There are no children who are worried about no children, and there are children who are worried to death.

- Manchu proverb

In the spring of 1930, Ibrahim took the pregnant Han Sophie and her daughter Zai Naibai back to his hometown of Jinggou Gayin Dai in Hezhou, Gansu Province, to visit relatives.

With the money he had saved from his business, he built a few houses facing north and south on the vacant land next to the old house for his elderly parents, Isa and Maileyan, to live in. He renovated the old house and moved in with his family.

One day, Isa and his little grandchildren were pulling weeds in the field while basking in the sun.

Mai Liyan came to the field with a pot of tea. She scrubbed the teacup with a rag, poured a cup of hot tea for Issa, and beckoned her grandchildren to come over for a drink.

Yushan and Zai Naibai sat around their grandparents and competed to see who had the most thatch in their hands.

Mai Liyan looked at the carefree two grandsons, sighed and said, "The eldest Ibrahim's family is back, and Sarah's daughter-in-law is about to give birth." I don't have to worry about it at all. The most annoying (disturbing) thing for me is the three little Gawas. The second Zhan Xiang now followed Master Ma Lin to Lanzhou City, and his daughter-in-law and dolls have a large string, so he doesn't have to worry about food and clothing. ”

Jesus interjected and asked, "You old grandmother, you don't have to worry about food and clothing, why are you worried?" ”

Mai Liyan replied: "What worries me is that they don't have a fixed home, and they wander around. ”

'Isa corrected: "That's not called wandering. It's okay to call it a march, and it's okay to call it a change of defense. ”

Mai Liyan continued: "The third Zhanchuan is also wandering around with Commander Ga. One place has not yet sat on the heat and runs to another place. When will I be able to start a family? ”

Jesus smiled and said, "Don't worry, follow Commander Ga, the blanket is all silver." ”

Mai Liyan pursed her lips contemptuously and said, "The milk marks on the corners of Commander Ga's mouth haven't dried yet, what materials can a 19-year-old Gawa become?" What annoys me the most is that my Gawa occupies the sea. One moment he said that he followed Master Ma Biao to Ganzhou, and then he said that he was in Xining. Zhan Hai is 20 years old this year, and it is time to marry his daughter-in-law and start a family. ”

At this time, there was a voice from afar, "Aunt Mai Liyan, your eldest daughter-in-law is about to give birth." ”

When they looked back, it was the daughter-in-law of the Han neighbor He Xitang standing on the top of the village and waving to this side

Mai Liyan quickly stood up when she heard the shouting, and beckoned to Isa and her grandchildren: "Quickly pack up your things and go home." Yushan, your new grandma is going to give birth to a younger brother for you. ”

When Mai Liyan returned home, Han Sophie had already given birth to a baby boy on a pile of white soil.

Ibrahim boiling hot water in the kitchen.

The daughter-in-law of the village midwife, Ga Linzi, is scrubbing the baby with hot water.

He Xitang's daughter-in-law was on the side.

Ibrahim happily told his parents: "Ada, Grandma, congratulations to the second elder for having another grandson." ”

'Isa said, "What is the appearance of your Sarah-daughter-in-law, who has yellow hair and dark skin, and gives birth to Gawa? ”

Ibrahim asked through the curtain of the door: "Sister-in-law of Galinzi, is the hair of Gawa yellow or not?" Is the skin dark or not? ”

He Xitang's daughter-in-law hurriedly replied: "The hair is not yellow. The skin is a little darker than yours. ”

When Ibrahim heard this, he grimaced at his parents, pretended to be helpless, and said, "It's okay to have dark spots on Gava's skin. Ada, what do you think of the name? ”

'Isa replied, "You are highly learned and knowledgeable, and you have chosen an official name for yourself." In two days I will give him a scripture name. ”

So Ibrahim named the baby boy Niu Wanshan.

'Isa gave him the same scripture name as his own—'Isa.

Han Sophie saw that her son's name was exactly the same as her father-in-law's, how could she dare to open her mouth to scream? So, she called her son Sani without permission.

At this moment, Qinghai's political situation has undergone new changes.

On August 5, 1931, Ma Qi, the head of the Qinghai Provincial Government and Ma Fang's father, died of illness. The Nationalist Power directs his younger brother Ma Lin to act as the head.

At that time, Ma Lin moved to Liangzhou. After receiving the news of his brother's death, he took Niu Zhanxiang and others to rush back to Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, and took over the post of leader.

In mid-August, Ibrahim received a letter from his younger brother Niu Zhanxiang, saying that Ma Daren wanted Ibrahim to return to Xining.

Ibrahim discussed with his parents and decided to take his daughter-in-law and children to Xining first, one to continue doing business, and the other to take care of Zhanxiang and Zhanhai nearby.

