Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 2548 When is the grace and resentment

   Western Regions.

  Near the Tianshan Mountains.

  Meng Hua and others are heading west along the mountains.

  The Western Region is very large, but most of the areas are uninhabited.

  After all, no matter whether it is a plant or an animal, it needs water. Without water, nothing can live.

  Where there are mountains, there must be water. The water melted by the rolling snow peaks nourishes the creatures on this plateau.

  So if you look down from a high altitude, most of the creatures are concentrated on both sides of the mountains, and then to the middle area, which is the dry yellow sand basin, which is the forbidden area of ​​life.

  Cheshi country is also on this lifeline, and the clear snow water of Tianshan Mountain gave birth to this country.

  In the historical records, when the record of Cheshi Kingdom first appeared, it was still called Gushi, and it was listed side by side with Loulan.

At first, Che Shi Kingdom was quite good, because in the historical records, it was specifically stated that both Loulan and Gu Shi had city walls and built moats. This shows that to some extent, Gu Shi, that is, Che Shi, In fact, it was also influenced by Huaxia to some extent, or Che Shi was embarking on the road of farming and settlement.

   But later on...

  Cheshi first connected with the Huns. Cheshi used to be close to Yanze, and the right side of the Xiongnu was just east of Yanze, until the Great Wall of Longxi. The south of the Xiongnu was connected to the living area of ​​the Qiang people, blocking the road leading to the Han Dynasty.

It is recorded in "Hanshu" that there are two roads from Yumen and Yangguan to the Western Regions. One is from Shanshan to the north of Nanshan Mountain, and the Bo River goes westward to Shache. Shi, rest in peace. The other route is from Cheshiqian Wangting to follow Beishan, Bohe River westward to Shule, which is the North Road, and the North Road crosses Congling to the west and leads to Dawan, Kangju, and Yancaiyan.

  The importance of a car driver can be seen.

   It is precisely because of this that when Meng Hua and others came to Che Shiqian Country to check, the Che Shi people here, or Che Shi Guozuo, did not know how many goods they had.

Although it was in the Han Dynasty that Huaxia came into contact with Cheshi for the first time, but because there is no written record of Cheshi itself, or it once existed, but died, no one knows when Cheshi was established. A rough estimate is that it existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and then evolved and merged with China continuously, forming a white-yellow mixed race...

Because he was caught between the Xiongnu and the Han people, Che Shi has been swinging between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu. It is like turning to the Huns for a while, and the Han Dynasty for a while. As a small country, Che Shi has no choice at all. , can only choose the immediate interests, and take refuge in whichever side is strong, but in this way, they will actually offend both sides.

Just like those small countries between Jin and Chu who fought for the longest and most intense struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng, Song, Chen, Cai and other countries, their affiliation is often a symbol of who owns the hegemony, so they It has also become the object of competition among major powers, and thus suffered the worst war disasters.

The country of Cheshi has now split into four countries, and in history it has been divided into six countries at most, namely the front of Cheshi, the rear of Cheshi, Dongqimi, Beilu, Pulei, and Yizhi, so it is very simple to see It can be seen that only with unity can we be strong. Once divided, we will become smaller and smaller until it is swallowed up by others or dies outright.

  Some time after Menghua found the remains of the caravan, a group of people walked slowly on the mountain road.

  Looking at the costumes of the people and horses, they look like Qiang people.

After General Hushi conquered Longxi and quelled the Beigong rebellion, for these Qiang people, some people were willing to accept it, while others were unwilling, and they naturally split up, and those who were unwilling to accept Han rule The Qiang people also fled to the further west.

  Fleeing is naturally not a good thing, and don't expect to be treated politely by others, just like the refugees in the Han land, they are disgusted everywhere, and the same is true for these Qiang people.

  It’s winter, and I can’t stand it any longer, so I naturally think about some zero-dollar purchase activities, and then I’m hooked up by some caring people, and I’m going to do it naturally.

  『Take a break! Damn, it's freezing! 』The leader of the Qiang people dismounted, walked to the side sheltered from the wind, took out a small gourd of wine from his arms, took a sip, and let out a heavy breath.

