Just as every star in the sky has its own unique trajectory, and every grass on the ground has its own unique growth process, everyone has their own unique life journey. However, in everyone's unique life journey, there will always be one or several key moments, if you can make the right choice at the critical moment, you may be able to shine your life, and even lay a solid foundation for the development and glory of your family.

Dehuan is undoubtedly such a person.

He took his wife and children, the old and the young, and chased all the way north to Emperor Zheng, and drove for three or five days, but he neither saw the shadow of Emperor Zhizheng, nor did he get the news of Emperor Zhizheng. The fatigue of the journey, coupled with the rain for two days, couldn't help but slow down.

Actually, they are on the wrong track. Emperor Zheng traveled north from the east road, and they chased after him from the west road.

On this day, passing by a bazaar, I vaguely heard the news of the fall of Dadu. Everyone couldn't help but feel melancholy, and a sense of loss gradually filled their hearts.

To be honest, in fact, deep down in his heart, Tuhuan had already lost hope and confidence in the Yuan Dynasty. He had seen Zhu Yuanzhang on the battlefield, Zhu Yuanzhang had a strange appearance, and his slogan of "driving out the Tartars and restoring China" won the hearts of the people. Tuhuan heard that Zhu Yuanzhang asked his subordinates before attacking the capital, "This trip is not necessarily to attack the city, but to level the chaos and calm the people." Wherever the enemy is encountered, the battle will be fought. If you pass through the city, and on the day of the city, do not kill in vain, do not take the property of the people, do not destroy the dwellings, do not waste the tools of the farm, do not kill the ploughing oxen, and do not plunder the children of men. or if an orphan or child is abandoned in the camp, and the parents and relatives come to ask for it, they will return it." After conquering the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang won the concubine and grandson of the Yuan Dynasty to offer a prisoner gift and the Yuan clan was named an official - Zhu Yuanzhang's loyalty and kindness, no one can compare with the benevolence of the rise and destruction.

Tuhuan secretly thought, Zhu Yuanzhang has a strategic mind, is far-sighted, recruits talents, widely collects public opinions, educates generals and trains soldiers, and governs the army strictly, this is the king of benevolence and righteousness. He has such a founding king, and the Ming Dynasty will not wait long to dominate the world.

The Great Yuan will be destroyed. What should I do, what should I do with my family? What about these people who follow themselves?

Worried, he gathered his family together to discuss his next steps.

His wife, Mrs. Ma, asked him what his plans were.

"We are a nation on horseback, with courage as a shield and honor as life. Instead of ruining your reputation and fame, how can you serve the court with broken bones! ”

"You're right. But the eagle should also choose a clear sky to fly, and not go to the storm to kill itself. The wife was unimpressed.

"And what do you think?"

"My opinion? My opinion is that we should go back to Lanzhou first, wait and see what happens in Zhuanglang Liancheng, and make a decision according to the changes in the situation. ”

It turned out that the maiden home of his wife, Mrs. Ma, was in Lanzhou.

When he was young, Tuhuan was stationed in Lanzhou with the army. At that time, the young and handsome, martial arts Tuhuan happened to meet a dignified, beautiful, intelligent and virtuous girl, and the young heart was suddenly attracted by the girl. He asked around, this girl is a native of Xifengli, Lanzhou, born in a scholarly family, and has received a good family education since childhood. She is diligent and thoughtful, and when she grows up, she is successful in learning, good at calligraphy and painting, resourceful, and manly. Such a good girl can be met but not sought, wouldn't it be a pity to miss it?! So, he asked someone to thread the needle, and soon won the girl's heart, and since then the two young hearts have been deeply attracted to each other, and they have become partners in the blessings of everyone.

