Shen Bing did not tell Ge Yu any more information. After all, Shen Bing understood that although Ge Yu could not go back, his 10,000 subordinates still wanted to go back.
At the same time, what Shen Bing said is not just a castle in the air, because after the Han Dynasty established the Protectorate in the Western Regions, the countries in the Western Regions have actually become vassal states of the Han...
During the Western Han Dynasty, all countries in the Western Regions had a seal from the Central Plains, called "Xi", which was the representative of the vassal states.
At that time, if any country among the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions disobeyed the Han's command, the Han's military envoys in the Western Regions had the right to recruit armies from other countries to attack.
For example, Changluo Hou Changhui mobilized 50,000 troops from various countries in the Western Regions to attack Qiuci, who killed the prince of a small prince without authorization... Qiuci is the largest country in the Western Regions. In the Western Regions, it often uses its power to suppress others and even asks neighboring small countries to send princes as hostages.
The Han envoys had such power in the Western Regions, which actually united all the countries in the Western Regions to provide unified command.
What Shen Bing wants to do at this time is what has already happened in history.
Because it has happened before, Shen Bing is sure it is feasible.
Ge Yu only has one question:
"If the general thinks that the Xiongnu can be defeated by the Western Regions and the Qin army alone, then why do you want to keep ten thousand people like me?"
Ge Yu always thought that Shen Bing wanted to surrender them and use them to deal with the Huns, but now it seems that he was wrong.
Shen Bing did not answer, but asked:
"Captain Ten Thousands thinks Shen Bing's target is just the Huns?"
So Ge Yu understood that the Huns were just one of Shen Bing's targets.
That's what Shen Bing said, and that's what he did.
One of the benefits of taking down Gushi is that he obtained a large area of fertile land in Gushi.
Among them, one oasis in Gushi alone can feed more than 30,000 people.
In fact, there are far more than 30,000 people...
This number of people is only calculated based on the agricultural level of the people in Gushi.
As mentioned before, the oasis agriculture in the Western Regions is in a state of half farming and half pastoralism, with pastoralism being the main focus. In terms of farming, it is just digging some land near rivers and lakes where there is water and planting something very primitive. There is basically no technology. Say...For them, farming is just a matter of digging a small hole and scattering the seeds.
Now that the Qin army came, the furrow and ridge method, row spacing and plant spacing, as well as water conservancy facilities and farming solar terms, could all be used, so the output immediately increased exponentially.
Especially if there was originally sandy land beside rivers and lakes, in the eyes of the Gushi people, it was not suitable for planting and certainly no pasture would grow.
But it was different in the hands of the Qin army... They dug up river mud and lake mud and spread it, and it immediately became a fertile farmland.
It can be said that in terms of farming, no one in any region can compare with the Central Plains region.
So it is conceivable that as the area of cultivated land increases and the level of technology improves, crop yields will soon increase several times, and the number of people that can be fed will also increase exponentially.
Of course, at this time, the pastures around Gushi had been greatly damaged by the large number of Huns troops concentrated here, so they still needed to rest for a period of time, so the population had to slowly increase.
Another benefit of Gu Shi is that it strengthens the connection between the Western Regions and the Yueshi.
Although Loulan can be used as a stepping stone for the Yuezhi to enter the Western Regions, after all, the southern route is 1,500 miles long and the road is difficult to travel.
The army is only a thousand miles away and the road is relatively straight. Troops, caravans, etc. can arrive in less than twenty days, which greatly reduces the logistical pressure on the Qin army.
Especially the silks shipped in batches from the Central Plains... Shen Bing only needs to transfer them to various countries in the Western Regions to buy food. In a short time, he can reserve a large amount of military rations and wealth in Gushi.
At this time, Shen Bing was considering uniting the Western Regions to conquer the Xiongnu.
Among them, Shen Bing's key consideration is Qiuci, the largest country in the Western Region, a country with 80,000 people and 20,000 soldiers.
Shen Bing observed and calculated the thirty-six countries in the Western Region. If he could allocate some of the troops from each of the thirty-six countries, he should be able to form a coalition army of 50,000 people.
Since the people of the Western Regions also graze for a long time, especially in harsh environments, their riding and shooting skills are no worse than those of the Huns.
The problem is that it is difficult for these thirty-six countries to unite and coordinate... When the six countries of the Central Plains united to deal with Qin, they all had their own ideas, let alone the thirty-six countries of the Western Regions.
Therefore, the attitude of Kucha is particularly important, because the small countries around it are all following Kucha's lead. If Kucha nods and agrees, then other small countries will be no problem.
So Shen Bing stabilized the situation in Gushi and the first thing he did was to send an envoy to Qiuchi with silk and some treasures brought from the Central Plains.
The envoy sent was a lobbyist named Ze.
Shen Bing's subordinates are usually military generals who can fight, and there are few lobbyists who can speak well. This lobbyist named Ze volunteered to join Shen Bing, saying that he would be Shen Bing's hanger-on.
With Shen Bing's title at this time, he can indeed support diners, but Shen Bing is not very used to doing so, and at the same time, he also finds it meaningless... So what if there are three thousand diners? What role can these diners play once they lose power?
However, it is said that Ze was a businessman before, and Shen Bing just needed someone to take charge of business issues in the Western Regions, so he stayed.
At this time, because there was no one to send, he was sent as an envoy to Kucha.
The territory of Qiuci is very large. It stretches from Luntai in the east to Bachu in the west, and is bounded by the Tianshan Mountains in the north and the Taklimakan Desert in the south.
Shen Bing explained to Ze that the explanation for Qiuci should be from the perspective of interests... If an alliance can be formed to defeat the Huns, it will be of great benefit to the Western Regions without any harm. From then on, the Western Regions will no longer be harassed by the Huns.
Ze patted his chest and said that he would fulfill his mission.
However, the news that came more than ten days later was another story. King Qiuci had no interest in forming an alliance to conquer the Huns.
Ze summarized several issues after communicating with Kucha:
First, with the Qin army stationed in Gushi, there would be no worries about the Xiongnu in the Western Regions. If there were no worries about the Xiongnu, they would naturally have no need to conquer the Xiongnu.
Not only was there no demand, but they were even worried that they would offend the Xiongnu. If the Qin army withdrew from the Western Regions one day, they would not be able to explain to the Xiongnu.
Secondly, if the Qin army enters the Western Regions and orders the thirty-six kingdoms, it will also affect the rule of Qiuci.
That being the case, Qiuci was ruled by the Xiongnu, and it was ruled by the Qin army. Why did it help the Qin army conquer the Xiongnu in exchange for Qin army's rule?
Thirdly, there is no guarantee that the Qin army will cross the river and demolish the bridge. They will first use the Western Region coalition forces to attack the Xiongnu, and then attack the Western Regions when the losses in the Western Regions are heavy... In this way, the Qin army will reap the benefits of the fishermen and the countries in the Western Regions will only perish?
When Shen Bing heard this, he felt that it was true. He had overestimated the Western Region Allied Forces, thinking that they could be united by the common enemy of the Xiongnu.
Now it seems that we are still very far away from that step.
At least these problems should be solved one by one.