Han Khan

Chapter 5, Tribe

The Tang Dynasty fell, but the grassland tribes north and south of the desert were also having a hard time.

In the fifth year of Kaicheng (840 AD), the Khitans defeated the Uighurs and dominated the northern desert. The Uighur Khanate was destroyed, and the remnants of the Uighurs fled to the Western Regions and Hexi.

Although the Khitans destroyed the Uighur Khanate and established the Khitan Khanate, they did not occupy the entire northern desert.

The Uighurs who did not migrate, the Tatars who came from the east, the local Turks, Tiele and other tribes all went their own way.

After the demise of the Uighur Khanate, these tribes submitted to the Khitans and formed the tribal alliance of the Khitan Khanate together with the Khitans. They respected the leader of the Khitans as Khan, but each tribe still had a great deal of autonomy.

As some Khitans left their homeland along the Yenisei River and entered Mobei and Jinshan, they merged with the Tiele and Turkic peoples who remained in the area to form a new tribe.

Decades passed, and the Khitans could no longer control the situation in Mobei.

Those grassland tribes that were originally controlled by the Khitan gradually stopped obeying the Khan's orders.

In order to compete for pastures, livestock and population, the tribes engaged in equally brutal wars and plundering, fighting each other to the point of bloodshed, which further split the precarious tribal alliance.

These fragmented nomadic tribes dared not go south to the Central Plains. There were many strong men in the Central Plains, and the bloodthirsty and warlords of the late Tang Dynasty had not yet been unified.

Therefore, they did not dare to move south, while the Khitan in the east was gradually becoming stronger under the leadership of Yelu Abaoji, and they began to plunder them frantically.

As for Zhang Sheng, he could not go to the Central Plains, nor did he want to go. The Central Plains was full of powerful people. Now he had 1,800 people under his command, and he could not even defeat the Ganzhou Uighurs who were blocking the road.

Since returning to the Central Plains was impossible, they could only migrate northward.

It just so happened that the grassland was nominally unified by his relatives, and the divided grassland was a good time to go north. He also wanted to seal the wolf's lair and go to the grassland to forage for food.

As he was thinking, his stomach started to growl, interrupting Zhang Sheng's thoughts. He had hardly eaten since he woke up, and now he felt extremely hungry.

"Prepare meals for His Highness." The meticulous Zhang Zhongxian said to the guards outside the tent from inside.

The two of them sat in the tent, eating and chatting about many topics, and then Zhang Zhongxian left the tent. Zhang Sheng lay on the blanket and tried to call his golden finger.

Zhang Sheng narrowed his eyes, as if looking forward, and the dialog box from the golden finger finally appeared on his retina.

[Dark Ages Main Quest: Establishing the Tribal Center - Ordo Palace]

[Reward: 20000 sheep and 500 Han herders]

[Status: Unfinished]

[Introduction: Owning a tribe is the first step like a cornerstone, please be cautious. ]

This is the main task released by the system, which must be completed and is related to subsequent system upgrades.

Completing this main task is actually very simple.

As long as Zhang Sheng chooses a tent as the center of the town, he can rely on the power from the system to establish a tribe, and materialize many buildings that only exist in the system on movable tents, making them appear in this world in the form of tents.

Zhang Sheng, lying on the blanket, said: "With the current tribesmen, we will establish the Jinhan tribe, and with the tent where I live now, we will build the Ordo Palace Tent as the center of the tribe."

“The tribal center was successfully established, the mission was accomplished, and now it is the dark age of Jinhan.

Rewards are being distributed. A group of Han slaves from Mobei who were captured escaped from the oppression of the Khitans and are driving their sheep to the Jinhan tribe. Dear Lord, please work hard to explore and develop the Jinhan tribe and advance to a higher era. "The system's voice sounded like a machine at this time.

At this time, everyone outside the tent saw that a dazzling light burst out from their lord's tent.

The tent, which was originally plain and even a little tattered, suddenly became very huge, and was inlaid with complex and mysterious gold edges.

The tall blue flag on the tent, embroidered with a golden eagle, also became extremely gorgeous. Under the golden eagle were two big seal characters - Jin Han.

The soldiers and generals knelt down and shouted: The gods have appeared, the gods have appeared... The gods protect your highness and protect us.

Zhang Sheng heard a loud and noisy noise outside the tent, and immediately walked out, looking at the soldiers in front of him in surprise.

"Long live His Highness, long live His Highness, long live the gods!!"...

The next morning, Zhang Sheng walked out of the tent fully armed with the help of his guards and saw that the soldiers outside had finished their battle.

At this time, a knight riding a brown warhorse and wearing iron armor quickly ran towards Zhang Sheng, jumped off the horse a few steps in front of Zhang Sheng, and knelt on one knee.

He said: "Your Highness, the scouts reported that Cao Rengui gathered another 3,000 soldiers in Dunhuang at dawn and rushed towards our army, saying that he wanted to negotiate with Your Highness. The Ganzhou bandits were also behind them, with nearly a thousand light cavalry. Your Highness...what should we do..."

Zhang Sheng looked at the young general in front of him with a hairy beard and a height of nearly six feet. He remembered that this man was called Yin Shanxiong. He was good at riding and shooting. He was a descendant of the Yin family, a prominent family in Dunhuang. His father died in the war, and his mother raised him and his younger siblings. The family was poor and miserable.

