New Shun 1730

What the emperor wanted to do was what Liu Yu was thinking about temporarily.

Two or three thousand miles apart, there was actually not much tacit understanding between the monarch and his subjects, but it was just on the way at this time.

Just like the entry point for the navy to make money was Japan, the entry point for the Dashun education reform was military reform; and the entry point for military reform was the quasi-military.

Liu Yu used the Qingzhou Army to prove how powerful an army after military reform was. If the emperor wanted more Qingzhou Army, he needed a full set of officer training systems.

This is the only place where the imperial examination can be loosened.

However, these things, and even things after the Western Regions, Liu Yu could not be arranged to control them here.

Things in the Western Regions must be settled, and he will leave.

Now, he has to do the last thing to stabilize the Western Regions.

At the foot of the Sunduruk Ridge in the Altai Mountains, at the northern exit of the ancient pastoral road where herders migrated, the Qingzhou Army, which had been repaired and replenished with supplies and ammunition, was making the final pre-war mobilization.

Some guides and some people from the staff had already set off first. They had to make plans for each unit to cross the mountain.

Where to camp, where to be on guard, where to arrange the command soldiers, where to be narrow and where to be spacious, all these require planning.

Marching is a great test of the organization ability of the troops.

The power of nature is far more terrible than the army of the Junggar. All the twelve-pound cannons and the captured twenty-pound mortars were left at the foot of the mountain.

Liu Yu also wanted to throw away the eight-pound cannon, but almost everyone persuaded him not to keep only the light four-pound cannon.

In the previous battle, the artillery made great contributions. The infantry liked the rumbling sound of their own cannons, which made them feel at ease.

"Sir, we will carry these cannons over the Altai Mountains. If we don't take the twelve-pound cannon, we won't take it, but we must take the eight-pound cannon."

"Yes, sir. The Junggar people can carry the cannons across the north of the mountain, why can't we? Even if speed is the most important thing in war, as long as we cross the mountain, the road behind will be much simpler."

Liu Yu still made concessions amid the persuasion of everyone.

"Okay, but we can't bring the 12-pound cannon. It's too heavy and will seriously affect the speed of crossing the mountain."

"After crossing the mountain, artillerymen and engineers, your first priority is to draw maps."

"Half of the staff will be responsible for map drawing. It must be accurate. Whether it is a seasonal river, when it snows, when it freezes, and in which month the frost falls, all these must be clearly asked from the herdsmen."

"Maps, you must draw the map. This is more important than winning a battle. You can do without the cannon, but you must bring the large telescope for surveying and mapping."

The officers of the artillery and engineers have higher "educational qualifications", at least they have learned mathematics for more than three years more than those infantry officers.

Surveying and mapping itself is also their old profession.

Liu Yu thought that this was also the last thing he did for the country to pacify the Western Regions, an accurate map to select the location for building the city in the future.

All the officers agreed and went to assemble the troops. After the troops assembled, Liu Yu came to the front.

Before the decisive battle with the Junggar, Liu Yu did not even make any pre-war speeches.

Today's decisive battle was over, and when the army was about to cross the Altai Mountains, he stood on the 12-pound cannon that was about to be left behind, and encouraged the crowd of soldiers.

"Soldiers, I know that most of you didn't know a single word before joining the army. Faced with the loess and back to the sky, ask you if the clouds in the sky are going to rain? Does the wheat need watering? You definitely know. But if I ask you, where is the Western Region? How big is China? You definitely don't know."

"Don't talk about the Western Region. You Jiaodong people call the west Xilaizi all day long, and call those who have passed through Guandong and are in southern Liaoning Hailizi. The farthest places you have ever known may be Xilaizi and Hailizi. Some people may say, why do I care where the Western Region is? I will do whatever the officers tell me to do. As long as the military pay is paid, let alone the Western Region, I will go to Tianzhu."

"Who of you knows what the Western Region is?"

The soldiers recruited from Jiaodong laughed when they heard the regional names such as "Xilaizi" and "Hailizi".

But if you talk about the Western Regions, everyone is dumbfounded. They know that there is Shanxi in the west and Henan in the south, but they are very far away.

How far is very far? Anyway, it is a distance similar to myths and legends. It is impossible to go to Nantianmen, but it is also difficult to go to Henan these days. What is the difference?

As for the Western Regions, what is it?

"What is the Western Regions? Let's talk about food. Watermelons, walnuts, grapes, cucumbers... originally did not exist in the Central Plains. Have you all eaten cucumbers?"

Most people have eaten this. There are also many planted in the vegetable gardens of the military camps. Everyone can eat a few in summer. If you talk about how the Western Regions are, how the world is, they don't understand these things. Speaking of these things that they know every day, this distant Western Regions suddenly became much closer.

They say that they don't understand since ancient times. But when it comes to these things that can be seen every day, everyone laughs.

"The Western Regions is a place. How long has it been lost? Since you can't read, you can't read history books, but you have heard of storytelling and opera, right?"

"When the Seventh General of the Yang Family, Princess Tiejing, Jinshatan, Old Lady She, and Empress Dowager Xiao were killed, the Han people in the Western Regions were all killed. I guess you don't know how many years it has been since now, but you should know which stories happened after that, right?"

When talking about storytelling and opera, the soldiers became excited and started discussing.

"Judge Bao is later!"

"The treacherous minister Pan Renmei is also later."

"Yes, yes, and there is also the fisherman who killed his family. The 108 Liangshan heroes are also later."

"Yue Wumu! Yue Wumu's teacher is Zhou Tong, the teacher of Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen."

