Chapter 49 Whose snowflakes are as big as a mat?
Every time King Yan saw the information sent from Beijing, he had a deep feeling that this place was already far away from the Central Plains.
This sense of distance turned into loneliness and worry in his heart.
It would take more than a hundred days, or about three months, for a piece of information to travel from Beijing to Tingzhou, his new residence.
After all, the road from Beijing to Liaodong, up from Liaodongbei, through Mobei, and all the way to Northern Xinjiang is too long.
Many times, by the time it comes into the hands of King Yan, it has been a long time ago.
King Yan didn't ask people to risk crossing the vast sea and entering Northern Xinjiang, and then to Northern Xinjiang, they could narrow down a long distance. But no matter what, sending a message like this is simply a gamble for one's life.
There is no post road across the vast sea. When the Yuan Dynasty was at its peak, several direct communication routes with Mobei were maintained. However, with the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, such routes were interrupted. For Beijing, there is no idea of operating these post roads.
But for King Yan, he did not have the energy.
As far as the Yan State's national power is concerned, it is already very difficult to rule Mobei and Northern Xinjiang. Even now, the King of Yan has formed a de facto dual-headed politics. The Princess of Yan and the Crown Prince sit on the banks of the Nen River to guard Eastern Mongolia, that is, The lair run by King Yan. King Yan himself, with his trusted men and horses, was stationed in northern Xinjiang to keep the Mongols who had just surrendered.
In the second half of the first year of Longwu, King Yan made a circle in northern Xinjiang and selected a place rich in water and grass as the core of his rule in northern Xinjiang.
There were some abandoned cities on this land. King Yan rode his horse to look for them and found the ruins of the stele. He carefully identified the rubbings and found the words Tingzhou. Only then did we know that this place was Tingzhou in the Tang Dynasty. So, King Yan established Tingzhou on the same place. Northern Xinjiang tribes will be summoned to spend their pasture. It can be regarded as establishing rule over the northern Xinjiang region.
Lian Zining was the first magistrate of Tingzhou.
He began to build Tingzhou City and was responsible for building Tingzhou into the largest city in northern Xinjiang. It became the most important logistics base for the battle between the Yan Kingdom and the Timur Khanate. After all, it would be too expensive to transport everything from the rear.
And King Yan’s choice was not bad. In other words, heroes have seen the same thing since ancient times.
The Tingzhou chosen by King Yan was the core grassland of Waci, which was later to be the capital of Xinjiang Province, Urumqi.
In the Han Dynasty, this was one of the military garrison areas of the Western Regions, the Ting Prefecture of the Tang Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, it was an important base of the Jungar Khanate and an important place for the management of the Western Regions in the Qing Dynasty.
In other words, given the geographical situation in northern Xinjiang, there are not many places for people to choose from.
King Yan carefully looked at Beijing's various decisions three months ago, as well as Beijing's hesitation on the northwest strategy.
King Yan decided almost instantly that Beijing's northwest strategy must be promoted as much as possible. Without him, this strategy would be of great benefit to him. Not to mention anything else, his logistics line has changed from the original background of Beijing, Liaodong and Mobei to Beijing, Ningxia and northern Xinjiang, saving thousands of miles of journey and reducing many costs.
More importantly, it increases the morale of soldiers. .
King Yan's heart is as solid as stone.
He will not change his mood because of the external situation, but he has such ability, but it does not mean that the soldiers under King Yan have such ability. The feeling of King Yan's troops is that a lonely army goes deep into the mountains thousands of miles away.
Once there are changes in Northern Xinjiang, it is impossible for Mobei to support Northern Xinjiang.
In other words, King Yan's army was divided into several groups by the vast territory. They were too far apart from each other and it was impossible to support each other.
That’s all.
Especially with the arrival of winter, it gets colder as you go north. This kind of coldness can make people die as soon as they breathe. Under this situation, transportation in various places is also cut off. To put it bluntly, even if King Yan is dead now, the Central Plains will not get the news until after the beginning of spring.
Under such circumstances, it is understandable that the morale of the soldiers was low.
Whether for practical logistical reasons or for the sake of military morale, the contact time with the rear is shortened. All must be done.
