Entering April, the grass grows and the eagle flies, and spring really comes. Zhao Zi left Juyan and returned to Shengzhou to report on his work, and his headquarters rotated with the Hezhou garrison.

In the Shuaifu, Du Zhongxiao accepted Zhao Zi's visit and said: "Now that you are leading troops to live in Yan, not only Shengzhou is watching, but even the imperial court is watching from time to time. Juyan is now an important place in the world. Chen Ximing of Yizhou has entered Beijing, and you must be ready to enter Yizhou at any time. ”

Zhao Zi said: "Jieshuai, you don't know the suffering of Juyan. When the party left, they took all the population with them, and I took the troops to pick up only one empty city. It has been there for more than half a year, and there is still no family, only the garrison. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What can be done about this? It was a lonely city in the desert. Wait a minute, soon the railway will be built there, and it will be lively. Before you do, though, you'll need to be prepared to enter Illino. ”

Zhao Zi said: "Since Chen Ximing left Juyan, I sent people to Yizhou to investigate the road. Now that the guides have been equipped, as long as the imperial court gives an order, the army can enter Yizhou. It's just that there are only a few thousand households in Illinois, and there is not much food. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, the most important thing is grain and grass." So after the railway is repaired to Juyan, don't stop, let them keep repairing it to Yizhou. Before the winter of this year, it can be repaired wherever it is. When the railway arrives in Illino, everything is easy. ”

Fu Bi on the side said: "Entering Yizhou and returning to the Western Regions is a big plan set by the imperial court. The most important thing in the Dingyuan Army is this. ”

Zhao Zi said yes. Said: "The Western Regions have been fighting for many years, and now there are not many forces, except for Yizhou, which are the Black Khanate and the Gaochang Kingdom. I have already explored the strength of the two countries, and 350,000 soldiers in a war is already the limit. The Western Regions are vast, but the population is small. ”

"It's a vast and sparsely populated place, but that's it. It's just that it's a trade route, and there must be a more prosperous place to the west. It was the homeland of the Han and Tang dynasties, and re-entering the Western Regions was of great significance to the imperial court. That's it for today, and the evening will pick you up! ”

After Du Zhongxiao finished speaking, he ordered to return the account and let Zhao Zi go to rest first. The post house in Shengzhou has been built, right next to the train station, where Zhao Zi can live. The construction of the post house was completed, and Shengzhou became a perfect city, and the development of Hequ Road slowly began.

In the evening, the rear government set up a banquet to catch the wind and wash the dust for Zhao Zi and his party.

Du Zhongxiao took the wine and said: "Now Hequ Road is a number of states, all of which are developed by Yingtian, except for Juyan County. According to Zhao Zi, it is estimated that tens of thousands of families can be resettled there, which is enough to build a county. However, in the desert, once it is cultivated, it is easy to collect wind and dust and turn into sand. As far as I can see, Juyan does not want people for the time being, so it will be used as a military city. After the railway, the transportation of materials is convenient, and reclamation is not interesting. ”

Zhao Zi said: "What the festival marshal said is extremely true. It is the gateway to the Western Regions, and there will definitely be heavy troops stationed in the future, so it is better to be a military city. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "In that area, there are really no households? Is the party migration so clean? ”

Zhao Zi said: "I sent people to search everywhere, and there is not a single family within a radius of 300 miles. In the south, Ganzhou and Suzhou are also sparsely populated, and the party moved there, not because there is no place to resettle. ”

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "The four counties of Hexi were originally the land of the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and they were densely populated. Since the middle and late Tang Dynasty, it has been in Tibet, the Uighurs, and the party, and has been fighting for more than 200 years. In the past 200 years, the population has been chaotic and has become a vast and sparsely populated land. Compared with Juyan in the north, it is only suitable for human survival, and the population may not be much larger. Now that the armies are being reorganized and training, they have no spare strength to organize a large army to attack the party, so they can only build a railway from the north to the western regions. When the party is destroyed in the future, those places can only develop slowly. ”

Zhao Zi said: "That's not the case. The party was in trouble for the Central Plains, that is, it first occupied several counties in Hexi and stabilized the rear. Now the land of those counties, a large county with less population than the Central Plains, is very scarce. In the future, if the party is destroyed, I don't know how many years of development will take before it can regain prosperity. ”

Speaking of the decline of the Hexi region, everyone couldn't help but sigh and drank together.

