Not long after Jia Xu joined Liu Xin, he had experience under Li, so he acted extremely cautiously, and when he saw Liu Xin, he was inevitably a little restrained, and he didn't know where to put his hands. In fact, Jia Xu can be said to be the first person to pass the imperial examination and get in, and he was entrusted with important tasks by Liu Xin as soon as he came up. Since leaving Li, with his vicious eyes, Jia Xu has already decided that Liu Xin is the main partner of his lifelong assistance, and it is precisely because of this that he cherishes such an opportunity even more, and always wants to behave better, but it turns out that he looks a little helpless.

Liu Xin didn't expect that the legendary "poisoner" would become like a primary school student in front of him, and it was the second time they met, so he couldn't help but feel a little funny, pointed to the chair opposite, and said in a loud voice: "Wenhe, don't be so nervous, relax, relax." In the past few months in Xiliang, you have done a very good job. I came to you today, just to talk casually, nothing else. Sit, sit down, let's talk while we eat. ”

Now that it was time for lunch, there were a few vegetables on the table in front of Liu Xin, no wine was prepared, and there were large bowls of white rice on each side of the table. Obviously, Liu Xin had just ordered to have lunch with Jia Xu.

Liu Xin controlled a large territory, in order to grasp the dynamics of various places in a timely manner, he set a rule, even if nothing major happened, he must draft a local situation report every month and send it to Xiangyang, so Liu Xin can still have a general understanding of the situation in various places. However, no matter how detailed the information in the circular is, it is more intuitive for these officials to say it themselves.

However, today's world is not very peaceful, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others are all ready to move, not to mention for the time being, that is, the three counties of Liangzhou, Sili and Jiangnan occupied by Liu Xinxin, there are still many bandits and bandits. It is impossible for Liu Xin to let the civilian and military generals stationed in various places leave for a long time, so he must seize the time to meet as many people as possible. Today was delayed by Princess Yang'an for a while, and Liu Xin had to invite Jia Xu to lunch in order to save time.

Being able to have lunch with Liu Xin was something Jia Xu never expected, he didn't feel a little flattered, and carefully supported half of his body on the chair opposite Liu Xin, arched his hand and said, "Thank you, lord." His subordinates are loved by the lord and should do their best. The subordinates ...... during this time in Liangzhou"

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "I know the situation in Liangzhou, so you don't need to say anything more, let's talk about what you think of the Western Regions." ”

"The Western Regions?" Jia Xu was surprised, "The lord wants to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate?" ”

Liu Xin smiled and said, "Okay, you Wenhe, you actually asked you to guess it." Yes, Liu has this intention. The Western Regions are adjacent to Liangzhou, and you are from Liangzhou, Liu intends to let you serve as the protector of the Western Regions, I don't know what you think? ”

The Western Regions are not more protective than the counties, which is the real horse to manage the army, the horse to manage the people, quite a real power. But Jia Xu's face didn't show a little joy, and he frowned and muttered: "My Han Dynasty has lost control of the Western Regions for many years, and now in the Western Regions, the forces of all parties are complicated, but my Han Dynasty has not penetrated into it, and it is not easy for the lord to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate." ”

"Come, let's have some food first." Liu Xin pointed to the plate in front of him and said with a smile: "It is precisely because this matter is not easy to handle that I need to invite you Jia Wenhe to come out." ”

Hearing that he was going to make himself the protector of the Western Regions, Jia Xu felt that the pressure was too great, and the vegetables on the chopsticks could not be sent into his mouth for a long time, and he pondered for a long time before he said: "Lord Qi, my subordinates think that my Han specialties are abundant, and the Western Regions are really a wild land, not worthy of the lord's attention, the top priority should be ......"

"Do you want to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate? When will the Western Regions Protectorate be rebuilt? This is not a topic to be discussed today, Liu called you here to let you be prepared and gradually shift the focus of your work to the Western Regions. Liu Xin waved his hand, interrupted Jia Xu's words, pointed to a plate of broad beans on the table, and said, "Wenhe, you see that this kind of bean came from the Western Regions." The West not only has crops that our Han lacks but also many technologies that we have not mastered, and if they can be introduced, it will be of great help to improve the lives of ordinary people. ”

Jia Xu thought for a moment and said, "The lord is reasonable, but it is not difficult to obtain these things, just send a mission to the Western Regions, or even farther away, and everything will be solved." ”

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "That's not all. Wenhe, do you know where the horses we need come from? ”

Jia Xu said without thinking: "My Han lacks a place to raise horses, and most of the horses needed are obtained through exchanges with grassland tribes such as Xiongnu and Xianbei. ”

Liu Xin bowed his head and said: "Yes, my big Han's horses are mainly through the mutual market. These grassland tribes used to be at peace with the Han Dynasty, but in recent years, they have repeatedly invaded the border of our Han Dynasty, and sooner or later they will become a big trouble. As the most powerful and sharp branch of the army, the role of cavalry on the battlefield is irreplaceable. Once the imperial court is at odds with these steppe tribes, our Han will lose the source of horses, and without strong cavalry, it will eventually be controlled by others. Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead and find another source that can provide war horses. ”

