Chapter 50 4. Brave heart

I thought that there were iron generals such as Geng Gong in the Han Dynasty, and the eighteen-year-old Liu Da would be full of enthusiasm and fighting spirit.The truth is quite the opposite.Soon, another wrangling war broke out in Luoyang Palace.The result was unexpected: Liu Da issued an edict to revoke the Protector of the Western Regions, the two captains Wu and Ji, and ordered Ban Chao to return home quickly. To put it more thoroughly, the Han Dynasty just wanted to give up the Western Regions and was ready to surrender to the Northern Huns. It was indeed a surprise. The Western Regions are huge, but the people are tiny.In this feeling, Shu Banchao has the deepest experience.At this time, Ban Chao was still trapped in Shule Kingdom, and he had received the imperial edict ordering retreat from Emperor Liu Da.Liu Da told him, come back, I have even withdrawn from the military base, you are weak, you won't be able to hang around for long.In order to be responsible for your life, I have specially called you back.

The content of the imperial edict was immediately circulated.It was not Ban Chao who was frightened first, but Shule Kingdom.We know that before Banchao came to Shule Kingdom, he had been bullied by Qiucha Kingdom.And the Kucha Kingdom is attacking it, once Banchao withdraws, won't it be finished with it? Shule Kingdom did not expect to have today.They all thought that being next to the thigh of the Han Dynasty and being covered by Ban Chao, no matter how many Kucha kingdoms they had, they would all go out sooner or later.But now, before they could live a happy life, the nightmare came ahead of schedule.

Facing the nightmare, the most unbearable was the captain of the Shule Kingdom.As he is in charge of the country's military, he is fully responsible for the failure to guarantee the lives of the citizens.However, for him, Ban Chao had already gone back, so there was no need to be held accountable, and he committed suicide directly, apologizing with death. The captain of the Shule Kingdom said that if the Han envoys abandon us, we will be swallowed up by the bastard country of Kucha.Therefore, he could only commit suicide to prevent Ban Chao from returning to China.However, he still didn't stop Ban Chao.Ban Chao still left Shule Kingdom and passed by Khotan Kingdom.Here, he couldn't move.

The situation is like this, Khotan heard that Ban Chao was going back to the country, and all the princes ran out to block the way.They said to Ban Chao, the Han Dynasty is our parents, and you are our parents.But now that you have gone back, what will you do without us? They wailed loudly while hugging Ban Chao's horse's leg.Ban Chao wanted to leave, but couldn't move. Seeing the crowd crying like a mountain, Ban Chao felt extremely uncomfortable. He thought of Liu Zhuang and his childhood dream.Liu Zhuang is gone, but he is still alive.He waited for many years before he got the opportunity to go to the Western Regions.Today, do you just watch the Western Regions slip away from your hands like sand?

Oh dream, you are my whole life.What is life compared to dreams?Liu Jin said that Ban Chaoren is weak alone and won't last long in the Western Regions.The question is, when Ban Chao made two missions to the Western Regions, didn't he fight alone? Watching and thinking, Ban Chao's heart seemed to be illuminated by a flash of lightning in the dark sky, and his blood boiled again.People are drifting in the rivers and lakes, how can they not be knifed.If you are afraid of death, don't come out to play, and if you come out to play, you must treat death as home, regardless of everything.

Ban Chao couldn't help feeling a wave of attention. Yes, Ban Chao is eager to fight, in the name of national ideals.He knew that if he withdrew, Khotan and Shule would surrender, and the Western Regions would fall into the hands of others again.In this way, whether it is the Han Dynasty or himself, all the previous efforts will be reduced to nothing. In his view, as an idealist, he must fight against the cruel reality to the end.As the envoy of the Han Dynasty, he has the responsibility to stand on the last post.If it is impulsive, he is willing to bear the punishment of all impulsiveness.

Ban Chao looked at the sad and crying crowd for a long time.Western Regions, I decided to stay, please don't cry anymore. At this time, Ban Chao's eyes were firm and determined, and he comforted the Khotan princes with a serious expression: "Okay, don't cry, I will stay." A bunch of princes in Khotan couldn't believe it.They raised their heads and looked at Ban Chao for a long time like looking up at a mountain, but soon they cried together again. This time it was a cry for life and freedom.Because they all saw it, Ban Chao had already turned around and returned to Shule Kingdom.

Shule Kingdom may not have thought that Ban Chao would go back.In fact, Ban Chao's trip was not in vain.Because when he returned to the place where he stayed, he found that the Shule Kingdom had surrendered to the Kucha Kingdom again. What happened in front of him made Ban Chao finally understand a reason - the Han Dynasty wanted to subdue the Western Regions with virtue, that was simply nonsense.Strength, only strength is the last word. The sudden incident in Shule Kingdom did not make Ban Chao flustered.He told himself that he came back to grab the territory.He was able to snatch the Shule Kingdom from the Kucha Kingdom before, and today, he can still snatch it back again.

