Deyang Palace.
Since returning to the capital, Liu Hong has been keeping a close eye on the situation in the Western Regions.
Xun You also sent Liu Hong a secret letter with his overall plan to control Shanshan.
This included using a four-nation coalition to eliminate Shanshan, thereby achieving complete control over Shanshan, and ultimately using Shanshan as an outpost to create a military deterrent against the other states in the Western Regions.
At the same time, he won over the nobles of the various kingdoms in the Western Regions, and instigated internal strife and friction and disputes between them, in preparation for the future annexation of the Western Regions.
"Zhicai, what do you think of Gongda's plan?"
As he spoke, Liu Hong handed Xun You's secret letter to Xi Zhicai, who was standing to the side.
After reading the secret letter, Xi Zhicai laughed and said, "Gongda's talent is indeed extraordinary. I think this plan is feasible. Like Shanshan, the rule of the Western Regions countries relies on the nobles, and there are not many kings who truly hold power. The Han Dynasty can completely take advantage of the situation."
Liu Hong nodded: "The Military and Political Affairs Department should also send more personnel to the Western Regions to strengthen the ideological education of the soldiers stationed there, and through the soldiers, increase the recognition of the Han Dynasty among the people of the Western Regions."
"Yes!" Xi Zhicai nodded.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Hong and Xi Zhicai discussed Xun You's plan to sow discord and divide the country.
Subsequently, Liu Hong personally wrote a secret letter to Cheng Yu, who was heading to the Western Regions, instructing him to quickly ascertain the situation of the various kingdoms in the Western Regions.
Immediately afterwards, the Ministry of Personnel also received Liu Hong's orders to draft four imperial edicts of investiture.
These four edicts reprimanded the kings of the four kingdoms of Cheshi, Xiaowan, Jingjue, and Qiemo who had sent troops to attack Shanshan, and removed them from their kingships, appointing a nobleman to temporarily replace them.
If the nobles of those four kingdoms accept the edict, then those four kingdoms will fall into civil war. If they do not accept it, then the Han Dynasty will have a suitable reason to send troops to attack them.
Chu Qian received Liu Hong's order to begin selecting personnel from the Foreign Affairs Department to prepare for a mission to the Western Regions.
Soon, a dozen fast horses and several envoy teams also left Luoyang and headed towards the Western Regions.
Meanwhile, two days have passed since Shanshan fell, and the entire capital is gripped by fear.
The once magnificent palace was now filled with a foul stench of blood, and corpses lay everywhere in pools of blood.
The allied soldiers, who had spent a year there, also thoroughly searched every corner of the palace. Whenever they found something, they would swarm it and sometimes even fight it out.
The nobles and leaders in the allied forces tried to restrain and confiscate the goods, but with little success, and it even almost triggered a mutiny.
Faced with the countless riches and jewels in the Shanshan royal palace, the allied soldiers had completely lost their minds.
I fought so hard to come out and fight, wasn't it all for this money? How could you possibly confiscate it?
At this moment, all they could see were money and jewels; they didn't even bother to look at the trembling women inside the palace.
Now is the time to make money, who has the mind to think about women? As long as you have money, what kind of woman can't you find?
The leaders of the four kingdoms were helpless against the soldiers who had already lost control. They could only continue to plunder while sending people to inquire about the Han army's whereabouts.
When the leaders of the four kingdoms first received news of the Han army's advance, they were terrified. However, when they learned that the Han army was moving slowly, they could not help but relax their vigilance.
He then ordered all soldiers to hurry and search for valuables, and then leave the place before the Han army arrived.
The next day, the Shanshan Royal Palace was completely looted by the frenzied allied soldiers.
Immediately afterwards, the soldiers rushed out of the palace and then stormed into the homes of the nobles and officials of Shanshan.
After looting nobles and officials, the allied soldiers stormed into the homes of ordinary people and merchants.
They would snatch anything they saw, and if a man dared to resist, they would stab him.
As for those who see women, while some may pounce on them, most are primarily after money.
After all, if you pounce on a woman, it's fine if she's compliant; a few groans won't waste time, and you can continue to take her. But if she resists, then it's troublesome.
Generally speaking, if a woman is desperately refusing to give herself to someone, it's very difficult for one person to win her over, and killing her wouldn't be very effective.
Therefore, as long as it didn't interfere with their earnings, the Allied soldiers simply ignored them, since they already had plenty of women at home.
On the fourth day, the city's residents and merchants were also looted.
At the same time, Huang Zhong's army, which was said to number 300,000, arrived at a river sixty miles east of Shanshan City.
(The original name of Shanshan Kingdom was Loulan. It was located in a delta area where Lop Nur and the Peacock River meet, south of Lop Nur. At this time, Lop Nur was still a huge lake with abundant rivers and lush aquatic plants.)
When the scouts of the allied forces saw the Han army's column stretching for more than twenty miles, they were immediately terrified and turned pale.
When the news reached the capital, the leader of the four-nation allied forces panicked and immediately ordered his soldiers to stop looting and prepare to flee.
"The Han army is coming! Retreat!"
A series of piercing screams echoed throughout every corner of Shanshan City.
The allied soldiers, who were originally engrossed in the looting, hurriedly gathered together and followed their leader out of the city.
Within two hours, the allied forces of the four kingdoms that had stormed the capital of Shanshan fled completely, taking with them everything they could carry away from Shanshan.
All that remained in the city were the slightly rotting corpses of the men and the women huddled in corners, trembling with fear.
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