After getting married, they traveled around Lanzhou in their spare time. When they came to the Zhuanglang Liancheng area, their eyes lit up and they found that the east and west sides of the place were surrounded by lofty mountains, and the northernmost and southernmost sections were tightly converging together. The northernmost end is the Tianwang ditch that is not opened by a husband, and the southernmost point is the Xiangtang Gorge of the cliff. The middle of the river is relatively flat and open, forming a river valley basin, and the Datong River runs through the whole territory. In terms of life, the climate here is mild, and the produce is abundant, like a big garden. Strategically speaking, it is a rare place to go because it is easy to attack and defend.

"It's a paradise!"

They were immediately attracted by the unique geographical conditions and beautiful scenery here, so they found a way to buy a family business in Liancheng, and wanted to come here to live their old age when they were old. In the days that followed, he pulled his relatives around him to live here, and he also had something to rely on. I don't want more than ten years to pass, relatives help relatives, friends pull friends, there are almost 100 relatives and friends here.

"That's a good idea!"

Tuhuan pondered for a long time and made up his mind. So, they no longer hesitated, trekked through mountains and rivers, and ran to Zhuanglang Liancheng.

Not only did the couple set their sights on Zhuang Lang, but Emperor Hongwu's eyes were also firmly on Lanzhou and Zhuang Lang.

Yes, the Hexi Corridor in Gansu was an important area guarded by the Yuan soldiers. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, in order to resist the continuous internal invasion of the Yuan Dynasty by the Mongol kings of Central Asia led by Haidu, gathered hundreds of thousands of troops in the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions, changed the Western Xia Province to Gansu Province, and moved the administrative office to Ganzhou. Now, the army of the Ancient Yuan Dynasty led by Li Siqi, Zhang Liangbi, Zhang Sidao, and Wang Baobao (Timur of the Expansion Corridor) has also poured into Gansu in large numbers.

In order to open up the Hexi Corridor and cut off the collusion between the Mongol forces in Mobei and the Mongol forces in Qinghai, it is necessary to occupy the Lanzhou region as soon as possible, especially Zhuanglang, and then open up the Hexi Corridor.

To say that "Zhuang Lang" got its name, the word "Zhuang Lang" comes from the Tibetan language, which means "bison ditch". In the Yuan Dynasty, there were many Tibetans in the Zhuanglang area, and there were bison everywhere. After the Yuan general Subbut occupied the place, in the first year of the Yuan Shizu Dynasty (1264), he changed the name of the county to "Zhuanglang" using the transliteration of the Tibetan word "Bison Gou".

Zhuanglang, east of the Yellow River, south of the Datong River, west of Wusheling Ridge, north of the new side. Lanzhou is two hundred and twenty miles to the east. From Hongchengzi, Yeguling, Kushui, Shajingbao, Jinchengguan, cross the Yellow River Town Yuanpontoon Bridge, and go to Lanzhou. It is 1,400 miles from Lanzhou to Xi'an. Xining is three hundred and seventy miles to the west. Liangzhou is 340 miles northwest, Ganzhou is 820 miles northwest, and Suzhou is 1,240 miles northwest. Although the land here is narrow, the mountains are wide, the soil is barren, but the traffic status is very important, the people who want to go to the east of the river in Ganzhou, Suzhou, Liangzhou and Huangshui areas have no other road to leave Zhuanglang, so it is said that it is the Gansu feeder, the throat of Hexi, so it must be taken down as soon as possible.

In April of the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1369 A.D.), Emperor Hongwu ordered the general Xu Dahui to meet the generals in Fengxiang to discuss the capture of Lanzhou and Zhuanglang and the recovery of Hexi. All the generals thought that Zhang Sidao's talent was not as good as Li Siqi, and it was easier to recover Qingyang than Lintao. It is advisable to capture Qingyang first, and then march to Lintao from Longxi. Xu Da patiently listened to everyone's opinions, stood up and said with a smile: "Your opinion is wrong." The Qingyang city guarded by Zhang Sidao was dangerous, and the soldiers were strong, so it was not easy to capture it in one fell swoop. The land of Lintao leads to Qinghai-Tibet in the west and the Yellow River and Huangshui in the north. Li Siqi occupied it, had a sufficient population to replenish the soldiers, and had abundant products for military needs. If we attack immediately now, Li Siqi will either flee to Qinghai or be tied. Lintao is the ke, and other places are easy. When the generals heard his analysis, they all nodded yes.

