Chapter 216

In the city of Khujand, the governor's palace rang with the din of killing. Once Yan Jin personally led his men into the city with Salah in custody, the plan to lure out and slaughter every officer in the city began.

Nearly all Persian officers above the rank of centurion had been summoned to the governor's palace, supposedly because the newly arrived Hakim wished to feast and reward them. In truth, what awaited them was a massacre.

Two hundred elite armored soldiers of the Hanshan Capital Guard suddenly fell upon the several dozen officers. Before they could even react, the officers were all seized and killed.

Immediately after, the Hanshan Capital Guard's armored soldiers cut down the officers' personal attendants in the palace's outer courtyard. Finally, under Yan Jin's command, and strictly following the plan laid out when they entered the city, they occupied each section of the walls and every key point one by one.

As for the Persians, even standing up brought merciless volleys of arrows. Those who survived all lay flat on the ground, not daring to move.

As for why they did not simply have Salah call open the city gates for a peaceful takeover, Zhang Zhao had not considered it, and neither had Yan Jin.

Khujand was simply too important to Zhang Zhao. Only with Khujand could he carry out his next step: using Prince Hamid's usurpation to reap benefits. There was no room for failure.

Of course, there was another important reason. If the gates had been called open, the several thousand Persian troops and twenty or thirty thousand Persians in the city would have counted as having surrendered. But if the city was taken by surprise assault, these Persians would be captives.

Those who surrendered would have to be fed with army grain and given proper treatment. Captives, on the other hand, required none of that.

After taking Khujand, Zhang Zhao still had to build a series of water conservancy projects in Fergana to deal with the annual spring snowmelt floods of the Jaxartes and the Soran River.

He also had to establish a series of fortresses around Khujand. These backbreaking labors could hardly be done by his own men, after all!

"Release the divine fire bombs! Let Pei Shengyuan and his men enter the city!" After personally cutting down the last resisting Persian officer, Yan Jin clapped the shoulder of the guard beside him.

Taking Khujand without the Great King personally leading the main army — was that any less a feat than Ma Yaozi rescuing the three clans of New Kucha and winning over the tribes of the northern mountains?

The third day of the third month: auspicious for travel and taking up office. The hour of Mao: suitable for building boats and boarding ships.

Three li outside the city of Kasan, by the banks of the Jaxartes, drums and gongs sounded. Sixty or seventy men bound with hemp ropes were dragged onto the riverside sand and cut down like sugarcane.

Those executed were the male members of the family of Yusuf, the former governor of Fergana under the Karakhanid state.

And it was not even Zhang Zhao who gave the order. The one who ordered the execution of all males above the age of twelve was Li Shengtian.

Yusuf had once cut off the noses and ears of Khotan's envoys, slapping the face of Li Shengtian, the Great Son of Heaven, until it rang. How could Li Shengtian ever spare him?

Not only did he personally issue the decree to kill Yusuf's entire clan, he even specially dispatched executioners from the royal city of Khotan.

"Your servant congratulates the Great King on swift success and awe-inspiring might across Transoxiana!"

An official in a red round-collared robe raised his wine cup. This was the special envoy sent by Li Shengtian: Luo Ende, Defense Commissioner of Anjun Prefecture.

Anjun Prefecture was the prefecture where the royal city of Khotan lay. Khotan's Defense Commissioner was in practice an investigating official who handled defense, public order, the capture of criminals, and lawsuits.

Now that Li Shengtian intended to move the capital to Shule, many civil officials originally from the royal city of Khotan had been greatly promoted.

Luo Ende had not come merely to serve as special envoy. He had also come to assume the post of Defense Commissioner of Kasan and Administrator of Kasan affairs. This was a request Zhang Zhao had proactively made to Li Shengtian.

Because the officials under him with administrative ability were simply too few. He had to have Khotan send people. Otherwise, the subsequent work of registering households, surveying farmland, building waterworks, and promoting agriculture and sericulture could not be done at all.

"Prefect Luo, you may return now. This place is newly settled; do not act rashly. You must act within your means. This year's spring plowing absolutely must not be delayed. From Shule to here is a full two thousand li, and transporting grain and fodder is difficult. Every extra grain of wheat we harvest here is worth five grains harvested in Shule!"

Zhang Zhao gave his instructions in fine detail. Were it not for the military operation against Bukhara requiring him to go, he would not have wanted to leave at all.

