Chapter 56: The Western Regions

  The next morning, Liu Ze and others had just gotten up when Ling Xian came to pay his respects. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Liu Ze suddenly said: "I am a horse merchant from the Central Plains, and my purpose for coming to the Western Regions this time is to transport a batch of good horses back to the Central Plains. I wonder if General Ling can sell me a batch of Akhal-Teke horses? As for the price, we can discuss it."

  The envoy's brow furrowed slightly, and he immediately said: "The heavenly envoy wants as many sweat-blood horses as he likes, just open his mouth and that's it. As for the price, I dare not ask for it. The heavenly envoy has done great kindness to Dayuan, although the former king had an order that sweat-blood horses cannot be allowed to flow out, but if it were not for the heavenly envoy's power, Dayuan would have been destroyed by the Xiongnu long ago. I suppose even the former king in the underworld wouldn't blame us, only...

  "Is the Grand Administrator afraid of the Xiongnu people's revenge?"

  "It's not over, this time the Xiongnu people were defeated by the gods' envoy, I'm afraid they won't give up easily, and will probably return soon. I fear that when the time comes...". As he spoke, he fell to his knees with a thud, "Please, great god's envoy, have mercy and save the people of Dayuan from disaster."

  Liu Ze hastily helped him up and said: "Don't worry, General, but as long as I, Liu Ze, still have a breath in me, I will never let the people of Dayuan suffer slaughter."

  The general manager stood up trembling and said, "If the Xiongnu come again, it will not be just one or two thousand people. If tens of thousands of troops arrive, how will the gods respond?"

  Liu Ze's troops were only a few hundred men, although they had defeated the Xiongnu cavalry of over a thousand men. However, if tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers came, even if these few hundred men were brave and skilled in battle, they would probably not be a match for the Xiongnu people.

  For this question, Liu Ze certainly knew very well that relying on his own few hundred people, he really wanted to defeat the Xiongnu's tens of thousands of cavalry, it was really a daydream. It seemed that if they wanted to resist the Xiongnu, they had to think of another way. He said: "This Baihe Valley is treacherous and easy to defend but hard to attack, with cliffs on all four sides, only two small roads lead out of the valley. Yesterday I have surveyed the terrain, these two mountain passes are like one man holding a pass that ten thousand men cannot open. If we can gather some manpower and build some defensive fortifications, even if the Xiongnu has many more people, it will be very difficult for them to attack again."

  Ling Xian was overjoyed and said, "It's all arranged by the gods."

  Liu Ze asked: "I don't know how many nobles are left now?"

  "It's a shame, I think that the great Yan state initially had a population of one million. Even if it was ten years ago that we were destroyed by the Xiongnu and only tens of thousands of people were brought out, after being displaced and wandering around, suffering from hunger and cold, most people have already died unjustly. Now the population is less than 40,000."

  "How many more young and middle-aged men are there over 15 years old?"

  "For the past decade, the Xiongnu have been pursuing us relentlessly, and our guards have suffered heavy casualties. Now, men above 15 years old are probably less than a third of what they used to be." Lord Lian sighed, his expression somewhat despondent.

  One-third of that would be over 10,000 people. If they can be reasonably organized, there is still a certain chance to resist the Huns' attack. Liu Ze nodded and said: "The noble men are mostly good at riding horses and shooting arrows, but lack combat experience and unified command. I am willing to reorganize an army for the nobles to defend against the Huns' attack, which should be enough."

  Ling Xian was overjoyed and said: "Thanks to the blessings of the gods, I have been able to escape disaster. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

  "Time is of the essence, order the steward to gather all men between fifteen and forty-five years old."

  Order someone to hurry downstairs to gather people.

  After eliminating the old, weak, sick and disabled, there were about 5,000 to 6,000 people left. Liu Ze divided them into five battalions of a thousand men each, led by himself, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Pan Feng, and Wu Anguo respectively, and selected some leaders as battalion commanders and squad leaders. As for weapons, the more than 1,000 pieces of equipment captured from the Xiongnu soldiers were put to use, supplemented by a portion of the knives, guns, bows, and arrows owned by the Dayuan people, which could meet most of their needs.

  The various ethnic groups in the Western Regions were mostly nomadic, but all adults had mastered a set of exquisite riding and shooting skills. The next step in training was mainly focused on cavalry battle arrays and offensive and defensive tactics. In terms of individual combat capabilities, these Dayuan soldiers were not inferior to the Xiongnu soldiers at all. What they lacked was only the experience and skill of fighting, which was the soft underbelly that made the Dayuan people and other Western Regions ethnic groups unable to withstand the battle-hardened Xiongnu soldiers. Liu Ze believed that as long as they underwent a short period of intensive training, these Dayuan soldiers could quickly form a combat force, relying on the treacherous terrain to resist the second attack by the Xiongnu should not be a big problem.

  Of course, the most important thing now is intelligence information. Liu Ze urgently needs to know when the Huns will come and how many troops they will send. The Western Regions are vast and boundless, where are the main forces of the Huns now? Fortunately, he brought Pan Feng's Tianzhi team, these trained special agents can be put to use. Upon receiving the order from his master, Pan Feng selected a dozen or so members who were most skilled in reconnaissance, along with several guides from Dayuan, and set off immediately.

