Chapter 424 Volume Annan Protectorate

“Bismay, are you convinced today?”

“…”

Now the gray-headed and rat-faced despicable man lowered his head completely.

If he had a reason to lose once, then after losing twice, three times, and even seven times now, he has completely understood –

The Han army is invincible!
And Beimie hasn’t just been beaten these days.

Through some spies from the Shan State, Bimie also learned about some of the current situation of the Han Dynasty –

Those who came to attack the Pyu Kingdom this time were just some southern barbarian soldiers.

even……

The seemingly elite Han troops under the command of Wang Ping, Zhang Ren, and Yan Yan were nothing more than county soldiers of the Han army.

County soldiers…

In the Han Dynasty, it was a security force used to suppress bandits and quell riots.

Nowadays, the real combat soldiers of the Han Dynasty are called Fubing!!!
And there is Zhuge Liang.

He is even a civil servant!
The top military commanders of the Han Dynasty today are several pillars of the country!

If the above information only makes Beimie feel afraid.

There was another piece of information that made him feel absurd –

This time, the Han army attacked the Pyu Kingdom but only used the power of Yizhou.

The legendary Han central government didn’t seem to take the war here seriously at all!

That is to say…

All the resistance up to now may be nothing more than a joke in the central government of the Han Dynasty.

The battles in which he fought desperately could not even reach the ears of the Han Emperor!

……

Now, Bimie has completely lost the will to resist.

Because the big man’s strength had far exceeded the limits of what he could imagine.

He originally thought that the Linyi Kingdom in the east and the Daxia Kingdom in the west were the limits of great powers.

However, the existence of the Han Dynasty completely destroyed his understanding of the word “country”!

It’s impossible to win.

Impossible to defeat.

The big man…is definitely not someone I can provoke.

Bimie looked up at Zhuge Liang, who seemed like a god, and finally couldn’t help but bow his head.

“I, your humble servant, have met with the Han envoy. I am willing to submit to the powerful Han Dynasty!”

That’s it!

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, then took out an imperial edict from his sleeve.

This was just sent by the court not long ago.

When the emperor heard that Zhuge Liang had easily pacified Nanzhong, he was immediately overjoyed.

In addition to setting up the most basic administrative divisions, all matters in the southwest were given full coordination to Zhuge Liang.

In the administrative divisions made by the imperial court, “Yuexi County, Zangke County, Jianning County, Yongchang County, and the newly established Yunnan County in the Nanzhong region” were merged into Ningzhou, with its capital in Guchang.

As for a series of states such as the Shan Kingdom and the Pyu Kingdom, they were integrated into the “Annan Protectorate” and a governor and a chief secretary were appointed to manage them.

As for the specific selection of officials, the imperial court…or the emperor did not interfere. He simply let Zhuge Liang make the appointments first and then report to the central government.

Zhuge Liang first summoned Wang Ping and Zhang Ren to ask for their opinions.

“Your Majesty intends to establish the Annan Protectorate here.”

“The Annan Protectorate is different from the Western Regions Protectorate and the Beiting Protectorate. The greatest use of this place is to protect trade and keep the waterway from here to Yizhou open.”

Zhuge Liang had very clear ideas and did not have any unrealistic thoughts because of his temporary victory.

Just as the imperial court chose to establish only a protectorate here instead of setting up counties…now neither the Shan Kingdom nor the Pyu Kingdom has the foundation for the Han Dynasty to rule here for a long time.

The responsibilities of the Annan Protectorate are completely different from those of the previous Western Regions Protectorate and the current Beiting Protectorate.

What it needs to do is not to manage the surrounding land, but to manage the “waterway” here, and then let the influence of the Han Dynasty take root slowly and subtly.

This means that the establishment of the Annan Protectorate is a road that has never been explored by anyone. It requires someone to work hard and make deep efforts here to become the Han Dynasty’s outpost in this unknown land.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang was in an extremely complicated mood at this moment. He didn’t know whether Wang Ping and Zhang Ren were willing to stay here and serve as the first governor and chief secretary of Annan Protectorate.

Wang Ping and Zhang Ren also understood Zhuge Liang’s intention at this moment.

The two looked at each other, but there was no hesitation at all –

“Don’t worry, Minister Zhuge. Leave this to us!”

Wang Ping spoke his mind candidly:

“Although the imperial court still has Qingxu, Liaodong, and Jiangdong to conquer, with the imperial court’s current strength, it is enough to use the troops from Hebei and Central Plains to conquer them. Why would it need to send troops from Shu to conquer them?”

“For the people of Shu, it may be a good thing that the court does not use Shu soldiers, but it is not a good thing for us generals!”

Zhang Ren nodded in agreement and said, “During the Jian’an period, Shu was unusually peaceful.”

“If we continue like this, we will really waste our lives!”

Since you have chosen to become a military general, you must be eager to achieve great things.

But… the interior of the Han Dynasty is too complicated now!

Let’s not talk about the top pillars of the country such as Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Even under these pillars of the country, there are also great generals such as Pang De, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Wen Pin, and Gan Ning!
Under these generals, there are newcomers such as Lu Meng, Guan Ping, Hao Zhao, and Guo Huai…

All together, there were at least dozens of generals standing in the way of Wang Ping, Zhang Ren and others!

