In the wind and snow, the two horses rushed.

The officers and soldiers at the east gate of Suzhou (Jiuquan) were drinking and shaking warm in the doorway. When he saw someone coming, he didn't bother to move his steps, and only asked, "Is there a road guide document?" ”

The subconscious meaning is that there is no way to attract money from the city!

Yuan Da shouted: "The bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, the young Zhan Shi of the Zhan Mansion, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Wang Ruoxu, are here, and the Suzhou guards are not coming to see you soon!" ”

The officers and soldiers defending the city immediately cheered up, and seeing that Wang Yuan and Yuan Da were very young, they were suspicious and didn't know how to react.

Wang Yuan was not difficult for them, dismounted and walked over, and took out his identity documents. He asked one person to enter the city to report, and then chatted with the others: "How many sergeants are there in Suzhou City?" ”

The officers and soldiers defending the city replied cautiously: "Five or six thousand." ”

Wang Yuan asked, "Is it five thousand, or six thousand?" ”

The officers and soldiers defending the city stumbled: "This ...... I don't know much about that. ”

Wang Yuan asked again: "How many days do you have a?" ”

The officers and soldiers guarding the city said: "When it doesn't snow, it's half a month." ”

Well, half a month is already considered hard training, and the person in charge of Suzhou City should be rewarded.

The reality is so.

Wang Yuan asked again: "Can the military salary be paid truthfully?" ”

"This ...... It's hard to say," the officers and soldiers defending the city said ambiguously, "anyway, it's better now than before, at least everyone can survive." ”

Two years ago, there was a corruption case in Suzhou, and the number one and second leaders of the military were all replaced, and it is estimated that the newly appointed officers are relatively restrained, so this officer and soldier said that he can still live.

After chatting with the officers and soldiers guarding the city for a long time, Xu Qian, the deputy commander-in-chief of Gansu, and Chen Kai, the commander of the capital, rode horses and galloped madly to the city gate.

"Humble Xu Qian (Chen Kai), I've seen Bachelor Wang!" Both knelt down on one knee at the same time.

This face was given very much, and Wang Yuan also reciprocated the favor and supported them and said, "The two generals please get up." ”

The two led Wang Yuan into the city, and after walking for a while, they found that the street was obviously more prosperous.

Xu Qian introduced: "This place is called the Issuing Cross. ”

It's a strange name, but Wang Yuan understands it as soon as he hears it.

The crossroads are the crossroads, and the distribution specifically refers to the distribution of criminals. Come to think of it, the criminals who were sent to Suzhou to fill the army signed and officially settled here. At the same time, those who have been released after completing their sentences are also released here after completing their sentences - exile is a lifelong thing, and they cannot go home after completing their sentences, so they can only stay in Suzhou to build the Ming Frontier.

This intersection, as well as the surrounding streets, should be the most active place in the entire Suzhou City. There are thieves, fraudsters, murderers, political prisoners...... Anyway, all walks of life, all kinds of elites live here, and some have even been passed down for two or three generations.

Wang Yuan asked about more in-depth topics, and Xu Qian and Chen Kai both complained.

Suzhou used to be very prosperous and was a necessary place on the Silk Road. It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty has imposed economic sanctions on Turpan many times, and commerce and trade have been interrupted every three or five times, and there has been no trade for several years, and now it is just doing business with Kansai Qiwei.

Several people were walking on the street, and suddenly a civilian official came on horseback, landed on the ground and arched his hand: "Chen Jiuchou, deputy envoy of Gansu military garrison, has seen the general system of Wang!" ”

"Chen Bingxian is polite!" Wang Yuan replied.

Chen Jiuchou is a member of Yang Tinghe's faction, and he is very young, slightly more reliable than Peng Ze.

Historically, Peng Ze negotiated peace with Turpan as soon as he came, and Chen Jiuchou bluntly reprimanded him for not taking responsibility. Moreover, Chen Jiuchou also expected that Turpan would not give up, so after Peng Ze's division returned to Beijing, he immediately reorganized his troops to cope with the changes.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", the Turpan army invaded east and broke through Jiayu Pass. Chen Jiuchou galloped from Ganzhou to Suzhou in the starry night, led the army and civilians to defend the city, and took the initiative to kill and defeat Turpan, successfully defending the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Isn't it amazing?

