The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 807 Preparations for the Western Expedition
In mid-September, a massive army of 20,000 men, led by General Qin Qiong, arrived in Xihai County.

The army consisted of 15,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, but each soldier rode a horse and carried 50,000 camels loaded with food and supplies.

Xihai Commandery was arguably the largest commandery in the Sui Dynasty, stretching from Chiling in the east to Kunlun Mountain in the west, Qilian Mountain in the north to Dafeichuan in the south, equivalent to more than half of Qinghai Province in later times.

However, Xihai County is currently the least populated county. It used to have more than 3,000 Han Chinese, but after the rebellion of Xue and his son, there are now less than 1,000 Han Chinese.

Although the Qiang people had all returned to the Sui Dynasty, they were unreliable. They had fully supported the Xue family's rebellion because the Xue family had promised them to establish a state.

Previously, the Tuyuhun people suppressed the Qiang people. Later, almost all the men of the Tuyuhun people were killed by the Sui army. Without the oppression, the Qiang people began to have the idea of ​​establishing their own country.

Of course, this is not a national consensus, but only the unreasonable desires of a very small number of Qiang nobles. The vast majority of Qiang people just want to live a peaceful life and do not have many other ideas.

The Qiang people were more docile and easier to manage than the Tuyuhun people. Therefore, after the Western Xianbei people moved south from the grasslands, they easily conquered the Qiang people and established the Tuyuhun Kingdom.

Currently, Xihai Commandery has three counties. One of them is Chiling County, which is located in the east of Xihai. It was built by the Sui army. After Li Jing recovered Xihai Commandery, he stationed 5,000 troops there.

The other county town is the former capital of Tuyuhun, Fusi City, which is now renamed Haixi County.

The imperial court relocated 20,000 households from Sichuan and Chongqing to Xihai County. Of these, 12,000 households would settle in Xihai County, while the other 8,000 households would go to Heyuan County in the south, where there were also Chishui County and Jiuqu County, where 3,000 troops were stationed.

When Qin Qiong led his army to Xihai County, they also encountered a caravan of immigrants from Bashu. On the official road, there were thousands of carts in the long procession. Each oxcart represented a family, with the man driving the cart and his wife and children sitting inside.

This was also Emperor Xiao Xia's determination to alleviate the hardships of migration for immigrants. He took 80,000 cattle and tens of thousands of large tents from the cattle and sheep seized from the grasslands and gave them to the people migrating from Sichuan and Chongqing. He also asked the local governments along the way to prepare food and hot water. Of course, all the food was borne by the imperial court.

"Brother, are these people also going to the Western Regions with us?" Cheng Yaojin asked.

Qin Qiong smiled and said, "What are you thinking? These people will stay in the Western Sea, not go to the Western Regions."

"I knew it! If they went to the Western Regions, they would definitely be a huge burden on us along the way!"

One general joked, "If General Cheng were to be stationed in the Western Regions long-term, would he be willing?"

Cheng Yaojin grinned and said, "If you let me take a dozen wives in the Western Regions, I might consider it!"

"What if we could also gamble and drink as much as we wanted?"

"Then there's no need to consider it, I'll definitely stay!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Qin Qiong glared at Cheng Yaojin and said, "If you dare to talk such nonsense again, I'll tell Old Jia and have his wife teach you a lesson."

Old Jia is Jia Wuben. Last year, Qin Qiong arranged for his niece to marry Cheng Yaojin. Before Cheng Yaojin set off, his wife was already pregnant.

Cheng Yaojin chuckled, "Brother, don't get angry, it was just a joke. I need to go back and see my son!"

Qin Qiong was too lazy to pay him any attention.

In the afternoon, a county town appeared in the distance; we had arrived at Chiling County.

According to the plan, Qin Qiong will lead an army of 20,000 to spend the winter in Xihai County, and set off for Ruoqiang County in Shanshan County after the spring of next year.

Their mission was to establish the Anxi Protectorate next year, and to build at least four military towns, leaving 8,000 troops stationed there. The first Anxi Governor was Qin Qiong.

Half of the troops are rotated every three years. Of course, the imperial court encourages soldiers to stay on the frontier with their families and will give them generous treatment.

