Out of Gyeonggi, through Shanxi, through Shaanxi, to Gansu.

In the Ming Dynasty, Gansu did not have a separate province, but "Gansu Town". This town is not the other town, it is the meaning of the military town, and it belongs to one of the nine border towns of the Ming Dynasty.

Passing through Xi'an on the way, Wang Yuan met Deng Zhang, the chief of the trilateral system.

The trilateral general system, also known as the trilateral governor, is still a popular name, and the official name at this time is "the governor of the trilateral military affairs", and its responsibility is the military affairs of Shaanxi, Gansu, Yansui and Ningxia. With Wang Yuan, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, his powers overlap and overlap, which can be said to be very close.

Deng Zhang is also an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and he can't rub sand in his eyes. When he was young, he was a Dali temple minister, put an end to the request of relatives, friends and guests, and investigated and punished more than 900 people who made meritorious contributions. Later, the governor of Henan was also upright and strict, and the strong and cunning officials could only be people with their tails between their legs.

"Master Wang, I waited for half a month when I came back from Guyuan to see you!" Deng Zhang said when they met.

Wang Yuan arched his hand and said, "What does Duke Deng have to teach you?" ”

Deng Zhang asked rhetorically: "Do you have a charter for Turpan?" ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't know the details, it is difficult to agree on the charter. ”

Asking the imperial court to send important ministers to Turpan was Deng Zhang's suggestion. He explained in detail: "The puppet king of Turpan, Mansuer, is a remnant of the Mongols, and his younger brother Said is the king of the Bali Kingdom......

Deng Zhang said a lot, but the more Wang Yuan listened, the more confused he became.

Although this old gentleman was well-intentioned, it was all hearsay, and he provided Wang Yuan with a lot of misinformation.

The Ming Dynasty's understanding of the Western Regions has always been very nonsense.

After the fall of the Chagatai Khanate, a large number of warlords arose in various places. The Ming officials couldn't figure it out, so they called Hami the country of Hami, Liu Chen called the country of Liucheng, Huozhou called the country of Huozhou, and Turpan called the country of Turpan, in fact, these are just warlords in the Western Regions.

As for the Bali Kingdom, its real name is "Eastern Chagatai Khanate".

The puppet king of Turpan that Zhu Houzhao wanted Wang Yuan to kill was the Great Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

Wang Yuan himself didn't understand the situation, and he planned to destroy the country, he had to destroy the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

As for Man Suer's younger brother Said, he was actually the founder of the Yarkand Khanate. Their cousin, Babur, is about to become the founder of the Mughal Empire in India!

Wang Yuan was confused by Deng Zhang, so he just waited for local supplies and continued to hurry with his troops.

In mid-August, Wang Yuan finally came to Ganzhou (Zhangye).

Li Ying led the horse, spread his hands to catch the falling snowflakes, and said with emotion: "The north wind swept the white grass and folded, and the snow flew in August, and the ancients did not deceive me!" ”

The eunuch Zhu Ying sighed and said: "Two days ago, it was so hot that it was dying, but today it suddenly snowed, and many soldiers and horses in the army got sick." ”

Hui Anbo Zhang Wei said: "In the past month or two, it is impossible to fight, and the soldiers have to rest and recuperate for a period of time. ”

Wang Yuan finally understood that Zhu Ying and Zhang Wei's gossip was deliberately said to him. Immediately smiled: "Don't worry, although I am young, I am not in a hurry to achieve quick success, and I will lead an army that has traveled thousands of miles to fight." ”

Guishan Wang Zhu Dangshu is in good spirits, this prince has never been out of the fief before, but now he has walked all the way from Beijing to Ganzhou, and the great rivers and mountains along the way have brought a heroic feeling.

"Set up camp on the spot!"

Wang Yuan said to Yuan Da: "Yuan Er, you take my warrant into the city, summon the governor, the chief soldier, the town guard eunuch and the patrol according to the imperial history to see you, and by the way, let the governor get more firewood to come out to keep out the cold." ”

"Yes!" Yuan Da immediately beat his horse and galloped.

Ganzhou City was built in Western Xia, Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty expanded twice, area, thickness and width can be called the northwest Xiongcheng. It's just that the city walls are made of sand and earth, and the gates are all thick panels, which are easy to be smashed by battering rams.

Because there is Suzhou (Jiuquan) in the west, there is Jiayu Pass in the west, and there are seven guards in the west as a buffer. Ganzhou did not need to repair the city at this time, and when Turpan occupied all the west of Jiayuguan, the imperial court should frantically build stone cities in Ganzhou and Suzhou.

