Chapter 225: Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry, Looting Southern Xinjiang
One hundred li west of Kashgar, there is a town called Kuxian, which later generations call Korla.
It was once just a small city under the rule of the Kingdom of Qocho, and now it nominally belongs to the rule of the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.
In the luxurious City Lord’s Mansion, Apudule was reciting poems and reveling in joy.
Two more young girls each held his thighs in their arms.
There were also beauties in his arms on both the left and right sides, looking enjoyably at the enchanting dance poses of the girls not far away.
Eating grapes fed into his mouth by the soft hands of the girls, his days were extremely comfortable.
But the extravagant time did not last long before a servant hurriedly walked in in a panic.
“Master, something terrible has happened.”
“Kashar City has been breached by the Northern Frontier People.”
Hearing this, Apudule suddenly opened his eyes wide and immediately sat up from the soft breasts of the beauties.
“What?”
“Kashar City has been breached? How is that possible?”
Apudule’s mind was greatly shaken, his face full of disbelief.
The Kingdom of Qocho and the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate implemented a slave system similar to land enfeoffment.
The city lords had great autonomy in their own territories, practically existing like local emperors.
As long as they paid taxes on time and provided soldiers during wars, the king rarely interfered with them.
And the city lords’ power mostly came from hereditary succession; since the time of Apudule’s great-grandfather, his family had ruled Kuxian City.
The common people in the city had been slaves of the Apudule family and some other minor nobles for generations.
At the same time, the Apudule family had also intermarried with other families for generations.
The Ahmed family of Kashar City was related to the Apudule family by marriage.
The two were cousins.
Now that Kashar City had been breached by the Northern Frontier People, Apudule was anxious too.
It was not really out of concern for family ties, but a sense of crisis like “the death of the rabbit and the sorrow of the fox.”
“Yes, great master, you didn’t hear wrong; Kashar City is finished.”
“Only a few people escaped.” The servant said with a face full of sorrow.
“Quickly, bring them in.”
“This city lord will personally interrogate them to find out exactly what happened?” Apudule said in panic.
Then he roared angrily at the girls in the hall: “Get out, all of you get out.”
With the crisis right in front of him, how could he have the mind to play with women?
Not long after, a young minor noble was brought in.
“Person” was a term exclusive to nobles; lowly people were not considered persons.
Moreover, when crisis struck, nobles had priority privileges, and their chances of escaping were far higher than those of ordinary commoners.
The disheveled young noble, upon seeing Apudule, said tearfully: “It’s over, everything is over.”
“Kashar City is gone~”
“Devils, those people are all devils~”
This man seemed to be somewhat mentally unstable from fright, his words incoherent, but Apudule understood.
From the moment the Northern Frontier Cavalry was spotted, in less than half a shichen, Kashar City had been breached.
The combat strength of the Northern Frontier Army was terrifyingly frightening.
Moreover, after those devils rushed into the city, chaos ensued inside the city, and the nobles who possessed vast wealth became the primary targets of these devils.
Even this young noble’s wife had been separated from him during the escape and was probably now sent into the military camp, suffering a tragic fate.
After hearing the man’s words, Apudule was also stunned, his face deathly pale, his expression full of fear.
The city lord master, who was usually high and mighty, now couldn’t help but tremble.
He muttered to himself: “Buddha, why would you allow these shameless barbarians to ravage our land?”
“They are simply a group of devils~”
Apudule was completely terrified by the actions of the Jin Prefecture Army and fell seriously ill.
The news quickly spread throughout the city like wildfire.
The nobles were anxious like ants on a hot pan, and the lowly people were equally panicked, wanting to flee the city for safety, but private escape without the noble master’s orders meant having their hands and feet chopped off.
The next day, the Jin Prefecture Army came killing toward Kuxian City in great force.
Although Kuxian City’s north, south, and west sides were surrounded by the Kunqi River, the Kunqi River was just an inland river in the Taklamakan Great Desert.
It was currently the dry season, so the Jin Prefecture Army easily crossed the river and came from the north.
“Boom boom boom boom~”
The land trembled under the iron hooves, and the Jin Prefecture Cavalry swept over the earthy yellow wasteland like a crimson tide.
The crimson sun and moon battle flag fluttered loudly in the wind, the sun and moon emblem on it seeming to condense a ferocious murderous aura, scorching the land.
The soldiers all wore cotton armor, carried hooked scythe spears on their backs, had ferocious looks on their faces, and as they gazed at the small town in the distance, they let out unrestrained mad laughter.
At this moment, every Jin Prefecture soldier seemed to transform into a killing machine, making the nobles in Kuxian City tremble.
