Great Qin Shi Empress

This stalemate was not caused by the Western Qiang tribes relying on their familiarity with the terrain to forcefully level the gap in strength with the Qin army.

There are two main reasons -

One is because the Western Qiang tribes simply avoided the Qin army after discovering that the Qin army was far superior to them in strength, and only chose to attack and pursue them when the number of the Qin army was too small;

The other reason is that after the Qin army occupied places close to Shu County and other counties, most of the remaining places belonging to the activities of the Western Qiang tribes were plateaus. Freedom of movement, the local climate and thin air have brought them a lot of trouble.

By this time, the Qin army was actually at a very disadvantage compared to the Xiqiang cavalry.

But the Xiqiang cavalry did not win well with the Qin army.

Because every soldier of the Qin State carried firecrackers with him, as long as they encountered Xiqiang cavalry, they would directly light them and throw them over, which would immediately frighten the Xiqiang cavalry who were originally lined up.

After many losses, the Xiqiang cavalry learned to behave.

Guerrilla warfare is of course still going to be fought, but they never dared to let the Qin army find themselves, and would only choose to use bows and arrows to attack from a distance every time, and every time they shot an arrow, they would ride away immediately regardless of whether they hurt anyone or not , Will not give Qin Jun a chance to catch up.

In this case, both Wang Ben and Li Xin were disgusted enough.

Especially when one's own side is far superior to the Western Qiang tribes in terms of military strength and combat effectiveness, and it is obvious that they can completely take them down in a short period of time.

Li Xin is fine, he didn't have much thought about the Western Qiang tribes not doing this, he just sent more troops to swallow them; but to Wang Ben, the Western Qiang tribes' approach seemed to be a good idea. It's easy to eat a mouthful of delicious food, but find that the delicious food is stuck in your throat and you can't swallow it. If you don't want to spit it out, you can only bear it.

Reinforcements and food have been sent to the border, but they have not had much positive effect on the current situation.

The news quickly spread back to Xianyang.

But the Western Qiang tribes avoided fighting, even if Wang Ben and Li Xin were brave and invincible, what could they do?They couldn't find anyone again.

After all, these Xiqiang people have contacts with each other. Once something happens to a Xiqiang tribe in a certain place, other tribes will know the news before long, and then immediately take everyone to escape. You can only find it from scratch.

This is completely different from the situation in which the tribes in the grassland are separated from each other and guard against each other, so even if something happens to one tribe, it is difficult to spread it to other tribes in the first place.

Therefore, after the ministers of the DPRK and China knew about this matter, they had no way to come up with an effective solution in the first place.

Even knowing that the best way to use such a situation is to use divorce, but if no one can be found, no matter how good the method is, nothing can be done.

Wei Liao actually mentioned one point: "Perhaps we can recruit troops from nomads such as the Xiongnu to attack the Western Qiang tribes? They are all nomads, and they should know more about the topography of the grassland than we do."

Ying Zheng nodded without hesitation.

The Xiongnu and other nomadic peoples did have a miraculous effect on the upper Western Qiang tribes. After they appeared on the half of the grassland where the Western Qiang tribes live today, they quickly adapted to the local climate and figured out the local environment. Habit found many Xiqiang people.

But in the final analysis, even if they are all nomads, the living habits of different ethnic groups are also different.

Therefore, after the remaining Western Qiang tribes knew that the Xiongnu and other grassland tribes appeared where they lived, these Xiqiang people took precautions, and they never let the Xiongnu and other soldiers take advantage of it.

The situation once again fell into a stalemate.

The DPRK and China even began to discuss whether to directly abandon the places occupied by the Xiqiang people.

Anyway, those places are lands adjacent to the snow-capped mountains. Although there are some minerals hidden, they cannot be used to grow land and food, and the Qin people took over those lands.

Ying Zheng didn't want to give up, but it didn't seem like a solution to go on like this.

At this time, the last two cities on the northern grassland were finally completed, and the local herdsmen and those immigrants from the Western Regions who helped them also moved into the cities immediately.

After the good news came, the somewhat gloomy atmosphere in the court was considered to have improved.

After Xiao He, Xiao and the others returned to Beijing to report on their duties, and reported the details of the grasslands when the city was built, and the various situations and solutions after the city was built, the autumn harvest came again.

Although the couple Xiao He and Xiao are considered to be ranked among the nine ministers according to their achievements accumulated over the years, but because none of the current nine ministers is of the age of being a scholar, they are temporarily named as the two prime ministers. He became a subordinate official under his name.

