Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 438 Li Longji and his son both deserve to die!

“These places won’t let people go.”

"Once we've secured all the prosperous lands and the population has grown significantly, then we can consider distributing these lands."

Lin Dao and his generals discussed the vast land south of Shazhou, which is Dunhuang.

These lands are large enough, but they are desolate and barren, at least in Lin Dao's eyes they are undoubtedly barren.

"Half of the bachelors gathered from all over the country have been settled along the way."

Lin Dao laughed and said, "But right now, we haven't even truly entered the Western Regions yet!"

"We haven't even reclaimed so many prosperous lands yet, so let's not make any arrangements for this desolate and remote place for now."

Deeply concerned about the population shortage, Lin Dao sent an urgent telegram to Prime Minister Fu, ordering him to quickly send the second batch of bachelors over and to settle them along the way according to the required proportions.

He also sent a telegram to Zhao Pu, telling him to finish his current work as soon as possible and come over to take charge of the matter.

However, this will take time.

After all, telegrams can arrive instantly, but people cannot.

Although the railway is under construction at a frenzy, most of the journey still has to be done on foot.

Lin Dao estimated that it would take at least one or two years for Zhao Pu to bring the second batch of bachelors gathered from all over the country to arrive.

By then, he had already recovered the lost territory and set off on his return journey.

Previously, too many bachelors were resettled in various places, but now only half remain. Faced with the vast Western Regions, we must be frugal in our resettlement efforts.

"His Majesty."

Pan Meijin suggested, "Although these places are barren, there are still wild grass and barbarians wandering around."

Should we send troops to clear the area?

Lin Dao smiled and glanced at him.

This highlights the difference in interpersonal skills between Pan Mei and Yang Ye.

If Yang Ye were to bring this up, he would undoubtedly volunteer to lead troops to wipe out the mixed barbarian tribes.

Pan Mei, on the other hand, asked questions and gave the higher-ups time to think about their response.

"Such a big place."

Sure enough, Lin Dao casually waved his hand and said, "There are valleys and rivers everywhere."

"With so many scraggly beards, if you just randomly go into the valley and search carefully, it would take at least several years."

"Tens of thousands of elite troops have been wasting several years here?"

"I have money and resources, but I can't afford to waste our fighting strength."

"We will continue with the previous method: set up a market in Dunhuang and allow all tribes to trade."

"Salt and wine are essential commodities for those tribes. We should sell them to them at the lowest possible price and in large quantities!"

"I don't need to tell you what to add inside, do I?"

The generals understood and accepted the order in unison.

When all the fertile land has been divided up, and the population continues to increase.

These lands, which now appear barren, should be distributed.

By then, the various nomadic tribes living on these lands will likely have vanished without a trace.

"Everyone."

Lin Dao smiled freely and spurred his horse forward, saying, "Let's go together to reclaim the lost territories of the Han and Tang dynasties!"

"Oh~~~"

The generals raised their arms and shouted in unison, their voices resounding like thunder.

They looked at Lin Dao's back on horseback ahead, their eyes filled with admiration.

They braved ice and snow, marching under the scorching sun.

Charging into battle, they are protected by the gods.

He personally led his elite troops, using their swords and spears to fight for the survival of his people.

Selfless and generous, truly putting the country and the people first.

He is kind to his people, but ruthless to his enemies.

This is the real emperor!
Those so-called emperors who spent their days indulging in pleasure in the palace, and some who never even left the palace in their entire lives.

Where did this army of 100,000 come from?
Why not eat meat porridge?
A rider gallops through the dust, bringing a smile to the imperial concubine's face; none know it's lychees that have arrived.
An emperor like that isn't even worthy of being a stepping stone for the great emperor!
How fortunate we are to serve the great emperor!
Lin Dao truly set an example by his own actions.

I've traveled thousands of miles with everyone.

In terms of food and drink, his lifestyle was quite meager compared to other emperors.

There were tens of thousands of beauties in Li Longji's palace, and most of them had never even seen him.

There were only two maids by Kelindao's side.

All the spoils of war were distributed to the meritorious soldiers. They even used their own money to redeem large livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep as spoils of war and distributed them to the single men who were resettled.

He didn't even glance at the many beauties of all kinds.

Such emperors, who were purely devoted to the country and its people, are perhaps only comparable to the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors throughout the millennia.

But the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are just legends.

The person in front of them is genuinely leading them to get things done!
"After the railway was built to Yangguan."

As Lin Dao rode forward, he instructed, "Take a branch line north to connect with Yumen Pass."

"Don't take a detour, just cross the Gobi Desert directly."

"We must stabilize the soil, plant trees, and build irrigation canals along the way."

Yumen Pass and Yang Pass are actually very close, located about seventy li north of Yang Pass.

One was specifically for merchants traveling along the Silk Road, and the other was specifically for the border troops stationed in the Western Regions.

Although the straight-line distance between the two sides is very short, the seventy miles in the middle is the Gobi Desert.

The distance isn't far, but the Gobi Desert is an extremely terrifying place.

In the modern world, even a fully equipped person can have an accident while traversing the Gobi Desert.

In this time and space, the Gobi Desert can truly be deadly.

So what seems like only seventy li is actually hundreds of li to travel between the two sides.

A railway is to be built along the forest road, directly connecting Yangguan and Yumenguan.