“It’s over, everything is over, wuu wuu wuu~”
Apudule stood on the city wall, looking at the vast Jin Prefecture iron cavalry; his already sickly body was now trembling even more in fear.
His pale face became even more mournful as he said in a despairing voice: “Those devils have really come.”
“Kuxian City is done for; the Apudule family’s foundation cannot be preserved.”
“Wuu wuu wuu~”
The other minor nobles also looked mournful, thinking that Kuxian City would also be massacred, and everyone felt despair.
No one mentioned fleeing, after all, going outside the city would only mean they would die faster.
“Fight them to the death.”
“Even if we die, we must make those damned barbarians pay a bloody price.”
“That’s right, we are descendants of the great Gudulu Pigaque Khan; those Northern Frontier people are just slaves who raise horses for our Uyghur Khaganate.”
“Fight to the death~” The nobles shouted loudly.
Gudulu Pigaque Khan was Gudulu Peiluo, the founder of the Uyghur Khaganate, who united the Geluolu and Basmil tribes, defeated the posterior Turkic Khaganate, accepted the enfeoffment from the Tang Dynasty, and became the khan of the grassland.
However, the glory of the Uyghur Khaganate had passed; these Uyghur people who came to the Western Regions had long lost the courage of their ancestors.
They shouted one by one about fighting to the bloody end, but could not hide the fear deep in their eyes.
At this time, the Jin Prefecture Army outside the city shouted: “Surrender and we won’t kill.”
“If you resist stubbornly, we will massacre the city.”
Hearing this, the nobles in the city were all stunned, their fighting spirit instantly fading as they looked at each other.
Finally, they all turned their gazes to Apudule.
After all, the Apudule family was the true master of Kuxian City; they were just enfeoffed nobles under the Apudule family.
In the end, the gravely ill Apudule said sadly: “To preserve the commoners of Kuxian City, and for the continuation of our various families, open the gates and surrender.”
After all, Barashar was larger than Kuxian, with higher city walls and more people, yet it could not withstand the barbarians’ attack.
So, no matter how Kuxian City struggled, the outcome would ultimately be the same.
It was better to open the gates and surrender, pinning hopes on the Jin Prefecture Army keeping their promise.
With that said, he named a noble and sent him out of the city to contact the Jin Prefecture Army.
Not long after, the gates of Kuxian City opened wide, and the Jin Prefecture iron cavalry entered the city.
War horses galloped, roaring mightily, kicking up yellow sand that enveloped the entire town.
The soldiers wore cotton armor, held long spears, and cast disdainful gazes over the trembling commoners on both sides of the streets.
They rushed unrestrained toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
Immediately after, the City Lord’s Mansion was thrown into chaos.
But the Jin Prefecture Army did indeed keep their promise and did not massacre the city.
……
At night, the Jin Prefecture Army Camp was brightly lit, and the clear cries of women could be heard.
In the main army tent, Er Hu’s tower-like figure sat at the head, bare-shouldered, revealing his sturdy chest and abs.
His thick arms were covered with dragon-trapping muscles, nearly as thick as an ordinary woman’s thighs.
On his thigh sat a beautiful young girl just turned sixteen, with fair skin, blue eyes, and a tall, slender figure, not much inferior to that bride from Kashar City.
“Come, drink~”
Er Hu was in high spirits and laughed heartily as he handed the wine cup to the girl.
But the girl’s body was stiff, almost scared to tears by Er Hu’s rough aura, and she said in a trembling voice: “General, I don’t know how to drink.”
“Hm? You don’t?”
Er Hu’s face immediately darkened.
“Hmph, do you know what happened to the last woman who wouldn’t drink?”
“Right, it was in Kashar City, a woman named Aliya, who seemed to be the city lord’s daughter-in-law.”
“She wouldn’t drink the wine this general sent, so this general chopped her up and fed her to the dogs.”
“Heh heh heh heh~”
“What about you, little baby, will you drink?”
A cruel smile appeared on Er Hu’s face as he held the girl even tighter.
Frightened out of her wits, she nodded repeatedly: “Drink drink drink, I’ll drink.”
With that, she slowly opened her mouth and drank down the alcoholic beverage Er Hu handed her.
But Uyghur people drank grape wine; how could she have tasted strong liquor like Western Wind Fierce?
So the girl was choked and coughed repeatedly, the spilled wine wetting her clothes down her chest from the corners of her mouth.
Her fair face immediately turned flushed, and her gaze became somewhat dazed.
“Hahaha~”
Seeing this, Er Hu burst into laughter: “Good, worthy of being this general’s little baby; this general is liking you more and more.”
“Baby,” this term he had learned from Li Xiao.