The soldiers were very fast, Xu Da immediately ordered Feng Zongyi to attack Lintao, and Gu Shi, the deputy envoy of the governor, and Dai De, who participated in politics, to capture Lanzhou.

At this time, the remnants of the Yuan army had been torn apart, and the people's hearts were unstable.

Li Siqi saw that Feng Zongyi led the army like a tiger, killing all the way, and after thinking about it, there was only one way to surrender. So when Feng Zong's troops came to the city, he had no choice but to surrender the Ming army - after Zhu Yuanzhang sent Li Siqi to recruit Wang Baobao, Wang Baobao was courteous and sent cavalry back. When they arrived at Sene, the cavalry said, "The commander has an order, please leave something to say goodbye." Li Siqi replied, "I didn't bring a gift." The knight said to Li Siqi, "I wish to have a public arm." Li Siqi knew that it was inevitable, so he cut off one of his arms and gave it to the knight. Shortly after his return, he succumbed to his injuries and died—that's a story for later.

On April 14, Gu Shi, the deputy envoy of the governor, and Dai De, who participated in the government, came to the city of Lanzhou, and Zhang Zhijing, the political minister of Yuan Pingzhang, led Hou Wenxian, a native of the state, to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Gu Shi and Zhu Yuanzhang are fellow villagers, childhood playmates, they can be called friends of the general horn, and they are the old department of Zhu Yuanzhang's Haozhou uprising. In the twenty-third year of Zhizheng (1353), he followed Zhu Yuanzhang to leave Haozhou South to attack Dingyuan, and was Zhu Yuanzhang's comrade-in-arms who was born and died, one of the twenty-four people who laid the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, and the founder of the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Yuanzhang treated him with great courtesy. Lanzhou is known as the "capital of the Yellow River on the shore of the great river", and has been called the "Golden City" since the Qin and Han dynasties, and is known as the "barrier to the Central Plains, connecting the Western Regions, and bringing thousands of miles" to the world, and is an important town on the Silk Road.

I heard that Gu Shi, the deputy envoy of the governor, and Dai De, who participated in politics, led the troops to "peacefully liberate" Lanzhou, and Tuhuan couldn't sit still anymore and had to make a choice! He hesitated again and again, pondered repeatedly, and decided to surrender to the Ming Court!

So he led his eldest son Ashdu and his 100 men to Lanzhou and surrendered to Gu Shi.

When Tuhuan saw Gu Shi, his heart was shocked, the general in front of him who was only in his thirties, burly, and with a heroic spirit between his eyebrows, was the vertical and horizontal roar on the battlefield, dignified and curious, able to outnumber, sink the eagle without cutting down, the southern expedition to Mingxia, the northern expedition to the Northern Yuan, and the great capital governor Tongzhi, who gave the title of the Marquis of Jining Gu Shi!

Gu Shi was overjoyed when he saw that Tuhuan was coming, and on the one hand, he reported to Xu Da about the victory, and at the same time asked Tuhuan about the relevant situation around Lanzhou and Liancheng area, and comforted Tuhuan to go home and settle down with a small family, and came to Lanzhou to resume his life.

The morale of the Ming army was booming, and the momentum was like a tiger. After occupying Lintao and Lanzhou, the Ming army divided its troops to attack various places, and successively captured Huining, Jingning, Pingliang and other places. The Battle of Qingyang was immediately launched. Gu Shi and Dai De immediately sent Zhang Wen to stay in Lanzhou and led a large team of men and horses to participate in the Battle of Qingyang with Xu Da.

At this time, Yuan Qingyang was the brother of Zhang Sidao and Zhang Liangchen. They are all battle-hardened warriors. In particular, Zhang Liangchen is brave and good at fighting, and is known as "Little Pingzhang". His soldiers are fierce, and his seven adopted sons are good at fighting, and there are rumors in the army: "I am not afraid of gold medals, but I am afraid of seven guns." It can be seen that the combat effectiveness of Zhang Liangchen's department is not ordinary.

