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"After success?" Hu Xiuwu asked in confusion.
"Then of course we will all go back to our own homes. What else can we do?"
"What happens next? Do you think the Xiongnu will let this opportunity slip by? Especially since they have already prepared Wusun as a nail in the Western Regions."
Hu Xiuwu said sternly: "Of course not. Without Jingjue, there will be no force in the Western Regions that can compete with the Xiongnu. They will not let go of this piece of fat meat in their mouths. When the time comes..."
Zhang Qian continued his words: "When the time comes, the people of the Western Regions will know that the Xiongnu Chanyu is no different from the Queen of Jingjue. She is just another cruel monarch ruling them. Then they will naturally miss their friendly, powerful, and selfless ally."
The Huns were not merciful to their subordinate small states. When the people of the Western Regions offered sacrifices to the gods, the Huns liked to recruit cannon fodder from the subordinate small states to serve as the front line.
Everything is afraid of contrast. The brutality of the Huns would highlight the advantages of the Han Dynasty. The countries in the Western Regions would naturally miss the Han Dynasty who unconditionally helped them.
"If the Xiongnu had always controlled the Hexi Corridor, then there would be nothing wrong."
Zhang Qian held up the wine glass and looked into the distance, as if he was peeking into the future.
"But if one day, Your Majesty crushes the Xiongnu and our Han Dynasty regains control of the Hexi Corridor, then the countries in the Western Regions will welcome the royal army with food and drink!"
"This is what I earned for the Han."
"Justice!"
Chapter 150: Forest Country
"In addition, I also saw that the King of Kucha was not someone who would be content to be under someone else's control. When he took the risk to eliminate the Queen of Jingjue and was ecstatically preparing to pick the tempting fruit of the Western Region, he discovered that an outsider had broken in and taken what originally belonged to her."
"What do you think he will do?"
Zhang Qian had a look of watching the fun, imagining what Zhe Luo's face would be like when the time came.
Hu Xiuwu said: "So it wasn't Gao Gu who won you over, but you two just hit it off right away."
If it weren't for giving Zhang Qian some face, Hu Xiuwu would have said that the two of them were in cahoots with each other.
"That man named Gao Gu is indeed a talented person. If I can successfully return this time, I will recommend this talented person who lives in seclusion in the countryside to Your Majesty."
"Is this the adult world? It's so dirty?"
"Haha, a man who does great things cannot afford to care about his feathers. A tiger that wants to eat a deer cannot afford to mind having its hair stained with blood."
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At this point, everything is ready and everyone is fully prepared. Even the ordinary guards in the delegation are gearing up for a big fight.
The soldiers and knights who were willing to go out with Zhang Qian on the mission to Dayuezhi all wanted to gain military merit and stand out. Now that they had an opportunity to earn fame and fortune by destroying a country, there was no reason for them to be unwilling.
Ze Luo brought half of the soldiers of Qiuci, nearly 5,000 people, to transport military supplies and escort Zhang Qian and his party to Jingjue.
These five thousand soldiers are all Ze Luo's confidants. They have already been secretly trained in the use of the Western Region Fire Dragon Oil and are very skilled in its application. Ze Luo also specially ordered the blacksmith shop to make weapons for them that are specifically used with the Western Region Fire Dragon Oil.
Hadili and Zumureti were like drops of water blending into the sea, hiding among the ranks.
After forming an alliance with King Zeluo of Kucha, Hadili sent a letter back to Gumo, explaining the whole story to the King of Gumo in code and notifying him to lead his troops to the Kingdom of Jingjue to join them.
Now Gumo, Qiuci, and Yanqi have divided their troops into three groups, and all rivers flow into the sea, with only one goal.
The Queen of Jingjue.
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Today, the environment in the Western Regions is not as bad as it was in Hu Bayi's time. The Zidu River still flows across the land of the Western Regions, like a shimmering silk thread, connecting the small oases along the coast and the small countries that rely on the oases for survival.
On the way to Jingjue, they met several countries with less than a thousand households. The kings of these small countries trembled in fear when they saw the army led by King Zeluo of Kucha. Before the King of Kucha could do anything, they offered food and water, fearing that Zeluo would target them.
Ze Luo had no interest in these places which were called countries but were actually just gatherings of small villages. After replenishing his water at the oasis, he left quickly.
Both Hadili and Ze Luo were familiar with the route to Jingjue, and they did not encounter any black sandstorms.
