The current chaos in the Western Regions is largely due to this Kushan Emperor.

Chen Mu didn't quite understand when he learned that it was the King of Kushan who was causing trouble.

You must know that the Kushan Empire seems to be very close to the Western Regions, but in fact it is separated by the Himalayas, Kunlun Mountains and Pamir Plateau, and they are all high-altitude areas with harsh climate and very difficult roads.

The scope of the Kushan Empire's influence reaches its limit to the countries such as Kangju, Dawan, Khotan, and Yarkand to the west of the Western Region, and it is impossible to reach the east of the Western Region.

Because that would have to traverse the entire Tarim Basin.

Attacking the Western Regions from the Kushan Empire was much more difficult than attacking the Western Regions from the Han Dynasty. Why did he do this?

Soon Luo Shan gave the answer.

cotton!

It turns out that in history, Vesudeva II never had any thoughts about the Western Regions.

There are two reasons.

First, the road was difficult to walk and the distance was close, but the mountains, rivers and plateaus stood in front of the Kushan Empire like roadblocks.

Second, big men are not easy to mess with.

The great-great-grandfather of Vesutiva II once attacked the Western Regions and sent 70,000 people there. However, he was beaten half to death by Ban Chao and almost the entire army was wiped out.

Therefore, even after the decline of the Han Dynasty and the inability to control the Western Regions, the Kushan Empire was just like the Han Dynasty. In name, Kangju, Dayuan, Khotan and other countries to the west of the Tarim Basin did not actually control these areas.

But in recent years, King Kushan heard that the cotton industry in the Western Regions was booming. Teams of camels were sent to the Han Dynasty in exchange for countless silks, tea, porcelain, and gold, silver, and copper coins of the Han Dynasty.

Then merchants from the Western Regions resold these things to Kushan, Parthia, and even the Roman Empire, and each country made a lot of money.

It happened that the cotton production area was within the Kushan Empire, and Vesudeva II was also a powerful ruler, and he quickly felt the importance of the cotton trade keenly.

As a cotton producing area, they could completely monopolize the cotton sold to the Han Dynasty and reap huge profits.

At this time, the Parthian Empire was in decline, and the Han Dynasty had been experiencing constant civil strife in recent years.

According to Vesudeva II's idea, if he could control the Western Region, then he would have the final say in the trade of cotton, silk, tea, and porcelain, and the prosperity of the empire would reach a new level.

Therefore, driven by interests, Vesudeva II boldly sent troops to the Western Regions, first conquering Khotan, Shule, Yarkand and other countries, and then continued to march eastward.

In later generations, these places were Kashgar and Hotan in Xinjiang, my country, which belonged to the west of the Western Regions and were very far away from the mainland of the Han Dynasty.

However, the Kushan Empire's expedition to the Western Regions was already an expedition. Then they attacked the east of the Western Regions. They had to travel a long distance and had difficulties in logistical supplies. The empire's own national strength was only about this, so the journey was very slow. It took several years of fighting before it could reach the Mumi Kingdom.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Later, the countries in the Western Regions united together and continued to fight with the Kushan Empire.

They also asked for help from the Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Han Dynasty was not yet unified at that time and had no time to take care of the Western Regions, so they ignored the letter asking for help.

Fortunately, compared to the powerful national power of the Han Dynasty, the Kushan Empire is just a younger brother and cannot be defeated at all. It has been entangled with the countries in the Western Regions in the southern region of the Tarim Basin.

It was just brought down again and again, but for countries such as Dayuan, Khotan, Kangju, Shule, and Yarkand, the Kushan Empire was still a behemoth that was difficult to contend with.

The countries in the Western Region were originally just outsiders. After the Kushan Empire sent troops, these countries were quickly controlled by the Kushan Empire.

The country's military forces were integrated into a coalition and became the leading party in the Western Region. They led the Kushan Empire's army to attack the eastern region of Xinjiang east of the Tarim Basin.

Therefore, the other countries deeply resent these countries for bringing wolves into the house.

The civil strife among the Western Region merchants in Luoyang City was actually a civil strife between merchants from the countries occupied by the Kushan Empire and merchants from the countries not occupied by the Kushan Empire.

