It's just that it's harder to follow the path marked by footprints. It's easier to follow the path by yourself. Zhu Yihai stepped on the sand. With a little force, the sand on the sole of his foot began to loosen and slide down. The harder he applied, the deeper he sank.
The deeper it goes, the more slippery it becomes. After just a few steps, it already makes people feel breathless.
Wu Sangui reached out to help the emperor, but Zhu Yihai just laughed.
"We are all walking our own path and cannot follow other people's footprints. Although this journey is hard, over the sand dunes, there is Crescent Moon Spring in front of us. A clear water in the desert, as well as water plants, wild ducks, temples, and trees, let
What people feel is full of vitality and hope.”
Wu Sangui, who was only a few years older than the emperor, took two steps back and listened respectfully.
This was a level of respect that he had never shown to Chongzhen, nor had he ever been so respectful to Dorgon. But facing this young emperor, he felt a faint sense of fear in his heart, with three parts fear and seven parts admiration.
It may be said that he is about the same age as Chongzhen, Dorgon, and Zhu Yihai, but they have taken completely different paths in life. Perhaps as the emperor said, life is like this sandy slope. If you step on other people's footprints, it will only become worse.
It is difficult, you must walk your own path, and every step will be difficult, but after climbing over the sand dunes, there is hope and harvest ahead.
He couldn't help but reflect on his journey, more than 30 years of life, more than 10,000 days, working hard every day, but he was not satisfied with the results. Maybe he was born at the wrong time?
"Tell me, what reward do you want?"
The emperor finally climbed over the sand dunes step by step and came to the edge of the Crescent Moon Spring. Going downhill was actually more strenuous than going uphill. If he was not careful, he would slip and fall. But the emperor walked very steadily, controlling the speed and strength. It seemed unhappy,
But he was very steady and reached the spring step by step.
Sitting next to the clear water lying at the foot of the sand dunes, the emperor suddenly asked.
The Pioneer Army has been renamed the Western Region Tun Town and is stationed outside Jiayu Pass, now Anxi Prefecture, and in the future there will be Hami Prefecture or Turpan Prefecture.
The emperor has also transferred Chen Hanhui, the former governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to be the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Although he is stationed in Chang'an, Hong Chengchou has been dismissed.
Hong Chengchou's new position has not yet been decided.
Wu Sangui is still the governor of Gansu for the time being, but he knows that after Gansu is pacified, it is impossible for him to still occupy this position.
He had also thought about taking advantage of the chaos in Shaanxi and Gansu to lead the vanguard army to develop in the Hexi Corridor. This place was very fertile and special. It was somewhat similar to the Liaoxi Corridor. With his ability, he would have the opportunity to take advantage of the complex vanguard force.
The army was transformed into another Guan Ning army.
But the reality was not satisfactory. Hong Chengchou, who was once his teacher, deliberately kept a distance from him and drew a clear line. Four strong men, Zhang Yong, Zhao Liangdong, Zhang Guozhu, and Gao Jinzhong, also secretly rejected his attempts to woo him.
These people were very cautious, and they showed unscrupulous ferocity when facing the mob, but when facing the saint, they did not dare to be half-hearted.
Maybe they felt it in their hearts, but they didn't dare to show it at all, let alone make any frivolous move. No one believed the other, and they were all worried that the other was here to fish.
Of course, the more important point is that the left and right vanguard forces of 30,000 men look strong, but they are temporary formations with complicated sources of men and horses. Under the banner of the imperial court, they have the full supply of the imperial court and the imperial camp behind to ensure safety.
, naturally unstoppable.
But if they dare to have different intentions, the imperial court will only need to cut off their food and grass, or even block the east side, and they will not be able to survive here. A large part of their combat effectiveness relies on the artillery, guns, gunpowder and lead bullets provided by the imperial court.
As a result, their combat effectiveness will be directly reduced by more than half, and without food and grass, even the fertile soil in Hexi will not be able to solve their urgent needs.
Wu Sangui once thought of raising the thieves' self-esteem, slowly encircling and suppressing the rebellion, taking the opportunity to integrate the vanguard army, and then control the Hexi Corridor, even if he only controlled Anxi Prefecture and the Seven Guanxi Guards first.
But neither Hong Chengchou nor Zhang Yong was willing to do this. There were also people from the emperor in the Pioneer Army, including civil servants and generals. The structure and organization of the Pioneer Army was completely different from that of the Guan Ning Army.
Wu Sangui didn't even have his own personal troops. Although his Guan Ning Army had many vanguard troops on the left and right, they were scattered in various battalions.
He could only watch the chaos being calmed down so quickly, watch the imperial camp step by step take over the city and territory they had conquered, and watch the emperor come to patrol the west.
He could do nothing but watch.
Now that things have happened, the Pioneer Army has been reorganized into the Western Region Reclamation Regiment, and he can't stop it.
After the emperor came, he did not talk to Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui and others alone. He had made such great achievements and just kept them in the air.
Now, the emperor asked him what reward he wanted.
Wu Sangui couldn't answer at all. He had merit, but he had no capital to claim credit.
"You have worked hard with Hong Qing and others to put down the rebellion this time. Your hard work has been great and you should be rewarded heavily."
When the emperor opened his mouth, he first pointed out that Wu Sangui was not alone in quelling the rebellion.
"Dunhuang was a Shazhou in the Tang Dynasty, so I used this place name as your title as a mark of commemoration. I changed your name to the Duke of Sha, and granted you a total of 1,000 households with real food. I also gave you a hundred hectares of farmland.
In Taiwan, Hainan and Jeju Island.
Then I will give you a reward of 100 men and women as slaves, 100 horses, and 10,000 silver dollars."