Xu Da saluted first and then sent the commander Zhang Huan to lead the cavalry to Qingyang for reconnaissance and inspection. Who knows, Zhang Liangchen was very cunning, and even used fraud to capture Zhang Huan, and then resolutely stuck to Qingyang. Xu Da was furious, sent troops to attack Huizhou, Xiaoguan and other places, cleared the periphery, and transferred all kinds of fierce generals to besiege Qingyang. Baobao, the pillar stone king of the Yuan Dynasty, also used a trick to capture Zhang Sidao and force his younger brother Zhang Liangchen to fight to the death with the Ming army.

Both sides have the idea of annihilating the main forces of the other side. Zhang Liangchen relied on the dangerous terrain of Qingyang to be arrogant. The famous generals of the Ming army gathered on the periphery of Qingyang, Yu Tongyuan rode to the west, Gu Shi attacked its north, Fu Youde defended its east, and Chen De occupied its south.

The Northern Yuan regime also mobilized various armies to participate in the battle for Qingyang. In August, the Yuan general He Zongzhe led his troops to attack Fengxiang and reinforce Qingyang; Kong Xing and Tuo Libo in the north were also ordered to besiege Datong in order to contain the Ming army. Wang Baobao's troops captured Han Zhar and captured Yuanzhou and Jingzhou. The battle around Qingyang shook half of China.

Chen Shou, the commander of the Ming army stationed in Yuanzhou, was killed in battle. The situation was critical, Xu Da discussed with Feng Sheng and Fu Youde, and decided to stick to the Yima Pass. As a result, news came that night that Jingzhou was lost, and the guard Ding Qianhu retreated to the mourning platform. In order to ensure that the Yima Pass was not lost, Feng Sheng led his army to approach the Yuan army and took the initiative to attack Han Zha'er's troops. Who knows, Han Zha'er saw Feng Sheng rushing to help, and he didn't dare to abandon the city and flee.

On July 7 (August 9) of the second year of Hongwu (1369), Chang Yuchun led his division south from Kaiping and traveled to Liuhechuan (now west of Longguan County, Hebei), and died of a violent illness in the army at the age of 40. Li Wenzhong succeeded Chang Yuchun. On the way to lead the army to attack Qingyang, after Li Wenzhong heard the news that the Yuan army was besieging Datong, he immediately made a decision, led his troops to attack, relieved the siege of Datong, defeated and besieged the Yuan army, and completely broke the Yuan army's intention to look south.

After defeating the Yuan army reinforcements, Qingyang has become an isolated city. The lonely city was not defended, and Zhang Liangchen fought in the east and west, and was defeated. He climbed to the top of the city and shouted surrender, but was refused. Qingyang City has been besieged for a long time, there is no foreign aid, there is no food and grass inside, there is no rescue outside, and the soldiers and civilians in the city have nothing to eat.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, Zhang Liangchen's troops opened the door to Yao Hui, Xiong Zuocheng, Hu Zhiyuan and others. Zhang Liangchen's father and son threw themselves into the well and were unsuccessfully martyred, and were beheaded by the Ming army.

After conquering Qingyang, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Wu Zhen, the governor of the capital, to hold the edict to pass the edict, and the general Xu Da, the partial general Tang and returned to Beijing to discuss the meritorious reward, and participated in the funeral of the Duke of Hubei Chang Yuchun. Ordered the right deputy general to be in charge of Feng Zongyi, the general of the army, and led the whole army to be stationed in Qingyang, so as to control the soldiers and horses in each town. Governor Chen De guarded Qingyang, and Pingzhang Li Bosheng cooperated with Governor Geng Bingwen to guard Shaanxi.

In September of the second year of Hongwu, Xu Da, Tang He and others led the army back to Nanjing.