I don't know how long it took before the carriage finally stopped. Krian was helped from the carriage and walked a little longer, only then someone helped him untie the black cloth blindfolded on his eyes. Krian’s eyes had been blindfolded for too long, and he finally adjusted to the surrounding environment. He saw a big man with a tall stature and a fierce face sitting opposite. He was startled and said repeatedly: "Your Majesty has just said that I am free, you are..."
The man sneered: "You can see clearly that we are not from Putimius. We invited you to ask what he said to you?"
Keli'an calmed down a bit, and asked cautiously: "Then you are from the Senate?"
In Rome, the contradiction between the Senate and the emperor can be said to be known to passers-by, even Krian has heard of it. Of course, the Senate he was talking about did not mean the new Senate composed of knights, but the old Senate controlled by the nobles in the past. This was a secret that the Romans knew.
Obviously, the man hadn’t been in Rome for a long time. He didn’t understand the contradiction. He was taken aback by what Krian said. He immediately shouted, “Don’t worry about who we are, just tell everything you know. !"
Krian took a closer look and noticed that although the attire of the big man was no different from that of Daqin, he still had dark eyes, and he couldn't help but feel happy, and asked, "Are you a big Han? Then I. I beg you one thing, I will tell you everything I know, as long as you promise to take me back to Kangju."
It turned out that this big man was Hou Qinu who was sent to assist the Foreign Affairs Office in collecting information on Daqin. He had a language talent that ordinary people could hardly match. He could already speak Daqin fluently and with a Roman accent. It's just that the others are good to disguise, but these eyes are not easy to deceive others. Therefore, Hou Qinu spends most of the time in this manor outside Rome, even if he goes out, he will pretend to be a blind person.
Fortunately, in addition to retaining a part of the Phantom elite, Dahan Foreign Affairs Office recruited many foreigners, and even nationals from countries such as Kangju, Shentou, and Guishuang. At the same time, Daqin expanded too fast, and with the expansion of the region, there were more and more ethnic groups. People of all races also facilitated the penetration of foreign affairs.
After these people arrived in Rome, it was not difficult for these people to inquire about Putimius's cleaning of the foreign caravans. They quickly figured out the ins and outs and knew the whereabouts of the only survivor, Krian. When they were about to kidnap Krian, they found that he was invited into the palace by Putimius. So a team of foreign affairs personnel waited near the palace until Krian came out and caught him.
Krian's condition was not excessive, Hou Qinu agreed to it, and then sent the situation back to Chang'an.
Liu Xin didn’t pay much attention to the vast area of Kangju going further west to Daqin. After all, the Han Dynasty was not unified at that time. Even after Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were eliminated, it would take a long time to recuperate. Liu Xin’s ambition is still It has not expanded to the point of unifying the world.
It was not until the news of Putimius' purge of the foreign caravans came back that Liu Xin began to face this distant opponent squarely. At this time, Liu Xin suddenly discovered that there was a huge empire called Parthia to the west of Kangju. Such a big ignorance shouldn't be, but it's justified.
Liu Xin's attention at the time was mainly focused on the country, and at the farthest he wanted to restore the Western Regions Protectorate. If it weren't for helping Ban Thiouer, Liu Xin's eyes would not even reach those countries like Kangju for the time being. There was another important reason. At that time, the transmission of information was very lagging. No one had mentioned Parthia at all, and Liu Xin had no way of knowing its existence.
However, the existence of Parthia greatly reduced the possibility of a direct conflict between Dahan and Daqin, after all, the two were too far apart. However, the news from Hou Qinu shocked Liu Xin, and Putimius had already started to inquire about the big man's news. Putimius is a belligerent guy, he will never inquire about the situation of a big man for no reason.
Nevertheless, Liu Xin is not worried that Putimius has the ability to hit the big guy. Across thousands of mountains and rivers, let alone other things, logistical supplies alone are enough to bring down any powerful country. Historically, the Mongols were able to sweep across the Eurasian continent because of their unique combat methods that relieved the burden of logistics. On the other hand, the two fortresses built by Liu Xin at the Uzbeli Pass and the Tulugelt Pass are not decorations. The purpose of building these two fortresses was the safety of the western border of the Han Dynasty and the implementation of Liu Xin's defense against the country. Other strategies.
What Liu Xin is worried about is Kang Ju, because there are his women and children. If Putimius really wants to attack the big man, he will conquer Parthia first, and the next goal will be Kangju. Last year, Liu Xin promised that all the soldiers from the class had been put in place, and Liu Xin left five thousand elite soldiers, all of whom had been on the battlefield. In name, it was to train Kang Ju's army, but in fact, it was to protect the mother and son of Ban Thie.
