The time gradually approaches July from June,
The heat of summer gradually sweeps across the grasslands.
Since the expedition for more than four months, Zhou Shangwen and his soldiers have traveled thousands of miles. They met the Yongxiebu tribe and saw Yibera, who still held the head of Ulus Boluot in their hands.
The food originally brought was limited to September. After that, the weather gradually turned cold, and various conditions were no longer conducive to the Ming army's further operations.
Considering that the return trip will take time,
Zhou Shangwen has decided to withdraw his troops.
This was the first time he had gone so far, the first time he had encountered a complete tribe of ten thousand households, and the head of Dayan Khan's second son. In addition, it also increased the possibility of dividing Mongolia between the left and right wings.
It can be said that the suppression was successful.
The only regret is that the Ming army did not really touch the water and grasslands of the 30,000 households on Dayan Khan's left flank.
And this can only be the goal for next year.
Ma Rong stood on a hill, squinting his eyes and looking far to the northwest. The Han people had not moved towards the end of the sky over there for a long time.
"His Majesty has decided on a counterattack strategy, which is to spend three to five years gradually strengthening the border army, harassing the Tatar garrison, and taking back the Han people's homeland. It is naturally ambitious, but in fact it is also a step-by-step approach. The counterattack is not a counterattack, but a counterattack. It's not a decisive battle, Ma Rong, you are in your prime, you will definitely be able to go there in the future."
Zhou Shangwen pointed further into the distance.
It’s actually uncomfortable on the grassland in summer. It's the sun during the day and mosquitoes at night.
When the cool spring breeze disappeared and the endless beautiful grassland turned into a hot and annoying vast grassland with no end in sight, Ma Rong knew that they had to retreat.
"Back then, the champion prince led eight thousand Yulin troops to attack the Xiongnu's lair. I didn't realize it when I read history. Only when I was on the grassland did I realize how difficult it was. The general knew that the army was about to return to the court. In fact, I also thought about it, Xiang Zongbing Recruit all the soldiers and horses and continue to advance. However...Nayibula seems to trust the general more. If the general dies in battle, it will be happy, but it will affect the court's strategy of dividing the left and right Mongolia."
"I'm very pleased that you can take the overall situation into consideration." Zhou Shangwen did not hide his appreciation for Ma Rong and said, "Ma Yihuai really gave birth to a unicorn child!"
"General Zhou is overly praised."
In fact, where is the reputation?
During this expedition, the Yongxiebu tribe was found by the guide led by Ma Rong. The decision to fight or not to fight was strongly suggested by Ma Rong. Killing Ulus Boluot left Yibula with a situation where he had no choice. He created it with his own hands.
In the end, it was not easy to persuade him to surrender, and he did everything possible to facilitate it.
A young general showed his talents to the fullest through a battle.
This kid is incredible.
Zhou Shangwen knew the emperor's character, so he concluded that Ma Rong would rise to great heights in the future.
This was also the reason why his dignified military commander was so polite to him.
As for not stabbing,
He killed Urus Borot with his own hands. From now on, he would not dare to work under Dayan Khan or even go to see him.
He had no choice but to reconcile with Ming Ting.
Of course, Ma Rong's reason for persuading him was to give them a way to survive for the women and children in the tribe.
On the way south, Yibula followed them. He had to be closer to Datong.
Dayan Khan probably already knew the news that the Jinong he sent had been killed, and he might be frantically seeking revenge against him. I don't dare to continue to stay in this place.
In any case, the Ming army is a victory this time, and everyone will be happy when they return to the army victoriously. There were no cattle or sheep among the spoils of war, and they were basically all returned to Yongshebu.
Yibula, a prisoner, has become his own leader again, and the relationship between him and Ma Rong has quickly narrowed by getting along with him for many days.
Mainly, Ma Rong can speak a little Mongolian, and has shown a strong interest in the various living habits of the Tatars. It can be said that on the way back to the army, he stayed in the Tatar team longer than in the Ming army. It’s even longer in the queue. Sometimes at the end of the day, everything is spoken in Mongolian.
The young talents of the Ming Dynasty also attracted Tatar girls who were very different from the Han people.
Yibula wanted to marry his daughter to the Ming Dynasty emperor, and his subordinates were also willing to marry their daughters to Ma Rong.
Anyway, everyone knows that Ma Rong will be a very promising person in the future.
It happened that he wanted to learn everything about others, so he found a beautiful girl named Mengya to take him with him every day.
But Ma Rong knew that he had a heavy responsibility. What was the relationship between Ming Dynasty and Yibula did not matter if he said it. How the emperor decided on this was unknown.
But now he can only try his best to make Yibula trust him more, so he always runs to Yibula's side,
The next step is, of course, to understand the enemy in order to prepare for emergencies.
This is also mutual.
From the Ming army, Yibu La also got to know the Ming court better.
"...After listening to many things you said, I realized that although His Majesty the Ming Emperor is only sixteen years old, he is unparalleled in wisdom, benevolence and righteousness, and has unparalleled knowledge. The previous Emperor Hongzhi only gave birth to such a prince, and he was so powerful."
