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two years in the two-way expedition, and when they returned to Tunhuang, only one or two out of ten soldiers remained in the ranks. A messenger was sent to the Emperor to report that the way was too long, food scarce, and the troops were afraid, not of battles, but of hunger; and that seeing the men left were too few to vanquish Tayuan, it was begged to suspend the expedition till the numbers were augmented. The Emperor was angry at this report and ordered a messenger to bar the gate at Yumen declaring that "Any soldier who dare to enter this gate will be beheaded." General Erhshih feared and thus stayed at Tunhuang. That summer Han lost twenty thousand and more troops of the Knight of Chuyei in a battle with Hsiungnu, and the ministers and counse-llors suggested to stop the Tayuan expedition and concentrate forces on attacking the Huns. But the Emperor was determined on punishing Tayuan. He said if the small country of Tayuan could not be vanquished, then such countries as Tahsia would look down upon Han, Tayuan horses would not be forthcoming, Usun and Lun-tou would treat Han envoys even more than before, and Han would be a laughingstock among the forigen countries. So, Teng Kuang and others who stressed the inadvisability of attacking Tayuan were indicted. Prisoners were given pardon; swordsmen, youth and border horsemen were enrolled. In a little more than a years's time, sixty thousand men, not including those who followed camp for private purposed, went out through Tunhuang. A hundred thousand heads of cattle, more than thirty thousand horses, ten thousand donkeys, mules and camels, and plenty of food and arms were the supplies. The whole country was astir for this expedition in which more than fifty military officers were engaged. There were no wells in the capital of Tayuan, and the citizens had to draw water from the rivers outside the city. So Han sent irrigation workers to remove aqueducts leading to the city, thus depriving the city of water. 180 thousand guards were sent to the north of Chiuchuan and Changyi to man the garrisons of Chuyen and Hsiutu as a defence of Changyi. Convicts of the seven lighter crimes were mobilized to transport the supplies for General Erhshih. The convoys of carts and men followed each other all the way. When the troops reached Tunhuang, two men well-versed about horses were appointed horse-masters in preparation for choosing and training the steeds to the taken from defeated Tayuan. This time General Erhshih's troops were numerous, and wher-ever they came the people of the small countries turned out to -17-