On the New Year's Day of the tenth year of Longjing, the entire city of Beijing was shrouded in thick smoke. Almost every household set off artillery fire, and the shredded paper on the ground was piled up a foot high.

From the second year of Chongzhen's reign to the present, it has been 32 years, and this is the first time that Beijing has restored the image of prosperity. Even in the first five years of the Longjing Dynasty, there was no such scenery in the capital, and now in the tenth year, it seems that the sky suddenly brightened, and every household has savings.

Wu Fu came out of duty in the palace, sniffed the smell of gunpowder in the air, let out a long breath, and condensed into a white practice in the cold wind.

At the beginning of last night, the sound of artillery fire sounded in the city, almost all night. This morning, Shuntianfu reported that there were 14 or 5 houses running water, but fortunately, everyone was keeping the New Year, no one was sleeping, but a few people were burned who reacted slowly, but no one died.

This has not happened for many years, and it can be regarded as a by-product of the return of the prosperous era.

The old family who was waiting to take Wu Fu back drove over in a four-wheeled carriage and stopped steadily in front of Wu Fu.

As the first assistant, Wu Fu was able to use the horse regulation, that is, a chariot drawn by four horses, which was the treatment of the prince and above. Otherwise, even the prince would only be able to ride in a carriage with two horses. As for the eight-horse cart, that was a regulation that only the emperor could use.

The Ming Dynasty is still a country of strict rituals and religions.

"Mr. Wu." A crisp cry of vicissitudes pierced the air, and it turned out to be You Shiwei in court clothes.

After Qin Liangyu removed his armor, he refused the emperor's retention and returned to his hometown in Sichuan to recuperate. You Shiwei thus became the head of the generals, and he was not inferior to Wu Fu in the honor guard, and he also rode in a car.

"The Grand Governor." Wu Fu stopped and turned around in one go, smiling and bowing his hand.

You Shiwei still had some prejudices, took a step sideways, and said that he only dared to accept half a courtesy.

Now the status of military generals is indeed earth-shaking. At that time, Li Chengliang was honored as an earl. guarded Liaodong, but he still had to pay a protégé salute to Zhang Juzheng, calling himself a "disciple student". As for Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, etc., they are not exempt from vulgarity.

"Old gentleman," You Shiwei stepped forward quickly, "spring is coming. Can you take a few steps with your feet? ”

"Dare not obey orders." Wu Fu said with a smile.

You Shiwei smiled, but the tension in his heart was not relieved in the slightest. He knew that these civil officials and bigwigs looked like bodhisattvas, but they couldn't figure out the thousands of entanglements in their hearts. The military generals have today's status, mainly built by a strong emperor, and it may not be what the civil officials are happy to see.

But overall, it's a good start, at least people aren't turning you away.

You Shiwei is not younger than Wu Fu, but he has never put down his efforts, and he is parallel to Wu Fu at this time. The pace is noticeably much steady. He grabbed Wu Fu's arm and sighed: "The sons and daughters still lost the battle. ”

Although the cabinet can no longer intervene in the military, this kind of national event must be notified to the cabinet as soon as possible, so Wu Fu naturally knows that this is an urgent report last night. And judging from the time You Shiwei came out, it must have been His Majesty the Emperor who summoned him to have breakfast together.

"The old man read the newspaper." Wu Fu said quietly: "But the one who only said that he was defeated was Tulu Baihu and the monks." ”

"It's really just Turubaihu and the Sangha's Warattu." You Shiwei said: "If any of the main divisions of the Northwest Group Army participate in the battle, they will not be defeated. He paused, and said unabashedly: "At least it won't be so badly defeated." ”

Wu Fu's footsteps stagnated slightly. said: "I can't see it from the newspaper. ”

The report to the Cabinet of Ministers only stated that the Varattu troops encountered the combined forces of Oros, Kazakhs, and Cossacks and were routed for sixty miles. Losses are not counted. However, this was only a defeat in the battle, at best, it was painful, and the real combat power of the Ming Dynasty in the northwest had not yet been dispatched, so it was not a fiasco.

You Shiwei called Wu Fu to stop, but he actually asked for help. Since there is a request for others, of course, you can't hide your words.

"The defeat was like a mountain. I'm afraid that I won't even be able to keep the line from Lake Balkhash to Kashgar. You Shiwei said heavily.

Wu Fu was a little surprised: "Why did you lose so badly?" ”

You Shiwei was a little difficult to talk about in the face of this problem.

It's not that I'm ashamed, but I don't know if Mr. Wu can understand.

In today's military terms, the Warats are still in the stage of cold weapon warfare. It is true that they do have a certain number of artillery pieces and guns, but their tactical tactics are still the same as in the era of cold weapons. Strictly speaking, it was a routine of the time of Genghis Khan.

However, the enemy army they faced was a tactic of alternating hot and cold weapons, which was more advanced and efficient. This means, of course, the Oros Stelz corps, and as for the Kazakh and Cossack cavalry, they were no more advanced in tactical tactics than the Varats. In You Shiwei's view, the Ming army's tactics and equipment morale definitely surpassed the Sterz corps by more than one step, and it was inevitable to defeat them.

So it can only be said in terms of results.

