"What? Du Jieshuai led the army to Yizhou? The army goes, not to fight Gaochang? Jin San listened to the report and his eyes widened.

Meng Supervisor said: "Outside the staff, nine times out of ten it is going to fight Gaochang, otherwise why would the 100,000 army gather." We have a caravan stocking up in Gaochang, so we will be surrounded by the Song army by accident, and things will not be easy to do. ”

Jin San paced back and forth, unable to think of a way. The railway is now the fastest means of transportation, but the railway from Hezhou to Yizhou is now used by the army, and civilians are not allowed to get on the train. In fact, the caravan from the Western Regions departed from Gaochang, and the new railway had no source of passengers. If you had taken the route of the previous caravan, it would have taken several months to get to Gaochang, and the battle would have been fought long ago.

Jin San was a Sogdian from the Western Regions, who had a close relationship with Gaochang and was also familiar with the Black Khan, so he naturally favored them. Besides, it has been two years since he arrived in Shengzhou, but he has no contact with several important officials, so he is naturally estranged. The Song Dynasty was not a small country in the Western Regions, and the status of Jin San was not a level that Du Zhongxiao had to contact. In the Song Dynasty, political status was far away from that of merchants, and money could not be directly converted into power.

After thinking about it for a long time, he really couldn't think of a way, so Jin San had to sigh: "Forget it, you can only resign yourself to fate." Director Meng, if the Song army occupies Gaochang, the future trade route of the Western Regions will inevitably take a train from Yizhou to Shengzhou. In the days to come, you should be close to the officials in charge of the railway station, and when you use them, they should be easy to talk to. If not, the future business will not be good. ”

Director Meng agreed. Jin San mainly dealt with high-level figures, including Khitan and party members, and built a business empire of his own with Shengzhou as the center. The little people in Shengzhou City are naturally these people in charge of Meng, and they deal with them every day.

The news that Du Zhongxiao led the army to leave Shengzhou and march into the Western Regions spread throughout Shengzhou City two or three days later. The Hu merchants of the Western Regions panicked, but the merchants of the Central Plains gloated and realized that their opportunity had come. When the Song Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, commercial opportunities were inevitably left to their own people, and the Sogdians' forces were forced back into the river. Even if you take the wrong side, it is possible to collapse and slump.

At the newly built station outside Yizhou, Du Zhongxiao and Fu Bi stepped off the train, and Zhao Zi and Chen Youpeng had already brought local bureaucrats to greet them. After seeing the ceremony, Du Zhongxiao looked at the state city on the side and said: "This is an important place in the Western Regions, and the city looks a little broken." In the future, if you want to enter the Central Plains from here, the city should be cleaned up. - This is the face of the imperial court! ”

Chen Youpeng said yes again and again, very respectfully.

After entering the city, Du Zhongxiao and Fu Bi were welcomed to the state office, and they each sat down, Du Zhongxiao said to Chen Youpeng: "I heard that you want to sell all the family business here and go to the capital to live with your father?" How's it going? ”

Chen Youpeng said: "Back to Jieshuai, except for the house, other belongings have been sold. My father's residence in the capital was a gift from the imperial court, so the house here was left behind and handed over to the imperial court for disposal. The rest of the belongings have been disposed of. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In this way, then thank you family." The imperial court promised that in a month or two, it would send someone to serve as the governor of Yizhou, and then you could go to the capital. Now that Yizhou has a train, it is not difficult to go to the capital, and it will take less than a month to arrive. ”

Chen Youpeng said: "Since the train has been opened, Xiaguan has taken it once, it is really fast!" In the past, galloping horses could run at this speed, but they could only run for a short time, like a train, and they could run all the time. Moreover, there are a lot of goods pulled, and the 100,000 army is in Yizhou, which does not feel like a great thing. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "100,000 troops, how many 100,000 troops are there in the imperial court." When you arrive in Illino, you must do something. According to the edict, I brought troops to Yizhou this time, and I wanted Gaochang. The city lord thinks, how should I fight? ”

