"The territory we entered, the locals are all Pu people, and it is impossible to know when they appeared here, but the Pu country has existed for more than 100 years." She'a only followed behind, and immediately after he caught up with the envoys, he asked to see the envoy Liu Bang.

Shea was also chased by Wusun's more than 3,000 horses, and after they gathered the huge contingent of envoys, they began to act as guides, such as this time into the Pu country, Shea suggested that Liu Bang send someone to meet the king of Pu, saying that he could ask the Pu country to provide some supplies to reward.

Shea used the word "meeting", and he knew very well that the Pu country, which had only 20,000 or 30,000 troops and a population of less than 400,000, was nothing in the face of the empire, so he did not use any respectful words such as an audience.

If Liu Bang had taken Pu Zhi Guo in his eyes, he would not have led a team to enter without any notice, and as soon as he heard She'a's opinion, he felt that it was very reasonable, so he immediately sent someone to Pu Ze's side, ostensibly to negotiate with the king of Pu Guo to use the passage to cross, and secretly wanted to blackmail.

"Is the Pu Kingdom considered a strong country in the Western Regions?" Liu Bang's face was grinning, he had just heard that there were less than 30,000 troops in Pu County.

She A knew very well that Liu Bang didn't look down on Pu Country, so he followed the words and said: "There are many countries in the Western Regions, one city can be called a king, and a country with three or five cities is considered a strong country. The country of Pu has seven large and small cities, and can be called a powerful country in the Western Regions. ”

The Western Regions is the name of this place in the empire, and the locals are not called it that way, but it is obvious that no one in the empire, including Liu Bang, is too lazy to pay attention to the name of the locals for this land.

The law of the jungle is universal, the powerful side has the right to name anything, the empire says that this land is called the Western Regions, then no matter what the name of this land was before, now it can only be called the Western Regions.

Wusun now needs the help of the empire, and She'a will not go to Liu Bang for some small things. At present, the most urgent thing for Wusun is the reinforcements from the Empire, and the Empire has opened some material trade such as weapons and armor. The reason why they caught up later was precisely because they needed to escort a batch of supplies, and they would rush to catch up because they didn't want any locals to clash with the empire. For example, he suggested that Liu Bang send someone to communicate with Pu Zhiguo, hoping to build a bridge to speak.

It just so happened that Liu Bang was about to send someone to meet the king of Pu Ze, but the Marquis of Pu came over with a group of people.

It is not the most important thing who the Marquis of Pu Fu brings here, but he also brings hundreds of cartloads of wine and other food. As soon as he came, Shea went away.

"Presumably you also know that the Huns and others have been repeatedly defeated in the blows of the imperial army?" She'a and the Marquis of Pu Auxiliary were old acquaintances, and said: "400,000 people in the empire is only the population of three or five counties. There are at least nearly a thousand counties on the Empire's side, and one can imagine how large the territory and population of the Empire are. ”

The Marquis of Pu Fu immediately said, "Yes, we are fully aware of the strength of the empire. ”

The land of the Western Regions is not small, and the actual area of the territory is not much smaller than that of the Central Plains of China, but compared to the dense population of the Central Plains, the Western Regions can be regarded as a vast and sparsely populated situation. How many people in the entire Western Regions have not been counted, and that is because the Western Regions have never achieved unification, but there should be a population of about 3 million?

"We'd love to know if the Empire is interested in marching on this side. Still is......? The face of the Marquis of Pu Fuguo was full of worry: "Do they want peace, or do they want land and water?" ”

Shea was unable to answer for a while, it stands to reason that the empire had just captured a large amount of land in the south, and the grasslands in the north also occupied thousands of miles. The pace of expansion has even reached as far as the northeast, which is full of ice, and the appetite for such a big expansion in the short term should be filled?

"Usun needs help from the Empire." Shea couldn't answer, but only said the status quo: "The empire wants to eliminate Maudun, and the destruction of Maudun is not only beneficial to Wusun. It's a good thing for any country. ”

Mao Dun led his army to continuously invade the countries of the Western Regions, and no single country in the Western Regions was Mao Dun's opponent, and they did not think of uniting to eliminate the chaotic Mao Dun. However, because of domestic instability, it is really difficult for the countries of the Western Regions to do much, even if they are as strong as Wusun, they are in the dilemma of being attacked from front to back.

