My life skills in Daming Liver

In the vast desert, a team is advancing.

In order to regain contact with Central Asia, Gao Wuguan headed west with gifts and escorts to reopen the overland Silk Road.

There are two roads heading west from the Loop area.

One is from the Mongolian Plateau further north. Because it is close to the north and has many nomadic people, it is now under the control of the Turpan Khanate.

The other one continues westward from Guyuan, from Lanzhou through the countries in the Western Regions, into the sphere of influence of the Yarkand Khanate, and then continues westward to contact the forces in Central Asia.

Gaowu Guan chose the latter path.

Guyuan was a garrison controlled by the Ming court and one of the nine important towns. However, after the Tumubao incident, the Ming court's control over the Western Regions declined. In these garrison posts in the northwest, the Ming court could only control some important military fortresses. Or occupy important cities.

In fact, the trade in the Western Regions is quite developed now. However, the westernmost trade center of the Ming Dynasty was Lanzhou City. Merchants from the Central Plains rarely continued westward and traded directly with Central Asian merchants. They would only exchange some war horses from the Western Regions in Lanzhou. and special products, and then return to the Central Plains to sell.

But compared with the bustling Silk Road in the Han and Tang Dynasties, the entire Longyou can be said to be quite poor.

Gaowuguan hired a local guide, and after giving money to the soldiers guarding the city at Guyuan Pass, the caravan was immediately released. Gaowuguan's goods were not inspected, and they passed through the nine-border town of the Ming Dynasty.

It’s really about to end.

Gao Wuguan sighed. Along the way, the Ming court's influence in Longyou and the Western Regions declined sharply.

The entire Ming Dynasty had the largest territory and the strongest control over its surroundings when Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, had the largest territory.

At that time, the entire Longyou was in the hands of the Ming court. Ming Chengzu established the Shaanxi Xingdusi Province here, appointed local officials, and set up military guards. He not only controlled large areas such as Lanzhou, but also influenced the plateau through Longyou. The influence of the Ming Dynasty was inserted into the plateau, and the current system of protecting religious kings in the plateau was established.

His father Gao Gong also admired Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty the most. He believed that Zhu Di was the best among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty in terms of military ability and political ability, except for some flaws in winning the rightful son.

Leaving Guyuan and continuing westward, you will reach the city of Lanzhou. The guide is very familiar with Lanzhou and said enthusiastically:

"When we arrive in Lanzhou, everyone can have a peaceful sleep!"

"Is Lanzhou very prosperous?"

The guide immediately nodded and said: "This is probably the first time for the shopkeeper to take this trade route. Lanzhou is right across the Yangtze River!"

"Is it really so prosperous?"

The guide immediately nodded and said: "Lanzhou has a tall city wall and King Su is in charge. It is the safest city for us Han people in Longyou. Generally, Han caravans will not continue to the west when they reach Lanzhou. The west is too chaotic!"

King Su, Gao Wuguan then remembered the information he had collected.

Most of the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty had a bad reputation. After becoming vassals, these vassal kings not only demanded large amounts of land as rewards, but also plundered local areas.

But there are always exceptions. King Su's lineage has a very good reputation throughout the northwest.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he made various scholars kings and asked them to "control key points to divide and control the country."

Su Wang Zhu Kai, who was sealed in Ganzhou (today's Zhangye), was the fourteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Lanzhou is also an ancient city, but during the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan army who fled into the desert once had a fierce battle with the Ming army in Lanzhou.

Wang Baobao, a famous general of the Yuan army, assembled an army of 100,000 to besiege Lanzhou. At that time, the Ming army general Chang Yuchun died of illness, and Wang Baobao almost captured Lanzhou.

Later, Xu Da led his troops to march westward, and Wang Baobao continued to flee westward, and the siege of Lanzhou was resolved.

However, the city of Lanzhou was also severely damaged and almost reduced to ruins.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, Lanzhou had been in decline. After Jianwen ascended the throne, he moved King Su back from Ganzhou to Lanzhou because he was afraid that King Su would collude with King Zhu Di of Yan and that he would rely on his own troops in Ganzhou.

After King Su moved to Lanzhou, he used his own money to start building Lanzhou City frantically.

Today's Prince Su's Mansion is the center of the entire Lanzhou city. Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, academies, and workshops are built around the Prince Su's Mansion. Prince Su in the past dynasties has spared no effort in the urban construction of Lanzhou.

When there was turmoil in Longyou, King Su would spend all his wealth and call on soldiers to defend Lanzhou. Since King Su moved eastward, Lanzhou has never been captured.

The contemporary King Su, Zhu Bihuan, himself was a lover of literature. After inheriting the title of King Su, he invited scholars to Lanzhou many times, which greatly strengthened the cultural construction of Lanzhou.

Later, with the rise of the southeast, Zhang Juzheng began to call for the establishment of new workshops in various places, and Su Wang Zhu Pihuan also actively invested in the establishment of workshops, bringing many new industries to Lanzhou.

In particular, Lanzhou is backed by the Western Regions and is very rich in wool resources. King Su Zhu Bihuan also sent people to learn advanced cotton and wool spinning technology.

When Gao Wuguan's father Gao Gong was in power in the Ming Dynasty, he praised Lanzhou's wool products industry.

Today, Lanzhou's wool products are sold throughout the Longyou region and are also transported to the Western Regions for sale.

Gao Wuguan once heard his father comment that the Duke's Palace of Guizhou in Yunnan and Prince Su's Palace in Lanzhou both operated their fiefdoms as their own territory. Their cities were on the border. If they were as exploitative as the vassal kings in the mainland, People, they have already extinct their heirs.

It was this mentality of building one's own home that led Su kings in the past dynasties to continuously invest funds in the construction of Lanzhou City, and also invite scholars to give lectures in Lanzhou City with large sums of money.

All this makes Gao Wuguan, who is familiar with history, feel a little strange.

After he saw the towering and solid Lanzhou City and the prosperous city, this strange feeling became even stronger.

Isn’t it said that the feudal system is a backward system?

Why is Lanzhou, where the vassal kings were enfeoffed, so much better than Guyuan, which was controlled by Ming court officials?

But they are also vassal kings. Why are the vassal kings in Huguang, Taiyuan, and Xi'an so inhumane?

When the Qiang and Hu forces were plundering Longyou, Lanzhou became the last Han city in Longyou and a bastion of Han military power to deter the barbarians.

It was precisely because of the presence of Lanzhou City that the Qiang and Hu bandits did not dare to plunder the Han caravans without restraint.

As for Ganzhou, where the first King Su was seated, the Ming court had already lost the territory outside Yumen Pass. The territory there was already plundered by Qiang and Hu, and Han merchants did not dare to continue westward.

Thinking of this, Gao Wuguan once again thought of Yu Dayou's ambition to re-establish a Han-dominated order in the northwest and to incorporate this land, regarded as the source of trouble in the Central Plains, into the Han family's system just like the Han and Tang Dynasties. , forever ending the curse of the rise of grassland peoples.

Firearms have given Yu Dayou and Gao Wuguang hope!