The first year of Chongzhen, May.

"My lord, look, that's Dunhuang City."

A team marching on the Gobi under the blazing sun appeared on a mountain, and Man Gui came to Li Hongyu on horseback, stretched out his hand and pointed to a majestic city in the distance and said to Li Hongyu in a deep voice.

"Let's go!" Li Hongyu came to Hexi for the first time, glanced at the reins of the horse behind the tall city, and ran towards it first, he had long wanted to see the charm of the ancient city of Dunhuang.

Man Gui and the others naturally didn't dare to slack off, and they rode their horses to chase after them, raising a burst of dust in the sky.

Located at the westernmost end of the Hexi Corridor and built on an oasis in the Gobi, Dunhuang City was the Silk Road's transportation fortress connecting Europe and Central Asia, with Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass to the west.

Although the Silk Road has now decayed and does not have the same scenery as it used to be, Dunhuang City is still the most prosperous city in the Western Regions due to its important geographical location, with high walls and thick walls, and the market is bustling.

Originally, the Ming Dynasty had seven guards in the west of Jiayu Pass, commonly known as the "Seven Guards of Guanxi", guarding the westernmost frontier of the Ming Dynasty, but with the weakening of the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Seven Guards had to withdraw into Jiayuguan and give up the land of Guanxi.

The so-called Seven Guards of Guanxi refers to the seven guards set up by the Ming Dynasty in the area west of Jiayuguan, also known as the "Seven Guards of the Northwest", and also known as the "Seven Guards of Mongolia" because the seven guards are all Mongolian nobles, namely:

Andingwei, Aduanwei, Qu Xianwei, Handongwei, Shazhouwei, Chijin Mongolian Wei and Hamiwei.

Later, due to the internal relocation of Shazhou Wei, the Handong Left Guard was set up in his hometown, but unfortunately the Jiajing Dynasty was annexed by the rising Turpan Khanate.

However, the Turpan Khanate was later annexed by the Yarkand Khanate, which was founded by descendants of the Chagatai Khanate, one of the four former Mongol khanates.

After two years, Mangui finally defeated the enemy forces in the border of the Seven Guards of Kansai except for Hamiwei, and successfully occupied the most important city of Dunhuang in the Kansai region.

The reason why Hamiwei was not captured by Man Gui was because Hamiwei was in the area west of Yumen Pass, and the other six guards were all east of Yumen Pass, which was relatively far away.

In addition, the rulers of the Yarkand Khanate in the Hami region were very strong, and the territory of the Hamiwei was not only the largest but also the richest of the Seven Guards of the Kansai region.

This made Man Gui not dare to send troops easily, otherwise it would be difficult to hold even if he captured Hami, after all, the Yarkand Khanate, which inherited the eastern region of the Chagatai Khanate, was a powerful existence in the Western Regions, and it was difficult for him and the Western Expeditionary Army to deal with it alone.

It is precisely because of this that when the exhibition of the Western Expeditionary Army was facing a bottleneck, Li Hongyu rushed over thousands of miles away, and some things had to be decided by him personally.

As usual, the streets of Dunhuang City are bustling with activity, with people of different costumes and looks coming and going, and the shouts of street vendors coming and going.

After a few years of conquest, there are now less than 10,000 of the 20,000 veterans of the Western Expeditionary Army, and the rest of the troops are soldiers recruited from the Western Regions by Mangui, so there are now many Mongols and Westerners in the Western Expeditionary Army.

Kansai is a place where many ethnic groups gather, the people are brave, and it is an excellent place to recruit soldiers, and many people have come to join the army under the generous treatment of the Western Expeditionary Army.

When Li Hongyu came to the general's mansion in the city, all the senior generals of the Western Expeditionary Army had gathered, and they all looked very excited and excited after seeing Li Hongyu.

The senior generals of the Western Expeditionary Army were naturally the military attaches who followed Li Hongyu after the Battle of Salhu, and it can be said that Li Hongyu single-handedly promoted them, so they were naturally in awe of Li Hongyu, and they were very happy to see Li Hongyu again after so many years.

Moreover, with the arrival of Li Hongyu, these senior generals were also invisibly relieved, and they no longer had to worry about how to attack Hami, and it was obvious that Li Hongyu would solve their worries perfectly.

"My lord, Hami is now ruled by Abdullah, a nobleman of the Yarkand Khanate, whose territory stretches from Hami in the east to Serami in the west, and owns the northern edge of the Tarim Basin."

In the conference hall of the General's Mansion, Man Gui pointed to a map of the Western Regions hanging on the wall and introduced the situation in Hami to Li Hongyu, who listened with a serious expression.

After the establishment of the Yarkand Khanate, there were two major khanates in the territory of the former Eastern Chagatai Khanate, one was the Yarkand Khanate in the west, and the other was the Turfan Khanate in the east.

Although the Turpan Khanate was later annexed by the Yarkand Khanate, the Yarkand Khanate also broke out the competition between the princes and princes, making the Yarkand Khanate in a situation of division between the east and the west.

