Chapter 1258 – To Get Rich You Have to Build a Road

9th month, 2nd day, Imperial Capital, Emperor Palace.

Just as the Great Xia Army was about to strike out from four fronts, Ouyang Shuo received Li Jing’s memorial.

He did not grumble about the Provincial Governors. Instead, he simply pointed out the fact that the current logistical support was not enough to allow the army to go all out.

If this war matter dragged on, it would lead to increasing pressure on logistics and would cause a negative cycle.

Targeting this situation, Ouyang Shuo especially summoned Cabinet assistant Zeng Guofan and Du Ruhui for a discussion to find a solution. Zeng Guofan was the civil servant in charge of local matters.

“How should we solve the logistical problem?”

Ouyang Shuo directly asked. Currently, his face was scarily dark. The war of Tibet was one that the empire could not lose, and he did not want to see anyone hold them back.

Seeing that, Zeng Guofan stepped out, biting the bullet as he said, “I’ll rush the 11 Provincial Governors to make this matter the number one priority. At the same time, I suggest that we gather more laborers and animals from neighboring provinces to help with transportation.”

Only then did Ouyang Shuo’s expression lighten, and he said, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Sometimes, Ouyang Shuo could understand the tough situation that the ministers were facing. The empire had 31 provinces, one imperial capital house, and five Zhili prefectures. It was huge and naturally difficult to run.

When an empire grew too big, the conflict of interests would naturally become complicated.

The Imperial Court had its strategy, while the local provinces had theirs. Just like this matter of grain transportation to the frontlines; this would negatively affect the 11 provinces, so it was understandable that the Provincial Governors felt unhappy about it.

After all, they had evaluation targets to meet every year that they had to take seriously.

Of course, understanding was understanding, but Ouyang Shuo could not allow them to put in less effort because of a little difficulty. Not going all out for the orders given to them was a problem of principles.

This was something that Ouyang Shuo had to make clear.

After Zeng Guofan made his statement, it was time for Du Ruhui to speak, and he said, “I suggest we let the Eagle, Bear, and Dragon Legion corps, and when needed, even the Hedong and Hanoi legion corps, use a portion of their men to help transport.”

“This idea is good!”

Ouyang Shuo nodded his head to express his support. The Great Xia legion corps system was perfect, not only having builders but also grain transport soldiers. Their efficiency would be higher than normal laborers, so sending a portion of them to help was a good idea.

This was a good use of resources.

After he squeezed the two ministers, Ouyang shuo continued, “I often say that a crisis is an also opportunity; this is not an exception. Shu Lands, Tibet, and even Yunnan have many high mountains and are difficult to traverse. This is bad for the Imperial Court rule. Especially Tibet, without a smooth path connecting it to the centre of the empire, even if we acquire it, it would be outside of our system and would be filled with many problems.”

“Since that’s the case, why don’t we use the convenience of this battle to make use of current resources and laborers to build a path connecting Tibet and the Shu Lands? This way, we can open up a channel to Tibet.”

The moment he said that, the eyes of the two ministers lit up.

Zeng Guofan even suggested, “We can build a path from the Shu Lands Province to Lhasa and one from Xingqing House to Lhasa; two paths to work at once.”

“Okay!”

Ouyang Shuo agreed.

In history, as Tibet was filled with mountains and rivers, it was really difficult for trade to flow. However, in modern society, the situation changed after the construction of the Qinghai–Tibet railway and the Chuanbei-Tibet railway.

Now, Great Xia needed to replicate these two legendary paths.

After all, the empire’s west strategy did not stop at Tibet and also included the Persia empire in the west, so there was even more meaning behind building these two paths. It would allow the Imperial Court to connect with west Asia.

“After this, with the Cabinet at the lead, work with the Construction Department and hire the best architects and engineers to confirm the paths and come up with a plan. Begin construction immediately after.” Ouyang Shuo instructed.

“Understood!”

In truth, considering the real world railways, the Construction Department could hire the top architects from the real world, confirming that the railroad plan would not be too difficult.

