In May 269, in the Gobi Desert of the Western Regions.

The so-called "wear a cotton jacket in the morning and wear yarn in the afternoon". The desert climate has a great temperature difference between day and night. At noon in this June, the heat in the desert was steaming, and the figures a little farther away all looked uniformly distorted.

"Huh~~~" raised his head and drank a mouthful of water in his skin, Long Yu let out a long breath: "Lao Ku, how far is it from Shanshan now?" ”

Before he could answer, the ground began to shake slightly. The corners of Long Yu's mouth twitched slightly: "Get on the horse, line up!" ”

The well-trained cavalry of the Han army and the private soldiers of the Kurshan Chamber of Commerce quickly mounted their horses and took the most advantageous martial arts in their hands. The rest of the people, including Li Mi and others, quickly began to beckon the camel team to form a formation.

Such an action has to be staged almost every day for most of the month along the way. Sometimes it's a false alarm, sometimes it's a real horse bandit. Finally, thanks to the fact that this team is extremely large in number and obviously well-equipped. All the way to the west, there are no blind thieves who dare to really come to rob.

Along the way, Kurshan has completely figured it out: this time the goods he brought are too many and too valuable. Many bandits are eyeing themselves. If it weren't for the deterrence of Long Yu's cavalry, he would have become a handful of dry bones in the yellow sand at this time.

Therefore, the resentment and dissatisfaction that Long Yu and the others had when they first joined had completely disappeared without a trace. Yes, just rejoicing and grateful.

In the distance, on the sand dragon, a group of cavalry appeared. Unlike the horse bandits that Long Yu and the others had encountered many times before, this group of cavalry had obvious armor, and there were also quite a lot of banners and honor guards.

"Huh? It seems that the regular army of which country is coming? Lao Ku, which small country's cavalry is this? ”

"General Long, this is not a small country. This is one of the four overlords of the Western Regions, the strongest country in the eastern part of the Western Regions, the cavalry of Shanshan State. ”

"Huh~~~ A country as big as boogers dares to be the hegemon." Although there were broken thoughts in his mouth, Long Yu was not so arrogant in action: "It's all here, loosen the bowstring for the time being, don't cause conflicts." Ben will go and meet people in a moment. ”

The Han army here put down the bows and arrows in their hands, and the cavalry of Shanshan over there also lowered their swords and guns under the order of the commander - because the Silk Road has been decaying for many years, the horse bandits in these years are very poor. Looking at this team of red robes and red armor, the team with flags waving is obviously not a horse thief.

It's just a pity that the cavalry of the Great Han has not galloped across this land for about a hundred years. Therefore, the young Shanshan cavalry captain looked at this flaming red banner and did not react to which country's army it was.

"Guests from the east, you are about to enter the border of the Shanshan Kingdom. Where are you from? Doing business or a way to come to your home country? Where are you going? ”

After listening to Kurshan's translation, Long Yu sat up straight on horseback, and responded loudly with full of anger: "This general is under the command of the Great Han Sima, Long Xiang General Long Yu Long Zihui." On the orders of my family's great Sima, I led a team to Rome! Passing through your national treasure, you just need to take a break and replenish your water and food. There is no ill intention, please don't be nervous! ”

"What do you say? Big Han? Oh, my God! You liar! Does Dahan still exist? ”

The country of Shanshan or Loulan was the country that had the most dealings with the Central Plains regime among the countries of the Western Regions. The reason for this is because of geographical factors: as soon as Yangguan goes out, he is the first major country in the Western Regions. Whether it was the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Northern Xiongnu, the competition between each other in the Western Regions, Shanshan or Loulan was a foothold that both sides must take.

Because of this, among the countries of the Western Regions, Shanshan was also the first place to receive information from the Central Plains.

The Han and Jin wars, the news that Yongliang changed hands. In fact, as early as the end of last year, it was spread to King Shanshan with sporadic small caravans. But as one of the four hegemons of the Western Regions, Shanshanguo has been comfortable for too long. They instinctively thought that the Han Kingdom, which had just taken Yongliang, had not had time to invest too much energy in the Western Regions. So they didn't take it seriously. In the opinion of King Shanshan, if the Han Kingdom really sent someone in the future, he would be soft on the surface, and then just take this opportunity to send someone to Chang'an to pay tribute......

As for the idea of informing other countries in the Western Regions of this news, King Shanshan didn't have it at all. As for his subordinates, is this matter important? Need to be reported?

Then, the cavalry captain of Shanshan shouted out such a sentence, "Does the big man still exist?"

Hearing this, Long Yu was stunned, and Li Mi, who heard the translation in the back, was also stunned.

"Hey! It's all there, sabre into the sheath, charge! ”

"Huh? What are you going to do? ”

At this time, the movements of the Han army no longer need to be translated: You say that my Han does not exist, right? Then I'll make you feel his presence!

