Dunhuang is located in the west of Liangzhou. Located on the Silk Road, an important transportation route to the Western Regions, Central Asia and even Europe, it once had prosperous commercial activities. Here, there are former frontier fortresses such as Yumenguan and Yangguan on the border of the Great Wall of Han Dynasty.
From the former Great Chu State to the present Great Yan Empire, Dunhuang has always been ruled by the Central Plains Dynasty and served as a trade station from Liangzhou to the Western Regions and the West. At the same time, this is also the center of gravity of Liangzhou in the west.
In the western region of Liangzhou, in addition to the Han people, there are also Turks, Tuguhun people, Dangxiang people, Tubo people and other various ethnic groups besides the Han people. Even here, you can see a lot of people from the Western Regions.
In the past, this was an important place for commerce and trade, and an important place for transactions between merchants from Dayan and merchants from the Western Regions. However, there are now fewer caravans coming and going here.
Around Dunhuang, thieves abounded, and bandits on horseback were everywhere. It is impossible to survive with caravans coming and going. More importantly, the countries in the Western Regions also began to take advantage of Liangzhou's weakness and, under the instigation of some people, began to invade the western areas of Liangzhou. Among them, Shanshan and Qiewei Liangfu in the west of Dunhuang were occupied by people from the Western Regions, and local governments were established and independent.
Although these two places were under the jurisdiction of the people of the Western Regions in the past, in the middle period of the Great Yan Dynasty, they were captured by the Great Yan Dynasty, prefectures and counties were established, and became the administrative areas of the Great Yan Dynasty. But now, it is lost again. Seeing that Liangzhou had no counterattack measures, the other states in the Western Regions began to gradually put aside their fear of Dayan and began to invade Dayan's land.
In early June, there was a big battle between the Liangzhou army and the armies of Gaochang and other countries in the land of Yiwu. In the end, the allied forces of the Western Regions retreated, and the Liangzhou Army also suffered seven to eight thousand casualties. It is also because of this that the countries in the Western Regions have restrained themselves a little.
Nowadays, the one stationed in Dunhuang is Xu Ye, the left-guard general under the governor of Liangzhou. Speaking of which, Xu Ye's reputation in Liangzhou is quite strong. In the past, the Liangzhou government army rebelled, and Xu Ye led the army to fight and defeated it. It was also because of this that he was named Pingliang Marquis by Emperor Xuanwu.
However, Xu Ye himself knew that he, the Liangzhou Zuowei General, was superficially superficial, but actually very miserable. Although he was in charge of the armies of the three prefectures in the west of Liangzhou, the total number of troops and horses in his hands was only a little over 10,000. Moreover, this was all Xiangyong who he had pulled up himself.
In the three western prefectures of Liangzhou, except for Jiuquan, almost no Liangzhou official is truly in charge of the government in the remaining two prefectures. In other words, Xu Ye now holds the power of the three mansions. It stands to reason that many people would be satisfied with such a result. However, considering the situation in the three western prefectures, anyone sitting in this position will not be in a good mood.
In the land of the Three Prefectures, the people's livelihood is in decline, and the local power is strong, so it is necessary to protect itself by holding a fort. Local government orders are difficult to get out of the administrative office. Local prefectures and counties may not necessarily have jurisdiction over all matters within the prefecture and county.
The problem that gave Xu Ye a headache was not the lack of troops. At the beginning, Xu Ye still asked Situ Fei, the governor of Liangzhou, for help because he still had insufficient troops to guard the place. Situ Fei allowed Xu Ye to recruit himself. In this way, military strength is not a problem, but the problem is the money and food needed to recruit soldiers and maintain them.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Out out of Situ Fei's order, Xu Ye was the most proficient in fighting in Liangzhou. He was in charge of the rotten land in the west of Liangzhou, and Xu Ye was the only one to do so. Therefore, Xu Ye was allowed to recruit troops on his own, and the money and food needed for the three prefectures should be taken by himself. In other words, Situ Fei gave all the money and food of the three mansions to Xu Ye, allowing him to ask for it to support the troops guarding the place. However, Xu Ye also had to take responsibility for the military formation in western Liangzhou and must not allow foreign enemies to invade.
