East Factory Governor

Chapter 719 Everything is ready

After the banquet, Qin Shuhuai, Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng drank tea in the Prince Qin's mansion, then took their leave and came to the governor's yamen.

In the Governor's Yamen, the three of them had a detailed discussion on various matters of the Western Expedition.

During this period, Hong Chengchou introduced two more businessmen, one named Qi Changyun and the other named Qi Changhai. They were two brothers who had been running business between the Western Regions and the Central Plains for many years. His rich experience is an indispensable guide for the Western Expedition.

Both of them expressed their willingness to lead dozens of brothers who run business under their command to lead the way for the army and contribute their meager strength to the Ming Dynasty and the Western Regions.

Qin Shuhuai was very satisfied, Hong Chengchou's matter was settled in his heart!
The three of them discussed for a full day, and with the introduction of these two businessmen who were familiar with the Western Regions, they roughly decided on the marching route based on the map of the Western Regions.

This is a relatively conventional route, that is, the army departs from JYG, passes through Hami, TLF, and Bieshabali, and reaches its capital city, Yarkand.

Qin Shuhuai thinks that this route is feasible. Firstly, it is a mature road that needs to cross a small area of ​​desert, and caravans are often on the way, so the risk of the army being swallowed by the desert is small.The second is that the Ruoqiang Kingdom is located in the south of Hami, and it can be destroyed very easily.

However, he remembered one more thing, so he asked Qi Changyun, "By the way, isn't this route very close to Junggar's territory?"

Qi Changyun said, "There is a short distance. But the Junggar tribe is at odds with Duerbert and the Heshuote tribe. It's too late to guard against them. They won't come to trouble us."

Qi Changhai also said, "Since Jiannu was defeated twice in the Southern Expedition, the Mongolian Wala people have completely disobeyed them. They fight their own way. Now the Wala people in Moxi and Monan are the strongest in Junggar Department and Heshuo Special Department. However, they are still a branch of Erut Mongolia in name, and dare not openly stand on their own.”

Qin Shuhuai nodded and thought, so the Junggar tribe is strong now, but Mongolia has not yet unified Monan and Moxi, and the Junggar Khanate has not yet been established.

Anyway, I went there. Do you want to join forces with a few Mongolian tribes who have enmity with Junggar and trip Junggar?
Let him stumble, maybe it can stop his further growth?

After talking like this, more and more thoughts came to my mind.

After resting in Xi'an for a day, Qin Shuhuai led the grain transportation team to continue to Baoji early the next morning.

By the way, Qi Changyun, Qi Changhai, and more than a dozen experienced men under him were also brought along—these people are all treasures.

After walking unhurriedly for three and a half days, we arrived in Baoji.

Li Dingguo, the city guard, and Tang Sanniang, who came back from Sichuan, came out to greet him.

It's just that Zhiren, Wang Datong and Chang Wuji were not seen.

During the trip to Sichuan, they didn't stop the Tsingyi Army, so it can basically be said that they returned without success, at most they only played the role of appeasing the martial arts in the middle of Sichuan.

After returning, Zhiren was recruited back by Shaolin and continued to face the wall to think about it, while Wang Datong and Chang Wuji, one as the leader of the beggar gang and the other as the elder of Wudang, had a lot of things to do. It is also what it should be.

Only Tang Sanniang, because the Tang Sect was destroyed and the blood feud was not avenged, chose to return to the Allied Forces, hoping that when the Allied Forces marched westward, they could invade Ruoqiang, kill the Tsing Yi Army and the Jingwei of the Western Regions, and avenge the disciples of the sect.

Like Tang Sanniang, the Sichuan sects such as the Emei sect and the Qingcheng sect were also beaten by the empress's men and suffered heavy losses this time.

Speaking of it, the Emei Sect was also very miserable. First, the leader Shangshui Shitai died in battle, and then more than half of the disciples who remained in the sect were killed. Now the Emei Sect is no longer one of the six major sects.Therefore, Qin Shuhuai also took good care of Emei, not only gave them a big dock, but also gave them various subsidies one after another to comfort them.

