Chapter 251: Controlling the River (Part 2)

The Samarkand Palace was filled with a tense atmosphere in the huge dome-shaped conference room. The kings of Sogdian countries gathered together, including Kang State, Shi State, Dongcao State, Xi State, An State, Dong'an State, American State, He State, Shi State, Xiao State, and some countries came together with the righteous king and the deputy king.

Except for the King of Shi Kingdom Teller and King of Dongcao Shiahu, the other kings seemed worried. These kings were all vested interests under the rule of Dashi. They obeyed the rule of Dashi, raised food for the Dashi Army and sent soldiers. When the people revolted, they hurried in the palace and did not dare to come out to lead. Now that the Tang army defeated the Dashi Army and wiped out their troops, they all felt a sense of panic. Although the King of Shi Kingdom had already comforted them, they were still worried.

"Please be quiet, everyone!"

King Teller of the Shi Kingdom stood up and said, "Please listen to me, everyone."

The conference room immediately became quiet. Shi Guo and Tang Jun were closest to each word from the King of Shi Guo attracted everyone's attention.

"I asked General Li last night, if the Tang army defeated the great cannibals and recovered the river, would the court treat us Sogdian countries the same as before?"

"What did he say?"

Everyone stretched their necks and waited for him to answer. Even King Xiaofen of Kang State lost his arrogance and looked at him with a modest attitude. This was indeed their most concerned thing. Although the Dashi Army was temporarily repelled, once the domestic situation in Dashi was stable, they would definitely make a comeback. What should the Sogdians do then?

In the past, the Tang court had a lot of comforting Sogdian countries, but in fact there was almost no support, which led to them being conquered by the cannibals one after another. What about the kings? The kings were very conflicted. They hoped that the Tang army could help them fight the eastward expedition at any time, but they also hoped that the Tang court could do the same as before, not collect their taxes or interfere in their internal affairs, and only become a nominal sect leader.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him with a gaze, Teller couldn't help but feel a little proud. Among the Sogdian countries, Kang's country was always the leader. Kang's words and deeds represented the will of the Sogdians. Although the stone country was vast, it was always regarded as a barbaric country outside the territory because it was far away from the river. It was like a son of a side house who could not enter the center of the family. But now it is different. He returned to the Hezhong countries as a victorious attitude, and his 20,000 troops participated in the Battle of Talas.

He cleared his throat and continued, "General Li told me that in the past, Dashi, the Tang Dynasty was unable to send troops to defend against the Great Food, which caused all the countries in the Heshi period to fall into the Great Food, so the court was ready to change its past strategy and station certain troops in the Heshi."

In fact, Teller didn't know much. Li Qing'an only told him the decision of the Tang army to garrison Hezhong. As for the establishment of a joint meeting, he was not aware of it. Despite this, everyone still breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the Tang army was willing to garrison in the river, they would give them a reassurance.

"Then how do we arrange our army?"

"Do I want to pay taxes to the court?"

The kings were talking, and the conference room was noisy. At this moment, someone outside the door whispered loudly: "General Li, the governor of Anxi, arrived!"

The conference room suddenly became quiet and the door opened. Nearly a hundred fully armed Tang soldiers walked in. Soon, Li Qing'an walked in with a few civil and military officials.

The kings stood up and looked at the Anxi Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty who defeated the Great Food Army with uneasy.

Li Qing'an smiled. He walked to the front seat and sat down, waved his hand and said to everyone: "Let's introduce yourself one by one! There is no need for Shiguo and Dongcaoguo."

The King of Kang stood up, bowed respectfully, and said, "Dear General Li, here is King of Kang, Shaofen, please allow me to express my attitude on behalf of the Sogdian countries first."

"Tell me!"

Shaofen sighed and said, "The Sogdian countries were originally rich countries. They produced gems, gold and silver. They relied on the trade of the Silk Road to make the people rich and the national treasury was abundant. However, since the Eastern Expedition of the Great Food, the people's wealth has been robbed. Nine out of ten Sogdian merchants were killed, countless people were killed, captured and sold to slaves. The population was reduced by half. The royal treasury was no exception. They were all looted. At the same time, they had to bear heavy taxes. More than 80% of the treasury taxes had to be paid. This year, it has become even worse. Abu Muslims asked us to advance the tax for three years. If we do not obey, they will be beheaded. When we were all anxious, the army of Tiankang came, defeated the cannibals and saved us from water and fire. On behalf of the nine Sogdian countries, I would like to express our most sincere gratitude to the general."

