On the banks of the Zaqu River, the envoys of the eastern Yarkand Khan were so devastated that they became disloyal.
When he set off from Turpan, he was fully aware of the difficulty of the journey and had done enough psychological preparation for himself.
Engaging in diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty, as long as it is shameless, is a very happy thing for the entire country. The emperor will give money, cloth, and officials, from hundreds of households to the capital commander, and from Hami to Egypt.
To put it bluntly, if you ask every khan and secret in the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, everyone will tell you their official position in the Ming Dynasty in unison.
To them, who were living in the desert, with a strange and rich behemoth lying beside them, preferring to be called daddy was not a bad habit compared to marching around.
What's more, giving him pocket money as long as he calls him daddy is simply a virtue.
Of course, for the people of Great Mughalstan, they will never talk about it if they can rob it. I tried it, but the city of Hami was surrounded by four enemies before I could get it. Suzhou was so close in front of me, but it seemed so far away. On the horizon.
Calling daddy is shameful, but useful.
After all, Anxi is no longer the Anxi that once produced a powerful country with millions of territories. The cold climate tortures every inch of the land.
But this job was very difficult for the envoy. If Shili had to set the tone for this mission, it would be three simple words: pretend to be a grandson.
Because the Ming Dynasty did not allow his Khan, Abdulain paid tribute.
In fact, there was no khanate in the first place. From their own point of view, the name of the country was not Yarkand, and in many cases it was not called Chagatai, but Mughalstan.
To put it simply, in the hometown of the four towns of Anxi, the truth about the chaotic and separatist rule of the tribes, which ostensibly pretended to be a huge khanate, has long been known to the Ming Dynasty.
Because the Ming Dynasty also regarded them as one country at first, but the five brothers of Ma Heima each occupied an area, each sent envoys to pay tribute, and each said that he was the Great Khan.
Master Wanli was very angry and said in his heart that you, a separatist regime, deserve to be called daddy? They drove everyone else back, and only Ma Heima was allowed to pay tribute.
In this era, the Western Region is in a state where grandma does not kiss and grandpa does not love.
Even the Mughal Keba, who belonged to the Mughals, was not interested in this side, and even wanted to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty through them.
It has been six hundred years since the Anxi hometown broke away from the Central Plains Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty only has security needs and no psychological feelings for this place.
In terms of security needs, a great Khan in the desert gave birth to five sons. The separatist regime in which all five sons set themselves up as kings and fought against each other could at best play the role of desert bandits outside Jiayuguan, which did not make Ming Dynasty uneasy. qualifications.
The Gobi and desert outside Jiayuguan are enough to cut off all connections with rule. Sending the Heavenly Army to march westward is almost equivalent to creating a separatist regime with the same military technology.
Shili shoulders two important responsibilities, one is to pretend to be a grandson, and the other is to make money.
He wanted to pretend to be a grandson to the imperial guard at Jiayuguan. It didn't matter whether the Ming Dynasty allowed him to pay tribute. Moreover, before setting off, he knew that the general at Jiayuguan would most likely not let him kowtow at Jinque.
There is only one key point of this mission, whether it is verbal obedience or real money and silver gifts, it is to do everything possible to convince the guards at Jiayuguan that Turpan is still obedient.
In addition, they contacted the Turpan people who settled in the Ming Dynasty in the Subei area of the border, and used smuggling to conduct some trade and make some money to make up for the expenses of giving gifts to the generals.
In recent years, the national situation in Mughalstan has become increasingly chaotic. The Great Khan has been supported back and forth by the military governors who hold real power in various places. The supported Khan tried his best to limit the power of the secret and introduced religious peace to check and balance.
The weakened Yi Mi killed the Khan and supported others, and the introduced He Zhuo also joined the game of power.
However, the momentum of Yi Mi's monopoly on power and He Zhuo's chaos in government was like rolling sand and dust, which could no longer be contained, and the Khan Court finally became a mess.
A war between the five lords may break out at any time. His Great Khan is the ruler of Turpan and Hami and must seize the opportunity to attack westward with all his strength.
At this time, we cannot tolerate those poor and fierce soldiers from Jiayuguan running to the west to become horse bandits.
Originally, everything developed according to the script they had set. This was a mission that was humiliating but profitable.
Until he found out from the Turpan people who settled in Subei that the Han people had opened a new border market east of Qinghai Lake. Many Mongolians from Tuidan went there to buy and sell goods. The goods were cheap and well-made.
This simply put him on the point of no return.
I met Mr. Liu in Juerwan and later Liu Chengzu. He was still holding the tribute letter from Turpan to the Ming Emperor, swearing how loyal he was to the Ming Emperor.
