Water Margin people

Chapter 1563 Continue to the West

"Didn't those Venetian merchants say that the Crusaders were preparing to march east?"

Sun Lei said that he had collected a lot of intelligence during his southern tour, the most important of which was the intelligence about the Crusaders from the Venetian merchants.

For those Arab Christians, the Crusaders were their mortal enemies. As for the State of Qi, they were just a group of powerful enemies from the East, no different from the Huns, Xianbei, Turks, and Khitans who came here in the past. They would resist and give in if they couldn't win.

"Your Majesty, do you want to use the Crusades to counterbalance those Arabs?"

Zhu Wu's face was filled with surprise. If this were possible, the pressure of the war in the west would be greatly relieved.

However, only the emperor could come forward to handle this matter. After all, the person he was facing was of high status, and it would be difficult to gain the trust of someone other than the emperor.

"Yes, if we want to completely control the west, we have to let the Arabs and the Crusaders fight each other. The harder the fight, the better. Otherwise, it will take a lot of time to conquer the west."

Sun Lei nodded and said that if Qi State only relied on unilateral conquests, it would be difficult to truly rule the world before there was a great improvement in steam and machinery. If they wanted to rely on cavalry conquests, the limit was the territory of Mongolia. Any further, the four legs of the war horses would not be able to support it.

"But your majesty, isn't this too risky?"

Zhu Wu was still a little worried, after all, Sun Lei was related to the entire Qi State.

"I will be back quickly this time, with all the best troops. I will try to be back within three months. I also have to rush back to Liangshan City to celebrate the New Year!"

Sun Lei said.

The military order was quickly passed down, and the generals stationed in Gaochang City came to the palace to discuss the matter.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

Everyone saluted to Sun Lei.

"You should know what's going on. The Seljuks in the west are restless. Although they have been defeated by Du Fu, I'm afraid they won't give up. The war will continue, so I have to lead people there in person!"

"We need to go and come back quickly this time, so I'm only bringing 10,000 light cavalry. Each man is equipped with three horses, and the horses can rest but the men can too!"

Sun Lei looked at the generals and said.

Everyone looked at Sun Lei eagerly, hoping to be able to accompany him.

"This time I'm bringing Yue Fei, Hua Rong, Pang Wanchun, Zhang Qing, Qin Ming, and Mi Sheng!"

Sun Lei said.

The generals whose names were called out were indeed very excited, while those who were not called out were somewhat regretful, but they all knew that this was normal because they were all infantry and they could not keep up with the speed of this light cavalry charge.

"Those who stay here should not have any ideas. The Western Region is very important. The battle in the west needs the support of the Western Region, so there must be no unrest in the Western Region."

"After I lead the army away, Zhu Wu and Qiao Daoqing will be in charge of the affairs in the Western Region. You should cooperate well!"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and spoke again. The key to his being able to march west with peace of mind was the stability of the Western Regions, which was an important area connecting to the Central Plains.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Everyone bowed, they naturally knew the importance of the Western Regions.

"Okay, let's get ready. We'll set off tomorrow!"

Sun Lei looked at everyone and gave the order.

Everyone obeyed the order and left, but Hu Sanniang and others stayed.

"You guys aren't going to follow too?"

Sun Lei looked at Hu Sanniang and asked, female soldiers are not suitable for this kind of long-distance attack.

"Of course I have to go. When I came here, my sisters asked me to follow His Majesty closely!"

Hu Sanniang spoke.

"This time is different from the trip to the Western Regions. Even though the Western Regions were a foreign land, it had been developed during the Han and Tang Dynasties. Although the customs and habits are somewhat different, they are generally not much different. Most of these people have Central Plains ancestry! But it's different going further west. That's outside the region, and there are enemies everywhere!" Sun Lei said. It's not that he was unwilling to take the female soldiers there, but the journey was not only difficult, but also full of dangers. Women were more dangerous in such an environment.

"You are the emperor. If you can go, then we can go too!"

Hu Sanniang insisted.

"Okay, we can't all go, so let's select 500 people with excellent riding skills to accompany us!"

Sun Lei had no choice but to agree.

"Your Majesty, it would be better to take the Queen with you. Your Majesty is on an expedition, and you can't be surrounded by only rough soldiers. You need someone who can take care of you!"

Zhu Wu leaned over and said that he had no objection to Hu Sanniang bringing female soldiers with her. Needless to say, the expedition would be difficult, and the emperor also needed someone to take care of his daily life.

"I have hands and feet, do I still need someone to take care of me?"

Sun Lei glared at Zhu Wu. How could he make him sound like a pampered loser who had nothing to lose but clothes and food.

Zhu Wu just smiled and said nothing. Although Sun Lei was not too arrogant, as an emperor, he had become accustomed to having others serve him in his daily life.

"Okay, tell me how you plan to manage the Western Region."

Sun Lei looked at Zhu Wu and Qiao Daoqing and spoke.

"kill!"

Qiao Daoqing only answered with one word.

"Your Majesty's kindness is like the sun shining on the earth, but the weeds, bushes and wild animals will not appreciate it. They will grow wildly in the dark. We are the sharp sword in your Majesty's hand, and we should kill them!"

Qiao Daoqing explained that the emperor used kindness and persuasion during his time in the Western Regions, which prevented the Western Regions from becoming too turbulent and quickly restored their prosperity.

But there are definitely some disobedient people secretly accumulating strength and looking for an opportunity. There is no need to say much to these people. Kill them one by one if they appear, and massacre every city that is found.

"Well, I feel relieved now!"

Sun Lei nodded. He was sure that he could impress everyone in Gaochang City, but once he left, those people would surely become restless.

After getting a satisfactory answer, Sun Lei came to the backyard of the palace. He also needed to prepare.

"Your Majesty, I heard that the army is heading west, so take me with you!"

Xin Qiji appeared out of nowhere, ran to Sun Lei and started to kowtow.

"Why are you following? Just stay here and study hard with Principal Li. There are a lot of things going on in the Western Regions, so you have to help out too!"

Sun Lei shook his head and said that this trip to the west was not for fun and Xin Qiji could not be taken with him.

"What's the point of reading those crappy books? They're all full of weird stuff, so fake!"

Xin Qiji muttered that Li Qingzhao had been translating books from the Western Regions these days, and he also took a look at them, but he was not interested in these things at all.

"Although it's very fake, it still has some research value. Only by reading those books can you understand the people in the Western Regions and manage them better!"

Sun Lei smiled and said that the culture of the Western Regions was not as colorful, profound and complicated as that of the Central Plains. Instead, the culture of the Western Regions was relatively simple, which was related to the environment in which they lived. There had been wars all year round, and they had no fixed place to live. There was no unified language and culture, but this was the Western Regions. Only by understanding it could we dismantle and manage it.

"Your Majesty, I will follow you to the west and study that side!"

Xin Qiji still refused to give up.

"No, you better stay in Gaochang City this time. If you dare to run around, I will send you back immediately!"

Sun Lei looked at Xin Qiji and said.

"Why can my elder brother go but I can't? He is only six years older than me!"

Xin Qiji muttered to himself that Lu You was on the list for the Western Expedition.