Fu An's words made Chen Wende feel very strange, "Then why are you so sure that the Marquis of Zhenhai will withdraw his troops?"
If the news is true, then Marquis Zhenhai led hundreds of thousands of troops all the way to Yilibaili, and even attacked the second largest city in the Timur Empire. How could he give up so easily just because of a few words from you, Fu An?
Fu An smiled slightly and said, "I'm not sure."
"Are you not sure? You are not..." Chen Wende was furious for a while, and then suddenly realized, his eyes widened: "You, you are not lying to Timur, are you?"
Fu An smiled and stroked his beard and said, "It's not a lie...I just said that I would persuade the Marquis of Zhenhai to withdraw his troops, but Timur thought that I promised him. What can I do?"
After saying that, he spread his hands, looking helpless.
Chen Wende's face darkened instantly, "You are really good at bullying Timur for not understanding Chinese enough... Aren't you afraid of being discovered by him?"
"So what if he finds out? When he finds out, we will join the Marquis of Zhenhai. What can he do to us?" Fu An is not worried about being discovered by Timur. "As long as we return to Daming, he will take advantage of us. How can you come to Samarkand next time?"
"No, no, no, I won't come, even if I die..." Chen Wende shook his head repeatedly and sighed: "Whoever wants to come to this damn place can come!"
"Isn't that it? What's there to be afraid of?" Fu An looked like he had the pearls of wisdom in hand.
Chen Wende nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and reminded: "Then let's leave quickly and meet up with the Marquis of Zhenhai as soon as possible to avoid a long night and many dreams."
Watching Samarkand gradually disappear behind them, the two of them no longer cared about it and directly ordered everyone to move forward with all their strength.
The more than two thousand officers and soldiers of the Ming Army were also eager to return to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. They were all eager to return home, and naturally they were not willing to rush on their way.
The two of them hurriedly hurriedly took their time, and it took them a month to reach Yilibaili City. But when I came here, I discovered that the Marquis of Zhenhai had really conquered this city, but he only stayed there for three days and had withdrawn his troops back to the Ming Dynasty two months ago.
All the officials in Yilibaili City were either killed during the war or fled without a trace. So much so that two months have passed and no one has reported the situation in Yilibali City to Samarkand.
Fu An's expression changed immediately after hearing the news, and he immediately ordered the envoy to rush to Daming at full speed without any delay.
If Timur knew this news, he would probably regret letting the mission go back to the Ming Dynasty!
...
At the same time, Timur really got the news from the official who asked for it. Although he heard that Yili had been abandoned by Han Du, but knowing that the entire city was almost looted by Han Du, Timur was still angry and furious.
At the same time, he suddenly thought that since Han Du retreated so easily, it meant that the Ming Dynasty had tried its best to break through Yilibaili, and it would not pose much of a threat to the entire Timur Empire.
Thinking of this, Timur regretted agreeing to Fu An's condition of paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and even regretted sending the Ming envoy back home.
Timur was furious and immediately sent 30,000 cavalry to pursue the Ming envoy. But he didn't know that as soon as Fu An left Samarkand, he ran away like a fugitive. By this time, he had already passed the city of Yili. I'm chasing him now, how can I catch up?
...
Han Du led the remaining 140,000 troops towards Hami as if traveling for sightseeing.
Hami is the closest place between the Ming Dynasty and the Western Regions, and it is also the northwestmost border of the Ming Dynasty. During the Hongwu period, the Ming army repeatedly chased the remaining forces of the former Yuan Dynasty outside the Great Wall, shocking Hami. King Wunasili of Hami was afraid of the Ming Dynasty's military front, so he sent an envoy to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to show his surrender. Later, Wuna Shili and other tribes had a vendetta. He wanted to take temporary refuge in Suide, Pingliang, Ningxia and other places in the Ming Dynasty, but was rejected by Lao Zhu. So Wunasili turned against the Ming Dynasty and sent people to rob and kill other vassal states that went to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and seize their tribute. Lao Zhu was furious and sent Liu Zhen to attack Hami King Wunasili. Wunasili was defeated and fled, and Hami was occupied by the Ming Dynasty. Later, Wunasili sent people to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to plead guilty and surrender, and Hami became a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.
Han Du brought a full 200,000 horses with him when he traveled, but now he only had 140,000, and 60,000 horses stayed on the road forever. Among these 60,000 people, there were Uliangha people and Ming soldiers.
Wu Liangha had no sentimental feelings about the dead tribesmen. On the contrary, they were now very satisfied with what they had captured. In addition to the gold and silver, he put all the ironware and pots on his horse and was reluctant to throw them away.
Some people in the Ming army shed tears secretly because of the departure of their acquaintances, but after Han Du paid three hundred guan pension to each of those who died in the battle, everyone no longer had any sadness on their faces, and they were all beaming with joy. of.
Some fools even ran up to Han Du, handed Han Du what they had captured, and then asked Han Du to kill him, just to get an extra three hundred dollars in compensation.
"You want a pension, right?" Han Du turned around and pulled out the whip from his horse, pointing at the fool, "Come on, come on, if I don't chop you to death today, I will whip you to death today!"