Soon, Ban Chao attacked fiercely, beheaded the traitors, and drove the enemy away on horseback, and soon stabilized the situation. This is just the beginning.Two years later, in AD 78.After two years of preparation, Ban Chao gathered a total of 10,000 people from various countries in the Western Regions to attack Gumo, an ally of Kucha (now northwest of Wensu County, Xinjiang), beheading more than 700 people.Another two years, 80 AD.Ban Chao decided to make a major reorganization, preparing to take down the entire Western Regions in one fell swoop and reincorporate them into the territory of the Han Dynasty.

So Ban Chao wrote a letter to Emperor Liu Da. The letter is very long, but every word is precious, and Liu Da read it with enthusiasm.Let's do the math, Liu Da is not young anymore.In a flash he was already twenty-three years old.Today, it happens to be the golden stage of graduating from a university and working and starting a business. Ban Chao's letter reads: In order to reconnect with the Western Regions, the late Emperor Liu Zhuang sent envoys to the Western Regions by conquering the Huns in the north.Five years have passed in a blink of an eye, and there are definitely not a few people who are willing to surrender to the Han Dynasty.So far, only the old stubborn Qiuci has been disobedient.However, the Kingdom of Kangju and the Kingdom of Wusun are willing to send troops to join us in destroying Kucha.

In my opinion, as long as Kucha is destroyed, the remaining resistance forces are worthless.As for how to destroy Kucha, I have thought of a good way.That is, the prince who sent Kucha to the Han Dynasty as a hostage was named King Kucha and sent him back to the country.Let him pull the team and destroy the old Kucha King.In this case, it can take a few months at the earliest, or a year at the slowest, and Kucha can be obtained. To be honest, when Liu Da finished reading this letter, he was already itchy. It was not easy for Ban Chao to impress Liu Da.Four years ago, when he was young and impulsive, he revoked the Protectorate of the Western Regions without blinking an eye.It can be seen that this child is a big kid and not easy to be impulsive. Serious study of Liu Da is indeed not an easy person.He is the fifth son of Liu Zhuang. If the system of eldest son is followed, the emperor will never have his turn.However, I don't know which wisdom root Liu Zhuang took a fancy to in him, so he snatched him from his biological mother and gave him to Queen Ma to feed him.Therefore, under the careful cultivation of Liu Zhuang and Queen Ma, Liu Da thrived and succeeded as emperor. I think that Liu Zhuang wants to learn from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, conquer the Huns, and gain access to the Western Regions, and Liu Da knows it.But why did he not follow the Liuzhuang route and continue to conquer the Western Regions? In fact, to say a thousand words and ten thousand words, in the final analysis, there are still two words-no money. It was thirty-two years from Liu Xiu's establishment of the country to Liu Zhuang's succession to the throne.During these thirty-two years, Liu Xiu was basically busy fighting for eleven years to unify the world.That is to say, Liu Xiu has really lived a stable life for about twenty years.After Liu Zhuang became emperor, there were only eighteen years in total. He wanted to learn from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but it was untenable no matter from which point of view. The most important point is that Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was very rich, while Liu Zhuang was very poor.Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the rule of Wenjing in the Han Dynasty accumulated a lot of national wealth for him.War is the most money-consuming business in the world. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had a rich father and grandfather, so he spent money lavishly. Is Father Liu Zhuang rich?I believe that the eyes of the masses are discerning, and everyone knows the answer, not to mention. Compared with the material foundation of the country, Liu Zhuang is not as strong as Liu Che; compared to the body, Liu Zhuang is not as good as Liu Che. Liu Zhuang only lived to be forty-eight years old.how to learnI can't learn it at all. In Liu Da's generation, they are indeed much richer than Liu Xiu at that time.The problem is that he is still far behind Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty.The distance between the two is like a fly lying on the glass window, but it can be seen clearly. It was Liu Da who took all these into consideration that he said that this person was not simple.His cleverness is to retreat in spite of difficulties.Just like Liu Xiu did back then, he could eat as much as he had, and he didn't want to stretch himself until his skin was broken. Having said that, retreating despite difficulties and shrinking your head does not mean you are a bastard.If Liu Da is within his ability, he is still willing to do some work. The reason why Ban Chao's letter moved him was precisely because it did not exceed his strength.Ban Chao made it very clear in his letter that the problem of the Western Regions is only a problem of Kucha.Thirty-six countries in the Western Regions, how many people can one Kucha be worth?The old allies of the Han Dynasty like Wusun were willing to send troops, but they were afraid that he would make a fuss. More people beat fewer people, and the cost is not much. If you don't support Ban Chao, you will really be a bastard.So, Liu Da took a gamble and wanted to play something big. The enthusiasm did not overwhelm Liu Da. Before dispatching a large army, he cautiously sent a mission to the Western Regions to investigate the feasibility of sending troops.To put it more clearly, Liu Da was worried that Ban Chao would brag and turn the dangers of the Western Regions into bubble gum.Therefore, he sent people to investigate the Western Regions by name, which is equivalent to investigating whether Ban Chao's words and actions are reliable.