Ningxia was restored, and the civil strife part of the Northwest Rebellion was over, and to a certain extent, the highly pragmatic task was completed.

However, this kind of completion is obviously not thorough enough, even if he, the commander of the Northwest Military Affairs, is only temporary, but Wei Xuezeng is not a day, and theoretically he cannot step down for a day.

Chen Ju conveyed the emperor's meaning, it is the channel of Jinyiwei, although this channel also takes the post road, but it does not share a "line" with ordinary military affairs, but the unique system of Jinyiwei, the speed and urgency depend on the meaning of the top.

Of course, the matter that the emperor personally inquired about was of the highest level, so it only took less than five days for this news to reach Gao Shishi's hands, and it is estimated that there should be a certain part of the road that uses the flying pigeon to pass the book - this thing is real, but it is generally not only sent to avoid accidents. It is also usually written with a special potion, which requires special means to make it visible in order to read. Of course, when Gao Pragmatic gets it, it has completely become a message, and this thing will not be shown to outsiders.

The emperor's words were not imperatives, they were regarded as asking for Gao Shishi's own opinions, but his attitude was still obviously urging.

Now Gao Pragmatic can't figure out what the emperor wants him to go back to do so early. Although Jin Yiwei, who sent the letter, told Gao Shishi about the situation in Liaodong, he was very suspicious that this situation had anything to do with his return to Beijing.

Gao pragmatic thought: Let me go to Liaodong again? This should be unlikely. The court can't use people like this, if I'm a military general, it's nothing to fight Ningxia and Liaodong, but I'm a civil minister, and the civil ministers who command the army are so frequently transferred back and forth, that is to treat the princes of the court as nothing-is the only civilian official in the court who can command the army?

Even if it is, it can't be done, it's a matter of "decency" and a matter of face. After all, now is not the time when the Ming Dynasty is at stake, and even the face can be ignored.

Since it is impossible for me to lead the army to Liaodong, why did the emperor ask me to go back?

After thinking about it, Gao Shishi thought about it and thought about it, and it seemed that there was only one possibility: to save military salaries and transfer the military salaries originally planned to the three northwestern sides to Liaodong, so that the Liaodong side could move.

Thinking of this, Gao Pragmatic couldn't help but sigh in his heart: The financial system of the Ming Dynasty is really fucked up, such a big country, and the people are rich enough, but they can't even fight two local wars at the same time, it's really a waste of this so-called million army.

In Gao Pragmatic's view, a country at the hegemonic level should have the ability to conduct at least two local wars at the same time and ensure victory, which is a qualified hegemon, otherwise it is all fat.

Obviously, the current Da Ming is fat. Don't look at the Ming Dynasty in the eyes of the surrounding countries and forces, it is the Huanghuang Celestial Empire, and when it scares others, it also calls itself "millions of heavenly soldiers" at every turn, but in fact? The mobilization of 100,000 troops at a time requires the "strength of the whole country", otherwise you won't even be able to make up the military salary, what kind of thing is this!

What made Gao pragmatic even more dissatisfied was that in order to save money, he had already used what he thought was the most reasonable and labor-saving way to fight in this battle, but the imperial court still needed to collect troops in the northwest before he could have the spare strength to start in Liaodong. The system is too rigid to be, worse than a Soviet-style planned economy – at least people can still fight the war.

However, since the imperial court really doesn't have the capital to start a war on two fronts, then he can only go back, but the war on Huoluochi's side still has to deal with Wei Xuezeng, and I can't do one thing for him, especially for the use of three Mongolian cavalry.

In the five days since the emperor sent the message, Wei Xuezeng had already arrived in Xi'an from Tongguan. As soon as the new trilateral governor arrived in Xi'an, he claimed to be old, tired from traveling, and needed to recuperate for a while.

This statement is obviously not true, and his original intention is not to compete with Gao Pragmatic. First, Gao Pragmatic is his junior, and he can't pull down his face by doing this, and secondly, Gao Pragmatic and his division of labor in the northwest are not clear, and who listens to whom, the imperial court has not explained before.

This second article is particularly troublesome, it stands to reason that the war in the northwest is of course under his charge as the governor of the three sides, but Gao Pragmatic, the commander of the reinforcements, has been sent to supervise the military affairs of the northwest, and at the same time he himself is still the governor of the seven towns, and the boundaries of the power of the two people are very unclear, and it is not easy to say who is respected.

Normally, Gao pragmatic dispatch is more "senior", but Wei Xuezeng is not only older, but also has a higher rank - he is a scholar of the military department.

The ultimate reason for Wei Xuezeng's decision to "recuperate" is that Gao Pragmatic has pacified the changes in Ningxia, Wei Xuezeng felt that if he inserted a bar at this time, the meaning of grabbing merit would be too obvious, and he would definitely be criticized, so he simply announced that he would recuperate, although he could not get military merit, at least he could get a reputation of "Gao Feng Liang Festival".

However, to everyone's surprise, only two days passed, and he finished his recuperation, and then hurried to Guyuan.

