A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

The kings who sensed the Han Dynasty's intentions tacitly kept the matter from being revealed.

Over the past few years, the various schools of thought in the Han Dynasty have transformed most of the ministers into their own forms.

Sometimes even the kings themselves couldn't tell which kings still longed for their homeland and which had already turned their hearts towards the Han Dynasty.

Once they leak this information, they'll be the first to stick their necks out and will be swiftly and decisively eliminated by the Han.

They are all waiting, waiting for someone to lose patience and become the one to take the lead.

This reminded Wei Qi of that saying.

This was mentioned in the books left by his ancestor Wei Ping.

Comment on the reasons for the fall of the six states.

"Today they cede five cities, tomorrow ten, and then they can have a night's rest. But when they rise and look around, the Qin army is already at their doorstep. Thus, the land of the feudal lords is limited, but the desires of the tyrannical Qin are insatiable. The more they offer, the more aggressively they invade."

The six states that were once destroyed by the Qin Dynasty are so similar to the various states in the Western Regions before us.

Thus, in a strange atmosphere, the Western Regions continued to push forward with the standardization of train tracks and measurement systems.

The atmosphere throughout the Western Regions was like a powder keg about to explode.

Only a few small, oblivious countries are still operating peacefully and normally.

Even the Xiongnu and the Parthian Empire felt the impending storm.

However, the Roman Empire recently mobilized its troops, drawing the attention of the Parthian Empire.

The Xiongnu, on the other hand, were sharpening their knives, eager to remove this arm of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions.

Without supplies and auxiliary troops from the Western Regions, if the Han Dynasty wanted to attack the Western Xiongnu, it could only start from Yumen Pass, cross thousands of miles of desert, and reach the territory of the Western Xiongnu.

Such a long route would be enough to break their supply lines.

The Han Dynasty could only send no more than 5 elite troops, which posed a threat to the Xiongnu, but did not lead to their extermination.

Secretly, many countries have begun to secretly communicate with the Xiongnu, plotting to join forces to drive the Han Dynasty out of the Western Regions.

Of all the delegations in Central Asia, the Roman delegation had the purest purpose: to buy silk.

Their sole objective was to bring the silk back safely.

This time, Wei Qi collected a lot of high-quality silk from the Central Plains, even though the transportation costs along the way were considerable.

However, the Roman Empire's prices were high enough that the profit margin was many times the cost.

Anyway, Wei Qi made so much money that his teeth were cracked.

The people of the Central Plains also benefited, gaining an additional source of income.

Moreover, it is sustainable.

The Roman Empire had tens of millions of official citizens, and clothing is a consumable item.

Given the Mediterranean climate, silk was essential for improving one's quality of life.

Otherwise, other clothes would be very uncomfortable to wear.

Therefore, this transaction is sustainable.

Energy continuously improved the living standards of the people in the Han Dynasty.

This is why the Wei family was so actively promoting this Silk Road.

After seeing off his important client, Wei Qi received news from various schools of thought and from the Han Dynasty's embroidered envoys about the movements of different countries.

As he expected, Dayuan, Kangju, and Kucha all secretly colluded with the Xiongnu.

There were also Cheshi and Shule, not a single country was at peace.

No, there is one.

Loulan Kingdom.

This new King of Loulan is truly pragmatic; I must commend Fu Jiezi once again.

The King of Loulan had already resigned himself to his fate; after all, they were so close to the Han Dynasty.

Even if the Western Regions states and the Xiongnu successfully drove the Han Dynasty out of the Western Regions.

In the face of the Xiongnu, the Western Regions were still no match for them.

Given the barbarity of the Xiongnu, one can only imagine the tragic state of the Western Regions at that time.

After all, the Han Dynasty was powerful, and if the Western Xiongnu wanted to fight against the Han Dynasty, they would constantly bleed the Western Regions countries dry.

Not to mention their Loulan, which would surely become a channel for the Han Dynasty to vent its anger.

While the Han Dynasty's attacks on other countries were indeed far away, it was still not a problem to spare some manpower to wipe out Loulan.

All that is needed is to send a few thousand men west out of Yumen Pass.

Their Loulan Kingdom was about to be destroyed.

Whether you choose before or after, left or right, the country will be destroyed anyway, so you might as well choose a more comfortable way.

Join the Han Dynasty.

Regardless of the final outcome, the Han Dynasty would ensure he had a good ending in order to set an example for other countries.

It wouldn't be so bad that he would be beheaded at a banquet like his father.

"Strike first, strike hard."

Wei Qi chose Dayuan, the kingdom that was most active in jumping around.

The Han Dynasty's elite troops, which had been prepared long ago, were divided into 2 and sent to Dayuan.

With the addition of troops stationed within Dayuan, it would be enough to destroy the country in the shortest possible time.

Wei Qi invited the kings of various Western Regions countries to Wulei City for the fourth time.

This is definitely the last time.

Or perhaps it was the last time that the vassal king was invited in the name of the Western Regions Protectorate of the Han Dynasty.

The conflict hasn't escalated yet, and these kings aren't fully prepared.

The influence of the various schools of thought in various countries was so profound that, in the short span of a few months, and without any open conflict, they could not launch a major offensive and could only resort to covert maneuvers.

This means they have no way to completely erase the influence of various schools of thought.

Once war breaks out, they will be attacked from both sides.

To prevent the Han Dynasty from taking action prematurely, the kings of various countries had no choice but to set off for Wulei City again.

After all the kings had arrived, Wei Qi appeared before them, dressed in full armor.

The kings' expressions darkened; the visitor was clearly up to no good!

Only the King of Loulan and the kings of a few small countries looked calm.

Even the other kings who hadn't made up their minds made some small moves.

Looking at Wei Qi, who was fully armored, he felt uneasy.

"I've gathered you all here for one purpose only: to promote ethical conduct in the next step."

"The so-called unity of conduct refers to the unity of clothing, food, housing, transportation, customs, habits, and beliefs."

"The core idea is to promote the etiquette and norms of your country based on the Central Plains culture, which covers customs such as food and drink, funerals and sacrifices, archery and horsemanship, coming-of-age ceremonies and weddings, and diplomatic visits."

"It also includes the four seasons, various solar terms, and festivals."

"Of course, traditional festivals from other countries can be preserved, but the festivals of the Han Dynasty must be observed!"

"The national systems of all countries must also follow the Han system."

"In this year, the various schools of thought in different countries gained a comprehensive understanding of the national conditions of each country and created Han-style systems that suited the national conditions of each country."

"We will absolutely not allow chaos to break out in any country."

"On the contrary, the full implementation of the Han system enabled all countries to become stronger."

"Just look at the current strength of the Han Empire, and you'll see that this is absolutely beneficial to all nations!"

After Wei Qi finished speaking, he glanced at everyone in front of him.

This time, he did not intend to send all the kings back.

"I have noticed that the kings of various countries have brought their entourages. I request that all kings write out the edicts and have their attendants take them back to fully promote the Han Dynasty's system."

"As for the kings, please wait here for a few months so we can discuss the future of the Western Regions in detail."

The kings of various countries' expressions changed; the Han Dynasty actually wanted to place them under house arrest here.

Instead of having them go back and promote it, as they did the previous times.

It seems that the Han Dynasty was not blindly arrogant, but had already made preparations for their rebellion.

This is undoubtedly the worst-case scenario they've ever imagined.