Hanhou

Liu Che urgently called Zhao Jia and Wei Yue into the palace because he was eager to know the details of the army's westward expedition.

After reading the map presented with the memorial and learning that there is such a vast territory besides the Han and the Huns, as well as countries that he had never known before, the young emperor couldn't help but feel excited.

Knowing that the Fifth Battalion had returned to Beijing, Liu Che immediately issued an order to summon Zhao Jia, Wei Yue, Li Danghu, Cao Shi and Han Yan to the palace for an audience.

When the eunuchs went to various government offices to announce the decree, Liu Che couldn't contain his excitement, he didn't care about government affairs, and paced back and forth in the hall.

Suddenly stopped in the middle, ordered people to remove several tables and screens, hung the transcribed map on the wooden frame, looked at Loulan, Kangju, Wusun, Dawan and the western countries, and finally settled on the rest of the territory to be determined and big summer.

Thinking about the secret reports about gold mines and iron mines attached to the military situation, Liu Che clenched his fingers, several thoughts turned in his mind, and he couldn't suppress his excitement.

The five of Zhao Jia entered the announcement room and were aroused after saluting. What they saw was a map occupying the entire wall, and the emperor with bright eyes and burning eyes.

"Let me tell you in detail how the cavalry crossed the desert and how they found Yizhixie."

Seeing the visitor from the palace, Zhao Jia already had a premonition that the emperor was eager to summon him, and it must have something to do with the Western Expedition.

When he was in Bianjun, Zhao Jia did a lot of sorting out military information, and even dealt with government affairs with Wei Yue, and wrote memorials on Wei Shang's behalf.When Liu Che asked about it, he didn't say anything, because he had already had a plan.Yu Tianzi glanced over, and immediately stood up with cupped hands, said "Your Majesty, please don't sin", then held up his sleeves, put his fingers on the picture, and said: "Your Majesty, this battle should start from Shuofang City."

"Shuofang City?"

"Exactly."

Zhao Jia talked eloquently with reference to the map, starting with the Battle of Shuofang City, detailing the route and process of the army's northward march and westward march.

There are occasional pauses in the middle, and the four of Wei Yue will make up for it.

Mentioning the delay in joining the two armies, Li Danghu revealed his shortcomings, saying that as a forward, he went in the wrong direction halfway, took a long detour, and strayed into Wusun and Dawan.

"Going in the wrong direction?" Liu Che was stunned.

He has gone to the grassland many times and gained a lot of military exploits, but he can judge the wrong direction?

"Your Majesty, after leaving Shuofang County, there are many small countries, and the terrain is really complicated. Further west, there are large desert sand dunes, dotted with oases, rocky mountains and strange rocks. If there is no guide who walks all year round, it may not be possible to find the right direction."

While explaining, Zhao Jia picked up the bamboo slips and drew circles around Wusun and Dawan.

"This place is completely deserted. There is no one who is familiar with the terrain to guide us. We can only rely on scouts to explore. If there is a sudden blow of sand and wind, it is very likely that we will lose our way."

After listening to Zhao Jia's words, Liu Che carefully looked at the map, and quickly felt relieved that the army was lost.Seeing the shame on Li Danghu's face, he thought he was upright, and immediately said with a smile that he must find a reliable guide for the next expedition.

"Follow His Majesty's will." Li Danghu's face turned red, and Liu Che couldn't help laughing out loud.

The matter was successfully revealed and not pursued, all because the Western Expedition won a complete victory, and the opportunity was not delayed due to getting lost and going too far. Moreover, by coincidence, it deterred the countries of the Western Regions and obtained tens of thousands of good horses.

Before returning to Chang'an, Zhao Jia and the five had discussed that nothing should be concealed from the emperor regarding the Western Expedition.It's just that you have to be skillful when speaking, so as not to be self-defeating and attract the emperor's displeasure.

Investigating the reason, five people have made great contributions, and the promotion to the noble is just around the corner.The more critical it is, the more you can't make mistakes, and the more you can't give people a reason to criticize.