So, Ibrahim's family returned to Xining. They rented a large courtyard near Dongguan.

Ibrahim was very excited when he saw Ma Lin, who was the leader, and he didn't expect that he would make friends with such a big official. He gave a clear account of the Ma family's business transactions, not only did he not lose money, but also had a large surplus, which was praised by Ma Lin.

Han Sophie is in charge of Yushan, Zainaibai and Wanshan at home.

Ibrahim continued to do the business of furs and silk, and continued to supply goods to the Ma army. He is also a devout believer, and he will go to the Dongguan Great Worship Temple to worship every Lord's Day.

Dongguan Temple is located in Dongguan Street in Xining, was built in 1380 or so during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, and Xi'an Huajue Temple, Lanzhou Qiaomen Temple, Xinjiang Kashgar Atigar Temple and called the four major worship temples in the northwest.

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the general Mu Ying, who had made meritorious contributions to the opening of the country, as the Marquis of Xiping, and guarded today's Ganqing area. At that time, the Ming Dynasty implemented a policy of religious tolerance, allowing and protecting the normal religious activities of Muslims. Due to a series of population migrations such as military and immigration, the number of Muslims living in Xining is increasing day by day. In order to meet the needs of the religious life of the majority of religious people, Mu Ying at the request of local religious figures and the permission of the imperial court, started the construction of a large worship temple with an area of more than 2,000 square meters in the Dongguan area where the religious people lived, with an area of more than 2,000 square meters, two minarets and a stele pavilion.

Back then, Ma Ying got out of this Dongguan Temple.

Soon after Ma Lin became the head of government in Qinghai Province, a local conflict broke out between Qinghai and Tibet in Yushu, a Tibetan region in southern Qinghai.

Qinghai and Tibet are located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and are geographically contiguous to each other, but the two regions have not had strict administrative boundaries and are roughly bounded by the Tanggula Mountain watershed.

Shortly after the September 18 incident, Japanese imperialism occupied the entire northeast of China. At a time of tense domestic tension, the pro-British forces in Tibet, instigated by British imperialism, seized the opportunity to launch an armed invasion of the Tibetan areas of Qinghai and Xikang, in an attempt to realize the so-called Greater Tibet and prepare for the separation from China.

The Tibetan army attacking the western part of Xikang was repulsed by the troops of Liu Hui, the head of the Xikang provincial regime. The two sides formed a standoff on both sides of the Jinsha River.

The Tibetan army turned to advance north in the Yushu area of Qinghai.

Yushu is located between Qinghai, Tibet and Xikang, and is the gateway between Tibet and Qinghai to enter each other, and has always been regarded as the most important area by the Ma army.

After Ma Qi took charge of Qinghai, in order to consolidate and expand his rule, he always kept the defense of Yushu in the hands of his own relatives. Ma Lin (Ma Qi's younger brother), Ma Yong (Ma Qi's cousin), Ma Pu (clansman), Ma Xiang (Ma Qi's nephew), Ma Biao (Ma Qi's uncle) and others successively served as the commander of the Yushu Defense Region and other important positions, and were in charge of the military and political power in the Yushu area.

In August 1931, the British imperialists sent the administrator stationed in Tsemengxiong (present-day Sikkim, India) to Lhasa to instigate a military attack by the Tibetan army in the Yushu region, hoping to extend the civil war to Qinghai.

After the talks between the Tibetan side and the Kanom Weiar, it was announced that Oshiva Tudan Gongden would be sent to Yushu to preside over the military and political affairs.

There are two special temples in the Surmang area of Yushu. One is the Gadan Monastery of the Gelug sect (Yellow Sect), where a khenpo sent by the Tibetan Dalai Lama manages religious affairs. The other is the Desai Monastery of the Kagyu (White Sect), which is supported by the Qinghai Ma Army.

Every autumn, the two monasteries send people to harvest crops near each other, often causing civil disputes and creating tensions between the local governments of Qinghai and Tibet.

In the Hexi Corridor, Niu Zhanchuan's Ma Ying army was forced by Ma Fang's army to retreat outside Jiayu Pass, entrenched in the three counties of Anxi, Dunhuang and Yumen, and was in a dilemma. Heading east back to home has become more and more ethereal. There are only two ways out for them: one is to disband the team and go their separate ways; The other is westward expansion into Xinjiang.

Every morning, Ma Ying would climb the high slope near the camp, facing Xinjiang to the west, staring and contemplating for a long time.

Niu Zhanchuan was worried about the cold of the morning dew, and every time he dissuaded Commander Ga from going back to the barracks to rest.

Ma Ying just waved his hand lightly, not letting others interrupt his train of thought.

