"Butler, those Jurchen adults are back, but, but..." The man who spoke, Fan Ji, looked hesitant.
"But what? Make it clear." Fan Youfu pressed.
The waiter said: "It seems that there are not many people there. A dozen went out and less than ten came back. Moreover, all of them looked ugly, and there were several injured."
"How could this happen?" Fan Youfu frowned and said, "You can see clearly, there are really several Jurchens missing, and some are injured?"
The clerk said with great certainty: "You see it really, it's absolutely right."
"This is impossible! Weren't we going to kill Xia Guang and the others? How could we have so many casualties on our side?" Fan Youfu frowned deeply.
The waiter hesitated and said, "Could it be that these Jurchens encountered the Xia escorts and others and suffered a loss when they took action?"
"Impossible." Fan Youfu shook his head and said, "Even the servants of the Liaodong Ming Army are no match for the Jurchens. How could Xia Guang and his bodyguards hurt the Jurchens?"
The man thought for a while and said, "But besides Xia Biaotou and the others, I can't think of anyone else who can hurt those Jurchens."
Fan Youfu hesitated for a moment and then said: "You stay here and I'll go over and see what happened."
After saying that, he stood up from the bonfire and walked towards the Jurchens.
After taking a few steps, he saw a waiter running towards him, and he reached him in two or three steps.
"Butler, those Jurchen adults are calling you over." As he spoke, the man covered his right face with his hand.
Fan Youfu took a look and saw that the right side of the waiter's face was swollen, so he asked, "What's wrong with the face?"
The guy turned around and looked at the Jurchen who was a little further away.
Seeing his look, Fan Youfu understood that the injuries on the face of the guy in front of him should have been caused by being beaten by the Jurchens.
In this regard, he couldn't say anything. He could only say that the beating was in vain. These Jurchens were not something he could provoke. If he had been beaten by the Jurchens, it would have been in vain.
Fan Youfu came to the Jurchen and said respectfully: "I have met Lord Ezhen."
Kutai glanced at Fan Youfu and said with an ugly face: "Because of your Fan Ji incident, six of my men were lost, and three of them were injured. Your Fan family has to give me an explanation."
Fan Youfu glanced at several injured Jurchens not far away, and said in surprise: "Were they injured by Xia Guang and his bodyguards?"
"No." Kutai said, "They are a group of people hiding in the dark, using your Ming people's blunderbuss to hurt people in the dark. If they came out to fight openly, how could my people be injured?"
"Lord Kutai, are you sure those people were using cannons?" Fan Youfu asked hurriedly.
Kutai said dissatisfied: "Do you think I'm lying to you?"
"Don't dare, don't dare." Fan Youfu waved his hands repeatedly and said immediately, "If the other party used a fire blunderbuss, I think I know who attacked you Jurchen adults."
"Who?" Kutai asked.
Fan Youfu bowed and said, "Have you ever heard of the Tiger Flag?"
"Are you talking about the tiger-character flag that the Fan family once competed with for the Tumut Trade Road?" Kutai asked in return.
Fan Youfu nodded.
Kutai frowned and said, "You mean the people who secretly attacked us are members of the Tiger Flag?"
Fan Youfu said: "Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I can guess that only people with Tiger Flags on the grassland can use bird blunderbuss. Although there are many soldiers in the Ming Army who use bird blunderbuss, the Ming Army They won’t come to the grassland, let alone go deep into the grassland, to our place.”
"What you said makes sense." Kutai said, "But why did the people of the Tiger Character Banner hide in the dark and ambush us? There is no enmity between us Houjin and the Tiger Character Banner."
Fan Youfu said in a deep voice: "I have heard someone mention that the owner of the Tiger Flag fled to Datong from Liaodong, or was a deserter from the Saarhu War."
Kutai knitted his brows together.
If that was the case, the people from the Tiger Flag might take action against them, but he still felt that this reason was a little too far-fetched.
After all, those who used bird cannons had been ambush there very early, and it was obviously abnormal for people with the tiger flag to appear near Fan Ji's motorcade at night.
Thinking of this, he said: "I'm afraid the people from the Tiger Flag are not coming for our Houjin people, but for your Fan family's motorcade."
"This..." Fan Youfu paused for a moment, and then his expression changed drastically.
At this time, he figured it all out, why even though Horqin's Taiji had spoken, their convoy of Fan Ji was still robbed, and both people and money were lost, not even a living person was left alive. If this was done by Tiger Character Banner, Everything is explained.
Ordinary horse bandits on the grassland would naturally want to give Taiji face to a large tribe like Horqin, but the Tiger-Character Banner would definitely not do so. Back when they were in Tumute, the Tiger-Character Banner had already attacked Fan Ji's convoy several times. Now it's just a repeat of the same old tricks.
Thinking of this, he trembled.
If the cavalry with the Tiger Flag were eyeing their convoy, it would be difficult to be a match for the Tiger Flag Cavalry because there were less than ten Jurchens left in front of them.
It's not that the Jurchens are not powerful, but if the cavalry with the tiger-shaped flag comes to rob Fan Ji's convoy, the number of cavalry will definitely be large. The few Jurchens in front of them alone may not be able to withstand it.
Kutai said: "If they are really coming for the convoy, I advise you to be prepared and hurry up early tomorrow. The other party will definitely chase them."
Fan Youfu shook his head with a grimace and said: "It's useless. The convoy has brought so much cargo and it can't move fast at all. If the people with the Tiger Flag really come after them, it will be useless no matter how early they go. Two wheels No matter how fast it is, it can't be compared to a four-legged war horse."
Kutai rubbed his chin with his hand, thought for a while, and said: "I will arrange for someone to go back to Horqin in advance to ask for help. You must also send the goods to Horqin as soon as possible. Fortunately, the distance to Horqin is less than 200 miles away. As long as it can be delayed for one day, Horqin’s reinforcements will arrive soon.”
"Everything must be obeyed by Lord Ezhen." Fan Youfu raised his fist towards Kutai.
Kutai nodded, quite satisfied with Butler Fan's attitude.
Fan Youfu asked: "When will Lord Ezhen plan to send people to Horqin to ask for help? I'm worried that the horse team with the tiger character flag may appear at any time."
"Of course, the faster the better." Kutai shouted to a Jurchen on the side, "Zamulun, prepare two fast horses immediately. You rush back to Horqin overnight to find Oba Deji and ask him to send a team of horses. A team is coming to support.”
"yes."
Jamuka turned and left to prepare his horse.
The night passed quickly, and as soon as the sky cleared, Fan Youfu called the guys in the team to start making fire and preparing food.
The coachmen also hitched their animals to the front of the carriage, ready to set off at any time.
