Chapter 792: Noob Team Wipe (Hey, What Are You Doing!)

Hushui City lies seventy li northwest of Talas, and like Baishui City southwest of Talas, the two cities are each built on the banks of the Baishui and Hushui rivers, taking their names from the rivers.

And the Baishui and Hushui are actually the same river.

The Talas River channel forms a ) shape, with Talas City as the boundary; the upper reaches are called the Hushui, the lower reaches the Baishui, and it finally flows into the Yaxartes, that is, the Syr Darya.

Of the hundred thousand people relocated from Suyab, sixty thousand were settled around the relatively more prosperous Baishui City, because they were the various Suyab peoples who had been relatively less resistant to Guo Guangyi.

But the forty thousand settled at Hushui City were different.

This place is close to the southern edge of the Moiynkum Desert, conditions are harsh, and survival depends entirely on the Talas River.

But the Talas River is not a normal rainfall-fed river; it is a seasonal river relying entirely on mountain snowmelt, and with the weather now bitterly cold, the flow cutting off is a common occurrence.

More than forty thousand people, plus a small Turkic tribe that originally nomadized here, nearly fifty thousand people living on the edge of this desert, surviving on a snowmelt river — one need not think to know it must be very hard.

And the reason these forty thousand received such treatment is that, apart from the several thousand who were directly beaten into slave labor, they were the people most unwilling to cooperate with Guo Guangyi.

In fact, although Suyab was regarded by Zhang Zhao as a base, there were not many Han people there; the Guo family's total population was only a few thousand.

The great majority of them were Uyghurs surnamed Pugu, Yaglakar, and Huduge.

Of course, you could also call them Han, because among the Uyghurs of these three Suyab surnames there were very few with blond hair and blue eyes; most had black hair and brown eyes, or gray hair and brown eyes, their features differing from the Han, but not by much.

Moreover, these people were the Uyghur upper class who, after the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate, fled to Anxi together with Pang Tegin.

For many of them, if one traces their maternal lines upward, they came either from collateral branches of the Li-Tang imperial clan, or from Uyghur and Turkic princesses who had been enfeoffed as princesses.

For example, tracing Yaglakar Dingzhong upward, his seventh-generation grandmother was Pugu Huai'en's daughter, Princess Chonghui.

Of course, this fellow would rather say his seventh-generation grandmother was a Tang imperial clanswoman, the Junior Princess Ningguo who accompanied Emperor Suzong's daughter Princess Ningguo in the marriage alliance to the Uyghurs.

But he did not dare report this upward, fearing Zhang Zhao would not agree.

And after Zhang Zhao's return, the Yaglakar clan of Suyab changed their Han surname to Luo, and the Huduge clan changed their surname to Hu.

These fellows' ancestors had all eaten and seen the world, and had countless ties to the Great Tang, so naturally they were unwilling to go back to being barbarians under Guo Guangyi.

But they were also not as resolute in direct resistance as the Guo main line and the Gray Wolf Tribe.

The misfortune lay precisely here: those caught between resistance and non-resistance are the most likely to please no one.

The result now is that the court considers them to have followed the rebels, Guo Guangyi considers them untrustworthy, and forty thousand people have been thrown to the edge of this desert to die.

But their luck was not bad: Guo Zhou'er stirred up enormous commotion at Baishui City, and Guo Guangyi's attention was entirely drawn to Baishui City.

On the Hushui City side, only a few small mercenary bands came to attack, and of course they could not take Hushui City, defended by forty thousand people.

But this window of time was very short. When Guo Guangyi, with the resolve of a man who would kill his own wife, acknowledged the Krik chieftain Talib as his father, married Talib's daughter, and presented the forty thousand people of Hushui City as betrothal gifts to Talib, it meant that the final hour of Hushui City's forty thousand had arrived.

Yet the first to suffer disaster were still not the forty thousand of Hushui City, but the more than ten thousand able-bodied men of Baishui City who had fled to the banks of the Yaxartes.