Li Qingan nodded slightly, then smiled at the King of the Stone Kingdom Teller and said, "The King will introduce to me everyone who is sitting!"

Teller was overjoyed and quickly stood up to introduce to Li Qing'an: "This is King of Kings of Western Cao, Lord Luopuluo, King of Anguo, Yejie, and King of Shiguo, Lord Luobobo..."

Whenever one person was introduced, the kings immediately stood up and bowed to Li Qing'an. Li Qing'an all bowed his head and bowed back. After the introduction, Li Qing'an said to everyone: "King Teller has told you about my comfort, so I won't tremble. Now I will tell you about your future arrangements."

The conference room was silent. No one expected that Li Qing'an would go straight to the point and go straight to the point. Without any prior greetings or hints, King Kang's king Shaofen was even more uneasy. Just now, Li Qing'an deprived him of his dominance and asked King Teller of the Shi Kingdom to come forward to introduce him. He felt a little wrong. Will Shi Kingdom replace Kang's king as the leader of Sogdian?

"In order to defend against the return of Dashi, our Tang Dynasty will establish Hezhong Army Town with 6,000 troops."

As soon as Li Qing'an finished speaking, there were immediately talks in the conference room, only 6,000 people, which seemed to be too few. Li Qing'an waved his hand to stop the discussion and said coldly: No one can interrupt me when I speak!"

The conference room became quiet again, and no one dared to say anything.

"I think to resist the invasion of the Great Cannibal, we must not only get the support of the Tang Dynasty, but more importantly, you must have the determination to resist and be able to unite. If the Sogdian countries unite together, their population will be several million and their army will have a total of 100,000. It should be said that they are a great country, but why are they easily conquered by the Great Cannibal? The key is that you each have their own formations and were defeated by the Great Cannibal."

Speaking of this, Li Qing'an stopped talking and looked at everyone. Seeing that everyone was in deep thought and thinking about his own words, he nodded and continued, "Of course, I didn't want you to merge into one country, that's not realistic. I know that there is a loose alliance among the countries of Sogdian, but this alliance is just to harmonize the relationship between neighboring countries. It is just a form. Therefore, I ask you to form a formal alliance and establish a system of joint meetings. Just like today, the representatives of the kings or kings can negotiate together regularly, and this joint meeting must have certain power. What power? That is, military power and the right to engage in diplomatic relations. In short, countries will no longer have their own troops. All the troops are concentrated together and commanded by the joint meeting. This is to ensure that when the Great Food invades, there is enough power to resist the Great Food army."

"But the general!"

Finally, someone couldn't help but speak. It was the youngest king of the Western Cao Kingdom among the Sogdian countries. He stood up and said, "Please forgive me for interrupting the general. For example, our Western Cao Kingdom itself does not have an army. Is it necessary to participate in this joint meeting?"

Li Qingan was not angry this time. He smiled and said, "There is no army in Xicao State. That is the past. In the future, all countries will not have army. There is no difference between you, but Xicao State also has to bear military expenses, so Xicao State also needs to participate in the joint meeting. You have the right to express your opinions like other countries."

Geluo Puluo was overjoyed. He immediately expressed his approval of this plan. In fact, Xicao was a vassal of Kang State. The internal affairs of Xicao were decided by Kang State. Geluo Puluo himself was just a puppet. He already understood what Li Qing'an meant. If he participated in this joint meeting, then their Xicao Kingdom could get rid of Kang State's rule.

Not only the Western Cao Kingdom, but also other small Sogdian countries that were deeply oppressed by great powers in the past, such as the other two vassals of Kang Kingdom, the Eastern Anguo Kingdom, the Eastern Cao Kingdom, the vassal of Shi Kingdom, the vassal of Shi Kingdom, the vassal of Shi Kingdom, the vassal of Shi Kingdom, and so on all agreed, so that they could be on par with the great powers.

However, the three major powers, Kangguo, Anguo and Shiguo, were directly impacted. They knew that controlling the army by this so-called joint meeting was actually deprived of their military ownership. In name, the army was controlled by the joint meeting, but in fact, the army would be used only when a war broke out. At that time, the army was still a vassal of the Tang army, which was equivalent to the Tang army controlling the Sogdian army in disguise.