After entering the city, Li Dingguo asked the soldiers in the city to line up to welcome Qin Shuhuai.

It's like a military parade in disguise.

Walking along the way, I saw all the soldiers in the city holding their heads high and their chests high, staring at each other with mighty and orderly appearance.

Qin Shuhuai knew that Li Dingguo hadn't been idle for the past six months.

Qin Shuhuai had no doubts about Li Dingguo's military training ability.The Great West Army he trained at the beginning was almost invincible against Sun Lifan. Even if Sun Kewang surrendered him in the end, the Great West Army had never been truly wiped out by the powerful Eight Banners Army.

But now, the source of soldiers in Baoji City, in addition to the four or five thousand soldiers brought by Li Dingguo himself, there are also [-] martial arts coalition troops who crawled out of the dead.

Before, Qin Shuhuai was worried that Li Dingguo would not be able to deal with the [-] martial arts coalition forces, because Li Dingguo was originally a defeated general of the martial arts coalition forces, and if he was asked to be the city guard of Baoji, it would be good if the martial arts coalition forces did not hinder him, and still want to obey him?
Therefore, at that time, Qin Shuhuai not only gave Li Dingguo a souvenir to restrain the martial arts coalition forces, but also specially asked Meng Wei, Zhang Xiao and others who led the troops stationed in Baoji to cooperate with Li Dingguo.

Unexpectedly, it only took Li Dingguo more than half a year to obtain the approval of the coalition forces, so that he was able to start training the coalition forces.

This is indeed an ability, an ability that will always belong to only a few people.

After entering the city, Qin Shuhuai told Li Dingguo about Xizheng's idea.

Li Dingguo wasn't surprised at all, and asked, "Then, has the Duke decided on the troops for the expedition?"

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, and said, "Brother Dingguo, what's your opinion, why don't you tell me first?"

Li Dingguo thought for a while and said, "My lord back home, my subordinates believe that the biggest enemy of the expedition to Yarkand is not the soldiers and horses of Yarkand, but the bad weather and desert along the way. Therefore, our people are not many, it is Just fine. Bring less people, more food, horses, and camel teams, as long as they can support a long-term battle, it is not too difficult to conquer Yarkand."

Qin Shuhuai nodded, "Then how many soldiers do Brother Dingguo think is enough?"

"Thirty thousand."

Qin Shuhuai raised his eyelids slightly.

"Thirty thousand?"

"That's right, my subordinates thought that with [-] elite soldiers, they could conquer Yarkand."

Qin Shuhuai couldn't help thinking, Li Dingguo is more courageous than me!I, Kuang Gui Kuang, would have to bring at least [-] soldiers. He only brought [-] elite soldiers and dared to go on an expedition to Yarkand?
So he said, "Can you explain why in detail?"

Li Dingguo said confidently, "The Yarkand country is located in the Western Regions. The country is full of deserts and few oases. It mainly relies on commerce and limited farming and animal husbandry to survive. In the past six months, my subordinates have inquired with many business travelers who traveled to and from the Western Regions. The combined population of the country is only a few hundred thousand, and it is conceivable that its military strength is at most [-] to [-]."

"More importantly, although the Yarkand Kingdom appears unified on the surface, it is actually composed of countless city-states. These city-states were originally small countries, such as Ruoqiang, who had no choice but to surrender to Yarkand. So once the war started, Let's give both kindness and power, and I believe there are not many city-states that dare to fight to the death with Da Ming."

"In this case, in fact, what we have to deal with is nothing more than the army of Yarkand's direct descendants. I estimate that the number will not exceed [-]. Moreover, the Yarkand people are mainly engaged in commerce and farming, and their soldiers must not be as powerful as long-term soldiers. The Oirats who fought against wolves in the grasslands, with the strength of our army today, [-] elites are more than enough to defeat the [-] Yarkand army."

Qin Shuhuai asked again, "Don't you think they have home court advantage?"

