I, Altria, only want to rule China.

Leah had imagined what Loulan looked like countless times, from ballads and ancient documents. It seemed that just the two words "Loulan" gave people countless fantasies.

But now that I have finally arrived here, I am a little disappointed. It doesn't look mysterious at all. It is just an ordinary small town in the Western Regions.

But Leah soon came to her senses. Only a destroyed civilization is a mysterious civilization. Before being buried by the yellow sand, Loulan was just an ordinary member of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions.

What shaped its image in later generations was not Loulan itself, but people's regrets, just like the ancient country of Jingjue that had long disappeared in the long river of history, wasn't it the same?

When they arrived at the palace of Shanshan Kingdom, Liya sat in the original position of King Shan. The officials of Shanshan Kingdom immediately came to meet her with a respectful look on their faces, as if they had long forgotten that Liya had killed their king.

In fact, for the Shanshan people, the position of King of Shan was also a dangerous position. After all, it was located between the Rouran people and the Huaxia Kingdom. If they did not do well, they would end up losing their heads.

So we can’t say we’re used to it, we can only say we’re no longer surprised.

After killing King Shanshan, Liya did not make things difficult for the ministers, but directly announced that everything in Shanshan would be under her control.

Whether it was civilian dispatch or the military, etc., Leah took control of them at the first opportunity.

Facing Liya's 10,000-man army, the Shanshan people dared not say anything. Not only did they not say anything, they also directly tied up several envoys of the Rouran people in Shanshan.

Since the king has been killed, there is no need for these Rouran envoys who have been bullying them. It is better to hand them over directly and show their submission to the Han army.

One of the Rouran envoys pushed out by the Shanshan people started to curse at the Shanshan people. Liya couldn't understand what he said, but it was definitely not a good thing. You could tell from the expressions of the Shanshan people.

After scolding the Shanren, the Rouran envoy started scolding Liya.

Of course, Liya still didn't understand. Since she didn't understand, she wouldn't be angry about it. Liya just thought she was watching a monkey show. After the other party mumbled for a long time, she calmly said, "Are you done scolding him? If you're done, send him to his death."

As Liya spoke, the Rouran envoy was pushed out and, with a scream, walked into the retreat of the King of Shanshan.

Seeing this, the other Rouran envoys couldn't help but tremble all over.

Liya looked at the remaining Rouran envoys without saying anything, but spoke to the ministers of the Fengshan Kingdom.

"From today on, my Wu Kingdom will officially take over everything from Shanshan. From now on, Shanshan is no longer a country, but a county town of my Wu Kingdom, and will be directly managed by people sent by Wu Kingdom. Shanshan Kingdom will be renamed Shanshan County and refuse to pay tribute to Rouran."

After hearing what Leah said, all the ministers of Shanshan Kingdom cheered.

In fact, they didn't care who was the king. What they cared about was that while they were sitting on the fence, they had to offer a large number of cattle and sheep to the Rouran every year. It can be said that the Rouran people were taking advantage of them every year.

Why have they been jumping back and forth for so many years? It’s because the Han army is not stationed here.

Considering that the money spent on stationing in the Western Regions every year was too much, and also because of this problem, the Central Plains dynasties generally made these Western Regions countries their vassal states.

But once the Rouran attacked, these vassal states that surrendered to the Han army would be the first to suffer, which is why the countries in the Western Regions have been jumping back and forth.

They were just a small country in a desert oasis. The Rouran people couldn't afford to offend them, and the Han army couldn't afford to offend them even more.

In other words, during these ten days, every town in Shanshan Kingdom received a piece of news.

The King of Shanshan was killed by the Han army because of his collusion with the Rouran people. The Han army had taken over everything in Shanshan, and Shanshan was renamed Shanshan County.

From then on, the people of Shanshan County no longer had to pay tribute, cattle, sheep and food to the Rouran people. They could keep them for their own use.

After resolving the issues in Shanshan City, Liya looked at the countries in the Western Regions and thought about her next course of action.

Chapter 81: Ruoqiang People

Starting from Fengshan State, there are two routes.

First, from the northern part of Shanshan, this is the richest land of Shanshan Kingdom. There are four cities in the delta where the Peacock River flows into Lop Nur. Half of the population of Shanshan is concentrated there, and the people here mainly engage in farming.

Going west along the Peacock River is the northern road to the Western Regions that leads to Quli, Luntai, and Qiuci.