"The king sent people to contact Shanshan, Qiuzi, Shanguo, and Weixu...... I was the first to come first, and there will be people from all over the world who will come to the Imperial Legation later. The Marquis of Pu Fu gritted his teeth and said, "Wusun needs the help of the empire now, and we also hope to get goodwill from the empire, but it's just ......"

It's just that the empire looks too strong, and some countries in the Western Regions really don't know what kind of posture to use to communicate with the empire, which the Marquis of Pu didn't say explicitly, but he believes that Shea can understand it.

"For the empire, removing the threat on the steppe is the most important thing now, and Wusun also urgently needs to remove the threat from the steppe Xiongnu, Ding Ling and other tribes. For you, the threat comes from Maudun and those who have fled......" Shea was a little unhappy in his heart, he stared at the Marquis of Pu Fuguo, and said seriously: "I have made it very clear that the empire is stronger than you imagined, and now it is not you who think about how to get along with the empire, but how you should get the friendship of the empire. ”

The Marquis of Pu Fu immediately smiled and said, "We understand." Powerful as Wusun longs for friendship from the Empire, how can we have the idea of fighting against the Empire? It's just that to what extent should we unleash goodwill? ”

She'a was a little embarrassed in his heart, when Wusun was strong before, the countries in the Western Regions were trying their best to curry favor, but now the situation in Wusun is a little bad, and the countries in the Western Regions have also developed some careful thoughts, and they are no longer obedient to everything before.

"In the past, we needed to pay taxes to Wusun every year, but now Wusun is the leader of the alliance...... "The Marquis of Pu Fu Guo paused, looked at She'a with a little embarrassment, and asked, "What should we do?" ”

The situation in the Western Regions was really like this, the weak side would donate a certain amount of materials or money to the strong side every year, and in this way get the protection of the strong.

Wusun used to be the largest and most powerful country in the Western Regions, and received contributions from dozens of countries in the Western Regions, and was also the leader of these dozens of countries. Now Wusun is obviously still the most powerful country in the Western Regions, but Wusun needs the help of the empire. If the empire's army did not go to the Western Regions, the countries of the Western Regions would not be so eager to consider their own positioning, but Wusun had already become the younger brother of the empire, and the empire's army had also entered the Western Regions. So there is no reason for the countries of the Western Regions not to directly serve the real boss and flatter the boss's younger brother?

"No matter how many people or troops come over from the Empire, they are all here to help us eliminate the threat of the steppe tribes. We just hope that you will not provoke the Empire, so as not to create unnecessary conflict. "Another meaning of Shea is that no matter what happens in the future, Wusun is still the real boss of the Western Regions. He stared at the Marquis of Pu Fu with an unkind face, and said, "The empire is powerful but far away in the sky, and the empire only needs Wusun on the other side. If you think that Wusun has declined, you can try it with practical actions. ”

"How dare you? As you said, we're only the size of three or five counties on the Empire's side. The Empire simply does not look down on us. The Marquis of Pu Fuguo smiled with a smile on his face: "What we are worried about is that even if we need to continue to worship Wusun, the empire will also levy taxes on us. You also know that those fugitives have made the countries a little anxious, and everyone has not had a good time in recent years, and it has been a bit difficult to worship Wusun, if you add the Empire...... I really can't do it. ”

Liu Bang on the other side was already waiting a little tired, and he sent someone over to urge.

Liu Bang didn't ask what the name of the Marquis of Pu Fu was at all, and said very directly: "We are new here. I don't know much about your customs, so don't mind if there's anything wrong. ”

Of course, the Marquis of Pu Fu Guo did not know the imperial dialect, and he still needed to be translated by Shea. After listening to the bow, a string of words that Liu Bang didn't understand came out of his mouth.

Liu Bang only knew what the Marquis of Pu Fu Guohou was talking about only after She'a's translation. However, in fact, he didn't care what the Marquis of Pu Fuguo said, and he went straight down and said: "We came from the distant capital, it took nearly four months, and it didn't matter if we were dusty along the way. However, because the distance was too far away, and it was not of the nature of an expedition, there was no such thing as a merchant in the camp. ”

Shea translated it again and sent it to the Marquis of Pu Auxiliary State.

The Marquis of Pu Fu didn't know if Shea didn't have a translation or if it was going on. Anyway, he didn't understand what Liu Bang meant.

