Southern Ming Rebel Army

As the saying goes, food and supplies must be sent before troops move out. Why didn't the Ming Dynasty send troops to the Western Regions? It was because of the national strength and the cost of investment was not proportional to the benefits gained.

The distance from Xi'an to Jiayuguan is more than 2,000 miles. It is a long distance and if a large-scale military operation is carried out during the long journey, the consumption of manpower and food would undoubtedly be an astronomical figure.

Moreover, Jiayuguan is not the end, but just a starting point. From Jiayuguan to Shache, it is an extremely long distance. Yang En’s worries are not groundless.

However, what is different from the early Ming Dynasty is that the population in the Western Regions today has increased significantly compared to the end of the Yuan Dynasty. When sending troops to the Western Regions, although the local supplies are definitely not enough to support the expenses of the army, it can greatly reduce the pressure in the rear.

Moreover, the Qian Dynasty already had cement roads. Although horses could not run on them for long periods of time, it was much more convenient to transport supplies. Moreover, with the current national strength of the Qian Dynasty, if they went all out, it would not be difficult to transform all logistics into mules and horses.

After listening to Yang En's words, Meng Jun nodded and said, "Over the years, the court has built cement roads between important cities. With these cement roads, the transportation of supplies has been much faster. It only takes one month to transport supplies from Xi'an to Jiayuguan."

Yang En frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial court has never built a cement road west of Jiayu Pass!"

Meng Jun said in a firm tone: "When we use our troops to attack the Western Regions this time, the troops in Guanzhong will not be deployed on a large scale. I intend to select 30,000 elite soldiers from Guanzhong."

Yang En asked hesitantly, "Thirty thousand people? Your Majesty, the Junggars have already unified the Western Regions. Thirty thousand people may not be enough!"

"I know, so we will not send troops in one route, but in three routes. The central route will go through Jiayuguan, the northern route will recruit Mongolian tribes in the south and north of the desert, and the western route will contact the tribes in Qinghai and U-Tsang."

Upon hearing this, Yang En did not refute anymore, but in his heart, he thought that this was not an easy matter. However, he now remembered that he was still a criminal, and he had not figured out how to deal with it for a while after hearing the news.

After Yang En left, Meng Jun instructed Lin Shiqi to protect Babaksu and selected 30,000 brave soldiers to station in Jiayuguan. At the same time, he built grain storage bases in Jiuquan, Zhangye, Wuwei and other cities behind Jiayuguan.

Meng Jun wanted to attack Dzungar because, on the one hand, he knew that Dzungar would definitely threaten the Qian Dynasty in the future. Otherwise, why would the Qing court in later generations have to fight to the death with Dzungar? Also, out of practical considerations, Dzungar, who unified the Western Regions, posed a threat to both the northwest defense line of Guanzhong and the Mongolian tribes south of the desert.

On the other hand, Meng Jun wanted to take the opportunity to bring the tribes in Qinghai and U-Tsang into the rule of the Qian Dynasty and establish the territory of the Qian Dynasty. However, Meng Jun did not know clearly at that time that although he might still have some hope of taking over the tribes in Qinghai, it would be extremely difficult to contact U-Tsang.

Because there is a very important person in the land of U-Tsang, and that person is Galdan. Galdan and Sengge, who is currently in the limelight, are brothers.

In the 17th year of Chongzhen, the first year of Shunzhi, the first year of Yongchang of Dashun, and the first year of Daxi, when the Central Plains was in turmoil, Galdan was born.

Shortly after Galdan was born, the upper echelons of the Yellow Sect of U-Tsang sent people to Dzungar and identified Galdan as the eighth incarnation of Yinza Hutuktu (Wensa Living Buddha).

The people of the Dzungar tribe all said that Galdan had great ambitions and was an extraordinary person. His father Batur Hun Taiji wanted to make him his successor, but Galdan declined, saying that he had his elder brother Sengge. He refused to accept the offer and went into Tibet alone.

In the third year of Zhaowu, the Dalai Lama held a grand prayer ceremony at the Jokhang Temple, during which he accepted Galdan’s offerings and gifts, and gave him Dharma and the crown.

Later, Galdan became a disciple of Panchen Lama Bogdo, became the chief Panchen Lama, and received Buddhist education. By the seventh year of Zhaowu, Galdan performed well and was highly appreciated by the Fifth Dalai Lama, who allowed him to own his own Wensa Monastery in Tibet and obtained considerable property and reputation through donations.

At this time, Galdan had already gained a high reputation in the Oirats region and many tribes in U-Tsang, and he was able to preside over important religious ceremonies.

However, this important news was not known to Meng Jun. The main reason for this was that in recent years, the Qian Dynasty had focused its energy on Liaodong, Southwest China, and Southeast Asia. Not only Meng Jun, but the entire court paid little attention to the Northwest, especially the U-Tsang region.

Although Meng Jun had decided to use military force, starting a war was not something that could be done by simply deciding on the right time to dispatch troops and attack.

It is now the end of July in the eighth year of Zhaowu. We can officially send out troops in the true sense. We need to transport the war reserve materials and contact the various tribes to send troops together. It is simply impossible to achieve this before May or June in the ninth year of Zhaowu.

Moreover, Meng Jun wanted to use military force at this time, but it had not yet been discussed in the court, and the Qian Dynasty's war machine had not yet started to operate.

However, before the war broke out, Meng Jun decided to send people to Qinghai, U-Tsang and other tribes, asking them to come to Beijing to pay homage and to fight together against the Dzungar tribe that had already unified the Western Regions.

At the imperial court, Meng Jun circulated Lin Shiqi's military report to all the ministers. After they had read it, Meng Jun said in a loud voice: "Now that the Junggars are becoming stronger and have unified the Western Regions, they are posing a growing threat to our borders. What suggestions do you have, my dear ministers?"

Although the emperor did not explicitly say that he wanted to fight, according to the emperor's usual style, since it was said that Dzungar had the ability to threaten the court, the emperor would definitely want to fight.

However, many of the ministers did not want to use troops in the already desolate Western Regions. Therefore, after Meng Jun finished speaking, the Minister of Revenue Li Weitai stepped out.

Li Weitai was a key figure who had always supported Meng Jun's reforms. However, when it came to sending troops to the Western Regions, Li Weitai was opposed to it.

Li Weitai bowed to Meng Jun and said, "Your Majesty, I think that we should think carefully about the act of conquering. Although our country is gradually becoming stronger, we have spent a lot of money on Liaodong, Southwest China and Southeast Asia over the years. Although the treasury is still sufficient, the Western Regions are not as good as they were during the Han and Tang dynasties. Once a war is started, I am afraid that countless food and supplies will be spent. If the war is prolonged, it may cause resentment among the people. Therefore, I think it is not appropriate to start a war lightly at this time."

Liu Xunchun, the Imperial Academy's Attending Scholar, also echoed, "Your Majesty, Junggar is thousands of miles away from the Central Plains. The journey is long, the roads are difficult, and supplies are difficult. I think it is better to pacify them. If we rashly use troops, once we get into trouble, the consequences will be disastrous. I hope Your Majesty will think twice!"