I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 483 I only want Qinghai!

Mei Guozhen, holding up his clothes, hurried into the governor's office and met Cao Bangfu in the signing room.

"I have met the Governor."

"Kesheng is here," Cao Bangfu waved his hand, motioning him to sit down, "It's getting colder now, why are you sweating all over? Did you run all the way here?"

Mei Guozhen quickly replied, "I was just in the granary warehouse counting the grain and weapons. I climbed up and down, which took some effort and made me sweat."

"How is the granary preparation going? The battle of Qinghai is about to begin. Before the troops move, the food and fodder must go first."

"In reply to the governor, there is no problem with the food and grass. I have prepared everything. The rice and wheat for people to eat, the grass for horses to chew, and the weapons and armors have all been transported from Xi'an and Weizhou and have been inspected and put into storage."

"Kesheng is very reliable in his work. I can rest assured."

Mei Guozhen was a little anxious. "Governor, the Huo brothers have been gone for more than half a month, and there has been no news from Ganzhou yet. There is a lot of discussion in Lanzhou."

Cao Bangfu put down his brush, stood up and sat down next to Mei Guozhen, "What are you talking about?"

"Governor, they are saying that the northern barbarians are cunning and untrustworthy, and that Lord Dongcun is gullible and trustworthy."

"Is it the local noble families and the provincial governors and the school officials who are gossiping about this?"

"Yes."

"I know these are the people. The northwest has also started to survey the land and conduct a census. All the treasures under these people's buttocks have been dug out, and they are resentful.

Finally, I have found an opportunity to ridicule a country bumpkin like me. Let them do what they want. Kesheng, you will often encounter such sarcasm in your career and work in various places.

Don't take it seriously. You need to be determined to do things. As long as you have set your sights on the goal, perseverance will not be enough to take away your ambition. We should all learn from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in this regard."

Mei Guozhen stood up and bowed respectfully: "I thank Mr. Dongcun for his guidance."

"Haha, the Yangtze River's new generation outstrips the old generation. Have you read the "Young China" written by His Highness?"

"Students have read it. It is magnificent and inspiring."

"Yes, it is necessary to have that kind of vigorous and energetic momentum!"

Mei Guozhen replied: "I have learned my lesson.

But the Huo brothers’ incident has been going on for more than half a month, and there has been no urgent news from Ganzhou. The students are worried.”

"worry about what?
In this world, hope always comes when you least expect it. The more anxious you are, the less hope you will get; the more relaxed and at ease you are, the more hope will find you.

As long as you persevere, there is always hope. We came to Lanzhou not for the Huo brothers, but to build the northwest and pacify Qinghai. Are we pinning all our hopes on these two sons?"

Mei Guozhen suddenly realized, "Mr. Dongcun, it is the students who are short-sighted and can't see far enough."

Cao Bangfu smiled and continued, "Trust people when you employ them, and don't employ people if you don't trust them. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has always employed people in this way, and we should all learn from him. The Huo brothers are back, and the Ming Dynasty has gained two more good generals, and everyone is happy.

If they hadn't come, what would the Ming Dynasty have lost? It was nothing more than 500 sets of armor and dozens of good horses. If they were caught later, they could just be beheaded without further interrogation, which would save them trouble.

Without the Huo brothers, the Ming Dynasty would not have invaded Qinghai and pacified the right wing of Mongolia? The left six wings of Mongolia were conquered by Tan Zili, Qi Yuanjing and others with bloody battles. Could it be that Dong Huli and his men conquered them?
Kesheng, don't learn from those guys, they are just wasting their time."

"Yes, Mr. Dongcun, I am ashamed and I have learned my lesson."

"Haha, I see you have plenty of free time. So, take my warrant and go to Ning'an Fort north of the Yellow River on behalf of the Governor's Office and wait for four days.

While inspecting the resettlement of new residents and water conservancy projects over there, I waited for the Huo brothers."

"Yes."

Previously, Lanzhou and other prefectures belonged to Shaanxi. This time, the 21 provincial governments were divided, and Lintao Prefecture and Taozhou were merged into Lanzhou, along with Gongchang Prefecture and Pingliang Prefecture, which were all given to Gansu.

Lanzhou Prefecture used to be only south of the Yellow River, and the Ming Dynasty's border here also extended along the Yellow River to Ningxia. The north used to belong to the Hetao and Xitao regions of Mongolia.

