Chapter 36
In any case, no matter the reason, it was a good thing that her reform policies could be safely implemented in the Western Regions.
Moreover, there are many cattle in the Western Regions, making it an excellent choice for garrison farming.
Although the Yanqi Kingdom had been captured, Lia did not immediately proceed to the Kucha Kingdom but instead implemented a series of reform policies in the Yanqi Kingdom.
Just like the Shanshan Kingdom, Lia directly abolished the name of the Yanqi Kingdom and changed it to Yanqi Commandery.
As for the King of Yanqi Kingdom, considering his previous actions, Lia chose another local official who favored the Han people to be the Prefect, and she directly sent the King himself home to rest.
After all, he assisted the Nomadic Confederation, and Lia not killing him was already exceptionally lenient. If she were to let him continue being a king, the King of Shanshan, whom she had killed earlier, would crawl out of the underworld and cry injustice to her.
Next, Lia ordered the construction of more than a dozen schools in the Yanqi Kingdom. All children aged seven and above were required to enter these schools, and the first subjects they had to learn were the han language and han characters!
Only when all the people of the Western Regions in the future can speak the han language and use han characters can her other policies be implemented normally.
After completing these tasks, a month had passed, and the Nomadic Confederation had not returned. It seemed these fellows had already decided to give up on the Western Regions.
Their absence was precisely what Lia wanted, allowing her to free up her hands to reclaim the Kucha Kingdom.
Chapter 86: Everyone Yearns for the Great Han!
That day, Lia led her large army directly towards the Kucha Kingdom, taking about ten days to arrive.
Because the Kucha Kingdom had already annexed Gumo and some smaller states, its total population was over 100,000, and its total military strength was over 20,000. It was now considered a relatively powerful state in the Western Regions.
If other states in the Western Regions were to lead 5,000 soldiers to attack the Kucha Kingdom, it would be absolutely impossible, let alone making the Kucha Kingdom surrender.
However, behind Lia stood a powerful dynasty, a dynasty that the Kucha Kingdom could not afford to offend. Therefore, when facing the arrival of Lia's 5,000-strong army, the nobles of the Kucha Kingdom hesitated.
If these nobles knew that there was no dynasty behind Lia at present, they probably wouldn't be agonizing over whether to surrender.
"Great King, I think we should surrender. It is said that the Nomadic Confederation, who previously tried to rely on the Yanqi Kingdom to defeat the Han Army, has already been driven away by the Han Army. The Nomadic Confederation will no longer help us, so there's no need for us to oppose the Han Army."
"To surrender?"
The King of Kucha Kingdom still had a hesitant expression on his face. Although their Kucha Kingdom was decent among the small states in the Western Regions, compared to the powerful Nomadic Confederation and the Han Army, they were as weak as ants. They could not afford to offend either.
"Great King, hundreds of years ago, we were already a vassal state of the Han Army. It's not shameful to surrender to the Han Army now. Moreover, I hear the Han Army plans to re-plan the entire Western Regions and incorporate it into their national territory. Once this policy is implemented, we will all be Han people in the future."
"Oh? Is that true?" The King of Kucha Kingdom's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.
Don't let the fact that he ruled the Kucha Kingdom fool you; his life wasn't that great. In these states of the Western Regions, everyone basically yearned to become Han people and live on Han land.
This goes back hundreds of years. At that time, the Han Dynasty, as the most powerful state, demanded that each state in the Western Regions send a hostage to live in Chang'an of the Han Dynasty for the stability of the Western Regions.
These hostages could only return to inherit the throne after the old kings in the Western Regions states died, and then new hostages would be sent.
The Han Dynasty's reason for doing this was naturally to let these hostages understand the power of the Han Dynasty and experience Han culture, so that these hostages would develop fear and yearning for the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty's idea was good, so when the old kings of the Western Regions died, these hostages were to return.
The result was that these hostages, accustomed to a life of luxury in Chang'an, were very unwilling to return to the backward Western Regions.
They had lived there for so many years, already accustomed to the Han Dynasty's way of life, and had even married and had children there. They were unwilling to go back.
After all, the Western Regions were too backward, like barbarians compared to the Han Dynasty, so these hostages naturally didn't want to go back.
This worried the Han Dynasty Emperor at the time. If you don't go back, then won't the kings of those Western Regions states all be hostages who returned from the Huns in the future? What would happen if the entire Western Regions sided with the Huns?
So, all these hostages were forcibly sent back. When these hostages returned to the Western Regions, the result was acclimatization issues. They couldn't get used to the food in the Western Regions, fell seriously ill, and took several years to recover.
Some who couldn't endure life in the Western Regions simply fell ill and died.
This outcome made the nobles of the Western Regions realize that life in the Great Han was like that of immortals, and everyone yearned for the Great Han.
However, the Great Han did not recognize them, only treating them as vassal states. Therefore, if people from the Western Regions wanted to go to the Great Han, they needed things like travel permits; otherwise, they could not pass through the Yumen Pass checkpoint.
"Yes, I heard that Shanshan Kingdom and Yanqi Kingdom have both been changed to Shanshan Commandery and Yanqi Commandery. The Han Army is teaching Common People of both countries to learn han characters and the han language. The meaning of this is already very clear," the minister continued.
