In November of the sixth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Western Xinjiang, Dunhuang, Yangguan. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Li Yi took his son and daughter to inspect Hexi and arrived in Yangguan on the ninth day of November.

Yangguan was built in the fourth year of the Han Yuan Dynasty (107 BC), because it is located in the south of Yumen Pass, so it was named Yangguan. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Hexi "listed four counties, according to two passes", these two passes are Yumen Pass and Yangguan, which are the places where soldiers must fight.

The Yumen Pass is in the northwest of Dunhuang County to guard against the Xiongnu, while the Yangguan Pass is in the southwest of Dunhuang County to guard the countries of the Western Regions. The two passes are one hundred and forty miles apart, connected by the Great Wall, and there are beacon piers every ten miles.

Standing on the pass and looking into the distance, you should see the vast clouds and mountains, the desert is vast, and it is extremely majestic.

To the east of the pass is the beautiful South Lake, with a light breeze and mist, and the fingers are swirling and floating, like a dream. To the west is an endless desert, and there is a north-south ditch nearby, and the spring water trickles and is very sweet. There is a beacon called "Yangguan ears and eyes" on the north of Dundun Mountain, which is majestic and upright, just like a mirage in the Hanhai Desert, and it is strange and extraordinary.

Today's pass is dilapidated, and ruins can be seen everywhere, and when you think of the majesty of the past, you can't help but feel emotional.

"Where's Yumen Pass?" Li Yan turned his head to look at Jia Xu and asked, "How is Yumen Pass now?" ”

"As early as more than 20 years ago, Yumen Pass was demolished by the Qiang people, and only a few sections of the wall remained." Jia Xu sighed, "Since Emperor Xiaohuan, the power of the Han Dynasty has been declining, and its control over the Western Regions has become weaker and weaker. ”

"In the first year of Yuanjia, Zhao Pingyu, the chief of the Western Regions, died of illness in Khotan. The following year, Wang Jing succeeded Changshi. The king of Kumi in the Western Regions had a grudge against Khotan, and framed the king of Khotan and killed Zhao Ping. Wang Jing was furious and led his army to attack and kill Khotan, killing the king of Khotan. The Khotanese people were not convinced, and turned to rebel and kill Wang Jing. Then in the first year of Yongxing, the rear king of the Che Division, Arodo, raised an army against the Han, and there were many responders from the Western Regions, and the Western Regions Governor Department and the Wuji Captain Department had to withdraw to Dunhuang, and since then the Han Dynasty has lost control of the Western Regions. ”

"I heard that in the fourth year of Emperor Xiaoling's Xiping, the king of Khotan, Anguo, attacked and killed the king of Kumi, and the then captain of Wuji and the chief of the Western Regions also sent troops to the west at the same time to help Kumi restore the country in the proton of the Han Dynasty." Xu Shu immediately asked, "If this matter is true, then when Emperor Xiaoling was in power, the Han Dynasty still had influence on the countries of the Western Regions." ”

"The Western Regions were originally the territory of the Han Dynasty, and the countries of the Western Regions were originally vassal states of the Han Dynasty, and they have been influential for hundreds of years, but the influence of the Han Dynasty cannot replace our actual control over the Western Regions." Jia Xu smiled bitterly, "That incident is indeed true, but it was also the last time that the Great Han sent troops to the Western Regions. That's nearly thirty years ago. ”

"In the past hundred years, the Qiang people in Western Xinjiang have repeatedly rebelled and invaded, and the contact between the Han and the Western Regions has been frequently interrupted. Emperor Xiaoling's dynasty, there was the Yellow Turban Incident first, and then there was the disaster of Bian Zhang and Han Sui, the court was too busy to take care of itself, the government was empty, the soldiers were exhausted, and they were unable to take care of others, and it was reasonable to lose the Western Regions. ”

"It's easy to lose it, but it's hard to pick it up." Jia Xu pointed to the vast Gobi in front of him, looked up to the sky and sighed, "Since the rise of Emperor Guangwu, the Han Dynasty has had to use troops repeatedly in the Western Regions because the Huns occupied the Western Regions and seriously threatened the safety of Western Xinjiang. ”

"Although we finally defeated the Huns, the Western Regions countries gradually drifted away from Germany because of the loss of the threat of the Huns, coupled with the lack of national strength of the Han Dynasty, and began to conquer and annex each other, and at the same time, rebellions against government decrees also occurred frequently."

"The rebellion in the second year of Yuanjia and the first year of Yongxing was the beginning of the Western Regions' attempts to get rid of the control of the Han Dynasty. In the first year of Jianning, King Shule was killed by his uncle Hede, and he became self-reliant. In the third year of Jianning, Liangzhou Assassin Shi Mengtuo sent Wuji Captain Ren Shi and others to lead more than 30,000 people from the Western Regions to besiege the middle city of Shule Zhen, which could not be conquered for more than 40 days, and had no choice but to withdraw from the siege. ”

"This incident has had a great impact on the countries of the Western Regions, and the Han Dynasty who once dominated the country is no longer good. Since then, the countries of the Western Regions have been unscrupulous, and the conquest and annexation have intensified, and up to today, several great powers such as Shanshan and Cheshi have been formed. It is impossible for the Han to recover the Western Regions as lightly and privately as Ban Chao and Ban Yong in the past. ”

A group of people walked along the main wall, talking and laughing, to the nearest beacon pier platform from the pass.

"When are we going to fight the Western Regions? Next year? Li Yan asked.

