Three Kingdoms

Lu Bu commanded the cavalry very quickly, but the logistics could not maintain the same speed as the cavalry.

There are many soldiers and horses going into battle, and a huge amount of food and grass are needed. Most of the Western Regions are relatively desolate, and the number of people cultivating is relatively small. Instead, they mainly focus on animal husbandry. War horses can gallop, but the cattle and sheep that follow the army to provide free food cannot move as fast.

Naturally, there were not many cattle and sheep that could keep up with Lu Bu in the future, and the supply was naturally more than enough. Wei Xu mainly supplied most of the cattle to the army under Lu Bu's direct jurisdiction, which naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the vassal armies, and everyone was scolding them. Tao, full of complaints.

Habit is a terrible thing.

When Lu Bu was in Bingzhou and still serving as Ding Yuan's subordinate, although he had the title of bookkeeper, he didn't care much about logistics, money and food. Later, whether he defected to Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, or now Yu Feiqian, he basically never took care of any people's livelihood government affairs or basic logistics, so in fact Lu Bu didn't have much knowledge in this aspect. concept.

In order to cover up his previous behavior, Wei Xu always told Lu Bu that there was no problem and that he could handle it, so Lu Bu didn't bother to explore and pay more attention to it. However, in fact, in order to ensure the supply of Lu Bu's headquarters along the way, he also made up for Lu Bu's gaze. From the visible loopholes in this area, Wei Xu had more than just deducted the vassal soldiers' food and grass rations once.

Baisu, the king of Qiuci, may have thought that more troubles are worse than less troubles, so he sent Lu Bu and others away early, and asked Lu Bu to fight with Dawan, giving them some food, grass, cattle and sheep, which would be a waste of money and disaster relief.

But Baishan didn't think so.

He boasted that his talents were not inferior to Bai Su's, and he even disdained to see Bai Su chanting Buddha's name every day. He felt that it was a joke for the leader of a country to ask for help from gods and Buddhas. But the problem is that he is not the king, but the brother of the king. Sometimes he is not even a brother, just an errand boy...

Just like this time, he ran errands for Bai Sulai and laughed with her in a condescending manner.

But he was ruthless in his heart.

Baishan found that Lu Bu's army seemed to be divided into three parts, the main army, Lao Fu's army, and Xinyong's army. Although the three groups were all under Lu Bu's command, they didn't seem to have much harmony. How to speak.

This is a bit interesting...

Bai Shan cheered up and observed carefully secretly.

Of course, the faces of the generals of the headquarters showed arrogance, but the relationship between Lao Fu and Xinyong was not so harmonious. Although it was not a quarrel, they kept a distance intentionally or unintentionally in their expressions and behavior.

While Bai Shan was watching secretly, a group of soldiers came over surrounded by a Han general, it was Wei Xu.

Wei Xu had a smile on his face. This smile was quite sincere, at least for the grain, grass, cattle and sheep brought by Baishan. After seeing Baishan, he said loudly: "I have met the wise king of Qiuci!" I have long heard that the wise king is loyal, righteous and benevolent, and today I saw that he is truly worthy of his reputation! 』

Bai Shan sneered in his heart, but did not show it on his face, and bowed respectfully to Wei Xu. When did you hear my name? Is it just now?

Wei Xu stepped forward and invited Bai Shan to go inside.

Baishan walked all the way in, praising the soldiers and horses in Lu Bu's camp like a fool, "Look at the soldiers and horses of the Protector of the Great Guard, they are so majestic and majestic, they are really... like heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals!" The soldiers and horses in this small country are really indescribable, which makes Xiao Wang really envious..."

Wei Xu laughed heartily, his face was bright, and he said a few words of humility. He suddenly felt that Bai Shan was a good person. After taking Bai Shan to visit Lu Bu, he delivered some rewards, grain, grass, cattle and sheep, and then gave Bai Shan away. After leaving the camp, go back to see Lu Bu again.

When Lu Bu saw Wei Xu turning around, he nodded slightly and said, "Since Qiuci understands his interests, there is no need to use force." 』

Kucha, Shule, Yarkand and other countries have been inseparable from the Han Dynasty for three to four hundred years.

Sometimes it's surrender, sometimes it's defection.

