The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 724 Gaochang
Two clear rivers flow across the land, and at their confluence is a gray-white city.

Jiaohe City.

Throughout Gaochang, Deng Zhong had many places to choose from, all of which could serve as the seat of his military governor's office.

The environment here is the best, which makes Deng Zhong quite attracted.

As soon as they entered the territory of Gaochang, local officials came to greet them.

Of course, they came here because they heard the news.

Deng Zhong and Liu Shi followed these people and quickly arrived at Jiaohe City.

The city is clean and tidy, the roads are flat, and towering pagodas can be seen in the distance.

From time to time, people hurried past, dressed in all kinds of clothes, which was dazzling.

The glaring sun hung high in the sky, illuminating everything. Deng Zhong felt a surge of discomfort, his exposed skin burning and aching. Was it too hot here?
Deng Zhong and Liu Shi came to the official residence, which was built underground and required walking down the stairs.

Most of the buildings here are built by hollowing out the ground, with houses built around them. However, this underground area is not covered up and is directly exposed to the open air.

But because of the high walls around, you won't be facing the sun directly when sitting here.

Deng Zhong and Liu Shi sat in the upper seats respectively, and many officials quickly sat on both sides of them.

There were grapes in front of them.

This is a specialty of Gaochang.

Deng Zhong looked around and said with emotion, "This is the first time I've seen an official residence like this."

One of his captains smiled and explained, "Captain, it's because it's so hot here, so most of the houses are like this."

Deng Zhong smiled and said, "Indeed, the wind here is hot and makes me dizzy."

These people probably knew Deng Zhong's identity, and none of them was rude.

They quickly invited Deng Zhong to taste the many local fruits. According to them, everything grown here is sweet.

Just as Deng Zhong was enthusiastically chatting with everyone about the local area, Liu Shi finally couldn't help it.

He interrupted Deng Zhong and asked, "The official who greeted us said there was unrest at the Changshi Mansion. What happened?"

Captain Li was stunned for a moment, then he smiled bitterly and talked about the situation in the Chief Secretary's Mansion.

"Mr. Liu, come to think of it, this is because of Mr. Cheng's departure."

"When Duke Cheng was about to return to Luoyang, various kings came to see him off. King Long'an of Yanqi and King Baishan of Kucha respectfully saw him off in Loulan."

"After Cheng Gong left, these people held a banquet and planned to have fun for a few days before returning."

"At the banquet, the two of them drank too much, and Bai Shan insulted Long An, saying that Long An's sons didn't look like him and seemed to be from outside."

"Long An was furious and went to beat Bai Shan, but Bai Shan was young and Long An was older. Long An was defeated and was captured by Bai Shan in public and humiliated in various ways."

"Then the other kings came to persuade them, and only with the intervention of officials from the Chief Secretary's Office did they stop."

"After Long An returned, he couldn't get over it and insisted on sending troops to fight Bai Shan. Bai Shan also trained his army and recruited warriors, claiming that he wanted to kill Long An."

"Alas, even the officials of the Changshi Mansion can't persuade them."

After hearing what this person said, Deng Zhong was also a little angry.

"This Baishan is so arrogant! I think this is all the fault of the King of Kucha! He should be punished!"

Liu Shi stopped Deng Zhong and asked, "Didn't they celebrate the festival before this?"

Li Duwei replied, "Yes, because Baishan ascended the throne at a young age, Long An often mocked Kucha in front of others, saying that their king was a child."

Liu Shi looked at Deng Zhong beside him.

Deng Zhong smiled awkwardly, "It's still up to Mr. Liu to figure out the solution."

Liu Shi didn't care. He asked seriously about the situation of both parties.

The military levels of both sides were similar. The King of Yanqi had one thousand elite soldiers, and the King of Kucha had two thousand elite soldiers, but the soldiers under the King of Yanqi were all veterans.

The armor rate of both sides was almost zero, and most of them were infantry.

In fact, most of the people in the Western Regions are semi-agricultural, or even farming is the majority, and nomadism is a minority. Only those places where no crops can be grown have a large number of herdsmen.

Liu Shi listened to the other party's words and then spoke: "Since this is just a dispute between the kings, it must not lead to war."

"I would like to ask the captain to lend me two hundred cavalrymen. I will set out for Kucha now to stop the fighting."

Deng Zhong quickly stood up and asked, "Mr. Liu, do you need me to go there in person?"

Along the way, the two of them got along very well, and Deng Zhong would definitely not cause any discord between the captain and the chief secretary.

Liu Shi shook his head. "Everything in the north needs you to maintain it. Gaochang is going to be established as a county, so how can you leave?"

"Let's first arrange the many affairs here. If I can't handle these things, how can I still be the Chief Secretary?"

Deng Zhong didn't say anything more. He assigned him two hundred cavalrymen and sent someone to escort Liu Shi away.

