The big man has a living father

Chapter 80: Managing India
Huo Hai really didn't know that pandas in this era are called Nietie beasts.

If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have taken such a big detour.
But are there pandas in Qinling? Huo Hai thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. When watching videos, people often said that pandas are divided into two subspecies. I guess the Qinling panda is another subspecies.

Thinking of the short video, Huo Hai turned around and looked at the pair of white tiger cubs.

"At first I thought you were just ordinary white tiger cubs."

Now that I think about it, the tigers captured from Shu County were either the South China tiger, which has become extinct in later generations, or the Bawang Xiao tiger, which became extinct during the Ming Dynasty! ?
If it is a South China tiger, then we have encountered an albino subspecies, a very rare white tiger.

If it is a Tyrannosaurus Rex… is it that Tyrannosaurus Rex itself has a white background with black stripes? Or is this an albino Tyrannosaurus Rex?

Huo Hai pinched his chin and said, "You'll know what it is when you grow up."

The Tyrannosaurus rex is a cat species that is larger than the South China tiger and smaller than the Siberian tiger. It has not been confirmed to be a subspecies of tiger. Its characteristics are between those of a tiger and a lion. Adult males and females will raise their cubs together.

Huo Hai took out two Tyrannosaurus cubs and observed them. One of them had a pure white background with black stripes, and the other had a slightly purple background with black stripes and dark gray stripes.

"From now on, you will be called White Hair, and you will be called Purple Hair."

Looking at Huo Hai's expression, Huo Qubing asked: "Why don't we just throw these away?"

Huo Hai thought about it and decided that he really didn't want the black and white immortal and his flat-headed cousin.

Huo Qubing: "Kill it and eat the meat?"

Huo Hai thought for a moment and said, "Let's find someone to raise it and turn it into a zoo."

Huo Qubing nodded: "Okay."

"Snapped!"

As he was speaking, the door of the courtyard was pushed open with such force that it hit the wall.

Huo Hai and Huo Qubing both turned around to look.

A man with a flaring beard came in, but it was a pity that he was too thin, otherwise he wouldn't need any makeup to play Zhong Kui.

The man glanced at Huo Qubing, then turned to look at Huo Hai, took two steps at a time, and grabbed Huo Hai's arm: "Second Master Huo, in person?"

Huo Hai looked at the person who came and asked, "Who are you?"

The person who came was of course Zhang Qian. Looking at Huo Hai who looked unhappy, Zhang Qian realized that he had lost his composure a little, and hurriedly stepped back and bowed: "Second Master Huo, I am the Marquis of Bowang, Zhang Qian."

Marquis of Bowang? I don’t know, but we’ll know after we burn Bowang Slope.

Huo Hai felt that the burning of Bowangpo by Zhuge Liang might be related to Marquis Bowang.

However, Huo Hai didn't know that Marquis Bowang knew Zhang Qian: "So you are Zhang Qian."

Zhang Qian asked anxiously: "Second Master, may I ask if Tianzhu is the same as Shentu?"

Huo Hai looked outside and said, "I have something to ask you, where is Luo Xiahong?"

Zhang Qian: "Luo Xiahong was taken away by His Majesty."

Hearing this, Huo Hai tilted his head and frowned: "Huh?"

Zhang Qian laughed awkwardly: "On our way here, the postmaster informed Your Majesty that Luo Xiahong knew everything about astronomy and geography. Then when we entered the city, Luo Xiahong was taken away by Your Majesty's men, along with the parents of the white tiger cubs."

"Oops." Huo Hai: "Your Majesty has intercepted my vacation."

Although it is different from the ten-day holiday in the Tang Dynasty, the current system is to work five days and have one day off, but Huo Hai feels that this is too little and that he must work five days and have two days off.

Working five days and taking two days off is not enough; other holidays must also be made up.

When Liu Che discovers that holidays can stimulate consumption, he will certainly promote holidays. Then Huo Hai will be able to go from lying down secretly to lying down openly.

Zhang Qian: "Intercept the Hu? Luo Xiahong is either a Hu or a Han Chinese."