Learned the cause and effect of the incident.

Chen Mu realized that this was a problem, but it shouldn't be a big problem because the Kushan Empire couldn't send too many troops to attack the Western Regions.

But I didn't expect that after Luo Shan finished speaking, he bowed his hands seriously, then knelt down to Chen Mu and said: "Prime Minister, although the Dayue clan has not yet attacked Shanshan, we learned that they are now accumulating strength to transport grain and grass to the Western Regions.

, if we wait until they are fully prepared, it may be difficult for us to resist."

"oh?"

Chen Mu said in surprise: "Back then, the Dayue clan sent 70,000 people to conquer the Western Regions. Ban Dingyuan simply led the countries in the Western Regions and easily wiped out the entire army of the Dayue clan. Is it possible that the Western Regions cannot stop the Dayue clan's attack now?"

Luo Shan smiled bitterly and said: "The Prime Minister doesn't know something. This time the Da Yueshi sent more than 70,000 troops."

"More than seventy thousand?"

Chen Mu was a little surprised and asked, "How many people are here?"

"My father wrote to me last time, saying that there are at least 200,000 people, and none of the countries in the Western Region can take it."

Luo Shan replied.

"Twenty thousand people?"

Chen Mu pondered for a moment, his eyes wandering over Luo Shan, thinking about the authenticity of his words.

After thinking for a moment, I finally determined it was fake.

If he hadn't traveled through time and had a little knowledge of the Pamir Plateau and Tarim Basin, he might have believed it.

The Pamir Plateau was called Congling in the Han Dynasty. How bad is its condition?

The altitude of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is 3000-4000 meters, with very low oxygen content and poor climatic conditions. During the Han Dynasty, only a few Qiang people lived in Qinghai Province at an altitude of about 2000-3000 meters.

At this time, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was extremely sparsely populated, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that a large number of tribes appeared, eventually forming a country called Tubo.

The altitude of the Pamir Plateau is higher than that of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, reaching 5,000-6,000 meters. The climate conditions are not generally harsh. It can be said that there is no human habitation for thousands of kilometers, and the temperature difference between day and night is terrifying.

The average summer temperature is more than ten degrees Celsius during the day and minus ten degrees Celsius at night.

In winter, the average temperature during the day is more than ten degrees below zero, and at night it can drop to twenty or thirty degrees below zero, or even as low as more than fifty degrees below zero.

Therefore, the attack on the Western Region from the Kushan Empire seems to be only across the Pamir Plateau, with only a few hundred kilometers in between.

But in fact this path simply doesn't work.

It is necessary to go around Dawan, Wusun, Kangju and other places in the north of the Kushan Empire before entering the Western Region.

The specific itinerary is equivalent to going from Punjab in northern India to Tajikistan, then to Kyrgyzstan, and finally to the Kashgar region of Xinjiang, a total distance of more than one or two thousand kilometers.

With such a long supply line, it is still credible to send less than 100,000 people, because a certain amount of food can be replenished from the Western Regions.

But if more than 200,000 people are sent here, the total strength of the entire Western Region is estimated to be only this number, which cannot be sustained at all.

Therefore, Chen Mu believed that Luo Shan's words must have been adulterated, and wanted to trick the big man into sending troops to help.

But Chen Mu didn't expose him.

After thinking for a moment, he said to him: "The Han Dynasty is thousands of miles away from the Western Regions. It is not that easy for the Yuezhi to go to the Western Regions. It should be fine in a short time. You should retreat first. Starting from this year, I will order the Xiliang garrison to

Prepare to enter the Western Region for defensive operations next year."

Luo Shan was overjoyed and said, "Thank you so much, Prime Minister."

After he leaves.

Chen Mucai said to the people around him: "Let the Military Intelligence Department disguise itself as a business brigade and establish a stronghold in the Western Region. I want information about the entire Western Region."

"only."

Give orders to people around you.

Chen Mu looked to the west with penetrating eyes. The Kushan Empire was just a bigger ant in front of the Han Dynasty, insignificant.
Chapter completed!