When the sun sets, the moon and stars become the only source of light.

But tonight's Samarkand is truly "brightly lit." ”

No, there is only fire, no light.

"His Royal Highness ...... the Prince"

Zhu Sanfeng walked in front of Zhu Zhanyan with a water bladder and stretched out his hand to hand it over.

"Drinking in the military formation, you are not small." Zhu Zhanyan opened the water bladder and said with a smile.

It is not allowed to drink alcohol in the army, this is the rule.

But now, let alone Zhu Sanfeng, even Zhu Zhanyan has the urge to get drunk.

Expedition from yourself...... No, counting from the time when their plans were initially effective, how many people died in the Timurid Empire and the Ottoman Empire?

Zhu Zhanyan didn't know, and he didn't have a way to calculate, he just knew that the population of these two countries together was at least more than 15 million.

However, this is only temporary, and this number will continue to decrease.

In Zhu Zhanyan's thoughts, this number is still a bit much, and it has to be a little less.

How much less? Zhu Zhanyan doesn't have a specific number, but in his opinion, one million people is enough.

Rule, he doesn't want to do this problem, what he wants to do is dig a canal, as for after digging the canal......

They love how to die and how to die.

"What about Jane's smile?" Zhu Zhanyan suddenly thought of Jian Xiao.

"He led people to block the exit of Salmahan, for fear that fish would slip through the net." Zhu Sanfeng looked at Saermahan, who was still burning.

With the help of white phosphorus, the fire will burn completely, but in the same way, the flame possessed by white phosphorus will cause people to feel extreme pain, and in such a situation people will desperately seek a way to live.

"I don't know what happened to Zheng He...... Zhu Zhanyan looked at the west from afar, and his tone was a little emotional.

The Timurid Empire existed in name only, and the Ottoman Empire moved the whole country, and the person in charge of this place was Zhu Zhanyan.

"Sanfeng." After a trance, Zhu Zhanyan came back to his senses and turned his head to look at Zhu Sanfeng.

"Here, I'll leave it to you later."

"Your Highness......" Zhu Sanfeng was stunned for a moment, and then asked with a little puzzlement.

"Sanfeng doesn't know what you think, but Sanfeng also knows that you have been planning for today for seven years, or even longer, from the time we went to get grain."

"But now, you're leaving, and you're about to accomplish your goal?"

Zhu Sanfeng didn't mean to ask, or it should be said that she wasn't exploring Zhu Zhan's thoughts, she just felt that Zhu Zhanyan had been planning for this matter for many years, and she didn't know what else could make Zhu Zhanyan let go of this matter and deal with it.

After all, after following him for more than seven years, Zhu Sanfeng has long become Zhu Zhanyu's most important right-hand man.

Not only does she know Zhu Zhanyan, but Zhu Zhanyan also knows her.

"I still have things to do...... A very important thing......"

……

The fire in Samarkand lasted only a day and a half, because Samarkand's architectural style and habits were different from those of the Central Plains, and its location on the edge of the desert meant that there were few wooden houses in the city.

However, in a day and a half, with the assistance of white phosphorus, in Samarkand City, everything that Zhu Zhanyan wanted to make it disappear had disappeared.

The rest is an empty shell.

For now, this empty shell cannot be thrown away, and it will play an extremely important role in the future, because it will become an extremely important transit point.

A transit point in both military and commercial senses.

Three days later, Zhu Sanfeng was left in Samarkand, and Bari Hei was also handed over to her by Zhu Zhan Yan, who left with Jian Xiao.

In fact, there is really nothing to say about the Timurid Empire today.

The Timurid Empire was once so prosperous that the Golden Horde of Khorezm was forced to bow to him, but in fact, it is hard to imagine that such an empire was mainly located on the plateau and desert.

On the other hand, the Golden Horde was not as powerful as the Timurid Empire, which was sitting on the black plains of Central Asia.

And now, the Timurid Empire coexisted with natural and man-made disasters, and the already desolate place was now even more desolate, and the originally noisy and prosperous city had now fallen into a dead silence.

Zhu Zhanyan was right before, once the war began, the first to flee were officials and businessmen.

In Samarkand, through the supply of Barihe, Zhu Zhan Yan brought enough grain and grass all the way to the west.

Along the way, he collected refugees and swept away robbers who had been forced to fall into the grass due to natural and man-made disasters.

On June 20, Zhu Zhan finally met his greatest hero in winning the Timurid Empire: Zheng He.

To say that Zheng He was the greatest contributor to the Timurid Empire is not nonsense, nor is it mockery, but a fact.

If it weren't for Zheng He's sudden appearance, which completely cut off the connection between Shaharu and the Ottoman Empire, Samarkand would not have been taken so easily.

"Zheng He meets His Royal Highness."

When he saw Zhu Zhan Yan for the first time, Zheng He was stunned for a while, and finally really determined Zhu Zhan Yan's identity through Jian Xiao and Zhu Zhan Yan's clothes.

For no other reason, in the past seven years, he has hardly even seen Zhu Zhanyan, and a teenager of Zhu Zhanyan's age is the time for development.

When he was out on the expedition, he didn't take care of it for a long time, and his beard also popped out, making Zheng He a little unrecognizable.

"Commander Zheng is exempt." Zhu Zhanyan, who has completely broken away from the voice change period, coupled with the experience of the past two years, has a real feeling of a man's voice.

"This time I was able to take the Timurid Empire, Commander Zheng has made a great contribution, and I will help you ask your grandfather for credit when I go back."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Zheng He first bowed down to thank him, and then got up with Zhu Zhanyan's support.

