The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 815 The Capsizing Incident
In early March, a large army marched across the highlands of West Sea County, consisting of 30,000 mounted soldiers and 50,000 camels laden with supplies.

The team traveled along the northern edge of the Qaidam Basin. With the end of the Little Ice Age, Eurasia entered a period of unprecedented warmth, characterized by a warm and humid climate that fostered the growth of all things. Even today, the climate is not as warm as it was during the Tang Dynasty.

The warm climate made the plateau landscape completely different from later times. The glacial meltwater was abundant, with lakes and rivers everywhere, as well as endless grasslands. This warm climate not only led to the prosperity of the Tang and Song dynasties, but also brought about the rise of many civilizations, such as the Abbasid Caliphate, the Frankish Kingdom in Europe, and the Tibetan and Khitan Kingdoms in East Asia.

The rise of the Tibetan Kingdom, in particular, became a persistent problem throughout the Tang Dynasty. Especially after the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's national strength declined, and Tibet occupied almost all the territory west of Guanzhong. The Silk Road was interrupted, people were captured and enslaved, and Chang'an was repeatedly occupied by Tibet.

These disastrous consequences were certainly related to two serious strategic mistakes made by the Tang Dynasty in its early period. The two marriage alliances sent not only princesses but also a large amount of advanced technology such as agriculture and metallurgy, which transformed the originally extremely backward Tubo into a powerful country. Tubo began to invade the Tang Dynasty, occupying the entire Tuyuhun and the Hehuang Nine Bends, seriously threatening Longyou and Chang'an.

Of course, the rise of Tibet was also related to the climate. The warm climate transformed the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from a frozen wasteland into a vast expanse of arable land. Wheat was the main crop, and cattle and sheep were abundant, rather than barley and yaks. In addition, the Tang Dynasty provided a large amount of advanced technology, which enabled Tibet to rise rapidly.

However, the climate was both a blessing and a curse. As the Song Dynasty gradually entered the Little Ice Age in its later period, the powerful Tibetan Empire declined again. The cooling climate also led to the southward invasion of northern nomadic peoples, and the Mongols continuously attacked the Jin Dynasty.

Qin Qiong's army set off in mid-February and marched for twenty days. They had already entered the territory of Shanshan County, and the snow-capped Altun Mountains were already in sight.

Thanks to having spent the entire winter by Xihai Lake, this army of 30,000 men has gradually adapted to the plateau, so the soldiers are doing well on the march at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

After another ten days of marching, the army arrived at the Gasi Grassland and Lake Sapi, where they rested for three days, allowing their warhorses and camels to graze on fresh pasture by the lake.

On the shore of Lake Sapi, there is a garrison fort, where ten Sui soldiers are stationed. These are troops sent to Sapi by Cao Taiyue, the governor and military commissioner of Shanshan County.

Qin Qiong sent someone to bring the garrison leader to him for questioning.

The garrison commander was a brigade commander named Liu Qing, a native of Xiping County, who had been stationed at Sapi Ze for five years.

Upon finally seeing the Sui Dynasty army, Liu Qing was so excited that he knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.

Qin Qiong quickly had his personal guards help him up and comfort him, and Liu Qing finally calmed down.

“The Tuyuhun have indeed been destroyed. I have been stationed at Sapi for five years and have never seen any army. There are only Supi herders grazing their livestock nearby.”

"Take your men and come with me to Ruoqiang!"

Liu Qing shook his head and said, "To be honest, General, my men and I have all married Supi women and had children with them. We will not be going back."

Qin Qiong nodded, "You can stay here if you want, but don't forget that you are soldiers of the Great Sui Dynasty. Defend the borders of the Great Sui Dynasty well, and I will leave you money, food and supplies."

"Thank you, General. Would you like to meet the chief of the Supi tribe here?"

"Have they been grazing their livestock here for a long time?"

“That’s right, this has always been their grazing land. It was the emperor who allowed them to graze their livestock here.”

Qin Qiong readily agreed, "Please invite their leader over!"

The Supi people are a minority group living in the western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. They are divided into two branches, the southern Supi and the northern Supi. The southern Supi eventually became part of the Tubo Kingdom.