Huo Hai: "The meaning of 'Hu' in 'jiehu' is not like that. There is a kind of gambling game where winning is called 'Hu'. 'Jiehu' means that you were about to win, but the person before you won first... Why am I telling you this? It's my vacation!"

Looking at Huo Hai and Zhang Qian, I felt that it was right for me to inquire in advance.

This second young master is indeed as lazy as the legend says.

"Second Young Master, considering how much favor you enjoy in front of His Majesty, isn't it easy for you to get someone?"

Huo Hai: "Wow, you've seen the complete collection of idioms so soon?"

Zhang Qian laughed loudly: "I'm watching... Second Master, let's talk about Tianzhu!"

Zhang Qian received a letter written on white paper, and he had been asking about the white paper on the way back to Chang'an. Before coming here, Zhang Qian had already been to Huo's Paper Company.

When I explored the Western Regions before, I could only remember things in my head, not in writing. Because I was delayed on the way and was captured by the Xiongnu, I forgot a lot of things.

Now that he had a blank sheet of paper, Zhang Qian felt that his career had taken a big step towards success.

Whether the other foot can also step through the door depends on whether India is Sindhu.

Huo Hai nodded: "Tianzhu is Sindhu, I am more accustomed to calling them Ah San."

Hearing this answer, Zhang Qian jumped up: "Second Master, you really do know! Really!"

Huo Qubing was actually curious: "What is Tianzhu Shendu?"

Zhang Qian said sternly: "General, I went to the Western Regions to investigate and found out that there are two large countries in the Western Regions."

"One is called Anxi, and the other is called Daxia."

Zhang Qian picked up a gun barrel in the yard and started drawing on the sand.

"This is our Han Dynasty. All the way north to here are the hundreds of Xiongnu kingdoms."

"This is the Western Regions."

"There is a mountain that towers into the clouds in this place. After crossing it, you will reach Daxia. Further west of Daxia is Anxi."

"The areas ruled by these two countries are not much smaller than those of the Han Dynasty." Huo Qubing suddenly became interested: "Oh? There are such places?"

Although it seemed on the map that the area ruled by the Xiongnu was larger than that of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing was very clear that not every piece of land in that place was suitable for human survival.

But is it also the case with Anxi and Daxia?

Zhang Qian: "These two countries are not important. What is important is that despite their strength, they were unable to enter Sindhu. You can imagine how powerful Sindhu was."

"Puchi~" Huo Hai laughed out loud.

Zhang Qian: “?”

Huo Hai: "It's okay, it's okay, just continue."

Zhang Qian pointed to the location of Sindhu and said, "When I was in Daxia, I saw Shu brocade produced in Shu County! And the plants of Shu County, so I went to ask around and found out that there was a road to Sindhu to the south of Shu County!"

"So I asked His Majesty to go and explore this road. As long as we have this road, we can bypass the Xiongnu and reach the Western Regions."

Huo Qubing said coldly: "Between? Next year at the latest, I will sever the connection between the Xiongnu and the Western Regions."

As he spoke, Huo Qubing took out an arrow and drew a line on the ground, directly separating the Western Regions from the Huns.

Zhang Qian laughed awkwardly. Warriors have their own ways, and envoys have their own ways. Zhang Qian looked at Huo Hai and said, "Second Master, is what you said in the letter true?"

Huo Hai: “Of course it’s true.”

Huo Hai took the gun from Zhang Qian: "You don't believe it, right? Let me explain it to you."

"This is Shu County. To the south, there are rhinos."

"Further south of this place, here, there are elephants."

Hearing about the elephant, Zhang Qian finally confirmed: "Second Master, you really do know. How did you know?"

Huo Hai couldn't tell how he knew this, but he made up a simple story: "Of course I read it in an ancient book."

Zhang Qian: "I have tried my best and have only come this far. I never thought that people in ancient times had been to Sindhu?!"

Huo Hai sneered: "You went through so much trouble to get to Dian Kingdom?"

When Zhang Qian heard the word "Dian Kingdom", he became more certain that Huo Hai really knew it, and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Huo Hai: "You have been an official in Shu County for so long, you should know the history of Shu County, right? Before it was conquered by Qin, this place was called Shu."

