In the third year of orthodoxy, in mid-May, the Taihe Hall held a great pilgrimage as usual.

After entering May, the weather in the capital gradually became hot, which made the atmosphere of the Taihe Hall seem a little dull and depressing, and the civil and military officials who were standing with serious expressions obviously had not adapted to the hot weather, and some people had fine sweat stains oozing from their foreheads.

According to the process of the court discussion, the officials of the yamen of various ministries and courtyards in the capital went out in turn, and this process seemed very monotonous and boring, so that Li Yuntian wandered out of the world, standing there secretly thinking about the affairs of the Western Expeditionary Army.

In Li Yuntian's view, the Ming Dynasty was a complete waste of resources, although this could indeed show the emperor's prestige, but it greatly reduced the efficiency of the yamen.

However, in ancient times, it was a hierarchical society, and since the emperor could not leave the palace casually, the only way to highlight his existence was to strengthen and consolidate the imperial power.

According to the military intelligence report sent by the Western Expeditionary Army, after the ice and snow in the Western Regions melted in March, Song Hai waved his army to advance to the Yarkand region of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, preparing to destroy the army of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate entrenched there.

At the same time, Yang Sanyu, the Marquis of Chengning in Turpan City, also personally led an army of 150,000 to clear out the Northern Yuan army entrenched in Heishui City, the northern border of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

What is particularly important is that the southeast of Heishui City is the territory of the Seven Guards of Guanxi, and the Guanxi area can be described as the "big rear" of the Western Expeditionary Army outside Jiayu Pass, and the grain and grass of the Western Expeditionary Army transported from the Guannai are hoarded in Qinglong City, where the Guanxi camp of the Xiaowu Army is located, and then transported from Qinglong City to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

Once the Northern Yuan cavalry relied on its superior mobility ability to attack the grain transportation route, it would bring great trouble to the western expeditionary army.

Due to the concentration of the Northern Yuan army in Heishui City, Song Hai had to order the Liaodong Weisuo Army, which had previously rested at Jiayu Pass, to be stationed in Qinglong City to protect the grain transportation route of the Guanxi Army.

Although Jiangwutang was responsible for the supply of grain and grass for the Western Expeditionary Army, it could only transport the grain and grass to Qinglong City at most, and if it went west, it would have to rely on the Western Expeditionary Army to escort it by itself.

The reason for this is because the logistics support system of the Lecture Martial Arts in the Western Regions can only reach the Qinglong City at the farthest, and the Lecture Martial Arts Hall can ensure that the grain and grass arrive safely in the Green Dragon City, as for the future, the Western Expedition Army can only figure out its own way.

In other words, the main role of the Liaodong Guards Army is actually to protect the grain transportation route of the Western Expeditionary Army, which shows that Song Hai also attaches great importance to the logistics of the Western Expeditionary Army, after all, the Western Expeditionary Army is going to the Western Regions to fight this time, and logistics grain and grass are very important.

It was based on this willingness that Yang Sanyu decided to exterminate the Northern Yuan army in Heishui City, so that the Western Expeditionary Army could concentrate its forces against the army of the Timurid Empire.

According to the information sent back by Song Hai and Yang Sanyu in the past two months, the progress of both sides was very smooth, and they were like a bamboo along the way, defeating the Timurid Empire and the Northern Yuan army one after another.

Song Hai's army had already approached the Timurid Empire's stronghold in the Yarkand region at the end of April, and Yang Sanyu led his army to besiege Heishui City.

Although the artillery was transferred by Song Hai, Yang Sanyu brought a large amount of explosives to Heishui City this time, if there is no accident, Song Hai will conquer Heishui City in early May and eliminate the Northern Yuan army in Heishui City, and the battle situation in the Western Regions will be decided.

"The emperor, the empress dowager, Yang Sanyu, the deputy commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, sent someone to report that the Northern Yuan Army wanted to break through at night after the siege of Heishui City, but retreated to the city in embarrassment under the brave fighting of the soldiers of our Western Expeditionary Army."

Since the Western Expeditionary Army embarked on the journey, the final finale of each court meeting is naturally to read out the military report of the Western Expeditionary Army, which has become a practice in the past year, and today's court meeting is naturally no exception.

"In this battle, our western expeditionary army killed nearly 10,000 enemies, captured more than 9,000 people, and captured countless weapons and horses......"