So more than twenty days after leaving Yancheng, Hu Xiuwu saw the Cishan Mountain that Wang Kaixuan and Hu Bayi described as two giant black dragons hovering in the desert.
The two magnetic mountains embrace the Ghost Cave, like a natural Great Wall guarding the safety of the Ghost Cave. If you want to go to the Kingdom of Jingjue, you either have to cross thousands of miles of yellow sand or pass through the gap in the magnetic mountains. The so-called "one man guarding the pass, ten thousand men unable to open it" is probably like this.
The Cishan Mountain blocks the strong winds, so that the free strong winds can only flow through the gaps in the Cishan Mountain, and the gaps in the Cishan Mountain are filled with the whimpering and aggrieved drafts all year round.
"Stop! Who are you?"
At the gap where Hu Xiuwu and his companions entered Cishan, there was a pass more than ten feet high, built with black stones from Cishan, blocking their way.
Before coming here, Ze Luo and Hadili had already told Hu Xiuwu about the Cishan Pass, so he was not surprised by this pass.
Cishan is the only way in and out of Jingjue. Behind it is a flat plain and Jingjue City.
How could Jingjue not send people to guard such an important place? Not only were there people, but Hu Xiuwu glanced at the cold and damp place under the stone wall, where there were faintly visible red glowing silk threads moving.
That should be the one-eyed monster snake that Hu Xiuwu once saw on the body of the snake god, and the Pure Vision Agama recorded in the long poem passed down by the heavenly-bestowed poets that Liao Zhong and his team found.
I only saw the Agama snake, but I didn’t know if there were any Dapu demon insects lurking in the dark.
Ze Luo was a famous person in the Western Regions, so the guards of Jingjue Kingdom naturally recognized him. Ze Luo went forward to talk to them. It could be seen that even when facing some of the strongest men in the Western Regions, the guards of Jingjue Kingdom who were guarding the Cishan Pass remained rude and even looked down on them.
"Are you the Han envoy?"
The guard of Jingjue Kingdom pointed arrogantly at Zhang Qian who was holding the staff, and Tang Yifu translated his words to Zhang Qian verbatim.
Zhang Qian's face turned pale with anger, and he shouted, "How dare you! I am an envoy of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and I am here with a letter from the Han Dynasty to meet the Queen of Jingjue. How can a mere soldier like you tell me what to do?"
"You are trampling on the dignity of the Han people. Do you want to go to war with the Han people?"
Zhang Qian was just a mortal, but his aura, like the unyielding pine waves and the towering Mount Tai, actually frightened the guards of the Jingjue Kingdom, who were also extraordinary people.
He hesitated for a long time and was unable to say a word. Even though the Queen of Jingjue transformed him into an alien, it did not change his essence. He was still that ignorant commoner from the Western Regions.
It was Ze Luo who stepped forward to smooth things over, and only then were they let go.
Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo hid in the envoys' team and passed through the pass smoothly, muttering to themselves:
The people at the pass recognized Zhang Qian's identity as soon as they met. It seems that Gao Gu's guess was correct. There were people in Yancheng who were willing to be the eyes and ears of Jingjue.
After passing the pass, Ze Luo said to Zhang Qian, Hu Xiuwu and others who did not know the route to the Western Regions:
"After passing this Black Mountain, we can reach Jingjue in three days. Let's rest here for a night before setting off again."
The Jingjue Kingdom ruled the Western Regions by force and took whatever they wanted from the countries in the Western Regions. Naturally, they would not have the mind to prepare accommodation for people from other countries who came to and from the Western Regions, so everyone could only set up their own camps.
At night, everyone sat around the campfire and chatted. Zhang Qian talked about his mission and asked the people from the Western Regions about the route of the Great Yuezhi.
When he was in Qiuci, he had already sought a route to Dayuezhi in Yancheng, but Dayuezhi was located further west than the Western Regions, and few people in the Western Regions went that far, so they were not very familiar with the route to Dayuezhi.
Ze Luo didn't know much about the Great Yuezhi either: "The Great Yuezhi seems to be located further west of Dayuan. Gumo is closer to Dayuan. Does Hadili know about the Great Yuezhi?"
Zhang Qian also looked at Hadili with a look of seeking advice. He was still very curious about the current situation of Dayuezhi. The Han Dynasty had not heard any news from Dayuezhi for a long time, and a lot of the information was outdated.
