Ming Zuo

Chapter 1596 Northwest Strategy

The barrage is like rain, the guns are like thunder, blood and fire are intertwined, forming the most magnificent epic picture.

The barren bandits in the northwest, have they ever seen such power?
Although the ability of caravans and government staff to handle weapons is far inferior to that of the regular army, it is not something they can compete with.

In an instant, casualties were left everywhere, and the surviving bandits fled one after another.

The smoke gradually dissipated between the empty world, and an abrupt battle came to an end.

High above the clear sky, many vultures came following the scent, circling non-stop.

They know that there will be a feast soon.

The blood all over the ground did not cause much trouble to Xu Erdou.

"Search the battlefield, execute the seriously injured on the spot, and arrest the slightly injured for interrogation. We must know where the lairs of these gangsters are?"

In the initial stage of the empire, from civil to military, everyone must be a beast among men.

Among the officials of the empire, which one has not come out of the test of life and death?
Therefore, such a battle is just commonplace in their eyes.

The caravan was also calm.

The men put bayonets on the muskets and searched all the way.

In such a place, it is actually a kind of kindness to give a knife to a seriously injured person.

After all, there is a desolate area thousands of miles away, and there is no condition for rescue.Helping them relieve their pain earlier would be considered the utmost benevolence.

Perhaps this battle played a role, and the caravan did not encounter any harassment after it set off again.

After all, a team of nearly a thousand people, with muskets and artillery, is not something that bandits in the northwest who don't even have shoes can covet.

Half a month later, the team finally arrived in Zhangye.

"Provincial government, this place is very important, and it must be vigorously built. As long as this place becomes prosperous, the Silk Road will be able to flow again."

Qi Chongjin, the new mayor of Zhangye, came to the station with Xu Erdou, and after observing it, he immediately made a decision.

This descendant of Qi Jiguang has extraordinary talents.

Most importantly, he was one of the first officers of the Empire to undergo regular military service.

Before the empire enacted laws, people who did not serve in the army could not be officials.

This is also the consideration of combining the two ways of civil and military into one, so as to avoid the division of civil and military like in the Ming Dynasty, but it is necessary to use civil to control military, and finally end up in a mess.

Qi Chongjin served in the army for three years and experienced many battles. After retiring, he was admitted to a government affairs school.

After entering the official career, he gradually began to show his head and skyrocketed all the way.Although he is only 29 years old, he is already able to serve as the mayor of a city.

In particular, Zhangye is at the node of the Silk Road, and its strategic location is extremely important.

He formally considered his experience in the army, so he was appointed mayor of Zhangye.

As the saying goes, Zhangye in gold and Wuwei in silver are the two most affluent places in Gansu.

Perhaps God couldn't bear to see the Western Regions separated from the Central Plains, so Zhangye and Wuwei, two rich places, were created on the long Silk Road.

It is precisely because of the existence of Zhangye and Wuwei that the thousands of miles of the Hexi Corridor can provide travelers with a base for rest and replenishment.

It can be said that without Zhangye and Wuwei, the entire Hexi Corridor would become a place where all human beings are extinct.

Together with Suzhou Wei (Jiuquan) and Jiayuguan in the front, it happens to be a line at three points, connecting the entire Hexi Corridor in series.

Zhangye is in the middle, and with the nourishment of the melted ice water of the Heihe River and Qilian Mountains, a vast and fertile oasis has been formed in this area.

Qi Chongjin saw it very clearly.

As long as this place is managed well, the empire will have a bridgehead to enter and control the Western Regions.

Once it is done, it is his great credit.

Xu Erdou jumped off the horse, reached out to brush away the grass on the ground, grabbed a handful of sand and observed it carefully.

The sand is very fine, as long as his fingers are slightly opened, it will slide down quickly.

Xu Erdou looked solemn.

"Although this place is rich and suitable for agricultural reclamation, the overall environment is very fragile. When you are operating, you must be careful not to turn this place into a second Loulan."

Qi Chongjin quickly woke up from his excitement.

As an official, he is of course more aware of the empire's emphasis on environmental protection.

If Zhangye is really turned into a scene of yellow sand all over the sky for the sake of political achievements, then the future will be ruined.

"My subordinates remember it."

Heihe River is the largest river in the entire Hexi Corridor, and its other name is even more impressive.

That is weak water.

It is precisely because of the existence of this river that Zhangye has become rich.

However, Xu Erdou, who has been taught by Zuo Menggeng's words and deeds, knows very well that in the harsh environment of Northwest China, the ecological environment may collapse at any time just relying on such an inland river with not very developed runoff.

Compared with economic development, maintaining Zhangye's ecological environment is more important.

After all, if Zhangye is destroyed, the empire can only sigh at the Western Regions.

In the next few days, Xu Erdou explored along the Heihe River without hesitation and danger, and finally even came to Juyanhai.

It was only after walking this way that he realized how bad the situation here was.

It can be said that if Heihe and Juyanhai had not cut a passage like a sharp sword, the entire northern part of the Hexi Corridor would be blocked by the endless desert and Gobi.

This place will be completely barren.

But precisely because of the existence of Heihe and Juyanhai, as long as they are well utilized, they can become a channel for the empire to go deep into the desert from this direction.

This undoubtedly has great benefits for the empire to rule the Western Regions.

After returning to Lanzhou, Xu Erdou thought about it and spent seven days writing a thick plan.

He personally rushed to Xi'an with the plan, preparing to negotiate with Mao Yuanyi and obtain the support of Xidu Guozheng.

What he didn't expect was that he actually met Wang Qiaonian, the administrator of Shaanxi in Xi'an.

If Gansu wants to improve, it needs the support of the state.

The resources sent by the country must pass through Xi'an, and must be distributed by Mao Yuanyi, the state government of the western capital.

Without the support of Mao Yuanyi, the development of Gansu would be impossible.

Like him, Wang Qiaonian was also busy and exhausted.

"In the past few months, I have successively surveyed Yinchuan, Hetao, Yulin, Yan'an, and even went deep into the Maowusu Desert. I can only say that the situation here is very worrying, and our previous estimates were a bit too optimistic."

The three Northwest giants got together, and after exchanging information with each other, they all realized that the road ahead would be very difficult.

"No matter how hard it is, we have to do it. Your Majesty and the center handed over the Northwest to us, that is trust in us. We have overcome many hardships and hardships. Now that there is a country behind us, I don't believe that the Northwest cannot be governed well."

After a short period of solemnity, Mao Yuanyi quickly became firm.

The commander-in-chief tempered by years of training on the battlefield has made him indomitable and progressive.

(End of this chapter)