Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 583
In February, Zhu Youjian approved the Ministry of Rites and asked Xu Xiake to sign a trade treaty with Portugal. There are three contents of the treaty:

First, Ming recognized Portugal as an independent country.

Second, Daming provided a loan of 3 million taels with an annual interest rate of 300%, repayable in ten years.

Third, Daming will sell wheat, brown sugar, porcelain and other commodities worth 200 million taels to Portugal, and sell enough arms to equip 4 people, worth 100 million taels.

For the entire treaty, Ming put it bluntly to advance the Portuguese goods in advance, and then Portugal returned 39 taels to Daming every year for ten years.

For Portugal, which has just returned to the country, this deal is worthwhile, and it is even more worthwhile for Daming.

Spain is one of the countries capable of threatening Ming, although the threat is small, the threat is always there.

After Portugal's independence, the population controlled by Spain will plummet from 200 million to more than 900 million.

As for Spain's fiscal revenue, Spain's fiscal revenue will also drop to around 600 million taels.

Sixteen million taels may seem like a lot, but for Spain, which currently has an army of 600, it is only a drop in the bucket.

They spend more than 5 taels on the war every day, and Spain is still burdened with hundreds of millions of debts.

After Da Ming cut off trade with them, it was obvious that they were about to usher in their fifth national bankruptcy in this century.

In the current situation, Joao has equipped a standing army of 6000 people with the arms provided by Xu Xiake before the war.

Even if the number is small, Spain has no time to deal with Portugal for the time being when no troops can be drawn from the front line.

By the time they had time, the arms in this agreement between Daming and Portugal had already arrived in Lisbons.

At that time, Portugal can use this enough firearms to equip 4 people to increase its standing army from 7 to [-].

At that time, I am afraid that Felipe IV can only pray that Joao will not attack Spain.

The greater Spain's plight, the better for Qi.

Therefore, when sending a message to Xu Xiake, Zhu Youjian also ordered someone to send a message to Jin Xuan of Qi State.

He needed Jin Xuan to build a city on the upper plain of Linzi River (Missouri River) in the east of Chengshan Mansion in Qi State, and at the same time mobilize mobilizable tractors to reclaim fields and grow wheat locally.

The reason why Zhu Youjian wanted to do this was very simple, that is to rely on the Linzi water to transport the grain to the Gulf of Mexico, and then transport the grain by sea to the feudal vassals of Europe and Levia.

The draft in the Americas is nothing in front of the industrialized Qi State. According to the current situation, Qi State can reclaim more than 200 million mu of arable land in the central part of the country in three years, and will transport four 10,000+ tons of grain that is enough for six 10,000+ people to go there every year. sold in various countries.

With gold and silver, more people can be immigrated, and Qi can reclaim more land, and better use the scissors difference between agriculture and industry to develop industry.

There is no need to worry about the grain issue of Qi State. Daming will transport various quantities of tractors to Qi State every year, and the development of Qi State will not stop because of this.

On the contrary, it is only by reclaiming the central part that Qi will build a railway connecting North America from east to west in the future.

Under such an arrangement, both Qi State and Ming Dynasty will firmly control Europe and Leviathan, but whether trade conflicts will break out is something that Zhu Youjian does not know.

His current attention is focused on the Western Expedition on the first day of March.

While he was paying attention, with the arrival as scheduled on the first day of March, the Daming Jingjia Railway arrived in Gaotai County, Suzhou, less than [-] miles away from Jiayuguan.

The mountain of supplies in Jiayuguan has already been prepared. With the opening of Jiayuchengguan, and the sound of a majestic horn...

After an absence of 115 years, the soldiers and horses of Ming Dynasty finally walked out of Jiayuguan again.

The buzzing "朙" flag walked out of the corridor of the gate of Jiayuguan, and the army led by Man Gui walked out of Jiayuguan.

"Damn! I will definitely be recorded in history this time!"

Li Zicheng held the reins tightly on the tall horse. The background was the Gobi Desert, Montenegro, and Qilian Mountains outside Jiayuguan.

His face was flushed and he looked very excited.

