The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 834 The Demise of Gaochang
When Li Jing led his 50,000-strong western expeditionary army to Dunhuang, he received news that the Western Turks had sent 30,000 troops to conquer the Gaochang Kingdom. The combined forces of Gaochang and Yiwu, numbering 20,000, fought against the Western Turks at Luntai and suffered a major defeat.

There was no further news. At this point, Li Jing was no longer in a hurry to advance westward and ordered his army to set up camp in Dunhuang County.

The problem he faces now is not whether or not to rescue Gaochang Kingdom, but that winter is coming.

It's mid-October now, according to the lunar calendar, but it's mid-November in the Gregorian calendar. Light snow has already started falling in Xingxing Gorge, which is near Beiting.

If there had been no news of the defeat in Gaochang, Li Jing's army would have had a place to resupply and spend the winter after entering Beiting. However, if Gaochang had already been occupied by the Western Turks, the 50,000 Sui troops would have been unable to advance or retreat, and would have been trapped in Beiting for a whole winter, eventually collapsing without a fight.

Such a risk is a cardinal sin in military strategy.

Inside the government office, Li Jing was discussing the army's wintering arrangements with Chen Xiaoyi, the governor of Dunhuang Prefecture.

Chen Xiaoyi was the deputy military commissioner of Shanshan County and concurrently the military commissioner of Qiemo County. He and Cao Taiyue guarded the Western Regions for the Sui Dynasty for more than ten years and were both promoted. Cao Taiyue was appointed as the governor of Zhangye County, while Chen Xiaoyi was appointed as the governor of Dunhuang County.

“We can station a portion of the troops inside the city. I took a look yesterday, and if we don’t consider winter training, the barracks inside the city can accommodate 20,000 troops. Another 30,000 can be stationed on the south side of the county town, close to the city wall. This way, they can be sheltered from the wind, and we can also place sentries on the city wall.”

Li Jing pondered for a moment and then asked, "How do you solve the water problem for the military camps outside the city?"

“We can dig a well to get water, or dig a canal to connect it to the Dunhuang River, but it will freeze in winter and a lot of fuel will be needed to melt the ice and boil water.”

The Sui army has no shortage of fuel right now. They have brought a large amount of honeycomb briquettes, and Zhangye will also provide a large amount of Sanzhen cakes, so they have enough fuel.

Li Jing readily agreed, "Then let's bring a canal over while it's still not frozen over."

The next morning, the 50,000-strong army began digging the irrigation canal. The army worked enthusiastically and made great progress, and it would be completed in three days at most.

Just then, a cavalry unit galloped in from afar. The lead scout reported to Li Jing: "Reporting to the general, a remnant army of about several hundred men has appeared in Jinchang County, escorting the royal family of Gaochang Kingdom."

Li Jing was startled. Could it be that the Kingdom of Gaochang had been conquered by the Western Turks?

He quickly mounted his horse and led three hundred cavalrymen to Jinchang County, a hundred miles away.

Jinchang County is located at the fork of two main official roads, leading west to Beiting and south to Dunhuang and Shanshan prefectures. It is the junction of the southern and northern routes of the Silk Road, and is home to a large number of Sogdians. At the same time, three thousand Sui soldiers are stationed here.

The hundreds of remnants of the army that arrived in Jinchang County were none other than King Kan Boya and Queen of Gaochang.

The Gaochang Kingdom decided to seek help from the Sui Dynasty, but the matter was not kept secret. A minister bribed by the Western Turks sent someone to the Ili River Valley to inform them of the secret.

Ashina Tai, the Yabghu of the Western Turks, immediately led an army of 20,000 to come and demand an explanation.

Kan Boya dispatched his brother Kan Changyu with an army of 15,000 to join forces with the 5,000 troops of the Yiwu Kingdom to meet the Western Turkic army at Luntai.

Although both sides had similar numbers of troops, their strengths were vastly different. The Gaochang allied forces could not withstand the 20,000 Western Turkic cavalry, and the allied forces suffered a major defeat. Kan Changyu and the King of Yiwu were both killed in battle.

Kan Boya had no troops left to resist, so he sent his prime minister to surrender to the Western Turks, while he himself and his queen exiled themselves, leaving Gaochang and heading to the Sui Dynasty.

This is also a rule on the grasslands: if you are unwilling to surrender after a defeat, you can choose to exile yourself.