"There were 30,000 Tulu Baihu, 40,000 monks, a full army of 70,000, and less than 20,000 men and horses gathered after the war." You Shiwei said: "These 20,000 people are simply not enough to guard the Far Western Lands. If you abandon the face and defend the point, you must give up Dayuz, and even Kyrgyz, Uzbekistan, and retreat all the way to Kashgar...... If the Oros and Kazakhs chase down, Kashgar may not be able to hold it. ”

You Shiwei paused and added: "Yang Wei, the commander of the West Road, thinks that the Russian-Kazakh coalition army can easily attack the north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains. Of course, if they do this, our army will be at ease. ”

After Yang Wei served as the chief of staff of the Northwest Group Army, the rank of course was promoted from colonel to major general, refreshing Wang Yi's record and becoming the youngest general in the Ming Dynasty. However, Wang Yi is a military chief who fought in the sea of corpses and blood, and Yang Wei is a staff officer, and he still can't match the former in terms of popularity.

Wu Fu has been in contact with Yang Wei and has also learned about the "geographical theory" from Yang Wei. He had absolute trust in the military vision of this young man, especially since he was in the Western Regions and must have sufficient and reliable first-hand information.

"It's up to the sky, and it doesn't matter if you can't keep it." Wu Fu was not enthusiastic about the vast development of the Western Regions, such as Balkhash and Kashgar...... When you hear these names, you feel that they are not the land of China, and they are really emotionless.

You Shiwei secretly said in his heart: I really didn't come to you in vain, I'm afraid that you think like this!

"Actually, it's really a big deal." You Shiwei said: "Your Majesty's earliest intention was to push the border to a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, such as the three passes of Qin, and then Huaxia would naturally be able to last for thousands of years, and there would be no more barbarian invasion." Now that the Far West has suffered a setback, the national border has retreated thousands of miles, and in the future, troops will have to be sent to garrison it, and the military expenditure will be so great! ”

Wu Fu continued to walk, squinted at You Shiwei, and said, "Those lands, to be honest, can't be regarded as the homeland of China. ”

"The nations compete for power, and it doesn't matter whose homeland it is." You Shiwei paused and said: "Even if the Kazakh Sanyuz is not the homeland of China, is it the homeland of the Oros?" They actually sent the elite of the whole country this time, just to occupy the land of the Seven Rivers. ”

The Kazakh Khanate was a Mongol Khanate founded by the Jochi line that dragged away from the Golden Horde. They did not rule for the Northern Yuan, so even if the Ming Dynasty inherited the legal system of the Mengyuan Dynasty, the reason for ruling them was not sufficient in legal theory.

In particular, the current Kazakh Khanate is divided into three Yuz, of which the Great Yuz Khan is the Kazakh Khan, and the main body of the Great Yuz Khanate is the Turkic part of the Turkic Empire, which is also the main force in the expansion of the Arab Empire.

From 135 years ago, the war between the Warats and the Kazakhs began, and if in the history books of Zhu Cihong's previous life, this war is called the "200-year war", the Kazakhs have always been at a disadvantage, and were finally defeated by Geldan of Dzungaria.

Now in this time and space, the Warat people have received the support of the Ming Dynasty in logistics and armaments, put on the sturdy armor that they have never had, wielded sharp sabers, and stepped on the achievements of their ancestors to swallow the Great Yuz in one fell swoop, forcing the Kazakh Khan to flee to the Little Yuz and ask the Oros for help.

The Oros were originally quite jealous of the Mongols in the east and south, and the Dzungar monks were extremely tough on the Russians, and even once had a skirmish, attacking the Russian fortress. When he heard of the invasion of the Great Yuz by the Warats, the Tsar of Oros, who had already extended his claws to the Lesser Yuz, mobilized a large army, and finally defeated the lightly advanced monks and Tulubaihu in the Battle of the Syr Darya River.

Judging from the current intelligence, the combined forces of Tsarist Russia and Kazakhstan are only 50,000 people, and they can achieve a complete defeat, which somewhat hints at the contradiction between Sangha and Tulubaihu.

This contradiction is actually very realistic, the monk first resented Tulu Baihu and the Ming Dynasty alliance to seize the north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains, and secondly, he was not happy with Tulu Baihu's lack of greed and followed the attack on Kazakhstan. As for Tulubaihu, since he can do such insatiable things, most of them are also a natural disgrace, and maybe he will betray his teammates in the decisive battle.

Although these are not reported in writing, where can't these Jingshi people think of it?

"It's a Talus again!" Wu Fu sighed, and did not reveal any other position.

In the tenth year of Xuanzong Tianbao of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army led by Gao Xianzhi and Li Siye fought a great battle with the Arab Empire in Talas, west of the Green Ridge and south of Lake Balkhash, but unfortunately did not win. After this battle, the Arabs captured tens of thousands of Han soldiers, and learned papermaking and other Tang techniques. From the military and political situation at that time, the Arab Empire thus replaced the Tang Dynasty and established hegemony in Central Asia.

Shortly after the Battle of Talas? Muslims were murdered for their high achievements, and his general Ziyad? Ibn? Surrey was also executed, which led to a mass rebellion, and the Arab Empire was too busy quelling the rebellion to extend its gains.

"The difference with Talas today is that there is no trouble with the history of our dynasty." Yu Shiwei said.

Two years after the defeat of Talas, the Tang Anxi side had recovered its combat effectiveness, but because of the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, eight years of civil war, when Tang Suzong finally rebuilt the Tang Dynasty on the ruins, the Tang Dynasty was no longer the Tang Dynasty built by Tian Khan. (To be continued......)