Not only him, it should be said that all the Ming troops in the South Route Army were very excited.

The reason why they were so excited was because of a team of people, and this team of people was the historians sent by the capital to write "National History".

Recovering the Western Regions is a matter that Zhu Youjian attaches great importance to. In the face of internal and external troubles, Chongzhen in history did not forget to regain Hetao, and Zhu Youjian did the same.

It's just that what he's thinking about is not just the Hetao, but the Western Regions, the places in the river that have been lost for hundreds or thousands of years.

Zhu Youjian asked the historians to record all the process of recovering the Western Regions, and they had to give it to Man Gui for reading and approval before giving it to him for reading.

That is to say, all the generals on this trip will be recorded in the "National History", so it goes without saying that they are chief soldiers and participating generals.

After the expedition, Zhu Youjian also granted the Western Expeditionary Army a power, that is, "Le Shi".

Every time an old city of the Han and Tang Dynasties was recovered, concrete and cast iron monuments were erected, and the names of all the soldiers who recovered the city were written on the monuments.

This is actually a waste of time, but Zhu Youjian just wanted to stop the army from fighting too fast and give Lin Danhan a chance to escape.

Of course, the army can't fight too slowly, especially the troops of Sun Shoufa and Cao Meng on the North Road must be fast, otherwise the army will face the danger of running out of food.

Leshi is not a particularly great power, but in the Tianqi Dynasty, when the status of warriors rose sharply, the Western Expeditionary Army was the first army to be granted this power.

That's enough to get them excited and keep their morale high.

"Call..."

On the side of the road, Man Gui led the lieutenant generals to the low hill outside the pass. They watched the Ming army walk out of Jiayuguan from a high position.

The flaming mandarin duck battle jacket made the whole team march westward like a red dragon coming out of customs.

The army is divided into teams, each team has eight horses, and the eight horses pull four carts. The carts are loaded with armor and soldiers' rations for one month, as well as ammunition for a team of 17 people, and beans for the horses. , fodder and drinking water.

The four carriages were driven by eight civilian husbands in mandarin ducks and war jackets. In addition to driving the carriages, they were also responsible for helping the soldiers put on their armor before the battle.

Due to the large number of horses, there are not many civilians in the vanguard of the South Route Army, only less than 7000 people, and 1000 of them are responsible for escorting artillery.

Although the South Route Army had six battalions of soldiers and horses, there were only four battalions of soldiers and horses fighting, and the remaining two battalions of more than 6000 cavalry were responsible for the follow-up food road.

Therefore, counting the combat soldiers and civilian husbands, the number of people who left the customs first was 2.

After them, there is a convoy transporting a large amount of food and grass.

The two battalions of cavalry have a total of ten posts, with 540 and five soldiers per post. In addition, there are more than [-] people in the Six Banners responsible for guarding the generals.

The pro-army flag is responsible for guarding the generals, allowing the generals to sit in the middle of the transportation route, and the ten sentry cavalry are responsible for protecting the transportation team composed of civilian husbands.

Each team has 5000 people, each with a large draft horse, and each large draft horse is responsible for pulling a cart. Each cart contains various materials such as grain, fodder, beans, ammunition, and fresh water weighing three thousand catties.

Each transport team can support the food and grass of the army and the transport team for four months, and they need to set out as one team every month and return to the other team every two months.

All in all, the supply team of the South Route Army is the supply team responsible for the main supplies of the Three Route Army.

The nomadic transport team of the Central Route Army is only enough for them to fight until they lose eight miles without being able to return, while the Northern Route Army can only fight and lose.

These two roads are nomadic operations, and there may be food shortages at any time.

If there is a problem with the South Route Army, the other two armies will be wiped out. Therefore, the South Route Army can only fight steadily. If something goes wrong, the Western Expedition will lose.

Therefore, Mangui has a great burden on his shoulders.

He looked at the [-] soldiers, horses and civilians who walked out of Jiayuguan, and his heart was extremely heavy.

