I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 608: Cheng Yu can do it, but I can’t?
After receiving Cheng Yu's memorial, Liu Bian knew that many Han people were willing to go to the Western Regions, and even to the four counties of Hexi to make up for the missing population in Hexi. He originally wanted to violate the "less trouble" strategy he set at the end of last year and add more burdens to the petty officials.

But he finally chose to give up.

After all, only a few people are willing to go to the Western Regions on their own initiative, and most of them dare to go there only with the encouragement of fellow villagers who are familiar with the Western Regions.

In other words, everyone who should have gone has gone.

As for the rest, it is better to let nature take its course and wait for the business in the Western Region to bear fruit.

After all, before this, he had not thought that transferring the head tax from individuals to households centered around males over 20 years old would encourage non-eldest sons to go out and venture into the world.

On the other hand, Cheng Yu was still traveling westward.

It would take at least ten days for urgent military information from Dunhuang County to reach Luoyang, but this speed was achieved at the cost of ignoring the damage to horses.

Cheng Yu was naturally not so anxious. This was his first time in Hexi. After observing the people's livelihood and customs along the way, when he arrived in Dunhuang, he calculated the time and found that nearly two months had passed compared to when he set out.

This was also because Cheng Yu was not focused on rushing the journey, otherwise, without considering the logistics and supplies, the journey could have been shortened by ten days.

During this process, Zhang Aruo finally agreed to Cheng Yu's invitation and chose to stay in Dunhuang County with his two nephews.

Then he learned the true identities of Cheng Yu and Gai Shun.

After the initial shock and anger, Zhang Aruo quickly accepted the reality and chose to stay in Dunhuang County more firmly.

Otherwise, would he give up the opportunity to befriend a nobleman for the sake of his so-called face? Although Zhang Aruo had been a knight-errant for more than a decade and knew the customs that knights-errant admired, he knew even more that he had no capital to refuse.

What's more, Gai Shun, the Gongcao of Dunhuang County who had the power to appoint and dismiss officials in Dunhuang County, personally and on behalf of Cheng Yu apologized to him for his previous deception.

Since the other person has apologized, he will definitely forgive him.

So, on the rest of the journey, Zhang Aruo and Gai Shun started to swindle people on the way to the west... Oh no, they should persuade those who were lost to get back on the right path.

What's wrong with staying in Dunhuang on the way to the Western Regions?
Haven’t you seen that some pedestrians have already switched to running roadside restaurants?

But it turns out that this behavior will be punished.

It was fine before entering the four counties of Hexi, but after entering Wuwei County, Wuwei Prefect Pei Mao was a smart man. After entertaining Cheng Yu who was passing by, he keenly discovered what Cheng Yu was doing.

So - Cheng Yu can do it, but I can't?

After years of war and the earlier eastward migration of the Han people, Wuwei County, like the other three counties in Hexi, has a very small Han population. To this day, according to a census, there are less than 50,000 people, and the rest are Qiangs, Xiongnu, and other miscellaneous Hu people.

Pei Mao wished that the population of Wuwei County was larger.

Like Cheng Yu, he did not choose to use coercion to avoid future gossip. But bribery was no problem at all, and he also had an explanation to the outside world - the people stayed voluntarily. And how could Wuwei County hide this action from Zhangye and Jiuquan?

However, the people at the destination were basically intercepted by Cheng Yu and Pei Mao, and Zhangye Governor Yang Qi got almost nothing. Seeing Pei Mao and Cheng Yu being so unkind, eating the meat and even the soup, he immediately revealed the matter to a prince of the Liu clan, Langya King Liu Xi, who was on his way to the Western Regions.

Liu Xi is very young, only eighteen years old.

Five years ago, Liu Xi's father died and he took over the position of King of Langya.

Under the care of his uncle Liu Miao, Liu Xi grew up healthily, but he was unwilling to be confined in the palace for his entire life.

When Liu Xi heard the imperial edict last year, he wanted to take the initiative to go to the Western Regions and use his only chance in his life to see the unknown world. After all, according to the emperor's benevolent rule, after he, the King of Langya, left, the Langya Kingdom would not be abolished, but would continue in Langya. In this way, as long as he could take root in the Western Regions, his lineage would actually have two kings.

But in the end he was stopped by Liu Miao, who was taking care of him.

Because Liu Xi's father Liu Rong died early and only left Liu Xi as his only son, if Liu Xi did not leave any offspring, the Langya Kingdom would be abolished, unless the emperor showed grace and allowed a branch like Liu Miao to lead it.

But the emperor’s kindness... Liu Miao didn’t dare to gamble at all.

But in the end, Liu Xi persuaded Liu Miao, and the two of them took most of the belongings and slaves of the Langya Palace to the Western Regions.

Along the way, they were treated with kindness by all the county and state officials along the way, starting with the Prime Minister of Langya. The two of them behaved very well. Although Liu Xi was young, he was also polite and worthy of the title of King of Langya.

until……

"Do they know that these people followed me to the Western Regions because of my Liu family? How dare they do this?"

Looking at the somewhat irritated Liu Xi, Yang Qi suddenly realized that he, who originally just wanted to have some fun, seemed to have added fuel to the fire... No, where was the polite Langya King who had been with him before?

In his expectation, Liu Xi should reveal this matter to Xu Huang, the Protector General of the Western Regions, or those with high reputation such as King Chen and King Hejian. Then, when the Western Regions asked the four counties of Hexi to send manpower and material resources to the Western Regions in the future, he could use this as an excuse to let Wuwei County and Dunhuang County send more manpower and material resources.

But at the moment, Yang Qi was a little worried that Liu Xi, who seemed very impulsive, would directly go to Pei Mao and Cheng Yu to cause trouble, which would not be good.

Yang Qi naturally had no way of knowing that in history, Liu Xi became the King of Langya with the help of Cao Cao, but after discovering Cao Cao's wolfish ambitions, he tried to find an opportunity to leave Cao Cao and cross the river to the south - as to whether he was going to find Sun Quan or Liu Bei, no one knew, because his plan was exposed before he set out and he was killed by Cao Cao.

As long as he has a goal, Liu Xi never lacks the courage to run towards it.

"I'm going to ask them for an explanation right now!"

What Yang Qi feared came true, so he immediately turned his attention to Liu Xi's uncle Liu Miao. The latter was a sensible man, and it took him a lot of effort to convince Liu Xi not to go to find Cheng Yu and Pei Mao immediately.

But Yang Qi saw that Liu Xi looked unconvinced, and he knew in his heart that Liu Xi would not restrain himself if he had the chance to meet him in person.

It’s okay that Wuwei County has already passed, I just hope Liu Xi doesn’t meet Cheng Yu... With such beautiful wishes, Yang Qi further thought that with such a Langya King with a childlike heart appearing in the Western Regions, the Western Regions will definitely be lively!
(End of this chapter)