Liu Xin stayed in Xicheng for three days. During these three days, apart from wandering in the market, he drank and feasted in the palace. In fact, in the previous countries, Liu Xin's life was also like this, and it was no different in the eyes of others. But his mood was different now, he was anxiously waiting for Huang Zhong's arrival.

Huang Zhong had already arrived there when Liu Xin left Mud City, but Huang Zhong couldn't have come so quickly, because he still had a lot to do along the way. He needs to eliminate local bandits, he needs to choose a suitable place to set up a permanent military camp, and he needs to negotiate defense with countries along the way, and the speed will not be fast. Liu Xin also knew very well that these things were not in a hurry, so he did not send someone to urge Huang Zhong, he believed that Huang Zhong would do things in a measured manner.

Three days passed, and Huang Zhong did not wait, but waited for another person, this person was King Saadin of Pishan. Pishan is a small country between Khotan and Shache, a country that is so small that it has a population of only 3,000. Such a small country, even Dawan Wang Lanfeng couldn't look down on it, so he only contacted the three countries of Shule, Shache and Khotan, but bypassed Pishan. It is precisely because Pishan is too small that it may be annexed by neighboring countries at any time, so Saadin hopes to have a strong backer, and the Western Regions Protectorate of the Han Dynasty is undoubtedly the best backer.

Hearing that Liu Xin had arrived in Xicheng, Saadin, who was already impatient waiting in Pishan, took the initiative to ask for it.

Liu Xin naturally welcomed Saadin's arrival, because the Khotanese palace cordially received him, and gave him a large number of silk and white porcelain, which were of high standard, not inferior to the gifts given to the king of Khotan. Liu Xin just wants to let all the countries in the Western Regions know that whoever takes the initiative to vote, he will look at it differently.

After another day, Huang Zhong finally arrived in Xicheng. Huang Zhong arrived with 55,000 soldiers of the Fifth Army of the Han Dynasty, plus 15,000 people around Liu Xin, and now the strength of the Fifth Army gathered in Khotan has reached 70,000, and, more importantly, all the 10,000 cavalry of the Fifth Army have arrived here. Fighting in the desert, the most important thing is these cavalry, even the bandits that run rampant everywhere are horse bandits. Therefore, it is not so much that Liu Xin has been waiting for Huang Zhong's brigade, it is better to say that he is waiting for the five thousand cavalry under Huang Zhong.

Of course, it was impossible for so many troops to pour into Xicheng at once, but to set up dozens of camps ten miles east of the city, Huang Zhong only brought dozens of personal soldiers into the city to meet Liu Xin, and even some generals in the army did not accompany him.

Liu Xin received Huang Zhong in the side hall where he was temporarily staying, and there were Jia Xu, Dian Wei, and Wei Yan present, and there was no one else. Liu Xin briefly introduced the situation and told everyone about the fact that the horse bandit Banbianyun was also about to move.

Huang Zhong arched his hand and said: "Lord, the last general, please lead an elite army to attack Guishan City!" ”

Guishan City is the capital of Dawan, and Huang Zhong asked for an order to attack Guishan City because he wanted to start a full-scale war with Dawan. Jia Xu stroked the few strands of beard under his chin, shook his head and said: "General Huang is loyal and brave, but according to Jia, this matter still needs to be considered in the long run. ”

Liu Xin looked at Jia Xu's calm and relaxed appearance, and couldn't help asking, "Mr. Wenhe, doesn't he have a good plan?" ”

Jia Xu arched his hand and said: "During the Emperor Wu Dynasty, my Han army besieged Guishan City for more than 40 days, and finally could not go down, which shows that the city is extremely strong. The subordinates thought that the center of gravity of the lord was still in the Central Plains, and the affairs of the Western Regions should not be delayed for a long time. Therefore, the subordinates have the courage to ask the lord to give up the plan of all-out war with Dawan. ”

Dian Wei said loudly: "What are you afraid of, give me a soldier and horse, why do you need forty days, you will definitely be able to take Guishan City within four days!" ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Evil, listen to Wen He and finish speaking." ”

Jia Xu was not angry, and said with a smile: "With the bravery of the generals, it is naturally easy to win, but the main purpose of the lord's rebuilding of the capital is to open up trade routes, not to expand the territory. Dawan and Wusun have been separated from the Western Regions Protectorate for many years, and they are probably reluctant to let them return to the rule of the Protectorate. Rather than rashly using force to make Kangju, Guishan, Shen Poison and other surrounding countries suspicious, it is better to postpone the attempt. ”

Liu Xin pondered for a long time and said: "Dawan and Wusun are the inherent territories of our Han Dynasty, how can they be discarded in the hands of Liu!" ”

Jia Xu said disappreciably: "The subordinates didn't ask the lord to abandon Dawan and Wusun, but just asked the lord to suspend the plan." The lord's top priority is to open the trade route, and when the trade route has been completed, the soldiers are well fed, and the Han Dynasty is unified, not to mention the small Dawan and Wusun, even if the Kangju and Kushan countries are all taken, what is the difficulty? ”

