AWB Chapter 1098 Lanzhou City
Chapter 1098 Lanzhou City
Li Che reached out to support Ma Jing, saying, "Minister Ma has served the border with great merit and hard work. What crime has he committed?"
"As I traveled along the way, I saw that the Northwest was solemn and dignified, which shows that Minister Ma was good at managing the army."
Ma Jing quickly replied, "I dare not take credit; it is all thanks to the soldiers' bravery..."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Li Che finally spoke:
"My arrival was quite sudden. Where does Minister Ma intend to place me? Please do not make too much of a fuss and disturb the local area."
Ma Jing quickly replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already made preparations in Lanzhou City, which can be used as a temporary palace."
He paused, his voice lower and more sincere: "I dare not presume to be in charge of the guards. The outer perimeter of the palace is under the jurisdiction of His Majesty's personal guards, and the servants inside are all carefully selected, with no idlers."
"The Liangzhou garrison, without His Majesty's explicit decree, would never dare to approach within three miles of the imperial palace."
These words were spoken with extreme caution, almost explicitly telling the emperor: I have prepared accommodations, but you are responsible for the security inside and outside; my soldiers will absolutely not touch them, so please rest assured.
However, upon hearing this, Li Che slowly shook his head.
He looked at Ma Jing and said calmly, "There's no need for a temporary palace. I'm here to inspect the border troops and comfort the soldiers."
Ma Jing is loyal, but a little too cautious.
Li Che said directly, "Minister Ma, take me directly to your camp. I will stay in the military camp."
After he finished speaking, the wilderness seemed to fall silent for a moment.
Yue Yun's pupils shrank suddenly, and Ma Zhong, Luo Yueniang, Xiong Tai and the others also subconsciously looked at Li Che.
His Majesty wishes to reside in the border army camp?!
That's the Northwest Army, not His Majesty's direct Fengtian Army. What if they have some ideas...?
Ma Jing was visibly shaken, and abruptly looked up at Li Che in disbelief.
His lips moved, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.
Li Che's decision may seem abrupt, but it was actually the result of careful consideration.
Since his ascension to the throne, he has seemingly had no plans for the Northwest, but he has a clear plan in mind.
Sichuan is an economic hinterland that needs to be appeased, governed, and gradually integrated.
Longyou is different. It is the western gateway to Daqing, a purely military outpost, and a springboard for future westward strategies.
One of his purposes in coming here was to confront the border troops directly.
Whatever Ma Jing's unspoken secret may be, the military camp is the crux of the problem. Avoiding the military camp and staying in some imperial palace is like scratching an itch through a boot.
He valued the Northwest Army more than other border towns because of its strategic value.
Heading west, passing through the Hexi Corridor, you'll reach the Western Regions.
Since the turmoil at the end of the previous dynasty, the Western Regions have been outside the control of the Central Plains for decades.
After Emperor Qing quelled the internal strife and established his rule over the world, he focused on stabilizing the internal situation, and the Qing army was unable to reach that distant land.
With such a vast and prosperous land, how could we not take it?
If Daqing wants to break through the territorial bottleneck of the agricultural empire, it must focus on expansion and plunder more resources.
Aside from the ocean, the only promising direction on land was to restart the Silk Road and subdue the Western Regions.
Between Longyou and the Western Regions lies the Tubo Kingdom on the plateau.
Unless this obstacle is severely punished and its threat is fundamentally eliminated, Daqing's westward expansion will forever be shrouded in a sword of Damocles.
Therefore, the Northwest Army must be elite, must be an iron fist, and must be single-minded.
Any internal problems must be thoroughly resolved in their early stages.
This is why Li Che had to go deep into the military camp.
"Your Majesty! The conditions in the border military camps are harsh, and they are often harassed by Tibetan cavalry. The beacon fires and smoke signals are constantly burning day and night. It is really not a suitable place for the emperor to reside."
Ma Jing finally regained his voice from the shock and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, please reconsider and prioritize your health!"
Yue Yun, Xiong Tai, and others also looked worried, hesitant to speak.
If the emperor were to personally go to such a dangerous place and something were to happen, they would be condemned to death.
But the emperor had already spoken, and his reasons were perfectly legitimate, so they didn't know how to dissuade him.
Li Che simply smiled and said, "It is precisely because there are enemies lurking that I must go!"
"I want to see how the soldiers of my Great Qing are guarding the border. What real skills can they learn by staying in Lanzhou, hundreds of miles away, and listening to reports?"
He paused, his gaze fixed on the vast western horizon, his tone sharpening further: "If given the opportunity, I would like to personally visit the front lines and see the composition of the Tibetan people!"
"Let's go, don't keep the soldiers waiting."
Ma Jing's lips moved, knowing that the emperor's mind was made up, and he swallowed back his words of advice.
He bowed deeply: "Your Majesty's might is absolute, and we swear to protect you to the death!"
The imperial carriage then turned and continued westward toward the front lines.
For the rest of the journey, Li Che no longer rode in the imperial carriage, but instead switched to the Black Wind, traveling alongside Ma Jing, Yue Yun, and others.
He wanted to see this land with his own eyes, a land that bore witness to the safety and well-being of the western border of the empire, yet was also filled with hardship.
The official road offered a wide view, but was extremely sparsely populated.
The villages that are occasionally seen are very small, with low rammed earth houses surrounded by earthen walls, appearing dilapidated and desolate.
Vast tracts of arable land lay barren, overgrown with drought-resistant thorns and wild grasses, trembling in the autumn wind.