Even if King Yan finally bows to Beijing, it may not be without such realistic factors.
King Yan was so happy about Beijing's northwest strategy. Once Beijing's northwest strategy is successful, he only needs to capture Turpan to have another channel to connect with Beijing. After shortening the logistics, he will be invincible when he fights Timur.
It's just that He Xi hesitated and felt uncomfortable.
King Yan wished he could fly to Beijing to discuss this matter with He Xi, but he immediately gave up the idea. Without him, King Yan knew very well that even if he flew to Beijing, he might not be able to say that He Xi changed his mind. He Xi had never changed his mind. Not an easy person to persuade.
The way to persuade He Xi to do well is not how to say it, but how to do it? How to change the actual situation and move the situation in a direction that is beneficial to the northwest strategy.
King Yan thought for a long time and suddenly turned his head. Saw Turpan.
King Yan of Turpan has always wanted to fight.
Without him, King Yan's strategy is very simple, which is to use offense as defense.
This is the character of King Yan himself, and it is also the rule of cavalry fighting.
King Yan himself was a fierce man, and his military style was very tough. Boldly attack, boldly advance, and when fighting, fearlessly strike with less and strike more, and strike faster with speed. Take the initiative into your own hands. At the same time, the cavalry was on the grassland and had no city to defend.
The so-called Tingzhou now is nothing more than a group of tents. The walls were nothing more than wooden palisades.
Defense is very limited.
This situation will not change for a long time.
When cavalry fight on the grassland, it is easier to attack than to defend. Attack means taking the initiative. This is also in line with King Yan's wishes. King Yan had not taken action against Turpan before, just because the time was not there.
He had just captured Northern Xinjiang, and it was not easy to completely control Northern Xinjiang.
After all, Northern Xinjiang is a grassland, not a city. And Waqi is a tribal alliance. ,
Therefore, defeating the main force of Wasi does not mean that the Mongols in the entire northern Xinjiang have been surrendered.
This is not just a matter of fighting, but also requires a certain amount of political skill.
It took King Yan half a year to complete this matter, which was considered fast.
But just after finishing these, winter entered. The entire Tianshan Mountains are covered with heavy snow, and most people in northern Xinjiang are beginning to endure this unbearable winter. There is no thought of foreign war at all.
Naturally, I have to put aside my thoughts about Turpan.
But now, King Yan was a little shaken.
King Yan was thinking about it and called Zhang Yu, Qiu Fu and Lian Zining over.
King Yan said: "Beijing must be allowed to implement the northwest strategy, which will be of great benefit to us. Do you have any ideas?" As King Yan spoke, he fixed his gaze on Lian Zining.
When Lian Zining saw King Yan's look, he knew that King Yan wanted to hear what he had to say.
Lian Zining said: "Sir, it will be great if Beijing implements the northwest strategy. If nothing else, we will have enough military expenses to fight Tamerlane."
As soon as this statement came out, King Yan was shocked. He didn't quite understand what else he didn't know, so he asked, "What's going on?"
You know, Beijing's finances are very tight, but in fact King Yan's finances are even tighter, without some support from He Xi. Now King Yan can't fight anymore. Financial problems severely limited King Yan's combat effectiveness.
The military equipment of King Yan's troops, that is, the three guards of King Yan and now 50,000 to 60,000 elite cavalry, are similar to the Ming army's cavalry. More cavalry are recruited Mongolian cavalry. If you win, you will get a share of the spoils.
This was effective in suppressing military spending. Coupled with the animal husbandry reforms implemented by King Yan, more Mongolians survived.
Among King Yan's troops, the Mongolian cavalry had high morale and strong combat effectiveness.
But even so, many things are stumbling. Among other things, King Yan wanted to establish Tingzhou as the center of Northern Xinjiang and the base camp for his war with Timur. Doesn't this wish require money?
Not just needed, but a lot of money.
Even the King of Yan's troops were asking for money from all aspects. Although the King of Yan conquered the northern border, there were also some
Some gains of one kind or another. But it will be difficult to fill this gap for a while.
King Yan needs money very much now, especially money. But he never expected that Lian Zining was talking about something related to money. King Yan was naturally more interested.