  His subordinates also dismounted one after another, leaning over to complain.

  『On such a cold day, a fart caravan will come out...』

  『The nobles will play tricks, but we are the ones who run away! 』

  『Maybe the nobleman thinks that since there was a caravan last time, there may be a caravan now...』

  『Shit! I heard that the superiors are negotiating with those guys, saying that they want to...』

"Shut up! ’ The little leader of the Qiang people shouted and said, ‘Can you talk nonsense about this matter? Nothing to do, right? Pack yourself up and move on! If you can't make it to the shelter before dark, you deserve to freeze to death outside! 』

  After being yelled at by the leader, these Qiang people didn’t dare to say anything more, and they started to tidy up the horses listlessly, fed the big guy a bite, and then readjusted some saddles, preparing to continue on their way while it was still early in the sky.

   After resting for a while, they started again.

   Shaking, trembling.

  Just turned over a mountain pass, the wind brought some fine snow powder and rushed the head of the Qiang people head-on.

  『Pfft…』The leader of the Qiang people poohed, then wiped the snow powder on his face, and suddenly moved his nose a few times, as if he smelled something strange.

  Normally, snow powder should be tasteless...

  The leader of the Qiang people couldn't help reining in his horse, raised his head and began to look around.

  In the next moment, a feathered arrow whizzed in the oncoming cold wind, and hit the face of the Qiang leader directly in the middle!

  The leader of the Qiang people screamed for a while, then fell off his horse in despair, which immediately caused a panic in the Qiang people's queue!

On the hillside, Meng Hua took off the camouflaged white linen cloth, set up his arrows and fired his bow continuously, and shot down two or three people. And around him, many soldiers also took off their camouflage, or shot furiously with their bows, or It was roaring and charging towards the Qiang formation!

   Facing the pawns that suddenly appeared from the snow, these Qiang people were obviously flustered. In addition, the leader of the Qiang people was dead, and these Qiang people turned their heads and ran away subconsciously.

  However, the mountain road is narrow and long, and it is inconvenient to turn around. How can you run away immediately if you want to run?

  Among the countless splashes of snow and dust, blood splashed from time to time, adding a touch of shocking red to the gray-white world.

No matter how much **** you usually say, no matter how powerful your words are, when you are in front of swords, guns and arrows, you still rely on your true skills. And these Qiang people have already escaped once with their tails between their legs, so if they continue to escape for the second time now, it is also possible. It's not something unacceptable.

Amidst the shouts, Meng Hua rushed into the Qiang line with his men, either by hacking or shooting with arrows, and not long after, he killed all the Qiang who still had the courage to resist. The rest are those who fell at the end, those who ran away when the situation was not good, and those who lost their courage and knelt and surrendered...

  『Don’t kill me, I... don’t kill...』 The Qiang fell to his knees, shouting in a slightly awkward Chinese.

  『Hahaha, why didn’t you kill you? Give me a heads up! ’ Menghua’s soldiers kicked the Qiang people over, and then dangled the blood-stained knives.

  In the Han Dynasty, there was no Geneva Convention. Well, even in later generations, sometimes these conventions are as inaccurate as **** paper, let alone in the present, it is not an incredible operation to kill after surrendering, after all, for these ordinary soldiers It is said that the power of the first level is the most important, as for the others...

"Do not kill me! ’ the Qiang man howled, ‘I know many, many...things, yes, many things...’

  The soldier rolled his eyes and patted the Qiang man's face with a knife, "I hope what you said is the truth, otherwise... hehe..."

  The soldier turned his face and shouted at Meng Hua: "There is a fellow here who claims to know something!" 』

  Meng Huazheng grabbed a handful of snow powder and was rubbing the blood on his hands. Hearing this, he looked up and said, "Bring it here!" 』

  …(〃dish`)q…

  Wuwei.

  In the cold wind, Jia Xu was wearing a thick cloak, standing at the top of the city, looking into the distance, as if he was watching the snow scene, and seemed to be thinking about something.

  Jiang Jiong stood beside Jia Xu.

