The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 350 Heading Westward (Part [-])

It was late at night, and a secret room in the Shanshan Palace was still brightly lit.

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to receive the subordinates of the ministers of the Han Kingdom just now, and inquired about them in various ways. It has been found out that the remaining veins of the Han Dynasty have indeed changed from living in a small corner to controlling Guanzhong. Now this Han Kingdom, the land under its control It is about a quarter of what it was when the Han Dynasty was strong. The population under its rule is currently 300 million, and it can mobilize more than 20 troops. In addition, in Xiping, east of Dunhuang, there are indeed tens of thousands of people in the Han Dynasty Tuntian. The people who garrisoned the fields were all Jin soldiers captured after the victory of the last war between Han and Jin. The commander of these tens of thousands of people was a general named Ma Jie. It is said that the ancestor of this general had a god of war in Han. Title. He himself is also very powerful..."

"Hey, even if there is only a quarter of a big man, it is not something we can resist. There are so many people in Xiping, if they all overwhelm them, what will happen."

In the countries of the Western Regions at this time, people from many countries did not have surnames.So there is no question of national surnames.

As far as Shanshan is concerned, Chinese history books say that they are descendants of Duke Donglou of the Zhou Dynasty.According to this point of view, the royal family of this country should have the surname Ji.It's a pity that Shanshan people don't admit that they are descendants of the Western Zhou Dynasty: we are Aryans with high noses, deep eyes, and fair skin.How did you become a descendant of the Western Zhou Dynasty?

The current king of Shanshan is called Da Luo, and his prime minister is called Tu Mi.The next two generals are Wei Qi and Mona.To be fair, the knowledge and abilities of these people are considered good among the current Western Region countries.Unfortunately, the prosperity of a country on this land is determined by the direction and volume of water sources.As far as the water source currently occupied by Shanshan is concerned, no matter how hard the monarchs and ministers of this country work, Shanshan as a whole, with a population of only 5 to 3000 people, can mobilize an army of no more than [-] people.

Therefore, although Li Mi and Long Yu seemed a little arrogant and rude in today's exchange, the more they were like this, the whole Shanshan had no intention of resisting or even intercepting the Han mission.

"Now that the Han Dynasty has recovered, according to what they say, they are going to reopen the Western Regions. In this process, how should our country respond to get the greatest benefit?"

"Your Majesty, in my opinion. Although the Han Kingdom has a little momentum of prosperity, it is only a momentum. Their main energy now is to face the challenges of the two big countries in the east, Jin and Wu. So , it is impossible for the current state of Han to re-establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions here. What they are looking for, as far as that Li Hongxi is concerned, is just a trade route."

"Well, Tu Mi, what you said is very reasonable, and I think so too. It's just that the business route only passes through us, and the benefits are limited."

"Does Your Majesty want to collect taxes?"

"Of course I do, but can we collect taxes?"

Speaking of it, this is also the tragedy of a small country: the population is too small, and the market capacity is very small.With Ji Han's production capacity, at most one week's output can fill the entire Shanshan market.With this capacity, from Guan Yi down to ordinary businessmen, none of them would take Shanshan seriously.

Also because it is a small country, although the land area is not small, most of it is the Gobi desert.There is only so little land that is really suitable for farming.Therefore, there are no special products in Shanshan as a whole.In this way, after the prosperity of business routes in the future, if a certain tax agreement cannot be reached with the big man.Shanshan is at best a resting place to earn some food and hotel expenses.

Therefore, what Darrow expects is to be able to reach an agreement with Ji Han to collect tolls for various commodities.

Meanwhile, in another room.

"Brother Ling, why didn't you mention letting them collect taxes at today's banquet?"

"Hehehe, Zihui. Why do I have to mention it first? Although my great man has not yet regained the power of the past, it is much stronger than the countries in the Western Regions. How can a strong or a big country take the initiative to let a weak or small country take the initiative? Why come to collect money?"

"But when we set off, Da Sima also confessed that we must find one or more countries in the Western Regions to establish a business and tax alliance. This will ensure the safety and stability of the Silk Road."

"Hahahaha~~~ It depends on whether there is something in the head of Shanshan's monarchs and ministers. If they can't even understand this situation. Why do you want to ask them to cooperate? Go forward, there are other countries What? If the so-called overlords such as Khotan and Shule are also as stupid as pigs, then we can spend some time and effort to support a small country to dominate. Well, this map shows that after leaving Shanshan, go west , Qiemo, Jingjue and other small countries. I don’t believe it, there is not a single smart person in the 55 countries of the Western Regions.”

