A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

During this month, a major event that shook the Western Regions also occurred.

The Wusun, one of the great powers in the Western Regions, was destroyed.

It was the cavalry of the Han Dynasty that destroyed the Wusun Kingdom.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen were dispatched, and the Wusun Kingdom was almost powerless to resist, and was easily wiped out by the Han army.

The head of the Wusun king was hung above the city gate of Wulei.

Make sure everyone who comes in can look up and see it.

The Han Dynasty's official explanation was that the Wusun Kingdom colluded with the Western Xiongnu to harm Han Chinese people traveling through the region.

His crime is unforgivable.

This move by the Han Dynasty made everyone in the Western Regions feel insecure.

Is the Han Dynasty really serious?

What else are these 10 troops going to do besides destroying the Wusun?

It wouldn't take so many people to wipe out a small Wusun.

Just like the King of Loulan a while ago, he was easily killed by a Grim Reaper with a dozen or so followers.

The entire Loulan Kingdom dared not make any rash moves, fearing that it would attract the wrath of the Han imperial army and lead to the destruction of the kingdom.

Could it be that they're going to take action against the Western Xiongnu?

This is the only possibility that would lead the Han Dynasty to send out so many cavalry.

The king, who had been leisurely making his way to Wulei City, began to speed up his horse.

The king, who was already traveling at a fast pace, began to travel day and night.

They certainly didn't want to be killed and their country destroyed by this Han general on the grounds that he arrived too late and was disrespectful to the Han Dynasty.

The month-long deadline had arrived, and all the kings of the Western Regions had arrived at Wulei City ahead of schedule. The Parthian Empire, the Western Xiongnu, the Yuezhi, and other countries had also come here.

There were also nobles, ministers, and so on from other countries.

Even the Roman Empire sent a delegation to Urei to witness this moment.

As the sun reached its zenith, Wei Qi led a large group of prominent figures and students out of his residence.

He nodded to the envoys of the Parthian and Roman Empires.

"By order of His Majesty, I have established the Protectorate of the Western Regions in Wulei City. From now on, the Western Regions will be under the protection of the Han Dynasty."

"The kingdoms of the Western Regions are all vassal states of our Great Han. They should submit to the Great Han, pay tribute, and send hostages."

"The Han Dynasty will also send scholars and soldiers to various countries to help them improve their national strength, improve the political systems of the Western Regions, and take responsibility for their security."

"The countries of the Western Regions need to protect the safety of these scholars, provide them with provisions and military supplies for the Han army, and enable them to learn the Han script and system and implement them."

"You will have six months to study. After six months, all officials and nobles of all countries are required to be proficient in Chinese and learn Chinese characters within a year."

"Six months later, those who have not mastered Chinese will be stripped of all their official positions and titles."

"Those who have not learned Chinese characters within a year will also be stripped of all official positions and titles."

"As for these vacant official titles and ranks, they will be distributed to the common people who have learned Chinese and Chinese characters."

"I've finished speaking. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"

Wei Qi did not throw out all his demands at once, because doing so would definitely provoke a joint resistance from all the countries in the Western Regions.

Although he said he wasn't afraid, there was no need for it.

The Western Regions had already been turned into Han territory by him, and any losses were losses of Han's foundation.

The envoys from the various countries of the Western Regions looked at each other in bewilderment. It seemed that the Han Dynasty intended to establish direct rule over the Western Regions.

They also brought an army of 100,000.

It has a larger population than many countries.

How could they dare to resist?

It's just learning Chinese and Chinese characters, so just learn it.

In any case, the people present, as kings of various countries and officials who dealt with the Han Dynasty, were already fluent in Chinese and could write Chinese characters.

This was a fairly common piece of knowledge among the nobles of the Western Regions.

Having been suppressed by Emperor Wu of Han's domineering ideology for many years, the Western Regions had almost completely submitted. If you didn't know Chinese and Chinese characters, you would be looked down upon among the nobility.

Those officials who hadn't studied it before were in trouble, as Chinese language and characters are very difficult to learn.

They endured a lot of hardship to learn it back then.

How can there be such a difficult language and writing system in the world!

Recalling their time learning Chinese and Chinese characters, everyone wore a bitter smile.

How difficult it is!

Several powerful states, led by Kucha, looked at the imposing Han army around them and their expressions turned somewhat grim.

The Han army's direct presence in their country was like a sword hanging over their heads.

In the past, if they had defied the Han, they could have put up a fight.

As a major power in the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty needed to mobilize troops from its own territory to attack them.

It might not take that many, but even if several thousand men came from the Han Dynasty, it would still take a considerable amount of time.

After arriving in the Western Regions, it took another period of time to recruit troops from the Western Regions on the spot.

But now the Han army is stationed directly in their country, and if they want to attack them, they can storm their palace at any time.

Their lives were entirely in the hands of the Han army.

What's the point of having a king like that?

But seeing the head of the King of Wusun hanging on the city wall, they dared not rebel.

"General, how many soldiers do you intend to send to our country?"

The King of Kucha asked Wei Qi.

This was a question that other kings also wanted to know.

If the Han army's troops were primarily there to defend against the Xiongnu, then sending them to their own country was merely symbolic.

That's alright.

But if there are too many, what's the difference between that and sending a bunch of your own fathers?

"I will send different numbers of people depending on the size of each country's national strength."

"For a large country like Kucha with a population of over 100,000, I will send 5000 troops there."

"For a large country like Dayuan, with a population of over 10, I would send 1 troops there."

"As for those countries with populations of only tens of thousands, they send anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand."

"Don't worry, it's definitely a number you can afford to feed."

"And once the Han army arrives, your troops can be disbanded."

"With the Han army protecting you, you no longer need soldiers."

The King of Kucha forced a smile.

His troops are there to defend against your Han army.

The Han army's move was truly ruthless. They only had so much money and food available for their army each year, and they took a large portion of it to support the Han army, especially the cavalry.

There wasn't much food left to use for them to recruit their own troops.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; you can't even conscript soldiers if you want to.

There was no way to resist anymore.

Gan!

This is a blatant and overt conspiracy.

They dared not refuse.

Compared to these soldiers and officials, those scholars and officials were not such a big deal.

If what Wei Qi said is true, then this is the only good thing.

If they can learn from the advanced level of the Han Dynasty, perhaps they too can become powerful.

Although they sent people to the Han Dynasty to learn, they could never grasp the essence of it.

This group of people looks very cultured; they might actually be able to help their country become strong, and then they won't even have to depend on the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, the fact that they were sent to such a far place from the Han Dynasty's homeland meant they must have been disgruntled exiles.

As long as they treat them with sincerity, and are tempted by high-ranking positions and generous salaries, they will have no trouble winning them over.

If they act quickly, they might even unify the Western Regions and become a powerful empire on par with the Parthian Empire, the Western Xiongnu, the Han Dynasty, and the Roman Empire.

The prerequisite is to find a way to remove the Han army's garrison.