  Jiang Jiong glanced at Jia Xu.

Jiang Xiong accompanied Jia Xu on the top of the city to blow the wind for a long time, watching the sun gradually sinking to the west, the cold wind also tightened for a while, and then looked at the hoarfrost hanging on the beard and hair of the guards beside him, I couldn't help but moved forward, "My lord, seeing the sun is going down, it's getting colder, how about..."

   Jia Xu nodded, then smiled, "Okay, let's go, go back to the government office. It's okay, it's okay... It's just that I'm not very happy in my heart, which made you accompany me to blow the air..."

  Jiang Jiong's eyebrows twitched, it's nothing to blame.

But Jiang Jiong didn't dare to say more, after ordering the soldiers to be on duty, he accompanied Jia Xu back to the government office, then took off the already damp cloak, and asked his servants to dry it, while he himself Sitting in the hall with Jia Xu, after a moment of silence, he asked cautiously, "I don't know what to worry about, my envoy?" 』

  『How was the Western Region before you came back? 』Jia Xu didn't answer Jiang Jiong's words directly, but asked rhetorically.

   Could it be that something happened in the Western Regions?

  Jiang Jiong was planning in his mind, but he still answered Jia Xu's question honestly: "The countries in the Western Regions... are basically stable..."

  Before, Jiang Jiong was in the Western Regions, and he followed Lu Bu to conquer some Western Regions.

  Jia Xu nodded, as if he was feeling something, "Yes, the countries in the Western Regions... are pretty stable..."

   What do these mean? Is it not good to be stable? Jiang Jiong didn't understand, but he was habitually silent and didn't ask.

  『People’s hearts, it’s interesting. 』Jia Xu chuckled twice, "Chang Shi just left not long ago..."

  Jiang Jiong was startled, looked at Jia Xu suspiciously, and then thought about it.

"It's nothing more than people's hearts... If the distance is far away, people's hearts will be far away... When people's hearts are far away, there will inevitably be some gaps, and there will gradually be malice in the gaps..." Jia Xu still chuckled , "It's a pity, it's ridiculous, I have suffered a loss, but I can't remember it, what can I do? Hmph, hehe, hahaha...」

  『Western Regions… the envoy said…』Jiang Jiong was taken aback, “Could it be…”

  『Is it not enough to fight and fight honestly? Jia Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If you want to get involved in these court politics, you worry too much about gains and losses... What's the result?" But, maybe we should also thank him...」

  Jia Xu's words confused Jiang Jiong, "I still want to thank you? 』

  Jia Xu nodded, with a calm expression, "Of course I want to thank him... You think, in the Western Regions, the big man has repeated it several times. Why? Could it be that how many powerful soldiers are there in these countries in the Western Regions? 』

  The predecessor of the Western Regions was "Xi Rong".

  During the pre-Qin period, because we didn’t know much about the Western Regions, it was generally referred to as Hulu collectively. It was not until the Western Han Dynasty that the fog of war here was truly lifted, and it was officially called the Western Regions from the west of Yumen Pass.

  The Western Regions live together with animal husbandry and farming, but generally divided into two parts according to the Tianshan Mountains: northern nomadic and southern farming. The northern area is similar to the north of the Yinshan Mountains in China. It is mainly nomadic people who migrate by water and grass, so it is also called "Xingguo". They are mainly Sai people, Yuezhi people, Cheshi people, Wusun people and Huns, etc. Wait. In the south, there are many settled farming tribes, who live in the oasis of the Tianshan Mountains and deserts, and are also called "city-states".

Because of the decline of the Qin Dynasty, a large number of Chinese people, that is, Qin people, entered the Western Regions during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and passed on to the Western Regions various advanced technologies at that time, but because of the limited productivity at that time, the traffic was not smooth. This made it impossible for the Western Regions to form a unified whole until the Huns went south and took control of the Western Regions. The Xiongnu king in the west set up a "boy servant captain" to manage the affairs of the Western Regions. At the same time, using the Western Regions as a base, he often plundered the border areas of the Han Dynasty.

