Because of the snowstorm, the army rested here for six days. This is the longest period of rest that the army has had since moving north. Then they took advantage of the blizzard to stop and continued westward along the Onan River.
Encountering some unknown small tribes along the way, Azashili led his troops to charge and deal with them without the Ming army taking action. It is too common for such a small tribe to live and die like mayflies on the grassland.
Ever since the reward was given to Azashili by Handu, it was obvious that he had become more and more active in the war. Especially the ordinary Wuliangha people had the biggest change. Originally, although they were not hostile to the Ming army because they gave away cotton-padded clothes, they were not friendly either. They could only treat them coldly.
But now, the Uuliangha people have become closer to the Ming army officers and soldiers. There were even soldiers who could speak Mongolian and had conversations with the Uuliangha people.
We passed through another blizzard, but the sun did not appear in the sky, and it was still gray. It looks like the next snowstorm won't be coming for too long.
Azashri stretched out his hand to pat the snow off his head, and sighed unhappily: "I thought last year was the coldest year, why is it colder this year than last year? There are more white-haired winds than last year. The Tatar tribe actually hides by the Onon River. Even if we don't attack them, they will suffer heavy losses if they survive this winter..."
Han Du rode on the horse, glanced sideways at Azashili, and said with a smile: "Did you know? Wait until next year and you will find that it will be colder than this year, with more and more violent white-haired winds!"
"This... shouldn't be possible, right?" Azashi smiled flatteringly. He didn't expect that Han Du would pay attention to his just complaint.
"It's been cold for the past few years. It should get warmer in the future."
Han Du laughed and started talking to Azashili without hesitation, "The Ming Dynasty's Heavenly Supervisor has already calculated that from now on, it will get colder and colder every year, and this situation will last for a hundred years. The weather is indeed getting warmer, but that will be a hundred years later."
"It will last for a hundred years? How is this possible?" Azashili's expression suddenly changed, and from the bottom of his heart he did not believe this. No matter how cold the weather is, it will last for three to five years at most. How can it last for a hundred years?
But he had heard of the reputation of the Ming Qin Tian Jian. And Han Du didn't lie to him about this matter. What's the benefit of lying to him? Do you want to trick him into going to Ming Dynasty?
Azashi took a deep breath and asked solemnly: "Does the Marquis really mean what he said?"
"If you don't believe it, you can wait until next year and see if it's colder than this year." Han Du replied in a relaxed tone.
Azashi suddenly fell silent, becoming more convinced of Han Du's words. He only has to wait until next year to see what the weather will be like. Even if the Marquis is lying to him, how long can he lie to him?
Azashi lowered his head, cupped his fists in salute to Han Du, and frowned: "Please tell me, Lord Marquis, if it really gets colder year by year for a hundred years, what will this grassland look like?" ?”
Han Du carefully recalled the information about the north during the Little Ice Age, his eyes suddenly opened slightly, and he sighed in a low voice: "In the worst case, the entire Mobei land will be frozen all year round, turning into a completely ice-covered land. . And even the land of Monan, which is still warm now, will be colder than the current Mobei. The ice and snow melt only takes about four or five months every year. Even within the Great Wall, winter will become extremely long. Ice, snow and drought intertwined..."
At this time, not only Azashili's expression changed, but also Xu Chengfei's expression changed. He couldn't help but asked: "What? Even the Ming Dynasty is not immune?"
Han Du looked calm and said in a gentle tone: "It's not that the Ming Dynasty cannot be spared, but the places close to the Great Wall cannot be spared. As for the south of the Ming Dynasty, although it will be colder than in previous years, people can still survive."
"But the people near the Great Wall are also the people of the Ming Dynasty. Can we just ignore them?" Xu Chengfei whispered in a complicated tone.
Han Du glanced at him who was looking down, and couldn't help asking: "What are you worried about? Even if the entire north of the Ming Dynasty is uninhabitable, there are still Nanyang and continents in the Ming Dynasty... Even if the Ming Dynasty will be People from all over the north have moved there, and there is enough land. What do you have to worry about?"
Xu Chengfei suddenly understood and even looked at Han Du in surprise. He even had some doubts about whether Han Du had already planned to open up Nanyang and the continent.
Where in the world is there such a coincidence?
Oh, the weather in the north will become colder and colder, making it no longer suitable for people to live in. It just so happens that the Ming Dynasty has a large area of uninhabited territory in the south, so it can just move the people there?
Even Xu Chengfei began to wonder if Han Du had known for a long time that the weather in the north would get colder and colder, and he insisted on exploring Nanyang to prepare for this?
