Chapter 388: Suzhou Four Guards
Suzhou is an important town on the ancient Silk Road. Since ancient times, it has been under the jurisdiction of Shennong and Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors. It is the western boundary of the ancient Yongzhou, one of the Nine Provinces.

From the Qin Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty, this place was successively the land of Wusun, Yuezhi and Xiongnu.

It was not until the second year of Yuanshou in the Western Han Dynasty that Guanjun Hou Huo Qubing left Longxi, annihilated the troops of the Xiongnu King Xiutu, crossed the Yanzhi Mountain for more than a thousand miles, won the Battle of Hexi, obtained Longxi, and established four counties in Liangzhou, including Jiuquan County. At that time, Suzhou was still called Fulu County.

The flowers and birds in Qinzhong have already withered, but the wind and sand outside the Great Wall are still cold.

An Guo came to Suzhou with twenty-four riders. It was the time of autumn in the northern border area when the scenery was different.

A roll of cigarette, a mountain, a few cloud shadows, a pine forest, a bamboo grove, and red leaves.

The scenery of this northwestern area is quite different from that of Ningxia Prefecture.

However, An Guo did not appreciate it too much. He led his brothers directly to Suzhou and met with Chen Jiuchou, the deputy envoy of Suzhou’s military preparations.

He was also a man of both civil and military talents. He became a Jinshi in the 15th year of Hongzhi's reign and served as the head of the Ministry of Justice.

Once a serious criminal escaped from prison and no one dared to provoke him. Could Chen Jiuchou tolerate it?
He immediately seized his lance and chased after the man, beating him half to death and dragging him back.

From then on, everyone knew that this scholar knew a little bit of martial arts, so it was better to reason with him when possible.

Of course, there are also people who don't reason with Chen Jiuchou.

then
Chen Jiuchou was demoted to serve as magistrate of Yangshan, Guangdong.

This person is the famous Nine Thousand Year Old Liu Jin.

Jiu Qiansui said, you kid is as stingy as a miser, and you still want to be an official in Beijing?

get out!

It was not until Liu Jin was executed that Chen Jiuchou was reinstated.

However, he did not restrain his character of not being aggressive when he could take action. He first put down the Sai Yanghu prison rebellion.

Later, he followed Peng Ze to quell the Lan Tingrui and Yan Benshu uprisings in Sichuan, and was then promoted to the position of deputy envoy of Suzhou's military preparations.

So strictly speaking, Chen Jiuchou arrived only a month earlier than An Guo.

"General An Guo, I pay my respects to Lord Chen!"

"General An, please don't be polite."

Chen Jiuchou personally helped An Guo up, forced a smile on his serious face, and said, "It is a great fortune for Suzhou to have such a brave and unparalleled general like General An."

An Guo stood up and said with a smile: "If Lord Chen doesn't mind, you can call me a good minister. It is an honor for me to serve under Lord Chen!"

"Very good, follow me, my good minister." Chen Jiuchou pulled An Guo into the big tent and introduced him, "This is Rui Ning, the guerrilla general of Suzhou. He is very good at horse riding."

"Commander An!"

"General Rui."

The two men bowed and greeted each other.

Rui Ning was about twenty years old, with white teeth, red lips, handsome eyes, and clear eyebrows. He had a good-looking appearance.

Chen Jiuchou continued to introduce: "This is the commander of the Wei Lu Guard, Wang Tai. Although his hair and beard are gray, he can still hold a 46-jin saber in his hand and kill the Tartars on the battlefield as easily as chopping melons."

"General Wang!" An Guo bowed with great admiration.

Wang Tai is short and stocky, with a big head and a square face as bronze as a tan. He can't be said to be very handsome, but you can tell at first glance that he is not someone you want to mess with.

He was an old subordinate of Zhang Tai. Under Zhang Tai's leadership, he always took the lead in fighting against the Tatars and fought fiercely. He honed his skills through hundreds of battles and was promoted from an infantryman to a cavalryman to a centurion, and finally to a commander, becoming a capable general.

It's a pity that his benefactor Zhang Tai had died of illness in April of the eighth year of Zhengde, and Wang Tai lost his backer.

"Lord An." Wang Tai bowed in return. Chen Jiuchou pointed at the last person and introduced him, "This is Si Yuan, the commander of Weiyuan Guard. He is good at archery, horse riding and has extraordinary physical strength. He once killed fifty-seven Tartars with only a bow and two horses."