Jia Xu said in surprise: "From ancient times to the present, the biggest enemy of my Han Dynasty is the Xiongnu, and now the Xiongnu have been divided into two branches, the north and the south, and the Southern Xiongnu have always been attached to the imperial court, and Xianbei is not how powerful." The reason why they repeatedly attacked the border of our Han Dynasty was actually because there were many items that they could not obtain through the mutual market, and if the imperial court vigorously opened the border market to meet their needs for salt, iron and cloth, it should be able to prevent such things from happening again. The subordinates thought that these steppe tribes would not become a big disaster for the imperial court after all. ”

Liu Xin also knew that since the Xiongnu were divided into two, the entire northern frontier of the Han Dynasty had enjoyed peace for hundreds of years. It is precisely because of this stability that people have forgotten the threat from the grassland, until the later Western Jin Dynasty, the imperial court was weakened and empty, and finally caused a catastrophe, forming a situation of chaos in China. Not only that, in the following thousands of years, the entire Han nation has been harassed and threatened by the nomadic tribes of the grassland, and there have even been many tragedies of national ruin.

Of course, Jia Xu will not know the evolution of history more than a hundred years later, but Liu Xin can't help but pay attention to it. Now that Liu Xin is here, he has to find a way to prevent all this from happening, and the most thorough way is to put the vast grassland under his absolute control. And if you want to control the steppe, you can't do without a strong cavalry.

Seeing Jia Xu's surprised appearance, Liu Xin knew that some things could not be explained clearly for a while, so he waved his hand and said, "Wenhe, no one can predict what will happen in the future." Even if it wasn't for the sake of acquiring horses, it was extremely important to be able to open up access to the West. Today, Madame bought some jewelry from the market, which is said to have been trafficked from the Western Regions. Western jewelry can be shipped here, and in the same way, silk, white porcelain and other items produced by our Han can also be sold to the West. Anyway, the Western Regions Protectorate must be rebuilt, and this matter will be handed over to you to be responsible, and in the summer and autumn season next year, I want to go to the Western Regions in person! ”

Liu Xin's words have already reached this point, and Jia Xu has no way to refuse, so he has to take on this errand head-on. Although today's lunch was eaten with Liu Xin, these delicacies cooked with ordinary ingredients in the state pastor's mansion were not a taste at all when they entered Jia Xu's mouth.

At this time, Tao Qian from Xuzhou was also restless.

Since Zhang Liao led the army to withdraw to Xiangyang, Tao Qian seemed to have a heart disease. Although he had a grudge with Liu Xin in the process of chasing Mi Zhu later, Tao Qian was not afraid, because no matter how strong Liu Xin's strength was, it was still very far away from him after all, and he was worried that Liu Xin would report it now.

Just in case, Tao Qian also transferred Liu Bei and Guan Yu to Xuzhou. Today, Liu Bei not only occupies the Mi family's houses and fields, but also controls part of the real power in Xuzhou, and the army directly commanded by him has reached 30,000 people.

With Liu Bei and Guan Yu by his side, Tao Qian's mood also relaxed a little, but soon another thing broke the temporary tranquility.

This incident originated from a letter sent by Cao Cao. Cao Cao said in the letter that he wanted to take his father's family from Shandong to Puyang, and he needed to take Xuzhou, and he wanted to ask Tao Qian to make it convenient.

It stands to reason that borrowing the Tao is not a big deal, but Tao Qian is now the object of competition between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and Tao Qian himself is more inclined to Yuan Shao, and he has secretly contacted Yuan Shao. Now, suddenly receiving a letter from Cao Cao, Tao Qian couldn't help but be a little undecided.

Although Tao Qian is old, he is not stupid, of course he knows that Cao Cao or Yuan Shao will not sincerely think about the Liu family. Now, he and Liu Xin have torn their faces, and they urgently need to find another backer, but there can only be one backer, and if they step on two boats, they may die even worse.

Of course, Cao Cao can not borrow from Tao Qian, his father's family can still reach Puyang, but they just have to go around in a big circle and take a few more steps. However, now that there is chaos everywhere, bandits and bandits are rampant, and taking one more step means that there is more danger, and Cao Cao has no choice but to ask Tao Qian to borrow the way. At the same time, Cao Cao also believed that he had no reason not to agree to such a simple matter.

Tao Qian thought about it and couldn't make up his mind, so he asked Liu Bei to come over. In fact, although Mi Zhu is gone, there are still Chen, Chen Deng's father and son, Sun Qian's and other strategists under Tao Qian. However, because Chen and the others pretended to be deaf and dumb in the matter of Mi Zhu's escape, Tao Qian didn't dare to trust them anymore, and now when he encountered any major or minor affairs, the first thing he thought of was Liu Bei, and Liu Bei seemed to have become his most important confidant.

After reading Cao Cao's letter, Liu Bei said with a smile: "The lord not only wants to borrow the Tao to Cao Cao, but also sends troops to protect him!" ”