In the Western Regions, the Great Wei Dynasty has set up the Western Regions Protectorate here for more than five years.

During this time, the Great Wei initially integrated the forces of the Western Regions, avoided mutual conquest between various tribes, and obtained a relatively stable situation.

In a stable environment, the Great Wei began to restore the animal husbandry in the Western Regions, and the Western Regions Protectorate distributed a large number of cattle, sheep and horses to the herdsmen of various tribes for grazing, and then shared the harvest equally with the herdsmen.

From buying and selling at a loss, to accumulating wealth for the imperial court, and then counting the cattle, sheep, and horses provided by the Western Regions for the Great Wei, and bringing a large number of Guanzhong workshops and businesses to life, the role of the Western Regions will be magnified several times, which will greatly change the Wei court's view of the Western Regions.

Previously, in the Great Wei court, many officials originally only regarded the Western Regions as the political achievement project of His Majesty the Emperor, but now that they have interests, their attitudes have changed immediately, and they have begun to pay attention to this land.

In more than five years, the Great Wei first set up the Anxi capital protection, and then under the protection of the capital, set up four town generals, and set up three more divisions last year, and the Western Regions have been regarded as a province.

Broken Leaf City is located in the east of the ruins of Henglus City, the south of Lake Balkhash, the west of Atami, the north of Shule City, and the vicinity of the Chu River Valley.

In order to control the Western Regions, the Great Wei Dynasty first started with the place names, and changed the mountains, rivers, cities, and plains of the Western Regions to Han names, or adopted the names used by the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty.

Hundreds of years later, when later generations said, what is the name of this place, people hear that it is a Chinese name, that is the indisputable territory of the Great Wei, if you call it Stoke, it will not be your land when you hear it.

Broken Leaf City is also said to be the place where Li Bai was born, it is the farthest frontier city of the Great Wei in the west, and it is also an important city.

The merchants of the Great Wei, who went west to the broken leaves, generally did not continue to the west or south, and the merchants of the Sanbu Yuz, the Khiva Khanate, the Bukhara Khanate, and even the Mughal merchants would replace the merchants of the Great Wei and complete the rest of the trade.

Nowadays, the broken leaf has become the whole Central Asian region, an important material distribution place, the surrounding herdsmen and merchants are admired to trade, the Central Plains tea, cloth, porcelain and other goods transported here, in exchange for cattle wool, and even horses, and then transported back to the Central Plains, trade makes the broken leaf gradually prosperous.

Such a city will inevitably attract the prying eyes of all parties, so Jiang Xiang stationed an army here to defend the city, maintain trade, and also to deter Tsarist Russia.

It is Li Benshen who is stationed here, and more than 3,000 people under his command, in addition to the army, there are dependents, merchants, and camel teams in the entire city, and more than 20,000 people live there, which has a bit of the flavor of the Silk Road.

Li Benshen has been in the Western Regions for more than five years, and he and his subordinates have settled down in the Western Regions, and many soldiers have also taken the Yuzi and Yarkand people as wives and concubines, and they have gradually taken root here, and regard Broken Leaves as their homeland.

Therefore, Li Benshen was particularly concerned about Broken Leaf City, he understood that the prosperity of Broken Leaf came from trade, so he strengthened the management of the surroundings, strictly forbade inter-tribal private fighting and robbery of caravans along the way, so that the trade route was smooth, the place was peaceful, and the materials of the Central Plains could be transported to Broken Leaves, and the surrounding tribes were also willing to come here in exchange for goods.

This situation has been going on for a long time, but as Tsarist Russia is pressing forward step by step, Broken Leaf City is not very peaceful.

At this time, the nomadic Xiaoyuz in the east of the Aral Sea was conquered by Tsarist Russia and forced to submit to Tsarist Russia, which suddenly made the atmosphere in Central Asia tense.

Tsarist Russia knew that Xiaoyuzi was a subject state of the Great Wei, and when the Great Wei sent envoys to protest, it still launched an attack and controlled Xiaoyuzi, which made Li Benshen a little worried that Tsarist Russia would attack Broken Leaf City.

At this time, in the city of broken leaves, due to the Central Plains sent a large number of high-quality and inexpensive goods, attracting Central Asian merchants to come to purchase goods, the city was bustling, the flow of people was like weaving, the caravans of various ethnic groups and the people nearby, rushed to trade, and the city was overcrowded.

Such a prosperous scene should have been a happy event, but Li Benshen felt a hint of crisis.

Although after Tsarist Russia controlled Xiao Yuzi, there was no next move, and the Wei army and Tsarist Russia got along peacefully for nearly a year, but Li Benshen knew very well that controlling Xiao Yuzi was just a temptation for Tsarist Russia, if Great Wei reacted violently, they would shrink back, but Great Wei did not react, and they would inevitably gain an inch.

In recent years, the attention of the Great Wei is mainly in the Guannei, and the Western Regions Protectorate does not have the strength to drive out the Rakshasas, so they can only take a defensive position, which will inevitably fuel the arrogance of the Rakshasas, and they may not continue to encroach on Central Asia and seize Broken Leaf City.

At ten o'clock in dusk, the sun was sinking in the west, and on the tower of Broken Leaf City, the Wei soldiers began to ring a big bell.

In the bell of "Dangdang~", the Hu merchants in the city and the herdsmen nearby began to pack up their things when they heard the bell, and then gathered on the street and lined up to leave the city.

This is the rule set by Li Benshen, there are no outsiders left in the city at night, and when the bell rings, you need to go out of the city, and when the bell stops, before you leave the city, you will be taken down by the soldiers, and you will be asked for a fine.

At this time, Li Benshen wore armor and came to the city to inspect as usual, and asked, "Is there any problem?" ”

The captain on duty at the head of the city immediately clenched his fists, "Return to the general, there is no abnormality." ”

Li Benshen bowed slightly, and said in his heart: "Maybe I'm thinking too much, I heard from the businessmen from the west that the Rakshasa people are at war with a big country in the west, and maybe they can't provoke Great Wei at all!" ”

"Keep watching, cheer up!" Li Benshen gave an order, then walked down the city wall, preparing to return to the Shuaifu.

Li Benshen was walking on horseback on the street, but in front of an inn in the city, a group of people caught his attention.

"You're going to see what's going on?" Li Benshen frowned and commanded his subordinates.

A group of Hu merchants in front of the inn seemed to be discussing this with the shopkeeper.

A Wei military captain immediately stepped forward to inquire, and ran back after a while, "General, the goods of those Hu merchants have not been sold out, and they are now staying in the city, but there is no letter from the government, and the store does not dare to take it in." ”

The Protectorate of the Western Regions will give some Hu merchants who have a good relationship and pay taxes to the Great Wei every year, issue identity certificates and road guides, and hold certificates to enjoy the same treatment as the Central Plains merchants, and can live in various cities.

Li Benshen heard the words and came over and looked at this group of Hu merchants, "What kind of goods are you carrying!" ”

If there are really a large number of valuable goods, Li Benshen can give them a convenience.

Hu Shang, who was discussing with the shopkeeper, suddenly heard the shout, his body stagnated slightly, and he paused before turning around, he saw Li Benshen, his eyes flashed with nervousness, so he hurriedly saluted and said: "This general, it is some gems and carpets." ”

After saying that, he gave his hand again, "Since there are rules in the city, we will not stay in the city for a long time." ”

Saying that, Hu Shang wanted to take his subordinates and go out, but Li Benshen's eyes narrowed, "Gems are valuable, I think you should spend the night in the city!" ”

(End of chapter)