Li Hong ignored Pei Xingjian's question and drew circles around the Qiuci City on the sand table with the stick in his hand. Suddenly, Li Hong swung the stick in his hand and smashed the Qiuci City into pieces. Then he said word by word: "Rebuild Qiuci and build a huge military town! Just like the Qilian Mountains, it will stand here forever!"
"Ah...?" Pei Xingjian was startled. He knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would definitely make a big move, but he didn't expect that it would be to rebuild a city!
He knew better than anyone that building a huge city, especially in the Western Regions, would cost an unimaginable amount of money.
"So you are allowed to stay here because you are familiar with Ashina Duzhi. With the implementation of food coupons, all those who have not received them will be captured and used as labor to build the city of Qiuci. As for what kind of city it will be built into..."
When Li Hong said this, he couldn't help but think of Yuwen Rong, Liang Xiaoren, and Lou Yu. Now, these people will come here immediately after the New Year's Day.
"Then... what should we do now? Please give us instructions, Grand Protector." Pei Xingjian asked, looking at Li Hong's back that seemed to have grown taller.
"Nothing. Now we just want to make the four towns of Anxi prosperous. There are few people in the Western Regions now, and most of them can be gathered together. This way, we don't have to worry about their surprise attack. The caravans coming and going are included in this encirclement. Hehe, in this way, it will be difficult for the four towns of Anxi not to be prosperous." The tall and mighty Crown Prince disappeared, and the image of a profiteer businessman appeared in front of him again.
After more than a month of care by Xia Zhi and his companions, the little wolf has grown into the size of a pig, with a belly as round as a bucket, and a head as small as a mouse. Every time Li Hong sees it, he feels like he has caught a pig from the grassland.
Its black fur was soft and shiny, feeling like silk. It never left Li Hong's room, or it would sleep by the stove to keep itself warm.
...
...
But every time after hearing Li Hong's footsteps, the little guy would raise his head vigilantly, then move his round belly to run to Li Hong's feet and rub against Li Hong's trouser legs.
"Do you fucking think of me as your dad? I'm a human and you're a wolf, can you please see clearly what race you are?" The soft and smooth little wolf felt very comfortable to touch. Li Hong bent down, grabbed it with one hand and held it high in his palm.
The little guy was not afraid. His four paws slid uselessly in the air, trying to get closer to Li Hong as if swimming.
"Students Yao Chong and Huan Yanfan want to see you, sir." Two voices were heard at the door.
Li Hong put the little wolf down and held it in his arms, motioning Xia Zhi to let them in.
In addition to these two people, Xu Jingzong's grandson Xu Yanbo also followed him to the Western Regions. However, before Xu Yanbo set out from Chang'an, he had sent him to the barracks, which put an end to Xu Jingzong's hope that he would be able to give him guidance.
But now, the descendant of the great yin man of all ages is actually doing very well under the hands of the lawless man. During the first pursuit of Ashina Duzhi and the search for Ashina Duzhi on the grassland a few days ago, Xu Yanbo's performance was worthy of his identity as the grandson of Xu Jingzong.
No matter what the task is in the army, as long as it is within his ability, the 21-year-old Xu Yanbo can complete it diligently and responsibly.
After sitting down with Yao Chong and Huan Yanfan in the living room, Li Hong held the little wolf in his arms, who was struggling to get off the ground, and asked, "How is it? What have you gained in the past few days?"
"Sir, I have searched all the small towns and cities near Kucha City, including secretly investigating, but have not found anyone similar." Yao Chong looked at Li Hong in a low voice, feeling a little embarrassed.
"What about you?" Li Hong looked at Huan Yanfan and asked.
"Sir, I haven't found anyone similar either." Huan Yanfan lowered his head, as if he felt a little sorry for Li Hong and for failing to live up to the expectations of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Li Hong sighed and said, "It's not your fault. We've been looking for Bai Chun for several years, but we haven't found him yet, let alone you guys going alone to find him. Apart from this, what do you think of the cities around Qiuci?" Li Hong gave up looking for Bai Chun's parents and asked.
"From what I have observed in the past few days, Kucha no longer has the intention of restoring its country. Compared with Shule, which was just suppressed, this place is more suitable to be the protectorate of the four towns of Anxi." Yao Chong thought for a while, sorting out what he had seen and heard in Shaya and Yanqi in the past few days.
"Why do you say that?" Li Hong seemed to be testing them.
In Li Hong's opinion, what Yao Chong and Huan Yanfan need now is not knowledge, but a mentor, a mentor who can give them another perspective, and he is the most suitable candidate.
"Sir, from a geographical point of view, Qiuci is backed by the Tianshan Mountains to the north, faces the desert to the south, connects directly to Shule in the west, and is connected to Yunzhong in the east. It is the only way for other countries to enter our Tang Dynasty. And the merchants who come and go all regard it as an important resting station before entering Yumen Pass. As long as we can control Qiuci, it is equivalent to adding a barrier for Yumen Pass of our Tang Dynasty." Yao Chong said solemnly.
