Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

"Frost calms the clear waves, Hu Yan mourns and perishes the country. Snow falls and the sky is dyed, and the mountains and rivers are the same color.

The horn bow breaks with the wind, but the willows are lost.May I ask the general, crossing the glacier in the desert..."

The desolate singing sounded, and the Qiang flute accompanied the pipa, bringing the sound of the frontier.The cold wind has blown, and everything is dyed. After the heavy snow, everything turns white, as if there is no other color in the whole world.The darkness was washed away, the blood red was covered up, and the cold and stern killings concealed many past and secrets...

The weather at Yanmen Pass is already very cold. The soldiers stationed at the border are all huddled in their tents, burning braziers and drinking some hot soup. Unless they are practicing or standing guard, the soldiers generally hide in their houses and try not to step out of the warm tents. .

But Yanmen Pass is cold here, and it is only colder in Beiman Country.The snow at Yanmen Pass is only a thin layer, but outside the pass, after a snowfall, the whiteness reaches the ankles.The air was more like being frozen by the cold wind, bitingly cold and chilling.Neither Jiang Yuan nor Situ Sheng believed that the people of the Beiman Kingdom could stand up and be a coward.

"They can't bear it. They haven't shown up for so many days. I'm curious what they are eating?" In the king's tent, Jiang Yuan put his hand on the brazier and roasted it, and then he felt warm. Even so , he purposely closed his clothes and wrapped himself more tightly with the leather robe.

Situ Sheng was drinking tea, and what he drank was the tea soup prepared by the household department with orange peel added for nutrition.The military law stipulates that alcohol is not allowed in the army. The emperor did not want to make an exception, so he could only boil the water and use it to make a bowl of hot tea to warm his body.Although the tea is not as delicious as the one in the capital, Situ Sheng is not a person who is greedy for enjoyment, and he is happier than drinking tea and eating snacks in the palace as soon as he has a military report.

"It's not that the northern barbarians can only survive on cattle and sheep. It's not that there are no other creatures on the grassland. They can hunt to eat, or kill horses to satisfy their hunger." Situ Sheng said.

The idea of ​​hunting is not bad. Fang Han survived by this trick when he was on an envoy to the Western Regions.If there are only one or two people, or a hundred or so people, they can probably get enough food and clothing by relying on this method. Although it is difficult, it can still make do with it.However, tens of thousands of 10,000+ people rely on hunting to survive. This is too high depending on the number and density of wild animals in the North Man Kingdom. Doesn’t this way of eating wipe out some wild animal populations?

Jiang Yuan doesn't think this method can fill his stomach, but the idea of ​​slaughtering horses is not bad.People in the northern barbarian country often have a lot of war horses. As a country basically composed of nomads, the army is only equipped with cavalry.Every soldier must have several war horses and other poor horses to survive on the battlefield, so that he can change horses without changing people, and complete long-distance raids in a few days and nights.

Drinking mare's milk alone is not enough to feed all the northern barbarians. This method can deal with it in a short time, but people will starve to death after a long time. But if you kill the horses and eat horse meat, you can It's been a long time.

But killing horses is undoubtedly a way to kill chickens and get eggs. After killing all the poor horses, are the northern barbarians planning to drive ox carts to migrate in the future?If the war horse is also killed, they plan to change from cavalry to infantry, and ride on their legs to snatch supplies?Or are they going to fight on sheep?

Jiang Yuan calculated the number of horses, and felt that the northern barbarians were about to lose their strength. If they didn't do anything, they would probably perish forever.

Either starve to death or fight, other than these two options, there is only one dead end!

The same is true of the northern barbarians.

In a hidden valley in the middle of the northern barbarian country, King Zuo Xian led his subordinates to temporarily station here.

During the battle at Qingli Lake, they cruelly abandoned their clansmen and slaves, and were even forced to abandon the few supplies they had left.Relying on the dried meat and the mare's milk that the horses brought with them at that time, they lasted for a few more days, and barely survived until Jing Jun left Qingli Lake, and after they were sure that Jing Jun would not come back again, they dared to Sneak back and rummage through something useful.

