Ten days later, the team sent to Rome finally returned to the concession. When I went, there were more than 30 people plus the guards, but only two came back, among which the scribe who served as the envoy was brought back with his head in a wooden box, and the others had already died under the sword of the Great Qin people.

The two countries did not fight each other, and the Han and the Great Qin were not at war, and Caracalla made such a brutal move, which made Jia Xu extremely angry. But Jia Xu didn't get dizzy, he knew that the actions of the Great Qin people would not be limited to this. Jia Xu immediately mobilized the army and civilians in the concession to prepare for the enemy's attack.

The Han army in the concession consisted of only 30,000 men, plus his own 1,000 convoys, stationed in three new cities. However, in just three days, Jia Xu recruited 50,000 young and strong people and distributed them to various cities and some acropolis on the outskirts of the city. Under the rule of the Han Chinese, the tribes of the concession had gradually lifted themselves out of poverty. The people of these tribes were fierce by nature, many of them were born warriors, and their patriarchs were all officials in the concession and enjoyed a rich salary. As Jia Xu had predicted, these people had all joined the nationality of the Han not long ago and were willing to become citizens of the Han Dynasty, and they were now enemies with the Han army in the city.

The news reached Chang'an, and the Han Dynasty was in an uproar. More than 20,000 Han businessmen are involved in tens of thousands of families, who have died in vain, and I don't know how many parents have lost their sons, how many wives have lost their husbands, and how many children have lost their fathers. The whole country mourned and cried.

Liu Xin immediately issued an order to set this day as the day of national disaster, the whole country mourned, and all entertainment activities were banned for three days. He himself dressed in vegetarian clothes, fasted for three days, and prayed in the northwest direction every morning and dusk.

Three days later, it was time for the pilgrimage. This was a large-scale court meeting, and all officials above the fifth rank in Chang'an must attend.

Looking at the Han elites gathered together, Liu Xin said with a sad face: "Everyone already knows about the recent massacre of my Han merchants in the Great Qin Empire. I thought about it again and again and decided to go on a personal expedition! ”

At this time, Liu Xin didn't know that Caracalla had killed the envoy sent by Jia Xu, otherwise he would definitely not be able to wait for three days, and he was afraid that he would immediately raise troops to kill him.

Zhang Fei couldn't hold it back, and shouted at the top of his throat: "Okay! I would like to be a pioneer! ”

Fu Zhu hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty, you once said that you will no longer drive in person in the future, and I hope that Your Majesty can keep your promise." ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said: "This time is different from the past, in the past, it was a dispute within our Han Dynasty, this time it is to resist foreign insults, everyone is responsible, I must go!" ”

Guo Jia said worriedly: "Your Majesty, the Great Qin people tore up the agreement and suddenly poisoned our Han merchants, which was obviously premeditated. If our army rushes forward, I am afraid that we will fall for their tricks, and I hope Your Majesty will think twice! ”

Liu Xin once issued a decree that officials above the fifth rank and their immediate family members were not allowed to do business. After hearing the news of the massacre of the merchants of the Han Dynasty, many officials were also very indignant, but they did not feel much grief, because their vital interests were not greatly damaged.

When they heard that Guo Jia came out to dissuade them, some ministers had already whispered: "Yes, the ancients are cloudy, and the labor is far away, and if you don't hear it, please be cautious." ”

Liu Xin said in a deep voice: "I ask you, are those merchants the people of my Han Dynasty?" Do you have any tax contributions from them? They were innocently killed in a foreign land, do we have an obligation to seek justice for them? ”

Without waiting for the ministers to answer, Liu Xin had already patted the table and stood up, and said loudly: "This battle must be fought!" I will definitely recruit myself! I invited you here today to discuss how to fight, not to hear you discuss whether you should fight or not! ”

Liu Xin also knew that this battle was very difficult to fight, not only to mobilize a huge number of troops, but also to provide logistics and supplies. However, he also knew that if this battle was fought, no country would dare to bully the Han people at will, and the people of those places that had just been included in the territory of the Han Dynasty would also be proud of their identity as Han nationals, which would have an extremely important and far-reaching impact on maintaining the unity of the Han Dynasty and spreading the culture of the Han Dynasty.

Standing in the main hall of these civil and military forces, it is not excluded that some people have the intention of protecting themselves and hope to live a comfortable life, but more people are considering the practical difficulties of this battle, so they will look forward and backward.

However, the peaceful years of the Han Dynasty have only passed two or three years, and although there have been some major wars in the past two or three years, some small battles still occur from time to time. What's more, the Han soldiers still maintain enough blood. Listening to Liu Xin's deafening words, Xu Huang, Zhang Fei and others were already gearing up and preparing to do a big job.

