I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 502: Zhu Houzhao's Return
After the words of the student surnamed Xu came out, many people fell silent. Although they lived comfortably in Nanjing City, they had no chance to make achievements, not to mention that they were students of the Imperial Academy, and even had few opportunities to become officials.

"Don't be discouraged, my dear colleagues." Ai Zhiren said, "I heard that the Ministry of Revenue is recruiting officials to serve in the Western Regions. Many Jinshi and Juren are unwilling to go. Maybe it will be our turn and we will have the opportunity to serve as officials in the Western Regions."

Go to the Western Regions to be an official?
Many students were moved, but more of them had one thought in their minds: Is it worth going to the Western Regions just to become an official?
The post station thirty miles in front of Jiayu Pass was crowded with people. Hundreds of officials gathered together and looked forward to it. Behind them were countless guards and soldiers guarding the pass.

"Where is the team?" Yang Yiqing asked the people around him.

"Just reported that the team is only ten miles away from here." Chen Hong said.

This Chen Hong is the captain of the attendant room beside Zhu Houxuan and the person Zhu Houxuan trusts the most. Now he also appears in the welcoming team.

Moreover, Chen Hong stood next to Yang Yiqing, and other officials stood behind him tacitly, even the governor of Shaanxi was no exception.

This shows the officials' awe of Zhu Houxuan's "first secretary".

Yang Yiqing nodded and looked into the distance.

The reason why Yang Yiqing and Chen Hong appeared here was to welcome Zhu Houzhao, who had been on the Western Expedition to the Western Regions for more than three years.

For this purpose, the cabinet sent Yang Yiqing, and Zhu Houxuan sent Chen Hong.
After waiting for another half an hour, a long line of troops appeared in the distance, and soon the familiar banner came into everyone's sight.

Everyone became excited as the banner approached. The first military god of the Ming Dynasty finally returned.
Chen Hong waved his hand to the side, and the band beside him immediately started playing the song "Emperor Zhengde March". Not to be outdone, Yang Yiqing waved his hand and asked the band on the other side to start playing the traditional welcoming song, but it was obvious that it could not suppress the Royal Group.
Amid the sounds of these two different kinds of music, an endless stream of troops arrived at the post station.

"Your Majesty, welcome back triumphantly!"

The welcoming team in front of the post station knelt down in unison and cheered in unison.

The leading team continued to move forward regardless of anything, until the big flag arrived at the post station, and then the whole team suddenly stopped.

A man riding on a tall and majestic warhorse looked at the welcoming team and listened to the "March of the Zhengde Emperor". He said intoxicatedly: "I haven't heard this song for a long time. It's still so beautiful!"

Then he said to the welcoming team that had knelt down, "Everyone, stand up!"

After receiving the man's order, everyone stood up and began to look at Zhu Houzhao, the military god of the Ming Dynasty, whose reputation was well-known and admired and revered by countless people.

Chen Hong and Yang Yiqing couldn't wait to look at the man on the warhorse.
As expected, they saw the person they had been thinking about day and night on the warhorse.
Zhu Houzhao has a more mature look, his eyebrows and eyes have become more mature, and the skin on his face has become much rougher.
He was not wearing armor, but the emperor's uniform. However, besides the Bloodthirster Sword, he also had a golden scabbard scimitar with a Western style on his waist. The warhorse under him was very tall, with a shoulder height higher than that of an adult. His body was plump and graceful, and he stood out among all the Mongolian horses.

The saddle is decorated with many gems and painted with Western-style patterns.
Zhu Houzhao looked at the people who came to greet him with a brilliant smile on his face and said, "Yang Qing, long time no see!"

"I was wondering how I could hear the 'March of the Zhengde Emperor'. It turns out you are here too. My brother must be waiting anxiously in the capital, right?"

Yang Yiqing and Chen Hong both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Zhu Houzhao in person. Zhu Houzhao had finally returned from the Western Regions.
Zhu Houzhao's three-year expedition to the Western Regions was not without its worries, as he turned the Western Region upside down.

When Zhu Houzhao arrived in the Western Regions, he suddenly felt that the sky was high, the ministers were far away, and his ears were suddenly free. There was no one around him who could restrict him.
So he made great efforts in the Western Regions, and it took only one and a half years to destroy the Yarkand Khanate and the Turpan Khanate. As for the Oirat tribes in the north, they had already been frightened by Zhu Houzhao's military might.

Zhu Houzhao ordered the Yanran Protectorate to recruit 20,000 naturalized troops to attack from the east to the west, while he led the Guards to attack from the Western Regions to the north. With the two-pronged attack, it took only half a year to wipe out the various Oirat tribes. Only a part of the Oirat tribe fled to the west and north, which was the direction of the Principality of Moscow.

In the 20th year of Zhengde, two years after the Western Expedition began, Zhu Houzhao completed all the goals set before the war.

At this time, Zhu Houxun and the court officials tried their best to persuade Zhu Houzhao to return to the court, as the time had come.

But Zhu Houzhao still had no plans to return to the capital. He keenly discovered the advantages of being in the Western Regions. First, there were no constraints, and second, no one dared to cut off his logistics.

Yes, Zhu Houzhao began to use himself to "threaten" Zhu Houxuan and the ministers.

Zhu Houxuan and the court sent various people to persuade Zhu Houzhao to return to Beijing.

Those who were sent to the Western Regions included Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet Yang Yiqing, Prince Consort Cui Yuan, the contemporary Prince of Qin Zhu Weichao, and Zhu Houxuan's "first secretary" Chen Hong.

The King of Qin went to the Western Regions in high spirits, but he traveled thousands of miles back and forth, and fell seriously ill after returning to Xi'an. This made people even more worried about Zhu Houzhao's health. Even so, Zhu Houzhao still refused to listen to anyone and insisted on staying in the Western Regions.
Zhu Houxuan couldn't leave the capital either, so the situation remained deadlocked.
Zhu Houzhao then launched an attack further west, and Zhu Houxuan could only grit his teeth and continue to provide logistical support to Zhu Houzhao.

Because he could not afford the consequences of Zhu Houzhao's failure due to insufficient logistical support.

That would mean that his political life would be completely over. He would lose the title and the right to rule this country. After that, he would only be able to re-establish his rule over this country in the most violent way.

Therefore, Zhu Houxuan could only continuously raise various supplies for Zhu Houzhao and send them to the Western Regions so that Zhu Houzhao could carry out various military operations smoothly.
The second Western Expedition initiated by Zhu Houzhao lived up to expectations and achieved brilliant results, defeating the left and right Kazakh tribes.

Completely controlled the entire land around Tianshan Mountain, pushed the front line to the shore of the Caspian Sea, west of the Iranian Plateau
(End of this chapter)