On the northern grasslands, strong winds swept the ground.
Mongolian Khan Batu Mengke was discussing military affairs in the big account. There was also a woman in this meeting. Judging from her status, this woman seemed to be above everyone else.
This woman is Mandu Hai, a famous legendary woman in Mongolian history. Mandu Haixian was the second wife of Mandu Gule Khan, the twelfth grandson of Genghis Khan. She was widowed in her twenties. During his widowhood, Manduhai rejected countless marriage proposals from non-golden nobles. Later, in order to maintain the stability of Mongolia and preserve the inheritance of the golden family, he actually married the orphan Batu Mengke and supported him as the Mongolian Dayan Khan, thus promoting the resurgence of Mongolia.
At this time, Manduhai was already in his thirties and had given birth to seven children for Dayan Khan, two of which were twins. Although the young Dayan Khan was already in power at this time, he and the Mongolian tribes still had to listen to Manduhai's opinions on major matters, and this major matter was not trivial.
Batu Mengke unified all the grassland tribes and became the new khan of Mongolia. He was ambitious and vowed to restore the great Mongol Empire to its former glory. As a descendant of the Golden Family and Genghis Khan, he must let the Mongolians live a better life.
Batu Mengke set his sights on the Ming Empire, which was rich in materials and accumulated gold and jade. In his opinion, the Ming Empire is no longer as brave as it once was, especially the previous Battle of Tumubao, in which the elite Ming army was annihilated and the Ming emperor was captured. This ignited many desires in his heart and convinced him that the Ming Empire was not Invincible.
"Great Khan, do you really want to attack the Ming Dynasty? The Han people care about face more than their fate. What if we invade the Ming Dynasty and they send troops to encircle and suppress us?"
Batu Mengke drew his saber and said with great pride: "Are you afraid of Gongyi? There are no cowards in our Golden Family! We Mongolians eat meat and the Han people eat grass. Those who eat meat should rule over those who eat grass. These years we have We have made peace with the Ming Dynasty and will not interfere with each other. The number of tribes, horses, cattle and sheep has increased a lot. In addition, our soldiers are strong and our generals are brave, so there is no need to worry about being unable to defeat the Han people."
When the main war factions sitting in the left and right rows heard what Dayan Khan said, their hearts became even more warlike, and they all shouted: "The Great Khan is right, it's time to arm-wrestle with them Han people!"
"Yes, let the Han people see how powerful we are!"
When Batumengke saw that Manduhai was silent, he asked, "Hatun, what do you think of this matter? Don't you support me in attacking the Ming Dynasty?"
Manduhai filled a silver bowl with hot mare's milk and handed it to Batu Mengke and said with a smile: "Great Khan, are you sure about the Ming Dynasty?"
Batu Mengke stuck his saber on the ground and said confidently: "Yes! The new emperor of the Ming Dynasty has ascended the throne. His buttocks are not yet hot. He is worried about the things at hand. We should take this opportunity to beat him." In recent years, we Mongolians could still exchange horses, cattle and sheep with the Han people for some grain, Buang, salt, tea, etc., so we were not short of expenses. But in these years, the emperor of the Han Dynasty closed the border market trade and did not give us any money at all. The Mongols have no way to survive, and if you don’t give them some color, you really have forgotten how powerful our Mongolian cavalry is!”
Manduhai looked at the grown-up Batu Mengke and smiled happily: "The Great Khan does not have to worry, we can wait a little longer, first send a small group of cavalry to attack their border cities and plunder some money, and then report to them the Han Emperor's words It was the remnants of Yisi Mayin who did it. Just look at the softness and hardness of the scalp of the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty and then make a decision."
After hearing what Manduhai said, Batu Mengke was overjoyed and hugged Manduhai in his arms and said happily: "Hatun still has the foresight, so let's do what Hatun wants."
Batu Mengke pointed his saber at Lanzhou, which was surrounded by mountains and rivers and was a very important trading station in the inland area. It is also a fortress connecting the Hami area and the Hexi Corridor. The most important thing is that in recent years, the Lanzhou Guards have been deprecated and their soldiers are not brave enough. Therefore, plundering Lanzhou is the best choice for the Mongolian cavalry, and by the way, it can also test the attitude of the Ming Empire.
In the evening, the brightly lit Lanzhou City did not look like a frontier fortress. Some soldiers on the city wall were drunk and drunk.
