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 The Sui had instituted an army of professional soldiers known as Fubing, a basis for a standing army that was adopted by the Tang. Military service was rotated between defence of the national frontiers and duty in the capital. Using this army together with auxiliaries recruited from ethnic groups the Tang rulers pushed back would be invaders and so extended their territorial control beyond China proper. At its peak of power, the Tang controlled large parts of central Asia all the way into Iran as well as Manchuria, most of the Korean peninsula and into the Ili Valley. The Tang became the greatest power in Asia.
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