In the first month of the tenth year of Hongxi (1416), just after the New Year, Sheng Yong, the chief military officer of the expedition to the west, left Jiaxia Pass.

Sheng Yong is forty-two years old, but he looks like he is about thirty-five, mainly because he has not had any war in the past few years, he is pampered, well-maintained, and his mental state is quite good.

At this time, Sheng Yong was standing on a high place outside Jiaxia Pass, looking at the endless Ming cavalry on the avenue not far in front of him, slowly heading west.

As the first wave of the Western Expeditionary Army, the Ming army dispatched 50,000 foot cavalry, 10,000 carts, and 80,000 horses and mules from the northwest.

Despite this, the emperor gave them a standard of about sixty miles a day.

From Jiaxia Pass to Kabul, the capital of the Timurid Empire (the capital of later Afghanistan), a total of 5,100 li.

At the speed of the Ming army, it will take about three months to arrive.

Of course, it is impossible for the Ming army to be all in a hurry, there will be many tribes along the way, all kinds of small forces, and even kingdoms, all of which were once attached to the Timurid Empire, but after Shaharu's defeat in the Ming Kingdom, many forces collapsed and separated, and no longer relied on Shaharu.

The Ming army will conquer all the way along the way, and it is expected that it will be relatively fast to reach Kabul within a year.

Emperor Zhu Gaoxu did not put pressure on Sheng Yong, and when he went out, Sheng Yong decided, he didn't have to repay everything, and it was normal to be able to go to Kabul in two years.

It is best to wait for the second wave of 50,000 troops and horses of Qu Neng next year, and the two armies will join forces to attack Kabul.

The emperor did not put pressure on Sheng Yong, but Sheng Yong wanted to monopolize the war exploits and conquer Kabul before Qu Neng sent troops next year.

More than five years have passed since the Great War of that year, and judging from the news that the Ming army has returned, Shaharu has not yet recovered his breath, and the country is facing strong pressure.

More than five years ago, Shaharu was defeated in the Ming Kingdom, and finally fled back to his hometown with only tens of thousands of elite horsemen, and less than 200,000 tribes were collected one after another.

He came to Daming with millions of people, and less than a quarter went back, which can be described as a fiasco in a fiasco.

At the same time, the Aries Dynasty, which rose in Asia Minor, and the Black Sheep Dynasty, which rose in Armenia, oppressed one after another, and the Black Sheep Dynasty first destroyed the Shaharu tribe in Western Persia, and suppressed the Shaharu power in the east of Persia, Afghanistan, and the Transoxiana region.

Now is the saddest period for Shaharu, and it is also the best period for the Ming army to march west to take revenge on him.

"An Guogong." Just as Sheng Yong watched the Ming army march one after another, several generals came from behind him.

There are seven or eight people, including Li Xian, the left deputy general, Teng Ju, the right deputy general, Pingfu (Ping'an's son), the cavalry vanguard general, and Sheng Zhen (Sheng Yong's son), the former infantry battalion general, many of whom are the descendants of the rebels.

"Pingfu." Sheng Yong said at this time.

"The end will be." Pingfu hurriedly stepped forward.

"Take two thousand cavalry first, go to Chijin first, gather up their troops, and let Talini take the whole clan with us."

"If he doesn't want to?" A trace of murderous intent flashed in Sheng Yong's eyes.

"The last will understand." Pingfu immediately turned around and ordered two thousand cavalry to hurry up.

In September of the second year of Yongle (1404), the leader of the Mongolian tribe, Talini, who claimed to be the son of the prime minister's asceticism, led more than 500 men and women to join the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court placed him outside the Jiayu Pass, and ordered the establishment of the Chijin Mongol Office (in Yumen), with Talini as a thousand households, and gave him seals, colored coins, and raided clothes.

During Shaharu's eastward expedition, he also passed through the Jade Gate, and Talini saw that Shaharu was powerful, and immediately joined him.

There is no way, he only has five or six hundred people in total, and Shaharu has brought millions, and it can be regarded as mercy if he doesn't destroy them all, because he values their familiarity with the nearby terrain.