"Do you mean that if we surrender, the Kucha Kingdom will also be like the Shanshan Kingdom and the Yanqi Kingdom?" The King of Kucha Kingdom fell into thought.
"There's a ninety percent chance it will be like that," the minister quickly said.
For some small states, becoming a vassal state to temporarily gain national security is not a shameful thing. In fact, for the future of the small state, some would even voluntarily become dependents.
However, for some ambitious states, it is a humiliation. They would not consider becoming a dependent of another state an honorable thing at all.
They would outwardly submit to you while secretly accumulating strength, hoping to replace you one day, and a certain island nation is an example of this.
But for these states in the Western Regions, they had always suffered oppression from the Huns. This oppression lasted for nearly a thousand years, and their servility was deeply ingrained; they had no desire to resist whatsoever.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been oppressed by the Huns for so long, until the emergence of the Han Dynasty, which gave them a choice.
The Han Dynasty, this state, was not only militarily powerful, driving the Huns north, but also very civilized.
Unlike the Huns, the Han Dynasty would return gifts whenever they paid tribute, and the returned gifts were even more valuable than what they offered. It could be said that every year's tribute was a year of great harvest for them.
Moreover, the Han Dynasty would send people to teach them how to garrison and farm, how to enrich their food crops, and how to live better lives, while the Huns would only plunder and threaten them, leaving no benefits.
This comparison clearly shows how barbaric the Huns were and how civilized the Han people were.
So, there was no need to hesitate about whom to choose to align with!
"Open the city gates and surrender," the King of Kucha Kingdom said after some thought.
Opposing the Han Army would lead to no good end. Dayuan was a good example in the past; relying on the Han Army's long journey, they refused the Han Dynasty's demand for Ferghana horses, and in the end, weren't they still beaten into submission?
Their Kucha Kingdom couldn't even compare to Dayuan. Even if they really resisted the Han Army now, when the Han Army got angry and brought tens of thousands of troops, wouldn't they still have to surrender?
But surrendering proactively now and being beaten into surrendering later carried different meanings.
So, after some deliberation, the princes and ministers of the Kucha Kingdom directly opened the city gates and surrendered.
While Lia found this situation both unexpected and reasonable, just as she entered the Kucha Kingdom to implement drastic reforms, Hua Mulan had already opened the Southern Route and met with her in the Kucha Kingdom.
Chapter 87: The Western Regions Shall Hereafter Be Called Xinjiang!
With the surrender of the Kucha Kingdom, they had now almost taken over all the states in the Western Regions, with only Dayuan remaining.
Dayuan has a population of approximately 400,000, and its soldiers are nearly 100,000. Lia's 10,000 soldiers cannot intimidate them.
Although they had been severely beaten by the Han Dynasty before, that was several hundred years ago. Since the Han Dynasty severed ties with the Western Regions, Dayuan had also experienced various internal conflicts. By now, they were no longer the same people as before.
Among them, the most numerous were those who had intermarried with the Huns, so they did not fear Lia and her army as much. Moreover, Lia only had ten thousand soldiers this time, so they weren't worried that Lia could break through.
Lia pondered for a moment. With their current military strength, it wasn't suitable to actively attack Dayuan. It would be better to first unite the states in the Western Regions that they had already conquered.
Dayuan's current position perfectly blocked the two countries of Kangju and the White Huns. Leaving Dayuan as it was also suitable to serve as a buffer zone.
Although they could conquer it if they really wanted to, the losses would be too great, making it unnecessary.
In any case, in just one or two years, her technology would catch up. By then, she would bring dozens of cannons and let Dayuan know that all truth lies within the range of a cannon. She refused to believe that Dayuan wouldn't surrender obediently!
Currently, she had only taken half a year to conquer all regions in the Western Regions, except for Dayuan and Yueban Kingdom.
The Western Han Dynasty, on its first attempt, took more than ten years to fully recover the entire Western Regions. Of course, this was understandable since it was the first time the Western Han Dynasty entered the Western Regions, and these Western Regions states did not understand the Han Dynasty's power.
By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Western Regions already had a sufficient understanding of the strength of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, Ban Chao, relying on only a few hundred men, took two years to recover the Western Regions.
Her current progress, although benefiting from the achievements of her predecessors, was still incredibly fast. Thinking of this, Lia was no longer in a hurry to act against Dayuan and instead refocused her attention on the Nomadic Confederation.
Although Dayuan currently did not depend on her, it would not actively attack her. Therefore, the Western Regions remained stable for now. The only ones who could destabilize the Western Regions were the Rouran People.
Currently, the only way for the Rouran People to enter the Western Regions is through the Yanqi Kingdom. Therefore, control over Yanqi Commandery is crucial.
Since she didn't plan to move against Dayuan, Lia led her ten thousand strong army back to Yanqi Commandery.
At this moment, under Lia's reforms, Yanqi Commandery had become much more vibrant.
This was also thanks to Lia gathering the people from those small countries in one place, which instantly increased the local population. The increase in population stimulated the local circulation of goods, and the economy naturally improved.