At this time, Zhu Fuju who was beside him also spread out the map, and after taking the measurement, he explained without raising his head:

"After leaving Jiayuguan, there are no people for [-] miles. It is necessary to march [-] miles to reach the Shazhou Guard in the Hongwu period, recover Shazhou, and then take a short rest to allow Jiayuguan to transport enough grain and grass to continue marching to Hami."

As the general of the Ningxia camp, Zhu Fuju was also the official of the Northern Army's governor's office. He was responsible for supervising the food, grass, supplies and marching of the vanguard.

"Shazhou is occupied by some Tibetans and Uyghurs, and the locality is also an earthen city. With the power of a ten-jin cannon, one round of pre-fire can knock down the city wall."

"However, there are many horse bandits on the road from Jiayuguan to Shazhou and Hami, ranging from hundreds to thousands."

Zhu Fuju put away the map in his hand and bowed to Man Gui at the same time:

"Captain, you can first send a battalion of soldiers and horses as the vanguard to take down Shazhou City, then take down Handong Guard in the west, and finally send another battalion of soldiers and horses to clean up the horse bandits along the road."

"Okay!" Man Gui replied in a deep voice, and without waiting for him to speak, Li Zicheng bowed to the two chief soldiers and said:
"Captain, the last general is willing to be the vanguard!"

Since there were only four battalions of soldiers and horses in the vanguard, and Zhu Fuju was only a general, he wisely did not invite the battle.

"Li Zicheng attacked Shazhou and Handong, Liu Zongmin led people to clear the road, Li Guo, you stayed, and you went again when Hami was attacked."

"The last general will take the order!" Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin were overjoyed when they heard the words, while Li Guo was a little disappointed, but he stopped being hypocritical when he heard that Hami was being beaten and made himself the vanguard.

Seeing that the two agreed, Man Gui also turned his head to look at Zhu Fuju: "How far is it from here to Bieshabali?"

"About 20 miles. Judging from the "Military Regulations" at least [-] miles per day, it will take [-] days to arrive without delay."

Zhu Fuju responded, and Man Gui also nodded in response:

"Twenty days is enough, take Bieshali ahead of time, let the transport team stockpile food and grass in Bieshali, and when that kid Cao Bianjiao comes, let him deliver the food."

After Man Gui finished speaking, he clamped his legs and drove the horse down the low hill. The rest of the generals also rode their horses down the hill one after another, and finally merged into the long marching team.

Shazhou in the Ming Dynasty and Shazhou in the Tang Dynasty were not the same place. Shazhou in the Tang Dynasty was located in the later Dunhuang area, while Shazhou in the Ming Dynasty was located in the later Guazhou area.

There are rivers and lakes here, so it is not a problem to station troops and horses.

As for Handongwei, it is located in the Dunhuang area of ​​later generations, which was also occupied by Tukou Fan people, more than [-] miles away from Jiayuguan.

Six hundred miles, for the cavalry of the Ming army, it was only a four-day raid.

But if it is a march, even if Mangui requires a daily march of fifty miles, it will take six days to arrive.

Therefore, if Li Zicheng walked faster, he could almost return to Shazhou City before Man Gui and the others.

Therefore, Li Zicheng, who received the Manchurian military order, then led the Gansu battalion and fifty Yanshan ten-jin cannons to attack Shazhou and Handong, while Liu Zongmin led the Zhangye battalion to wipe out the horse bandits on the roads of the two places.

As for Man Gui and Li Guo, Zhu Fuju led the large troops to march slowly.

They replenished water in a small lake more than a hundred miles away from Jiayuguan, and received news that Li Zicheng had captured Shazhou City two hundred miles away from Shazhou.

No one was surprised by this. After all, there was only a group of tribes stationed in Shazhou City, and they could not make any resistance to the firing guns of the Ming army.

After walking for another three days, they received the news that Li Zicheng had recovered Handongwei and changed Handongwei to Dunhuang County.

Later, on the eighth day of February, when Man Gui led his soldiers and horses to Shazhou, the rammed-earth city wall that had been bombarded by artillery had been repaired.

Different from the yellow sand everywhere that Mangui and the others thought, the vegetation in Shazhou City is quite rich, and the river flowing down from the Qilian Mountains flows into a lake in the northeast of the city.

