Updated: 2013-06-24

When Zhao Xun arrived in the western part of Liangzhou again, it was already September. The new administrative system in Zhao has also been spread out in the restructuring for most of the year, so that the entire territory of Zhao has a new look.

In the south, after receiving reinforcements from the Qi army, the combined forces of the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong barely resisted the fierce attack of the Shu army. Because of the ambition of the king of Shu Situ Che for Jingzhou and the stability of his power, Situ Che successively mobilized 150,000 soldiers to launch a fierce attack on the tripartite alliance of the king of Luoyang, the king of Hanzhong and the king of Qi in the south of Jingzhou.

Seeing this scene, Murong Cheng also had to send additional troops to the Yangtze River and the Shu army. I have to say that the current comprehensive strength of the Qi army is still inferior to that of the Shu army. In the three months of the war, the tripartite alliance army had occupied all the small cities, towns and villages in the south of the Yangtze River, except for the only few big cities, and the rest of the small cities, towns and villages.

Seeing that the south was like this, Zhao Xun was naturally overjoyed, the more ruthless the war in the south, the better it would be for him. So, Zhao Xun once again visited the land of the Western Regions to inspect the newly stored place in the Western Regions.

Appearing in the land of Liangzhou again, this place is very different from the beginning. In the past, the war was 'chaotic', and the people here were scarce and living in embarrassment. But now, the war has long stopped, and after more than two years of recovery, not only has the population 'surged' here, but the lives of the people are also very different from before. Here, Zhao Xun was exempted from taxes for three years.

In addition, the roads that used to be difficult to walk are now all paved with concrete. In this situation where there are no overweight vehicles, this kind of cement road is no less than the cement road of later generations. Because of the prosperity of commerce, the construction of cement roads in various places is much faster than Zhao Xun expected.

According to officials in Liangzhou, the Chi Road in many places was built with the funds of big businessmen, chambers of commerce and merchants. After all, the smooth flow of this road is also very important to the merchants. For this reason, Zhao Xun also issued an edict to reward these merchants and confer honorary titles, that is, lords under the barons.

Although this lord has no practical benefits, it is also a very valuable thing for a businessman, and with this lord, it is equivalent to you being recognized by the court and making contributions to the court. That would naturally be of great benefit to his firm, and even the imperial court would 'hand' over some tasks to this firm.

For Zhao Guo, these gallops are of great significance. Dispatch troops, through here, can reach the goal in the shortest possible time. The food and grass materials needed by the army can also be provided for the army in the shortest possible time. Why is it difficult to manage the land of the Western Regions, is it not because it is too far away from the Central Plains Imperial Court, it is inconvenient to dispatch troops, and it is inconvenient to transport grain, grass and materials? But now, these problems are gradually decreasing.

Zhao Xun traveled all the way to the west, and even the westernmost Zhufu County of Liangzhou had a perfect cement road. On both sides of the cement road, there are rows of green willows and poplars, guarding the road. And the sparsely populated counties in the western part of Liangzhou, which were sparsely populated in the past, have now changed their appearance, but people come and go, with smiles on their faces.

The land of Liangzhou, originally among the Great Yan Prefectures, was still relatively poor. One of the most important reasons is that it is related to the topography in which it is located, coupled with the encroachment and 'disturbance' of the lord of the Western Regions. But now, the entire land of Liangzhou has changed greatly, especially the establishment of Xiazhou, which makes Liangzhou and Bingzhou connected, and it is more convenient to travel between east and west. If Chang'an and other places are taken in the future, it will be more convenient for Liangzhou to travel with the eastern states.

Zhao Xun also found that in the western region of Liangzhou, there are almost no traces of the Turkic people, Tuyuhun people, Dangxiang people, and Tubo people who used to be relatively large in number. From the records of the local county and the garrison, it can be found that in the past two years, more than 130,000 foreigners died in the western part of Liangzhou for various reasons, and in addition, more than 80,000 were recruited by the local government to participate in the construction of the Chi Road, and never returned to the distant land. More than 100,000 foreign 'women' were integrated into the Han people, and hundreds of large and small tribal groups and local tyrants were all in the Zhao army's suppression of local bandits, and they were either slaughtered by mountain bandits and horse thieves, or were exterminated by the Zhao army because of collusion with mountain bandits and horse thieves.

