Great Han Arrow God

Chapter 624: Vertical and Horizontal
Dongfang Shuo walked very slowly, from Khotan to Gumo, he walked for nearly a month.

By the time he arrived in Gumo, the ballad about Guo Wu and others breaking the bandits had been widely sung, and everyone knew it.There is nothing to do in winter, people like to get together to sing, dance and listen to stories, which is the best way to spread the news.

Knowing that Dongfang Shuo had returned, King Gumo went out of the city to greet him in person, with a more respectful attitude than before.He was originally not as tall as Dongfang Shuo, but once he bent down, he looked more like a dwarf.Even so, he still didn't dare to straighten his back, as if he was carrying a mountain on his back, he couldn't lift his head.

Dongfang Shuo talked and laughed happily, and greeted the dignitaries of Gumo who came to greet him one by one.He was originally a very lively and informal person, he traveled to Gumo many times, and had many contacts with these people.It's just that he had more or less the intention of living as a guest before, but this time he has the taste of a host.

At the banquet, the guests and the host had a good time.After drinking for three rounds, someone asked intentionally or unintentionally about the war in Khotan, and it was inevitable that they questioned the exaggerated words in the ballad and meant to make Liang Xiao famous.

Dongfang Shuo didn't mind. "Everyone, words are like the wind, and there are always falsehoods. How can those ballads be taken seriously? You just listen to the stories and it's over. As the saying goes, hearing is believing, and seeing is believing. You will have the opportunity to see General Liang with your own eyes. Mighty."

When King Gumo heard this, his heart tightened. "Mr. Dongfang Shuo means that General Liang will come to Tianshan?"

"Tianshan is such a good place, of course he will come." Dongfang Shuo said slowly: "However, your majesty can rest assured. We Han people are not here to covet your wealth and population, but just hope to bridge the conflicts between the nations. , let you coexist peacefully. Look at the countries of Khotan and Jimi. Isn’t it very good now? Everyone works together to transform the canals, and soon they will become a big country with a population of [-] to [-]. What did they pay? It's just the Hundred Han Army."

King Gumo was taken aback. "Khotan and Jimi will become a big country?"

"Your Majesty, don't be nervous, it's just an alliance." Dongfang Shuo laughed loudly, repeatedly comforting Gu Mo and his ministers. "As you all know, my imperial court in the Central Plains has a great demand for jade. Khotan is a country that produces jade. Of course, we have to pay more attention to it. We don't want anything to happen there. General Liang left Guo Xiaowei in Yutian Tian, ​​there is no other intention to ask him to guard the Nanshan trade road to avoid being harmed by bandits and horse bandits."

King Gumo breathed a sigh of relief, but he still couldn't feel relieved.

The Han people may have no malicious intentions, but who can guarantee whether the King of Khotan and the others have any malicious intentions?The same is true for all countries in the Western Regions. Once they are powerful, they will inevitably expand and conquer.In the past, Khotan and Tangmi were not strong enough, and the two countries could barely be compared with Gumo, and there was no advantage to speak of, and of course they would not go far into the desert.Now that the situation has changed, their population may be twice that of Gumo, so it is hard to say.

If the Han people played some tricks behind their backs and the Nanshan countries sent troops to fight, the Gumo Kingdom, which was just downstream of the Khotan River, would probably bear the brunt of it.

King Gumo secretly decided that he must send people across the desert to find out the situation of the countries in the Nanshan Mountains and see if it was true what Dongfang Shuo said.If this is the case, it is necessary to prepare in advance.

Dongfang Shuo stayed in Gumo for two days before leaving for Kucha.

In the past few years, he has spent most of his time in Qiucha City, which is quite far from Daban City and Chigu City, and it is very convenient to travel. More importantly, Qiuci City has enough strength. The largest country outside of China, the general of Kucha, Jose, had a good relationship with the Han people. With his support and protection, Dongfang Shuo could be so free in the Tianshan area.

Back in Kucha City, Dongfang Shuo called on Jose immediately.

Jose is also very concerned about the situation in Nanshan, and he has also heard those songs.Even though he knew Liang Xiao well, and Liang Xiao even gave him a precious sword, he also expressed doubts about Liang Xiao's record.One hundred to one thousand is barely acceptable, isn't this one thousand to twenty thousand too exaggerated, and the opponent is still the famous Sirius.

Dongfang Shuo smiled. "It's all true."

"It's all true?"

"That's right, it's all true. Of course, success is definitely hard-won. There are a lot of plans and preparations behind it, so it's not enough for outsiders to understand. But the general is not an outsider, so I can tell you something."

