Sima Shu opened a new door for the Jin Dynasty, and from the second half of the first year of Hongwu, almost everyone's eyes were attracted by overseas trade. In this case, it would be insignificant for the former Liangzhou Assassin to meet His Majesty the Emperor.

In Hualin Garden, Sima Shu asked people to prepare some snacks to entertain the hard-working old man Zhou. Since the farewell of Guanzhong that year, Zhou has been stationed in Liangzhou for Sima Shu, guarding the northwest frontier of the empire, and in the past five years, Liangzhou has been able to stabilize and prosper without the efforts of Lord Zhou.

"Minister, meet Your Majesty!"

"Come, come, Mr. Zhou, please take a seat!"

Seeing Zhou sitting on the chair, Sima Shu asked the palace maid to serve him a cup of tea, looking at the white-haired Zhou, he couldn't help but sigh: "The old general has worked hard all these years!" If it weren't for Master Zhou guarding Liangzhou, my northwest frontier would never be so peaceful! ”

At the beginning, Sima Shu transferred Zhou to Liangzhou, considering that Liangzhou was a northwest frontier with a complicated situation, and had been harassed by the Qiang and Xianbei people for many years. There must be a person who is both civil and military. Zhou did not live up to Sima Shu's trust in him.

In the past five years in Liangzhou, although he failed to recover the Hexi Corridor and open up the connection with the Western Regions, he stabilized the people internally, developed the economy, and fiercely attacked the invading Qiang and Xianbei people externally to protect the people to live and work in peace and contentment.

"The minister doesn't dare to take credit, if Liangzhou doesn't have the support of Yongqin and Qinzhou behind him, the minister will definitely not be able to stop the invasion of Xianbei and Qiang!" Zhou Chu recalled his life in Liangzhou, and couldn't help but sigh a little, Liangzhou is too poor, coupled with the fierce people, a little carelessness will cause a **.

"Today, I came to Aiqing to learn more about the situation in the Western Regions. Aiqing knew that although I had just started overseas trade, I could not let go of foreign trade on land. Especially the Silk Road connecting the Western Regions, this is a golden road, and the imperial court has no reason to give it up! ”

"Your Majesty is reasonable, after opening up the Western Regions, our dynasty will have a maritime 'Silk Road' in the east and a land 'Silk Road' in the west. Zhou stayed in Liangzhou for about five years and was well aware of the importance of the overland Silk Road to the western states and counties.

Why has Liangzhou been tired all these years? It is not because the Hexi Corridor in the northwest is occupied by the Xianbei people, cutting off the connection between Liangzhou and the Western Regions, so that Liangzhou's economy cannot develop at all. If the imperial court can recover the Hexi Corridor, a large number of merchants will pour into the Western Regions, and Liangzhou, as an important transit point connecting the Central Plains and the Western Regions, will develop its economy very quickly.

The Western Regions has always been an inseparable complex in the hearts of successive Central Plains dynasties, and since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty realized his rule over it, the Central Plains Dynasty of later generations has regarded it as their sphere of influence.

For thousands of years, the Western Regions have been eagerly aspiring. Because she has different customs and human feelings from the mainland of the Central Plains, it is different from China, because she has been a symbol since the Qin and Han dynasties, a battlefield that allows men to gallop on the battlefield, vertical and horizontal, and make contributions, so that women can dance, Loulan is beautiful, and the dream of the daughter's country.

"Men should make contributions to the border and seal the marquis for thousands of miles."

When the Han Dynasty ran the Western Regions, there were 36 city-states there, known as the 36 States of the Western Regions. The 36 Residences of the Western Regions are located west of Yumen Pass and east of Pamir.

For thousands of years, the Western Regions has been an important passage of the Silk Road, so it is a place where the five ancient civilizations of China, India, West Asia, North Africa and Greece intertwined.

Among the 36 countries, Wusun, Dawan, Gaochang and many other countries occupy the most favorable terrain on the ancient silk road, and they are also in the intertwined zone of the nomadic ethnic minorities of the Mongolian Plateau and the central political axe. The changes in the military situation and the attitude of the central political axe towards the Western Regions have determined the fate of these small countries in the Western Regions to a certain extent.

In the original history, after the Eastern Han Dynasty and Cao Wei, the Central Plains Dynasty completely lost its rule over the Western Regions in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty.

"Well, what Aiqing said is deeply heartfelt, there is no doubt that the important surname of Liangzhou is undoubted, but the imperial court still has several enemies in the north and south, and it is temporarily unable to look west. At least five years later, the imperial court will not be able to recover the Western Regions, and what I am talking about is not to establish a long history of the Western Regions, but to achieve county rule over the Western Regions. ”

"Shhh Zhou Shi gasped, I didn't expect His Majesty to have such great ambitions today! This is a political ambition that even the Han Wu of the previous dynasty did not realize.

"May I ask Your Majesty, has the imperial court chosen the new Liangzhou Assassin?" The special surname of Liangzhou has high requirements for the ability to assassinate history, and it must be both civil and military in order to read and deal with the complex situation in Liangzhou.

"Lord Zhou, this person standing next to you is the new Liangzhou Assassin Zhang Liang sent by the imperial court, and he will take over the old general and go to the Northwest Frontier. I asked him to come over this time, just to let you teach him more in person! Shi Yan, this highly decorated veteran general of the Zhou Division, if you have any questions you want to ask, please ask them in person now! ”

"The lowly Zhang Liang has seen the elder of the pavilion!" Zhang Liang is only forty-five years old this year, and from the perspective of his political career, it is the most glorious moment of his life, and this time he was appointed by the emperor as the assassin of Liangzhou. He also wants to be like his predecessor Zhou Chu, who has been operating in Liangzhou for three or five years and then returning to the center in one fell swoop.