"The situation in the Western Regions is completely different from what it used to be." Jia Xu said with a smile, "One Huns were first defeated by us, and then they were beaten to the far north by the Xianbei people, and the countries of the Western Regions were no longer threatened. Second, in recent years, the countries of the Western Regions have conquered and annexed each other, and Cheshi and Shanshan have become powerful powers. Now what they want to do is to be the overlord of the Western Regions, not to submit to the Han and then become vassals. If we want to fight the Western Regions, there will definitely be a big war. In this way, the Han Dynasty must first be stable and strong, so as to ensure that the army can continue to maintain strong force and receive a steady stream of grain and grass when the labor division is on an expedition. ”

Li Yan's face showed disappointment, and he said unhappily: "So, it will take many years to expedition to the Western Regions?" ”

Li Yi took his son's hand and said as he walked: "Yan'er, my father asks you, why did the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions fight and always lose it?" ”

Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "There is no army. Ban Yong only led 500 people to the expedition, and in the end, he could only rely on the people of the Western Regions to defend the Western Regions, and there were good people and bad people in the Western Regions, and the bad people would betray, and of course the Western Regions would be lost. And ......"

He scratched his head, thought about it again, and suddenly waved his hand and said, "There is still a lack of wealth." The imperial court didn't have enough money, and of course there was no way to keep the Western Regions. You need money to fight a war, and you can't fight a war without money. And ......"

He shook his head and snorted for a long time, unable to think of it.

"And the determination, the determination to hold the Western Regions, the determination to defend the territory." Li Yi said, "The territory of the Han Dynasty cannot be lost an inch, so the idea of abandoning the Western Regions is the same as the idea of abandoning the Western Frontier, which is absolutely wrong and a theory of the destruction of the country." As long as the imperial court clearly sees the importance of the Western Regions to the Han Dynasty, as long as it is determined to defend the Western Regions, no matter how many difficulties it has, it can be overcome. Ban Yong led 500 people to the Western Regions that year, what was the final result? It's not a success. Therefore, sticking to the territory of the Han Dynasty and resolutely not letting the territory of the Han Dynasty lose a single inch is the national policy of our Han Dynasty, and it is a national policy that can never be changed. ”

"That's crucial." Li Yi stopped, looked at his son, and said solemnly, "But if you want to hold the Western Regions, it is not enough to have determination, not enough army, and not enough wealth." Looking back at history, in fact, it is not difficult to find that there is no mistake in the strategy of using Yidi to control Yidi, but the mistake lies in improper shepherding. ”

For the eldest son Li Yan, Li Yi attaches great importance to it. This is not only because he is his eldest son, and according to convention, everything he has will inherit in the future, but also because Li Yi sees potential in him.

Carefully taught by Cai Yan, Li Yan is very good, but in Li Yi's opinion, he wants to succeed himself in the future, and what Cai Yan and the gentlemen in Jicheng taught him is completely insufficient, so this time Li Yi took him to Xijiang to let him see the cruelty of the battlefield and let him understand more things that he can't learn in textbooks.

"Improper shepherding?" Li Yan muttered to himself, puzzled.

"Inappropriate shepherding, is what Ban Yong said when he dedicated the policy of the Western Regions, which means that the reason why the Western Regions have been repeatedly lost is that the key is that the strategy is wrong and the measures are inappropriate. In the process of governing the countries of the Western Regions, they often caused riots and betrayals due to policy mistakes, which in turn caused the imperial court to lose control of the Western Regions. Jia Xu explained, "Actually, this sentence is also correct if it is placed in Western Xinjiang and the reason for the continuous war in Western Xinjiang is explored. If it is placed in the community, it is still very correct to explore the reasons for the collapse of the community. ”

"I know, I ......understand," Li Yan immediately came to his senses, "It may be easy for us to fight a place, but if we want to defend a place, we must have the correct national policy and the appropriate art of controlling the people, just like governing the society, in the final analysis, we must let them be fed and clothed, and let them live and work in peace and contentment." ”

Li Yi and Jia Xu looked at each other and smiled with relief.

"Yan'er is right, very right." Li Yi sighed, "We conquered Western Xinjiang, Yan'er saw it, why did the people of Western Xinjiang fight?" Why did the Qiang invade repeatedly? In order to survive. The people of the Western Regions are the same, they are also trying to survive. The living conditions of the countries in the Western Regions are very harsh, and it is very difficult to survive, and if you want to live, you must do everything you can, even at the expense of sending troops to conquer. If the Han wants to recover the Western Regions and defend the Western Regions, the first thing to do is not to kill, but to let the people of the Western Regions live. Everyone can be fed and clothed, so why bother to burn the misery? ”

"In the same way, this is also the fundamental reason why Damo and Liaodong have not had a major rebellion since they were conquered by us, and they are very stable. I was able to incorporate the desert and Liaodong into the territory of the Han Dynasty, but my predecessors couldn't, and the fundamental reason was that I allowed those Hu people to survive well. Plus I have enough force in my hands to suppress everything, so they won't rebel. ”

"Yan'er has to keep it in mind, you have to keep it in mind." Li Yi patted his son's back, pointed to the blue sky in the west, and said earnestly, "When one day we feel that we can ensure that we can hold the Western Regions, and we will not let the blood and sweat of the Han soldiers be lost in vain, and the people of the Western Regions will not struggle for survival, we can lead the army on an expedition, otherwise, the nightmare will haunt the Han to the death, and countless Han people will pay a heavy price for this nightmare." ”

Li Yan stood at the highest place of the beacon pier and shouted wildly, excited.

Li Lin, Yue Lei and a group of other children jumped up and down, laughter and laughter echoed on this beautiful oasis.