In the northeast of the Western Regions, at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, in the territory of Gaoche looted by Ma Chao, which was later called the northwest of the Junggar Basin, there is Yi Mountain here, and the locals call it Heiyou Mountain.

Black Oil Mountain is very bizarre, the water that flows here is not water, but black oil. Black oil bubbles up like a spring, and the locals don't know that this thing is very precious, and this thing is worth several times more than water.

Later generations called this place Karamay, and Karamay means black oil.

The Black Oil Mountain is not high, but its coverage is vast. Although Ma Chao plundered the Gaoche population, he did not have the ability to rule the area, so the place was deserted.

In October, Lu Qicai returned to the Western Regions and reported that he had signed a cooperation contract with the head of Chenhe on behalf of the Western Regions State, which took advantage of it.

Ma Chao picked up the contract and looked at it carefully, and he was really happy.

The contract stipulates that the two countries in the Western Regions will reach comprehensive cooperation in economic aspects. First of all, the Chenhe country will devote all manpower, material and financial resources to the west from Daxianbei County to the west, cross the desert C grassland, and build more than 4,000 kilometers of railway tracks.

Secondly, all goods in Chenhe City, except for armaments, are not restricted from being sent to the Western Regions by any commercial group. This of course includes trucks, diesel engines, etc.

Third, the Chenhe Kingdom will establish administrative units and stations along the railway tracks, which will be responsible for the safety of the entire railway line, and the Western Regions Kingdom will not have to pay any price for this.

Fourth, the famous horses, cattle, sheep, grapes and other products produced in the Western Regions do not need to pay any taxes when they enter the Chenhe Kingdom. All products of Chenhe Kingdom entering the Western Regions are subject to a 5% tariff.

Fifth, the Chenhe State Railway Track will branch out in the Tianshan Mountains and go straight north to the Black Oil Mountain, and the Chenhe State will establish the Black Oil City in the Black Oil Mountain, and the Western Regions State shall not interfere.

Just looking at the first four, it turned Ma Chao upside down, and when he saw the fifth, Ma Chao was a little puzzled.

"National teacher! What's so strange about this Black Oil Mountain? This desert C grassland is so vast, spanning thousands of miles, why does Chenhe country want to be a small black oil mountain? ”

"Black Oil Mountain?" Zhou Budo pretended not to know.

"King, this black oil mountain is said to be black oily spring water, people can't eat it, it is a high-speed car people, and it is very rare to survive here, but I don't know why Chenhe country wants to build a city in black oil mountain. But the king, this has nothing to do with my Western Regions country, that Black Oil Mountain is not within my Western Regions country, and the population is already extremely sparse, even if there is no contract, he Chenhe country wants to build a city here, how can my Western Regions country manage it. Whatever its purpose, it's a real benefit, but it's deserved first. ”

Zhou Budo induced step by step, Ma Chao really had all his doubts, and immediately said that Lu Qicai was the foreign affairs order of the Western Regions, and he was specifically responsible for the specific matters of cooperation with Chenhe Kingdom.

The second good news that Lu Qicai brought to Ma Chao directly made Ma Chao happier than killing Cao Cao's army.

"King! The contract has been completed, but there is a supplementary contract here, as long as the king stamps the big seal, there are yi benefits. ”

"Tell me!"

Lu Qicai cleared his throat and said, "King, the general content of this contract is as follows. In order to catch up with the progress of the entire railway track and communicate the economic and cultural affairs of the Western Regions and Chenhe Kingdom as soon as possible, Chenhe Country specially sent a team of 300 railway construction experts to start building railroad tracks to the east in the territory of the Western Regions. At that time, the construction will start at both ends, and the speed will be Yi times faster. The key is that this Chenhe country is expected to collect 200,000 laborers in our Western Regions country, and the salary is calculated according to the domestic wage of the Chenhe country, and each person is calculated every month, and there are two halves of silver. The king, at this time, it can be handed over to my Western Regions to manage, the king think about the space! ”

Ma Chaoyi listened, and suddenly his eyes flashed with stars.

At this time, the national labor salary of the Western Regions did not exceed half a tael per month, and there was such a good thing, and I don't know how many people rushed to do it.