And King Teller of the Stone Kingdom was also very worried, can his army be preserved?

At this time, Li Qing'an continued: "Of course, in addition to the regular army, there must be a small-scale internal army to eliminate bandits and capture robbers. The size of this army can be tentatively set at 5,000 people. It is commanded by the leader of the joint meeting, so the source of troops will be temporarily drawn from the army of the Shi Kingdom."

This was Li Qing'an's concession. He took away the big tree and left a few branches, but even these branches were left to Shi Guo, which was beneficial to him.

King Teller of Shi Kingdom was ecstatic. He finally understood what Li Qing'an said that he would compensate him. With the Shi Kingdom as the Internal Affairs Army, it was equivalent to the Shi Kingdom taking over the dominance of the joint meeting, that is, Shi Kingdom replaced Kang Kingdom as the leader of the Sogdians.

Just as Teller was happy, King Xiaofen of Kang State changed color. Li Qing'an deprived his army in front of him. Although he was extremely dissatisfied, he did not dare to say anything. After all, Kang State was a defeated country, but Li Qing'an wanted to let Shi State replace Kang State and become the leader of the Sogdians, so he finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"General, I do not agree to be the Shiguo Army as the Internal Affairs Army!"

Shaofen stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "The General said that the joint meeting was attended by all Sogdian countries, so why is the Internal Affairs Army only the army of Shi Kingdom? Isn't this too biased?"

Li Qingan sneered and said, "I am willing to let Kang Guo's army be an internal military, but where is Kang Guo's army?"

Xiaofen was stunned, his army was all over Abu.

The Muslims brought Talas to either died or became prisoners of war from the Tang army. Only 300 people fled back. He slowly sat down. Li Qing'an's ridicule made him suddenly understand a fact. Now Kang is a defeated country, so he is not qualified to bargain with Li Qing'an, while Shi is a victorious country. Being the leader of the Sogdians is of course enjoyed by the victorious country. At this moment, Xiaofen's heart was filled with bitterness.

"Okay, I have announced the end. The first joint meeting leader will be the leader of Shi Guo for three years. The specific details of the joint meeting will be presided over by Shi Guo. This is your family matter. As the representative of the Tang military, I will not participate. However, as the sect leader, the Tang Dynasty should also have a place, Qiming!"

Li Qingan turned around and shouted, Luo Qiming immediately stepped forward and said, "I am here!"

"This Luo Qiming is proficient in Sogdian language and is a civil servant. Before receiving the official appointment of Tian Khan, he temporarily negotiated with everyone on behalf of the Tang Dynasty. In order to restore the prosperity of the river as soon as possible, he hopes that everyone will work together. If there are any difficulties and requirements, they can be raised at the joint meeting. I will report to the emperor and try my best to satisfy you."

Li Qing'an's first meeting with the Sogdian countries ended in anxiety and hope. When he returned to the military camp, he immediately ordered people to invite Telle, the king of the Stone Kingdom.

Teller was still immersed in the excitement of the Sogdian leader. This was like a concubine's son who had taken over the family's power. It was Shi Guo's hundred-year expectation, and finally realized in his hands.

He rushed into the tent excitedly and said, "General, are you looking for me?"

Li Qing'an smiled and said, "I congratulate His Highness the King on becoming the leader of Sogds."

"This is also thanks to the general for his gifts. However, the general said that the leader of the alliance was for three years, and I wonder if he could be re-elected?"

"Whether you can be re-elected depends on whether His Highness can convince other kings to agree. In principle, I do not object."

Speaking of this, Li Qingan took a booklet from the desk. This was the detailed arrangement of the joint meeting written by Li Mi overnight. He had read it and made some modifications.

"This is the details of the joint meeting. His Highness the King can take a closer look. If you have any opinions, you can put them forward. If you don't have any opinions, you can leave the first joint meeting tomorrow to everyone to discuss and pass, and we will do it according to this rule in the future."

Teller took the booklet and read it. As he imagined, Li Qing'an could not give them autonomy completely. Luo Qiming's veto power fully demonstrated this point. However, compared with the big food, Li Qing'an was still much tolerant. For example, in addition to sharing military expenses, Li Qing'an no longer collected additional taxes. He allocated 50,000 people's military expenses, accounting for at most 30% of the taxes of each country, and the remaining 70% belonged to him.

