Chapter 6 The alliance between Rouran and Yanda breaks down

What happened in my hometown? I remember each other through hard work. There is news of spring again on the branches. Years are easily wasted. There are many annoying emotions. The quiet swallows become a barrier. Dreams are crawling around. Even if I dream of returning home, the peach and apricot flowers have fallen.

More than two hundred years ago, the Yueban people once uttered a curse word, which led to a large-scale attack by the Rouran people. Two hundred years later, the Rouran people dug their own graves with a curse word. Since then, the only people have risen from the Altai Mountains.

Later, the Turks were born as a nation that swept across the Mongolian Plateau to the east. Compared to other people, the Turks only took ten years to destroy Rouran and Yida, the two most powerful nomadic empires at the time. A

A small and weak nation that originally relied on iron smelting suddenly became the masters of the vast area from the Greater Khingan Mountains to the Caspian Sea. What happened in the middle? How did they do it? Such a rapid conquest will definitely be accompanied by

A series of sequelae, the sound of Rouran's collapse shocked the entire distant Europe.

The next part is very likely to be dedicated to the history of the Turks. In fact, in the previous chapters of this part, the origin of the Turkic nation has been briefly described. Here is a brief description. The Turks originally lived in the northwest region, and

Considered a branch of Tiele, they share the same ancestry with the Uighurs, Qigu and other ethnic groups. Ancient Turkic historical books call the tribe ruled by the Ashinabu people Blue Turks, and the tribes conquered later are called Black Turks. Turks

After the refugees were resettled by the Rouran people in the Altai Mountains, they were mainly responsible for forging iron tools and also engaged in animal husbandry. At that time, the range of activities of the Turks was relatively stable, basically not exceeding the North Altai Mountains, and reaching as far south as the Bogdo Mountains. In 487 AD

, Gaoche became independent from Rouran, and then controlled the vast land from the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains to the northwest of the Mongolian Plateau. As a result, the Turks got rid of the rule of Rouran and became the subjects of Western Gaoche. In 508, Western Gaoche Mi

Otu killed Rouran Khan Futu. The battlefield at that time was very close to the living area of ​​​​Turks, so there were also Turkic warriors in the Miotu army. From 540 to 541, the Western Gaoche went through several ups and downs, and finally it was

They were destroyed by Rouran, so the Turks surrendered to Rouran again. They were originally the Turks under Rouran, and then took refuge in Gaoche, and now they are forced to return to the arms of Rouran. So their identity is very embarrassing,

The relationship with Rouran people is also very delicate.

It is precisely because of this that when the Western Wei Dynasty sent envoys to visit the Turks, the Turks seemed particularly happy. And the Turks sent an envoy to visit Chang'an the next year. In the autumn of that year when the Turkic envoys visited Chang'an, the Eastern Wei Dynasty tried to prevent the Western Wei Dynasty and the

The establishment of the Turkic Alliance launched an attack on the Western Wei Dynasty, but the results of this attack were disastrous for the Eastern Wei Dynasty. After Gao Huan married Princess Rouran, he besieged Yubi and was shot by a bow and arrow in this battle. His injuries were serious.

It was so serious that he became bedridden after returning to China. By the time of New Year's Day this year, Gao Huan had not been with Princess Rouran for more than half a year, and Princess Rouran was impatient. Gao Huan was worried that this matter would cause Rouran's dissatisfaction.

So she had someone carry her on a stretcher and wanted to see Princess Rouran. As a result, Gao Huan's injuries became more serious and he died on the first month of the new year. Then in order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the situation, the Eastern Wei Dynasty sent Rouran's army southward.

They attacked the Western Wei Dynasty and reached Guyuan, Ningxia. After Gao Huan died, Princess Rouran still believed in the marriage customs of their nomadic people. She did not want to be a widow, so she married Gao Huan's eldest son and the new Prime Minister of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, Gao Cheng.