After a period of observation, one of the two was arranged to serve as an official under the name of Lang Zhongling, and the other was arranged to serve as an official under Feng Chang.

Unlike Lu Zhi and Zhang Fu who were assigned to serve as subordinates under the names of Lin Qian and Zhang Liang, Lang Zhongling and Feng Chang are both old now, and everyone knows that they will send their scholars home to retire in a few years. And although the husband and wife were arranged to serve as subordinate officials under these two names, they did not explain their official positions. They only need to help the servant and Fengchang on weekdays.

Anyone with eyes in the court knows that as long as the current servant and Feng Chang step down, these two people will directly replace the superior.

But this is not worth making a fuss about for the ministers of the DPRK and China——

Still the same sentence, although being an official in the Qin Dynasty is about seniority, it is not just about seniority. If a person has accumulated enough merits, he may soar into the sky at any time.

What is one of the nine ministers?The prime minister is not impossible.

So everyone just sighed after learning about Ying Zheng's arrangement, and didn't say much after that.

All focus is on the upcoming autumn harvest.

As far as the court is concerned, this year's autumn harvest is indeed somewhat different from previous years.

The biggest difference is that the war between the Qin State and the Western Qiang tribes has not yet ended.

The tribes of Western Qiang sent troops to attack Qin State almost shortly after the end of spring plowing. Originally, Qin State wanted to take it down before the autumn harvest, but did not want the result to exceed expectations. The war has not ended so far, so this autumn harvest is about to face Withdrawal of troops or the contradiction of insufficient population in the autumn harvest.

But after the discussion, everyone felt that the autumn harvest was more important than the war.

So soon, the Western Qiang tribes found that the number of Qin soldiers searching for them suddenly decreased, and the frequency of encounters between the two was also reduced to a very low level.

No one responded at first.

But soon, someone remembered the reason: "Soldiers of the Qin State should go home to harvest in autumn, right? Don't they harvest the food they planted every autumn?"

but……

"Those Huns don't seem to have many left?"

"I know that," someone said, "Those tribes living on the grasslands in the north, such as the Huns and the Yue clan, are now learning how the Qin people farm. It's just that the Qin people grow food, and they grow pasture."

The rest of the Western Qiang tribes were a little at a loss, but how should I put it...

The previous experience of being chased and escaped on their own territory was really embarrassing. In order to avoid the Qin army, they have been tense. Now they can breathe a sigh of relief. No more control.

Someone heard about this, but was moved: "Since most of the Qin soldiers have gone home to harvest food, why don't we take the opportunity to counterattack?"

Xiongying, the young patriarch of a certain tribe in the Western Qiang, glanced at him speechlessly: "What are you thinking? I forgot that before the reinforcements and food from the Qin State arrived, we were also chased by soldiers led by Wang Ben and Li Xin. Can I just run away?"

The man was reminded by the eagle, and instantly remembered the scene at the beginning, and immediately shuddered.

Xiongying sighed: "Let's think about it, when the Qin State's autumn harvest is over and those soldiers go to the front again, where are we going to hide?"

When everyone heard this, they immediately became sluggish.

This picture is actually a bit strange.

It’s not that there’s something strange about the reluctance of the rest of the Western Qiang tribes to not confront Qin, but that these people’s attitude towards Qin was too peaceful——

It stands to reason that these nomads are the most bloody people. When they mention their enemies, they don’t want to eat their flesh and blood, but they also want to fight back. However, when they mentioned Qin, they were mostly helpless and didn’t have much hatred.

Of course, there is a reason why they started the war and they were wronged first, but they don't manage their own losses when fighting a war, and it is impossible for anyone to be tolerant towards each other because of this.

The root cause of this phenomenon is that although the two sides fought lively, the Qin army used firecrackers in large numbers to scare the Xiqiang people, and did not cause many casualties.Not only did the Qin army not have many casualties, but the Western Qiang tribes also did not have many casualties.

Because after the Qin army destroyed the Xiqiang cavalry team with firecrackers, they would only arrest people as prisoners, and sometimes take people to the battlefield to persuade people to surrender, and would not kill people, so the two sides did not Not much hatred.

There is no hatred, and it is not bad to mention it in a natural tone.

It's just that this kind of life that can only hide from the Qin army is really aggrieved, and a group of Xiqiang people have become extremely impatient.

Those who are used to living a free life and don't want to continue fleeing couldn't help asking in a low voice: "Why don't we just surrender? Anyway, the Qin army will kill the prisoners again, and I heard that those who were captured as prisoners Although people need to work, they are not without money, when the time comes..."