On the surface, Xu Ye is equivalent to a governor with autonomy, similar to a prince, who can be controlled by the army. However, among the three prefectures, the government affairs of Jiuquan were controlled by officials sent from Liangzhou and could not be used by Xu Ye. Of course, Xu Ye had no interest in government affairs. The problem is that among the three prefectures, only Jiuquan is relatively stable and can provide money and food. As for the other two prefectures, it is considered good not to allow the government to provide relief.
The officials in Jiuquan often used various excuses to deny Xu Ye the money and food he needed. Therefore, although Xu Ye recruited another 20,000 young men in Sanfu, he was unable to make them soldiers. Even the most basic weapons and equipment are difficult to equip. In this case, how to defend the place? This gave Xu Ye a headache. In fact, let alone without Jiuquan, even if Jiuquan Mansion was established, it would be difficult for Xu Ye to continue to be in charge of western Liangzhou.
Xu Ye knew very well that if he wanted to stabilize the western part of Liangzhou, it would not work without the support of the entire Liangzhou. If the countries in the Western Regions are included, I am afraid that the support of the entire Yong army will be needed to retreat from the enemy.
Seeing that horse thieves were everywhere under his rule and it was difficult for the people to survive, Xu Ye also began to hate Situ Fei. If Situ Fei hadn't deliberately made things difficult for him, why would this have happened?
It is also because of this that after Zhao Jun's men came again, Xu Ye went straight to the topic with the opponent. Regarding what the other party said to convince him, Xu Ye did not look back directly.?Instead, we asked the other party how to deal with the western issue.
The person Zhao Jun came to persuade Xu Ye this time was Wei Zilin. Wei Zilin came here in person in order to succeed in one fell swoop and completely make Xu Ye surrender to Zhao Jun.
"General Xu is indeed a benevolent person who treats the people well and cares about the local people's livelihood." Wei Zilin's face straightened and he praised sincerely. Then he asked, "General Xu, how do the disasters in these three prefectures compare with those in the northern part of Bingzhou? How do the countries in the Western Regions compare with the Turkic tribes?"
Xu Ye said sternly: "The land of these three prefectures is just full of horse bandits, powerful locals, and many forts. How can it be compared with the northern part of Bingzhou, which is invaded by Turkic troops on the outside and fights with the princes on the inside. As for The countries in the Western Regions are far inferior to the Turkic tribes. In fact, there are also a large number of Turkic tribes in the north of the Western Regions, but they are not as powerful as the Turkic tribes in the north of Bingzhou and Xiazhou. "
"Very good!" Wei Zilin said with a smile, "Since General Xu is very familiar with the situation in Bingzhou and Xiazhou, Wei will not go into details anymore. The strength of this Turkic army far exceeds the local horse thieves and the The countries in the Western Regions. Since my lord is willing to give up fighting for hegemony with the Central Plains princes for the sake of the people of Bingzhou, doesn¡¯t this explain the problem? This time Wei came here to solve the hidden dangers in the west of Liangzhou. "
Xu Ye said in a deep voice: "So, King Zhao is preparing to march to Liangzhou? But now the Zhao army is suppressing the Turkic tribes, can they send troops here immediately? It's not that I underestimate the strength of the Zhao army, but Liangzhou After all, it is too far away from the Zhao army, especially in the western region. If we want to completely stabilize this area, we need to dispatch the army immediately to subdue these horse thieves and local powerful people by force. In addition, we must also settle the poor people in the three western prefectures. This requires huge logistical support, and the amount of food and supplies required is not small. Even transporting these to this place is not easy.¡±
Wei Zilin laughed and said: "General Xu really underestimated me, Zhao Jun, and also my lord! The people in the north of Bingzhou were also living in dire straits, and were even worse than the people here. What will be the result? Not only He defeated the Northern Army of Bingzhou and completely drove out the Turkic troops. In addition, he also rescued hundreds of thousands of Han people from various tribes on the Turkic grassland. Aren't these the food and supplies our Lord needed to pacify them? , are there fewer people? There are more people in the three prefectures in the west of Liangzhou than in the north of Bingzhou? "
As he said that, Wei Zilin's face suddenly turned cold, "Besides, in this land of the Three Prefectures in the West, there are quite a few people who have a lot of food. Even if it is inconvenient for me to transport it, it will be difficult to transport it for a while, but as long as our Zhao army arrives, , General Xu has returned to my lord, and the food in these places is not left to us to ask for? Does General Xu still identify with the source of cholera in these places?"
