In the Qilin Hall, faced with the important concerns raised by the generals about the Western Expedition, Li Yunze, who had not been here for a long time, simply said, "Food is everywhere."
Wang Jian said helplessly, "Master, it is said that the land in the far west is desolate. Apart from the wasteland, there are savages. If the army marches westward, how will the food and grass be transported thousands of miles?"
There are trains in Daqin, but the large rivers have become natural chasms.
When facing a large river like the Yellow River that is hundreds of steps wide, Da Qin simply does not have the strength to build a bridge across the river.
Therefore, when encountering larger rivers, the track can only be interrupted and a new one built after crossing the river, which naturally affects the transportation capacity.
Furthermore, the railway that Daqin built along the Tianshan Mountains to the west at this time only ended in Khotan.
If we continue to go west, the manpower and material resources required will double.
Wang Jian and other veterans were opposed to this.
After the Qin State pacified the world, although there were still Yue tribes in the south and remnants of various countries, etc., the world was generally stable.
Young people who are eager to make achievements want the war to continue.
But Wang Jian and other veterans who had reached the peak of their knighthood naturally lost interest.
"The land in the far west is not all desert. There are prosperous cities and fertile land there, and there is no shortage of food." Li Yunze explained seriously, "It doesn't matter if the food from the rear cannot be transported, just eat it from the enemy."
What he meant was very simple. If the army ran out of food, they would just grab it locally.
When you encounter farmland, you grab food. When you encounter tribes, you grab cattle and sheep. As long as you are willing to think of a way, you will definitely be able to solve the problem.
Ying Zheng on the high platform said, "Taifu, how did the man named Ya do it?"
"Of course they grabbed everything wherever they went." Li Yunze immediately responded, "They have also traveled thousands of miles. It is impossible to rely on their hometown thousands of miles away to send food and grass."
Ying Zheng nodded and nodded, "In that case, there is no need to discuss this matter. The Western Expedition must be done."
The king with increasing authority has spoken, and naturally no one will object.
In this expedition, with Wang Ben as the vanguard, he led 50,000 troops out of Khotan and marched westward.
Wang Ben immediately stepped out of the queue and saluted, "Hi!"
Naturally, it is impossible for hundreds of thousands of troops to rush over in the Western Expedition. The Qin army is not that stupid. Wang Ben is the advance force to set up a front station, build roads and bridges across mountains and rivers, and build an advance base.
The arrangements for the Western Expedition have been temporarily arranged, and now comes the highlight of the day.
Numerous noble clansmen of the Qin Kingdom, who were distinguished in civil and military affairs, gathered around Ying Zheng to worship heaven and ancestors, because their king was going to tell the ancestors of heaven and earth today that he would become an unprecedented emperor with merits and demerits, three emperors, and five emperors with high merits!
Ying Zheng, who was proud and arrogant, felt that the kings of other countries who were as stupid as pigs could actually be called kings like himself. This was a great humiliation to him.
So he specially created an unprecedented title, that is, emperor!
Moreover, he also stipulated that from now on, only the emperor could call himself "Zhen", and no one else was allowed to use this word.
If you have the strength and merit to do such a thing, naturally everyone will praise you and think you are worthy of it.
If it were a certain Song Dynasty emperor who, after ceding territory and paying compensation, went to Mount Tai to enshrine himself, he would be bringing humiliation upon himself.
Even if no one dared to say anything when he was alive, after his death he would only be infamy for tens of millions of years!
Li Yunze witnessed this historic scene throughout, and even recorded and filmed the entire process with his mobile phone.
This kind of thing is rare for him, unless it is a truly extremely important moment, such as the accession of the First Emperor to the throne, Huo Qubing's appointment of Lang Xu, etc., Li Yunze is too lazy to record other historical fragments.
The lively ceremony lasted for three days, and Xianyang City was filled with joy, especially at night, when dazzling fireworks exploded continuously in the sky, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
With black powder, the appearance of fireworks is naturally not difficult.
Especially after Ying Zheng studied chemistry, he learned that adding various elements can cause color changes, which promoted the further development of fireworks.
Of course, they were also used in the military at the beginning, using different colors of fireworks to convey different military messages and serving as a means of transmitting messages over long distances.
It was not until after the unification of the world that its role gradually changed.
However, this thing can only be afforded by the royal family now, because it is not sold to the outside world at all.
Fireworks are a great thing to use to deceive people, so secrets cannot be revealed easily.
Although Zulong has a strong scientific foundation after years of study, he still promotes superstitious worship to the outside world.
There is nothing he can do about it. When he is in his position, he naturally wants to last for eternity. The people in Guizhou naturally want to be as stupid as possible.
So even though Zu Long sneered at this in his heart, he was still doing it on the surface.
Li Yunze didn't care about this. He just wanted to push Zulong to surpass Ya and achieve the glorious moment of being the captain.
Just one month after Zulong completed the transformation ceremony from king to emperor, Wang Bi, who was full of confidence, left Guanzhong with tens of thousands of troops and started his journey westward.
Li Yunze did not continue to work on technology in Liyang, but set out with the army with great interest, recording this spectacular moment that did not exist in history along the way.
