Han Khan

Chapter 3, Resurrection

In the second year of the Dazhong period of the Tang Dynasty (2), Zhang Sheng's great-grandfather Zhang Yichao took advantage of the internal strife in Tibet and led his people to expel the Tibetan commander of Shazhou. He was appointed by the court and established the Guiyi Army.

When the ruling power was passed to his father Zhang Chengfeng, the third generation ruler of the Zhang family, the situation faced by the entire Guiyi Army could be said to be on the verge of collapse.

The goal of the Guiyi Army was to return to the embrace of the Tang Dynasty and gain prosperity in the East-West trade. However, with Zhu Wen's usurpation of power and the demise of the Tang Dynasty, the Guiyi Army lost its value of existence and became a vassal state in Hexi.

Afterwards, Zhang Chengfeng refused to kowtow to the usurper Zhu Wen and drove away Zhu Wen's envoys.

He immediately sent envoys to the west and north to exchange information with the Western Region Uighurs, Khotan, and the Kyrgyz who ruled the northern desert, in order to achieve the goal of stabilizing the west and north.

He married Princess Yuchi Dohet of Khotan and Princess Aje Asli of Khitan respectively.

In addition to ensuring the smooth flow of trade routes for the Jinshan Kingdom, Khotan and Khitan also sent a large number of cattle, sheep, horses, gold, silver, tribesmen, slaves and other supplies to the Jinshan Kingdom in the name of dowry to support Zhang.

Asili, the daughter of Khitan Khan Are Gutulu Yar, was the second queen of Jinshan Kingdom and the mother of Zhang Sheng.

His father Zhang Chengfeng chose to independently establish the Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty, proclaimed himself the White-robed Emperor, and gave the Han people in Hexi a new community.

However, as the emperor, Zhang Chengfeng was only able to rule over the three lands of Guazhou, Shazhou and Suzhou, as well as a population of only more than 200,000 Han, Sogdian, Longjia, Uighur, Tibetan and other ethnic minorities.

Moreover, because the Guiyi Army had lost its goal of returning to the Tang Dynasty, there was a serious tendency towards division within the country.

In order to change the situation of the Guiyi Army being surrounded on all sides and having few people and limited land, my father developed agriculture and sericulture, engaged in foreign trade, accumulated strength, trained the army, and raised soldiers in preparation for going to war against the rebellious foreign tribes in Hexi.

After defeating the Uighur tribe that invaded Loulan and the rebellious Long tribe, my father decided to strike while the iron was hot. He put on armor himself and went to the east to fight against the Ganzhou Uighurs, preparing to take over Ganzhou, which had been occupied by the Uighurs for many years, in one fell swoop.

But the Ganzhou Uighurs dealt my father a heavy blow and a tragic defeat.

In 911 AD, at Bianqiao, the Ganzhou Uighurs, with the support of the Later Liang, defeated the Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty.

On the battlefield, "two swords clashed, both sides suffered losses". If the war lasted for a long time, the Jinshan Kingdom could not afford it.

However, the Ganzhou Uighurs were able to rely on their large numbers to completely defeat the Jinshan Kingdom, and even captured Guazhou, where the Zhang family originated. The Uighurs massacred people in Dunhuang.

As a result, "the people were in turmoil, many were killed and injured, the states and towns along the way were broken up, the dead were buried, the living were separated, the cries were endless, and the resentment was overwhelming."

After Suzhou was occupied, only Guasha and two other places remained in Jinshan Kingdom. In order to keep them, Zhang Chengfeng had to choose to bow to the Uighurs of Ganzhou.

Because they were defeated, they had to condescend to ask the Ganzhou Uighurs for peace talks and a ceasefire.

Cao Yijin, the chief officer of Shazhou, together with ministers, eminent monks and gentry of Jinshan Kingdom went to Ganzhou to negotiate peace.

They recognized the suzerainty of the Ganzhou Uighurs and even acknowledged the Khan of Ganzhou as their father, in exchange for peace and a limited degree of independent autonomy.

The result of the war was that the military and civilian population of Jinshan Kingdom suffered heavy casualties, farmland and orchards in the suburbs were burned, and the irrigation system was severely damaged.

The throne of the Son of Heaven was downgraded to that of the Heavenly King, and the Kingdom of Jinshan became the Kingdom of Dunhuang.

This also fully illustrates how small the territory of the Jinshan Kingdom, which was established on the territory of the Guiyi Army, is and how lacking in strategic depth it is.

As a small oasis country, it is neither rational nor cost-effective for my father to attack the surrounding foreign races in a tough manner.

And his predecessor was not a playboy either. He had been familiar with the art of war since childhood, had extraordinary martial arts, and received professional military training.

He was also influenced by his Khitan mother Asli, as well as the Uighurs, Khitans and many Tiele servants and guards. In addition to being able to speak Turkic, he had strong ideas of heroism and the supremacy of force.

Therefore, this person was strong and healthy, proficient in riding and shooting, and he led his troops by example. Therefore, he had many Hu people such as Khitan, Uighur and Tiele who were loyal to him. At the very least, he was a qualified leader.