If you operate by yourself at this time, excluding operating expenses, you can earn at least half of yi, and you can earn 150,000 taels of silver for 300,000 taels a month.

This is converted into the silver dollar of Chenhe State, which is yi 1.5 million yuan.

Ma Chao can directly raise an army of 300,000 with this money!

Seeing that Ma Chao didn't react for a long time, Lu Qi thought that Ma Chao didn't understand, and continued: "King! That's a great thing. The population of our Western Regions country has now reached 2 million, so it is not difficult to devote 200,000 people to participate in this matter. In this way, the treasury will be full of money, not to mention, these 200,000 people can feed 200,000 households! ”

Ma Chao sighed and said, "Chenhe Country is so terrifying! Casual Yi project, casually pluck the yi hair, and my Western Regions Kingdom will be out of breath. Lu Qicai, tell me about the current situation in Chenhe Kingdom. ”

Lu Qi knew that the matter was settled, so he began to explain the situation of Chenhe Kingdom.

"Chenhe had a population of 80 million at the end of last year, but this year it has received most of Yizhou, with a population of more than 4 million, and by October this year, the population has already reached 92 million. In terms of military affairs, its domestic standing army now reaches 1.5 million, including 300,000 local security. By the way, it is rumored that Chenhe Kingdom will recruit 500,000 troops again this year for the Tuntian army, but I don't know what the intention is. ”

"Shhh ~！ ”

Not only Ma Chao, but also the civil and military forces present were all gasping.

Pound's fists were clenched tightly, and the atmosphere did not come out.

Two million standing army, do you want people to live?

The population of the Western Regions is only two million.

With a population of 92 million, even 5 million conscription, it is not a particularly difficult event.

After a long time, Ma Chao said: "Could it be that Yang Xi is going to use force against Cao Cao?" ”

When he said this, he turned his head to look at Zhou Budo, who silently shook his head and said: "It must not be the case, this is just a military deterrent, if it wants to use force, then there will be no cooperation with Cao Zhi Xinyang Industrial Company." I guess Yang Xiyi is a deterrent, and secondly, he may have to use force against other countries! ”

"Other countries? The meaning of the national teacher is Hanzhong? ”

"Nope! In the land of Hanzhong, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, Yang Xi wiped them out with a snap of his fingers. In my estimation, probably the Amir Empire! Zhou Budo actually guessed that it was Chenhe's domestic response, and he understood Yang Xi's strategy early. He knew that Yang Xi would take military action against the Seven Kingdoms of the Han Dynasty sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

Ma Chaoyi patted his thigh and said, "This king understands!" Chenhe Kingdom promised me such a great benefit to the Western Regions Kingdom, but it turned out that after the completion of this railway, I could directly transport troops from the north of the Han Dynasty, Liaohe City to the Western Regions Kingdom, and the troops would arrive in a few days. ”

Those who fight wars will always have strategic warfare in their minds.

Zhou Budo felt that it was almost over, so he nodded silently in approval.

Ma Chao laughed and said, "Haha! I never thought that my Western Regions Kingdom would catch up with such a good thing, but the state outside the Amir Empire should be cleaned up! ”

As for the Chenhe Kingdom military horses entering the Western Regions, Ma Chao was not worried. The country of Chenhe is so powerful, and he has not offended him, so he should have the strength of a great country.

Therefore, in October of the fifth year of Chenhe, that is, in the golden autumn of the 22nd year of Jian'an, the northern artery of the northern artery was built from the city of the Great Western Regions of the Tarim Basin in the west to the Daxianbei County of Liaoshui in the east, spanning a straight-line distance of 4,000 kilometers and more than 300 intermediate stations.

This railway track passes through the entire Inner Mongolia prairie from the Great Western Regions City, to the Great Xianbei City and then goes north to Heilong County, and to the south to Liaohe City, which is known as the Western Liao Railway in history, and takes the meaning of the Western Regions to Liaohe City. Later, in order to show Yang Xi's merits, the descendants also called this road Chenhe Tianlu!

This road, in fact, in Yang Xi's heart, has already had a draft, all Zhou Budo's suggestions, and Lu Qicai's envoy are all arranged for him.

This road was completed, and all places along the way were included in the territory of Chenhe Kingdom, and the key is that Cao Cao did not dare to have any opinions.

(End of chapter)