Chen Youpeng said: "The lower officials are ignorant, I have never seen an army like yours, I don't know how to fight, and how can I say how to attack Gaochang!" However, Gaochang and Jiaohe Prefecture are known as the twenty-two cities, and they did not expect the Jieshuai to come so quickly, and they have not yet gathered troops. The commander wants to attack Yizhou, and the soldiers are expensive and fast, and the sooner the troops are dispatched, the better. Otherwise, when Gaochang points gather troops and horses, there will be countless troubles. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "I think so too, the sooner you send troops, the easier it will be to fight." However, the army came to Yizhou from thousands of miles, and it would take a few days to deploy before it could send troops to fight. And for the next few days he rested in the city. The city lord made proper arrangements so that the people did not have to panic. ”

Chen Youpeng promised. These days, there are constantly soldiers entering Yizhou, and now in the west to the mouth of Guigukou and in the north to the depths of the Tianshan Mountains, there are new Song troops everywhere, and the people of Yizhou have long been accustomed to it. Zhang Qi's army of 50,000 was basically all in Yizhou and stationed nearby, which was regarded as the main army. Zhao Zi left 10,000 people in Hezhou and Juyan, plus a large number of scouts and small troops scattered out, only 30,000.

These 80,000 troops are the main force of Du Zhongxiao's attack on Yizhou, and the rest are only auxiliary. The Western Regions had not seen an army of this size for a hundred years, and Gao Chang didn't believe it at all, still believing that there were only a few thousand people from Zhao Zi in Yizhou. With a distance of seven hundred miles, and a nearly hundred miles of Guigukou Wind Area in the middle, Gao Chang knew nothing about the affairs of Yizhou.

The soldiers are fast, and Du Zhongxiao's plan is to immediately lead the army across the Guigukou and enter Gaochang after the arrangement is completed. If Gao Chang wants to resist, then fight hard. If they don't dare to resist, then immediately divide their troops to occupy Zhangbali and Yangji Bali and control the trade routes in the north of the Western Regions.

After asking about the affairs of the city, Du Zhongxiao said: "That's it for today, I and the rich deputy envoy will go to rest first." ”

Chen Youpeng hurriedly said: "The lower officials have prepared a dinner party in the rear office, and they will come to the festival for the marshal. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Okay, I'm tired of you." When evening comes, I and my lieutenant will come. ”

After speaking, he stood up and walked out of the official hall with Fu Bi, led by the guards, to the residence to rest. It is not easy to sit in the car all the way from Juyan to Yizhou for 1,500 miles. Of course, this is already very good compared to the old days.

When he arrived at his residence and changed into civilian clothes, Du Zhongxiao went to the living room and brewed tea himself. After a while, Fu Bi came over and sat down opposite.

After pouring tea for Fu Bi, Du Zhongxiao said: "There are 5,000 local households in Yizhou, Zhao Zi reported before, and the statistics have been completed. In my opinion, these households are concentrated and divided into the following states and counties. Depending on the conditions of various localities, the people who are transferred from the Central Plains to do field work should not be less than the local households, and the farmland reclamation should be carried out. The original life of local households was not rich, and after the concentration, the three-year tax exemption should not be opposed. ”

Fu Bi said: "Since the late Tang Dynasty, Yizhou has not been under the rule of the Central Plains. Although there were rebels in the meantime, the forces did not have much time to get here. How many local households still know about the Central Plains Imperial Court, but it's hard to say. Concentrated living is a way, but it is still necessary to focus on the battalion field and the army of the Central Plains. The hearts of the people in a place are not so easy to get. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "That's true." For many people, life is good, and they may not be grateful to us. Winning hearts and minds doesn't happen overnight, so take your time. The most important thing now is to occupy Gaochang City as quickly as possible, so that the people of the Western Regions know that the invincible Tang Dynasty has returned here! Now that I think about it, it is not uncommon for Gao Chang to be a minister for a long time. In their opinion, it is not possible to do it in a short period of time if the imperial army wants to come to the city, and it is nothing to drag on for a few years. They are willing to delay, but I am not willing to delay! ”

Fu Bi said: "The marshal has arrived in Yizhou, do you want to send envoys to Gaochang to let them know the meaning of the imperial court?" ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "No need." The imperial army is more useful than any envoy, so let's go directly to the city in a few days. ”

Punishing without teaching should not be something that the Central Plains Dynasty did. But Du Zhongxiao ran out of patience, he just wanted to solve the matter here in the Western Regions in the shortest possible time. Gao Chang has not sent an envoy to Beijing for two or three years, and he has already expressed his attitude.