"There is no need for merit, Zheng He was ordered by the emperor to send an envoy to the West, if he didn't meet it, it's just that, since he met His Royal Highness the Prince of the World to fight for the country, it is natural to make a contribution, this is the duty of my Ming courtier."

"It's just that Zheng He has one more mouth, isn't it a little ...... for His Royal Highness the Prince to do this?"

Zhu Zhanyan was still smiling, but Jian Xiao's brows were furrowed, and his eyes emitted a cold light.

How long has it been?

Since Zhu Gaoxu became a vassal in the ninth year of Yongle, no one has disobeyed Zhu Zhanyu's orders, and no one dares to talk about Zhu Zhanyan like this, or in front of Zhu Zhanyu.

Jian Xiao was accustomed to Zhu Zhan's words, and she was also used to Zhu Zhan's decision-making, and now, hearing Zheng He say this, Jian Xiao's heart immediately felt uncomfortable.

If it were a different person, Jian Xiao would regard it as an admonition, for Zhu Zhan's good, but this person was Zheng He......

It is the prince's man.

"Commander Zheng makes this a little interesting......" Zhu Zhanyan smiled all over his face, as if he didn't mind Zheng He's words.

"Whether it's appropriate or not, I don't know if Commander Zheng thinks my approach is effective?"

Zheng He was silent when he heard this.

Does it work? That's for sure.

Nowadays, Zhu Zhan Yan has almost become the most desirable person for the Ming generals, not only because Zhu Zhan Yan has repeatedly made military exploits and laid a large territory for the Ming Dynasty, but also because under Zhu Zhan Yan's hands, there has never been a mistake.

Before Zhu Zhanqi, the imperial court fought almost every year, but it could not be fought every year.

Grassland, Annam, Wako......

One enemy after another kept harassing Da Ming, only Zhu Zhanyan, as long as he made a move, there would be absolutely no trouble.

But what Zheng He wants to say is obviously not this, but Zhu Zhan's unscrupulous approach before achieving the goal.

And then there's ...... The current power structure of the imperial court.

In the past, although the princelings and the Han monarchs constantly attacked each other, the situation in the imperial court seemed to have become a situation in which the two sides competed for hegemony.

But in reality, the princelings' position has always been solid and has never wavered.

But now?

Zheng He can't find the words to describe the current Zhu Zhanyan, because Zhu Zhanyan's current strength is even stronger than Zhu Di, who decided to start an army back then.

Back then, when Zhu Di raised his army to conquer the martyrdom, the strength of the imperial court still had the upper hand, and the battle of Jingjing was a four-year-long battle in the final analysis.

But the current strength of Zhu Zhanyan is not weaker than that of the imperial court, not only many generals in the imperial court are Zhu Zhanyan's supporters, but even some civil officials.

Even, Zhu Zhanyan's strength far exceeds that of the imperial court.

In Zheng He's view, this is a harbinger of instability.

"Commander Zheng, there are some words, if you can't take them back, then it's better not to say them."

Looking at the silent Zheng He, Zhu Zhanyan smiled, and his tone was full of mockery.

"Besides, there are a lot of people in the world who can say this, and there are a lot of people who can't say it, and Commander Zheng is the one who can't say it."

"You know the situation of the imperial court better than me, a person who has not entered the Central Plains since moving the capital, if it weren't for me, it is still unknown whether Commander Zheng can lead the fleet to sail to the Western Ocean this time."

"Oh yes, there's one more thing, Commander Zheng still has to thank me."

As Zhu Zhanyan spoke, he took out a map and placed it in front of Zheng He.

"I decided to give these refugees a cash-for-work and let them dig a river like our Grand Canal."

"Wait until the next time you go to the Western Ocean, Commander Zheng will not need to continue south to Thornsa and Adan, but can go northwest from there and directly insert yourself into places you have never explored before."

"Maybe you'll be able to take a walk around the holy city of your heart."

After speaking, Zhu Zhanyan stuffed the map into Zheng He's hand.

He is talking about the Suez Canal, of course, and Zheng He is a promising Mousse believer, and the holy city in his mind is on the northwest bank of the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal.

Looking at the eye-catching punctuation on the map, Zheng He didn't know what to say for a while.

Yu Gong and Zhu Zhan provided a new route for the ocean-going treasure fleet, which could better promote the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty and was more conducive to Zheng He's going to farther places.

In private, Zhu Zhanyan gave Zheng He hope.

Zheng He wanted to go to that holy city a long time ago, but because of the heavy responsibility of going to the sea, Zheng He had the opportunity to go to the holy city three times since he went to the ocean four times, but finally had to give up because of the ocean mission.

At this moment, Zheng He didn't know what kind of attitude to face Zhu Zhanyan for a while.

"Alright." Seeing that Zheng He was stunned, Zhu Zhanyan took the map in his hand, folded it, and stuffed it into Zheng He's chest.

"This is all for the future, whether it can be done or not, Commander Zheng will not have the opportunity to go to the holy city in your mind this time."

"So, let's talk about what we need to do right now."

"Your Highness, please speak." Zheng He was a devout Mu Silin in the end, and his attitude changed a lot after knowing that Zhu Zhanyan was very likely to help him fulfill his dream of going to the Holy City to worship.

"This time, I'm going to take your ride."

"This ......" Zheng He was stunned when he heard this, and then spoke cautiously with a bit of temptation.

"I don't know, where are you going back, Your Highness?"

"Naturally, it's Xiangzhou Mansion." Zhu Zhan smiled.

He knew what Zheng He was thinking.

(End of chapter)