But they walked all the way from Xining Mansion through the Tumut tribe in Qinghai and entered Kangning Mansion. Only then did he know that the Grand Marshal of the Qinghai Marshal Mansion was a rebel from the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.
Their feelings for Daming are very complicated. It cannot be said that they are like fire and water. They just simply want to send each other to heaven.
After traveling thousands of miles to the right temple, but worshiping the wrong Buddha, your life will be in danger if you are not careful.
Shili just wanted to slap himself, and why did he come to this place after eating so much? If he died, the Great Khan of Turpan wouldn't even know where his envoy died.
After trembling with fear and fear all day long, Shili was finally summoned by Liu Chengzong, but the order was to let him pack his luggage and set off to other places with him.
Well-equipped warriors formed more than twenty cavalry teams and meandered towards the eastern grassland in a huge formation.
In fact, this army only had more than a thousand people, which was Liu Chengzong's entire mobile force after being dispersed during his southern expedition.
The Lion Army stationed 1,200 troops each in Haixi and Nangqian, and nearly 2,000 township officials and garrisons were dispersed in seven counties. Luo Rucai maintained law and order in Lincong, Li Laozhen stationed in Luhuo, and Zhang Tianlin stationed in Malkang. Liu Chengzong did not have many troops left.
Of course, it's not that there are no available people. Ah Liu's Yongning camp is also stationed west of Luhuo.
There are also Dai Qing and Xie Erhu who contributed a lot in the war, but those people can't move now. The winter on the plateau is too cold, so they have all gone into hiding to take care of their livestock.
In comparison, the Lion Army has a great advantage in keeping out the cold. After all, it is the commander's own army. It contributed the most in the Southern Expedition and received the most loot rewards.
Cao Yao had made some calculations earlier to settle the small aristocratic estates. On average, a noble family with less than ten members could obtain warm clothing for 122 people.
Not counting women's clothing, not counting weird fur clothes.
In fact, the main reason is that too many clothes, beddings, cloths, felts, and fur robes were seized, which gave soldiers the right to choose. If it were left at the beginning of the army, even women's coats and robes would be better than nothing for people.
The Lion Army has rules and habits of surrendering captured items, and Liu Chengzong has a strong tendency to be selective in the distribution of spoils. Practical things, such as cold-proof bedding, fur robes, food and drink, will be given priority to the Lion Army.
The remainder was distributed among the Mongolian troops and slaves who were traveling with them, such as clothes for female nobles and coats made of mouse skin.
Liu Chengzong had seen several fur coats. One of them was a short coat that was very well made. More than 400 pieces of mouse skin were used inside and outside. The whole coat was black and white. It was finally given to Basang.
Finally, there are precious fabrics with gold and silver threads, sky jewels, corundum, gold and silver, turquoise and ivory, as well as precious utensils that the court awarded to nobles from all over the world starting from the Yuan Dynasty.
Some of them had historical significance and were left behind by him, such as the porcelain given by Emperor Yongle. Half of the more valuable items were used as military expenses in exchange for supplies, and the other half were distributed to soldiers and officers at all levels.
Of course, if there are special requests, for example, if Wai Liangzi wants to bring two coats and jewelry back to the Mongolian old woman, Liu Chengzong will comply with them.
Anyway, in the end, no one was rich, but they all had a few things they could afford.
Therefore, in Shili's eyes, the Qinghai Generalissimo's army was ridiculously luxurious in organization. All of them had horses and horses. This was not an exaggeration in the northwest, but they actually had donkeys and mules.
The most outrageous thing is that many people wear clothes on horses, donkeys and mules.
What should I do if I don’t wear them? The Lion Soldiers are all very frugal people. Some of them were reluctant to throw away the old clothes they had changed into, and some had no place to put the new clothes they had been given. In the end, they were all covered with their donkeys and mules.
They soon walked into the grassland on the edge of Lin Cong's territory. The troops would march southeast along Niqu, with the ultimate goal of reaching Luhuo County years ago.
Liu Chengzong chose this road because he came to see Luo Rucai and told him not to leave the army and find a comfortable nest by himself this winter, because Lin Cong's battle has not yet been completely settled.
Although this land nominally belongs to Liu Chengzong, it is unknown where the enemy army fled after the main force was defeated. Winter is not conducive to the army's search, and the results may not be available until next year.
However, after training in the military training camp, Luo Rucai has greatly improved in leading troops, at least he behaves like a grassroots officer.
The troops were stationed on a vast grass bank. Early in the morning, the herdsmen in the team drove their mules and horses to plow grass in the snow, while Liu Chengzong and his guards ran out to hunt.
No matter where they were stationed, they would send out hunting teams. Because the land was vast and sparsely populated, they could often get harvests. Liu Chengzong would occasionally participate, taking this opportunity to hone his skills.
When it comes to hunting, Liu Chengzong is still an expert in the military.