Just two days ago, he had used it to refer to the bride Aliya, but unexpectedly, it was misplaced; that woman had betrayed Er Hu’s pure affection.
It wasn’t because she wouldn’t drink, but because that woman, upon learning that her brother had been beheaded by the Jin Prefecture Army and her husband beaten half to death, recalled her relatives killed in Gaochang City.
In full despair, she tried to assassinate him with a wooden hairpin while Er Hu was thrusting, but was easily subdued by Er Hu.
Compared to Aliya, the girl in his arms now was much more obedient.
After getting the girl half-drunk, Er Hu’s gaze turned to the several Uyghur nobles standing in the tent.
The leader was Apudule.
“City Lord Apudule, Umina will stay tonight; do you have any objections?” Er Hu said in a flat voice.
Apudule nodded hurriedly, always bowing his body, and smiled obsequiously: “Of course no objections.”
“For Umina to stay is her good fortune.”
“I couldn’t ask for more.”
He had no choice but to agree; Kuxian City had been occupied by the Jin Prefecture Army, and it was inevitable that he would suffer some loss.
Being proactive might earn some favor.
Moreover, daughters were originally for marriage alliances; if it could make the Jin Prefecture Army spare Kuxian City, Umina’s sacrifice would be well worth it.
“Heh heh heh, Apudule is quite a good father.” Er Hu chuckled.
He nodded and said: “Rest assured, since we’re practically relatives now, this general will definitely keep his promise and spare your Kuxian City.”
As his words fell, these Uyghur nobles immediately breathed a heavy sigh of relief, their hearts filled with relief and a sense of surviving a disaster.
“Thank you, General.”
“Thank you for your mercy, General.”
Apudule and the others hurriedly bowed in thanks.
But Er Hu lightly raised his hand: “However~”
He looked at Apudule and the others, a faint cold smile on his face, making their hearts rise again.
“Although we can spare you, our Jin Prefecture Army has marched far on this expedition and expended much; we can’t just go back empty-handed!”
Hearing Er Hu’s words, Apudule and the others breathed another sigh of relief and said joyfully: “Yes, yes.”
“We definitely won’t let the general come in vain.”
As long as it could be solved with money, it wasn’t a problem.
Although Kuxian was just a small city, it was situated on the main road from Gaochang to Kashgar, with many merchants passing through frequently.
So, there was still some money.
They didn’t care about dignity or honor; as long as the Jin Prefecture Army left quickly, that was fine.
Then they could continue to lord over Kuxian City, continue to enjoy and exploit those lowly people, and regain their lost wealth.
Thus, Apudule stated the compensation amount they had previously discussed.
But Er Hu snorted coldly: “Not enough!”
His originally smiling face darkened directly, and he said coldly: “Within three days, this general wants to see one thousand taels of gold, two thousand sheep, five hundred war horses, and two thousand shi of grain.”
“Plus five hundred strong young slaves and five hundred women between fourteen and twenty-five years old.”
“Moreover, from now on, Kuxian City must deliver two hundred taels of gold, one thousand sheep, and two thousand shi of grain to the Northern Frontier every year as tribute.”
The reason Er Hu spared Kuxian City was that the Northern Frontier did not yet have enough population to occupy it.
Even if Kuxian City were completely massacred, it would only benefit others.
So, following Li Xiao’s idea, Er Hu would first subdue these towns one by one, making them pay annual tribute and become blood bags for the Northern Frontier.
Later, migrate population from the Central Plains, then thoroughly deal with the locals or assimilate them.
However, upon hearing Er Hu’s conditions, Apudule and the others were all stunned.
“This, General, this is too much~”
“Yes, General, Kuxian City is just a small city; we can’t come up with so much.”
“General, for Umina’s sake, please show mercy.”
Listening to these nobles’ pleas, Er Hu’s expression didn’t soften at all; instead, he slammed heavily on the table.
“Bang~”
“Are you bargaining with this general? Do you think this is a market?”
Er Hu’s fierce gaze fixed on these guys as he said in a cold voice: “Three days from now, if this general doesn’t see those things I mentioned.”
“Then Kuxian City has no reason to be spared.”
“Everyone will die!”
Er Hu’s words hit their chests like boulders; looking at the knife-wielding personal guards glaring around them.
Apudule and the others trembled in fear and nodded frantically: “Yes yes yes, in three days, we will definitely prepare everything.”
With that, they fled disheveled from this man-eating large tent; the weak Apudule even stumbled several times and was helped away trembling by others.
Seeing this, Er Hu snorted coldly: “Hmph, a bunch of ingrates who don’t know what’s good for them; they really think this general has a good temper.”