Because the grain pressure was still enormous right now. At least half of the provisions for an army of tens of thousands had to be transported from Khotan. If this year's spring plowing in Fergana were delayed, it would inevitably affect the military operations to come.

"I respectfully obey the Great King's instructions! Your servant will devote himself wholeheartedly according to the Great King's charge!"

Luo Ende hastily clasped his hands and bowed, extremely deferential. In Khotan now, the Great Son of Heaven's commands were to be obeyed, and Great King Zhang's instructions were also very important.

Sail after sail rose. Hundreds of ships, large and small, sailed downstream along the Jaxartes, which had just broken its ice.

This was the best opportunity. If they delayed any longer, the floods from the mountain snowmelt would arrive.

The city of Khujand was actually two cities rather than one. The city straddled the Jaxartes, and the two cities were connected by three pontoon bridges.

However, the city on the west bank was very small and could only be regarded as a fortress. When people spoke of Khujand, they generally meant the main city on the east bank.

Looking at the city walls five or six meters high, the protruding bastions, and the dense mass of ships in the river channel, Zhang Zhao suddenly felt a bit fortunate.

Fortunately, he had first sent Pei Shengyuan and Xue Shouli to find the descendants of the Eastern Cao state, and then sent Yan Jin south.

Afterward, with the Eastern Cao descendants leading the way, Yan Jin bypassed Khujand and captured Salah, and finally tricked open the city gates.

Had it not been for that, if this city had possessed a firm leader, even with thirty thousand troops he would probably have had to fight for several months!

"Great Khan, Prince Hamid of Bukhara has agreed! This man is the cousin of General Hussein, Prince Hamid's trusted confidant. He has come specifically to meet the Great Khan."

Barely two days after entering Khujand, Xue Shouli's younger brother Xue Sili returned from Bukhara.

Hmm, Zhang Zhao's identity was quite changeable. To the interior and Khotan he was Great King Zhang; to the outside world and Suyab, he was the Gur Khan.

"Grant him a seat!" Zhang Zhao waved his hand. After the envoy from Bukhara had kowtowed, he was granted a small round stool.

"It seems Prince Hamid has finally made up his mind. Does he agree to all my conditions?"

"His Highness the Prince agrees to everything. As long as the Great Khan can help His Highness ascend the throne of Emir, the treasuries of Bukhara and Samarkand will all belong to the Great Khan. His Highness guarantees it will be no less than six million dinars!"

The dinar was the coinage unit of Samanid Persia. In later eras, the legal tender of some Gulf states was still called the dinar.

The Samanid Persians of this time minted both large gold dinars and silver dinars. Since the envoy did not say large dinars but simply dinars, that meant silver coins rather than gold.

One silver dinar was worth a little more than half a string of cash. Six million dinars was roughly three and a half million strings. This reward was quite generous, and Zhang Zhao was very satisfied.

Great Transoxianan cities like Bukhara and Samarkand might collect only a few hundred thousand dinars in taxes in a year. Zhang Zhao would be taking roughly five years of tax revenue from the two places. Prince Hamid was indeed spending heavily.

"Then how does Prince Hamid plan to act? How does he need my brave warriors to cooperate?" The price had been settled, so now it was time for the specifics of the operation.

"In exactly a month and a half, it will be the twenty-ninth day of the Ramadan fast. The following day is our Eid al-Fitr.

And on the second day of Eid, by custom, the Emir must lead all his ministers outside the city to bathe collectively, burn incense, chant praises to the Lord, and hold a grand banquet.

If by then the Great Khan Your Majesty's brave warriors can appear on time, His Highness the Prince will present the treasuries of Bukhara and Samarkand!"

Ramadan is a month of the Islamic calendar, that is, the ninth month of what later generations in the Republic called the Hijri calendar.

During this month, Muslims must fast. The last day of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar is the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month of this year's lunar calendar. A month and a half — there was enough time.

Zhang Zhao nodded. This Prince Hamid was ruthless! He intended to use this Eid to wipe out all the nobles of Samanid Persia in one stroke.

But the difficulty was not small either. For Nasr II, the dignified Emir, to leave the city, defenses would certainly be arranged in advance. How Zhang Zhao would lead his men to infiltrate — that would be the test of his abilities.

"I wonder how many guards Nasr II will bring out? How are they equipped? How is their fighting strength? What help can Prince Hamid provide us?"