After making peace with Altan Khan, the Ming Dynasty took back the Greater and Lesser Songshan areas between the Zhuanglang River and the Yellow River, established Yongtai and other forts, and incorporated them into Lanzhou County.

Three hundred and seventy households were relocated from the cold and barren land of Xi'an (Haiyuan) northwest of Guyuan, where they mainly engaged in animal husbandry. They also started digging two canals to divert water from the Zhuanglang River to the Yellow River in the east, irrigating grasslands along the way and providing drinking water for people, horses, cattle and sheep.

Mei Guozhen visited every household of the relocated people and inquired about the actual situation of their resettlement.

Survey the river and canal section by section to understand the progress of the project.

He looked west from time to time, hoping that there would be urgent news coming from the official road in the west.

Unfortunately, for three days in a row, the west was silent, with only rows of horse and camel caravans moving slowly back and forth from east to west, accompanied by the sound of camel bells and the sunshine.

Tomorrow is the last day of the January period. On the western official road, there are still no hurried sounds of horse hooves and bells, nor are there shouts of "Urgent military orders, anyone who stands in the way will be killed!"

Mei Guozhen felt a little lost.

What Cao Bangfu said to him did make sense, but he still hoped that the Huo brothers could come back.

Because Huo Jing and Huo Bian's return meant that the Ming Dynasty had new hope for the Mongols in the south and north of the desert. They were willing to rely on the Ming Dynasty at all costs.

If the two are unwilling to come back, it means that the Mongols in the south and north of the desert have not yet returned to the Ming Dynasty.

Mei Guozhen suppressed his disappointment and turned to the accompanying official and said, "Tuiguan Li, let's continue reading."

Li Tuiguan is Li Zhibin.

He was wearing a cotton shirt and trousers, a cloth belt around his waist, a piece of cloth wrapped in his bun, and a pair of thick-soled cloth shoes. His skin was dark and rough, just like an ordinary village head in the fields. He had none of the demeanor of the Five Heroes of Chaoyang Gate or the three sons of Emperor Shicheng.

He pointed ahead and said.

"Okay, Mei Fuzun, look here. This South Canal starts from Nantongzi Mountain Pass Fort in the west and is dug 61 kilometers to the east, which is the 122 miles mentioned earlier. The canal is four meters wide and three meters deep. It leads the water of Zhuanglang River to extend another 126 kilometers to the east until it enters the Yellow River at Jingluwei (Jingyuan).

The North Canal was dug eastward from Wushaoling, winding for 279 kilometers until it flows into the Yellow River at Heifeng Gorge.

Mei Fuzun, once these two channels are completed, the Zhuanglang River can flow through the Big and Small Song Mountains. This barren land will become fertile and well-fed. Dams can also be built and trees planted to prevent the sand dunes in the north from moving southwards.

Between these two canals, a thousand households can be accommodated.”

Mei Guozhen listened to what Li Tuiguan said, nodded repeatedly, and couldn't help but sighed: "Brother Li, you have worked hard."

When he was a tutor in the Eastern Palace, he often went to the Imperial Archives to look up information and got to know Li Zhibin, Zhou Bingzhou, and Yuan Xian'an.

Li Zhibin smiled faintly, "This is Li's job."

He turned around, put his right hand on his forehead, and looked towards the official road to the west: "It's getting late, why is there no movement?"

Mei Guozhen was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Brother Zhengzhi is also concerned about this matter."

Li Zhibin laughed: "I am also concerned about this matter. I also hope that the Huo brothers can come back. We who do practical things cannot be laughed at by those who sit on the sidelines and talk nonsense."

Mei Guozhen pursed his lips and nodded: "That's right, those people who talk a lot and do nothing will naturally do nothing wrong, so they just laugh at us who do a lot and make a lot of mistakes.

I hope that the heavens will look upon us and not let those of us who are doing practical work feel disheartened.”

Suddenly one of the followers pointed to the west and said, "Look!"

Mei Guozhen and Li Zhibin turned around upon hearing the sound and saw dust rising in the west under the setting sun, rolling like a yellow dragon from west to east, as if it had emerged from the distant Qilian Mountains and was flying towards this side.

Mei Guozhen rushed to a horse in a few steps, grabbed the bridle and saddle bridge, jumped on the horse, whipped the horse and urged it to go away. Several followers hurriedly mounted their horses and chased after him.

