Spoiling History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Li Shimin's previous lazy look had disappeared.

His premonition was indeed correct, but it was not quite the same as he had imagined.

A remnant of the Turks who had escaped the pursuit by luck, after three or four hundred years of recuperation, actually defeated the Arab Empire and the Byzantine Empire one after another?

Although it was not difficult to understand, but thinking about a remnant stirring up trouble and terrorizing Central Asia, while the Tang Dynasty that sent this Turkic tribe there was not well-known, Li Shimin still felt a little uncomfortable.

Du Ruhui pondered for a moment, and then asked his old friend beside him:

"According to this, the Ashina family has declined so far?"

Fang Xuanling carefully read the copied content twice, and then nodded.

The two of them were not very interested in the Abbasid Byzantium, after all, the distance was too far, not to mention the extremely difficult land route, just the method of sailing by monsoon, it would take more than a year to go back and forth.

At this distance, no matter how many ideas there are, it is nonsense, and the principle of making friends with distant countries and attacking nearby countries is the most appropriate.

The only thing that can be important is probably what the younger generation calls "cultural exchange".

However, thinking of this, Du Ruhui suddenly thought of Wang Xuance. I wonder if this young man is safe now?

Wei Zheng expressed the thoughts of most people in Ganlu Hall at this time:

"If the Ashina family can be removed from now on, it can be called a blessing, and Wang Fangyi can also be called a general star."

Since the Sui Dynasty, the war between the Central Plains and the Turks has never stopped.

Your Majesty is ashamed of the Weishui Agreement. I think that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, who was later called Guangshen, also had the shame of being trapped in Yanmen Pass for 32 days.

The relationship between the Sui and Tang dynasties and the Turks was not similar to that between the Han and the Xiongnu, but it was not far away, so they also knew a lot about the Turks.

Although I don't know what the Vatican is, the Ashina family is indeed the surname of the Great Khan of the Turks.

Since Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, knowledgeable people in the Central Plains have thought of countless ways to make a fuss about the Ashina family in order to restrain the Turks.

Unexpectedly, the final solution to the problem was Wang Fangyi's resorting to force.

The relationship map drawn by later generations also made everyone in Ganlu Hall very interested:

If Wang Fangyi had caught up with the remnants led by Wu Gu at that time and destroyed them, what would Central Asia be like?

Li Shimin stood behind Yan Liben, watching this increasingly respected court painter quickly and accurately draw the map of the Central Asian situation in the future, and then he remembered the strange name that was said by later generations:

"What is the meaning of the Monster House in East Asia?"

...

"Han drove out the Yuezhi and went west to establish the Kushan Empire."

"Tang destroyed the Turks and went west to establish the Seljuk."

Liu Bei pondered the name of the Monster House with interest, and suddenly felt ridiculous.

But the most striking thing is the same temple name:

"Both are Gaozong, although Tang Gaozong also has shortcomings, his deeds are more than a thousand times better than Song Gaozong?"

"Why are you angry, brother?"

Zhang Fei persuaded him with a look of disapproval on his face:

"People in later generations have said that there are very few emperors who strive for the upper limit, and most of them compete to break through the bottom line of being a human being."

That said, but seeing the chaotic countries in Central Asia on the light curtain map with his own eyes, and seeing the Seljuks defeat the powerful enemy after fifty years of achievements and establish a country with thousands of chariots, Liu Bei still couldn't help but feel excited.

He couldn't help but pat Zhang Fei's arm and pointed at the light curtain and said:

"When the Central Plains is done, why not go here and sing the Han song?"

Zhang Fei was naturally very excited, and wanted to write a military order on the spot for his brother to sign.

Lu Su was interested in studying the details with Kong Ming:

"The emperor of the Seljuk is called Sultan instead of Khan?"

The title is a simple thing that future generations will not get wrong, so the deep meaning is very intriguing.

Kong Ming pondered for a while, narrowed his eyes and said:

"The Seljuk controlled the Arab countries and defeated the Byzantine Empire, and the emperor of Byzantium was also called the emperor."