"According to past custom, the palace guard of the Ark Citadel will dispatch three thousand men for the actual protection. Outside them, roughly ten thousand Ghulam guards will be deployed.

However, since Prince Hamid has already fallen under suspicion, General Hussein estimates that these Ghulam guards will very likely be drawn from Samarkand and other places."

In terms of equipment and combat strength, the Ghulam guards are not particularly strong, but the Emir's three thousand imperial guards are extremely formidable.

All of them are equipped with iron armor, and among them there is also a thousand-man unit of armored cavalry. If we cannot strike successfully in one blow, they can at least protect the Emir and get him back to the city.

As for His Highness the Prince, he will lead the Bukhara Ghulam guards loyal to him in launching the attack that same day. What the Great Khan needs to deal with is actually just His Highness the Emir's three thousand imperial guards."

Two thousand heavy infantry and one thousand armored cavalry, all elite troops — this is absolutely not a force that can be easily swallowed up.

But Zhang Zhao was not afraid, because Nasr II's imperial guards, though called elite, had in fact not been on a battlefield for a very long time.

Zhang Zhao's men, by contrast, were different. They had been fighting constantly for the past two years, and their coordination with one another was already very well practiced.

Luo Ende had also just delivered three hundred sets of cotton armor, so they had an equipment advantage as well. There was no need to bring too many — just six to seven thousand elite troops would be enough to make sure Nasr II could not escape.

The problem now was how to avoid the surrounding towns and cities and slip in near Bukhara.

But this was Zhang Zhao's secret, and he certainly would not discuss it in front of the envoy. So Zhang Zhao had Guo Tiance take the man away to be entertained, while he himself summoned his generals to discuss the matter.

"The general plan has now been worked out. As long as we can reach the outskirts of Bukhara, we can directly kill the Emir of the Samanids!"

Guo Tiance brought out the map. It was the one Xue Sili had brought back, and on it the three places — Khujand, Samarkand, and Bukhara — were marked with perfect clarity.

From Khujand to Samarkand was about six hundred li, and from Samarkand to Bukhara was less than four hundred li.

Zhang Zhao tapped emphatically on Samarkand. "Prince Hamid has promised that the road from Khujand to Samarkand has already been arranged by him.

When the time comes, we can pass through under the name of the Khujand garrison. The officials there are all people of his wife's clan and his mother's clan — his sympathizers and supporters — so there should be no problem.

So the key point is here: the city of Sadiqabad, northwest of Samarkand. This is the only route from Samarkand to Bukhara.

And from here onward, the officials and garrison troops are all trusted men personally appointed by Nasr II. Since it is also the vital road to the capital, it will certainly be heavily defended. I'm afraid we will not pass through easily."

Everyone frowned, because although Samarkand to Bukhara was less than four hundred li,

those four hundred li could only be traversed by following the Nami River. Leaving the Nami River and its riverbed, both sides were an endless expanse of red desert.

So in practical terms, there was only one road from Samarkand to Bukhara.

Zhang Zhao stared at the map for a long time, and suddenly remembered something. Historically, when Genghis Khan destroyed Khwarazm, it seemed he had crossed the Kyzylkum Desert — known as the Red Desert — directly, and arrived unexpectedly beneath the walls of Bukhara.

And what he himself needed to do was simpler than what Genghis Khan had done. After crossing the Kyzylkum Desert, Genghis Khan still had to find timber and build siege engines, but Zhang Zhao did not need to. He only had to appear on the outskirts of Bukhara.

Moreover, he was not without experience crossing deserts. Back when he had raided the capital of the Zhongyun Kingdom, the city of Yuni, he had led his men across the edge of the Taklamakan Desert.

The Kyzylkum Desert at this time was also easier to cross than the Taklamakan, because it had not yet become the terrifying red desert of later ages.

The Kyzylkum Desert at this time still had some vegetation, and its annual precipitation could even reach around three hundred millimeters.

"Xue Sili, last time, didn't someone among the descendants of the Eastern Cao Kingdom say they had once lived in the Red Desert? Find him, and take men ahead of time to familiarize yourselves with the route.

Cao Yanming and Yin Yaozi are responsible for requisitioning camels and making more compasses.

All officers, go down and select the bravest of your men. Pick out six thousand, and I, the Lone King, will lead you straight across the Red Desert and settle the Samanids in a single battle."

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