The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 841 The County of Atami
The Sui army's bugle calls sounded again, and the war drums thundered. Li Jing gave the order for the final attack. Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji led 10,000 elite cavalrymen, their battle cries shaking the heavens. Their warhorses galloped like lightning, their hooves rolling, like a whirlwind on the grasslands, as they pursued the Turkic cavalry.

"kill!"

The Sui army roared, their morale soaring, and they pursued the enemy, who fled in a dark mass of fleeing cavalrymen. They trampled each other, suffocating and crushing to death. Not far to the east was the Yili River.

The river was several tens of feet wide, and there was a shallow spot where one could cross on horseback, but several thousand of Tongyagh Khan's personal guards seized the shallow spot.

The remaining tens of thousands of cavalry were pursued by the Sui army cavalry. Wooden-handled grenades kept exploding behind them. The cavalrymen were so frightened that they rushed to jump into the river. Most sections of the river were flooded and the horses drowned. Countless cavalrymen and horses drowned in the river. The corpses blocked the river. The bodies of men and horses piled up like mountains, forming a bridge of corpses.

The defeated soldiers trampled over the corpses of their comrades and fled towards the opposite bank. All that could be heard were groans, screams, and cries. Everything seemed to be in a frenzy, terrifying and chaotic.

In this battle, the Sui army killed more than 40,000 enemy soldiers. Its direct consequence was that the Western Turks completely abandoned the vast territory east of the Suyab River basin and the Yibo Sea, including the Ili River Valley.

The Western Turkic royal court was forced to relocate to the east bank of the Yaosha River, 2,500 li away.

As the Sui Dynasty's power continued to expand westward, the Western Turkic royal court eventually moved to the northern shore of the Caspian Sea after about twenty miles.

..........
Ten days later, the Sui army arrived at Suyab. By this time, the Western Turkic royal court had fled far away, and Suyab was surrounded by open grasslands and the surging Suyab River.
Suyab was a small town with a circumference of only ten li. To the Sui army, it could only be considered a military fortress, or at least a small county town.

The small town of Suyab is densely populated with people of various ethnicities.

Li Jing immediately decided to rebuild a county town with a circumference of 25 li. At this time, Li Jing already had the idea of ​​establishing Rehai County in the area of ​​Rehai and Suyab, with Suyab County as the county seat.

The emperor tasked him with capturing the Ili River Valley, and then within three years, capturing Suyab and Atami to establish Atami Prefecture. Unexpectedly, Li Jing accomplished this in one fell swoop.

Li Jing understood the emperor's thinking very well. He would never use the suzerain state system if he could avoid it, and the establishment of Yiwu Prefecture and Gaochang Prefecture were concrete examples of this.

Suyab is a place where various ethnic groups live together and there is no specific country. Of course, a prefecture and county should be established. The emperor also mentioned Atami Prefecture.

What surprised Li Jing most was that there were a large number of Han Chinese in the Suyab area, at least two or three thousand households, or six or seven thousand people, mainly distributed around Suyab and the Baoda military city to the west.

The three hundred households in Baoda Military City were all Han Chinese.

When the Sui army arrived, thousands of Han people cheered and jumped for joy. Many elderly people prostrated themselves on the ground and wept bitterly, some even fainting from excitement.

After being separated from their homeland for over a century, they finally reunited with their relatives from their homeland.

Li Jing summoned several respected elderly Han Chinese men and inquired about their situation.

These old men could still speak fluent Chinese. The elder in the lead said, "Reporting to the general, the Han people in Suyab mainly came from two sources. One was when the Western Liang was destroyed by the Northern Liang. Several princes of the Western Liang led a large number of people westward and settled in Suyab. At that time, the earliest Han people numbered about two thousand."

The other group consisted of Han Chinese who had been captured by the Turks. The Western Turks also brought several thousand Han Chinese slaves, who were sent to cultivate wheat in Suyab or to smelt iron and make leather for the Western Turks. This was the second and largest group of Han Chinese.

Li Jing suddenly realized, "So that's how it is." He then asked, "Where do Han people usually live?"

