The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

In fact, Gan Ning had a question before.

According to Zhuge Liang's current research on Kushan, it can be confirmed that this land had a considerable population before the arrival of the Yuezhi people.

According to speculation, this population could reach at least tens of millions!

However, a population of this size actually surrendered directly to the Great Yuezhi people, allowing the Great Yuezhi people, who had fled here in a panic, to live a leisurely life as a hegemon here for hundreds of years.

Gan Ning has always been curious about how the Dayuezhi people at that time did it?
After all, the Great Yuezhi people, who were driven here all the way from the foot of the Qilian Mountains by the Huns, did not seem like a nation with superior ideals of governing the country.

But when Gan Ning came into contact with these Brahmins, he instantly understood!

The Kushan native land seemed to have a population of tens of millions, but in fact only those of the high castes could truly be called "people".

And these people are all afraid of death. As long as they maintain their authority, they don’t care about the life or death of others!
Therefore, the real secret to ruling the Kushan land is to subdue those high caste people first!
Understanding this, Gan Ning took out the sharp blade again and struck Ma Ming's neck twice.

"Then behave yourself, understand?"

"Here!"

"..."

No, how come they even learned the Han people’s slogans?

Gan Ning was both angry and amused, but ultimately he shook his head helplessly.

In any case, as long as we understand the basic structure of the Kushan Empire and play along with these Brahmins for a while, the stability of the east can be guaranteed.

All that remains is to wait for the subsequent supplies and reinforcements to arrive, and then take over the Kushan capital in one fell swoop!

……

Kangju.

It is 12,000 miles away from Chang'an and belongs to the same race as the Dayuezhi.

Kangju was a great country in the pre-Han period, but in the post-Han period, because the Han Dynasty repeatedly used military force against the Northern Xiongnu, the Northern Xiongnu had to move westward and occupied a large amount of Kangju land, which weakened Kangju...

After that, Kangju has always been a vassal state of Kushan, and this situation has never changed for hundreds of years.

So when the Kushan King Potiao led his troops to Kangju, the King of Kangju was extremely excited: "Respected Kushan Emperor, King of Kings! Are you here to help us defeat the Han people and restore the glory of our Great Yuezhi?"

"Ah."

Bo Diao traveled day and night to Kangju, and his face was not looking good.

But Bo Diao still fulfilled his duties -

"What is the current military strength of the Han Dynasty?"

"Reporting to the King of Kushan, the Han army is short of manpower and is far less powerful than our Kushan!"

The King of Kangju had obviously figured out the general situation of the Han army.

"Now half of Wusun's land has been established as Liang by the Han emperor. Tens of thousands of Han people are cultivating the land and have created a lot of farmland."

"This time, the Han army has 10,000 troops arriving in Liang and Wusun. They are far less than the 100,000 troops you brought with you, Your Majesty!"

One hundred thousand soldiers and horses are just a figment of the imagination.

But the core of Kushan is still the nomadic system of Yuezhi, so these 100,000 soldiers are actually not much different, at least 70,000 of them are combat-ready!
Although the Kushan Empire was already weak, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

One hundred thousand cavalrymen are enough to roam across the territory of Bactria, so the King of Kangju is not worried that the Han army will pose any threat to the Kushans!
However, when Bo Diao heard this, his expression became even uglier!

"Dear King of Kings, do you have any questions?"

The King of Kangju was puzzled.

One hundred thousand against ten thousand.

No matter how you look at it, the advantage is on my side!

Moreover, the terrain in the Kangju and Wusun areas is open, and the cavalry charged each other during the battle, so there was no possibility of using tactics. There was no need to worry about the cunning tactics of the Han people!
In this case, what is there to worry about?

"You don't know how to fight!"

As the heroic leader who led the troops to recapture Khwarezm, Podia's understanding of the war was thorough!

He knew that war was not what the King of Kangju thought it was!

If war is a contest of numbers, then the Han population is more than double that of the Kushans! The Kushans might as well just surrender!

At least in the war between the Han Dynasty and the Kushans, we must not only look at the number of people, but more importantly, the supplies!

Bo Diao really didn't care about the 10,000 Han troops.

But when he heard that the Han people had established a "Liang Kingdom" and had begun cultivating the land, Bo Diao couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Because of the terrain, the Han and Kushans always suffered the most when they attacked! The one who attacked had to face the terrible and long supply line!

But the existence of Liang State undoubtedly created a supply point for the Han people.

Perhaps its scale is not huge, but it is enough to accommodate 10,000 Han troops!
Or maybe, because this place can only accommodate 10,000 Han troops, the Han people only sent 10,000 people!
Ten thousand Han troops are not scary.

