Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2421: The Duke is not an assistant, but a regent (XII) Anxi, Anxi

The rammed earth post road five miles south of Lanzhou City was covered with yellow dust. When Li Rumei pulled the reins, the flag bearer was inserting the two-foot-tall banner of "Imperial Commissioner General of Anxi Military Affairs" into the cracked dry land. Behind him, 11,000 Liaodong cavalrymen stopped their horses, and the neighing of 24,000 Ujumchin horses shook the leaves of the poplar trees beside the road.

Eleven thousand cavalry, of which ten thousand were Liaodong cavalry, and the other one thousand were Li Rumei's personal cavalry. The personal soldiers were undoubtedly family servants. Although Gao Youshi had reformed the military system, this deformed product of the past, family servants, could not be eliminated in an instant, and could only be done slowly. As for the ten thousand Liaodong cavalry, it was naturally because of Li Chengliang's fault that Gao Youshi had the Li family punished privately and transferred to Anxi to guard the border.

"That's Commander Liu's flag ahead!" the lookout suddenly shouted.

Li Rumei squinted her eyes and saw a scarlet flag with the words "General of the Western Expedition" embroidered with gold thread gradually emerging from the dust. Liu Jing had already resigned as the General of Anxi, but because he had not yet arrived in Beijing to officially take over as the commander of the Imperial Guard, he could only continue to hang this big flag.

Three thousand mounted infantrymen were seen marching in six columns. These warriors, mainly men from the southwest and supplemented by surrendered Japanese barbarians, wore light armor, but the Wanli II rifles hanging next to their saddles shone dimly in the sun, and even without bayonets, they did not reduce their fierceness in the slightest.

"Brother Ziqing is in front of us!" The thunderous voice penetrated the wind and sand. Liu Jing rode his horse out of the crowd. His dark face under the lion helmet was as hard as a knife. He pointed his left whip to the west and laughed: "It's three thousand miles to Anxi. My footprints are still warm. I want you to step on them to start the road!"

Li Rumei dismounted from his horse, the scales of his Shanwen armor scraping against each other made a sound. He bowed and congratulated him, "I appreciate your great achievement in recovering the Western Regions. I have almost torn apart the reports from the Ministry of War." He deliberately glanced at his waist - there hung a red sandalwood box bestowed by the emperor, which must have contained the tiger talisman of the Protectorate of the Western Regions - because the prime minister had changed the administrative system of Anxi, this tiger talisman should be taken to the Ministry of War and destroyed.

"Well, it's just eating sand. The number of people under my command is getting smaller and smaller. They can't compare with the elite soldiers trained by my brother in the camp in Beijing North and the cavalry accumulated by your brother in Liaodong."

Liu Jing whipped his horse whip across the Liaodong army formation, and the whip accurately hit the fine armor on these people: "More than 10,000 pieces of armor, the Prime Minister is really willing to give them for you, my dear brother Ziqing!" He suddenly lowered his voice: "Erdemutu's troops returned east for reorganization, and Ordos moved his troops west to the Qihe area. After that, Boshektu's troops totaled 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, just right for your left and right wings. Ziqing, the combat power of your troops now is probably not weaker than the First Naturalized Cavalry Army that Shunyi King is reorganizing."

Li Rumei smiled modestly, said a few polite words, "The scouts said that Lanquan Horse Posthouse is nearby. Why don't you talk to me about the situation in Anxi at the posthouse? That way I won't be blind and at a loss when I arrive in Anxi."

Liu Jing laughed and said, "Well said, that's exactly what I meant."

Soon, the blue brick floor of Lanquan Horse Posthouse began to feel cool. Liu Jing tapped the elm wood table with his fingers, causing the copper paperweight on the edge of the sheepskin map to tremble slightly. "Ziqing, do you know how the Russian cavalry is different from the Mongolian tribes?" Before Li Rumei could answer, he had already pulled out a Chashik scimitar from its rhinoceros leather sheath. The silver chain on the back of the blade rang in the morning light.

