Chinese New Year

Chapter 1443 Departure and Meeting (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Shuo Shuo Liu Guang)
Starting in mid-November, the first batch of supplies began to be transported back.

Yang Qin divided Zhao Wei's Black Spear Left Battalion into two halves. Three thousand men, led by Dong Le, set off on the fifteenth of the eleventh month to meet four thousand able-bodied men at Wulei City, where they drove carts back.

They won't come back after they go back. The emperor might send another force to replace them, but that might only be the first time, and they will eventually withdraw.

On the 20th, Dong Le's troops arrived at Wulei. At this time, the procession was even more magnificent, with more than 1,700 carts, more than 5,000 camels, and more than 3,000 horses.

Besides grain, the cart also carried many bulky items, such as chainmail, bronze stoves, sculptures, gold and silver, musical instruments, and so on.

The camels were laden with luggage on both sides, which consisted mostly of jade, jewelry, gold and silver items, incense, books, coins, brocade (mostly Persian brocade), and blankets.

King Bo Shun of Kucha was escorted to the capital, along with his family. His younger brother, Bai Jing, remained King of Kucha and assisted Yang Qin in calming the people. After all, they had just suffered enough. Although the attack had stopped, the pain remained—perhaps they had become accustomed to it. For hundreds of years, whether it was the Han army or neighboring countries that invaded, they had never had a good time. They may have developed an adaptive system.

On the 25th, a cold wind howled outside the city of Kucha, and a thin layer of snowflakes began to fall.

It should have snowed long ago, judging by the timing.

The Central Plains fell, Cheshi fell, Yanqi fell, but the Kucha region didn't. But to be honest, this area seems much warmer than the north; it's quite noticeable.

That morning, Yang Qin saw Zhao Wei off at the east gate of Kucha.

He led the remaining two thousand soldiers of the Black Spear Left Battalion, joined forces with several thousand grain transport troops returning from Gumo, and together they returned to the Central Plains.

This time, there were nearly four thousand fine horses and more than five thousand camels, mostly supplies collected from areas outside the capital of Kucha since winter, and even many children.

Before departing, Zhao Wei couldn't help but offer a word of advice: "When I inspected the military camp, I heard the able-bodied men from Shazhou who had returned from Gumo talking about how the Luoyan Army and the Liao soldiers had plundered the cities of Gumo and seized countless women, children, gold, and silk. It would be best if the Commander-in-Chief intervened. Even Kucha has stopped, but Gumo is still in turmoil, which may not be a good thing."

"Okay, I understand." Yang Qin nodded and smiled.

He had just sent envoys to the kingdoms of Yutou and Wensu the day before yesterday, because he had heard that nearly three thousand soldiers who went there to collect grain and goods were openly lodging in civilian homes, and more than thirty of them had already been poisoned or beheaded in their sleep.

Actually, this percentage isn't high, but it really needs to be addressed because some people are truly lawless.

The men of these two countries had already suffered heavy casualties, leaving only the elderly, women, and children. After the soldiers slept with the women, some of them were quite nice, allowing the retainers who had followed them with great difficulty to also have some fun.

The literati and officials accompanying the army could no longer stand by and watch, believing it to be against human ethics and morality, and threatened to report it to the emperor, so they had no choice but to intervene.

In addition, he heard that Li Bai's Southern Route Army was looting even more fiercely, even plundering their ally Shule.

The force consisted of Qifu Xianbei, Shanshan soldiers, and Hezhou Fuhan troops, totaling three thousand men. They didn't gain any advantages along the way, and ended up fighting several battles with Gumo, Weitou, Wensu, and other states before finally being dragged to the walls of Kucha.

The Southern Route Army was not under his command, so he could only send a letter to Li Bai to ask him to keep it in check.

Even a massacre can end eventually, but looting can't go on forever, can it?