Li Dingguo said confidently, "What the Lord is talking about is their advantage of waiting for work at ease? In the past, Ban Dingyuan leveled the Western Regions with 36 riders, but now we have [-] troops. What's the point of a mere expedition?"

Qin Shuhuai laughed and said, "Ban Chao 36 rode to level the Western Regions, I think it is a bit exaggerated. However, Brother Dingguo said that 3 people can level the Western Regions, I believe it a little bit. Then tell me, how the [-] people are composed, who are they?" For general?"

Li Dingguo said, "In the expedition to the Western Regions, my subordinates thought it would be appropriate to use [-] martial arts coalition troops and [-] official troops. The martial arts coalition forces can choose Meng Wei or Zhang Xiao as generals, and the officers and soldiers can be selected from the three sides. In addition ..."

Speaking of this, Li Dingguo bowed on his knees and said solemnly, "My subordinate Li Dingguo is willing to go out with the army!"

Qin Shuhuai asked meaningfully, "If brother Dingguo goes to war, what kind of job can he be?"

Li Dingguo said calmly, "I would like to be dispatched by the Duke of the country, even if it is a pawn before the horse."

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, and then said word by word, "Li Dingguo, I want you to lead the Wulin coalition army and be the deputy commander of the expeditionary army."

After listening to Li Dingguo, he was as calm as water.

No excitement, no disappointment.

He just asked, "Dare to ask the Duke, who is the commander-in-chief?"

"Governor Lu Xiangsheng of the three sides."

Qin Shuhuai made Lu Xiangsheng the coach after careful consideration.

Lu Xiangsheng is the governor of the three sides, and Li Dingguo is only a surrendered general. Could it be possible that Lu Xiangsheng should help Li Dingguo?nonexistent!
And this also shows that he may not participate in the Western Expedition later.

why?

First, now that the Demon Cult has made it clear that it wants to cooperate with the imperial court, and will send at least [-] to [-] troops at that time, so the expedition to Yarkand is almost guaranteed.

Second, the New Deal still has a lot to do. At this time, if he goes on an expedition, he might as well do the New Deal at home.

Thirdly, once he left, Li Dingguo and Lu Xiangsheng probably would not have much chance to show off, and his original intention was to let these two people show off in this expedition and earn enough capital—especially Li Dingguo.

After hearing this, Li Dingguo immediately said, "This wise man is worthy of this job!"

"Oh, you also know Lu Xiangsheng?"

Li Dingguo smiled bitterly, "It was Lu Xiangsheng who was entangled with my adoptive father in Shanxi when the Lord of the Kingdom fought in Shaanxi. This man was quite courageous and strategic in using troops, and he had learned from Dingguo. The reason why the adoptive father did nothing in Shanxi later is because of it all." It is because of partial trust in a few old subordinates, and the second is because Lu Xiang was promoted to the third side."

Qin Shuhuai smiled and said, "Then you are heroes and cherish heroes, that's great. Let's just settle this matter. You can order the [-] martial arts allied forces yourself, and I will let Meng Wei and Zhang Xiao go with you. There are two of them Now, it is more convenient for you to command."

Letting Meng Wei and Zhang Xiao go together has another effect, that is, if the Demon Cult goes out together, they can better communicate with the Demon Cult.These two had dealt with the Demon Sect a lot before, and knew many members of the Demon Sect.

……

Everything is going smooth.

Qin Shuhuai then wrote down the troops and generals to be dispatched in the Western Expedition on the memorial, and rushed them to the Forbidden City.Of course, this is just a formality. Since Chongzhen has authorized him to prepare for the Western Expedition, he will definitely act accordingly.

At the same time, Lu Xiangsheng, Du Wenhuan, and He Renlong arrived in Baoji one after another with their elite soldiers.According to Qin Shuhuai's arrangement, they brought a total of [-] officers and troops.

Ten days later, Chongzhen's reply came, Zhunzuo.

On the second day, [-] martial arts coalition troops and [-] official troops set off from Baoji to Lanzhou.

The next step is to wait for the reply from the Demon Sect.

(End of this chapter)