Although he had thought about Jingjue City more than once in his dreams, when this beautiful thing was actually before him, King Loulan was stunned.
What a wonderful city!
It was the capital of a country, the business center of the entire Western Region, and the core area in the southern part of the Western Region.
"You... weren't kidding me?" King Loulan asked suspiciously.
Ying Zheng laughed loudly and said: "Have you been deceived by someone or something? When I went to Khotan, the king of Khotan asked me for the city, but I didn't give it to him. I only gave him half of the land. Now you If you don’t want this city, then I will sell it to King Khotan.”
"No, no," King Loulan said urgently, "I want it, I want it. Please make a price."
Ying Zheng pondered for a moment, whetted his appetite, and then said: "A city may have a price, but the vast land and the value it can produce are immeasurable. , so, I don’t want your gold and silver.”
King Loulan said in confusion: "If you don't want gold or silver, what do you want?"
"If you want the most exquisite land and city, you must agree to three conditions."
"Tell me about it." King Loulan said.
Ying Zheng cleared his throat and said slowly: "The first condition is that I want to exchange the city for the city, that is, I will use your Yumen Pass and Yang Pass to exchange for my Jingjue Kingdom."
"This..." King Loulan hesitated.
"Exchanging two useless checkpoints for a capital city and half the country's land, you have already made a fortune." Ying Zheng strengthened his tone and said, "When Yuezhi and Touman Chanyu were discussing, those three checkpoints The place in the middle has already belonged to our country, Great Qin, which means our two countries have officially joined each other, so why do you still keep those two passes?"
"Besides, since I sent troops to garrison Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, you have also saved a lot of troops and military supplies. It is not clear to you that this is how the King of Xiqiang gave up Jiayu Pass to me."
And indeed it is.
Previously, Loulan had to guard two important passes because it had to guard against the Xiongnu, Yueshi, and even Xiqiang.
But now that the Huns have made peace with the Western Regions, the Yueshi Kingdom has been destroyed, and the Western Qiang have withdrawn, then who else do we need to guard against, the Great Qin?
If the Qin army really wants to attack, why does it still care about your two levels?
Besides, judging from the current relationship, it was too late for Loulan to curry favor with the Qin Dynasty. If it weren't for the King of Qin in front of him, Loulan's surroundings would not be so stable, and he could still sit on the kang and count money!
What's more, they will give you a capital city and half of the country.
Thinking like this, King Loulan already had a plan in mind, and then asked: "What about the second one?"
Ying Zheng said: "This second item is what I just mentioned. I want to build a new city in the middle of the three passes. You have to help me provide some manpower and equipment."
"This is not difficult." King Loulan said, "There used to be a small city in that place, named Dunhuang. Later, because several countries were always competing for it, no one dared to live there, so it was abandoned. Once rebuilt, it can also provide a resting place for passing caravans.”
"Okay, then it's settled." Ying Zheng said, "This time you and I will go to Jingjue to make a handover, and I will take the remaining Jingjue clan members to evacuate Jingjue, and then you will follow me to Dunhuang to see .”
"No problem." King Loulan said, "What about the last condition?"
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "This last condition has little to do with the current matter. When I was in Khotan before, I once told the King of Khotan that in order to better regulate the sand millstone, I would let him My descendants will establish a Protectorate in the Western Region, and at the same time help the entire Western Region resist foreign invasion."
"But in name, I need to make the Western Region a vassal of China. However, I don't want taxes or any power. I just want the two countries to unite and fight against powerful enemies. Of course, this powerful enemy also includes the Sand Mill , which is what you call the Sea of Death.”
In Loulan, the sand millstone is called the Sea of Death, and according to the Chinese transliteration, it is called Taklimakan.
King Loulan thought for a moment, and then said: "If according to your wishes, I don't need to pay taxes, and you help me manage the desert, give me land, and do business with me, it doesn't matter if I surrender to you now. After all, I'm just a human being." It’s just a title.”
Although King Loulan is not so decisive when faced with problems, always hesitant and appears timid, he is definitely not stupid.
He understands very well the principle of leaning against a big tree to enjoy the shade.
Because the current Great Qin is so powerful that not many people can offend him.
Not to mention Da Qin, even the Xiongnu, Xiqiang, and Jingjue around Loulan are all allies of King Qin. Which one does he dare to offend?
Ying Zheng is currently discussing with him. Even if he is really forced to surrender, he can only submit obediently because the current situation is like this.
What's more, Ying Zheng is a wise king. Following such a king will not only not be embarrassing, but also gain a lot of benefits.
Therefore, King Loulan did not have much resistance to the idea of surrendering to Ying Zheng.
"What I wonder is, why not now, but in the future?" This is what King Loulan is puzzled about.
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "If this desert can be eradicated in a short time, then I will become a god. What I can tell you now is that preventing the spread of the desert does not lie in building some high walls to surround it. It’s not about planting more trees, the core key is actually in the deep strata.”
This was somewhat beyond King Loulan's understanding, but he also understood to some extent that what Ying Zheng said did make sense.
"I said King Qin, I am almost half a hundred years old, how many more years can I wait for you." King Loulan said with a wry smile.
"This is not easy to handle." Ying Zheng said, "You just need to pass down a will to your descendants, saying that in a few decades from China, an envoy from Empress Lu will come to Loulan to establish a protective palace to rectify the desert, so that the desert can be restored. Loulan can just lead all the Western Regions to surrender."
