Liu Xin called Cai He to the front, pointed at the sheepskin map, and said, "You go again, tell Vologis, I want these places!" ”

Cai He was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is a little difficult. ”

In his impression, the places that Liu Xin drew belonged to oil-rich areas. Of course, these places now look barren and unremarkable. Despite this, his request was more than double the scope of Ardaban's consultation with Cai He, which still made Cai He feel pressured.

But I heard Liu Xin say with a smile: "What's the difficulty, I don't want to occupy their land, it's just renting." ”

"Rental?" Frustrated, he asked, "Your Majesty, these lands were not grabbed by us by force, but in exchange for armor, why should we rent them?" ”

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "Compare your heart to your heart, if someone else wants to forcibly occupy the territory of the Great Han, will you be willing?" Even if you can't beat them now, will you still try to reclaim your land in the future? Therefore, we are now taking advantage of the danger of people and forcing Vologis to give up a large area of land, but what if Vologis repents in the future? At that time, we were a little too whipped to reach. ”

Zhang Fei patted his chest and said loudly: "What are you afraid of!" If he dares to repent, I, Lao Zhang, will lead people over and wipe out their whole country! ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "I am not afraid of war, but war will eventually kill people, although the soldiers are brave, I don't want their lives to pass casually, so why not be happy to solve it in a peaceful way?" ”

Guo Jia got up and said, "Your Majesty, since it is rented, how long is the lease period?" How much is the rent? What is the use of renting it? ”

Now that he already knows that this place is not fertile land, and Liu Xin has to change from changing to renting, the ministers will inevitably have the same doubts as Guo Jia.

Liu Xin thought for a while and said, "I plan to have no rental period, that is, an indefinite rental period. During the lease period, all the people of this land must abide by the laws of the Han Dynasty. As for the rent, this land is desert and very barren, so naturally it is not high. We will provide Parthia with 300,000 soldiers, which can be used for at least thirty years' rent. After thirty years, you can settle with them at the rate of 100,000 taels of silver per year! ”

The reason why there is no lease period is because Liu Xin remembered the Guantanamo Bay Bay military base in Cuba in the future, that is, there is no time limit. Although Cuba has long been in hostile relations with the United States, and the Cuban government does not recognize the legitimacy of Guantanamo, it has not been able to drive out the Americans.

The land that Liu Xin wanted to seize now belonged to Parthia, and he took the form of renting, on the one hand, to reduce the hostility of the Parthians, and on the other hand, to give himself a de jure advantage.

As for whether he can hold this enclave, Liu Xin is not very worried, looking at the world, even if the heavy army of the Great Qin Empire is in front of him, Liu Xin is confident that he will defeat them. He worries about whether the people who have lived on the land for generations will be able to accept them.

However, Liu Xin believes that as long as the people can live a good life, no matter which nationality they belong to, they can be recognized. And he can also further sinicize the local ethnic groups through immigration, intermarriage, and cultural dissemination. Occupy the place first, and there is always a way to solve the problem.

As for rent, there is no need to pay anything else for the first thirty years, and after thirty years who knows if Parthia is still not a complete country? In Liu Xin's impression, the Rest Empire should not exist for many years. Even if Parthia still existed at that time, 100,000 taels of silver per year was really nothing to the Han Dynasty.

The only thing Liu Xin couldn't explain was what that place was going to be used for, he hesitated for a moment, and had to smile and say: "Although Daqin is hostile and ambitious to our Great Han, there is no way to cut off the transaction between Dahan and Daqin, and Dahan's goods will be sold to Daqin one day." Parthia is in the middle of the main road, let's rent this land, we can build a military camp, and garrison troops all year round to protect our Han own caravans, so that they will not be like those foreign caravans, and they will be baptized by the Great Qin people for no reason! ”

The benefits brought by trade are obvious, even if Fu Zhu and Tian Feng are relatively old-fashioned, they have already been able to accept Liu Xin after following Liu Xin for so many years. Liu Xin's reason is reasonable, Kuai Yue also proposed that a market could be set up there in the same way as in Seoul.

Liu Xin was still not very worried about the safety of Kangju, he thought about it, and transferred 10,000 infantry from the First Army to accompany Cai He, and only claimed to be changing guards with the Han army stationed in Khotanese City. In fact, the Han troops stationed in Khotanese now are all from the Western Regions Legion, and they are mainly cavalry, so the infantry of the First Legion should not change the defense at all. Liu Xin is worried that the heavy snow will close the road, in case there is something in Kangju China, there will be no rescue. The infantry of the First Army is good at attacking and defending the city, in case the Great Qin people come to attack, with them, they can help Ban Thief to hold the city of Khotan.