In stark contrast to the barren fields were the heavily guarded outposts, fortresses, and beacon towers along the way.
These military outposts varied in size, with the larger ones resembling small cities, complete with high and thick rammed earth walls, corner towers, and watchtowers.
The smallest one was nothing more than a few rows of barracks surrounded by an earthen wall, plus a tall beacon tower.
Around many military outposts, scattered fields have been cultivated, where women, children, the elderly, and the infirm, dressed in old military uniforms, can be seen working.
Ma Jing explained in a low voice that these were the border garrison households, where soldiers of the Northwest Army and their families were stationed in these strongholds.
In peacetime, they cultivated and settled land to provide themselves with a portion of their own food and fodder; in wartime, they were conscripted into the army on the spot.
While it was a good way to save on grain transport and strengthen border defenses, it also meant that these people were destined to be tied to war.
Li Che watched in silence, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
He had toured many places north and south of Daqing and had seen famine and poverty, but he had never seen a place like this before.
The lives of those at the bottom, squeezed by both war and harsh conditions, are laid bare before our eyes.
Occasionally, a few civilians could be seen along the roadside, most of them heading to the military depot to trade salt, iron, needles, and thread.
They were dressed in rags, their faces were dark, many of them looked sallow, and their eyes were cloudy.
Upon seeing the large cavalry force with its brightly colored banners pass by, they instinctively showed fear, quickly retreating to a distance from the road and bowing their heads deeply, as if looking at them any longer would bring disaster.
A gaunt woman holding a baby was so frightened that she fell to the ground on the edge of the field, tightly covering the child's mouth, afraid that it would make the slightest sound of crying.
This is the life of border residents.
According to the laws of Daqing, people from inland areas could move around to a limited extent with a travel permit, which was considered relatively lenient.
However, the government strictly manages the people of the border regions, especially those living near the front lines.
The imperial court did not allow any movement of people and implemented semi-military management of the people, allowing them to enter but not leave.
Otherwise, it would be insufficient to maintain the most basic human and material resources for border defense.
Once a large number of people migrate inland, this defense line stretching for thousands of miles will immediately become a no-man's land, making the transportation of military supplies even more difficult, let alone conscripting laborers and auxiliary soldiers.
This was a continuation of the border policies of previous dynasties, and it remained unchanged even after the founding of the Daqing Kingdom.
Li Che understood rationally, but seeing the heaviness in person still felt like a stone was pressing on his heart.
The wind grew increasingly fierce, whipping up the dry yellow earth, turning the world into a pale yellow expanse.
After traveling for about an hour, the outline of a city appeared on the horizon ahead.
The city wall looked taller and thicker than that of ordinary prefectural cities, made of rammed earth, and shone with a somber dark gold color in the setting sun.
Ma Jing rode his horse closer to Li Che, pointed to the city and said, "Your Majesty, Lanzhou is just ahead."
"This place is already an important town in Longyou. Further west, we will reach the real front line of the battle."
"It is getting late, and the journey to the front camp is still long, and traveling at night is inconvenient. May Your Majesty stay in Lanzhou for the night so that the soldiers can rest for a while, and I will then lead Your Majesty to the camp early tomorrow morning?"
Li Che squinted at the setting sun in the west, then looked at the still orderly but weary troops behind him, and nodded.
"Very well, then we shall do as Minister Ma says and stay in Lanzhou tonight."
. . . . . .
Lanzhou City.
The city wall is a thick rammed earth structure, eroded by wind and sand, leaving deep ravines and mottled marks, almost blending into the surrounding desolate mountains and plains.
The paint on the plaque hanging above the city gate tower, bearing the characters "Lanzhou," has faded.
This place was once called Jincheng County during the Han Dynasty, meaning "as solid as a fortress". In the previous dynasty, it was renamed Lanzhou General Administration, named after Gaolan Mountain to its south.
The city before us was not particularly grand or vast, and it was not the capital of Gansu Province in later generations.
At this moment, it is just a border town born of war, every inch of rammed earth is permeated with the atmosphere of war and sandstorms.
Li Che reined in his horse, gazing at the city from afar, but his thoughts drifted to another time and space.
During the height of the Tang Dynasty, two main strategic directions had long occupied the empire's attention.
That is, the Korean Peninsula in the east, and this land of Helong right beneath our feet.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang army paid a heavy price to finally conquer Goguryeo.
However, this also sowed the seeds of a deep-seated problem that would deplete the nation's strength during the long-term tug-of-war with Tibet on the western front.
The repeated changes of hands in the Hehuang region, the humiliation of Chang'an being besieged by enemy troops, and the influx of money, provisions, and soldiers into this seemingly desolate land...
The rise and expansion of Tibet, to some extent, greatly accelerated the fading of the glorious Tang Dynasty, leading it to decline amidst internal and external troubles.
The collapse of an empire was never due to a single cause, but the bottomless quagmire of the Western Front undoubtedly played a significant role.
“But that was the Tang Dynasty, and history will never repeat itself in my hands.” Li Che withdrew his gaze, his heart turning cold.
At least in this timeline, the Korean Peninsula has been incorporated into Daqing's territory, and life has become peaceful, with all threats from the east eliminated.
Daqing can concentrate its forces on the western front, and even destroy another country.
The only question is, just how powerful is Tibet? Is it a minor ailment or a major threat?
Is it necessary for me to achieve a complete victory in one battle and fundamentally resolve this highland regime?
These are questions that require Li Che to come in person before a judgment can be made.