According to the Shaanxi envoy Zhu Xieyuan, it was the first time to come to Zhenyuanguan. Mo Yuegen led an army of 50,000 and arrived at Zhenyuan Pass, he had already learned from Xu Xingxia. This made Zhu Xieyuan's mood very uneasy all the time. On the way from the Black Mountain Battalion to Zhenyuan Pass, he was always worried about what serious consequences would happen if the white-clothed army could not hold Zhenyuan Pass. It wasn't until he saw Wei Ran's towering Xiongguan that his heart was a little more steady.

Zhenyuanguan, who appeared in front of Zhu Xieyuan, absolutely subverted all his previous speculations. Before this, no matter what Zhu Xieyuan thought, he couldn't have imagined that Zhenyuan Pass was so majestic and so majestic. Looking at it from a distance, Zhenyuanguan looked like a tiger lying on the ground, which could stand up at any time and get out of control.

According to the introduction, the height of the city wall of Zhenyuanguan, the shortest place, is more than five zhang. Some of the more dangerous places even exceed Qizhang. At the top of the city wall, in the narrowest place, there is a zhang. At its widest, it is even five zhang. As for the base of the city wall, there are also three zhang in the narrowest place. At its widest, it is even ten zhang. This scale is almost as big as some big cities. Even in the capital, it's just that.

Knowing that such a majestic pass was built in less than half a year, Zhu Xieyuan only had deep reflection in addition to admiration. What he can be sure of is that if he were to build Zhenyuan Pass by himself, there would be absolutely no way to build Zhenyuan Pass to the current extent in such a short period of time. This speed of construction is terrifying.

At the beginning, Wang Qiong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, in order to build a new Great Wall in Ningxia Town, took ten years and spent tens of millions of dollars. The new Great Wall in Ningxia Town, which has been in use for less than 20 years, is already in dilapidation. All you can see now is piles of ruins. However, Zhenyuan Pass, according to Zhu Xieyuan's estimates, can hold out for at least fifty years.

When Zhu Xieyuan came to Zhenyuanguan, there were still a large number of people, and some follow-up auxiliary facilities were being built. Mainly batteries and the like. The positive surnames of the people are obviously very high. In this cold winter, they were all in full swing and sweating. Zhu Xieyuan was very emotional. Such a situation seems to be only seen in Ningxia Town. In other places, even if there is money and food, the positive surnames of the people are not so high.

"This Xu Xingxia, what kind of magic does it have to make the people so positive? What kind of charm does he have that can make the military households in Ningxia Town so desperate for him? Along the way, Zhu Xieyuan was thinking about such questions. You must know that Xu Xingxia is not yet twenty years old. Is it just because of his perverted archery skills that such a stinky young man can make so many people willing to give him his life?

This is of course impossible. Seriously, in the army of the Ming Dynasty, there are not no officers with excellent martial arts. It seems that officers like Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian are actually very capable of fighting. Their archery skills are actually quite good. The problem is that they are basically big and coarse, and they don't even know a few big characters. It is absolutely impossible for them to make the same results as Xu Xingxia.

"Lord Zhu?"

Xu Xingxia suddenly shouted softly.

He found that Zhu Xieyuan was a little distracted, so he called out casually.

"Oh, I'm fine."

Zhu Xieyuan sobered up from his thoughts and said with a slight disguise.

Vaguely, Zhu Xieyuan felt that in front of Xu Xingxia, he actually had a taste of bowing to the wind. This is the feeling that he, a civil official of the third grade, has never had. In the past, not to mention that Xu Xingxia, a young man, was the chief military officer of Zhengyipin, in front of Zhu Xieyuan, he was an ant-like existence, and it was impossible to bow down at all.

Why do you feel this way? Zhu Xieyuan pondered and pondered, and finally figured it out. Actually, the reason is very simple. That's what he understands, and Xu Xingxia almost understands it. And what Xu Xingxia understands, he almost doesn't understand. In front of Xu Xingxia, he was almost transparent. His thoughts, in front of Xu Xingxia, have almost no possibility of secrecy. However, in front of Xu Xingxia, there was chaos, and he couldn't see through it.

This kind of information asymmetry naturally makes Zhu Xieyuan feel uneasy. While feeling uneasy, I also felt that I was not as good as Xu Xingxia. To be honest, in Zhu Xieyuan's mind, Xu Xingxia does have too many secrets. For example, how did his moon gun come about? For example, how did his archery skills come about? Another example is how his cultural knowledge came from. All of this is so abnormal.