In the past, Ma Ying had always had scruples about the objections of his subordinates, but now he is exhausted, and there is no room for taking into account the opinions of all parties.

In 1931, Xinjiang was also in the midst of war. After the assassination of Yang Xin, the head of Xinjiang Province, Jin Ren, who came to power, implemented a policy of changing the land and returning to the river, abolishing the privileges of the ninth Hami Hui king. Due to improper measures in the implementation process, a platoon commander of the Hami garrison forcibly married a local folk girl, which caused a riot among the Hami Vigur peasants.

Hami is the east gate of Xinjiang, known as the West Desert (West Membrane), Gurong Land, Kunmo in ancient times, it was the land of the Xiongnu earlier, and belonged to the Western Regions Protectorate during the Han Dynasty, called Yiwu or Yiwulu. Later, Hami successively belonged to Wei, Liang, Sui, Turkic, Tang, Tubo, and Western Liao, and Dayuan was placed under the jurisdiction of Gansu Province. After the fall of the Great Yuan, the Chagatai descendant Unasuri established the Hami State, which was wiped out by Turpan Khan 135 years later and soon became the eastern part of the Yarkand Khanate. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Geldan, the leader of the Mongolian Dzungar tribe, tried to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and establish himself as a gateway to the Qing Dynasty. Hami I Hui King Ebedullah realized that the Qing Dynasty, which had the right time, place and people, would definitely defeat Geldan and join the camp of Kangxi. He not only took out supplies to reward the Qing army, but also designed to capture Geldan's son. Emperor Kangxi named him the first-class Zasakdar Khan of the Hami Hui Division, which means the supreme leader of the Hami Hui Division, representing the Qing Dynasty to sit in Hami.

The territory was built into its own system and was not managed by the officials of Hami County, thus creating a 233-year history of the Hami Hui Dynasty.

The peasant uprising against the Xinjiang provincial regime in Hami created favorable conditions for Ma Ying to enter Xinjiang.

The leader of Hami's armed forces was Khoganiyaz, who had participated in the Temur Rebellion in the early years. The Hami Hui King and the Hami Garrison Brigade Commander Yao Lebos hid in the shadows to report to the rebels, giving them gold, silver, guns and ammunition.

However, the peasant rebel army was simply unable to compete with the army of the provincial regime Kim In. Therefore, in order to gain the support of the central government, the Hami Hui King sent Yao Lebosi to Nanjing to petition.

Yao Lebos went to Suzhou in Gansu Province and met Ma Ying, who was stationed there.

Ma Ying and Yao Lebos talked very speculatively. The two men agreed to go to Xinjiang together to overthrow Kim Ren's reactionary regime.

In the early summer of 1931, Ma Ying falsely claimed to his subordinates that he was ordered by the central government to go out to support King Hami, and threatened to defeat Jin Ren within three months.

On May 19, Niu Zhanchuan and others set out in full gear, claiming to be three columns, but in fact there were only more than 500 combatants, more than 90 guns, and about 799 people including their families and miscellaneous personnel.

They had planned to arrive in Hami within 15 days. When they arrived near Xingxing Gorge on the border between Gansu and Xinjiang, they ran out of food and grass. It is surrounded by the Gobi Desert, where there is no place to supply grain and grass.

Ma Ying led the soldiers to attack Xingxing Gorge at night and seized some guns, grain and grass. Then, they divided into two routes: all the way to Qincheng, an important post station in the eastern part of Hami that was rich in materials and called Rouyuan Town and Rouyuan County in ancient times, and went straight to Huanglugang in the eastern suburbs of Hami along the main road.

Hami had three cities at that time. Back to the city is in the south. The old town of Seoul is in the middle. The new town is to the north. The civil and military officials are all in the old city.

There is a long line of defense between the new town and the old town. There are no barriers at the east gate, south gate and north gate of the old town. The Seoul garrison was a division of Zhu Ruiqi, with 13 companies including infantry, cavalry, artillery, and machine guns. Zhu Ruiqi guards the new city. Xiong Fayou guards the old city.

The Ma army entered Huanglugang and conquered Huicheng in one fell swoop with the rebel army of Hoganiyaz. Then, again began to storm Seoul.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Xiong Fayou was about to raise his hand to surrender, but was stopped by Zhu Ruiqi.

Zhu Ruiqi believed that although Ma Ying's army was brave and good at fighting, it had no way to capture Seoul without heavy weapons.

Sure enough, under the tight defense of the provincial army, Seoul stood majestically.

Ma Ying decided to bombard Seoul with mines.

The Ma army bombed the city wall here, and the provincial army blocked the collapsed city wall over there and held it for half a year.