He gave birth to a daughter. Just after the child was born, Gao Cheng was assassinated by a domestic slave in 549. Princess Rouran became a widow again. Maybe this was his fate. Later, Princess Rouran and her daughter

He has disappeared. Gao Cheng's younger brother Gao Yang once raped his wife and concubines, so I'm afraid that Princess Rouran didn't escape either. His disappearance may be related to this incident.

In May 550, Gao Yang rushed from Jinyang to Yecheng. He wanted to complete the great cause that his father and brother had not completed, and proclaimed himself emperor on Wei's behalf. Just as he was walking happily halfway, a man suddenly appeared from the side of the road.

Monk Feng, named Master Atu, shouted that Anahuan would eventually destroy your country. After hearing these words, Gao Yang was frightened and angry, and developed an even stronger dislike for Rouran. This year he became emperor.

The Northern Qi Dynasty was established. Later, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Yu Wenyong attacked the Northern Qi Dynasty. Gao Yang's nephew, Gao Wei, who was also the later master of the Northern Qi Dynasty, sent the Prime Minister Gao Anagong to fight. Gao Anagong surrendered to the Northern Zhou general Wei Chijun. The two conspired to capture Gao Wei alive.

, and just like that, the Northern Qi Dynasty was destroyed. Therefore, the person who was said by Master Atu to destroy the Northern Qi Dynasty was not Anahuan, but Gao Anaghum. However, there is no difference in the pronunciation of the two words, they are both the same name.

The Eastern Wei Dynasty was replaced by the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Rouran lost its most important ally. Therefore, the marriage between Prince Rouran and Princess Le'an of the Eastern Wei Dynasty lost its meaning. Anahuan not only lost his daughter and son-in-law, but also his original Shu kingdom.

The Turks actually had a quarrel with their mortal enemy, the Western Wei Dynasty, and both sides had been planning to plot against Rouran. Just when Anahuan was facing a dilemma, more than 50,000 Tiele people advanced eastward from Central Asia in an attempt to attack Rouran. But Tiele

The origin of the people has always been controversial and has not been clarified. When they passed through the Altai Mountains, they were attacked by the Turks, and then they all surrendered to the Turks. As a result, the population of the Turks increased greatly, and they have become the Western Gaoche Kingdom.

After that, there was a trend of another powerful competitor in Rouran. The Ashinabu people thought that they were already very powerful, just like the Rouran royal family proposed a marriage. At this time, Anahuan was still immersed in the grief of losing his relatives.

After requesting a marriage, Anahuan was furious and sent people to the Turks to insult the people of Ashina. The words were very unpleasant. He believed that the Turks were just slaves of Rouran, and now they shamelessly made such a request.

The Bumin people were also very angry, so they ordered the execution of the Rouran envoy, and then turned their heads to propose to the Western Wei Dynasty. Yuwentai was a very smart man, and he immediately seized this favorable opportunity and personally agreed to make peace with the Turks. In 551 AD,

The Ashinabu people completed their wedding to Princess Changle of the Western Wei Dynasty, and also sent people to attend the funeral of Yuanbao Ju of the Western Wei Dynasty. Up to now, the Western Wei Dynasty has officially formed an anti-Rouran alliance with the Turks, and the Ashinabumin began to call themselves Yili

Khan, established the Turkic Khanate in this year. The political and military systems of the Turkic Khanate were basically copied from the Rouran Kingdom. Judging from how the Turkic people later called the monarch’s wife, the ancient Turkic Khanate

There are very small differences between Rouran language and Rouran language, and they can even be regarded as two dialects of the same language.

Turk and Rouran turned against each other. In fact, the fundamental reason was not that Rouran rejected Turk's marriage request, but that the balance of power between the two parties had changed. If Anahuan agreed to the marriage, it would probably be more detrimental to Rouran. Because

At that time, the Turks had already established friendly relations with the Western Wei Dynasty. If they gained the trust of Rouran, the Turks would definitely intensify their efforts. Therefore, Anahuan thought it would be better to have a showdown with the Turks earlier, lest they join forces with the Western Wei Dynasty to besiege themselves. However, due to Anahuan's

Things were already at a high level, and before the preparations could be completed, the enemy had already taken the lead. In the first month of 552 AD, Yili Khan, who had just married the Western Wei Dynasty, personally led the army to launch an attack on Rouran. The Rouran army suffered a disastrous defeat.

