Dunhuang.

Dunhuang is located in the westernmost section of the Hexi Corridor, and the most famous is the world-famous Mogao Grottoes, which are not only the only way for the Ming Dynasty to the Western Regions, Central Asia and Europe, but also an important part of the Silk Road.

The Silk Road of the Han Dynasty started from Chang'an and passed through the Hexi Corridor to Dunhuang, out of Yumen Pass and Yangguan, and was divided into two roads, north and south, along the northern foot of Kunlun Mountain and the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain.

The southern route starts from Dunhuang, passes through Loulan, crosses the green ridge and goes to rest, and west to Daqin, that is, ancient Rome.

The northern route from Dunhuang through Gaochang, Qiuzi, over the green ridge to Dawan.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, the Silk Road opened up a new route along the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, from Dunhuang through Hami and Balikun Lake, across the Ili River to the Fulin Kingdom, that is, the Eastern Roman Empire.

Since the Silk Road was the main transportation route from ancient China to the West, Dunhuang became a bright pearl on the Silk Road because of its important geographical location.

Through Dunhuang, ancient Chinese silk and advanced technology continued to spread westward to Central Asia, West Asia and even Europe, and products from the Western Regions also spread to the Central Plains.

According to historical records, the Silk Road was full of envoys, soldiers, merchants, and monks, and Dunhuang became the "throat key", where Hu merchants from the Western Regions and Han merchants from the Central Plains gathered to engage in the trade of silk and porcelain from the Central Plains, treasures from the Western Regions, camels and horses from the north and local grain.

At the same time, the Central Plains culture, Buddhist culture, West Asian and Central Asian cultures continue to spread to Dunhuang, where different Chinese and Western cultures converge, collide and blend, making Dunhuang a "Huarong intersection, a metropolis", a gathering of humanities and culture, these prosperous scenes are presented on the murals of Mogao Grottoes.

Qinglong City, where the Guanxi camp of the Xiaowu Army is located, is located in the northwest of the ancient city of Dunhuang more than 20 miles, is a huge city made of rocks, the city wall is tall and wide, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

It is rumored that when the Qinglong Castle was built, the Jiangwutang recruited up to 100,000 craftsmen and hired laborers from all over the Kansai region, and it took three years to finally complete the construction.

Today, Qinglong City has sprung up in the Western Regions in just two years, with a prosperous market and merchants, and has gradually become the most important commercial city in the Western Regions.

Obviously, this is the result of Li Yuntian's unsparing efforts to vigorously support Qinglong City, in his opinion, the Ming Dynasty needs to strengthen its control over the Kansai region, because only by firmly holding the Kansai region in his hands can he plot the Western Regions.

Because the situation in Kansai is complicated, Li Yuntian vigorously develops commerce and trade in Qinglong City in order to avoid the resistance of the Kansai Seven Guards, which not only makes the Qinglong City quickly prosperous but also promotes the exchange with the Kansai Seven Guards.

One afternoon in early July, at dusk, just as the gates of Qinglong City were about to close, the sky in the distance east of the city suddenly raised dust, and then there was a rumbling sound.

A major military attache of the Xiaowu Army on the tower of the city gate hurriedly looked at it with a monocular clairvoyant, only to see that under the cover of the afterglow of the sunset, hundreds of cavalry wearing the uniforms of the Xiaowu Army drove towards him, and a knight held a flag with three big characters written on it: "Lecture on Martial Arts".

"Quick, go and tell the commander that the guests from the capital are here." After seeing the flag with the words "Lecture on Martial Arts", the military attache of the major turned happy, and hurriedly gave an order to a lieutenant military attache beside him, and then sorted out the military uniform on his body and quickly walked down the city gate tower, and went out of the city to meet the cavalry team rushing forward.

With the sound of rumbling horses' hooves, the group of horsemen swept through the yellow sand and stopped in front of the city gates, and each knight wore a veil to protect against the wind and sand.

"My lord, I've been waiting for a long time, my lord is tired from the journey, please rest the process." The Major's military attache walked quickly up to one of the veiled knights in the lead, bowed to him, and made a respectful gesture of please.

"Thank you for your hard work." This veiled knight is naturally Li Yuntian, for the sake of safety, hundreds of elite Xiaowu cavalry escorted him all the way from Jiayuguan to Qinglong City, he bowed slightly to the major military attache and then entered the city with his legs between his legs, and the major military attache rode a horse parked on the side and led the way in front.

After entering the city, the military attache of the major methodically introduced the buildings in the city to Li Yuntian.

Li Yuntian had already seen the planning map of Qinglong City, but when he saw the buildings with strong Western Regions characteristics neatly arranged on both sides of the streets in the city, he still felt quite satisfied, and the development of Qinglong City had exceeded his expectations.

Although it is already dusk, the streets of the city are still bustling with pedestrians wearing various costumes, including Han people from the Central Plains and Lakers from the Western Regions.

