Chapter 213: Hiding Troops in the Western Regions

Reguli.

And the Loulan soldiers.

At this moment, they sat blankly on the ground, pairs of eyes staring at the few vultures being roasted over the campfire, each of them lost in deep thought.

On each vulture, there was a letter of distress!

"Ghost City has fallen, Cheshi is in danger!"

"Begging the Qiuci Governor to send troops to rescue us immediately!"

These people were instantly dazed.

Ghost City, fallen? The Ghost Army, defeated?

Was that Protector of the State truly sent by the Lord to deal with the ghosts? None of them could believe this fact, yet these letters of distress could not possibly be fake.

Do you feel the gap?

Do you feel the humiliation?

The Protector of the State's Yinzhou army easily took down the Ghost Army, but what about us? A mere Qiuci has dealt us a heavy blow; it is chilling!

"Trash, a bunch of trash! Stop eating, set off at once and rendezvous with the Protector of the State!"

Reguli almost roared it out.

At this, those flashy Loulan generals dared not refute a word; although they were reluctant to part with the vulture meat, they still sluggishly reorganized the troops. On the road!

Only by following the Protector of the State is there meat to eat!

In Liu Zheng's eyes, a light of wisdom flickered at this moment: "If the world is about to fall into chaos, we must take precautions. Father's title has never entered the ranks of the nobility; no matter how strong Yinzhou becomes, I fear it will become a target for all when the time comes."

The crowd was slightly startled.

Liu Dahao's eyes also flickered.

Indeed.

In this era, if you want to contend for the world, you truly need some status. For a commoner to start from scratch is truly too difficult. Either you are a Feudatory King or a Noble; only then do you have the right to lead troops into battle. This is reality!

What County Marquis, State Marquis—these unranked titles were originally created by the Longyan Dynasty to rake in money. Just like the "Assistant Official" of before, you could have one by donating money.

In Longyan, the recognized "proper" titles are still Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron.

Poor Liu Dahao does not even have a Baron title now, so when Liu Zheng says he is unranked, it is not an insult, but reality.

Although he currently holds the position of Western Regions Commissioner, it is still somewhat presentable.

However...

What Liu Zheng worries about is that once he levels the Western Regions, he will be stripped of his military power upon returning; where would he go to reason?

Qingyang Shuo instantly grasped the meaning behind Liu Zheng's words and took a deep breath: "Is the Young Master planning to hide troops in the Western Regions?"

Liu Zheng laughed aloud: "The Master knows me well! Therefore, what Zheng wants is an empty city! Not just an empty city, Zheng wants to build a city out of thin air!"

He pointed at the Western Regions desert, his spirit soaring: "The vast Western Regions, with its wide land and sparse population—is this not the perfect place for us to hide troops in Yinzhou?"

Liu Dahao asked curiously: "Son, how to hide troops?"

The crowd was also very puzzled.

Since ancient times, there have been many Western Regions Protectorates, but to be honest, who is willing to come to this godforsaken place? The soldiers don't want to come either! It has always been those who were exiled who would come to such remote places, serving in the army to atone for their crimes in hopes of regaining their status as free citizens.

But did Liu Zheng mean he wanted to hide hundreds of thousands of troops?

How is this possible?

Liu Zheng smiled: "Then let's take Cheshi first and talk about it!"

There was no time to lose; with an order given.

The Yinzhou army commanded by Qin Zhangfeng had already launched an all-out attack on Cheshi. With Liu Zheng's order, the Yinzhou army did not care whether it was soldiers defending the city or commoners defending the city; it was a completely indiscriminate attack.

Does it matter what they are?

As long as they are hostile, they are the enemy!

Jiao Zhe wanted to use the commoners to drag down the Yinzhou army, but this idea was completely wrong. The so-called "benevolence does not command troops"; Liu Zheng was never one to be constrained by such things.

He had spoken of this principle before.

To occupy a place, to "colonize" a place, there are three methods: one is to kill everyone in that place, one is to support a puppet government, and the other is for the monarch to personally reside and manage it.

Therefore.

To truly take Cheshi, one must either kill them all or make them all run away!

With mere Cheshi left with only thirty thousand troops, what does Liu Zheng need a puppet for? He and Liu Dahao cannot live here forever, so there is only the first method.

"Kill!"

"Keep charging!"

The one hundred and fifty thousand-strong army began wave after wave of charges and sieges.

Jiao Zhe was stunned.

"Is Longyan not known as a benevolent and righteous army? Why do they disregard the lives of the commoners!"

"Bastards!"

"A bunch of unreasonable fellows!"

He was about to vomit blood.

How could they not play by the rules!

He had to denounce them and let people know of the "evil deeds" of this Longyan army! However, that would require him to stay alive.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, we cannot hold them off!"

"The city gate has been broken..."

"Their offensive is too fierce!"

The city gates of Cheshi were never grand or sturdy to begin with, and with no natural defenses to hold, how could they withstand such an assault from the Yinzhou army? Not only the commoners, but even the soldiers of Cheshi could no longer resist; they fled in terror, and corpses littered the city walls and the streets within.