Because the Krik tribe of the Oghuz Yabghu State lived precisely in the region where the Yaxartes flows into the Aral Sea.

After Talib received Guo Guangyi's "submission," he personally led twenty thousand cavalry of the Krik tribe straight up the Yaxartes toward Talas City, while Guo Guangyi led ten thousand cavalry of his own to meet him.

They caught the more than ten thousand men of Baishui City, who were resting and reorganizing on the middle Yaxartes, squarely in a pincer.

These men could not defeat Guo Guangyi to begin with, and now attacked from both sides, their defeat was even more disastrous. Captain Zhang, the black-robed family retainer, Guo Zhou'er, and the others escaped with only a few hundred people; the rest were either killed or captured.

Talib was a big man of imposing build; though nearly sixty, his body was still very strong. Looking at the thousands of captured able-bodied men in the distance, he laughed smugly.

As the "male camel" of this generation of the Krik family, Talib knew very well what sort of creature this Guo Guangyi before him was: for power, he had killed the entire family of his former father-in-law Li Guoshou.

But Talib had no choice, because since his ancestors broke away from the Nine Clans of Oghuz and came to live around the Leizhu Sea (the Aral Sea), nearly two hundred years had passed, and the four tribes that had originally departed, more than a hundred thousand people, had multiplied to more than four hundred thousand.

Yet the lands around the Leizhu Sea simply could not support so many people. Among them, the Yabghu tribe grew ever stronger because it could continue expanding northward into the lands of the Kipchaks.

At the same time, the northern pastures were barren, and after the Yabghu family grew powerful, it turned back and coveted the rich pastures around the Leizhu Sea on which the Krik tribe depended for survival, constantly provoking conflicts.

Talib knew very well that the reason the Krik tribe and the Yabghu main line had not yet fought was that he was already nearly sixty, while his eldest son was only nine.

The Yabghu was waiting for him to die, and after his death, to take the Krik tribe at the smallest cost.

So Talib had to strive, before his death, to find a refuge where his two sons could find shelter.

And the refuge, the shelter in his eyes, was the region from Talas to Shiguo City (Tashkent).

Because as early as five years ago, the Samanid Persian Emir Hamid had invited him, wanting Talib to garrison this area and prevent the alliance of four tribes of the Nine Clans of Oghuz and the Karluks, brokered by the Karakhanid Saktu, from invading southward into Samanid Persia.

Well now! Quite lively, isn't it! These Transoxiana noobs peck and claw at each other, trading blows back and forth.

Talib, in a nearly desperate situation, was still quite pleased to receive Guo Guangyi's proposal.

He prepared to lay his cards on the table with Guo Guangyi: he could marry his daughter to Guo Guangyi and could also ally with him; his only demand was to preserve the life of his son Seljuk.

The reason he dared to make only such a demand was that Talib was very confident in the vision and wisdom displayed by this nine-year-old son of his.

At an age when other children were still absorbed in all sorts of games, the nine-year-old Seljuk could already think through problems like an adult.

His wisdom could sometimes even astonish Talib, which made Talib believe that this son of his was sent by Tengri to revive the Krik family.

Of course, this one is the founding ancestor of the historical Seljuk Empire; his descendants established a great empire spanning Central Asia and Western Asia, the Seljuk Empire. They repeatedly defeated the Roman Empire and the Crusaders, and the Seljuk Turks nearly fought their way into Europe, a presence that made the Crusaders tremble with fear.

So Talib believed that as long as someone could preserve Seljuk's life, in fifteen to twenty years the Krik family would rise again.

For this, he had only one demand of Guo Guangyi: before Talib married his daughter to him, Guo Guangyi must kill all of his previous children — that is, all the children born to him by Li Guoshou's daughter!

That way, even if Guo Guangyi could immediately impregnate Talib's daughter, the child would still be more than ten years younger than Seljuk.

No matter what happened in the future, at least Guo Guangyi's sons could not surpass Seljuk in age.

Only, this gentleman guessed two things wrong.

The first was that he was actually very long-lived; historically he lived past Seljuk's adulthood without dying.

