Chapter 350: Planning for the West
Fuping, south of the Qingtongxia camp, was Ma Chao's temporary garrison.

The 3,000 Qiang cavalry that Ma Chao led when he went on the expedition had now expanded to 7,000 cavalry after some were repatriated and eliminated, including nearly 2,000 slaves that Ma Chao personally recruited.

When the black bear evacuated, it took the road inside the Great Wall.

This is my first time going there, so I need to observe it on the spot.

The roads inside the Great Wall run east-west and lead directly to Wuwei in the west.

This means that the troops in the Hexi region can be dispatched and divided into groups to attack Wuwei directly, cutting off the route for the Qiang people to migrate westward.

In fact, there is also a mountain road between Hehuang and the Western Regions. It is relatively convenient to travel on this road in midsummer, and it is also suitable for small caravans and nomadic groups.

But it is definitely not suitable for the large-scale migration of tens of thousands of people, as resources along the way are scarce and cannot guarantee food for the herds.

After confirming that the black bear was going to return to Guanzhong temporarily, Ma Chao set up a tent on the roadside and built a stove to cook food.

The Black Bear Team had only more than 300 knights, equipped with more than 1,000 horses and more than 500 camels, which were responsible for carrying fine fodder.

Only with such sufficient equipment could we travel 300 miles a day and quickly return to Guanzhong.

Ma Chao was still wearing his iconic iron-clad armor, standing on the side of the road with a smile on his face, and walked quickly towards Black Bear's giant chariot: "I greet you, Your Majesty."

"Brother, please stand up."

Black Bear stepped forward and lifted up Ma Chao's arm, then turned around and pointed at Yu Fan who got off the car right behind him: "This is Yu Fan from Jiangdong, Mr. Yu Zhongxiang."

Ma Chao turned his head to look at Yu Fan, and instinctively observed Yu Fan's body shape and explosive power. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes and smiled: "I have heard of your great name for a long time. Seeing you today, it is true that you are a talented person in the world as your Majesty said."

Yu Fan also observed Ma Chao and saw that Ma Chao had a handsome face, heroic spirit and a sharp look in his eyes. He cupped his hands and said with a smile: "The general is the same, you are really a brilliant Ma Chao."

Ma Chao looked at the black bear in astonishment, wondering when he got such a title.

Black Bear just smiled and said, "Since you two like each other, it will save me a lot of trouble. Sit down and discuss the matter first."

"Yes, please, my lord."

Ma Chao took two steps back and stretched out his arms to invite them. On the other side, Ma Dai quickly stepped forward and pulled up the curtain. A dozen or so Black Bear guards followed Ma Dai and quickly entered the curtain area to stand guard.

Stepping into the curtain, the black bear's green umbrella also moved to the center of the curtain.

Black Bear sat down and said to Ma Chao, who had taken off his helmet, "What do you think of the Hehuang incident?"

Ma Chao restrained his smile and looked serious. "I don't agree with using troops in winter. Although we have the advantage of sleds, the road to Hehuang is dangerous. Once blocked, even if we can retreat, the Han and Hu heroes in Xizhou will be eager to spy on us and provoke us. I think we should use both suppression and appeasement. First, we should integrate the Qiang and Hu in the three counties of Longxi, as well as the Qiang and Di in Wudu. This way, we can get 30,000 people."

As he spoke, Ma Chao glanced at Yu Fan who was about to become his partner. Yu Fan smiled at Ma Chao warmly and kindly, which made Ma Chao a little at a loss.

Ma Chao looked at Black Bear again and continued, "After the spring ploughing next year, we will gather all the Qiang and Di followers. Even if we cannot defeat all the Qiang in Hehuang, we can at least inflict heavy damage on their tribe. If we do this for a few years, Hehuang will be pacified."

"Brother, your plan certainly makes sense, but I am not concerned about the Qiang people in Hehuang. I want to solve the problem in the Western Regions as well."

Black Bear picked up the tea bowl and blew on it, tasted the water, took a sip and said, "The previous and the next are nothing more than a strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf. I have instructed Zhang Xiu and Yang Fu to devise a plan to put pressure on the Qiang people."

