Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1404
Thirty miles west of Jiayuguan, at the foot of Qingtou Mountain and beside the Baiyang River, you can see tents like white bags stretching as far as the eye can see, all of which are camps of the Jin Army.

The entire camp occupies an extremely wide area, almost covering the foot of Qingtou Mountain. There are people and horses in the camp, and densely packed soldiers walk between the tents.

Among these people, there are soldiers wearing the armor of the Golden Kingdom, and half of them are Mongolians from the Western Regions, and the Turkic people wearing turbans and white cedars can be said to be a hodgepodge.

Looking down from the top of the mountain, the entire camp is divided into several floors. In the middle is a king's tent covering an area of ​​one mu. Outside stands a thigh-thick, three-foot-high king's banner with four golden flags written "Anxi Wang Sun" large characters.

Around the big tent are the tents of the Jin army, which are quite organized and the camps have been cleaned up.Outside the Jinjun tents in the inner circle, there are three Yuzi and Yarkand people's tents, which are arranged more casually and appear very chaotic.

Outside the entire camp, there are herds of horses, cattle and sheep, wandering on the mountainside and the pasture outside the camp, and there are groups of cattle and sheep on both sides of the Baiyang River.

If it is the Central Plains, the logistical pressure of more than [-] people is very heavy, but the Jin army drives cattle and sheep to fight, eats while walking, and raises while eating, but there is relatively no such logistical pressure.

This was the camp of King Anxi of the Kingdom of Jin. He gathered more than [-] people from the small countries in the Western Regions and the Mongolian tribes who surrendered, and marched eastward to the outside of Jiayuguan, preparing to rush to the aid of the Kingdom of Jin.

However, after the army walked outside Jiayuguan, they set up camps on the Qingtou Mountain and the Baiyang River, and did not move forward.

At this time, the army had been stationed at the foot of Qingtou Mountain for more than half a month. The tents stretched as far as the eye could see, and there were herds of cattle and sheep outside the tents. The scene was very spectacular.

The Jin army was practicing here, and the soldiers, food and grass were still complete, and when Sun Kewang gave an order, the army pulled out of the camp and set out.

However, Sun Kewang didn't give an order, and he was still struggling in his heart. He was still waiting for a definite news to come.

In the court of the Kingdom of Jin, there have always been two factions, one is the faction facing the east, and the other is the faction facing the west.

Those in the east, with Guanzhong as the core, still want to compete with the Ming Dynasty. Although they also support expansion to the west, their original intention is to supplement their strength through the west and prepare for the advancement of the east. In essence, they still want to Go east to gain greater territory and benefits.

Meng Qiaofang, Han Chaoxuan, and even Wu Sangui can all be regarded as this school.After all, the idea of ​​competing in the Central Plains is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and this faction occupies the mainstream of the Jin Dynasty court.Although the Kingdom of Jin is at a disadvantage and does not have the strength to advance eastward for the time being, they have been strengthening the power in Guanzhong to form a confrontation with the Ming Dynasty.If given the opportunity, they would leave Tongguan without hesitation, but they did not wait for such an opportunity.

The Xiangxi faction believes that the gap between Ming and Jin is too large. Jin should not have illusions about Kanto, but should shift its focus westward, give the Western Regions the same political status as Guanzhong, and use the same resources or even more resources to operate and continue. Expand west, not back.

This faction is weaker, Sun Kewang is basically alone, and Yu Yin barely counts as half.

There is actually a conflict between these two routes.As a member of the Westward Faction, Sun Kewang hoped that the Kingdom of Jin would leave him with more resources to manage the Western Regions. However, the Eastern Faction dominated the central government, so Sun Kewang had to send a large amount of fur, cattle and sheep to Guanzhong, which limited his ability to operate in the Western Regions. development of.

However, although Sun Kewang has conflicts with Jin Guo on the route, the starting point of the Silk Road is here, and he cannot do without Guan Zhong.

One of the big reasons why Sun Kewang was able to integrate the various ministries of the Western Regions was because of the existence of the Silk Road, and the key to the Silk Road was in Guanzhong, so Sun Kewang led his troops here.

Protecting the Silk Road, allowing him to obtain materials from Guanzhong, and at the same time, transporting goods from India, Persia, and Eastern Europe to Guanzhong for sale, and protecting the entire trade network, is the only reason for Sun Kewang to send troops.

Just judging from the news he got, the Ming Dynasty is coming in a menacing manner this time, and the economy of the Jin Kingdom has been hit hard, but it makes him dare not take part in the war rashly.

In the early morning, on both sides of the Baiyang River, the pastures were fragrant, and the smoke from the cooking camp was rising. Sun Kewang and his generals stood on the hillside of Qingtou Mountain and looked down to the direction of Jiayuguan in the distance.

"Your Majesty, the army has been stationed here for half a month. Why is it that it does not advance and does not retreat?" Zhang Sheng, his confidant, followed Sun Kewang's gaze to look at Jiayuguan, and said worriedly: "What if the imperial court If we win, I am afraid that the prince will be blamed, but if the court is defeated and Guanzhong is lost, then our Silk Road in the Western Regions will be unsustainable!"

Zhang Sheng's words expressed the worries of Li Qichen and the other generals behind him. In fact, in their hearts, they still hoped to fight against Ming Dynasty.