According to Wei Yue and Cao Shi's proposal, one should say one, and another should say two, and everything should be frank in front of the emperor.In this way, even if someone "turns over the old score" in the future and wants to take the opportunity to provoke troubles, they will still lose money and even attract the disgust of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, this is Guishui."

After Liu Che laughed, Zhao Jia spoke again, drawing his attention back to the map.

"The ministers will catch up with the Huns here."

Zhao Jia pointed to the map, from catching up with Yizhixie's Huns, to the confrontation between the two sides by the river, and then in the middle of the battle, Anxi and Daxia's army suddenly appeared, Yizhixie's defeated army broke through, and the army followed closely behind, tearing apart one after another. Open the big summer battle, and disperse the Anxi archers.

"According to what I know, the original Great Xia royal family was destroyed by the Yue clan. At this time, the rulers of the country are the five tribes of the Yue clan."

"Yuezhi?" Liu Che was stunned for a moment, "The Yuezhi who was defeated by the Huns?"

"Exactly."

The more he knew about the Yuezhi nation, the more Zhao Jia felt miraculous.

Being dealt with by the Xiongnu and Han Dynasty in turn, they had to flee thousands of miles away, but they kept hanging up on the way to escape. First, Daxia was built, and then Guishuang was established.

Especially Guishuang, at the peak of its national power, entered the imperial sequence, and ranked among the powerful countries in Asia and Europe with Han, Rome and Anxi.

Now, due to the early westward advance of the Xiongnu, Daxia is involved in the war with Anxi, and the two sides are fighting bloody and will not stop for a while.Under such a background, whether everything will develop along the historical track is really inconclusive.

And Xihou of the Yue family, who was supposed to go south, was busy dividing up the wealth looted from Loulan at the moment, and was careful to mop up the tail, without any sign of leaving.On the contrary, the remnants of the Huns swept all the way, showing signs of replacing them.

"Your Majesty, although the Yue Clan was defeated by the Xiongnu and divided into various tribes, their strength should not be underestimated."

If there is not a strong enough army, how can the originally weak Daxia achieve a qualitative leap, overwhelm Wusun Dawan in one fell swoop, and even wrestle with Anxi, and fight back and forth.

"Since you are in the Hu Department, how can you focus on infantry?" This is what Liu Che couldn't figure out.

In his cognition, the strongest of the Hu tribe is the cavalry.After dismounting, it cannot be said that he will become incapable of fighting immediately, at least his combat effectiveness and threat will decrease.

"Your Majesty, this is exactly what I want to report."

"Why?"

"There should be iron mines in Daxia and Anxi, which have been presented in memorials earlier. In addition, the craftsmen of the two countries are good at smelting and forging, and the craftsmanship of making weapons and armor is no less than that of our dynasty."

Liu Che's expression suddenly became serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Please tell me in detail."

"promise!"

In the propaganda room, Zhao Jia reported to the emperor about the Western Expedition, which led to the iron smelting technology of Daxia and Anxi.Wei Qingmo, who was also called into the palace, was led by the eunuch and entered the Jiaofang Palace where the queen lived.

Walking into the palace, Wei Qing didn't dare to lift her moth head, and bent down to salute according to the palace staff's instructions, saying: "May the queen live forever and have a long life."

"rise."

Chen Jiao is sitting in front of the screen, wearing a straight train and deep dress, with exquisite patterns on the belt, sleeves and neckline.The black hair is like satin, and the red lips are full. When he is not smiling, he is naturally majestic.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Wei Qing got up, eyes still half down, followed the guidance of the palace servants, and sat down on the lower head.

Xu Meiren sat beside Chen Jiao, her eyes fell on Wei Qing'e, with curiosity and scrutiny.

Like Chen Jiao, she couldn't help admiring Wei Qing'e's deeds when she heard about them in Bianjun.Knowing what happened to him before, I can't help but feel embarrassed.

