In Weilumu, Wang Yuan did not kill much.

Because there are no walls here, and there are no defenders. Its form and scale are similar to those of the small towns in the Central Plains, with merchants and craftsmen as the mainstay, and the lords of Yangji Bali only set up tax collectors here.

When Wang Yuan plundered the surrounding herdsmen and came to the outside of the city, several major merchants of Weilumu had already knelt down to welcome Wang Shi.

They voluntarily donated a part of their goods and used horse-drawn carts to bring grain to Wang Yuan. Just want to live, no matter who is or foe, whoever comes can rule them anyway.

Wang Yuan didn't bother to delay the time, so he sent some cavalry into the city and killed the tax collectors in the city. Then he continued to go south with food, and he didn't even bother to bring gold and silver, anyway, he could kill it back and use it at will in the future.

However, more than 400 slaves were liberated around the Vellumu!

Wang Yuan collected the weapons in the city, distributed them to the slaves, and appointed a slave leader to rule the city.

As for whether the slaves would vendetta against the inhabitants of the city after the army left, or whether the inhabitants would besiege and kill the slaves, or whether they would coexist peacefully without causing trouble, Wang Yuan was too lazy to think about these questions.

Continuing south, we begin to cross the Tien Shan Pass.

The winds howl here in all seasons, and many windmills were built in later generations to generate electricity. The canopies of the trees along the way are all tilted to one side, and they are blown by strong winds, because they resemble sabers, and this kind of tree is also called "saber trees".

"What a cool wind!" Zhu Dangshu couldn't help but sigh.

Wang Yuan looked at the ruins of the ancient city in front of him, and couldn't help but sneer: "A barbarian vassal country like Turpan actually dares to give up strategic places, even if I don't come to conquer, sooner or later it will be destroyed." ”

This place, later called Daban City, was the residence of the envoy of the North Court of the Tang Dynasty.

As long as a castle is built in the canyon, it can hold the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. Only five or six hundred soldiers were stationed to guard it, which could make Wang Yuan's thousands of cavalry dumbfounded, and it became a joke to run thousands of miles.

Obviously, there are ancient city ruins here, and Man Su'er only needs to repair and improve it to ensure the safety of his hinterland, but he actually turns a blind eye to this!

Although Wang Yuan sneered, he almost broke out in a cold sweat, it was the stupidity of the enemy that made this attack happen.

This also shows that Mansuer's inertia has reached the point of being brainless, only knowing that he keeps plundering all directions, and even the strategic points in his hinterland are abandoned there.

Wang Yuan said to Zhu Dangshu: "Lord Wang, if you seal the country in Turpan, the top priority is to rebuild Baishui Town, and it is best to expand it to Baishui Pass year by year. Once this pass is completed, only a few hundred people will be needed to garrison it, and it will be able to block the invasion of the northern Mongol tribes! ”

Zhu Dangjun looked at the dangerous terrain in front of him and nodded: "That's true!" ”

Wang Yuan also said: "In the place north of Hami, there are several mountain passes that can be passed. As long as the Great Wall is built to block those mountain passes, the northern part of the Western Regions will be safe! ”

"You can only take it one step at a time." Zhu Dangshu said.

It is indeed necessary to take it step by step, to reclaim in Turpan for 20 years, and then with the help of the trade profits of the Silk Road, then there will be manpower and financial resources to build the Great Wall.

Once the Great Wall and the pass are completed, from Turpan to Jiayuguan, there is no need to worry about the safety of the north. To the south, there are 800 miles of Hanhai, and the Yeerqiang Khanate can't be defeated, so there is only a need to worry about the newly attached Yibuci tribe coming out of the West Sea. But if the Yibuci tribe wants to rebel, it will have to develop for at least thirty years!

Then, it is only necessary to defend against the invasion of the Yarkand Khanate from Aksu to the east, and this kind of defensive war is still very easy to fight.

Wang Yuan led his troops to run out of the Tianshan Pass, and encountered the ruins of an ancient city halfway, that is, the early seat of the Anxi Protectorate - Jiaohe Ancient City. (The location of the old city of Jiaohe was incorrectly corrected in the previous chapter.) ）

This city, which was prosperous more than 100 years ago, was an important trading node on the Silk Road.

was killed by the ancestors of Man Su'er, and the inside and outside of the city were full of white bones, and the corpses were not even cleaned up. As a result, when the Eastern Chagatai Khanate captured this place, he did not want to live in the city, but moved his place of governance further east.

After the old city of Jiaohe, it is the old nest of Man Suer, the capital of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate: Turpan City.

After Wang Yuan saw the specific situation, he laughed directly out of the pig's cry.

