Sui History: Expand the territory! Pei Zhi sent an envoy to the Western Regions
preface
The dust hides a piece of history, and the people who lived on it thousands of years ago were ordinary people who participated in scientific expeditions, courtiers who attended banquets, and messengers of trade between the two countries; now life is a high-rise building rising from the flat ground, a frequent traffic, or a prosperous scene.
cause
Yang Guang succeeded to the throne: The Sui Dynasty was strong, and other countries came to make friends and wanted to cooperate with the Sui Dynasty.
▲ 2013 "Sui and Tang Dynasty" - played by Fu Dalong
outcome
Sui Dynasty occupies Tuguhun: In 608, Pei Zhi lobbied Tiele to attack Tuguhun, which increased the territory of the Sui Dynasty.
Pei Zhi (548-627)
disposal
1. Contacts in the Western Regions
When the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, the Sui Dynasty gradually became stronger, and the small surrounding countries wanted to rely on the Sui Dynasty and avoid being swallowed up by other countries, including the Western Regions that had plagued China for many years.
The Western Regions were a headache for China, once the Xiongnu controlled the Western Regions and would take the opportunity to attack the Central Plains, and the communication with the Western Regions was the most famous of the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty not only attacked the Western Regions, but also had commercial exchanges, and the famous Silk Road was opened at that time, but the Han Dynasty did not completely plan the Western Regions into the territory of the Han Dynasty, and the rebellion of the Qiang, Xiongnu, Western Regions and other countries was a headache.
In addition, the Han Dynasty was also divided and merged, so the control of the Western Regions was easily controlled by the Xiongnu, and in the years to come, China experienced war and chaos, and experienced a three-legged stand, so it was difficult to take the Western Regions for a while.
Now that the Sui Dynasty was established and gradually becoming stronger, various countries such as the Western Regions began to decide to go to Zhangye and request that they be able to conduct commercial exchanges with the Sui Dynasty.
Promoting the development of civilization in the two places could also promote economic development, so the Sui Emperor decided to send Pei Zhi to the Western Regions to manage the merchants in the Western Regions.
▲The Western Regions during the Han Dynasty
2. The ambitions of the Sui Emperor
In fact, the Sui Emperor was not only to promote economic and cultural prosperity, but more for his ambition to pacify the Western Regions, the Sui Emperor coveted the territory of the Western Regions for a long time, so he decided to take this opportunity to explore the virtual reality of various countries in the Western Regions, and if the battle could have some chances.
And Pei Zhi was not randomly selected, but a candidate who had been carefully thought out by the Sui Emperor. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, in order to unify the northern and southern regions and strengthen the integration of ethnic minority areas with the Sui Dynasty as soon as possible, Pei Ji was sent to the Lingnan region and pacify more than twenty states in the Lingnan region.
Therefore, the choice of Pei Moment is more familiar with this kind of socialization, and the Lingnan area is mostly ethnic minorities, and the Western Regions are also ethnic minorities, and Pei Moment can also be regarded as having a certain ability to deal with problems between ethnic minorities.
Moreover, Pei Zhi did not have merit in lingnan, and ethnic minorities were not only found in the southern Lingnan region, but also in the north, and the number of ethnic minorities was also quite large.
In Chinese history, the western region is a problem of the Central Plains, turkistan is also one of the problems of the Central Plains, in the face of ethnic minorities invading the Central Plains, it is also Pei Zhi who exerts his ability to provoke relations within the Turks, successfully cause civil unrest, and also reduce the conflict between the Turks and the Central Plains.
Therefore, this time, the Western Regions took the initiative to request trade with the Central Plains, and the Sui Emperor took the opportunity to send Pei Zhi, and Pei Zhi naturally understood the sui emperor's thoughts, and with his own ambitions and the wishes of the Sui Emperor, he embarked on the road of the western regions.
Pei Zhi sent an envoy to the Western Regions
3. The Prestige of the Sui Dynasty is far and wide
After Pei Zhi came to the Western Regions with the Emperor's mission, he carefully inspected the terrain and felt that the army came to the Western Regions after all, it was a long distance, and it was not suitable to launch a war hastily, after all, when the army arrived, it may not have physical strength and is not familiar.
Therefore, as with the Turks, it should trigger civil unrest between them, and then the Sui army should reap the benefits of the fishermen. However, Pei Zhi did not forget to deal with the mission of merchants to and from the Western Regions, and he personally formulated a commercial plan according to the terrain of the Western Regions and the commerce of the Central Plains.
In this way, a win-win situation can be achieved between the two sides, and not only the Central Plains will benefit, but also the merchants in the western regions will be able to benefit. For this reason, Pei Zhi was highly praised in the Western Regions, and when he established good relations with the people of the Western Regions, he also inquired from them about the customs and habits, geographical location, military capabilities, and politics of various countries in the Western Regions.
▲ The content of the "Western Regions Atlas"
And Pei Zhi specially sorted out the "Western Regions Map", and in order to strengthen reading, he also mixed paintings, which can more clearly express the geographical location and customs of the Western Regions.
It was through this picture that the Sui Emperor and other ministers knew the Western Regions very well. Then Pei Ji exerted his social skills and began to lobby various countries to attack Tuguhun, and for a while watched many countries attack Tuguhun, and the leader of Tuguhun could not resist a bit, and could only ask the Sui Dynasty for help.
This just made the Sui Emperor feel satisfied, so he sent troops to quell the Tuguhun rebellion, and also occupied the two cities of Tuguhun by the way.
After quelling this war, the Sui Emperor decided to personally visit the Western Regions, hindered by the majesty of the Sui Dynasty, the 27 lords of the Western Regions burned incense to greet them, and the dance music did not stop, and the people saw this situation and also came to watch, and the scene was spectacular.
▲Tuguhun (Chinese historical regime)
brief summary
The sui dynasty's exchanges with the western regions accelerated the Sui Emperor's ambitions to open up territory, leading to the outbreak of later wars.
【References】
1. Book of Sui
2. Zizhi Tongjian