The real situation is far from the same, after Peng Ze left, Chen Jiuchou knew that his troops and financial resources were not enough to defend the land of Guanxi. As a result, he ignored the land west of Jiayuguan and left it to fend for itself. But he did reorganize his armament and take the defense of Jiayu Pass as the strategic bottom line, which was more in line with the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty at that time, and it cannot be said that he did something completely wrong.

Chen Jiuchou's mistake lies in lying about his military exploits, he just held Suzhou City, and Turpan was stabbed and beaten away by Xiao Lie. At that time, Chen Jiuchou secretly contacted the Warat tribe and attacked the Turpan army before and after, but did not mention the Warat friendly army after the fact. Moreover, he also exaggerated his credit, saying that he killed the king of Turpan, but in fact, Man Suer was only slightly injured.

It wasn't until the Jiajing Dynasty discussed that Chen Jiuchou lied about his military exploits that he was poked out by Yang Tinghe's political enemies and directly thrown by Jiajing to distribute to the frontier.

But again, Chen Jiuchou is at least more reliable than Peng Ze, his mind is very clear, and he also knows how to contact Warat to send troops!

At night, Wang Yuan and Chen Jiuchou had a secret discussion.

After explaining the situation in detail, Chen Jiuchou asked: "I don't know what the strategy of the general system of the king is?" ”

"Regain Hami and hit Turpan hard." Wang Yuan said.

Chen Jiuchou said: "It is easy to recover Hami, but it is very difficult to hit Turpan hard. Turpan is no longer what it used to be, and it can easily gather 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry to defeat and retreat the Vala small columns. In the land of Kansai, the Han people are very scarce, and the distance is long, so it is even more difficult to supply logistics, and it is impossible to support the army for a long time. ”

Wang Yuan asked, "What does Chen Bingxian mean?" ”

Chen Jiuchou said: "In my opinion, within three or five years, Turpan will inevitably occupy the seven guards of Guanxi, and then the troops will directly point to Jiayuguan. We should be vigorous and build the Great Wall of Jiayuguan to keep Turpan out of the pass! ”

Wang Yuan was a little unhappy and asked, "Don't you want a large piece of land in the land of Kansai?" ”

Chen Jiuchou said: "The land of Kansai originally belonged to the territory of the fetter, and the soldiers and civilians were all aliens. Instead of collecting taxes, it needed financial support from the Ming Dynasty. In the past, the Seven Guards of Kansai were set up to be used as a buffer zone in the Western Regions, but now that Turpan is prosperous, the land of Kansai can no longer be buffered. It is better to strictly guard the Jiayu Pass, which is more convenient to defend and reduce the consumption of money and grain. ”

This seems to be true, and the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty and the Western Regions is synthesized, and the optimal strategic adjustment is made accordingly.

The question is, the fetters region is also the land of the Ming Dynasty, how can it be directly abandoned!

If there is no Guanxi Qiwei as a buffer, in the future, Full Speed can directly attack Jiayu Pass, and it will no longer be a matter of repeatedly fighting for Hami City.

Wang Yuan didn't reprimand him face-to-face, but only comforted: "Chen Bingxian is preparing for war, let me go out to inspect it." ”

Chen Jiuchou reminded: "There are quite a lot of Turpan spies outside the customs, and the general system of Wang should be more careful. If it is not my race, its heart will be different, even if it is the guard of the Seven Guards of Kansai, I can't trust and rely on them. ”

This is particularly!

Those who are not of my race will have different hearts, and the problem is that it is impossible for other races to be of the same mind.

Although the Seven Guards of Kansai were of an alien race (Mongol), they were basically loyal to the Ming court. Because Turpan was so brutal, it was burning, killing and looting, and after decades of continuous fighting, the population of Hami City was only a few thousand, and the population of other cities was also killed and the population was sharply reduced.

During the Hongzhi period, not to mention the Mongols of the Seven Guards of Guanxi, even the Mongols on the Turpan side of Turpan all moved inward to join the Ming Dynasty, unwilling to be ruled by the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

A sentence that is not of my race, its heart must be different, and all the seven guards of Kansai who have their hearts towards the Ming Dynasty are pushed to the enemy's side?

Purely to make excuses for their own incompetence!

The next day, Wang Yuan asked Chen Jiuchou for a Mongolian guide who could speak Chinese, and took Yuan Da to go straight to Jiayuguan.