"General Liu, after joining forces with Marshal Zuo, in addition to conveying orders to His Majesty, His Majesty also asked me to directly join the army and serve as a pawn for Marshal Zuo!"
"If we march westward to Xinjiang, my subordinates will surely die!"
Oops, the warriors present were even more moved. It turned out that these were not just guards delivering orders. Long Live Lord actually asked them to be vanguard officers. They really came to the Western Regions to work hard!
It's really not just an act. Seeing how they have been struggling with half their lives along the way, no one dares to treat them as worthless Eight Banners dudes!
"It's easy to talk about anything. Let's go to Guazhou City first... The commander-in-chief has arrived. Even if you want to fight, you have to take good care of your health first!"
"And there are acquaintances of both of you in Guazhou City, waiting for you..."
"Acquaintance? Who..." Guan Lu and Doluo looked confused.
Liu Jintang smiled slightly, "King Shangtai of the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom..."
ah! Doro and Guan Lu were stunned. They were really acquaintances. They had met several times when they were accompanying Emperor Tongzhi in Ryukyu. However, he was a high-ranking king and we were just minor guards. Can this be considered acquaintances?
"How is this possible? How could King Shang Tai remember us as little caterpillars?"
"Haha... don't belittle yourself. Is it a little caterpillar that can travel thousands of miles across Central Asia and risk its life to join the army?"
"After hearing your deeds, King Shangtai and the Marshal got drunk several times with joy..."
"But why did King Shangtai come to the Western Region?" Doro asked doubtfully.
"I can't explain this clearly. You'd better ask in person..."
Doluo and Guan Lu were angels, and they had the emperor's orders to meet first. After talking to each other for a few words, Liu Jintang asked many guards to go on the snow sledge, and then he went to see his old acquaintance Gordon.
"Admiral General...we meet again..." Liu Jintang called Gordon's official position in Shanghai and said with a smile.
Gordon also performed a fist-holding salute commonly used by military commanders, "It turns out to be Liu Daotai. It's been a long time since we last met..."
When Liu Jintang put down the Changmao Rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River, he fought with his uncle's troops. After accumulating meritorious service, Changmao was finally given an official position as a Taoist priest.
The promotion to Admiral-General happened after he entered Gansu and Shaanxi. Now the two of them are using their old official positions to salute each other, which also inherits the relationship between them during the battle against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
This is to show everyone that the two of us were comrades in arms back then!
"After saying goodbye to Shanghai, I thought I would never see each other again in this life, but I didn't expect that we would meet again in the Northwest. This life encounter is really hard to describe..."
"Isn't this what the Chinese call fate? I have a fate with General Liu, and I have a fate with Marshal Zuo... Of course, it's also because I have a fate with China!"
"Haha, that's, that's...I wonder what kind of gifts Sir Gordon will bring when he comes to China this time?"
"The gift is nothing. I was lucky enough to meet Lord Long Live in London. Thanks to Lord Long Live's misplaced love, I am just a counselor next to you... Give me some advice, give me some advice!"
"Haha...it's a good idea. I hope Sir will come up with more...good ideas..."
The two had a few subtle exchanges, and then Gordon introduced Liu Jintang to Samuel Baker, the actual captain of the expedition, and praised the explorer's feats in Africa.
"This is Samuel Baker, the British explorer who found the source of the Nile. He also abolished slavery in Sudan and other places. He is a very noble gentleman with high moral character..."
How does Liu Jintang know about the Nile River and Sudan? When I heard that this person was just an explorer and scholar who was familiar with geography and humanities, I just said a few polite words with the respect for a scholar.
"Mr. Samuel seems to be very weak? Hurry up and get on the snow sledge. We have the best military doctors in Guazhou..."
"Thank you...Thank you, General. I'm just sick from overwork and suffering from typhoid and cold. It's okay..."
Liu Jintang welcomed the expedition team and finally started heading towards Guazhou at around 11 o'clock. Under the guidance of a guide who was familiar with the terrain, they quickly went around the main road commonly used by local people. Once here, Toma could start running. The snow sledge pulls very fast.
The further south you go, the more people you can see. It no longer looks like a no-man's land. Dots of ruins of villages begin to appear.
Liu Jintang said to Doro and the others, "These villages were destroyed by the rebels during the previous war, and some of the people were so frightened that they burned down their houses..."
"The local soldiers and civilians have abandoned their homes and started to gather in desert bunkers. The bunkers that usually had only two to three hundred people gathered can now be filled with more than a thousand people..."
After running for dozens of miles, Guan Lu finally saw what an earth fort was. It turned out to be a small fort surrounded by earthen walls purely for fortification. The area was not large, and he never expected that thousands of people could squeeze in here. .
As soon as these fortresses saw the large group of people appearing far away on the road, they all nervously blew their horns and knocked their gongs, and then closed the city gates.
It wasn't until he saw Liu Jintang's flag that he relaxed his vigilance. He could faintly see countless civilians on the earthen wall kowtowing to the cavalry team.
A proud soldier explained on the side, "This is all thanks to the commander-in-chief's kindness! Let these people exchange work for food... The Western Expedition army needs civilians, they need food to survive!"
"Our army doesn't rob their property and women, but gives them work so that they don't starve to death... unlike those rebels who only know how to rob!"
Liu Jintang nodded, "Fighting through war is like crossing water. The damage caused by the war is too serious. In fact, from now on we have to consider restoring the economy..."
"The most lacking thing in the Western Expedition is the civilian men who transport military rations. Although the Chinese provide a lot of portable military rations, the prices are still high, and the proportion of ordinary grains in all supplies is still large..."
"Weapons and ammunition, food, cloth, and even huge timber that is not available locally have to be transported from the rear..."
"We recruit civilians from these war-damaged areas, and only a small part of the payment is money, and the rest is grain and livestock such as lambs..."
"The food will help them get through this cold winter. Lambs, calves, etc. will be available for local herdsmen's wives and children to graze next spring..."
"The men follow our army to earn wages, while the women and children plant crops and raise livestock at home... It is not difficult to restore the economy. In one or two years, they will at least have enough food and clothing..."
"Haha, we also have to see the bright side. Although the war caused damage, it also allowed the grassland and Gobi to recuperate for several years..."
"The rebels have robbed the cattle and sheep. There are not so many livestock grazing on the grassland. The pastures have grown like crazy in the past few years... Just wait and see once grazing resumes. In three or four years, the hillside will be covered with cattle and sheep." !”