Guo Jia saw that Liu Xin had made up his mind, so he no longer dissuaded him, and asked, "I don't know if Your Majesty wants to fight a small or a big fight?" ”

Liu Xin was silent for a moment, sat down again, propped up the table with his hands, frowned and asked, "What do you say?" What about the big fight? ”

"If it is a small fight, Your Majesty only needs to send a light cavalry to Daqin, break a few of his cities, and return from plundering. If it's a big fight, you need to think long-term. Guo Jia paused and continued, "If you don't think about winning, you should lose first." Great Qin is not comparable to a small country, and the number of troops used in this war is at least 400,000, and the transportation of grain and grass requires 500,000 people. Nearly a million people have traveled thousands of miles in case of defeat......"

Dian Wei said impatiently: "Fengxiao, why do you grow the ambition of others and destroy your own prestige!" My Han army is invincible and invincible, how can it be defeated? ”

"The proud army will be defeated! Evil, you can't think like this. Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Fengxiao's consideration is not unreasonable. However, I would like to tell you that this expedition is indeed dangerous. When the brave meet on a narrow road, everyone must have the spirit of breaking the cauldron and fighting against the water, I will not reserve a way out for you! ”

Guo Jia groaned: "Your Majesty, is this going to be a big fight?" Please follow Your Majesty on the expedition, sooner or later you can give advice for Your Majesty! ”

Xu Huang stroked his palm and said, "Yes! It's time for a big fight, to hurt him, to be afraid of him! Please lead the department as a pioneer, go all the way, and never look back! ”

Zhang Fei shouted: "Second brother, this pioneer belongs to my old Zhang, you are not allowed to rob it!" ”

Over there, Zhang He, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Guan Yu and others also invited each other, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became warm.

"Fengxiao, you have been in poor health, you should not go to this expedition, there are many affairs in the court that you also need to deal with." Liu Xin raised his hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, and continued, "The most important thing now is to solve two problems, one is the strength of troops, my Han has a vast territory, the world has just been pacified, it is impossible to transfer all the troops out, and we must leave enough complete forces." Therefore, this time I only plan to use the first, second, third, and ** legions, 350,000 people, and the number of troops is slightly insufficient, let's see if there is any solution. ”

Tian Feng got up and said, "Your Majesty, according to the news from the Foreign Affairs Department, the territory of Daqin is even more extensive than our Han Dynasty, and its population has surpassed that of our Han Dynasty. Attacking a behemoth with a population of more than 50 million people with 300,000 people would be a disastrous victory, even if it could be won. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's subordinates were ordered to disarm and return to the field two years ago, and many of these people were experienced in a hundred battles. Why didn't His Majesty order them to be conscripted into the army temporarily, but after the war was over, they would be ordered to return to their hometowns to work in agriculture. ”

Zhao Yun also arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, now all the tribes of the grassland have surrendered to my Great Han, and I am proud to be a part of the Great Han." The herdsmen on the grassland are good at riding and shooting, and they can come when they are called, and they can fight when they come, and they can help our army! ”

Liu Xin muttered: "According to your words, I temporarily recruited 200,000 old soldiers to form a guard corps, and transferred those old armor and ordnance in the treasury to them. In addition, he sent an order to the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes, ordering them to send 100,000 young and strong knights to assemble in the territory of Qiuci under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate within a month. However, there is still one problem that needs to be solved urgently, and that is the transportation of grain and grass. ”

Fu Zhu also frowned and said: "In this way, the army used by His Majesty has reached 650,000 people, the daily cost of the army is huge, and the road is long, I am afraid that even if you collect 500,000 people, it will be difficult to help, this is indeed a difficult problem." ”

Zhang Fei said without thinking: "Then recruit one million people!" ”

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "Recruit so many people, who will plant the crops in the field?" If you don't grow crops, what will the people eat next year? Besides, the drought situation in the north has not improved so far, and even if I recruit 500,000 people, I think it is too much. I have an idea, which is to feed the war with war, but I don't know if it's appropriate or not. ”

Everyone was at a loss, they hadn't even heard of what it meant to feed war with war, let alone whether it was proper or not.

Liu Xin explained: "These countries around the Han Dynasty are all our friendly neighbors, and the only target of our battles is Daqin. In the past year, the Uzberi Fortress, the Turugert Fortress, the Han garrison camp in Kangju, and the Han Concession in Parthia have all hoarded a lot of grain and grass, which can cope with it for a while. If you really lack it, you can buy it from countries along the way. That's why I thought about it, and I only needed to recruit 200,000 people......"

Frustrated to interrupt Liu Xin's words, he said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, this move must not be. The army was numerous, and the food and grass hoarded in front was only enough to last more than a month. If you can't buy grain and grass along the way, hundreds of thousands of troops will face the danger of running out of food! ”

Liu Xin smiled bitterly: "This is exactly what I want to say about fighting to raise war. As long as the grain and grass are enough to support the army to reach the border of Daqin, all the grain and grass in the future will be provided by the Daqin people! ”