After all, the journey from Chang'an to Kangju is long. The last time Liu Xin led a small-scale cavalry force to travel day and night, it also took about ten days. If it was a large-scale military transfer, the preparation time alone would be at least one or two months. . In case Putimius conquered or united Parthia, and then quickly advanced the army to Kangju, Liu Xin would be too late to deploy troops and rescue.
Therefore, after learning of Putimius’s attempt, Liu Xin immediately took countermeasures. The first thing he did was to strengthen the strength of the two fortresses, Uzbeli and Turugert, and the garrison. The number of people in each fortress increased from 5,000 to 10,000. In addition, large quantities of grain and grass were continuously transported to the two fortresses. The various military depots under the administration of the Western Regions Protectorate have also begun to be strengthened, and they must be able to take care of the passage of more than three legions.
Next, Liu Xin sent another 5,000 elite soldiers to Kang Ju, and another 50,000 soldiers were given to Ban Thiouer. After eliminating Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Liu Xin captured nearly a million soldiers. These soldiers were much worse than those used by the Han army, but for Kang Ju, they were all very sophisticated equipment. The Han army couldn’t use these things anyway, so Liu Xin used it as a personal gift to Ban Thie, and helped Kang Ju to arm an army of 100,000 people, hoping that they could stop Putimius’s first wave of attacks for the Han The reinforcements of the army gain time.
At the same time, Liu Xin did not forget the action to fight for the alliance. He dispatched a formal Dahan delegation led by Mr. Caihe, the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Etiquette, to Parthia, expressing Dahan’s goodwill on the one hand, and reminding them to guard against Daqin in the northwest. .
A month later, Cai He returned to Chang'an in embarrassment and told Liu Xin about his experience in Parthia.
It turned out that Parthia was also called the Anxi Empire, because it was located on the commercial artery between Dahan and Daqin, and gradually became a trading center, which was extremely powerful for a while. Parthia had had many wars with the Great Qin Empire in history, and was defeated more than 30 years ago. Even the capital Taixifeng on the Euphrates River was burned down. If it were not for the sudden outbreak of smallpox in the Great Qin Army, Forced to withdraw to Rome, Parthia faces the danger of subjugation.
But six years ago, after Vologis V came to the throne, he tried his best to reconcile Armenia by taking advantage of the civil war in the Great Qin Empire, and rebuilt the closed city of Taixi, and moved the capital back, posing a bloodbath. Shameful posture.
Originally, based on the tension between Parthia and Daqin, Liu Xin's olive branch should be exactly what Volojis wanted. It is a pity that Volojis was so dizzy by his own achievements that he flatly rejected Liu Xin's kindness, and arbitrarily proposed that Dahan pay tribute every year in the future, otherwise it would block the business route between Dahan and Daqin.
If in the past, Volojis made such a request would be tantamount to grabbing the weakness of the big man, but since Putimius cleaned up foreign caravans in order to prevent the massive loss of gold and silver, no foreign caravans have been willing anymore. Going to Daqin to do business, this trade route has existed in name only, and even the domestic commerce of Parthia has become increasingly depressed, but the proud Volojis has not noticed it.
However, Cai He also brought back a useful piece of news. Parthia's army was concentrated in the Taixifeng area, and it was impossible to threaten the big man in a short period of time. On the contrary, Liu Xin became more vigilant. Parthia was the barrier between Dahan and Kangju, Dawan and other northwestern countries that depended on Dahan. If this barrier was lost, they would directly face the threat of Daqin. According to Liu Xin's inference, it is difficult to fight Daqin with Parthian's national strength.
Sure enough, less than ten days after Cai He left Taisifeng, Putimius launched a war against Parthia and captured Mesopotamia, the northernmost province of Parthia, and then divided into two troops. Road, attacked Seleucia and Tasifon respectively along the Euphrates River. Seleucia is the northern important town of Parthia, and Taixifeng is the capital of Parthia. If these two cities are conquered by the Daqin people, it will be a huge blow to Parthia's military and people's hearts.
After receiving the news, Liu Xin immediately called the group of ministers to discuss.
Cai and the surrounding countries had received the most grand courtesy before, as this time, Volojis didn't put him in the eyes at all, and he was very angry. Because today is discussing the issue of Parthia, Cai He was also fortunate to attend the meeting, and Liu Xin asked him to be the first to speak.
After introducing the situation between Daqin and Parthia, Cai He handed his hands over and said: "Your Majesty, these two countries are arrogant and arrogant. If you want to ignore them, let them bite the dog."
Guo Jia got up and said: "Your Majesty Enlightenment, Parthian just wants me to pay tribute to Dahan, but Daqin wants to be against my Dahan. His lips are dead and his teeth are cold. The minister thinks that their affairs are not only to be taken care of, but they can be like helping Kangju. Help Parthia!"