Although Jianzhou lost tens of thousands of Eight Banners soldiers in the previous battle in Kaiyuan, there are still more than 34,000 Eight Banners at present, and their strength is far superior to Ye He.
Nurhaci was very angry at Ye He's tribe taking the opportunity to raid Jianzhou City Walled City, and once wanted to directly send troops to attack Ye He.
However, since the main force of the Ming army had been gathering near Kuandian Fort, he still did not dare to attack northward with all his strength.
However, Jianzhou's small troops often went deep into Ye He's territory to trap and kill Ye He's cavalry.
Although they were unable to break through Ye He's east and west cities, they greatly restricted the scope of activities of Ye He's tribe.
Now Ye He's men can only huddle in the east and west cities, basically losing control of the surrounding strongholds.
Buyangu stood on the tower of Yehexi City, looking at the looming Jianzhou cavalry in the distance, and said to his daughter Hazia: "In the current situation, we can only ask the Ming Dynasty for help."
More than two months ago, Ye He sent the heads of hundreds of Zhenghuang Banners to the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Wanli was very happy and decreed to confer Ye Hebele Buyangu and Jin Taiji as the female direct governors of Haixi Tarum Guards. (Second grade).
He also gave 10,000 taels of silver, 300 pieces of brocade, and countless other items of all kinds.
Later, there was an imperial decree conferring marriage between Yehegege Haziya and Li Xianzhong, the commander-in-chief of Kaiyuan of the Ming Dynasty.
This made the entire Ye He tribe very happy. The marriage granted by the Ming Emperor was tantamount to adding a public amulet to Ye He.
Unfortunately, contrary to expectations, this marriage aroused Nurhachi's fear, and he joined forces with Horqin to attack Ye He.
Although Li Xianzhong personally swept Horqin to relieve Ye He in the end, Jianzhou took the opportunity to storm the original road and even once broke through Zhenbeiguan.
Even Li Xianzhong himself was ambushed by Jianzhou outside Zhenbei Pass. Not only did his cavalry suffer heavy losses, but he also narrowly escaped death.
All of this made Hazia blame herself very much. Now unless Ye He was really worried about exterminating his clan, she would not be willing to ask Li Xianzhong for help, lest he fall into Jianzhou's trap again.
Just when Buyangu was at a loss what to do, the Jianzhou cavalry that had been roaming around fled one after another, and a large number of cavalry appeared on the horizon.
Ye He soldiers on the city shouted: "Great, the Ming army is coming!"
The armored knights with bright armor and cold air must be the Liaodong Iron Cavalry.
Behind the cavalry were large vehicles, loaded with countless supplies. There were hundreds of them as far as the eye could see.
The red decorations tied on the car and the eye-catching words "hi" all indicate that these things are betrothal gifts.
Where have the people of Yehe City seen this scene?
Suddenly everyone ran out, it could be said that the streets were empty!
At this time, Haziya was very excited. She finally waited until Li Xianzhong came to marry her.
She looked anxiously at the crowd in the distance with a little disappointment on her face. It was obvious that he did not find the person she wanted to see in the crowd.
Buyangu has also come to the city to welcome the arrival of the Ming army with the highest standards.
Li Xianzhong did not come. Li Sanshun appeared at the front of the team, and beside him was a middle-aged man wearing a satin robe.
The middle-aged man said with a smile: "I am the housekeeper of the Li family, and I am hiring this person on behalf of the Li family."
Then Li Sanshun handed over a thick list of betrothal gifts.
Although everyone could see that Li Xianzhong's betrothal gift was quite generous this time, Buyangu was still shocked when he opened the gift list.
1. Two hundred taels of gold.
2. Ten thousand taels of silver.
3. Sixty horses.
4. Two gold tea cans and four silver tea cans.
5. Two silver basins.
6. Two hundred pieces of silk and satin.
7. Two hundred pairs of heavy cloth armor.
8. Twenty pieces of jade.
9. Jade Ruyi has four handles.
10. Ten thousand shi of corn.
There are also countless tea leaves, salt, coarse cloth, three animals, fish, all kinds of dried fruits, fine wine, and exquisite gift boxes.
Are all people in the Ming Dynasty so arrogant when they get married?