Women's difficulties, only women know.

He worked so hard to create this family business, but was almost killed by his son-in-law and servants.Instead of helping, the villagers watched and even helped the tyrant.

Chen Jiao knew what had happened, and her reaction was generally the same as Liu Che's. She didn't think that Zhao Jia had acted too much, but felt that the handling was too light.The son-in-law and servant should be killed, and those who help the tyrant should also be severely punished.

How about sending it to the fortress and not being allowed to return for five generations?

According to Chen Jiao's opinion, it's okay not to kill them, but they should take the common people's lives, punish them as children, and use hard labor to atone for their sins, so that they can vent their anger.

Before meeting Wei Qing'e, Chen Jiao and Xu Meiren had made several conjectures, but now that they were face to face with Wei Qing'e, all previous assumptions were shattered.After thinking about it carefully, it suddenly dawned on me that a woman who can lead a caravan to go north and south and fight with the Huns should be like this.

"I heard that you once went to the Western Regions and fought with Hu Qi bandits?" Chen Jiao asked.

"Returning to Your Highness, I have indeed traveled to the Western Regions and passed through Loulan, Kangju and other countries. Before the imperial army swept north and westward, the Western Regions were controlled by the Huns. Small countries, tribal armies, bandits and bandits were not distinguished. Caravans were very careful. Bodyguards."

Chen Jiao listened carefully, put the lacquer cup by her hand, and did not move for a long time.

Xu Meiren motioned to the palace people to remove the warmed tea soup and serve new tea and sweet pastries.

When it came to caravan matters, Wei Qing'e gradually calmed down, and talked about the aspects that Chen Jiao was interested in.

Speaking of the caravan going to Loulan, encountering rangers on the way, there were several dangers, the goods were almost robbed, and most of the guards were killed in battle. Chen Jiao seemed to be in the scene, her eyes flashed dark, Xu Meiren also pursed her lower lip , a smear of anger appeared on the powder face.

"Is it wanton?"

"Your Highness, even though I have encountered bandits and bandits on horseback, I have been able to save myself from danger. Compared with my servant, when the trade roads first opened, there were countless caravans killed by bandits."

Chen Jiao nodded slowly and sighed softly.

Seeing that the atmosphere became heavy, Xu Meiren tried to change the subject and asked about the customs of the Western Regions, as well as the local things of various countries.

Before entering the palace, Wei Qing'e got Zhao Jia's advice, and had already made preparations.

In the words of the beauty, I present two boxes of carefully polished gemstones, as well as hair bracelets with a distinctly exotic style.Among them are not only products from the Western Regions, but also the craftsmanship of Anxi and Daxia craftsmen, and even gold armbands from farther places.

The lid of the box was lifted, and it was immediately golden.

Chen Jiao picked up a gold ring carved with strange patterns, and looked at the gems inlaid on it, feeling quite interesting.

"Is this all from the Western Regions?"

"Returning to Your Highness, this golden ring is from Anxi." Wei Qingmo said, "The ring has a lion pattern, and the lion's eyes are embedded with gemstones. It is reported that only the Anxi royal family and nobles can wear it."

"A royal thing?" Chen Jiao picked up another ring and compared it with the bracelet, feeling more and more interesting.

In the Han Dynasty, jade was the most precious, and exquisiteness was the most beautiful.

Wei Qingmo presents these, regardless of the craftsmanship, they are all made of gold, inlaid with gemstones and pearls of various colors, full of weight, bright and dazzling.

Hold it in your hand and have a look, really someone will wear it?

Chen Jiao and Xu Meiren looked at each other, feeling incomprehensible.

However, through Wei Qing'er's narration and the gold jewels presented, Chen Jiao began to believe that the commercial road of the Western Regions was indeed a golden road.

Thinking of what Liu Che said before, Chen Jiao finally made a decision to give Wei Qing'e a lot of rewards. In addition, she would also help her build a caravan and revive the name of the Patriarch.