In fact, this situation was very powerful for the Western Expeditionary Army, and a divided Yarkand Khanate was easier to deal with, because it was pinned down by the Yarkand Khan royal family in the west, which made Abdullah, who had divided the eastern part of the Yarkand Khanate, have no time to take care of the Kansai region captured by the Western Expeditionary Army, but stationed in Hami.

Abdullah lived in Huozhou in Turpan, and had heavy troops stationed in both Huozhou and Hami, of which there were 30,000 or 40,000 troops in Hami and 50,000 or 60,000 troops in Huozhou.

In addition, Hami City is hundreds of miles away from Yumen Pass, once the Ming army attacks, the defenders of Hami will definitely know in advance and then prepare, which is where Mangui has a headache.

Because the number of enemy troops in Hami was comparable to that of the Western Expeditionary Army, in Mangui's opinion, the only way to defeat the enemy army in Hami was to win by surprise, but the long journey made the possibility of a surprise attack very low, giving the enemy time to assemble.

If it was left in the past, Man Gui would not have taken the enemy army in Hami in his eyes at all, and the Ming Dynasty could easily mobilize more than 100,000 troops to fight.

But now is different from the past, with the decline of the Ming Dynasty's national strength, it is no longer possible to conduct large-scale wars in the Western Regions, and because the Western Regions are too far away from the Ming Dynasty, the war in the Western Regions can cost more than Liaodong.

This is also the reason why the Western Expeditionary Army has to control the scale, once the Western Expeditionary Army has too many troops, it will bring huge trouble to the logistics supply.

Hami's defender is named Tumol, Abdullah's henchman and brother-in-law, fierce and aggressive, after Mangui captured Dunhuang City, he fought with Mangui for more than a year, Mangui finally defeated him, and he was a more difficult person to deal with.

"My lord, according to the latest information obtained by the Inferior Position, Tumor has been recruiting troops on a large scale since he returned from the last battle with the Inferior Position, and the number of troops gathered now should be no less than 60,000, and I am afraid that there is an intention to attack Kansai again."

After introducing the situation in the Hami area, Man Gui frowned and said to Li Hongyu, "The troops under the humble command are scattered all over Guanxi, and there are only 20,000 troops in Dunhuang City, once Tumol attacks, it will be trapped!" ”

"The more people Tumol recruits, the better, although the Yarkand people rule the Western Regions, there are many small countries in the Western Regions, and the factions are complicated, although they are superficially subordinate to the Yarkands, but in fact they have their own plans and schemes."

Li Hongyu pondered for a moment when he heard this, and then said with a slight smile, "This time Tumol's conscription will definitely draw the troops of those small countries on a large scale, which will inevitably lead to the complaints and dissatisfaction of those small countries, which can just be used by us." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, instead of us working hard to move the crowd to Hami, it is better to wait for Tumol to lead the army to come."

As he spoke, Li Hongyu glanced around at the crowd and announced in an orderly manner, "This battle with Tumor is very important, so this official will send someone to contact the Mongol allies to attack Tumor together." ”

The Mongolian allies in Li Hongyu's mouth naturally refer to the allied Western Expeditionary Army, which is dominated by the Mongolian Outer Khalkha Department, which has already controlled the Western Expeditionary Army over the years, and has completely escaped the control of Lin Dan Khan because of its migration to an area far away from Lin Dan Khan.

Speaking of which, Lin Dan Khan lost his wife and his troops this time, not only did the generals of the Chahar Department who he sent to the Western Expeditionary Army have taken refuge in the Khalkha Department, but also the Western Expeditionary Army successfully incorporated the right-wing tribes of Southern Mongolia under his banner, and also occupied a moral height for the Western Mongolian tribes.

"My lord, Bahat is now confronting the Warats, and if they send troops, it will inevitably give the Warats a chance." Man Gui frowned slightly when he heard this, and said to Li Hongyu with concern.

Narentoya's elder brother Bahat is now the commander of the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army, and there were many contradictions between the Warat tribes, but with the arrival of the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army, they were united.

Thus, after an initial smooth battle, the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army and the Warats reached a stalemate, with neither being able to defeat the other.

Therefore, Mangui was worried that once Bahat divided his troops to help in the war, then the Warats would inevitably launch an offensive against the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army, and the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army would probably suffer a big loss.

"The Warats have been entrenched in Moxi for many years, and the territory they control is vast, and it is not easy to defeat them."

Li Hongyu felt that this was not a difficult matter, so he smiled and said to Man Gui, "We are one with the Mongolian Western Expeditionary Army, one is prosperous, and the other is lost, and now they have gained a firm foothold in Moxi, and the dangerous situation in Kansai is naturally dominated by the war in Kansai." ”

"In order to prevent the Warats from taking advantage of the mobile offensive, the officer will ask them to temporarily shrink the defensive line, and then hit the troops to defeat the Warats after taking Hami."

