Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 291 West Sea Qin
“The terrain here is good.”

After overcoming countless difficulties and obstacles and walking along the edge of the sea north of Persia, they finally found a valley, and the last members of the Ying Qin clan all expressed their sincere condolences.

Hei Yi and his wife had superb horsemanship and sufficient military strength, so they led some people to explore the area. Combining the various information they collected, they were able to depict the situation in the area.

This is the West Sea, which is the southeast corner of the "Youxin Sea" called by the barbarians.

Several rivers originating from the mountains flow into the ocean here, and have carved out a small, flat and fertile plain.

Its north and south banks,

They are two tall mountain ranges, which the barbarians call "Great Caucasus" and "Lesser Caucasus".

The two mountain ranges are not far apart and run from east to west, connecting the West Sea with another ocean in the east. The land in between is sandwiched between them to form a narrow and long mountain corridor.

on the whole,
Because of the existence of these two mountain ranges and the obstruction of the West Sea, the valley that Ying Qin reached seemed somewhat narrow.

But by going southwest along the coast of the West Sea, one can still go out and establish contact with the neighboring country called "Seleucus".

Going a little further south, you will reach the Persian Empire.

If you travel by sea,

Thanks to the "calm" nature of the West Sea, you can go to the West and communicate with the people there.

So Ying Pijiang said, "I want to establish a country here and rebuild the ancestral temple of Ying Qin!"

Hei Yi supported him very much and further explained to the hesitant tribesmen:
"The terrain here is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is plenty of water and heat."

“Rivers flow and jungles are extensive, allowing for farming and logging and construction.”

"For you and me today, it's enough for us to live and reproduce!"

at the moment,

Ying Qin already had nearly four thousand men, many of whom were young and brave.

One thousand of them are authentic old Qin people who followed Ying Pijiang out of the Xia Dynasty.

Five hundred of them were Yuzhi people who integrated into the group after Hei Yi sacrificed his chastity. Now, after several years, they have been almost assimilated.

They, who originally had disheveled hair and looked like savages, now tied their hair into a bun, put on right-fronted robes, and spoke the elegant Xia language with a strong accent.

Even though the appearance of the Yuzhi people was very different from that of other Xia people, with pale skin and prominent facial features, under the deliberate guidance of Ying Pijiang and others, the Yuzhi people intermarried with the Qin people. I think two generations would be enough to change this.

Another thousand.
They were recruited from Xinxia.

King Xia funded part of it.

Some of them also felt the call in their blood and were willing to follow Ying Pijiang on a long journey as descendants of the Qin people.

the last point,
They were defeated and gathered along the way.

The barbarians outside the territory have always valued the use of force and have no concept of home and country.

After personally experiencing the power of education from the various states, some of them decided to recognize Ying Pijiang as their leader and wanted to follow him to build a great career.

And such power,

This is also the main reason why Ying Qin was able to pass through the territories of so many countries without being rejected or suppressed by the other side.

Regardless of strength or weakness,

After Ying Pijiang stated that he was just passing by and had no intention of going to war with them or seizing their land, neither of them wanted to take the initiative to provoke a conflict.

What's more, Ying Pijiang still has the letter from Xinxia in his hand——

Through exchanges with Persia,
Xinxia's reputation has spread widely.

Many countries that had dealings with Persia knew that
To the east of Persia, there is a country that is more powerful and richer than Persia.

Ying Qin is the blood brother of this country, so he must be powerful.

at the moment,

The countries near Persia were all engaged in difficult wars, and no one wanted to provoke a powerful enemy for no reason.

"As for the barbarians here, they are nothing to be afraid of!"

Ying Pijiang waved his hand and did not take the Western Rong, who occupied the valley and established a country called "Colchis", seriously at all.

if we assume,
Before leaving Xinxia, Ying Pijiang was still somewhat worried about the situation in the more distant outside world, fearing that he would encounter powerful enemies and suffer a devastating blow.

Then,

When he walked here, Ying Pijiang's thoughts had changed drastically!

Although there are countless barbarians outside the territory, they are scattered and have crude customs.

There is no unified writing and language.

Without the resilience and determination of farming,

It is difficult for them to unite as one, and they do not have the passion to “defend their country to the death.”

Once they encounter setbacks, they will quickly become confused and scatter.

This made it easy for Ying Qin to defeat many of the enemies he encountered.

And the country of Colchis,
The country is small and the people are few, the system is crude,
In the various states of China, it cannot be considered a normal country, but just a "tribal alliance" formed by many mountain people.

After experiencing the crazy internal competition among the various states of Xia, how does Ying Qin, who once won the honor of "the first chicken-eating champion", look down on it?

When Ying Qin's footsteps arrived here, whether Colchis was willing or not, the owner of this land had already changed.

Similarly, the Ying Qin people, who believed that destiny still favored them, did not worry about "Colchis".

The reason why they hesitated and did not directly obey Ying Pijiang's orders was that this place was vulnerable to attacks from the neighboring Seleucid Empire and Persia.

As for those small city-states around?
That is not the enemy of Ying Qin,
That is just food for Ying Qin to strengthen himself and increase his strength!
After walking such a long distance,

The tribesmen had already seen clearly:
Among the countries of the West Sea,

Only Seleucid and Persia, which had vast territories and extraordinary size, had the ability to launch an attack on the Qin Dynasty.