Hadili drank a mouthful of water from the cowhide bag, sorted out his thoughts and said:
"The Great Yuezhi is now divided into five tribes: Xiumi, Shuangmi, Kushan, Xidun, and Gaofu. The tribal leaders are called Xihou. They are powerful in the far west and are indeed considered local tyrants."
Zhang Qian seemed very happy to hear this. Only when the Dayuezhi became stronger could they join forces with the Han Dynasty to fight against the Xiongnu.
But before Zhang Qian could be happy for long, Hadili poured cold water on him: "But you want to join forces with Dayuezhi, I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult."
Zhang Qian put away his smile and said, "Oh, what do you think?"
"The situation of the five tribes of Dayuezhi is very similar to that of Gumo. They all have a suzerain country above them, and the suzerain country of Dayuezhi seems to be called the Forest Country."
"It is said that the Forest Country has a vast territory and great strength, and the people in the country call themselves the God's People."
Ze Luo looked disdainful after hearing this: "Humph, another Jingjue."
Hadi looked at him with a complicated expression:
"King Qiuci is right. They are indeed another Jingjue Kingdom. Legend has it that there is a sacred tree in the forest kingdom. All children born under the sacred tree are extraordinary people."
"all of them?"
“All of them!”
All newborns born under the sacred tree are aliens, which means that the Forest Kingdom is a country of aliens. No wonder they dare to call themselves the people of God.
"But why have I never heard of such a country?"
Hu Xiuwu felt a little puzzled as to why he had ever heard any stranger mention this country.
Even the Kingdom of Jingjue has records passed down, but it is not logical that such a magical and vast country has no clues passed down.
Hadili said: "So, even if the Great Yuezhi is willing to establish diplomatic relations with the Han Dynasty, they need to report it to the Forest Kingdom first. Only after the King of the Forest Kingdom agrees can they re-establish diplomatic relations with the Han Dynasty."
"It is estimated that it will be difficult for the envoy to achieve his goal this time."
The firelight shone on Zhang Qian's face, making his features appear light and dark. He picked up a piece of firewood and threw it into the fire, making the bonfire brighter and illuminating his face:
"Then I must go to Dayuezhi. I have a mission to fulfill, so how can I give up halfway?"
In particular, Zhang Qian represented not only the Han Dynasty this time, but also the non-alien groups within the Han Dynasty. If he withdrew, ordinary people in the Han Dynasty court would have no chance of success.
I'm going to take a day off tomorrow. Our city is under lockdown and a new round of nucleic acid testing has started. I need to adjust my rest time.
Chapter 151: Jingjue Kingdom
After being poured a bucket of cold water by Hadili, Zhang Qian knew clearly that the purpose of this mission to Dayuezhi was to win over Dayuezhi to fight against the Xiongnu together, and it would be difficult to succeed, but he still decided to continue to carry out the emperor's orders.
At the same time, he was also glad to have joined the team that was fighting against the Jingjue. Along the way, he also discovered that the Western Regions were by no means as barren as the Han people had imagined. Not only that, there were even some things that were quite rare in Kyushu.
What he was referring to was not only the priceless jade, but also various grains and spices unique to the Western Regions, as well as excellent horse breeds. The way of farming and animal husbandry is the foundation of a country.
If the Dayuezhi group fails, then turning to unite with the Western Regions would be a good strategy.
But the prerequisite for all this is to first help Zeluo and Hadili and remove the thorn of Jingjue. A strong and powerful Western Regions is not what the Han Dynasty needs. A scattered, free Western Regions with multiple voices is a good Western Region.
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After a night's rest, everyone set out on a new journey the next morning with full energy. This time they did not march as fast as they did before reaching Cishan, but instead marched at a moderate pace to conserve their strength.
Even so, the army still arrived at the Kingdom of Jingjue on the morning of the fourth day.
As the sovereign state ruling the Western Regions, the capital of Jingjue Kingdom seemed a bit delicate, not as grand as Hu Xiuwu had imagined. The area of Jingjue City was not as large as Yancheng of Qiuci Kingdom. The number of residents in Jingjue City was also pitifully small, less than 30,000.
But among these mere 30,000 people, there is an army of 1,200 aliens and more than 100 alien civil servants in charge of Jingjue's internal affairs.
The ratio of extraordinary people to ordinary people reached an astonishing thirty to one. You should know that in later generations, after statistics and suppression by various countries, the ratio of extraordinary people to ordinary people was as high as one in fifteen thousand.
Hu Xiuwu's horizons were broadened as he saw scenes that he would never see in later generations: a country composed of extraordinary people.
The country of foreigners,