If other tribes saw this gift list, why would they fight with Ming Dynasty?
Just give birth to some beautiful girls and marry Li Xianzhong.
The betrothal gift alone is not worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Gold and silver don't matter, but among them cloth armor, grain, salt, and cloth are all Ye He is in urgent need of. With this batch of supplies, Ye He city can be defended for a year and a half without any problem.
But how to accompany the dowry really stumped Buyangu. Although their Jurchen marriages did not have so many red tapes, he still knew some of the rules of Ming people's marriage. If others gave more, he would definitely have to get more back. .
Although after Wanli granted the marriage, he also prepared a lot of special products as Hazia's dowry, but it seems that it is still a bit difficult to get them.
Although the betrothal gift was so generous, Li Xianzhong himself only gave some gold, silver, grain and cloth armor.
Some of the utensils were directly rewarded by Wanli, and other things were prepared for him by the Li family.
Although he is an adopted son, he is also a member of the Li family. After all, this is a marriage granted by His Majesty and cannot be taken lightly.
Li Xianzhong did not do this to show off his wealth. Ye He had been beaten by Jianzhou since last year, and his supplies were almost exhausted.
These are what they urgently need.
As for gold and silver, they will soon be returned to their own hands through arms sales.
It is indeed expensive to spend tens of thousands taels to marry a daughter-in-law, but it is not a loss if you can marry a Ye Hebu.
The higher he raises the level of this wedding, the more gifts those who want to curry favor with him will give, and in the end the money will not be lost.
These betrothal gifts had already attracted a lot of attention when they were given out in Kaiyuan, and they had already become known to everyone.
Of course this is exactly his purpose.
Soon Buyangu welcomed Butler Li and others into Yehe City. There were too many things, so he simply asked Jin Taiji from Dongcheng to move some back.
Fortunately, Butler Li said that Li Xianzhong would not come to greet the bride in person until three days later, and they still had a few days to prepare.
In the past few days, Hazia also has to learn the etiquette of marriage.
The Li family not only brought a "mother" who specializes in teaching etiquette and a maid to serve them personally; they even brought a tailor with them so that if the dress didn't fit, they could change it at any time.
The standards of this wedding are quite high.
Li Xianzhong didn't care what rules the Jurchens had. This must be a pure Han wedding.
Li Xianzhong's high-profile appointment not only alarmed the entire Liaodong, but also alarmed the surrounding foreign races.
In Jiefan City, Huang Taiji was reporting to Nurhaci about the appearance of Li Xianzhong's betrothal team in Yehe City today.
Mang Gurtai said: "Li Xianzhong is crazy. He just married a woman and gave away hundreds of cars of stuff."
Even Nurhachi was eager to see this batch of supplies, but Kaiyuan was too close to Yehe. The cavalry only needed half a day's journey. It was too late for them to rush over from Hetuala after receiving the news.
So they stationed at Jiefan City, which was only one day away from Ye He.
Huang Taiji said: "Li Xianzhong deliberately led us to rob. On the surface, he only escorted one thousand cavalry. In fact, all his cavalry were dispatched, more than five thousand."
"A small force and light cavalry raid simply cannot rob this batch of supplies."
"Now his Liaodong cavalry is driving away our cavalry near Yehe, probably preparing for the return journey."
"According to the news from our insider in Yehe City, Li Xianzhong will go to Yehe City in person in two days to welcome the bride, and Buyangu has also prepared a generous dowry."
Nurhaci said: "What Buyangu can do as a dowry is nothing more than some dongzhu, ginseng, furs and the like. These things don't need to be loaded into a car at all. The Ming army can put them on horses and take them away."
"I don't think he will return to Kaiyuan directly from Yehe, but will definitely take a detour to Mongolia."
Huang Taiji also analyzed Li Xianzhong's route from Yehe back to Kaiyuan, and he always detoured through Mongolia.
This is understandable. The Mongolian grassland is convenient for cavalry to travel. This section belongs to the junction of Horqin and Chahar Mongolia. Generally, there will not be a large number of Mongolian cavalry.
Even if there were, the combat power of the Mongolian cavalry would be impossible to compete with his Liaodong cavalry.
Li Xianzhong was sure that the Mongolian ministries lacked heavy cavalry, so he basically regarded this place as his back garden.
