Chapter 162 The First Western Expedition (I)

King Jian of Zhou regarded Quan Yi as the minister of Huangmen, and Xue Zan as the minister of the Secretariat, and was in charge of secrets with Li Wei and Liang Ping Lao. In September, he was posthumously restored the officials of the Grand Tutor Yu Zun and other officials, and reburied them with courtesy. All the descendants of the descendants were promoted to the following. Queen Dowager Gou visited Xuanmingtai on the riverside and saw the chariots and horses of the Donghai Gongfa, which was probably not conducive to King Jian of Zhou, so he plotted with Li Wei and gave him the Fa to death. Jian and Fa Jie were in the Dongtang, crying in Ou Xue; he posthumously named Duke Xian Ai, and named his son Yang as Duke Donghai Gong and Fu as Duke Qinghe Gong.

－Introduction summary

Standing on the east gate tower, Fox Nuyang and Cao Yan could see at a glance that the towering city of Gaochang, the streets and yamen were crisscrossing, and the moat was filled with turbid yellow water. The water introduced from the underground river was too little, so it was only a shallow layer. It was probably just over the waist and could only slightly stop the attackers' pace, so the defenders on the city tower were more accurate.

The entire city wall of Gaochang is basically intact and is not affected by the decades of war. Gaochang City is divided into three levels: inner city, outer city and palace city. The outer city is generally square, with a wall twelve meters thick, eleven meters high, and a circumference of more than ten miles. It is built for rammed earth slabs, and some areas are repaired with adobe bricks, and there are protruding horse faces on the periphery. There are generally two city gates on each side, and the gates on the east and west sides are the largest, and a tortuous urn city is built. Since the time of Emperor Wu of Han, General Li Guangli of Ershi led a large army to farm here and set up the Gaochang wall, which has since become the main road of the east and west of the Silk Road.

After hundreds of years of renovation and expansion, Gaochang City has become a powerful city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and has also become the first stop for the Central Plains forces to enter the Western Regions from Liangzhou. Now it has been occupied by Fox Nu Yang and Cao Yan led 6,000 troops, becoming the first support point of the South Road of the Western Expedition Army of the North Prefecture.

Hu Nuyang, the captain of Gaochang County, and Cao Yan, the captain of Dunhuang County, received orders from Chang'an and Liangzhou some time ago. They were appointed as generals and were personally commanded by Zeng Hua, the "General Manager of the Marines of the Pamirs" of the Pamirs. The task they were to defend Gaochang first and wait for the Western Expedition Army to come forward.

Shortly after the Northern Prefecture announced the official war to Wusun, Chang'an sent documents, with the destinations being the countries in the Western Regions except Wusun, including Cheshi, Yuli, Yanqi, Khotan, Kuttan, Shule, Ronglu, Jianmi, Qule, Pishan, Weixu, Shanwang, Gumo, Wensu, Weitou, Zhen China, Shache, Jushi, Qusha, Xiye, Yinai, Manju, Yiruo, Wuling, Donating Poison, Xiu, Qin, Qimi, Xiqimi, Shanhuan, Bilu, Pulu, Wutan and other countries that have signed and sealed the alliance letter, including Shanshan, Qizhi, Xiaowan, Loulan and others that have been clearly controlled by the Northern Prefecture Kingdom.

The documents were brought back by merchants from various countries, one copy of each country, and they would never fail. The content was the same. They were officially notified, and the Northern Prefecture had officially declared war on Wusun. If they were standing on the side of the Northern Prefecture, they would immediately issue a manifesto to declare their own position and cut off all exchanges with Wusun, including trade, exchanges, etc. Neighbors must also block the border with Wusun and prohibit Wusun from entering and leaving one by one.

After the four documents were sent, the Western Regions major powers such as Cheshi Kingdom, Yanqi Kingdom, Khotan Kingdom, Kucha Kingdom, and Shule Kingdom had long been resentful of the strength of the Northern State Administration. In addition, they were also one of the initiators of the Anti-North State Alliance, so they simply rejected the requests in the Northern State Administration's documents and even publicly announced that they would stand on the side of Wusun. Most of the small countries in the Western Regions such as Yuli Kingdom and Ronglu Kingdom were very tightly controlled by those major countries. Even if they were willing to be involved in this chaos, they could not escape, so they had to stand on the side of Wusun. In order to please the sect leader next to them, some small countries also issued a declaration of anti-North State Administration with "high spirits".

Of course, Shanshan, Qizhi, Xiaowan, Loulan and other countries carried out unswervingly proclaiming that they would follow the footsteps of the Northern Palace and officially cut off all exchanges with Wusun, and also cut off all exchanges with Wusun's allies. The hostile situation was suddenly separated, and the entire Western Regions soon filled with the tense pre-war atmosphere.