After crossing the river on the floating bridge outside Jincheng, you can take the railway track built by the Qin people along the Tianshan Mountains to Khotan.
There will be a beacon tower every thirty miles on this railway, and a group of people will be stationed there.
Their main job is to patrol the railway lines along the way to ensure that they are not destroyed by sporadic nomadic tribes and ubiquitous horse bandits.
The Qin people were tyrannical, and after entering the Western Regions, they began to raid everywhere.
The herdsmen who were holding wooden sticks, wearing fur coats, and riding bareback horses were beaten so hard that they couldn't find their way around. They were all killed with their faces covered.
Later, the remaining ones learned the lesson and ran away when they saw the Qin army. They ran into the mountains, ran into the vast sea, ran into...
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Anyway, even if you encounter regular troops, you will run away, and if you encounter the migrating people from the head of Guizhou, they will rush over and fight.
But the people of Qin are not vegetarians. They are also active or reserve sergeants. No matter whether they are scattered tribes or horse bandits, whether they attack migrating teams or settlements, they cannot take advantage.
After that, they began to attack the steel giants who were frightened at the beginning and knelt down, thinking that the gods were coming.
To directly attack the steel behemoth would be to seek death. After they realized that the steel behemoth could only run on that railroad track, they set their target on the railroad track.
The population of Qin is still too small.
The thousands of miles of road from Jincheng to Khotan are full of flaws almost everywhere. There have been many cases of railway tracks being hollowed out of the roadbed, and there was even a major incident of a train derailing.
Later, Yingzheng got angry and directly started building beacon towers to garrison troops along the railway.
One garrison of soldiers and horses was stationed at thirty miles, and two 500-man troops were garrisoned at three hundred miles, and they were basically all cavalry.
Once it is noticed that someone is sabotaging the railway, if the number is small, the garrison troops will deal with it. If the number is large, fireworks will be set off to summon a large force to come and exterminate.
The main force of the Qin army stationed in the Western Regions would attack on a large scale every once in a while, carrying out devastating blows to the tribes everywhere.
There is no doubt that this is very cruel, but it does improve safety.
At least the train Li Yunze took was not disturbed.
Coming to Khotan, this city on the edge of the desert has become the largest and most prosperous place in the entire Western Region.
The number of civilians living inside and outside the city is said to be close to 100,000!
This is not even counting the Qin army.
If it weren't for the largest oasis within a thousand miles nearby, and the snow water flowing from the Kunlun Mountains, this large population alone would be enough to cause the city to collapse.
The most important reason why the population is so large is that Khotan is the end point of the Qin people's westward railway line.
Although the Qin people have been building the railway to the west, it is obvious that even the most important station here in Khotan is also the location of the Qin people's Western Region Protectorate.
Almost all the traders in the west gathered here in Khotan, and then sold their various goods in the market outside the city, buying Qin people's silk, porcelain, tea, rhubarb, cloth, grain, ironware, salt, handicrafts, etc.
All kinds of supplies were transported to distant places by camels.
The jade and jewelry, spices and wines, coconuts and grapes, medicinal materials and leathers, horses, camels, and even male and female slaves that they sold were all put on trains and sent to Guanzhong at lightning speed.
It is precisely because of such developed trade stimulation that this city is so prosperous.
Li Yunze got off the train and saw people everywhere, leading camels, horses, and girls everywhere.
After the Qin State pacified the world, those meritorious deeds began to enjoy life.
Wine from the Western Regions and exotic beauties are their favorites. They are very popular inside and outside Xianyang City. It is said that many of them have moved into Zulong's palace.
Li Yunze didn't pay much attention and went straight into the city.
As the emperor's tutor, he naturally got a courtyard. As the guardian of the capital, Yang Duanhe even arranged a team of exotic girls for him.
The quality is very high, and some of them even have a bit of the Three Beauties of later generations.
It's rare to see Yang Duan and his filial piety... Ahem, Li Yunze had to reluctantly take care of her to make the girls' lives more comfortable.
Of course, he didn't come to the Western Regions this time to find beauties. He came to consider the army's logistical supply capabilities and at the same time inspect the construction progress of the westward railway.
As for the matter of fighting, Wang Ben naturally has to do it.
The railway line starting from Khotan and heading west goes northwest around the Hanhai Sea.
Because if you go further west, you will find the Karakoram Mountains and Congling (Pamir Plateau).
Judging from the railway technology of this era, it is impossible to build it directly, and the only way is to go northwest.
Although walking all the way to the southwest, it only takes a few hundred miles to reach the Big and Little Bolut (Kashmir). After passing the Big and Little Bolut, you will reach the Indus River and Tianzhu.
But to the southwest is the Kunlun Mountains, the ancestor of all mountains.
No railway can pass through the long Kunlun Mountains.
The army can cross mountains and ridges, but the logistics cannot keep up, and the migration of the people cannot keep up.
Therefore, it can only be built towards Suiye City in the northwest direction.
And over there is the territory of the Wusun people.
As for the Wusun people, going further west was the Kingdom of Dawan, which was also the location closest to the east during Alexander's Western Expedition.
Once the Dawan Kingdom is captured, Da Qin’s Western Expedition will officially begin!