"Add the title of Shaobao and Prince Shaobao, and be conferred with the rank of Zheng and Second Grade, Special Advancement and Dispersion."
The emperor changed Wu Sangui's title and rank, granted him land, rewarded his slaves, and rewarded him with silver coins. After receiving this series of rewards, Wu Sangui knelt down to receive the title.
"Your Majesty Wu Sangui thanks my emperor for your great kindness, long live long live long live."
Wu Sangui knelt down and kowtowed to thank him, but he felt a sense of anger and injustice in his heart, which was all hollow.
"Shaguo Gong, I am in peace."
The emperor has not yet arranged Wu Sangui's actual errands.
Hong Chengchou didn't make any arrangements either.
"Recently, both Guangxi and Japan are at war. In Japan, Zhu Chenggong supported the Matsura clan, the lord of the Hirado domain, to overthrow the Tokugawa clan of the Edo shogunate. In Guangxi, Zeng Ying united with the Annan Zheng clan, the Wu clan, and the Mo clan to besiege the Zheng clan who held the Annan Ri clan hostage.
The scale of the war is not large now, but the wars on both sides are very important to the court."
Zhu Yihai looked at Wu Sangui, "There is also a war in Mobei. During the Duolun Alliance, I asked the Mobei tribes to send troops to coordinate with the imperial camp of three thousand to go north to Baihuerhai to attack the stronghold of Tsarist Russia's invasion. The battle report came,
The fight was good, several strongholds were taken out, and a large castle was being besieged now. Nurgan also launched a crusade against the Tsarist Russian invaders through multiple channels.
And now the Western Region is also launching a war against Yarkand,"
"Wu Qing is a veteran on the battlefield, capable of both civility and martial arts. What does Wu Qing think of the current situation?"
Wu Sangui was not called up, so he could only continue to kneel down. He quickly calculated in his mind that the emperor must have a deeper meaning when he told him these things that everyone knew.
"Your Majesty, anyone who dares to offend our Han people will be punished no matter how far away they are. No matter it is Tsarist Russia, Japan or Annan, they must be punished hard and quickly. I believe that whether it is Guo Xingye or Zeng Gongzi, they are all capable of commanding an army.
, it’s more than enough to defeat those barbarians, you don’t need to worry too much.”
"The real key right now is the war in the Western Region. We must destroy the Yarkand. We can win over the Oirat tribes and even the Kazakhs, as well as the Mongolian tribes in Mobei, but we must also prevent them from taking the opportunity to sit down after destroying the Yarkand."
, the imperial court must strengthen its troops to ensure that it can control the entire situation."
Zhu Yihai looked at Wu Sangui with a smile.
In one sentence, he had already judged that Wu Sangui was still a bit evil and still not honest. On the surface, his suggestion was normal. In the war in the Western Region, the Ming alliance mainly took the opportunity to show force, otherwise it would not be able to suppress the younger brothers. But the subtext was also
Since there is a war to show off, wouldn't Wu Sangui, who had just made great contributions in pacifying the rebellion, be the current general?
Isn’t the vanguard army ready-made troops?
Taking this opportunity to stay in the Western Regions, and even continue to control military power, at least control the vanguard army and garrison towns. This is what Wu Sangui wants to risk his life.
This guy has always been very powerful because he will not let go of key things easily. In troubled times, this is military power.
"What Wu Qing said makes sense. I came to patrol the west just to personally command this holy war. Although there are generals in Japan and Annan, we can't take it lightly. The imperial court is going all out to conquer the holy war in the west. At this time, the rear is less able to
Make trouble.
I have decided to form two camps, namely the Andong and Annan camps. Zhu Chenggong will be the admiral of the Andong camp, Wu Qing will be the commander of the Andong camp, Sun Kewang will be the commander of the camp, and Li Chengdong will be the deputy admiral of the camp.
Zeng Ying was the admiral of the Annan camp, Hong Chengchou was the commander of the Annan camp, Long Zaitian was the camp commander, and Yuan Zongdi was the deputy admiral of the camp."
The emperor stated that he would select elites from each camp and select good ministers and strong generals to lead them. Each of the two camps would be composed of 30,000 people. After the battle was over, they would occupy, farm and colonize.
"Fight slowly and steadily, there is no need to think about going straight to the enemy's weak point."
There are two camps, and each camp has four major supervisors. The admiral and deputy admiral directly command the military and are military positions. The admiral is in charge of the camp, and the deputy admiral can command separate troops.
In recent years, Chang Shi and Sima have been established from the imperial camp to the provincial camp, and even to various prefectures, and they are senior left officials.
In the army, both the chief historian and Sima are civil servants. The chief historian is also in charge of food and pay, and supervises the military attache, and is in charge of the supervision department and the logistics department. Sima is responsible for assisting the military staff, managing military law and discipline, commanding the military police, and being in charge of the staff.
Department and Military Justice Department.
Both Chang Shi and Sima in the army were considered to be powerful officials, but for Wu Sangui, he had just made great achievements in quelling the Shaanxi-Gansu Rebellion, and now he had to be kicked to the small island of Japan to do the Andong camp.
Shi, the commander of the camp, was in charge of food, wages, logistics, and supervision. This was something that we had never expected and even found it difficult to accept for a while.
The Changshi does not directly command the army, although according to the current system, if the admiral is unexpectedly unable to serve, the Changshi will be given priority to temporarily take charge.
"Is Wu Qing seasick?" the emperor suddenly asked.
"Your Majesty, I am not seasick."
"That's good. I saw you were hesitant. I thought you were seasick and felt embarrassed."
Seeing this, Wu Sangui had no choice but to quickly accept the order and thank him.