Cao Yan, who was stationed in Gaochang City, certainly knew these situations. They looked at the Flame Mountain in the north and were silent. Flame Mountain is a red peak with a undulating undulating 100 kilometers. Its mountain is a majestic and tortuous mountain. Its mountain is even more majestic and winding, and there is no grass growing on the mountain, exposed rocks, and often covered by weathered sand. In midsummer, under the scorching sun, the red mountain rocks are rolling, the crimson smoke clouds evaporate, and the hot air flow continues to rise, while the red sandstone is shining, just like a cluster of flames burning, so it is called Flame Mountain. It stands horizontally on the north side of Gaochang City and becomes a natural shield for Gaochang City. It is also because of this that Gaochang is also called Gaochang Wall.

Cao Yan looked at the Flame Mountain that was as bright as blood under the setting sun, and couldn't help but sigh: "The setting sun is as blood, and the hero is as iron."

Hearing this, Fox Nuyang couldn't help but smile: "This sentence sounds very familiar, by the way, I heard from the general."

Cao Yan's face turned red and nodded and said, "I heard from my master in Hongnong County that I had a profound image and remembered it at that time."

The fox slave nodded with a smile. Cao Yang’s master was Zhao Fu and the Right Mo Dao General. He had been with Zeng Hua for a long time, and of course he had heard this sentence.

"Shu Yi, where do you think the general is now?"

"The declaration of war was officially announced on February 15th, and now it is April 20th. It is nearly two months, which is enough to do a lot of things. General Xianling and General Jiang are all cavalry, and the road is close, so General Xianling has led the Western Qiang cavalry to Qiezhi City, and the troops have begun to sweep the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Khotan; General Jiang led the Mobei cavalry to cross the Jinshan Mountain and entered the Kingdom of Yueban, and joined forces with Yueban troops to enter Wusun frequently, threatening its flanks. It will be much trouble to mobilize all infantry corpses. First, they must be mobilized to Liangzhou, and then leave Yumen Pass, and the general must follow the army to set off. It is estimated that it should be at Guzang at this time." Cao Yan calculated with his finger and said.

The fox Nuyang turned his head and thought for a while, finally figured out the time relationship inside, and finally nodded and said, "I haven't seen the general when I have time, and I can finally follow the general again."

Cao Yan was still a little miscalculated. At this time, Zeng Hua had already led the central army to Zhangye County, and his front army had already advanced to Shatou City, which bordered Jiuquan County and Dunhuang County. After nearly ten years of construction, the avenues were built very straightforward, so the wing troops stationed in major roads and important towns could be quickly concentrated in Qinzhou, and then entered Liangzhou to travel westward. At this time, nearly half of the infantry had received horses mobilized from various horse farms on the way and became the horse riding infantry first. After arriving in Wuwei County, Liangzhou, horses, cattle and sheep purchased from Xiqiang, Xiping, Beidi, Shangjun and other places gathered here one after another, and soon all the 150,000 wing troops turned into horse riding infantry, and drove cattle and sheep to continue west along the Qilian Mountains with beautiful water and grass.

In addition to the "veterans" such as Lechangshan, Wei Xingguo, Xiahou Tian, ​​Deng Xia, etc., the accompanying generals were drawn to suppress the formation, and a large number of young generals graduated from Bacheng Military Academy for several years. After the influence of local wars in Shuozhou and Liangzhou, they were gradually becoming the middle and senior commanders. The seven most outstanding people were also highly valued by Zeng Hua, namely Tang Ziming of Tang Mei of Hedong County, Bingzhou, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Chen Guan and Chen Ziyu of Jinyang, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Wang Xianqian, Wang Yiwu of Shangjun of Yongzhou, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Yu Guiyu of Fufeng County, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Wei Yuanwei Boyu of Tianshui County, Qinzhou, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Mao Qiling of Mao Dake of Rongyang of Sizhou, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu; Mao Muzhi's nephew of Qigu Qizicheng of Shangyong County, Liangzhou, who was appointed as the Captain Zhaowu's left school.

Everyone knew these seven people. It seemed that the general was determined to promote them during this Western Expedition. So everyone secretly called these seven people "Shanglin Qihu" because this Western Expedition was held in Shanglinyuan, the former Han Dynasty, and these seven people were also attracted attention by Zeng Hua personally awarded the title of general at the oath ceremony. At the beginning of the Western Expedition, the newly released Shanglin Qihu were all eager to try and ready to show their skills and "show their success" during the Western Expedition. They all competed with each other and secretly held their breath to see who could be the first to be awarded the title of general because of their military achievements and the first to be squeezed into the ranks of generals.

Xie Ai was also following Zeng Hua. He was appointed as the governor of the Western Expedition Grain Station by Zeng Hua, responsible for the supply of grain and grass for the Western Expedition Army. According to Zeng Hua's request, Xie Ai had to move to Fulu City, Jiuquan County (now Jiuquan City, Gansu), to continue to manage Liangzhou while ensuring the supply of grain and grass for the Western Expedition Army.

"General, should we focus on plunder or occupation this time in the Western Expedition?" Xie Ai turned his head to face Zeng Hua and asked, but this was a bit too "bandit-like" and was inconsistent with Xie Ai's gentleness.