As he spoke, Li Hongyu stood up and said loudly to the senior generals present, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an extraordinary period in Kansai, and this official hopes that you can work together to tide over the difficulties!" ”

"Work together and get through the difficulties together!" Hearing this, everyone at the scene stood up and shouted in unison.

After this discussion, the senior generals of the Western Expeditionary Army in Kansai reorganized their armies and prepared for Tumol's attack.

In Li Hongyu's opinion, since Tumol has recruited troops on a large scale, he will definitely launch an offensive to Kansai, otherwise it will not be easy to maintain such a large army.

Therefore, Tumour will definitely lead an army to attack Kansai, in the hope of driving out Mangui's Western Expeditionary Army and regaining control of the Kansai region.

At this time, the importance of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division was highlighted, if the soldiers of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division complained and the soldiers of the various guards had combat effectiveness, then Li Hongyu would definitely transfer troops from the Shaanxi Xingdu Division to help the war.

But now the Western Expeditionary Army can't count on the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, which is now undergoing large-scale rectification, and it can't take care of the war in Kansai at all.

To Li Hongyu's disappointment, after removing the old, young, sick and disabled in the various health centers, the entire Shaanxi Xingdu Division had only more than 30,000 young and middle-aged soldiers.

It seems that more than 30,000 people are a lot, but the Shaanxi Xingdu Division is not only located in the chaotic place of war in the frontier, but also the territory is not small, once the 30,000 people are evenly divided into the fourteen guards and four guards and thousands of households, there is really not much.

Moreover, the training of the more than 30,000 young and middle-aged troops was lax and their morale was low, and it was difficult for them to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy without thorough training.

It is no wonder that the Ming army gradually became a soft persimmon to be kneaded in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, first losing the west of the country, and then losing the southwest and eastern Liaodong, which is closely related to the weak combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

Because the recital to the imperial court was written by Li Hongyu himself, and in November last year, he had already sent someone back to the capital to give Emperor Chongzhen a holy judgment.

Therefore, in early February, the Shaanxi Xingdu Division received an official document from the Ministry of War, transferring the civil affairs power of the local health offices of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division to the Yamen of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, and the Yamen of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division dispatched military attaches to the various guards to deal with civil affairs.

Li Hongyu has already set up a training institution in Ganzhou City, and will select young people from the military households of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division for training, and in the future, the Shaanxi Xingdu Division Yamen will uniformly deploy them.

In other words, the military attachés in charge of civil affairs in the Yamen of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division have actually become "liuguan" with promotion and transfer, just like the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty, and are no longer hereditary by the local military attachés.

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen also deliberately issued a decree to allow the people of Shaanxi Xingdu Division, whether military households or private households, to open up wasteland and sow seeds, and the fields opened up belong to the wasteland households.

In addition, Emperor Chongzhen implemented the "one whip law" in Shaanxi Xingdu Division at the suggestion of Li Hongyu, which is to put it bluntly, "spreading the ding into the mu", and only the people who have the land will pay the field tax in the future, and those who do not have the land will no longer pay the field tax.

In fact, a whip law had been forcibly promoted by Zhang Juzheng throughout the country in the early years of Wanli, but it was resisted by local officials and large landowners.

Therefore, by the end of Wanli, all localities no longer followed a whip law, and Zhang Juzheng's tax reform ended in failure.

However, this time, the "one whip law" of the Shaanxi Xingdu Division was different from that of Zhang Juzheng, not only was it handled by Li Hongyu himself, but Li Hongyu also made corresponding countermeasures, that is, to get rid of the original tax model and implement a new tax system of "apportionment into the mu" by training civil military attachés.

As soon as this decree came out, the people of Shaanxi Xingdu Division were suddenly boiling, the most important property of feudal society is land, and Emperor Chongzhen issued the "Wasteland Order" this time undoubtedly to meet the most urgent needs of those people.

In this way, the most affected are naturally those powerful who previously sought to annex land, and who were able to hire or even use their power to force people who had no or little land to cultivate for them.

However, the introduction of the reclamation order and the civil power of the yamen of the various guards were withdrawn by the Shaanxi Xingdu Division, which made those powerful people lose the power to control and oppress the people.

There is no doubt that the people are eager to pursue land, and those who have enough to eat and support will work for the big landlords when they can obtain their own land.

This caused a big problem for the powerful who had annexed large amounts of land, as it was clear that they could not cultivate their own land, and that they had to pay a large annual tax on those lands, which were not entitled to the preferential treatment of three years of exemption.

In fact, Li Hongyu took the knife against those vested interest groups in Shaanxi Xingdu Division this time, which is also a true portrayal of the current situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

A remote Shaanxi Xingdu makes Li Hongyu have a lot of trouble and will face the counterattack of those vested interest groups who are unwilling to lose their power, not to mention the implementation of the division into acres and the innovation of local health centers throughout the Ming Dynasty?

(End of chapter)