In fact, the layout of the Su Wangfu is not much different from the Forbidden City, with the main hall of the three dynasties in front for the discussion of the vassal kings, and the back is the dormitory garden as a place to live and rest.

Although King Su's Mansion was relocated to Lanzhou, the three guards under King Su did not move here, and this relocation of the palace was essentially equivalent to cutting off the military power in King Su's hands.

Therefore, in the past hundred years, except for several foreign invasions and mutinies, King Su basically did not go to court on weekdays, because he had nothing to discuss. Although Mei Zhihuan has been to Suwangfu a few times, he naturally knows how lazy the soldiers who are on duty in Suwangfu on weekdays are.

However, when he entered King Su's mansion this time, he found that none of the sergeants guarding the gates everywhere were lazy, and they were all full of energy and sticking to their posts. Just a little change has occurred in these sergeants, which immediately made the Su Wangfu, which originally only had a rich atmosphere, a little more solemn.

Even though several officers guarding the door knew that it was the emperor's personal guard who led the way for Mei Zhihuan, and they also recognized Mei Zhihuan as the governor of Ganning, they still handed over the token in the hands of the guards who led the way in accordance with the procedure before letting them go.

This level of strictness made Mei Zhihuan a little confused, and when a few people walked to the path, he couldn't help but ask, "Is there something going on around Your Majesty?" Why is the token so rigorously checked? ”

The officer who led the way replied unhurriedly: "Nothing happened around Your Majesty, this is just a rule that our guards must abide by, and the Governor does not need to be suspicious." ”

Although Mei Zhihuan didn't ask anything more, he understood that if it wasn't for the other party's deliberate actions, it would mean that the discipline of this guard army was much stricter than that of the Gansu border army. It is no wonder that over the years, it has been rumored that the army after the reorganization of the Beijing camp has extraordinary combat power, and it is even more capable of fighting than the border army.

After Mei Zhihuan and his party passed through several curfews, they finally came to the East Garden, which was located in the harem of King Su's Mansion, and finally stopped in front of a small two-story building in the southeast corner of the East Garden.

As soon as Mei Zhihuan stepped into the waiting hall on the first floor, he saw that Ma Shilong, Meng Qiaofang and other generals were already sitting here, and these officials immediately got up to greet him after seeing the arrival of the governor. Mei Zhihuan hurriedly replied and said: "This official went to see Your Majesty first, if you have anything to say, let's talk about it later, and everyone will be exempt." ”

Mei Zhihuan followed the guide to the second floor and found that the emperor was not waiting for him, but a group of merchants were talking in a whisper. After Chongzhen heard the movement at the staircase, he couldn't help but look up at this side, and when he saw Mei Zhihuan coming, he raised his voice and said to these merchants: "... Naturally, the interests of the imperial court were to be protected by legitimate merchants, whether they were Baili Tusi or the Akimu Berks of the Yarkand Khanate.

However, you will have to be patient for a while, and the court will always send someone to negotiate with them before you can decide on your next move. The Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce and the Gansu Chamber of Commerce can first register the losses of those merchants and the amount of lost property, and then hand them over to my imperial secretariat, and I will let people deal with them.

Now go back first, I have to talk to Governor May. ”

Several merchants bowed respectfully to the emperor and took their leave, and when they walked in front of Mei Zhihuan, they also bowed to him before going downstairs around him.

"Mei Qing, please sit here, this is not a formal occasion, let's talk more relaxed, what do you think?" Zhu Youzhen pointed to the soft chair on the left hand side and sat down in his seat and said.

Mei Zhihuan just hesitated for a moment, then saluted the emperor and said, "What Your Majesty said is that the minister receives the order." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Mei Zhihuan who was sitting down and thought for a moment, before he said word by word: "It's been nearly a month since I came to Lanzhou, and it's almost time for me to return to Lanzhou soon.

I invited Mei Qing to come over just to hear your views on the Northwest Regions and how this place should be governed in the future, I wonder if Mei Qing can tell me about it? ”

Mei Zhihuan's spirit suddenly perked up, and he didn't know in his heart that this was the emperor's attempt to understand whether his ideas were in line with his own. However, even though he knew that this question and answer might determine how long he could remain as a governor, Mei Zhihuan only thought for a moment and decided to tell his thoughts in full, rather than guessing what the emperor's thoughts were.

Mei Zhihuan cleared his throat and said: "Since Your Majesty has inquired, the minister has served in Gansu in the past few years, but he has gained a little, and I would like to report it to Your Majesty."

The minister thought that Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai were the first places in Gansu. Gansu, Hexi Corridor also. It is connected to the Central Plains in the east, the Western Regions in the west, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south, and the Mongolian Plateau in the north.

The northwest is the origin of China's mountains and rivers, and if the country does not have the northwest, China will be in turmoil. Throughout history, whenever the northwest is returned to China, the northern nomads will inevitably decline. On the contrary, China is struggling to defend the south, and the Central Plains soldiers are in trouble.

If China wants to defend the northwest, we must first occupy the Hexi Corridor. With the Hexi Corridor in hand, the various ethnic minorities in the north will not be able to mix and unify themselves, but will have to be divided by China and fight their own battles, and the pressure on our country in the north will be drastically reduced.

