I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 463: The Xiongnu Prince Wu Shilu

Liu Ju had previously contacted Kucha.

Giving the "Tianlu Box" to Qiuci, which already produced iron, and helping it become the real iron capital of the Western Regions was also a preparation for achieving this goal. It was by no means as simple as bribing Qiuci.

Many of the iron stirrups and horseshoes used by the Han army this time were produced in Qiuci.

As for the silver that Liu Che ordered his people to send continuously, Liu Ju continuously minted it into Han coins with Liu Che's portrait on them, and exchanged it for military supplies and food through trade in the Western Regions.

At the same time, this move can also allow the Western Regions to truly see the prosperity and benefits of this trade route, and reconsider whether to join the "Western Alliance" to jointly resist the Xiongnu and jointly maintain this trade route...

The way of business is to pave the way with money.

The more prosperous this trade route is and the more frequent the trade exchanges become, the more demands the countries in the Western Regions will have and the more they will rely on this trade route. Then, as long as a few drops of "dictatorship" are added, joining "NATO" will become the only option.

Countries that do not join will be excluded from this trade route.

Any country that obstructs trade routes is the common enemy of Western Alliance.

At that time, Liu Ju could tailor more "rules" for them, and completely tame them imperceptibly, making them the ancient masters of the Celestial Empire.

By the way, Liu Ju now has his own finance minister.
——Han Ling.

This girl has never been simple. Unknowingly, she has mastered seven Western languages, including but not limited to the most commonly used Tocharian and Sai.

As a result, Liu Ju didn't know which foreign language to learn at night, so he could only ask her to teach in different ways so that they could experience different styles. It felt more meaningful than that "Generation of Linen Belts".

At the same time, since Liu Ju melted silver and minted coins in Loulan, she had spontaneously set up accounts without Liu Ju's reminder.

He also used the abacus provided by Liu Ju to recruit dozens of poor orphans from Loulan, taught them to read and write, and trained them to become skilled accountants.

With such a professional accounting team, the details of daily coin minting and the income and expenditure of Loulan Warehouse are remembered clearly, without any omissions, and all data can be checked.

Liu Ju finally deeply understood what a good wife meant.

He used to think that Han Ling was his lucky star and always brought him good luck.

This time Han Ling is his good luck and will not accept any rebuttal!

Han Ling's second brother, Han Zeng, now has a lot of things to coordinate.

Liu Ju gave this historical hero of the Kirin Pavilion full freedom. As a result, although Liu Ju nominally joined Wei Qing's court, Han Zeng set up a small court for Liu Ju in Loulan.

Although this small court is small, it has everything it needs.

Military affairs, politics, diplomacy, finance, the inner court...it had everything it needed, and now this small court was running like a machine.

Of course, we cannot say this to the outside world. These are just necessary departments established for the purpose of "military farming and garrisoning."

……

Mobei Dragon City.

"How dare the Emperor of the Han Dynasty treat the Xiongnu envoys like this!"

Wuwei Chanyu was so angry that he kicked over the survivor who had finally returned from Chang'an, which fully demonstrated what it means to be angry out of shame.
"Wei Lu, this is the good idea you gave me. Now that the marriage has failed, I have been humiliated by the prince and the emperor of the Han Dynasty. What crime should you be punished for?!"

"Please forgive me, Chanyu!" Wei Lu quickly bowed and apologized, saying with a bitter face.

"I never thought that the Han Dynasty would be so ungrateful, but this cannot be entirely blamed on me. This marriage should have been carried out in conjunction with military operations."

"If the Xiongnu army can gain some advantages in the war, even if it is only a local advantage, and let the Han Dynasty understand that the Xiongnu are not powerless to fight back, and that it will definitely pay a heavy price to be an enemy of the Xiongnu, then this plan will have a chance of success."

"But now..."

The words are not finished yet.

"What did you say?!"

A Xiongnu youth who looked two years younger than Liu Ju glared at him and shouted:
"Dog slave Wei Lu, are you going to put all the blame for this incident on us?!"

This person was none other than the Xiongnu's current Left Wise King, Wu Shilu.

The Xiongnu's Zuo Xian Wang was usually the first in line to the Chanyu's throne. To put it bluntly, except when the Xiongnu crown prince was too young to lead the left wing, most of the time he was in office.

Wushilu was the eldest son of Wuwei Chanyu and the legitimate crown prince of the Xiongnu.

About two years from now, Wuwei Chanyu will die, and Wushilu will indeed successfully inherit the throne of Chanyu. However, because he was relatively young when he succeeded to the throne, he was nicknamed "Child Chanyu" by the Han people.

In fact, Wu Shilu’s reputation among the Xiongnu was not very good, or even worse than Liu Ju’s in the Han Dynasty.

Sima Qian summarized what kind of person he was in just a few words in "Records of the Grand Historian":
"The people of the country are uneasy because they love killing."

Therefore, the Xiongnu's left general also sent envoys to contact the Han Dynasty secretly, intending to kill him and then surrender to the Han Dynasty.

Unfortunately, the plan was eventually exposed, the Left Grand Commandant was killed, and Zhao Po Nu, who was ordered to lead 20,000 cavalry to support the plan, was also surrounded. He was captured in this battle and had to surrender to the Huns.

However, although both Zhao Po Nu and Wei Lu surrendered to the Huns, there were fundamental differences between them.

While being controlled by the Huns, he was always thinking about how to escape. Finally, ten years later, he found an opportunity and fled back with his son.

It’s a pity that I came back a little early.

If he had escaped back during the reign of Emperor Zhao, although he would certainly not be listed as a meritorious official in the Qilin Pavilion like Su Wu, and gain fame during his lifetime and after his death, he should have no problem having a good end, and he might even be able to receive the title of Guannei Hou for nothing.

He escaped back during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, and before the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident.

The final result was that because he was a veteran of the Wei Huo Group, he was implicated in the witchcraft disaster for no apparent reason, and his entire family was exterminated...

"Please forgive me, Lord Zuo Xian. That is not what I meant."

Wei Lu shuddered with fear when he heard this. He had naturally heard of the reputation of this Zuo Xian Wang. He quickly smiled bitterly and explained,
"What I mean is that some diplomatic matters can only be put on the table for bargaining after they can be obtained on the battlefield. Therefore, what our country needs most now is a victory that will make the Han Dynasty tremble. As long as there is such a victory, everything can be discussed."

"That does make some sense."

Wuwei Chanyu finally suppressed his anger, regained his composure and nodded.

"You have been in the Han Dynasty for more than ten years. Now that Zhao Xin is dead, you are the one who knows the Han Dynasty and the Han army best. So, in your opinion, how should the Xiongnu counter the Han army's tactics to win such a victory?"

Without waiting for Wei Lu to answer, Wu Shilu straightened his chest and said loudly:
"Father, I heard that the prince of the Han Dynasty is only a few years older than me. Why don't I go meet him?"

(End of this chapter)