"Shut up!" The eagle was furious, "You are also one of the best warriors in the tribe, so it's fine if you don't want to lead the tribe to fight back. If surrender is so embarrassing, how on earth can you open your mouth?"

Others also glared at him as if they heard something unbelievable.

The man froze for a moment, and obediently closed his mouth.

Although in his heart, he still felt that surrender was the best choice for their Western Qiang tribes, but since Xiong Ying and the others were so resistant to this, he could only keep his thoughts in his stomach.

……

The autumn harvest was over soon, and the court once again set its sights on the war with the Western Qiang tribes.

But after discussing for a long time, there is still not much progress.

Xiao He and Xiao saw that the situation was at an impasse, and after looking at each other, they simply mentioned another equally important matter——

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen and Xiao received letters from immigrants from the Western Regions and some friends in the grassland a few days ago, and they mentioned something in their hearts."

Ying Zheng frowned in confusion: "What's the matter?"

Xiao He looked up at Ying Zheng, and said, "It's not a big deal, it's just that those people from the Western Regions and some herdsmen who were stubborn and opposed to relocating to the city didn't have enough money. It is in the development stage, and there are not many opportunities to make money, so I want to ask if there are still opportunities to make money by building a city.”

Xiao added: "According to what they mean, it seems that they think that the places where the Xiqiang tribes lived in the past will also build cities, so they wrote to the two ministers to inquire about the situation."

Ying Zheng frowned, and was about to refuse: "Although there is a plan to build the city, all the tribes of the Western Qiang have not yet been conquered, and the city may have to wait..."

It will not be included in the plan until all the tribes of the Western Qiang have been taken down.

but……

After hearing the words of the two, Lin Qian suddenly had an inspiration: "Your Majesty, in fact, the places we just conquered where the tribes of the Western Qiang lived in the past, there is no need to wait to conquer all the tribes of the Western Qiang before building the city?"

Ying Zheng paused, and looked at Lin Qian suspiciously: "What do you mean?"

Lin Qian said excitedly: "There are not many people in the Western Qiang tribes, and the number is even rarer after we have captured many young and middle-aged cavalry. In addition, the plateau climate restricts the Qin army. I want to find those who deliberately hid It is not so easy for the Xiqiang people."

"But in fact, we don't need to defeat all the Xiqiang people before building the city."

Seeing that other people didn't understand what he meant, Lin Qian explained with a smile: "We were anxious to build the city first on the grasslands far from the hinterland of the Central Plains, but we were worried that other nomads would come directly to occupy the land and become that piece of land. The actual owner of the grassland?"

"Then why don't we do the opposite and directly send troops to occupy the places where the Xiqiang tribes used to live, build cities and roads on them, raise livestock and plant pastures, and occupy that place with practical actions."

"Anyway, those Xiqiang people dare not confront the Qin army head-on. When building the city, we only need to send more soldiers, or even directly let the soldiers participate in the task of building the city. Will those Xiqiang people come to stop us from building the city?"

"When the city is built, even if there are still Xiqiang people who don't want to submit to Qin, they just think that they are not so obedient people in Qin's territory, and everyone should be neighbors."

Um?Still have this kind of operation?

Everyone was puzzled at first, looked at each other and widened their eyes in astonishment——

Although it sounds unreliable, it may not be feasible!

In other words, this method sounds quite feasible!

Everyone looked at Ying Zheng in unison, and they all agreed with Lin Qian's suggestion.

How could Ying Zheng not know the benefits of this method?

So he nodded immediately and agreed to Lin Qian's suggestion.

Then, he set his sights on Xiao He and Xiao: "You two are quite experienced, are you willing to take charge of building the city where the Western Qiang tribes originally lived?"

The husband and wife looked at each other in blank dismay, thinking that it would take one to three years for each other to really take the top position. If they didn't go by themselves, this achievement would be taken by others, and their status might be threatened by then.

but……

After the couple hesitated, they chose to refuse.

Xiao He said apologetically: "Wei Chen is willing to help His Majesty solve problems, but Wei Chen and Xiao have barely gotten along with their daughter in order to build the city as soon as possible. We are husband and wife. In addition, the territory occupied by the Western Qiang tribes is too large. This time, the city may not be able to return home for several years, so..."

He looked at Xiao, and the two knelt down together.

Xiao He said: "The two ministers hope to stay in Xianyang."

Xiao explained: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, after you and the ministers choose a suitable candidate, the two ministers are willing to follow each other to the place where the various tribes of the Western Qiang live. I will teach you all the previous experience, and it will never delay Qin's plans."

