Ms. Cai, who was also worried about Zhang Qiaoer's condition, wanted to persuade her, but Zhang Qiaoer acted like a turtle, obviously not wanting to discuss this matter with anyone, including Mr. Cai. Facing Zhang Qiaoer, not only Cai didn't know what to do, but Huang Qiong didn't know what to do either. Liu Rui's thoughts, even though the three of them were clearly stated by Cai, it can be said that they are all aware of it now. But everyone knows that this is almost impossible, at least it is absolutely impossible for Zhang Qiaoer to accept it. .
Zhang Qiaoer consciously evaded, Cai Shi hesitated to speak, and the other girls either didn't know about it, or it was difficult for them to intervene in this matter. The matter seemed to have been revealed just like that. Until the fifth month after Huang Qiong arrived in Xijing, Huang Qiong issued an edict before leaving. King Anxi, who summoned him to Xijing to meet the king, came to Xijing city from the Western Regions all the way. And this time, he did not come alone, he also brought Duan Lin, as well as the heads and chiefs of several large tribes in the Western Regions, as well as a group of beauties from various tribes who paid tribute, and a large number of various tributes.
Huang Qiong pinched the bridge of her nose a little irritably when she saw that this guy came to Xijing to meet his driver and actually brought such a group of warblers. He brought the clan leader to Xijing, which was quite normal. But bringing such a large group of beauties from all ethnic groups, in Huang Qiong's opinion, was a sign to herself. However, Huang Qiong didn't care whether the beauty was there or not. But Huang Qiong still wants to see this King of Anxi. After meeting with the clan leaders, Huang Qiongcai met this guy alone in the Ideological and Political Hall. As for Duan Lin, she had already been sent away.
When the King of Anxi was summoned to the Ideological and Political Hall. But he saw Huang Qiong holding his hands behind his back and looking at a painting behind the imperial case. Huang Qiong just stood there without saying a word, but it put great pressure on the Anxi King behind him. Kneeling there, dressed in the attire of a county king, he was calm before, but in an instant, he was covered in cold sweat. Huang Qiong didn't speak, and he didn't dare to speak either. After a full stick of incense, Huang Qiong turned around and sat down firmly. Then she raised her hand to signal him to get up and asked him to sit down.
The King of Anxi, who had just suffered a humiliation, dared to take a firm position again. After sitting half-assed on the chair, he raised his head and looked at Huang Qiong, cupping his hands and saying: "Your Majesty, after I received the edict, I immediately sent a letter to the chiefs of the Uighur clans in the Western Regions to come to Beijing to meet you. I will wait for a few The clan leaders gathered together and rushed to Xijing on a starry night without daring to delay for a moment. They were only delayed for a month because they were collecting the 10,000 horses that should be paid as tribute this year. Fortunately, they lived up to their orders and got 10,000 horses and a thousand camels. Turn it over.”
Having said this, he paused for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, last winter the entire Western Region north of the Tianshan Mountains was hit by heavy snowstorms, and in the spring there was another wolf plague. Especially the Ili Valley, which is rich in horses, was the hardest hit. Last winter there was a heavy snowstorm. It almost never stopped, and the snow on the grassland was more than one person deep. It blocked the entire grassland tightly, and many of the herdsmen’s cattle, sheep, and horses starved to death due to lack of forage. In the beginning of spring, there was another wolf disaster. The wolves on the grassland The hungry ones are so red-eyed that they dare to sneak into the herdsmen’s tents to look for food in broad daylight.”
"If you eat what someone eats, you won't be afraid at all when you see someone, and you will even pounce directly on them. Therefore, even though I started to raise the tribute horses and camels needed by the court in the spring, I could barely get them together until the month before last." It took some time to raise these horses and camels. In order to raise these horses, I used most of the grain and millet accumulated from farming in the Western Regions for several years to help the herdsmen, and I could barely make up the amount. But also It was delayed for a period of time, and it was not a conscious delay or procrastination on the part of the minister.”
Huang Qiong didn't say anything in his explanation. He just lightly tapped the imperial case in front of him with his fingers, and after a long time he said: "In order to achieve the court's request, King Anxi worked hard. In fact, this is not a big deal. King Anxi can just explain it in advance. Natural disasters It is beyond human power to contend, and it is not impossible for the court to understand that it cannot complete the tribute due to natural disasters. As long as it is the truth, I will naturally not be angry. The reason why I summoned you to Beijing this time is to find out what you want to do next. How to do it."
"To be honest, you have done well in the past few years. The old subordinates of the Shu Wastemen were actually able to be completely conquered by you in just a few years. It is enough to show that you have worked hard these years. But the internal stability Come down, there should be a goal next. Whether to continue to stabilize the interior, or prepare to expand outward. I know that the Kara Khanate in the west has always been thinking about advancing eastward. It has been attacking each other with the Uighurs before. Since Shu After the Kuai people occupied the Western Region, they fought one after another with the Shu Kuai people's troops, and no one could do anything to them."
"In the past few years, they have been caught up in civil strife and had no time to move eastward, which gave you enough time to integrate the internal chaos after the death of the useless people in Shu. After several years of hard work, now your internal affairs, It can be considered roughly smoothed out. What should be cleaned has been cleaned and what should be tidied up. It is time to determine the next goal. Should we go west, north, or south to completely wipe out the remnants of Khotan? Or prepare to go east and return. Homeland in the Central Plains? Don’t tell me, you will prepare to farm in the Western Regions."
Hearing Huang Qiong's words, the King of Anxi was stunned for a moment. Especially the sentence about marching eastward and returning to the homeland of the Central Plains. Although it was said extremely calmly, he could clearly hear the hidden meaning behind it. He was afraid that the master would misunderstand him, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, when I was ordered to leave the country, I never planned to return eastward. Among the words your Majesty said back then, I have always kept in mind. That is the Tian family's struggle for power and the use of weapons, which harms the people of the world and the vitality of the Qi Dynasty."
