Hami Royal City!
Tens of thousands of young and strong civilians are working in full swing.
Most of them are ordinary people from Hami.
Since the two kings of Hami formally begged for surrender to the Ming Dynasty, Hami was destroyed.
The people of Hami were supposed to move inland to the Ganliang area, and the imperial court would allocate fields and grain seeds to help them resume production as soon as possible and integrate into the Ming Dynasty.
However, as soon as they heard that the Ming Dynasty was planning to build Hami into a fortress for the Western Expeditionary Army, a large number of young people voluntarily stayed and asked to assist the king in building the city.
Zhang Fu thought that building the city would require young and strong labor, and that there was no need to mobilize the people of Gansu and delay the harvest, so he simply kept them and offered them good treatment conditions.
He has three meals a day, and he still gets paid!
This seemingly ordinary treatment instantly caused the people of Hami to burst out with unimaginable enthusiasm and passion. One by one, they were scrambling for work, fearing that the Ming Dynasty King would replace them because they were slow to work.
At this moment, outside the King's City of Hami, British Duke Zhang Fu, Jing Duke Chen Mao and Chongxin Bo Feiyu were standing side by side, as if waiting for someone to arrive.
"Tell me, what's going on with the people of Hami?"
Zhang Fu still couldn't understand this, and felt that there was something wrong with the minds of these Hami people.
After Fei Chen heard about this, he smiled and explained: "You two princes don't know something. Compared with the living conditions of the people of Hami, compared with the people of Ming Dynasty, they are really in the sky and on the earth."
"The Hami people are of Mongolian descent, and their living habits are similar to those of the Mongolians. They mainly rely on nomadic herding and cultivated land as a supplement. In this sky full of yellow sand, their life is very difficult. They can only survive by trading with passing merchants."
"But the problem is that the powerful people in Hami country are not human beings! Whether they are farming, herding, or doing business, they have to pay extremely high taxes. It is equivalent to the people of Hami who have been working for these powerful people to make money all their lives. , they can only live hand to mouth to avoid starving to death!"
As the chief military officer of Gansu, and having been in charge of Gansu for fifteen years, Fei Chen naturally knew some exotic customs.
After all, Hami is a small, backward and barren country that has spawned a large group of blood-sucking worms and borers.
Zhang Fu and Chen Mao were so shocked after hearing this that they didn't know how to describe it.
At this time, dust was flying in the distance, which quickly attracted everyone's attention.
Zhang Fu smiled when he saw this.
"finally come!"
Soon the visitors arrived, and they turned out to be Li Shulin, the young supervisor of the Royal Manufacturing Bureau, and Chen Cheng, the minister of etiquette!
This Li Shulin was the only son of Hu Yuancheng, the director of the Royal Manufacturing Bureau. He was quite like his father. He loved craftsmanship since he was a child. It was rumored that he would most likely succeed his father's position and inherit Hu Yuancheng's "supervision of weapons manufacturing".
As for Hu Yuancheng, the director of the Royal Manufacturing Bureau, it goes without saying that the absolute confidant of His Majesty Emperor Wu De and the emperor's important minister in charge of the Royal Manufacturing Bureau, his status is still higher than that of the ministers of the court!
After all, the Royal Manufacturing Bureau has a transcendent status. It is not only a partner of the Ming Dynasty's military, but also a holy place in the hearts of Ming craftsmen. Moreover, all the funds due are royal appropriations and are not subject to the control of the court at all. It is conceivable that this Hu Yuancheng is How favored.
His son Li Shulin personally rushed to Hami and led the Royal Engineering Team to build a military base. It could be said that he gave Zhang Fu and others enough face, and he could naturally bear the courtesy of being welcomed out of the city.
As for Chen Cheng, the Minister of Rites, he also has a great background.
Chen Cheng was a Jinshi during the Hongwu period. He was a first-time scholar. He was ordered to seek talents in Peiping, to seek talents in Shandong, and to teach barbarians in Annan. He fulfilled his mission. In the early years of Yongle, he was promoted to Yuanwailang as the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He followed Chengzu in the Northern Expedition and made many military expeditions to the Western Regions with outstanding achievements.