The Northern Supi people were much smaller in number. During the Kaihuang era, they paid tribute to the emperor, but were later conquered by the Tuyuhun people and became part of the Tuyuhun. In the early years of the Daye era, Xiao Xia led an army to conquer the Tuyuhun. The Tuyuhun retreated westward and forced the Qiang and Supi people to provide them with logistical resources.

Xiao Xia led his army to annihilate several thousand Tuyuhun soldiers at Sapi Ze, capturing a million sheep. At the same time, he also freed the Supi people from the control of the Tuyuhun people and gave them their freedom.

The herders living on the shores of Sabize were a tribe of Supi people. The ten soldiers stationed at the fort lived with the Supi people for a long time, married Supi women, and had children.

The leader is called Uzepo. The Supi people are a matrilineal clan, and women are usually the leaders.

The Sapi tribe, led by Wuzepo, was one of the seven tribes of the Supi people, with a population of over a thousand, living on the Gas grassland and along the Sapi shore.

When the Sui army of 30,000 arrived, they hid far away. Garrison commander Liu Qing ran to invite Wu Zepo to come.

Wu Zepo was about fifty years old, with dark skin, deep wrinkles on his face, and oil paint on his forehead.

The Sui army commander seemed upright and had a gentle demeanor, which put Wu Zepo at ease. Liu Qing, who was standing nearby, acted as their translator.

"In the sixth year of the Kaihuang era, our Queen sent envoys to pay tribute to the Sui Dynasty and became a subject of the Sui Dynasty. Later, we paid tribute to the Sui Dynasty with musk and cinnabar every year until the thirteenth year of the Kaihuang era, when we were annexed by the Tuyuhun and levied heavy taxes. Thanks to the Emperor who destroyed the Tuyuhun that year, we regained our freedom. We have always been deeply grateful to the Emperor and are preparing to go to Luoyang to pay homage to the Emperor this year."

Qin Qiong smiled and said, "Becoming a citizen of the Great Sui is certainly a good thing. The court will not levy taxes on small tribes like yours, and will also respect your customs. In addition, it will send troops to protect you. From now on, this area will be under the jurisdiction of Haixi County of the Great Sui. The county seat is the former capital of Tuyuhun. You can go to the county seat to register. If you have any difficulties, the county government will help you."

Wu Zepo was overjoyed and asked, "Can we go to the county town to sell our goods?"

"Of course you can. You can open a shop in the county town and sell your local specialties."

“That’s great. We are rich in cinnabar, musk and salt. Merchants have been coming to buy them, but the prices they offer are too low, and the prices they sell to us are too high. We can only exchange one ounce of tea cake for one pound of musk. We know we are losing out, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Qin Qiong smiled slightly and said, "We have tea cakes, which we can exchange for sheep with you at the market price."

Tea was the most popular commodity in the Western Regions and was very expensive, but it shouldn't be so expensive that an ounce of tea could be exchanged for a pound of musk. That would be a complete rip-off. According to the market price in Xiping County, a pound of tea cake could be exchanged for two large fat sheep.

Qin Qiong carried a million catties of tea cakes with him this time, which he used to exchange for supplies with various countries in the Western Regions. He immediately exchanged 50,000 catties of tea cakes with the Supi people for 100,000 sheep.

A few days later, the 30,000-strong army continued its march, entering the Altun Mountains Grand Canyon and heading towards Ruoqiang County, the capital of Shanshan Prefecture.

On the vast sea, more than a dozen large ships, fully loaded with thousands of Silla nobles and more than a thousand craftsmen, sailed toward the Sui Dynasty.

Dark clouds gradually gathered over the sea, and a strong wind picked up. A storm soon struck, with towering waves crashing against the shore. Ships were constantly being overturned and sunk by the waves, and the passengers' fear was swallowed up by the sea.

When the storm subsided and the sea returned to calm, only five of the thirteen large ships remained. Only the five ships carrying craftsmen survived, while the eight large ships carrying thousands of Silla nobles sank.

The Sui army then searched the sea and found only a few dozen crew members and a dozen or so surviving old nobles; the rest were never found.

Several years later, more than a dozen surviving Silla nobles died in Yeongnam, and the shipwreck incident disappeared completely into the vast history.

(End of this chapter)