Chapter 799: Better to Give to

The fourth year of Shaoming, 949 CE, the eleventh day of the ninth month.

Bai Congxin personally led thirty thousand elite cavalry down the Yaxartes River in pursuit of Talib, the fleeing chieftain of the Kirik tribe.

As they advanced westward along the Yaxartes (the Syr Darya), the scene on both banks utterly overturned many people's imaginings of Transoxiana.

Although the region the Yaxartes flows through receives little rainfall and even contains endless expanses of great barren desert, near the riverbanks the nourishment of this great river had produced a scene of lush green grass and teeming vitality.

Farmland reclaimed along the banks by the Scythians over a thousand years ago still lay scattered everywhere, and near the place where the river empties into the Leizhu Sea there were even traces of rice cultivation.

"What a waste, what a waste!" Lu Sanlang's eyes gleamed as he stared, muttering ceaselessly.

Just this lower reach of the Yaxartes was far richer than the lands around Mount Yanran where the Zubu's ten-thousand-household nomads grazed. These Oghuz people had no idea how to farm at all — they were simply ruining the place.

Lu Sanlang made up his mind: whoever wanted to stay at Mount Yanran could stay. He would bring Yulizi, Luketu, and all the Zubu people here to settle. After ten or twenty years of recovery, they could send the children further west to claim even better lands.

"Great Protector-General, I beg to serve as vanguard, to smash the Kirik tribe and return with their chieftain alive."

Bai Congxin looked at Lu Sanlang with a chuckle. "You wretch certainly know how to pick a place. Who would have thought that around the Leizhu Sea there could be a stretch of southern-China prosperity beyond the frontier? With a little reclamation, it would yield at least six or seven million mu of fine farmland."

Lu Sanlang gave a sheepish grin. It seemed that at the sudden sight of such fine land, his wits had sharpened beyond their usual.

"Such a good place — of course I can't keep it all for myself. We Zubu will do the killing for the Sage, seize this fine land, and hold it until the court sends settlers."

Court settlers, indeed. In truth, all of Sage Zhang's sons were still young, and the Central Plains' population was not abundant. Without a dozen or twenty years of explosive growth, large-scale migration was simply impossible.

For now in Transoxiana, the Xia-ruler-Yi-subject arrangement could rely mainly on the forty thousand herders Bai Congxin had brought out, combined with a few thousand Han people.

The five thousand households and forty thousand herders under Lu Sanlang's control, whom he could mobilize.

And the hundred thousand or so common folk whom Li Congde, heir of the Golden Kingdom of Khotan, could take with him out of Khotan.

Of these, Bai Congxin would occupy the stretch from Shiguo City to Baishui City and establish the outer vassal state of Bai.

Li Congde would lead his soldiers and civilians out of Ningyuan (the Fergana Basin) to the area around Samarkand and establish the outer vassal Golden Kingdom.

Lu Sanlang would go to the area where the Yaxartes empties into the Leizhu Sea (the Aral Sea) and establish a duchy as a forward outpost.

As for the most central cities such as Bukhara, they were essentially already earmarked for the Emperor's second son, Zhang Xianyu.

Zhang Xianyu was now nearly fifteen. In five or six years, he would arrive in Transoxiana with the great resources granted by the Emperor.

Before that, these three states were to form a mutually supporting triangle. With the court's backing, they would steadily weaken Samanid Persia, take in people from all quarters, build a shared identity through the Six Laws School, wait for the Central Plains' population to recover, and then swallow Transoxiana, that rich land, in one gulp.

"Go!" Bai Congxin waved his hand. "A grand duke's rank — the Sage will surely grant it."

By now, Zhang Zhou had also worked out a system of noble ranks for the outer vassals under the Xia-ruler-Yi-subject arrangement.

From top to bottom there were six ranks: Great King of the State, Grand Duke, Lord Marquis, Regional Earl, Pacification Commissioner, and Garrison Commissioner.

Of these, the first three ranks — Great King of the State, Grand Duke, and Lord Marquis — were rulers of vassal states; the latter three were rulers of military provinces.

By law, a Great King of the State could petition the court to enfeoff Regional Earls, Pacification Commissioners, and Garrison Commissioners; a Grand Duke could petition to enfeoff Pacification Commissioners and Garrison Commissioners; a Lord Marquis could only govern himself.