An Guo looked over and saw that Si Yuan had a huge body, a majestic face and nose, and there was an inexplicable sense of intimidation as he sat there.

"General Si!"

"Commander An!"

After everyone sat down in turn, An Guo discovered something unusual. The four guards of Suzhou, Weilu Guard, Weiyuan Guard and Suzhou Guard had all arrived, and even the guerrilla general Rui Ning from Jiayu Pass was present. Only the right guard of Ganzhou did not come.

It seems that Suzhou is not a monolithic entity.

"I have summoned you all here today, not only to welcome you, but also to discuss some important matters with you."

Chen Jiuchou looked around and said seriously, "As everyone knows, the Mongolian Grand Master Yibula and Dayan Khan have already broken up. The two sides fought in Dalantri, and finally Yibula led the remnants to flee to Xifan."

"Gansu Governor Zhang is planning to lure Yibula to U-Tsang with money, but I don't think Yibula will do what Zhang wants."

As Chen Jiuchou spoke, he ordered his personal soldiers to open a map. He pointed to the place names on it and began to describe Yibula's activities in the past year.

Last year, Yibula led his people to plunder in Fengnianqu and other places in Gansu, but was ambushed by the commander-in-chief Lu Hui.

They then suddenly moved from Guanyin Mountain to Dapingbao and grazed in the Hongquan area.

Commanders Wang Gao, Tong Jie, Wang Lian and others attacked them from both sides and pursued them all the way to Songshan, killing a total of 320 enemies.

Faced with such pressure, Yibula and others had to change their strategy and continue to move westward and southward to find a new way out.

In the same year, Yibula's forces also defeated the four Guanxi garrisons of Anding, Aduan, Quxian and Handong located in the Qaidam area in the northwest of Qinghai, occupied the pastures of the leaders of these garrisons, and tried to consolidate his position by marrying with the governor of Hami.

A few months later, Mandula Ahalakhuze, who had been working together with Yibula, led his troops to attack Jiayuguan.

However, they were ambushed by the commander Zhao Chengxu and others, and more than a hundred of them were killed.

After listening to this, An Guo showed a hesitant expression. Doesn't this mean that the Ming Dynasty has the advantage?

How could the Governor of Gansu make such a weak move?

"This year, Yibula sent an envoy to Suzhou, asking for land to be allocated for grazing. This is ridiculous. What right does a dog that has lost its home have to bark? I rejected him directly."

Chen Jiuchou sneered and continued, "According to the news sent back by Ye Bu Shou, Yibula is moving south. I am worried that he will come back to attack, so I am training soldiers and repairing camps to guard against him."

"But doesn't this go against Lord Zhang's thinking?" Wang Tai stroked his beard and asked hesitantly.

Si Yuan and Rui Ning also frowned. It was okay for Zhang Yi to make money on a daily basis, but why would he mess around with such an important matter of national defense?

But he is their immediate superior. Not to mention bullying, even expressing a different opinion will result in a scolding.

An Guo secretly observed the expressions of the crowd and saw that they all looked resolute. Like him, they were all advocates of war and unwilling to surrender. He felt relieved and said, "Don't worry, everyone. The imperial edict from His Majesty has clearly stated that we need to be on high alert and be vigilant against any dangers. We cannot afford to slack off in the slightest."

"Are you serious?!" The young Rui Ning was obviously not as calm as the other three. When he heard An Guo's words, a bright light flashed in his eyes. He asked impatiently, and his voice could not hide his joy.

"It's absolutely true. This is also the reason why Your Majesty sent me here!" An Guo smiled and nodded affirmatively.

Si Yuan thought for a while before speaking: "If this is the will of His Majesty, I think Lord Zhang can't say anything!"

Wang Tai stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is deeply concerned about military affairs. One day he will build up military preparations to consolidate the foundation of the country. This is a great blessing for us."

Chen Jiuchou smiled and said, "On my way here, I heard that Your Majesty has reorganized the Beijing camp and is seeing results. It shows that Your Majesty is willing to change."

Rui Ning stood up suddenly, clasped his hands together and said, "Sir, given the situation, I would like to lead a team of elite soldiers to pursue them immediately. Even if we cannot injure them severely, we will make them exhausted and unable to take care of other things."

After hearing this, An Guo's eyes lit up and he looked at Rui Ning with a feeling of sympathy. This was something he also liked to do!

(End of this chapter)