Huang Taiji said: "Don't worry, Great Khan. Horqin's envoy should have met Lin Danhan by now. I believe he can be persuaded to send troops."
In Chahanhot City, Lin Dan Khan was sitting on his throne.
Lin Dan Khan was the 35th Great Khan of the Mongolian Empire.
The 28-year-old is determined to unify all Mongolian tribes and restore the Mongol Empire to its former glory like Genghis Khan.
This can be seen from his titles: "The God of Gods, the All-Wisdom, Genghis Long Khan", "Lin Dan Hutuktu, the Holy Martial Genghis, the Ming Dynasty, Xue Chan, the invincible and the incomparable great Chakravardi, the Jade Emperor of the Heaven, the Heaven of the Universe" "Golden Wheel Dharma King" can be seen.
It's a pity that his strength is not as loud as his title.
Lin Dan Khan was still nominally the co-leader of Monan Mongolia, but in fact he was only directly under his own Chahar tribe.
The Horqin, Nekalkha, Tumut, and Ordos tribes in Monan were in charge of their own affairs; the Oirat Mongols in Moxi were in a state of hostility with him.
However, after more than ten years of hard work, the five inner kalkha alliance, also commonly known as the "five-bundle alliance", has finally succumbed to his leadership.
Today, the Horqin tribe, which had always been obedient to him, was finally willing to surrender to him.
Bellemangus from the Horqin Left-wing Alliance, Belle Oba from the Horqin Right-wing Alliance, and Bellemingan and Hongol's envoys from the Horqin Left-wing Alliance all knelt in front of him at this time.
Mangus even loudly said: "Great Hutuktu Khan, Horqin is willing to surrender to your wise leadership. Please lead us Mongols to destroy the Li family's Liaodong cavalry, just like your father Khan 21 years ago. That!"
At this time, Lin Danhan frowned and said nothing.
Originally, he thought that Horqin's troops were scared by him and came to surrender, but it turned out that their surrender was conditional.
That is to ambush Li Xianzhong, the chief military officer of the founding of the Ming Dynasty who was welcoming his bride.
This Kaiyuan general officer was indeed a major threat to the Mongols. He first attacked Zaisai of the Fried Flower Department, and then joined forces with Zaisai to eliminate Nuantu; and then worked with Zaisai to sweep Mangus on Horqin's left wing.
In just over two months, they beheaded seven or eight thousand Monan Mongolian knights.
And they continue to stir up disputes on the grassland.
For this reason, he also protested to the Ming Dynasty court.
However, the Ming court quickly gave a reply: Li Xianzhong did not take the initiative to provoke the fight. It was the Huahua Department who attacked Kaiyuan Xiguan first. His counterattack was self-defense; Horqin attacked the Ming Dynasty with Jianzhou, the mortal enemy of the Ming Dynasty. Ye He, who was under the protection, was swept away purely at his own fault.
Ambushing Li Xianzhong would undoubtedly lead to renewed hostilities with the Ming Dynasty.
A few years ago, Lin Danhan led the Huahua Department to attack the front line from Jinzhou to Guangning. However, he found that he had not gained much benefit from the robbery for several years.
So two years ago, he took the initiative to repatriate the kidnapped border residents and started horse trading with the Ming Dynasty.
Although the horse market also has many restrictions, it mainly relies on smuggling.
However, he would not fall out with Daming if there were not enough benefits. After all, Li Xianzhong had never had any conflicts with him.
At this time, Chaohua, the leader of Inner Khalkha, also said: "Great Khan, in the long run, Li Xianzhong will definitely be a figure like Ma Fang and Li Chengliang. If we don't weaken him while he is still young, I am afraid that in the future, our Mongolian ministries will They are all targets for his 'Liaodong Iron Cavalry' to harvest heads."
Although Lin Dan Khan has great ambitions, he is somewhat indecisive!
He said: "The Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty has canceled Liaodong Town's policy of placing bounties on Mongolian heads. Li Xianzhong may not continue to attack you in the future, right?"
After hearing this, both Chaohua and Mangus sighed helplessly.
Li Xianzong's instigation of internal fighting among the various Mongolian tribes was obviously to weaken the various Mongolian tribes so that he could further control them. The reward for the head was only incidental.
