Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 710 Attack on the Snow Field ([-])

Today is really a rare fine weather.The white snow on the rolling hills is dazzling, the sky is blue and empty, and every vein of the snow peaks and icebergs of Kaerlik and the mountains under the snow line can be clearly seen.There is a wind blowing on the hills, but it is not cold, and the dry grass and weeds on the snow are shaking gently, making small whispers.

Zhao Xin was in high spirits today. For this rare outing, he had specially prepared a barbecue rack, charcoal and a few slaughtered and marinated sheep last night. More than 30 people built two bonfires between the ruined walls of Shule City, sat around, grilled meat and drank wine, and chatted while eating.

Two Kazakh guides also joined the dinner party. At first they were terrified, and they brought their own dry food without even saying anything.When he saw the wine, one of the guys named Suleiman's eyes lit up. He said that he was not affected by the commandments, and he couldn't wait to drink to his heart's content.After a few glasses of wine, the chatterbox opened.

Suleiman said that the Tianshan Mountains, as well as the river valleys, have unique scenery. Unexpectedly, several adults know about Jiangbulak.In fact, summer and autumn are the best time to visit there. It is very cool, the river is very big, and the rushing noise is endless.The forest grassland and the endless wheat fields are like a carpet, and the mountains and fields are full of various kinds of mountain flowers, which are fragrant.In the past, the county grandpa of Qitai and the minister of affairs of Jingyuan City would take a large group of subordinates to visit there for a few days in the name of inspecting the farmland in summer.

Zhao Xin asked, are there any places with good scenery in Hami?
Suleiman said, O Baghdash!The scenery there is better. Huiwang must go there every summer, bringing all his family members and servants, as well as bands and dancers. Hundreds of people are mighty and mighty. BMW cars are so lively, and they live for a month or two. , extravagant enjoyment.

The two guides are from Lower Riba, so if they let go of eating, it is inevitable that they will be a little vulgar.Suleiman, in particular, lives like a tramp, running from one oasis to another, doing all kinds of chores.Before the mutton was cooked, he urged that it was ready to eat, then grabbed the bloody meat with his dirty hands and stuffed it into his mouth, feasting on it.

However, Zhao Xin, Fan Tong, and the accompanying soldiers of the Beihai Navy did not take this seriously. When the refugees who came to Beihai Town first disembarked, they were similar to Suleiman, and even more sloppy than him.

When he realized that Zhao Xin and the others really didn’t dislike him, and even chatted and laughed with him, pouring wine and sandwiching meat for himself, Suleiman was very emotional. After living for more than 30 years, it was the first time he traveled from northwest to southern Xinjiang. Seeing such an "official master", it seems that the morals of the world are really about to change.

Jiang Fan was born in a rich place in the south of the Yangtze River, and he has read a lot of books since he was a child. He has gained a lot of experience in Beihai Town these years, especially since he walked all the way from Heilongjiang to Qitai, he has a clear understanding of the wild frontier land in his eyes. Deeper insights.After drinking a few glasses of wine and eating a few pieces of meat slowly, he said with great interest:

When Jiang Fan and the others saw it, they quickly galloped up to follow.However, Zhao Xin's horse speed was too fast, and the distance between each other was getting farther and farther. The anxious Jiang Fan and the platoon leader of the guard platoon shouted while chasing, and Fan Tong laughed out loud when he saw this.

Fan Tong, who was unresponsive due to drinking too much alcohol, still didn't understand what happened.He only felt that his left thigh was hot, as if someone had hit him with a hammer, and then he was pressed hard by a soldier, and his upper body fell on the saddle.

When he came to the snow-covered hills, the frozen Zhonggegen River appeared in Zhao Xin's field of vision. He stopped the horse and put his hands on the rein. The big black horse gave up its galloping posture and slowed down. Shaking his head, his thick nostrils kept panting, forming large groups of white mist around his mouth and nose.He patted the horse's neck approvingly, and when he looked back, he saw Jiang Fan and the platoon leader of the guards were already more than 100 meters away, while Fan Tong and a dozen guards were about to walk out of the ravine.

After galloping his horse through a section of snowy road, he planned to cross the valley in front of him and go straight to the standing hill two miles away.The horse cannot continue to run at high speed, and he feels that this distance is almost the same.

I am sure that Samsak has been preaching in various parts of Central Asia these years. Although he may indeed have financial difficulties, he will never become a beggar, otherwise he would not have the energy to extend his hands from Samarkand to Huijiang.What's more, the Hezhuo family is related to some dignitaries of the Sufi sect in Central Asia, so sending killers is simply child's play! "

Zhao Xin drank some wine, howled a few words, his mind became more and more agitated, couldn't help shaking the rein with one hand, and yelled, the big black Ujumqin horse under him jumped out like an arrow off the string , startled himself.