When he finally passed away, Seljuk was already nearly thirty, so all his present worries were in fact worries over nothing.

The second, and the greatest mistake he made, was that as a petty steppe chieftain, his vision was far too short.

He had absolutely no idea that behind the Khotan Golden Kingdom that Guo Guangyi betrayed stood a Heavenly Khagan, the Great Zhou Shaoming Emperor, His Majesty, with a population of thirty million, two hundred thousand armored troops, and the ability to dispatch a hundred thousand troops to Transoxiana at any time.

In early July, Guo Guangyi held an alliance meeting with Krik chieftain Talib at Baishui City. Guo Guangyi bowed and called Talib father, and declared his willingness to merge the hundred fifty thousand people under him into the Krik family.

The two then jointly submitted letters and tribute expressing submission to the Samanid Persian Emir Hamid, declaring not only their willingness to guard the northern frontier for Samanid Persia, but also their willingness to convert to Islam.

Anxi City (Bukhara), the forbidden palace.

Hamid had suffered a stroke at the end of last year, and early this year he fell again in the bathhouse, leaving his body even weaker. He was bedridden for long periods, and even his speech came in fits and starts.

This man was never a powerful emir to begin with. Strictly speaking, he had been propped up by Zhang Zhao, who at the time bore the title of Gur Khan.

So when his body fell into this condition, Hamid quickly lost the ability to hold on to power.

The one who now holds power is Hamid's son, Salih Abu Hajib bin Nasr.

In this name, "Abu" and "bin" are common to all names of the Samanid house, while "Hajib" is an office, equivalent to Zhang Zhou's Commander of the Imperial Guard Cavalry and Infantry. So this man's actual name is Salih.

Salih looked at his father Hamid, who lay on the sickbed so agitated that tears and drool were streaming down his face. A trace of impatience crossed his features, but he held it in and patiently explained.

"My father, now is the best opportunity. The governor of Tashkent, Amir, has long refused to obey orders. Now the Krik clan and the Guoge clan of Talas have come over to us, and we can use them to suppress Amir.

We need not pay much at all, and we will gain the service of tens of thousands of warriors.

With them, Amir will no longer dare so brazenly to ignore the emir's authority. Your son can at his leisure strip away Amir's power in Tashkent, and in the end bring him to heel."

Hmm, from the look of it, this Prince Salih's thinking is not wrong.

Since the governor of Tashkent — that is, the city of the Stone Country — Amir will not heed orders, then accept the Krik clan and the Guoge clan to suppress him.

That way they can form a two-sided pincer on Amir — no, wait! A two-sided pincer. This biggest warlord in the Samanid Persian state can then be forced down.

But hearing his son Salih speak this way, Hamid grew so agitated that his whole body began to tremble, and he kept muttering under his breath.

Salih leaned in to listen. It turned out that what Emir Hamid kept muttering over and over was the word "Taugast."

It would have been better not to hear it. The moment he heard "Taugast," the young Salih felt as though he had been punched square in the chest. He shot to his feet, his face flushed red with fury.

"Father, do not speak of Taugast again! My emirate stretches thousands of li, with four million people and more than a hundred thousand men under arms. Why should we so fear a distant infidel Taugast empire?

When Gur Khan carried off Aunt Sefiye and the queen grandmother, that was a disgrace to the Samanid house. Your son will never continue to endure such an insult.

If Gur Khan dares send an army again, I, Salih, will make sure he learns the might of the Ghulam cavalry. I will also retake Khujand and Kasan, and let Gur Khan know how mighty the Samanid emirate is under the protection of Allah!"

Hamid lay on the sickbed, staring at Salih in disbelief, and for a long time said nothing.

That terrifying scene from fifteen years ago — Gur Khan with only four thousand horse and foot utterly routing thirty thousand Ghulams — echoed so vividly in Hamid's mind. It was a moment he would never forget as long as he lived.

Hamid did not know when Salih left. By the time he came back to himself, a little darling was poking his head in at the doorway. It was his youngest son, Mansur.

