Although Kashgar has always been regarded as a transportation hub for exchanges between the Western Regions and Central Asia and South Asia, and is also a key point in the region of the Yarkand Khanate, the area of the city is not large.

Built on the high ground on the right bank of the Tuman River, the city of Kashgar is actually less than 6 miles in circumference, and there are less than 3,000 households living in the city, most of which are built on the west and south sides of the city. Located on the western side of the Taklamakan Desert, the Kashgar region is surrounded by mountains on three sides, leaving only a gap to the east of the desert, so the climate here is also arid and rainless, with many storms in spring and summer.

However, the advantage of being surrounded by mountains on three sides is that rivers that flow from melting snow and springs bring a lot of water to Kashgar, so there is no shortage of water here, although it is dry.

Autumn should be the most comfortable season in Kashgar, not only the melons and fruits in the city are fragrant, but also the temperature during the day has become lukewarm, that is, the temperature difference at night is slightly larger.

Meng Qiaofang, who was sitting cross-legged under the pergola in the courtyard, was very comfortable to finish nibbling on a piece of Jiashi melon, this kind of melon with dark green skin and yellow inside, not only sweet and juicy and hunger-resistant, but also a local specialty.

Under the service of the maid on the side, Meng Qiaofang washed his hands, he looked up, and Arslan, who was holding a handful of bright red pomegranate seeds and biting carelessly, knew that the other party was still worried about the cleaning incident that happened in Yarkand City.

Compared with the young Arslan, Meng Qiaofang, who was in his early 40s, didn't pay attention to what happened in Yarkand, but felt that the Yarkand Khan was a little unreliable.

However, he did know that Arslan was still valued by His Majesty. Although the other party is just a little prince of the Mobei Mongolian region, Arslan is not like his father, and he has to talk about the identity of the ancestor and the belief of the Buddha at every turn, as if he is afraid that others will treat him as an ordinary tribal leader.

Whether it was the previous expedition to Uszang or this expedition to the Western Regions, Arslan did not show any ambition to divide the territory, nor did he have any intention of being wary of the officer corps sent to him by the emperor. Such a performance made Meng Qiaofang believe that Arslan still has the possibility of going further in the Ming army in the future.

Thinking of his own age and situation, Meng Qiaofang felt that his career had come to an end. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but want to maintain a closer relationship with Arslan, so that he could take care of him in the future.

Meng Qiaofang thought in his heart, and couldn't help but smile at Arslan and asked, "What's the matter, the little prince is still worried about the affairs of Yarkand City?" It's not a big deal, as long as we bring the army back, Krezi Khan and the clergy will settle down. ”

Arslan glanced up at him and said with a sense of distraction, "That's true, but the dead can't come back alive." Every time His Majesty summoned me in the capital, he warned me that the first thing to do in the management of the army was to prevent the army from killing civilians indiscriminately and killing good people. If this matter is reported back to the capital, will Your Majesty reprimand me? Those ministers of the DPRK and China have always looked at us soldiers unpleasantly, and if they knew about this, would they use this matter to hold me accountable? ”

Meng Qiaofang said with a smile: "It's not that we are killing civilians indiscriminately, but that Yarkand Khan is using our soldiers to clean up those subjects who disobey him. At best, we are guilty of negligence, but if we are to be blamed, the court must first blame Yarkand Khan.

It took us so much effort to get Yarkand Khan close to the court, and I don't think anyone would make a fuss about it. Even if there is, it will soon be suppressed by the imperial court.

Besides, the soldiers traveled all the way from Qinghai this time, crossing the mountains and mountains, and lost their lives due to various accidents on the way. If you can't let them vent their grievances, bring some money home. Just go back empty-handed, how will we take this soldier with us in the future? ”

Meng Qiaofang's words made Arslan a little stunned, but when he wanted to refute, he didn't know where to start. When he led his troops into Tibet, his soldiers complained about the arduous march along the way, thinking that he, the little prince, was inferior to his father and would feel sorry for his people.

But when he opened the treasury of Tiszzangpa and distributed the gold and silver treasures among the soldiers, they praised him for his generosity and began to mention his father less. This time through Qinghai, across the black glacier, from the edge of the desert all the way to Yarkand City, Kashgar, the road is no less difficult than the last time to Tibet, but there are almost no complaints along the way.

At this time, Arslan remembered that the subordinates who were named to follow Yarkand Khan to the south had a happy feeling on their faces, and it was obvious that from that time on, his subordinates already knew what they were going to do when they went south to Yarkand City.