Later, he was taken in by Zhang Sheng and settled in Zhang's manor. After studying hard, he was incorporated into Zhang Sheng's personal guard. Now he serves as the cavalry captain (commander of 50 people) in the personal guard. He and his family are Zhang Sheng's tenants or subjects, and Zhang Sheng can be said to be their master.

Zhang Sheng helped him up and asked in surprise: "Shanxiong, Cao thief wants to negotiate?"

Yin Shanxiong immediately said: "Your Highness, the war has been going on till now. Even if Cao Cao gathers all the people in Dunhuang, he will not be able to defeat our army. After the fight is over, the withered Dunhuang will surely be occupied by the Uighurs and the vassal people. By then, even if Cao Cao has many advantages, he will not be able to resist. So it is normal to negotiate peace."

"Yes, Cao Rengui captured Dunhuang through marriage and negotiation. Now he comes to me to negotiate. It is indeed normal." Zhang Sheng murmured to himself.

Turning his head and looking at the fearless warriors in front of him who were looking at him with fanatical eyes, he actually knew in his heart that he could not fight any longer. If he continued to fight, it would just be a civil war among the Han people, which would give the barbarians an opportunity to take advantage.

After coming back to his senses, Zhang Sheng looked at the assembled troops in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and immediately said solemnly: "My warriors, the sons of the Han family, can you fight again?"

"Messenger of God, we are willing to die for you. Your will will be our destiny. We swear to be loyal to Your Highness until death." The soldiers were shocked by what happened last night, so they responded enthusiastically to their lord and master.

Zhang Sheng did not say anything. The Zhang family had lost the support of the people. Even if he defeated Cao Yijin, he might not be able to sit on the position of Jiedushi. The people did not support him, and the nobles did not support him. What the people and nobles of Dunhuang wanted now was peace and prosperity.

We will definitely not support a brave and military man to come to power again.

Only these soldiers, who were previously subjects who had been taken in, trained and protected, still respected and obeyed him, and only they took Zhang Sheng's orders seriously.

Although he was a prince, his current reality was that he had become a tribal leader, commanding the tribe given to him by his mother, as well as the people in Zhang's manor.

Thinking of this, Zhang Sheng did not feel lost. His starting point was already very high. At least he was not penniless.

"My warriors, follow me to meet the rebels."

Immediately, Zhang Sheng ordered a horn to be blown to gather the troops. Koza, a Khitan guard beside him, approached with Zhang Sheng's iron helmet and lance. The Tatar Temugu brought a war horse and helped Zhang Sheng mount the horse. Then the two of them also mounted their horses at the same time and guarded their master.

Zhang Sheng held the saddle with one hand and the sword at his waist with the other. The black and yellow horse walked back and forth in small steps. Fortunately, the muscle memory of his body was still there, and he was born in the Western Regions in his previous life. Riding a horse and shooting arrows were not difficult for him.

He looked at the camp in front of him, where there were about forty teams of more than 2000 cavalrymen assembled, and he felt inexplicably excited. There were more than 2000 cavalrymen, not 20, not 200, but more than 2000.

In the past, seeing dozens of cavalrymen running on TV was extremely shocking. Now, so many cavalrymen are right in front of you and belong to you. Isn’t this exciting?

Yes, more than 2000 people were pure cavalry. Although many of them were light cavalry dressed lightly and armed with spears and bows and arrows, there were also many cavalry equipped with iron armor such as zebra armor and mail mail.

There are also 3 battalions of 300 heavy armored cavalry.

There is no shortage of good horses in Hexi. Hexi horses are famous all over the world. High-quality war horses from the desert, the Western Regions, and the snow-covered areas are spread all over Hexi.

There was no shortage of cavalry, because this was a mixed area of ​​farming and nomadism. In addition to Han soldiers, there were also many elite soldiers from the Uighur, Tatar, Tiele, Kyrgyz, and Tuyuhun peoples. Most of those who were selected to become soldiers were proficient in riding and horse warfare.

Led by their respective team leaders, they lined up in front of Zhang Sheng.

Zhang Sheng drove his horse forward and approached the soldiers lined up in neat rows. Looking at those scarred but fanatical faces, he was extremely shocked. This was not a game. The people in front of him were all living people.

He saw many familiar faces, such as Luo Wenda, a member of the branch of the famous Luo family in Dunhuang. Unlike his cousins ​​Luo Tongda, Luo Yingda, Luo Xianda and others who supported Cao Yijin, he firmly supported the emperor's heir Zhang Sheng.

Zhang Chengming, the youngest son of his great uncle Zhang Huaixing, is Zhang Sheng's uncle and the only remaining descendant of Zhang Yichao besides Zhang Sheng.

He served as the military envoy of Yumen when his father was in power. His great-uncle Zhang Huaixing was killed in the battle against Ganzhou. Zhang Chengming's position was also replaced by Cao Yijin, the chief historian of Dunhuang, and a member of the Cao family. Later, he led some guards to join Zhang Sheng and served as the captain of a hundred-man cavalry unit that focused on armored cavalry.

Liang Xingde, courtesy name Chongren, is a Han Chinese from Dunhuang. He was a man of great wit and talent since childhood. He joined the army at a young age and served under Zhang Sheng. He took part in the battle against the Ganzhou Uighurs and is now the captain of a hundred-man guard.

(End of this chapter)