I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 481: Swallowing
"promise!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Zhen immediately agreed and turned around to pass on the order.

"..."

There was an extra touch of awe in Su Wu and Liu Xijun's eyes when they looked at Liu Ju.

Especially Liu Xijun, she had always regarded Liu Ju as an extremely easy-going cousin, but she did not expect that Liu Ju would use such means as soon as he made a move, killing people at will like a king.

Not only did they kill him, they also shifted the hatred to the Huns...

This was not easygoing at all; it was clearly insidious, beyond her understanding.

Looking back, Liu Ju seemed to know what Liu Xijun was thinking, and said with a smile:

"Even though a person is dead, his status still exists. You don't have to commit yourself to him, and you can successfully complete the marriage and become the queen of Wusun, right?"

"To be precise, it should be the Queen Mother. When you set foot on the territory of Wusun, Lie Jiaomi should have been shot to death by the Xiongnu, and you would have become a widow."

"But he is already over 70 years old, so he has made enough money. Even if I don't kill him, he won't live for many years."

This is true. According to historical records, Lie Jiaomi died in the past two years.

After all, Liu Xijun only lived for five years after marrying into Wusun. After she remarried to Junxumi, the grandson of Lie Jiaomi, she gave birth to a daughter for him. This is enough to show that Lie Jiaomi died soon after the marriage.

Unfortunately, he met Liu Ju.

After Liu Ju launched the "Western Alliance", as the king of a regional power, he always maintained an ambiguous attitude towards the Han Dynasty, just as in history, which affected the attitudes of other small countries in the Western Regions towards joining the "Western Alliance".

Based on this point alone, Liu Ju used his death without any psychological burden.

Poor Lie Jiaomi lived to be over seventy years old, but he didn't have a good ending at the end...

"Your Highness is right. I don't know what my niece should do after she arrives in Wusun. Please let me know."

With such awe, how could Liu Xijun dare to say no? She quickly asked in a low voice.

"Did you hear clearly what Guo Zhen said just now?"

Liu Ju did not answer but asked instead.

Liu Xijun bowed her head:
"Listen clearly."

"That's it."

Liu Ju nodded slightly.

"Liejiaomi must die. After his death, the crown prince he had appointed, Wangsun Junxumi, was captured by the Xiongnu. Now only the second prince, Dalu, is left."

"Dalu was not established by Liejiaomi, and Junxumi was captured but still alive."

"Therefore, it is not legitimate for Dalu to inherit the throne. There should be some opposition in Wusun, especially among the ministers who have clearly sided with Junxumi. I am afraid that Dalu will be liquidated after he takes the throne, so they will definitely strongly oppose it, and they may even bring out other princes or grandsons to fight against him."

"At worst, they will try to confuse the waters and use it as a bargaining chip to exchange for Dalu's promise and ensure that their own political interests are not harmed."

"This is when Dalu needs political allies the most."

"So who do you think will be Dalu's strongest political ally in Wusun, which has just experienced the Huns' plunder and has been saved by the Han army?"

Hearing this, Su Wu took over the conversation:

"That must be the big man!"

"Yes, that's the big guy!"

Liu Ju nodded.

"Let me be frank. At that time, in the Wusun Kingdom, whoever the Han Dynasty said could inherit the throne could inherit the throne, and whoever the Han Dynasty said was legitimate could be legitimate."

"But the Han Dynasty is a country of etiquette. We will never bully the weak like the Xiongnu did and force other countries to do things they are unwilling to do."

"Therefore, we are willing to follow the wishes of the people of Wusun and support the most popular person to inherit the throne."

"This king could be Dalu, or any other Wusun, or even a dog of Wusun."

"In short, whoever sincerely thanks the Han Dynasty for its rescue, whoever is willing to follow the Han Dynasty's filial piety and worship you as the most holy queen mother, instead of forcing you to follow the customs of the Wusun Kingdom and remarry the new Wusun King, then he can be the Han Dynasty's ally and the new Wusun King."

"Do you understand what I mean?"

"..."

After hearing this, Su Wu and Liu Xijun finally understood Liu Ju's "sinister intentions".

It turns out to be such a "country of etiquette"...

To put it nicely, this is called respecting the wishes of the Wusun Kingdom. To put it bluntly, this is not much different from usurping a country.

The problem is that this is still an open conspiracy. Whether it is Dalu or other princes and grandchildren, they have no choice at all.

After all, the Wusun Kingdom had just been defeated by the Xiongnu, and the Han cavalry that came here were the foundation of the Wusun Kingdom. If they wanted to get the support of the Han Dynasty, they naturally had to make some concessions and show their "gratitude" in their hearts.

Especially the sentence "Who is willing to follow the filial piety of the Han Dynasty?"