Leading the horse, one foot deep and one foot shallow, he stepped on the ice and snow. From a distance, he saw two sika deers, one male and one female. Their coats were as smoky brown as thatch. Liu Chengzong quickly put on his bow and arrow, stepped forward through the snow, and approached with a continuous leap. Shoot three arrows and shoot down the buck.
The doe carrying the fawn ran away, but Liu Chengzong did not pursue her. Several guards immediately stepped forward, overturned the stag and dragged it to a clean place, where it was bled, disemboweled, skinned and chopped.
Back at the camp, Luo Rucai was busy working.
He got a lot of fat and big ducks the night before. Early in the morning, he set up a big pot in front of Liu Chengzong's handsome tent. He removed the feathers and impurities from seven or eight fat ducks weighing four to five pounds, blanched them in the water, and fished them out for use. The snow and water were ice-cold, and a lot of cordyceps were stuffed into the belly, making the duck bulging.
Then use a large basin to steam it over the fire. Pour at least four or five kilograms of Cordyceps in a large bag into the basin, cover the whole basin, pour the shochu clear soup, sprinkle with green onion and ginger slices, and stuff it in the pot. After finishing it, Luo Rucai said with a smile: "This will be ready in two hours. Commander, you must try it."
Liu Chengzong looked at him pouring cordyceps into the pot and felt that his grandson was trying to make up for his own death.
He asked: "Isn't this cordyceps sinensis medicine? How can it be eaten like this?"
"It's medicine. The merchants who make arrow stoves sometimes charge forty or fifty cents per catty. It's more expensive than meat, so it's not cheap." Luo Rucai said, "But Commander, don't worry, this thing is in this grassland." There are white mushrooms all over the place, they are all delicious, just put a few more pounds, I have eaten like this before and it’s fine.”
Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "I asked you to come here to fight and just eat it?"
"The commander-in-chief doesn't know that when he joins Lin Cong to conquer under a low-level position, the battle situation is extremely dangerous. It is not a matter of war. They are as timid as loaches and do not dare to fight against the heavenly army. They use the ground to hide among the mountains and rivers, thinking Drag me to death."
Luo Rucai raised her hand and moved around, looked at Liu Chengzong and said: "This area is three to four hundred miles inhabited by people, with a total of thirty to forty thousand people. They want me to run out of food on this land. I can't find this damn place even if I dig three feet." To the army rations.”
Luo Rucai said, leaning forward, pointing his thumb at himself and saying extremely proudly: "I, Luo Caocao, followed the commander from the drought-stricken northern Shaanxi. What do you call this compared to that? This It’s called abundant products, but they want to starve me to death? Bah!”
"I can live to the eighty-eighth year of Chongzhen by eating wild beasts and cordyceps!"
"That's almost enough. You have to have a certain temper when you brag." Liu Chengzong waved his hand: "Why don't you live to Chongzhen for a thousand years?"
Luo Rucai raised her face and said, "I don't want to be a bastard with him!"
Liu Chengzong laughed loudly. Luo Caocao just cleaned up and wiped his hands. Then he looked at Shili behind him and asked: "Commander, where did you pick up this Tatar?"
Liu Chengzong looked back and said: "The Turpan envoy went astray and wanted to do business in Ju'erwan. He found Nangqian with a tribute letter to Chongzhen."
This time it was Luo Rucai's turn to laugh. He raised his finger and pointed at Shili: "I really have you. Bring the tribute letter for Chongzhen to the commander-in-chief. If you are promising, I will drink a few more glasses of wine later."
As an envoy, Shili could understand what they were saying. He had an embarrassed smile on his face and cursed in his heart.
He didn't want to come to Liu Chengzong with Chongzhen's tribute letter. Didn't the Turpan people in Subei not make it clear? They only said that the Han people opened a border market in Juerwan. How could he know that it was opened by the rebels?
While waiting for the duck to be steamed, Liu Chengzong inquired about the military affairs of Luo Rucai and his general Lin Cong, and then gave a few words of encouragement, but did not make any further objections about dragging the war into next year.
He knew very well that the biggest difficulty in fighting in Kangning Mansion was to find the main force of the enemy.
If you can find the main force and defeat it in one fell swoop, it will be a great victory; if you cannot find it, the battle will have to drag on.
At least for now, it seems that Luo Rucai has done a good job, knowing that ensuring the supply of troops is the top priority. As long as the troops have food, Lin Cong will be stable.
When local government affairs get on track and the people are brought to their side, even if they don't fight, they can make the enemy surrender without a fight.
The aroma of the steamed duck in the pot was already coming out. Liu Chengzong, who was sitting on the tiger skin, sniffed, turned to Shili and smiled and said, "Tell me about what you saw along the way from Turpan."