"Luan Tingyu of Zhujiazhuang is also later. After Yue Wumu, the Jin people's Da Zi went south. Han Shizhong, Liang Hongyu..."

"After that...after that, the Mongolian Da Zi went south. "Heroes", yes, Heroes, the founding of the Ming Dynasty. After that is the henpecked Marshal Qi, right?"

"Bullshit , Marshal Qi was behind the Yan Wang's Northern Expedition. It was the Northern Crown Prince Chen Lei who entered the White-browed Tiger and was killed by Yan Wang Di; in the martial arts competition on the parade ground, Chen Lei was also hacked to death by Yan Wang. After Chen Lei was killed by Zhu Di, his wife Yan Yue Niang and sister Chen Miaotang sent troops south. Zhu Yuanzhang let Li Wenzhong be the commander, and Li Yulang and Yan Wang led the northern expedition as the vanguard. Marshal Qi had to come later. "

The people below were arguing about whether the wife-fearing Marshal Qi came before or after the Yan Wang's Northern Expedition. After a series of arguments, they finally talked about the history that was only a hundred years ago.

"After that, the Eastern Tartars entered the Pass. Emperor Taizu raised an uprising army, and Wu Sangui, the dog thief, avenged Emperor Chongzhen and led the Qing soldiers in white clothes and armor into the Pass. "

This recent historical event is already the story of their great-grandfathers.

At this time, think about the more distant Yan Wang's Northern Expedition, Yue Wumu, the Seven Langs and Eight Tigers... These uneducated soldiers felt the heaviness and longevity of history for the first time.

It turns out that the cucumbers, watermelons, grapes they eat, the carrots they eat until they vomit, and the garlic they must eat with dumplings... all these things come from the Western Regions?

The Western Regions that once seemed far away and had nothing to do with me suddenly became familiar, even though I had never really seen them.

Everyone thought, has the Western Regions been lost for so many years?

It was lost during the time of the Yang Family Generals, how many years has it been?

The emperors have changed so many times, it really has been lost for a long, long time.

Although it is wrong to learn history through storytelling and opera singing, it is the only effective way at this time.

Seeing that these soldiers had a vague but close awareness of the Western Regions, Liu Yu pointed to the snow on the towering mountains in the distance and said, "Over that mountain is the Western Regions. Seven hundred years have passed since the days of the Yang family generals. Once again, a large army from the Celestial Empire has entered the Western Regions. And you are the first group of people after seven hundred years."

"Perhaps someone will say that it is your generals who became famous, what does it have to do with us? I say, isn't this simple?"

"Others who won the battle would erect a monument. We won the battle, so of course we would erect a monument. But the monument we erected would be yours. If all the words are engraved, there are only tens of thousands of people, right? There are plenty of engineers in our army, so it is not difficult to engrave tens of thousands of names. "

"In the future, when people mention the Western Regions, they will point to the inscription and say, hey, hey, hey, look, these people entered the Western Regions again after 700 years."

"Wait until I go back, I will print another book and write all your names on it. Then make a medal, and in the future when you get married, have children, and your children have children, you can take the medal and the book and ask your grandchildren to find your names. Okay?"

The encouragement full of the smell of soil is as dirty and gray as the sweet potatoes newly dug out of the ground. But these people can understand it.

Amidst the cheers, Liu Yu pointed to the rugged pastoralists' migration road and shouted, "Let's go! Fight to Yili and eat watermelons!"

The drummers in the army played a cheerful beat. Tens of thousands of soldiers who had little education and didn't even know why they were fighting, sang the most rustic and cheerful military songs, and began to cross the towering Altai Mountains under the dispatch of the General Staff.

... Wife, wife, I'm leaving. Don't cheat at home. Little girls, don't cry. Lead bullets don't hit the target every time.

If lead bullets hit the target every time, who would Your Majesty ask to join the army? Bullets only make small holes, but shells can leave big scars.

Our cannons have the largest caliber, and our bayonets are the longest. The garrison delays the payment of military pay all day long, how can it be compared to our monthly payment?

As long as Your Majesty can pay, we promise not to rob. If the monthly salary is increased by two taels, we dare to conquer the Nine Heavens...

Amid the earthy singing, the soldiers lined up in columns, in accordance with the dispatch of the staff, were either advancing, stopping to push cannons, driving cattle, horses and camels, or stopping to cook for the back.

Liu Yu deliberately selected a pure white warhorse, put on the best-looking armor, and said to a painter who had studied Western painting with the army: "Just draw a Western painting for me. It's called: Liu Yu Crossing the Alps... Uh, no, it's Crossing the Altai Mountains."

"The horse must be white, and the sky must be cloudy. The mountain must be steeper, and there must be soldiers pushing cannons as the background. It's best to depict the warhorse raising its front hooves and me pointing at the mountains in the distance, especially my cloak, which must dance with the wind..."

The painter with the army looked at the blue sky and the scorching sun, and thought, okay, I'll draw you whatever you want.

"I wonder if you want to focus on realism? Or artistic conception?"

Liu Yu also looked up at the blazing sun in the sky and said with a smile: "Do you think it's cloudy? Just paint an artistic conception. I also know that painting a picture is not a one-day job. I just sketch the lines now and then slowly paint it later."

After saying that, he reined in the warhorse, letting it raise its front hooves and stretch out his hand to point forward. After waiting for a gust of wind, the cloak was blown up by the wind. Liu Yu shouted: "Yes, yes, that's the feeling now, hurry up."