There is no sinister pass between Gansu and Ningxia, so those who win Gansu must win Ningxia, and those who defend Ningxia must first defend Gansu. With Gansu and Ningxia to the west of the Yellow River as a barrier, Shaanxi would only have to face the enemy on the Hetao.

Now that Your Majesty has subdued the Mongolian right-wing and left-wing tribes, and brought the Hetao region back into the hands of China, it is indeed a great blessing for China. With the Hetao and Ningxia guarding each other, Shaanxi became an inland land in the northwest.

In this way, Gansu would face the remaining enemies of the western regions of Uszang and Qinghai, the Yarkand Khanate and Oirat Mongols in the Western Regions, and a neutral Mongol tribe in Mobei.

As the minister knows, over the years, there have been many internal contradictions in Wusizang, and there has been tension between Zangba Khan and the Huangjiao Lama, which is the best time for my Ming Dynasty to regain Wusizang under his name and eradicate the potential threat in southern Gansu in one go.

As a result, Gansu was left with only two enemies, the Yarkand Khanate and the Oirat Mongol tribes to the west..."

Speaking of this, Mei Zhihuan unconsciously stopped, thought for some time, and then continued to speak: "More than 1,400 miles west from Lanzhou is Jiayuguan, and more than 1,000 miles west is Hami.

If according to the old system, the two flanks of Gansu have gone to the strong enemy, then we can only retreat to defend Jiayu Pass, and with the strength of the Yarkand Khanate, we will never be able to cross thousands of miles of desert to attack our Jiayu Pass.

Although the Lanzhou-Jiayuguan Hexi corridor is in great drought, there are rivers crisscrossing Ganzhou and Liangzhou, which is convenient for irrigation, and as long as water conservancy is greatly developed, it can really meet the needs of the military and people in Gansu.

However, since the caravan opened the trade routes in the Western Regions, the minister thought that it was really a short-sighted thing to retreat and keep to himself. Since Gansu is known as the Hexi Corridor, it naturally refers to the fact that this section of the terrain is suitable for Chinese merchants to go to the Western Regions.

In a place like Gansu, where deserts and oases are intertwined, it is not enough to cultivate agriculture and develop animal husbandry. If they all count on the relief of the imperial court, how long can the support funds allocated by the imperial court last?

Therefore, if you want to have long-term peace and stability here, you have to restore the trade routes of Gansu's former transportation to the Western Regions. Only by restoring the trade routes in this place can Gansu rely on commercial taxes to support the army stationed here, and the people of Gansu will have the opportunity to serve the caravans and not enter the mountains again as thieves.

The minister thinks that His Majesty's construction of the Lanzhou-Jiayuguan railway also has the intention of facilitating trade routes? ”

Zhu Youzhen, who had been listening silently, nodded and said at this time: "Yes, if you want to defend the northwest, you must first defend Gansu." In this respect, I am no different from Qingzhi. However, if you want to hold Gansu, the restoration of trade routes is one aspect. I thought that we needed to go further, and the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains should also be included in the Ming Dynasty.

The construction of the railway was not to facilitate the merchants on this road, but also to connect Lanzhou, Wuwei, Zhangye, and Jiuquan into a whole, and even to continue to recover Dunhuang to the west. Only by repairing this railway all the way to Hami can the Hexi Corridor in Gansu be completely controlled by my Ming Dynasty.

With Hami as a base for entering the Western Regions, our trade routes will no longer have to be controlled by the Yarkand Khanate, and we will be able to use the Uyghurs who have been driven into our Ming territory by the Yarkand Khanate, and they will no longer be hidden dangers on the border.

It's just that I didn't expect that as soon as the railway left Lanzhou, it was intercepted by Wusheling. The 17-kilometer-long mountain range became the first difficulty for the railway, and the mere transportation of materials for the construction of the railway through the Wusheling Mountains became a headache.

Therefore, in three or four years, we don't have to expect this railway to be built to the Hongliu River. However, the planning of the Yarkand Khanate, especially the deployment of recapturing Hami, should not be stopped. ”

Mei Zhihuan was quite happy that the emperor could approve of his policy of governing Gansu, but he didn't expect that the emperor's ** was much bigger than him, not only wanting to swallow Wusizang and Qinghai, but even the Western Regions to re-annex into the Ming Dynasty. This obviously made Mei Zhihuan, who wanted to shake hands with the Yarkand Khanate and make peace in order to maintain the trade route from Gansu to the Western Regions, a little difficult to accept.

He couldn't help but persuade the emperor: "Your Majesty, for my Ming Dynasty, as long as I can maintain this trade route, it will already revitalize the economy of Gansu. Now against the past and plotting against the Western Regions, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses.

The Yarkand Khanate needed to cross hundreds of miles of desert to attack our Ming Dynasty, and it was difficult to support it with its national strength. But if our country wants to plot the Western Regions, it also has to cross these hundreds of miles of desert. On the same day, the Hami guard withdrew, and it was precisely because it was difficult for our country to support the logistical supply of the Hami army.

Although the finances of the imperial court have improved slightly, it is necessary to focus on the Houjin in Liaodong, and at the same time plan to seize Wusizang and the whole of Qinghai, where is there still the spare strength to plot the entire Western Regions? Even if we succeed for a while, I am afraid that not only will the Yarkand Khanate be an enemy of our country, but even the Oirat Mongol tribes north of the Tianshan Mountains will not tolerate our occupation of Hami..."