The news that Liu Mastiff was canonized as prince did not reach the Guishang battlefield.
At the beginning, Dong Zhuo was very disgusted with Jia Xu's arrival. He almost believed that this guy was here to grab the credit. As for the war, he had been at the frontier for a long time. How could the three men sitting in the temple compare to him?
?However, now, he is somewhat glad that Jia Xu has arrived.
After acquiring the Sogdian region, Dong Zhuo only had the idea of how to defeat the enemy's reinforcements in his mind. Apart from that, he didn't think about anything else. However, Jia Xu was different. He was thinking about how to reduce the army's attack on the Western Regions.
As a burden to Liangzhou, he pushed Niseka out and let Niseka assume the original position of tax collector and became the lord of Malakanda.
Jia Xu still underestimated Nisejia's prestige among the people of Kushan. He had previously learned from Cao Cao that Kushan implemented a caste system, and the lower castes often bowed to the upper castes, but Nisejia did not.
.. He is the highest caste, that is, the first caste. He is the only one in Sogdia. In this way, when he walked to the streets of Malakanda, he almost caused turmoil here again.
The people rushed to the streets crazily, chanting his name and kneeling on both sides. As for the fourth caste, they were not qualified to see him or even be seen by him, otherwise they would be punished.
To be strict, Jia Xu seemed to be at ease with Nisekya and did not arrange for anyone to follow or protect him. He only sent a few surrendered Kushan officials to protect him.
Niseka had the highest status and served as the city lord. No one dared to disobey him. In fact, the people even accepted it happily, thinking that it would be better for him to become the king of Sogdia than before. With him sitting in Malakanda, people from all over the world
They quickly calmed down, and the officials returned, surrendered, and under the arrangement of Nisekya, went to various places to begin to calm the turmoil caused by the war.
Due to successive years of war, most of the land has been abandoned. Farmers, handicraftsmen, and businessmen have all been hit to varying degrees. In Kushan, unlike the Han Dynasty, there are not many businessmen and handicraftsmen here. In addition, there are
There were a large number of slaves in the Han Dynasty. Although there were slaves in the Han Dynasty, there were many restrictions because many great Confucians were extremely disgusted with this.
Therefore, aristocratic families and local tycoons did not devote all their efforts to large-scale slaveholding. This was considered an unbenevolent act. They only left slaves to manage their mansions, while the rest were called tenants and had no land.
They can only work for the rich clan all their lives. In essence, they are no different from slaves. However, Kushan is more direct.
Within Kushan, slaves were very harsh. The slaves were responsible for heavy labor such as mining and farming for the nobles. There was even an army of slaves under King Kushan. King Kushan promised them that as long as they killed ten
The enemy's head can free him from his status as a slave. Therefore, this army is extremely fierce. It is the most elite soldier of Kushan. It once defeated the Parthian vanguard army of more than 10,000 with less than 4,000 soldiers.
After two attacks on Sogdia, the number of people in Sogdia was very small. There were less than 300,000 farmers in the entire Sogdia region. In Dahan, in a mere county town, the number was close to this number. Of course, plus
The rest of the population may be around 800,000 or 900,000. However, Sogdia does not have a strict household registration policy. This population number was only 40 years ago, and no one knows whether it is true or false.
In order to stabilize the situation here first, Niseka personally patrolled the Sogdian territory. Jia Xu arranged for him nearly forty elite soldiers to protect him personally. He passed through various villages, plowing as quickly as possible so as not to waste the land.
All he had to do was say something like this, and the officials here would carry it out wholeheartedly, not daring to slack off at all, which was completely unlike the Kushan people.
When Nisekya was touring various places, Zhang Da, the official who had been left by Jia Xu, had been following Nisekya, helping him deal with important matters here.
If everything goes smoothly, we still have to rely on his help. He spreads the news about Niseka everywhere here. He is the highest officer stationed here and plays a big role.
After a round of inspection, Nisaka returned to Malakanda. However, it seemed that he was not in a happy mood and did not visit Jia Xu. He returned to his mansion and locked himself in his study, wondering what he was thinking.
What, Jia Xu had to call Zhang Da to understand the situation. Although Zhang Da was running all the way and was very busy, he immediately appeared in front of Jia Xu after Jia Xu summoned him.
Jia Xu looked at the man in front of him, stroked his long beard, and asked: "I heard that Mr. Ni seemed to be unhappy. After returning to the mansion, he never saw anyone else again. But is the journey too tiring?"
Zhang Da shook his head and said: "That's not the case. He was traveling in a car all the way and never got off his horse. How could he be tired? He just saw the situation of the local people and felt worried, so that's why..." Hearing Zhang Da say this
Jia Xu nodded and said, "It seems that the people in this place are not living a good life?"
"More than that, when Jia Gong came here for the first time, he didn't know that the villages were sparsely populated and that every ten rooms were empty. Even if they had to work, there were no manpower. It was really miserable..."
"Oh, that's it..." Jia Xu added, "Then what did he say and do along the way?"