King Youxian is terrific, what Jiang Yuan can do is even more terrific.Lord Guanying not only took away the captives and slaves of the northern barbarians, but also took away the money and all the materials he valued in the camp, and finally even the hay collected by the herdsmen to feed the livestock in winter.

He couldn't take this with him, and he didn't plan to take it away, so he simply piled them all together, lit a fire and burned them all.By the way, the remaining broken wood, rotten tents and broken felts were also thrown in and burned together, without any intention of leaving them for the enemy.All the useful and useless things are missing.

By the time Zuo Xianwang and the others arrived at Qingli Lake, Jiang Yuan had already left with the army.But the dry forage was still burning with red flames, emitting gray-black smoke.Zuo Xianwang and the others were completely dumbfounded, and hurriedly summoned the whole army to transport water to put out the fire. At least they did not let Jiang Yuan burn everything, and finally rescued some useful things in the fire.

The tattered tents put together the good parts, and several pieces were put together into one, and they were barely usable.It doesn't matter if the felt is torn, and it can be used to keep the tent warm when piled together.If the wood is burned, it will be burned, and if there is no wood, it can be cut down now.In short, King Zuoxian's army can't live without tents to keep warm, and they must try their best to gather enough supplies to survive.

Even if Zuo Xianwang and the others had tried their best, the tents salvaged from the fire were only enough for them to barely live in.A tent usually feels cramped for only a few people, but now it is even more wishful that it could accommodate twenty people.Crowded and bumped, but at least they had a place to live, and it was rare for these northern barbarians who managed to escape with their lives not to complain.But with a place to live, what about food?

The northern barbarians originally planned to snatch the livestock raised by the foreign race because they had no food, but now the foreign race broke through from another direction, and King Youxian disappeared with them, and the Jing army by the Qingli Lake took them away insidiously. Everything that could be taken away, so King Zuoxian's army found that they had nothing to eat.Not to mention the whole winter, what are they going to do now so as not to starve to death?

At the beginning, someone suggested hunting to supplement food, but this method was too difficult to use.There are 3 of them, not three of them, and they live entirely by hunting. How many animals have to be killed to supply them?It's simply impossible.

The common wild animals in Beiman country are wolves, foxes, rabbits, etc., or they are creatures like birds. Wolves are better, they live in groups anyway, and other foxes and rabbits live scatteredly. What will they do? Hunting can make up enough rations?Not to mention the flying birds. Except for a small number of birds, other flying birds have gone to the south for the winter at this time, and the few ones caught are not enough to fit between the teeth.

So King Zuo Xian had no choice but to order the slaughter of horses to eat, which allowed them to survive this difficult time.

But no matter how many horses there are, they are not used in this way. Because of Xue Jin’s attack, many horses were burned to death in the fire, and afterward they fought against the Jing army. There were a lot of war horses. If the slaughter continued like this, their [-] army would really turn into infantry.

There was no other way, the leaders of various tribes gathered in King Zuo Xian's camp, planning to discuss what to do next.Everyone was discussing this and that, and it was rare for everyone to have the same idea—to loot the countries of the Western Regions, this is the best way!

Whether it was the Mo Dao soldiers last time, or those thunderbolts that appeared from the ground somehow, they didn't know how to deal with these unknown things. break off.

If it was in the past, they would still arrogantly say that Jingren only knew a little tricks to deceive people, that he was not worth mentioning at all, and that he was no match for the northern barbarians at all, but what about now?Everyone dared not even think about Dajing.The tens of thousands of casualties by the Qingli Lake are simply a nightmare for the entire Beiman Kingdom...

Looting Dajing?Just thinking about it makes people tremble, no one dares to say it, they only dare to deal with other countries, such as the Western Regions...