Ma Ying temporarily decided to divide his troops into two routes, one to encircle Seoul, and the other to attack Zhenxi (today's Balikun County, Xinjiang), Qijiaojing and Xiaodun north of Hami, and captured many weapons of the provincial army.

Jin Ren sent Sheng Cai to lead the provincial army to burn the grain and straw in Qijiaojing and retreat to the area of Dashi Village near Hami.

During the battle, Ma Ying's horse was so frightened that he accidentally fell off his horse.

Niu Zhanchuan hurriedly jumped off his horse and hurriedly stepped forward to help Commander Ga.

Ma Ying's foot was injured on the stone, but fortunately nothing else was serious. He moved his legs and feet, and then decided to retreat towards Hami.

From then on, Niu Zhanchuan always followed Commander Ga's side, not daring to leave for half a minute, even if it was convenient to go out, he had to settle 4 or 5 guards to wait.

Zhang Yuan, commander of the 8th Ili Division, and 2,000 White Russian troops came to the Hami front.

Ma Ying felt that this time the provincial government's reinforcements were particularly strong in combat and were his real rivals, and the siege of Hami was fruitless for a long time, so he decided to leave Ma Shiming to assist in the fight against the provincial army, and he led the main force and Yao Lebos to retreat to Suzhou to rest.

After returning to the three counties outside the Guanguan in Gansu, Ma Ying began to expand to the four counties of Jiuquan, Gaotai, Jinta and Dingxin in the Guannei, which belonged to Ma Fang's territory.

After many dredgings, Ma Fang finally agreed to give up 4 counties including Jiuquan, together with 3 counties outside Guanwai, and the entire Suzhou area became Ma Ying's garrison. Ma Fang also planned to organize Ma Ying's army into a brigade of the Qinghai Army.

Ma Ying was unwilling to bow her head under the eaves of others and rejected Ma Fang's suggestion.

He doesn't want to be seen as a bandit and a rogue, and has been justifying his team. With the help of Gansu Xuanzhi envoy Sun Weiru, through Yang Cheng's application, he finally obtained the new 36th Division number given by the national power.

Ma Ying justifiably recruited new soldiers in the seven counties under his jurisdiction, and reduced and eliminated the old and weak troops. In order to maintain the relationship with Ma Fang's family, he presented Ma Lin with fine horses and local products from Xinjiang several times, purchased saddles and other military supplies from Xining, and planned to set up an office of the 36th Division in Xining.

At that time, Ma Ying became the object of contention among various political forces.

Yang Cheng sent CCP members Yang Boqing and Du Liting to work in Ma Ying's ranks to strengthen the influence of the revolution. Ma Ying appointed Yang Boqing as the director of the Political Training Department, and with the help of Du Liting's connections, he met a group of progressives such as Su Jishan and Li Weiping.

Britain and Japan also sent spies to infiltrate the country. The Englishman Kemal served as a senior staff member of the 36th Division. A Japanese under the pseudonym Yu Huating also served as a staff officer.

Niu Zhanchuan couldn't help but be a little worried when he saw that the three sects and the nine streams were all mixed in.

Ma Ying said with a smile: "We must not offend any aspect now, and we will send it in vain." ”

Judging from the whole process from Ma Ying's youth incident to being incorporated into the 36th Division by Jiang Jieshi, Ma Ying was born in a family of officers, did not have a high education, and had a strong national strength and emotion; His personal life is simple, and he has never been contaminated with bad habits; They train the troops conscientiously, often take part in the training in person, share weal and woe with the officers and men, and have the fine work style of being a leader, but they lack sober thinking, and sometimes they are too lenient and tolerant, and they are more tolerant and less punished.

He relied mainly on the old officers as the backbone of the 36 Division. Ma Jie and Ma Hushan are his second brother and brother-in-law, becoming his two arms. Ma Rulong, Ma Shenggui, Ma Shixun, Niu Zhanchuan and others are loyal and reliable assistants. The rest, such as Ma Zhanlin and Ma Heiying, were unruly and did not pay attention to discipline at all.

In order to correct the bad habits of the old army, Ma Ying specially set up a teaching company in Suzhou, specially selected a group of young people to participate, and trained many lower-level backbones.

After Ma Ying left Xinjiang, Ma Shiming's army in Hami continued to grow, and cooperated with Hogani Yazi to capture Shanshan and Turpan, burning the flames of war throughout the entire eastern Xinjiang region. At the end of 1932, they even drove to Nanshan near Dihua (today's Urumqi), causing a panic in the city of Dihua.

Jin Ren hurriedly set up a garrison headquarters, personally dressed up as the commander-in-chief, and set up a city defense headquarters to unify the command of all forces and defend Dihua City to the death.