I, Altria, only want to rule China.

Anyway, no matter what the reason is, it is a good thing that her reform policies can be safely implemented in the Western Regions.

Moreover, there are many cattle in the Western Regions, which makes it a perfect choice to use them for farming.

Although she had conquered the Kingdom of Yanqi, Liya did not go to the Kingdom of Kucha immediately. Instead, she implemented a series of reform policies in the Kingdom of Yanqi.

Just like the Kingdom of Xingshan, Liya directly abolished the name of the Kingdom of Yanqi and changed it to Yanqi County.

As the king of Yanqi, Liya took his previous behavior into consideration and chose another local official who was loyal to the Han people as the county governor. As for him, Liya simply let him go home and rest.

After all, he assisted the Rouran people, so Liya was extremely tolerant by not killing him. If she allowed him to continue to be the king, the King of Shanshan who was killed by her before would crawl out of the underworld and shout that he was wronged.

Then, Liya ordered people to build more than a dozen schools in Yanqi. All children over the age of seven had to go to these schools. The first thing they had to learn was Chinese and Chinese characters!

Only when people in the Western Regions can speak Chinese and have Chinese characters in the future, can her other policies be implemented normally.

After doing all this, a month has passed and the Rouran people have not come again. It seems that these guys seem to have planned to give up the Western Regions.

It's just as well that they didn't come. Leah could also take action to recapture the Kingdom of Kucha.

Chapter 86 Everyone longs for the big man!

That day, Leah led the army all the way to the Kingdom of Kucha, and it took almost ten days to arrive.

Because the Kingdom of Kucha had already annexed Gumo and some small countries, the country's total population was over 20000, and the total military force was over . It is now considered a slightly stronger country in the Western Regions.

If other countries in the Western Regions wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Kucha with only 5000 soldiers, it would be absolutely impossible, and making the Kingdom of Kucha surrender would be even more impossible.

But behind Liya stood a powerful dynasty, a dynasty that the Kingdom of Kucha could not afford to offend. So when faced with the arrival of Liya's 5000-strong army, the princes and nobles of the Kingdom of Kucha hesitated.

If these princes and nobles knew that there was no dynasty behind Liya, they probably wouldn't be so obsessed with whether to surrender or not.

"Your Majesty, I think we should surrender. It is said that the Rouran people who wanted to rely on Yanqi to defeat the Han army have been driven away by the Han army. The Rouran people will not help us anymore. There is no need for us to go against the Han army."

"Do you want to surrender?"

The king of Kucha still had a hesitant look on his face. Although their Kucha was relatively well-off among the small countries in the Western Regions, compared with the powerful Rouran and the Han army, it was as weak as an ant. They could not afford to offend anyone.

"Your Majesty, we have been a vassal state of the Han army for hundreds of years. It is not shameful to surrender to the Han army now. Moreover, I heard that the Han army intends to re-plan the entire Western Region and incorporate it into their national territory. As long as such a policy is implemented, we will become Han people in the future."

"Oh? Is this true?" The King of Kucha's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Even though he was the king who ruled the Kingdom of Kucha, his life was not that good. In the countries in the Western Regions, most people yearned to become Han people and live on Han land.

This happened several hundred years ago. At that time, the Han Dynasty was the most powerful country. In order to maintain the stability of the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty required every country in the Western Regions to send a hostage to live in Chang'an of the Han Dynasty.

Only after the old kings in the countries in the Western Regions have died can these hostages go back to inherit the throne and then send new hostages over.

The reason why the Han Dynasty did this was naturally to let those hostages understand the power of the Han Dynasty and appreciate the Han culture, so that those hostages would develop fear and longing for the Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty had a good idea, so when the old king of the Western Regions died, these hostages would go back.

As a result, these hostages had become accustomed to the luxurious life in Chang'an, and they were very reluctant to return to the backward places like the Western Regions.

They have lived here for so many years and have long been accustomed to life in the Han Dynasty. They have also married and had children here and are unwilling to go back.

After all, the Western Regions were too backward, and were like barbarians compared to the Han Dynasty, so these hostages naturally did not want to go back.

This worried the Han emperor at that time. If you don't go back, then the kings of the countries in the Western Regions will all be hostages from the Xiongnu. If the Western Regions are all loyal to the Xiongnu, how can you do it?

So all these protons were forcibly sent back. After returning to the Western Regions, they suffered from acclimatization problems and could not get used to the food in the Western Regions. They fell seriously ill and it took them several years to recover.

Some could not stand the life in the Western Regions and became seriously ill and died.

The result of this was that the nobles in the Western Regions all knew that life in the Han Dynasty was like living in heaven, and everyone yearned for the Han Dynasty.

But the Han Dynasty did not recognize them and only treated them as vassal states. Therefore, once people from the Western Regions wanted to go to the Han Dynasty, they needed a pass or something like that. Otherwise, you would not be able to pass the Yumen Pass.

"Yes, I heard that Shanshan and Yanqi have now been changed to Shanshan County and Yanqi County, and the Han troops are teaching the people of the two countries to learn Chinese characters and Chinese. The meaning is very clear." The minister continued.