Guyuan was the official residence of the governor of the tripartite, and he had to take office when he arrived in Guyuan. Shaanxi officials are all wondering in their hearts: Could it be that Gao Shutai and Wei Zhitai discussed so quickly who should be in charge next?

The answer is yes, because Gao Pragmatic also went to Guyuan, and he went to hand over military power.

On the eighth day of the fifth month, the assistant Jingying Rong Political and Military Department Zuo Shilang, the right capital of the Imperial History of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the four towns of Jiliao and the three towns of Xuanda and other border affairs and food and salary, and the governor of the northwest military affairs Gao pragmatic announced the official end of the battle of Ningxia in Guyuan, returned the military power and the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi Wei Xuezeng, and at the same time sealed Shang Fangjian - this was to be brought back to the emperor, of course he had no right to transfer it to Wei Xuezeng.

According to Gao Shishi's public statement on the same day, it was the practice of the imperial court that the governor of Shaanxi was in charge of the military affairs in the northwest, and he himself had only been in charge of the military affairs in the northwest because Wei Xuezeng had not yet arrived and Ningxia was in a hurry, so he could not delay. Now that Wei Zhengtai has arrived, of course he has retired.

This is good, Wei Xuezeng's Gao Feng Liang Festival did not get it, but it was cheap and pragmatic - he is a real success and retirement, and he is completely worthy of the name of Gao Feng Liang Festival. The officials of Shaanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, and Gansu, but all mortals in Guyuan, had to admire Gao Pragmatism, and put the glory of being able to do all their work immediately, and handed over the power of unloading the army to Wei Xuezeng.

However, they may have missed one thing: Gao Pragmatic handed over the military power in the northwest, and he was not responsible for the money, food and other things he forced to provide from various places, and anyone who wanted to ask could only go to Wei Xuezeng......

It's a good high-wind, bright festival.

"Okay, you are high-minded, the three sides of the northwest are so poor that you have so much money and food?" In the trilateral governor's mansion, Wei Xuezeng looked at the "list of surplus money and grain" handed to him by Gao Shishi: "And you are so generous to bear the expenses of the Mongols?" Do you know that although the Mongols don't eat much, those tens of thousands of horses eat too much? ”

He pointed to the list and said, "Look at the cost, these war horses have eaten so many eggs along the way, and the price of eggs along the way has risen like crazy!" The cost of their war horses, one horse can cover the rations of at least three people, right? ”

"More than four, to be exact." Gao pragmatically spread his hands: "But this is money that must be spent, you can't ask the horses to run, and the horses don't eat grass, right?" ”

"Is that grass? That's eggs, it's all fine grain! Wei Xuezeng's eyes were still wide: "Have these Mongolian war horses eaten so well since they were young?" ”

Gao Shishi coughed lightly: "Although the consumption of eggs seems to be not small, for tens of thousands of war horses, it is actually not much, and a war horse can eat less than three eggs in ten days...... Okay, well, I know that the Mongols deliberately 'added food' to the horses, but I still think that it was worth it. ”

There is a problem that needs to be clarified here, that is, there is a very marketable saying in later generations, that is, ancient war horses need to consume a lot of refined grain, otherwise the war horses will be tired to death, or at least there will be fat loss, excessive strain, etc. Not really—at least not in China, including in the surrounding areas like Mongolia.

The origin of this statement is said to have come from the Japanese Army's 1-day horse ration standard in 1914. i.e. 5 liters of barley = 5.25 kg; 1 run of hay = 3.75 kg; 1 guan of weed = 3.75 kg; Salt: 40 grams.

The standard of horse food for the baggage troops to pull horses for 1 day is 4 liters of barley = 4.2 kilograms; 1 run of hay = 3.75 kg; 1 guan of weed = 3.75 kg; Salt: 40 grams.

Sixteen years later, the bar continues to rise a little bit. In 1931, the Japanese Army's one-day horse food standard was 5.25 kg of barley, 4 kg of hay, 3.5 kg of weed, and 40 grams of salt.

Substitutes for barley include 5.25 kg of oats, sorghum or soybean cake, 4.2 kg of brown rice and soybeans, 4.73 kg of millet, corn, rye and wheat, 7.88 kg of rice bran and 15.8 kg of hay.

Note, however, that the last "hay" can still be substituted, including 4 kg of pasture, 16 kg of grass and 10 kg of soybean stalks. And the previous weed can also be used as a substitute: 5.3 kg of straw.

If there is no special pasture, any miscellaneous grass is not impossible, but it needs to eat a lot, which is very large in terms of "quantity" - this means that the war horse needs to eat many meals a day to provide enough energy for itself.

There is another very important point here, we must pay attention to: the war horse used by the Japanese army is the introduction of Western war horses, and the final bred war horse is also known as the "Oriental horse" at that time, this kind of horse because it inherits most of the physical characteristics of the Western high-headed horse, so the amount of food itself is large, and the diet and environmental requirements are far more delicate than the Mongolian horse.

In fact, Mongolian horses are not so particular at all, they are the best breed in the world to feed and have excellent endurance.