My predecessor only knew how to charge into battle, and believed that was what a hero should do, so I respected my brave and wise father very much.

But now, the soul of the new century made him understand that Zhang Chengfeng's ideal and desire to restore the era of his great-grandfather's rule, with a large population and lush land, was too impatient. As a small power, the Jinshan Kingdom should play both sides and try to recover lost territory, but not make enemies everywhere.

He served as the leader of the guards under Zhang Chengfeng, and fought in the battles with the soldiers. He also saw a large number of Jinshan soldiers die in front of him, the people were displaced, suffered heavy casualties, and the country's supplies were about to be exhausted.

At that time, my predecessor was ignorant and only knew to charge into battle for the sake of my family and for the survival of the Han people and Han culture in Jinshan Kingdom.

But now, he knew that this war had dealt a huge blow to the prestige of Jinshan Kingdom and Zhang family.

Zhang Sheng, still sitting in the coffin, was trying hard to absorb the memories provided by his predecessor.

After the defeat, my father was depressed all day long and avoided seeing people. The military and political affairs of Jinshan Kingdom were managed by several ministers.

During this period, Jinshan Kingdom suffered continuous frost disasters, locust plagues, banditry, war, plague, etc. After suffering three or four disasters in a row, the people of Jinshan Kingdom were already living in dire straits. Even the Prime Minister Zhang Wenche, who personally wrote an article to pray for the country, could not win back the lost people's hearts.

As the second son of Zhang Chengfeng, after his brother died of illness, he had no rights other than being appointed as his father's personal guard.

He only commanded three teams of 600 Yacheng guards. In addition to guarding his father, he also managed the Zhang family's manor because the Zhang family had few members.

But his predecessor was not a reckless man. He could see some things. Many high-ranking families and common people in the Tang Dynasty no longer cared about Zhang's life or death. Many powerful families and surnames broke away from his control and treated Zhang in an ambiguous way.

Therefore, the predecessor took in and resettled a large number of widows and widowers, as well as military families of various ethnic groups who had emerged in Jinshan due to disasters and wars. Regardless of their ethnicity or where they came from, they all became tenants of Zhang's manor, received his protection, and were able to survive.

In addition, he also incorporated many people, slaves and tribes of various ethnic groups, including Han, Tibetan, Tuyuhun, Tatar and Sogdian from Suzhou, Ganzhou, Qilian Mountains, the snowy areas, north and south of the desert, the Western Regions, and the Central Plains. After being dispersed, they were reorganized into Zhang Sheng's subjects, and they grazed, farmed and worked on Zhang's land.

Because he bought a large number of Tang slaves, slave traders from the Central Plains, Mobei and the Western Regions made a fortune in Dunhuang. Of course, this also brought Zhang Sheng the current 2,000 households and nearly 10,000 people.

Very early on, boys and young men aged 10 to 20 years old were selected from these subjects for military training, and a reserve force of people was formed.

Together with the nearly one thousand tribal people composed of Khitan, Uighur, Tiele and Tatar, who were handed down to him by his predecessor's Khitan mother Asili before her death, his predecessor now had a total of three thousand households of subjects and hundreds of tribal warriors.

The other noble families in Dunhuang were waiting to make fun of how this prince of Hu descent could manage and control such a large population.

But it was precisely because of these subjects that the White-robed Emperor Zhang Chengfeng was not killed by the blatant usurpation of power by these aristocratic families after his defeat.

The aristocratic families in Dunhuang, who were wary of the Zhang family's power, could only plot in secret, and the emperor finally died in depression on the throne.

While Zhang Sheng was increasing the strength of the Zhang family, he also exhausted the wealth accumulated by several generations of the Zhang family. However, this barbaric young man has done a good job, Zhang Sheng now thinks.

He also gained the support of some middle and lower-level Han and Tibetan military generals.

They did not discriminate against Zhang Sheng because of his Hu ancestry. Han and Tibetan people had been integrated in Hexi for many years, and there were many mixed-blood people. This was no longer a real problem, but because Zhang Sheng represented the military merit faction of the Jinshan Kingdom and was the last hope in Dunhuang.

So they sent their nephews and sons to join the guards and reserve forces led by Zhang Sheng with their troops.

Seeing the doubtful and shocked looks in everyone's eyes, Zhang Sheng immediately took the opportunity to say: "I was resurrected by the will of His Majesty Haotian God. The gods protected me and allowed me to bring His will!"

After that, looking up at the top of the tent, Zhang Sheng really wanted to say: People today cannot see the moon of the past, but this moon once shone on the ancients.

Zhang Sheng stood up and looked at the soldiers in front of him who were loyal to him.

"Help me down!" Zhang Sheng said to everyone while sitting in the coffin.

The young master was resurrected in the light, which was a great shock to the soldiers inside and outside the tent. They all chanted that the Buddha was alive and the gods had appeared.

Although looking at the young master who seemed a little confused and ignorant, everyone finally had a backbone.

After leaving the golden tent, the generals and soldiers in the tent conveyed the exciting news to the soldiers that the gods had appeared, resurrected the young master, and protected His Highness.

(End of this chapter)