At this moment, thousands of miles away, Chigu City, Wusun Kingdom in the Western Regions.
Night has fallen in the Kingdom of Zhao, and above Chigu City, the sun still hangs in the western horizon, trying its best to exude divine brilliance.
"When I was in the Gumo Kingdom, I heard people say that the Wusun people were greedy for money and unfaithful. King Wusun even secretly protected the bandits and allowed them to plunder wantonly. I didn't believe it at first, but now I am really in trouble. Mao Sui said in a deep voice.
Two years ago, he learned that the State of Zhao wanted to send people to the far west to open up trade routes, and he immediately realized that this was an opportunity for his "awl" to shine out of his "bag".
So he took the initiative to ask for orders and led the caravan to set off.
The Zhao caravan and the Qin caravan took two completely different routes.
The Qin caravan set out from Xianyang and traveled westward along the Hexi Corridor. After arriving near Loulan, it walked along the south side of the Tarim Basin, passing through Qiemo, Jingjue, Khotan and other countries, and then went north to Shule and crossed Congling. Arrive in Dawan.
The Zhao Guo caravan set out from Hetao, went west along the Juyan Ancient Road to Juyanze Oasis, continued west to the northwest of Loulan, and then went west along the north side of the Tarim Basin and the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, passing by Cheshi, Yanzhe, Qiuci, Gumo and other places, and finally went north to Wusun.
If the Qin caravan followed the normal route and did not choose to go north, they would have arrived in Daxia after crossing Congling. However, the mountains there were too high and the terrain was too complex, and the whole army might be annihilated.
After careful consideration, the Qin caravan felt that life was still more important and there was no need to fight so hard, so they went north along the mountains, westward through a gap, and ran to Dawan.
If Zhao's caravan followed the normal route westward, it should reach Dawan, but Mao Sui learned on the way that the population of Wusun State was two or three times that of Dawan.
Population means market. They came to open up trade routes and naturally chose a country with a large population, so they crossed the Nantian Mountains and ran to the Wusun Kingdom...
Now Mao Sui wants to give himself a big mouth. If it weren't for his stupid choice and not following the advice, the Zhao caravan would not have been trapped in Wusun for so long.
Even if we had turned around and left after encountering the first group of robbers, instead of thinking it was just an accident and kept moving forward, things would not have turned out like this.
In just over a month, the Zhao State caravan has experienced more than ten robberies, large and small, and the scale is getting bigger and bigger. If there is no instruction from the Wusun State behind it, even Mao Sui will not believe it.
In the Central Plains, countries and bandits have been incompatible since ancient times. Once banditry occurs somewhere, countries mobilize large armies and scrimp on food and clothing to suppress the bandits. No matter how greedy or foolish the monarch is, he cannot secretly protect the bandits to rob the people and caravans.
Fools all know that although this method can gain a lot of money in a short period of time, it will lose the hearts of the people. After a long time, everyone knows, which caravan will come to your country?
You have robbed all the people nearby, and no caravans have come to your country. Who are you to rob?
Therefore, when he first heard the news, Mao Sui was very disapproving and decided to go north to Wusun. As a result, things turned out like this...
In fact, Mao Sui had wronged King Wusun. It’s not that King Wusun didn’t know this, but Wusun was different from the Central Plains.
The Central Plains is an agricultural civilization that implements centralized power. The state's control over its governance is completely unmatched by nomadic peoples like Wusun.
The tribes of Wusun lived by the water, and the King of Wusun could not exercise strong jurisdiction over them. Moreover, the terrain in Wusun was complex, with many mountains and rivers, which created favorable conditions for the birth of bandits. Many tribes secretly
Everyone does this kind of thing.
In order to solve this problem, King Wusun could only secretly support one group of gangsters, suppress another group of gangsters, and at the same time earn some extra money through robbery.
As for robbing caravans, King Wusun really didn't have this idea before, because before the Zhao caravan came, there was not a single caravan in Wusun. Their main targets for robbery were other nearby countries and tribes.
Not all places are as prosperous as the Central Plains, and commerce in most areas has just begun to develop.
Of course, Wusun now has ideas about the caravan.
They are not picky eaters and just take advantage of them.
"What should we do now?" Huai asked.
After nearly two years of ups and downs, Huai has completely changed, not only in appearance, but also in mentality.
Along the way, he deeply felt the meaning of having a strong country behind him and felt proud to be a Zhao native.
At least when those small countries saw the 500 elite soldiers behind him, even the king would come out of the city to greet them, treat them as equals, not daring to show any slights, entertain them with good food and drinks, and finally send them out of the city with gifts.
.
This was something he had never experienced before. Every time he saw such a scene, he always felt tears filling his eyes.
Ordinary soldiers are full of pride. They have lived in the Central Plains all their lives and think that all countries in the world are big countries like Qin and Zhao with millions of people. Their weaknesses should be comparable to Yan and Han, and at the worst, they should be like Lu.
In this way, there are more than ten cities.
We can no longer be weak. No matter how weak we are, we are defending our country.
After leaving the Kingdom of Zhao, they realized that there were many countries in the world that were even worse than the Kingdom of Wei. They had hundreds of households and thousands of people, and could only rule a small and humble town like a courtyard, yet they dared to establish a country and call it a country.
Put it in the Central Plains, it’s just a bigger mushroom.
A kind of national self-confidence from the inside out is condensed from them. They are the first people in Zhao State to go abroad and feel the feelings of home and country.
"The longer the time, the more dangerous it becomes. I plan to lead the caravan to leave Wusun in three days." Mao Sui pressed his hands on the armrests of the chair, looking very ugly.
The value of the silk and porcelain they brought was far beyond their imagination. From the moment they sold the first batch of goods, they were targeted. If they were not guarded by 500 elite soldiers, the goods would have been looted long ago.
.
More than a month has passed, and the robbers have become stronger and stronger.
It can be seen that the greed of Wusun and the domestic nobles can no longer be suppressed.
"General, are you sure you can escort us out?" Huai looked at the general next to him, whose eyebrows were similar to Lian Po's.
In the past, he was extremely confident in Zhao Jun. Even though there were only 500 men, he never lost along the way.
But this time is different. Wusun is a large country with a population of hundreds of thousands, which is not at the same level as those small countries with a population of tens of thousands.
No matter how strong the Zhao army is, it may be difficult to resist them.
"If we lose the goods, we will not have the confidence to escort everyone away," Lian An said.
He is Lian Po's youngest son, and he has been studying with Lian Po before.