“The Han farmers lived around Suyab, while the Han artisans were scattered in various small towns. Baoda Army City was dedicated to iron smelting, while Peiluo General City and Yezhi City on the other side of Rehai were responsible for weaving, leather making, and so on.”

Li Jing said happily, "The Emperor has decided to establish the Rehai Prefecture in Suyab and Rehai, making it the westernmost prefecture of the Sui Dynasty. You will all become subjects of the Sui Dynasty again. I will gather all the Han people together and announce a series of preferential treatments from the court."

Several elderly men couldn't help but shed tears. "We've been waiting for this day for so long, and we're no longer slaves of the Turks."

After Li Jing saw the old men off, Yuchi Gong came to report, "Reporting to the commander, a Sui army has also been discovered over Rehai." Li Jing was taken aback. How could there be a Sui army here? But then he immediately realized that it must be Qin Qiong's army.

It was indeed Qin Qiong's army that arrived. He learned of the war in Gaochang and knew that the Sui army had begun to attack Beiting. He immediately led 10,000 troops to assemble at Lingshan.

He was preparing to cooperate with the Sui army of Beiting to attack Suyab, but he arrived too late; the war had already ended.

Two days later, Qin Qiong led his army to Suyab, where Li Jing personally greeted him from ten miles away.

Li Jing was the Minister of War and a member of the Secretariat-Chancellery. Qin Qiong dared not be negligent and bowed respectfully, saying, "This humble official, Qin Qiong, pays his respects to Minister Li!"

"Steward Qin, you're too kind. I never expected to see you in Suyab. It's so heartwarming!"

Qin Qiong laughed and said, "It's like meeting an old friend in a foreign land!"

"Yes!"

The two rode to Suyab. Qin Qiong said, "I have heard the news that the Western Turkic royal court has moved west. It is a pity that we were unable to destroy them this time."

Li Jing also felt quite regretful, shaking his head and smiling bitterly: "The other side was well prepared. As soon as the army was defeated, the herdsmen set off in their carts and left completely within two days, without leaving a single wool. Fortunately, they did not take the Han people with them, so they left something behind."

Qin Qiong laughed and said, "This is the shrewdness of the Turks. They know that if they take the Han people away, we will definitely pursue them for thousands of miles. So they simply leave the Han people behind, and then they will not have to worry about being pursued."

Li Jing nodded, "The general is right!"

The army soon arrived at Suyab and saw from afar that Suyab was bustling with construction.

"Li Shuai, is this... a fortified city?"

Li Jing smiled and said, "I am considering establishing Rehai Commandery and rebuilding Suyab City as a county. However, I do not have a suitable candidate for the position of governor and military commander of Rehai Commandery. General Qin, could you recommend one for me?"

This is where Li Jing's considerations were more thorough. The establishment of Rehai and Suyab prefectures was his own decision; if he were to appoint his own people as governors, it would inevitably generate controversy. Using Qin Qiong's people at this time would prevent much unnecessary suspicion.

Qin Qiong didn't hesitate. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What about Jia Wuben?"

Li Jing immediately gave a thumbs up. Jia Wuben was honest and reliable, and the emperor trusted him deeply. He was indeed the best candidate.

Li Jing glanced back at Jia Wuben, who was leading troops in the distance, and nodded, saying, "It's settled then. In my capacity as Minister of War, I recommend General Jia as the Prefect of Rehai County and Military Commissioner of Suyab. This appointment will be temporary. I will submit a formal recommendation to the Emperor and the Ministry of Personnel later!"

...........
Jia Wuben never dreamed that at the age of fifty he would become the governor of the most remote prefecture and the military commander of the most remote region in the Sui Dynasty. It was like a dream, but he was also very excited. Now, he would really be remembered in history.

Five days later, nearly 8,000 Han Chinese from Suyab gathered in the city of Suyab. Everyone sat on the grass, including the elderly, young men, women and children.

Standing on the high platform, Li Jing proclaimed loudly: "By imperial decree, all Han Chinese on the frontiers will be exempt from taxes for a hundred years. Each household will be allocated one hundred mu of land as permanent property. The Sui Dynasty will station troops in Suyab to protect everyone's lives and property..."

Everyone listened intently, their eyes filled with joy and hope.

(End of this chapter)