Just as he was thinking about it, he heard a woman's voice say, "Brother Huang, have you persuaded Chen Zhongshu?" ”

"Hmm." Yoon-hee then agreed.

"Brother Huang, I always feel that you are a little afraid of Chen Zhongshu. According to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, such things are dictatorial to the emperor, even if someone can advise them, they are also officials and important ministers of the court, Chen Zhongshu is just a Chinese scholar, why does the imperial brother have to go to the trouble to explain to him? Yun Zhi asked puzzled.

When Zhu Ji heard this, he opened his mouth. According to the tradition of not interfering in politics in the harem, Yun Zhi can't actually ask such a question. But, 'They're brother and sister, and one of my uncles is better to be cautious.' ’

Yun Xi himself didn't care about it. Although he never talked about the court with anyone other than Xiyao in the palace, he was also used to writing letters with Yun Ying, so he replied: "Chen Ji is not an ordinary person, in my opinion, he is the next Chen Xingshan." ”

"Substitute for Chen Xingshan?" Zhu Ji was surprised. Although Chen Xingshan's official position is not high, most of the time he doesn't seem to have a sense of existence, from the thirty-first year of Hongwu to the present for six years, he is the judge of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and the third rank officer of the right attendant of the military department, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that he is very trusted by Yunxi, and he can be said to be the most trusted person, and now Chen Ji is actually compared to him.

Yun Xi nodded and didn't say much. In his opinion, the most trustworthy people are those who really read the Confucian classics and eat them thoroughly. Such a person is first and foremost very loyal, and secondly, he is receptive to some flexibility. Of course, it may not be possible to appoint them to handle too complex government affairs, but they are appropriate for more loyal positions.

Yun Zhi didn't care about Yun Xi's evaluation of Chen Ji, she saw that Yun Xi was in a good mood, and asked, "Brother Huang, take your sister to Yiwu." ”

"No!" Yun Xi said categorically: "Yiwu is the front line, what are you going to do with a girl's family?" Didn't you see Shang Bing send his side concubine, children and sister to Ganzhou? This will never happen, and it is useless to ask for it! ”

Yun Zhi heard the tone of his words, and knew that there was nothing to change, so she could only bow down and agree with some frustration.

Yun Xi said that he would do it, and on the morning of June 29 the next day, he led dozens of guards to Yiwu under the escort of two thousand households.

The straight-line distance from Ganzhou City to Yiwu is more than 1,100 miles, and the actual running is more than 1,200 miles.

After this is the Western Regions, and the terrain is flat and insurmountable, if Timur knew that he had come to send someone to intercept and kill, it would be over. At this time, there was still the last group of troops resting in the area of Xingxing Gorge and preparing to leave for Yiwu, just in case, Yun Xi decided to rest here for a day, and went to Yiwu with these tens of thousands of troops early the next morning.

After changing his clothes and taking a shower, and after eating dinner, Yun Xi asked Chen Ji, "How is Yiwu's situation now?" ”

"Your Majesty, according to the report of the Duke of Wei and His Royal Highnesses Qin and Jin, on the first day of the seventh month, Timur led the troops of the Western Captives to retreat more than 100 miles from the city of Yiwu and stationed near an original acropolis. After discussing with the two highnesses, the Duke of Wei decided to leave Luhou with 100,000 troops to stay in Yiwu City, and lead another 600,000 troops to force into the Acropolis, camping 30 miles away from the Acropolis. ”

In the past few days, every day Wei Guogong would send troops to provoke in front of the battle, and Timur did not flinch and sent troops to respond. But it was just a test, and it didn't make a big fight. By the time the day before yesterday and the evening of the army, they had lost 30,000 or 40,000 soldiers, of whom more than 13,000 were killed and more than 25,000 were wounded. The loss of troops in the west is about the same. ”

"It is also reported that Timur sent tens of thousands of troops to capture Turpan City, and in order to prevent the Great Tomorrow soldiers from cutting off his rear route, he left 70,000 or 80,000 troops to garrison Turpan City and Urumqi City, and sent thousands of cavalry to station near Qijiaojing City." Chen Ji reported.

"So, there are about 500,000 Western captives confronting our army in the Yiwu Basin, and about 600,000 of our army?" Yun Xi took a sip of tea and said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Ji replied again.

Yun Xi thought about it, and was about to ask a few more words, when suddenly the eunuch Wang Gong, who was guarding the door, whispered: "Your Majesty, the two highnesses of the acting king and the king of England ask to see you." "The two of them also personally led their barbarian soldiers to fight in the northwest this time.

