I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 389: Forgive me for being an envoy of the Han Dynasty. I am only responsible for sending you to meet them!

As Liu Ju expected, Loulan's military strength was weak and its martial virtue was insufficient.

It was precisely because of this that Zhao Po Nu was able to capture the King of Loulan with only 700 light cavalry in history and escort him back to Chang'an.

As for the 800 fully armored Jianzhang cavalry under Liu Ju, they could easily defeat them with unstoppable force as long as they charged forward.

When the enemy is at the gate.

"Your Highness, the royal city is made of a mixture of grass and mud, and is no more than ten feet high. It can be easily breached. Should we order an attack on the city?"

Seeing the gate of the royal city open, a group of carriages and horses rushed out from inside. Seeing the Jianzhang cavalry coming towards them, they hurriedly retreated and closed the gate again. Han Zeng immediately realized something and immediately proposed to Liu Ju,
"The people who just retreated are most likely members of the Loulan royal family. They wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape, but were blocked by Your Highness. Now we can capture them all by attacking the city!"

"Not urgent."

Liu Ju smiled and shook his head.

"Your Highness, do you want to wait for General Zhao's troops to join us before concentrating your superior forces to attack the royal city?"

Han Zeng pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized,

"Your Highness is indeed thoughtful. Attacking a city is not like engaging in a skirmish. The more superior the military strength, the safer it will be. Now the people in the royal city are already trapped in a jar, so there is really no need to rush."

"Brother, you misunderstood. I am not waiting for General Zhao's troops. I am waiting for the King of Loulan to surrender the city."

Liu Ju smiled and shook his head again.

In history, Zhao Po Nu raided the Kingdom of Loulan. The King of Loulan had nowhere to escape and was isolated and helpless, so he quickly surrendered the city. This time the King of Loulan was not replaced, and the situation was even more unfavorable than in history, so he would naturally make the same choice.

And there is a saying that goes "Don't chase a desperate enemy."

At any time, the defending side has an absolute terrain advantage. Even if the wall of the Loulan Royal City is only ten feet high, it can still cause certain troubles to the Han army. Forcibly attacking the city will force the Loulan people into a corner. Even if it is easy to break the city, it will inevitably cause certain losses to the Han army.

But to Liu Ju, every man was extremely precious and should not die in vain because of anyone's slightest thought.

"This……"

Han Zeng didn't understand. Since they were waiting for the King of Loulan to surrender the city, should he order the translator to persuade him to surrender? Should he just sit there and wait?

While talking.

A voice with very unstandard pronunciation suddenly came from the city gate:

"General of the Han Dynasty, our king is willing to surrender the city and become a vassal of the Han Dynasty. Could you please, generals outside the city, show some mercy and give the residents and army in the royal city a chance to live?"

Loulan was the country closest to the Han Dynasty among the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. It was also the first stop for Han envoys and caravans on their way to the Western Regions. Naturally, there was no shortage of translators who were proficient in both languages.

"?"

Upon hearing this, Han Zeng couldn't help but look at Liu Ju in surprise. Was he really good at fortune-telling, or was he just guessing it? How could he have predicted that the King of Loulan would surrender the city so quickly?
And the King of Loulan is the ruler of a country after all. How could he be so spineless that he surrendered the city so easily?
But how could he know.

This was just a delaying tactic by the Loulan King Qibuchu, who thought he had grasped the temperament of the Han emperor. It could even be said to be a strategy of retreat in order to advance.

Liu Ju just smiled without commenting and said to Guo Zhen:

"Ask the King of Loulan for me why the Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Loulan, and have him open the city gates and come forward to answer in person."

"Yes...but Your Highness, I don't know their language. Look..."

Guo Zhengang agreed, but then looked at the translator beside him with an embarrassed look.

Next to them was a translator who was proficient in the Loulan language. This kind of thing should have been the translator's job, and only the translator could communicate smoothly with the Loulan people.

"Just speak as you are told. They have their own translators and there are people who can understand Chinese."

Liu Ju said seriously,
"From today on, officials of the Han Dynasty are only allowed to speak Chinese when speaking to these small countries. It is their honor if they can understand, and it is their loss if they cannot. If there are any errors due to poor communication, they will bear all the consequences themselves. This is the first step for our Han Dynasty to achieve great unification." "Yes."