"Lord Zhu, this is a city wall made of cement concrete. In front of the city wall, all the granite used is large blocks. At the top and behind the walls, blue bricks are used. The inside of the city wall is all cement concrete. In some key places, the inside of the city walls, there are also large blocks of granite. Xu Xingxia said eloquently.

At the beginning, in order to speed up the construction of Zhenyuan Pass, Xu Xingxia made a decision on the spot and used a large number of stones. Anyway, Helan Mountain has all kinds of granite. Relatively speaking, the hardness of granite is still very good. Using granite stone heads as the front of the city wall can effectively block the bombardment of siege weapons. The rest of the city walls were also strengthened. It can be said that the strength of Zhenyuan Pass is definitely the first in the world.

"Oh." Zhu Xieyuan nodded in response. In fact, when he came to Zhenyuanguan, Zhu Xieyuan already felt that the construction quality of Zhenyuanguan should be very good. After all, he has been an official for decades, and he still understands some basic common sense. If Xu Xingxia tries to fool around, he will definitely be laughed at.

For example, the battlements made of green bricks and cement are very strong, and even if they are smashed with a sledgehammer, it is difficult to completely smash the battlements. As for the solid bullet ejected by the Franc machine, it is estimated that only a small piece will collapse. Even if you use a red-coated cannon to smash it, it is estimated that it will be difficult to smash it apart with one or two shells. The soldiers, hiding behind the battlements, were apparently safe. However, with such a strong Xiongguan, Zhu Xieyuan felt that it was a bit overkill. The nomads outside Xiongguan don't have any powerful siege weapons.

"I don't know how much it will cost to be so strong?" Zhu Xieyuan asked with interest.

"The labor cost is about 50,000 taels of silver. The cost of materials is about 30,000 taels of silver. All of them add up, and it is estimated to be about 80,000 taels of silver. Xu Xingxia said casually.

"What a frugality!" Zhu Xieyuan said with a heartfelt sigh.

Such a majestic pass fortress actually cost only 80,000 taels of silver! If these words hadn't come out of Xu Xingxia's mouth, Zhu Xieyuan wouldn't have believed it at all. Because, if the imperial court is replaced, the cost will increase at least tenfold. 800,000 taels of silver are less, and more than 1 million taels is about the same. Even if he Zhu Xieyuan personally stared at it, it would be absolutely impossible without 500,000 taels of silver. No way, there are too many unspoken rules.

At the beginning, the new Great Wall built by Wang Qiong was much smaller than that of Zhenyuanguan, and it also cost more than 500,000 taels of silver. According to Xu Xingxia's estimation of the cost of building Zhenyuanguan, the cost of the new Great Wall will be 50,000 taels of silver at most. So, where did the rest of the more than 400,000 taels of silver go, you can think of it with your heels. Naturally, it went into someone else's pocket.

In terms of personal recuperation, Zhu Xieyuan and Huang Kezhang are both relatively honest officials. Some ushering gifts will be accepted as long as the value is not very large. Sometimes it's possible to be greedy for a little bit once in a while. If they don't be greedy for a little money, they won't be enough to spend. At the beginning, Lao Zhu set the salary for the officials, and it was estimated that it was not enough to even drink porridge. However, there has never been a large amount of corruption.

However, their own relative incorruptibility does not guarantee that other officials will also be incorruptible. As the judicial prosecutor in charge of a province, Zhu Xieyuan is the most aware of the corruption situation of officials. Among the 100 officials of the Ming Dynasty, one is not greedy, which is already very good. There are so many rats lurking in every corner of the Ming Dynasty, as long as they see the silver of the white flowers, they will immediately pounce on them like hungry wolves and divide them. Out of one hundred taels of silver, if you can really use it in the end, ten taels of silver is considered good.

It's just that there are so many big rats, all of them have a backstage. Even if he, as an inspector, wants to catch a few typical examples and show them to the public, killing chickens and monkeys, the people here have not been arrested yet, and they have just started to investigate, and the intercessors over there have already arrived. The officials in these years, except for a few people such as him and Huang Kezhang, the rest of the people are all in groups and forming parties. What kind of Donglin Party, Chu Party, Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, and Kun Party, it is a mess, and even Lord Shoufu can't handle it, let alone local officials like them.

