Zhang Huai waved his hand and said: "If you take the heads of the Tatars, you will take them. Since the northern captives dare to invade our border with the Ming Dynasty, as the general of the East Route and the guard of Xinpingbao, it is normal for you to gain something." .”
Hearing that Zhang Huai did not mean to blame, Li Huaixin breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Don't worry, sir. All the heads of these hundreds of Tatars will be left to your disposal."
"Yes." Zhang Huai nodded and did not refuse.
Having so many Tatar heads was a big achievement for him, especially since these heads were cut off from real Tatars and could withstand the inspection of the imperial court.
"Sir, the matter regarding the Tiger Flag should be..."
Li Huaixin mentioned the Tiger Flag, but before he finished speaking, he saw a small flag official running in from outside.
"Your Majesty, the Tiger Character Banner has sent people to labor the army, and they have already arrived outside the camp."
Hearing the news from Xiaoqi Officer, Zhang Huai frowned and said, "What is Tiger Character Flag doing here at this time?"
Li Huaixin said: "The Tiger Character Banner defeated the Tatars and captured many heads. They must have wanted to use the Tatar heads in exchange for your lord to hide something."
Snapped!
Zhang Huai put the tureen in his hand heavily on the table and said in a cold voice: "Who do they think I am? They think that the head of a Tatar can bribe me and make his dreams come true."
"Sir, please calm down." Li Huaixin advised, "Sir, you might as well meet and see what the people with the tiger character flag say first."
Zhang Huai thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll just listen to you. I'll see them."
Li Huaixin on the side turned his head and said to the little flag officer: "Take all Lao Jun's things and take the leader of the Tiger Flag to the Chinese army's tent."
"Yes." The flag officer agreed and exited the tent.
Li Huaixin turned around and said to Zhang Huai: "It is impossible to hide such a big thing caused by Tiger Character Flag. Sir, you can take this opportunity to find out the plan behind Tiger Character Flag."
"Well, what you said makes some sense. In case the people in the Tiger Flag rebel, I can make some preparations in advance." Zhang Huai stroked the beard on his chin.
Not long after, the flag officer brought two strange men to the Chinese army's tent.
"The common people have met you two adults." Zhao Yutu bowed his hands to the two people sitting on the seats.
Zhang Huai was not as polite as before when he saw Zhao Yutu, but looked at him coldly. Finally, he slapped the table with his palm and shouted: "You tiger-character flags are so brave. You secretly raise private soldiers. Do you know your guilt?"
"Master General, you are just joking. How can ordinary people have the courage to raise private soldiers?" Zhao Yutu smiled lightly.
Zhang Huai's face sank and he said: "Your Tiger-Character Banner army passed through the border and passed through several states and counties. Could it be that the local officials and people were blind and framed you for nothing."
"To be honest with you two adults, our Tiger Character Banner has indeed not raised any private soldiers. Those are just soldiers and bodyguards who guard the caravan." Zhao Yutu paused for a moment, then continued, "You two agreed that you should know that the grassland There is no peace in the world. If there is no force to protect ourselves, if the caravan goes to the grassland, it will be robbed four or five times out of ten."
It was no secret that the Tiger Flag was smuggling into the grassland, and the two people in front of him were also involved, so he directly blamed the Tiger Flag's army on the caravan guards and bodyguards.
Li Huaixin snorted coldly and said: "Your Tiger Character Banner is really a big business. The total number of guards and bodyguards in the caravan is probably tens of thousands."
The two military camps totaled almost 8,000 people, which didn't look much different from 10,000 people. Even the thousands of Ming troops brought by Zhang Huai were claimed to be as many as 10,000 people.
When Zhang Huai heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched.
He learned that the Tiger-Character Banner's army was an official document sent from various states and counties, and those official documents only said that the Tiger-Character Banner's army had thousands of people. Now he knew from Li Huaixin's mouth that the Tiger-Character Banner's army was better than what he knew. There are even more people.
Of course, this cannot be blamed on official documents from various prefectures and counties. After all, not many people know that there are several thousand-man troops stationed with the Tiger Flag near Xinpingbao.
Zhao Yutu did not take Li Huaixin's words seriously. After all, there was not much difference between 10,000 troops and several thousand troops. In the eyes of the court, it was also a crime of disobedience.
Li Huaixin looked at Zhao Yutu and said, "Mr. Zhao, don't you think this matter should be explained to the Commander-in-Chief?"
"What is the difference between a few thousand soldiers and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to the imperial court?" Zhao Yutu asked rhetorically.
Zhang Huai said coldly: "If you don't say goodbye, it's all a crime of treason. Your tiger-character flag will be implicated by the imperial court to implicate the nine tribes!"
In the laws of the Ming Dynasty, there is no greater crime than conspiracy.
Zhao Yutu smiled, but was not frightened by these words. Instead, he said: "You two adults don't want to know what the common people brought here to work for the army?"
After the words fell, the corners of Zhang Huai's eyes jumped slightly.
He thought of the Tatar heads captured by the Tiger Character Banner. After all, these things were of no use to the Tiger Character Banner. They were only useful to border troops and government officials.
Zhao Yutu didn't wait for Zhang Huai to ask, and said: "In addition to food and cattle and sheep, the grassroots people also brought the heads captured in the recent defeat of the captives."
Zhang Huai looked calm and did not speak, leaving people wondering what he was thinking.
Li Huaixin on the side said: "You Hu Zi Banner has committed such a serious crime of treason. Do you think you can be exempted from the crime with some Tatar heads? The laws and regulations of the imperial court are not decided by one person."
"Master Li has always been in contact with our Tiger Flag when he was guarding Lingqiu. He was also involved in the smuggling of our Tiger Flag. Our Tiger Flag fleet has always passed through Datong East Road where you are employed. Out of the border fort, I wonder if what the common people said is right?" Zhao Yutu looked at Li Huaixin with a smile.
Li Huaixin's face sank and he said, "Are you threatening me?"
"My lord has misunderstood, the common people did not threaten Master Li." Zhao Yutu said with a smile, "The common people just want to tell Master Li that in order to ensure the smoothness of the smuggling business, strong enough force is needed to protect the caravan."
"Humph!" Li Huaixin snorted coldly, but did not speak.
Although Zhao Yutu said that he was not threatening him, he knew that the other party was just threatening him with these things again.
Zhao Yutu turned to look at Zhang Huai and said with a smile: "My lord, the general, led the army to go out and successfully resisted the Beibei army that wanted to invade. He also defeated the Beibei army and made countless gains. The common people are here to congratulate you."
He then blamed the officers and soldiers for the Tiger Character Banner's defeat of the Beibei.
Zhang Huai looked thoughtful and said after a long time: "As the commander-in-chief of Datong Town, it is my duty to resist foreign attacks, but I will not seek unearned success."
Zhao Yutu said sternly: "The reason why the northern captives retreated to the grassland is because the commander-in-chief fought bravely to kill the enemy. This fact is clear to everyone in Xinping Fort, and Mr. Li can also testify."
As he spoke, he looked at Li Huaixin who was sitting beside him.
