Simultaneous travel: City, infinite evolution

Chapter 271 The destruction of my Qilian Mountains has caused my livestock to cease breeding. [Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets]

Upon seeing the oasis in the distance, Li Chao was overjoyed.

"Hahaha... We've finally found the oasis! We're finally on the right track! Hahaha..."

After crossing the grasslands and arriving at the Ruoshui River, Li Chao led his army to drink from the river with great eagerness.

Li Chao and the others were so thirsty that they lay down on the river and drank like oxen.

After gulping down several mouthfuls of the sweet river water, Li Chao and the others finally caught their breath, and their throats were no longer dry and sore.

Looking at the long river, Li Chao burst into laughter.

"Hahaha... If you follow this river south, you will definitely reach Yanzhi Mountain."

When we return to the main army, we will occupy this entire area, expand our territory, and achieve great merit.

Li Chao boosted morale, and the soldiers, who had been complaining all the way, finally cheered with joy.

But before they could celebrate for long, they heard the thunder of hooves, and a cavalry force came from the north.

Li Chao and his men quickly mounted their horses and sent someone to inquire:
"Where did you cavalrymen come from? Whose men are you?"

The voices on the other side shouted back: "We are cavalrymen pursuing the Xiongnu Chanyu's army, subordinates of Xiang Yu."

We have brought 20,000 Yuezhi tribesmen with us. Go quickly to report to the imperial court and handle this matter.”

Li Chao was shocked upon hearing this: "What?"

"Xiang Yu brought 20,000 Yuezhi tribesmen? Where did these Yuezhi people come from?"

"When Xiang Yu went to pursue the Xiongnu Chanyu, did he join forces with the Yuezhi people and defeat the Xiongnu?"

"Could he have gotten his hands on the head of the Xiongnu Chanyu?"

The smile on Li Chao's face vanished as soon as he thought of this.

His expression immediately became quite interesting.

There was frustration, regret, joy, and even a tiny bit of jealousy.

When he learned that Xiang Yu had not obtained the head of the Xiongnu Chanyu, he felt a sense of relief, but then regret that he had not been able to cut off the head of the Xiongnu Chanyu in one battle.

However, when he learned that 20,000 Yuezhi cavalrymen had returned to their old home in Juyanze with women, children and the elderly, his expression immediately turned serious.

"Xiang Yu, what are those Yuezhi people thinking? Do they intend to surrender and submit to our Great Qin?"

Xiang Yu reported truthfully: "They split into two factions. One faction believed that they should take back their ancestral lands, reoccupy the Ruoshui River basin and the Hunu River basin, control the Hexi Corridor, drive out the Qin and Xiongnu people, and live in peace and prosperity."

One faction believed that the Yuezhi people were weak and should submit to the Qin Dynasty, relying on its power to resist the Xiongnu invasion in order to protect their homeland and ensure their survival and prosperity.

"Hmph!" Li Chao sneered disdainfully after hearing this, "Barbarians, they fear power but do not cherish virtue."

"You lead your troops south with me, mobilize a large army, and press towards Juyanze."

I refuse to believe that with a massive army pressing in, they would still dare to harbor illusions or waver.

This vast oasis in the Juyan Basin, and the Hexi Corridor, must be firmly in the hands of our Great Qin!

Only in this way can we establish a camp and build a city here, firmly control the Hexi Corridor, and seize this vital passage between east and west. It will surely be of great use in the future!

It must be said that although Li Chao was unlucky enough to get lost, he was from a military family and his father was the famous general Li Xin, so he still had some strategic vision.

"Xiang Yu, you have rendered meritorious service in defeating the Xiongnu this time, pursuing them to their stronghold."

Although the mission was not fully accomplished due to insufficient troops, it was still a great achievement.

I will personally submit a memorial to His Majesty, requesting commendation for you.

"Thank you, General."

Xiang Yu casually bowed and thanked him in a nonchalant manner.

This attitude made Li Chao frown, feeling that although this person was a fierce general, he was too arrogant and self-important.

Li Chao harbored some resentment towards Xiang Yu's arrogance, but he did not show it on the surface.

Instead, they joined forces with Xiang Yu and marched south, returning to their main camp.

When they returned to their camp at Yanzhi Mountain, the allied forces had already brought all the grasslands of Yanzhi Mountain, Xiutu Marsh, and Qilian Mountain under their control.

They controlled two-thirds of the Hexi Corridor, and further upstream lay the territory of the Wusun.

