The Yueshi were originally an ethnic group entrenched in the northwestern frontier of the Qin State, and they once occupied a large grassland in the Hetao and east for a long time. Because the pastures with abundant water and grass can breed livestock, and there is no shortage of rations, and they can give birth as much as possible, the population of the Yue clan even reached nearly four million at its peak, and it has also become a well-deserved overlord of the northwestern grasslands.

The Hetao is the area of the Yellow River's nine curves, if there is any place on the grassland that belongs to the essence of the area, then the Hetao must be the essence of the essence, the Yueshi people in order to gain control of the Hetao and Qin, Xiongnu, Hujie, Ding Ling and other countries and forces have broken out wars.

The Yueshi people first defeated the Xiongnu and obtained the Yunzhong area, and then encroached on the area near the Yin Mountain on the back of Jiuyuan from the Qin State that was heading eastward, and the Hujie and Ding Ling people also wanted to get involved in the Hetao, so they had to wave their troops north to fight with the Hujie people and Ding Ling people in the Punushui area, and these military operations were temporarily ended with the Yue's people gaining an advantage.

If you want to describe it a little funny, the Yue's people can be described as "punching the Nanshan Nursing Home and kicking the Beihai Kindergarten", the strength shown is really a bit too much, and the strong is always feared, not to mention that the Yue's people have actually fought with the surrounding countries or forces, so all kinds of secret calculations and conspiracies will inevitably surround it.

Even when the Qin State was going eastward, there was always an elite army left in the north, and I vaguely remember that it was probably when the Qin State used troops against the Central Plains Zhao Di, and the Qin army launched a counterattack against the Yueshi people in the Hetao area at the same time. At that time, it was not clear whether the Qin people had any agreement on the Xiongnu side, when the Qin army attacked the Jiuyuan area, the Huns also attacked the Yunzhong area at the same time, and the Yueshi people suffered some small losses because the war broke out too suddenly, but on the whole, it was only a part of the loss of troops, and the Hetao was saved.

"We have specifically asked the historians on the Qin side, and some of the historians have explained in the years that followed. The Yueshi people who behaved too strongly became the target of everyone, not only did the Qin army bite when they had the opportunity, but the Xiongnu, Hujie, Ding Ling and other forces also frequently besieged the Yueshi people as agreed. ”

"Historian? Mere memories, no literal records? ”

"Originally, there was a literal record, but then there was a small burning of documents."

Lu Zhe nodded and motioned for Yan Bi to continue.

Yan Bi had just appeared, and when he stood on the edge of the throne, he attracted a series of sideways glances, especially those envoys from Central Asia who stopped to look at it for a while.

The imperial officials did not feel strange that Yan Bi could stand on the edge of the throne, and it was not the first time that Yan Bi, as a retainer of the king's family, had done this kind of thing, but those envoys in Central Asia had their own understanding.

Every king has a group of confidants. The kings of Central Asia who were envoys to their own countries also had such people. Their understanding was that Yan Bi must be the favored retainer of the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, and many of them had already made up their minds that they would make friends no matter what, so that that person could influence the Emperor of the Eastern Empire to achieve some of their goals.

Lu Zhecai didn't know what the envoys below were thinking, he met with Wusun's people before dawn, learned the latest information, and was also a little concerned about the Yue's people mentioned by Wusun. He was interested in a vague memory, as if he had read a record somewhere. It is said that Wusun was destroyed once by the Yueshi people?

In order to find out what the situation was, Lu Zhe had specially sent someone to check before he came to the council hall for the court meeting, and it was obvious that Wusun had no record of the death of the country, that is, the Yue's elimination of Wusun had not happened. After he got the answer, he immediately instructed Yan Bi to investigate the Yue Clan. Whether it is the previous history or the current situation, I want to know about the records of the Yueshi.

The reason why Lu Zhe would pay attention to the Yueshi people is very simple, Wusun, a local power in the Western Regions, has become the next important chess piece of the empire. Whether it was for the Wusun to threaten from the flanks when the empire was fighting against the steppe tribes, or for the recent discussion of using the Wusun as a bait to attract the tribes that had assembled a large army, Wusun should not be in a situation anytime soon. He was wiped out by the Yueshi people.