After the victory of the first battle of Hequlu, the imperial court's confidence in its military strength was regained, and it was eager to restore the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties. However, there are too many things falling in the middle, and I feel that I have nowhere to start for a while. Psychologically, he still felt afraid of the Khitan and did not dare to attack the party. The countries of the Western Regions, which were relatively weak, became suitable targets. Zhao Zi was stationed in Yan, and became a corps of the westward march, and everyone paid attention to it.

Before Du Zhongxiao's subordinates, Zhao Zi was an inspector on Jingdong Road, and was appeased by Jingdong Road at that time. Now Fu Bi has been transferred to Hequ Road as the deputy envoy of the warp strategy, and he attaches great importance to this favorite general of the year.

Listening to Zhao Zi talk about Ju Yan's situation, Fu Bi nodded again and again, asking from time to time.

From Juyan to Yizhou, you first have to cross the desert, and then follow the foothills of the Horsehair Mountain until you reach the Xingxing Gorge. After crossing the Star Gorge, I entered the desert again, and walked more than 100 miles to Yizhou. If Juyan's supplies are sufficient, this section of the road will not be difficult for the army.

After listening to Zhao Zi's explanation, Fu Bi said: "Chen Ximing has arrived in the capital, what is the specific, the court has not yet sent a letter back." Zhao Zi, after you return from Shengzhou, you should send people to pay close attention to the Yizhou area. In particular, it is necessary to prevent Gaochang from taking advantage of Chen Ximing's absence in Yizhou to send troops to fight the leader. ”

Zhao Zidao: "Deputy envoy, Gaochang and the Black Khanate are at war, and they can't spare troops to attack Yizhou. Besides, when Chen Ximing left Yizhou, he must have made arrangements, and Gaochang was not so easy to occupy. Xia Guan thought that the railway should be the most important, and the railway would be built wherever it went. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Although the two countries in the Western Regions are small, they should not be too underestimated. I thought it was right to be more serious. Your department first takes Juyan as the base place, and after the railway is repaired, escort the road construction team to the west. Wait until the railway is repaired to Xingxing Gorge, and then send troops to occupy Yizhou. ”

Fu Bi said: "I'm afraid that if I do this, there will be an accident in Yizhou." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The population of Yizhou is too small, that is, all the people are soldiers, how many people are there?" When the railway arrives, everything will be settled. As long as the railway is built to Yizhou, all the forces in the Western Regions are insignificant. At that time, tens of thousands of troops, and marching forward, which could stop it? If the railway is not reached, the army will move forward, after all, it will be a source of water, and it will be easily attacked by other forces. From Hezhou to the Western Regions, the distance is thousands of miles, and it is not easy to have a railway. ”

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhang Sheng beside him: "This time Zhao Zi went back, Deputy Envoy Zhang went with him and lived in Juyan temporarily. If there is something sent to you here, and the matter there, the deputy envoy will send it to Shengzhou. In another month or two, the railway will reach Juyan, and everything will be easy. ”

Zhang Sheng promised. This was one of the duties of the deputy envoy, and before the battle, he had to go to the front line to supervise the army. Chen Ximing's entry into Beijing, and the Song army's entry into Yizhou was imperative, and Zhao Zi could not dictate it. Fu Bi took the responsibility of supervising the army, and easily did not leave Du Zhongxiao's side, and Zhao Zi's supervision army could only be served by Zhang Sheng.

Du Zhongxiao said: "By the way, after the last war, the imperial court transferred troops, and some people were dismissed, and Zhao Zi's department had the least influence. After the railway was opened to Juyan, your troops withdrew from Hezhou and concentrated all of them in Juyan. Then he escorted the road construction team and built the railway to the west. ”

Zhao Zi promised and said, "In this way, the Western Regions will inevitably be shaken. When Chen Ximing entered Beijing this time, Gaochang was extremely nervous, and heard that troops were transferred back to Gaochang from the front line of the war with the Black Khanate. But in the end, because it's so far away, I don't know much about it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The current trade route is to the north, and after arriving in Fengzhou, go south, enter Hezhou, and then take the railway to Shengzhou." They are all Hu merchants in the Western Regions, and they can't be trusted with what they say. I really don't know what is going on in the Western Regions, everything is cautious. ”

The war in the Western Regions, Du Zhongxiao was a little tired. It's so far away, and a lot of things are unknown. You can't take risks, everything is done with caution, and you can't take risks. The distance is too far, beyond the reconnaissance range, and many things are inconvenient.