Guo Zhen finally understood Liu Ju's intention and shouted loudly to the people in the royal city:
"Listen, the prince of the Han Dynasty has come to Loulan in person. The king of Loulan must open the city gate and come forward to answer in person. The prince of the Han Dynasty asked the king of Loulan, do you know why the Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Loulan?"

After a while.

The gate of the royal city slowly opened, and a middle-aged man with a bald head walked out slowly, accompanied by attendants and an interpreter. This man had blond hair, blue eyes, and deep eye sockets, with distinct physical features unique to Tocharians.

They came to the outside of the city gate and stopped after walking about ten steps. The middle-aged man put his right hand on his chest and bowed respectfully to Liu Ju:

"Respected Prince of the Han Dynasty, King Qibuchu of Loulan respectfully presents. There may have been some misunderstandings between Loulan and the Han Dynasty before. Now, on behalf of Loulan, I sincerely submit to the Han Dynasty and ask the Prince of the Han Dynasty to put aside the past grudges."

The translator at the side quickly translated the words of the King of Loulan into Chinese and bowed to Liu Ju and repeated them.

Until now, they still believe that as long as they surrender and pay tribute, a country of etiquette like the Han Dynasty will not go to extremes. This is also in the interests of the Han Dynasty. After all, more than half of the royal families of the Western Regions are Tocharians like them. If the envoys and caravans of the Han Dynasty want to travel in the Western Regions, they cannot do without their cooperation, so it is inconvenient to make enemies with them completely.

It was for this reason that Qi Buchu dared to open the city gate and walk out to talk to Liu Ju in person.

Liu Ju still did not comment after hearing this and asked:

"Answer my question directly. Do you know why our Han Dynasty sent troops to attack Loulan this time?"

Qibuchu communicated with the translator for a while, but finally looked embarrassed. He gave Liu Ju an extremely unnatural smile and was forced to answer:

"Is it because of the robbery and murder of the Han envoy in Loulan a few days ago?"

"Please understand, Prince of Han, these things are indeed related to Loulan, but it was not my original intention. I was forced by the Xiongnu. Prince of Han should know that a small country like Loulan is in a difficult situation between the Xiongnu and a big country like Han. Some things are beyond our control. I beg Prince of Han to understand."

"hehe."

Liu Ju laughed when he heard this. These were the exact words that Qi Buchu said to Liu Che after he was captured by Zhao Po Nu and brought back to Chang'an.

Liu Che forgave him and only asked him to send a prince as a hostage, but he also sent another prince to the Xiongnu as a hostage... and not long after, Liu Che launched a second war to conquer the Kingdom of Loulan, because when Li Guangli was ordered to attack Dayuan for the first time, it was this King of Loulan who dared to collude with the Xiongnu and stationed Xiongnu ambush troops in the country.

The result was that as soon as the Han army arrived, he immediately opened the city gate and surrendered, but Liu Che forgave him again and only ordered him to help monitor the movements of the Huns.

As to whether he truly became the eyes and ears of the Han Dynasty afterwards, there is no relevant record in history books.

However, after his death, the prince he sent to the Xiongnu inherited the throne and immediately refused to provide guides and fresh water to the Han envoys, causing the relationship between the two countries to deteriorate rapidly. This led to the later assassination of the King of Loulan by Fu Jiezi.

Therefore, no one knew better than Liu Ju that Qibuchu's surrender and submission at this moment was just a delaying tactic of retreating in order to advance, and it was by no means sincere.

In fact, this is also related to the Han Dynasty's diplomatic policy toward the countries in the Western Regions since Zhang Qian opened up the Western Regions.

This made the Han people appear to them as good, honest people with a lot of money, while the Huns appeared to them as thugs who would take action if they were not satisfied.

Good people are always pointed at guns, but this is wrong. Good people should not be pointed at guns.

Then Liu Ju's eyes gradually turned cold:

"Since you have admitted it, I can forgive you, and the Han can also forgive you, but whether the Han envoy who died at your hands forgives you is not something I can control."

"Forgive me for being the Han envoy. I am only responsible for sending you to see them."

"Listen up, everyone in the city. The King of Loulan, Qibuchu, allowed his soldiers to rob and kill the Han envoy. This crime is unforgivable. We, the Han people, swear to avenge this hero!"

"You have nothing to do with this matter. The Han Dynasty will never kill innocent people. But if anyone dares to let Qibuchu go and then retreat to the royal city, it will be regarded as a cover-up. After I capture the city, I will massacre the entire city!"

"kill!"

(End of this chapter)