In an instant, Hamid's mind, clouded by illness, seemed suddenly to clear. He swiftly summoned the only palace steward still loyal to him, and also called for Mansur's mother.

Hamid took a box from the steward's hands and opened it. Inside was an exquisite little golden lion statue. Hamid strained to pull it apart, placing one half in Mansur's hand and handing the other half to the palace steward.

"This golden lion was a birthday gift I gave Sefiye when she was ten. When she left back then, she did not take it with her. I imagine she hated me.

But over the years, Sefiye and Pantaiya have written many times saying they miss home. They even sent, according to Taugast custom, the fetal hair of the prince she bore, for me, this child's uncle. I think they must have forgiven me by now.

My loyal Steward Abu, send someone to deliver this half of the golden lion to Sefiye far away in Taugast. Beg her — she must preserve Mansur's life."

With that, Hamid tearfully took Mansur's hand. "Your elder brother is about to provoke a being that can destroy us. But my little Mansur will live on well.

From now on, like King Peroz of the Sasanians and Prince Narsieh of old, it would not be bad for you to live in Taugast."

On the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month, Guo Guangyi, having succeeded in the alliance, led the Krik cavalry and requested another round of supplies from Samanid Persia. After once more recruiting a number of mercenaries at the city of Anxi and the city of Kangguo, he began advancing toward the city of Hushui.

This time Guo Guangyi could truly be said to have strong soldiers and sturdy horses. His foot and horse together exceeded fifty thousand, of which elite cavalry alone numbered twenty thousand. Banners stood thick as a forest, churning up yellow dust that filled the sky. He could well be called flushed with pride and satisfaction.

Atop the walls of Hushui City, Yaoluoge Dingzhong — now calling himself Luo Dingzhong — Pugu Quan, and Guo Guangbi of a branch line of the Guo family were pacing in frantic circles.

They could beat back one or two thousand mercenaries, but they certainly could not defeat the fifty thousand troops Guo Guangyi led in person.

Without prior agreement, all of them turned their gaze toward a small hill in the distance called Three Passes, for on that hill, banner after banner of the Three Stars flag with silver-white borders was flying high.

Yes — Hu Guang had arrived with an army of thirteen thousand!

However, because the distance was so great, a full six hundred li, Hu Guang had only a little over three thousand cavalry in hand.

To guarantee absolute safety, Hu Guang first captured the city of Julan, which lay between Talas and Suyab. He stockpiled large quantities of supplies in Julan, one hundred seventy li from Talas, and left Guo Guangcheng with two thousand men to guard it and secure the grain supply line. Only then did he lead the army east.

And just a few days after he reached Hushui City, Guo Guangyi also arrived with his fifty thousand troops.

A young officer on a yellow horse fought desperately through the layers of Guo Guangyi's encirclement. The moment he entered the city and climbed the wall, he saw the three men and at once shook his head and sighed.

"I charged to the outside of the stockade, but before I could even shout, I was driven back by a volley of arrows!"

Hearing this, Pugu Quan collapsed onto the wall with a thud. "The rebel Guo comes with fifty thousand troops to attack, and the imperial army of the court is close at hand, yet it does not come to our rescue. Our day of death has arrived."

Luo Dingzhong stared at the silver-bordered Three Stars flag in the distance for a long while, then looked at Guo Guangyi's fifty thousand troops, who were already preparing battering rams, and clenched his teeth tight.

"Back then I urged you all, while the rebel Guo had not yet fully seized Suyab, to break out of the city and escort Ninth Uncle — Guo Xuanchao — in flight to Khotan. You listened to nonsense and hesitated. Now disaster is upon you!"

Pugu Quan looked at Luo Dingzhong and wailed from the ground. "You, Luo Dingzhong, have no parents here and have not yet taken a wife, so of course you could leave at a word. My whole family numbers more than three hundred souls, and my grandson has only just learned to walk. How could we have gotten away?"

Luo Dingzhong gave a cold snort. "And what about today? The whole family will still die all the same. Why did you not decide earlier? At least then, like Chi Tian, you could have had the name of a loyal minister."

