governor-General's Office would also use a simpler and more brutal method to "reform" those Muslims into "good subjects" under royal authority.

It was clear that today's meeting had its rhythm controlled by Liu Min and Xiang Deming throughout. Seeing that consensus had been reached on resolving the most important issues, after a glance from Liu Min, Xiang Deming cupped his fists and said:

"Gentlemen, there is one point you must understand. Even if we adopt thunderous measures to purge the 'religious bandits' and bring peace to the soldiers and civilians of Anxi, how to feed three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians remains a thorny problem!"

"What Lord Wen says is most true!" Seeing the attention drawn to this point, Liu Min followed up immediately: "This problem cannot be avoided. Everyone present has long been immersed in military affairs and knows well the cost of maintaining an army!

Without the court's continued support, Anxi's current labor and production output is completely insufficient to supply the more than thirty thousand full-time soldiers we have now!"

After several rounds of rotation, reorganization, and downsizing, the Anxi army's strength still stood at around thirty thousand. In the past, military supplies had come mainly from four sources: the largest portion was the court's support, followed by the digestion of spoils from successive victories, third was tax grain turned over by immigrant production, and last was the exploitation of the native remnant populations.

Now that the largest source had run into problems, the rest naturally could not meet Anxi's military consumption needs, and this issue was now directly before the entire Anxi army. The existing supply model, and even the political and economic production model, all needed to change; otherwise, there was a strong possibility that the Anxi army itself would collapse.

Generally speaking, topics placed later in the agenda were more important. And when Xiang Deming and Liu Min placed this problem directly before everyone, all their expressions turned grave—even more serious than when discussing Islam and the religious bandit problem.

Having a group of generals discuss these matters was clearly asking too much of them, and Liu Min didn't expect them to offer many insightful opinions either.

Therefore, after raising the problem, in the somewhat heavy atmosphere, Liu Min quickly put forward his solution: "Disbanding troops is not an option. Therefore, I plan to implement the camp-garrison system in Anxi!"