So Lia integrated this area in the Western Regions and renamed it Xinjiang Province.
Lia would not force them to change their local customs; that would be too inhumane and could easily cause backlash. However, the learning of Han culture, han characters, and han language absolutely could not be neglected.
However, currently, very few people in the Western Regions understand han characters and the han language. Lia plans to send scholars over after she returns, to teach by example. For instance, those Confucian scholars would be very good.
Of course, this wasn't Lia targeting Confucianism, but rather that Confucian thought has proven to be the best weapon against foreign tribes throughout history.
For dozens of ethnic groups to achieve such a great fusion today, Confucian thought can be said to have played an indispensable role.
After Lia stayed in Xinjiang for another month, she felt that there shouldn't be any major problems in the Western Regions for now, so she planned to return to the Hexi Corridor.
Mulan, you will temporarily oversee matters in Xinjiang. There are many things in the Hexi Corridor that I need to return to handle. You will stay here for now to manage Xinjiang's affairs. When I find a suitable person, I will have him take over for you. Thank you for your hard work in the coming days.
Lia had carefully considered leaving Hua Mulan behind. Currently, in this army, only Hua Mulan could perfectly implement her policies.
Although others could also do it, Hua Mulan had been by her side the longest and knew what she wanted to build Xinjiang into. Therefore, Hua Mulan was the best choice to leave behind after she departed from Xinjiang.
Lord, please rest assured, Mulan will definitely guard Xinjiang and absolutely not let those Rouran People set foot here!
After nearly a year of experience, Hua Mulan had also grown considerably, from a mere soldier at the beginning to Lia's personal bodyguard, and now a formidable general holding significant military power, capable of guarding a region.
Hmm, besides that, you especially need to pay attention to coordinating matters between each commandery,
I understand, Lord. Hua Mulan nodded. She knew what Lia was worried about.
Although the Western Regions had currently been unified by the Lord, some hatred and estrangement between each tribe were not so easy to eliminate. If not handled properly, it could lead to chaos, or even large-scale rebellions, in the Western Regions that had been so painstakingly recovered.
Well then, I'll trouble you with it.
Lia saw that Hua Mulan understood the importance of the matter, which meant she had chosen the right person.
She believed that as long as Mulan was in the Western Regions, there would be no major chaos, and she could return to the Hexi Corridor to develop peacefully.
After Lia gave a few more instructions, she took Merlin and returned to the Hexi Corridor.
Although it took almost a month to bring the large army, on the way back, with only Merlin and Lia, they managed to travel at full speed and arrived in just two days.
It was at the end of the year, in 451, that Lia and Merlin returned to the Hexi Corridor.
Upon receiving the news, Morgan immediately led her officials to the city gates to welcome Lia.
Lord, why have only you and the Strategist returned? Where are the others? When they saw Lia return from the Western Regions without the army, the officials of the Hexi Corridor felt a sudden dread. Could it be a crushing defeat?
I temporarily left the rest of the generals in Xinjiang Province, so only Merlin and I returned first, Lia replied.
Xinjiang Province? What place is that? Everyone was stunned.
Oh, Xinjiang Province is the Western Regions. I have basically recovered The various kingdoms of the Western Regions. Only Dayuan and Yueban are planned to be attacked next year, and Xinjiang is the name of a province I established after recovering the Western Regions, Lia explained.
PS: There will be another update tonight, but it will be very late.
Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Great Merchant Morgan
So that's how it is. Congratulations, Lord, on successfully recovering the Western Regions! Hearing that it wasn't a defeat but that the Western Regions had been successfully conquered, the officials immediately offered their congratulations.
Amidst the officials' congratulations, Lia returned to the King's Mansion.
Sister, how has everything been in the Hexi Corridor since I left? After returning to the King's Mansion, Lia asked Morgan about the long period since her departure.
Morgan smiled slightly, then clapped her hands. Immediately, a maid came forward and placed exquisite wooden boxes in front of Lia.
Lia looked at the boxes with some curiosity, then at Morgan.
Just open them and see, little sister, Morgan said.
Oh? Lia walked over to a box and opened a wooden box.
Inside this wooden box was actually a beautifully crafted glass cup.
Excellent, excellent. Besides these cups, there are other things, aren't there? Lia took out the cup, examined it in her hand, and then spoke.
Of course, take a look at this, Morgan opened the second box.
Huh, are these glasses? Lia was a little surprised when she saw what was in the second box.
Morgan smiled, No mistake, after those craftsmen created the telescope, they studied the principles of these lenses, and thus, having mastered the method, they produced this item.
Sister, you're so happy, you must have made a lot of money from this, right? Seeing Morgan smile so happily, Lia was sure someone had been swindled by Morgan.
Little sister, guess how much I sold a pair of these glasses for? Morgan asked with a smile.
Uh, how would I know? Sister, why don't you just tell me? Lia didn't feel like guessing and preferred to know the answer directly.
It's better if you guess, little sister, Morgan did not tell her directly as Lia had expected.
Ten taels of silver? Lia thought for a moment and said.
That's a bit low, little sister, why not be bolder? Morgan shook her head.