Given Lu Sanlang's seniority and standing, obtaining a grand duke's rank already left him quite satisfied, so he happily led troops in person as the vanguard.

On the thirteenth day of the ninth month, Bai Congxin and his forces broke through obstacle after obstacle and found the great felt camp of the Kirik tribe some twenty li northeast of the Leizhu Sea.

The terrified Talib, chieftain of the Kirik tribe, sought aid from the other three tribes of the Oghuz Yabghu State at the price of ceding half his grazing lands.

Although the tribes of the Oghuz Yabghu State fought endlessly among themselves over pasture, they still understood the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold.

On the twentieth day of the ninth month, the other three tribes gathered fifty thousand cavalry and, under the command of the Great Yabghu Danu Ximi, arrived at the battlefield.

Earlier, Bai Congxin had attempted an assault on the felt camp, but the Kirik tribe, fighting for survival, had put up a tenacious resistance, and Bai Congxin had been unable to take it quickly.

Now, seeing the enemy's superior numbers, he led his army back to the south bank of the Yaxartes and stood facing the Oghuz Yabghu host, which now totaled over sixty thousand.

The felt camp was a full thirteen hundred li from Baishui City. Bai Congxin had come with thirty thousand men, and his supply lines were extremely difficult.

The Yabghu and the other three tribes, by contrast, were fighting on home ground, with easy supply and the advantage of resting while the enemy wore themselves out. They were naturally content to drag things out with Bai Congxin and had not the slightest desire to cross the river and attack.

The two sides faced off for more than ten days, when suddenly a thunderbolt of news reached the ears of Yabghu Danu Ximi.

It turned out that during those dozen-odd days of standoff, Bai Congxin had sent Lu Sanlang and his son Luketu with three thousand elite cavalry to circle around behind the Yabghu host. In three days and nights they had ridden over five hundred li and, guided by scouts, struck straight at Yangjigan — the capital of the Yabghu tribe and of the entire Oghuz Yabghu State.

In this battle, because the Yabghu had taken all the state's finest troops to the felt camp, Yangjigan was left extremely vulnerable.

Lu Sanlang personally took the field, father and son charging together, and outside the walls of Yangjigan they shattered the last tens of thousands of armed herders who had come to relieve the city.

They took more than seven thousand heads and killed over twenty high-ranking nobles and officers, including various tribal Inals (tribal princes) and Subashis (army commanders), along with several hundred lesser officers.

After entering the city, they also captured and killed Jila, the Adebei (chancellor) of the Yabghu State and uncle of Yabghu Danu Ximi, and took prisoner more than three hundred princesses and nobles of the various tribes. Even Danu Ximi's mother and maternal aunt were carried off.

The remaining spoils included gold and silver vessels and silver coins worth several hundred thousand strings of cash, three thousand head of cattle, ten thousand camels and warhorses combined, four hundred thousand sheep, and over forty thousand able-bodied men and sturdy women.

Afterward, Lu Sanlang set a fire and burned Yangjigan directly into a field of ruins.

At the front, Danu Ximi received the news from his younger brother, who had narrowly escaped, and was so stricken with rage and shock that he nearly fainted.

He wanted to order a retreat at once, but was quickly stopped by his trusted confidants in the tent, because if they retreated now, the news would surely leak. Then the Zhou army across the river would snap at their heels in pursuit, and the trouble would be immense.

Now only two paths lay before Danu Ximi.

One was to slip away quietly with three to five thousand trusted elite cavalry. If he could intercept Lu Sanlang, he might seize back what had been taken; if not, he could at least ensure his own safety and his core strength.

For although Lu Sanlang had made off with a great haul, the Yabghu tribe still had nearly four hundred thousand herders — the core strength remained.

The other option was to seal off the news, then drag the other three tribes across the river with him to attack the Zhou army.

First crush the main force on the opposite bank, then turn and surround this Zhou force that, laden with plunder and unable to move fast, had come to deceive and ambush them without honor.

Danu Ximi chose the latter without hesitation — but not because he was certain of victory. It was out of other considerations.

It was simple. The Zhou men were fierce, but they were outsiders; they could not take Danu Ximi's life.

But the other three tribes — well, the other two, really, since the Kirik tribe, after losing twenty thousand able-bodied men killed or captured at Hushui City, was also on the brink of destruction.

