It gets dark early on the grassland, and the whistling north wind keeps blowing outside the tent, forcing people to wrap themselves in thick fur robes.
Zhu Jian opened the heavy curtain and once again confirmed that the surrounding areas of the tent were surrounded by the escorts of the mission and that there were no other unfamiliar faces. He then cautiously ordered the surrounding guards to be vigilant at all times before returning to the tent.
In the large military tent, several thick candles were lit, illuminating the entire military tent brightly.
In the middle of the tent, there was a thick carpet, with a desk on top, and two braziers around it. On the desk were some snacks, a silver pot and several volumes of documents.
Li Shi and Luo Qi were kneeling on the carpet. Opposite them was Yuan Bin, who was taken to see the Emperor during the day.
After Zhu Jian confirmed the situation outside, he returned to his seat and asked Yuan Bin.
"General Yuan, how is the Emperor's current situation? Did you find out any information while walking in the camp?"
During the day, Zhu Jian made excuses to ask Yuan Bin to return to serve the Supreme Emperor. One of the implications was this.
Although Oara and Ming Dynasty have initially reached an agreement, the negotiations between the two countries are changing rapidly. Before everything is settled, any changes may occur.
So in fact, the game started from the moment they saw King Bodu on the grassland.
Yuan Bin didn't show off and said directly.
"Everything is well with the Supreme Emperor. King Bodu left me directly after sending me back to the Supreme Emperor's military tent."
"In the military tent, the Supreme Emperor asked about the current situation of the Holy Mother, Queen Duanjing and Your Majesty, and also asked about the details of the negotiations in the capital. He was very relieved to learn that Your Majesty and the ministers were determined to welcome the old man back to the court."
"The Supreme Emperor also asked me to tell several adults that you are ministers of the country. If you can welcome the emperor back to the court this time, you will definitely show your merits. I hope that the adults will not hesitate to work hard and do your best with the country and the people in mind."
After all, it was the Supreme Emperor's oral instructions. After Zhu Jian and others listened, they stood up one after another, bowed three times in the direction of the Supreme Emperor's tent, and then sat down again.
Then, Luo Qi took the lead and asked: "General Yuan just said that after King Bodu sent you to the camp, he left directly. So General Yuan, how did you come back?"
Yuan Bin also frowned slightly and said.
"To be honest, your lords, at that time King Bodu said that when he asked for instructions, Ye Xian's exact words were, just let him visit and go, don't worry about it."
"So, King Bodu left two soldiers behind saying they were to protect my safety, and then left. At that time, I thought it was just a courtesy, and he probably wouldn't let me come back."
"But after King Bodu left, I tested it, and the two soldiers really didn't care about anything and just let me walk in the camp."
After listening to Yuan Bin's narration, Zhu Jian thought for a while and said: "In that case, he is not afraid of us communicating with the Supreme Emperor, nor is he afraid of us trying to find out any information in the camp."
After a brief pause, Zhu Jian continued to ask: "Then did General Yuan find out anything?"
Yuan Bin pondered for a moment and then said.
"Although King Bodu said so, I still didn't dare to wander around. I just had a casual chat with the two soldiers who came with me on the way back."
"I asked Ha Ming about the identities of these two people, and he confirmed that these two people are the soldiers who patrol the Supreme Emperor's camp every day. If nothing else, King Bodu is just a casual person."
"I made some insinuations. When they heard that Ming Dynasty was going to welcome back the Emperor, they were very happy and kept asking me when the Grand Master would reconcile with Ming Dynasty."
"I asked them how they were doing recently, and they were in a low mood, saying that the tribe was not doing well. There had been a lot of deserters in recent days, and the grand master's temper was not very good, and he had killed many people. "
After recounting the "casual" conversation in detail, Yuan Bin finally said.
"From what I have seen, most of the ordinary soldiers in Oara are now looking forward to peace talks with the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, there is another point worth noting."
"That is, in recent days, almost most of the Wala nobles have to go hunting with their guards every other day. It is for this reason that we happened to meet King Bodu today."
"Such regular and large-scale hunting can only mean..."
"Wala's logistics supply is insufficient!"
Zhu Jian cut off Yuan Bin's words and his expression became a little excited.
With that said, he turned to Li Shi and Luo Qi and asked.
"Do you remember the food we lost these days?"
The two people opposite nodded, not knowing what Zhu Jian meant.
On the vast grassland, various tribes, large or small, are scattered everywhere, so the grassland is always full of dangers.
It took them more than half a month to set out from Datong and arrive at Yexian Camp. During this process, almost every night when they stayed overnight, prisoners would come secretly to steal food and military horses.
They lost a lot, but they also killed a lot of people.
This kind of thing is difficult to stop even if there are envoys from Oara among the mission. After all, the mission did not hide its identity and was flying the banner of the Ming Dynasty.
Under such circumstances, if you continue to steal, you are clearly looking for death.
"I still remember that at that time, Naha, the envoy of Oara, apologized repeatedly and said that it would not be like this on normal days. At the time, we just thought it was just a show of words, but now it seems that it is probably the truth."
Amidst the doubtful looks in several people's eyes, Zhu Jian continued to explain.
"Although there are no restrictions on morality and etiquette on the grassland, robbery and theft can be seen everywhere, but these tribal herdsmen are also good at watching people's food."
"Our mission is such a large team. The escort team alone has no less than two hundred people. They are all well-equipped cavalry."
"Normally, when encountering such a team on the grassland, ordinary tribesmen would have to go around."
"But the people of these tribes are so bold that they dare to steal at night. If they are not blind, they will have no choice but to do it!"
Hearing this, Luo Qi also nodded.
He had gone on an expedition with the army in his early years, and he also knew what ordinary tribal herders were like.
"Yes, the team of envoys is huge, and ordinary herders will generally not come to provoke them unless they have no other choice."
"It seems that the situation of the various tribes in Oara has indeed reached an unsustainable level. Just now, Colonel Yuan said that the ordinary sergeants were happy and excited when they heard that peace talks with the Ming Dynasty were first needed. It seems to be true."
After confirming this conclusion, everyone present could not help but feel a little excited.
Regardless of their position in the court or their political opinions, from the moment they took over the envoy's job, they had only one purpose, and that was to successfully welcome the Supreme Emperor back to the court.
Although, before setting off, everyone already had a lot of confidence.
But after all, people's thoughts are the most difficult to guess. If you hold a grudge first and change your mind temporarily, it is not impossible to return without success.
But now, there are various signs that the situation facing Wala is worse than they imagined.
In this case, the impact of personal wishes on the overall situation has actually been reduced to a very low level.
Although Wala made the first decision, he also had various official positions such as the so-called Grand Master and the Imperial Academy.
But in the final analysis, both Oara and Tatar are essentially nothing more than an alliance of nomadic tribes.
First of all, no matter how strong your personal prestige is, you still need to consider the thoughts of various Wala nobles.
A glimpse of the situation tells the whole story. It is obvious that Oara's army is looking forward to peace talks from top to bottom.
If, under such circumstances, we still try to embarrass the Ming Dynasty's envoy due to personal resentment, then the first ones who will not agree will be these Wala nobles.
After confirming this, Li Shi on the side said.
"Master Zhu, if that's the case, then maybe we can be a little tougher on tomorrow's negotiations. It would be best if we can cut through the mess quickly."
Under the swaying candlelight, Zhu Jian frowned and nodded lightly...
