Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 436 Hexi Corridor
"Brother Dashan~"

Chen Xiaoqi, from Panyu County, pulled her fellow villager's hand and pointed into the distance.

"Look, those mountains over there are so high!"

Huang Dashan, also from Panyu County, showed his knowledge by saying, "That's Helan Mountain over there. Let's go hiking there now."

"Mountain climbing?"

Chen Xiaoqi was very puzzled: "What is mountain climbing?"

Looking around at the endless queue, Huang Dashan responded in a low voice.

"I heard it from the head constable; it's His Majesty's will."

"Your Majesty~" Upon hearing this word, Chen Xiaoqi suddenly became trembling with fear.

It wasn't fear, but reverence.

His Majesty keeps his word; he promised to distribute land, fields, and women to them, and he truly meant it!

Many of the brothers who set off together from Panyu County have already stayed in the prefectures and counties along the way.

They actually received their share.

Although he was unlucky and failed to draw lots several times, Chen Xiaoqi still held His Majesty, who kept his word, in the highest esteem.

"Previously it was in Huaiyuan County, oh, now it's Xingqing County, the seat of Xingzhou."

"During the victory celebration, they said His Majesty had composed a poem."

One line in it is "To shatter the Helan Mountain pass!"

"That's the Helan Mountains over there. We're going to trample a hole in them!"

"Huh?" Chen Xiaoqi was greatly surprised. "To trample a hole in the mountain, how much strength does that take?"

"I don't know, just go."

Lin Dao certainly wasn't going to ravage the Helan Mountains.

He led his still large army across the Helan Mountains to reach Beidi Commandery, which was in the Qin and Han dynasties.

The place was later called Alashan Left Banner.

This place is also on the edge of the famous Tengger Desert.

The migrating legions marched along the edge and reached the banks of the Yellow River.

Afterwards, they traveled westward along the narrow stretch between the Yellow River and the desert to Lanzhou.

Lanzhou, formerly known as Jincheng County.

By the mid-Tang Dynasty, it had already fallen into the hands of the Tibetans, which is now two hundred years ago.

Upon arriving here, all I could see were barbarian barbarians with disheveled hair and robes fastened on the left.

What was once fertile farmland has become pasture for grazing.

The irrigation canals that once provided water have long since disappeared, now covered and buried by vegetation.

The various farm tools that were once painstakingly crafted with manpower and resources have now become toys for the children of the nomadic tribes.

Lin Dao remained on horseback, not dismounting, because the ground was covered with human and animal excrement.

Both dried and fresh are available.

I raised my binoculars to look at the distant tribe; men in fur coats were calling out to their cattle and sheep.

The women, dressed in long skirts, were carrying their children while doing housework.

Another thing is that you can see people squatting down to relieve themselves in the open everywhere.

Lin Dao sighed silently.

These were the Tibetans who repeatedly breached the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

The shameless eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty gathered women from the city, tied them up with ropes, and sent them to the Tibetans as slaves, attempting to use this to force the Tibetans to withdraw their troops.

"Go."

After putting down his binoculars, Lin Dao instructed his generals to "sweep through the entire territory of Lanzhou and treat them as barbarians."

The generals received their orders, and in no time, a large number of soldiers swept through Lanzhou with shouts and cheers.

Lanzhou's geographical location is very important, and the forest road here has left behind as many as five or six thousand bachelors.

At the same time, he also sent people to Guanzhong and ordered various prefectures and counties in Guanzhong to select 30,000 young men to migrate there.

He also left behind two thousand soldiers to garrison the area and, at the same time, to train the local people.

Lin Dao is going to take the path of "everyone being a soldier," and this is not just talk; it is something that will be done in practice.

During the off-season, they train regularly, and on weekdays they bring their own horses and weapons to practice their physical fitness and martial arts skills at home.

In the early Tang Dynasty, these were soldiers from good families.

From then on, these men from good families would not only be responsible for protecting their hometowns, but would also be selected by the imperial court to form larger armies and go to fight in distant lands.

Of course, there are standards for selecting forest trails.

That means no one with a son over twelve years old can be selected.

If you really don't want to serve in the military, you can choose not to have a son.

However, given the atmosphere of this era, almost no one would do that.

"Let's set up a market here."

Outside Lanzhou, Lin Dao selected a plot of land and instructed the veterans who were to stay that "the various Tibetan tribes on the mountain should be allowed to come down to trade."

By this time, the Tibetan Empire had long since perished, and the plateau was a scattered wasteland dotted with tribes of all sizes.

The southward shift of the precipitation line and the drop in temperature completely destroyed the brief prosperity of the Tibetan Empire.

Lin Dao had no interest in climbing the plateau thousands of meters high to wipe out those tribes one by one.

But we can't just leave it unattended.

Even if they are unlikely to pose any threat to Guanzhong and Longyou in the future, we still have to take action.

“Sell them alcohol and salt, which are necessities for them.”

"By mixing lead powder into it, the price can be kept as low as possible, allowing us to monopolize the business of various tribes on the plateau and make them buy as much as possible."

Since they won't go up, then let them never be able to come down!

Heading west from Lanzhou, you reach Liangzhou, a vital strategic location in Longyou.

He was familiar with the forest roads here; when his second brother, Huo Qubing, swept across the Hexi Corridor, he defeated the Xiongnu King Xiutu here.

The land that originally belonged to King Xiutu became Wuwei County.

This place is known as a strategic point of importance and a vital defense for the nation.

It is an important node on the Silk Road.

This place has also been occupied by various Tibetan tribes for two hundred years.

It is not much different from Lanzhou in any aspect.

Similarly, Lin Dao's response was no different. After clearing the area, he left behind a group of soldiers and single men, while simultaneously conscripting a group of migrants from the Central Plains.