  Jia Xun is now idle, as Liu Ze has become proficient in the Han language and can communicate with the people of Dayuan without any obstacles. Naturally, Jia Xun's role as a translator has been set aside. Jia Xun has repeatedly asked when he can return to Yangguan, but Liu Ze just smiles and says nothing. According to their agreement, Jia Xun is not allowed to return to Yangguan on his own, and besides, there are two soldiers who follow him everywhere, supposedly for protection but actually for surveillance. Jia Xun understands this clearly, but he can't help feeling a little bitter in his heart. Even if Liu Ze didn't monitor him, the possibility of him being able to cross the vast desert alone is almost zero.

  The legend of the Sun God's messenger defeating the Huns and saving the people of Dayuan spread like wildfire, spreading throughout the Congling Mountains and Nan Shan regions in a very short period of time. Among the twenty-five countries of Western Regions that were destroyed by the Huns, eight or nine countries escaped to the Nan Shan area, just like Dayuan. At this time, they sent envoys carrying rare treasures to visit the messenger of God. Among them was an extraordinary treasure, a jade pendant from the kingdom of Yutian worth a whole city, and a huge night pearl as big as a duck egg from the Wusun kingdom. Liu Ze accepted all these gifts without hesitation, knowing that these exiled kings or princes must have had ulterior motives for sending such valuable gifts, especially since he had been having some ideas lately.

  Liu Ze made arrangements for the envoys of the eight major tribes to be accommodated and inquired about their current situation, population size, and military strength. The Congling and South Mountain regions are located on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with harsh natural conditions, and each tribe can be said to be living on the brink of death. Every year, the severe cold and famine take away the lives of tribal people at any moment, and the occasional raids by Xiongnu cavalry only add insult to injury. Each tribe has a force of two or three thousand to five or six thousand men, but after years of fighting against the Xiongnu, they have suffered heavy casualties and their morale is extremely low.

  The Xiongnu forces in the southern frontier were only three thousand cavalry led by Yu Xian. In the battle a few days ago, more than a thousand people, including Yu Xian, died at Baiyin Shanggu. The remaining troops are now hiding in the city of Hetian, waiting for the Xiongnu Khan to send a large army. Liu Ze pointed out that the fundamental reason why the twenty-five countries in the Western Regions were successively destroyed by the Xiongnu was that each country fought separately and did not assist each other.

  "When the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold! The humble three thousand Xiongnu soldiers, in a span of several years, recklessly rampaged and plundered, burning and killing. What did they rely on? Can't your tribes not have some hot-blooded warriors to counter them? In fact, the reason is simple: it's because your major tribes are fighting each other separately, giving the Xiongnu people a chance to defeat you one by one. Only if your major tribes unite their strength can you defeat the Xiongnu people; otherwise, your tribe will be slowly devoured by the Xiongnu and destroyed by the cruel environment."

  Many envoys looked at me, I looked at them, all were at a loss. This problem is not something that no one has thought of before, but it's difficult to implement. The various countries in the Western Regions, especially neighboring countries, have been fighting for years and have deep-seated hatred towards each other. Not only can they not help each other, but there are many instances where they would rather see each other fall. In the end, they were all defeated by the Xiongnu one by one. For example, the country of Loulan didn't even leave a single survivor.

  "Compared to the calamity of being destroyed by the Xiongnu, what is the grudge between you worth? Wholeheartedly unite and point your spears outward, this is your only way out. My words end here, you can return and discuss with your kings and princes, I will await your arrival at Baihe Shanggu." Liu Ze knew that these envoys were not authorized to make decisions.

  Since it was said here, all the envoys stood up and bid farewell, after all, they had no right to speak.

  Jia Xu, who had been idle for many days, was incredibly busy today. He had to translate Liu Ze's words one by one to the various tribes, and then translate their responses back to Liu Ze. Liu Ze watched him sweat profusely and was secretly amazed. People in later generations would be impressed if someone could master three or five languages, but Jia Xu was able to understand so many foreign languages, truly a genius among geniuses. However, these talents were only the tip of the iceberg of Jia Xu's abilities. It seemed that he needed to grasp them tightly, lest the talented individuals slip through his fingers.

  As for the affairs of the Western Regions, Liu Ze believed that he could still not use Jia Xu, and relying on his own ability was enough to handle them. He would just treat him as an interpreter, using him as a strategist would be something to consider after returning to the Central Plains. Liu Ze deeply understood that the proud bones on these famous scholars made it impossible for them to easily submit; if he wanted them to serve him for life, he had to show them his strong side, even if he couldn't dominate the world, at least he had to be a powerful leader in one region. After all, they were also betting their lives and families, how could they truly devote themselves without good political prospects?

  After all the envoys withdrew, Lord Lian shook his head and said, "It's really difficult to get various major tribes to put aside their long-standing family feuds, abandon their previous grudges, and work together hand in hand."

  Liu Ze smiled slightly and said, "The leaders of each tribe are all wise men, they must have thought of the key to this matter long ago, but because of their feelings, no one is willing to mention it first. This is the only and last opportunity for the Western Regions, if missed, perhaps there will really be only destruction of the country and extinction of the nation, I believe they can make a wise choice by weighing the situation."