  The Xiongnu's entry into the Western Regions and their rule also began to change the structure of the Western Regions, and directly contributed to the process of the Western Han Dynasty's unification of the Western Regions.

   In other words, if the Huns hadn’t used the Western Regions to make troubles, the Han Dynasty at that time might not have had the intention to conquer and rule such a faraway land...

no Zuo no Die.

   This sentence is valid both in ancient times and in modern times.

Jia Xu smiled and pointed at Jiang Jiong, "Look, I sent you back first, and then sent back a group of old soldiers from the Western Regions a few days ago... Although these wounded soldiers from the Western Regions can indeed be sent back. Come back...but is there a possibility that staying will cause trouble? 』

  Jiang Jiong was single-handedly promoted by Li Ru.

  Hearing this, Jiang Jiong's complexion was a little pale, "Master, this... the chief protector should not be able to..."

  『Not to what? Not so stupid, or not so blind? Jia Xu laughed, "I would rather not be like this... But, this matter is not determined by someone..."

  Seeing Jiang Jiong's slightly dazed expression, Jia Xu said slowly, "I've been thinking these past few days, why couldn't I keep the Western Regions alive before?" In the Western Regions, is the Han army still a Han army? Or has it become... the army of the Western Regions? 』

Before Jiang Jiong could answer, Jia Xu continued to speak slowly, as if these thoughts had been hidden in his heart for a long time, "Don't talk about the Western Regions, in fact, the counties, counties, and state capitals of the Han Dynasty all set up their own territories. , regard it as the foundation, and fight against the thieves and bandits on their own territory. What happened when we fought Xiqiang...』

"The local soldiers in Longyou want soldiers from other places to go to the front, and then they follow behind to take advantage... The generals who lost the battle hoped that the new army that was added later would also lose the battle, so that they would not appear stupid and incompetent... Corruption at all levels Officials hope that the war will continue like this forever, so that money that can never be spent will be sent to their noses from all over the country for free...』

  『Someone once calculated that if he really saves money and refuses corruption, the money that the court spent on the Western Qiang War did not need 4 billion at all, but less than 400 million is enough...』

  『Where did the extra money go? 』

  『Interesting? Are those who are clamoring to fight really big and loyal ministers? Those who say it's better to let go must be Chinese sinners? If you just listen to one side of the story, there will probably be problems. 』

  『Xiqiang, four billion, everyone has something to earn, from soldiers to generals, so who wants to really win? 』

  『Those generals and officials who gained huge benefits in the battle of Xiqiang, did they ever think that their actions dragged down the great man, led to the decline of the court, and then the emperor was humiliated and hundreds of officials were exiled? 』

  『How long has it been? 』

  『Someone just forgot...』

  Jia Xu looked into the distance, then fell silent.

  Jiang Jiong was also silent, he didn't know what to say.

  After a long time, Jiang Jiong asked hesitantly: "Master, so this time...it should be different, right?" 』

  『Indeed it’s different, but why is it so different…』 Jia Xu nodded and smiled, 「I haven’t figured it out yet…so I have to take another look and think about it…」

  Jiang Jiong was a little surprised. Because in his impression, Li Ru was undoubtedly a wise man, and Jia Xu didn't give in, but now Jia Xu actually said that he couldn't "figure out" it. Is this true or false?

  『Since that’s the case…』Jiang Jiong said, “Should I report it to my lord…”

  『This matter has been reported long ago...』 Jia Xu waved his hand and said, 『The problem now is not just in the Western Regions...』

  『Not just the Western Regions? Jiang Jiong asked, "Could it be Anxi or Taixi?" 』

  『Hahaha, no, it’s not this... 』Jia Xu laughed loudly, 『You think too far...Qianqiu Huaxia, was it all defeated by outsiders that time? If we Huaxia don't have any problems, who can defeat us? So it's not rest, um, even if it's rest, so what? The key is inside, not outside...'

  Jia Xu said, turning his attention to the direction of Chang'an, "Because... even if this problem does not appear now, it will appear in the future... If it can be solved well, it can become a template for future generations. If... um, hehe..."

  (end of this chapter)