The area under Ma Rong's feet now used to be called Gaochang, and the so-called Gaochang means 'high terrain and prosperity'.

Nestled at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, this rare oasis has been one of the most prosperous towns in the Western Regions for thousands of years.

Especially in the Tang Dynasty, Xizhou was very rich in wheat, cotton cloth and other materials, and even after the Tang Dynasty fell into civil strife, it still held on for a long time.

It can be said to be a rare treasure.

"Qianghu is based on Xizhou, near the boundless city of Dian. Shandong collects taxes and rents and supports our anti-jam soldiers. When Hu rode all the time, the people were often shocked. Ma Rong rode a horse, wearing a strong suit but exposing his arms because of the heat, and his beard was already very thick when he was nearly thirty years old, "You know? This is a poem written by Zhang Ji in the Tang Dynasty, and it is written here. ”

The sun was dazzling, and Zhu Feng on the side couldn't open his eyes either.

"You are embarrassing me, how can I read these poems?"

After many years in the army, the two of them are more familiar.

In fact, in terms of merit, the two of them were by no means just commanders, but they were not dissatisfied with this arrangement, and the young soldiers were eager to establish meritorious deeds, and this is the only place to have meritorious deeds.

And it is too far away from the Central Plains, the Tang Dynasty originally only stationed 5,000 troops in Xizhou, and the Ming Dynasty is now digging Yinshan to station 10,000 soldiers and horses in Xizhou. Since the total number is so much, it is even more impossible for them to command tens of thousands of troops.

However, this is already the land of the Western Regions, and there is never a shortage of war horses, so the left and right guards of Xizhou led by the two of them are complete cavalry, erecting military flags with clear characters, and wearing high-grade battle armor, which is the standard of first-class guards from the very beginning.

Ma Rong explained for him: "This poem is about the scene of the frontier troubles, Qianghu is based on Xizhou, and the borderless city of Jindian means that Qianghu occupies Xizhou, resulting in my Central Plains Dynasty having no border cities to garrison in the area near the frontier. ”

Zhu Feng understood a little, probably understood, and he said, "That's not now anyway." ”

They looked at each other and smiled, and led hundreds of cavalry around the city.

Riding on a horse and looking out, the earth seems to have no end, the world has become a line as far as the eye can see, the sun and white clouds can be touched closely, there are cattle and sheep grazing on the uninhabited grassland, vast, quiet, free and broad.

In order to avoid the boredom of the soldiers, the barracks will be like the Mongols, in a circle, competing with each other, and the sweat and blood of the men will be completely released here.

In recent years, the status of the military generals of the Ming Dynasty has gradually improved, the country is strong, and the foreign expansion has led many people to win fame in various wars, which has also stimulated the crazy pursuit of later generations.

No matter what era it is, it is not easy to turn over your life, and joining the army to win fame has become a good channel in recent years.

After Zhu and Ma inspected, they also joined in with great interest.

It's a pity that gambling is not allowed in the army, otherwise you have to open a market.

And the atmosphere is different today.

A soldier and Zhu Feng 'complained', and as soon as he opened his mouth and shouted 'little grandfather', he was stopped, "Where is the grandfather, call the general!" ”

The man was stunned, but still unconvinced, and continued: "General! This soldier of the left guard made a disrespectful speech, saying that we people are full of squeamishness, raising our hands to command, and raising our hands to kill people and and urine! Isn't that insulting? So we have to have a battle here today! Whether you have the ability or not, you can see the real chapter on your fists and feet. If I lose, I'll let him be the one who is one hundred households, and if he loses, he will also take off his hundred household clothes and be a personal soldier for me! When the time comes, please allow the general! ”

"Nonsense!" Zhu Feng pinched his waist and pretended to reprimand, "You have to compare with each other, I have no opinion with General Ma, but the position in the army cannot be used as a bet, and whether you can be a hundred households is not only based on your fists and feet, but also on your brains." Let's change the analogy, so let's have a good time, what do you say!? ”

"Good! Good! ”

This hundred households stared at each other and thought hard, "Who loses and kowtows to the other party ten times!" ”

Ma Rong disagreed, "A man has gold under his knees, and he has to kneel and kowtow if he loses a game, I don't think it's appropriate." It's better to do this, if either of you loses, wash each other's pants for a month, okay? ”

The generals laughed, "Hahaha, General Ma has a good idea!" ”

……

……

Yang Yiqing took Gu Renyi to inspect Xizhou City, this is his God of Wealth.

"This year, the emperor wanted to conquer Mongolia in person, but fortunately, the cabinet persuaded the emperor to dispense with this thought, but in this way, this year's treasury of silver will inevitably exceed 10 million taels, which is too much......"