In the south is Shanshan’s second largest city, “Qianni City”, and the ancient city of Milan which became more famous in later generations. The two cities guarded the southern route to the Western Regions and connected to Qiemo, Jingjue, Khotan and other countries in the west.

Due to geographical reasons and water resources, the population of these small countries on the southern side is not too large, basically there are thousands of people, and the largest is only tens of thousands.

Leah thought about it and came up with an idea.

She planned to split her troops into two groups, with Mulan leading 5000 troops on one route heading south, and she leading 5000 troops on the other route heading north.

In this way, they would be able to recover the Western Regions much faster, and Dayuan could be left alone for the time being. After they recovered all the neighboring countries in the Western Regions, they would find a way to take Dayuan.

In this way, the entire Western Regions can be recovered. As for the original territory of Wusun, it has been occupied by the Rouran people. As long as the Rouran people are defeated, everything will be easy.

Thinking of this, Leah rested in Fengshan County and asked Loulan to contribute saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal and other things. After half a month of preparation, Leah started to act.

After receiving Liya's order, Hua Mulan led 5000 troops to the Kingdom of Khotan.

Although the south was dominated by countries such as Qiemo, Jingjue, and Khotan, after careful inquiry, Liya discovered that the so-called Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions were also a term used during the Han Dynasty.

Originally, the small countries such as Qiemo, Ruoqiang, Jingjue and Xiaowan had been annexed by Yutian during this period. Hua Mulan only needed to go to the south and conquer the two countries of Yutian and Shule.

Liya's target is the two countries of Yanqi and Kucha. After solving these two countries, she can reunite with Mulan to solve the problem of Dayuan.

Hua Mulan marched all the way, and after a few days, she arrived at the border city of Shanshan. After being received by the city lord, she unexpectedly discovered that some unexpected things had happened here.

A few miles outside the city, there was a group of horse-riding warriors, some with disheveled hair and some with braids, wearing felt and leather clothes, showing off their power outside the city. They held up some simple bows, brandished swords, and howled incomprehensible words. There were at least three or four hundred of them.

"Are these Rouran people?" Mulan looked at the hundreds of people outside the city with some confusion. It was impossible for the Rouran people to appear here, and they didn't look like they were there.

It was a pity that she couldn't understand what those people were saying, otherwise she would be able to understand the other party's identity. However, she didn't know that the city lord named An Nai should know.

"City Lord An, who are these people? Why are they shouting outside the city and holding weapons?" Hua Mulan asked the old city lord beside her.

"General, these people are Ruoqiang people. Ruoqiang people have their own small country with a population of thousands. They are the westernmost branch of Qiang people. They live in the south of Shanshan and the northern foothills of the Altun Mountains, following the livestock and the grass."

The old city lord looked at the group of people outside and said.

"If that's the case, why did these people come here today?" Hua Mulan continued to ask

The old city lord couldn't help but smile bitterly, and continued: "No one thinks that they have enough food. They rely on herding for a living just like the Rouran people. Usually, the livestock can be taken care of by women and children. The Ruoqiang men have to do some side jobs."

For example, they would rob a caravan or besiege a city in Shanshan, and would not retreat until the people of Shanshan handed over some food.

They were located on the border between Shanshan and Khotan, so they were naturally the first to be affected. The Ruoqiang people also had to provide cattle and sheep to the Rouran people every year. Without cattle and sheep, they would naturally have to rob from other places.

The kind-hearted people in the city also treated them as enemies when they saw them. Some climbed up the city wall, some moved heavy objects to block the poplar wood door. Their movements were very skillful, and it seemed that they had experienced similar harassment more than once or twice.

As they were talking, the Lao Qiang people outside the city had already arrived on horseback and started shouting loudly.

The leader was a Ruoqiang warrior riding a spotted horse, shouting in poor Western dialect, demanding that the city hand over 100 loads of grain.

"We just paid tribute to the Rouran this year, and the rest is only enough for ourselves. Where is the surplus food for them?" The old city lord snorted coldly and gave a direct order. There was a volley of shots from the top of the city, forcing the enemy to retreat.

The Lao Qiang people fought back angrily and shot several waves of arrows at the city wall, but to little effect, so after a horn sounded, they howled and moved away.

But the Ruoqiang people returned to the river and gathered around the man who blew the horn. He was an old man with gray hair tied into a braid. He did not ride a horse but a white yak.