"He...seemed to be extremely afraid of Duke Jia. Along the way, he told officials everywhere not to offend Duke Jia so that he could rectify the rule of the people. There were also civilians. He also wanted to give a few instructions, but these civilians did not dare to follow.
He looked at each other and did not dare to reply. He just bowed his head on the ground, which made him helpless... In addition, he also asked the officials to borrow spring seeds for farming from the Western Regions..."
"Oh, by the way, he also went to Xinha and met General Sun and General Cao. General Sun ignored him, but it was General Cao who seemed to have a good relationship with him and stayed with us for two days. In addition, the two of them were there
They talked for a long time in the house and didn't let me in. I don't know what they talked about..."
"Well...it's okay. We didn't encounter anything on the way?"
"No, people are kneeling and worshiping along the way, and officials are greeting me... It's nothing big."
Hearing Zhang Da's words, Jia Xu shook his head. He still couldn't understand why the people of Kushan respected Nisejia so much. He couldn't help but ask: "This Nisejia has left Kushan since he was a child.
, has been studying in the Han Dynasty, I wonder why he is so respected by the people?"
"Jia Gong, he is the first caste. He is very rare in the north..." Zhang Da told Jia Xu in detail. It turns out that in the system here, the prince is the second caste.
, but when the Yuezhi people established the Kushan Empire here, they refused to admit that the status of the priests was higher than themselves. In the end, after a compromise, the Kushan royal family became the first caste, higher than the priests.
The remaining princes, kings and ministers, along with the priests, became the second caste.
After explaining this, Zhang Da continued: "Secondly, the current King of Kushan is cruel and ignorant. After he ascended the throne, all the Kushan territories in the west have been lost, which caused everyone's displeasure.
, some thoughtful people vigorously promoted Niseka, the younger brother of the late king. Under their propaganda, out of their dissatisfaction with the current king, Niseka's reputation grew..."
"However, these people didn't expect that Uncle Nisejia was still alive... They just wanted to use his name to do great things..." Zhang Dayou smiled awkwardly, and Jia Xu suddenly asked: "
You must be among those people, right?"
Zhang Da just smiled but didn't reply.
"Okay, you should go down and rest first. You have done a good job, and it may be a waste to stay with me. When the time comes, I will recommend you to the emperor, and you will go to Luoyang."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Jia, thank you so much, Mr. Jia!!"
After he left, Jia Xu had no intention of going to Niseka. The Sogdian region had suffered huge damage after years of war. It seemed difficult and unrealistic to harvest enough food to supply the army this year.
, However, the Kushan reinforcements have not come yet, and the army cannot stay here all the time. We have to think of a way to anger the King of Kushan. The letter I wrote before did not have much effect.
This King of Kushan is not as mediocre as the rumors say. I think he has capable people around him. He hesitates to attack and allows himself to occupy Sogdia. He wants to waste the strength of the big man, or wait for the big man to be exhausted and transport the baggage.
, carry out another attack?
In this way, after three days, Nisekya finally walked out of the mansion and went straight to Jia Xu's study.
Hearing that Nisekya was coming, Jia Xu asked his soldiers to bring him in, and quickly put away the map on the document. Speaking of which, he still didn't trust Nisekya enough in his heart, so Nisekya walked in and paid his respects.
After meeting Jia Xu, he sat in front of him. It seemed that his face still looked a little sad. He sat in front of Jia Xu and did not speak. He frowned and seemed to be still thinking.
Jia Xu didn't speak either and looked at him quietly.
After being silent for a long time, he spoke: "Jia Gong, in Sogdia, ten houses are empty, and in the countryside, there are no strong people, only old, weak, women and children. These people cannot support themselves...
Too few, this is impossible..." As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Jia Xu. Jia Xu was indifferent. He sighed helplessly and said: "In a short period of time, Sogdia will not be able to defeat Han even if it is terrifying.
The army provides food, but the Han army needs assistance..."
Jia Xu shook his head and said: "How is this possible? Our army's food and grass are not enough to feed ourselves..."
"I know! But before those princes and nobles fled, they took away the food one by one! The people were eating wild vegetables and tree bark to make ends meet, and no one was working. How long can they hold on?
?If Jia Gong refuses to help, how will the people in the city survive? These nearly one million people will probably perish together with Jia Gong!!"
Jia Xu asked angrily: "Are you threatening me?"
"That's not the case, but I hope Mr. Jia can think of a way! These millions of people are all innocent people. How can Mr. Jia not base his studies on benevolence and righteousness? Why don't he do good deeds?"
"The Western Region, Liangzhou, is also a poor place. How can it afford the needs of millions of people?"
As Jia Xu said this, he thought in his mind that Kushan has not sent troops for a long time. Could it be that he is waiting for the Sogdian civil unrest? Even though there is Nisejia now, the situation is stable. However, if they continue to starve and have no food support, sooner or later
One day, they will not be able to bear it anymore. At this time, no matter how brave the Han army is, what can they do in the face of so many people?
Nisekja pursed his lips and said, "Then, please lend me a battalion of soldiers, Mr. Jia!"
Jia Xu was shocked, but a name subconsciously appeared in his mind.