But the other two tribes still each had over a hundred thousand herders. If Danu Ximi simply ran back like that, then after the destruction of Yangjigan, the Yabghu tribe would be only slightly stronger than either of those two alone, but weaker than the two combined.

How could that be allowed! The law of the steppe was cruel. Danu Ximi's prestige would plummet, and since the position of Yabghu was elected in the first place, once the Zhou men left, those two tribes would surely rise up to take his life.

Better to seal off the news now and lead them to their deaths at the hands of the Zhou — no, to a desperate battle!

What was this called? This was called "better to give to friendly states than to one's own slaves"!

Better to let the Zhou men reap a great bargain than to let those two tribes escape without a scratch.

And so on the fourth day of the tenth month, in the shivering cold wind, Danu Ximi personally led fifty thousand men, prepared tens of thousands of sheepskin rafts, and forced a crossing of the river to attack Bai Congxin's twenty thousand-odd troops.

The moment Bai Congxin saw this, he understood that Lu Sanlang had very likely succeeded, so he hurriedly led his army back to the south bank, near a small hill he had long since chosen.

When the Yabghu's great army saw the Zhou army retreating, they did not even dare to strike them mid-crossing; overjoyed, they swiftly crossed the river to press them. Nearly ten thousand cavalry harried the thousand-odd mounted troops of the Zhou army's rearguard, fighting a running dogfight all the way to the small hill three or four li from the river.

Bai Congxin drew his entire army up on the hill. It looked as though they were surrounded and unable to move, but in fact only the northern and western slopes of this hill were gentle enough to attack, giving them a considerable advantage of terrain.

Bai Congxin kept only six thousand elite cavalry as a reserve; all the rest of the army dismounted, took up strong bows and heavy crossbows, and formed a great crossbow-and-bow formation for defense.

On the sixth day of the tenth month, Danu Ximi ordered his great army to surround the hill and attack. The Zhou army held the advantageous ground and loosed ten thousand arrows at once; the Yabghu's troops had hardly any iron armor, so how could they withstand the concentrated fire of strong bows and heavy crossbows?

The two sides fought from the end of the chen hour (nine in the morning) to the end of the wu hour (one in the afternoon). The Zhou army's arrows were not yet exhausted, while the Yabghu's troops had already lost several thousand men, and their morale was extremely low.

Chieftains great and small from every division urged that the Zhou army's bows and crossbows were invincible, and begged the Yabghu to lead the army away.

At that very moment, Bai Congxin ordered Chen Tingxiao, Li Jiwo, Shi Shouxin, Li Chongju, Dang Jin, Luo Yan'gui, and other fierce commanders each to lead a thousand cavalry charging down from the hill.

Danu Ximi hurriedly ordered the troops of every division likewise to form ranks and return fire with bows and arrows, hoping to replicate the Zhou army's tactics.

But the bows of the Oghuz men had far too little draw strength, and they had few iron arrowheads, so they could not pierce the Zhou army's iron armor at all.

One arrow from the Zhou army at the Yabghu's troops would generally put a man out of the fight; twenty arrows from the Yabghu's troops at the Great Zhou iron cavalry could hardly wound a single man.

Thus, as soon as battle was joined, in no more than a quarter of an hour, the Great Zhou iron cavalry had charged into the great formation of the Yabghu's archers.

Dang Jin alone, wielding an iron flail, killed several dozen men on the spot; the other fierce commanders likewise charged left and thrust right, killing without number.

The Yabghu's troops could not resist at all. Their great camp was pierced straight through, and the fifty-thousand-strong army collapsed like a mountain crumbling.

The Great Yabghu Danu Ximi and several dozen of his trusted followers clung to their horses' necks and, in the cold wind, swam across the Yaxartes River — it could be said he escaped with his life alone.

Of the fifty thousand troops he had led, more than four thousand were cut down in battle, and twenty-four thousand were taken prisoner.

After this, the Zhou army pursued the routed troops closely, fighting all the way back to the vicinity of Jand, killing several thousand more cavalry of the various divisions, storming and burning Jand, and capturing livestock and common people in the hundreds of thousands. Treasures filled forty wagons, and they returned victorious.

More than two hundred nobles and officers from the chieftain of the Wodana tribe on down were killed, and over a hundred nobles of the Kelike tribe, from their chieftain Talibu on down, became captives.

Talibu's nine-year-old son, Seljuk, was also taken alive.

(End of Chapter)

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