Now, Wang Yuan is standing in the camp outside the city, looking at the city wall of Ganzhou from afar, and the first feeling he gets into his eyes is that it is dilapidated.

Half an hour later, Zhao Jian, the governor of Gansu, came to see him.

There is no political envoy in Gansu, and he is quickly the biggest civil official. He took a large amount of firewood and some grain, personally sent it into the barracks, and hugged his fist at Wang Yuan and said, "Master Wang, the matter of Hami depends on you." The contemptible people are already old and decrepit, and at most they will repair the side walls. ”

"The old gentleman is serious, and he needs a lot of help from the old gentleman." Wang Yuan replied.

Zhao Jian is seventy years old this year, and his body is quite tough. After he came to Gansu, he didn't do anything else, but frantically built the Great Wall.

The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty stretches for thousands of miles, and the Gansu section was built at the latest, starting to build in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, and it is only eleven years ago. In the last years of Hongzhi, 90,000 people were mobilized to build the Great Wall of Gansu, but there were still many places that could not be taken care of.

Wang Yuan asked about Hami and Turpan, and Zhao Jian's statement was similar to Deng Zhang's. They didn't know that Turpan was not a country, but the territory of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, and they didn't know that the "Turpan Kings" of the past dynasties were actually the Great Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

Anyway, whether it was Deng Zhang, the governor of the three sides, or Zhao Jian, the governor of Gansu, the farthest place they went to was Jiayuguan, and they never went to Guanxi Qiwei to see it in person. All the news about Hami came from the Kansai Seven Guardians, and some of the content was messy and had been poured several times.

Seeing off Zhao Jian, the governor of Gansu, Wang Xun, the chief soldier of Gansu, soon came to visit.

In history, Zhu Houzhao fought the little Mongolian prince, and Wang Xun was the first to receive the enemy. Wang Xun carried the Mongolian army of 50,000 with weak troops, winning precious time for Zhu Houzhao to assemble, so as to encircle the Mongolian army layer by layer.

Wang Yuan was very lucky, and the general soldier of Gansu he met was Wang Xun. This person fights bravely and fiercely, and he is not fierce, so he is a rare general.

If it is replaced by the next commander-in-chief, Li Long, the difficulty of this mission will increase exponentially.

Li Long was crazy about greedy for military salaries and occupied military fields, causing countless military families to flee, and those who stayed behind could not have enough to eat. In the end, in order to make money, Li Long even instigated his soldiers to mutiny and kill the new governor, thus opening a precedent for the border army to mutiny.

"Mr. Wang, how many soldiers are there in Gansu Town? Horse geometry? Wang Yuan said with a serious expression, "Tell me the truth, don't come to the void, this is related to the major matter of recovering the lost land!" ”

Wang Xun asked, "Master Wang wants to hear the truth?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "Of course it's true! ”

Wang Xun said: "The total number of troops in Gansu on paper is 90,000, including camels and cattle, and the number of horses is 30,000. As for the real situation, the number of troops is actually less than 60,000, and the number of horses is more than 23,000. There are only about 2,000 war horses that can be used for war. ”

"Then I'll be relieved." Wang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

It is worthy of being one of the nine sides, and there are actually two-thirds of the actual troops, which is beyond Wang Yuan's expectations.

Wang Yuan asked again: "How many soldiers are there in the Seven Guards of Guanxi?" The kind that can fight. ”

Wang Xun said: "The total does not exceed five thousand, and there are also those with ill intentions, who will defect if they are not careful." ”

The seven guards of Guanxi are the seven guards west of Jiayu Pass, and the generals and soldiers are basically ethnic minorities, and they belong to the buffer force set up in the northwest by the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Yuan thought for a while and said: "I will not move the foot soldiers of Gansu Town, only gather the two thousand war horses, form a separate cavalry unit, and take them out of Jiayu Pass to fight with Turpan." In addition, the camels and the people have prepared some, and I have to make sure that my logistics are stable. ”

"When does Master Wang plan to send troops?" Wang Xun asked.

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "I don't even know what the situation in Kansai is, of course I have to go to the Guanxi to investigate first." ”

Not long after Wang Xun left, Liang Yu, the eunuch of Gansu Town, and Feng Shiyong, the imperial historian of Gansu, also came to visit Wang Yuan. These people are very face-saving, but unfortunately they can't bring useful information, and Wang Yuan is still blind to the situation outside Jiayu Pass.