Seeing that the Turks' problem was solved, Zhao Xun smiled and said: "Very good, in this way, in the battlefield of the Western Regions, the Turks are excluded first." As for this Gaochang country, it is not much difficult for us. Destroy him, easy. However, if you want to swallow the territory of these western countries, it is the most important thing. ”

"By the way, Zhang Yuanjing, now that Yanqi and the surrounding destroyed countries have been integrated into the land of the Three Mansions, what is the situation in various places?"

Zhang Yuanjing, who is in charge of local government affairs, said in a deep voice: "Well, we have been prepared for a long time, and a large number of officials have been transferred, so that all new cities can be built in an orderly manner, and all residential areas can start a normal life." For the majority of the people, life under the rule of my Zhao army is better than before, so although they are dissatisfied with the change of rulers, on the whole, they still settle down and accept our rule. ”

"However, there is also a big problem. Between the prefectures and counties, there are large and small horse thieves. Some of them were horse thieves and lived by raiding. There are also many who were originally defeated by the Yanqi army, as well as the nobles of the original Yanqi and other small countries. Now, sneak attacks are being carried out on the settlements around my new city in various places. As for the many cantonment troops guarding the settlements, although their combat strength is inferior to the town soldiers, they are well equipped. The only pity is that they are foot soldiers, and they are helpless against these horse thieves. ”

"In the past month or so, the settlements and caravans around the newly built city have been plundered many times."

Hearing this, Zhao Xun's face suddenly turned pale, and he said, "Horse thief? Let the king's guards go and compare with them. In addition, send an order to all places, anyone who dares to collude with horse thieves, exterminate the nine clans! ”

"The lord is saying that there is collusion with these horse thieves?" Zhang Yuanjing frowned.

Zhao Xun said coldly: "Of course, otherwise, we have garrisons stationed in residential areas all over the country, how can these horse thieves cross the annexation garrison and secret outposts and enter the settlements to plunder?" Moreover, how can these horse thieves supplement their daily needs within the range of thousands of miles? They don't do anything. ”

Situ nodded and said: "What the lord said is reasonable, if there is no internal response, it will definitely not go smoothly every time." Moreover, in the past, the caravans were all guarded by the dart bureau, and there was no internal response, how to know their route and number? ”

Zhao Xun said coldly: "It seems that there are still people in the settlements of various places who are dissatisfied with us and miss the old master." If you don't kill such people, you can't do it, we have to warn them with blood, either they will die together with the nine clans, or they will live here honestly. ”

"The king's personal guards are also cavalry, and they are all the 'elite' of the 'elite'. This king wants to see if these horse thieves who wander all over the world can compare with my 'elite' warriors. ”

King Zhao was furious, and the situation in various places was suddenly stormy. There were more than 15,000 people in the 30,000 guards who accompanied Zhao Xun this time, and these more than 15,000 people immediately dispersed into a team of squads and began to eliminate horse thieves within a radius of thousands of miles. Some of them went directly around patrolling, moving, and chasing horse thieves. Others 'mixed' in the caravan, luring the enemy into the urn and killing them in one fell swoop.

In just more than ten days, more than 8,000 horse thieves and more than 300 large and small horse thieves were eliminated in the territory of Sanfu. More than 500 residents of various countries were implicated. And plus their families and relatives of the nine clans, a total of 10,000 people. However, these 10,000 Zhao Jun showed no mercy, announced their crimes in public, and beheaded them all. Suddenly, the entire territory of the newly occupied land was all trembling. Then, some residents who have the credit of reporting were rewarded, and the positive and negative comparisons were made, so that residents everywhere could understand what to do.

Of course, this does not mean that the horse thieves in this place have been wiped out, and the pro-guard army is still patrolling various places, completely cutting off the soil for the survival of horse thieves. Zhao Xun knew very well that if they could not be eradicated at one time, it would be a big trouble for the future caravan traffic.

At the beginning of July, the envoy of the Qiuzi Kingdom reappeared in Xizhou City, which was the former capital of Yanqi Wang. The envoys this time were Li Yan and Bai Yi. Originally, Li Yan was the only messenger this time, but Bai Yi deliberately insisted that he come to Xizhou City to have a look. Let's see what the situation here is like after this Zhao army destroyed Yanqi.

