Xianxiang couldn't help but turn his head to look at Liu Xin, but saw that Liu Xin just smiled and didn't say anything, and didn't ask him what happened, looking extremely trusting of him. Xianxiang gritted his teeth and arched his hand and said: "Lord Liu, I just received a report that the envoys from Dawan, Shule, and Shache have arrived in Xicheng together, please show me." ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Yu Khotan is still up to you, see it or not, you can see it yourself." ”

Xianxiang shook his head and said: "Xiao Wang is about to report to the lord, a few days ago, the Great Wan Kingdom sent an envoy to invite Xiao Wang to send troops together, and attacked the lord's caravan along the way, but Xiao Wang Wanyan refused. Now that these three countries have sent envoys at the same time, I am afraid that the intention is not good. Xiao Wang has already decided to submit to the Han Dynasty, so naturally he will not see them again. Xiao Wang will send someone to arrest them all and hand them over to the adults to deal with! ”

"The two countries have not yet killed each other, what are they going to do?" Liu Xin smiled and said, "Since they are here, let's invite them to the banquet together." ”

The sweat on the forehead of the elephant came down, and he knew better than anyone what the envoys of Dawan, Shule, and Shache were doing.

Now, the Han Dynasty is like a big tree, and the countries of the Western Regions are small trees hiding in the shade. Although it is good to enjoy the shade under the big tree, it will never grow taller than the big tree, and only when the big shady tree falls, can these small trees grow strongly, or even take the place of the original big tree.

Some time ago, the wind and rain were shaking, and this big tree seemed to be a little unstable, and it was a good opportunity for the small tree to thrive, and all the countries in the Western Regions were ready to move. It's not that he didn't have an idea to sacrifice an elephant, and he didn't immediately agree to Jia Xu last time. Now, the wind seems to have stopped, and the tree is still standing, and the elephant will continue to hide under the shade.

Da Wan is different, he is not under the shade of this tree, so he still has a chance to continue to grow taller, but the big tree of the Han Dynasty is preparing to expand its shade to his location, and he will naturally not be reconciled.

After Jia Xu returned to Chang'an last time, King Dawan entangled the two kingdoms of Shache and Shule, and organized a cavalry of more than 3,000 people to go deep into the desert in the north of Shanshan, preparing to rob and kill the envoys from the Han Dynasty. Who knows, this time the Han mission was personally led by Liu Xin, and accompanied by more than 10,000 troops to escort it, but instead the ambush of more than 3,000 people was completely annihilated.

The captives released by Liu Xin have now returned to their respective countries one after another, reporting their defeats to their kings. However, the greedy Dawan King did not learn a lesson from this contest of disparity in strength, but his mind was full of the large number of precious goods such as silk and white porcelain carried by Liu Xin, and his eyes were red. When he learned from the mouths of the defeated soldiers that this Han army only had 15,000 people in total, and that a part of the army was stationed in Hunicheng and several surrounding villages, King Dawan was moved, because as these defeated soldiers said, by the time Liu Xin's army arrived in Khotan, I am afraid that there would only be a few thousand people left.

Located to the west of the Green Mountains, Dawan is an agricultural country with a population of more than 300,000 and rich in grain, grapes and good horses. However, Dawan, an agrarian country, was different from the Han in that it pursued a policy of all-soldier warfare similar to that of the nomadic tribes, so it was able to raise 60,000 troops in a short period of time. Lan Feng, the king of Dawan, was quite ambitious, and repeatedly crossed the Uzberi Pass to invade the territory of Shache and Shule, and repeatedly defeated the armies of the two countries. Now, both the Shache and Shule countries are paying tribute to Dawan. However, if Liu Xin's plan to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate succeeded, Dawan would no longer be able to control Shache and Shule, which was the main reason why Lan Feng wanted to rob and kill the Han Mission.

While the previous ambush ended in failure, a better opportunity lay ahead. The number of guards of the Han Mission is getting smaller and smaller, and it is getting closer and closer to Dawan. At this time, if Lan Feng gathers the army of the whole country, coupled with the help of Shache, Shule and Khotan, with dozens of times the military strength, it can be said that it is a war that is sure to win. As long as this Han army is defeated, and even Liu Xin, the main general of the Han army, is captured, the Western Regions Protectorate of the Han Dynasty will never be rebuilt.

Although the last time Xianxiang did not promise to send troops to participate in the coalition of the Dawan organization, he did not inform the Han people of this matter, so that the Han people could take precautions in advance, so Lan Feng sent an envoy again.

Last time, these three envoys also came to Xicheng and asked for the help of the elephant and sent troops. Hearing that a banquet had been set up for the sacrifice of the elephant, the three of them were full of joy and came to the main hall of the Khotanese palace by car, only to find that it was not the offering of the elephant that sat on the head, but a young Han man in a white robe.

