Mid-August.

While a seafaring craze was sweeping across the Han Dynasty, the four kingdoms of Cheshi, Jingjue, Xiaowan, and Qiemo were not so comfortable.

Zhang Li's envoys have arrived in the four countries to discuss war reparations.

Faced with a series of conditions proposed by the Han Dynasty, including reparations, ransom, and the offering of beautiful women, the three kingdoms of Xiaowan, Jingjue, and Qiemo all agreed without hesitation. After all, their kings were in the hands of the Han army, and they had no choice but to agree.

On the contrary, the negotiations on the rear chariot side have reached a stalemate.

Inside the palace of the Later Cheshi king, King Tijin sat on his throne, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the arrogant Han envoy below the steps.

It's no wonder the King of Cheshi was so annoyed. When he learned that the Han envoy had arrived, he was prepared to be reprimanded and have to pay compensation.

But to everyone's surprise, as soon as the Han envoy entered the palace, he not only demanded a huge indemnity of 2 billion coins from Cheshi and the offering of a thousand beautiful women, but also directly demanded that the king himself bind his hands and go to the Han army to apologize.

He could tolerate the death of his son, he could tolerate paying compensation, he could even tolerate being offered a beautiful woman, but asking him to go and apologize was definitely out of the question, because he dared not go.

The nobles and ministers of the Cheshi Kingdom stood on both sides, each with a different expression, seemingly lost in thought.

"Has Your Majesty made up your mind?"

Meeting the gaze of the King of Cheshi, the Han envoy asked calmly.

King Cheshi said with a grim face, “Your army’s conditions are too harsh. Please forgive me, but I cannot agree to them.”

"Oh?" The Han envoy chuckled lightly. "In that case, there's nothing more to say. Farewell!"

After saying this, the Han envoy turned and walked out of the palace.

"Hold on, Han envoy!"

Just as the Han envoy was about to leave the main hall, the Chancellor of Cheshi suddenly called him back and then bowed to Ti Jin.

"Your Majesty, we currently have over ten thousand able-bodied men in the hands of the Han army. If we do not redeem them as soon as possible, and they are executed by the Han, our country will suffer a great loss."

Ti Jin was furious: "What? Does the Prime Minister want me to agree to their conditions? Do you want me to be killed by the Han army and then take my place?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not..."

The prime minister trembled with fright and knelt on the ground with a thud. He then explained, "Your Majesty, as you know, the Han Dynasty has always valued winning people over with virtue and not harming envoys. They only asked you to come and apologize to save face; they certainly wouldn't harm your life..."

"Haha~, the Prime Minister is indeed insightful. Our Great Han Dynasty, a dignified and superior nation, would naturally not do such a despicable thing. Of course, for those who are unwilling to submit, we should also ask our 300,000 soldiers of the Great Han Dynasty whether they agree."

The Prime Minister's words caused the Han envoy standing at the palace gate to burst into laughter.

The Han envoy's laughter was quite unrestrained, but none of the nobles and ministers of the Later Cheshi, including Ti Jin, dared to rebuke him.

The prime minister, who was kneeling on the ground, hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the Han Dynasty is our suzerain state. It is not beneath your dignity for you to go there in person."

"Yes, Your Majesty, for the sake of our people and soldiers, please agree."

"Please grant my request, Your Majesty."

Upon hearing that the Han Dynasty had actually sent an army of 300,000 to the Western Regions, the nobles and officials, who had previously harbored differing opinions, all agreed to demand that Ti Jin go to the Han army camp to apologize.

"You...you guys?"

Looking at the group of noble officials under his command, Tijin felt utterly despondent.

Now that Ti Jin's 20,000 elite troops have been defeated and captured by the Han army, and the remaining 40,000 troops in the country are all in the hands of these nobles, he has no choice but to agree.

Soon, Tijin, in his capacity as king, wrote a letter of surrender, agreeing to pay the Han Dynasty two billion in war reparations, offer a thousand beautiful women, and redeem the more than twelve thousand prisoners for fifty thousand coins each.

Such a high war reparations were certainly not something that either Tijin or the noble officials would be willing to pay out of their own pockets, so they could only rely on the people of Cheshi to help them.

So the soldiers of the Later Cheshi began to storm into the homes of the people in droves to collect taxes.

In a short time, the wealth of almost all the people of Houcheshi was looted by those greedy nobles and officials. Families with daughters were also forcibly taken away. The whole country was filled with resentment, and the people were full of complaints about their king and nobles.

The Han envoy who came to Cheshi also sneered repeatedly at the situation there.

Four days later, having raised the reparations, ransom, and beautiful women, Ti Jin, amidst the farewells of a group of nobles, followed the Han envoy toward Shanshan.

At this time, news of the Han army's defeat of the four-nation coalition had spread throughout the Western Regions. Kucha and Yudian hurriedly released the detained Imperial Guards and sent envoys with tribute and beautiful women to apologize and make peace.

August 20th.

After a long journey, Ti Jin followed the Han envoy to the Kingdom of Shanshan.

At this time, with the help of the Han army and 300,000 able-bodied men, Shanshan not only restored its former peace, but its city walls were also much more magnificent than before.

The streets and newly built houses in the city were also built in the style of the inner prefectures of the Han Dynasty, revealing the style of the Han Dynasty everywhere.

The 250,000 able-bodied men who accompanied the group also stayed behind as the first group of immigrants to the Western Regions. Under the organization of the officials, they worked together with the people of Shanshan to cultivate the oases and the land along the rivers within Shanshan.

Upon entering the city, one can see soldiers of the prefecture and state clad in iron armor patrolling the city to maintain local security.

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