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Chapter 916: Hard Work

On the third day after the Battle of Kashgar, Hong Tao and Sun Chengzong led the remaining army on their return journey. They first headed east to Khotan, explained the specific arrangements to Du Wenhuan in person, then headed north along the Baiyu River to Aksu, and then returned to Guazhou via Baicheng, Tarbugur, Yanqi, Turpan, and Hami.

This road is long but easy to walk, with more oases and towns along the way. Since we have already won, there is no need to take risks on the Qinghai Plateau. We can also review the fruits of victory, see the local customs and practices of various places with our own eyes, and make full preparations for the formulation of future policies for the Western Regions.

The expedition lasted for seven months, with the emperor leading his troops on the front lines for most of the time, and eventually achieving a comprehensive victory. This courage, boldness, and planning made it so that no one in the court could make a discordant voice.

You can say that he was warmongering, but if you look through the history books, you will find that both Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang took 11 years and 8 years respectively to conquer the countries in the Western Regions, mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops, and performed innumerable labor services, consuming most of the country's national strength to complete their conquests.

Emperor Jingyang achieved the same effect in just 7 months, with less than 20 troops and no more than laborers.

A lot of money and grain were spent, almost all the surplus of the past ten years was thrown in. But the cost was not proportional to the gains, and even the most demanding officials could not say the word "compensation".

This is just a superficial calculation. If we take into account the far-reaching impact of this campaign, it must be profitable, and a huge profit. Apart from other things, the taxes collected from goods sold to various places in the Western Regions alone would make the customs happy. The taxes paid by the factories and workshops built to produce these goods would make the Ministry of Revenue very happy.

It can be predicted without careful calculation that as long as there are no major changes in the Western Region, the next five or even ten years will be a treasure trove, and the military expenditure consumed will be really insignificant compared with the future gains.

If all emperors were so aggressive, the court officials would hope to come once a year. A full treasury had nothing to do with them, but everyone had a factory or something, and if the goods were easy to sell and the price was high, the real money earned would go into their own pockets, so it had to be relevant.

In fact, there was no need to wait for "Ban Yue Tan" and "Shang Bao" to brag about the emperor. As soon as the victory news reached the Ministry of War and the General Staff, some well-informed officials quietly began to take action.

He immediately sent a letter to his family, the content of which was basically the same, asking the family to quickly invest in building factories and workshops, and the closer to the Shaanxi Xingdusi, the better, as the one who is close to the water will get the moon first.

A few days later, most officials also got the news, and then another wave of secret letters were sent to invest in the construction of factories in the northwest. Who can be more stupid than who? It's nothing more than different positions and different times of receiving the news.

It doesn't matter if we arrive a few days late. If we can't grab a good location near Lanzhou, we can cross the Yellow River and go to Liangzhou to look for it. The Outer Khalkha and the Oirat Mongols have been beaten to a pulp by the Ming Army and the Inner Mongolian coalition forces, so it doesn't matter if we get closer to the border.

After the officials took action, the people gradually responded. Although they were slow, they were outnumbered and bolder. The land prices in Liangzhou have gone up, right? Okay, we ordinary people can't fight you officials, but we are not afraid of death!

The products produced are sold to the Western Regions anyway, so why go to Suzhou? The Western Regions are just outside the city, and even the shipping costs can be saved. The goal is to have low costs! Some even found the Suzhou garrison, hoping to allow them to form a group to go to Hami for inspection, and to directly set up a factory there once suitable conditions are met. Regardless of customs and religions, under the trend of interests, except for the word "losing money", the merchants are not afraid of any danger, and are more willing to go out than the first death squads climbing the city wall.

But the emperor rejected the memorial for a simple reason: if they allowed this group of people to build a factory in Hami today, another group would want to go to Turpan tomorrow, and another group would apply to go to Aksu the day after tomorrow. In less than half a year, they would have a factory or workshop in every town in the Western Regions, and that would be a mess.

The locals will certainly resist the intrusion of so many foreign races. The two sides will soon have irreconcilable conflicts and eventually go to war, which will be extremely detrimental to the stability of the Western Regions.

At present, the Western Regions are still nominally the Yarkand Khanate, ruled by Abdulchayin Khan. Even if the Ming court wants to do this, it must discuss it with others, find a suitable reason, find a scapegoat, and be ready to bear the consequences of failure at any time.

In addition, Hong Tao also issued an imperial edict to government offices at all levels, reminding grassroots officials in very harsh terms to strictly control the review process and not to rush into things without careful consideration and set up a large number of small workshops, which would then all go bankrupt within a year or two.

Doing business is not gambling, where you can just go to the table with money. It is also not a trick to get rich quickly, where anyone can make a fortune. Mature and targeted products and perfect sales channels must be taken into consideration.

It is not allowed to ship canned whale meat from Shandong, Fujian, and Guangdong to the Western Regions for sale. Anyone who does not understand the local customs and religious taboos cannot go to the Western Regions to return goods. Customs and local governments must keep a close watch, and if merchants in any place have such problems, local officials should be held accountable.

Normally, an emperor would have to rest for a while after returning victoriously from an expedition, but after Hong Tao returned to Beijing, he was even busier than fighting soldiers. The fishing spots by the Taiye Lake were covered with moss, and no one was seen fishing there.

In addition to reviewing memorials that had accumulated over half a year from morning to night every day, he also had to make time to meet with the heads of the nine ministries, one academy, one temple, and one department to fully understand the changes that had taken place in the court and the country during his absence, and to listen to their opinions on new policies in various places.

One of the most crucial things was to inquire about the combat situation of the Khalkha and Oirat Mongol coalition forces heading south. The relevant battle reports had been read on the way back to the capital, but some details were not covered in full.

The battle lasted for about a month. Although the battle was fierce, neither the attacking nor the defending sides suffered much loss. The Outer Khalkha and Oirat Mongols did not really launch a large-scale offensive. They mainly harassed with small groups of cavalry, but they did not dare to go too far. To use an idiom to describe it, they only tried a little and stopped.

However, the Inner Mongolian coalition forces and the Oirat Mongolian army had a head-on battle near the Juyan Lake. The two sides had similar military strength, 3 to 3.

As a result, the Oirat Mongols were badly defeated, losing thousands of men and horses, and also lost their foothold in the Juyan Lake. They had to retreat into the desert and never dared to return. The Inner Mongolian coalition only lost a thousand men, which was considered a great victory.

(End of this chapter)