In the eyes of the people of the Central Plains, the nomads north of the Great Wall are all barbarians who drink blood, even the Khitans who have almost completed sinicization are no exception. The invasion of the Jurchens, who were in a semi-primitive and semi-slave society, showed the Central Plains what barbarism was, and the nomads living in Mobei were no different from savages in their imagination, just beasts walking on two legs.

The harsh environment and the differences in civilization and customs not only caused great fear among the people of the Central Plains, but also made the officials regard them as daunting to take up their posts outside the Central Plains. Therefore, every year of grinding, officials of all sizes who catch up with the transfer of officials will go through the back door to avoid being 'assigned' to the north of the country, and the selection of officials for the northwest has become the most troublesome thing for the officials, and no one is willing to go to the first level of promotion.

Now that the Western Expeditionary Army has captured the Zhenzhou of Mobei, the emperor quickly approved the performance of the Western Expeditionary Army's Marshal Gao Favor to manage Mobei, and ordered Shangshu Province to refer to it. While rejoicing from top to bottom, they wanted to cross thousands of miles of the Gobi Desert and face the murderous Tatars, and many officials in the DPRK and China trembled, especially those who stood on the wrong side and held the wrong foot not long ago, worried that they would be 'exiled' to Mobei as a criminal official, and then they would really have to return the horse leather shroud.

As soon as the decree was issued, some people in the court speculated who would be pushed out by the emperor and sent to death, and the emperor looked at who was wrong, and the few words asked by the deacons would cause everyone to think infinitely. In the face of the grim situation, everyone began to cross the sea to show their powers, and some officials who estimated that they might die began to inquire about the news and dredge up the relationship. Seeing the retirement age, he hurriedly proposed to Zhishi, and the parents at home were looking forward to dying as soon as possible, so that they could go home to study. But the flaws are not hidden. There is no shortage of hot-blooded men in the Great Song Dynasty, and some people also took the initiative to invite Ying to go to Mobei to make contributions......

Gao's letter and the emperor's vision actually coincide. So it was quickly approved. Zhao Ta understood that if he wanted to keep the Central Plains safe, he must stabilize the northwest, and it was difficult to do it by a simple military strike, and history had proved that this was only an expedient measure, and it was difficult to last, even if the first bird in front of him was destroyed, it would not be long before the new strongman would grow up like a tenacious weed and become the new enemy of the Central Plains Dynasty. Therefore, in addition to military strikes and deterrence, it is also necessary to have a soft hand and build a peaceful and stable living space. Everyone is full of food and drink, and few people are willing to play with knives and be robbers desperately!

Since it was decided to pass through the northwest, Zhao Ta's 'ambition' is not only Zhenzhou, but a large area including the Shangjing Road and Gaochang Kingdom of the former Liao Kingdom, which is not inferior to the current territory of the Great Song Dynasty. It is not easy to build a new political system in a wild land, so the selection of people is key. Those corpse vegetarian meals, mediocre officials don't want to go, even if they want to go, Zhao Ta is not at ease!

To accomplish this great thing, you must have a perseverance character. People who can abide by their duties, have strong enthusiasm for work, are proficient in the art of governing the army and the people, and have a loyal heart for the benefit of the country and the people, and relieve the worries of the king. Otherwise, this difficult task cannot be accomplished. Others like Li Gang, Xu Jingheng and others in the DPRK and China have such abilities. It can also reassure Zhao Ta, but these people are either in high positions and difficult to leave, or they are older. I can't withstand the wind and frost sword in the northwest at all, but I'm afraid that people haven't arrived yet. It's time to have a memorial service for him.

At such a moment, Chen Dong was once again pushed into Zhao Ta's sight. He has the heart of serving the country and the people, and no one will question it, and he has always been fair and honest in his work, even those who have prejudices against him have to admire. What is even more rare is that he has the experience of working at the grassroots level in the northwest and the experience of holding important posts in the central government, and he has retired from the youthfulness and fanaticism of his early years and has become a calm and wise middle-aged senior leader, and his achievements are obvious to all.

But the problem is that Chen Dong is now the middle prince of the imperial history, and he is among the rulers of the current dynasty, and with his age and behavior, anyone would think that he will become the prime minister of the dynasty in less than ten years and reach the peak of power. And if you go to Mobei, it is full of variables, not to mention that you are likely to lose your life there. Besides, the situation over there is complicated, people from all sides are sloppy, and the people are fierce and lack of education, it is not easy to gain a foothold, and it is even more difficult to achieve results. On the contrary, once something goes wrong, half of the world's reputation will be ruined, not to mention a good future.

Zhao Ta has also been cultivating Chen Dong as the second echelon, if he is sent to Mobei, it is indeed a very good experience, if he can complete the term, regardless of success or failure, it will be of great benefit to his future career. But then again, anything can happen in that place, and that might destroy him there. And just when Zhao Ta was hesitant and thinking about how to deal with it, Chen Dong took the initiative to send it to the door, asking to be sent to Mobei to take up a post and go to the northwest to do something for the country and the people.

After listening to Chen Dong's statement, Zhao Ta was of course very happy, but he still explained to him the pros and cons and the risks he faced, and that the different conquests in the northwest could not be achieved overnight, and it might take years, or even decades. But Chen Dong said that even if there are many difficulties ahead, it is not as difficult as when the emperor started his business, and he is willing to devote his life to governing the northwest for the country and His Majesty...... As a result, Chen Dong walked out of the palace with the three big characters of 'true husband' mentioned by the emperor's imperial pen.

