Judging from the confessions, these people are indeed a mixed bunch, with people from all over the place. The Cheshi Kingdom and Huhu Kingdom that Lu Xuan mentioned earlier are both on the list, and there are even some like the Jie Kingdom.
To be honest, he had never heard of the names of these countries. He felt that the Western Regions were just like this land, a mess.
But there are only so many oases and so much water and grass here, so how come there are so many countries? Could it be that a king is actually equivalent to a village chief?
Liu Tan continued to read while complaining in his mind. What he saw was no different from what they had guessed or what Lu Xuan had heard before. These people were indeed after Liu Tan's money.
Liu Tan felt that these people were really not very smart. It was true that there were a lot of gold, silver and treasures in their caravan before they came to the Great Wusun, but those were all Danyang's dowry.
Now they are setting off to go back, and what they have with them are mostly baggage for people and horses, but not that much treasure. What purpose does their robbing now serve except to anger the Han people?
Liu Tan was complaining as he watched, but his expression became increasingly serious as he read the later parts.
After taking a closer look, he looked up and said, "Come here, please ask Captain Huo to come over."
When Huo Guang came in, he asked, "Your Highness, why are you looking for me so urgently?"
Liu Tan handed him the confessions and said, "Take a look."
Huo Guang took it and read it, then laughed in anger, saying, "The Xiongnu are indeed ambitious and wicked. They have come up with such a vicious plan."
Huo Guang had thought of many possibilities before, but he never thought that it was actually done by the Left Grand Commandant.
No, maybe it can't be considered that he did it. He just instigated Wu Shilu to put pressure on the surrounding small countries and left enough traces, trying to use Liu Tan's death to anger Liu Che. By then, Liu Che and Wu Shilu would definitely fight to the death.
Yes, it was not a robbery or a kidnapping threat. From the very beginning, Captain Zuo had already deployed people to ensure that once the defense was broken through, or in other words, once Liu Tan was captured, he could be killed directly.
And Wu Shilu naturally has his own ideas.
His target was not Liu Tan. Although he was crazy, he was not completely crazy. Every time he sent people to rob the Han people, he could control himself to a level that would make the Han people angry but able to endure it, and tried not to provoke the Han people to the point of sending troops to attack.
Therefore, Wu Shilu's target is not Liu Tan, but Lu Xuan!
Compared with other countries, the Wusun people had a weak foundation, but they had enough wealth, women, cattle and sheep, making them an easy target.
Wu Shilu knew that there would be a war between the Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty sooner or later. Before this war, he had to strengthen the Xiongnu as much as possible and at the same time secure his position as the Chanyu.
Like Lu Xuan, he also succeeded to the throne at a young age, but he was older than Lu Xuan, and the difficulties he faced were much smaller than Lu Xuan's.
Wu Shilu had his own ambitions. He wanted to unify the Western Regions, and Xiao Wusun was the first step.
Huo Guang calmed down after a moment of anger, looked up at Liu Tan and said, "Should we show this part to Little Kunmi?"
Liu Tan watched as Huo Guang divided the confession into two parts, one part was the plot of the Left Grand Commandant, and the other part was the plot of Wu Shilu.
Jiang Chong may have realized something, so when he wrote his confession, he divided it into two parts very accurately. If you only look at one of them, you won’t notice that there are two parts.
Liu Tan suddenly said, "I wonder what happened to those prisoners. Does Lu Xuan have any other prisoners?"
Huo Guang immediately understood Liu Tan's meaning: "These prisoners are no longer useful and there's no need to keep them. As for the little Kunmi...if he asks about it, just say Jiang Chong didn't get any information."
Liu Tan: ...
You're very good at passing the buck.
Huo Guang felt no pressure at all to shift the blame to Jiang Chong. Jiang Chong had never done this job before anyway. What's more, what did the misunderstanding about Jiang Chong have to do with him, Huo Guang?
Liu Tan accepted Huo Guang's proposal, but he still felt guilty about deceiving the simple minority leader.