Without hesitation, Li Chao mobilized his troops, and the army marched north along the Ruoshui River, advancing towards Juyanze.

Furthermore, Li Chao began writing memorials to the emperor and dispatched messengers on an urgent 800-li journey to inform the First Emperor of the situation here, while also requesting credit for Xiang Yu's achievements.

In his memorial to the throne, Li Chao requested the construction of city walls, the dispatch of civil officials to govern them, and the establishment of vassal states to deter foreign tribes, resettle immigrants to the border, and allow the Qin people to live and multiply there.

Only with the long-term governance and stationing of troops by the vassal states can troops be mobilized in a timely manner, ensuring that the Hexi Corridor will not be lost again in the future.

Only if this vital passage to the Western Regions is not cut off by foreign tribes can they possibly rule the Western Regions.

In this way, once we conquer the Western Regions, we will not lose them.

After all, this place is too far away, and it would take several months for the news to be transmitted. By the time the central court reacts and mobilizes troops, it will be too late.

Since direct rule is difficult, let's follow the wisdom of our ancestors, establish vassal states, and permanently rule the local areas, thus transforming the barbarians into the civilized people!

It's not too late to incorporate the vassal states into the central dynasty's territory when the time is right.

Li Chao led his army to Juyanze, and the Yuezhi people could no longer sit idly by.

They all surrendered to the Qin Dynasty and dared not wage war against it.

What a joke! They couldn't even defeat the Xiongnu, let alone the Qin people.

The Qin people's reputation as a fierce and powerful army for centuries was not just hype; it was earned through real battles.

It's not like there weren't other ethnic groups that were defeated by the Qin army when Qin was still a small state.

Now, the Qin Dynasty is a behemoth, having just driven the Xiongnu out of the southern Gobi Desert, and is at the height of its power.

The tribal elders of the Yuezhi had no desire to test the might of the Qin army.

Therefore, when they saw that the Qin people were serious and did not leave after a single battle, but were determined to establish real-world rule, they realized that the Qin people were serious and did not leave after a single battle, but were determined to establish real-world rule.

The Yuezhi people immediately knelt down.

Their previous fantasy of continuing to rule this vast ancestral land was simply because they thought the Qin army wouldn't really want this grassland that couldn't be cultivated.

Who would have thought that the Qin Dynasty would now even want the harsh, cold grasslands?

In the past, the Qin people weren't very interested in these uncultivable territories. What's going on?
The Yuezhi people sighed and looked miserable.

Faced with the army, they all knelt down and surrendered with courtesy.

Li Chao accepted the Yuezhi people's surrender and planned to wait for the First Emperor's decree to see how to deal with these surrendered tribes.

While they were waiting, the First Emperor also received Li Chao's memorial, and he naturally knew the importance of the Hexi Corridor.

Therefore, Li Chao's request was granted, and with a stroke of the pen, the Hexi Corridor and the most fertile Juyan Basin to the north were assigned to the King of Hexi as the territory of the Hexi Kingdom.

The other grasslands were also allocated to the other participating vassal states, each receiving a share and the spoils being distributed equally.

Then, Li Chao was put in charge of building fortifications at various key locations.

Furthermore, they relocated people to the border regions, recruiting landless refugees and illegitimate sons whose families had too many brothers to share land, and also relocated many convicts and prisoners to the Hexi Corridor, the grasslands north of the Yin Mountains, and the fertile plains of the Hetao region.

They went there to graze livestock, cultivate wasteland, irrigate with river water, intermarry with the nomadic peoples beyond the Great Wall, and assimilate the foreign tribes into the people of the Xia.

After three generations, they will surely be Qin people.

To encourage people to migrate to the border, those willing to leave their homeland and take risks will be given three times the amount of land.

As for the displaced people and convicts, they had no choice and naturally received little welfare, but the land they were allocated was twice as much.

This is just farmland; if you include pastures, there's even more.

After learning that the Yuezhi people had surrendered and submitted, the First Emperor instructed Li Chao to disperse the Yuezhi tribes and distribute them to various regions.

For example, a portion of the land could be moved to the grasslands north of the Yin Mountains, which would both divide the Yuezhi and protect the frontier. It would be close to the Hetao Plain and not too far from Guanzhong, making it easy to control.

Moreover, those who migrated together had to be from different factions and tribes within the Yuezhi, to prevent them from becoming too united and prone to change.

They also had to intermarry and live with the Qin people to assimilate them through cultural customs and bloodline inheritance.

