Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

Time flies like an arrow; half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

In April, the frozen ground has quietly thawed, and the earth, where all things are reviving, is lush and green.

Along the Qinhai River, passing through the foot of the Tianshan Mountains and heading west, the banks of the Congling River are nourished by lush aquatic plants.

The vast majority of the kingdoms in the Western Regions were located on the northern and southern lines.

The lifestyles on the north and south lines are also quite different.

Along the northern route of the Western Regions, the kingdoms near the foot of the Tianshan Mountains mostly lived a nomadic lifestyle, similar to that of the Xiongnu and other nomadic peoples.

The lifestyle of the small kingdoms in the southern part of the Western Regions was closer to that of the Han Dynasty.

They were city-states, and most of them had fixed residences, establishing their kingdoms and settling down around water sources.

The northern regions, including Wusun, Shule, Shache, and Weili, all belonged to the traveling kingdoms.

Every year after spring, they migrate to areas with abundant water and grass to graze, fish, and hunt for a living.

Then, in late autumn or winter, they would find sheltered areas to escape the cold.

Of course, this is not absolute.

Because on the northern route of the Western Regions, there is a country built along the foot of the Tianshan Mountains and living there by the Pamir River.

It was also the second largest country in the Western Regions.

Kucha.

At noon, under the blazing sun, a council meeting was being held in the royal palace of Yancheng, the capital of Kucha.

Compared to the royal palace of the Cheshi Kingdom, the royal palace in Yancheng can be called a true royal palace.

More than two hundred years have passed since the earliest recorded discovery of Kucha in the Western Han Dynasty.

Before this, Kucha had already been established for hundreds of years.

As the second largest country in the Western Regions, Kucha had a population of over 100,000 and several cities.

Ban Gu recorded in the Book of Han: Kucha, the capital of which was Yancheng.

Its territory connects to Yanqi in the east, Gumo in the west, and Wusun in the north.

It had a population of over 8 and a mercenary force of over 2. It was the most powerful among the city-states of the Western Regions.

In 65 BC, the King of Kucha and his wife visited the Han Dynasty to pay tribute.

For the next two hundred years, Kucha maintained contact with the Han Dynasty on and off.

With the changing of the throne in Kucha, power shifted and things went awry.

When Ban Chao was stationed in Taqian City of the Western Regions Protectorate, he was attacked by the rebels of Kucha.

..............

At this moment, King Bai Hui of Kucha was sitting on a gilded glass throne.

The oval dome overhead is coated with a layer of peacock blue glass.

On either side of the throne stood several beautiful young women from Kucha, dressed in white silk gowns and carrying ceremonial objects shaped like Han dynasty fans.

Bai Hui wore a long robe with a red-gold intertwined floral pattern, and agate lichen trailed to the ground on both sides of the skirt.

Dozens of ministers, their heads wrapped in turbans inlaid with various precious gems, stood on either side of the hall, which was covered with a red carpet made of wool.

In front of them were rows of low tables.

The corners of the table are slightly curled up, and Sanskrit characters covered with gold lacquer are engraved on them.

Bai Hui, the King of Kucha, with his curly chin, was looking down at a sheepskin letter on the table in front of him.

The letter was sent by the Left General of Wusun.

Last year, after the Liangzhou troops entered Loulan and killed the general in charge of collecting taxes in Yutian, Wusun received news that the Han Dynasty was going to re-establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

Historically, the Protectorate of the Western Regions was always established within the territory of Kucha.

Therefore, Wusun immediately sent the news to Kucha.

The Protectorate of the Western Regions, established by the Han Dynasty, was used to maintain order in the various kingdoms of the Western Regions.

Therefore, they would levy some taxes on the Western Regions.

Kucha was no exception.

However, in recent years, after the Han Dynasty severed ties with the Western Regions, the Wusun exercised the power of the Protectorate of the Western Regions to levy taxes on various countries.

However, Kucha was the only one that never paid taxes to Wusun.

Because Kucha was powerful enough.

As a city-state, Kucha had thick city walls, sturdy fortifications, and 20,000 well-trained soldiers.

The Wusun were unable to conquer Kucha.