Just as Liu Shi said, Deng Zhong also had a lot of work to do here. After all, this place was the Shazhou County in the future. It was not easy to set up a county, let alone here?

Deng Zhonglai has to be responsible for everything, and I'm afraid he won't be able to do anything else for at least a year.

Liu Shi set out from Jiaohe City and headed for Yanqi.

Liu Shi never thought that this road would be so long.

He finally had an accurate understanding of the map hanging on the wall.

He knew the Western Regions were vast, but he had never imagined them to be this vast. They had been traveling frantically on this road for many, many days, and he felt the distance between them was as far as from Luoyang to Liangzhou! The conditions along the way were quite desolate.

There are almost no cities or farmland to be seen.

You can't even see any passers-by. It's a complete wilderness and you can see many animals roaming around.

Looking at this scene, Liu Shi subconsciously felt that it would not be easy for Liu Song to achieve his goal.

If he hadn't had someone to lead the way, he wouldn't have been able to find the road here. Everywhere looked like a road, but there was no sign of human habitation.
On their way forward, they encountered wild wolves and bears several times.

This made Liu Shi even more worried.

After walking for an unknown distance, Liu Shi finally saw the city in the distance.

This is Yanqi.

After entering the territory of Yanqi, cultivated land and herdsmen finally began to appear.

Liu Shi, who hadn't seen anyone for such a long time, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the King of Yanqi came with his men to greet them.

Long An is already quite old and looks a little weak.

He is of medium build and has an ordinary appearance.

"Meet the Chief Secretary!!!"

Seeing Liu Shi and others, Long An hurriedly took people to pay their respects.

Liu Shi looked at the people in front of him and then dismounted.

"King Yanqi, there's no need to be so polite!"

He helped Long An up and asked, "I'm not late, am I? Did you fight with Bai Shan?"

Hearing this, Long An's face was filled with anger. "Chief Secretary, you don't know this. Bai Shan has always been disloyal to the Wei Dynasty and has always had rebellious intentions. I want to fight him for you!"

"This fellow even dares to win over the surrounding countries. He's clearly planning to rise up against Wei!"

Long An was very excited when he spoke.

Liu Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no fight.

It seems that the King of Kucha has started to recruit people.

He interrupted Long An's chatter and said, "Let's go into the city first and talk about it at the banquet!"

During these days, in order to avoid civil wars in the Western Regions, Liu Shi traveled day and night and did not dare to delay for a single day. He had not been so tired for a long time, had not eaten a single hot meal, and had lost a lot of weight.

He just wanted to eat something now and then go do something.

Long An hurriedly took him into the city.

Long'an's officials and children followed behind him.

The group walked into the city and went to Longan's palace.

The entire Yanqi city is also not very big, with limited land, and there are about 10,000 residents inside and outside.

This palace is just a larger mansion. It is not luxurious and is not very large. It can only accommodate the king's family and nearly a hundred guards.

Although Long An wanted Liu Shi to sit in the upper seat, Liu Shi insisted on sitting aside and never sat directly in the other party's seat.

Long An asked someone to serve the food.

Most of these meals were meat-based, and Liu Shi was really hungry, so he started eating with big mouthfuls.

Long An smiled and tried to get close to him, but he also didn't forget to make a few bad remarks about Bai Shan.

In fact, Baishan is not very close to Wei.

This is not because Baishan is unfaithful, but because he is closer to the Later Han Dynasty.

His throne was hereditary from the Former Han Dynasty. Ban Chao of the Former Han Dynasty supported his ancestor Bai Ba as king. Bai Ba was a royal attendant in the Han Dynasty, so his family was generally loyal to the Han Dynasty.

As for the Great Wei, he was not so close, and was definitely not as close as the King of Yanqi.

After Liu Shi had eaten and drunk his fill, he finally spoke, "I already know what happened between you two. He shouldn't have humiliated you at the banquet, and you shouldn't have mocked him back then."

"No matter what, fighting is absolutely unacceptable."

"I've come this time for a very important matter. Your Majesty has established Shazhou. From now on, we will all belong to Shazhou, governed by the Governor Liu Gong."

"You are fighting one another; this is treason!"

Liu Shi spoke seriously, and Long An lowered his head helplessly.

Liu Shi added, "But don't worry. I will go to Baishan again. If he refuses to listen to my advice and insists on fighting you, I will capture him and chop off his head!"

When these words were spoken, everyone was horrified.

Even Long An is the same. It seems that this new chief historian is also a ruthless person.

Liu Shi said seriously, "The Office of the Chief Secretary will be more involved in local governance in the future. Shazhou is newly established, and many people will come here. Posthouses will be built along the way, and there will be more merchants. This is a great opportunity for the entire Shazhou. Don't waste your time on such trivial matters. Think more about how you can help me govern the place well in the future!"

"only!!"

Long An hurriedly bowed and said yes.

(End of this chapter)