Dunhuang County governs Dunhuang County, in the west of today's Dunhuang, and belongs to the Liangzhou Governor's Department. Dunhuang was only a small county at first, but it developed rapidly and encompassed six counties: Dunhuang, Ming'an, Xiaogu, Yuanquan,
Guangzhi, Longle. Its east side is bounded by Jiduanshui and Jiuquan counties.
"Dun means big; Huang means prosperous." Dunhuang means grand. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty chose these two words to establish the prefecture. Obviously, he wanted to make the vast unknown world of the Western Region the starting point for the expansion of the Dunhuang Empire.
The goal of his conquest.
It is a pity that the strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty government declined. Not to mention expanding to the Western Regions from Dunhuang. Even if they maintained the Western Regions, they did not rely on strong force, but relied on the prestige of the former Han Dynasty and Ban Chao's personal prestige to suppress the Western Regions. The Eastern Han Dynasty government never had any concern for the Western Regions.
Invest any resources. Ban Chao spent his whole life running the Western Regions. In his later years, he begged the court to return home. He said: "I dare not see Jiuquan County, but I hope to be born in Yumen Pass."
After Ban Chao left the Western Regions, the Han's rule over the Western Regions was completely in name only!
At this time, there was an army of 50,000 people marching in this desolate land! This is the second time that the Chinese forces have sent such a huge army into this desolate land after hundreds of years!
"This land is too desolate, and there are too few Han people!" Wang Guojun marched down and saw only a scene of thousands of miles of uninhabited people. It was hard for him to believe that this was the Silk Road that had been prosperous for hundreds of years. If it hadn't been for this
On the way he saw some dilapidated villages, and the royal army thought this was a no man's land!
Han Sui said with a sad face: "Although there are relatively few merchants from the Western Regions coming to the Han Dynasty, they are not absent. The Silk Road has not been completely cut off. There should be some villages and towns here that provide food and rest for the caravans, but these
After being raided by the Qiang for the first time, these villages have been completely extinct. If we cannot defeat the Qiang, not only will the Silk Road be cut off, but Dunhuang and other places will also be completely lost!"
Originally, there were many people in Zhangye County and Jiuquan County who relied on this trade route to survive, but now there is no one seen on this road. I don’t know if they were trying to avoid the war or were directly killed by the Qiang people.
In short, these two counties have almost become no man's land. Under the current situation, it is difficult for Han caravans to pass through this nearly thousand-mile no man's land.
If the Royal Army hadn't had millions of stones of grain, it would have been difficult for his 50,000-strong army to march here. However, such a group of no-man's land also increased the trouble for the Royal Army and the others in transporting grain. At least 200,000 civilians would be needed to ensure this.
The food and fodder of his 50,000-strong army are safe, and in order to ensure the safety of these 200,000 civilians, more than 20,000 cavalry are needed to protect them all the way. It can be said that the no-man's land created by the Qiang people unintentionally increased the cost of marching by the Kingdom's army several times.
Times!
When Wang Guojun heard Han Sui's desolate words, he worried and said, "How strong is the Gai family? Can they withstand the siege of the Qiang people?"
If the powerful forces of Dunhuang had not resisted the Qiang people, it would be difficult for them to encircle and suppress these Qiang people even if they marched thousands of miles. Moreover, because the people in these four counties had been massacred, the Kingdom's army would not be able to march into the Western Regions even if they wanted to.
At the very least, Daqian must first restore the population of the four counties of Dunhuang and repair roads and inns, so as to ensure the safety of the food routes to the Western Regions army!
Han Sui mocked: "His family is considered to be the most powerful family in Xiliang. With his family taking the lead, it will not be a problem for the people of Dunhuang to resist the Qiang people for several months. You must know that there was a great famine in Liangzhou, and Gai Xun was in power at that time.
The prefect of Hanyang did not hesitate to use his private wealth to help the victims. Gai Xun could relieve the hunger of a county with his family's wealth. From this, couldn't the governor Wang see the strength of the Gai family! Gai Xun is one of the few people in Xiliang who is good at being an official.