Seeing that Yang Qin had taken his words to heart, Zhao Wei bowed and took his leave. After taking a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Commander-in-Chief, when will the army return to base? Are we still going to fight?"

“We still need to pacify the area for a while,” Yang Qin replied. “It will not be too late to return to the capital once the area east of the snow mountain is completely pacified.”

"Any news about Kuaihu?" Zhao Wei asked again.

Yang Qin shook his head and said, "According to the interrogation, this tribe is larger than we imagined, perhaps with 20,000 households and six or seven thousand warriors. They also have some business west of the snow mountain, so they only sent two thousand cavalry to reinforce them. After losing more than 1,300 men, they were probably terrified. However—"

"But what?" Zhao Wei asked curiously.

Yang Qin thought for a moment and said, "According to the prisoners, there are two other tribes west of the snow mountain that are smaller than them and also act under the name of Kuaihu. They all migrated from the east together, and the one that is farther away was driven away by Tuoba Liwei back then."

"The commander-in-chief might as well send Sogdian merchants to investigate," Zhao Wei suggested. "The Kuaihu people fight for money, and they may have a business mentality. They should be able to get along with the Sogdian merchants."

"Great idea!" Yang Qin exclaimed. "I'll find a Sogdian guide and ask him to find out what's going on. I'm really worried that the Kuaihu will continue to advance eastward, and then we'll never have peace."

His biggest worry was that once the army withdrew, the Kuaihu would return, not just to collect money and fight, but to deeply influence the politics of various countries and manipulate puppets. Now, the Western Regions countries had suffered some losses and might still harbor resentment; this was something he couldn't afford to ignore.

Zhao Wei bowed again, then mounted his horse and led his troops away.

******
It was already December, and the weather behind the mountains was freezing cold, so Shao Xu returned to Gaochang early, where it was much warmer.

He hasn't been idle lately either.

First, the scope of the military settlements within the territory of the Later Cheshi Kingdom was clarified. Then, the leaders of the newly surrendered tribes were entertained with wine and merriment, and were given money. For a time, the atmosphere was harmonious—at least on the surface.

In Gaochang, he designated many wastelands for soldiers to cultivate.

Today is the last batch. He personally attended the event, which included over 300 hectares of land, to be distributed to 1,000 soldiers.

The reason for this urgency is the unique climate of this region. While people in the Central Plains are celebrating the Lunar New Year, people here are already preparing for spring plowing. Winters in Gaochang are short, and summers are long. There are over 300 days a year with little or no clouds. Shao Xu strongly suspects that the "frost-free period" his father once spoke of is commonplace here, because he has been here for several months and has hardly ever seen one, only encountering it in the eleventh lunar month.

According to the elders of the Qu family, Gaochang receives very little rain or snow, so most people live in earthen houses with whitewashed exterior walls to avoid the sun.

During the hottest days of summer, when it became unbearable, every household would hide in the cellar to escape the heat. Even birds that came might suddenly fall down while flying.

Occasionally, there would be a year with torrential rains, the water reaching five inches high, damaging many houses. Then, a flash flood would erupt, rushing around the city. That year, the amount of water was so abundant that even water-powered mills were driven.

Shao Xu's heart sank. He thought to himself that while spending the winter in Gaochang was fine, he would definitely go to the area behind the mountains in the summer, where it would be much cooler and more comfortable. Furthermore, the area receives more rainfall, making it easier to irrigate the fields with open water—and if that wasn't possible, building some wells and canals as a supplement would also work.

In short, from any perspective, he had to find a way to control both sides of the snow-capped mountain.

Just as he finished issuing the last land deed, a procession arrived on the road to the west.

Shao Xu stopped what he was doing and stood quietly by the roadside. It had already been announced that this was the first group to return from Kucha—in fact, it was mainly to send able-bodied men from Guanzhong home, since they had already lost a year's livelihood.

"Your Highness." The army continued its advance, but Dong Le left the ranks, dismounted, and bowed from a distance.