After entering the city, Bai Yi saw that the entire Xizhou City was under construction. At first, Bai Yi thought that this was King Zhao building a palace. Later, when I inquired, I realized that Zhao Jun was planning to expand the city.

The construction of water conservancy, afforestation, the introduction of Central Plains products, the construction of various workshops, and various means were all used, which not only settled the livelihood of the people gathered by the Zhao army, but also implied various profound meanings. The people in the city were not as Bai Yi expected, they were extremely hostile to Zhao Jun and had nothing to rely on. All the workshops in the city required a large amount of labor, and Zhao Jun also transported a large amount of grain, and soon, the normal flow of materials here formed an effective order.

"King Zhao is not simple, he is really the lord of the Western Regions, who can compare?" After looking at the situation in the city and understanding some of the situation, Bai Yi couldn't help but sigh. While he was surprised by Zhao Jun's methods, he was worried about the fate of the Qiuzi Kingdom. He knew very well that Zhao Jun's current methods would soon be able to win the hearts of the people here. If you win the hearts of the people, you will win the world. The people's hearts are not lost, and it won't be long before these places become a part of King Zhao's command.

"His Royal Highness King Zhao, this is Lord Bai Yibai, the right minister of my Guizi Country."

"Right Xiangguo? How did Lord Sangkoku become an envoy and come here in person? Zhao Xun already knew that this person was coming, but he still asked with a smile.

Bai Yi said in a deep voice: "King Zhao Shenwei, the sword is pointing, and the army is there." The subordinates just want to come and see, what was the situation of the former Yanqi Kingdom under the rule of King Zhao? ”

Li Yan on the side heard Bai Yi say this, and his heart couldn't help jumping. What Bai Yi said was clearly a provocation.

Zhao Xun smiled indifferently and said, "How?" Is it as you think, that the life of the people here is worse than death? Does it seem to you that after this king occupies this Yanqi kingdom, the people here become slaves? ”

Bai Yi said respectfully: "Don't dare, the subordinates are ashamed!" Although the people here are suffering a little now, in the future, their lives will be better. The subordinates also deeply felt the ability of the king, in just half a month, the people of the former Yanqi king's capital could be owned by the king. ”

"Haha......" Zhao Xun laughed and said: "Yanqi Kingdom? Now, they don't exist anymore. The change of dynasty is really common sense in the world. Now, this Yanqi country is already the territory of my Great Zhao. In the words, the meaning of affirmation is unmistakable.

"In this way, the territory of the Yanqi Kingdom that my Qiuzi Kingdom now occupies will also belong to the Great King?"

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Bai Xiangguo, in your opinion, what is the reason for the existence of a country? Power? No, in the king's view, the existence of the state is to let every person have a core, so that all people can live a better life under an effective order. ”

"There are too many large and small countries in the Western Regions, and they can't work together, so they can only fight with each other, wasting their national strength and making the people's lives increasingly impoverished. Bai Xiangguo, do you think that under the governance of my Great Zhao, the people here are no better than before? ”

Bai Yi said in a condensed voice: "Great King, having said that, all the countries in my Western Regions have their own countries, and every citizen has to fight to the death for their country. ”

"Really? If this is the case, you will not be able to establish the kingdom of Qiuzi. Where did the country of Qiuzi come from? Isn't it built on the basis of the demise of the previous state? Zhao Xun said coldly, "This king wants the people of the Western Regions to live under the same blue sky and live a better life, this is the general trend." The general trend that cannot be changed, those who go along with it prosper, and those who go against it die. ”

When Bai Yi and Li Yan heard this, their faces changed dramatically. Zhao Xun's words have made it obvious that he wants to annex the entire Western Regions. Even his turtle country is no exception.

