Mythical Three Kingdoms

After Yuan Tan arrived north of Onion Ridge, he sent someone ahead to notify Li Jue, as misunderstandings about recognition were unlikely to occur.

Although to outsiders, Central Asia might appear to have a similar ethnicity to the Central Plains people, the Central Plains people themselves perceive significant differences, making non-recognition improbable.

At the time of Yuan Tan’s arrival, Li Jue and others had just finished creating a map when they received a report from the soldiers that the Han Army was approaching.

"Ha, how did they arrive so quickly? Wasn’t it supposed to be half a month?" Li Jue asked Guo Si and Fan Chou in bewilderment.

"Probably accelerated," replied Guo Si thoughtlessly, which the group found quite reasonable.

"Then let’s go welcome our Little Military Advisor," said Fan Chou, stroking his somewhat prickly beard.

"Let’s go then." After some thought, Li Jue rolled up the map, ordered it to be placed on a carriage, and led three thousand elite troops to welcome them. At this point, they still didn’t know it was Yuan Tan who had arrived; they thought it was Zhuge Liang with his troops.

Of course, part of the issue was that Chen Xi had not notified Li Jue, or even Zhuge Liang. Compared to others, Yuan Tan had more freedom and was considered a large-scale experiment by Chen Xi.

To be honest, Chen Xi was curious as to how far the Yuan Family could go, and although many had arrived in the Western Regions, Zhuge Liang could first and foremost stabilize control over Li Jue, which was part of Zhuge Liang’s test.

After all, Chen Gong and Sheni Pei were no pushovers. Though they would respect Zhuge Liang as he was dispatched by Liu Bei, respect alone wouldn’t sustain them; if enough capability wasn’t shown, the Yuan Family would choose self-reliance.

Unlike others, Yuan Tan left with an entire team. Despite some deficiencies that needed patching, he could sustain a temporary structure, and the many generals of the Yuan Family, along with Sheni Pei and Xun Shen, were no ordinary figures.

Even without anyone else, this group could firmly establish themselves there, so Chen Xi was not worried. As for internal strife, they would either be foolish or very clever; with Zhuge Liang’s capability, if he couldn’t manage this, then Chen Xi would have no solution.

After all, the Western Regions were a testing ground, meant to verify the potential of the aristocratic family, the feasibility of expansion, and the potential of the next generation, as well as to test the executability of the strategies planned by Chen Xi years ago.

Naturally, over time, they would have to feed these aristocratic families until they could no longer sustain themselves, and then cultivate the Central Plains populace. But embarking on this path made Chen Xi somewhat apprehensive; no one in the history of China had ever taken this road.

If things went wrong, it might deter anyone from attempting it again, causing future Huaxia to miss countless opportunities. Moving forward, this era was indeed the best time for territorial expansion.

Thus, Chen Xi needed a typical example, which is why he covertly offered substantial support to Yuan Tan. The Yuan Family was worth the effort; if the head of the family were Yuan Shao, Chen Xi might provide less assistance. Although Yuan Tan had endured much, he still fell short of Yuan Shao. Since Hulao Pass, one of the finest monarchs Chen Xi had witnessed was Yuan Shao!

Even though it’s unknown how long it would take to establish such an example, Chen Xi estimated that with the manpower Yuan Tan carried, if let loose, they might establish a powerful kingdom within a generation.

Of course, if it were the most peak period of Yuan Shao, Chen Xi surmised that he could possibly create a significantly formidable kingdom, poised to transition into an empire at the right moment.

Indeed, while civil officials and military generals are important, it must be acknowledged that the influence of a monarch on a power is the greatest.

"Oh, they actually brought troops to welcome us. Is our relationship with Li Jue that good?" Yuan Tan asked, perplexed.

Sheni Pei, expressionless, ordered the soldiers to stay vigilant. Although facing the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, they had battled them before; despite their strong assault capabilities, they had encountered them in the past.

"This doesn’t seem right. Our military advisor’s surname is Zhuge, and the banner should be the Han. Why is the banner saying Yuan?" Li Jue remarked, frowning as he looked at the banners ahead.

Considering Li Jue’s group’s banner was the Han, with theirs subordinate, seeing the opponent’s banner bearing Yuan was unexpected, and the numbers didn’t add up.

"Could someone perhaps be trying to deceive the three of us?" Guo Si speculated wildly.

"The opposing force seems to be the Yuan Family’s army," Duan Wei suddenly interjected. "I heard the Yuan Family cut off the Northern Huns from the north. To think they came directly here, they probably followed Marquis Chen’s directive."

"Oh, then what should we do? Do we greet them?" Li Jue asked awkwardly, having brought the army out to greet someone, only to find it wasn’t whom they intended.

"Let’s greet them, give the Yuan Family some face, considering their efforts against the Northern Huns," Fan Chou said, stroking his bristly beard.

"In that case, align!" Li Jue raised his Long Spear and gave the order. The army quickly formed into two columns, and the three of them, along with twenty centurions, remained at the front as they slowly rode out to welcome the Yuan Family’s army.