Dongfang Shuo told Jose the whole story of Liang Xiao's several battles, except for the method of making the ballista, he explained everything to Jose one by one.Jose is also a general who has been in charge of the army for many years. After hearing these details, he couldn't help but admire him.

"General Liang really used his troops like a god. When he was outside Daban City, he asked Li Duwei to detour to Chigu City, go around the back of Daban City and launch an attack, and took down Daban Fortress in one fell swoop. Now that he returns to the Western Regions, he is not only brave, but also strategic. Congratulations for being better again. Sirius seems to be powerful, but his expedition to Yangguan turned out to be a failure that couldn’t be more wrong.”

"The general is right." Dongfang Shuo smiled and said, "There are quite a few people who have the same opinion as you, and Lie Jiaomi should be one of them."

Jose's heart skipped a beat. "Why, am I wrong?"

"That's right, and it's not right." Dongfang Shuo said, "There is a saying in the art of war of our Han people that the shape of a soldier is like water. Water has no shape, and soldiers have no constant momentum. How can there be a certain rule? Sirius is self-defeating because of blind action. Could it be that he does not move?" Can you escape? Back then, Che Shiren hid in Daban City and couldn’t come out, so Liang Boming broke the fortress?"

Jose thought about it.

"Furthermore, now that Liang Boming is sitting on the southern mountains, his strength is no longer comparable to that of the Western Regions when he first came to the Western Regions. If you still think that you will be safe by sitting in the fortified city, won't it be too late for the consequences when he comes to the city?"

Jose frowned, showing a bit of fear.Only then did he realize the real danger.The situation has changed. If he still speculates about Liang Xiao's possible actions according to the previous situation, he will definitely suffer a big loss when Liang Xiao arrives with the army.

"Then... General Liang can storm Chigu City?"

"Whether we want to attack Chigu City by force is hard to say now, but it is inevitable to force Wusun to surrender. When Liang Boming came to the Western Regions, he wanted to return to Beijing with the hostages of various countries, but was blocked by the Huns and returned halfway. Now that our Han army has defeated the Huns and occupied Hexi, how can he give up halfway? General, let me tell you the truth, as long as one of the 36 countries in the Western Regions refuses to accept, Liang Boming will not leave. "

Jose was silent.Dongfang Shuo's words were very threatening, which made him very uncomfortable.But he also knew that when Liang Xiao returned to the Western Regions, the situation had changed, and he might not be able to help being dissatisfied.It was inevitable that Liang Xiao would move to Tianshan after the Nanshan Kingdoms were settled in World War I.The only difference is when he can be ready.

The pressure on Qiuci is obviously greater than that on Wusun.Kucha is not as dangerous as Chigu City, nor is it as powerful as Wusun. Once Liang Xiaobing comes to the city, Kucha may suffer another tragedy of slaughtering the city.

"what do you want me to do?"

"Liang Boming and I both regard you as a friend and an ally of Qiuci. We don't want to meet each other. What we want is friendship, not fighting. Therefore, I hope you can persuade King Qiuci to form an alliance with my big man."

Jose rolled his eyes. "As an ally, if I send a hostage to the big man in Kucha, will the big man send the proton to Kucha?"

"It's impossible for a proton, but it's possible for a princess."

Jose's eyes lit up. "You mean... a marriage?"

Dongfang Shuo smiled and nodded. "However, there is at most one country in the Western Regions that can make peace. Whether you can seize this opportunity depends on you."

Jose was overjoyed.If you can really get married with a big man, it must be a very profitable thing.The big Han and the Huns got married and sent a batch of property every year.Even if Kucha is not as powerful as the Xiongnu, the big man will not give it away every year, but having a princess in Kucha will definitely benefit Kucha without any harm.

Thinking about it carefully, only Wusun can compete with Qiuci for this opportunity.Dongfang Shuo made this suggestion, of course, hoping to join forces with Qiuci to attack Wusun.But from another point of view, if Wusun and the big man get married, what good will Kucha do?With the support of the Han people, Wusun didn't want to bully Qiuci as soon as he wanted to.

Jose readily agreed that he would explain his interests to the King of Kucha and strive to form an alliance with the big man as much as possible.

-

Lie Jiaomi was sitting in the palace, tapping his fingers on his thighs lightly, listening to the news from the spies who just came back.

Although he decided to stop still and wait for Liang Xiao to attack the city, he didn't intend to die and wait.He sent a large number of spies to inquire about the news, and he wanted to know only the news related to the Han people.