Yan Sai, the envoy of Dawan, was taken aback, and when he looked around, he saw that the elephant was accompanying him on the left seat, and he couldn't help but press the hilt of his sword with his hand, and asked sharply, "Who are you?" ”

Xianxiang was anxious to draw a clear line with Dawan and other countries, and stood up and shouted: "Bold! When you see Lord Liu, don't hurry up and salute! ”

Although Liu Xin couldn't understand what they were saying, he could guess a rough idea, so he waved his hand and said: "I am Liu Xin, the governor of the four states of the Han Dynasty, and now the consul general, Liang, Yi, Jing, Yang, and the land of the Western Regions, as well as the envoys sent by the countries of the Western Regions, I don't know what is important?" ”

At this time, Xianxiang remembered that Liu Xin did not understand Hu language, so he hurriedly saluted Liu Xin, took the initiative to act as an interpreter, translated Liu Xin's words, and then said: "Your king has sent you here, have you brought any letters, hurry up and present them to your lordship." ”

Dawan King Lan Feng sent them as an envoy to invite the elephant to deal with the young Han man in front of him, how could Yan Sai hand over the letter to him? Yan Sai hesitated for a moment, bowed down and said: "The villain was only ordered to meet the king, and he never said that the villain would come to see any Han envoy. Since the king has other guests here, the villain will avoid it first, and then come to see him when the king is free. ”

Although there is no need to worry that Yansai's words will be heard by Liu Xin, Xianxiang does not dare to guarantee that Liu Xin does not have an entourage around him who can understand the local language. In order to avoid suspicion, Xianxiang translated Yansai's words locally as they were, and once again rebuked: "Nonsense! Now that I am in Khotan and now under the rule of the Han Dynasty, how can I privately receive envoys from other countries? If you have anything to say, say it now, and if you don't want to say it, get out! ”

Yan Sai looked around again, in addition to the palace guards in Khotan, there were also many Han warriors standing in this hall, and they were only three people alone. The hero does not suffer the loss in front of him, since the elephant is offered to let him get out quickly, then he will come down the donkey and turn around to leave.

Liu Xin raised his hand and said, "Wait!" ”

Several guards guarding the door "choked", pulled out the overlord knives they were carrying, and blocked the way of the three messengers.

Liu Xin said in a deep voice: "It seems that the lesson given to you last time is far from enough!" Go back and tell you the king, the Western Regions Protectorate, Liu must be rebuilt, Liu persuaded them to know the times as Junjie, and return to my Han rule as soon as possible, if not, sooner or later, let them know my Han military might! ”

Although the road has been very smooth since leaving the Yumen Pass, Liu Xin has never thought that it will be an easy thing to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate, otherwise he would not have gone through it himself. For these countries that are unwilling to belong to them, Liu Xin does not mind the use of force.

After the Xianxiang finished translating what Liu Xin said, several guards put their swords into their sheaths, made way for a road, and Fang Yansai and the other two messengers retreated in a gloomy manner. However, Yansai was very cunning, and after he left the Khotanese palace, he did not immediately return to Dawan to report to Lan Feng, but took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him now, and rode his horse around the city. Yansai found the camp where the Han army was stationed, hid in the dark and watched for a long time, convinced that Liu Xin only brought about 3,000 men and horses, so he whipped away.

Yan Sai didn't know that since the last time he was attacked by the Black Whirlwind in Huni City, Liu Xin only brought 3,000 men and horses with him every time he entered the city, while the other 12,000 soldiers launched a search outside the city to prevent horse bandits lurking. The soldiers who had searched outside the city did not return to the city until evening, and the search party avoided the avenues, for it was impossible for the bandits to appear on the main road during the day. As a result, until Yansai left Xicheng indignantly, he always believed that the Han army around Liu Xin was only about 3,000 people.

Drove away the envoys sent by Dawan and other countries, Xianxiang has been firmly on Liu Xin's side, he learned the etiquette of the Han people, and said: "Lord Liu, the envoys of Dawan, Shache, and Shule once came, and wanted to ask Xiao Wang to send troops to attack the Han envoys with them, but Xiao Wang refused, and this time he sent envoys to come, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to the adults." Xiao Wang is not talented, and he is willing to raise the country's soldiers to help adults break the thieves together! ”

He didn't say this, Liu Xin also knew that Dawan and other countries were likely to make a desperate bet, but Xianxiang wanted to take the opportunity to make some benefits. However, Liu Xin did not want Khotan to take the opportunity to take advantage of the crusade against Dawan and other countries. Today, the Western Regions are divided into more than 30 countries, and the power of each country is not too strong, and it is more conducive to control. Liu Xin is now eager to turn these more than 30 countries in the Western Regions into more than 300 countries, how can he let Khotan participate in the war against Dawan?

"What are these small countries of Dawan, Shache, and Shule? The light of the candle also dares to compete with the sun and the moon! Liu Xin's command can pull out an army at random, and you can level them! Liu Xin picked up the wine glass and said, "Come, don't let these little things sweep away our wine, everyone will rest when they get drunk!" ”

The feast was so drunk that it was not until the moonlit treetops that they dispersed. Offering images is the most interesting, as early as before Liu Xin entered the city, he moved his concubines and children to the post house for a while, and vacated the palace to Liu Xin.

Liu Xin drank a few more glasses of wine, but he was not polite to him, he arched his hand and entered the harem, completely treating this place as his home.