Mythical Three Kingdoms

When Chen Xi pointed at the map and began explaining to Liu Bei's senior civil officials what the world was like, those present who encountered it for the first time were immensely shocked.

Even Zhuge Liang, known for his prudence and wisdom, could not maintain his calm expression at this moment. The vastness of the world completely exceeded their expectations.

"This is the world, the complete world, which I have been telling you needs to be unified," Chen Xi said calmly. "The Great Qin has already arrived, and we have yet to unify. We need a defense line to block the Great Qin coming across the border."

"Even if the Great Qin labors over ten thousand miles, I'm afraid they would lose their combat power once they arrive," Zhuge Liang had regained his calm, his eyes fixed on the map, silently committing it to memory.

"Not so. We became aware of the Great Qin because we also had someone labor over ten thousand miles to meet them, and they hunted together with the Great Qin in the Parthian Empire," Li Youu explained directly after Zhuge Liang's inquiry, as he held Zhuge Liang in high regard.

"Wen Ru, could you recount those events again," Chen Xi said to Li Youu.

Li Youu did not refuse and recounted the events that took place in the Parthian Empire, interspersing his gathered intelligence.

"So Parthia has already declined, while the Great Qin is in its prime," Xun Yue frowned. "Even so, the Great Qin sees no value in fighting with our Great Han; after all, the distance is too far. To wage war across thousands of miles is not something a wise ruler would do."

"Perhaps the Great Qin's thoughts are similar to ours: the sky cannot have two suns, nor the earth two rulers, and moreover, a distance of thousands of miles is not considered too far," Fa Zheng said slowly. "If all roads were laid out like Gong Youu's, a distance of ten thousand miles would take cavalry only forty days."

The horses of this era were unlike those from times without Heaven and Earth Essence. Even if wild horses had not acquired Inner Qi, their physique far surpassed most historical fine steeds, capable of traveling hundreds of miles a day in an era without Inner Qi.

"A distance of ten thousand miles significantly limits the deployment extent of both sides' forces," Xun Yue, a versatile character whose military strategy was not just talk, continued. "Not to mention the issue of provision, the mere climate changes over such a distance are enough to cause any renowned general to lose troops."

"Nonsense, if climate issues could topple Old Man Hua, then that would be absurd," Qu Qi said disdainfully. Although he feared Hua Tuo, he greatly respected Hua Tuo's medical skills, believing that whether Zhang Zhongjing or Hua Tuo, they could solve such acclimatization issues.

"Alright, we are an empire, and so is the other side. We have what they have, ignoring climate changes, then how about troop deployment? Even if we ignore provisions and forage locally, how many troops can we deploy there? Can we manage a hundred thousand? The question is, as a hundred thousand troops enter a unified empire..." Xun Yue glanced at the others present, not speaking further, but the meaning was clear.

"What Xun Secretary-General said is indeed reasonable," Liu Ye smiled, picking up the conversation, "A hundred thousand troops are indeed not a problem for a unified empire, but should we just watch them act without doing anything ourselves?"

"It's not like that," Xun Yue shook his head, gently stroking his beard, "I just think that it's too excessive to mobilize a massive force for a distant, uncertain enemy. In the past, we occupied the Western Regions, yet eventually had to give them up because they were simply too far away from us."

Before Liu Ye could speak, Xun Yue cut him off, "Indeed, compared to two hundred years ago, our marching speed has increased significantly, but is it really worth investing so much? How much can be produced by stabilizing it with a hundred thousand cavalry?"

Xun Yue's words left many speechless, while Chen Xi watched Xun Yue with delight. He had never realized Xun Yue was so formidable, approaching issues from such an unusual perspective.

"It can grow an empire there," Chen Xi said with a smile.

"But that empire is a thousand miles away from us," Xun Yue shook his head.

"We can spend ten to twenty years building an official road, once and for all," Chen Xi said with a broad smile, insisting on the necessity of constructing that road; without it, the Western Regions would certainly rebel and surrender repeatedly hundreds of times.

"Is it worth it?" Xun Yue frowned slightly, "What is the significance of such a massive investment?"

"Once the road is built, villages naturally appear on both sides, forming towns, and eventually becoming cities," Chen Xi laughed, "Moreover, that road must be built, even if there's no Great Qin, I wouldn't allow Wusun and Cheshi, those small countries, to rebel constantly."

"Regarding the distance issue, the maximum range a country can govern is the distance an army can reach within a hundred days. Of course, if you're strong enough to make surrounding countries despair, the difference between a hundred and two hundred days is not significant..." continued Chen Xi.

Beyond a hundred days, if the troops still can't intervene, it's basically at the Empire Ultimate Wall; continuing to expand the control range would only result in the other side rebelling after the withdrawal of troops.

Of course, historically, some dynasties did break through the Empire Ultimate Wall; in reality, it was primarily because the conquered had already given up struggling.

Regardless of whether the conquered rebelled, whether the army's intervention took a hundred or two hundred days, it didn't matter, for dynasties that broke through the Empire Ultimate Wall, once they intervened, it entered garbage time—simply put, for such empires, neighboring countries were rubbish.

They crushed the enemy in minutes; the enemy rebelled once, they crushed them once. After being crushed multiple times, there was no more rebellion, thus the empire broke through the Empire Ultimate Wall. But for a feudal dynasty to achieve this, it is extraordinarily challenging.

Xun Yue remained silent for a while. Chen Xi's words were clear to him; a nation's governing range was almost as Chen Xi described. Meanwhile, the roads that Sunx Qian continually built became an eternal great achievement from this perspective; Sunx Qian was incrementally expanding the empire's ultimate governing range with this method.

"Without road construction, our governing range at most reaches the level of Emperor Xuan of Former Han. With roads, we and the other side will become neighbors!" Chen Xi said calmly.

"Why should we tolerate them occupying places we will occupy in the future? If the other side grows stronger, we will grow weaker," Chen Xi looked at Xun Yue and questioned, "Unification was never my goal, nor was it ever Lord Xuande's goal."

Xun Yue looked at the world depicted on the map, vast and boundless, and finally fell silent. It was clear that Chen Xi intended to create an achievement spanning the ages, and indeed, he had the capability!

If one day the official road extended beyond the Western Regions, reaching the Extreme West, the Han Dynasty only needed enough horses to reach within a hundred days and deploy tens of thousands of troops into another empire! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)