The Western Regions and Liaodong were completely different, and the nomads controlled these two regions and could obtain a large number of handicrafts and agricultural products from there, which was necessary to establish a unified steppe empire; The control of these two areas by the agrarian peoples not only allowed them to impose a more effective blockade on the enemy, but also cut off the enemy's circuitous roads and protect their flanks. "The Han Dynasty went out of the Western Regions and cut off the arm of the Xiongnu" is what it means. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the "Silk Road" to the sea, the status of the Western Regions declined greatly, Liaodong became the Ming Dynasty painstakingly operated the "salient department", in this narrow corridor of western Liaoning, the Ming Dynasty has built dozens of fortresses such as Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, Jinzhou and so on in this narrow corridor, after the Jin Bingxing, although the Ming has lost the Liaohe Plain, but still controls the most convenient passage to Beijing, and this corridor becomes the defense area of the Gongwei Beijing Division. Although the breaking of the border in the second year of Chongzhen of the Later Jin proved that the Liaoxi Corridor was not the only passage into the Central Plains, the Later Jin army's roundabout action was to take a great risk, and its marching route had to pass through a large area of the Mongolian tribes that were still in swing, and its flanks were exposed to the Ming army and the Mongolian tribes who were still loyal to the Ming Empire. Shortly after the Later Jin returned to Shenyang, the Ming army defeated the Later Jin army that remained in the four cities of Zunhua.

September of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Jinzhou.

"It's dry, watch out for the candles!"

With the husband's somewhat hoarse voice, a few bangs pierced the night sky and entered the backyard of the General Soldier's Mansion. An old man who was sitting at the desk raised his head, listened carefully, and then sighed: "I didn't expect it to be two watches." Time flies! “

"Sir!" The old servant waiting next to him cut off the wick of the oil lamp and persuaded in a low voice: "Tomorrow you have to go to Xingshan Fort, rest early!" ”

"Good, good!" The old man looked at the unfinished letter next to the bookcase, picked up one casually and said with a smile: "I'll rest after reading this one again." “

"Hey!" When the old servant was young, he waited for the old man to grow up and knew the temper of the other party. Knowing that persuasion was not of much use, I had to sigh: "Master, if you are not afraid of your blame, you are all a person who is seventy, and this Liao matter is left to the younger generations to run, why bother so much?" It's not a long-term solution! “

"You can't say that." Hearing this, the old man's face became serious: "My Sun Chengzong has been favored by Emperor Xian, Emperor Zhen, Emperor Yi, and the four sons of heaven today. Only the liver and brain are smeared in the hope of retribution. Now that the old man in the court is withering, and the east is powerful, if I don't do my best with this old bone, what face will I have to see the emperor, the emperor Zhen, and the emperor in the underground in the future? ”

"That's what you said, sir!" The old servant sighed: "It's just that you also care about this body." “

"That's nature!" Sun Chengzong stroked the thick beard under his chin twice, and said with a smile: "After reading this letter, I will go to rest!" ”

According to the custom of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, their letterheads usually consisted of two parts, the first part usually only said inconsequential official clichés, and the second part would mention more important information. The letterhead Sun received was no exception. In the body of the letterhead, it is just a simple greeting and mentioning the recent events in Jingshi, such as Zhang Xianke's court staff because he touched the Son of Heaven. Sun Chengzong already knew this information, so he just casually swept it aside, and began to browse the second part. Soon his gaze stopped, and his right hand began to subconsciously stroke the beard under his chin, if anyone who was familiar with Sun Chengzong saw this, he would know what problem he had encountered.

"Hey!" Sun Chengzong stood up and paced back and forth in the room. The old servant saw this. Then he asked in a low voice: "Master, could it be that there are traitors in Jingshi who slander in front of the Son of Heaven?" “

"If it's a traitor, it's easy to do!" In front of his personal servant, Sun Chengzong did not hide it, he said with a wry smile: "If Lord Bi Shangshu Bi is a traitor, where are there loyal ministers in this Ming Dynasty?" His excerpts are also reasonable. It is imperative, but it is necessary to abandon hundreds of miles of territory and the eastern captives, which are from the ancestors in a hundred battles, these fortresses, weapons, and tuntian are all the blood of the people! ”

This old servant has followed Sun Chengzong for many years, and many of Sun Chengzong's confidential correspondence on weekdays are handled by him, and his understanding of the situation in the imperial court at that time is only far better than that of the middle and low-level Ming officials, so he naturally knows who Bi Shangshu is in Sun Chengzong's mouth, so he asked in a low voice: "Could it be that Mr. Jingzeng (Bi Ziyan's words) has a different opinion with the master?" “