After he gave the order, the Lao Qiang people changed their tactics. They ignored the city and rushed straight to the farmland by the river, trampling the wheat fields where wheat ears had already grown.

"Damn Lao Qiang people!" Seeing this, everyone in the city became angry. Every time the Lao Qiang horses moved, it seemed like they were stepping on the hearts of the Shanshan people.

"Who is that old man?" Hua Mulan was a little surprised that the other party was so smart that he knew how to use other methods to make the Shanshan people afraid to act rashly.

Once these wheat fields are destroyed by the Lao Qiang people, they will have nothing for this year's harvest. If they don't have surplus food at home, they will go hungry next year.

"That is the leader of Ruoqiang. I didn't expect him to come this year." The old city lord grabbed the city wall with an angry look on his face.

"I see. In this case, we can't just ignore it. My lord asked me to come here to recapture Yutian. Let's start with these people." Hua Mulan said

"Thank you, General!" The old city lord hurriedly expressed his gratitude. He had already noticed Hua Mulan's 5000 soldiers, but they were Han troops, and he was not familiar with them, so he did not dare to ask for help rashly.

After destroying more than a hundred acres of wheat fields outside the city, the leader of the Ruoqiang ordered his people to stop.

Their ancestors originally lived in the Henie area, but eventually they got tired of the life where the Qiang tribes had been plundering and killing each other for the Yu Valley for generations, so they decided to move westward.

Braving the snowstorm, the tribe followed the Qiangzhong Road, passed through plateaus, salt lakes and glaciers, crossed the Altun Mountains and arrived at the southeastern corner of the Western Regions, a land of snow-capped mountains, deserts, lakes and grasslands.

The lakes on the plateau are clean and unpolluted, and there are countless Tibetan antelopes and wild donkeys for hunting. On the plateau, when the ice and snow have not melted and the grass has not grown yet, you can still walk towards the lower places. The closer you get to Lop Nur, the more abundant the water and grass are.

It was here that the Ruoqiang and Loulan people met for the first time.

Chapter 82: Our Wu Dynasty inherited everything from the Han Dynasty!

Since their migration westward, the Ruoqiang people have been dealing with Loulan for hundreds of years, and have robbed them for hundreds of years, so they have developed a tacit understanding.

One city needs one hundred dan of wheat flour, not more, not less. After all, we will come back next year. We have to do things in a steady and long-term manner instead of just seeking temporary satisfaction and leaving as soon as we get the food and never stay.

The Lao Qiang people consider themselves to be very trustworthy and trustworthy.

"It is a rule not to kill ewes and lambs when hunting, and it is a rule not to kill people when eating grain."

They would never do something like breaking into a city. Firstly, there are only 500 to 600 men in the entire tribe, and unnecessary fighting would cause population loss. Secondly, even if they took the city, what would they do next? Would they stay here to rule?

The Ruoqiang people have no interest in any land with too low an altitude, because the yaks they depend on for survival cannot stand the scorching heat here. Therefore, they only come here to hunt with the wild donkeys in the spring and graze their sheep. They have to return to the mountains in summer.

Therefore, even if the leader of the Lao Qiang people ordered his people to destroy the wheat fields outside Haitou City, it would be enough.

This was just to make the Loulan people in the city think clearly: is it more cost-effective to have 100 dan of grain or to have no harvest this year?

He believed that the Loulan people would make a wise choice, and just as he thought, the Loulan people opened the gate of the city!

Just when he thought that the Loulan people would obediently hand over the food, dozens of riders suddenly rushed out of the city gate and headed towards them.

Why are these people's clothes different from those of the Loulan people? Just as he was wondering, more and more knights rushed out, and suddenly their number increased from hundreds to thousands, and kept increasing.

"Oh no! These guys are Han troops!" The leader of the Ruoqiang people suddenly thought of something and his expression changed.

Although the Han army has not appeared in the Western Regions for decades, it still does not hinder the reputation they established in the Western Regions hundreds of years ago.

But by the time he reacted, it was too late. You know, the 10,000 soldiers led by Leah were all cavalry with very high mobility. Soon, these cavalry, led by Mulan, surrounded all the Lao Qiang people.

When they saw that the cavalry surrounding them was several times their number, the faces of these Lao Qiang people turned green.

However, the leader of the Lao Qiang people soon thought of one thing. They, the Lao Qiang people, were essentially a vassal state of the Han people. Perhaps based on this, the other side would let them go.

