Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 367 This object is called a globe

"Further westward lies the Western Regions."

At the foot of the steep mountain, Lin Dao pointed westward and said, "That is the land of the Central Plains since ancient times."

Looking exhausted, Huo Qubing gazed into the distance and asked, "Is that the Western Regions that Marquis Bowang visited?"

"I heard that the Marquis of Bowang brought back many useful seeds, causing the price of seeds in Chang'an to rise daily."

For the Central Plains, the Western Regions were not some mysterious and unpredictable wilderness.

In fact, communication between them had been ongoing since the Xia and Shang dynasties.

The ancient Silk Road was where jade, including Hetian jade, was transported from the Western Regions to China.

The trade and travel between them never truly ceased afterward; otherwise, Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, would not have known where to find the Yuezhi.

However, the Xiongnu people later tightened their control, and merchants mainly carried luxury goods such as spices and gems.

It wasn't until Zhang Qian brought back a large number of seeds that foreign crops were truly introduced on a large scale.

The grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, cucumbers, garlic, coriander, broad beans, sesame seeds, and other produce brought back by Zhang Qian were highly sought after by countless powerful and wealthy people due to their excellent economic benefits.

They bought the seeds from caravans from the Western Regions at high prices; at their peak, the seeds were almost equivalent to gold.

Huo Qubing had no interest in making money by growing these things; he had only heard of them.

"Are you interested?"

Lin Dao urged, "Shall we conquer the Western Regions?"

"At this time, the countries in the Western Regions were basically vassal states of the Xiongnu. The main force of the Right Wise King had been defeated, and those small countries could be easily defeated."

The Xiongnu people's method of controlling the Western Regions was usually to marry noblewomen to these countries to become queens.

They brought with them armed forces and slaves, relying on the power and prestige of the Xiongnu, and continuously corrupted and devoured one small kingdom after another in the Western Regions, causing all these countries to suffer greatly.

This strategy is utterly useless against a superpower like the Han Dynasty; in fact, it's a waste of resources.

It's perfect for dealing with small kingdoms in the Western Regions.

"Let's destroy the Xiongnu first, and then we can discuss other matters."

A look of longing gleamed in Huo Qubing's eyes.

However, he remained steadfast in his beliefs.

"Destroy the Xiongnu first!"

"Alright." Lin Dao nodded. "Now the Xiongnu royal court has fled far to the northern desert, and the Right Wise King's forces have been defeated."

"The time to eliminate the Xiongnu is not far off."

Before the army returned, Lin Dao gazed towards the Western Regions.

"Western Regions"

Huo Qubing, upon returning to Chang'an, received a generous reward from the little pig.

Not only was his fiefdom increased by nearly ten thousand, but he was also rewarded with a large amount of wealth.

In addition, even the ordinary captains under his command were promoted one after another due to their military achievements.

His subordinates Zhao Ponu, Gao Bushi, and his servant Peng Jun were all granted the title of Marquis within the Pass.

The generous reward stemmed from his brilliant victory.

The territory of the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu was almost completely destroyed.

Hundreds of kings and nobles from various Xiongnu tribes were killed.

Because of the influence of the forest road, the Han army hardly captured any important prisoners; if they did, they would just behead them.

This battle was of great significance to the Han Dynasty.

The opening of the Hexi Corridor meant establishing connections with the Western Regions.

Moreover, the Hexi Corridor is very rich and extremely suitable for grazing.

The Han Dynasty finally had the military horse farm it desperately needed.

When Huo Qubing passed through the Shandan region of Hexi, he discovered that the area was vast, with a suitable temperature, abundant water and grass, and a large number of horses raised by the Xiongnu people.

He reported this matter to the Emperor of Han, and as a result, the Han Dynasty established the Shandan Military Horse Farm here.

Successive victories in Henan, southern Inner Mongolia, and the Hexi Corridor.

In particular, the Battle of the Hexi Corridor, in which Huo Qubing, with a mere 10,000 troops, annihilated tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers, greatly stimulating the ambitions of the little pig.

The heavy cavalry easily defeated the Xiongnu army in the main battle, which convinced Xiao Zhu that the Xiongnu were no match for the Han army.

He was eager to completely crush the Xiongnu.

When the Han army tallied military achievements after the war, they only counted the archers from the various Xiongnu tribes, excluding the elderly, weak, women, and children.

If you include them all, the number is close to 100,000.

"Now, the Xiongnu are showing signs of decline."

The spirited little pig waved its wide sleeves.

He turned and sat down on the chair carved with dragon patterns, his eyes full of smiles.

"Once the food and military supplies are gathered, we can send troops to the northern desert to completely annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu!"

He raised his hand and patted the armrest, quite satisfied.

This thing is really good; it's much more comfortable than kneeling all day long.

Huo Qubing immediately bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, how many days will it take?"

Little Pig was a little surprised, but since it was his favorite, he still gave an answer.

"It will take about two years."

Emperor Wu of Han was preparing for a decisive war that would lead to the destruction of the Han dynasty.

The total number of soldiers and civilians mobilized was close to one million.

In addition, there are large numbers of cattle and horses, starting at 100,000.

Given the Han Dynasty's productivity at that time, even including reserve grain, it would take at least two autumn harvests to gather enough food to supply such a large army.

Most of this grain is actually consumed during transportation.

There was no other way; the Xiongnu royal court was far away in the northern desert, and to attack them, one would have to travel thousands of miles.

