"But the Mongols are a barbaric tribe after all. Although they are civilized, they are very immature and have difficulty influencing the Han people. They have no idea of spreading Mongolian civilization to all directions, so it is just a war between two countries or nations, not a civilized war."
"But the Samarkand Kingdom in the West is different. Although the Ming Dynasty has always called them barbarians, even if they heard Timur's illustrious name, they just thought they were barbarians who could fight. But in fact, they are no longer barbarians, but have the same characteristics as the Ming Dynasty.
An equally civilized country!”
"Officials, are you looking down too high on them?" Although Shang Bing knew this through conversations with the kidnapped merchants from Samarkand in the second and third years of Yiwu and through the reports of spies sent to Samarkand City.
They are not ordinary barbarians, but they are still unwilling to admit that their civilization can be compared with the Ming Dynasty.
"The civilization of the West is completely different from that of the East. Let's not talk about other things. One of the most important points is that their civilization is centered on religion. All people must believe in the same religion. This is the biggest difference between the Confucian civilization of the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.
difference."
After that, Yunxi roughly explained the difference between monotheism and polytheism, and then said: "So the civilization of Samarkand is more expansionary. For the glory of the Lord who does not actually exist, or even if it exists, it will not interfere with the mortal world, they
They will continue to expand. Even if they cannot conquer places through war, they will use various means to penetrate them and make the local people believe in their Lord. Even if the people who actually rule the country do not want such things to happen that will affect their rule, they will not be able to do so.
Completely prevent it, because the existence of the entire country is based on belief in the Lord. Once such a foundation is lost, the country will fall apart."
"Of course, the Kingdom of Samarkand does not fully conform to this theory, and its country is not entirely based on belief in the Lord, but belief in the Lord is still one of the foundations on which this country is established, and the subjects under its rule are also
Most believe in the same Lord."
"So when Timur himself wanted to conquer the Ming Dynasty, in order to mobilize his country and his subjects to the maximum extent, he would use the propaganda method of 'spreading the glory of the Lord in the East'."
"The Han people have not had such a cultural tradition since ancient times. We are a Confucian civilization. We do not believe in the real existence of gods, or we respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them. This is naturally incompatible with the Western religion-centered system, so we will eventually become a god.
The conflict between religious civilization and Eastern Confucian civilization.”
When Yunxi spoke later, he had forgotten that he was in the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago, and that he had an audience. Instead, he was completely immersed in his own thoughts, and his words also contained many modern vocabulary.
Shang Bing half understood these words. He didn't want to understand them now because his head hurt from hearing them. He just asked: "If the Kingdom of Samarkand really destroys the Ming Dynasty, what will be the consequences?"
"Then, it is inevitable that China will sink again. At the same time, Chinese civilization will also sink or even disappear without a trace, and only a small part of the Han people will be killed."
Western monotheistic religions do not allow anything to be worshiped except the supreme god, whether it is another god or something else. Therefore, in their view, ancestor worship by the Han people is also strictly prohibited. This will inevitably lead to resistance from the Han people. If
Even if they just don't eat pork, the Han people don't care about being a false believer, but the prohibition of ancestor worship is different. When the Manchus entered the customs, just changing the hairstyle and clothes of the Han people aroused large-scale resistance, and many places surrendered and revolted
, a monotheistic religion’s ban on ancestor worship will definitely lead to a larger-scale resistance.
The result of a larger-scale resistance is a larger-scale massacre. In the end, the number of Han people who can survive may be even fewer than those who survived under the Mongolian butcher knife.
Of course, it is possible to successfully drive away monotheistic religions, but even so, the price will be unimaginably heavy.
"So," Yunxi finally turned his head and said word by word to Shang Bing: "The Ming Dynasty must defeat Samarkand, not only for our Zhu family, but also for the Chinese civilization, for all the Han people in the world, and for
All the countries and peoples in the East who do not believe in monotheism!”
Everyone stood aside, quietly watching Shang Bing think about it. After a while, Shang Bing came back to his senses from his thoughts and told them what he had just thought about.
Several people looked at each other, some of them unbelievable that such a thing could happen in the world. But they recalled the major witchcraft case in Guangzhou the year before last, their contacts with Tianfang believers in the northwest over the years, Timur's speech just now, and the
The story about the return of the Malkhan Kingdom seems to be true.
"In this case, we must defeat the Kingdom of Samarkand and defend Yiwu for His Highness, His Majesty, and for the Ming Dynasty!" The first one to speak was Gao Xiang.
After listening to Gao Xiang's words, others, regardless of whether they believed Shang Bing's words or not, also said: "Your Highness, we will fight to the death to defend Yiwu!"
After listening to the speeches of these generals, Shang Bing understood that they were still half-convinced about his words. But it was no wonder that if he hadn't tested it through various methods many times, he would not have believed Yunxi's words. "When the prisoners were captured,
Let the generals interrogate him, and they will know that what Gu said is right.'
He couldn't help but glance at Gao Xiang again: 'But why did Gao Xiang believe Gu's words?'
Just when Shang Bing was about to ask, Song Hu shouted: "Your Highness, the cannons of the Samarkand Kingdom have been pushed forward, and the soldiers who want to attack the city are about to attack. Your Highness, hurry down to the city!"
Shang Bing immediately came down from the top of the city with his servants. His insistence on staying in the city was enough to boost morale, and there was no need to risk being killed by cannonballs waiting at the top of the city.