"Sir, what Yao Chong said is absolutely right. This was a wealthy country during the Han Dynasty, and ironware has always been their pride. As long as we control Qiuci, it will be difficult for other places to make breakthroughs in the metals needed to make weapons. Moreover, its food is much richer than in the other three towns. Only this place is the most suitable place for a protectorate." Huan Yanfan said seriously.
Li Hong nodded silently. They were all right. Qiuci was indeed perhaps the richest place in the entire Western Regions, but Baisunizhi was too stupid. It was annexed by other countries one after another and eventually perished.
And most importantly, the people of Kucha here today, because it is located at a transportation hub, it is an important transportation route connecting the Tang Dynasty with other countries such as the Western Regions, and it has always been a transit station for cultural heritage.
Buddhism is still the religion that people believe in today, but after a few hundred years, when the Chinese nation lost control over this place, it was eventually ruled by Islam, and any people who dared to believe in Buddhism were massacred.
This is why Li Hong attaches great importance to this place, because as long as Qiuci is preserved, the western part of the Tang Dynasty will remain peaceful and stable. The existence of Qiuci will also have an impact on curbing the ambitions of other countries in the Western Regions.
But solving big problems does not mean that small problems will be solved. After the country was destroyed, no one knew whether Bai Chun’s father and others were killed or hidden.
In the past few years, Bai Chun has sent out at least one-third of the Jingwei to spread across the land of Qiuci, but there is still no clue about the whereabouts of her parents and siblings.
I once tried to comfort Bai Chun and asked her to accept my condolences, but I didn't expect Bai Chun to give me a cold look and say that her parents were still alive.
Li Hong thought to himself, you were so young and yet you were sent to the Tang Dynasty. It would be better not to have such cruel parents.
But Bai Chun obviously didn't think so, and was still worried about her parents. Li Hong shook his head, because Wu Mei had poked him in the head about this matter, saying that it was better to have a girl than a son.
I talked back to our mother, the queen, and asked you to give birth to a younger brother for us. Needless to say, the result was that not only did she give birth to Princess Taiping Li Lingyue, but she also got herself beaten up.
Picking a sunny day, Li Hong, who had nothing to do during this period of time, took Xia Zhi and others and started wandering around the city of Qiuci.
Merchants from other parts of the Western Regions who had rushed back from the Tang Dynasty now poured into the city of Qiuci for their final rest as the New Year's Day approached. After resting, they would continue westward along the Taklamakan Desert all the way back to their own countries.
The camels' backs were naturally loaded with Tang Dynasty goods, mainly tea and silk. Of course, there were also a lot of glass and other items loaded on the carriages.
The little wolf watched the people coming and going vigilantly. He didn't react much when he saw the camel, but as soon as he saw a group of horses, he would act as if he saw food. He would bare his teeth and wish he could run to the group of horses and bite the horses' hooves.
There were shops everywhere, inns in groups, and waiters from taverns and teahouses were shouting to each other at the door to solicit business.
"Has Bai Chun ever mentioned any clues to you before?" Li Hong scratched his head. His ponytail was black and smooth.
Xia Zhi once compared his hair to that of a little wolf, and then Li Hong hit Xia Zhi's plump butt hard, causing Xia Zhi, who was wearing thin clothes in the room at the time, to tremble with pain: You are comparing a human to a wolf, I don't want to get along with you anymore!
"She didn't talk about anything, but occasionally talked about Buddha statues. She said there were many grottoes here, which were filled with various Buddha statues painted on them. They were beautiful, and when she was a child, she was often taken there by her father or brother to see them. By the way, she also said that since you don't like Buddha statues, you shouldn't go to see them when you arrive in Qiuci, so as not to bother you." Xia Zhi said at the end, sticking out his tongue mischievously.
"Grotto?" Li Hong frowned. Grottoes where Buddhism was prevalent?
The sound of hurried horse hooves came from behind, awakening the little inspiration in Li Hong's heart. He hurriedly pulled Xiaoxue and Xia Zhi and others to the side of the road.
As soon as I stopped, I saw a group of about ten horsemen charging towards me on the busy street.
"Who is so arrogant? Running so fast in broad daylight, can't you see that the streets are full of people?" An old woman nearby almost fell down while trying to avoid the horse team. She looked at the horse team passing by with a bad face and scolded in a low voice.
"Who else could it be, Ze Luobei? Apart from him, who else in the city of Kucha dares to be so domineering?" Another voice seemed to be answering the old woman's question.
Li Hong nonchalantly watched the horse team running away with a cloud of dust raised. He poked Banmei in the waist, signaling her to get close to the old woman and ask for some useful information.
"Who is Zhe Luo? Grandma." Banmei smiled and took two steps forward. She stretched out her jade hand to help the old woman disperse the dust in front of her eyes, and asked with an expression like a weasel greeting a chicken.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