"How can the emperor treat him as an ordinary person? I don't want to assassinate the commander. Now that you have reconciled with us, this choice is really correct. Because the Ming Dynasty has changed. The imperial court has allocated millions of silver for war horses, military equipment, and soldiers. , this is something that has not happened in the past few decades. In fact, the fact that we can meet is the result of His Majesty's promotion of the change of border policy. But the reason why His Majesty wants to change the border policy is because he has no choice but to do so."
It is not appropriate to say what Kou Bian said in the following years.
Just listen and understand.
"In fact, no one wants to fight. We are Tatars and you are Han people. We will also wonder why you occupy fertile land and enjoy a suitable climate? If you watch livestock and people starve to death every winter, invade from the south. It will also be your only choice."
It seems difficult for Ma Rong to refute this.
"Nor do you want to assassinate the commander. In fact, our Majesty also mentioned this issue in the military academy."
"oh?"
"Your Majesty said that good and evil, good and evil in the world are not necessarily easy to distinguish every time. If you can't figure this out, then think about who you are. What is the first priority for the generals of the Ming Dynasty? Naturally, they fight for the Ming Dynasty. Protect the people of the Ming Dynasty. His Majesty also mentioned himself, the emperor is the master of the world, and his duty is to work hard to create a prosperous world for the people of the world. The same is true for the commander, let everyone in the Yongxiebu tribe, man It is your duty to be able to live a better life with women, the elderly and children."
"You seem to admire your emperor."
"This is something that exists in the blood of every Han Chinese. A saint will appear within five hundred years. Whenever such a saint appears, we will voluntarily follow him. So Mr. Zhou is right, Dayan Khan will never win. Because Even if we fail once, the emperor has the ability to send troops again."
The more he understood, the more powerless he felt.
What Ma Rong said are facts, and his judgments about the future are also based on reasonable deductions from the facts. As a small tribe, there was nothing he could do when faced with such a powerful Emperor of the Central Plains.
Unless he is willing to move west, to a place far, far away.
"You are very eloquent. After I settle down, I plan to get in touch with Tumut and Ordos, two tribes with thousands of households, and invite those two old friends over. They have always been dissatisfied with Dayan Khan, and I will let you be the leader when the time comes. Lobbyist.”
"good!"
Dayan Khan's actions to unify Mongolia will naturally lead to instinctive resistance from these three tribes.
And Yibula's actions will actually have an impact on the Tumut and Ordos tribes. They are both on the right side of the 30,000 households, and the connection between them is even closer.
Now that his second son is dead, no one can guarantee whether Dayan Khan will make up his mind to solve the problem by force.
Once this kind of suspicion arises, it is actually very difficult to overcome it.
Ma Rong has thought of all these.
Compared to his daily meditation,
His brother Ma Sheng is much simpler.
On the battlefield that day, he met a Tatar warrior named Gabia. Because he had already fought hard once and his physical strength was reduced, he did not get any advantage from Gabia.
This was unbearable for Ma Sheng.
Now that the two armies have merged and headed south, Ma Sheng has nothing to do, so he looks for this person everywhere.
It's a pity that he doesn't understand Mongolian and doesn't know the name, so he can only look for it based on the appearance in his memory.
Therefore, these two brothers are also strange. One is going back and forth between the upper levels, and the other is looking around among the soldiers.
This process took him a month.
After finding him, despite not being able to speak Mongolian, the two made an appointment to have a fight, but the outcome was inconclusive.
Later, there were more fights, so much so that it almost became a 'show' for the soldiers on both sides.
Moreover, both Zhou Shangwen and Yibula knew about this, so in order to avoid trouble, they asked them to compete with nothing.
By the end of the fight, both of them became familiar with each other.
Ma Sheng, a proud man, had no choice but to recognize Gabia's bravery.
However, he was simple-minded and outspoken. When Ma Rong led him to see him, he would not attack.
He said: "Commander Yibula, you do have many very brave soldiers under your command. Gabia can be undefeated in my hands, which is considered very powerful. Anyway, you have become friendly with our Ming Dynasty. Why not give us people like Gabia? When I think about fighting together with him, I will be so excited that I can’t sleep!”
Ma Rong didn't expect what his eldest brother said.
This is actually a question of whether the soldiers of the Yongxiebu tribe should still be led by Yibula as before, or whether they should be integrated into the Ming army.
It is undeniable that the difficult living environment forged the excellent fighting qualities of the Tatars, and his riding skills were indeed better than those of the average Ming army. Of course, the Han people did not rely on their individual combat capabilities to compete with the nomads.
If this kind of force can be used as a friendly force, Ma Rong will definitely be able to exert its greater strength.
However, the issue of military strength is a very core issue. You can still talk when you hold it in your hand, but if you hand it over, you just leave it to fate.
Ma Rong originally planned to talk about it later, but he didn't expect Ma Sheng to point it out like this, which might lead to misunderstanding. But it was hard for him to say anything, because the so-called surrender meant that the loser had to meet the winner's requirements.
And he could also take this opportunity to see Yirushi's reaction.