"During the Shu Kingdom era, when they were at their most powerful, their ruling territory extended all the way to here, which covers the present-day Dian Kingdom."

"After the Kingdom of Shu was destroyed by the Qin State, the descendants of King Kaiming of Shu came here and established a new Kingdom of Shu, which was later destroyed by Zhao Tuo, the founding king of Nanyue and a general of the Qin State."

Zhang Qian nodded: "I know this."

Huo Hai: "Then let me tell you something you don't know. People in ancient times used neither copper coins nor knife coins, but shells as currency. Where did the ancient Shu get the sea? So the ancient Shu people went all the way south. If they could trade, they would trade. If they couldn't trade, they would hold a funeral. They went all the way south to the seashore of Sindhu."

Huo Hai drew the real map on the ground.

Zhang Qian was excited: "Is there really such a road? Is there really such a country as Sindhu?"

Zhang Qian had no solid evidence before and could not ask Liu Che for troops. If there was solid evidence that Sindhu existed, he would not have sent envoys to inform the Dian Kingdom, but would have sent a large army to attack.

The authorities were confused, but Huo Qubing, who was standing next to them, understood everything and pointed out the key point: "Wait a minute, this is Shu County, this is Shentu, this is the Kingdom of the Elephant, this is Nanyue, then what is this area from here to here? This is the area south of Longxi and south of the Hetao. Is it the territory of the Qiang people?"

Huo Hai: "This is the territory of the Qiang people. There are not many people here."

During this era, the Tibetans in the true sense had not yet been born. Only the Jiarong Tibetans had been born. At that time, they were still called Qiang people and were considered to be their own people within the Qiang people.

And they only live on the edge of Shu County.

As for the plateau, there are people, but not many, and they are very scattered, with a total population of no more than 10,000.

Huo Hai: "Here we have abundant grass and water, and there are grasslands everywhere. Although we can't raise horses as well as in the south of the desert, it's not far behind. It's just that the terrain is too high, and even the Qiang people can't survive here for a long time. It's too hard."

Huo Qubing understood immediately: "Second Brother, you mean that this place is extremely high and suitable for raising horses, and to the south of this place is a huge country called Shendu?"

Huo Qubing took a look and thought, doesn't 1+1 mean that the Han Dynasty will become three times bigger?

This is much easier than fighting the Huns. Isn't this a huge piece of territory for free?!

As long as we send people to occupy this high ground and feed the horses here, when the time is right, the army will march south and taking over Sindhu will be a piece of cake, right?

Huo Hai: "It's not that simple. People who haven't adapted to the plateau for a long time can't fight here."

Huo Qubing: "Why are we fighting on the plateau? Aren't we using the plateau to raise horses and then march south to Shentu?"

Huo Hai pinched his chin after hearing this: "Uh~ It seems that it is not necessary? But what about the Qiang people on the edge of the plateau?"

Huo Qubing laughed: "If they dare to attack us on the plateau, I will kill them in Hetao Longxi. If they really dare to attack us, then they can just live on the plateau."

Zhang Qian looked confused after hearing this.

Wait a minute, wasn't I looking for Sindhu? I just found it, and I still need to play the role of an envoy, but you are already discussing how to conquer it? Is this appropriate?

"Is there nothing for me here?"

Huo Qubing smiled and said, "Of course, Marquis Bowang, who do you think can help us raise horses on the plateau?"

Zhang Qian looked at the map for a long time: "Are there Qiang people living here?"

Huo Qubing: "That's the correct answer. Your task is to convince them to cooperate with us, pledge allegiance to the Han Dynasty, and go to the plateau with our people to raise horses."

"The Qiang people themselves cannot go to the plateau because they do not have enough resources, but we have no shortage of these things. As long as we can raise horses on the plateau for three years and go south to Sindhu, you will be the first to do so!"

Huo Hai: "We have hidden so many people and horses on this plateau with lush green grass. From now on, this plateau will be called the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau."

(End of this chapter)