The difficultly lay in building it. To build two paths under such conditions would require a lot of laborers and soldiers to be buried on the path forever.

However, even if this matter was difficult, it had to go on.

…

Returning to the battlefield.

9th month, 3rd day, 11am, in just a day and a night, Wang Ben was able to lead 70 thousand Great Qin soldiers to rush overnight and arrive outside of Anduo City.

The vanguard forces had arrived a lot earlier.

As they travelled, Wang Ben’s forces fought the enemy army that was loitering around the border twice, and the outcome was as expected. The Ashoka army did not know their true strength and were absolutely crushed and forced to flee.

If they were not in a rush to siege, Wang Ben would not have let them go.

“Send down my orders, rest up for three hours and have your meals. At 2pm, start the siege.” Wang Ben was really quick and decisive. Right after he dismounted, he gave this order.

“Yes, general!”

Along with this order, the soldiers placed down the tents that they had carried over and followed their general’s order, setting up tents at specific spots.

Those carrying resources and designated to cook began to place up the cookery, using mud and stone to build fireplaces. They took out vegetables and processed meat from their bags and started to cook.

In less than an hour, the white tents were pitched up.

Although there were only 70 thousand of them, the tents covered a huge part of the land, closely packed and seemingly endless. Under the cover of the blue sky and white clouds, it looked really bright.

Along with the rising smoke, the scent of food wafted around the camp, making them feel really hungry.

After finishing up their steaming meals, the well-trained Qin soldiers, apart from those patrolling, rested up in their tents to save energy for the upcoming battle.

The more energy they had, the higher their chances of survival.

Very quickly, the bustling camp became calm and silent, and only the sounds of soldiers snoring could be heard. In the army, the soldiers would gain the habit of sleeping as soon they as touched the ground, not wasting even a bit of time.

…

At the Anduo City city wall that was not far away, the 40 thousand strong Ashoka army had long been waiting.

Yesterday, news of their vanguard troops fighting with the enemy had already spread back to Anduo City, stunning the entire city. The current Ashoka Dynasty did not dare to look down on the enemy outside of their city.

The arrogance from before was put aside.

Of course, they did not fear the enemy. First, the battles yesterday were on a small-scale and did not prove much. Moreover, they were defending, giving them the advantage. Naturally, they had nothing to fear.

The morale of both sides were kept at a really good level.

…

At 1.30pm, a horn sounded out around the camp; this was the alarm.

On this vast Tibetan plateau with little people, the horn sound spread out far and wide. Soon afterwards, the silent Qin army came alive once more.

Within half an hour, the army had formed up.

Highly efficient, highly disciplined. After entering the wilderness, Wang Jian and the other Qin generals had put much effort into training them. Although they did not have much practical war experience, their strength should not be underestimated.

After the war of Tibet, the survivors would be top elites.

Jia Xu’s plan was really ingenious. It allowed them to wear down the Ashoka army while training up Great Xia’s troops, allowing Great Xia to choose the best out of the two million.

“Attack!”

Atop his black warhorse, Wang Ben pointed his sword forward.

“Kill!”

10 thousand vanguard forces carrying siege ladders charged toward the city walls like a flood.

On the Tibet plateau, as the environment allowed it, the walls were mainly made of mud and stone. It was not stable or high, and the city wall of Lhasa City was only six meters tall.

With even Lhasa like that, Anduo city would obviously be worse – its wall was only four meters high.

Furthermore, the Tibet Dynasty’s metallurgy, construction, and building technologies were behind the mid plain dynasties, and its defense system was relatively weak.

Helplessly, the Tibet Dynasty had a vast amount of land but little people, making construction difficult. Apart from Lhasa City, there were no more than 30 cities within its territory. As such, the Ashoka Dynasty had no choice but to house 40 thousand troops in a small city like Anduo.

The moment he saw Anduo City, Wang Ben felt really confident. If everything went well and they went all out, they would be able to move into Anduo tonight and would not need to spend the night bearing the cold outside.

Last night, they had experienced the chilly nights of the Tibetan Plateau.