The Western Regions are vast, and the speed is too slow to rely on people and horses. Many news have a long time delay, and word of mouth will distort the news. In fact, it is still uncertain how much credibility there is in the end.Lie Jiaomi was vigilant enough about this, and it was also a headache.

However, the news that came back recently made him very disturbed.

Dongfang Shuo came back from Khotan and was warmly received by King Gumo.But he didn't stay in Gumo for long, and soon hurried to Kucha.In Lie Jiaomi's view, this seemingly normal behavior is very abnormal.

In the past, when Dongfang Shuo passed Gumo, he would come to Chigu City to have a look, to see him, to see his Arukan of the Yan family.This time, it is a bit strange to pass through Gumo and not enter Chigu City.

Why didn't he come to Chigu City?Why rush back to Kucha?
A series of questions filled Lie Jiaomi's mind, making him dizzy and paranoid.

A series of crisp and chaotic footsteps sounded, and Arikan appeared at the door.She glanced at Lie Jiaomi, raised her hand to signal the maids to wait outside, then walked lightly to Lie Jiaomi.

"Any news?"

Lie Jiaomi nodded, signaling the spies to go down.He rubbed his hands and thought for a long time. "Dongfang Shuo came back from Khotan, stayed in Gumo for two days, and has returned to Kucha. I heard that King Gumo was very enthusiastic about him. During this time, Gumo added a very popular new song, which is about In Liang Xiao’s case, he won another battle in Khotan, with 200 men killing several groups of bandits who were not weak, and took nearly [-] prisoners.”

Arkan frowned slightly.

"Also, I heard that the Han people are going to station troops in Khotan, and Khotan, Tami and other countries are going to form an alliance. The Han people are helping them repair the water conservancy. After the completion, they can support more people. Maybe it won't take a few years. It can have a population of 10."

Arikan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "This is such a big talk...it's boundless. Do you think everyone in the world is a fool?"

"You do not believe?"

"Of course I don't believe it."

"I didn't believe it when Wu Dan led his troops to the east. No matter how good Liang Xiao was at fighting, how could he defeat Wu Dan's [-]-strong army even if he was so weak? As a result, Wu Dan died, and the [-]-strong army It collapsed, and it depends on the battle of Nanshan."

Arkan's face darkened, and he stood up. "Are you still blaming Wu Dan? He's dead, he's already died in battle. Don't always use someone who has died in battle as your opponent."

Liejiaomi looked at Arkan in surprise. "What's wrong with you?"

Arikan also realized that he had lost his composure, and sat down embarrassingly. "It's nothing, I feel sad when I think of Wu Dan."

Lie Jiaomi touched his nose and sighed softly. "I know you are sad, but now is not the time to be sad. If Liang Xiao can't be defeated, we will meet Wu Dan soon. At that time, you can't tell him and your father that you have been sad, but Didn't avenge them."

Arkan glanced at Lie Jiaomi. "Do you have a plan?"

"I have a plan, but I don't know what plan the Han people have. I think the Han people are plotting a conspiracy, but I can't figure out what kind of conspiracy it is. Alas, the Han people are so cunning that it is impossible to guard against it. Suddenly Dongfang Shuo Coming to Chigu City makes me very uneasy."

"If it's because of this, then send someone to invite him."

"Otherwise, it would be too obvious to invite him here." Lie Jiaomi raised his head and stared at Arukan. "Send someone there."

"I?"

"Yes, you send someone there and say that you intend to accept his proposal and see what he has planned."

Arikan was a little flustered. "I...his suggestion?"

"Didn't he suggest that you choose someone to rebuild the Hunxie Department?"

Arkan's face turned pale, and he stood up abruptly.Lie Jiaomi waved his hand, signaling her not to be nervous. "I didn't spy on you, but it's not difficult to guess. You feel uneasy without the support of your mother clan. Dongfang Shuo wanted to separate you and me, so he naturally seized this opportunity to make you feel that you can live without Wusun." very good."

Arikan bit his lip and said nothing, but there was a bit of fear in his eyes.She always thought that this matter was well hidden, but Lie Jiaomi knew it all.Lie Jiaomi said that no one was watching her, but how could she easily believe Lie Jiaomi's words.

Lie Jiaomi laughed lightly and snapped his fingers.A servant came in, knelt down and saluted.Lie Jiaomi stood up and walked out slowly.In front of the servant, he stopped. "Tell Yan Shi everything you have found out, and let her know what kind of person Dongfang Shuo is." After speaking, he glanced at Arkan and walked out unhurriedly.

Arikan covered his beating heart, and a strong uneasiness surged in his chest.
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(End of this chapter)