What’s scary is that there are 10,000 Han troops with supplies!
Bo Diao was immediately annoyed: "What I'm afraid of is that they will hide in Wusun territory and not send troops!"

Wusun Kingdom, that is, the Ili River Valley!
The place is certainly a good place.

But the word "river valley" also means that it has natural mountains as defense!
If the Han army defenders were determined not to fight with the Kushans and to fight to the death with them, then the Kushans, who were no longer at their peak, would not be able to afford the wasted time!
Seeing that Bo Diao looked solemn, the King of Kangju suddenly remembered something -

"Your Majesty, I once inquired about the identity of the Han Dynasty generals. Would you like to hear it?"

"Identity? What identity?"

Bo Diao was puzzled and looked at the King of Kangju in doubt.

The King of Kangju smiled knowingly and said: "Now the affairs of the Han people in the Western Regions are under the unified responsibility of the two of them."

"One of them is an assistant, his surname is Liu, he is a distant relative of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and a descendant of the Empress of the Han Dynasty."

"But the other leader's surname is Cao, and his name is Cao Cao!"

Cao Cao?

Bo Diao pronounced this slightly strange syllable in Kushan language: "What happened to Cao Cao?"

"He is not the current emperor's confidant!"

"On the contrary! Your Majesty should also know that the Han Dynasty had experienced many years of war and chaos, and many anti-king forces appeared in its territory, which are what the Han people call princes!"

"That Cao Cao is actually also a prince!"

"In this case, the reason why the Han emperor sent him to the west is very intriguing!"

Bo Diao quickly understood the King of Kangju's thoughts.

"You mean, the emperor of the Han Dynasty in the East actually disliked Cao Cao, so he sent Cao Cao to the Western Regions?"

"Exactly!"

The King of Kangju had obviously done a lot of homework on the Han Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, you may not know this."

"The Western Regions may be a treasure in our eyes, but in the eyes of the Han people, it is nothing!"

"The Han people in the east are extremely wealthy! The Western Regions are nothing more than a poor and remote place in their eyes!"

"You say! The emperor of the Han Dynasty sent people to the Western Regions for no reason. If this is not because he doesn't like them, what is it? Hmm?"

……

Bo Diao felt a little uncomfortable with what the King of Kangju said.

What does it mean that “the Western Regions are a treasure in our eyes, but are nothing in the eyes of the Han people”? ? ?
Doesn't this clearly mean that the Kushan Empire's national strength is inferior to that of the Han Empire, and that the Kushan Empire's pattern is not as large as that of the Han Empire?
But after thinking about it carefully, Bo Diao admitted that what the other party said made sense!

At the same time, a thought surged up from Bo Diao's chest. "According to what you said, Cao Cao must have been exiled to the Western Regions by the Emperor, and he must be dissatisfied with the Emperor of the Han Dynasty!"

"In that case, maybe we can use one or two of them?"

"Exactly!"

Bo Diao was silent for a moment and did not rush to attack.

After he had repaired his troops in Kangju, he led an army of 100,000 on a tour of the border between Wusun and Kangju in a show of force.

As the 100,000-strong army passed by, the nearby green grass was trampled into ruins! It was as powerful as if it covered the sky and the sun!

After showing off his muscles, Bo Diao sent an envoy to Cao Cao, revealing his intention to recruit him——

"If you can turn against me, I can make the entire northern part of the Western Region your fiefdom in the future, and your status will be extremely respected, and you will live and die with the Kushan Empire!"

……

After receiving the letter, Cao Cao had a strange expression on his face at first, and then tears welled up in his eyes. He cried bitterly in front of the Bo Diao envoy: "How can I be worthy of such attention from the king? I am flattered!"

As soon as the Bo Diao messenger left, Cao Cao's face turned pale and he threw Bo Diao's letter heavily on the ground: "How dare you insult me!"

Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun and others were not surprised at all by Cao Cao's schizophrenic performance.

But Cao Cao clearly felt truly insulted, and he continued to curse: "I was the only one who could rule the country! You actually think that giving me half of the Western Regions will make me betray the Han Dynasty?"

Guo Jia laughed and said, "That's right! At least give Ming Gong the entire Western Regions, that's sincerity!"

"..."

Cao Cao glared at Guo Jia and said, "What are you talking about, Feng Xiao?"

"hey-hey!"

Guo Jia laughed dryly twice and continued to say cheerfully: "But your performance in front of the envoy just now cannot prove what you said!"

Cao Cao continued to roll his eyes: "Feng Xiao is trying to piss me off again?"

