"After sweeping the Western Regions, we will wipe out this Zoroastrianism together." Yan Liang issued a decisive order.
He hates those who have ulterior motives the most, who take the opportunity to bewitch people's hearts in the name of missionary work, and finally riots and harm the world.
Since the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions have been the sphere of influence of China. Now, the Persian Zoroastrianism has come to preach, which clearly means that the Persians have the intention to expand their power eastward.
What's more, those Zoroastrian priests were composed of Middle-earth people, which made Yan Liang deeply suspicious.
Yan Liang was wondering whether it was some of the former dynasties who fled to Persia who wanted to collude with Persia and counterattack Middle-earth.
He even suspected that Persian Zoroastrianism had a lot to do with Sima Yi.
"Could it be that this Zoroastrianism has anything to do with Sima Yi?" Yan Liang said suddenly.
As soon as these words were spoken, Ma Su's expression changed, and a trace of shock flashed in his eyes.
Yan Liang was calm and asked, "I asked you to find out where Sima Yi fled. Do you have any clues?"
"This..." Ma Su hesitated for a moment, "My secret spies searched for the Western Regions, and indeed found out that Sima Yi led the remnants of his troops through the northern Western Regions, but he did not stay in the Western Regions, but continued to go west, and finally disappeared.
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Speaking of this, Ma Su's spirit was shocked, and he seemed to think of something suddenly, and said in surprise: "When going west of the Western Regions, it is Persia across the Pamir Mountains. Could it be that Sima Yi led his troops to flee to Persia?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Su shook his head repeatedly, denying his guess and his face was full of incredibleness.
"Since ancient times, only merchants have gone along the Silk Road to Persia. Sima Yi led tens of thousands of troops. Such a huge team fled to Persia. It is really outrageous." Ma Su murmured to himself.
Yan Liang sneered: "It has not been since ancient times, but it does not mean it is not now. Who would have thought that I, a man from a cold background, could actually clear the world and take over the world."
This is true, and Ma Su's suspicion disappeared a lot. Thinking about it, the emperor in front of him created an unprecedented great achievement and turned the impossible into a possibility.
Compared with the miracle created by Yan Liang, Sima Yi's escape to Persia seemed to be no big deal.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" Ma Su asked with his hands bowed.
Yan Liang brushed his sleeves and said disapprovingly: "Does Zoroastrianism have anything to do with Sima Yi? When I wipe out the Western Regions, everything will naturally be clear."
Disdain to pursue the root cause and directly eliminate it with violence. This is Yan Liang's style.
Ma Su understood the emperor's will and stopped talking.
Yan Liang's determination to pacify the Western Regions was decided, and no one could stop him. The next thing was just waiting for an excuse to send troops.
Within one month, the envoys from the Western Regions returned to Chang'an one after another.
As Yan Liang expected, the kings of the five major countries refused to come to Chang'an to pay homage on the grounds of being sick.
The five major countries refused to pay tribute, and naturally they did not dare to act without permission. In history, all the countries in the Western Regions disobeyed the order of the Middle-earth Dynasty.
Yan Liang was waiting for their rejection, and now it is convenient for him to use troops.
Yan Liangsui was furious and issued an order on the same day, angering the Western Regions countries to despise Tianzhou and declare that they would launch a large army to conquer and purge the Western Regions.
In Yan Liang's eyes, the countries in the Western Regions were just ants. There was no need for any conspiracy to deal with these small countries. Yan Liang just wanted to tell them clearly that I was coming to conquer you.
Only a true great power can pursue this open-minded approach.
The decree was issued, and the subjects of Luoyang City and even the entire Great Chu states were indignant for the refusal of surrender in the Western Regions, and they all declared to attack and support the emperor to send troops.
Throughout history, it is indeed rare for emperors like Yan Liang to raise troops repeatedly but can gain the support of the people.
The reason is nothing but profit.
When Emperor Wu of Han used troops to the outside world to make the Huns and the Western Regions surrender. To put it bluntly, he was just to seek face.
The final result was that the Han Dynasty repeatedly used troops to foreign countries and did fear the Hulu, but it cost countless money, leaving the national treasury empty and countless casualties in the military and civilians.
The final gain was nothing more than a false reputation of a captive surrender.
Yan Liang was different. His external conquests were not for false reputations, but for real interests.
To put it bluntly, Yan Liang's foreign military use can also be said to be a kind of invasion or plunder.
Wherever the army of the Great Chu passed, he robbed Hu Yi's cattle and horses, plundered Hu Yi's wealth, possessed Hu Yi's women, seized their land, killed those who could kill, and collected them as slaves.
Yan Liang's strategy fully implements the policy of raising war with war. Although the soldiers' clubs have died, the benefits robbed are huge, which is not only enough to offset the expenses of the war, but also robbed additional for the treasury and the subjects in the country.
wealth.
When the Mongol Yuan, Jin and Qing dynasties were first born, the reason why they could sweep the world without worrying about the consumption of the treasury and the people complained that they implemented the policy of fighting to support the war.
Now Yan Liang has used the policy of the Hulu invading China.
It is precisely because of this that the whole country enthusiastically supported Yan Liang to send troops to the Western Regions, because both the soldiers and the people saw huge benefits from it.
