When the emperor issued an oral order asking Heifu to write down the strategy of expanding the west in detail in a memorial, Heifu knew that Qin Shihuang had made a decision.
"The desire to expand territory, the benefits of real interests, and the dream of seeking immortality are all three-pronged measures that can make the emperor change his national policy."
The emperor holds the six bridles, and his goal determines the direction of the empire. In this way, the wheel of history, induced by Heifu, slowly deviates from its original track...
At least for a few years, Heifu's subordinates in Yuzhang can farm with peace of mind and do not have to go to the tropical rainforest of South Vietnam to suffer early.
But the Qiang Rong tribe around Guanxi, as well as the Xiongnu Yuezhi, may tremble under the lustful power of Qin Shihuang...
In this matter, Heifu thought he had done it quite rigorously. God knew and the earth knew, he knew, and Wu Zhi knew.
Wu Zhi was half buried in the earth. In order to compete with the Yanqi alchemists, Wu Zhi had to bring out the legend of the Queen Mother of the West that had been circulated for a long time. Heifu only provided a handwritten copy of "The Biography of Emperor Mu" so that the old witch Zhu Neng could tell more.
Details. As for the so-called "black dog", it was the emperor's own idea.
Although Meng Tian also suggested garrisoning the commandery to prepare for the Huns, it was indeed Heifu who initiated the idea of expanding to the west, and it is understandable that the emperor regarded him as a guide.
Heifu's decision to move Qin to the west was not a whim, but a deliberate decision.
Historically, although the Qin Dynasty also ordered Meng Tian to build the Great Wall to the north and guard the fence, the Huns were more than 700 miles away, so the Hu people did not dare to go south to herd horses, and the soldiers did not dare to bend their bows and complain.
However, the Xiongnu rose again during the Chu-Han Dynasty, merged with the Yueshi and Donghu, and became a huge empire covering thousands of miles, becoming a powerful enemy in the Central Plains. Liu Bang almost lost his life during the siege, and then relied on marriage to barely maintain the situation. The Xiongnu Empire
It suppressed the Han Dynasty for decades, and it could not be completely solved by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
So Heifu thought, could Qin's attack on the Xiongnu be earlier and more severe?
Anyway, the current grassland is composed of the Xiongnu, Yuezhi, and Donghu. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could defeat each of them and eliminate a major hidden danger for China?
Although the Xiongnu seemed to have nothing to do with heading west to find the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West, Heifu still found a way to force the connection.
When he read "The Biography of Emperor Mu", he was confused about many place names in it, such as "He Zongshi", the starting point of King Mu of Zhou's westward journey. After consulting Zhang Cang, Zhang Cang said that the country of He Zongshi might be Yunzhong Jiu
The original Hetao area to the west.
During the reign of King Wuling of Zhao, the State of Zhao had occupied the southern foothills of Yinshan Mountain, Jianyunzhong, Jiuyuan, Gaoque and other fortresses. More than ten years ago, the Qin army took control there and also garrisoned them. Meng Tian set out from there to attack eastward.
On behalf of the country, and to defend the Huns for support.
Nowadays, the Hetao and Henan areas where the Hezong clan used to be are in the hands of the Huns and are used as winter pastures. Although Heifu also knows that the route in the novel is unreliable, with this reason, there is another reason to fight against the Huns.
?
The Yellow River is full of dangers and only benefits. Although the troubles of the Yellow River are not so severe these days, the Hetao is indeed a good place. Not only is the sky clear and wild, the wind blows and the grass is low, cattle and sheep can be seen, but there are also many forests, and in the more fertile areas
In the area, some agriculture can also be done.
However, regarding the Xiongnu affairs, Heifu only briefly mentioned it, saying that he knew the unknown and did not dare to speak falsely. He asked Your Majesty to find another minister who is familiar with the Xiongnu affairs for discussion.
Who else could be this candidate besides Meng Tian, the young eunuch of the Shaofu? Since Meng Tian was able to successfully defeat the Huns in history, he should be able to take charge of it on his own this time, so Hei Fu doesn’t have to worry about it.
He is personally more interested in the Western Regions.
Heifu believes that being complacent will only stagnate, and civilizations in different regions need to communicate with each other!
Stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade. China has superior technology, as do Greece and Rome. In addition to science and technology, civilizations in different regions have different technology trees due to different natural environments, and even domesticated completely different crops and animals.
Then it slowly spread to other places.
For example, wheat, barley, sheep, and horses were all introduced to the Central Plains from the west and the north, and then gradually spread. But Heifu still did not see many common fruits and vegetables in later generations: watermelon, grapes, melon, pomegranate, and sesame seeds.
, walnuts, cucumbers, peppers, spinach...
He really wanted to eat watermelon and drink grape juice in the summer. It would also be nice to sprinkle a ring of sesame seeds on the hot wheat cakes and sprinkle some pepper when cooking...
There is also a Scythian horse with tall legs and long legs. The alfalfa that can be used as high-quality feed for the horse and the cotton that will be used in the future clothing and quilts are not found in the Central Plains.
Whether these things are close or far away, they can be found in the Western Regions, Central Asia, and West Asia. The current Western Regions should be dotted with a bunch of small oases countries, living on the jade road, facing the wolf-like tigers of the Qin Army.
