Yi'anxi

In the late Yuanhe years of the Tang Dynasty, prosperity declined, temples decayed, vassal towns became separatist, and luck was lost. The martial arts in the Central Plains collapsed, the immortals and Buddhas retreated, and the power struggle in the court continued. It was no longer possible to look westward. Thousands of miles of territory in the Western Region was reduced to a desperate situation. The north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and the east and west of the Congling Mountains were surrounded by wars in the four towns of Anxi (Qiuci, Shule, Khotan, and Yanqi) in the past. Millions of Tibetan cavalry pressed down on the territory, the Turkic tribes revolted, the Sogdian kingdoms were divided, the Manichaean cult from outside the territory infiltrated, and the Jianghu martial arts sects were divided into one side. The Anxi Protectorate, which had been guarding the Western Regions for more than a hundred years, was completely reduced to an isolated island. It lost contact with the Central Plains, had no food and fodder, and no reinforcements. Tens of thousands of Anxi's remnant troops guarded the lonely city of Qiuci. The old soldiers died in battle, the new soldiers were weak, their swords were broken, their armor was incomplete, and the Han family's flag was crumbling in the strong winds of the Western Regions. This place is the westernmost territory of the Tang Dynasty, the last western frontier of the Han family, and the starting point for the decline of fortune, the recovery of martial arts, and the founding of the country in troubled times.