Therefore, the powerful Kucha remained independent of the Western Regions and did not pay any taxes to Wusun.

However, if the Han Dynasty re-establishes the Protectorate of the Western Regions, Kucha will have to consider whether or not to pay taxes.

Therefore, Bai Hui was very clear about the intention behind Wusun's letter.

At first, Bai Hui thought that this matter did not need to be considered for the time being.

The Han Dynasty had been weak for many years, and even if it wanted to establish the Protectorate of the Western Regions, it would not be a matter of just one or two days.

But Bai Hui did not expect that the big man would be so fast.

Just a few days ago, the Left General of Wusun sent a letter.

It is said that the Han army has advanced and killed the King of Cheshi, razing the Cheshi Kingdom to the ground.

Meanwhile, their envoys to the Cheshi Kingdom were all killed by Duan Yu, the governor of Liangzhou under the Han Dynasty.

In the past two weeks, the Han army has been advancing and has conquered several small countries.

The army is about to arrive in Kucha.

Bai Hui felt flustered because of this.

The fighting strength of the Han army was far superior to that of the Wusun.

The Wusun were a nomadic people skilled in fishing, hunting, and herding, and their forces were mostly composed of cavalry.

Although they have a large army, they are not good at attacking cities.

It is precisely for this reason that Kucha has been unafraid of Wusun for so many years.

But the Han Dynasty's army was different.

The Han Dynasty's army was best at both attacking and defending cities.

Bai Hui clearly remembered how her clan ascended to the throne of Kucha.

Their clan was not originally a noble or royal family, but rather a high-ranking noble family in Kucha.

In the first year of the Jianchu era, King Youliduo of Kucha rebelled against the Han Dynasty and attacked Ban Chao, the Protector-General of the Western Regions.

Ban Chao noticed this in time and led his soldiers to garrison Shule.

At that time, Ban Chao had only a little over a thousand soldiers under his command, yet he managed to hold off an army of over ten thousand from Kucha.

The following year, Ban Chao assembled troops in Shule, and the armies of Kangju, Yutian, and Jumi began to besiege the city of Kucha. They captured Moshi City in just half a month.

In the ninth year of Jianchu, Ban Chao captured the capital of Kucha, deposed King Youlido of Kucha, and installed Bai Ba, Bai Hui's ancestor, as the new king of Kucha.

Then, through generations, it was finally his turn to ascend the throne of the King of Kucha.

Although Bai Hui had never come into contact with the Han army, he had glimpsed its strength from the records of the historians of Kucha.

Therefore, Bai Hui did not want to have a conflict with the Han.

However, the letter from the Left General of Wusun, and the destruction of Cheshi and several other small countries, filled Bai Hui with fear.

"What should we do now?"

Bai Hui looked at the many ministers seated in the hall and said, "The Kunmo of Wusun promised that as long as we unite to fight against the Han Dynasty, we will receive 20% of the annual tax revenue from the Western Regions after the Han army withdraws."

After Bai Hui finished speaking, the many ministers below the main hall began to whisper among themselves.

Hearing the buzzing in the main hall, Bai Hui became even more agitated.

"Enough! Is there anyone who can offer a solution?" Bai Hui, sitting on the throne, snapped impatiently.

The murmurs among the princes immediately ceased.

"Your Majesty, let's not discuss what we should do for now. Just this: if the Han Dynasty wins, we will need to pay taxes to the Han Dynasty in the future."

“If the Wusun wins and we do not help them, then they will definitely turn around and attack us after their victory.”

"Given the current situation, we can only avoid future disasters by uniting with either the Wusun or the Han Dynasty."

Bai Hui: "......."

Upon hearing this, Bai Hui even considered standing up and killing someone.

Isn't saying this just a waste of time?

Doesn't he know?

What they should do is...

But after saying that, it seemed like he had thrown the problem back to him.

Under Bai Hui's irritated gaze, the more than twenty ministers in the hall all lowered their heads.

It seems that no one is willing to make the final decision.

But rather than saying that no one is willing to make the final decision, it's more accurate to say that no one is willing to bear the consequences of that decision.

However, faced with the silence of his ministers, King Bai Hui was helpless.

.............