, Anahuan committed suicide. What is strange is that the specific process of such an important war that had a profound impact on history, and even the location of the war, are not clearly recorded in the history books, and there are questions. For example, in Zhou Dynasty

In the book, it is said that this war was fought north of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, which is basically the easternmost border of the Rouran Kingdom. If the Turkic army really defeated the Rouran army on the Hulunbuir grassland, then it stands to reason that it should

Rouran will be completely wiped out in this battle, but the actual situation is that Rouran has existed on the Mongolian plateau for several years, so this matter does not make sense. Regarding this far-reaching war, there are also some records in Western historical materials

According to vague records, the Byzantines believed that the battle was fought on the Tire River, which is the Black Water. The above records say that there were 300,000 corpses scattered on the vast battlefield. If one person could not do it, it would take four days.

Only then can we walk across. But it stands to reason that the Turks fought from the west to the east, and Anahuan would definitely not escape like the Volga River in the west. Therefore, the Tire River in this record may refer to the Duluo River in Turkic language.

Or the Ruoluoshui in Rouran language, which is the Tula River where Rouran Khanting is located.

The process of Anahuan's defeat has so far been able to describe the scene at that time almost comprehensively. January was in the depth of winter. Anahuan was resting in Rouran Khan's Court unprepared, and he did not expect the enemy at all.

They would brave the severe cold to attack themselves. In fact, according to other records, it can be seen that the Turks are particularly good at using special weather cover to launch sneak attacks, and the Turks have repeatedly succeeded with this tactic. Anahuan is likely to be besieged by the Turkic army in a weak position.

By the Luoshui River, because he did not want to be a prisoner, he committed suicide.

After Anahuan's death, the Rouran people were divided into two. Prince An Luochen, his cousin Dengzhu, and Dengzhu's eldest son Kuti and other nobles Xiaonan defected to the Northern Qi Dynasty. The Rouran people who stayed in the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau,

Dengzhu’s second son Tiefa was made Khan. The name Tiefa refers to the mixed-race child born of a Xiongnu man and a Xianbei woman, so we can judge that Tiefa’s mother was a Xianbei. Not long after, the Khitan

To add insult to injury, he launched a sneak attack on Rouran and killed Tiefa Khan. But at that time, the Khitan was not yet capable of conquering the entire Rouran nation. After Gao Yang, the ancestor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, heard about Tiefa's death, he sent people to capture Dengzhu and Ku

Originally, Anluochen, the crown prince of Anahuan, should be the legal heir to the Rouran Kingdom. However, because Anluochen was the son-in-law of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, Gao Yang was worried that making him the Rouran Khan would make him a good friend of the Western Wei Dynasty.

Therefore, Gao Yang was always wary of him and supported Dengzhu and his son. However, he did not expect that Dengzhu would be killed by his tribe just a few months after he ascended the throne, and his son Kuti took over. A few days after Kuti came to power

, the Turkic army invaded again, Kuti could not withstand the fierce attack of the Turks, and once again led his men to flee to the Northern Qi Dynasty.

At the same time, the Khitans who had previously defeated Rouran crossed the Great Wall and invaded southward, but were driven away by Gao Yang. Gao Yang personally led the army to meet Kuti, and at the same time showed his military power to the Turks. The Turkic army had traveled tens of thousands of people

Kilometers, after seeing the Northern Qi army, he did not dare to fight with it, so he had to give up his plan to conquer Rouran and reached a peace agreement with Gao Yang. Gao Yang saw that Kuti was too weak, so he had to abolish it and establish Anluochen

As the Khan, he placed the Rouran people in Sanggan River. This place was originally the base of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but now it was provided to the Rouran people who were in trouble. In fact, Anluochen had long been resentful of Gao Yang because of what happened before.