When the elderly Kan Boya saw Li Jing, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Upon seeing Li Jing, the elderly Kan Boya couldn't help but burst into tears. Li Jing comforted him and sent troops to escort him to Zhangye, with the plan to escort them to Luoyang after spring. Of course, Li Jing wouldn't allow Kan Boya to stay with him. His mission wasn't just to defeat the Western Turks; he also wanted to establish three prefectures and one capital in Beiting: Gaochang Prefecture, Yiwu Prefecture, Xizhou Prefecture, and Yili Capital, thus bringing Beiting completely under the control of the Sui Dynasty.

If we take the King of Gaochang with us to retake Gaochang, how can he establish a prefecture? We must send the King of Gaochang away.

King Kan Boya of Gaochang and his entourage were sent away that same day. Ten days later, the group arrived in Zhangye. On the third day after their arrival in Zhangye, a blizzard swept through the Hexi Corridor.

The entire Hexi Corridor has been transformed into a vast, white world of ice and snow.

In Luoyang, at the crack of dawn, countless Luoyang merchants rushed to the Luoshui Wharf. Today, the last batch of cargo ships of the year would arrive, including both official and civilian vessels, on a grand scale. Merchants called this day "snatching up the last goods," lest they be mistaken about today's shipment, as the next batch would not arrive until the spring of next year.

The river freezes for three months, during which time there are four major festivals: Laba Festival, New Year, Lantern Festival, and Spring Festival, all of which are peak sales seasons.

Sufficient stock is especially important for merchants, and the prices for leftover goods are relatively cheap. Merchants from the south also want to sell their goods as soon as possible so they can go home for the New Year. All kinds of goods are generally 10% cheaper than usual.

In the early morning, a fleet of several thousand cargo ships finally appeared and slowly sailed into the city. Drums and gongs were played on the dock, and the merchants cheered. Everyone rushed to the dock to occupy advantageous positions.

On the north side of the Luo River, official boats were moored, while on the south side, civilian boats were moored. For more than ten miles along the river, there were all kinds of cargo ships from the south. Merchants set up stalls directly on the boats and started selling their goods. Hundreds of thousands of people came, just like a grand shopping festival.

This year, cotton is the hottest selling item. Although Da Sui has a lot of wool, its wool products are mainly supplied to the army, such as tents, carpets, and military woolen clothing.

The main material used was cotton, which was a luxury item during the Kaihuang era and was only supplied to officials. Now, with the large-scale planting of cotton trees in various parts of the south, cotton has long been available to every household.

From a few strings of cash per tael in the early days, it is now a hundred coins per pound. Two pounds of cotton can make a cotton-padded coat, and four pounds can make a cotton-padded robe, which is very popular among the people.

This year is a particularly bumper year, with extremely high kapok production, causing prices to start to fall.

Along the riverside market, which stretches for over ten miles, there is a special area dedicated to selling cotton. Hundreds of small boats of all sizes are filled with cotton, sold in bags. A bag of twenty catties of cotton costs one guan (a unit of currency), but you need to find a shop to peel the cotton and extract the seeds yourself. Even so, it only costs sixty wen (another unit of currency) per catty, which is 40% cheaper than the market price of one hundred wen per catty.

The scene was absolutely chaotic; people were buying huge bags, enough for everyone in their families to have a blanket.

Inside the imperial study, a guard brought Emperor Xiao Xia a bag of cotton, which was spread all over the floor. When the prime ministers entered, there was no place for them to stand.

"Ah! I heard that kapok is selling like hotcakes. Did His Majesty buy some too?"

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "This is kapok transported by official ships, not the kind sold by civilian ships. The kapok on civilian ships is from Lingnan and Jian'an County. I just want to see how the quality of the kapok from Liuchiu Island compares to that of the kapok from Jian'an County."

"Are the official ships all made of kapok trees from Ryukyu?"

"This batch is almost all of them. This year is a bumper year, and the whole island is full of kapok trees. The navy used 20,000 people to pick the kapok trees, otherwise they would all rot."

Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I received a report from Shen Guang saying that the kapok on Liuqiu Island is of very high quality and can be used to weave cloth. I would like to take a look."

It has always been said that kapok cannot be woven into cloth and can only be used as stuffing, which is obviously nonsense. If kapok can only be used as stuffing, then why did Huang Daopo go to Hainan during the Song and Yuan dynasties to learn textile techniques from the Li people? Did the Li people have already started growing cotton?

The Li people certainly use kapok to spin yarn and weave cloth, because the kapok in Hainan is of high quality and the fiber length can be used for textiles. Although it is not as good as American long-staple cotton or Egyptian long-staple cotton, at least it can be used for textiles, which is a huge step forward.

"Please have a seat, Your Excellencies! I would like to discuss the matter of Ryukyu Island with you all."

(End of this chapter)