Ying Zheng frowned subconsciously, unable to accept the reason for the refusal.

If you want to develop a relationship with your child, shouldn't it be enough to take them away with you?

Lin Qian was stunned for a moment, as if thinking of something, she rushed to speak before Ying Zheng: "I remember your daughter is only one year old now..."

The two were stunned, and nodded in affirmation of Lin Qian's statement.

Lin Qian said with a smile: "Now that the child is still young, if you stay with her to cultivate and cultivate your relationship, there is still a chance to make up for it. If the child grows up and has passed the age of yearning for fatherly love and motherly love, it will be too late for you to regret it later."

The two nodded, and Xiao sighed, "We also think so."

Ying Zheng looked at Lin Qian, but didn't say much——

Although he never thought of forcing the two to go to the place where Xiqiang lives, he originally wanted to reprimand them for their reasons for refusing.

but……

Ying Zheng said, "Since you don't want to, just send two other ministers over there."

After speaking, he looked around for a week, "Is there any candidate for my love?"

While the others were still hesitating, Lu Zhi suddenly came out and said, "Your Majesty, I volunteer to go to Xiqiang to build a city!"

As soon as she finished speaking, many people started to move.

Seeing this, Zhang Fu quickly stood up: "Your Majesty, I am willing to go!"

As soon as the two came out, other interested people also stood up in unison.

But first, these two people have certain relevant experience, and second, they are also people who Ying Zheng valued and decided to focus on training. In addition, Zhang Liang and Lin Qian recommended them, and in the end it was Lu Zhi and Zhang Fu who won the prize. second chance.

Seeing that the two agreed, Ying Zheng immediately looked at Li Si and Wei Liao: "The imperial court remembers to fully cooperate with their work and must protect their safety."

So it didn't take long, whether it was the Xiqiang people who had been arrested or the Xiqiang people who had not been arrested, they were all surprised to find that the Qin State had brought many soldiers and more ordinary people to the land of Xiqiang that had not yet been captured. , and divided into two teams and started laying the foundations to build the city in a hurry.

Those Xiqiang people who were captured were even sent directly to the place where the city was built to help with work.

……

At the beginning, when the Xiqiang people discovered Qin's actions, they just suspected that they wanted to build a long-term living place in the local area, in order to entangle with the remaining Xiqiang people for a long time.

But as more and more buildings were built, the buildings in the city became more and more perfect. Even after the towering city walls were slowly raised, people who had no experience knew who these Qin people were. What are you doing.

How dare they build a city on unconquered land?

All Xiqiang people: "???"

To be fair, aren't you being too arrogant?

Some people couldn't swallow this breath, and immediately led others to harass them, and the result was like a meat bun beating a dog, all back and forth——

They were all caught by the Qin army who had been on guard for a long time, and then threw themselves into the great cause of building the city.

After a few times, all the Xiqiang people were dumbfounded.

They were so angry at the situation before them, but they didn't dare to continue to harass them because of the strength of Qin State, so they fell into a dilemma for a while.

But at this time, something happened suddenly to the tribe where the eagle belonged to.

When Xiongying went out to inquire about the situation that day, after hesitating for a few times, the clansmen who had thought about surrendering before, still felt that it was meaningless to continue this pointless persistence, so they packed up their bags and saluted, and prepared to quietly leave their hiding place and join the Qin people .

Unexpectedly, when he came out of the valley, he was caught by several patrolling clansmen.

While he was at a loss...

Someone came up to him: "Well, do you want to go to the Qin people?"

Seeing that the clansman seemed harmless, he nodded hesitantly.

The man immediately beamed with joy: "My brother was arrested, and now he is helping in that nearby city. He secretly sent me a message, saying that life is good there. If you go this time, if you live well, remember to pass me the news."

he:"???"

message?what do you want ! ! !

Perhaps his expression was too shocked, the man glanced around, sneaked up to his ear and said, "No, I was a little moved after hearing what my brother said, but I was worried whether the letter really came from him, so ..."

He swallowed: "Then what if I really write to you, saying that you live well with the Qin people?"

The man said without hesitation: "Of course I want to go to the Qin people with my luggage like you. I've had enough of the days of hiding in Tibet. If I can live a good life with the Qin people, who will I be?" Still here?"

He looked at each other blankly: "But you were not..."

The man knew what he wanted to ask, so he interrupted directly: "Who is an idiot like you, of course you can't tell the truth in front of the eagle!"

he:"……"

This is really... a result he never imagined!