The envoys of the Western Regions countries were quite clear about the questions raised by Ma Yuan, and they talked about it eloquently.

It is said that after the Northern Xiongnu and the Eastern Han Dynasty withdrew one after another, the Shanbei countries were controlled by Xianbei and became Xianbei's vassals, and the Shannan countries were exempted because of the protection of the Tianshan Mountains and were not controlled by Xianbei.

However, the strength of the Shannan countries is relatively weak, the population is not large, and there are many grudges against each other, mutual conquest, and mutual trade.

During this period, there were also small countries that were annexed by larger countries, and there were also small countries that successfully regained their country, and the situation was more complicated anyway.

Without China to govern and uphold justice, it is also very common for big countries to bully small countries, and small countries have no way out to be sad, and then they will die.

A big country is reasonable, a small country is sad, and there is no way to do it, even if the Wei Empire comes, it may not be possible.

But when it comes to trade routes, in addition to their respective trades, they mainly trade with the Kushan Empire in the west, and of course, there are also people who cross the borders of the Kushan Empire and go to the Sin Empire to do business.

"Is the Kushan Kingdom blocking the way to the Kingdom of Sabbath?"

Ma Yuan was a little surprised.

"Yes, the Kushan country occupies the main transportation route, but business travelers can also go, but they have to pay a little more tolls, and the Kushan country will not prevent us from going to the country of rest to do business, although there are wars between the country of Kushan and the country of peace, but it is not frequent."

The envoy replied.

"What about the Great Qin Kingdom? Do you know the news of the Great Qin Kingdom? ”

"You know, the Great Qin Kingdom is further west of the Rest Country, and it often fights with the Rest Country, and we also have some business travelers who are bold, and they go directly to the Great Qin Kingdom to do business, and bring back a lot of gold and silverware, but the journey is too far, and it takes months or even years to go back and forth, so no one goes."

"I see."

Ma Yuan nodded: "Are there many people in the Guishan country?" Are there many soldiers? Is the country strong? ”

"There are a lot of people, a lot of soldiers and horses, and they are very powerful."

The envoy nodded decisively: "We heard that the territory of the Kushan Kingdom is thousands of miles in circumference, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, it is very powerful, and it has often defeated the Anxi Kingdom in the past, and it has also attacked the Western Regions, but it was defeated by the Western Regions of the Han State at that time. ”

"Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses...... Shouldn't they covet the Western Regions? They haven't attacked the Western Regions in decades? ”

"It's not a good road."

The envoy laughed: "From Kushan to our borders, we have to cross countless dangerous mountains, and the merchant travelers can say that it is difficult for the army to come, and people can come, but it is not easy to bear the baggage, and if there are many people, the food will not be able to keep up, so what kind of war will you fight?" As long as we can't hold out, they will have to retreat. ”

"That's just as well."

Ma Yuan nodded.

If you fight a war, it is very bad that the logistics cannot keep up, and no matter how strong the army is, if the logistics cannot keep up, it will be a bunch of waste wood, and no one will have any combat effectiveness at all.

In the same way, if they can give enough food to the Qin army or the Western Han army, and supply it in unlimited quantities at any time, they can fight to the end of the world.

If Zhuge Liang can be given sufficient logistical support and provide him with unlimited food, he is also very likely to lead the Shu Han army to overthrow the Wei army, and the outcome is unknown.

The biggest factor that restricts any strong army in any era is logistics and transportation.

Otherwise, why would someone Guo go crazy to build roads and build roads in all directions within the Wei Empire.

How much did it cost?

The annual financial expenditure on road construction accounted for about 30% of the financial expenditure of the entire Wei Empire.

Now it seems that Ban Chao was able to defeat Guishan back then, and most of them relied on the advantageous terrain to stretch their supply lines, drag down their logistics, and let them know the difficulty of attacking the Western Regions, so Guishan died of the heart of the military to advance into the Western Regions.

But on the other hand, what is very difficult for Guishan is also very difficult for the Wei Empire, they are not easy to come, and the Wei army is not easy to pass, and they are very difficult for each other.

Perhaps this will create a better bilateral trade relationship.

Ma Yuan had such an idea.

Guo Peng did not have any military ambitions for Guishan, which Ma Yuan also knew.