As soon as the fool saw him, he immediately turned around and ran away.
"Don't run! Let's see if I can't beat you to death today, you idiot who is blind to money!"
The farce made the soldiers laugh, which instantly diluted their sadness.
Xu Chengfei rode a horse to Han Du and returned Han Du's horse to him.
Han Du lowered his head and sighed, glanced at Xu Chengfei gratefully, and got on his horse. There is no way, even though he has been in the military for so many years, physical work is not Han Du's strong point. Just after chasing that reckless guy for a while, Han Du was out of breath.
Xu Chengfei didn't mention what happened just now. He stared ahead and said, "After passing the Tianshan Mountains, Hami is in front of us."
Han Du nodded.
Xu Chengfei added: "Although Hami has surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, they have rebelled before. Now that the old King Hami has passed away and the new king has just come to power, we don't know what his attitude is towards the Ming Dynasty. We still need to be careful. good."
Han Du nodded heavily and said, "Who is the current loyal and shun king of Hami?"
"Ankh Timur."
Han Du smiled slightly and said, "If he is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, then the loyal and shun king can continue to be king. If he dares to have second thoughts, I will kill him easily."
"What? Do you value Hami as a place?" Xu Chengfei guessed that Han Du had plans upon hearing this.
Han Du didn't hide anything in front of Xu Chengfei. He nodded and said: "Hami is a place that connects the Western Regions to the west and the Ming Dynasty to the east. It is the throat of the Silk Road. Now it is not only the gateway to the Ming Dynasty, but also the gateway to Timur's empire. You have also seen Timur's ambitions. Sooner or later there will inevitably be a battle between Ming Dynasty and Timur."
"At that time, do you think Tamerlane will look at Hami's throat and ignore it? Or will he go all out to take it down?"
"Does this need to be said? Timur is not a kind person. If he decides to march eastward, he will definitely not let Hami go." Xu Chengfei expressed his opinion.
Han Du also nodded in agreement and said: "So no matter what, Ming Dynasty cannot give up Hami to others. Even if it takes some risks, Hami must be taken into his arms, otherwise it will be giving others control and providing convenience for others. "
...
Hundreds of thousands of troops suddenly entered Hami, and such a big movement instantly reached the ears of Zhongshun King Anke Timur.
"What? You said there are hundreds of thousands of troops coming from the west? Or are they under the banner of the Ming Dynasty?"
Ankh Timur simply couldn't believe his ears. At first, when he heard that a large army was coming from the west, he thought that the Timur Empire was going to war against him. But when he heard that it was Ming's army, a ridiculous feeling came to his head.
The Ming Dynasty was in the east. Even if the army came, it should have come from the east. How could it go to the west?
"Your Majesty...could this be Timur's trick, pretending to be Ming Dynasty's soldiers and horses?" His subordinates couldn't help but worry.
Anke Timur nodded slowly, "It's not impossible. How could the Ming army come from the west? Come, send someone to investigate again, and be sure to find out where the army came from."
The person who inquired about the information soon came back and once again stated that the other party was indeed the Ming army.
"Who is the general?" Anke Timur asked quickly.
"Marquis Zhenhai of the Ming Dynasty, Han Du." The subordinate immediately replied, then took out a letter and presented it to him, "This is an official letter from Marquis Zhenhai, please read it."
Although Anke Timur did not know Handu, he had heard of Handu's name. In addition, he was very familiar with Ming Dynasty's official letters, so the things in his hands didn't look fake.
This made him even more confused, how did the Marquis of Zhenhai lead his army to the west? My own Hami is the only place that Ming Dynasty must pass before going to Timur's empire. Why didn't I even notice it before?
But now the Ming army was getting closer, and finally Anke Timur decided to go and see for himself.
"Come, follow me to welcome the Marquis of Zhenhai."
Anke Timur took out all the soldiers and horses under his command and faced the Ming army head-on.
When he saw the Ming army's lineup, he let out a big sigh of relief. These are indeed people from the Ming Dynasty. As long as they are people from the Ming Dynasty, it is unlikely that they were sent by the Timur Empire.
The appearance of the people of the Ming Dynasty is completely different from that of the Timurid people. Not only are their facial features and body shapes very different, but the most important thing is that the people of the Ming Dynasty have the innate temperament of the Central Plains civilization that people from other places cannot imitate. Come.
"Anke Timur, the loyal and obedient king of Hami, is paying homage to the Great Ming Dynasty. Do you dare to ask who is the Marquis of Zhenhai?" Anke Timur rode forward alone to show his respect for the Ming Dynasty.
Han Du and Xu Chengfei also rode forward and came to the opposite side of Anke Timur. He stretched out his hand and introduced: "I am Han Du, and this is Kuang Yihou Xu Chengfei. I have come to greet you, Prince Lao, and I am very impressed."
Although King Zhongshun was also a prince conferred by the Ming Dynasty, there was no way he could compare with the princes of the Ming Dynasty. Even the marquis of the Ming Dynasty might not be comparable. Han Du took the initiative to lower his status and called him "Prince", which naturally made Anke Timur very happy.
"Your Majesty, you are so polite. I am late to welcome you, so please don't blame me. Please!"
"Please~"