On this southward expedition, Li Xiao’s assigned task was very clear: to loot and bring back all usable resources to the Northern Frontier.
Gold and silver were secondary; the most important were grain and women.
The Northern Frontier lacked grain; supplies from just Gaochang and the Great Desert were far from enough.
So they had to reclaim land, which required a large labor force.
Thus, Er Hu demanded five hundred sturdy slaves.
Moreover, many mines in the Northern Frontier needed slaves for ore extraction.
As for the other five hundred young women, it was because it was expected that next year’s early summer, Li Xiao would lead the Jin Prefecture Army on a second eastern expedition to loot Western Xia.
Mainly to loot Han Chinese population to supplement the Northern Frontier and stabilize the foundation.
At that time, the Northern Frontier’s population would surge for the second time.
But besides lacking grain, they would definitely lack women.
Only by giving women to those bachelors, letting them marry and have children, and then leading them in endeavors, would they settle down in the Northern Frontier with attachments and hope.
Therefore, the Northern Frontier needed a large number of young women.
After driving away Apudule, Er Hu turned to Umina beside him.
After just one cup of wine, this woman was already flushed and dazed.
Er Hu didn’t stand on ceremony and directly picked her up horizontally and carried her into the inner tent.
……
Back at the City Lord’s Mansion, Apudule and the others gathered to discuss; thinking of the things Er Hu demanded made their hearts ache.
They could scrape them together by gritting their teeth, but they were reluctant.
After all, this was the wealth accumulated generation after generation by exploiting the lowly people.
“Now we can only make those commoners suffer a bit,” one noble said.
Kuxian City was everyone’s Kuxian City; now facing trouble, they nobles couldn’t bear the cost alone—the common people had to share part, even most of it.
“Mm, right, they’re just a bunch of lowly people; what do they need so much money for?”
“We’ve protected them for so many years; now it’s time for them to repay us.”
“I hope those lowly people can understand our difficulties; we’re considering the big picture and have no choice!”
“We’re not taking their money; we’re using their money to make the Jin Prefecture Army retreat and protect their safety.”
The nobles chattered, quickly setting the tone for the matter.
Make the lowly people pay; if not enough, they would make up the rest.
Afterward, each noble family sent people out of the city to collect money from the various villages outside.
These villages were very scattered, some extremely remote, even completely in the desert.
If left to the Jin Prefecture Army to search one by one, it would waste too much time and energy.
But for these Uyghur nobles, it was the simplest thing.
This money and supplies were apportioned to each village under the name of war indemnity, allocated according to population.
Moreover, the black-hearted Uyghur nobles raised the original amount by another fifty percent.
If they couldn’t pay, they had to hand over young girls and young strong men as compensation.
This behavior aroused public indignation and soon sparked a popular uprising.
However, the Kuxian City soldiers who cowered before the Jin Prefecture iron cavalry struck with iron fists without mercy against these lowly people.
Three days later, one thousand taels of gold and other supplies, plus five hundred slaves and five hundred young girls, were delivered into the Jin Prefecture Army Camp.
Looking at these things, Er Hu nodded in satisfaction.
He lightly patted Apudule’s shoulder: “Father-in-law, rest assured; as long as I, Li Ao, am here, no one will dare provoke your Kuxian City.”
“From now on, pay the annual tribute on time, and you nobles can continue to live carefree.”
Hearing Er Hu’s words, Apudule was thrilled and nodded repeatedly: “Thank you, General; thank you, General.”
Now, his back didn’t ache, his head didn’t feel dizzy; he was full of energy.
All because he had learned Er Hu’s identity from his daughter.
The younger brother of the Great Protector of the Northern Frontier!
This was an important figure in the Northern Frontier; if the Northern Frontier established a country in the future, this would absolutely be a Great King.
So, Apudule was overjoyed.
Daughters were originally for marriage alliances; marrying whom was the same?
Now following the younger brother of the Great Protector of the Northern Frontier, even as a concubine, it would still benefit the Apudule family endlessly.
In the future, he would have “someone in the imperial court.”
As for the tribute, they had to pay it to the khaganate annually before; now it was just changed to the Northern Frontier— a bit more was fine.
Not long after, amid the farewell of Kuxian City’s nobles, the Jin Prefecture Army set off grandly with cattle and sheep, grain, treasure, and slaves, heading to the next town.
“Lying rigid in a lonely village without self-pity, still thinking to defend Luntai for the country.”
This was the Luntai City in Lu You’s poem.
According to Er Hu’s plan, first loot all these towns on the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains; if there was a chance, go stroll around Kashgar.
Force the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate to hand over their princess.
