The captain who led the team recognized Jia Xu, hurriedly stepped forward, and told the truth about the situation. It turned out that beating up a comrade was a serious violation of military discipline, and although the lieutenant had no right to punish the crime, he did not dare to let the Xiahoudun brothers go unpunished, so he had to detain them first, and wait until they reached Khotan, and then the decision of the superior officials was made.

Jia Xu figured out what was going on, but he breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Although the two old generals' actions are inappropriate, they are also excusable, and they should not be loosened quickly. ”

Xiahou Yuan learned of Jia Xu's identity, and before the soldiers could untie the ropes on their bodies, they had already shouted loudly: "My lord, the soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first." This matter must not be delayed, and the soldiers in front can't afford to wait! ”

"Don't worry, general, Your Majesty sent Jia to solve this matter." Jia Xu smiled, his face suddenly sank, and he turned to those old soldiers and said loudly, "Sons, you have just joined the Han army, and you don't know the military regulations of the Han Dynasty, Jia is not to blame in the past!" From now on, if anyone dares to delay the military plane again, there will be no mercy! ”

Speaking of this, Jia Xu suddenly drew out the sword he was carrying and slashed at a small tree on the side of the road, and the small tree fell in response. Jia Xu pointed at the broken tree and shouted, "Before it gets dark today, we must advance two hundred miles!" From tomorrow onwards, the march must not be less than two hundred and fifty miles a day, otherwise, there will be such a tree! ”

For several days, these old troops marched no more than 180 miles a day, and then they said that they were hungry, that their legs hurt and that they could not walk, and they shouted vigorously to camp and rest. Who knew that Jia Xu suddenly stretched the distance of the daily march to two hundred and fifty miles, which was more than double their usual direct increase, and these old troops exploded on the spot.

Jia Xuke didn't have the patience to persuade them here, waved his hand, took the reins from the hands of his own soldiers, jumped up, and said loudly: "Jia is waiting for you in the future, if you don't come out of date, cut it!" ”

Seeing that Jia Xu was gone, those old soldiers were still complaining in place. But I heard Xiahoudun point to the broken tree and said loudly: "Brothers, if you don't work harder, everyone will die, so let's keep the strength and walk a few more steps!" ”

These old armies were all defeated generals of the Han army, and they knew very well the strength of the Han army, and after listening to Xiahoudun's words, they couldn't help but wake up, and they couldn't care about any more labor, so they suddenly dispersed in a hurry, and rushed to their vehicles, or pulled or pushed, or desperately whipped the camel horse. The energy burst out when people were facing a desperate situation was very huge, and these old troops, who could only walk a hundred miles a day, walked a full two hundred miles for most of the day in order to save their lives, an hour earlier than dark.

Of course, this also requires hard work and sweat. Many people eat lunch while walking, and many people have blood blisters on their feet. When they arrived at the camp, all the troops fell asleep. They are also veterans of many years of fighting, but they have never been so tired as they are today.

Although Jia Xu was very strict with them, and even threatened them with death, he was not without a little human touch. Seeing that these old soldiers were lying on the ground without even eating dinner, they immediately arranged for their subordinates to prepare supper. When the old soldiers had slept for two hours, they were called out one by one. Although Jia Xu didn't understand the truth that people are iron and rice are steel, he also knew that if they didn't eat a little more, they wouldn't talk about driving two hundred and fifty miles tomorrow, but they were afraid that they wouldn't be able to walk for a hundred miles.

Under Jia Xu's grace and power, the rearguard corps and the people who transported grain and grass moved several times faster, and soon transported the second batch of supplies to Khotanese City. What is even more gratifying is that after a few days of hard work, these old troops have gradually adapted to this rhythm of marching, and no complaints can be heard. It can be seen that many things in the world are not just as simple as being able to do and not being able to do, the key is whether you are willing to work hard and whether you are willing to pay. Now, as long as this speed is maintained, the logistical supply of hundreds of thousands of Han troops on the front line will not be a problem.

At this time, Liu Xin had also met the team escorting Tuoba Jun, and learned the news that the 40,000 nomadic cavalry pretending to be "horse thieves" were almost wiped out.

The incident happened suddenly, completely disrupting Liu Xin's deployment. Liu Xin was silent for a moment, waved his hand, and said, "Let the Tuoba Patriarch go first." ”

Frustrated and suddenly arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Tuoba Jun has lost his troops and broken his generals, and frustrated my spirit, if I don't punish him severely, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public!" ”

On the surface, it means that Tuoba Jun will take responsibility for this defeat, but in fact, there is another layer of intention. In the eyes of these people, the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other nomadic peoples have always belonged to the category of foreign races, and only the Han people are orthodox. Although Liu Xin has always emphasized that no matter what race people are, as long as they are willing to abide by the laws of the Han Dynasty, they can become the people of the Han Dynasty, but among the ministers, the idea of "if you are not of my race, their hearts will be different" will jump out from time to time. Fu Zhu wanted to take this opportunity to execute Tuoba Jun and further weaken the power of the Xianbei nobles.