A few days later, under the holy decree, the Northwest Road was established to govern the Mobei Prefectures, temporarily taking Zhenzhou as the road governance, and appointing Chen Dong as the envoy of the Northwest Road system, plus Shaobao; Qiao Kun, the head of the household department, was reappointed as the transfer envoy of the Northwest Road, and the title of Shangshu was added; Yue Fei, the commander of the Hebei Prefecture Army, was the pacification envoy of the Northwest Road and the chief of soldiers and horses, and led 20,000 soldiers and horses out of the fortress. At the same time, all officers and men of the forbidden army and prefecture who retired this year went to the northwest to be incorporated into the Tuntian Army. At the same time, the salaries of officials and soldiers who have left the country will be increased by two levels, and those with their families will be given settling-in allowances and properly resettled.

Two days later, an edict was issued, ordering the household department to recruit people to go to the northwest tuntian, which could subsidize road expenses, provide land and distribute agricultural materials, and of course also called on merchants to go to the northwest to do business and purchase land; instruct the Criminal Department to relocate all convicts serving sentences of more than three years to the northwest for reclamation; Then he recruited 30,000 herdsmen from Hedong, Xiazhou, and Lingzhou to move to the northwest to consolidate the border defense.

As soon as the decree was issued, all the ministries were busy, and the border situation did not wait for anyone in an emergency, so Chen Dong took the first step to go to Zhenzhou to deliver the decree and go to the post together. He was also very bold, in order to hurry up with only a dozen guards and a few staff members from the capital, after arriving in Datong, he found two guides to prepare some supplies and plunged into the desert. Needless to say, the hardships on the way are self-evident, fortunately there were no horse bandits and fleeing remnants along the way to reach Zhenzhou smoothly, but the food and drinking water are almost exhausted, and if they are delayed for two days, they will be left in the vast sea of sand......

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Gao Chong and Zhao Li did not dare to slack off after receiving the holy decree, and immediately ordered the whole army to prepare the required materials, and at the same time carried out the handover work with Chen Dong. Considering that it will take time for the follow-up men to arrive, and once the army leaves, it is likely that someone will come to fight for it. Therefore, after the discussion, the Western Expeditionary Army left a brigade of baggage here, which could raise and receive supplies, and secondly, it could also serve as the responsibility of defending the city.

Three days later, the Western Expeditionary Army set foot on the road to the west again, they crossed the Hangai Mountains and traveled along the Zabulun River, although they still traveled through the Gobi Desert, but there were many oases and water pools on both sides of the river, so there was no need to worry about the water source, but at this time the northwest was already late autumn weather, and the best time to march was missed. If it is an oasis on the way to the summer march, it can provide enough forage for the horses to eat, reducing the pressure on the logistical supply. But now the vegetation is yellow, and the rivers have dried up in some seasons, so that the army has to carry some extra horse feed in case they need it.

Because it was a large army of men and horses, and with the power of victory and victory of the Divination Division, where did those horse bandits dare to move forward, and those nomadic tribes here also avoided early to avoid military disasters. Therefore, the journey was very smooth, and no one dared to come forward to test whether Song Jun's blade was sharp. After more than 20 days of rapid marching, the army entered the western part of the Mongolian Plateau, the Altai Mountains are already in sight, as long as you turn over the mountain in front of you again to enter the Gaochang boundary, but I didn't expect to meet the robbery here.

The people who dared to challenge the Western Expeditionary Army of the Great Song Dynasty were the Naiban tribes who lived here, they belonged to the ancient Turkic tribes, first lived in the Qianhe area, and then gradually moved south, scattered in the Altai Mountains. It is bordered by Kereh in the east, the Shihe River in Yeer in the west, the Gilligis in the north, and the Wuer in the south. Believing in shamanism, Nestorianism and Buddhism, it was the most civilized tribe in the Mongolian steppe at that time, with its own written language, which had broken away from the primitive tribal stage and had a simple state institution, and its monarch was called Sun Khan.

With the fall of the Khitan and the decline of the Jurchens, the barbarians became the most powerful tribe of the Chinese people in the Mongolian Plateau, with a sophisticated and large army, and often fought with the surrounding Kereh tribes to compete for land and pastures, and they were also regarded as the overlords of the Western Regions. When they learned of the arrival of the Great Song army, they immediately mobilized tens of thousands of troops to block their way.

The main opponents of this western expedition were the Gaochang people, and they were also prepared to fight against the nomads of Mobei, but due to the delay, Gao Zhong did not want to clash with the Naibarians, so as not to be entangled here and affect the march. Because the Naiman tribe had a close relationship with another Uighur tribe, which was also a Turkic tribe, and the ancestor of the Uighurs, the Bugu Khan, was also the ancestor of the Wanggu people, the Wangu tribe had a special alliance with the Naiban tribe.

The acquaintance was easy to talk to, so Gao Zhong sent Wang Guren in the army to negotiate with him, telling them that the Song army was going to attack Gaochang, and he only passed through by the road, and he had no intention of grabbing their territory or clashing with them...... (To be continued......)