Although the entire winter of the sixth year of Yuande was cold, it was warm in the hearts of the entire Chinese people.
The king's army left the fortress, marched thousands of miles, closed the fortress of Gaoque, and restored the homeland of Jiuyuan County of Qin and Zhao. The Liangbei River bounded Yangshan Mountain and Yinshan Mountain was in sight.
In the south, the King of Nanyue also respectfully wrote to the princes of Binai to clear the border.
The people of Changsha discovered, even overnight, that Wuling, which had once been blocked by barriers and heavily blocked by troops, suddenly became a smooth road.
The South Vietnamese market is officially and completely opened to China.
Countless businessmen were beaming with joy.
South Vietnam has a population of several million and stretches thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, enough to be a state in China.
The sudden emergence of such a market where people can trade freely without any restrictions is equivalent to giving merchants a huge new product base out of thin air.
It was also in this winter that the name of the Han Dynasty appeared in the world for the first time across the distance between mountains and seas.
The countries in the Western Regions were the first to hear the news.
Almost overnight, the whirlwind of the Han Dynasty blew up in countless palaces of the Western Region Kingdoms.
Countless kings and ministers discussed quietly in private, avoiding the surveillance of the Huns.
"I heard that there is a powerful country in the east called 'Han'. Han is extremely powerful and extremely rich! First they defeated the Xiongnu in Mayi, and then fought in Gaoque, and they won both!" The king of the ancient Loulan Kingdom asked his trusted ministers
He said: "I intend to contact the Han Dynasty, but I don't know if it is feasible?"
Loulan is an ancient kingdom, and their ancestors have settled and multiplied on the side of Lop Nur a long time ago.
This kingdom was once free to farm and live near the wealthy Lop Nur.
However, the nightmare came more than thirty years ago.
The battle for grassland hegemony between the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi spread to Loulan.
Facing the front of the Huns, in order to protect the people, the then King of Loulan could only kneel in humiliation before the horse's hooves of the Huns' old master, Chanyu, and agreed to countless harsh conditions.
These include making sacrifices every year, allowing the Xiongnu troops to come and go freely on time, and all queens must marry from the Xiongnu.
The current King of Loulan is half of the Xiongnu blood.
However, he hated the Huns very much.
Because the Huns were insatiable and greedy!
They took away almost all the wealth and savings of the Loulan Kingdom, and even took away all the benefits of the Silk Road!
After the Western Expedition, the military officials even arbitrarily demanded that Loulan contribute a total of one million kilograms of grain and thousands of civilians to carry the grain, but they refused to share even half of the profits from the Western Expedition.
Among the thirty-six countries in the Western Region, there was only one charioteer who got a share of the spoils of the Huns' Western Expedition!
This made other kingdoms feel dissatisfied as they dared to be angry but dared not speak out.
King Loulan is one of them.
He dreamed of getting rid of the control of the Huns and restoring the independence of the Loulan Kingdom.
Unfortunately, this is destined to be just a dream.
Naturally, that confidant had the same thoughts as King Loulan.
In the countries of the Western Regions, the Huns have always appeared as domineering presidents.
Sometimes, people don't even bother to act as domineering presidents, and directly threaten and intimidate people. If they don't comply, soldiers will immediately invade the territory and burn, kill, and loot!
The terrifying Huns cavalry marched straight in, turning most kingdoms into ashes, many cities in ruins, and the bodies of the dead were enough to fill the entire salt lake (Lop Nur).
only……
The confidant sighed deeply in his heart.
Loulan Kingdom is too weak...
The total population is only one hundred thousand!
Moreover, the major generals are weak and have no ability to stand on their own.
When the Yueshi people were here, they often exploited and exploited Loulan.
The only difference was that at that time Loulan could still rely on the ancient Silk Road to gain profits from trade.
It is foreseeable that even if the Han Dynasty came, they might not be as merciful as the Huns.
The tiger will be driven out through the front door, and the wolf will be admitted through the back door.
In the end, is it not possible for Loulan to escape from the fate of being enslaved and exploited?
Besides...
The minister raised his head, looked at the young, angry and extremely uneasy king, and said: "Your Majesty, Loulan is a small country and cannot bear the wrath of a big country! Let alone defend itself in the struggle between two powerful countries! Moreover, the policies of the Han Dynasty
We know nothing about our demands and demands now. If the Han Dynasty people are more greedy, more cruel, and more domineering than the Huns, what should we do... Let's just observe..."
This is also the sorrow and helplessness of a small country.
Especially a small country like Loulan that is too close to a superpower like the Xiongnu.