Since the establishment of Qinglong City, the goods transported to the Ming Dynasty in the Western Regions and the goods transported to the Western Regions by the Ming Dynasty have to transit here.

In fact, as early as the construction of Qinglong City, its reputation has spread all over the Western Regions, after all, such a huge project, the countries of the Western Regions simply cannot afford it, and only the Ming Dynasty can have such strong financial resources.

The people of the Guanxi camp of the Xiaowu Army also deliberately promoted the Qinglong City, so after the construction of the Qinglong City, many people and merchants from the Western Regions poured in, and its marketing strategy was very successful.

It is worth mentioning that many craftsmen and hired workers who built the Blue Dragon City moved their families to the Green Dragon City and became the first residents of the Green Dragon City.

Although Qinglong City was prosperous in commerce, its essence was a military fortress placed by Li Yuntian in Guanxi, which combined military and civilian, so there was a large barracks that could accommodate 100,000 people in the south and north cities.

Under the guidance of the military attache of the major, Li Yuntian and his entourage went to the barracks in the south of the city, which was the station of the Guanxi camp of the Qinglong Army, one of the four major legions of the Xiaowu Army.

According to Li Yuntian's plan, the full number of soldiers in the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army should be 80,000, which is higher than the 50,000 of the Liaodong battalion of the Xiaowu Army and the Datong battalion of the Xiaowu Army.

However, up to now, the strength of the Xiaowu Army's Kansai Battalion is only 30,000, and it is not that the Xiaowu Army's Kansai Battalion can't recruit people, you must know that the treatment of the Xiaowu Army is the best in the entire Western Regions, and young people from the Western Regions who want to join the army abound.

However, if you want to join the Xiaowu Army, you must first pass the physical examination, and only young people who meet the requirements of the physical examination can join the army and become a member of the Xiaowu Army Kansai Battalion, which makes the soldiers of the Xiaowu Army Kansai Battalion have always been vacant.

After all, the most suitable people in the Kansai region to join the army have been recruited by the Kansai Seven Guards, and it is rare that the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army can snatch 30,000 troops from the hands of the Kansai Seven Guards.

Due to the scarcity of materials in the Western Regions and the poverty of the people, the 30,000 soldiers recruited by the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army were generally malnourished.

If it weren't forced by life, who would want to leave their hometown to join the army and live a life with their heads pinned to their belts, so the young people who came to serve as soldiers naturally had poor living conditions at home and couldn't eat enough.

Li Yuntian is not afraid of the thinness of those who enlist in the army, in his opinion, as long as he is healthy, after a year and a half of military life, his physique will naturally become stronger.

In fact, it is precisely like this, in just half a year, the recruits of the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army, who were originally thin and weak, have undergone earth-shaking changes, their arms and legs are obviously thicker, and the whole person looks powerful.

Li Yuntian's residence in the barracks in the south of the city has been arranged, it is an independent small courtyard, and the environment is relatively quiet because it is located in the warehouse of the barracks.

Entering the small courtyard, Li Yuntian took off the veil on his face and asked people to prepare water for bathing, July was the hot season in the Western Regions, along the way, he not only had a stinky sweat but also had a lot of sand and dust on his body, he couldn't wait to take a refreshing cold shower.

"Lord Wang!" When Li Yuntian took a comfortable bath, the commander of the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army, Yiwu Bolu Minen, and the commander of the Liaodong Guard, Ning Mingbo and Xue Wu, had already led his important generals to wait in the living room.

To tell the truth, Li Yuntian's arrival surprised everyone, after all, the situation in the Western Regions is critical now, and the Timurid Empire and the Northern Yuan coalition army may come to Qinglong City at any time, and it is too dangerous for Li Yuntian to come here at this time as the prince of the Ming Dynasty.

However, with the arrival of Li Yuntian, Lu Minen and Xue Wu, who were nervous in their hearts, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, the two of them were not yet ready to face the Timurid Empire and the Northern Yuan Army, after all, the elite Western Expeditionary Army was not an opponent, let alone them who lacked soldiers and major generals.

Now that Li Yuntian is here, the burden on the shoulders of Lu Minen and Xue Wu can finally be lifted, with Li Yuntian in charge, they only need to lead the army to fight, and other matters will be solved by Li Yuntian.

"What's the latest in the battle now?" After taking the first seat in the living room, Li Yuntian waved his hand to the people at the scene and motioned for them to sit down on the round stools on the left and right, and then asked Lu Minen and Xue Wu quietly.

"Lord Yu, according to the latest battle report, due to the sudden defeat of the Duke of Wuguo, the Marquis of An Yong and the Great Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and others did not have time to evacuate, and were besieged by the armies of the Western Chagatai and the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Beshi Bali City." Lu Minen bowed to Li Yuntian when he heard this, and said in a deep voice, "In addition, there is still no news of Wu Guogong and Cheng Ninghou, life and death are unpredictable!" ”