When they surrendered, they would pull the Han envoy's horse's head reins, crying and shouting that the big man was the father and could not leave the poor baby alone. But when they rebelled, they were unceremonious and slaughtered the Han people in rivers of blood.

Kucha has now expressed its surrender and sent food, grass, cattle and sheep. Lu Bu is naturally not easy to take action, and Kucha is not a small country. There are many people and soldiers. If they really fall out, it will be troublesome to fight. Not to mention other things. The speed of this advance will definitely be slowed down.

Wei Xu had no objections to Lu Bu's arrangement. He was eager to get some supplies here in Qiuci to relieve some of the pressure on him in charge of logistics.

But others may not.

Do vassal armies care about the whole grand strategy?

The vassal army thought that following Lu Bu would give them a chance to make a lot of money. However, they did not expect that when they arrived at Yanqi, they encountered rain and snow and had to stop. As a result, not to mention money and goods, even grain and grass were lost. It was a shortage, and the belt on the belly was tightened again and again.

I originally thought that when I arrived at Kucha, if the King of Kucha was a little dissatisfied, he would sweep over, not caring about the gold and silver, but I would also fill up the withered intestines that had been hungry for many days, but there was no such thing. Thinking that King Qiuci had voted so simply, he was immediately dumbfounded.

Yanqi didn't fight, and Qiuci didn't fight either.

In this way, if Shule didn't take action next time, although it would be quite smooth, what about the money? What about cattle and sheep? The things we eat these days don’t just fall from the sky for no reason!

What's more, Wei Xu is partial and only cares about the troops in front of Lu Bu. Others are indifferent, and they don't even care about the stuttering one!

So among the vassal troops, Hutu Tian, ​​a Shache native who had surrendered earlier, stood up, coughed slightly, and said respectfully to Lu Bu: "I will protect you, most of you. I have heard that King Qiuchi believes in the Buddha... ...Do you think this matter is a little too light? 』

"Um? Lu Bu frowned, "What do you mean?" 』

Hutu Tian glanced at Lu Bu and quickly lowered his head, "Didn't the Great Protector kill many Buddhist monks in Xihai City before..."

Lu Bu frowned, "Those are all fake monks and deserve death!" 』

Hutu Tian nodded repeatedly and said, "What the Great Protector said is true!" Those guys pretending to be monks deserve to die! But this Kucha... It is said that they also carved stone walls and carved Buddha statues for the Buddha. It can be seen that these Kucha people believed in the Buddha... If... well, I am just hypothetical, if some Buddhist monks instigated and corrupted the Great Protector. His name, or..."

Lu Bu glared, "What do you want to say?" 』

"Reporting to the Protector of Dadu, I want to be the vanguard and go forward to investigate... If Qiuci is really willing to work hard, that's it. If it is..." Hutu Tian smiled and said, "There is Dadu." If you stay behind and protect me, we will feel at ease, right? 』

Lu Bu pondered for a moment, nodded, and looked at Wei Xu, "What do you think?" 』

Wei Xu had no serious idea. He pretended to think about it for a while, then nodded and said, "I'll report back to the Protector, I think it's good." 』

"Then let's do it! Lu Bu threw down the command flag and asked Hutu Tian to lead his own troops and add 3,000 vassal troops as the front army to move forward and serve as a vanguard to explore the road.

……(艹艹)convex┗|｀O′|┛嗷~~……

Baishan returned to the royal city, handed in his errands, and left the palace.

The royal city of Qiuci is called Pilang, which means huge and huge.

The entire royal city was built according to the mountain topography. It has three levels inside and outside. Most of them are made of loess as the foundation stone and rammed earth as the walls. There are many gold and silver decorations on the walls, which sparkle brilliantly under the sunlight.

Because Kucha has admired the Buddha over the years, there have been many monks coming and going in the city. From time to time, devout believers offered food, water, flowers to the monks, which seemed peaceful.

Baishan stared at the monks, sighed slightly, then turned and left.

Some people believe in Buddhism, while others naturally do not.

Some people look forward to the next life, while others think about this life.

Baishan does not believe in Buddhism, and even thinks that these Buddhas and monks are all a trick of Anxi and a vicious plot of Kushan.

It's a pity that Bai Su believes in Buddhism.

And Bai Su, a Buddhist, is still the king.