In addition to the areas north of Yinshan and Hexi, Ying Zheng even relocated some people to settle in the distant Tianshan Mountains.

They assimilated the Yuezhi tribes there and consolidated their rule.

Stabilizing the Tianshan Mountains is tantamount to planting a forward outpost in the Western Regions.

Because further west of the Tianshan Mountains are Cheshi and Yanqi, and beyond that is the prosperous Kucha.

South of Kucha lies the Tarim River and the other prosperous kingdoms of the Western Regions nourished by its basin.

The Tianshan Mountains not only allow for westward surveillance of the Western Regions, but also provide a stronghold for the Xiongnu in the northern desert, planting an inescapable thorn in the side of the Xiongnu.

This can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

In this way, the Qin Dynasty brought the Hexi Corridor, the southern steppes north of the Yin Mountains, and the Tianshan Mountains in the northwest under its rule.

Meng Tian returned to his camp and led his army to the grasslands north of Yinshan Mountain, as well as the Juyan Basin and the Hexi Corridor to the west.

To intimidate the various tribes of the grasslands, ensure the division of the Yuezhi people, and assimilate these territories.

Then, cities were built in key locations on various grasslands to control and radiate influence across the grasslands.

Then, together with Li Chao, Xiang Yu, and others, they returned to the capital in triumph.

The Xiongnu suffered heavy losses in this battle, losing all the fertile and important grasslands south of the Gobi Desert and becoming unable to establish a foothold there again.

Even the Tianshan Mountains blocked their influence over the Western Regions.

Although the Xiongnu did not pay much attention to the Western Regions at this time, and had no real impact on them anyway.

However, severing ties with the Western Regions was tantamount to cutting off a major source of future resources for the Xiongnu.

Without the Western Regions healing packs, the Xiongnu's recovery ability drops by at least one level.

The Xiongnu were still lamenting the loss of the Juyan Basin and the Hexi Corridor.

They sang like this:

"They destroyed my Qilian Mountains, causing my livestock to cease to thrive."

"Losing my Rouge Mountain makes my women lose their beauty."

(Note: "Rouge Mountain" and "Yanzhi Mountain" are both transliterations of the Xiongnu language and refer to the same mountain.)
Meng Tian and his men expanded the territory and returned victorious, shaking the world.

Whether it was the tribes of the northern grasslands or the nobles of the six southern kingdoms, they were all shaken.

Countless people sighed: "The rise of the powerful Qin Dynasty is now unstoppable."

This massive victory, the first since the unification of the country, forced countless ambitious individuals to hide their true intentions and observe the situation.

The Qin Dynasty was too powerful, so powerful that it inspired despair.

Even the northern Xiongnu had to avoid its sharp edge and flee to the northern desert in order to survive.

These nobles from the six kingdoms saw absolutely no hope of restoring their kingdoms.

When the news reached Xianyang, the people of Xianyang cheered with joy. This exciting news was not simply about defeating the northern barbarians and proving the legitimacy and capability of the Qin Dynasty.

This also means that the system of granting land to those who have achieved military merit has been restarted after many years.

The people of Guanzhong were overjoyed at the news of the war!

This is a chance for upward mobility!

Military merits! Absolutely all military merits!
In the eyes of the people of Guanzhong, the northern barbarians were nothing more than walking military heroes.

When Meng Tian returned to the capital in triumph, he was warmly welcomed by the people of Guanzhong, who lined the streets with food and drink to greet the royal army!
Meng Tian was ennobled for his merits and was granted the title of "Marquis of Zhenbei" by Ying Zheng, and his rank was promoted to Marquis of Guannei.

The title of Marquis within the Pass is a high-ranking noble title, second only to the title of Marquis of Che. The Marquis has a fief but no state title, and is entitled to receive rent and taxes.

Li Chao was also promoted in rank for his merits, jumping three ranks from the eleventh rank of Right Vice Minister, bypassing the Left and Middle Ministers, to the fourteenth rank of Right Minister.

Because of his extraordinary achievements, Xiang Yu rose through the ranks seven times from a commoner without a title.

Skip the ranks of Gongshi, Shangzao, Zanniao, Bugeng, Daifu, and Guandaifu, and directly ascend to the seventh rank of Gongdaifu.

This reward is truly generous.

In addition, all the generals and soldiers who made meritorious contributions were also rewarded with land, gold, silver, cloth and other material rewards, as well as promotions in official rank.

Meanwhile, during Meng Tian's northern expedition against the Xiongnu.

Chen Hong was also busy with another important matter.

(End of this chapter)