Li Ziqing stretched out his hand and stroked the fine cloud patterns on the blade, his fingertips touching a few dark brown spots: "I heard that every time the Cossacks killed someone, they would wrap a strand of horsehair around the handle of the knife?"

"More than that!" Liu Jing suddenly stood up with his sleeves raised. The wind from the sleeves of his Kirin robe lifted the cover of the western shore of the Caspian Sea on the map. He grabbed three copper coins and pressed them on the winding Ural River: "The Russian soldiers that Erdemutu and his men encountered before were three twisted poisonous snakes - the Cossack light cavalry of 50 cavalrymen in the front line, with short guns hanging on the left and right of the saddles; the musketeers in the middle army wore double-layer mail armor and carried seven-foot-long matchlock guns; and the dragoons who could build fortifications on horseback in the rear could build a three-foot-high wooden fence in half a minute."

The sunlight leaking in through the window slanted across Li Rumei's brow. He frowned slightly and asked, "According to my brother Shengwu, how is the defense of Qihe after the Erdemutu tribe returned to the east?"

Liu Jing untied a captured gilt-silver-inlaid wootz steel dagger from his waist, and the tip of the blade moved along the southern shore of Lake Balkhash: "I sent 8,000 garrisons to garrison the 18 beacons around Haiyali, but there are less than 3,000 elite Han musketeers, and the rest are Yarkand conscripted troops. I'm afraid their combat effectiveness and loyalty are worrying.

As for Boshoktu's troops, I just said that he has about 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, which seems not small at first glance, but with his and Erdemutu's westward expedition, the Kazakh Khanate has been hit by us in the east and by Burihatu in the south, and is now almost collapsed. As a result, the area actually controlled by Boshoktu has expanded by two or three times, and this amount of troops can only be adapted to circumstances, and it is impossible to set up defenses everywhere. "

Without waiting for Li Rumei to ask, he suddenly turned the dagger upside down and inserted it into the direction of Julan City. The Persian sapphire inlaid on the handle reflected the map of the Western Regions: "This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides, like a tiger's mouth, which is very convenient for blocking the Luosha's eastward advance. But..." The scabbard hit the mark heavily, "Most of Boshektu's troops are light cavalry, good at running but not good at defending. If you are willing to send my Ming Dynasty musketeers to defend, you will need to deploy 600 gunners and eight No. 3 cannons for every mile of the city wall."

Suddenly, a warhorse neighed outside the posthouse, startling the iron horses under the eaves. Li Rumei pushed open the carved wooden window, looked at the Liaodong warhorse drinking water in the courtyard, and said thoughtfully: "The troops I led this time are all cavalry. I'm afraid that the prime minister's intention is not to defend the city to the death... If the Russians dare to come, how about I lead the cavalry to fight?"

"Those who are good at attacking move above the nine heavens." Liu Jing nodded, and drew a circle along the Ili River Valley with his fingertips. "If you want to take the initiative to attack, you can send more scouts from the Qihe tribe to lure the enemy deep into your territory and fight you. After encountering the enemy, follow the old rules and shoot him with three rows of rounds. The lead rain has not stopped yet, but the sabers have arrived."

Li Rumei asked, "I wonder if Brother Shengwu has tested the new Wanli Type 3 rifle from Jinghua. Can it penetrate the Rakshasa mail armor from a distance of 60 steps?"

"Look at this." Liu Shengwu ordered someone to bring a camphorwood box, took out a double-layer chain mail and threw it on the ground. The sound of the armor pieces colliding was like hail hitting tiles. He grabbed Li Rumei's sword and chopped it down with all his might, but the blade got stuck at the third iron ring.

"This is the spoils of war sent by Erdemutu." He pulled out his sword with force, his face solemn. "We need to use three-edged armor-piercing heavy arrows to shoot directly at them within thirty steps, or wait until they enter the range of the No. 3 gun's shotgun. As for the musket, I haven't had time to test the Wanli Type 3, but the Wanli Type 2 can only penetrate effectively within fifty steps."