Hearing this, Li Yuntian's brows couldn't help frowning slightly, although he didn't know what the situation of this battle was, but Yang Sanyu was suspected of exaggerating his military exploits, and Beiyuan would definitely not be stupid enough to launch a large-scale war at night, because the sharpest thing in Beiyuan was cavalry, and cavalry was not good at fighting at night.

Therefore, Li Yuntian concluded that Yang Sanyu must have exaggerated his military exploits, anyway, Heishui City was thousands of miles away from the capital division, and the imperial court had no way to verify it at all.

And Li Yuntian felt a little puzzled in his heart, since the Northern Yuan army was not the opponent of the Western Expeditionary Army led by Yang Sanyu, why didn't he leave Heishui City in advance, defending the city was not the strong point of the Northern Yuan Army, and as early as the Liaodong battlefield, the Northern Yuan Army had already learned the sharpness of the Great Ming Firearms, and he believed that Tuhuan would never be stupid enough to want to use the city wall to block the Western Expeditionary Army from attacking the city!

Zhang Hao and Niu Shihao's expressions darkened with the reading of this latest military information, and now the battle situation is becoming more and more favorable to the Ming Dynasty, unless an unbelievable accident occurs, otherwise the Western Expeditionary Army will definitely return triumphantly this time.

On the one hand, they hoped that the Western Expeditionary Army would win, and on the other hand, it was really difficult for them to give up such an opportunity to make contributions and leave a name in history.

It is foreseeable that this victory of the Western Expeditionary Army will definitely be recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and Song Hai and other generals of the Western Expeditionary Army will definitely be admired by future generations.

On the high platform, the corners of the mouth of the Empress Dowager Zhang, who was sitting on the first seat under the dragon chair, showed a smile, according to the current progress of the war in the Western Regions, this year's Western Expeditionary Army may return to the dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will use this victory to tell the world that it is the overlord of the world.

The civil and military officials in the main hall also thought that it was only a matter of time before the Western Expeditionary Army won the victory, and secretly speculated about what kind of reward Song Hai would get this time, whether he was ranked as the third duke or was fortunate enough to be able to enter the title of prince like Li Yuntian.

Because the Western Expeditionary Army was smooth sailing on the battlefield in the Western Regions, the gambling house in the capital then took advantage of this limelight to open a handicap, betting on how Song Hai, the Duke of Wuguo, would be rewarded by the imperial court after the Western Expeditionary Army, whether he would be promoted to the third prince or the prince.

Judging from the handicap, the casino still tends to rank Song Hai as the third duke, and Song Hai's achievements in the westward expedition are even worse.

Obviously, the reason why Li Yuntian was made a prince by Emperor Xuande with his edict was very clear, Li Yuntian not only opened up territory for the Ming Dynasty and returned the Zhancheng State and the Monan region to the Ming Dynasty, but also saved the Ming Dynasty from danger, and turned the tide when the Northern Yuan soldiers attacked the Northern Zhili and besieged the capital.

Therefore, Li Yuntian was not made a prince by Emperor Xuande for no reason, but followed certain rules and regulations, otherwise how could he serve the public?

It is precisely because Li Yuntian has two great achievements, expanding the territory and turning the tide, so after he was named the king, all the nobles of the Ming Dynasty were happy and convinced, and only in their hearts were envious and jealous, after all, Li Yuntian's title was fought on the battlefield with real swords and guns, and his exploits were really there.

Although Song Hai won the western expedition this time, he did not open up territory for the Ming Dynasty, and it was obvious that the Ming Dynasty could not cross the Eastern Chagatai Khanate to rule the Timurid Empire, and did not have the strength to save the Ming Dynasty in danger.

Therefore, unless Song Hai led his army all the way west to attack the Timurid Empire and occupied a certain area of the Timurid Empire, then it would be possible for him to follow Li Yuntian and become a prince by virtue of his efforts to expand the territory.

Song Hai definitely hopes to take advantage of the situation to attack the Timurid Empire, so that he can go to the prince, but because the front of the Western Expeditionary Army will be very long, there will be great risks, but it is undoubtedly worth it for Song Hai and other generals of the Western Expeditionary Army.

In this way, it depends on the attitude of the imperial court towards this matter, especially the meaning of the Empress Dowager Zhang, it is not a wise move for the Ming to cross the Eastern Chagatai Khanate to attack the Timurid Empire, and the Empress Dowager Zhang will not agree to do so.