The size of the lake is not too large, at least ten times smaller than the "Guazhou Daze" described in the classics of the Tang Dynasty.

If Guazhou Daze in the Tang Dynasty was Dongting Lake, then the current Guazhou Daze is just a West Lake.

"This place is good, it is very convenient whether you want to plant trees or cultivate land."

Man Gui got off his horse and bowed by the lake to wash his face, washing away a lot of wind and sand.

Li Guo looked at the place from a purely military point of view, nodded in agreement and said:

"It's not a problem to raise one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians."

"The Governor!"

The two sighed, the historians were recording the style and features of Shazhou, and Zhu Fuju was adjusting the troops to camp outside the city.

At this time, Li Zicheng rode his horse out of the city to lead the way, came to the lake, and dismounted:
"Captain, that guy Liu Zongmin has gone to wipe out the horse bandits in Dunhuang. Shazhou and Dunhuang don't have farm registers, and they are all randomly recorded by the local bandits."

"The general took a quick look. There are almost ten thousand Tubo people in Dunhuang. There are more than [-] mu of arable land cultivated by Tubo people outside the city, and there are many pastures."

"As for Shazhou, there are more than 8000 Tubo and Huihui people. To be honest, there are more than 2 mu of arable land cultivated by Tubo people outside the city."

"At the end of the day, there will be no less than 50 mu of land that can be cultivated."

Even in the cold period of the late Ming Dynasty in Shazhou, there was still no shortage of water sources.

Due to the sparse population, the local water resources have not been consumed much, but it is possible that there will be more immigrants in the future.

Therefore, after Zhu Fuju arrived, he bowed to Man Gui and said:
"Captain, according to His Highness's "Anxi Matters", I think that Shazhou maintains [-] people, and a sentry of soldiers and horses is enough. Any more may make the lake disappear."

Zhu Fuju's words made Man Gui nod. Since Zhu Fuju entered the governor's mansion, many things proposed by Zhu Youjian were written by Zhu Youjian in the book, and all of them were fulfilled.

Since he is not good at managing military towns, he can still listen to Zhu Fuju's words.

"You have arranged the matter in Shazhou. We will set off to conquer Hami in three days."

"Yes!"

Man Gui's words had already been spoken, and everyone bowed in response. Zhu Fuju flipped through the map, measured the amount, and continued:

"From Shazhou to Hami, you need to cross a big mountain. The distance is more than [-] miles. It takes twelve days for the army to march, and five days for the cavalry."

"Right now, Ablun is stationed in Turpan and Hami. He has more than [-] cavalry under his command and occupies the vast area from Hami to Kucha."

"In the future, it only needs to defeat the main cavalry of Abrun to force him to surrender. After all, he has no way to retreat right now."

Zhu Fuju's words made all the generals nod, and Man Gui also said:

"My Daming has been up and down with Hami, and this is the fifth time. I must not lose."

"Although it is possible for Abu Lun to surrender after the war, we still have to focus on annihilating the enemy."

"Li Guo, this time you, as the vanguard, lead the Ningxia Camp and Jiuquan Camp to dispatch troops."

"The last general takes orders!" Hearing that it was finally his turn to send troops, Li Guo bowed excitedly, and then grinned at Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng felt a little bored, so he could only bow first and say:
"Let Li Guo play Abu Lun first, and leave Shule, Khotan and other places to me and Liu Chuangzi!"

"Yes." Seeing Li Zicheng and the others grabbing credit, Man Gui smiled heartily.

It's just a pity that before they could say anything more, a group of Tangqi from the north headed south towards the lake where they were.

At this moment, Li Guo had a bad premonition, and this premonition came true after a while.

I saw Tang Qi coming on horseback, and then skillfully got off his horse and bowed:

"Report to the governor, Xilu Abu Lun, please surrender!"

"Damn! Surrendered before the fight!" Hearing this, Li Guo yelled, and the people around him also burst into laughter.

Man Gui raised his hand to signal them not to laugh, and then comforted Li Guodao:

"If he really surrenders, don't lose the king's account of Hutudun and give it to you to fight."