"That's fine!"

"As long as we gain a foothold and find a way to block the corridor leading to the river valley along the West Sea coast, these two countries will not come to disturb us."

Ying Pijiang stroked the newly grown stubble on his face and smiled gently.

Seleucid Empire,
It is said that the founder of the country was a subordinate of Alexander, the former Macedonian monarch.

After his monarch died suddenly in his prime, Seleucus took advantage of the situation, gathered his own troops, and won over many nobles. He was able to occupy the land of Western Persia and proclaim himself king.

However, Alexander rose and fell suddenly, and his foundation was not stable. As his subordinate, could Seleucus have more prestige and more capabilities than his predecessor who was an extraordinary martial arts master?

therefore,

After Seleucus took the throne of Western Persia, there has been chaos in the country.

The local nobles believed that they had contributed to the enthronement of the emperor and looked down upon their superiors.

The people of various places also had a rebellious heart because Seleucus was not a Persian.

foreign,

With the support of New Xia, Darius III still controlled the land of Eastern Persia, held the legitimacy and shouldered the responsibility of justice. He also had a virtuous wife and proud son as his successors, which made the Seleucus throne even more shaky.

His colleagues who coveted the legacy of their predecessor Alexander also established an "indestructible alliance of successors" by engaging in war and peace.

When Zhao Gang, that is, Cambyses III, the King of Persia, was in power, he took advantage of the civil strife in the Seleucid Empire and entrusted the affairs of state to his mother. He personally led a large army from east to west, attacking from high to low, and exerted military talents that were completely opposite to those of his father. He rushed into the heartland of the Seleucid Empire and recaptured the old Persian capital of Persepolis.

In the following years,

Zhao Gang personally led many campaigns to fight against Seleucus, and pushed the country all the way to the Babylonian region in the Mesopotamian Valley.

Seleucus was forced to retreat.
After protecting the land of Babylon, he turned and headed further west. He still occupies many provinces outside the Mesopotamian region, such as Cilicia and Western Armenia. He also implemented the national policy of "losing the east and making up for the west" and seized many lands in the eastern part of the Antigonus Kingdom.

So far,

The Persian Empire, which had been divided for decades, was largely unified, and Zhao Gang was able to become the leader of the revival of the Persian Empire.

In the second half of this monarch's life,
He has always advocated reforms and learning the system and culture of Xinxia in order to strengthen national identity and centralization.

As a result, a group of "pro-Sharia factions" emerged in Persia.

After being deeply infused with the wisdom of the gentlemen of various countries, the ancient Achaemenid Empire of Persia also ushered in a new era of prosperity.

It’s a pity that the kindness of a gentleman was cut off after three generations.

Zhao Gang's descendants did not inherit their ancestors' wisdom and talents. After they interfered in Xinxia's internal affairs and attempted to invade during the chaos but failed, the country never recovered.

now,

The "pro-Xia faction" and the "local faction" within Persia were engaged in a frantic infighting, and they could not even spare the energy to defend against the enemy, let alone go north across the mountains to attack the Qin Dynasty, which had nothing to do with them.

The Seleucid Empire, which was still entrenched in the west, was the opposite of Persia. It ushered in new development after a long period of civil strife.

Their monarch Antiochus III was a man of outstanding talent who had run his country prosperously. He was now eyeing the Mesopotamian region, which was prosperous and wealthy and had always been easy to attack but difficult to defend.

Since he had the opportunity to gain control of the two rivers, why should he send his troops on a long expedition and become an enemy of the Qin Dynasty?

Ying Pijiang therefore stroked the stubble on his upper lip and said:
"Back then, Baili Xi advised Duke Mu to take advantage of the mountains and rivers, to occupy the strong passes, to watch the struggles among the states in Shandong, to annex the barbarians in the west, to annex their lands, to expand our people, and thus achieve hegemony."

"Now I will follow his strategy, occupy the river valley of the West Sea, and take advantage of the dangerous terrain of the two mountains. Once we have a firm foothold and our farming is prosperous, we can conquer the Rong and Di tribes along the mountains in the east, and attack the barbarians along the sea in the west!"

"When the time comes and the mandate of heaven is restored, even if the Seleucids and Persians still exist, what is there to fear?"

This land outside the domain,

There are so many small countries!

The blood inherited from Ying Pijiang's grandfather made him very dissatisfied with this chaotic situation!

unified,

Must be unified!

After conquering the numerous barbarian tribes in the river valley, forcing them to "change their customs, keep their hair and change their clothes", and re-establishing ancestral temples for Qin,

Ying Pijiang personally offered three sacrificial animals to his ancestors.

He thought to himself:
If I could accomplish Duke Mu's ambition,

In the future, Qin Shi Huang will surely produce another "First Emperor"!
by that time,
The state of Qin in the Western Sea will surely continue for a long time.

Until the gods and ghosts brought his ancestors and picked up the small white jar containing his soul, and the family was reunited again!
He fled westward with his people in a state of extreme embarrassment.
But when he arrived in the underworld, he could proudly pat his chest and tell his ancestors that he did not disappoint their expectations!

General Zhang Han must be very proud to have such a disciple.

Ying Pijiang's gaze shifted slightly and looked at the small white jar attached to the tablet of Emperor Qin II.

After staring for a while,

Ying Pijiang took a deep breath and his eyes became more determined.

(End of this chapter)