History has always been written by the strong. What choice can they have between the two powerful countries?

Teller sighed secretly and said, "No need to modify it, I will leave it to everyone to vote tomorrow."

Li Qing'an nodded and said, "There are three more things, I hope you can start immediately."

"Please say, General!"

"The first is about religion. I hope that the Zorozoic religion and Islam can live with each other in the river center. They are both Sogdian brothers. There is nothing that cannot be forgiven. The Zorozoicists will never be allowed to retaliate. If conflicts arise, it will cause Islamists to support the great cannibals back into the river. Do you understand the seriousness of the problem?"

Teller immediately agreed. In fact, seven of the nine Sogdian kings had converted to Islam. Without Li Qing'an's instructions, they would try their best to avoid conflicts.

Li Qingan said again: "The second thing is related to the currency. Currently, the currency used by the Sogdians are all dirham silver coins. I have ordered Anxi to mint a large number of Kaiyuan Tongbao silver coins. I hope you can force the implementation of Kaiyuan Tongbao silver coins and Kaiyuan Tongbao gold coins to replace Dashi's currency."

Teller was a little confused about this, and he hurriedly said: "But Kaiyuan Tongbao gold and silver coins are not accessible in the Tang Dynasty. What if the Sogdian merchants take it to the Central Plains and what should they do if the Central Plains don't accept it?"

"We need to think of a way to make it pass through within the Tang Dynasty, which is also the third point I want to say."

Li Qing'an smiled faintly and said, "You will post notices in various cities in Sogdian tomorrow, saying that the Tang army is about to return to Chang'an. Those who are willing to go to Chang'an to do business with the Tang army can go with us. To support the recovery of national strength in the river, I can give this group of merchants tax exemption."

At night, in the palace of Samarkand, King Kang Guozheng, Shaofen, invited An Guozheng, Yejie, and King Shi Guozheng, Naquru to the inner palace and discussed countermeasures with them. These were the three largest countries in Sogdian countries except Shiguo. Each country has a population of more than one million and has a strong national strength. However, the joint meeting system implemented by Li Qing'an turned them into a country on par with the small countries, making them full of loss.

King Shi Guozheng Naquru was a little timid and rational. He disagreed with the large-scale uprising proposed by King Kang Guozheng.

"I heard that the joint meeting will allocate seats according to the amount of military expenditures, such as we can get two to three seats, and a small country has only one seat, which also shows our importance."

"You are so confused!"

Kang Guozheng Wang Shaofen angrily scolded him: "What is that joint meeting? It's nothing more than a tool for the Tang people to control our Sogdians. Our army has been deprived. Is it not up to the Tang people to decide whether to be abolished or established, whether to die or live? Even if it's a useless tool, the people of Shi will still lead it. Can you accept it? Listen to me and launch a large-scale uprising, at least put pressure on Li Qing'an and allow him to allow us to retain a certain army."

"Forget it! What uprising are you going to do?"

An Guozheng Wang Yejie drank a glass of wine and said sarcastically: "Do you know the situation when the Tang army entered the city today? The people all over the city went to greet them. Do you know why? Li Qing'an is better than you. He has promised to build a temple and restore the statue of Ahuramaz, and promised not to abuse the Islamists. Li Qing'an is much more popular than you. And you have converted to Islam. If you go to promote an uprising, will the believers of the Zoroastrian follow you? And when you suppress the Shi'a Sect, you have made great efforts. If you call for an uprising, I suspect that the Shi'a Sect will be the first to kill you. Brother Xiaofen, you should wake up! Stop talking nonsense."

Xiaofen's fat face turned into pig liver color, and he said angrily: "What do you think you should do? Are you just at the mercy of Tang Jun?"

King Shi Guozheng and King An Guozheng actually knew in their hearts that the Lord Kang really hated Tang Jun. I don’t understand that he didn’t have the courage yet. He actually hated the people of Shi Guo who rode on his head and let himself stand up for him in the name of righteousness.

The two exchanged glances and stood up together and said, "It's getting late. Let's say goodbye first. If you have any opinions, let's argue with reason when the joint meeting is held tomorrow!"

The two of them left, and Shaofen stared at the back of their bodies and punched them hard on the table.
Chapter completed!