"What you mean is that if we surrender, then the Kingdom of Kucha will become the same as the Kingdom of Shanshan and the Kingdom of Yanqi?" The king of Kucha fell into thought.

"The probability of the ninth level would be like this." The minister said quickly.

For some small countries, it is not shameful to become a vassal of another country to temporarily gain their own security. Some will even take the initiative to become a vassal for the sake of their future.

But for some ambitious countries, it is a shame. They don't think it is an honor to become a vassal of other countries.

They will submit to you on the surface, but secretly accumulate strength in an attempt to replace you one day. This is the case with one of the island countries.

But for these countries in the Western Regions, they have been suffering from the oppression of the Huns. This oppression has lasted for nearly a thousand years. Their slave mentality has long been deeply rooted, and they have no desire to resist at all.

Otherwise, they would not have been oppressed by the Huns for so long. It was not until the emergence of the Han Dynasty that they had the opportunity to choose.

The Han Dynasty was not only powerful in military force, which forced the Huns to flee north, but it was also very civilized.

They were different from the Huns. Every time they paid tribute, the Han Dynasty would give them gifts in return, and the gifts were more than what they paid. It can be said that every year of tribute was a year of great harvest for them.

Moreover, the Han Dynasty would send people to teach them how to cultivate land and how to enrich their crops so that they could live a better life, but the Huns would only rob and threaten them without leaving any benefits behind.

By comparing them in this way, we can see how barbaric the Huns were and how civilized the Han people were.

Then there is no need to hesitate when choosing who to join!

"Open the city and surrender." The King of Kucha thought for a while and said

There is no good end to going against the Han army. The Dayuan in the past is a good example. They took advantage of the Han army coming from afar and refused the blood horses that the Han Dynasty asked for, but in the end, they were beaten into submission.

Their Kingdom of Qiuci is not even as good as Dayuan. Even if they can resist the Han army now, when the Han army gets angry and brings hundreds of thousands of troops, won't they still have to surrender?

But now, surrendering voluntarily and surrendering after being beaten have different meanings.

So after thinking for a while, the princes and ministers of the Kingdom of Kucha opened the city and surrendered.

Although Leah found this situation unexpected but reasonable, just after she entered the Kingdom of Kucha and carried out drastic reforms, Mulan had already opened up the southern route and met up with her in the Kingdom of Kucha.

Chapter 87: The Western Regions will be called Xinjiang from now on!

With the surrender of the Kingdom of Kucha, they have now taken over almost all the countries in the Western Regions, and now only Dayuan is left.

The country of Dayuan has a population of about 40 and almost soldiers. Leah's soldiers cannot scare them.

Although they were severely beaten by the Han Dynasty before, that was hundreds of years ago. Since the Han Dynasty severed relations with the Western Regions, Dayuan has also experienced various civil unrest. Until now, they are no longer the same group of people.

Among them, the largest number of people were those who married the Huns, so they were not that afraid of Leah. Moreover, Leah only had 10,000 soldiers this time, so they were not worried at all that Leah could break in.

Leah thought for a while and decided that it would not be appropriate for them to take the initiative to attack Dayuan with their current military strength. They should first unify the conquered countries in the Western Regions.

Dayuan's current location just happens to block the two countries of Kangju and White Xiongnu. Keeping Dayuan would also make it suitable as a buffer zone.

Although we can win if we really have to fight, the losses will be too great and it is unnecessary.

Anyway, she only needs to wait for a year or two, and her technology will be improved. Then she can directly bring dozens of cannons to let Dayuan know that all truths are within the range of cannons. She doesn't believe that Dayuan will not surrender obediently!

At present, she has conquered all the areas in the Western Regions except Dayuan and Yueban in just half a year.

It took the Western Han Dynasty more than ten years to recover the entire Western Regions for the first time. Of course, this was because it was the first time the Western Han Dynasty entered the Western Regions, so it is understandable that these Western Regions countries did not understand the power of the Western Han Dynasty.

By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Western Regions had already had sufficient understanding of the strength of the Han Dynasty.

So Ban Chao only relied on a few hundred people and it took him two years to recover the Western Regions.

Although her current progress was due to the efforts of her predecessors, it was still incredibly fast. Thinking of this, Liya was no longer in a hurry to attack Dayuan, but instead set her sights on Rouran again.

Although Dayuan is not dependent on her at present, it will not take the initiative to attack her, so the Western Regions is still stable at present. The only one who can make the Western Regions unstable is the Rouran people.

At present, if the Rouran people want to enter the Western Regions, they can only go through the Yanqi Kingdom. Therefore, the control of Yanqi County is crucial.

Because she had no intention of attacking Dayuan, Liya returned to Yanqi County with an army of 10,000.

At this moment, Yanqi County has become much more lively under Liya's reforms.

This is also due to the fact that Leah gathered people from those small countries in one place, which increased the local population all of a sudden. The increase in the population promoted the circulation of local goods, and of course the economy became better.

