I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 444: Could this be the Wei Lu I know?

"God's Whip?"

Another strange word that Wei Qing had never heard of before.

However, this did not prevent him from understanding Liu Ju's thoughts. To put it bluntly, this should be a tactic of "driving the tiger to devour the wolf", or it can also be said to be a tactic of "killing with a borrowed knife".

Ever since that overseas silver mountain was built.

Now, both Liu Che and the ministers in the inner court have reached a consensus. Everyone's attention is turned to the Western Regions, wanting to transform that overseas silver mountain into actual benefits.

In particular, Sang Hongyang's economic strategy of using the Silver Mountain and the Han Dynasty's abundant products to achieve "foreign goods flowing in without leaking out", and of making foreign countries dependent on him through foreign trade and thus controlling their politics, was highly praised by Liu Che. This should become the Western Regions policy for the next few years, decades, or even hundreds of years.

To achieve this goal, opening up a stable, secure and relatively efficient trade route is a prerequisite.

To achieve this premise, the first obstacle is the Xiongnu, whose influence on the Western Regions is currently greater than that of the Han Dynasty.

The political environment in which each country in the Western Regions operates independently is the second obstacle.

The Huns and the Han Dynasty had a long-standing grudge against each other, and the Huns were unruly and difficult to tame. It was almost impossible to expect the Huns to completely surrender, so this tough battle had to be fought, and there was almost no room for a peaceful solution.

The countries in the Western Regions needed both kindness and force to make them submit to the Han Dynasty.

However, the "favor" policy that Liu Che had previously implemented by sending envoys had obviously failed.

These small countries in the Western Regions took money and benefits from the Han Dynasty, but they still tried to please both sides and did nothing practical. Some of them even robbed or made things difficult for Han envoys. They were not threatened by the Huns at all, but just wanted to use this opportunity to demand more benefits from the Han Dynasty.

So is the Han Dynasty’s “pressure” on the Western Regions enough now?

Obviously, it was still far from enough. Even if Liu Ju made the five small countries in the Western Regions surrender in one fell swoop, killed the King of Loulan, massacred the royal family of Gushi, and defeated the Huns' reinforcements under the noses of the Western Regions countries, it was probably still not enough.

The smaller countries in the Western Regions, further west, still held on to a lucky mentality, believing that the Han Dynasty was too far away from them and that it would be difficult for the Han Dynasty to reach them. Therefore, they either took it for granted or thought that when the Han Dynasty reached out its hand, they would be unable to resist and it would not be too late to surrender.

The Kingdom of Dayuan near the Pamir Mountains is an example.

Liu Che had long wanted to purchase the Ferghana horses from Dayuan in order to improve the breed of Han war horses, but he had never been able to do so because Dayuan had always refused to cooperate.

There were even small countries in the Western Regions that regarded the Han Dynasty as a buffer zone between them and the Huns. They became more and more confident and played the "make friends with distant countries and attack nearby" strategy with the Huns, making it difficult for the Han Dynasty to take care of both ends in order to gain more benefits.

Under such circumstances, even if Liu Ju is now preparing to establish the "Western Alliance" in the eastern part of the Western Regions and has won over a dozen of the first member states, he may not be able to guarantee that the trade routes to the west will be safe. There may be some small countries that deliberately block the trade routes in order to "raise the price."

As a result, the member states of "NATO" have never been able to obtain tangible benefits through trade, and the "power" that the Han Dynasty has worked so hard to gain has been damaged. On the contrary, those troublemakers are constantly making profits, and I am afraid that they will gradually become disloyal.

So can the Han Dynasty directly send troops to attack these troublesome small countries?
Yes, yes.

It’s just that the cost-effectiveness is not very high. Even if Liu Ju suddenly came up with a "Western Alliance" and could call on the troops of the "Western Alliance" member states, it still does not have a very high cost-effectiveness.

The journey is long, and there is no need to mention the huge losses in marching and supplies. Those who understand will understand.

The most important thing is that Liu Ju defined the goal of the "Western Alliance" as fighting against the brutal Huns. If the "Western Alliance" is used to actively attack other small countries, then the "justice" of the "Western Alliance" will inevitably be questioned.

If the Huns took advantage of this, they could also portray the Han Dynasty as the public enemy of those Western Regions countries that had not yet joined the "Western Alliance", thereby establishing an organization to counter the "Western Alliance", resulting in a siege and attack on the "Western Alliance" by other Western Regions countries and the Huns. The trade route that Liu Che wanted to open up would become even more difficult, and would put the Han Dynasty in a very passive position.

However... Liu Ju's move of "driving the tiger to devour the wolf" solved this problem very well! If he could really force the Xiongnu to move westward, he could become that useless "whip of God".

Given the nomadic nature of the Huns, and their habit of fighting to support war, if Liu Ju could still make the Huns lack supplies and flee from famine, then the Huns would surely have plundered their way through.

In this way, the Huns played the bad guy.

The big man followed closely behind, singing the good-faced role.

Those Western Region countries had no choice but to rush to join WATO in exchange for asylum.

Moreover, from now on, the Huns will be in the west and the Han Dynasty will be in the east, and the "Western Alliance" in the middle will be a vassal and buffer of the Han Dynasty. With such a geographical location, Liu Ju's "Western Alliance" will be able to play the greatest role.

"This……"

After thinking it over carefully, Wei Qing's pupils suddenly trembled, and he looked at Liu Ju with shock on his face.

"Zi'er, tell me honestly, were these strategies already decided when you went out to sea to search for the silver mountain? Even when you stabbed Jiang Chong to death in the street and then got deposed, and then asked for permission to come to the Western Regions, it was all intentional, so one thing led to another?"

"Uncle, you are too kind. How can I be as amazing as you say?"

Liu Ju smiled modestly.

There certainly wasn't one before, at least not before it was abolished.

Although Liu Ju was certain at that time that the Han Dynasty must open up the Silk Road and the Huns were the Han Dynasty's biggest enemy, he was always doing things that were beneficial to the Han Dynasty. He really didn't think it would be so far-sighted.

Looking back now, if he had had this ability back then.

He didn't even have to do it himself to easily kill Jiang Chong without a burial place, and he could also push things in this direction imperceptibly. Being deposed as the crown prince was simply a piece of cake.

Of course, there are no ifs here, only cause and effect.

If he had not had this ability before, he would not have touched Liu Che's reverse scale and been deposed, and naturally he would not have become the current full-level human.

"Whether it is true or not, in my opinion, your strategy is extremely smart and almost magical. If it can be realized, the fortune of our Han Dynasty will be unprecedentedly prosperous, and you will be the greatest contributor since the founding of the Han Dynasty."

Wei Qing did not hide his admiration, but frowned, looking at Liu Ju expectantly.
"But forcing the Xiongnu to migrate westward is already extremely difficult. Huo Qubing and I had already fought to the northern desert, but we still couldn't drive the Xiongnu away. Do you have any ideas?"

While talking.

"Report! His Majesty has sent a special envoy, Wei Lu, to deliver the imperial edict!"

Suddenly, Guo Zhen's report came from outside.

Liu Ju also frowned when he heard this:

"Wei Lu? Isn't that the Wei Lu I know?"

(End of this chapter)