Seeing that everyone had the same idea, King Zuo Xian agreed to the plan.You don't even need to plan to plunder the Western Regions, just kill them and you're done.The Beiman Kingdom has been doing this kind of thing every year for decades, and they have long been used to it, and it is not difficult at all.Anyway, whether it is the Western Regions or Qinghai, they are all the warehouses of their northern barbarian army. As long as you lead your troops there, you can easily find supplies.Some people even handed over supplies to them, crying and shouting, just begging for their protection.

King Zuoxian's army left the valley and marched towards the Western Regions. They didn't know that they had been exposed to the golden eagles raised by the Yuezhi people.These specially domesticated golden eagles fly very high and fast, but their eyes are unusually sharp.In the absence of clouds and fog, they can see the situation below clearly from several miles away, making it impossible for the migrating King Zuoxian's troops to hide.

At the beginning, the Yuezhi people relied on these golden eagles domesticated for generations to avoid the northern barbarians who hunted and killed them, but now these birds have become spies to monitor the northern barbarians.I have to say that the situation in the world is really interesting, the world changes, and the reversal of the world is only in a flash.

After receiving the Golden Eagle message from the Yuezhi people, Jiang Yuan smiled slightly, "They are here at last." He was not afraid of the sudden appearance of the northern barbarians, but he was afraid that they would hide and would not come out no matter what.Tigers are easier to deal with than tortoises with shrinking heads, and showing their heads is equivalent to death.

Situ Sheng took a look at the summons, smiled, and said, "Sure enough, it is in the direction of the Western Regions." It seems that these northern barbarians are really scared of being beaten. The border between Dajing and Beiman is so long. But he was in a daze to attack the Western Regions, hum, what a good piece of information.

He stretched his muscles and bones, drank the tea soup in the cup in one gulp, and continued: "Since the northern barbarians have moved, I will also move to see the defeated soldiers of the northern barbarians!"

Jiang Yuan didn't intend to stop him. If Situ Sheng wanted to go to the Western Regions, he could go. There was no danger at all.If it was before defeating the northern barbarian country head-on, Jiang Yuan might still have doubts and say something that a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall, but now his own self-confidence is unprecedentedly strong, and he believes that those weapons and equipment that surpass the entire era are enough to protect him. Situ Sheng's safety.To them, the territories of the countries in the Western Regions are like the back garden that Jing Jun just bought. They can wander around as much as they want, and for as long as they want.

The three armies were dispatched, and the camps were set up.

Nobody asks where the troops are going.For the well-trained Jing army, it is enough to remember to obey the discipline and obey the command.No questions, no worries, it's all done by everyone.They have no doubt that His Majesty the Emperor and Lord Guan Ying will bring them more military exploits and greater victories!

Situ Sheng led 15 sergeants from the Gyeonggi Daying Camp to leave Yanmen Pass. They needed to reach the defense line of the Western Regions before the northern barbarians, and strive to clean up this northern barbarian forces and the small countries that were not submissive in the Western Regions, and include the Western Regions Dajing's territory.

In Jiang Yuan and his conception, the Western Regions is a place that Dajing must win.Either take the initiative to integrate, or passively surrender, there are only these two options, and Dajing does not accept other results.Only by opening up the road to the Western Regions can we win more wealth for the people of Dajing, and this is what they will do!

The Western Regions, or the desert.

The winter's cold wind brought snow as big as a goose feather, and buried the yellow sand on the ground below, leaving only the endless white scene.There are many small cities in the desert, and there are many oases. Although those oases have lost their original green color because of the cold winter, they can still see how beautiful the desert is now, not like it will be thousands of years later. The vegetation is barren.

Of course, this is Jiang Yuan's idea. In his opinion, this situation is much better than later generations. At least he can still see the oasis, which is better than the yellow sand everywhere.But seeing such a scene, Situ Sheng frowned.This kind of place is not suitable for farmers to live in.

As a farming nation, people in the Central Plains cannot live without arable land.Without enough soil and water for irrigation, the yield per mu may be miserable, which simply cannot reach the level of immigration.If the people from the Central Plains were moved to the desert, it would be better to let them open up wasteland and farm the land. How would the farmers survive here?