But then again, before the expedition, the imperial court did not prohibit the Western Expeditionary Army from taking advantage of the victory to pursue the troops of the Timurid Empire into the territory of the Timurid Empire, and Song Hai and other generals of the Western Expeditionary Army could completely attack the Timurid Empire on this ground.

The crux of the matter is that even if Song Hai invaded the Timurid Empire, whether he could hold the captured area was the most important, and it was clear that the logistics of the Western Expeditionary Army could not support his stay in the Timurid Empire for a long time.

This is also the reason why the gambling house is not optimistic that Song Hai can enter the king, the gambling house is not for no reason to open the gambling handicap, secretly put a lot of effort into investigation and analysis, and finally came to a conclusion.

But the world is impermanent, in case the Empress Dowager of the Zhang clan is happy to let the orthodox emperor send a decree to enshrine Song Hai as the king, then Song Haike will become the new king with a different surname in the Ming Dynasty.

"Report!"

Just when the military attache in the military pavilion was reading the battle report sent by Yang Sanyu in a frustrated voice, a loud voice interrupted his words, and a guard officer on duty hurriedly walked into the Taihe Hall with a sealed official document in his hand, knelt in front of the hall under the surprised gaze of everyone, held the urgent report above his head with both hands, and said loudly to the orthodox emperor and the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, there are 100,000 urgent reports from the Guanxi camp of the Xiaowu Army. ”

Hearing this, the ministers in the palace couldn't help but look at each other and were very surprised by this, no one would have thought that there would be an urgent report from the Xiaowu Army Kansai Battalion, but what could the Xiaowu Army Kansai Battalion do?

"Suffered!" Li Yuntian's face suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but secretly say in his heart, it was obvious that this urgent report from the Guanxi battalion of the Xiaowu Army was very strange, which meant that something big must have happened in the Western Regions.

"Master, look at what this urgent report says?" The Empress Dowager Zhang said to Zhang Fu quietly, she was also very curious about this urgent report in her heart, and she didn't know what was going on.

"The emperor, the empress dowager, and the Marquis of Cheng Ning were attacked by the reinforcements of the Northern Yuan army outside the city of Heishui City, and were attacked by the Northern Yuan army inside and outside the city, and after a day and a night of fighting, they were finally defeated and withdrew to Turpan City."

Hearing this, Zhang Fu hurriedly stepped forward and took the official document, tore open the seal on it and opened it and glanced at it, his face suddenly changed greatly, and then he looked up at the Orthodox Emperor and the Empress Dowager of the Zhang family with a stunned expression, "The whereabouts of the Marquis of Chengning are unknown in the war, and the Northern Yuan army has now marched towards Turpan City, please deal with it as soon as possible!"

With a bang, as soon as this remark came out, the ministers of the cultural relics in the main hall suddenly became commotion, and they whispered in surprise in private.

Although Zhang Fu's statement is very euphemistic, saying that Yang Sanyu's Western Expeditionary Army "retreated" back to Turpan City after losing to the Northern Yuan Army in Heishui City, everyone knows that Yang Sanyu and his party were defeated in Heishui City, otherwise Yang Sanyu would not have lost his whereabouts.

This made everyone feel extremely shocked, one moment was still reading out the good news from Yang Sanyu, and the next moment the Western Expeditionary Army led by Yang Sanyu was defeated by the Northern Yuan Army, which was really incredible.

Li Yuntian shook his head helplessly, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, it seemed that as he expected, the Northern Yuan army was deliberately luring the enemy in Blackwater City, and its purpose was to make Yang Sanyu lead the army into the ambush circle set up, but Yang Sanyu crashed into it headlong, which eventually led to a fiasco.

"Master, you can see clearly!" The Empress Dowager Zhang was slightly stunned at first, obviously she didn't expect such a news, and then asked Zhang Fu repeatedly, her tone was a little excited.

"Empress Dowager, that's exactly what this urgent report says." Zhang Fu didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly read the contents of the battle report carefully, and then solemnly bowed to the Empress Dowager Zhang.

"How so!" The Empress Dowager Zhang's face suddenly became a little ugly, and she couldn't help muttering to herself, she really couldn't believe that Yang Sanyu, who had always been smooth sailing, had lost the battle inexplicably.

Zhang Hao and Niu Shihao couldn't help but glance at each other secretly, their eyes were full of shocked looks, and then they looked at Li Yuntian who frowned slightly, but they didn't expect that things were really as Li Yuntian had predicted before, and this expedition to the west was really bad and lucky!