"I have never thought about marching eastward for so-called power and fighting with the imperial court. After I established a foothold in the Western Regions, the first thing I did was to clean out the ambitious elements among them, and even spent a lot of money to recruit generals. The Tubo people recruited by the Shu destitutes were either sent back to the Qingtang Dynasty, or settled as nomads on the spot. Now, in addition to some of the Shu destitutes and the Han people brought out of Yumen Pass by the minister, a considerable number of my subordinates are local tribes People. If I want to return eastward, I am afraid these people will be the first to rebel."
"If I really wanted to return eastward, I would not have purged the Tubo people, nor recruited locals, but would have sent most of the Han people to work in the fields. What's more, the Kara Khanate is indeed in civil strife now. But the weak On the one hand, they always think about the lost land in the west and seek to make up for it from the east. In the past two years, they have continued to gather iron cavalry to invade the bandits. There are an average of three or four attacks every year for those with tens of thousands of people. As for those with more than a thousand troops and horses, they occur almost every month. Yes. The tribes at the northern foot of Jinshan also rebelled and obeyed at times. It was better when they obeyed."
"If there is a rebellion, heavy troops will be needed to suppress it. When I am stationed in the Western Regions, in addition to the northern foothills of Tianshan Mountain, the southern foothills of Jinshan Mountain are the most important. The tribes at the northern foothills of Jinshan Mountain are all related to the Nianbage tribe in the Northern Liao Dynasty. , share the same ancestral origin, and standing behind is Northern Liao. Under this situation, unless I completely abandon the Western Regions, even if I have the ambition to return eastward, I will not have the strength to return eastward. But since His Majesty has given me the responsibility of guarding the Western Regions , The Western Region is my roots, how can I give up so easily? What I said is absolutely not half-false."
Having said this, he smiled self-deprecatingly and said: "Your Majesty, although I am a bit ambitious, it is just a little bit. I have never thought about returning east to compete with Your Majesty for the world. In the past few years in the Western Regions, I have become Exhausted. I have tried my best to maintain the current situation. I see myself very clearly. Ambition must be supported by ability. But with such a great ability, I have no ability to support the ambition to compete for the world. Your Majesty , if you want to expand your strength in the Western Region, the most convenient way is to marry."
"In order to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, I did take two noble girls from the tribe as concubines. But there were only two of them, not one more. I gave money to send away all the wives and concubines left by the useless people in Shu. And In addition to these two, there have been people who have sent women to me in recent years. But I have never accepted it. Duan Lin can testify to this. If I had that ambition, I would have met those women as soon as possible. Marriage between tribes in order to firmly control those tribes and enhance their own strength."
Listening to this guy's words, Huang Qiong smiled and said: "If you really need to marry with the tribe to stabilize the situation, I'm afraid that's really underestimating you. You can monitor the clan members in Nanzhen Fusi , sneaking around the counter-insurgency battlefield with low eyelids, I am afraid that my mind has already gone wild. When you arrive in the Western Region, isn't there a vast world with a lot to offer? And why do you need a low-level means like marriage to stabilize your power? Okay. , I still believe you. What you say today, if you think it is a temptation, it is a temptation."
"But I think that what I said today is more of a reminder. I remind you, don't forget that you are the son of the Han family, and the blood of the Han family is flowing in your body. Although I do not say that I will not treat any Huayi people However, we, the Han people, will not tolerate any other race’s abuse. This is my bottom line. If you feel that one day, your body and bones are strong enough, you can compete with Dongjin and me, you can come. But Remember, don’t invite wolves into your home, or invite foreigners to ravage your own people, and let us Han descendants become slaves of foreigners.”
"I also know that you are in the Western Region, and it is not easy to maintain the current situation when facing the wealthy tigers and leopards around you. Therefore, I have never had the heart to criticize you. Except for the cannon, which has not been agreed to, the rest can be said to be granted. As for the cannon, , the reason why I have not promised to allocate it to you is because I think it is not time to give it to you. When I think it is time to give it to you, I will naturally not be stingy. But at least now, the time is still not enough. This One thing, if you resent me in your heart, I have nothing to say."
After Huang Qiong's words fell, King Anxi stood up quickly and said: "Reporting to your Majesty, I have always understood your Majesty's Juxin. When I left, I have always remembered your Majesty's parting words. I dare not I forgot for a moment. When I was in the Western Regions, I always remembered that I was a Han, and what I wanted to protect was the country of the Han family. When I arrived in the Western Regions, I always aspired to become our great Qi, the western barrier of our Han people. As for marching eastward to compete for the world, I never I have never thought about it. I will not let the people fall into the flames of war for my own selfish interests."
Turning around and looking at his distant cousin with an upright face, Huang Qiong smiled faintly and said, "As long as you have the heart. I believe that what you tell is the truth. By the way, this time you return to the Western Regions, Take your son away with you. When the child grows up, he still has to stay with his parents. As for your petition to ask for some things as a scholar, I have agreed. I have ordered the Ministry of Rites to help you in the Imperial College and all private schools and academies around the world. You raise money. I promise that as long as those scholars agree to go to the Western Regions, they will all be awarded the title of eighth grade."
After hearing Huang Qiong asked him to pick up his son, King Anxi said respectfully: "Your Majesty is so anxious for your thoughts. I am very grateful. Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will do my best in the Western Regions and there will never be a moment's delay. However, where is the child? I have discussed with Duan Lin and decided to stay in the capital. His mother will accompany him and he will study for a few more years. When he is thirteen years old, he will be taken to the Western Regions."