Liu Xin frowned and said, "If according to Wenhe's opinion, there is no need to fight this battle?" ”

Jia Xu suddenly straightened his chest and said, "Fight!" Not only fighting, but also beating hard! If you don't hurt them, how can you keep the peace for more than ten years? ”

Liu Xin frowned, he somewhat understood what Jia Xu meant, that is, to divide the reconstruction of the Western Regions Protectorate into two stages, and couldn't help laughing: "My Han is a country of etiquette, not a brave and ruthless person, as long as I can not lose the inheritance left by my ancestors, but I don't have to bully neighboring countries." Since we are going to fight, then we will invite both the king of Khotan and the king of Pishan to come over and discuss how this battle should be fought. ”

Early the next morning, Liu Xin left Xicheng with the team and headed towards Pishan. There were still many carts in the ranks, but they were much smaller than the previous days, and there were only more than 5,000 troops left to escort them. However, in addition to the guide Baguli, Liu Xin has another Hu person by his side. This Hu man was richly dressed and rode a tall horse, but he was Saadin, the king of Pishan.

Relatively speaking, Pishan is closer to Shache, and to the west of Pishan, there are several small countries such as Xiye, Puli, and Deruo, and their strength is not much different from Pishan. After yesterday's meeting, Liu Xin no longer planned to visit those small countries one by one. Because he knew that these small countries, like Khotan and Pishan, were all grass on the wall, and as long as the capital protectorate was formally established, there was no need to worry that they would not surrender. Even if they still refuse to surrender at that time, they will be wiped out by simply transferring an army over there, and there is no need to go to Lang now.

Because Pishan and Xicheng are far away, and Liu Xin and his party are carrying a lot of heavy goods, although many vehicles have been replaced by camels, but the speed of travel is still very slow, but there is a gust of wind on the road. This wind is not very strong, for people who walk in the desert all year round, it is not a matter at all, but these Han ** are used to being pampered, and they can't stand the heat and sand, Liu Xin actually ordered to rest in place. The guide Baguli repeatedly persuaded him, but Liu Xin just didn't listen.

As the sun set, the gale finally subsided, but now they could not go to the village or the store, and they were destined to camp in the wilderness again tonight. Baguli had long reminded Liu Xin that camping in the desert was a very dangerous thing, especially for caravans. Liu Xin's team carried a large number of valuable goods, and was still essentially a caravan, nothing more than a caravan escorted by a regular army. Therefore, it is not surprising that their team was attacked by "horse bandits" last time because they were camping in the wilderness.

However, it is too late to talk about these things now, and since Liu Xin "exterminated" the Black Whirlwind Gang, it seems that he doesn't take those horse bandits to heart, and the guards around the camp are also loose. Seeing this, Bagul became even more worried, and he didn't dare to close his eyes all night.

As a result, it was bright and nothing happened. Baguli languished on his horse, secretly determined that he would urge Liu Xin to speed up his march no matter what today, and he must find a village to camp in the evening.

The walk all morning was very smooth, and there was neither wind and sand, nor bandits. Baguli was wrenching his fingers, thinking that he could have a suitable camp today. Who knew that at noon, Liu Xin ordered the team to camp on the spot, for no other reason, but the sun was too scorching, and everyone couldn't stand the heat, and they couldn't walk.

In this way, I stopped and stopped, and I could have reached Pishan in three days, but I haven't even finished half of the road until now. Baguli muttered in his heart, Liu Xin's performance was like two people a few days ago. However, on the third night, Bagul could no longer pay attention to the movement outside the camp and fell asleep early.

There was silence around the camp, and a few dark shadows suddenly appeared on the sand dunes not far away, and they were knights. The middle person was tightly wrapped in a turban, revealing only a pair of small triangular eyes. The "triangular eye" looked at Liu Xin's camp for a long time, then turned his head and said: "Second brother, the news you got said that there are only 3,000 Han people, why do I see that this camp is strong, I am afraid that there are no less than 10,000 people." ”

A person next to him smiled and said, "Big brother, don't worry." When they left the West Side, I saw it with my own eyes, and it was just over 3,000 people. Later, the king of Pishan followed, and his men were no more than a hundred guards. It's just that these days, the Han people walk very slowly, and the brothers are afraid to follow too closely for fear of revealing their tracks. The Han camp is larger, presumably because there are many goods in the camp. ”

Suddenly, I heard a person sneer: "I didn't expect that the famous Banbianyun was also so timid, and I didn't dare to start after following it all the way for three days." They have been camping in the wild for several days in a row, and they know that they have no experience, and it is a pity that such a good opportunity was missed, and if you don't do it, we can't wait. ”

It turned out that the triangular eye was the half of the cloud with the same name as the black whirlwind. Banbianyun raised the horsewhip in his hand and said, "Wild wolf, I, Banbianyun, have gathered everyone together just to make everyone rich together." However, if you make a fortune, you have to have a life flower, haven't you heard that even the black whirlwind has been planted in the hands of these Han people? Or do you think you're stronger than the Black Whirlwind? ”