With the support of all the people, Yan Liang issued his will like snowflakes, and once again activated the powerful war machine of Da Chu.
The cavalry from all over the country quickly gathered on the Yongliang line, and hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep were driven to Liangzhou as military rations.
Thousands of Qiang people and Xianbei people were also transported to Liangzhou, thinking that the Chu army was used as a logistics laborer.
In less than a month, Da Chu was on the front line of Liangzhou, gathering more than 80,000 cavalry and nearly 100,000 slave slave servants.
Eighty thousand cavalry, what does this mean? The biggest battle in the northern desert of Emperor Wu of Han that year only sent out 100,000 cavalry.
At that time, when Emperor Wu of Han was tens of millions of people, and when the Great Chu was in ruins, it was not easy to gather 80,000 cavalrymen. This was thanks to Yan Liang's policy of fighting to support war. Otherwise,
With the domestic economy to support 80,000 cavalry, the economy must collapse.
Wen Chou, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Ma Dai, Pang De and other cavalry generals have already headed to Liangzhou.
Yan Liang chose an auspicious day and held a grand flag sacrifice ceremony outside Chang'an City. He led 30,000 Dragon Cavalry Guards to set off from Chang'an and headed to Liangzhou in a mighty manner.
In addition to the generals who first launched the battle, there were also cavalry generals such as Zhang He, Lu Lingqi, Deng Ai, Jiang Wei, Zhang Xiu, and other cavalry generals, as well as the Imperial Guards such as Zhou Cang and Hu Cheer.
Except for Taishici guarding Yinzhou, all the elite cavalry generals of Dachu have emerged.
The countries in the Western Regions were not worthy of concern. Yan Liang considered that the Persians had the intention of invading the East and, after destroying the Western Regions, they were likely to fight with the Persian state.
You should know that Persia was a great empire with China and the Roman Empire to the west, and was also known as the three great empires of Eurasia. Yan Liang could not underestimate this powerful country.
Therefore, only after this happened, Yan Liang brought enough elite cavalry generals under his command.
As for the government, the Crown Prince Yan Yuan has become increasingly mature. After Yan Liang left the capital, he left the crown prince to supervise the country, and helped veterans and important officials who were skilled in political affairs. I believe that there is no big problem.
Xu Shu and Fa Zheng, two resourceful men, followed the battle and made plans.
In addition to these two top strategists, Yan Liang also brought another strategist when he went to the battle.
A strategist who has been silent for many years.
Yan Liang commanded the army from Chang'an, heading west along Weishui Avenue, and within a few days he crossed Longshan and entered the Longxi territory.
The army stayed in Jicheng for a day, and the next day it changed the route northward, heading towards Dunhuang County along the northward road to Liangzhou.
This Yongliang Road was built for four years, and was paved with the bodies of more than 100,000 Qiang people. It was wide and flat. It started from Chang'an in the east, reached Yumen Pass in the west, and ran across the two prefectures of Yongliang.
With this road, if Yan Liang marched lightly with cavalry and traveled four or five hundred miles a day, he could reach Yumen Pass within three days.
Yan Liang's original strategy was to fight quickly and defeat the countries in the Western Regions with a speed of lightning.
However, when Yan Liang led his army to Jincheng, he received a piece of information that surprised him.
Palace, Imperial Palace.
"A few days ago, General Wu Yi of Anxi sent an urgent report. Yanqi and Shanshan suddenly sent 30,000 troops to surround Gaochangbi. General Wu did not dare to fight. He sent people to report to His Majesty with a 100,000 fire.
Ask for help." Ma Su said in a solemn tone.
The people of the Western Regions actually took the lead!
Yan Liang snorted coldly and said in a solemn tone: "The kings of Yanqi and Shanshan are really brave. Before my army entered the Western Regions, they have given me a preemptive move."
"It is not only the two countries of Shanshan, but also the three countries of Kucha in the north, the Khotan and Shule in the south, which seem to be sending troops to gather in Gaochangbi." Ma Su continued.
The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace suddenly became solemn.
Xu Shu said: "These five countries fear our Great Chu campaign. It seems that they have no choice but to unite and want to take the lead in capturing Gaochangbi and block our army east of the barrier."
Gaochangbi is the location of the Western Regions Protectorate, and it is also the only city directly controlled by Da Chu in the Western Regions. This Gaochangbi is located west of Yumen, and is the only way for the army to enter the Western Regions.
If the people of the Western Regions captured this wall and had deep ditches and high bases, the Chu army's route to advance west would be blocked.
"These Western Regions people suddenly became smarter and knew how to take the initiative and seize the key points. Well, behind this, there must be the Zoroastrianism that incited it." Yan Liang's sword eyebrows slightly condensed and he thought.
"Your Majesty, Gaochangbi is so important, and I must not lose it. I think we should quickly set up a large army and rush to Gaochangbi on a starry night." Zhang He said.
Yan Liang pondered and said nothing, and did not make any decision.
At this time, one of the ministers said, "I think that Your Majesty does not need to rush to save Gaochangbi. It is better to let the people of the Western Regions besiege." (To be continued...)