Li Rumei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's not bad. Since Wanli Style 2 can penetrate at 50 steps, then Wanli Style 3 should not have any problem penetrating at 60 steps."

The two continued to talk in detail, and actually talked for nearly a whole day. When the sun was setting in the west, the postmaster tiptoed in with a bronze lantern. Liu Jing unfolded the defense map of Julan City under the flickering candlelight. The angles of the bastion arrow windows outlined in red ink on the sheepskin were as sharp as dog teeth: "These 45-degree elevation holes are useless. Before I left office, I ordered the craftsmen to change them to 60-degree oblique angles." He dipped his tea in cold tea and drew a dark line on the west side of the city. "The dark channel here leads directly to the river outside the city whose name I forgot. If the city is besieged, we can send out the dead soldiers to attack at night."

Li Rumei looked at it carefully for a while, then suddenly nodded and said, "When my brother Shengwu returns to Beijing to see the emperor, can you please tell the prime minister about this?" He pointed at the sign of Julan City and said, "Just say this Julan City. I am willing to guarantee it with my life. It will be safe."

"Why is this necessary?" Liu Shengwu laughed and opened the stopper of the gilded wine pot. The mellow aroma of grape wine instantly filled the room. "The hometown of the Rakshasa people is here..."

He pointed his finger westward on the map, pointing to Moscow. "Look, my dear brother, it's not much closer than from Anxi to the capital, at least 5,000 miles away - this means that the army that the Russians can mobilize here must be limited in size, at least it is unlikely to be larger than ours."

Li Rumei was calculating the pros and cons in her mind, while Liu Jing had already drunk the remaining wine. He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "It is the lack of water in Anxi that is a big problem. My dear brother, you must remember to send prisoners from the Yarkand and Oirat tribes to clean the silt in the karez everywhere on the first and fifteenth day of each month."

Outside the posthouse, the sound of gongs came, indicating the change of guard, startling the crows perched on the eaves. Liu Jing placed his sword horizontally on the table, and the sword reflected the solemn faces of the two people: "Ziqing, do you know how the Luosha people built the city in this... Siberia, north of Anxi? They used logs as walls, poured water to make ice, and built a three-meter strong fortress in ten days.

Now, the walls of the newly acquired Julan City from the Kazakhs are old and cannot withstand bombardment. We must build bastions according to the method of Jinghua..." He flicked his sword with his fingers, and the dragon roar continued for a long time. "Unfortunately, Anxi is too far away from the Central Plains and has just been recovered. It is really difficult to get enough cement concrete. I am afraid that we can only use the old method, mixing glutinous rice mortar with iron ore slag to cast it, so as to withstand the bombardment of the Rakshasa cannon."

The Luosha people also had artillery. Li Rumei often read the war reports from the Western Regions, so he knew about it. Li Rumei stroked the artillery position marks on the city defense map, and suddenly grabbed three caltrops and scattered them towards the Chu River Basin: "If we lay mines here, with the help of cavalry scouts..."

"Good!" Liu Jing clapped his hands and cheered, shaking the lights and candles. "Great minds think alike! Before I left office, I had already laid 3,000 mines and told Boshoketu to keep his men away." He slapped his thigh and laughed, "With this minefield, as long as we can lure the enemy successfully, we can create a chance for a great victory with a little flexibility."

When the moon was past the zenith, the two were still rehearsing the attack and defense in front of the map. When the postmaster added oil to the lamp for the third time, Liu Jing suddenly remembered something important and immediately used his knife as a pen to draw an arc mark to the west of Julan City: "The people of Jinghua Mining said that they found a high-content copper vein within a radius of five miles here, which can affect the compass... Therefore, if you can lure the enemy here, the Luosha compass will twitch and cannot accurately locate."

A sly smile appeared on his lips. "How to use it next depends on your means, Ziqing."