Although they had never paid tribute to the Han people, they had never robbed the Han people when Han envoys passed through their borders in the past.

"Excuse me, are you the heavenly army from the Han Dynasty?" the Ruoqiang people asked in the Western language.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to speak Chinese, but he really can’t speak it! Since these Han people are together with the Loulan people, he can only hope that they can understand.

Although the Han Dynasty has been destroyed for hundreds of years, people from the Central Plains still often speak the words of the Han people. Foreigners do not know the actual situation in the Central Plains, so they often call them the Great Han.

After a while of translation, Hua Mulan looked at the leader of the Lao Qiang people and said, "The Han Dynasty you mentioned has perished. We are now the Longwu Dynasty, which inherited everything from the Liu Han Dynasty. However, we are far more powerful than the Han Dynasty you mentioned!"

It's just bragging. The other party won't verify it for the time being, so just brag as much as you can.

However, Hua Mulan felt that what she said was not exaggerating. After all, their soldiers had undergone the lord's modern training methods, as well as the help of firearms, and they were definitely the army with the strongest physical fitness and firepower today.

Didn't you see that not a single soldier died after they arrived in the Western Regions? You have to know that when the Han Dynasty sent Li Guangli to the Western Regions for the first time, he brought tens of thousands of people, and in the end only a few thousand people were left when they reached Dayuan.

A comparison between the two shows that their military quality is much better than that of the Han soldiers, not to mention that they also have powerful weapons such as gunpowder.

And she also believed that under the leadership of a benevolent lord like Leah, China would definitely be unified again.

Although I don’t know what’s going on, since the Wu Dynasty is more powerful than the Han Dynasty, it means that it is even more difficult to offend them.

"General, we were once vassal states of the Han Dynasty. Since you have accepted everything from the Han Dynasty, we are vassal states of the Wu Dynasty. We are all family!" the Lao Qiang people said hurriedly.

Hua Mulan was a little surprised that the leader of the Ruoqiang people was surprisingly smart.

But didn't they come to the Western Regions this time to recover these small countries? So Hua Mulan didn't say anything about this matter, but talked about other things: "In this case, why did you send troops to attack the border of the Kingdom of Fengshan?"

"General, the Shan State has surrendered to the Rouran people. Since we are a vassal state of the Wu Dynasty, isn't it natural for us to help the Wu Dynasty attack the Shanshan State?" The leader of the Lao Qiang people immediately reacted and said.

The Shanshan people on the side immediately showed an angry look when they heard this.

This has nothing to do with whether they surrendered to the Rouran or not. Over the past few hundred years, they have also been under the banner of the Han Dynasty, but these Lao Qiang people have not stopped invading them. This is really shameless!

However, before the arrival of the Han army, they did surrender to the Rouran people, and they had no right to refute this.

Hua Mulan did not want to talk about the matter between the Kingdom of Wushan and the Ruoqiang people anymore, so she said directly: "Now Loulan has become the territory of our Wu Dynasty. I hope the King of Ruoqiang will not start a war again."

Hearing this, the leader of the Ruoqiang people knew that they were saved and the Han army would not kill them.

"Yes, yes, we will never do anything to Loulan again." The leader of the Ruoqiang people said hurriedly.

But Hua Mulan continued, "My king also said that this time she wants to organize all the countries in the Western Regions together for management, so when King Lao Qiang returns this time, bring everyone in the tribe out, and live in Fengshan County from now on."

"This..." Upon hearing this, the leader of the Lao Qiang people hesitated. He didn't know whether this was a trick of the Han army, intending to trick the Lao Qiang people out of the mountains so that they could wipe them out in one fell swoop.

"Don't worry, King Ruoqiang. This time, my king has decided to send troops to the Western Regions to be permanently stationed there. We will incorporate all the countries in the Western Regions into the territory of our Wu Kingdom and govern them. In the future, we will all be Han people and learn Han culture. Then we will be one family." Hua Mulan explained.

King Lao Qiang was somewhat envious of what Hua Mulan said. After all, the power of the Han Dynasty was well known to everyone, including the fact that Loulan wanted to take the initiative to join the Han Dynasty.

As a result, Emperor Wu of Han felt that it was too troublesome to send people to govern these small countries and rejected them. It can be seen that for these small countries, joining a powerful country to obtain protection is something they would love to have.

But he still doubted whether Hua Mulan was lying to him and seemed a little hesitant.

Chapter 83: Conquer