Man, even though he had dispersed all his family wealth back then, after the disaster relief food from the court arrived, it was returned to him in large sums. Now everyone only knows about the previous things, but no one has ever mentioned the later things!"
Han Sui was envious, jealous and hateful of Gai Xun!
At that time, Han Sui and Gai Xun were both famous people in Xiliang, and his reputation was even higher than that of Gai Xun. Unfortunately, fate played a trick on him. When he returned to Xiliang from the Central Plains, he was captured by Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou.
Being forced to rebel became the traitor of the Han Dynasty, and he repeatedly jumped over the years, earning the title of an old fox. Han Sui's reputation and moral character were already bad in Xiliang.
However, during the chaos in Xiliang, Gai Xun not only did not join in the rebellion, he also found ways to report Zuo Chang and others, worked hard to quell the rebellion in Xiliang, and gradually became a famous official of the Han Dynasty. This huge difference can be
It is said that Gai Xun's life became what Han Sui would be like in his ideal state, and he was greedy for life and afraid of death, and eventually lived step by step into what he hated. So every time someone Gai Xun was ahead of schedule, Han Sui could not calm down in his heart!
At this time, a voice from behind said angrily: "Han Sui, you are such a sinister villain, you actually slandered my father! Everyone in the world knows that my father is a loyal and righteous man, and there is no one in Xiliang who does not admire my father's character, and is not even willing to be with my father.
Enemy. And you, Han Wenyue, are just a rebellious and rebellious traitor. It was only because of your good luck that you surrendered to Duke Lei to be in power so you could survive. Now you actually dare to slander my father like this!"
This was Gaishun's angry response when he heard Han Sui's words. Gaishun was appointed as a guide to support Dunhuang and followed the army. He originally wanted to ask the royal army to speed up the march so that he could rescue Dunhuang as soon as possible, but he heard that Han Sui was trying to make trouble for him.
When my father says something bad, I can’t help but refute him!
When Han Sui saw Gai Shun, he said calmly: "Where did I slander you? Is it true that I said it? Your Gai family monopolizes the entire Silk Road trade route, and the gems, jade, spices, gold and silver from the Western Regions all pass through.
Only your hands can enter Guanzhong, and the silk, precious medicinal materials, and porcelain from the Central Plains can only be sold to your Gai family, so we have the financial resources to help the people of a county! None of the noble families in the Central Plains have the financial resources of your family. Is this right?
Not true!"
Gai Xun said angrily: "Although what you said is true, you are misinterpreting my father's intentions here. If fame is really so easy to obtain as you said, my father is just trying to gain fame and reputation. Why don't you see other officials of the Han Dynasty doing this? Don't they want to gain both fame and fortune?
, my father never thought about getting back the money and food when he was helping the victims! Moreover, the situation in the Western Regions is now turbulent, and merchants dare not go to the Western Regions to sell goods to our family. We also helped the Han caravans solve their difficulties. This was originally a good intention, but from now on
If you say it out loud, it will make me build the family and bully the merchants!"
Wang Guojun said with a joking smile: "No matter what, Gai Xun always saves people. There are very few people in the Han Dynasty who can do this!"
Wang Guojun also saw that Han Sui had a deep prejudice against his dead fellow villager, and was even a little jealous! However, the Gai family was indeed powerful. They could monopolize the Silk Road, and they were obviously not ordinary powerful!
Han Sui said at this time: "I just said this not to slander your Gai family, but to envy your Gai family for its strength. There are hundreds of thousands of Qiang people. Even when I was at its strongest, I couldn't resist it, but your Gai family... It can withstand the attack of hundreds of thousands of Qiang people!"
Gaishun knew that Daqian's attitude towards powerful people had always been to kill the powerful, so he immediately explained: "It's not that my Gai family is strong, it's the tens of thousands of people in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, and Zhangye who worked together to resist the Qiang people." attack!"