Li Zhibin placed his right hand on his forehead and silently said to himself, God will open his eyes!

Mei Guozhen ran wildly towards the yellow dragon. A quarter of an hour later, he saw a group of cavalry rushing towards him. There were about a hundred people in total, and the leader was Huo Jing.

"Zhongming, you are finally back."

"Master Mei, yes, I'm back. I was worried that Lord Cao would be anxiously waiting, so I just rode a fast horse to come here in person."

"Okay, Cao Gong is waiting for you in Lanzhou."

"What about Mei Fu Zun?"

"I am here to inspect the settlement and water conservancy affairs, and I am waiting for you two brothers."

"Haha!" Huo Jing laughed with his head raised. His face was covered with dust and sweat, gray and dirty, but his smile was extremely bright.

Mei Guozhen also laughed, his smile full of relief.

The two men quickly crossed the Yellow River, entered Lanzhou City, and headed straight for the Governor's Office.

Seeing Cao Bangfu, Huo Jing knelt down and said loudly: "Lord Cao, Zhongming lived up to your trust and brought the original troops out."

Cao Bangfu stepped forward, helped Huo Jing up with both hands, and said in a loud voice: "Bring tea, no, bring a bowl of ginseng soup. Zhongming, you are back, don't be anxious, moisten your throat, take a breath and then tell us in detail."

After drinking the ginseng soup, Huo Jing wiped his mouth and began to tell the story in detail.

"Lord Cao, Jingbian and I left our three hundred followers behind, disguised ourselves, and took about twenty people to sneak into Yijinai City. A few days ago, Altan sent a Nayan and two thousand households with dozens of people to take over the general's troops in the Juyan Lake area.

However, these people relied on being sent by Altan to be arrogant and domineering, and did all kinds of evil, so the tribesmen secretly hated them. However, there were also tribesmen who joined them.

I found out the situation clearly and sent people to secretly contact my confidants and convey the message. While Altan's Nayan and Qianhu were holding a dinner party, I killed them all, along with hundreds of their followers, in one fell swoop. Then I broke camp with my troops at night and headed south along the Zhangye River. Now they are temporarily settled south of Baicheng Mountain, on the banks of the Heihe River.

There are 3,600 tribesmen and 4,400 cavalrymen. They are all members of the Oirat Torghut tribe that I conquered in the Jinshan area. They have followed me in my battles and are trustworthy. "

Cao Bangfu said happily: "You are loyal, wise, brave, and courageous. Great! I will submit a petition to commend your merits and strive to have your troops listed as a wing and stationed in the Qinghai Lake area."

Huo Jing replied, "Thank you, Lord Cao. There is a tribe in the area around Qinghai Lake, called the Qinghai Tumed Tribe. In the 28th year of Jiajing, Altan envied the richness of Qinghai and led his tribe across the Qilian Mountains to the west, chasing the Buhaier tribe and occupying the Qinghai area. He left his son Bingtu to lead another tribe to guard the area, which was also called the Weiwushen Tribe."

Cao Bangfu immediately said: "Bingtu has been summoned by Altan Khan to the Daqing Mountains in the south of the desert, and the Weiwushen tribe is leaderless!"

The news about Bingtu was reported by the Supervisory Office.

Huo Jing's eyes lit up. "Lord Cao, it's just right. Winter is coming soon. I will attack the Weiwushen tribe immediately. Even if Bingtu finds out, he won't be able to get back because of the heavy snow blocking the road. When he comes back in the spring when the snow melts, I will have helped the Ming Dynasty recover Qinghai."

"Good!" Cao Bangfu stroked his beard and said generously, "Let Zhongming take charge of the march and the battle, and the grain station of Kesheng can provide all the food, fodder, weapons and equipment.

I only want Qinghai!"

In the capital, Wang Daokun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and commander of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Bureau, who was urgently summoned to the capital after a journey of eight hundred miles, washed up in the Sifang Pavilion, changed into his official uniform and hat, took the document, took a carriage to the Nanhua Gate of the Western Garden, and handed over a sign requesting a meeting.

Soon, Li Chun, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came out to receive Wang Daokun.

"Mr. Wang, His Highness is waiting for you, please come with us."

Li Chun brought Wang Daokun to the Qinzheng Hall. After he finished paying his respects, Zhu Yijun couldn't wait to say, "Mr. Wang, tell me about Altan Khan in detail."

(End of this chapter)