Equipped with stirrups and sabers, and tempered by many life-and-death battles, the combat effectiveness of the elite cavalry of the Han army is certainly not comparable to that of the Shanshan cavalry, which has been at peace for hundreds of years. Just by looking at the face, this group of more than 50 Shanshan cavalry was shot down one after another.

"This general, if you have something to say, you have something to say."

"Hmph, come on, tie them all up. Thou shalt lead the way, and we will go to your king. ”

……

"Oh, honorable envoy of the Han Dynasty, a small country and a widow, you have no knowledge, please don't worry about them in general."

More than two hours later, Long Yu's team came to Shanshan City. Soon after Kurshan entered the city for simple negotiations. The gate of the entire Shanshan City was opened, and the king of Shanshan led the main dignitaries and nobles of the country to pour out of the nest. As soon as they met, they put their posture extremely low.

There's no way, who made Shanshan the closest to the Central Plains in the countries of the Western Regions? annoyed the Han in the Central Plains, and perhaps other countries in the hinterland of the Western Regions are still too far away, and it is very troublesome for the Han to pursue them. But you are good, as long as the ruler is determined enough, it will be easy to destroy your country!

Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, Fu Jiezi killed the king of Loulan and forced Loulan to change the name of the country to Shanshan. Ban Chao killed the Xiongnu envoys on Shanshan's territory. What about Shanshan? Do you dare to speak up?

Besides, what if it's far away? Haven't you heard of "those who commit strong men will be punished even if they are far away"?

The Han Chinese of this era are still proud and powerful. In particular, their current leader is from an era of China's resurgence. The same is full of national pride. Therefore, when he set off this time, Guan Yi specially explained to Long Yu: For the countries of the Western Regions, how to be tough on the premise of not stimulating the other party to go crazy. It is necessary to tell these countries clearly: the former powerful Han is coming back.

"This official is Li Mi of the Great Han Honglu Temple. On the orders of my great Han Sima, I sent an envoy to Rome. Passing by your country, I hope that your country can provide us with food and water. Of course, my great man will never embarrass your country. I will never be stingy with the expenses that should be paid. ”

"Oh~~~ Heaven bless! Has the Great Han been revived again? Xiao Wang heard that when Xiao Wang's grandfather was ruling here, Dahan was usurped by a powerful minister surnamed Cao. When I heard the news, I cried bitterly all over the country. Since then, everyone in the country has prayed every day......"

"Lord Wang, please wait a moment, this, this official is hungry and thirsty now, can you let this official and his attachés find a place to rest first?"

"Oh oh oh ~~~ yes, yes, yes. Invite Da Honglu into the city. The kingdom has already arranged a banquet in the royal city. ”

At the banquet, after a certain degree of communication between the guests and the hosts. The nobles of Shanshan's palace finally understood what was going on with the current Han Dynasty. Then everyone sang praises to the invincible Da Sima for a while.

When Li Mi talked about the various commodities of the Fuxing Society, the eyes of the nobles of Shanshan all showed greed.

"That, Da Honglu, in fact, I, Shanshan, have been extremely loyal to Dahan for hundreds of years. Therefore, in the future, the trade routes in the Western Regions can be handed over to us with confidence. We will definitely let the goods of the Great Han flood the entire Western Regions. ”

"Huh." Taking a sip of wine full of disdain, Li Mi opened his mouth with a smile: "This official came out of Yangguan, and in less than twenty days, he actually encountered seven or eight horse bandits on the way. After all, we are a mission, and there are still some soldiers and horses. So these horse bandits did not dare to make a mistake. But if the horse bandits are not cleaned up, they will open up trade routes, hehehe...... It is important to know that there are many types of commodities in my Han, and the output is also very large. The profits are also huge. But if safety is not guaranteed......"

"Uh...... This, Da Honglu. There must be some horse bandits or something. We are also doing our best to clean it up. But in the vast Gobi, it is really difficult to annihilate it completely. ”

"Well, this official can understand it very well. Therefore, our country's Great Sima has sent our brave and warlike general Zhengxi to lead an army of 100,000 in Tuntian, Xiping County. After this year's autumn harvest, General Zhengxi will personally lead his army into the Western Regions to eliminate horse bandits. When the time comes, please support King Shanshan, who is loyal to the Han Dynasty. ”

"Huh? There's no need for this, right? ”

"Huh?!"

"Aha~~ What our country means is that there are a few horse bandits, why bother to work the Han Heavenly Army? We are willing to do our part. ”

"Great! This is what the ruler will then consult with you, my lord. The king also knew that there were actually two trade routes in the Western Regions: north and south. This time the official took the south road. I didn't think the situation was too good all the way. However, as long as you can eliminate the horse bandits and ensure the smooth flow of the main transportation routes in the future, this official is very happy to advise our country's great Sima and set the main trade routes on your side. ”

"Huh?! Da Honglu, you really love our country so much. Xiao Wang is here to assure you that when you return from Rome, the trade route will be safe and smooth from Yangguan to our country. ”

"In this way, this official wishes the king a smooth fight against bandits, come, drink and win!"