In fact, there are smart people.And there's no need to look around at all.

At the banquet the next day, everyone drank a little wine, and the atmosphere was heightened.Shanshan King Darrow left the chief seat, went straight to Li Mi's seat and knelt down.

"Oh, your Majesty's behavior is really disheartening. Don't do that, don't do that."

"May Da Honglu be kind enough to find a way out for the tens of thousands of people in Shanshan?"

"Well, isn't your country ruling the roost in the Western Regions? I, a big man, have never had the idea of ​​coveting the people in your country's territory. This way of life really confuses me."

"Da Honglu, the rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty, and the re-opening of the Silk Road. It is a great event in the entire Western Region. In the foreseeable future, the business of the entire Western Region will be prosperous again. This is a great thing. But Shanshan is a small country with few people. The land is barren and there are no special products. If it is just a corridor, then in the long run, our national power in Shanshan will not increase greatly. However, the national power of some small countries will increase significantly. In this way, our Shanshan Will face many reprisals, the whole country, the lives of tens of thousands of people will be lost..."

In the Western Regions, the Han, Huns, and Yuezhi people have not intervened here for nearly 100 years.A new balance has been formed within it.Now the big man is back, and he is back with extremely powerful commercial power, and even more powerful military power that is likely to be invested in the future.The current balance of the Western Regions will be completely broken.Once the balance is broken, the first to lose their interests must be the four overlords of the Western Regions who have gained the most benefits from this balance at this stage.

If Ji Han doesn't have enough interests to appease these four overlords, then these four overlords will be the biggest obstacles and enemies in the future Silk Road of the Western Regions—yes, the big man is powerful, but you have harmed our interests after all, Won't we be allowed to struggle to the death?

But how could Guan Yi have the time and energy to really send a large army to conquer the Western Regions now?
Besides, if a place cannot be effectively managed by itself.Then it should be entrusted to a capable country or person.Of course, the number of such countries and people cannot be a single one, but it must not be too many.The ready-made four major powers in the Western Regions are good candidates.

"Hehehe, it turns out that the king is worried about this. I can only say that the king is too worried. How about this, can you please send an envoy to the other big countries in the Western Regions. I have some things to report to them .For the future maintenance of trade routes, I, a big man, also have some ideas that need everyone's cooperation."

……

In August of AD [-], Li Mi was in Khotan to represent the four great powers in the Western Regions of the Jihan Alliance.In this alliance, Ji Han reached a Silk Road trade agreement with the four major powers in the Western Regions.

The agreement stipulates: From now on, Jihan will do business with the countries of the Western Regions, and do business with the west of the Western Regions.The four major powers are fully responsible for the safety of commercial routes within the Western Regions.For example, a businessman was robbed and killed in the Western Regions.If the incident occurs within the territory or sphere of influence of a powerful country, that country shall make compensation.

Of course, since the four major countries provide the security of the commercial routes, it is only natural to charge a certain fee.Because the value of all kinds of goods can be described as very different in different places.Therefore, the protection fee is not collected according to the goods themselves, but according to the number of camels or horses.Specifically, a camel travels through the sphere of influence of a powerful country and collects a gold coin.For a horse, one silver coin is charged.

If a businessman wants to sell the goods in the caravan within the sphere of influence of the four major powers, each country will collect taxes by itself, and the tax rate will be determined by each country.

In addition, the four major powers also clearly expressed their attitude and signed the document: welcome the big Han to re-establish the Protectorate in the Western Regions at an appropriate time.In terms of the location of the Duhufu's festival, any location other than the capitals of the four major powers can be chosen and determined by the big man himself.

……

"Subordinates Li Mi, Long Yudun, the chief Sima... In this way, the interests of the four major countries in the Western Regions can be guaranteed. In order to maintain their national power, the four countries will spare no effort for the safety of commercial routes. Many other small countries have their own four major countries to suppress them. We The big Han does not have to entangle with these small countries one by one, which saves a lot of effort and time. In this way, the commercial routes in the Western Regions should be generally smooth, and the country should benefit from it... As of the date of sending the letter, the officials and others are already in Shule. Going west is Sassanid. The officials and others will not disgrace their mission, and spread the might of my great man Tianwei in Sasanian, Rome and other places. And in order to complete the entrustment of Da Sima as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)