"I endured humiliation like this, others don't know how to do it, doesn't Fengxiao know how to do it?"

"I know! My Lord wants the entire Western Region!"

"..."

Seeing Cao Cao getting angry, Guo Jia laughed a few times: "Who doesn't know what you are thinking? Isn't it just to trick that guy into handing over the fat meat?"

"Although the emperor and the court have decided that the navy is the main force in attacking Kushan, are you really willing to let others take all the credit?"

"Humph!"

Of course Cao Cao was unwilling to accept this!
Although the imperial court made the navy the main attack direction, it did alleviate a lot of the burden on the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

But reducing the burden often means that the credit will say goodbye to them!
Cao Cao has been in the Western Regions Protectorate for several years, with the goal of establishing a career and expanding the territory for the Han Dynasty! But now the court suddenly told him to change people?

Although Cao Cao's reason told him that the emperor and the court were right in their judgment! Choosing to attack Kushan from the Annan Protectorate and from the sea was indeed a tactic that would benefit the Han Dynasty in every way.

But Cao Cao just wouldn't give in!

After years of hard work, in the end it became someone else's wedding dress!

Who can tolerate this kind of thing? Huh?

But now that the Kushans have taken the initiative to offer the meat, if Cao Cao doesn’t take a bite, he would be betraying the other party’s “good intentions”!

"What are you going to do, sir?"

Because it was hot in the Western Regions, Guo Jia also followed Zhuge Liang's example and got a purple feather fan, which he kept fanning to cool himself down.

"Although that wave of tactics was a bit stupid, the Kushans' military strength is real."

"If you want to defeat them in one fell swoop, you must lure them deep into the valley before you can do anything!"

An army of one hundred thousand.

Said lightly.

But everyone present knew what a devastating force that was.

especially……

That’s still a hundred thousand cavalry!

The high mobility of cavalry also means high tolerance for cavalry!
Once they realize something is wrong, the cavalry troops have enough time in the wilderness to correct the mistake and complete the counterattack!

If you want to deal with this cavalry, you must not let them occupy your home ground, but instead lure them to the vicinity of the valley before starting your attack!
"I understand what Fengxiao said."

Cao Cao pondered for a while and said, "This is an easy excuse."

"Liu Bei's army is large. If he finds that I have rebelled, he will definitely lead a large army to attack me! So I have to ask the Kushan army to enter Yili first!"

"When the time comes, we just need to close off a few mountain passes to prevent the Kushan cavalry from entering, and we will be able to catch them in the trap!"

"It would be best to hide the gunpowder in these places first. If we fail, we will die. We should blow up the passage directly and block the other side completely!"

Guo Jia nodded.

It's not difficult as long as you are careful.

only……

Guo Jia's expression turned serious.

"There is one more thing, which is the most important thing!"

"What's the matter?"

"Uncle Liu Huang!"

Guo Jia expressed his concerns -

"Although Bo Diao is a bit stupid, he is not completely stupid."

"Since he came to look for Lord Ming, he must be wondering whether Lord Ming would reach an agreement with the Emperor's uncle and then trick him once!"

"That is to say, you must give Bo Diao an answer today or tomorrow. You must not let Bo Diao get suspicious and think that you and the uncle have reached a tacit understanding."

"In other words... if you want to carry out your plan, I'm afraid you won't have time to inform your uncle!"

"If the uncle knew what you were thinking, he would definitely hold back and wait for you to accomplish your mission."

"But if the uncle really believes that the Ming family is going to betray the Han Dynasty, he will probably lead his troops north immediately!"

"If the Emperor's uncle attacks, even if you are pretending to rebel, I'm afraid you will end up rebelling for real!"

The situation was so tense that Cao Cao had no time to inform Liu Bei in the rear.

Once Liu Bei was informed, Cao Cao would most likely miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and let Bo Diao escape the trap.

So the key to the matter finally fell on Liu Bei!
The final test is whether Liu Bei understands Cao Cao’s thoughts!
If Liu Bei understood Cao Cao and knew that Cao Cao would never betray Han, everyone would be happy.

But if Liu Bei suspected Cao Cao, then...

And no matter what, Cao Cao had always been an enemy of the emperor and the imperial court.

With such a "criminal record", it is no wonder that Guo Jia was worried that Liu Bei would eventually ruin Cao Cao's plans.

Unexpectedly...

Cao Cao, the treacherous hero who had always practiced "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me", was extremely determined at this moment.

"Don't worry! Liu Xuande, there is absolutely no way he will doubt me!" (End of this chapter)