Xu Ye certainly understood what Wei Zilin knew about the people, that is, the powerful families and foreign power groups in the Three Prefectures in the West. In addition, there were also some large gangs of horse bandits. No matter when, even if the people starve to death, these powerful families will not be short of food.
Xu Ye frowned and said: "I believe that Zhao Jun can do this, and I also believe that King Zhao has the ability to seek welfare for the people here. However, the place where Xu lives is one of the three prefectures in the west of Liangzhou, which is not connected to Zhao Jun. They are even far apart. If Zhao Jun wants to reach this place, he can only defeat the Liangzhou Army."
"But once your army takes action, the governor will definitely ask Xu to mobilize troops to the east of Liangzhou to fight with your army. Then, the situation here will be unpredictable. By then, there will be no army guarding here. Then, Gaochang and other countries will We will not miss this opportunity. As for the people above the local level, they will suffer. "
"Furthermore, although the Governor was harsh on Xu, Xu was not willing to change and betray the Governor. After all, His Highness King Yong was still kind to Xu."
Wei Zilin smiled and said: "My lord has already solved these problems. General Xu also understands how prestige our Zhao has on the grassland now. I dare not say anything else. At least, no tribe dares to attack me. Zhao is disrespectful. Although your three western prefectures are located at the northwest end of Liangzhou, they are also located in the southern part of the western Turkic tribe. Who dares to stop our Zhao army from passing through the grassland? "
Looking at the arrogance on Wei Zilin's face, Xu Ye couldn't help but feel envious. To be honest, he also admires Zhao Jun's current strong posture. Being able to make the always arrogant and arrogant Turkic tribes lower their heads cannot but make him, as an iron-blooded soldier, feel yearned for.
Xu Ye frowned and said, "According to Mr. Wei's wishes, your army is going to take the road from the northern grassland and enter here directly?"
Wei Zilin said solemnly: "Yes, this is also my lord's intention. It's okay that the western part of Liangzhou is in trouble, but the countries in the Western Regions dare to take advantage of me, Dayan, which is unforgivable. Therefore, no matter what General Xu decides, , I am bigThe army must definitely come here to make the countries in the Western Regions understand that the Han territory is not something they can invade casually. "
Looking at Xu Ye's ugly face, Wei Zilin smiled again and said: "Of course, General Xu, don't make a decision in a hurry. Let's take a look at this first." With that, he collected the information about the Liangzhou Army's betrayal of Liang by the Shadow Division. In exchange for the state's interests, the intelligence of joining forces with the Western Regions to fight against the Zhao army was handed over to Xu Ye.
"Is this true?" After reading the information Wei Zilin handed him, Xu Ye said in an ugly tone.
"Of course, now, we have sent people to try every possible means to prevent Situ Fei from doing this. Otherwise, once he is allowed to join forces, even if we send troops to suddenly attack here, it will be difficult to withstand the flanking attacks from the Western Region countries and the Liangzhou Army. After all, , We will not have many troops suddenly appearing here. The situation here is simply unable to support the needs of the army," Wei Zilin said in a solemn voice.
"What, General Xu, it's time to make a decision now! In terms of kindness, Emperor Xuanwu was more kind to you than Situ Lei. Now, everyone knows that Emperor Xuanwu died at the hands of Situ Lei. You said Situ Lei You can't turn your back on him. So, if Emperor Xuanwu is kind to you, why do you ignore it? Is it true that General Xu is reluctant to give up the power of General Zuowei? "
Xu Ye's expression suddenly changed and he said angrily: "Nonsense! I have a clear conscience! Don't you know whether Emperor Xuanwu died at the hands of King Yong? The pedantic people in the world can be deceived, but you and I are both Understand people.¡±
Wei Zilin sneered: "Really? But there is one thing you can't deny, that is, if Situ Lei hadn't pushed too hard, why would Emperor Xuanwu express his attitude by dying? In order to gain the support of the Turks, Situ Lei wanted to sacrifice the royal princess . In order to justify his future seizure of power, he even prepared his son to marry the princess. Such behavior is treasonous and should be done by a traitor. "
"Hmph Talking about rebellious ministers and traitors, King Zhao and King Yong are so similar!" Xu Ye responded coldly.
"Really? Do you dare to say that Situ Lei can compare with my lord? You, Xu Ye, ask yourself, among the princes in the world, who can do what my lord has done? Defeat the Mohe tribes first, and regain the land of Youbei. After that, the entire Mohe tribes will be defeated. All the Khitan tribes and tribes were under his control, and they expanded their territory. Who can compare with him?"