"Xuan." Yun Xi said immediately.

After a while, Zhu Gui and Zhu Song walked in and bowed, and Yun Xi told them that they didn't need to be polite as usual.

Zhu Gui and Zhu Song also knew that this was Yun Xi's old practice, and they still saluted respectfully, and then Zhu Gui said: "Official, my nineteenth brother and I came to visit after hearing that the official family came to Xingxing Gorge, but because we and other departments were arranged far away from the city, we rushed over now and asked the official family to forgive me." ”

Yun Xi has succeeded to the throne for six years, during which he also personally quelled a rebellion, discovered the jade seal that has been lost for 500 years, and the emperor's aura has also been raised, so it is not common for his princes to respect him.

"Why plead for this?" Yun Xi smiled: "It's all an ordinary thing, you don't have to ask for it." Have the two uncles eaten? ”

"We heard that the official family came to Xingxing Gorge and rushed over immediately, and we haven't eaten yet." Zhu Song replied.

"It's not the beginning of the day, but it's late. Wang Gong immediately sent someone to deliver the meal. Yun Xi said. Wang Gong was ordered to retreat.

The meal had to wait for a while and a half, Yun Xi exchanged a few words with the two of them, and couldn't help but talk about the war in the northwest.

"Official, in my opinion, Timur is cautious in his use of troops, and Xu Huizu will not leave him any opportunity to take advantage of, and this battle will most likely be a long-term stalemate, until which side shows a flaw and is defeated by the other party."

"This is not a good thing for Daming. Although the land of Yiwu is still rich, it is located near the battlefield and cannot be cultivated at all, and the land west of the river is even more barren; I heard that Qinghai is better, but it can't afford to supply the food and salary of the 7.8 million army. ”

"And Timur occupies the richest Gurbantunggut Basin in the Western Regions, and can send troops to graze here to maintain the food of the soldiers, and he has fewer soldiers than the Ming Dynasty."

"So in my opinion, if there is a long-term stalemate, it will not be good for Daming." Acting Wang Zhu Gui said.

"Official, I think so too. The Ming sent heavy troops to a stalemate with Timur in Yiwu, even if there is enough food to eat now, there will definitely be a shortage in the future, so it is best to defeat Xilu as soon as possible. King Zhu Song also said.

Of course, what the two uncles said made sense. But how to defeat the West as quickly as possible? Did you order Huizu to lead his troops to attack? Yun Xi said helplessly.

He has studied the situation in the northwest these days and has also discovered this problem, but whether it can be solved or not is not something that Daming can decide unilaterally. If Timur had not shown his flaws, he could not have ordered Xu Huizu to launch a suicide attack.

"Official, don't you order Xu Huizu to lead his troops to the Gurbantunggut Basin through Qijiaojing City, and force Timur to retreat with his troops to confront him there." Zhu Song suggested.

"What if Timur ignores Xu Huizu and leads his troops to storm Yiwu City? If the soldiers learned that Igo City had been lost, they would be demoralized and panicked. Even if Xu Huizu wanted to attack Urumqi, he couldn't do it. After all, Xilu is close to Yiwu City, and Xu Huizu is far away from Urumqi City. Yun Xi said.

Zhu Gui and Zhu Song thought of a few more suggestions, all of which were inappropriate. Yun Xi said: "Two uncles, the matter of the war should be handed over to the current generals of Yiwu." We just need to take care of the logistics for them and make sure that the war is not interfered with by messy things. ”

"Although I don't want to consume food in such a confrontation, if I can't find a chance to win, it's better to keep stalemate."

Zhu Gui and Zhu Song immediately agreed. Yun Xi had to say that the chef had already brought the food, and Yun Xi accompanied them to eat something and slept in the afternoon.

When Shen Shichu woke up, Yun Xi took out the map and looked at it again, because he couldn't find anything famous, so he turned around and walked out of the house.

The guard Song Qingshu and others hurriedly followed. Yunxi asked, "Do you know where the troops that have been marched to Igo are stationed?" As soon as he finished speaking, before Song Qingshu could answer, he said to himself: "That's it, feel free to look around the street." With that, he walked out of the courtyard and walked around the street with the guards.

The city of Xingxing Gorge was very prosperous at this time. As a transportation point from the Western Regions to the Central Plains, many merchants passed through this place to do business even after Shang Bing occupied Igo. Now that the war has broken out, ordinary merchants are not coming, but many merchants with war profits continue to gather here with their men and horses.