This may be convincing if you have to give an example, just take the Mongol expedition to the west.

In the autumn of 1219, the Mongol army passed through Beshibali and Bura (later Boluo City, Xinjiang), passed through Temur Confession (also known as Songguan, later known as Guozigou) to Alimali, crossed the Ili River in the west, and advanced to Khorezm through Haizhili.

At that time, Temur's confession was a very difficult pass. In 1222, when Qiu Chuji went to the Western Regions to meet Genghis Khan, he also passed through the pass, and his entourage Li Zhichang wrote in "Journey to the West in Changchun": On the east bank of Jinshan Mountain, there are thousands of rocks and ravines across deep streams. The rocks by the stream are lying on the road, and the ancient and modern times are not allowed to pass the wheel hooves.

When the Mongol army passed, Genghis Khan's second son, Chagatai Lishi, opened the road, and cut wood to build bridges, building a total of 48 bridges. The width of the bridge allows two vehicles to run in parallel.

The fierce battle between the Mongolian expeditionary force and the Khorezm army was roughly after the Mongol army arrived at the border fort of Khorezm, and the troops were divided into four routes: Chagatai and Ogedetai led their divisions to besiege Khwarazm; Jochi led his division to conquer the felt, and raised the cities of Jigan; Ta Ha led 5,000 cavalry to conquer the cities of Huyu (later Nabad); Genghis Khan and Tulei took the middle road, crossed the Syr Darya, and crossed the Red Desert to the southwest to approach the city of Bukhara.

In March 1220, Jochi and other three-way armies occupied all the cities on both sides of the Syr Darya River, and Genghis Khan's middle route army also occupied the city of Bukhara, the cultural center of the YSL religion, completely cutting off the communication between Samarkand, the new capital of Khorezm (the main city of Uzbekistan in later times) and the old capital Urgench (a city in Turkmenia in later generations, which was written as Ulonggechi in Han Chinese).

In May 1220, the Mongol Fourth Route Army met under the city of Samarkand and besieged Samarkand. After six days of hard fighting, the city of Samarkand was captured.

It can be seen that the Mongolian army took the basic old road of the westward expedition to Dawan on this road, with a large number of mountain roads and deserts.

So, if their war horses really can only eat grain, then just eating grain for a month, according to Japanese standards, the horse itself will be exhausted to death: they have to eat five kilograms of grain a day, they have walked for so long, and there is no place to replenish food along the way, so is this grain falling from the sky? As for bringing your own...... I'm afraid that this war horse needs to have the load capacity of a Dongfeng truck to be enough?

Therefore, the war horses of the Mongolian army, even in the process of expeditions and battles, are absolutely impossible to be "indispensable to ** grain", and the fine grain theorists can rest.

However, the Mongols obviously knew the benefits of war horse ** grain - the advantage was that they could eat a lot less and did not have to "make up the meal" at every turn.

Therefore, after Gao Shishi agreed to provide grain and grass, the Mongols were not polite, and on the way to fight with the Huoluochi brothers, they let go of their bellies and ate and drank, so that the price of eggs along the way increased. And eggs, that are the top product in concentrates.

Wei Xuezeng looked calm and pragmatic, and sighed for a long time: "You really don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, they are only three hundred miles along the way, look at how much silver you have eaten?" The total cost of all kinds of expenses is almost 30,000 taels! With this money, my army of 100,000 is enough to eat for more than a month! ”

Gao Pragmatic still smiled and said, "Yes, but it is true that Gongan, a hundred thousand troops may not be able to play their role in a month." First, we need to mobilize 100,000 people, and we will spend a lot of money in the process. Second, in the face of Huo Luochi and the Rabbit Division, the Ming infantry could not chase them, and only the Detachment and Ilduqi Divisions, which were also Mongolian cavalry, could do it. Third, we always have to die when we fight, and if we die, we have to pay compensation; There must be people who have made meritorious contributions in wars, and those who have made meritorious contributions must be rewarded......"

"But you promised to give the Mongols a reward." Wei Xuezeng seems to be very concerned about the military affairs of the Northwest along the way, and even knows this.

Gao pragmatic smiled: "According to the standard of the Datong town soldiers, it is true that the standard of this economic system is not high, in our Ming Dynasty, it is almost like sending Huazi, what about the Mongols?" ”

Wei Xuezeng reacted at this time, and Gao pragmatic played a word game here: he said that the reward standard for the Mongolian Datong town soldiers, but the Ming Dynasty did not follow this "regulation" at all, in fact, due to the fact that the Ming army after the civil engineering change became more and more unable to fight, the reward for killing the enemy had already increased several times.

How can the Mongolians have so many flowery intestines, they are obviously pitted here, and they are dumb people who eat Coptis chinensis, and they can't say what they are suffering, because Gao Pragmatic is indeed "according to the rules".

Wei Xuezeng opened his mouth and stammered for a while, and finally gave up, and said helplessly: "Okay, even if what you say makes sense, then what will you do next to Zhuang Langwei, what do you have to explain?" ”

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