He served his country loyally throughout his life, and successfully went to Annan to fulfill his mission. After that, he went out to Yangguan five times, climbed over snow-capped mountains, walked through jungles, walked through the Gobi Desert, and trudged tens of thousands of miles. He was sent to the Western Regions five times, reopening the "Silk Road" for the Ming Dynasty, and working with the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He opened the door to diplomacy and foreign trade for the Ming Dynasty, and created a prosperous situation during the Yongle period when all nations came to the DPRK!
Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor Wude respected him very much. When he came to the Wude Dynasty, Chen Cheng tried to quit quickly and wanted to serve as an official and return to the countryside. However, His Majesty the Emperor tried his best to persuade him to stay, so he took up the post of Minister of Rites.
His mission for this trip was of course not to go on another mission to the Western Regions, but to serve as a guide for the Western Expeditionary Army, all the way to the Timur Kingdom in Central Asia!
Compared with Li Shulin, Chen Cheng received more attention.
Especially when Zhang Fu, Chen Mao and others saw that the old minister was already gray-haired, they could not help but respect him and immediately followed him into Hami City!
Well, in addition to these two big shots, there is also a little guy on this trip, the Governor and Tongzhi Guo Deng, a confidant of His Majesty Emperor Wude.
Naturally, he came here to gain military glory. After all, there had been no fighting since the end of the Liaodong War, and the noble military ministers had long been idle.
Moreover, Guo Deng didn't come alone, he also brought many noble disciples with him, obviously he wanted to gain weight!
The next day, after a night's rest, Chen Cheng was in good spirits.
He carefully unfolded the map of Kantu and looked at Zhang Fu, Chen Mao, Fei Zhen, Guo Deng, Wu Cheng, Teng Ding and other generals. He felt a little dazed for a moment.
Chen Cheng went to Yangguan and made five envoys to the Western Regions five times in his life. He always pursued the diplomatic strategy of "looking at all the countries in the Western Regions without hesitation". He never looked down upon or neglected any country, no matter it was big or small. Therefore, he successfully established the high prestige of the Ming Dynasty in the Western Regions. With the majesty and magnanimity of the Celestial Kingdom, he conquered all the countries in the Western Regions, even the most prosperous Timurid Empire was no exception!
But this time, Chen Cheng was not acting as a peacemaker, but as a hateful conqueror and invader!
When Chen Cheng thought of this, it was difficult to calm down.
He doesn't want to do this.
After all, whether it is the countries in the Western Regions or the Timur Empire, there are friends he has made in the past.
If the war started now, he would not be able to face those friends again.
However, no matter how reluctant he was, Chen Cheng could only do this.
Because before leaving, His Majesty the Emperor had summoned him, and the emperor and his ministers had a long confidential conversation.
Because of the successful popularization of high-yield crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, the population of Ming Dynasty is growing at a terrifying rate. In the next twenty years, the population of Ming Dynasty will be several times that of today!
The greater the population, the more food is needed and the more fields are needed!
However, the wastelands that the Ming Dynasty could develop, namely Liaodong and Lingbei, have basically been developed, and the court is also moving people there.
Then where should the court find land next?
Only by launching a war and plundering enough fields through the war can at least ensure that the people of the Ming Dynasty will have land to grow and food to eat in the next hundred years!
And the best target is Central Asia, the Timur Empire!
Chen Cheng has been to Samarkand, the capital of the Kingdom of Tibet, more than once. He has witnessed with his own eyes the wealth and prosperity of this first capital in Central Asia!
Therefore, even Chen Cheng had to admit that if the Ming Dynasty could really capture the Timur Empire, it would be a great good thing for the Ming Dynasty!
Therefore, he now has no choice but to dedicate his most valuable experience as an envoy to the Western Regions to provide a road map for the Ming Dynasty's Western Expedition!
Whether it’s Central Asia or the Timurid Empire, those are all places the Ming Dynasty needs!