After bidding farewell to the envoys and promising them to go to their country for business, Ma Yuan arrived in Dunhuang County in October and met Cao Ren.

After Cao Ren read Guo Peng's warrant, he replenished the combined caravan with food and water, and then asked them to go to Liuzhong City to find Cao Xiu, and by the way, help him transport a batch of supplies.

"You are lucky, before you arrived, the countries of the Western Regions already knew about the arrival of my Wei, and they sent envoys to vote, this is a good thing, you must seize this opportunity to open up the trade route."

Cao Ren said to Ma Yuan with a smile, and then sent Ma Yuan and the combined caravan away.

The combined caravan marched out of the Yumen Pass and set foot on a land that was extremely strange to them.

The strange scenery and scenery made the caravans of the combined caravan curious, and things that had never been seen before abounded, and many people walked all the way to see and describe the scenery of the Western Regions.

The guide followed Ma Yuan, constantly telling him the stories and legends of the Western Regions, and introducing him to some magical animals and plants that can only be seen in the Western Regions.

Not long after, the combined caravan came to Liuzhong City, and Cao Xiu personally went out of the city to meet Ma Yuan, and then brought Ma Yuan to the city wall.

"Before, I thought that I would fight a few battles in the Western Regions, but I didn't think that there was no need to fight at all, the deterrence left by the former Han Dynasty to the countries of the Western Regions was too strong, although the Han no longer exists, but the countries of the Western Regions still dare not disobey China, and as soon as the army arrives, it will be decided."

Cao Xiu was quite complacent about this, but also a little depressed.

"In this way, the trade route should be much safer, Your Majesty is worried about our safety, and specially allocated seven hundred elite soldiers with me to let me lead and protect the caravan, and the people in the caravan have also been assigned weapons, and if there is any problem, they can protect themselves at any time."

Ma Yuan said.

"Then again, this caravan is big enough, I have never seen such a large caravan, so many mules and horses, so many people...... By the way, how many people are there? ”

"Seven thousand one hundred and sixty-three."

"So much?"

Cao Xiu was a little surprised, and then asked jokingly, "What are you bringing so many people for?" Destroy the country along the way? Is Your Majesty's order to you to do business and destroy each other? ”

"Of course not, because there are more goods carried, and there are quite a lot of mules, horses, carts, etc., Your Majesty plans to let me wait to go around the entire Western Regions, so we have to keep up with the manpower and material resources."

Ma Yuan smiled and shook his head.

"Then you don't have to worry about any danger or anything like that, there are only a handful of countries in the Western Regions that can come up with 7,000 combat soldiers, if such a country dares to do something to you, it is basically turning against me Wei, and you must send troops to fight against it."

Cao Xiu smiled: "Just rest assured, remember to send someone back to contact me whenever you go, so that I know your whereabouts, which can be regarded as an extra layer of protection, if something goes wrong, maybe I can send troops and horses from various countries to help in time." ”

"Can the general mobilize the troops and horses of the Western Regions?"

"Not yet, but soon."

Cao Xiu smiled: "Your Majesty has the idea of rebuilding the Western Regions Protectorate, but it was only in preparation before, and now that the countries of the Western Regions have gone to Luoyang to worship, Your Majesty will inevitably rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate, and at that time, all the countries in the Western Regions from the king to the small officials will be equipped with Wei official seals."

Since it is equipped with the official seal of Wei, it is a matter of course to obey the dispatch of the protector of the Western Regions, although there is no name at the moment, but if something happens, I will ask the countries of the Western Regions, and they will not dare to oppose it, so you can just go. ”

After speaking, Cao Xiu continued to look at the mighty caravan outside the city.

"You've brought so many goods, can you sell them? The countries in the Western Regions are not big, with a population of tens of thousands, and only a few hundred or thousand, so you bring so many things, you probably can't sell them, right? ”

"Your Majesty didn't expect the countries of the Western Regions to buy all our things, on the contrary, we may have to buy a lot of their things, which can be regarded as barter, so we brought a lot of gold and silver.

His Majesty's goal is to reach the westernmost part of the Western Regions, to trade with the Kushan Kingdom, the Sabbath Country, and even the Great Qin Kingdom further west, all three of which are said to be large countries with large populations, and want to be able to buy our goods. ”

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