Ma Chao also took a sip of tea and asked, "Then do you still want to recruit the Qiang and Di tribes in Liangzhou?"

"The plan remains the same. If the Qiang people refuse to leave, we will fight them until they leave. If they still refuse to leave, we will bury them here."

Black Bear held the tea bowl and sighed: "The Western Regions are too far away. If we march forward, the military expenses will be too heavy. In the future, we should expand trade to the west and remove the tax checkpoints of these city-states. Those commercial taxes and tariffs will not only enrich the national treasury, but also make our business travelers profitable and reduce many dangers." There are no decent and regular tax checkpoints. The caravans on the Western Regions trade route are all armed caravans. They will break through the checkpoints if they can, evade taxes if they can, and will never spend money if they can rob.

The same goes for the tax cards at the city-states and countries along the way. They will try to take advantage of you and won't simply extort a toll.

There is absolutely no order at all, and the profits from the East-West trade are too huge.

Another thing is that since they are located on the trade routes, the countries in the Western Regions have an unfair means of competition with city-states and alliances such as Kangju and Kushan.

That is to rob and kill caravans from the East and the West on a large scale and monopolize the East-West trade.

In short, if you want to make more money, it is not enough to just station troops in the Western Regions.

Although gold is something that you cannot bring with you when you are born and cannot take with you when you die, absorbing enough gold from the West will have many benefits for the domestic economic operation.

To Black Bear, it doesn’t matter how much tax a booming economy can collect.

There is only one benefit of economic prosperity, and that is the well-being of the people. There will be less trouble in governance, as you only need to deal with a very small number of people.

What he hates most is dealing with troubles. Many troubles will be delayed as long as possible, but if they can't be delayed any longer... then he will cut the roots.

A prosperous economy can resolve many conflicts and troubles on their own.

In order to avoid trouble in the future, we should make plans in this regard now.

Ma Chao didn't care about the national treasury or the risks of doing business, given the military force that he and his son currently controlled, as well as the current deterrent power of Guanzhong.

Among the caravans sent out by Ma Chao, few dared to plunder or extort money in the Western Regions.

During the 400 years of the Han Dynasty, nobles in various parts of the Western Regions also knew what the Celestial Empire was.

To know whether or not to offend someone, you need to read their eyes and the direction of the wind.

The nobles who did not know which way the wind was blowing had been almost completely eliminated during the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty.

After listening to Black Bear's plan, Ma Chao also felt that forcing the Qiang people to migrate westward had too many strategic benefits.

Saving military expenses is actually a small factor. The biggest benefit is that the Qiang people and the countries in the Western Regions have deep-seated hatred for each other. In this way, when our side sends troops, the people in the Western Regions will surely be overjoyed and will rush to welcome the arrival of the royal army.

No matter what changes will happen there in the future, the locals will definitely hate the Qiang people who were the first to invade the place the most.

Seeing that Ma Chao was thinking and didn't care about it, Black Bear offered a big bait: "When the Western Regions send envoys to ask for help, I will set up the Beiting Protectorate, with its headquarters in Luntai. I hope that the first Beiting Protectorate will be held by my brother. In addition, there is also the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu, and I also hope that my brother will take over temporarily."

Yu Fan was stunned, and Ma Dai also stared at Ma Chao, then at the black bear's profile.

Ma Chao's expression was emotionless, and he looked at Black Bear in disbelief: "Your Majesty?"

"The Beiting Protectorate will be renamed Tingzhou in the next decade or so. I don't want the Western Regions to still be called the Western Regions in the future. As for the Right Wise King, you are only taking over temporarily. In the future, I will give it to your nephew."

Black Bear didn't smile at all, and said calmly: "This is the arrangement for now. I don't want to be distracted by the affairs of Xichui. There will be many places in the country that need money in the future, and the tariffs and commercial taxes on the trade routes cannot be lost."

"Yes, the general will take your orders."

Yu Fan also followed suit and bowed. He was temporarily the chief officer of the Protector of the Qiang appointed by Black Bear.

(End of this chapter)