After thinking about it, he simply sent Miao Rui to ask the medicine boy whether the Ruyi Golden Powder had been given to the people of Xiao Wusun.
After receiving the answer before he could even start, Liu Tan asked the medicine boy to prepare some extra medicine while ensuring that it was enough for his own use. Then he went to see Lu Xuan with the medicine.
Lu Xuan's eyes lit up when he saw him, and he asked with great concern, "Are you done?"
Liu Tan didn't rush into the main topic. Instead, he observed him carefully before asking, "You've been busy until now? Why don't you take a break?"
Lu Xuan was momentarily stunned. He wasn't awake because he didn't want to, but because he was in so much pain. But could he tell Liu Tan about such an embarrassing thing? Of course not!
So he could only smile and change the subject: "Ah Tan came here suddenly, so you must have something to discuss with me, right?"
Liu Tan suddenly felt guilty for some reason. He could hear such an ordinary sentence as an accusation against the scumbag.
But when he thought about it, he went about doing other things after Lu Xuan woke up and rarely came to see him. This time he came because he had something to discuss with him, which seemed a bit scumbag.
Liu Tan coughed lightly and said, "I'm here for two reasons. The first is that my staff has just formulated a new medicine. It's quite effective in reducing swelling and inhibiting ulcers. Someone under my staff has tested it and is now certain that the formula is stable. I've brought some over for you to try first, but I'm not sure if you can adapt to it."
Liu Tan originally wanted to say that some people might be allergic, but after thinking for a long time, he still didn't know how to use current words to explain this concept. If he used the original words, he would probably have to explain biology again, but of course the key point is that he couldn't explain it.
In the end, he could only put this aside.
Lu Xuan perked up after hearing this. He actually already knew that Liu Tan had developed a new ointment, and it seemed to be quite effective.
He was also thinking about how to bring it up with Liu Tan. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, but mainly because even though both sides were not too wary of each other, Lu Xuan felt that if he brought it up before Liu Tan, it would be as if he was monitoring the other party's actions. Once this misunderstanding was formed, it would be difficult to resolve.
Now, before he could say anything, Liu Tan had already delivered the medicine to his door. Lu Xuan was so excited that he almost wanted to stand up and hug Liu Tan and spin around.
It’s just that the wound on his back reminds him not to be reckless, because if he dares to be reckless, he will be broken.
In the end, Lu Xuan could only sit there obediently, expressing his gratitude while thinking about what gift he could give to match the value of the medicine.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that an ounce of ointment like this is worth an ounce of gold, but it doesn't seem appropriate to give gold directly as a gift. Otherwise... give a horse?
He remembered that the Han people seemed to like the Ferghana horses very much. He didn't have purebred Ferghana horses here, but he had the offspring of Ferghana horses mixed with their native horses, which were also very majestic horses. The only thing that was a problem was that the horse and his Abu seemed to like each other very much.
He was thinking about something but that didn't stop him from chatting with Liu Tan. He asked again, "What's the other thing?"
Liu Tan said, "The second thing... I don't need to explain it to you. You'll understand after reading this."
Liu Tan took out a stack of papers. Lu Xuan had some guesses in his mind when he saw the rough papers.
Liu Tan used the newest kind of paper that was as smooth as satin. This rough paper must have been sent to him by his subordinates for recording. He recalled that someone reported that the Han people had captured several prisoners and were interrogating them. He heard that the prisoners were screaming very miserably, so he thought that the results should be out.
Lu Xuan smiled bitterly and said, "I have the results here as well, but I have to tell you orally."
Regardless of the Big Wusun or the Small Wusun, they all share the same origin. The Big Wusun has no written language, and neither does the Small Wusun.
The only writing Lu Xuan knew was Chinese, but just because he knew it didn't mean his subordinates could, so he had planned to write down what they had said and show it to Liu Tan. However, before he could do so, Liu Tan sent him his own confession.
