On Vologis's side, there were also many eyes and ears of Arshak. When Ardaban told the shocking news, someone had already whispered it to Arshak. Arshak has always advocated the alliance with the Han to resist the Qin, and now there is an invasion of the Han army pretending to be horse thieves, which shocked Arshak very much, and hurried to see Vologis, but he was scolded and ordered to return to Ecbatana immediately, pack up his troops and horses, and prepare to recapture the land occupied by the Han army.

Arshak did not dare to slack off, and rushed back to Ekbatana overnight, and began to assemble his army as soon as it was dawn. He had 100,000 heavy troops in his hands, almost half of the Parthian army, and all of them were veterans of the army for many years. But as for whether he could defeat the Han army, Arshak had no idea at all.

At this time, Remitu suddenly asked to see him, bent down and saluted: "Your Highness, are you really ready to fight with the Han army?" ”

Arshak sighed: "I dare not disobey my father's orders, and the big man also deceives people too much. Even if those horse thieves were not pretended to be, it would be rude for them to send an army into our Parthian territory without even saying hello! ”

Remitu spread out a sheepskin map in front of Arshak, pointed at it, and said, "Your Highness, please see, the Han army occupies a long and narrow area, from the concession to Daqin. If the Han wanted to annex our Parthia, they would never adopt this method of warfare, they should at least attack Susa first! ”

Arshak muttered, "Then in your opinion, what do the Han people want?" ”

As the former minister of state, Remitu's vision is naturally much more powerful than ordinary people, he has already made a bamboo in his chest, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, if my guess is right, the Han people are planning to use troops against Daqin!" ”

Arshak suddenly perked up and asked, "Are you sure?" ”

Remitu laughed and said: "I have heard a legend that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty has a famous saying that those who dare to offend the Han Dynasty will be punished even if they are far away!" Not long ago, Caracalla wantonly slaughtered Han merchants, how could the Han people give up? The villain told His Highness that a few days ago, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty sent an envoy to ask to see His Highness. Although the Han envoy refused to tell the villain his intention, the villain had already guessed eight or nine points, and they were here to borrow from His Highness. It's just that they failed to meet His Highness, and they couldn't borrow the way, so they came up with this means. ”

Arshak pondered for a moment and said, "But they should not have slaughtered the Parthian subjects, and as the prince of Parthia, how could I ignore them?" ”

"Humph!" Remitu sneered and asked rhetorically, "I wonder how His Highness wants to ask?" In a battle with the Han army, what are the chances of His Royal Highness winning? ”

Arshak was self-aware, so he couldn't help but grimace, shook his head, and said, "I'm afraid there aren't even ten percent." ”

Remitu, who was a trusted thinker for Arshak, hit the nail on the head: "The Han people cleansed the local nobility and the rich, but scattered their wealth to the poor ghosts, who naturally turned against them. If we send troops at this time, will Your Highness take back the land and property from those poor ghosts? If they take it back by force, I am afraid that those poor ghosts will rise up and rebel. If it is not taken back, what will the nobles and wealthy elsewhere think of His Highness. Your Highness, don't forget, Ardaban has always wanted to replace His Highness! ”

Recapture the narrow passage occupied by the Han Chinese, and then fall into a long and bitter battle, and the throne of the Parthian king, Arshak can still weigh it out, he couldn't help but be deflated, waved his hand and said: "Order, let the armies return to their camps." ”

"Wait!" Remitu stopped the guards who were about to go out to give the order, and said with a smile, "Your Highness, how can the order be changed overnight?" Now that the army has been assembled, it is better to continue to assemble. Didn't you say that the Han army suffered a crushing defeat in the first battle? Then let's wait and see! ”

Arshak knew that Remitu must have a good plan, and hurriedly asked, "Tell me quickly, how can you wait and see what happens?" ”

Remitu attached himself to Arshak's ear and whispered: "The Han army has come from afar, and there will be a bitter battle between it and Great Qin. Just wait for the Han army to penetrate deep into the territory of Great Qin, and then His Highness will send troops to cut off his back road......"

Arshak waved his hand and said, "You still mean to support the recapture of those lands, so how can the problems just mentioned be solved?" ”

Remito shook his head and said, "No, no!" His Royal Highness does not need to recapture all the land, as long as the grain route of the Han army is cut off, His Highness can take the initiative. When the time comes, use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Han army. ”

"Negotiations?" Puzzled, Arshak asked, "What are you talking about?" ”

Remitu said proudly: "Parthia's mortal enemy is the Great Qin and not the Great Han, why should Your Highness completely fight the Han people?" His Royal Highness only put forward two conditions, one is to let the Han people support His Highness in the future, and the other is to ask them to return the concession! ”

Arshak's trust in Remitu was almost to the point of obedience, but this matter was very important, and with Vologis's order, he didn't dare to wait quietly for the battle report in front of him, so he frowned again and said, "Is it just waiting like this?" How will the father explain it? ”

