[Light Screen]
[Since the Han dynasty brought the Western Regions under its control and opened up the Silk Road—the golden artery of commerce—conflicts sparked by the profits of that route have never ceased.
Just how lucrative was the Silk Road?
The Parthian Empire would tell you: Now you've got my attention.
Why did we blatantly lie to Han envoys back then? Wasn't it precisely to monopolize the Silk Road choke points, skim tolls, and reap profits without lifting a finger?
Gaochang chimed in eagerly: Brother, you're absolutely right!
After the Eastern Turks were destroyed, the states of the Western Regions that lay along the Silk Road hurried to Chang'an with tribute. After all, the Tang court was one of the terminal powers of the route—respect had to be shown. Gaochang was among them.
This was the brief honeymoon between Gaochang and the Tang.
From Gaochang's perspective, it was an absurdly good deal: by shortchanging Western merchants and offering a few Fulin dogs, they managed to make Li Shimin laugh heartily—and even secured the title of Princess Changle for Qu Wentai's wife. Enormous profit.
From Li Shimin's perspective: having just annihilated the Turks, and already people were lining up to flatter him. Very satisfying.
But barely two years later, the honeymoon ended. Gaochang and the Tang formally fell out.
The reason was simple. As mentioned earlier, due to climate changes, of the southern, central, and northern routes of the Western Regions, only the northern route remained prosperous.
And who controlled the toll gate of that northern route? Gaochang.
Gaochang adopted an "equal-opportunity" policy toward passing merchants:
Whether you're trading goods or bringing tribute to the Heavenly Khagan, you pay—no exceptions.
The Western states were naturally furious. In the end, they took their grievance straight to Li Shimin:
They begged the Heavenly Khagan to reopen the central route of the Western Regions, to bypass Gaochang's extortionate toll gate.
Li Shimin agreed. The Governor of Dunhuang established relay stations along the old territory of Loulan—today's Lop Nur region.
Thus, merchants could once again travel west from Dunhuang across the desert route to Yanqi. The central route of the Western Regions was reopened.
And then Gaochang promptly beat Yanqi senseless.
Cities were breached, wealth plundered, men and women abducted—and Gaochang's forces left in triumph.
After all, cutting off someone's income is like killing their parents. If I can't deal with the Tang, can't I deal with you?
After that, Qu Wentai dropped all pretense.
First, he allied with the Western Turks and raided Yanqi again, smashing three more cities and hauling off people and wealth.
Next, he openly detained tribute envoys from Western states passing through Gaochang.
Then he went one step further and publicly wrote to the Xueyantuo khan:
Your khanate stands shoulder to shoulder with Li Shimin's. Why are you acting like his dog? Have some backbone!
When Tang envoys came to question him, Qu Wentai's reply was equally striking:
An eagle has the sky.
A chicken has the grass.
A cat has its nest.
A rat has its hole.
Why are you meddling so much? Does that make you look capable?
Faced with such blatant insolence, Li Shimin's response was concise:
"Act in your own interest."
Then came the final ultimatum:
Li Shimin: If you come personally to Chang'an and admit your fault, all previous crimes will be wiped clean.
Qu Wentai: My hemorrhoids are acting up. I can't ride a horse. Maybe next time.
Li Shimin's patience was exhausted.
In 639, Hou Junji was appointed Grand Commander of the Jiaohe Route, with Xue Wanjun and Xue Gu'er as his deputies, and sent to campaign against Gaochang.
Qu Wentai was full of confidence:
If your army exceeds thirty thousand, your supplies won't last.
If it's under thirty thousand, I'll crush you.
Hou Junji replied coolly:
I've got twenty thousand cavalry. Try crushing me.
Qu Wentai: Sure.
And then—
"Startled beyond remedy, he fell ill and died."]
In the Ganlu Hall, Hou Junji's heart was pounding.
Suppressing his excitement, he glanced left and right, growing suspicious.
Why wasn't anyone looking at him with envy?
Fine, old veterans like Qin Shubao and Li Jing might not react—but even this newcomer, Su Lie, wasn't sparing him a glance?
What—scaring an enemy king to death doesn't count as an achievement now?
In the end, Li Shimin couldn't bear watching this former confidant embarrass himself any longer and offered a perfunctory nod:
"Well done."
Only then did Hou Junji finally feel satisfied.
Li Shimin, however, seemed slightly vexed:
"Such lawless men delight in verbal defiance."
"To die so easily is almost a mercy for such a cur."
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a glance.
A sovereign frightened to death on the spot, recorded in history and mocked for a thousand years—no matter how you looked at it, that didn't seem merciful.
If Tuyuhun had required careful deliberation due to the presence of Tibet at its flank, then Gaochang, in Li Shimin's eyes, deserved to be crushed outright.
They dared lay hands on his tribute—did they think being in the Western Regions made them untouchable?
The Tang emperor, in a fit of pique, issued an order on the spot:
"Enough talk. Qu Wentai is to be captured alive!"
"He's lived in the Western Regions for years—surely he's learned some barbarian dances. Let him dance with Jieli!"
Hou Junji straightened his chest at once.
But to his disappointment, the emperor did not ask for his views on the Gaochang campaign. Instead, Li Shimin raised another question:
"Can the desert route be opened?"