Li Rumei's eyes lit up, and she began to examine the surrounding terrain, as if she was formulating a battle plan.

After an unknown amount of time, the old locust tree in the backyard of the posthouse rustled, and Liu Jing suddenly opened the dusty camphorwood box in the corner and took out a Persian tapestry that smelled of sheep. The wolf-head flag embroidered with gold thread on the brocade looked ferocious and alive, with a half-moon bitten between its sharp teeth.

"This is a tribute from the leader of the caravan from Bukhara." Liu Jing smiled coldly, "The Chahar Grand Master has now raised a flag on the banks of the Amu Darya River, calling the little Khan in his hands the 'Great Yuan Tiansheng Khan'.

According to the reports from various places, this Burihatu is really quite capable. He has completely defeated the Bukhara Khanate and the Khiva Khanate, and occupied a lot of places in the southeast of the Kazakh Khanate. His power is more than double that of the time in the south of the desert... He is really a scourge that will last for thousands of years." As he said this, he handed Li Rumei a stack of secret reports.

Li Rumei took the secret report and read it carefully in the candlelight. The dry camel thorn grass between the pages fell off. "This Burihatu is a quick learner. He actually knows how to use the Arabic calendar to correct the calendar."

He ran his finger over the words in the intelligence report, "He paid 3,000 Persian war horses as an annual tribute, and Persia allowed him to occupy the north." He suddenly sneered, "When he was beaten by Yuan Fu and fled outside the pass, he didn't act so arrogantly."

"The backlash of a defeated dog is the most dangerous." Liu Jing took out a gilded snuff bottle from his bosom. The turquoise inlaid on the bottle body formed the Mongolian Phags-pa script. He took a deep puff of the cigarette and pointed at the map of Samarkand on the tapestry: "Now these wolf cubs have occupied the old palace of Bukhara and built a Jingguan with the heads of Kazakh herdsmen. The Beijing Merchants reported that the copper cannon they cast on the west bank of the Yaosha River was actually modeled after the style of our Ming Dynasty's No. 3 cannon. I just don't know how much difference there is in its power compared to our No. 3 cannon."

Suddenly, a night owl screamed outside the window, startling the torches of the night-watchmen. Li Rumei pushed open the carved wooden window and looked at the Liaodong warhorse chewing night grass in the courtyard: "When my brother Shengwu recovered Andiyan before, did you ever think of pushing the front line to Samarkand?"

"More than I thought about it!" Liu Jing slapped his thigh suddenly, "Unfortunately, our army recovered thousands of miles of the Western Regions at once, but it was too vast and sparsely populated, so we dared not continue to advance." He grabbed the paperweight on the table and slammed it heavily on the place where the medicine-killing water was. "Not long ago, I was talking to Wang Duhu about sending troops to continue to advance westward, but it happened that we received a transfer order..."

Li Rumei took out a fine copper city model from his sleeve. The base was engraved with the seal script of "Samarkand". "This was given to me by Yuan Fu before I left. He said that it was made by fine craftsmen in Beijing according to the description of merchants from the Western Regions." He turned the mechanism, and the battlements of the city wall rose up layer by layer. "Brother Sheng, how should we take this city?"

Liu Jing's eyes shone brightly under the candlelight: "Three steps! First, take Tashkent to cut off their food supply, then surround Bukhara to divide their forces, and finally use the No. 2 artillery to blast open the bronze gate of Samarkand." He stretched out his finger and pointed at the northwest corner of the model. "The mountain pass here hides the Chahar cavalry's fine feed field. We must send the musketeer cavalry to attack at night."

The night wind blew through the hall, bringing with it the chill of the snow-capped Qilian Mountains. Li Rumei pointed at the location of Andijan on the sand table: "If this strategy is implemented, how can we maintain food and grass? Has Andijan's production been restored? Can it be supplied for the next expedition?"