Guo Guangbi regretted it even more, for of these three men, Luo Dingzhong and Pugu Quan were both Uyghurs. Only he was a true son of Tang.

But he was the most strong-willed of the three, and his mind was still clear. He turned to look at Luo Dingzhong.

"Luo Erlang, you are the most clear-headed of us all. Tell us — is there still any way to make the imperial army of the court come to our rescue?"

Luo Dingzhong pondered for a moment. The Yaoluoge house had been the khagans of the Uyghurs for centuries, and in this regard he had inherited something from his ancestors. He slowly nodded and said with a bitter smile.

"What way could there be? We ourselves sent up a memorial asking to send Guo Zhou'er to the divine capital to bear a prince for Consort Guo, and then in the end married her off to Li Quanjie. When the rebel Guo brought chaos to Suyab, we acquiesced and did not resist.

Even the khagans of the Uyghurs of old would have massacred the city for this. The Heavenly Khagan's divine might is a hundred times that of the khagans of old, great and small. How could he possibly forgive us so easily!"

"Cannot easily forgive" — that meant there was still a sliver of hope for forgiveness. Guo Guangbi at once looked at Luo Dingzhong with hope.

"Speak, then. At a time like this, don't hem and haw. What are we to do?"

"Eleventh Uncle, go now and kill Huduge Hulun and the whole family of Thirteenth Uncle. Then prepare to defend Hushui City to the death.

Once half of us are dead and the rebel Guo's great army is dragged into exhaustion, Commander Hu over there will likely make his move.

The Sage wants to seize Transoxiana. As long as we repent and turn back, we are still better than using Oghuz or Karluks!"

Huduge Hulun was the one who had escorted Guo Zhou'er to Talas when she was married off. Thirteenth Uncle was another elder brother of Guo Zhou'er. Both were now in the city.

Guo Guangbi drew a deep breath. His stern face went deathly pale. After standing frozen for a few breaths, he finally nodded hard.

"Then we fight to the death. If we drain our blood, our wives, children, and elders may still have a way to live. I will go now and kill Huduge and his whole family."

With that, Guo Guangbi hauled Pugu Quan to his feet. Huduge Hulun was Pugu Quan's in-law, so of course Pugu Quan had to kill him himself. As for Thirteenth Brother's family, that naturally fell to Guo Guangbi.

"Regret too late, regret too late!" Pugu Quan wept bitterly, walking as he cried. But his hands did not hesitate. He quickly drew the long dagger at his waist and followed Guo Guangbi.

Wuzonggachi Mountain. In later ages this mountain lay south of Almaty, and should be part of the Outer Ili Range, about seven hundred fifty li from Talas.

Bai Congxin personally led forty thousand elite cavalry and had already trapped the last hundred thousand or so herders of the Nine Clans Uyghurs here.

In the distance, dust churned. An Uyghur cavalryman, still wearing a sheepskin robe in the sweltering heat, galloped over holding a white flag.

But this was not a gesture of surrender — he had come to deliver a message.

The cavalryman looked young and visibly tense. Whether from heat or fear, beads of sweat covered his sallow, long face.

"The Great Inal has spoken: Tengri is the supreme sky god and would never incarnate as the Unbounded Heaven!"

"Fuck! Screw your mother — how dare you blaspheme the Unbounded Heaven!" The moment the Uyghur cavalryman's words left his mouth, a deafening wave of curses erupted.

"A wild dog cannot ride in a palanquin — you don't know what's good for you!" Bai Congxin roared in anger too, glancing at Lu Ketu, the son of Lu Sanlang, beside him.

Lu Ketu let out a howl, raised his long lance, and spurred his horse out of the formation, smashing the Uyghur cavalryman's skull to splattered brains with a single thrust.

Bai Congxin drew the hengdao saber at his waist and pointed it forward. "Hounds of the Heavenly Khagan, guardians of the Unbounded Heaven — kill all these blasphemers! Spare no one taller than a cartwheel!"

(End of Chapter)

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