Just when Bai Yi was stunned, Zhao Xun said lightly: "This king heard that Bai Xiangguo is in Qiuci and is determined to oppose the union of Qiuci and my Zhao army, I don't know what his intentions are?" ”

"You are Turkic people in the north, and you don't know much about the Turks. More than 200 years ago, the Turks invaded the territory of the Western Regions, and the disasters they brought are better known than me. If it weren't for the Great Yan Empire sending troops to the Western Regions, I am afraid that the other countries would no longer exist. Is that what you want to see? ”

Bai Yi said in a condensed voice: "However, the current Turkic people have fallen into internal 'strife' and have no time to take care of anything else. ”

Zhao Xun said coldly: "Internal 'chaos'? Don't have time for anything else? The Turkic people are in internal 'strife', and eventually they will be unified. Now in the south of the Turkic people, in the east is my Great Zhao, and in the west is your Western Regions countries. You say, after the Turks pacified the internal 'turmoil', they wanted to restore their strength, or when they went south to plunder, did they join our Great Zhao? Or will you invade the countries of the Western Regions? ”

"This ......" Bai Yi was speechless.

"Of course it's you countries in the Western Regions! Because you don't have an effective rule, because you fight on your own, because you go out of the country like Gaochang, where you put yourself under the control of the Turks. And I, Da Zhao, are thousands of miles away, with countless troops, and they dare not invade. Zhao Xun said sharply.

"Whether you will be destroyed by the Turks or become a part of my Great Zhao depends on how you choose. Looking at the scene in the city, Bai Xiangguo should think about it. ”

"Li Yan, are you here this time to discuss with this king about sending troops?" Zhao Xun didn't pay any attention to Bai Yi, who was deep in thought, and instead asked Li Yan.

Li Yan said: "That's true, our army is already on standby, waiting for the king's deployment. ”

"Very good, in this operation, you led the 'sex' to open, and the army went directly to the north, straight to Changji and Wusu, and entered Gaochang from the southwest. The reason is that with the help of the Turks, it intends to go south and invade the country of Qiuzi. Of course, you can use any other excuses. ”

"And the king's army will attack from due south and east. We will form an encirclement, flank them in all directions, and destroy them in one fell swoop. Remember, this king doesn't want you to have any problems, otherwise ......" Although Zhao Xun didn't say anything else, Li Yanxin understood that if he had no problems, then Zhao Jun might appear directly in the capital of King Qiuzi.

"As for the westward march of the troops, the king will send men to your army in person to accompany your commander. Of course, what this king needs is for you to be able to contain Gao Changguo's attention, not to let you fight to the death with Gao Changguo. The king's army is enough to 'swing' the Gaochang Kingdom. What the king needs to do now is not to let the Turks 'intervene' in it. ”

"The subordinate understands!" Li Yan said respectfully.

"My lord, may I ask if my country of Qiuzi is also about to be annexed by you?" Bai Yining, who had been silent for a long time, asked in a voice.

Zhao Xun looked at Bai Yi and said in a deep voice: "What do you mean by annexation?" Don't you think that under the unified jurisdiction of my Great Zhao, there will be more peace here, and the people will live a better life? Or are you reluctant to give up your position as prime minister? "Zhao Xun is clear, this Bai Yi is definitely not like Li Shu, who puts the interests of the family above the kingdom. And this person is a person who is truly loyal to the country and works for the benefit of the people. It is precisely because of this time that he has repeatedly opposed the fact that Qiuzi Kingdom and Zhao Jun have come together.

It stands to reason that Zhao Xun should not have a good attitude towards this kind of person, but Zhao Xun feels that if he can get this person to stand on his side, he can better solve the problem of Qiuzi Kingdom peacefully. Just as Situ Liang began to worry about, this Qiuci country united with himself to conquer the Yanqi country and the Gaochang country, no matter what, he could not directly use force against the Qiuci country, otherwise, the consequences would be extremely bad. Therefore, the issue of Qiuzi can only be 'forced' step by step, weakened step by step, and forced him to integrate into the Zhao army.

After being silent for a long time, Bai Yi said: "Then what should the king of our country and the important civil and military ministers of Zhao do?" ”

Zhao Xunxin was overjoyed, and felt that Bai Yi slowly began to change his mind, moved closer to himself, and said with a smile: "King Qiuci is still the king of Qiuci, but, like here, the king can only be a knighthood, not governing the people, not leading the people, and enjoying the treatment of my Da Zhao Wangjue." Besides, in the era of the former capital protectorate, your countries did not send the royal prince into the Han court as hostages, but in the territory of the Western Regions, there was still the existence of this metropolitan protector? ”

Although Bai Yi did not respond, Zhao Xun understood that Bai Yi had begun to change his mind. Of course, Zhao Xun doesn't think that it is his own words that make this prime minister bow down. The most important thing is the strength of the Zhao army and the living conditions of the people in this Xizhou City.