"No matter how brave the lion is, there is always a time when he is exhausted in the face of the raging jackals, tigers and leopards, and it is almost the historical stage when the Qin army goes east with all its might, and the Xiongnu finally unite Hujie and Ding Ling to attack the Yueshi people in an all-out way. It was precisely because of the great war between the Xiongnu and other grassland ethnic groups and the Yueshi people that the Qin State at that time was able to attack the Central Plains without any worries behind it, and finally let the Qin State complete the unification of the "world" without much threat behind it. ”

The strength of the Yueshi people under a series of blows was weakened, and they successively withdrew from the grasslands invaded by several grassland tribes such as the Xiongnu and Hujie, and then the territory south of the Yinshan Mountains was recovered by the Qin army, and the Yueshi people began to gradually migrate to the west for the sake of avoiding their edge.

Probably some time before the Qin State unified the world, the Xiongnu under the leadership of Touman united Hujie and Ding Ling to expel the Yueshi people to the west for at least 2,000 miles, and the Yueshi people at this stage also split into the Dayue Clan and the Xiaoyue Clan.

The Da Yue clan is a group of people who led the crowd to continue to migrate westward, and the other group of people who stayed in the Western Regions and continued to seek revenge against the Xiongnu were called Xiao Yue clan. Since it is the Xiaoyue clan, then in some respects the number of this group is not too much, they have refound pastures in the Western Regions, and some of the Xiaoyue clan have also taken refuge in Wusun, which is relatively powerful in the Western Regions, and have become the first servant tribe under Wusun.

"A large part of the Wusun Society's friendship with the Xiongnu, Hujie, and Ding Ling is precisely because of those Xiaoyue people. Wusun ignored the warnings of the Xiongnu and other forces to take in the fleeing Xiaoyue clan, but this is not the main reason why Wusun is at odds with many forces, mainly because Wusun blocked the Xiongnu and other forces from marching to the Western Regions, and several small-scale battles have never stopped, but the big war has not broken out. ”

At this stage, it was the time when he "came" to the pre-Qin era in ancient times, if he hadn't been suddenly transferred south, he would have gone north as a member of the Great Wall Army, and then sweat or blood in that battle to attack the Hetao.

Yan Bi saw that Lu Zhe was pondering, so he slowly retreated, and then left from the apse.

In this historical version, of course, the Qin army did not have the historical event of "attacking the Xiongnu in the north", and civil unrest broke out in the south halfway through the preparation, and the entire empire was also shattered in a short period of time, and Lü Zhe also completed the rise at this stage.

History has changed so much. Many things have become unrecognizable, a new empire has risen, and it seems that outside of China, it seems that it is constantly changing, and as Lu Zhe intervenes in the outside world, the more changes will be, such as the "son killing his father" drama that should have happened to the Xiongnu With Touman being escorted to Nanling, it is destined not to happen again, Wusun should also have contact with China in the Western Han Dynasty because history has changed, and Parthia, Bactria...... And so on, those Central Asian countries had contact with China at least a thousand years in advance.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

A soft call made Lu Zhe come back from his deep thoughts, looked up and looked down, and saw through the bead curtain on the crown. I don't know when the envoys of the Central Asian countries were already standing side by side below.

"Just now, those envoys unanimously asked to be able to enter the hinterland of the empire to make purchases, and you didn't reply for a long time before they stood together."

As soon as the attendant's voice fell, a person walked out of the train.

It was Jing Ju who left the train, and he saluted: "The proposal of the envoys of the countries is yet to be negotiated. ”

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the caravans that traveled through the princely countries to conduct business were often tens of thousands of people, and the armed guards used were even larger than the armed forces of some small countries.

No country will allow strangers to come in for long periods of time. In particular, the scale of business travel is generally not small, especially the scale of caravans that travel long distances is particularly large. What's the reason for that? It is because no one will carry a small amount of goods on long-distance business, and the more goods there are, the more vehicles they will carry, and the more safety considerations, the fewer armed guards who accompany them.