"I am afraid... the Seljuk Turks were also deeply influenced by the Arabs, and all followed..."

He tried to recall in his mind, and then a word mentioned by later generations when talking about the rise of the Arabs came into his mind:

"Islam?"

Lu Su recalled and shook his head:

"Too little is remembered, let's see how the Liao emperor made his mark in Central Asia."

Calculating the time, it is self-evident who the later generations said was the East Asian monster room eliminated.

[In 1076, the Seljuk Empire conquered Jerusalem.

In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a holy war. The first Crusade began the following year. After the capture of Palestine, four Crusader states were established.

In 1145, Edessa, one of the four Crusader states, was conquered. Bishop Hugh of Jabala, Syria, went to Rome for help and asked Pope Eugene III to organize another holy war.

In addition to exaggerating the threat of Muslims, Bishop Hugh told the Pope a story about Prester John on the spot to inspire the Pope's confidence in the Crusade.

Otto, the Bavarian Bishop at the time, was present and recorded the deeds of Prester John in his Chronicles.

The story is relatively simple. According to Hugh's oral account, many years ago, in the Far East across Armenia and Persia, there was a monarch named John who was both a priest and a king. He was a devout Nestorian Christian who was invincible in the wars with the Persians and the Medes and was honored as Prester John.

This Priest John originally wanted to march to Jerusalem for the church, but because of the lack of a ferry, he could not cross the Tigris River and finally had no choice but to return. It is said that this Priest John is the descendant of the three wise men of the East recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Their ancestors ruled the East for generations, with great glory and amazing wealth, and they all had their hearts set on Jerusalem.

After Yu Ge told this story, the Western world firmly believed in it for five hundred years, and there were constant navigators going out to sea to find Priest John. Even the Pope wrote a passionate invitation letter to Priest John, hoping that he could lead the army to the west to defeat the pagans.

This letter naturally fell into the sea, after all, we in the East didn't know where this Priest John was.

In fact, this story was made up on the spot by Yu Ge when he heard that the heretical Seljuk Empire was ruthlessly beaten by a country in the East.

The prototype of the story is the founding emperor of Western Liao, Yelu Dashi.

In 1120, Song and Jin agreed to form a maritime alliance to jointly destroy Liao. Two years later, the Jin army marched south. Emperor Tianzuo wanted to lie down, but he could not help himself. So Yelu Dashi, who did not want to be a slave of a conquered country, proclaimed himself king and fled to the Western Regions with 200 cavalry.

After eight years of raising troops, Yelu Dashi officially launched the Western Expedition and proclaimed himself emperor, calling himself "Juer Khan" and "Emperor Tianyou" in Chinese.

With the continuous expansion of power to the west, in 1141, when Yue Fei died unjustly, Yelu Dashi also fought with the Seljuk Empire on the Western Expedition in the Katwan Grassland.

According to modern research, Yelu Dashi had only more than 70,000 people including logistics personnel at that time, which was all he had managed for ten years.

The Seljuk Empire dispatched at least 100,000 people at that time, not counting logistics.

But who knows that military advantage is not absolute if you can survive in the Monster Room of East Asia?

Yelu Dashi's command of this battle was quite brilliant. Before the battle, he contacted the Qarluks, who were oppressed by the Seljuk Empire, as bait, and led a large number of Seljuk troops into the nearby Dargam Gorge, using the narrow terrain to offset the numerical disadvantage, and perfectly executed the classic anvil and hammer tactics.

And without the advantage in numbers, how could the Seljuk Empire army be the opponent of the Western Liao army that came out from the center of world civilization at that time?

The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Katwan officially sounded the death knell for the Seljuk Empire. The Sultan, whose prestige plummeted, soon lost control of a large area of ​​​​the river. The Western Liao Empire officially rose in Central Asia, and this battle actually sheltered the Roman Catholic Church.

As for the origin of Yelu Dashi's name John, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Dashi's title of "Juer Khan" was transcribed as "Yuanan" in Syria, and then converted into Latin into "Johannes".

Yelu Dashi probably didn't expect:

How could I, a Khitan, be designated as a Christian? 】