"The princes of the Central Plains are busy seizing political power, but my lord is alone on the northern border to guard the border for the entire Yan Dynasty. He defeated the Turkic army in both directions. Now, the Turkic tribes are even more fragmented, so that they have to surrender. Under my lord. Did my lord do anything rebellious when he was Emperor Xuanwu? The current situation of the Zhao army was achieved step by step, and it was all beneficial to the place."
"Let's talk about what Situ Lei is doing? Even if Emperor Xuanwu was not killed by him, after Situ Lei learned about the death of Emperor Xuanwu, he massacred members of the royal family. Several princes were killed and three princesses died. Could it be that these are all lies? You are so favored by the emperor, but you turn a blind eye to it. Emperor Xuanwu still regards you as a loyal minister and good general."
After saying that, Wei Zilin smiled coldly and said contemptuously: "If Xu Ye is willing to die for Situ Fei and ignore the people of these three prefectures, then the entire land of three prefectures will become a racecourse for the countries in the Western Regions. I just don't know, In the future, will these people forgive General Xu, whom they regard as their savior?"
"Besides, you said it yourself, you don't get along with Situ Fei. In fact, Situ Fei tried to kill you many times. If you don't think about yourself, you should also think about your family. If Situ Fei Fei is the master of the Ming Dynasty, so it is worthy of praise for you to die like this. However, if you continue to serve Situ Fei now, you will definitely be infamous for thousands of years in the future. Situ Fei will not bear the responsibility and can bear it. The only one who gets this reputation is you, Xu Ye." Wei Zilin looked at Xu Ye and scolded.
Xu Ye's face changed. After a long while, he smiled bitterly and said: "Xu did not say that he abandoned the people of these three prefectures and helped Situ Fei to do evil. Xu cannot afford to bear such a crime."
Wei Zilin laughed and said: "Very good! General Xu is indeed a benevolent and righteous person. This move will do great good to the people of the three prefectures."
Now that the words have been spoken, Xu Ye no longer hesitates and asks directly: "When will your army take action? How does Xu Ye need to cooperate?"
Wei Zilin said in a deep voice: "Now, General Xu should no longer call my Zhao army your army. From today on, you and I are fellow ministers. As for our army's movements, we still need one month of preparation. Finally, At the very least, we must settle the problems of the Turkic tribes."
"General Xu also knows that the lord wants to divide the Turkic tribes into three, divide them into three regions, and entrust three khans, so that they cannot unite and confront our army, and it will also facilitate the gradual annexation of Zhao by us in the future. But now most of the eastern and central parts have begun to succumb to our great Zhao, but the western parts are still resisting.?, just in case, in the future when we are operating here, there will be chaos in the north again, so the army must first suppress the Turkic tribes to determine the general situation. "
"General Xu, although our army cannot move during this month, your task is not small. First, you have to completely control those Situ Fei among the generals. When the army arrives, we need to In the shortest time, we can complete the takeover of the three prefectures, at least the two prefectures of Dunhuang and Yiwu in the west, and have a stable place to station troops under our control. "
"Secondly, you must find out the headquarters of the powerful, aliens and horse thieves in the Three Prefectures within this month. This will also allow our army to arrive and completely pacify them in the shortest possible time. It can benefit the people and save us from future worries.¡±
"The most important thing is that during this month, if Situ Fei gives you an order to mobilize any military, you have to find ways to delay it. It is best to find ways to mobilize some of the troops to the counties of Jiuquan Prefecture. It is convenient for us to capture the most prosperous area in the Three Prefectures, and it can also be used as our frontline to resist the Liangzhou Army's counterattack. "
After Wei Zilin finished speaking, Xu Ye looked at the other party and said in a deep voice: "Brother Wei told Xu about the matter so easily, aren't you afraid that Xu will tell the governor of Liangzhou about the matter?"
Wei Zilin smiled and said: "My lord admires General Xu very much. If General Xu does this, then it means that General Xu cannot be valued by my lord. What's more, even without General Xu, I, Zhao, will attack Liang." The state is also not a problem. The only pity is that the people here will suffer. "
Xu Ye laughed and said seriously: "Since King Zhao values ??Xu so much, how can Xu betray King Zhao's trust? Brother Wei, don't worry, there will be no worries about this matter."