In his heart, now that he was in power, he began to plot revenge. In March 554 AD, An Luochen launched a challenge to Gao Yang. The two sides fought fiercely for more than half a year in what is now northern Shanxi. Gao Yang was besieged for a long time. Fortunately, there was a heavy rain suddenly.

This saved his life. In the end, the Northern Qi army turned defeat into victory and captured more than 60,000 Rouran soldiers and civilians. In June 555, Anluochen was driven out of the Great Wall by Gao Yang and returned to the Mongolian plateau. Because the Rouran people were afraid of the Turks advancing again.

came to attack, so Anluocheng led his men and turned to develop in Northeast Asia. Some people were still unwilling to leave their hometown, so they supported Anahuan's uncle Deng Shuzi as Khan. This group of people continued to stay in Mobei.

An Luochen led his men into the Liao River Basin and approached Yingzhou of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The local governor of Yingzhou had been prepared for it. After An Luochen arrived, he was ambushed and was defeated. From then on, this part of the Rouran people

Disappeared in the records of ancient Chinese books. According to the Turkic people's later description of the Byzantine envoys, we can speculate that because they said that some Avars later defected to Mohe. As we have explained in the previous part, Mohe is the later

Jurchens, the Avars mentioned here should refer to the Rouran people led by An Luochen.

After this part of the Rouran people moved eastward, they gradually integrated into the Mohe people. Later, the Mohe people were divided into seven tribes. Among them, Bodu was later attacked by the Khitan and moved westward with the neighboring Shiwei people, developing into Tatar and other Mongolian tribes.

In fact, the origin of this name comes from Rouran Khan Datan. Later in the Tang Dynasty, there was a general named Li Huaiguang who came from the Sumo tribe. We have already mentioned the Sumo tribe before. This tribe later established the Bohai Kingdom. This Li Huaiguang's real name is "

"Ru", it is obvious that he is Houyi of Rouran. The Sumo tribe was later annexed by the Khitan and later integrated into the Han people. In fact, there are many Rouran elements among the Jurchens, even the emperors of the Jin, Yuan and Qing dynasties

There are also more or less Rouran bloodlines. As for Rouran's mortal enemy Khitan, because they conquered too many Rouran people, there is no way they will definitely merge with these Rouran people, and they will be more or less influenced by them.

The influence of their culture. For example, the surname of the royal family of the Liao Kingdom, Yelu, is similar to the surname Hulu of the Gaoche Kingdom. It is estimated that they are the surnames and first names that evolved later. This situation is common in Rouran, Gaoche and the Northern Wei Dynasty.

As mentioned before, for example, Yelu Abaoji, Abaoji means the Tsar of Abal people, or Rouran Khan. Yelu Abaoji is a name with a very Rouran flavor, so we

We can make a bold guess that the ancestors of the Liao royal family may have come from Rouran. To a certain extent, the emperors of the Liao, Jin, Yuan and Qing dynasties may have Rouran elements. Perhaps we cannot trace the history of these emperors

, but there is one dynasty that is inseparable from the relationship with the Rouran nation. This is the Sui Dynasty and the Yang Jian family. The founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, was not named this when he was a child. His name was Pu Liuru Narayan.

Luo Yan is a Sanskrit name, because the Yang Jian family has always believed in Buddhism. Pu Liuru is a strange surname, and there are many writings in the classic records of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. For example, in the early years of the reign of Emperor Wei Gong, the Western Wei Dynasty launched a surname Xianbei movement. At that time,

Yang Jian's father Yang Zhong was given the surname Pu Liuru at this time. At that time, Yu Wentai gave the surname Pu Liuru, as well as Yang Jian's fellow villager Yang Shangxi of Hongnong. The Yang family of Hongnong was probably all given the surname Pu Liuru.