It will naturally be enslaved and controlled by powerful countries.
However, the young King Loulan could not hear the minister's advice. He snorted and said, "That would be better than being restricted and enslaved by the Xiongnu in everything now! Moreover, the Han Dynasty was far away from our country, and it was difficult to be like the Xiongnu.
Infiltrate and control our country... As long as the Han Dynasty can help me expel the Xiongnu, then it is inevitable to pay a little price and benefit..."
"General Zuo, don't say any more..." He glanced at the minister who still wanted to admonish and said: "Choose a few warriors for me, go to the Han Dynasty, serve as an envoy, and tell the Han Dynasty my thoughts and intentions.
Go to the king and his ministers!"
The Western Kingdom has been controlled, enslaved and exploited by the Huns for too long.
These hatreds and complaints have accumulated for decades, as long as two or three generations.
This naturally made all the countries in the Western Regions harbor deep hatred for the Xiongnu.
Kingdoms like Loulan that occupied the Silk Road all had the idea of taking advantage of convenient transportation to communicate with the Han Dynasty.
Even those countries outside the Silk Road have begun to think about it privately, and some kingdoms have even begun to quietly strengthen their armed forces.
Now the countries in the Western Regions and even the Kingdom of Cheshi have understood the fact that troubled times are coming! The world has entered the era of hegemony between Han and Hungary.
All kingdoms must calm down and think carefully. In the upcoming magnificent era, should they choose to side with the Xiongnu? Or should they choose to side with the Han Dynasty?
Some kingdoms decided to contact the Han Dynasty and try to see what the Han Dynasty thought. There were also kingdoms whose hatred towards the Xiongnu was so great that they did not need to contact the Han Dynasty first, but had already decided to rebel as soon as the Han army came over.
But there are also kingdoms that are willing to follow the Xiongnu wholeheartedly.
After all, the Huns are too strong!
In the eyes of the kings and ministers of these kingdoms, what was the Han Dynasty?
It's always right to follow the Hun father!
Especially Cheshi. Cheshi was originally the kingdom that was most enslaved and controlled by the Xiongnu. Throughout the ages, it relied on begging for mercy and being submissive to survive.
But who would have known, because he was so submissive and obedient that the Huns were even embarrassed.
Especially when the Xiongnu Chan was a powerful leader like Lao Shang Chanyu.
Perhaps out of strategic considerations, based on the consideration of a thousand gold horse bones, or simply because he felt that he had to support such an obedient example, he gave the Che Shi Wang a lot of preferential treatment and tolerance.
This made the Cheshi royal family feel inexplicably grateful.
The so-called Stockholm syndrome effect came into play.
For decades, the Cheshi Kingdom has always been the most obedient, obedient and submissive kingdom of the Huns in the Western Regions, and it also made the Huns the most worry-free.
The Cheshi King even gave up his own land to experiment with the Huns' system of riding fields, turning his people into slaves of the Xiongnu's policy of riding fields.
Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for the Cheshi royal family to part ways with the Huns.
Instead, they had to follow the Xiongnu's strategy and cling tightly to the Xiongnu's thighs to maintain their rule.
So King Cheshi reported some of the conspiracies he heard about the Western Kingdom to the Huns.
When the Huns found out, they were furious and immediately sent troops into the small countries betrayed by King Cheshi. They killed the kings and hung their heads on top of the city in public. They killed chickens and frightened monkeys, shocking all the countries in the Western Regions.
This policy is very effective.
All of a sudden, those kingdoms that were ready to move were frightened and intimidated.
King Loulan was so frightened that he could not sleep at night, and immediately terminated his secret plan to contact the Han Dynasty.
After all, the Han Dynasty was too far away and the Huns were too close!
But further away, beyond Jinshan and Congling, there exists a kingdom called Kangju.
Kangju was a political power established by the Cypriots.
The Kangju people were in the transitional period between nomadic herding and farming.
The northern part of the kingdom is a nomadic area, while the eastern part of the kingdom is a farming area.
There are many Kangju people who practice both farming and nomadic life.
This kingdom is naturally still stuck in the era of slavery.
The Kangju people were heavily influenced by the Huns and Greece. In this kingdom, there were both shamanistic and Greek beliefs, as well as Zoroastrianism.
The Kangju Kingdom has also been committed to building a "great and impressive country".
Its goal is to eventually annex the Western Regions in the east, merge with Daxia in the west, and ultimately dominate Central Asia.
Therefore, people in Kangju have always been very fond of dancing.
And he jumps very high!
It's a pity that last year, the Kangju people were stepped on the ground by the Xiongnu's Western Expedition and were beaten to the point of paralysis.