Lin Dan Khan can't even see this. This great Khan is really innocent and cute!
Mangus said: "We, Horqin Mongolia, are willing to pay tribute of 10,000 taels of silver to the great Hutuktu Khan every year to show our surrender. We also ask the Great Khan to seek justice for us!"
Chaohua originally thought that Lin Dan Khan would remain unmoved. After all, the mighty Mongolian Khan would not change his stance just for 10,000 taels.
Unexpectedly, Lin Danhan was really tempted, but he was not stupid. It was too cheap to ask him to send troops for such a small amount of money.
So he counted: "I heard that your Horqin tribe attacked Yehe last time and received a thousand pieces of heavy cloth armor from Jianzhou. This time we are facing heavy armored cavalry like the Liaodong Cavalry. I, Chahar, lack heavy armor. .”
This request was still a bit excessive. Chaohua originally thought that Mangus would refuse, or at least make some bargaining.
Unexpectedly, Mangus agreed and said that a thousand pieces of heavy-duty cloth armor and ten thousand taels of silver would be shipped to Chahar soon.
The reason why Mangusi was so generous was because he did not pay for these things himself. Whether it was armor or silver, Jianzhou paid for it and only gave it out in the name of Horqin.
If Jianzhou gives it to himself, I am afraid Lin Danhan will have doubts.
Sure enough, Lin Danhan was overjoyed after hearing this, and immediately said that Chahar's troops would send 15,000 troops to participate in the ambush of Li Xianzhong.
Chaohua also said that the Chaohua Five-Ministry Alliance could send 10,000 troops.
Since Horqin was the initiator of this incident, he could not be left behind. They were also willing to send 15,000 troops.
This resulted in 40,000 cavalry.
Li Xianzhong's cavalry suffered heavy losses from the Jianzhou Eight Banners just over a month ago, and now they only have a few thousand men.
They believed that they could kill Li Xianzhong again just like they had done when they ambush Li Rusong.
Chaohua said with a smile: "I heard that the bride Haqiya married by Li Xianzhong is very similar to Dong Ge, the most beautiful Jurchen. There has always been a custom of robbing brides on the grassland. The Great Khan already has eight blessings, and Haqiya is just the right one. Be the Great Khan’s Nine Fortune Jin.”
In fact, Hazia had come to Chahar earlier and wanted to marry in exchange for sending troops.
However, Jianzhou was powerful at that time, and Lin Danhan was unwilling to waste his troops in vain, so he rejected her.
Now thinking of Hazia's charming face and graceful figure, he swallowed unconsciously.
The scene of that little coquettish hooves crawling on his crotch has already appeared in his mind.
Mangus suddenly said: "But there is still a thorny issue. Zai Sai has close contacts with Li Xianzhong. I'm afraid he will leak the news in advance. By then, we will be in vain!"
Chaohua said: "Although Zaisai is the strongest among the five factions of my Chaohua alliance, I have a way to prevent him from leaking the news, but this still requires the help of the Khan!"
Soon Zasai came to Chahanhot City at the invitation of Lin Dan Khan.
Sure enough, when he heard that Li Xianzhong was going to be ambushed, he refused.
He said: "You guys don't know how powerful the 'Liaodong Iron Cavalry' is. More than 20,000 Jianzhou main cavalry outside Zhenbeiguan have not been able to severely damage them. Even with 40,000 horses, I am afraid they still can't defeat them."
"I advise the Great Khan to think twice. Moreover, Li Xianzhong currently has more than 5,000 cavalry, all of which are armored troops. How many armored soldiers do we have among the 40,000 people?"
At this time, everyone just thought that Zai Sai was unwilling to send troops, so they exaggerated Li Xianzhong's combat power.
Chaohua's face sank and he said coldly: "Think about it again. If you are unwilling to send troops, we can't let you go first, lest the people around you leak the news!"
After hearing the news, Master Liu beside Zaisai was extremely anxious.
But on the surface, he still pretended to be calm and said: "Zaisai, I know you are not willing to fight with the Liaodong cavalry, but the current situation cannot help us not agree."
Finally, under Master Liu's persuasion, Zaisai agreed to send troops, but only two thousand men, and no heavy armored cavalry.