From the end of the previous year to the beginning of last year, the fact that domestic and foreign merchants had made a lot of money in Annam had been known after a year of spreading, and they were worried that the trade with Mongolia was not only small in scale, but also restricted by the imperial court, and could not make much money.

Especially some time ago, the city of Yiwu was besieged, and the merchants did not dare to go, so they were stranded in the Star Gorge, and did business with the army passing through here, and they were very happy. Yun Xi walked all the way and saw countless stores open, and the business was not good.

Not only is it a businessman from Shanxi, Yunxi has heard Sichuan, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Huguang accents along the way, but there is no accent from Liangjiang, Minzhejiang, Liangguang and Yunnan-Guizhou. However, there are many ways to make money in the southern provinces, and there is no need to come to the Western Regions, where they are unfamiliar with the place, to grab business with them.

Walking through these commercial streets, I came to a military camp outside, and suddenly it was much quieter. Of course, Yun Xi had already heard from Jinyi Wei that there were many private squatters engaged in leather and meat business near the barracks, but because several highnesses had passed by, these private squatters did not dare to open on the street, so they looked fine on the surface.

"This is, Baiyi Wei led by Zhu Hengshi?" Yun Xi discerned the flag set up at the door and asked.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed Baiyiwei." Song Qingshu said.

"Baiyiwei? Qingshu, you go in and ask Hengshi to come out to greet you. "If it was the Han guard, he would go in directly, but Yun Xi was still a little frightened by a group of Fusang people.

Song Qingshu said yes and walked into the gate of the camp. After a while, Zhu Hengshi walked out of it with several people, and when he saw Yun Xi, he immediately knelt down and said: "Minister Zhu Hengshi has seen Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live!" ”

After the prelude was over, Yun Xi smiled and said, "What is the situation of Baiyi Wei now?" Are the soldiers willing to go to the northwest to fight the Western Prisoners? ”

"Your Majesty, the morale of my Baiyi Guards is high, and I am looking forward to going to Yiwu City to fight with Xilu and be loyal to the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Hengshi shouted loudly.

The generals who followed him also shouted at the same time: "Conquer the Western Regions, defeat the Western Regions, and be loyal to the Ming Dynasty!" ”

Yun Xi paused for a moment. Baiyi Weizhong are all Fusang people, to say that they are not afraid of war is reasonable, to say that they are willing to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, this is too fake, right?

"Your Majesty." Zhu Hengshi probably saw or guessed that Yun Xi didn't believe it, and then said: "My Baiyi guards are all poor warriors who have no ambition in Fusang, and they have eaten the last meal but not the next, and there is nothing valuable except for the ancestral knife. After coming to Daming, His Majesty paid according to the rules of the Ming soldiers, and he was in charge of three meals a day, and he never discriminated against the ministers, who were grateful to His Majesty and loyal to the Ming Dynasty. is willing to go to the city of Yiwu to fight with the Western Lu, and be loyal to the Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhu Hengshi was originally an incognito prince of the Southern Dynasty, and the people he brought in were naturally samurai of the Southern Dynasty. Because the Northern and Southern Dynasties ended with the victory of the Northern Dynasties, most of the samurai of the Southern Dynasties lost their errands after the unification of the Northern Dynasties. It is better to have their own territory, and they can go home and exploit the peasants to eat. Those who don't have land can only look for work everywhere to fill their stomachs. I heard that Daming recruited people, not only to give a full meal but also to pay, and they crossed the sea to come to Daming, even if Yuan Yiman wanted to ban it after hearing about it, he repeatedly banned it.

This is actually normal. Think about the civil turmoil in Fusang in the late Ming Dynasty in history, and how many underfed samurai went to sea to serve as horse boys for pirates from all over the world. Although the samurai class as a whole could be regarded as people with a sense of statehood, in the absence of foreign invasion, only those who had enough to eat were qualified to care about these, and those who did not have enough to eat would starve to death and could not afford to care.

However, Yun Xi was probably more influenced by later generations, and he was still skeptical of Zhu Hengshi's words, but he finally dared to take someone into the camp to take a look.

As soon as he walked in, he heard Zhu Hengshi shouting loudly: "Come and pay homage to Your Majesty." ”

"Minister/villain/small/I have seen Your Majesty below, long live Your Majesty, long live Long live!" Countless people knelt down in front of Yun Xi and shouted loudly.