"Your Majesty, run quickly! As long as the green hills remain, there is no need to worry about firewood!"

"Your Majesty! The West Gate is safe!"

Several generals, regardless of whether Jiao Zhe agreed or gave him time to consider, thought: with Cheshi gone, where would there be green hills, and where would there be firewood? They hoisted Jiao Zhe up and ran toward the west of the city. No matter how Jiao Zhe resisted, it was useless at this point—you are already a Governor of Cheshi, not a king anymore, so who cares about you?

We just want to survive!

When the soldiers saw that these big shots were running, they thought, we run too!

When the commoners saw that the soldiers were running, they thought, what the hell are we defending for? Run!

Thus, after two hours of continuous fierce attacks by the Yinzhou army, Cheshi finally collapsed.

Attacking one side while leaving three open allowed these people to have their escape direction and route planned from the very beginning. They were just waiting for a turning point—the city was broken, it was time to run.

With a blast of a horn, the Yinzhou army charged into Cheshi in full force and began the harvest of the remaining Cheshi troops.

The entire army was victorious, cheering incessantly.

The Yinzhou army had been marching for a month and could finally get some good rest. Taking Cheshi meant they had taken the first stop in the Western Regions; from now on, whether it was personnel reorganization, equipment supply, or grain transport, they had a transit hub.

Liu Zheng, Liu Dahao, and the others also rode their horses slowly into the city.

"Huh? This Cheshi, is this it?"

Liu Dahao's face fell the moment he saw the state of Cheshi city. It was just dirt everywhere as far as the eye could see, without even a decent building; wasn't this about the same as what Yinzhou looked like when he first arrived?

Liu Zheng chuckled and said, "The Western Regions were all nomadic tribes; it was only after being ruled by Xie Lao'er that they began farming. After thirty-some years, seeing initial results is actually quite an achievement."

The group walked around. The unique climate and environment of the Western Regions meant that it only produced grapes, cotton, and dried fruits, but Liu Zheng knew that this land was hiding treasures...

"This palace of the King of Cheshi is not bad!"

Liu Dahao became excited the moment he saw the golden palace.

Liu Zheng immediately ordered the entire army to station in Cheshi for rest and reorganization. The commoners who had not yet left the city were all detained to serve as slaves—this was also the custom of this era. At this time, the hearts of the people in Cheshi were filled with panic, and Liu Zheng did not want any Night Walkers or the like to appear to assassinate them.

In the evening, they could finally have a proper meal.

The group gathered together, drinking and toasting, in high spirits.

Qingyang Shuo still asked curiously, "Young Master, the strategy of hiding troops mentioned today..."

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "This matter is actually not hard to understand. What I want is an empty city! This city of Cheshi will be built by our 150,000 Yinzhou troops!"

The few people looked at each other in dismay.

Liu Zheng continued, "Create a Western Regions Construction Corps, and take root here under the identity of a Militia!"

Western Regions Construction Corps?

The group was confused again.

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "That's right, the Western Regions Construction Corps is a 'quasi-military entity' that can have its own administrative organs and government offices to manage internal administration and judicial affairs. Yinzhou will entrust the Corps with the responsibility of reclaiming land and guarding the borders."

He left everyone stunned with his explanation.

Liu Zheng scratched his head and thought for a moment, then said, "You can also understand it as a company that integrates military, administrative, farming, reclamation, construction, border defense, and so on and so forth!"

A company!

Liu Zheng had already explained this concept before, so when these people heard it, they understood.

Qingyang Shuo said with a hint of excitement, "Handing over the governance to the Corps, and letting them be responsible for their own profits and losses?"

Liu Zheng nodded with a smile: "That's right, and the Western Regions Construction Corps will be exempt from taxes for the first one hundred years!"

The entire room was in an uproar.

The military generals present also had eyes shining, eager to move.

The Western Regions were a treasure land, and as history developed, its strategic position would become increasingly important. In fact, since ancient times, the Han, Sui, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties had all tried every possible way to hold onto this place, but unfortunately, they either only sent officials or only sent troops to complete border defense missions...

Very few actually participated in construction.

Therefore, this treasure land of the Western Regions was lost again and again, and fought over repeatedly.

Since that is the case, why not just establish a Construction Corps and truly build up the Western Regions!

Although the Western Regions looked barren, Liu Zheng could delegate power to the Corps! You can do whatever you want; once a place is governed well, it is all yours, and you can split the money you earn! As long as you accept our management from Yinzhou.

In this way, it would surely make those who were unwilling to come full of enthusiasm.

Who wouldn't want to open up a homeland of their own?

For those who couldn't survive in the Longyan Dynasty with its harsh taxes and levies, who wouldn't want to come here and try their luck? In this way, wouldn't the scale of this Construction Corps snowball and become unstoppable?

Qingyang Shuo took a deep breath: "By then, the imperial court would not know how many troops are hidden in the Western Regions, and if the world were to fall into chaos..."

Liu Zheng laughed heartily: "With a wave of my hand, the sword points to Zhongyuan!"

"Young Master is truly talented!"

The crowd rose with a roar.