Seeing Arslan's silent appearance, Meng Qiaofang turned his head to look at the clear sky in the distance and continued: "If there is harmony within the Yarkand Khanate, then we have come here with all the hard work, are we here to eat Jiashi melon?" The little prince doesn't need to worry too much about Yarkand Khan, we should still think carefully about what to do next. ”

Arslan looked at Meng Qiaofang in some surprise and said, "Shouldn't the next step be to go north to Aksu and join forces with the Governor to attack the remaining men and horses of Abdullaha Khan?" ”

Meng Qiaofang shook his head and said: "The Governor accidentally inflicted heavy losses on Abdullaha Khan's army in Tuoxun, and now the cities in the eastern part of the Yarkand Khanate have been terrified, and there is the Oirat Department to assist the governor's army to go south, in order to protect the city, the cities will inevitably rush to surrender, and our army no longer has to go north." ”

Arslan retorted with some disagreement: "But Aksu still has 15,000 troops of Ibraim, should we let them go to the rescue of Abdullaha Khan?" ”

Meng Qiaofang hesitated before saying, "I have already contacted Prince Ibraim's Hassan Burke through the merchants of Kashgar before, and according to the communication between us, Prince Ibraim should not die with his brother, so we just need to wait a few more days, maybe there will be good news." ”

Arslan suddenly felt a little depressed, he stood up, walked to the edge of the platform, looked at the winding Tuman River outside the city and the farmland in the distance, and came over for a while before saying, "In this case, shouldn't we be preparing to go home next?" ”

Meng Qiaofang got up and walked to his side, patted him on the shoulder and pulled him back to the blanket, then took a small square table, and drew a rough map on the table with grape juice.

The bright red grape juice soon formed a brown line on the square table, showing the topography of Kashgar and its surroundings. Meng Qiaofang pointed to the lower right corner of the map and said: "This is Kashgar where we are located, and you can enter Jiayuguan along the roads of the north and south lines of the Taklamakan Desert.

However, the opening of the north-south passage from Jiayuguan to Kashgar does not mean that we have opened the ancient silk road to the west. In fact, we have only walked half the distance of this ancient silk road.

From Puli, south of Kashgar, you can go to India if you go to the popular Qilab Valley. It is said that the Yarkand Khanate had good relations with the Mughals on the Indian mainland, so there would be no problems with this passage. However, the natural conditions of this passage itself are relatively harsh, and India is connected to our Ming Dynasty by sea, so few caravans pass here.

To the southwest of Kashgar is the Pamir Plateau, which belongs to the Yarkand Khanate, but it is extremely desolate, there are basically no cities with a large population, and there are only a few nomadic tribes, which is difficult to support the passage of business and travel.

Only the intermountain basins of the Tien Shan and Gisar-Alai Mountains to the west, fed by the Syr Darya, Sokh and Isfara rivers, are the most important passage from Kashgar to Samarkand, which is now owned by the Uzbeks of the Bukhara Khanate.

The Transoxiana region controlled by the Bukhara Khanate was not only an important passage between the Ming Dynasty and the Safavid Dynasty; It is also the main route for us to enter the Seven Rivers valley and communicate with Russia; It is also an obstacle for the Ming Dynasty to explore further west. So our next goal is to provoke a war between the Yarkand Khanate and the Bukhara Khanate..."

Arslan asked with some hesitation, "Is this what Your Majesty meant?" But we have only 6,000 men in our hands, and the Bukhara Khanate is much stronger than the Yarkand Khanate, and this is probably a very difficult war. ”

Meng Qiaofang smiled and said: "Although the population of the Ming Dynasty is prosperous, if we have to levy the manpower of the Ming Dynasty every time we fight abroad, then we will be dragged down by the war sooner or later."

The reason why we were able to sit here and talk casually was because there was something wrong with Yarkand. Therefore, what we need to do now is to find the internal and external enemies of the Bukhara Khanate, and then unite them to attack the Bukhara, instead of just thinking about going forward alone.

The best way to weaken the enemy is to use the power that belongs to the enemy to fight the enemy himself, and whether it succeeds or fails, our enemy suffers.

Isn't it enough that Your Majesty has asked us to keep the Silk Road open..."

Arslan looked at the map on the table and thought for a long time, before he looked up at Meng Qiaofang and said seriously: "I still can't figure out this kind of planning thing, or ask General Meng to think about it more."

I might as well leave the matter of the battle charge to me, and the honor of the warrior should be earned on the battlefield, not by using these tricks..."

Meng Qiaofang looked at Arslan, and was about to say something when a staff officer ran up excitedly, as if he wanted to report to him. Meng Qiaofang glanced at him and said, "Let's just say it, the little prince is not an outsider. ”

The staff officer immediately replied: "Prince Ibraim has agreed to surrender to our army, and Hassan Burke is already on his way to Kashgar to negotiate with you about the future..."