Sun Chengzong didn't speak, just nodded silently, and after about half a cup of tea, he said to himself: "It is not unreasonable to say that Jing Zeng's excerpt is not unreasonable, how can there be a reason in the world that more than ten thousand people sit and eat and pay a lot of money and Chen Shi does not advance?" In this way, the East Captives are in trouble without a fight. It is better to simply lay off the soldiers, take the Shanhaiguan Pass as the limit, support the people of the world, and wait for the people to be abundant, and then carry out a big crusade after the soldiers are refined. It's just, it's just-" Speaking of this, Sun Chengzong's face was already full of embarrassment, and he couldn't say any more.

"Sir!" The old servant on the side persuaded in a low voice, he had followed Sun Chengzong for many years, and he didn't know why the master was so embarrassed. It turned out that since the Apocalypse two years later, the Jin army invaded south, due to the discord between Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong on the Ming side at that time, and Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong at that time, the Ming army was defeated, not only lost Guangning, an important stronghold west of the Liao River, but also had to give up more than 40 castles in Yizhou, Pingyang Bridge, Xixingbao, Jinzhou, Tiechang, Dalinghe, Jin'an, etc., the defense system of the Ming army outside the pass has completely collapsed, and had to retreat to Shanhaiguan, built castles, manufactured weapons, and almost single-handedly rebuilt the Ming defense system and the Guanning army outside the Guan. And if he follows Bi Ziyan's suggestion, it is tantamount to sweeping away all the hard work he has invested outside the customs all these years. Since the middle and late Wanli period, the party struggle among the ministers in the court has been very serious, and many times the ministers attack each other not for specific political affairs, but to find an excuse to defeat political opponents, and his political enemies will also turn over these old accounts in order to knock Sun Chengzong to the ground. Solve an iron case that cannot be turned over. Even if Sun Chengzong does not consider his personal interests and losses and the reputation of later generations in the history books, and is willing to return to his hometown to retire and have a career in office, he can't ignore the life and death of his protégés and factions, right?

"Sun An, you go out first, let me be quiet!"

"Yes. Master! The old servant did not continue to persuade him, but he owed his master slightly, and withdrew from the door and closed it. Sun Chengzong, who was standing in front of the bookcase, read the letter carefully, and the elegant and neat words on the paper now looked so ugly, like a group of crawling cockroaches. With a sudden wave of his hand, he knocked the oil lamp to the ground, and the lampshade made of white gauze and bamboo immediately burst into flames under the licking of the flames. Sun Chengzong looked at the flames on the ground. His eyes were full of indescribable disgust and self-deprecation. Suddenly, he threw the letter in his hand on the fire, and the letterhead was immediately engulfed in flames, and black paper ashes were scattered everywhere.

"Sun Chengzong, Sun Chengzong, you always think that you are still a gentleman, but you can't imagine that in the end, you are just a donkey under the reins!"

In the early morning of the next day, Sun Chengzong did not go to Xingshan Fort to inspect as planned, but immediately returned to Shanhaiguan. Immediately, the main generals of the Guanning Army were summoned and ordered to rebuild the Daling River and Youtun Forts. The order to move the line to the north, although some generals were suspicious of this - the Daling River was already very close to the Houjin's control area, which was likely to attract an enemy attack, and they were not confident of defeating the Houjin army. However, Sun Chengzong did not listen to the suggestions of the generals as usual this time, but gave an order very resolutely, and appointed the leading military general in the Guanning Army, Zu Dashou, the general of the Liao Advance and the general of the Liaodong Striker, to be responsible for the task of building Dalinghe City. For all this. No one felt abnormal - the civil officials formulated the strategy, and the military generals were responsible for the implementation It was the norm of the civil and military division of labor in the Ming Dynasty.

Liaodong, Shengjing, Xiaobeimen.