Building a railway across the Gobi Desert cannot simply be done by laying the foundation all the way through.

First, it is necessary to stabilize the soil to avoid potential hazards caused by adverse geological conditions.

Next came planting trees to resist the harsh wind and sand environment.

As for building irrigation canals, they provide the most important water source for the trees that hold the soil in place against wind and sand.

Having settled this small matter, Lin Dao led his still-large army, now fewer in number, on their way. This was true both during the Han Dynasty and the powerful Tang Dynasty.

Under normal circumstances, a force of tens of thousands is the limit for traveling to the Western Regions.

Due to adverse road conditions, terrain, and climate.

This meant that we couldn't send too many people over.

Lin Daoneng was able to do it because he was a cheat code, able to bring a large amount of supplies from other dimensions at any time.

If we don't have that capability, then we can only build railways slowly, following the railway's progress.

Their target this time is Illinois.

Yizhou is Hami.

This place is the gateway between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, and an important town on the Silk Road.

Having arrived here, we have truly reached the territory of the Protectorate of the Western Regions during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Throughout its thousand-year history, only the Han and Tang dynasties were the strongest.

Its strength was demonstrated by its ability to control the Western Regions.

Needless to say, the Song Dynasty was incredibly weak.
Even the Ming Dynasty could not recreate the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

As for the era of the barbarians, Lin Dao disdained to mention it.

"Come, come, come~"

The first thing to do upon arriving in the Hami Basin is to pick all the ripe melons there.

Lin Dao held up a slice of melon and invited everyone to try it, saying, "How does it taste?"

There are many varieties of Hami melons, and a batch ripens in almost every season throughout the year.

As early as the Han Dynasty, Hami melons were already recorded as a tribute item.

In an era when sweets were scarce, this was quite valuable.

However, at this time, the melons planted in various parts of the Hami Basin seemed to have been hit by a typhoon, and were almost completely wiped out.

Not only were the soldiers eating, but their families were eating, and even the bachelors were eating.

Lin Dao ate one slice, but didn't eat a second one.

It's not that I'm trying to save money, but it doesn't taste as sweet as the food I've had in the modern world.

"It's much worse than the vendors selling things at the street corner."

Such selection, which is similar to natural selection, is of course no match for those in later generations who have undergone scientific conditioning.

Not sweet enough, Lin Dao, having already tasted the freshness, decided to put it down.

"Gentlemen, how many displaced people do you think should remain here?"

After tasting the local specialties, it's time to get down to business.

The purpose of this journey was not only to recover the lost territories of the Han and Tang dynasties, but also to thoroughly and firmly grasp this inherent land.

The generals all spoke up.

Some say three thousand, some say five thousand.

The number of people involved has remained below 5,000.

After all, there were only 50,000 unemployed bachelors left at this time.

But this is only the beginning of our journey into the Western Regions, and it's simply not enough.

Although reinforcements are on their way, they will take a long time to arrive without the supplies from Lin Dao.

After much discussion and brainstorming, the number was finally set at two thousand.

Two thousand bachelors were settled in the Hami Basin.

They were allocated their own land, as well as local Uyghur girls from Xizhou.

At the same time, a thousand garrison soldiers were also left behind.

Among these garrison troops were two to three hundred retired veterans who had established various levels of government offices in the area.

They had to wait for the replacement troops to arrive before they could return to the Central Plains.

Lin Dao is indeed not interested in beautiful women, because he has already had his fill of them in the myriad worlds.

However, after entering the Western Regions, he instructed his subordinates to find a local girl named 'Beloved Pearl'.

Once found, it will be delivered, and he will conduct the interview.

Although quite a few items were sent, none of them met the requirements, so they were sent back.

As for the reason, the generals racked their brains but couldn't figure it out.

At this time, the Western Regions were divided into several factions.

The first major power Lin Dao faced was the Western Uyghurs.

Even after the Uyghur Khaganate was destroyed, many remnants of its forces still fled to various places.

The Ganzhou Uyghurs and the like were all remnants of the former Uyghur Khanate.

Compared to the smaller factions in various regions, the Western Uyghurs were the most powerful among the remnants of the Uyghurs.

Centered on Gaochang, they ruled over nearly half of the Western Regions.

After capturing Hami, Lin Dao headed straight for Gaochang.

The official name of the Western Uyghurs was the Great Fu Great Uyghur Kingdom.

They claimed to be from the Ten-Surname Uyghur Kingdom.

Chinese historical records refer to them as the Western Uyghurs, because the land they controlled was mainly the Western Prefecture of the Tang Dynasty.

Because their capital was Gaochang, they were also known as the Gaochang Uyghurs.

Regardless of what they are called, they are all remnants of the former Uyghur Khanate.

"The Uyghurs once sent troops to assist the Tang army in attacking the An Lushan rebels."

On the way to Gaochang, Lin Dao, who was riding a horse, closed his eyes to rest.

"Although we didn't send many troops to the Battle of Xiangji Temple, we still participated."

"It is understandable that they were granted the title of Khan, given land, and rewarded with wealth."

At this point, Lin Dao opened his eyes.

His eyes were filled with rage.

"But that scoundrel Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng, allowed the Uyghurs to loot both capitals! They captured all the people in the cities and enslaved them!"

"Li Longji and his son, neither of them are good people!"

"They all deserve to die!"

(End of this chapter)