Turpan City is very small, and the area is not as large as Wang Yuan's house in Beijing, which is just a private castle of Man Suer!

Of course, it can also be said that the city of Turpan is very large because of the merchants, craftsmen, farmers, herdsmen...... All of them lived around the castle, and they were all exposed to Wang Yuan's iron hooves.

"General Wang, I have some cavalry under my command, and they have families in Turpan." Mulan said.

Wang Yuan ordered: "Let them lead the way into the city, and the rest of the departments must not harm the family members of their comrades." As for the rest of the inhabitants, you can do it yourself. I'm going to attack the castle with 3,000 troops before it gets dark! ”

Many residents of Turpan have already received the news in advance and run away, but there are still countless who stay at home and resign themselves to fate.

Without the obstruction of the city wall, more than 5,000 cavalry rushed into the streets and alleys, driving the people in the city to demolish their houses.

In fact, there is nothing to dismantle, all of them are sand buildings, and only the beams can be dismantled to make ladders. With the selfless help of the city's craftsmen, hundreds of improvised ladders were quickly completed, and the people of the city were forced to attack the city by knives.

The broken castle at full speed is not high, the area is not as large as Wang Yuan's house, and the castle defenders are not very many.

Dense ladders were placed on the walls, and the cavalry troops carried scimitars to urge the people to attack the city. After a bloody battle, men, women, and children, all of them frantically climbed the ladder and rushed up.

One defeat and one more time, and after more than a dozen consecutive defeats, the castle defenders were depleted of arrows. Moreover, the physical strength of the defenders was also seriously reduced, and both sides were in a state of blind fighting when it was dark.

At this moment, the cavalry dismounted and mixed into the siege troops.

Ya Mulan led 800 soldiers, the first to climb the city wall, carrying a scimitar to kill the defenders in defeat.

"This man is brave!" Zhu Dangshu praised.

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "It can be left to the prince to be the general under his command, but whether he can make him return to his heart, the prince still needs to have the means." ”

Zhu Dangshu nodded and said, "That's true." ”

Soon, the gate of the castle opened, and Wang Yuan immediately commanded the cavalry to kill it.

The Turpan Royal City at full speed was easily captured in this way, and the whole process was unexpectedly smooth.

Wang Yuan didn't even bother to enter the castle himself, and only stayed outside to maintain the overall situation.

A team of Han cavalry escorted more than 20 civilians over: "General Wang, this person claims to be a citizen of the Celestial Empire. can speak Chinese, but he looks like a man with lustful eyes, and his humble position is not accurate, so he will be handed over to the general system of Wang to decide. ”

"The general of the Celestial Empire is above, and the grass people's surname is Li, they are really Han!" An old man fell to his knees and wept profusely, and his family followed suit.

Wang Yuan walked over with a torch and was immediately amused: "You have blue eyes, a high nose, and only one black hair, so you dare to say that you are a citizen of the Heavenly Empire?" ”

The old man said, "The ancestors of the grass people are indeed Han Chinese, and they can still speak Chinese. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "I just learned a few words of Mongolian, am I a Mongolian?" ”

The old man said, "The grass people will recite the Han classics. Zi said: Learn and learn from time to time, don't you also say? Have friends come from afar, are you happy? People don't know and are not ashamed, aren't they also gentlemen? ”

"Hahahaha!"

Wang Yuan laughed: "In this case, then when you are a Han, get up and speak." ”

The old man not only got up by himself, but also pulled up a girl behind him: "There are several women under the knees of the grass people, all of whom are beauties. The most beautiful young girl among them is willing to be a slave and a concubine with the general! ”

Wang Yuan didn't look at the girl, but asked, "I want to attack Huozhou, what can you help?" ”

The old man said, "Please release the merchants in the city and let them contribute their children to form an army." Merchants can also organize craftsmen for generals to build siege equipment. ”

"Will the merchant help?" Wang Yuan asked.

The old man explained: "Man Su'er did evil in Hami, cutting off the golden road to the east, and the merchant tax is getting higher and higher, and the merchants regard him as an enemy. As long as the general releases the merchants, promises to return some property, and promises to reopen the golden road in the future, the merchants will definitely be willing to die for the general. ”

Wang Yuan thought for a while, nodded and said, "Okay, this matter will be handled by you!" ”

The old man did not act immediately, but said, "Please take the little girl as a concubine." ”

"It's worthy of being a businessman, and it's really a good deal," Wang Yuan didn't bother to look at the girl's appearance in order to reassure the other party, so he directly agreed, "I agreed, you can go and do something." ”

"Thank you, General!" The old man was overjoyed.

Wang Yuan just had a cheap old man, and he didn't even know what the other party's name was.