After Shaharu's defeat, Talini took the lead in leading his troops to run away, returned to Chijinsuo, and continued to express his attachment to the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu didn't settle accounts with him, and when Shaharu came, he surrendered too much to count.

Now that the Ming army is marching westward, I can finally talk to him on the way.

The Chijin Institute is near Yumen, about two hundred and thirty miles away from Jiayuguan.

Sheng Yong followed behind the front camp, walking seventy miles a day for the first few days, and arrived at the Chijin Institute in more than three days.

When he came to Chijinsuo, he saw Talini leading his tribesmen behind Pingfu and taking the lead in worshipping, and then Talini's people knelt down one after another.

"There are seven hundred and sixty people of the Taliniju tribe, and they belong to the Ming Dynasty." Talini said respectfully.

Pingfu also said, there are about 5,000 cattle and sheep, and 1,400 horses, all of which will follow us.

"How many young and old?" Sheng Yong asked.

"About one hundred and twenty." Pingfu replied.

"Young and old can walk slowly, and the rest of the tribe will walk with us, bringing cattle, sheep and horses."

"No."

Talini bowed his head, although he was a little unwilling, but he didn't dare to disobey.

More than five years ago, Shaharu went on an expedition to the east, raised a million troops, and was defeated by the Ming Dynasty, and Talini deeply felt the horror of the Ming Dynasty.

This Ming expedition to the west is said to have raised two million troops. (Zhu Gaoxu brags)

Talini shivered when he heard it, and felt that every spit of the Akito could drown them out.

When Sheng Yong arrived, he led several generals to run around.

It was also the first time he had been to the outside of the Saiwai, but the emperor had already told him roughly before, and he also brought a map with him.

In the past five years, although the Ming army has not made a westward expedition, it has been sending detailed works everywhere in Central Asia, South Asia, and even near Europe (later Turkey) to investigate the local situation.

The commander of Gansu had 500 horsemen every day, and a group of 10 people specially drew a map of the vicinity, and the closer to the Ming army, the more detailed the map.

This is the closest place to Jiayuguan, Sheng Yong looked around, and then compared the map, and immediately decided.

More than 200 miles away from Jiayuguan, the first big city was built based on the Chijin Institute and named Chijin City.

On the edge of Chijin is the Changma River (where the later Changma Town is located), and there is the West Lake River on the opposite side of the Changma River.

Water resources are abundant and suitable for group living.

Chijin City is located in the middle of the Changma River and the West Lake River, the south is the original city of Chijin, and then build a new construction to connect with it, east and west, reach two rivers, and take the river as a natural moat.

After deciding, he quickly wrote two orders and reported them to the Gansu Dusi.

After the Gansu Dusi got it, one of them was sent to the Beijing Division, and the other ordered them to mobilize troops and horses, starting from receiving the documents, out of Jiayu Pass, and swept within a radius of 500 miles from Chijinsuo.

In the following year, he kept sweeping the 500 miles radius of the Chijin Institute, plundering all the people within 500 li, and gathered in the Chijin City to start building the city.

Within these 500 miles, there are basically Mongols left over from the former Yuan Dynasty, and there are also a small number of Turkic people, who used to live in their respective pastoral areas and live very comfortably, except for the brief chaos brought to them by Shaharu's Eastern Expedition five years ago, the last five years have been quite comfortable.

Unexpectedly, the Ming army suddenly began to plunder the population everywhere, drive out the people, and then unify the capture of the Chijin to build a new city, and suddenly the chickens and dogs on the grassland jumped, wailing everywhere, and many tribes had to move west, away from the Ming Dynasty.

Seven days later, Sheng Yong came to the Xilagajin River (later Dang River), which was about 350 miles away from the city of Chijin.

The Xilagajin River is more than 700 miles long, it is known as the mother river of Subei, it is also the most important local water source, the crescent spring that is called the first spring of the sand source, and it is also one of the water systems of the Xilagajin River, which flows through the ancient city of Dunhuang. (At this time, it is called Shazhou)

Sheng Yong stayed for a day to rest, and after observation, he decided to occupy Shazhou and expand Shazhou City.