Li Shimin knew the fiscal situation of Hexi well, and his thinking was simple.
Everything Gaochang collected was Tang money.
If Gaochang couldn't be dealt with immediately, then opening the desert route had to be considered.
Even if the wealth Gaochang skimmed seemed trivial in the context of the entire Tang realm, Li Shimin did not disdain it.
Hou Junji had spent much of his time in Hexi at Lufu County, not far from Dunhuang, and was familiar with the region.
After a brief pause, he answered firmly: "It can be opened."
"Then I leave it to you," Li Shimin said lightly.
Seeing the joy bloom on Hou Junji's face, Li Shimin refrained from saying more and simply gestured toward the Light Screen.
"Watch."
[Light Screen]
[In truth, Qu Wentai's initial bravado had its reasons.
The biggest was that the road from Dunhuang to Gaochang was extremely difficult.
Cen Shen, who once served at the Anxi Protectorate, recorded the experience in verse:
Ten days across the desert waste,
All day the winds would never rest.
Horses tread on shattered stone,
Four hooves bleeding, torn and worn.
If even the horses' hooves were worn bloody, it suggests that Tang cavalry did not yet widely use horseshoes—unfortunately.
Archaeological finds show that in parts of northern China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, nailing horseshoes was already practiced.
Thus, some argue it makes little sense that the Tang would not use them.
But in the cold-weapon era, the development of horseshoes was closely tied to load-bearing weight.
The heavier the cavalry equipment, the greater the wear on hooves—and the stronger the need for horseshoes.
Tang cavalry specialized in long-distance, light cavalry raids, so the demand was relatively low.
Horseshoes were also tied to ironworking technology. Making the shoe itself was easy enough, but forging the nails to fix it in place required a higher level of skill.
Moreover, in ancient times: iron shoes were used in summer, leather-soled shoes in winter; wooden shoes could be considered in muddy terrain; in areas thick with thorny grass, leather half-wrap shoes were an option.
Different environments called for different solutions. Without state coordination, such complexity was simply too troublesome.
So if Tang armies had already been widely equipped with horseshoes, Qu Wentai might have thought twice before speaking so boldly.
In any case, Hou Junji drove his army hard and reached the desert pass—whereupon Qu Wentai dropped dead from fright.
When the Tang army received the news, many wanted to launch a surprise attack while Gaochang was leaderless. Hou Junji forbade it.
In Hou's view, Gaochang had brought this upon itself by spurning imperial grace. This campaign was less about annihilation, more about righteous punishment.
And as the old saying went: one does not attack during mourning. The Tang army was an army of the Way—why stoop to such tactics?
Under Hou Junji's orders, the army formed ranks, beat the drums, and advanced at a measured pace, observing every courtesy.
From a modern perspective, it looked rather like "not minding how grand the funeral procession is."
After that, events unfolded swiftly.
Half a day sufficed to take Tianyi City, capturing over seven thousand people.
The next day, Gaochang City fell. Qu Zhisheng surrendered the city the same day.
Hou Junji then split his forces, capturing twenty-two cities in succession, taking eight thousand households and over twenty thousand people, before returning in triumph.
The collapse was so rapid that after Hou Junji withdrew, a children's rhyme circulated in Gaochang:
Gaochang's armies, frost and snow,
Han armies, sun and moon.
Sun and moon shine on frost and snow—
With a single turn, they melt away.
Gaochang had endured nine reigns and 134 years. Thus it perished.
Li Shimin overruled objections and established Xizhou here.
From that point on, the Tang finally gained a forward base for campaigns in the Western Regions—and began sharpening its blades against the Western Turks.]
"Another state has fallen," Zhuge Liang said flatly, his tone devoid of emotion.
Then, with clear interest, he added:
"This horseshoe method is excellent—using iron, wood, or leather to trade for the longevity of horses is a most worthwhile exchange."
He sighed:
"We have gained yet another tool."
Zhao Yun had some authority on the matter. After some thought, he said:
"In Liaodong, I once saw barbarians who cherished their horses. They used ropes and nails to fix wooden blocks beneath the hooves."
"I never imagined such a small thing could yield such benefit."
Zhang Fei was still waiting for the first batch of fine horses from Yong and Liang, and was happy to ask about cavalry matters:
"If the Tang know of this thing, why do they not value it more?"
Liu Bei looked at the Tang territory displayed on the Light Screen and sighed:
"What else could be the reason?"
"With Hexi and the Ordos both in hand, pasturelands are everywhere. Fine horses are abundant—so they do not fuss over such minor techniques."
Zhang Fei fell silent, his envy only deepening.
Zhao Yun imagined his own cavalry, horses all shod, able to ride longer without injury.
Cavalry could then wear iron armor and carry heavier weapons. At that thought, the image of future cavalry almost leapt from the screen itself.
At once, Zhao Yun turned to Zhang Fei.
"Third Brother."
Zhang Fei's heart skipped. With Zhao Yun looking at him like that, it never seemed to mean anything good.
Zhao Yun spoke plainly:
"May the first cavalry raised in Yong and Liang be entrusted to me?"
As expected…
Zhang Fei sighed and changed the subject:
"Elder Brother, even a small state like Gaochang lasted over a hundred years."