Chapter 2300 Decision
General Ashina also felt that General Guo was being too extravagant and frivolous, but he said nothing. He simply said to his deputy, "Reinforce the soldiers and train them rigorously over the next few days. We will be marching to Kucha soon."
The deputy agreed and asked, "An old noble from Gaochang is visiting..."
"All rejected," General Ashina said nonchalantly, "Unless it's military business, I won't see anyone else who comes."
Because General Guo loves luxury, the local nobles like him very much. In fact, if you think about it carefully, the local people in Xizhou also like General Guo very much.
Although he lived an extravagant life, he seldom demanded money or food from them. Instead, he would seize spoils of war or ask passing merchants for some fine artifacts and novelties, calling it escorting a caravan.
He did not take money from the local people and was able to maintain local public order, so he was naturally loved. It was only after Liu Huan and others came here that the local people in Xizhou began to laugh at General Guo.
In the past, although everyone vaguely felt that he was extravagant, they didn't think it was a big deal and thought that all the nobles in the Central Plains were like that.
After all, their royal family was also very extravagant in the past, wasn’t it?
Because of this, General Ashina did not want to comment too much on General Guo's words and deeds. He only came to conquer Qiuci and would leave after the battle. However, this place still needed General Guo to manage it.
He thought that no one would bother him after this order was issued, but the next day someone came to report, "General, there is someone outside who wants to see you."
General Ashina frowned slightly, "Who is it?"
The guard presented a note and said, "This is an envoy sent by the emperor to the Western Regions to find a cure for cowpox."
General Ashina took the note, flipped it open, and asked, "Why are they here to see me? I'm only on a campaign, not managing local affairs. They should be contacting the Protectorate."
The guard said, "General, among the delegation is Princess Mingda's future consort."
General Ashina retrieved the note he had just dropped, glanced at it again, and asked, "I remember the head of the delegation was the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital?"
"Yes, I heard that she was the first to contribute to the treatment of smallpox, and that it was she who cured the Crown Prince's illness."
General Ashina then said, "Please let them in."
After a pause, he felt that it was not appropriate to meet the guest here, and said, "Please go to the lobby."
The personal guards went.
Mr. Zhuang and General Nie did not come, so the six of them were asked to bring a box of tea themselves.
In terms of public status, Zhou Man's identity is sufficient; in terms of private status, Bai Cheng's identity is just right, and it would be inappropriate for him to come as well.
So there were only six people standing in the lobby.
General Ashina was also surprised when he came out. Except for Zhou Liru, no one's identity was simple.
Especially Liu Huan.
Now they need money and food from the Ministry of Revenue to fight the war. According to conservative estimates, the war will last until the end of this year or next year, and a lot of food and grass will be needed.
I remember the document I received last time. It said the Ministry of Revenue was crying poor. There was a smallpox epidemic at the beginning of this year, and there was a flood in Jinzhong in June and July. The Ministry of Revenue had to pay out some money. In addition, the areas north of Xiazhou were basically asking for food this year, but they could not pay a penny to the national tax. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue was in a difficult situation this year.
General Ashina knew that if Kucha had not gone too far this year and colluded with the Western Turks to cut off the trade routes, Your Majesty would not have wanted to invade Kucha.
After all, last autumn, Dajin and Kucha were still in love, exchanging documents and gifts. At that time, the King of Kucha generously invited General Guo to set up his Protectorate in Kucha, showing his loyalty and wanting to turn the vassal state into a vassal state. Who would have thought that just one year later, smallpox broke out in Xiazhou, and Kucha turned its back on them?
Thinking of these important relationships, General Ashina smiled at Liu Huan and also gave Zhou Man, Bai Erlang and the others a friendly smile. After asking them to excuse themselves, he gently said, "Please take a seat."
He looked at them and thought they were all young, only two or three years older than his son. So he became even more friendly. "How long have you been in the Western Regions? Has your journey been safe? Are you used to it here?"
Finally, he asked about their mission, "Is there any news about the cowpox?"
Seeing how friendly he was, Manbao felt relieved and answered all his questions one by one, especially highlighting the two times they encountered horse bandits and one time encountered Tibetan soldiers on their way here, which resulted in heavy casualties.
Finally, I mentioned the idea of returning together.
General Ashina didn't expect that they had already thought about returning to the capital, and he couldn't help laughing, thinking that they were still children.
Fighting a war is not that simple. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, let alone something so far in the future? He himself doesn't know when the war will end.
Therefore, he smiled and said, "The trade route to Yumen Pass is now open. When we came here, all the bandits on the road were wiped out by the imperial army. From Liangzhou to Suzhou, and then to Yumen Pass, even the desert connecting Yumen Pass to this side was traversed three times by General Guo and his men. You have soldiers to protect you, and if you raise the banner of the Great Jin, I believe they will not dare to challenge you again no matter how bold they are."
Bai Shan mentioned Jin Kuian, who had caused them heavy losses. "I heard he has considerable influence in the Western Regions, and he now serves General Guo. If he intends to harm us when we return, I'm afraid he will succeed in this vast desert."
Although this was a blatant complaint, General Ashina did not dislike it. Instead, he was somewhat dissatisfied with General Guo. He frowned and said, "Why would General Guo employ such a vicious person?"
Bai Shan said: "Perhaps because of his bravery, this man can fight ten people at once, very powerful."
General Ashina sighed, thought for a moment, and then said, "If you wish to return now, I will send a small force to escort you. General Guo will know about this and will control his subordinates. You can rest assured."
He looked at the young men and smiled slightly. "If you want to stay longer and return with me, you'll probably have to wait a long time. It snows here after September, and by October and November, it'll be very heavy. It won't be easy for you to leave the grassland again. You'll have to wait until next year, so you should think carefully about it."
Manbao and Baishan looked at each other.
The two said, "We have to go back and ask the delegation."
We should listen to the opinions of the delegation.
Lieutenant General Nie said, "Since Lord Zhou says vaccination is worth a try, why don't we try it here before leaving? If we find anything wrong, we can continue to investigate. But if we discover something wrong after returning to the capital, we can't possibly travel all the way to the Western Regions again, right?"
Wei Xingren and the others thought so too.
Their goal this time was the vaccination method. If this method worked, they would achieve great success after returning. Now Zhou Man and his team had only found out some steps, but the specific recipe was still unknown, let alone confirmed. If they went back like this, they would probably achieve nothing and even be guilty.
But we still have to listen to Zhou Man on this matter.
Coincidentally, Manbao thought the same thing, so he said, "It seems we should go find General Guo and discuss this cowpox experiment."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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