Most of the kingdom's army was lost in the battle with the Huns.
Especially in the battle of "Alexandria in the Far East", the Kangju people were almost completely wiped out!
And before that, the entire eastern part of Kangju was almost destroyed by the Huns.
This made the Kangju people fear and hate the Huns.
Just like a loli who was bitten by a monster, she scolded the Huns with her mouth, but in her heart she envied the power and terror of the Huns' army, and hoped that she could have such an army.
At this time, from the business travelers on the ancient Silk Road, a piece of information from afar exploded in the hearts of Kangju people like a nuclear explosion.
The terrifyingly powerful, almost impossible to defeat Huns were defeated.
Another powerful country in the distant world came into the sight of the Kangju people.
This terrible empire called the 'Han Dynasty' defeated the invincible Huns cavalry in one fell swoop on the frontal battlefield.
The main force of the Xiongnu was almost completely defeated, and the terrifying Han army captured the strongest fortress of the Xiongnu.
What's even more frightening is that this is not the first time that the Han Dynasty defeated the Huns.
There are even rumors that the Xiongnu expedition to the west was due to the coercion of the Han Dynasty.
In order to escape the attack of the Han Dynasty, the Huns had to move westward...
This is almost hard for Kangju people to accept.
The Xiongnu were so powerful that they had no friends. Those terrifying Xiongnu cavalry were squeezing the Kangju cavalry almost as casually as beating up children.
However, the Han army seemed to have spent little effort in pushing the Xiongnu, and the Xiongnu cavalry could only flee in confusion.
In the legend, mythical words and fragments such as divine knights and divine kings appear.
According to rumors, the Han Dynasty seemed to have a mythical cavalry and an irresistible, irresistible, and invincible god-king leader.
That terrible empire, powerful, wealthy, and civilized.
It is said that silk, which is expensive and beautiful, and is sought after and loved by countless people, is a specialty of this empire.
After hearing these exaggerated legends, the nobles and royal family of Kangju fell into a strange psychology of self-contradiction and self-conflict.
This is not surprising.
For example, Li Jiapo in later generations was the most loyal lackey of Emperor Mi. His loyalty to Emperor Mi was even greater than that of neon concubines like Neon and Bangzi.
For the benefit of Emperor Mi, it charged forward and sacrificed its life to stay behind.
But what if one day suddenly, a country appears out of nowhere, such as the legendary Atlantis, and presses Midi to the ground and rubs it.
Do you think Li Jiapo will perform like this?
Although the Kangju people were enemies of the Xiongnu, they were also the kingdom that most admired the Xiongnu system and system.
Even the Kangju people dreamed of becoming a powerful country like the Huns.
But suddenly, someone told it: The Huns are nothing! The Han Dynasty is the strongest in the world!
Kangju people naturally fall into a vicious cycle of self-denial and self-doubt.
Many people are thinking in their hearts: Are all our efforts and sacrifices over the years in vain? Are we all learning from the failed system of a failed country?
Kangju people naturally find it difficult to accept this!
Naturally, Kangju's neighbors Daxia and Yuezhi also learned of this outrageous information not long after.
"The Huns were defeated?" The whole country of Daxia Kingdom found it difficult to accept the news.
At this time, the Huns left a very deep impression on Daxia.
The Macedonian phalanx left to them by their ancestors was easily smashed by the Huns' cavalry like a child's toy. Several elite legions collapsed. Even Alexander the Great's eastern city was captured by the Huns.
This made Daxia extremely frightened. While they were crying like a wounded girl, feeling sorry for themselves, they also sent envoys to the west, intending to seek help from their former suzerain country, Seleucid. They also had contact with Rome, hoping to get help.
Roman reinforcements or plans to help.
Because Daxia heard that the Romans had newly developed a better phalanx and defeated the Europeans and Seleucids.
Even the Greek city-states were beaten to their knees.
Carthage even surrendered.
What's more important is that the kingdoms in the Greek cultural circle have always had a tradition of mercenaries.
As long as a price can be found, countless desperadoes will naturally be willing to serve.
Back then, Carthage used gold coins to hire Roman mercenaries to defeat Rome.
but now……
A new choice appeared in front of the monarchs and ministers of Daxia.
In the far east, that empire called Han, most likely the legendary Silk Kingdom, defeated the Huns??!!!!
What are you waiting for!
Hurry up and send someone to talk to the Han Dynasty people!
money is not a problem!
After all, Indian people have plenty of money!
As long as the Han Dynasty can sell itself the weapons and equipment that defeated the Xiongnu, anything can be said! (~^~)
