Chapter 1208

Time flies like a white horse passing a crack, and in the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

In April, the frozen soil on the ground has quietly thawed, and the earth, where all things are reviving, is lush and green.

Along the Qin Sea, passing through the foot of the Tianshan Mountains and heading west, the two banks nourished by the Congling River are lush with water and grass.

The vast majority of the Western Region states are divided along the north and south lines.

And the ways of life on the north and south lines are also different.

On the northern line of the Western Regions, the Western Region states close to the foot of the Tianshan Mountains mostly live in the way of traveling nations, and their general way of life is similar to that of nomadic peoples like the Xiongnu.

While the way of life of the small states on the southern line of the Western Regions is closer to that of the Great Han.

They belong to walled nations, mostly having fixed places of residence, and are built and settled along the water sources.

Wusun, Shule, Shache, and Weili on the northern line all belong to traveling nations.

Every year after spring, they migrate to areas with abundant water and grass to graze, fish, and hunt for a living.

And then find wind-sheltered areas to avoid the cold winter after late autumn.

Of course, this is not absolute.

Because on the northern line of the Western Regions, there is a nation built along the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, relying on the Congling River to live here.

It is also the second largest nation in the Western Regions.

Qiuci.

It is noon, the sun is high, and a meeting is being held in the palace of Yancheng, the capital of Qiuci.

Compared to the palace of the Cheshi Kingdom, the palace in Yancheng can be called a real palace.

From the time the Western Han first discovered records of Qiuci, more than two hundred years have passed.

And before that, Qiuci had already been established for several hundred years.

As the second largest nation in the Western Regions, Qiuci has a population of over one hundred thousand and several cities.

Ban Gu recorded in the "Book of Han": Qiuci, the capital is Yancheng.

Its nation connects to Yanqi in the east, Gumo in the west, and Wusun in the north.

It has a population of over 80,000 and mercenary troops of over 20,000. It is the most powerful among the walled states in the Western Regions.

In 65 BC, the King of Qiuci and his wife came to the Great Han to pay tribute.

For the more than two hundred years since then, Qiuci has maintained contact with the Great Han on and off.

With the alternation of the throne of Qiuci, power has iterated, sometimes rebelling, sometimes returning.

When Ban Chao was stationed at the Western Regions Protectorate in Tuoqian City, he was once attacked by Qiuci's rebellion.

At this time, Qiuci King Bai Hui was sitting on a glass-plated gold throne.

The oval dome above his head was plated with a layer of peacock blue glass color.

On both sides of the throne, several young Qiuci beauties were wearing gauze clothes made of white silk, and in their hands were ceremonial vessels imitating the shape of the Great Han's cattail-leaf fans.

Bai Hui was wearing a red-gold intertwined branch pattern robe, and under the skirt on both sides were agate floor mats that hung to the ground.

Dozens of ministers with heads wrapped in turbans inlaid with various precious gems were lined up on both sides of the hall, which was covered with red carpets made of wool.

In front of them were small desks.

The corners of the desks on both sides were slightly curled, engraved with Sanskrit characters painted with gold lacquer.

Qiuci King Bai Hui, with a curled beard on his chin, was looking down at a sheepskin letter on the table in front of him.

The letter was sent by the Wusun Left General.

Last year, when the Liangzhou army entered Loulan and killed the general who collected taxes in Yutian, Wusun received the news that the Great Han was going to re-establish the Western Regions Protectorate.

Historically, the Western Regions Protectorate was always established within the territory of Qiuci.

Therefore, Wusun sent this news to Qiuci at the first opportunity.

The Western Regions Protectorate established by the Great Han was used to maintain the security of the Western Region states.

Therefore, they would collect some taxes from the Western Region states.

Qiuci was no exception.

But in recent years, after the Great Han and the Western Regions cut off contact, Wusun exercised the power of the Western Regions Protectorate and collected taxes from the various states.

But Qiuci alone never paid taxes to Wusun.

Because Qiuci was powerful enough.

As a walled nation, Qiuci had thick city walls, solid cities, and twenty thousand well-trained soldiers.

Wusun simply could not conquer Qiuci.

Therefore, the powerful Qiuci had always been independent of the Western Region states and did not pay any taxes to Wusun.

But if the Great Han re-established the Western Regions Protectorate, Qiuci would have to consider whether to pay taxes.

Therefore, Bai Hui was very clear about the intention of Wusun's letter.

It's just that at first, Bai Hui thought this matter did not need to be considered for the time being.

The Great Han had been weak for many years; even if they wanted to establish a Western Regions Protectorate, it would not be a matter of one or two days.

But Bai Hui did not expect that the speed of the Great Han would be so fast.

Just a few days ago, the Wusun Left General sent someone to deliver a letter.

Saying that the Great Han's army had already advanced, killed the King of Cheshi, and razed the Cheshi Kingdom to the ground.

At the same time, the envoys they sent to the Cheshi Kingdom were all beheaded by that Liangzhou Governor named Duan Yu.

And for the past half month, the Great Han's army had advanced all the way, conquering several small states in front.

The army was about to arrive at Qiuci.

For this reason, Bai Hui felt panicked.

The combat effectiveness of the Han army was not something Wusun could compare to.

Wusun was a nomadic people, good at fishing, hunting, and grazing, and most of their subordinates were cavalry.

Although they had many troops, they were not good at attacking cities.

It was precisely because of this reason that Qiuci had not feared Wusun for so many years.

But the Han Dynasty's army was different.

The Han Dynasty's army was best at attacking and defending cities.

Bai Hui clearly remembered how their clan sat on the throne of the Qiuci King.

Their clan was originally not a noble or royal family, but a great noble of Qiuci.