The land allocated to bachelors was mostly pastureland.

The cattle, sheep and horses that the soldiers had previously acquired, apart from those that were slaughtered for food, were all purchased back from the soldiers by Lin Dao and distributed to the bachelors to graze.

As for how to graze the livestock...
Let's not even talk about how Han Chinese men actually know how to herd livestock, or even if they don't, it doesn't matter.

Lin Dao brought a complete set of grazing materials and trained a group of pastoral supervisors along the way.

"Brother Dashan~"

"Niu Sanbian won the lottery!"

Envious eyes reddened Chen Xiaoqi, who complained to her companion, "Why didn't I get it again!"

Huang Dashan, who also failed to win a prize, was feeling frustrated.

But he was able to speak with the head constable after all, so even though he was incredibly envious, he forced a smile.

"It's alright. Although we've provided pastures for the cattle and sheep, grazing isn't that easy."

"I heard from the captain that if there's a heavy snowfall in winter, it could be fatal!"

"Moreover."

Huang Dashan reached out and pointed to the Tibetan women in the distance who were queuing up for the bachelors to draw lots to take home.

"Look at those women, all so tanned, and they smell bad too—they don't even use the outhouse!"

"But I want to eat meat." Chen Xiaoqi said with a long face, "There are so many cattle and sheep, when will we ever finish eating them all?"

"We'll give you a can of meat every three days." Huang Dashan laughed and scolded, "How many cans have you eaten along the way?"

Long marches require sufficient physical strength.

In addition to carbohydrates, meat and fats are also needed.

Lin Dao was quite generous; the bachelors received a can of food every three days, while the soldiers received two cans a day.

The bachelors kept their canned food for themselves, while the soldiers gave theirs to their families or used it to exchange for a night of pleasure.

After all, the soldiers eat military rations and don't lack food.

"Why can't I ever win?" Chen Xiaoqi was very frustrated. "Half of the brothers from Panyu are gone."

"My luck is terrible! I wonder if there's a temple nearby."

Before he could finish speaking, Huang Dashan pounced on him and covered his mouth.

He growled in his ear, "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Don't you know His Majesty forbids Buddhism? How dare you mention Buddhism in the army? Believe me, if word gets out, I'll throw you into the mountains and see if the Buddha you prayed to will come to your rescue!"

"Woooooo~"

Huang Dashan let go of her hand, and Chen Xiaoqi nodded repeatedly, "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Dashan. I almost made a mistake."

"okay."

"Be more careful next time." Huang Dashan took out two cans of meat and waved them in front of him. "These are what I saved."

"Let's go have some fun."

Traveling along the Hexi Corridor, we cleaned and sowed seeds along the way.

The forest road also has a large number of rails and sleepers stored along the way, which are guarded by the local soldiers.

These things will be used on the railway that extends all the way from Chang'an.

On the return trip, another batch of supplies will be left in the forest, enough to build all the way to the Pamir Mountains.

Continuing westward, we entered the territory of Ganzhou.

Two hundred years ago, this place also fell into the hands of the Tibetans.

Later, the Guiyi Army recaptured Ganzhou.

However, within a few decades, a Uyghur tribe that had returned to the fold rapidly grew in strength under the protection of the Guiyi Army. Later, they rebelled, murdered their leader, and seized Ganzhou and other places.

Previously, they had also sent envoys to Lindao to offer tribute, expressing their willingness to address each other as uncle and nephew.

Lin Dao's response to the envoy of the Ganzhou Uyghur Khanate was as follows.

My mother is an only child; I have no nephews or nieces.

At this time, the Uyghur Khanate of Ganzhou sent envoys to sue for peace.

This time, instead of requiring them to address each other as uncle and nephew, they expressed their willingness to call Lin Dao "father"—the Uyghurs of Ganzhou and the Central Plains addressed each other as father and son.

During the period of China's prosperity, tribes in various regions developed all sorts of creative ways to use this system.

But once the Central Plains declines, they immediately tear off the sheepskin and tear it apart.

Leaving aside distant examples, the Ganzhou Uyghurs had previously joined the Guiyi Army.

As a result, after his own strength grew, he immediately turned against the Guiyi Army in Ganzhou and other places, and established his own Khanate.

How could Lin Dao possibly give them a chance?

The envoy did not take away Lin Dao's investiture document, but instead brought a large army.

The autumn wind swept away half the fallen leaves, engulfing Ganzhou and Suzhou, and uprooting the local Uyghur Khanate.

Those who were lucky enough to survive were escorted to various mines to start work.

The land they left behind was given to happy bachelors.

The bachelors inherited not only land, pastures, cattle, sheep, and horses, but also local girls.

The ancestors of the Uyghurs were the Dingling people, who initially lived as nomads around Lake Baikal.

Later, it was ruled by the Xiongnu and began to live among various tribes.

Records from the Han Dynasty describe the Dingling people as having blond hair and blue eyes, suggesting they were of Caucasian descent.

After living together for thousands of years and undergoing interbreeding, their appearance has become very similar to that of the locals in the modern world.

It has to be said that there are quite a few beautiful girls.

There was no doubt that the single men were extremely enthusiastic during this lottery.

Many people dare not worship Buddha and instead seek the blessings of their ancestors.

After all, for ordinary people in the agricultural era, the opportunity to have a beautiful woman was extremely rare.

Those who were drawn cheered with joy, their eyes shining.

Those who didn't win were filled with regret, stomping their feet and beating their chests.

The beautiful woman is right in front of me, but I have no chance to be with her. It's truly heartbreaking.

After eliminating the Ganzhou Uyghur Khanate, Lin Dao continued westward.

Further on, they finally came into contact with the Guiyi Army, which had been isolated from Guanzhong for a century!

(End of this chapter)