The open fields outside Chiling County were filled with temporary tents. These were the people who had just migrated here. The government and the garrison would build them houses in the city before winter, so they could only set up temporary tents outside the city now.

It is now mid-September. In November, winter will arrive in Xihai County. There is still a month and a half left to allocate land and build houses for them. The people who settle in Xihai County will be treated very well. Each household will receive 300 mu of farmland, and the government will purchase their grain at market prices.

If they want to graze livestock, each household can get a thousand acres of pasture, enough to raise several thousand sheep.

The land was their permanent asset, which could be passed down to their descendants, and the imperial court promised to keep it tax-free.

It was precisely because of these favorable conditions that the people's resistance was not fierce. Most of them accepted their fate and left their homes to settle in Xihai County.

The garrison commander of Xihai Commandery was Zhao Liangcai, a Tiger-like General. He went out of the camp to welcome Qin Qiong's army.

"This humble general pays his respects to General Qin!"

Qin Qiong nodded. "General Zhao, no need for formalities. May I ask if our camp is ready?"

"Everything is ready. The camp and tents sent by Jincheng County have already been set up!"

The main camp is located west of the county town, covering a vast area. It has been enclosed by palisades and contains nearly three thousand large tents.

To Qin Qiong's surprise, all the large tents were actually made of leather.

The troops then set up camp. Next, they will train, rest, and adapt in Xihai before heading to Anxi next spring.

Of course, the army also had an important task: to help the 20,000 immigrants build houses and settle down as soon as possible.

On the last day of September, something new appeared on the streets of Luoyang, adding even more color to the autumn city.

A newspaper called "Kyoto Morning Post" appeared on the streets of Luoyang. Illiterate people could not appreciate its charm, but for scholars and officials, the appearance of this newspaper was definitely explosive news.

Everyone eagerly passed it around. The Kyoto Morning Post was about the size of two A3 sheets of paper, with four pages in total: the first page was for current affairs, the second page was for literature, the third page was for family life, and the fourth page was for everyday life.

The first edition of the current affairs news published that the Sui Dynasty had opened up a piece of land in the center of the grasslands, the size of three Guanzhong Plains, and built a new city, which became the northernmost county of the Sui Dynasty, Anbei County.

It also published news of 50,000 households of people from Sichuan and Chongqing migrating to Longyou and Xihai, detailing the migration process and their treatment.

In this way, some of the previous false rumors were debunked, such as the claim that countless people from Sichuan and Chongqing were bound and sent to Longyou and Xihai, and that two prime ministers were dismissed for disobeying orders.

However, the newspapers did not mention that Qin Qiong was leading an army of 20,000 to prepare for a western expedition. Such ongoing or impending military operations would not be reported to avoid leaking military secrets.

The first edition also reported on a new piece of land belonging to the Sui Dynasty. About 600 miles from the mainland, outside the East China Sea, there is a large island called Liuqiu Island, which is the size of three prefectures. It is rich in cotton and sugar. The Sui navy is currently stationed on Liuqiu Island.

Around noon, the Kyoto Morning Post also appeared on Xiao Xia's desk.

Pei Ju bowed and said, "Your Majesty, today is the first publication of the Kyoto Morning Post. Only three thousand copies were printed, priced at ten coins each, and they have all sold out. Although it is a new thing, it is obviously very popular and the response has been very good. Everyone is full of praise, and major restaurants and teahouses have requested additional subscriptions."

Xiao Xia nodded. With the previous "Chaozheng Xunbao" as a foundation, the success of "Kyoto Morning Post" was inevitable. The layout, printing, paper quality, and content were all of a high standard.

The newspaper also adopted its own suggestion: it didn't have to be something that happened on the same day; any major event that had happened recently was acceptable. This would allow them to prepare knowledge in advance and give the typesetters ample time. Of course, this also required a large number of movable type pieces.

"Can the supply of movable type keep up?" This was Xiao Xia's biggest concern.

Pei Ju smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the engraving workshop has come up with a good idea: by cutting up the old woodblocks, we can obtain ready-made movable type."

"This is a good idea. I knew it! As long as we have a positive attitude, we can solve any problem."

(End of this chapter)