This is not only a subtle and powerful cultural output, but also a shackle for the Wusun Kingdom.

The Han Dynasty implemented a two-palace system, and the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Queen all had considerable power. It was not until the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, and after the death of Queen Dowager Wang, that Emperor Wu of Han became truly powerful.

And if the Wusun Kingdom also had to follow filial piety, then the Queen Mother Liu Xijun would be qualified to be involved in state affairs.

The most important thing is that Liu Xijun is not yet twenty years old this year.

Liu Ju is not sure how Liu Xijun died in history. If she really died of depression, then this time she changed her mood, and her life in Wusun as the queen mother and the queen mother would be long...

After all, Wusun’s second prince, Dalu, is now nearly fifty years old.

If he inherited the throne and suddenly had such a "queen mother", I don't know how he would feel, but it is estimated that there is a high probability that Liu Xijun will become the queen mother.

……

Liu Ju's plan was implemented smoothly.

Zhao Po Nu is indeed very capable, worthy of being a military general who had worked with Huo Qubing.

In addition, the Huns had been frightened by the Han army before. Although they attacked the Wusun people with heavy blows, wherever the Han army went, the Huns would immediately abandon the large amount of baggage and prisoners looted from the Wusun people and retreat.

This creates an interesting phenomenon.

The Huns looted with all their might, but more than half of the spoils went to the Han army, and the Huns were the ones to bear the blame. The Han army got the supplies and were thanked by the Wusun people.

It really proves the saying "He has to thank us".

As for Lie Jiaomi, he passed away peacefully.

Zhao Po Nu shot this man with a hidden arrow, not with the Han army's crossbow, but with the Xiongnu's longbow. Even the arrows were specially selected from the Xiongnu, which were not as sophisticated as the Han army's crossbows.

Naturally, the murderer was never caught.

What's more, the Wusun Kingdom is now in chaos and the Huns may be hiding anywhere. Who can tell for sure?
At the same time that Zhao Po Nu invaded the Wusun Kingdom, the Han Dynasty's marriage team set out.

This team entered the Wusun Kingdom with great fanfare, and almost followed the footsteps of the Han army into the Wusun Kingdom's capital, Chigu City, and then "accidentally" received the news that Lie Jiaomi was shot dead by the Xiongnu. Liu Xijun "cried and burst into tears" because of this.

However, she was still strong enough to cheer herself up and "command" the Han army to attack the Huns, recapture the territory invaded by the Huns, recover the Wusun River and Mountains, and display the heroic spirit of a Han princess in Chigu City, re-establishing order for the subjects of Chigu City.

She even opened several “relief booths” in the city in her own name.

Anyone from the Wusun Kingdom, regardless of their status, gender, could go to the "relief booth" to receive relief food to help the people of the Wusun Kingdom tide over the difficulties.

As for the relief supplies, they were all snatched back from the Huns by Zhao Po Nu and his army.

Of course, externally, it is still the friendly assistance from the Han Dynasty.

Liu Ju really understood the trick of "getting something for nothing", so much so that Su Wu and Liu Xijun felt a little bit sorry when they saw the grateful Wusun subjects in tears.

But think about it again, aren’t the things we snatched from the Huns part of the Han Dynasty’s?

……

The Huns came quickly and left quickly, after all, they were always being driven away by the Han army.

Their next stop was Dayuan, which bordered Wusun to the east. This was the country that General Li Guangli had attacked twice in history, ultimately costing the Han Dynasty a huge price, but only got in return more than 3,000 horses and the head of the king of Dayuan.

In Liu Ju's view, this battle was tantamount to defeat.

After all, the King of Dayuan was not killed by Li Guangli after he captured the city. Instead, the princes and nobles in the city saw that the situation was not good and killed the king in order to protect themselves.

And after this battle, although the Han army "terrified the Western Regions", it still failed to establish effective rule in the Western Regions, and the new king of Dayuan still did not take the Han Dynasty seriously... In their hearts, they probably still thought that they were very smart and that the Han Dynasty was easy to fool. They traveled thousands of miles and paid a huge price, but they were content to get such a little thing back.

But this time.

There will no longer be a General Ershi, and the Han Dynasty will not fight a war that will lead to a defeat even if it is won, just for a few Ferghana horses that have explosive power but lack endurance.

Because the big man now has a "Whip of God" in his hand.

When the Huns entered the country, Dayuan had already learned of the situation in Wusun, so it began to prepare for war in advance and closed the city gates to prevent the Huns from entering the city.

However, the Huns, who were short of supplies, didn't care about this.

The army immediately surrounded the city and threatened not to open the city gates, and to massacre the entire city after breaking into the city!
How could Dayuan be a match for the Huns?