Such operations unfolded throughout Liangzhou, and even began to spread westward. The Han people who moved in also quickly made up for the number of people above the local area, making the place more prosperous. In addition, because the Zhao army was stationed in the three kingdoms and ten prefectures in the northern part of the Western Regions, it also died in the northern countries, so the Zhao army placed some orders for the needs of the army to the Liangzhou prefectures and counties, so that the various workshops in the Liangzhou prefectures and counties also began to increase, and then benefited the people and enriched the place.

Because of the establishment of Xiazhou, the connection between the western part of Liangzhou, including the Western Regions and the Central Plains, is no longer a small and narrow Longxi corridor, and together with Xiazhou in the north, the north and south are connected. In addition, coupled with the submission of the Turks, the land of the Western Regions and the land of the Central Plains are already connected, and the exchanges are not so difficult.

In the northwest of Liangzhou, like Xia and Dingzhou, in order to guard against the Turkic tribes in the north and other nomadic peoples that may exist in the future, new cities and fortresses began to be built in various places, and soldiers planted trees and forests on a large scale. The aim is to make the north possible desert and some grassland margins, and slowly convert to woodland.

In the territory of Dunhuang, Yiwu and other prefectures in the northwest of Liangzhou, it was originally vast and sparsely populated, but now, the number of people here has increased several times, and the newly built cities alone have been more than four times the original. Here, because the north is the place where the Eastern and Western Turkic tribes want to connect, a large number of merchants buy all kinds of fur and animal Achilles tendons in the northern Turkic tribes, organize manpower to 'fine' processing here, and then sell them to the weapons workshop opened by the Ministry of Industry of the Imperial Court, make armor and equipment, transfer them to the Logistics Department, and then allocate them to the western armies according to the order.

In addition, many slave hunters also escorted slaves bought from the eastern Turkic tribes or plundered the western Turkic tribes to the two northern provinces, where they were sold to various merchants and government offices for work or the construction of Chidao cities. Because of these business activities, the local economy of Dunhuang and other places in Yiwu has also doubled several times. Even Zhao Xun listened to the local officials' returns, and he sighed again and again.

In various parts of Liangzhou, Zhao Xun also saw the branches of Dazhao Bank, and now Dazhao coins are the most circulating coins in the world. Mo said that it was Liangzhou, which was the territory of the princes in the south of the Central Plains, and it was also dominated by Da Zhao coins. In the land of the Ten Prefectures in the north of the Western Regions, the Great Zhao coins are also used as the circulating currency.

Since then, after the establishment of Dazhao this year, Dazhao Bank has begun to spread out all over Zhao country. The Da Zhao coin, which is difficult to imitate in the 'fine' beauty, has been loved by merchants and magnates, and has gradually become the circulating currency in various places. Just the gold and silver from exchanging coins from all over the country have already made Zhao Guo a lot of money.

Looking at the Turkic slaves who came and went and then left the mark of slaves, Zhao Xun couldn't help but feel stunned. After understanding, Zhao Xun realized that these slaves were the spoils of war of the eastern Turkic tribes, and they were used to 'handover' various materials to the Zhao State. It has to be said that since the Turkic tribes in the east surrendered to the Great Zhao, these Turkic tribes have been greatly influenced by the Great Zhao. Many luxury goods became objects in the hands of the Turkic tribal nobility. And these utensils were transported and sold by the merchants of Zhao Di, and the price was directly several times higher than that of the Central Plains.

In this regard, Zhao Xun is naturally happy to see it. The more things the merchants sold, the more taxes they would reap for Da Zhao, which was naturally a good thing. At the same time, it was also an extremely reasonable trade to sell large quantities of luxury goods and some useless and expensive things to the Turkic tribes in exchange for their money.

Of course, the most important thing is that Zhao Xun hopes that these Turkic nobles will not all change their current life style, from fierce and brave to decadent and luxurious. The consequence of this is naturally that the Turkic tribes' combat power has been greatly reduced, and they instead advocate luxury.

However, the effect under the deliberate guidance of the merchants of Zhao State in the past few years has finally appeared, and the Eastern Turkic tribes and the Western Turkic tribes have been fighting for more than a year, and they have not been able to completely distinguish the victory and defeat, at most, the Eastern Turkic tribes have a certain upper hand.