Sun Kewang looked to the east, but he sighed and said to Zhang Sheng: "Since I raised my army, I have experienced several ups and downs. Today, I finally established a foundation in the Western Regions, but I am really worried about losing it again."

It has been 1630 years since the three years of Chongzhen and Zhang Xianzhong began to rise up with Zhang Xianzhong in 28.In the past 30 years, Sun Kewang has had ups and downs several times, among which the big ups and downs were once in Sichuan and once in Yunnan, and this is his third rise.

People say that there are only three things, and he has a premonition in his heart. If he stumbles again this time, he probably will never have a chance to get back up again.

One is that it is impossible for him to be lucky four times in a row, and the other is that he is almost fifty years old before he knows it, and there is no time for him to rise again, nor does he have the energy to start all over again.

His words made Zhang Sheng, an old man of the Western Army, empathize with him, but he couldn't convince Li Qichen and other generals.

Sun Kewang turned his head, glanced at them, and saw the expressions of several people, so he said again: "Don't worry, since the king has led the troops to the outside of Jiayuguan, he naturally has a perfect plan."

"I don't know how the prince arranged it, but I will follow suit." Zhang Sheng couldn't help clasping his fists behind him.

In the current situation, Sun Kewang should indeed have a clear statement, but the thoughts in his heart are a bit outrageous, and he has never known how to speak.

After all, not all of his current troops are from his old western army. A large part of them were recruited slowly after arriving in Hexi, and they have a great sense of identification with Jin Guo.

But at this moment, it is really time for him to express his thoughts and let these generals have a mental preparation. He turned around and looked at the generals, and said in a deep voice: "This king has sent people to Guanzhong to investigate. Therefore, this king will know very quickly what is going on in Guanzhong. If the situation is favorable to the imperial court, then this king will send his troops eastward immediately to help the imperial court."

When all the generals heard this, they couldn't help but nodded. Warlords always have to consider their own interests.

If Sun Kewang just plunged in like this, they wouldn't do it.

After all, the interests of their Anxi Army are not in Guanzhong and Hanzhong, but in the Western Regions. There is no need to take the lead for Meng Qiaofang and Wu Sangui. If it is a pitfall, they will regret it.

"If the situation is unfavorable, shall we retreat immediately?" Zhang Sheng seemed to understand what Sun Kewang meant.

If Guanzhong is defeated, it will not help if they go. If they are beaten by the Ming army again, not only will Guanzhong be lost, but there will be no troops in the Western Regions, and I am afraid there will be chaos.

Sun Kewang glanced at all the generals, and they seemed to accept Zhang Sheng's statement, but Sun Kewang shook his head, "Since I have brought troops here, how can I return empty-handed? Such a waste of food and grass is not beneficial. won't do it."

His words made everyone slightly stunned, Li Qichen said in surprise: "My lord, do we still have to march after the defeat in Guanzhong?"

The situation in Guanzhong is not good. In order to preserve our strength, we don’t make unnecessary sacrifices and don’t send troops.Everyone was a little surprised and very puzzled.

Sun Kewang looked at the crowd, then expressed his thoughts, and asked, "In the past two years in the Western Regions, our army has been invincible, no matter whether it is going west or south, we can do something, but this king is suppressing you. Let you continue to fight, why do you say?"

"My lord said that because of the shortage of soldiers and horses, there are too few people, and the place is too big to manage it." Zhang Sheng replied with his fists clasped.

Li Qichen and the other generals' eyes suddenly lit up when they heard this, but then they frowned, and couldn't help saying: "Could it be that the prince wants to steal people?"

If the Kingdom of Jin wins, the market for the Dongjin faction will be even greater. Sun Kewang can only submit and continue to be King Anxi of the Kingdom of Jin honestly. But if he loses the battle and the Kingdom of Jin loses Guanzhong, then he thinks it is completely unnecessary Listen to the court of the Kingdom of Jin again.

Sun Kewang nodded, "Our biggest bottleneck in the Western Regions is that we have too few people and lack of talents. If Guanzhong is defeated and Dajin loses Guanzhong, the imperial court will not be able to provide us with cotton cloth, tea, ironware, porcelain and other goods. We want to To gain a firm foothold in the Western Regions, apart from building it ourselves, we can only establish good relations with the Ming Dynasty and restore trade routes.”

Sun Kewang's meaning is obvious. For him, the biggest interest relationship of the Kingdom of Jin is that Guanzhong is the starting point of the Silk Road. Many supplies that Sun Kewang needs come from Guanzhong.

If the Kingdom of Jin loses Guanzhong, the court of the Kingdom of Jin will be just a blood-sucking burden to him, which will not bring benefits, but will attract the attack of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that at this time, it's fine if you don't help, and it would be a little unkind to stab Jin Guo in turn.

Zhang Sheng nodded slightly, but the faces of Li Qichen and others were very ugly. This was tantamount to adding insult to injury, tantamount to drawing a clear line with Jin Guo.

Sun Kewang squinted his eyes and glanced at everyone, keeping everyone's expressions in his heart, waiting for everyone's statement...

The generals felt his gaze, and couldn't help trembling in their hearts, lowered their heads, and cold sweat broke out on their foreheads...

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(End of this chapter)