The first time in history that Li Guangli returned empty-handed was not because the Dayuan people were brave and good at fighting, but because of the heavy losses on the way. When he arrived at Yucheng City in Dayuan, only a few thousand were left out of tens of thousands of people, and they were as hungry and tired as beggars. They did not have the conditions to attack the city at all, let alone attack the king's capital, Ershi City. So Li Guangli had to order a withdrawal.

This time, Dayuan was facing hundreds of thousands of furious Huns.

Although these people were not all soldiers and cavalry, and many of them had families with them, they were more than enough to attack the capital of Dayuan.

So they captured the city in three days.

After the Huns entered the city, they still kept their promise and allowed their soldiers to massacre and loot, and the Dayuan royal city became a river of blood.

In sharp contrast to this was another small country adjacent to Dayuan with a population of less than 10,000 people - the State of Shule.

The Shule Kingdom was persuaded by the Han envoys sent by Liu Ju and influenced by the Kucha Kingdom to the east, and joined the "Western Alliance".

Therefore, according to the agreement of the "Western Treaty", Liu Ju sent out a thousand troops in advance, and asked more than 20 joining countries including Kucha, Yanqi, and Yuli to send out part of their troops to form a Western Treaty coalition force of up to 20,000 people.

This coalition army was commanded by Wang Hui, a deputy general of Zhao Po Nu who had learned a lot from Liu Ju, and his armory was opened to temporarily equip them with Han crossbows and swords.

As a result, the Huns' vanguard suffered a head-on attack as soon as they entered the territory of Shule.

They thought they had encountered an ambush by the Han army, and were so frightened that they fled away and headed for the Shache Kingdom, which had not yet joined the "NATO".

The Shache Kingdom was slightly stronger than the Shule Kingdom, with a population of more than 16,000. However, it was brutally massacred and looted, with at least half of the population being killed, wounded or abducted, and most of the royal city was also destroyed.

Such a stark contrast.

It is simply a "NATO" propaganda film shot with blood and tears.

All of this was part of Liu Ju's plan. With the wholehearted cooperation of the Huns, the "Western Alliance" would be as stable as a rock from now on.

However, the countries in the Western Regions do not know that this is just an appetizer. After "Western Alliance" has absorbed all the small countries in the Western Regions in a narrow sense, he will add a little "dictatorship" as seasoning to "Western Alliance".

Wait until then.

Whether it is a member state or a non-member country, if it is not obedient enough, it will be excluded and attacked by all member states.

And the Han Dynasty is in the "Western Alliance".

It is just the only permanent member and the only country with veto power.

……

As the influence of the "Western Alliance" grew stronger, Liu Che's edict finally arrived.

This time the messenger was even more important, and he was also an old acquaintance of Liu Ju.

——Sang Hongyang, the Minister of Agriculture and one of the Nine Ministers.

Obviously, Liu Che sent him not only to convey the imperial edict, but also to let him conduct an actual investigation.

After all, the most important thing to open up the Western Regions is this trade route, and the purpose of stationing troops in military farms is to maintain this trade route and ensure that the national interests of the Han Dynasty are maintained.

And Sang Hongyang came to talk about profit.

An estimate needs to be made for the cost of military farming and garrisoning, the cost of maintaining trade routes, the profits of the Han Dynasty, etc., so that Liu Che can at least have a clear idea of ​​it.

As a result, they passed Yumen Pass and arrived at the "Western Alliance" headquarters established by Liu Ju in the Kingdom of Qiuci.

Sang Hongyang walked with every step being frightening.

What's going on?

With this "Western Treaty", isn't it just like the horses carrying their own fodder to go to war for the Han Dynasty?

If this is accomplished, wouldn't the cost of the Han Dynasty's military farms and garrisons, and the cost of maintaining trade routes, be lower than the cost of maintaining county rule within the Han Dynasty?

Oh my god, looking at the situation, he really did it?
What kind of monster is your highness?

He defeated the Huns easily in battle and had such brilliant means of governing this land.

If the Western Alliance continues to exist for a long time, it will naturally eliminate the national boundaries between these small countries and integrate them into one Han territory, right?
If I remember correctly...

What was the original mission that His Majesty gave him?

Oh, by the way, it seems that he was only asked to attack Loulan and Cheshi?

But now, if we put the countries that have joined the "Western Alliance" together with the Huns, the area of ​​this territory seems to be comparable to the Han Dynasty's homeland, right?
It's time to go back and report...

If he didn't go back to report, the Parthian Empire to the west, which was comparable to the Han Dynasty, might have to join the "Western Alliance".

This is not expansion of territory, this is swallowing up the country!

what?

From now on, doing business with the Western Regions will no longer be called foreign trade, but will it be called equalization and price stabilization?
(End of this chapter)