Towards dusk, Niu Lu Zhangjing, the guard of the gate, was preparing to order the soldiers to close the city gate. Suddenly saw a puff of smoke and dust rising in the distance, vaguely a sign that a large group of men and horses were advancing, although the Ming army within four or five hundred miles around Shengjing had already been wiped out or driven away by the Houjin army, but this battle-hardened officer still did not relax his vigilance, he ordered loudly: "Erjin, you have good eyesight, quickly climb to a high place to see what kind of people and horses are coming over there?" ”

The soldier whose name was called answered, ran to the flagpole and climbed up quickly, and when he reached a height of about six or seven meters from the ground, he built a pergola with his hand and looked out at the smoke, and after looking at it for a while, he shouted loudly downward: "My lord, it is the Great Khan's horse team that has returned!" ”

"What? Take a closer look! Niu Lu Zhangjing couldn't believe the answer of his subordinates: "The Great Khan didn't set off to hunt in Yehe two days ago, and he didn't come back until a month later, how could it be the Great Khan?" ”

"Can't be wrong!" Ergin looked at it for a while, and then shouted loudly: "It is the Baijia Bayala (that is, the Great Khan's own army) who is the first to open the way, and who else can use them to open the way except the Great Khan." ”

Hearing this, Niu Lu Zhangjing knew that there would be no mistake, and he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to open the city gates, clean the roads, and prepare for the honor guard. Since the two years of Chongzhen, Jin ran thousands of miles under the leadership of Huang Taiji and succeeded in breaking the border, Huang Taiji's prestige in the Houjin Kingdom increased greatly, so that soon after, Erbeile Amin, who stayed in the four cities of Guannei, was defeated by the Ming army and fled back to Guannei, Huang Taiji was actually able to take down the punishment of this big man who was once the same as himself and the four major Baylors, and discussed side by side, and finally removed all positions, confiscated the property of the Ministry, leaving only six Zhuangzi and twenty slaves, who were imprisoned, and had actually been driven out of the power stage of Houjin. Since then, no one has dared to peep into the position of the Great Khan of Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji's eyelids on horseback were slackened, and he looked a little tired, and the rush of the past few days had left a lot of marks on his body. Although he is not yet forty years old, he has been a warrior for almost thirty years. According to the custom of the Jurchens, almost when his peers in the Han land were still chasing, he rode on the back of a sheep and learned to shoot birds and rabbits with a small bow, and at the age of eleven or twelve, he began to wear armor and carry soldiers, following his father Khan and the Jurchen tribes, the Mongols, the Ming army and the Koreans to chase and fight. Decades of battlefield life tempered his body, making him strong and alert, but unlike his father and brothers, Huang Taiji also had a more far-sighted vision and a shrewd mind, which was the real reason why he defeated his brothers and obtained the throne. But becoming the Great Khan is not without a price, the complicated political affairs are slowly consuming his energy, compared to a few years ago when he just succeeded to the throne, Huang Taiji looks a lot older.

When Huang Taiji and his entourage approached the city gate, the cavalry escorted returned to their respective banners, leaving only the kings, Beile, Beizi, Wang Gong and Gushan Ezhen and the escort Bayala into the city together. He was halfway to the Yehe enclosure when he received a secret message from the ministers left behind in Shengjing, and a few days earlier three soldiers who had fled from Jinzhou to Houjin explained that the army had begun to build the Dalinghe fort, the foundations had been laid, and the outer trenches had been dug. After learning this news, Huang Taiji immediately suspended the hunt and returned to Shengjing. After entering the city, Huang Taiji entered the palace from the Daqing Gate, and was welcomed into the palace by the nobles and civil and military ministers who had been waiting on both sides of the imperial road. After the court meeting ceremony was completed, Huang Taiji asked the princes and ministers in Manchu: "Is there any news from the Daling River?" ”

"The spies sent have returned, and the Ming army has indeed begun to build a city on the Daling River. The city wall is already more than a foot high, and it was Zu Dashou who built the city, and he blocked the news very strictly, if it weren't for those deserters, I was afraid that we would know it later. "The answer to the question was the Great Belle Daishan, who was the oldest of the four great beylers, so he was called the Great Beyler, although after Nurhachi's death it was he who presided over the Zhubeile to support Huang Taiji as Khan, but Huang Taiji was always suspicious and wary of him, fearing that the other party would threaten his power.

"This ancestor Dashou is really a general, and he is very old-fashioned!"

Dai Shan looked at Huang Taiji, although he praised Zu Dashou on his lips, but judging from his face and tone, he didn't care too much about the Ming army's construction of the city. As the Great Baylor, Dai Shan is very aware of his embarrassing position, so he is very careful in what he says and does on weekdays, lest he leave any handle for this eloquent younger brother and end up imprisoned for life, he thought for a while: "Great Khan, the location of this Great Linghe Fort is quite important. The Ming people built the city here, clearly to march step by step, and to force my territory. (To be continued......)

PS: It's on the shelves, all Webb can do is write the book seriously, and I hope readers will subscribe and vote for rewards! Hello, hello, everyone, it's really good.