Other things were easy to talk about, and Bai Su listened, but when it came to this belief, Bai Su felt that Bai Shan was hateful and had ulterior motives. He even had a quarrel. If they weren't blood brothers, the two of them would never have drawn swords against each other...

If you practice Buddhism, can you make the soldiers retreat and the swords and guns put down? Baishan sneered and returned to his house.

The royal family of Kucha all live in cave dwellings.

It is similar to a cave dwelling on a high loess slope.

There is less rain in the Western Region, so these cave dwellings built in the mountains are warm in winter and cool in summer, and the terrain is high. When you step out of the door, you can see "all the mountains at a glance".

The setting sun shines on the loess, making it golden.

Those Buddha statues inlaid with gold on the loess rock walls are like 120-watt light bulbs, shining brightly.

Bai Shan felt it was very dazzling, so he turned back to the cave and sat down. Not long after, servants from the palace brought in tonight's dinner of preserved meats and laid them out one by one...

Bai Shan frowned, "Why are there only these today?" 』

Flatbread.

Pickles.

A bowl of pimple soup.

The servant replied and said that it was the king who had spoken. These days are the Buddha's Nirvana Day, so all meat and meat dishes have been cancelled, only vegetarian food...

"If there's no meat, go bring some goat milk," Bai Shan said with a frown, "It's just a dry pancake with no flavor at all, how can you swallow it!" 』

"To the wise king, this goat's milk... is also banned..."

"Goat milk too?" ” Bai Shan’s eyes widened, “Didn’t Bai Shi say that he wouldn’t count it out some time ago? 』

"I report to the wise king that the new monk has set new rules..."

Bai Shan took a deep breath, and after a while he waved his hands helplessly. Halfway through his words, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, "Then bring some kumiss... Isn't kumiss also banned?" 』

The servant nodded timidly.

"You can't eat red food, and you can't eat white food now..." Baishan waved his arms, "First it was Buddha's birthday, and then it was Nirvana day!" What other monastic day is there! Enlightenment day! Happy day! At the end of the year, so many days no longer belong to humans, but to Buddhas! You can't eat red or white food, this is forbidden, that is forbidden, just don't eat it, everyone will be hungry! Doesn’t it save all the trouble? ! 』

Bai Shan was extremely angry but laughed.

The servant shrank his head and did not dare to speak.

Bai Shan knew this and couldn't blame the servant, so he just waved the servant away.

The servant seems to have been pardoned.

Baishan stared at the noodles and pickled vegetables, with no desire to eat them...

Before, he would have had to go to Bai Su for discussion, but now, he has another idea.

Perhaps it was also because Bai Su had a lot of theories before, but Bai Su didn't listen at all.

The sun slowly sets over the mountain, and shadows gradually cover the face of Baishan.

……(╯︵╰)……

Bai Su also had a headache.

The Han army sent people again to ask for fodder, cattle, sheep and horses.

One thousand and five sheep.

Five hundred cattle.

One thousand horses.

Wei Xu felt that if Qiuci could give him one thousand, he would at least have ten thousand left at home!

The number of cattle, sheep and horses required by the Han army was actually not too large for the entire Qiuci Kingdom.

This is at most the number of livestock of a large tribe, and there is not only one livestock tribe in Qiuci. But there is nothing wrong with the fact that Kucha is a large country. Not all the manpower and material resources of Kucha are concentrated together and can be mobilized at any time. It is true that they are available near the royal city, but after they are given out, what will they eat inside and outside the royal city?

Qiuci became a major country in the Western Regions because of its unique soil and water. There are four rivers in Qiuci, one is the Baima River, the second is the Jishu River, or the North River, the third is the Qiuci River, which is the earliest birthplace of Qiuci, and the fourth is the Gumo River, or the Piao River. Change the river.

In addition to these four large rivers, there are also some small rivers in Kucha. These rivers are connected by crisscross ditches and dense water systems, which makes Qiuci both cultivated and grazed.

There are high mountains in the north of each major oases in Qiuci, and timber, gold and other minerals are produced deep in the mountains. There are scattered pastures in the middle of the mountains, where cattle, sheep and camels can be grazed. At the foothills, there are generally large grasslands, where cattle, sheep, donkeys and other large and small livestock can be raised, and land can be cultivated.