Not to mention that with the pacification of areas such as the Central Plains, Hebei, and the grasslands, there are fewer and fewer places for ordinary generals to perform meritorious services.

If Shu generals like Wang Ping and Zhang Ren don’t fight hard in the Annan Protectorate, they may never have the chance to seek the position of pillar of the country in their lifetime!
Moreover, compared to the Central Plains, which has been extremely inward-looking, the road in Annan is undoubtedly extremely wide!
They have already seen the strength of the Pyu Kingdom.

It is no exaggeration to say that both Wang Ping and Zhang Ren were confident that they could launch a dimensionality reduction attack on the Pyu Kingdom!

And the Pyu Kingdom is already a so-called powerful country here…

In the future, maybe we can even conquer Daxia and Daqin!
After all, it’s just the merit of destroying a country, and it’s a big country that has been recorded in ancient books. At least he should be able to get a position of “pillar of the country” by then, right?

amount……

Zhuge Liang rarely miscalculated and stuffed his words of comfort back into his stomach.

Because Zhuge Liang had worked with top generals such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei before, he did not think the position of “Pillar of the State” was rare.

In Zhuge Liang’s view, to be a “pillar of the country”, all you need is hands, right?

But it was different for second-line generals such as Wang Ping and Zhang Ren.

For them, becoming a pillar of the country is harder than climbing to the sky!
If they don’t try their best in the Annan Protectorate, they will probably waste their whole lives in Shu!

“Minister Zhuge, don’t worry!”

“In fact, Annan Protectorate is closer to our hometown in Yizhou! If we are really transferred to Liaodong or even the Western Regions, we might not be able to adapt!”

As the roads became more accessible, it would only take two months to reach Annan Protectorate from Chengdu.

This distance is even closer than the distance from Chang’an to the Western Regions Protectorate!
Moreover, Shu is already hot and humid, with a climate similar to that of Annan Protectorate. As Shu people, Wang Ping and Zhang Ren actually like it here more!
As they said, if they were really transferred to the dry Western Regions or the cold Liaodong, they would not be able to adapt!

“I am very pleased that you two have such intentions!”

Zhuge Liang also summoned Yonghua, the king of Shan, and Bie, the king of Pyu.

Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet!

The two glared at each other.

Yonghua hated and despised the Shan people for invading and ravaging them at will.

But Bie was disdainful of Yong Hua, thinking that he was defeated by the great Han father instead of the weak neighbor next to him!

“From today on, if you have any disputes again, do not resolve them with weapons!”

Zhuge Liang explained the profound meaning of “benevolence” to the two kings.

“When a gentleman is devoted to his relatives, the people will be inspired by benevolence!”

“If you can practice benevolence and righteousness, it will be good for you too.”

If there is “verbal teaching”, there will naturally be “teaching by example”.

Just as he did in Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang summoned the people of the two countries at night to educate them, and walked the land during the day to teach them technology and calendar.

Farming, weaving, astronomy, and calendar.

There was also the construction of cities, the improvement of ships, and the raising of livestock.

During this period, Zhuge Liang also discovered many interesting crops.

For example, the rice here can not only be harvested three times a year, but its yield is also much higher than that of the rice in the Han mainland!

For example, the oil yield of a kind of oil palm is much higher than that of the native beans of Dahan, and the quality is also quite excellent.

There are also sugar canes that are so sweet that they make you sick, and extremely tough abaca…

“This is not a barren land, it is clearly a treasure land!”

During the exploration, Zhuge Liang also followed the river to the end.

What you see is a tranquil sea!

Zhuge Liang stood here and looked around, feeling a sense of awe for no reason.

“Is there anything else on the other side of the sea?”

“Is this the South China Sea? And if it is just the South China Sea, then what is the end of the East China Sea?”

After a brief moment of confusion in Zhuge Liang’s eyes, he became more determined!
He knew that these questions would always have an answer!
With the gradual revival of the Han Dynasty, these questions will surely have answers!
When Zhuge Liang’s figure fell into the eyes of the people behind him, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of longing, and they silently remembered this figure in their hearts.

Several years later, a statue of Zhuge Liang was erected on this beach.

The city built here gradually had a commonly accepted name:

Kongming City!
From now on, this place is destined to be the territory of the Han Dynasty since ancient times!

It was not until the seventh year of Jian’an that Zhuge Liang was finally recalled by an imperial edict from the court.

Upon hearing that Zhuge Liang was leaving, not only did the Han officials here see him off for ten miles, but the people of Shan and Pyu also spontaneously came to the sides of the road to bid farewell to Zhuge Liang.

If there are branches or leaves blocking the way, they will be cut down.

When they encountered stones blocking the road, they worked together to push them away.

From Annan Protectorate to Ningzhou.

Then from Ningzhou to Yizhou.

There were crowds of people seeing us off all the time on the road.

Yong Hua and Bimie, who were accompanying him, saw this scene and said to Zhuge Liang in admiration: “It is a blessing that you have come from the southwest!”

(End of this chapter)