Jiang Yuan didn't care. When he was alive in his previous life, the barrenness of the desert would only be worse than it is now. Isn't there countless residents?He doesn't know anything else, but he has learned a lot about sand fixation, grass planting, and tree planting from the media, and it will get better after a few decades of copying.Excessive farming is inherently unacceptable. Can people only farm the land while they are alive?

At this stage, this desert will only exist as a commercial settlement and a commercial passage, but as long as we persist in afforestation and sand fixation, coupled with the application of water conservancy projects such as Karez, one day the desert will also be suitable for Jingren to live in.You can't be afraid of difficulties in doing things, and you can't just focus on the immediate benefits. Since he and Situ Sheng have made the plan hundreds of years later, do they still care about adding another Western Region?

There is always a way, there is always a use, the land is the first, occupy it first, as long as Dajing and European trade can be guaranteed here, who cares if you can farm?

Situ Sheng had never been to the Western Regions, so he didn't know how little precipitation there was on the Western Regions defense line.This year has been very good. There have been several heavy snowfalls in succession on the defense line of the Western Regions, completely covering up the yellow sand. It is impossible to have such a thick snow in normal times. At that time, it looked even more barren than it is now.

But the more snow there is, the colder it is here in the Western Regions. Except for the sergeants of the Jing Army who are protected by cotton-padded jackets and gloves and can freely shuttle here, there are no ghosts in other places. They can clearly see the small town not far away. But no one came in or out at all, and they probably all hid back to avoid the cold wind.

The commander-in-chief in charge of the defense of the Western Regions is Du Ruzhi, the right servant of the Ministry of War, and Chen Youwei is also here as his deputy. Both of them are confidantes hand-picked by Situ Sheng. They work seriously and carefully, which is very reassuring. .

His Majesty the Emperor personally came to inspect the Western Region defense line, and the two hurriedly came to the big tent to report the situation during this period.The defense line in the Western Regions is not easy to maintain, and it should be very difficult to be attacked by the enemy, but these two people are full of smiles and are very happy.Obviously, he has not received any threats and does not take the enemy army seriously.

"What actions will the countries of the Western Regions take during this time?" Situ Sheng sat at the head, looking at the two generals and asked.

Du Ruzhi gave a salute, and said back: "Your Majesty, when the last general and others first occupied the defense line here, the countries in the Western Regions moved frequently, and some countries even sent troops to attack the defense line, intending to connect to the northern barbarian country. All of them stayed in ambush, and they wiped out [-] enemies in the first battle. After that, the countries in the Western Regions did not dare to do anything. They just sent people to monitor our army's actions. During this period of time, due to the continuous heavy snowfall in the Western Regions, it was extremely cold , even the spies are gone, presumably there will be no more action until the snow stops."

"Oh? Did the Western Regions also send troops?" Situ Sheng squinted his eyes and snorted softly.Well, he and Jiang Yuan were thinking about how to find an excuse to intervene in the affairs of the Western Regions. Sending troops without a reason, in the end, the name is not right, and now this happens to be a perfect excuse.

Du Ruzhi replied: "The countries in the Western Regions that participated in the attack on the defense line were all vassals of the Beiman Kingdom. The Beiman Kingdom was defeated by the Qingli Lake. The news of the loss of soldiers and generals obviously has not passed through the defense line to let them know, otherwise it will be in their hands. With that little strength, how dare he fight Dajing? Isn't this courting death?"

Situ Sheng nodded. What matters now is not the countries of the Western Regions, but the army of the Northern Man Kingdom.According to the news, these northern barbarians who are going to the defense line of the Western Regions are the subordinates of Zuo Xianwang.Although there were only 3 horses, and no other clansman or slaves to help, but as a soldier, King Zuo Xian held a quarter of the army of the Northern Barbarian Kingdom, which was not a small force.