"So we need this." Liu Jing took out a sheepskin map that had been saltpetered. The trade routes outlined with cinnabar on the map were crisscrossed like blood vessels, forming a spider web in the Fergana Basin: "This is the secret route opened by the Beijing Caravan. There are twelve hidden warehouses along the way, with a total grain storage of 200,000 shi."

Amid the sound of the night watch, Li Rumei nodded slowly, stroked the model of Samarkand's city wall, and asked: "After my brother Shengwu returns to the capital, can you ask the Prime Minister to transfer some more craftsmen who are good at building bastions? I heard that there is still a great shortage of Han people in the Western Regions..."

"The artisans' business cannot be rushed. Anxi is too far away. If we rush them, there will inevitably be considerable losses along the way." Liu Jing shook his head and pointed to the map of the Amu Darya tributaries and said, "When the Prime Minister fought against Haibai, he sent people to build a city in Hetao. They used red willow branches to weave baskets to hold sand and stones as the foundation. Red willow and gravel are the most abundant things on both sides of the Yaosha River." He suddenly lowered his voice, "We should pay attention to the Persian elephant soldiers - the area under Samarkand is open, if we suddenly encounter war elephants charging into the battle array..."

Li Rumei was surprised and asked, "Didn't they just say that Burihatu offered Persia an annual tribute of 3,000 war horses in exchange for Persia not attacking him? Isn't it enough for Persia to tolerate him, an outsider, to stay by their side, that they are willing to help him?"

"That's not necessarily true. I think this Burihatu is very good at communication." Liu Jing suddenly took out a bronze wolf-headed token from his bag. "This was carried by the envoy sent by Burihatu to Moscow. Unexpectedly, he happened to meet Erdemutu and Boshoketu who were withdrawing their troops to Yili. He was robbed by their subordinates and told about Burihatu's intentions... I'm sure Ziqing can guess what this guy wants to do."

Li Rumei slapped the seal on the table and knocked over the rhino horn cup filled with wine. The purple-red wine spread on the copper sand table of Samarkand, as if the mountains and rivers were stained with blood: "What a wolfish ambition! Connecting with Russia in the north and Persia in the south, is this going to repeat the story of Timur?"

It seems that Li Rumei had done enough homework before coming to Anxi to take office. He even knew about the glory of Timur, the lame man, in his past.

"So we must act before they form a connection." Liu Jing took out a handkerchief and wiped the sand table. "There are seven karez in Tashkent. It is said that the water source comes from the melted snow of Tianshan Mountain. Drinking it often can make you live longer..."

He suddenly sneered, "Brother, if you can capture this city, it would be best if you succeed by surprise. If the surprise attack doesn't go well, you can send assassins to sneak into the city with poison and poison the water source when they are least prepared..."

Li Rumei felt a chill down her spine when she heard this and said hesitantly, "If the water source is contaminated, after our army enters the city..."

"It's okay. The Beijing-China caravan got a strange poison in Persia and put it into the qanats. Anyone who drinks it within three days will die, and anyone who drinks it between four and ten days will have vomiting and diarrhea. But if it lasts more than ten days, it will no longer have any effect."

At cockcrow, Li Rumei put the copy of "Records of Rivers and Canals in the Western Regions" given to him by Liu Jing into the gilded bronze tube: "Brother Sheng's 'Iron Triangle' strategy, Rumei will do her best to deal with it. But as for the city building..." He pushed open the back window of the posthouse and looked at the century-old locust tree in the courtyard, "We still need the order of the prime minister to include the matter of 'planting willows to guard the border' in the detailed rules of the Anxi Examination Law, so that it can be effective in the long run."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "That's true. I'll make a note of it."

In the morning mist, Liu Jing's scarlet cape gradually disappeared at the end of the official road. Li Rumei stroked the Persian tapestry that still had body temperature in her hands, and suddenly sighed, muttering to herself: "Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it. After leaving the capital, I'll make achievements in the vast Anxi, and live up to the name of our family..."
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