A hundred miles away from Yancheng, the capital of the Kingdom of Kucha, near the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, stands a large camp stretching for more than ten miles.

Countless white tents were erected along the ground, resembling giant oval snowdrifts.

Near the westernmost point of the camp, one can see large numbers of herder women and young men driving herds of countless cattle, horses, and sheep.

In the very center of the camp, a large tent, several times larger than a regular tent, stands erected.

A dozen or so Wusun soldiers, armed with weapons, stood around the large tent.

A young Han Chinese man was standing outside the tent, with two warhorses beside him.

Inside the big tent.

Han Sui, dressed in a black robe and wearing a black turban, was standing in front of a middle-aged Wusun man with red hair and blue eyes.

The man was dressed in gilded Shu brocade, and a short sword with a scabbard inlaid with gemstones hung at his waist. The hilt was wrapped with gold wire, and a huge red gemstone was inlaid at the end.

On either side of the man sat a beautiful Wusun woman with red hair and blue eyes.

"Han people, tell me your purpose. Don't try to deceive me with any lies."

As the middle-aged man spoke, he stroked his curling mustache and said, "If you dare to lie to me, I will feed you to them without hesitation."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man pointed to the left side of the large tent.

Han Sui, dressed in a black robe, turned his head to look.

There he saw two huge gray wolves chained up, staring at him with bloodthirsty eyes, baring their teeth and growling.

In front of the two gray wolves was a pile of clean bones.

Judging from its shape, it's clear that it's not animal bone, but human bone.

Han Sui smiled upon seeing this.

Compared to Duan Yu's two black tigers, what's the difference between these two gray wolves and wild dogs?

"Han man, tell me what you're laughing at. Are you mocking me?" Mo Hutu, the left general of Wusun, frowned as he looked at Han Sui.

Han Sui, using the Western Regions etiquette, touched his chest, bowed, and said, "How dare I?"

"Then what are you laughing at!" General Zuo Mohutu pressed.

"I'm laughing. With such a powerful army and such a wise general, Wusun will surely annihilate Duan Yu without leaving a single survivor."

"Haha, that's right!" General Zuo Mohutu laughed and said, "Han man, you're very eloquent, I like you very much!"

"Then, please state your purpose!" Mo Hutu gestured for Han Sui to sit down.

Han Sui smiled and nodded, then sat down and said to Mo Hutu, "Although General Zuo, your army is as numerous as the stars in the sky, Duan Yu is not as easy to deal with as you think."

“But we have a common enemy, Duan Yu is also my enemy.”

"With the intelligence I provide, General Zuo will be able to defeat Duan Yu."

Mo Hutu looked at Han Sui with a thoughtful expression and asked, "Han Chinese, you and that Duan Yu are both Han Chinese, how can you expect me to believe your words?"

"What if you are a spy sent by Duan Yu, deliberately providing false information?"

Han Sui immediately shook his head and said, "General Zuo should know that last year, Beigong Boyu of the Yuezhi people received the support of Wusun and fought against Duan Yu in Liangzhou."

“And I am Beigong Boyu’s ally in Liangzhou.”

"After Beigong Boyu's defeat, Duan Yu slaughtered hundreds of my family members and relatives. The hatred between us is irreconcilable."

"Moreover, General Zuo can verify the truth of my intelligence."

"Now that I'm here, I won't come empty-handed. I can give General Zuo a gift as a token of our greeting!"

Han Sui slowly said, "I know that Wusun is preparing to join forces with the Northern Xiongnu to attack Duan Yu's army from both the front and rear."

"But General Zuo no longer needs to wait for the Northern Xiongnu."

"Duan Yu has already ordered the Northern Xiongnu's southward route to be shortened. It may not be long before General Zuo receives news of the Northern Xiongnu's defeat," Han Sui said confidently.

However, just as Mohutu was wondering, a cavalryman suddenly walked into the camp.

The so-called "cavalry commander" was like a captain in the Han Dynasty, leading a unit of troops.

The cavalry commander entered the tent, bowed to Mo Hutu, who was sitting in the main seat, and said, "General, an envoy from the Northern Xiongnu has arrived."

PS: There will be another chapter later