But these are all his own guesses. With Azashili by his side, Xu Chengfei couldn't directly ask Han Du. He glanced aside and ended the topic with Han Du.
After Azashili listened to the conversation between the two, his heart felt cold. The people of Ming Dynasty can move to the warmer south, but what about his people?
How could he and his people survive in a place where even the Ming people who farmed the land couldn't stay? But if they can't survive, where can they go? We can only go to the warmer south like the people of Ming Dynasty. But the south is the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Will the Ming Dynasty let them migrate here?
Thinking of this, Azashili had an idea in his mind. If...if what Zhenhaihou said is true, then he must carefully consider the future of the tribe for hundreds of years.
...
As time passed and the army moved further west, the snowstorms gradually became rarer.
Even when Han Du reached the end of the Onan River, the ice and snow had already begun to melt.
spring is coming!
Although the weather was getting better and better, and the army's march became smoother and smoother, Han Du was not happy because he lost his way again.
"Where have we gone?" Han Du looked up, but couldn't see anything that could confirm the direction.
Hearing this, Azashi also glanced around, and then said: "Master Hou, we have just passed the Onan River. If we continue to go west, we should find the Tula River. As long as we follow the Tula River To the west of the river, at the end is the territory of the Oara tribe.
"In that case, let's continue heading west and find the Tula River first!" Han Du nodded and ordered.
Azashili was naturally more familiar with the grassland than he was, so Handu would generally agree to Azashiri's marching route proposal.
...
Beijing.
A month ago, the military report of the three armies sent to the Tatar tribe reached Zhu Biao.
Although Zhu Biao felt a little strange that the three-way army miraculously failed to find the main force of the Tatar tribe, he was not angry.
Although nearly 300,000 men and horses went out to fight, and the cost of eating horse chews was not small, they only wiped out some small tribes encountered along the way, which was not cost-effective. But for the current Daming Dynasty, this cost is nothing, and it is still within the tolerance range.
Therefore, Zhu Biao did not blame Zhu Di, Lan Yu, Fu Youde and the others, but instead issued an order to praise them.
But as time passed day by day, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel gloomy. Because there was no news about Han Du's army from beginning to end. Logically speaking, Han Du's army is the safest and has the least risk. But it happened that something went wrong with this army. The other three groups all came back, and only Han Du had no news at all.
Zhu Biao couldn't even wait any longer and sent someone on a fast boat to ask Zhu Quan about the whereabouts of Handu.
The answer he got was that Han Du had led his troops north since he had captured his troops, and he didn't know where Han Du had gone. At the same time, Zhu Quan also complained to Zhu Biao in his reply, saying that all his soldiers were given to Han Du and asked the emperor to compensate him...
Zhu Biao was now extremely anxious about Han Du's safety, so how could he have time to pay attention to Zhu Quan's complaints? I wrote him a casual and perfunctory letter and sent him away.
"Handu, Handu...where have you been?" Zhu Biao stared at the map in a daze, as if he wanted to see Handu's figure.
What worries Zhu Biao even more now is that the other three armies have not found the main force of the Tatar tribe... What if, what if this main force is hit by Han Du... Then he will be fierce A lot of luck!
Although I learned from Zhu Quan's reply that Han Du had an army of 200,000, including more than 100,000 cavalry. But in Zhu Biao's heart, the three guards of Wuliangha were not trustworthy at all. These three guards may occasionally attack Han Du at any time. In that case, Han Du will almost definitely lose!
"It doesn't matter if you lose, as long as you can come back! With only tens of thousands of troops, I can still afford to lose."
Zhu Biao murmured to himself, even in his heart, if he could exchange Han Du back with these tens of thousands of troops, he would exchange it without hesitation.
Just as Zhu Biao was deep in thought, Wang Yue stepped forward softly and whispered: "Your Majesty, Princess Anqing wishes to see you."
Zhu Biao suddenly smiled bitterly after hearing this.
Wang Yue was also aware of the embarrassment in the emperor's heart, and became a little anxious, so he quickly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, how about I say that the emperor is busy with government affairs and ask the princess to come again next time?"
Zhu Biao's face turned red and he sighed: "Alas! How many times has the emperor asked to see you?"
At this time, Wang Yue came to his senses slightly, "The third time..."
"This is the third time..." Zhu Biao muttered, smacking his finger, and then sighed: "It's only three things. If I keep avoiding it, I'm afraid it will make the imperial sister think about bad things. Summoning Bar!"
"According to the order!"
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