socalfunplaces Page 717
Page 717
This is equivalent to creating two problems for the Great Wei Empire.
If the future oil is extracted from the north, it will have to face the cold environment and greater difficulty in extraction. If the future oil is obtained from Central and West Asia, then it will have to bear a considerable transportation cost.
No matter how you look at it, it is not an easy task, and Cao Ang is not in a hurry about it.
Oil and gas technology is a relatively complicated science and technology. Dawei's current talent pool and technical level are still not up to the point of large-scale oil exploitation, so the top priority is not to think about how many oil deposits will be developed at once.
The most important thing is to study drilling technology and drilling equipment, and cultivate relevant professionals and professional teams. Problems in oil fields will not pose the biggest problem for the time being.
Although there are far fewer oil mines in the Huaxia region than the above two places, they can still be detected in the Northeast and other regions, which is enough for consumption and use in a short period of time. where to go.
However, at this moment, Zhao Yun, the commander of the Liangzhou Legion, suddenly sent an urgent telegram to the imperial capital Luoyang.
Cao Cao's intelligence agency quickly interpreted the telegram and passed the content of the telegram to Cao Ang, "Zixiu, it seems that something is wrong in the Western Regions."
It turned out that two days ago, several small countries in Xicheng, the trading gateways, prohibited the mutual exchanges between Eastern and Western merchants, and their attitudes were very suspicious.
Cao Cao was very dissatisfied with this.
"Huacizimo and Dawan are located in the west of the Western Regions, and they are the only way for caravans to travel. Once they join hands to block their peers, the trade between Dawei and the outside world will be interrupted."
He slapped the table and said angrily: "It's unreasonable, it's just a small country, the Great Wei opened up business, and the exchanges between merchants can also make them rich and prosperous, but I didn't expect them to hinder it instead."
Guo Jia then said: "Your Majesty, this matter may not be so simple."
"What, Fengxiao, what did you see?"
Guo Jia replied: "Even if a small country like this borrows ten courage from them, they would not dare to oppose the Celestial Dynasty of China, unless..."
Cao Cao immediately came to his senses: "You mean, someone is behind them, keeping them warm? It is very possible to follow the words of filial piety."
Cao Ang said at this time: "In the past half a year, we have sent a large number of products from the Great Wei to the west in exchange for a lot of gold and jewelry, as well as slave populations, and caused a large number of businessmen and people to emigrate... If I guessed correctly, this It will definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of those in power in several major Western countries."
This is a very real problem.
The level of civilization and manufacturing in Great Wei is much higher than that of other contemporary countries. Once the goods of Great Wei are dumped to the Western world, the local industry will be hit by dimensionality reduction, and there is almost no room for retaliation.
A long-term deficit will lead to the loss of national wealth and population.
Although the people and the powerful will benefit, for those who have vested interests, it is an intolerable predatory behavior, which will cause them to lose a lot of benefits, and then they will find ways to deal with it.
Dawan and other countries in the Western Regions are small countries.
Opening up commerce is beneficial to them. After all, merchants traveling from south to north will definitely stay in their cities for consumption. As beneficiaries of the opening of trade routes, they don't need to smash their own bowls.
There is only one possibility, there is a stronger force behind it.
Cao Cao held his beard and said: "This analysis makes sense. It may be some ruthless barbarians in the north. Of course, the bigger suspect is the Guishuang people."
Today, there are four major empires in total, they are: Roman Empire, Anxi Kingdom, Guishuang Kingdom, and Great Wei Empire.
Among them, Great Wei is the strongest, followed by Rome, and Anxi is similar to Guishuang.
Guishuang is the closest empire to the Great Wei Dynasty. It was jointly established by the migrating Taiyue clan and several ethnic groups in Central Asia, occupying most of Central Asia and the rich plains in northern Tianzhu.
Unlike places like the Wa country, this is a large country with a population of nearly ten million, a fairly mature system, and hundreds of thousands of troops. .
Cao Cao suspected that Guishuang Kingdom was behind the instigation and planning. The main reason was that Guishuang was too close to Dawan and Huacizimo. Be independent.
In other words, only Guishuang has the ability to make them do such things that harm others and benefit themselves.
Cao Cao couldn't understand one thing: "Most of the gold, silver, treasures, labor and labor we exchanged came from Rome, Anxi and other small countries, but the exchanges with Guishuang were not the most."
Cao Ang replied: "In addition to business interests that may cause conflicts, there is actually one other thing that is also likely to cause disputes."
"What is it?"
"Belief!"
Guishuang not only conquered most of the northern part of Tianzhu.
The people of Guishuang adopted Buddhism as the state religion early on. Almost all the people in the country, from the king to the common people, believed in Buddhism. This is the peak period of Buddhism in Central Asia and South Asia.
Originally, this was an export of culture, which would profoundly affect the Chinese civilization for the next few hundred years, or even thousands of years.
However, after the establishment of the Great Wei Empire, not only were Buddhist monks unable to preach eastward, but some Buddhist monks turned into Taoist believers.
For Guishuang, faith is the foundation of the country, which cannot be easily shaken.
Less than a year after the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, the growth of national strength is particularly astonishing. However, before internal resources are fully integrated and internal conflicts are not fully resolved, it is not suitable for launching large-scale military operations abroad.
The Guishuang Kingdom has a population of more than a few million, and is known as one of the four classical empires, and it ranks alongside Rome and the Great Han in later generations.
The strength is definitely not weak, and Da Wei is not afraid of such a country.
The Guishuang people had conflicts with the Han people in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and finally the Han people won. Even the level of the Eastern Han Dynasty can defeat Guishuang, so there is no reason why the current comprehensive strength of the Wei Empire will not be able to beat it.
However, it is easy to win a war, but it is difficult to destroy a country.
Although the Great Wei Empire had military power comparable to the peak period of the Western Han Dynasty.
But a large-scale foreign war does not mean that it can be launched immediately. Guishuang is so far away from the Central Plains, and the army's expedition is protracted, and the resources consumed are also quite large.
Cao Cao asked, "Zixiu and Fengxiao, how do you think we should respond?"
Guo Jia suggested: "Our army has an unknown predecessor, so we can't take action against big countries such as Guishuang justifiably, and it is not convenient to do it immediately. We can first send troops to intimidate small countries such as Dawan, and use both kindness and power to make them fall back to Wei. "
"As for Guishuang and other Western countries, we might as well send envoys to negotiate with them first, and test the pressure in all aspects. If they give in, we can maintain the status quo. If they are stubborn and take the initiative to send troops, we can seize the opportunity Take the initiative."
Chapter 736 The Great News
Cao Cao nodded after hearing the words.
Western countries such as Guishuang are very far away.
If there is not enough tenable excuse to send troops, the soldiers will definitely feel dissatisfied and their morale will drop. This war cannot be too far and wide. commanding heights.
Cao Ang suggested: "I think we can send Zhao Yun, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao two troops to station in the Western Regions to deter disobedient countries such as Taiwan, and force these small countries to join the Great Wei by force and force them to open the channel."
Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao?
Cao Cao thinks over and over again that there is no problem. The abilities of the three of them can be said to be among the best when looking at the generals of Wei.
They happened to be guarding the western war zone, and it was most convenient for them to support the Western Regions. Maintaining the stability of the Western Regions was the most convenient. Not by acting autonomously."
Although, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions were opened up by the Han people. The Western Han Dynasty set up the Western Regions Protectorate in the Western Regions, and the Eastern Han Dynasty set up the Western Regions Changshifu in the Western Regions.
The major ethnic minorities in the countries of the Western Regions still go their own way.