Upon hearing this, Huo Qubing hesitated.

The little pig, seeing this, immediately asked curiously, "My champion, what's wrong?"

"If you have something to say, just say it!"

"Your Majesty," Huo Qubing said bluntly, "in fact, we could have launched an attack in the autumn."

The Han army usually chose to attack the Xiongnu in the spring and autumn.

In spring, livestock on the grasslands are busy breeding. In autumn, livestock on the grasslands are busy fattening up for winter and giving birth.

Choosing these time periods to launch military campaigns would severely damage the economic lifeline of the Xiongnu.

War, in the final analysis, is about economics and interests.

Huo Qubing's expedition to the Hexi Corridor was launched in early spring, and he quickly swept across thousands of miles before returning to the capital.

In theory, the Han army could prepare for several months and then launch another campaign in the autumn.

The little pig was very curious about this and asked, "Why?"

"Why can we send troops in the autumn?"

Are you sure you can win?

"Where will tens of millions of bushels of grain come from?"

Where did all that military funding come from?

How can we find traces of the Xiongnu royal court?

Can they win before winter?

"Your Majesty," Huo Qubing calmly replied to the barrage of questions, "The number of troops deployed to Hexi this time is not large."

"With a little rest, we should be able to strike again before autumn."

"The cavalry, equipped with horse armor and heavy armor, were enough to crush the light cavalry of the Xiongnu in a head-on confrontation."

At this point, he also offered his own summary suggestions.

"Our Han cavalry should be used in a combination of light and heavy cavalry."

"When I led my troops to Hexi and fought against the Xiongnu, although the heavy cavalry could defeat the Xiongnu army head-on, it was difficult to catch up when pursuing them."

"Because there were few light cavalry pursuing them, many Xiongnu soldiers were able to escape."

The little pig nodded repeatedly, indicating to the general that it should be written down.

Huo Qubing continued, "As for provisions and all kinds of military supplies needed for the expedition, as long as Your Majesty can afford gold and raw silk, my brother is willing to provide them all."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

Even the little pig who had witnessed Lin Dao conjure things out of thin air frowned, "Do you know that this is tens of millions of bushels of grain and countless military supplies!"

Ten million shi (a unit of dry measure) – that’s an enormous number.

When manifested in physical form, it becomes a truly massive accumulation.

"That's what my brother said."

Huo Qubing relayed Lin Dao's words: "As long as the money is in place, not to mention tens of millions of shi, there will be tens of millions of shi."

"Moreover, there is no need for long-distance transportation; he can use it whenever he travels with the army."

"Your Majesty, on this expedition to Hexi, all kinds of provisions and military supplies were brought to me by my elder brother whenever I needed them."

After recovering from his illness and returning to public service, Prime Minister Gongsun Hong coughed twice before speaking.

"His Majesty."

"If a war were to take place, it would concern the rise and fall, the very survival of the Han Dynasty."

"Such an important matter must be handled with utmost care."

"If at a critical moment, Master Lin suddenly can't produce anything, or he disappears."

"What should we do if our Han Dynasty's more than 100,000 elite troops are trapped in the northern desert?"

He's a seasoned veteran; he won't directly confront or oppose you.

But just a little bit is enough to arouse suspicion.

After all, that was over 100,000 elite troops; the best of the Han army was here.

If the Han Dynasty were to lose its logistical support during the Battle of Mobei, the entire Han Dynasty could be overthrown.

Sure enough, the little pig hesitated.

These Han troops were the cornerstone of his imperial power; no matter how talented or ambitious he was, he dared not easily throw them away.

As the nobles and military officials whispered among themselves, they heard Huo Qubing burst into laughter.

Everyone looked over in confusion, wondering what had gotten into this young man.

Patting the armrest, the little pig asked, "Champion Marquis, why are you laughing?"

"His Majesty."

Huo Qubing bowed and said, "I laugh at what the Prime Minister said, for it turns out to be exactly what my brother said."

“My elder brother had spoken to me before.”

He said that as long as he proposed to take charge of logistics, there would surely be treacherous villains who would object on the grounds that the logistics and supplies would be insufficient and that the army would suffer losses, thus ruining His Majesty's grand ambitions.

These words nearly gave the treacherous villain a heart attack.

He clutched his chest, his face pale, and those around him quickly helped him catch his breath.

"You~you~"

Gongsun Hong was so angry that he trembled, his finger pointing at Huo Qubing with a trembling hand.

It was difficult to say harsh words, as this young general was currently the most favored person in the Emperor's eyes.

Huo Qubing shrugged indifferently and said, "These are my brother's exact words. If you have any complaints, go tell my brother."

"okay."

Seeing that the prime minister, who was deliberately taking the blame for him, was about to faint from anger, the little pig waved his hand and said, "Let's get down to business."

He asked seriously, "What does Master Lin mean? How has this ruined my grand ambitions?"

“My elder brother said.”

Huo Qubing said, "The Xiongnu are merely the first stumbling block to Your Majesty's conquest of the world."

"If this mere stumbling block holds His Majesty back for years, how can we even talk about unifying the world?"

After saying that, he called to those outside the hall, "Bring the things up."

Before long, two eunuchs carried a huge wooden sphere into the hall.

The little pig got up curiously and went forward.

"What is this?"

"Your Majesty, my brother said he wants to give you a gift." Huo Qubing bowed. "This item is called a globe."

“My brother said, this is the world.”

(End of this chapter)