Liu Tan was very calm: "Just read it first, and then tell me if there's any difference. I think the confession they gave to you might be different from the one they gave to me."
Of course it’s different, he still has some of it left.
However, the fact that he said it so frankly made people believe that all the confessions were here.
Lu Xuan lowered his head and read for a long time without saying anything. Liu Tan initially thought that Jiang Chong's writing was too brief and he needed a little understanding, so he was prepared to act as a translator.
After all, the Han people's daily language was very different from their written language. Sometimes, in order to save paper, written language would be very concise, so it was normal for Lu Xuan not to understand.
But he was afraid that it would be bad if he took the initiative to speak. He carefully observed Lu Xuan for a long time and found that the other party's expression was always calm, so calm that it was creepy.
Liu Tan didn't know how to describe the feeling. They were clearly the same person, and he had seen Lu Xuan expressionless before, but now he felt that if he gave Lu Xuan a knife, he would probably kill people until blood flowed like a river.
After a long while, Lu Xuan looked up at Liu Tan and said, "So it's me who's holding you back. In that case... I... I don't think we need to wait for the Han officers to arrive. I'll send someone to escort you through the customs immediately."
Liu Tan was stunned. He didn't expect that Lu Xuan was thinking about this for such a long time with his head down.
He immediately said, "That's not necessary. Father has already sent people to support us. Besides... am I the kind of person who would act like nothing happened after suffering a loss?"
Lu Xuan shook his head. "The Xiongnu are eyeing me covetously. No, not just the Xiongnu, but every single one of them has been plotting this for a long time. If you...if you continue to stay here, I'm afraid you'll only become a burden."
Lu Xuan knew in his heart that the little Wusun could not hold out for long because he was short of men, both capable fighters and advisers.
With him, no matter how talented he was, he would find many shortcomings after a trip to the Han Dynasty, and he didn't know how far he had come.
Liu Tan's feeling just now was correct. At that moment, Lu Xuan was really suppressing the anger in his heart. He had been enduring the invasions from neighboring countries over the years, thinking that he should first stabilize the people so that he could develop.
He knew it was difficult, but he still wanted to try. As expected, no one was willing to give him a chance to develop.
Sometimes Lu Xuan felt that his father was too impulsive.
After hearing what Lu Xuan said, Liu Tan thought to himself, I'm not afraid of being a burden.
He said decisively, "No, I can't swallow this anger. You know, if I take a step back, the more I think about it, the more I will suffer. My father didn't send 5,000 people here just to make me swallow my anger. If you don't mind, we can join forces. Even if we don't confront the Xiongnu directly, we should kill the chicken to scare the monkey."
Liu Tan's words were full of murderous intent, but of course, coupled with his gentle-looking face, he looked very funny.
Lu Xuan, who had been feeling somewhat discouraged, couldn't help but perk up when he saw him like this. He smiled and said, "Okay, if that's the case, I'll have someone bring the map over, and we'll..."
"Stop..." Liu Tan quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, don't tell me, I'm the one who's talking tough, the real fighting is happening somewhere else!"
Lu Xuan was at a loss for words: "Then you should take a look too."
Liu Tanxin said, forget it, I know my own capabilities too well. If you ask me to do these things, either I will sit there and listen to nonsense, or I will make up nonsense and deceive people. Forget it, logistics is my strong point.
In fact, Liu Tan felt that logistics was not his strong point. The only thing he was suitable to do was to write a letter to Liu Che and prepare rewards after the war.
After reaching a preliminary cooperation intention, Liu Tan asked Lu Xuan to rest more and prepared to go back to discuss with Huo Guang and Jiang Chong. Oh, forget about Jiang Chong, let him have a good sleep first.
However, Huo Guang frowned when he learned of Liu Tan's intentions and said, "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Your Highness is being a little hasty."
Liu Tan looked at him expressionlessly: "Choose between Li Guangli and Lu Xuan."
Huo Guang: ...
"I will go and look at the map."
Liu Tan: What a sin! An elite civil official has been forced to become a military commander!
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