Subsequently, Zhao Xun sent Ren Sui Li Yan to go to the army of Qiuci State stationed outside the Xizhou Mansion in the west, responsible for pointing out the target and direction of the battle for the army of Qiuci State, and Zhao Xun also began to prepare for a big war afterwards.

"My lord, now in the territory of the three prefectures, the county and town system has been planned, and the next thing is the local garrison system such as the county soldiers and the government soldiers. How should the county soldiers and copies in this place be arranged? After solving the problem of horse thieves, Zhang Yuanjing once again asked Zhao for instructions on the follow-up problems planned for the land of Sanfu after the Yanqi Kingdom and more than ten small countries around it were wiped out by the Zhao army.

Zhao Xun said in a condensed voice: "In this land of the Western Regions, are there very few Han people? ”

Zhang Yuanjing nodded and said, "Yes, the opportunity can be said to be negligible." Of course, now that the Tun army is here in Tuntian, the proportion of our Han people has begun to rise, and in addition, the arrival of some merchants has also increased the number of my Han people. However, this is still very rare. Therefore, the garrison in this place is a huge problem. The soldiers recruited are still the young and strong of the original countries. ”

Zhao Xun 'rubbed' his eyebrows and said: "This is also a tricky problem, if it weren't for this, the Central Plains Imperial Court would have annexed it a long time ago, and it would not be our turn." ”

Situ Liang on the side said in a sullen voice: "It seems that it is still necessary to relocate the people and strengthen the proportion of Han people." In addition, Chinese language education is implemented here, so that Chinese language becomes the mainstream here. It is also necessary to dilute the influence of their original countries and ethnic groups, so that they can all become members of the Han people. ”

Zhang Yuanjing smiled bitterly: "We are already starting to implement these, this was originally the policy of the integration of the famous clan proposed by the lord, how can we not implement it here?" However, this method takes time and is by no means a one-day effort. And the county soldiers and government soldiers above this place need to be organized immediately. We need them to maintain local law and order, to maintain local rule. ”

Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "What about the Tuntian soldiers? Although they are not as good as the town soldiers, they are enough as the government soldiers and county soldiers above the local level. Moreover, there are quite a few soldiers who came to Tuntian this time, and there are tens of thousands. ”

Zhang Yuan said in a sullen voice: "But this is only a Yanqi country and more than ten small countries around it. Among the countries of the Western Regions, we occupy only a little more than one-sixth of them. If all the troops are garrisoned, what will happen in the future? With our attack on Gaochang, we cannot but arrange these garrisons to the north. After all, to the north of Gaochang, there are Turks, who are more important to us. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "It seems that the families of these soldiers have also moved here. Situ Liang gave an order to the soldiers and soldiers that anyone who is willing to move their families here will be exempt from tax for three years. In addition, these soldiers were also encouraged to marry and have children here. ”

"A part of the garrison troops will be 'drawn', and then a part will be selected from the more honest local residents, and a part will be merged to form a local garrison. In addition, strengthen the proportion of the Eagle Eye Division and the Shadow Division here. ”

"All local residents who join the local garrison army will join the Han nationality and enjoy certain tax reductions and exemptions. Let them know who their benefits are coming from. It can also allow them to compare their advantages and disadvantages with other residents, and cut their relationship with other residents. ”

Situ Liang added: "It is best to let these people who are selected into the local garrison form marriages with the cantonment soldiers. In this way, we can better connect them with us. Even if they want to repeat it, they must consider whether the people of those countries can accept it. Add to that the fact that they enjoy superior treatment, and the rest of the people still don't see them as our diehards? ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "This is feasible, in addition, the most important thing is the change from the top of the mind." The implementation of Chinese language education here must be strengthened and accelerated, and academies in various localities must also be opened as soon as possible. Like the land of Liaozhou, we can tame the people of the Tatar and the people of the Western Regions. ”

"Aren't there so many scholars in the Central Plains who have nothing to do? Aren't they sorrowful for their livelihood? Now that they have a chance, let them come here to educate the people. This is a major event that will be remembered in the annals of history in the future. Coupled with good treatment, this king believes that there will still be many people who are willing to come here. ”