However, Liu Xin has her own plans.

With his unremitting efforts, the Han Dynasty continued to expand its territory, and if it could defeat Great Qin again, it would be the first power in the world. Even if Liu Xin didn't want to occupy Great Qin, the current Han Dynasty was also vast. From the sea in the east, to Dawan in the west, the grassland in the north, and Jiaozhi in the south, all belong to the territory of the Han Dynasty. As the country grew, so did the population. Although the number of Han people is large, the population of other ethnic groups combined is also a large number. Under such circumstances, how to achieve national integration and ensure the stability of the country has become the top priority.

Contrary to frustration, Liu Xin will not take the initiative to weaken them, or even physically eliminate them, but hopes to subtly influence them through economic, cultural and other means, and improve their sense of identity with the Han Dynasty, which is the most effective means to maintain the stability of the Han Dynasty.

It was for this reason that Liu Xin planned to pardon Tuoba Jun. First, Tuoba is now the patriarch of the largest tribe in Xianbei, and if he is executed, it will affect the relationship between the entire tribe and the imperial court. Second, Tuoba Jun's life was saved by Ma Chao, and he will definitely be grateful to Dade. Thirdly, Liu Xin did not expect them to achieve much success in this requisition of the nomadic cavalry on the grassland, but only gave them a chance to participate in the affairs of the imperial court and improve their sense of belonging.

After weighing it repeatedly, Liu Xin still felt that it was more advantageous to pardon Tuoba Jun than to execute him, so he waved his hand and said: "This defeat cannot be blamed entirely on the Tuoba patriarch, it is because I am familiar with the enemy's situation, but I didn't expect Caracalla to gather an army of 400,000 in a small province. However, the defeat of the Tuoba Jun patriarch this time was not without benefits. ”

All the generals looked at Liu Xin in surprise, not understanding what else could benefit from defeat. I saw Liu Xin smile and continued: "This defeat shows at least two problems. First, our army went west this time, although we tried our best to block the news, but Daqin had already prepared. The second is that Caracalla's massacre of Han merchants is likely to be a conspiracy in itself, trying to attract our army to an expedition, which may be a trap! It's just a pity that these warriors of my big man, I will never let their blood be shed in vain, I must avenge them! ”

This analysis made the generals think so, and they all nodded in agreement, but Tuoba Jun was already in tears. Liu Xin just said that he was talking about the warriors of the Han Dynasty, not the warriors of the grassland, and obviously regarded them as the people of the Han Dynasty.

Tuoba Jun suddenly choked up and shouted: "Your Majesty, the grass people will never let you be embarrassed, and you are willing to die to thank the people!" ”

Liu Xin laughed and said, "Tuoba Patriarch, if you are really ambitious, you will keep this life and go to the battlefield to avenge the dead warriors!" ”

Tuoba Jun raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, the grass people will never give up!" ”

Fu Zhu suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the minister feels that there is something wrong!" ”

"What's wrong?" Liu Xin thought that he must insist on implementing military regulations, and suddenly became a little unhappy. In fact, since he has already decided, and the emperor is full of words, thunder, rain and dew are all Jun's grace, not to mention that Tuoba Jun is not a soldier, and whether he insists on implementing military regulations or not is between the two, how can he touch this mold again.

I saw that he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, General Ma Chao has rescued the Tuoba patriarch, and the matter of the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes pretending to be horse bandits will not be hidden, and sooner or later it will reach the ears of the Parthians, and I hope Your Majesty will prepare early." ”

Only then did Liu Xin realize that he had misunderstood Frustration, and couldn't help laughing: "It's okay." If you don't want people to know, unless you don't do anything, this matter will be made public sooner or later, and if you can't hide it, then it's better not to hide it. This time, the Tuoba patriarch only ransacked the Parthian nobles, and the people did not suffer, and even gained a lot of benefits. Gonghe was worried that Parthia would come to Xingshi to ask for sin, right? Hmph, as long as these people don't oppose us, why should Vologis and his son be afraid! ”

Frustrated's worries were not unfounded, and at this time, Vologis on the sickbed had already received the news, even a day before Frustrated had figured it out.

The news was analyzed by Ardaban to Vologis, and the real source was, of course, Caracalla. Because of Tagina's affairs, Vologis, who was angry, did not believe the words of this greedy young son at first. However, Ardaban immediately cited evidence, that is, the Han army's practice in Dawan. The Han army purged almost all the nobles in Dawan, and the news was public, exactly what the "horse thieves" did in Parthia.

Of course, it is impossible for Aldaban to think so clearly, these are all analyzed by the people sent by Caracalla, and tell him that the Han army has suffered a great defeat in Asia Minor, which also further strengthens Ardaban's confidence in cooperation with Great Qin.

Vologis was silent, his rule in Parthia depended on the support of these nobles. He turned out to be more inclined to the Great Han, after all, the Great Han helped him recapture Ctesiphon, and the Great Qin was his mortal enemy. But then he needs to rethink his policies.