At this time, although Zaisai had regained some of his freedom, he still could not leave Chahanhot City, and he was followed by a large number of people when traveling.
Master Liu was actually very worried inside. Fortunately, the Intelligence Department had just set up a stronghold in the city, otherwise the news would not have spread.
Soon after, he took advantage of the opportunity to accompany Zai Sai to the market and secretly sent the information out.
Soon the day came to welcome the bride, and Li Xianzhong came to Yehexi City riding a horse on dark clouds and snow, wearing a red groom's dress.
Li Xianzhong has fair skin, although he has been slightly tanned due to the recent days of military expeditions, he is still handsome and is admired by all the Ye He girls in the city.
Those carrying the eight-carriage sedan were naturally prepared, but they were just showing off in Yehe City and could not be carried directly back to Kaiyuan.
In the end, they had to ride back to Kaiyuan.
Therefore, Li Xianzhong's plan was to hold another wedding ceremony in Kaiyuan, and welcome the bride from Kaiyuan to the Li family's old house in Tielingwei, where she would eventually go to the bridal chamber.
For this reason, some uncles of the Li family who were far away from the border and their nephews also took this opportunity to get together in Tieling.
In three days, Yehexi City has been decorated. The hundreds of pieces of red silk in the betrothal gift have been basically used, and red silk has also been hung on the city gates and streets.
In this way, Li Xianzhong's wedding team beat gongs and drums all the way to Baylor House in the city.
After some simple welcoming ceremonies, the veiled Hazia was carried into the eight-carriage sedan with the support of the maid.
Yehe City is not big. In the end, the sedan traveled around Yehe City three times and finally left the city.
Soon after, both Li Xianzhong and Haziya finished changing their clothes, so the sedan was naturally useless.
There must be a similar sedan waiting for them outside Kaiyuan City.
This time they brought a large number of horses to carry the dowry, so they chose to return to Kaiyuan via Mongolia.
Li Sanshun said: "Major General, don't worry. The last general has led the assault battalion to clear out the sentries in Jianzhou south of Yehe. They must not have thought that we would detour to the Mongolian grassland."
Li Xianzhong said: "You underestimate Nurhaci too much. The road ahead will never be so peaceful."
Li Xianzhong thought that if I made such a big noise, it would be impossible for them to not react.
Anyway, the bait has been spread out now, just waiting for the fish to bite the hook.
But it’s hard to say whether it’s Jianzhou or Mongolia?
Not long after the army set off, they saw Kong Youde chasing after them from the direction of Ye Hecheng.
After receiving the latest information, Li Xianzhong was also shocked. He only wanted to catch one or two fish, but instead such a large group came.
It seems that these Mongolians are not smart enough and actually serve as gunmen for Jianzhou.
Since they want to play, I will play with them.
Soon a good-looking bearer and a maid put on the groom's and bride's attire respectively. The red attire was very eye-catching in the team.
Li Xianzhong took Hazia and 4,000 cavalry and went straight to Horqin's camp.
Although the wedding etiquette of these Han women is very complicated, Haziya still enjoys it. After all, everyone only has one chance to get married once in their life, and it is to marry a man they love.
Li Xianzhong's heavy betrothal gift made her very happy, which showed that she was very important in his heart.
But she didn't expect that Li Xianzhong would also use these things to lure the enemy.
The groom and the bride go to the enemy's lair to steal camp together on the wedding day. This is really exciting!
On the other side, Lin Danhan and others have been waiting near a valley for several hours.
Chaohua said impatiently: "Li Xianzhong left Ye Hecheng a few hours ago. Logically speaking, he should have been here long ago. But he hasn't come yet. This is a bit slow!"
Then he stared at the sentry rider and asked, "Are you sure Li Xianzhong is coming this way?"
The sentry rider said: "We don't dare to get too close. From a distance, we can see two men and women wearing red dresses in the team. They must be Li Xianzhong. They are still 30 miles away from here."
Just when Chaohua was still worried, he saw a Mongolian cavalry rushing towards here quickly, and then the man shouted: "Ming Anbeile, something bad has happened. Our camp was raided by the Ming army!"
This news directly stunned everyone who was preparing to ambush Li Xianzhong!
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