In the 'spring' season of last year, when Zhao Xun went west to conquer the northern countries of the Western Regions and attacked the Gaochang Kingdom, the western Turkic tribes began to 'want' move. Zhao Xun was worried that the western Turkic tribes would spoil his own affairs, so he ordered the eastern Turkic tribes to go west to rectify his western tribes. It took almost a year before and after the war, but the winner was still not decided. You must know that the eastern Turkic tribes have trade with the Zhao army, and the grain and grass of the army are basically the one that is not in short supply. In addition, they also had the armor and equipment that Zhao Jun had replaced.

Although these armor and equipment are used by soldiers in various places, they are still the armor of the Great Yan system in the past. Even if you put aside the crossbow arrows and the best armor, the rest of the weapons are far better than those used by the Turks themselves. However, the eastern tribes, which had the advantage in all respects, were unable to win in a single blow.

The Eastern and Western Turkic tribes were at war with each other, which was also what Zhao Xun wanted. After all, the threat of nomads to the Central Plains, Zhao Xun is very clear. They have always coveted the Central Plains, but they can't rule, let alone govern the place. They can only bring destruction to the Central Plains.

I paid attention to the situation in the western part of Liangzhou, and also learned about the recent wars between the eastern and western Turkic tribes in the north, which spanned thousands of miles. Immediately, a new military order was issued to the Shadow Division and the Eagle Eye Division in Liangzhou, asking them to continue to provoke the Turkic tribes to fight, and instigate the eastern Turkic tribes to capture the young and strong Turkic tribes in the west and sell them to Dazhao as slaves in exchange for all kinds of 'fine' and beautiful Central Plains things.

As for the western Turkic tribes, Zhao Xun also sent some detailed works, asking them to sell the captives of the eastern Turkic tribes to merchants formed in the name of the Western Regions, and support them to continue the war with the eastern Turkic tribes. Zhao Xun naturally did not want the Eastern Turkic tribes to defeat the Western Turkic tribes, and they continued to continue the war, and the dishes were most in the interests of the Zhao State.

In mid-September, they finally arrived in the ten northern provinces of the Western Regions. Situ Liang, Wei Zilin, Li Chenfeng and Ling Xiao came to greet them. Zhao Xun also found that after nearly a year of migration, the proportion of Han people in the ten northern provinces of the Western Regions has greatly increased, although it has not been able to exceed the people of the Western Regions, but it has also reached a forty percent proportion.

Originally, there was a city for hundreds of miles, but now there is a city for dozens of miles, and there are countless ordinary towns and villages. The arrival of the Han people not only greatly increased the population of the empty northern land of the Western Regions, but also increased the number of farmlands in some areas. It also affected the way of life of the people in the Western Regions, and some people in the Western Regions began to have a nomadic life to agriculture like the Han people.

"Ling Xiao, how is it, are you still used to it in the land of the Western Regions?" The former king of Qiuci, the first Xicheng Prefecture, Zhao Xun smiled and asked Ling Xiao who had loved the land of the Western Regions for several months.

Ling Xiao sighed with emotion: "The minister has also been to the land of the Western Regions, and he also knows about the land of the Western Regions. I just didn't want to fight, there are so many changes here. What the king did in the land of the Western Regions not only blessed the people of Liangzhou, but also connected to the northern land of the Western Regions, and was completely incorporated into my Great Zhao. ”

"In the past, Mo said that the Han people could get along with the people of the Western Regions on an equal footing in the Western Regions. Even the Han people in Liangzhou were often plundered by the people of the Western Regions. The caravans that came and went, except for the fact that they had a deep relationship with the countries of the Western Regions, and the soldiers could only pass through with a lot of money, and other merchants did not dare to communicate at all. ”

"But now, my Great Zhao's caravan is leading directly to the Wusun Kingdom and the land of Hexi further west along the ten northern provinces of the Western Regions. This was something that only happened when Da Chu and Da Yan were at their strongest, but it was far less than now. The king's gallop in Liangzhou and the ten northern prefectures of the Western Regions is not only of great military significance, but also blesses the merchants and ministers. ”

Seeing Ling Xiao like this, Zhao Xun couldn't help laughing. The subordinates can be convinced, and Zhao Xun is naturally in a good mood. said with a smile, "This king just guided him a little, and it was the soldiers of the whole army and these people around you who really helped." Speaking of which, this king didn't expect that in just one year, this northern land in the Western Regions would change so much. ”

Wei Zilin and the others hurriedly said that they didn't dare, they naturally knew that the general action strategy in the Western Regions was all formulated by Zhao Xun, and they just perfected it and implemented it.