"General Dong, I am well." Shao Xu returned the greeting.

"Everything is fine," Dong Le said with a smile, then gave a few instructions to his personal guards.

A moment later, several horse-drawn carriages arrived. After stopping, the soldiers struggled to move the goods on them.

Dong Le explained, "By order of the Emperor, all the gold, silver, copper and iron seized this year from the mines of Yinshanqi and Kucha have been transported to Gaochang and handed over to Your Highness."

"Thank you for your hard work." Shao Xu bowed again, ordered the coins to be carried back into the city, and then added, "After they are minted—"

"No need," Dong Le quickly waved his hand and said, "Gold, silver, copper and iron will not be transported here next year. The Protectorate of the Western Regions may be relocated, and the mines will be under its management at that time. Your Highness should be aware of this."

“Very well.” Shao Xu no longer refused. He planned to cast the iron into farm tools and distribute them to the soldiers’ families, make the gold into goldware to reward officers and generals in the future, and use the silver and copper to mint coins and store them in the treasury for unforeseen needs.

As the two were talking, Liu Gong, the head farmer of the Prince Zhao's mansion, brought over a lot of food with his men and said with a smile, "These are simple things, General Dong, please don't find them offensive."

He knew that Dong Le was a man of the King of Zhao. He used to be in the right camp of the Black Spear Army, and last year he came to the left camp of the Black Spear Army to replace Peng Ling, who was recommended by the Crown Prince and transferred to the position of Commandant of the Wuwei Revenue Department. His future was limitless.

Dong Le didn't stand on ceremony and had his personal guards take away the food.

There were no delicacies, just the most common millet porridge, pancakes, and bean rice. The only precious thing was the few jars of sesame oil. It was precious in the Central Plains, but not necessarily here, because Dong Le had seen monks in Buddhist temples in Gaochang using sesame oil to light lamps, which they called "offering light to the Buddha."

"Fragrant rice with sesame seeds, eating it almost makes one feel like an immortal." Dong Le smiled and said, "I am grateful for Your Highness's kindness."

"Of course." Shao Xu waved his hand again and urged, "Where's the grape wine?"

Liu Gongzheng was directing the people to move the goods when he heard this and said with a smile, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. General Dong, please don't be in a hurry."

Shao Xu smiled, looked at Dong Le, and said, "This is a fine wine made from Gaochang mare's milk grapes. It has eight flavors, is very fragrant and strong, and is not found in the Central Plains. I only learned about it after I arrived here. So I will give the general fifty jars."

Dong Le's expression changed; this was extremely valuable.

Fifty jars of Gaochang wine are quite valuable in the Central Plains. Although grapes can be grown in many places, there are still differences. Wine from the Western Regions is delicious and of the highest quality. Opening it when entertaining guests would be a great way to show off.

"Your Highness..." he said, somewhat embarrassed.

Shao Xu waved his hand and laughed, "I lack everything here, except wine."

“Your Majesty is absolutely right,” Liu Gong chimed in from the side. “When I arrived in Gaochang, the land had not yet been allocated, yet I already had a peach orchard of five mu and sixty paces. This fruit is abundant in Gaochang, so it is not surprising.”

The "peach" that Liu Gong mentioned was actually a grape, because people at the time also called grapes "putao".

Dong Le accepted the wine with embarrassment, and then said, "If Your Highness lacks anything, you may write to Commander Yang. We may not have other things, but we have plenty of farm tools and livestock, and we can also find a way to provide manpower and food."

After saying this, he bowed, mounted his horse, and rode away.

Shao Xu returned the greeting from afar.

Along the way, carriages and people came and went in an endless stream. He even saw some beautiful women of Western Regions, who looked like noblewomen, but were sitting sadly in their carriages as they traveled eastward.

As for valuables and goods, there are even more.

They will arrive in Chang'an along with the news of victory.

(End of this chapter)