So Liya integrated this place in the Western Regions and changed its name to Xinjiang Province.

As for the local customs, Liya would not force them to change them, as that would be too inhumane and would easily cause a backlash. However, the study of Han culture, Chinese characters and Chinese language must not be neglected.

However, there are currently very few people in the Western Regions who understand Chinese characters and Chinese. After she returns, Leah plans to send those students here to teach by example. For example, those Confucianists are very good.

Of course, this is not Leah targeting Confucianism, but Confucianism has been proven in history to be the best weapon against alien races.

Confucianism has made an indelible contribution to the integration of dozens of ethnic groups today.

After staying in Xinjiang for another month, Liya felt that there should not be any major problems in the Western Regions at the moment, so she planned to return to Hexi first.

"Mulan, you will be in charge of Xinjiang's affairs for the time being. There are still many things in Hexi that I need to deal with when I return. You will stay here to deal with Xinjiang's affairs for the time being. When the time comes, I will let him take over your place. I will take care of the rest."

Leah had considered letting Mulan stay after careful consideration. Currently, Mulan was the only one in the army who could perfectly implement her policies.

Although other people can do it, Hua Mulan has stayed with him the longest and knows what he wants Xinjiang to be like, so Hua Mulan is the best choice to stay after he leaves Xinjiang.

"My lord, don't worry. Mulan will definitely protect Xinjiang and will never let those Rouran people set foot here!" Hua Mulan said seriously.

After nearly a year of experience, Hua Mulan has grown a lot, from a small soldier in the beginning, to Leah's personal bodyguard, and now to a general with a large army who can guard a region.

"Well, in addition to that, you also need to coordinate matters between each county. You need to pay more attention to this matter," Leah reminded.

"I know, my lord." Hua Mulan nodded. She knew what Liya was worried about.

Although the Western Regions have been unified by the Lord, the hatred and estrangement between the tribes are not so easy to eliminate. If not handled properly, the hard-won Western Regions will be in chaos, and even a large-scale rebellion is possible.

"Well, that's all for you."

Liya saw that Mulan understood the importance of the matter, which meant that she had chosen the right person.

She believed that as long as Mulan was in the Western Regions, there would never be any chaos in the Western Regions, and she could return to Hexi and develop safely.

After Liya explained some things, she took Merlin back to Hexi.

Although it took almost a month to bring the army here, on the way back, there were only Merlin and Leah, and with their full efforts, it only took two days.

It was in 451, at the end of the year, that Leah and Merlin returned to Hexi.

Morgan, who received the news, immediately led his ministers to the outside of the city to welcome Leah.

"My lord, why are only you and the military advisor back? Where are the others?" When the officials in Hexi saw Liya coming back from the Western Regions but no army, they were shocked. Could it be that they had suffered a great defeat?

"I left the rest of the generals in Xinjiang Province temporarily, so only Merlin and I came back first." Leah replied.

"Xinjiang Province? What place is that?" Everyone was stunned.

"Oh, Xinjiang Province is the Western Regions. I have basically recovered all the countries in the Western Regions. Only Dayuan and Yueban are planned to be attacked next year. Xinjiang is the name of a province I set up after I recovered the Western Regions." Liya explained.

PS: There will be another update in the evening, but it will be very late.

Chapter 88: Morgan the Great Profligate

"So that's how it is. Congratulations to our lord on successfully recovering the Western Regions!" Upon hearing that it was not a defeat, but that the Western Regions had been successfully conquered, the officials immediately congratulated him.

With the congratulations of the officials, Liya returned to the palace.

"Sister, is Hexi doing okay after I left?" After returning to the palace, Leah asked Morgan about what had happened since she left.

Morgan smiled slightly, then clapped his hands, and then a maid came forward and placed a delicate wooden box in front of Leah.

Leah looked at the boxes with some curiosity, then looked at Morgan.

"Sister, just open it and you'll know," Morgan said.

"Oh?" Hearing this, Liya walked to a box and opened it.

I saw that there was actually a beautifully crafted glass cup inside the wooden box.

"Good, good. Besides these cups, there are other things, right?" Leah took out the cup, held it in her hand and observed it for a while before saying.

"Of course, you're looking at this." Morgan opened the second box.

"Hey, these are glasses?" Leah was a little surprised when she saw what was on the second box.

Morgan smiled and said, "That's right. After those craftsmen made the telescope, they studied the principles of these lenses. Then, after they mastered the method, they made this thing."

"Sister, you look so happy. You must have made a lot of money from this thing, right?" Seeing Morgan smiling so happily, Leah knew that someone must have been cheated by Morgan.

"Sister, guess how much I sold these glasses for?" Morgan said with a smile.

"Um, how would I know this? Sister, you might as well just tell me directly." Hearing this, Leah didn't want to guess anymore. It would be better for her to know the answer directly.

"Sister, you'd better guess~" Morgan did not tell him directly as Leah expected.

"Ten taels of silver?" Leah thought for a moment and said.

"It's a bit too little. Why don't you be bolder, sister?" Morgan shook his head.