"Now what do the people of the Western Regions in the northern land of the Western Regions think of our Great Zhao? Its king has been stationed in the capital of the Great Zhao Kingdom for more than half a year, what accidents can happen here? Zhao Xun asked with a smile.

Wei Zilin said in a deep voice: "At the beginning of the year, the king established the country and settled the kings of the three major countries in Youzhou City, and there was no change in Gaochang and Yanqi countries, but there were a few abnormalities in the country of Qiuzi. However, they have all been suppressed by us. It was also on this opportunity that we cleaned up the court of Qiuzi Kingdom. ”

Zhao Xun understood that the reason why Gaochang and Yanqi did not change was because these two countries were defeated by Great Zhao, and they were not even destroyed. The courtiers in his country, who are really the center of gravity of his country, have been cleared up. Even if there are opinions, no one can organize it, and no one dares to organize a rebellion against Zhao Jun.

But the Qiuci Kingdom is different, the Qiuci Kingdom is subordinate to the Zhao army, and the Zhao army has no excuses and reasons to purge it casually. It's just that above the local level, after dividing the country of Qiuzi and the surrounding small countries into the land of the three prefectures, some regulation was carried out. But for the court, there is no restriction on the magnates of the royal capital. Its king was settled in Youzhou City, and it is normal for some people to be dissatisfied and take advantage of the situation to make trouble.

However, Zhao Xun has never been worried about the territory of Qiuzi Kingdom. First, hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops were stationed in the ten northern provinces of the Western Regions, and even if the whole country made trouble, the Zhao army could be wiped out overnight. Second, there are not too many troops in the country of Qiuzi. Some of them, in the past, accompanied the Zhao army to the north to conquer the Gaochang Kingdom, after being raided by the Wusun Kingdom, they were co-opted by the Zhao army, and the rest were also divided and disintegrated after the surrender of the King of Qiuzi, and the possibility of being able to cause trouble by force is no longer large. The rest only rely on the powerful and civil officials to roar, and Zhao Xun will not worry.

As for taking advantage of the domestic troubles in Qiuci Country, Zhao Jun cleaned up and down in Qiuci Country, which was also Zhao Xun's original goal. Only in this way can the country of Qiuzi really integrate into Dazhao.

According to Wei Zilin, more than 8,000 people were cleaned up from top to bottom of the country. More than 20,000 people, who were reduced to slavery, built galloping roads in other areas. And after this incident, no one in the Qiuci Kingdom no longer mentioned how the Qiuci Kingdom was, but in the name of the three mansions set by Da Zhao. In addition, no matter where they are, they will not continue to hang the original flag, and they will all be subject to the flame qilin flag of Da Zhao.

In addition, in the land of the ten prefectures in the north of the Western Regions, in addition to the banner unified into the Great Zhao banner, some books recording the affairs of various countries were also collected by the Zhao army, and then transported to Youzhou City and sealed in the library. In other words, Zhao Xun wants to gradually erase the traces of the existence of various countries in the Western Regions, so that this place will be completely integrated into the Great Zhao and the Han people.

In the northern part of the Western Regions, hundreds of academies within the Ten Prefectures have already been built, and they have also begun to teach the new generation to learn Chinese, using Chinese as the standard.

After listening to Wei Zilin and others' description of the northern land of the Western Regions, Zhao Xun said with satisfaction: "Yes, you have all made great contributions to pacifying the land of the Western Regions. It seems that the time has come to eliminate the national names. After the order, all localities will no longer divide everything by country, and will be subject to Dazhao and local prefectures and counties. In addition, the unified household registration shall be subject to the prefecture and county. The records of various places are subject to Dazhao. ”

Situ Liang said: "Great King, the ten northern prefectures of the Western Regions have a vast area, and now the population is already quite large, and in the future, there will be more." Will you also set up a separate state in this northern land and integrate it into my Great Zhao? ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "Yes, it should be so." The land of the Western Regions, for the Central Plains, has always been famous for business. In this way, the ten northern provinces were merged together to form a new state, which was named Shangzhou. ”

Situ Liang and the others said in unison: "Congratulations to the king, add another state to my big Zhao." ”

Zhao Xun laughed and said: "But there is more than one state, this Shangzhou is only the northern land of the Western Regions." There's a lot of land to the south. ”

Zhao Xun said this, not only set the northern part of the Western Regions as Shangzhou, but also made the Great Zhao rule have one more state since then. There is also a heart to expand the southern part of the Western Regions and expand another state.