The Hongru Pavilion is the department that receives the envoys of Central Asian countries. They are also responsible for receiving business travelers from Central Asia, and have counted the number of people. The result of their statistics was that the caravan caravan carried more armed escorts than the accompanying escorts of the legations. They have also conducted a special investigation, and various intelligence shows it. Coming to the Empire safely from Central Asia is not an easy task, and the risks on the way will inevitably increase the number of armed men accompanying them.

Once the number of armed personnel reaches tens of thousands, or even tens of thousands, there is no essential difference between them and the army. How can a country that is not willing to allow a small number of strangers to enter its borders to allow a larger number of armed men to enter?

"Considering some special factors," Jing Ju suggested as he looked at the envoys of the Central Asian countries and looked back at Lu Zhe's side, "Perhaps it would be more ideal to set up a trading place at the border." ”

Rush the scene? Successive dynasties have set up urges on the borders of the empire to trade with the Hu people, which is a way to prevent the Hu people from penetrating deep into the border.

"So...... Your country's business travelers to our country should also stop at the border. The envoy from Bactria, Angle, had a strange face: "If you can't enter the inner part of the country, how can you choose the goods?" Also, if you don't enter the country, how do you cross the border to the next country? ”

It's really like that, the urging on the border line is generally determined by the government which goods to sell, and there is not much choice in the goods that can be provided. There is only one country on the continent on the empire's side, but this is not the case in Central Asia, and it is time to think about it.

Lu Zhe didn't want to go deeper into this topic, but he had to face it squarely.

The real intention of the imperial merchants to go to Central Asia is to go deep into the countries to understand the local situation, if they are blocked outside the national border, how to understand the law, unable to cross the border of Bactria and even the Parthian side, let alone go to the Seleucid Empire, or move to Egypt and other countries.

Jingju didn't seem to think about that, and was stunned for a while.

The generals in the train, many of them showed different expressions, they didn't have to listen to what they would say, looking at the hideous expressions, they should know that it was probably "if you can't get through it peacefully, then you will fight it violently".

"The total number of people from all countries who came this time is more than 30,000," Jing Ju looked at Bactrian envoy Angele: "We can't judge the scale of your future affairs, if our merchants go to you, considering the security needs on the road, the scale will only be more than 30,000 people, not less." ”

"Huh?" Angre was stunned for a moment: "We are composed of more than ten countries and tribes, so we will have more than 30,000 people. His face was full of confusion, he looked left and right, and asked in surprise: "The size of your country will exceed 30,000 people every time?" ”

How could Jing Ju know, but it did not prevent him from making assumptions: "There are many merchants in the empire, and there are even more giants, and a single merchant may not be as many as 30,000 people, but considering the long distance, it is probably that several merchants will travel together with each other, and the specific size of the caravan will be, and it is estimated that the number of people will only be more rather than less." ”

"Will there be more?!" Anglie didn't know whether to believe or should be suspicious, a business trip of more than 30,000 people would only happen under special circumstances, generally hundreds or even thousands of people, even if the scale was large, if the number reached a certain level, it should be a caravan or an army? He muttered in a low voice, "The thinking of the Oriental is really incomprehensible......"

Taprati, the envoy from Parthia, said: "All because there are many barbarian tribes on the road, and if those places are under control, safety will be guaranteed. ”

Well, the topic has been bypassed from the cooperation to carve up the territory, but it turned out to be talked about and talked back.

Taprati continued his proposal for a carve-up, while Anglie on the other side was in a state of contemplation.

"Seems good, huh? If the merchants of the Eastern Empire could only reach the border, wouldn't Bactria, the easternmost country, be the only country that could trade with the Eastern Empire? Thinking of this, Angle's eyes almost glowed with gold. He licked his lips and trembled with excitement: "If only we can trade with the Eastern Empire, how much wealth would it be?" ”

It's not surprising that there are such ideas, and if Bactria were to turn it into reality, history would be strikingly consistent. In fact, there was a country on the long Silk Road that controlled the trade between the East and the West, and that country made a fortune just by reselling, but it was the Empire of Anxi, that is, Parthia, that put its ideas into action in history. (To be continued......)