"Do you have any souvenirs?" Liu Bang was a little unhappy, he simply said bluntly: "If there is anything good, I will offer it, and I will also find enough women, the soldiers have worked hard along the way, and they need to be rewarded." ”

During the battle of the ancient army, there were caravans, which was a set of rules handed down from the pre-Qin era in ancient times, and the caravans carried not only goods, but also a large group of women, who were actually a kind of prostitutes, and did the trade of skin and flesh in the army.

It's not that there are no caravans in the envoys, and it's not that there are no women, but those women are basically maids, and the maids can serve their employers, but they can't do the business of flesh and skin......

"Women?" The Marquis of Pu Fu was stunned for a while, and then said with a smile: "No problem, no problem at all!" ”

In fact, Pu Auxiliary Marquis really didn't think much of a matter, as long as Liu Bang didn't ask for water and land, then everything was easy to say, let alone talk about something as simple as a woman.

Water and land? In fact, it is territory, that is, it is subject to submission, just as Darius once sent troops to attack Greece, and the envoys sent by Darius demanded water and land from the Greek city-states, which meant that the Greek city-states surrendered or submitted.

Nowadays, China does not require women to be pure, and it is not too big for a widow to remarry, or for a woman to lose her virginity before she gets married. According to modern parlance, it is "enough to be loyal after marriage, and not so concerned about a person's past", the most obvious example is that the mother of the first emperor was not a virgin with Lü Buwei before, and Zhao Ji can remarry Ying Chu (King Zhuangxiang); During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty was included in the harem, she was a remarried woman, but she could also become a queen.

Liu Bang didn't get anything about how to deal with the countries in the Western Regions before he went out, Lu Zhe didn't ask the envoys to do anything when they passed through the Western Regions, and Liu Bang didn't think about it for the empire to attract some city-states in the Western Regions, but it was too early to talk about these things.

As a representative of the empire, Liu Bang and the auxiliary marquis of Pu had a good first contact, and the two seemed to have found a common topic, that is, how to enjoy the opposite sex.

"Hu Nu is really that energetic?" Liu Bang's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief: "What kind of women are from the Peacock Dynasty, they have been learning the "Book of Love" since they were young to teach how to serve men?" ”

The boundaries of the Western Regions not only connect the East and the West, but also have contacts with India, so that the culture of the Western Regions is deeply affected by various influences, until the pace of imperial expansion into the Western Regions, in fact, there is not much Eastern culture in the Western Regions, but the culture of Central Asia and India has a greater influence on the Western Regions.

Liu Bang has a "Hu", anyway, in Chinese culture, as long as there is a difference in appearance and culture, it is "Hu". What he saw was a pu-like man with uncolored hair, his facial features were completely different from those of the Chinese Miao, and he had no common denominator in his dress, of course, he was a mouthful of "Hu".

"Hu" in the Chinese dynasties is not a good word, it is nothing more than contempt or contempt, it is generally used to refer to the barbarians on the northern grasslands, and it is also applicable to any ethnic group in the northern Xinjiang of any country.

It is now the fourth year of the imperial calendar, that is, in 207 BC, before the descendants of Yan and Huang were the farthest to set foot on the grassland, and most of the Hu people they knew were the tribes of the grassland, not counting the countries of the Western Regions.

The accompanying historian, he recorded the conversation between Liu Bang and the Marquis of Pu Auxiliary State throughout the whole process, which can be regarded as the first time in the history books that the countries of the Western Regions were also included in the "Hu" system.

Later, some countries from the Western Regions arrived, and when they came, they first communicated with Shea, and even recognized Wusun as the leader of the Western Regions, and then met Liu Bang through Shea's recommendation.

"We're going to Kamosawa first, and we'll stay there for about ten days, so if you have any gifts, you should ship them to Kabuzawa." Liu Bang didn't think it was a shame to open his mouth to ask for gifts, and after he finished speaking, the people from the countries of the Western Regions also looked right. He also said: "We need women very much now, and we are also considering buying some women to accompany you all the way, if you have any good goods, you can also bring them to Pu Zhize together, and the price we offer will definitely satisfy you!" ”

The people from all over the world who arrived were about to agree, but Liu Bang added another sentence: "I heard that there are many homeless people here who have fled from the west, and our soldiers are very interested in those women with different appearances. ”

Because of Liu Bang's later sentence, it is obvious that those fugitives are going to be unlucky...... (To be continued.) )