As soon as he came down from the city, he heard the sound of drums outside the city, and the battle between Yi and Wu began!
…
…
"What's the latest news from Yiwu?" After stopping at the inn, Yunxi called the messenger over and asked loudly without resting at all.
"Your Majesty, the latest news is from seven days ago. About 200,000 troops from the Kingdom of Samarkand rushed to Yiwu City and surrounded the city, but they have not yet begun to attack the city." The man immediately shivered.
A trembling answer.
"Where are the rescue soldiers?"
"The Marquis of Anlu led 70,000 soldiers to enter Yiwu City before the siege. According to the order, the soldiers from Shazhou and other guard posts should rush to the vicinity of Yiwu City today."
"No! The guards in Shazhou are all locals who have been recruited. It is okay for them to fight with the wind and fight hard against the soldiers of Samarkand, unless they are surrounded and about to be completely annihilated! They will never be able to defeat Yiwu.
"Wei." Yunxi took out a simple map from his pocket, pointed to a place above and said: "Don't say they rushed to the vicinity of Yiwu City, they are probably still wandering around the Xingxing Gorge. After all, there is no terrain after passing the Xingxing Gorge.
It’s a dangerous place, even if they could escape, they wouldn’t be able to take back the cattle and sheep they brought to use as military rations!”
"Where are the other health centers?"
"Your Majesty, Qingyang Guard and the other seven guard posts should have passed Guazhou according to the regulations. We still have about four days to reach Xingxing Gorge. Since there are no rail carriages to the west of Xingxing Gorge, we can only walk on foot, which also takes three or four days.
Kung Fu.”
"You can't calculate it like this! Now that Yiwu has been surrounded, the troops rushing to relieve the siege must ensure the strength of the soldiers, and they must also be careful to prevent Timur from sending cavalry to raid, and they must walk up to thirty miles a day." Yunxi analyzed.
Just as he was talking, Yunxi glanced sideways and saw the confused and timid eyes of the messenger. He understood that what he said was purely a chicken-and-duck talk, so he kept silent and asked a few more other news, asking him to step back and get it himself.
Continue analysis while looking at the map.
While he was analyzing, Song Qingshu walked in with several guards, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, everything has been settled. The horses have also been fed with fodder. However, a few horses may have been overworked and lost their strength.
The horseman at the inn saw it and said that he would not be able to run away tomorrow."
"You can just handle these matters. There is no need to report them to me. If you overdo it, just change a few horses." Yunxi said without raising his head.
"But, Your Majesty, the post station does not have enough good horses. There are a total of seven horses that need to be replaced, but apart from the horses that must be kept to carry military orders, the post station only has three horses left."
"Then leave four people here to wait for Concubine Chen and the princess." Yunxi raised his head this time and caught a glimpse of Zhang Wuji standing next to Song Qingshu: "Wuji, you stay and escort Concubine Chen and the princess to Ganzhou.
"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Wuji agreed unhappily. Although it is tiring to follow the emperor, the future will be good. The emperor will not forget the people around him. Although he devoutly believes in Taoism, he is not like Song Qingshu who still thinks about it.
When I go back, I plan to become a hereditary, marry a young lady and live my own life in the capital. If my children and grandchildren are successful, they will be asked to join the palace as guards. If they are not successful, they will be sent back to Wudang to become lay disciples.
Yunxi also saw his displeasure and said with a smile: "You kid, I'm not happy to let you rest for a few days!"
"I am willing to protect your majesty." Zhang Wuji said immediately.
"Okay, okay, there's no need to flatter me. Besides, it's not okay to keep you here. These seven horses must be taken care of. If it doesn't happen by the time the princess comes, I'll ask you."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, these horses will be taken good care of by the grooms!"
After saying this, it was already dark. Yunxi felt relaxed because he had not heard the bad news. He also felt very tired. He put the map away and went to bed after dinner.
Yunxi got up early the next morning and continued on his way. He rode like this for more than ten days, and in early June Yunxi arrived twenty miles east of Ganzhou City.
Seeing that Ganzhou City was already in sight, everyone couldn't help but relax a little. Yunxi couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He had been riding long distances for nearly twenty days, traveling hundreds of miles every day. He had never experienced it before, dismounting from his horse every day.
Every part of my body hurts, and my buttocks are almost worn out. It would be great to rest in the city for a few days.
After relaxing, everyone couldn't help but slow down and took off the water bottles from their waists to drink some water. "Life in the northwest is really hard! The weather is so hot, it's not much cooler than the capital, but there's also a lack of water, so even taking a cold shower
It’s not easy, and I don’t know how the people here endure it.” Some people also complained.
"The northwest has always been like this, so there are few talents. There are only more than two million people in Shaanxi, which is not as many as the people in Yingtianfu."
"It's like this here, and I don't know how desolate Yiwu is further to the west!"
"Yiwu is not desolate!" Yunxi suddenly interjected: "Even if the Western Region is not as rich as it was during the Qin and Han Dynasties, it is still a prosperous land and can support tens of millions of people. There are few people in the Ming Dynasty now, but in the future when there are more people, the northwest will support
If they don’t survive, if the Ming Dynasty holds the Western Region, they can run there and survive, so it’s very important!”
"So it is very important to guard Yiwu now. If Yiwu is lost, it will be very difficult to recapture it, and the Western Region will be difficult to use for the Ming Dynasty in the future."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am ignorant." The person who just spoke said immediately.