Yang Yiqing felt amazing when he heard it, so he interrupted him, "The emperor was persuaded? Who persuaded? ”

"Yang Tinghe." Gu Renyi paused word by word, "Elder Yang Ge said that the imperial court sent troops to conquer, which is the most important thing. Wang Bo'an didn't know that the emperor was going, and if he suddenly received the holy decree at this time, it would inevitably disrupt his deployment, which would be detrimental to the war. ”

"Yes." Yang Yiqing nodded, "Wang Bo'an has two tiger generals, Qiu Yue and Han Shishilang, and it must not be difficult to drive tens of thousands of cavalry to sweep the desert. However, after all, the desert is far away from Middle-earth, so it is safe for him to think about it properly and deploy it in detail. Your Majesty, this is for the sake of the big picture. ”

Gu Renyi knew that Yang Yiqing was thinking in his heart that he had failed to persuade the emperor, so he said one more sentence, "The emperor governs the country and has his own strategy in his chest." If it is something that is not sure, the emperor will listen to it. Ying Ninggong should be more understanding. ”

Yang Yiqing said, "I know, there is no need to mention the old things." ”

"Oh, it's me who is too talkative." Gu Renyi's face changed, and she continued to say the previous words, "After there is too much silver in the national treasury, firstly, it is not conducive to the prosperity of the people, and secondly, if you can persuade the emperor this year, it may not be next year." ”

There is nothing to shy away from saying this, Gu Renyi and these people are all favored ministers of the Son of Heaven, of course they will serve the emperor, but in essence, they still hope that the war will not be so frequent.

"So, you want to spend it."

"Yes."

"But you also have to nod the emperor, right?"

Gu Renyi opened his right hand, and in front of him was the city wall in full swing, "Build a city, build a big Xizhou city, how can Your Majesty disagree?" This time, Shaofu was ordered by the emperor to allocate 1.8 million taels of silver, which is how it came. According to the plan, Xizhou City has an inner city and an outer city, the outer city is two zhang high and one zhang wide, all of which are fenced up enough to be as big as half a Beijing division, and when the horse market opens, this is the center of the Western Regions! ”

"It's about spending money, but it's also built a little too big."

"Frontier city, it's not a waste." Gu Renyi is still happy, but Wu Wending has not returned to the mainland when he left Jingshi, so he doesn't know about digging up a silver mountain now.

Of course, his words are right, the frontier city is a little grandiose and majestic, on the one hand, it is to show the prestige of the country, and on the other hand, it is also easy to defend and difficult to attack, money, of course, it can't be regarded as a waste.

So Zhu Houzhao agreed.

The main thing is that he agrees to the legitimate expenses.

Gu Renyi continued: "Ying Ninggong doesn't have to worry about silver now. ”

Yang Yiqing frowned and said, "According to this line of thought, the old man sent an envoy to the countries of the Western Regions to find a fine war horse, and then discuss the purchase. ”

He has always attached importance to horse politics, and although he is a civil official, he is proficient in military affairs, and if he guards in such a place of four battles and does not temper an invincible cavalry, how can he spread his prestige to the countries of the Western Regions?

"The emperor will definitely agree!"

After inspecting the casting of the city wall, they led the relevant officials to inspect the cultivation of some grain and cotton outside the city of Xizhou.

It's too far away from the Central Plains, although it is now the national strength to transport things here one by one, but after all, it's not a long-term way, to put it mildly, in case there is a strong wind along the way, and a heavy rain causes the transportation team to be delayed, are they waiting here to starve to death?

Moreover, Xizhou is one of the few oases with its own planting and breeding conditions.

After Yang Yiqing arrived here, he leased a lot of land occupied by the nobles of the original Turpan Khanate to the people left behind for farming, and the government levied taxes according to the tax ratio of 1 out of 10, so as to quickly resume production, ensure the survival of ordinary people, and at the same time ensure the source of money and food for the government.

A few days later, his subordinates reported to him that the Yarkand Khanate had sent an envoy.

Yang Yiqing pondered and discussed with everyone, "The national policy of the imperial court is not to use troops to recruit Yaerqiang this year, and this official is going to send an envoy, since he is here, let's see what he means, if we can, we will take a break with him." ”

"In the end, I thought that it was okay, and we still had some 'housework' that could not be solved." Ma Rong pointed to the seven guards of Guanxi, he had been thinking about that group of guys in his heart, and he didn't know if it was stationed in Suzhou all these years, what had happened, so that he could see through these foreigners who ostensibly paid tribute to the imperial court.

"What if the one who comes is not good or harbors evil intentions? And how? ”

Zhu Feng said: "Then bring the cannon out for him to see!" ”

When everyone heard this, their hearts were excited, and when the national strength was strong, it was so wanton and happy, and there was no need to worry about when others would call.

Yang Yiqing slapped the table, "Okay, that's it." ”

After reading it, the officials from Beijing were even more relieved, in the northwest of Xinjiang, there must be no problem with Yang Yiqing and a group of brave generals.