The snowy field is vast, with countless fish-scale-like light spots flickering on the ground, and snow dust rolled up by galloping horses.The cold bird flew away, the winter tree whirled, Zhao Xin became more relaxed as he ran, and his body was no longer stiff, heaving up and down with the horse's running rhythm.He hadn't been so relaxed for a long time, and the hand holding the rein touched the thick mane, feeling the strong tension of the muscles in the horse's neck.

However, no one expected that the musket bullets that plotted against them were fired when their minds were most relaxed.

Looking at the beautiful scenery around, Zhao Xin's heart moved, and a song that was familiar to him in another time and space came to his heart unconsciously.Unexpectedly, before he could open his mouth, Fan Tong howled at the top of his voice.

Jiang Fan's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "Why did Your Highness say that?"

Jiang Fan had heard of Zhao Xin's ability a long time ago, that is, before every battle—even when planning a plan, he would read the map by heart, and he could tell the exact location of every mountain, river, village, and town with his eyes closed.When I saw it today, it really deserved its reputation, and I was even more admiring in my heart.

"Crossing the Thousand Layer Ridge~~Climbing Wandaopo, who has seen crystal-like icebergs, snow-water rivers like wild horses, icebergs hide treasures, snow-water irrigates fields, and the Gobi Desert is as flat as a river, let go The throat is good for singing."

Zhao Xin said decisively: "The premise of governing according to the customs is to have a full understanding and understanding of the local customs, which is very important. People of all ethnic groups must be treated equally, just like how we treated Hezhe, Like Oroqen and Feiyaka people, we should not look down on them just because they don't read Confucius and Mencius.

Fan Tong threw the sheep bone in his hand, took the towel handed over by the guard and wiped his hands, and said, "This is a good point! It's useless to talk about face, you have to think about it from the perspective of the other party's customs and traditions." problem, otherwise we will be treated as fools like Man Qing."

Jiang Fan has a good capacity for drinking, he drank the wine in the glass, nodded slightly and said: "The "Tong Dian" said that in the past, the Han family was weak and the Huns were strong, so they married their children to Shan Yu; Strong but Beidi is weak, a thousand soldiers of the Tang Dynasty can beat tens of thousands of them, so they do whatever they want and dare not be arrogant. In my opinion, the same is true for the Manchu Qing Dynasty. There are so many of them. If we don’t rule according to the customs, the manpower and materials I Beihai invested in Huijiang will probably be astronomical.”

"Fan believes that the best policy to fight against barbarians in the Western Regions is to use barbarians to rule barbarians. However, it must be shocked with force, deterred with prestige, transformed with customs, and softened with wealth. .”

Since Jiang Fan came to the Western Front Command, he heard from his staff that Fan Tong not only told stories to the soldiers, but also taught them a lot of songs.But seeing that Zhao Xin also sang along, he was even more surprised. Zhao Wang, who beat Man Qing to the ground, actually sang, who would believe it!
The soldiers of the Northern Navy who served as guards were all intoxicated by the singing, and the two Kazakh guides even showed strange expressions. It was unexpected that the two Han officials could sing Huijiang-style tunes, and their voices were really good.Suleiman, who had traveled all over the Tianshan Mountains, listened for a while, and said to his companion in surprise, "Why did I hear a Tajik smell?"

The security platoon leader closest to Zhao Xin never expected that someone would set up an ambush here.However, he was only stunned for a moment, and then he subconsciously grabbed behind him. His tentacles were the cold barrel and handguard. When the barrel of the gun swung across his body, he moved his right hand back and held the front handguard with his left hand. , the safety was released, and the trigger was pulled again, and the bullets roared out instantly.

The direction where his gun was pointing was a smoky jungle made up of winter trees, only eight or ninety meters away from him, and there seemed to be countless shadows of people and horses looming in it.The ground-breaking gunshots roared, and the birds in the wild "huh" flew up, dancing in panic in the sky.

Zhao Xin simply used the mutton ribs that had been gnawed off the meat in his hands, and drew them on the ground, then pointed to a few places above, and said to the two: "This time Haokand invaded southern Xinjiang, which saves us from making excuses. My idea is , don’t worry after the troops take Yili and Wushi, take a rest for a period of time to gather enough strength, and then the north and south lines go hand in hand. The south line crosses the Kashgar Ridge to control the Wakhan Corridor and Badak Mountain; The river crosses the Edemok Mountains, captures the cities of Namgan, Andijan, Margalang, and Kokand, and takes the Fergana Valley into its pocket. In short, it does not leave any living soil for the Hezhuo remnants of the Baishan faction. Sa Musak and his two sons must not be let go, if you live to see people, if you die, you must see corpses, otherwise there will be no peace in the Western Regions."