"Tiger and Tudun won't run away again this time, will he?" Li Guo heard the words with a sad expression on his face.

"That's not sure..." Li Zicheng teased his nephew in a teasing tone, and Li Guo, who was older than him, also spat at his feet when he saw this.

"This battle is meaningless!"

"Okay..." Man Gui smiled and stroked his beard, put his gaze on Tang Qi, and asked:
"What does he want?"

"Go back to the governor, Abu Lun just wants the governor to continue canonizing him according to the will."

Tang Qi responded, and Man Gui also nodded: "This is not a difficult task, the decree is from His Highness and His Majesty Jian Guo, and the two Highnesses will not go back on their word."

The decree that Man Gui and Tang Qi said was Zhu Youjian’s edict to appease Abu Lun this time. The scattered orders of hundreds of households at all levels are basically the same as those issued to Junggar.

Compared with Junggar who can escape to West Siberia, Abu Lun, who is surrounded by Lin Dan Khan and Daming, has nowhere to run.

He doesn't want to rely on Lin Danhan. After all, it is still one thing whether Lin Danhan can fight in the Western Expedition of Ming Dynasty.

Rather than relying on Lin Dan Khan, who has no future, with the lessons learned from Gush Khan, it is obviously the best choice for Abu Lun to seek refuge in Daming.

The Earl’s salary of 3000 taels a year, plus the salaries of several of his heirs who are thousands of households, means that there are several thousand taels of silver, which is not considered grassland...

The grassland that Daming opened for Abu Lun was 20 mu of grassland in the Qinghai area. Although it was not as large as his Turpan Khanate, the value of the grassland would be much higher without the need to raise soldiers.

Not only him, but also his subordinates are allowed to go to Mobei and Monan to graze. Each family has seven or eight people and shares ten thousand mu of pasture.

Right now, there are billions of grasslands in Monan and Mobei. Although they are extremely fragile, it is not a problem to feed millions of herdsmen.

At present, there are only more than 10,000 herdsmen in these two places, and the Turpan Khanate has only [-]+ people. If they are moved there, the local grasslands will still be so rich, and the lives of other herdsmen will not be affected.

Move them away, let the Han people assimilate them, and then move the Han people to take over more than a dozen cities in Turpan Khan, and the southern border of the Western Regions can be Sinicized in an instant.

For Daming and Abu Lun, this is a sure-fire deal.

Thinking of this, Man Gui also looked at Zhu Fuju:

"Take a cavalry sentry from the Ningxia camp to see this matter. If Abu Lun sincerely submits to my Daming, I can go to the eunuch for him and ask him to be the Lanzhou military envoy, and then give him an official position with real power."

Man Gui knew that Li Guo was stupid, but on the contrary Zhu Fuju was able to speak well, and with his status as a clan in the Qin Palace, even if A Bu Lun repented, he would not be able to kill him.

"The last general takes orders." Zhu Fuju also knew Man Gui's thoughts, and at the same time he accepted it with pleasure, not afraid of danger.

He hated war, but he stayed in the army because he didn't want to experience the cruelty of the Beishan bloody battle again.

From his point of view, the people who were beaten and killed were all the people of Daming, and they were all the children of the people.

If he could subdue the enemy without fighting, even if he could only save dozens or hundreds of brothers from dying, then his efforts would be worthwhile.

Like A Bulun right now, if Zhu Fuju can persuade him to surrender to Daming, then hundreds of thousands of people will be saved in this Western Expedition.

Therefore, after receiving the order, he resolutely led a sentry of more than [-] cavalry towards Turpan City in the northwest.

While he was rushing away, Man Gui was also preparing to rest briefly on the sandbar for three days, and at the same time encircle and suppress the horse thieves and local bandits around him.

After doing this, no matter whether Zhu Fuju returns or not, he will continue to march towards Hami.

He didn't have too much time to delay, after all, no one could guarantee whether Abu Lun's move would be a tactic to delay the attack.

If Man Gui fell into the trap and waited honestly, the consequence would be the complete annihilation of the Central Route Army and the North Route Army.

He couldn't afford such a price...

(End of this chapter)