"Shi Yannai is a native of Wushi County, Anding County, Yongzhou, with a Confucian background, and he himself is not only outstanding in literature, but also in military literacy. If the boss has anything to explain, I don't want any problems in the Northwest Frontier. ”

"The minister is frightened, and the minister must know everything, and the words are endless!"

After sorting out his thoughts a little, Zhou Chuyi muttered slightly: "There used to be three powerful people in Liangzhou, namely the Song family, the Yin family, and the Fan family, and they had a great influence in Liangzhou. However, after repeated blows from the imperial court, the three families are no longer the grand occasion before, but after Lord Thorn Shi arrives, he must not underestimate the other party, but should be gentle with him. ”

"Thank you for your advice!" Zhang Liang was thoughtful when he heard this, it seems that these three families have been cleaned up by the surrounding area, and he is letting himself pretend to be red-faced. One piece and one relaxation, the way of civil and military affairs.

"In fact, the civil strife in Liangzhou is not the most worrying, what really threatens the peace of Liangzhou is the invasion from the unattached Qiang people and Xianbei people. They roared from the plateau, often looting and then flying away. Since the focus of the imperial court has always been on internal counterinsurgency, Liangzhou's forces have always been somewhat weak. ”

"At present, Liangzhou has a total of 9,000 soldiers and 6,000 Xiang troops, of which only 9,000 soldiers are under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhou Assassin Mansion. The weakness of the army is the main reason why we are unable to recover the four counties of Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Xihai and Xijun. Without the recovery of these counties, the imperial court would not be able to open up the Hexi Corridor and rebuild the Silk Road. ”

"Boss, ...... What about the Wuji Captain's Mansion that I set up when I was Emperor Wu? Although Sima Shu also expected that the situation in Liangzhou would be difficult, he did not expect that the power of the Jin Dynasty would shrink so deeply, and even Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other important towns in Hexi were abandoned.

"Alas! Speaking of this, the old minister is ashamed! Cao Wei Cheng Han system, once in the second year of Emperor Wen of Cao Wei Huang Chu (221 AD) placed the Western Regions Wuji Lieutenant, set up Gaochang, in the previous Ming Emperor Taihe period (AD 227-232) to restore the long history of the Western Regions, and set up Haitou (northeast of Luo Bu Naoer). At that time, all parts of the Western Regions were 'no year old and no tribute, a little like the story of the Han family'. ”

"After Emperor Wu established the Great Jin Dynasty, in order to control all the affairs of the Western Regions, he specially ordered the Liangzhou Assassin Shi to lead Wuji to protect the Western Regions, such as the Han story. Unfortunately, after the death of Emperor Wu, the dictatorship of Empress Jia and the rebellion of the Hu people in Guanzhong gradually caused the court to gradually lose its influence on the Western Regions. ”

"By the time the minister took over the Liangzhou Assassin History, our dynasty only controlled the four counties of Wuwei County, Zhangye County, Xiping County, and Jincheng County in Liangzhou, and the other half of the land was controlled by the Xianbei people, Qiang people, and various ethnic groups in the Western Regions. Although the minister also wants to wave his troops westward, his strength is limited! The minister had to temporarily press his ambition and strive to develop the people's livelihood! ”

Speaking of this, Zhou was a little unwilling to recover the entire territory of Liangzhou, and Sima Shu obviously saw the unwillingness flashing in the other party's eyes. He couldn't help but comfort: "Don't be excited, the old general can't be blamed for this, it has to do with the overall strategy of the imperial court." At present, the imperial court is implementing the strategic policy of first east and then west, north and then south, and the Western Regions and Liangzhou can only be put on hold temporarily! ”

"Alas! The minister just has some regrets. Forget it, let's not talk about that. From now on, it will all depend on Zhang Tingshi! The history of the assassin is not good, and the history of the Liangzhou assassin is even more difficult to be, fortunately, you have the entire Guanzhong and the imperial court behind you, and I hope that Zhang Tingshi can make a breakthrough for the imperial court under limited conditions! ”

"Please rest assured that Your Majesty and the Pavilion Elder will definitely live up to the trust of the court and keep in mind Your Majesty's teachings. After arriving in Liangzhou, he decided to fix the internal affairs first, and then plan the future! Of course, Zhang Liang can't show timidity in front of Sima Shu, he believes that as long as the affairs of Liangzhou are handled well, it will only be a matter of time before he enters the cabinet to pay respects to the prime minister in the future!

"Good! Well said, I am relieved that Master Zhang can think like this, and the most important thing is internal stability. Only when you are strong can you not be afraid of the invasion of the enemy. After Shiyan arrived in Liangzhou, he did not show mercy in the face of the invasion of the Qiang people and the Xianbei people, although he boldly counterattacked. If you feel that the troops are insufficient, I can transfer the local government soldiers in Guanzhong to support! ”

Sima Shu said that there is a basis for this, the current war has ended, except for the occasional sporadic clashes in Bingzhou and Jiangdong, the local government soldiers and Xiang armies have entered the stage of rest. Although the imperial court was unable to support hundreds of thousands of troops to fight, it was still possible to transfer one or two thousand troops into Liangzhou.

"In addition to this, I have another very important matter for you to complete, after arriving in Liangzhou, Shiyan may wish to ask the merchants from the Western Regions about a plant. No, this is the map I drawn, you just follow it. Buy its seeds and planting techniques as soon as you find them, and report them to me! (To be continued.) )