The group was full of wine and meat, and it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon when they came down from Gaogang where Shule City is located.If you don't go back, you won't be able to go back before dark.

I wipe!He actually stole my show!

"Where are people?!" Jiang Fan roared, his soul was about to fly away.

Zhao Xin took a sip of his wine, shook his head and said, "Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with doing so in the short term, but in the long run, there are great hidden dangers."

Immediately afterwards, in a grass nest covered with thick snow more than 30 steps away from him, a dozen people suddenly appeared from under the snow, and they raised their bows and shot.When the feathered arrow with black feathers shot out, the snow-stained bowstring shook a cloud of white smoke.

Having said that, Zhao Xin couldn't help humming along.

Both of them are older than Jiang Fan, and if they chat too much, they will lose so much politeness. Fan Tong took a leg of lamb and said as he gnawed: "Brother Ziping, I think what you want to say is 'government according to the custom. ' and 'benevolence and power'?"

The big black horse that Zhao Xin rode seemed to feel the mood of its owner, and it seemed extraordinarily excited. It stepped on small steps, and its fit body was jolting happily. Sometimes it neighed to the sky, as if it was laughing.The snow crunched under the hooves of the horses, and a group of sparrows started up and flew away from a pine tree chirping.Above the flock of sparrows, a goshawk hovered in the sky, and the white clouds remained motionless in the sky.

Jiang Fan nodded slightly, looking at the beating bonfire in front of him, lost in thought.He understood Zhao Xin's meaning. To put it bluntly, it is impossible to understand and handle Xinjiang affairs and foreign relations with the superior mentality of Han culture. rise.

Both Zhao Xin and Fan Tong knew that this man wanted to be the "No. [-] in Ban Dingyuan", but at one time and another at another time, using the feudal dynasty's method could only be a beast.

At the same time, at the Mizoguchi exit more than 500 meters behind Zhao Xin, when five or six matchlock guns roared, the two soldiers standing outside Fan Tong swayed and fell from their horses. down.

Almost at the same time that the bullet fired at Zhao Xin spewed out of the muzzle, the big black horse reacted instantly, jumped into the air without any sign, and a scorching cold light passed over the horse's tail.The iron bullet finally exploded on a rock on the hillock with a dull sound.

In addition, in dealing with the relationship with the various forces in Central Asia, although it is necessary to give both kindness and power, it is basically "giving" rather than "graciousness".Just like Samsak, the son of Dahe Zhuoboronidu. Before Qianlong heard Zhaohui say that he was like a beggar in Haokand, he thought that the Hezhuo family was over, so he sent a few killers there, but in the end It didn't work either.In fact, no matter Qianlong or Zhaohui back then, they didn't understand the Sufi ascetic way of life, and they didn't bother to understand it.In the end, we still have to wipe his ass.

When the two plum needle arrows with cold light shot at Zhao Xin, the big black horse suddenly felt a lot lighter on its back, but when it landed and turned around, there was nothing there just now.

Holding the wine glass, Fan Tong looked down for a while, and exclaimed, "I really can't accept it! You actually drew half of the map of the Western Regions! Awesome, touch one!"

What about your master?The big black horse's eyes were a little dazed.
Seeing Zhao Xin disappearing from his horse suddenly, Jiang Fan was shocked. He rode his horse forward regardless, and went straight to where Zhao Xin was just now, and several soldiers hurriedly followed.However, when I arrived at the location, I took a quick look, except for a layer of snow covering my ankles, there was not even a person.

As the guard platoon fired back and the arrows shot, Fan Tong already knew what happened.His face was pale, and he was lying on the horse's back stiffly, his back was drenched with cold sweat.

Since entering the Northern Navy these years, he either stayed in the rear command post, or bullied others in an armored vehicle like a tortoise with an iron shell. He had never felt dangerous, and life and death would be so close to him!

With a dull horn sounding in the wilderness, dozens of masked assailants came out of the forest. Under their turned out sheepskin jackets, their chain mail with a glimmer of light was exposed, and each of them was holding a bow or arrow. It was a long spear and a big knife, and it rushed towards Jiang Fan and Fan Tong viciously.

"Kill! Kill them all!"

(End of this chapter)