At this time, snowflakes had already fallen in Chang'an City, and the Western Regions were even whiter, but Cai He had to pack up and go north again. However, from Chang'an City to the Uzberi Fortress are very smooth, Sili and Liangzhou have special road protection teams, and there are military stations along the main roads in the Western Regions, as long as the snow stops, the snow on the road will be quickly cleared.

Along the way, in addition to Cai He's team, you can also encounter some caravans from time to time. In winter, the weather in the north will become extremely cold, and many caravans will not go out at this time after preparing their goods early. The caravans encountered along the way were actually employed by the imperial court, and the camels and carts were not transporting goods destined for the west, but large quantities of grain, grass and equipment used to defend the city.

Liu Xin still likes to be prepared, although he does not plan to have a war with Great Qin for the time being, but the precautions must not be relaxed, and these grains, grasses and various equipment will be transported to the two fortresses of Uzberi and Turugert respectively.

With so much grain and grass, for the defenders of the two fortresses, even if they eat for ten or eight years, it will not be a problem. Therefore, Liu Xin's purpose of hoarding so much grain and grass here is not only to strengthen the ability of these two fortresses to hold on for a long time.

Not in his position, not in his politics. Cai He only cares about his own foreign affairs, and he doesn't care what these caravans are going to do. He shouted all the way forward, and the caravans along the way gave way to them, but he did not delay much.

However, after leaving the Uzberi fortress, the situation is completely different. The snow was up to my ankles, and it was so white that I couldn't even see the road clearly. Cai He led the team to grope forward, and after half a month, he finally arrived in Khotanese City.

At this time, there was still a peaceful atmosphere in Kangju, and the clouds of war between Great Qin and Parthia had not yet drifted here. However, Ban Thief had already received Liu Xin's warning, and began to quietly make preparations, using the armor sent by Liu Xin to arm an army of 60,000 people, and the Han military captains stationed in Kangju were serving as instructors to train them.

However, Kangju's national strength was weak and he could not afford to raise a large army, and it was impossible for all of these 60,000 soldiers to be standing troops, but half of them were half-military and half-civilian in nature. It was winter, and the people were already at home, so they could use this time to gather the young and strong people, but when spring begins, most of the soldiers will be busy with their own livelihoods.

Therefore, Ban Bao'er was still very nervous about the war in the north, and she even told Sister Cleya to guard her child every step of the way, and once she heard that the Great Qin army broke through the defense line of Parthia and attacked here, she quickly fled to Dahan with the child. It wasn't until she saw Liu Xin send her another 10,000 elite soldiers that Ban Stealer's heart relaxed. However, Cai He could not relax, and after resting in the city of Khotan for two days, he continued to the north, braving the wind and snow to rush to the city of Susa.

Because Daqin's army had retreated, Vologis was in an extremely relaxed mood these days, drinking wine and enjoying singing and dancing in the hall. Hearing that the Han envoy was coming again, he couldn't help but order Cai He to come in.

After hearing Cai He convey Liu Xin's meaning, Volojis laughed and said, "Okay, it's exactly what this king wants." It doesn't matter if you pay rent or not, just remember that those places are my Parthian land! ”

As a monarch, Vologis certainly did not want his territory to be lost at his own hands. Moreover, Parthia was in the center of the trade routes between the East and the West, and trade was developed, as long as the attack of the Great Qin people was repelled, he never cared about the problem of money.

But seeing that Remitu frowned, he sneered: "I gave it to you for nothing, you don't want it, but you turned to rent, the Han Emperor has such a good intention?" ”

Cai He smiled and said: "According to the original intention of His Majesty the Emperor, 300,000 pairs of armor will only be sold to you if they see the cash, and it is only the foreign ministers who have persuaded Your Majesty several times that Your Majesty reluctantly agreed." However, His Majesty the Emperor said that Parthia is too far away from the Han Dynasty, and if these places are included in the territory of the Han Dynasty, it will be a burden on the Han Dynasty. Therefore, His Majesty decided to change to rent. ”

Seeing the doubts on Vologis' face, Cai He continued to explain: "The king still doesn't understand? Rented things are much more flexible to deal with. If these places can come in handy, then naturally continue to rent. If it doesn't come in handy, and even becomes a burden to the big man, then it's not good, and you have to return it to the king. ”

Vologis was looking down at what Cai He meant, but Ardaban couldn't hold his breath anymore, stood up and said loudly: "That's not good! ”