Therefore, this different production model according to the mountain topography makes Qiuci naturally more developed commercially. Because the mountain residents are engaged in the nomadic economy, the foothill residents are engaged in the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral economy, and the oasis residents are engaged in the agricultural or handicraft economy. Since they are engaged in different economies and produce different products, they need to exchange with each other, and the commercial atmosphere is natural It's thicker.

In addition to the merchants who travel between east and west, it can be said that Kucha's trade is also very powerful. This is why Bai Su feels the need to maintain a certain good relationship with the Han people.

Bai Su didn't want to get involved in the conflicts between the Han and Anxi, or the Han and the Kushan. He just wanted to watch the vicissitudes of the world like a Buddha, while remaining immortal himself.

But the problem is that he was a laborer last time and had already given away a lot of cattle, sheep, horses, fodder and other items.

If I send it again now and ask for it next time, will it be given or not?

"Someone is coming!" ” Bai Su said in a deep voice, “Have someone tell the Han envoy that we need to raise some funds. Once the funds are raised, we will escort them there...”

The attendants were ordered to retreat.

Bai Su sat in silence for a while, then called another person, "Go and ask the National Master if there are any recent Buddha birthdays and Enlightenment Days... and then report them to me." 』

The Han army is equivalent to additional expenses. Before the cattle and sheep are mobilized from various places, we should save as much as possible.

……╭(╯^╰)╮……

Hutu Tian felt that even if he could let go of the old grudges of Shache back then, he could not say that he had spared King Baisu of Kucha in vain now.

Is it free of charge anyway, or is it free of charge? If you don’t seize the opportunity to make a fortune, wouldn’t you be an idiot?

Hutu Khotan was considered a royal family of the Shache Kingdom.

once.

Most of the countries in the Western Regions are just outsiders, and Yarkand is no exception. At first he was pro-Han, but later he was against Han. However, he was convinced by Feng Fengshi's slap in the face. He quickly surrendered to Han with a shy face and persisted for a long time. Later, he felt that he could do it, so he secretly made a move. He got up and was punished by Ban Chao, so he felt happy again and surrendered again.

In the process, the Hutu clan became enemies with Qiuci.

At that time, the relationship between Kucha and Yarkand was pretty good. When he heard that Ban Chao was going to beat Yarkand, Yarkand was so anxious that he almost burst out of his urine and went to Kucha for help.

The Kucha royal family was still Yuliduo at that time...

In the end, I don’t know what Yuliduo was thinking. It was clear that he could send troops to rescue immediately. Maybe Yuliduo wanted to eat two fish and profit from both ends, or for some other reason. Yuliduo did not send troops immediately, but instead gathered five troops. Thousands of people waited before setting off.

In this case, naturally everything is too late.

Banchao raided the Shache Kingdom and defeated the Hutu clan. After hearing the news that Hutu was defeated, the Kucha people did not dare to come. Of course, Kucha did not receive any benefits in the follow-up. When Ban Chao returned to the army, he stopped by Kucha, deposed Yuliduo, and supported Kucha Baiba as king. This is the reason why the current royal family in Qiuchi has the surname Bai.

Although it is said that Qiuci has changed his surname now, not all the grievances and grudges of the past may have been blown away.

Of course, Hutu Khotan had no way to do anything against King Qiuci, but it was okay to do some small damage and vent his anger to some extent, especially since the vassal army had not received any decent reinforcements in this period of time, and everyone was just an eye. Turning green and drooling.

Of course, some people think that doing so is risky, but Hutu Tian blew his beard and said, "The Han people have a saying, which is "wealth can be obtained through danger"! This is what the Han sages said! If you don't do anything, will you wait for cattle, sheep, and money to rain down from the sky? During this period of time with the Protector, the sons and gentlemen, no, not only the sons and gentlemen, but also the horses have become thin and out of shape! If you don't think of something yourself, you're going to starve to death! How about you go to the Protector-General and tell us to give us all the money and food for the cattle and sheep? ! 』

The opponents immediately fell silent.

"That's it, find a tribe, no matter how big or small!" ” Hutu Tian opened his mouth and smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow and black teeth, “It’s too big to eat, and it’s too small to eat! Go ahead and tell the men to be more agile with their hands and feet, and be more strict with their mouths! Don't let the news leak out! They all say they caught a Kuishang spy! They want to kill us, so we are defending ourselves! Do you understand? ! Set off! 』