433: Chapter 433 It Won't Be That Easy

"Your Majesty the Paramount Leader, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Zhuang entered Zhao Fusu's residence in Didao, Longxi Commandery, with a gust of wind trailing behind him.

"Xiao Zhuang, why have you returned so soon?"

Zhao Fusu had prepared himself not to see Xiao Zhuang for a month.

It hadn't even been a week, yet Xiao Zhuang had already returned to Didao.

"Great news!"

With a face full of smiles, Xiao Zhuang said to Zhao Fusu, "Your Majesty the Paramount Leader, I had to deliver this news to you in person."

A flash of inspiration struck Zhao Fusu. Pointing at Xiao Zhuang, he said, "Don't tell me the Heihe Tribe has already surrendered to our Great Qin!"

"Yes!"

Xiao Zhuang said excitedly, "Your Majesty the Paramount Leader, you truly are divinely prescient!"

"That is exactly it!"

Xiao Zhuang continued, "Just as I arrived at the Shiyang Tribe, I heard from the envoy they sent to the Heihe Tribe that the Heihe Tribe is willing to submit to Great Qin."

"Then I rushed back to Didao as fast as my horse could carry me to personally inform Your Majesty of this good news."

"Good, very good!"

Even Zhao Fusu hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

Xiao Zhuang continued, "Hei Di, the chief of the Heihe Tribe, asks Your Majesty if the Heihe Tribe can receive as much silver as the Shiyang Tribe."

"Naturally, they can."

To Zhao Fusu, if something could be resolved with money, there was no need to spend human lives.

"Your Majesty the Paramount Leader!"

Xiao Zhuang frowned.

"What is it?"

Zhao Fusu looked at him and asked, "Do you have something to say?"

"Yes."

Xiao Zhuang did not hide his thoughts.

He said, "Using money to buy the territories of the Shiyang and Heihe Tribes—isn't that a bit too much of a loss for our Great Qin?"

"Of course not."

Zhao Fusu chuckled.

From an agricultural perspective, the lands occupied by the Shiyang and Heihe Tribes could be used for crops, but the yields would be worth far less than the silver invested.

But from a strategic standpoint, the Hexi Corridor was the key for Great Qin to extend its reach into the Western Regions.

Without taking the Hexi Corridor, Great Qin could not project its influence into the Western Regions.

Unless he was content to stay in one corner and gave up on hegemony, the Hexi Corridor—the vital passage to the Western Regions—had to be secured if he wanted to expand westward.

Moreover, beneath the Hexi Corridor lay vast amounts of coal and oil.

These resources were immense wealth!

At present, it seemed like a loss for Great Qin to spend so much silver to buy off the Shiyang and Heihe Tribes.

But in the long run, it would definitely be a massive profit.

Zhao Fusu's fingers tapped on the table.

Looking at the map of the Hexi Corridor hanging on the wall, his eyes flashed with brilliance as he said, "We can take the entire Hexi Corridor in one fell swoop!"

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

Li You walked into the council hall and spoke up, "The Shiyang and Heihe Tribes have many descendants of Great Qin; their hearts were already leaning toward us. With the promise of generous rewards, they were willing to join us."

"But the Shule Tribe, which occupies the western end of the Hexi Corridor, is different; they are all Qiang people."

"They were already hostile toward the descendants of Great Qin who entered the Hexi Corridor to compete for territory."

"Now that the Shiyang and Heihe Tribes have joined Great Qin, it will surely provoke the Shule Tribe to target us. It's even less likely they will surrender."

"Furthermore, the Shule Tribe is inherently bellicose; they won't submit just because Great Qin is powerful!"

"The strategy of buying them off won't work anymore!"