He said he was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
And after crossing the Pamir Plateau, you can come into contact with some Greek kingdoms left behind after Alexander's Eastern Expeditions...
It's quite exciting to think about how you can establish communication with seemingly isolated worlds by just taking a few steps.
The way of communication can be trade or conquest!
That's why Heifu believes that opening up to the west will benefit Baiyue, who will be brought under the rule of the Central Plains sooner or later, and it will be difficult to go south. In another thousand years, Southeast Asia will also be a miasma-filled nightmare for the Central Plains people.
But what if China could open its eyes to the vastness of the world during its forge ahead in the Qin Dynasty? It’s not about how much land it conquers in a short period of time, but the long-term benefits.
"Of course, the prerequisite for all this is to first pass the Zhuqiang and Yuezhi in Hexi. If you want to conquer Hexi, Henan, and Hetao, you have to start by consolidating Longxi, Beidi, and Shangjun..."
Heifu knew very well that one bite would not make him fat, which was why he was not worried that Qin Shihuang would be angry with him because he could not find the kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West.
"It only takes three years to build roads, immigrate people, build military frontiers, and train cavalry in the three counties. Can't we finish it?"
"After that, we will attack the Xiongnu, the Yueshi, and capture the Hetao River in Hexi. We won't be able to defeat them in less than three years, right?"
Therefore, according to Heifu's idea, it would be six or seven years before the Qin army could reach Dunhuang and establish outposts.
As for the Western Regions, before the roads were built, the army would not be able to pass through, so Dingtian sent several caravans to take a look along the "Jade Road", the predecessor of the Silk Road.
How could the merchant envoys easily find the fictitious "Land of the Queen Mother of the West" in such a vast area of southern and northern Xinjiang? It would be several years before the envoys traveled all over the Western Regions and came back to resume their duties.
There is no need to wait for the Queen Mother of the West to return to heaven...
This wishful thinking made by Heifu is called "dig and don't fill in". He only cares about selling but not about after-sales service.
"At least we can get something from going west. It's better than wasting money and letting Warlock Fang go overseas to find immortals."
Although it was considered "bullying the emperor", Hei Fu acted confidently.
With the technological level of this era, ships can only sail along the coastline at most, and they will sink if they go out a little bit. What started the Age of Discovery, colonizing Japan, and going to the Americas to find corn and potatoes, etc., is just like the Queen Mother of the West who Qin Shihuang loved.
Mirage, illusion, elusive and out of reach.
Although his ideas were wild and unconstrained, most of them could not be explained by outsiders. Heifu's memorials still had to be written in a precise manner. He spread out paper and ink on the desk, held Mengtian's pen in hand, and began to write.
"I heard what Xun Qing said: If you don't accumulate steps, you can't reach a thousand miles; if you don't accumulate small streams, you can't build a river or a sea. Now that your majesty wants to do something thousands of miles away in the West, you should start with small steps. You should first open up the wasteland of the three counties and immigrate.
Thousands of households were filled in to cultivate fields and collect grain, and Huarong children from three counties were recruited to join the army to practice riding, shooting and galloping. After three years of military training, they could go out to reclaim the land..."
…
One day later, Hei Fu's memorial was delivered to Qin Shihuang's palace, and Zhao Gao, the commander of the Zhongche Mansion, was also there. When Qin Shihuang learned about it, he immediately put down his government affairs and wanted to read Hei Fu's memorial first, which made him feel a little jealous.
But more than anything, I was shocked.
"Heifu is only twenty-five or six years old. How can he be able to lead important national policies at such a young age? Li Si was nothing more than that back then?"
What's even more annoying is that his name is Heifu, and he called himself "Qin's Heavenly Dog" when he was the pavilion chief, which happened to correspond to the black dog that led the way in Qin Shihuang's dream. With this incident, Heifu even gained the emperor's trust.
The bad medicine that Zhao Gao had given before was completely ineffective.
Although Zhao Gao felt that what Wu Zhi said about the "Queen Mother of the West" was somewhat suspicious, he was very smart and knew that he could not spoil the emperor's mood when he was in a mood, so he could only hide the matter in his heart and not make an attack for the time being.
At this time, the visitor brought up the memorial, which was a thick stack of paper. Qin Shihuang couldn't help but sigh: "Hei Fu's memorial should have thousands of words. If it were a simple slip, it would probably weigh several kilograms. The paper is really light and easy to use."
…”
Zhao Gao could only agree.
But Qin Shihuang frowned when he opened Heifu's memorial. Zhao Gao thought for a moment that Heifu had said something to make the emperor unhappy.
But after reading a few pages, Qin Shihuang's brows quickly relaxed and he smiled and cursed:
"He is worthy of being the one who initiated this matter. Although Heifu claims to be a southerner and does not understand the affairs of Kansai, I hope that I can ask the prime minister and censor to discuss it, but he wrote it in great detail and is quite insightful."
"It's just that the name he gave Xi Tuozhi is really... weird."
Qin Shihuang looked at the title of the chapter again and felt something was wrong.
He shook his head and put the hemp paper on the desk. Zhao Gao happened to catch a glimpse of the first page, and there were five big words written on it...