Hearing Xie Ai’s question, Zeng Hua, who was watching his newly formulated flag of the chief general, quickly turned his head.

"This time our western expedition is mainly occupied. The Western Regions will be the two new states of our Northern Prefecture and become the base for continuing to advance westward." Zeng Hua replied.

"Continue to move westward? This time our excuse is to avenge the caravan. What is the excuse to move westward if we continue to move westward? After this great victory in the Western Expedition, I think our caravan will not be attacked for a long time." Xie Ai was shocked and asked quickly.

"Yes, there are Dayuan, Sugo and other countries west of the Pamir Mountains, with rich medicines and killing water, Wuhu River Basin, and a vast world that we have never seen before. They are all waiting for us, waiting for our iron hooves and steel knives, waiting for our conquest."

Zeng Hua's words shocked Xie Ai. He did not expect that his lord's ambition was so wide, and that he would have the meaning of escorting as far as he could.

"In the future, our continued Western Expedition will depend on our holy teachings. Have you heard of religious wars such as holy wars?" Zeng Hua's next words were still so shocking.

Seeing Xie Ai shook his head in surprise, Zeng Hua continued with a smile.

"We must not only promote our religion westward, but also instill our thoughts and practices westward. As long as they accept and recognize our religion, our thoughts and practices, they will take the North Palace as an example and reference and try their best to force their government to change to us. If their government agrees to change to us, then they can naturally slowly integrate into us. If they don't want to, then their people will definitely not agree. When they have civil strife, we will have an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Zeng Hua's argument for "peaceful evolution" made Xie Ai think deeply. He had seen the missionaries and priests of the Holy Church. Many of them were fanatical religious elements. Once they were allowed to develop westward, there would be no way to happen there. As long as one of them was hurt in the west, the Northern Palace would have a reason to launch another Western Expedition. A caravan tragedy would make the Northern Palace share the same hatred and vow to make the Wusun and the Western Regions countries lose their entire lives. If it rises to religious issues, those fanatical Holy Church members would not razed the people to the ground.

Xie Ai raised his head and looked solemnly at Zeng Hua's new lord's flag under his new lord's flag, staring forward intently. The lord's flag, which was driven to the Western Expedition, was three meters high and two and a half meters wide, fluttering in the wind, while a pair of wings on it was flying with the flag fluttering.

Everyone knows that the lord flag was used as a thunderous command, but most officials and civilians in the Northern Palace agreed, and even a large number of people strongly supported this. A few people jumped out to criticize this "mistake", and someone immediately argued that "a dragon with wings is not called a dragon." The emperor used a real dragon, and the general was the most powerful minister, and it was understandable to use a "divine beast" with wings as a sign, although it was more "elephant dragon". Later, the Jiangzuo court did not react at all. The people who accused him felt that he was the emperor and was not anxious and did not make a sound.

Zeng Hua looked at the Qilian Mountains and the continuous loess oasis in the distance, but his heart was full of thoughts. The Jiangzuo court had already listed himself as the number one "objective", so he was very honored to be ranked first by Huan Wen. However, the Beifu under his jurisdiction was separated from the Jingxiang force and had no direct contact at all. Although the court was becoming more and more vigilant about himself and the Beifu, he did not dare to touch the Beifu and could not stop rewarding Zeng Hua. On the other hand, the Jiangzuo court also relied more and more on Huan Wen, trying his best to make him the "first line of defense" for Jiangzuo to fight against the Beifu, which made Zeng Hua and Huan Wen all adjust one in the "strategic position" of the Jiangzuo court.

Huan Wen is now confidently urging the Northern Palace to respect himself and threaten the Jiangzuo court at all times. He can't lose anything that the Northern Palace gets, and he has to do the same. It makes the Jiangzuo court not the left or the right, and it is very embarrassing. There is no way, the nominal minister of the Northern Palace, now has stronger strength than the Jiangzuo court, while Huan Wen, who is still the Great Wall, was the number one "indiscretionary minister" in the past.

Zeng Hua had no intention of worrying about the Jiangzuo court. What he thought of now was this Western Expedition. Zeng Hua was determined to include the entire Western Regions in one fell swoop and become the new prefecture of the Northern Prefecture. In Zeng Hua's idea, the eastern and western borders of the China Kingdom had long been planned, and to divide them into these concepts, one must raise a steel knife with one hand and the flag of the Holy Church in the other, otherwise he would not have painstakingly integrated the doctrine of "with invasion thought" of part of the Islamic religion and the Gazette. Since ancient times, China has not lacked the passion and ambition to open up borders, but it lacked long-term stamina and vision, because they did not turn these passion and ambitions into a belief. If this passion and ambition continue, it would probably be even more awesome than the "greedy polar bear".

However, this Western Expedition was very dangerous, and the success or failure was uncertain. I don’t know which year or month it would take to achieve his goal. In addition, Dong and Jiangzuo were not brought under his command. Zeng Hua couldn’t help but sigh softly. He was racing against time. He hoped to lay as much foundation as possible for China in his limited years.
Chapter completed!