If all of these quarters of the army could be kept on the Western Region defense line, then in the Northern Barbarian country, the balance between the Northern Barbarians and the foreign races would be broken immediately.The weak northern barbarians can't resist the foreign races with more fighters, and they are not even Xue Jin's opponents. They will become lambs in their eyes, and they may be swallowed up by the foreign races and Xue Jin before they make a move.This is the best way to weaken the northern barbarian country.

"King Zuoxian will definitely be defeated, and the Western Regions... will also be defeated by Dajing! The Northern Barbarian Kingdom and the countries of the Western Regions will be Dajing's territory sooner or later." Situ Sheng said with a smile, but his tone was full of blood. .

Jiang Yuan wasn't worried about King Zuo Xian's 3 people at all. Even with such a small number of troops, even a surprise attack might not be able to break through the heavily fortified Western Regions defense line. However, the attitude of the Western Regions was a bit ambiguous, so we still needed to be careful.In case you can't think of an attack or something, you need to be on guard.

In fact, he really couldn't understand why those people from the Western Regions were willing to surrender to the Northern Man country that attacked them every year, and even sent troops to protect the Northern Man country.They are robbed by this group of robbers every year, but they still speak for the robbers. Is this Stockholm syndrome?The whole thing is a group of shaking m.

If it was him, it would be considered polite not to take advantage of the bad luck of the Beiman Kingdom to step on [-] feet, to help the Beiman Kingdom?He doesn't have that much measure...

Chen Youwei understood Jiang Yuan's doubts, and answered in a low voice, "My lord, these people from the Western Regions were also forced out. If they are willing to surrender to the Beiman Kingdom, then the Beiman Kingdom will only ask them for help every year." They just want some money and food, and they will not plunder excessively. They will even help them deal with some hostile countries around them and vent their anger for them. Although life is not easy for them to surrender to the Northern Man, it is better than offending the Northern Man and then being punished. It is better for the army to enter and be destroyed once."

"I don't know how to resist, but instead keep the enemy, and I think I can count on it. Hmph, it's just a group of livestock waiting to be slaughtered. When the northern barbarians are hungry, they will be the first to be slaughtered." Jiang Yuan was very impressed with this situation. Disdain, if ceding land and paying compensation, or even begging for mercy can play a role, then the world will already be in harmony, and will there be wars?Jia Yi's theory of passing Qin almost failed to criticize other Warring States countries for "ceding land and bribing Qin", but there are still some people who are so submissive.

The reason why these people from the Western Regions sent troops to attack the defense line was not because they had any enmity with Dajing, but simply to show their "loyalty" to the Northern Man country. They were skilled and disgusting dog legs in exchange for The "kindness" and "compassion" of the northern barbarians.It looks very smart, but it is actually stupid than a pig.If jackals know how to show mercy, then sows will climb trees. Will there still be stories about Mr. Dongpo? !

With this time, instead of developing one's own national power, instead of getting involved in the war between two big countries, he still thinks he can do it. This method of playing tricks to death is much better than that of the honorable family. Jiang Yuan is a little bit uncomfortable. Have the heart to despise their IQ.

"They are still superstitious about the military power of the Northern Man Kingdom. They think that after the Northern Man Army came, Dajing's army would be wiped out. Hmph, I really want to know what happened to them after they received the news that the Northern Man State was defeated in Qingli Lake What kind of face. I believe it will look good." Jiang Yuan smiled, "I don't know how many little sheep are willing to stand beside the short-legged jackals to block the hunter's bow and arrow at that time? They will not cry if they see the coffin ..."

Of course, Jiang Yuan would not give them this chance to be subdued. It would be good not to provoke them to send troops. If they were all obediently subdued, how could the Jing army justifiably attack them?

Chen Youwei chuckled, "There should be none left, I'm afraid they will be begging the hunters not to kill them."

But is it possible?Although Chen Youwei didn't know all the thoughts of His Majesty the Emperor and the Minister of War, but only the [-] northern barbarians led by King Zuoxian, was it necessary to send out tens of thousands of Jingji camps?His Majesty the Emperor probably has his eye on the Western Regions.

Now that Dajing has taken a fancy to him, the Western Regions...doomed!