I really have the intention to kill the thief, and I can't go back to heaven.

"Lord Zhu, please!" Xu Xingxia reminded intentionally or unintentionally.

He found that after Zhu Xieyuan arrived at Zhenyuan Pass, he was always distracted, and he didn't know what he was thinking. It is estimated that there are many new things in the white army, which opened Zhu Xieyuan's eyes and made him feel fresh, and at the same time, he also had a lot of deep feelings. That's a good thing. This shows that Zhu Xieyuan still has the possibility of self-redemption. If he is insensitive to everything around him and ignores it, then there is no need to fight for it.

"Thank you!" Zhu Xieyuan nodded and raised the clairvoyant mirror.

It was the first time he had used a clairvoyant, and at first, he felt a little unaccustomed. Later, I slowly found the way to use it, and I gradually got used to it. In fact, standing on the top of Zhenyuan Pass, looking at the Gobi Desert in the north, everything in the clairvoyant mirror is very desolate. However, he soon spotted the shadow of the Tatar sentry in the clairvoyant. This made Zhu Xieyuan's nerves suddenly highly tense.

These Tatar sentinels are probably under the command of Mo Yuegen. Sure enough, they crossed the Tengger Desert and appeared near Zhenyuan Pass. If it was before, when he suddenly met Mo Yuegen's troops, Zhu Xieyuan really didn't have much confidence. Looking at the appearance of the Tatar cavalry, you know that they are quite arrogant. And he still has a little understanding of the combat effectiveness of the troops under his command. A Ming army of 10,000 can block a thousand Tartars, which is a good result. If it is a battle in the field, it is estimated that a Ming army of 10,000 will not be able to stop a thousand Tartar cavalry.

Now, Mo Yuegen led an army of 50,000 to the east, and without a Ming army of 500,000, he couldn't stop it at all. Is there a Ming army of 500,000 in Ningxia Town? Of course not. All the Ming troops in the four towns in the northwest combined, there were no 500,000 people. The Ming army in Gansu Town, under the Yinwei of the Tartars, did not consider resistance at all, and surrendered directly to the Tartars. But now, he feels quite grounded. Because, next to him, is Xu Xingxia's white-clothed army.

In the town of Gansu, the White-Clothed Army had already defeated Mo Yuegen, forcing him to fight eastward. Since you can defeat Mo Yuegen once, you can naturally continue to defeat him a second time. Mo Yuegen's prestige, in front of Xu Xingxia, there is actually not much left. Therefore, Zhu Xieyuan is still looking forward to the victory in the battle. For him, if he could see Mo Yuegen and Lin Dan Khan defeated at the same time, it would definitely be a happy event.

When he arrived at Zhenyuanguan, Xu Xingxia had already told Zhu Xieyuan about the basic situation of Ningxia Town. Even, including some secrets of the White Army, were told to Zhu Xieyuan. He did this, of course, for a purpose. Zhu Xieyuan tried to draw Xu Xingxia over, why didn't Xu Xingxia try to pull Zhu Xieyuan over? Zhu Xieyuan hoped to turn Xu Xingxia into a member of the imperial court, but Xu Xingxia hoped to turn Zhu Xieyuan into a member of the white-clothed army. This kind of secret struggle has already begun when Zhu Xieyuan arrived at the border of Ningxia Town.

Although Zhu Xieyuan's surname is Zhu and he is a Sanyuan of Zhengsanpin, he is not a member of the Zhu family's royal family. There is a limit to his loyalty to the imperial court. To be precise, he is not the kind of official who only knows foolishness. He is a relative surname and has his own ideas and opinions. Unlike some of the more loyal officials, Zhu Xieyuan would rather see Xu Xingxia rebel than see the Tatars or Mongols penetrate deep into the Central Plains. In terms of arranging the enemy's dangerous surnames, he definitely put Mo Yuegen and Lin Dan Khan in front of Xu Xingxia.

This idea makes him and Xu Xingxia closer in some concepts. For example, in the book, in terms of dealing with enemies and foreign enemies, both of them agree with the basic principle that people who are not of our race must have different hearts. In terms of strategy, both men agreed to adopt an attitude of force to suppress. In other words, the two sides have a certain common language. In Xu Xingxia's view, on the basis of seeking common ground while reserving differences, as long as there is a common language, it is easy to do.

(To be continued)