Remitu said with a smile: "There is no need to wait, Your Highness can send an envoy to the concession to ask why the Han people killed our people indiscriminately, and ask them to give us an explanation." In this way, there is no need to make a big move, and the king can also talk about it. ”

Arshak hesitated: "Can the Han people talk so well?" ”

Remitu said confidently: "The primary target of the Han people is Great Qin, so naturally they will not entangle us too much. I believe that the Emperor of the Han Dynasty is a person who understands, and he will definitely come up with a scapegoat, and everyone will be able to say it on their faces. If His Royal Highness can trust the villain, the villain is willing to take on this responsibility and ensure that he will not fail in his mission. ”

Arshak thought for a moment and said, "I need your advice here sooner or later, so I'd better send someone else." ”

Early the next morning, a group of Parthian envoys appeared in the Han Concession and made solemn representations to the Han Dynasty, waiting for Liu Xin's reply. At this time, Liu Xin had just come to the concession from Khotanese City, and when he heard the request of the Parthian envoy, he couldn't help laughing, and said, "Come on, go and call Sister Cleya, I have a gift for them." ”

The Parthian envoys all came to the door to ask about the crime, but Liu Xin remembered what gift to give to Sister Cleya, which made Fu Zhu feel a little inexplicable, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it is not appropriate to provoke Parthia too much at this time, do you see if it is ......?"

Liu Xin laughed and said, "Don't worry, that gift is not only for Sister Cleya, but also an explanation for the Parthian envoys." ”

At dusk, the Clea sisters came from Khotan. Only then did Liu Xin order: "Beat the drum to gather the generals, and listen to the order outside the gate!" ”

The Cleya sisters felt a little strange, Liu Xin hurriedly summoned them, but without saying a word, they gathered the generals outside the gate, even if there were really any gifts for them, there was no need to be so formal. Could it be that Liu Xin wants to take them with him on this expedition to the west? The sisters couldn't help but feel a little more excited.

At this time, the Parthian envoys sent by Arshak were also waiting outside the gate. After saluting Liu Xin, several envoys began to ask loudly why they had sent people to massacred the Parthian subjects in the guise of horse thieves!

Liu Xin glanced at them and said coldly, "What evidence do you have that those horse thieves were pretended to be?" ”

A Parthian envoy said in a loud voice: "Those horse thieves have entered the territory of the Great Qin Empire and are being surrounded and suppressed by the Great Qin army, but it was your Han army that rescued them. If it weren't for the Han army pretending, why did you bother to save them? ”

Liu Xin Zhengse said: "Not bad! These horse thieves were rescued by my army. Because they are all the people of the Han Dynasty, and the sins they have committed are punished by the laws of the Han Dynasty, how can they be allowed to be killed by outsiders? Naturally, my army will rescue them and punish them according to the laws of the Han Dynasty. What's wrong with that? ”

The envoy was speechless for a moment, and another envoy jumped out again and said sharply: "Even so, your Han army cannot invade my Parthian territory without permission, how can you explain this matter, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han?" ”

Liu Xin laughed and said, "Then you can only blame the incompetence of your Parthian army? If I don't send troops to help, will I let these horse thieves plague the people? Hmph, don't forget, if I hadn't sent troops to help, your Parthia would have been destroyed by Great Qin a long time ago, where would you still be talking here! ”

These words were extremely domineering, and the soldiers outside the gate cheered in unison, and the sound shook the sky, so frightened that the Parthian envoys were all as pale as earth, and they didn't dare to squeak for a long time. But when Arshak was leaving, he explained that he must ask the Han people for an explanation, otherwise he will not be allowed to come back! What's worse is that their families have been taken hostage by Arshak. Several envoys deliberated for a while, and then another one was introduced, and said: "Your Majesty, we all believe that you are right, those are real horse thieves, and the army of the Han Dynasty has also come to help us." It's just that the foreign minister still wants to dare to ask, where are those horse thieves now, I don't know what His Majesty wants to do with them? ”

Liu Xin saw that they were not as arrogant as they were at the beginning, his face softened, he waved his hand, and said: "These horse thieves were originally good citizens of the Han Dynasty, and they were instigated by traitors to come out to do evil. I have already reprimanded them, and as long as they are willing to repent sincerely, they will not be blamed! ”

Such a disposition is equivalent to doing nothing, and several envoys suddenly became in a commotion, and they had no way to go back and explain such a result.

But I heard Liu Xin say again: "Of course, I will not let go of the first evildoer." ”

When the envoys heard this, they hurriedly asked, "Where are the first evildoers that Your Majesty said, and what should we do with them?" ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "This chief evildoer is the traitor who instigated them to make trouble, and I have found out what happened and arrested him." Today, I will execute him in front of you, so that you can go back and have an account. ”