Ru.

The surname Pu Liuru is different from other Xianbei surnames that Yu Wentai likes. It is a very rare surname, and can even be said to be exclusive to the Hongnong Yang family. In fact, it is a compound word, and Pu Liu is a very common Xianbei name.

It has several translation methods, such as Puhe, Buluzhen, etc. As early as the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xianbei chief had been in contact with Cao Cao. The third monarch of the Rouran Kingdom was named Buluzhen. In the late Northern Wei Dynasty, Xianbei's name was

For Chineseization, the Bu Liugu family was changed to the Lu family, and the Bulu He family was changed to the Bu family. In fact, the original appearance of these surnames can be restored to Bulgar or Bulgaria. In Mongolia, it is a common place name Bulgan. Mongolia

The Burgan Province is located in the Orkhon River Basin northwest of Ulaanbaatar, which is exactly equivalent to the core area of ​​the ancient Rouran Kingdom. Ru is better understood, Rouran is called Ruru. Therefore, Puliuru is a

A composite surname that is a mixture of Rouran and Xianbei.

It can also be seen from this strange surname that Yuwentai has always been very wary of the Yang Jian family, and even classified them as Rouran people. After Yang Guang came to power, he promoted many de-Huization movements.

Even some nouns with the word "Hu" have removed the "Hu". For example, "hugua" has been changed to "cucumber". If it is inferred from this information, the Yang Jian family may indeed have Rouran blood. This is because they are worried that they will be criticized by other ethnic groups after taking over the Central Plains.

Discrimination. Now we go back and continue to describe the last years of the Rouran regime on the Mongolian plateau.

While Anluochen fled eastward to the Liao River Basin, the founder of the Turkic Khanate, Ili Khan, died. He left behind his life to use the Altai Mountains as a dividing line to divide the Turkic Khanate into east and west parts. Eastern Turkic Khan

The country was inherited by his eldest son Koro, and the Western Turkic Khanate was inherited by his younger brother Shidianmi. After the funeral of Ili Khan, Shidianmi Khan led an army of 100,000 to conquer Central Asia westward, and gained numerous victories.

The results were small. Not to be outdone, Koro Khan also launched an attack on the Rouran people on the Mongolian plateau. Although he defeated Uncle Deng Khan, he himself also lost his life in this war. Before his death,

He left an edict and passed the throne to his younger brother Qi Jin because the prince was too young to govern the country. After Qi Jin inherited the throne, he immediately began to take revenge on the Rouran people and defeated them in one fell swoop. Uncle Deng did not dare

To seek refuge in Northern Qi or Khitan, he had no choice but to lead more than 1,000 families of Rouran people to the south to seek refuge with another old enemy of Rouran, the Western Wei Dynasty. When he heard that Rouran had defected to his in-laws, the Western Wei Dynasty, Tijin was worried about the long nights and dreams, so he immediately sent an envoy to Chang'an to ask for

The Western Wei Dynasty executed all these Rouran people. After weighing the pros and cons, Yuwentai agreed to this request and handed over 3,000 Rouran people including Deng Shuzi Khan to the Turkic envoys, who killed them all in the east of Chang'an City. Only Rouran people were killed.

Ran's women and minor men were pardoned, and Yuwentai assigned these people to various Western Wei aristocratic families, and eventually integrated into the Han people during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. This massacre marked the beginning of the Rouran Khanate, which had dominated the Mongolian Plateau for nearly two centuries.

Eventually destroyed. The Rouran people who stayed on the Mongolian Plateau surrendered to the Turkic conquerors. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, there was still a tribe called Ruirui in the Turkic country. Qi Jin was not satisfied with conquering Rouran, and he decided to take advantage of the victory to attack

, and successively defeated the Khitan in the east and the Qi Gu in the north. Then he joined forces with his uncle Shi Dian secretly and began to attack Rouran's ally Yida. Around 558 AD, Yanda Khan Wozer was horrified to discover that there was a Turk
To be continued...