"Old Li, although it's hard to be a soldier on the border, I don't think it's a big deal if I can have a little drink and chat with you every night."
The soldier named Li was so drunk that he fell asleep leaning against the city wall. The soldier sitting next to him was still holding a pot of wine and shouting drunkenly: "Old Li is such a fucking loser. He fell down before taking a few sips. Come on, Wang Erling, why don't you drink!"
This man named Wang Erlingzi stood on the city wall, drinking and looking into the distance, and said with emotion: "Tian Niu, to tell you the truth, I came here to serve as a soldier just to eat more of the imperial grain. I am different from you. My ancestors were from a common household, but they have been bullied by those masters over the years and have not even been able to eat."
Tian Niu asked: "Then why did you become a soldier? My family is from a military family and I have to change my career. In the future, my descendants will probably be soldiers."
Wang Erlengzi couldn't help but shed tears: "My sister is capable, and an officer took notice of my sister's good looks. After the officer left, he arranged for me to come in. As a soldier here, at least I can have enough to eat." "
At this time, Lao Li opened his eyes and cursed: "Wouldn't it be better to sleep with your mother for a while? Why are you arguing? It's not good to be a soldier these days. You said that the court has deducted our pay for so many years, and we are fighting for those dogs in the plains." Officials work hard and have to give them monthly money. Oh, I have no choice but to live!"
"Old Li, please keep your voice down. If the commander hears this, why don't you want your head? I heard that the new emperor who ascends the throne this time is not bad, and he might be able to pay us."
Lao Li glanced at Tian Niu and said disdainfully: "I have been a soldier for more than thirty years. We know what is going on here! On the fifteenth day of every month, the dog officer secretly goes to Liangzhou to drink. You guys? These bastards still think too well of the people in the capital. No matter how we change the masters, the wages and money will never reach our hands. Those eunuchs and officers from various places have to provide money to the local gentlemen wherever they go. Wait until we If the officers here score one more point, we are in trouble!"
Wang Erlengzi, who had not had enough to eat since he was a child, disagreed with what Lao Li said. No matter how capable you are of doing great things, those who are emperors, chief ministers, and generals are capable and have great responsibilities on their shoulders. Not only can people have enough food and money, they all deserve it. What kind of onion are you, Lao Li? You don’t know a few Chinese characters, but you still want to be like them?
Wang Erlingzi was on the city wall thinking about what to eat tomorrow when he suddenly saw a group of cavalry galloping in the distance. The sound of horse hooves was like thunder and the sound was huge.
"Lao Li, Tieniu, look, there are cavalry!"
Tian Niu felt a little sleepy and said casually: "It's okay, the commander is probably back."
"It looks like there are tens of thousands of cavalry in this group. It doesn't seem like they are in command."
Lao Li jumped up and leaned against the city wall to look: "No, this group of cavalry moves very fast. It doesn't look like us."
As the cavalry moved closer and closer, the experienced Lao Li suddenly shouted: "No, there is enemy situation! The Tatars are coming!"
Since Wang Erlingzi came to Lanzhou Guard to serve as a soldier, he has never fought in a war. Now when he heard Lao Li say that the Tatars were coming, he was at a loss and followed Lao Li and shouted: "There is an enemy situation! The Tatars are invading!"
Suddenly, an arrow shot through the air and hit Lao Li in the throat. Lao Li was killed instantly before he could scream. When Wang Erlingzi saw Lao Li collapsed, he quickly ran over and said, "Old Li, Lao Li, what's wrong with you? Wake up quickly. When I checked with my hand, I saw that he had already lost his breath. I have never seen such a battle before. Wang Erlingzi suddenly shrank into a ball in fear?
When Tian Niu heard about the Tatar invasion, he ran to tell them. Because the commander of the Lanzhou Guard was not present, the soldiers were at a loss and were in disarray. Most of these soldiers have never experienced war. They are just some civilians who have joined to fill the head count and have no combat effectiveness.
In this way, the invading 30,000 Mongolian cavalry invaded the city without any bragging. Following the order from the Mongolian cavalry commander, these "robbers" who had not entered the Han city for a long time began to burn, kill and loot, and screams and wailings continued in the city.
A few days later, a fast horse from the northwest rang the bell of the Forbidden City.