"Queen Lu?" King Loulan wondered whether this Queen Lu was the future queen chosen by King Qin for his prince.
The reason why Ying Zheng arranged this was because he did not want the Western Regions to know for the time being that Da Qin would withdraw from the pinnacle of power in China soon.
Ying Zheng nodded and said, "Her name is Lu Pheasant, and she will be the future queen."
"Okay." King Loulan said with some reluctance, "I will pass down the will, but I can't say whether future generations will be obedient."
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "If they don't obey, my juniors will help you educate them."
King Loulan: "..."
After all the discussions and a day of repairs, Ying Zheng took Wu Chan, accompanied by King Loulan, back to Jingjue.
Most of the people who went in the first wave were in their prime. They not only had to open up roads that were not easy to walk along the way, but also built some simple camps to provide necessary safe rest facilities for the old, young, women and children behind.
After returning to Jingjue, Yingzheng and Wu Chan began to take King Loulan to deliver Jingjue City.
King Loulan has long been envious of such a castle made entirely of dense stone, and always fantasizes about owning such an indestructible castle.
Because it is strong and durable, Jingjue has become a center of commerce, attracting elites of all races to sell their own goods here. If Loulan City can do this, it will definitely have a greater geographical advantage than Jingjue City.
Thinking of this, King Loulan couldn't help but have an idea in his mind. He came close to Wu Chan and said: "My niece, you gave me this city, but you said that I don't know when this place will be eroded by the desert, and I I can’t bear to part with this big city. Can you tear down these strong stone bricks and bring them back to Loulan so that I can build a new city?”
Wu Chan was amused by him and covered his lips with a smile: "You can really think about it. If this city is so easy to demolish, it won't be called Jingjue City. If you want to build such a city, you don't necessarily have to use the dismantled dense stones. I had a lot left over when I was building the ancestral mausoleum, why don't you just transport them all back to Loulan."
"Okay, okay, where is it stored? I'll send someone there."
Ying Zheng said coldly and angrily: "I kept those dense stones to build the pass, and you are going to remove them just by saying this?"
"Oh, didn't we agree that everything in Jingjue City belongs to me." King Loulan said with a flattering smile, "Besides, you can make those dense stones and just make some new ones, so why bother fighting with me."
Recreate?
It's easy to say, but you still have to look for the fire eye again, and it takes a lot of effort and time.
However, Ying Zheng didn't bother to argue with him. After all, there were countless dense stones needed to build the Great Wall, and it shouldn't be a big problem to build more to reinforce the city defense.
Now that there are people to take over the city and the land, the whole Jingjue clan can get ready and set off. The great elder organized the people and asked all the ghost hands to bring their own equipment and ice-gu-raising objects, and started the whole clan's journey. The Great Migration.
Naturally, the food, grass and water were well prepared. The only thing that needed attention was the patients caused by the long journey. Fortunately, when Chen Li came last time, he brought a lot of military doctors and medicinal materials from Jiayuguan.
Some patients who had some diseases at home recovered quickly under the treatment of military doctors.
King Loulan seemed to have seen another business opportunity.
Although he didn't understand the medical theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the bitter water that looked similar to ink could really cure diseases when swallowed. This was much better than the medical skills in the Western Regions that could not be called medical skills.
Ying Zheng thought about it. What he was selling was not selling, let alone treating the sick and saving people. So he promised him that he would bring some Chinese medicine with his next shipment and assign him a few doctors.
After the team arrived at Yumen Pass, they adjusted for a few days and waited for the King of Xiqiang to arrive.
Because the Qin army did not have enough manpower at this time, after Ying Zheng asked King Loulan for two passes, Ying Zheng sent someone to send a message to King Xiqiang, asking him to lead the army to take over Yumen Pass and Yang Pass.
At the dinner, King Xiqiang said to King Loulan under the influence of wine: "You old boy finally pulled out some hair from your body. You have occupied two passes in these years, but you always see my Jiayuguan Pass being attacked."
King Loulan replied: "Then it's not your fault that you have no ability. If you can be like King Qin and occupy the three areas in the middle, who can fight to Jiayuguan?"
The King of Xiqiang refused to be outdone and said: "Is our national strength worse than yours? Why didn't the Yueshi and the Huns come to attack you before? Is there some collusion between you?"
"Bah!" King Loulan spat, "My soldiers are guarding these two passes, and there is an echo before and after. It's not like you, who arranged the troops in a long line like a formation in the Hexi Corridor. They won't attack you here. I still have to think about it.”
Ying Zheng was right. This was indeed the difference between Loulan and Xiqiang.
King Xiqiang said: "I really want to gather together, but the terrain doesn't allow it. Besides, what I'm saying is that you are timid and never come to the rescue. It doesn't matter who comes to fight me."
Ying Zheng smiled and smoothed things over: "I told you two not to settle old scores. Right now, Da Qin has finally won the third pass. You will leave the border defense to me in the future. If there is another enemy invasion, you can just support it. Normally When it’s time to herd cattle, when it’s time to do business, when it’s time to do business.”
This is true. If one's own safety is guaranteed, who would be willing to spend manpower and financial resources to guard the border.
"But then again." Ying Zheng continued, "King Loulan promised me before that he would help me rebuild Dunhuang. Don't evacuate the defenders here yet. Go directly to Dunhuang to build the city."
"Just go." King Loulan arrived this time rather decisively, "But you, Da Qin, have to provide food and grass."
Ying Zheng: "..."
This guy still has the same old habit of taking advantage of others.
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