"Eji, Eji, drive the sheep away quickly, we are going to beat them again."
Outside Xin'an Pass in Kaiyuan, an important town in northern Liaoning Province during the Ming Dynasty, Degele, a little Mongolian boy, carrying a dirty cloth robe, ran towards his mother quickly like a panicked hare avoiding the claws of a goshawk.
The mother heard her son's cry, stood up quickly, turned around and looked at the vast grassland.
A large group of Ming troops on horseback rushed out from Xin'an Pass and galloped straight towards a large felt tent.
The mother's expression changed, and she picked up her ignorant little daughter who was sitting on the ground playing with wild flowers and put her on a simple wheelbarrow.
"Degele, you push your sister, and I will drive the sheep. We will go to the fortress in the southwest. The Han people there are very kind."
Degler complied.
After his father died in an inter-tribal war, his mother took her brother and sister alone two years ago and drove the family's sheep to the grasslands at the junction of Khalkha Mongolia and the Ming Dynasty to graze. The Ming people from the nearby fortress saw them as pitiful, and occasionally gave them some old clothes and grain, and the price for the lambs was also very fair, which was enough for the mother to exchange for the salt and other necessities needed by the family of three at the market.
Therefore, Degler was full of hostility towards his own people. It was those rough and ferocious leaders who fought against each other, and they lost their father. Her mother was unwilling to follow the tribe's rules and marry the man who brought back her father's body, so she was whipped by the leader and kicked out of the tribe.
When we arrived at this grassland on the border of the Ming Dynasty, if our own people did not come to knock the pass to rob, the Ming army would never go out to rob the herdsmen of their cattle and sheep.
While comforting his sister, Degler pushed the wheelbarrow, and together with his mother, drove the sheep and evacuated to the Han fortress that brought him safety.
They walked for a while and suddenly felt something strange. The mother and son stopped at the same time.
The cry to kill did not sound.
…
Li Rubai, the second son of the late Liaodong general Li Chengliang, sat on a horse and stared at the camp of the Nuantu tribe of Khalkha Mongolia with a serious look.
Not long after, several Mongolian generals galloped out and arrived at the servants of Li Rubai's former army. They asked the interpreter to say a few words.
Behind them, Zasai, the leader of the Nuantu tribe, one of the five Khalkha Mongolian tribes, also rode out of the camp.
After the servants came back to report, Li Rubai made a gesture and raised five or six command flags one after another. Li Rubai's more than a thousand armored elites immediately retreated to both sides to form formations, revealing two hundred dismounted fire riflemen behind the Chinese army tent.
After the array was formed, Li Rubai rode out with more than ten followers and galloped to the Mongolian camp.
Zaisai and Li Rubai dismounted from their horses almost at the same time, one caressed his chest and the other held his fists. After saluting, they entered the military camp side by side.
After Li Rubai sat down, he didn't even take a sip of the milk tea, and said straight to the point: "Brother Zasai, tell me, how much benefit do the people of Jianzhou give you?"
"General Li, what do you mean?"
Zaisai touched his finger and said coldly.
There was no frosty look on Li Rubai's face like Zai Sai's. The Mongolian in front of me had been defeated by Li Jiaming's army for generations. Although that was mainly due to Li Chengliang's military exploits when he was still alive, the Li family had dominated Liaodong for decades and still accumulated prestige. When Li Rubai and the Mongols were close at hand, There is no need to hang the word "ruthless" in the corners of your eyes and eyebrows.
"Brother Zaisai, let's put it this way, you can beg for rewards in Kaiyuan Town, Ming Dynasty, so why do you have to go to Fushun?"
Begging for rewards was a rule during the Jiajing and Longqing periods. In the name of mutual trade, the Khalkha Mongols came to the Ming Dynasty every year to get their property, which was similar to the coins of the Song and Liao Dynasties, but not as much.
Zaisai curled his lips: "General Li, it's very simple. We got a lot of money in Fushun last year, so of course we have to go there this year."
Li Rubai said indifferently: "Should we ask our Fushun general to beg for rewards, or should we simply help Nurhaci capture Fushun?"
Zai Sai's eyes widened, a look of participation flashed in his eyes.
Among the five Khalkha tribes, he was a proud and arrogant young man. He was actually very disdainful of the other leaders kneeling down and licking Nurhachi, the Jurchen of Jianzhou.
But he was disdainful, and he was not going to have trouble with money. The old man from Jianzhou sent a letter this year, asking Nuantu to lead three thousand troops to Fushun to rob people and things. Zaisai cursed the old chief, and his body was still Come on honestly.
He just didn't expect that when he arrived at Kaiyuan Town in the northwest of Fushun, the Ming army he met was not the old and weak guards, but the elite brought by the famous Li family.
Now, when Li Rubai opened his mouth, he knew that the Mongolian was going to assist Nurhachi, and Zaisai was even more surprised.
Could it be that the Ming Dynasty was already prepared?
"General Li, I don't know what you are talking about. We are going to Fushun to beg for rewards."
Zaisai still refused to admit it with a sullen face. Anyway, the matter of begging for rewards had been acknowledged by the Ming Dynasty for many years, and neither party had any doubts.
Li Rubai said: "Okay, as Brother Zaisai said, we in the Ming Dynasty still treat you as friends. The court has folded your begging silver into cloth, salt, and tea leaves, and ordered me to bring it, and there are also three hundred gold. and some jewelry. Brothers Zasai don’t have to enter the customs.”
Zaisai raised his eyebrows and scanned the faces of several capable generals under the tent. Apparently, they were also trying to hide their surprise.
Zaisai thought for a moment and pretended to be calm and asked Li Rubai: "General Li, you just mentioned Nurhaci, the wolf in Jianzhou. He is this year. Is there any movement?"
Li Rubai finally picked up the milk tea, took a big sip, and suddenly smiled: "The commotion is quite big. Whether Fushun is defeated or not, I don't know. Marrying a concubine is inevitable. That bad old man wants to marry old Ye He."
Zaisai's expression changed.
The old daughter of Yehe is a Jurchen princess of the Yehe tribe. Her nickname is Dong Ge. She is as beautiful as a fairy. Her beauty is broadcast among the Jurchen and Mongolian tribes. She was married many times by the leaders of the Yehe tribe for various benefits, including Nurhachi and Zai. race, but in the end due to various hatreds, he still remains in Ye He's tribe.
"Impossible," Zasai stared at Li Rubai and said, "Nurhaci has already cut Dong Ge's father in half. How can Dong Ge agree to marry Nurhaci again!"
Li Rubai said calmly: "What kind of consent do you want? Just destroy Ye He's tribe and rob him. Brother Zaisai, in fact, you can also rob Dong Ge. Don't you also have a marriage contract with Dong Ge? However, I advise you. You said, if you destroy the Yehe tribe, you will get rid of an opponent for Nurhaci. Similarly, if Nurhaci destroys the Yehe tribe and attacks the Ming Dynasty, you Khalkha Mongolia will also lose the eastern defense line and eventually become The Jurchens of Jianzhou are fat sheep in the mouths of hungry wolves."
Zaisai's breath became thicker. What Li Chengliang's son said is correct.
Li Rubai drank the milk tea in the cup in one gulp, put his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly and said: "Brother Zasai, I'm here to give you a gift, not to ignite your anger. The things are on the grassland outside the tent, and my warrior We will also spend a few days outside Xin'an Pass until May comes."
Of course Zaisai understood what Li Rubai meant. This Ming army would not let him appear around Fushun under any circumstances.
Zai Sai took off the dagger from his waist, leaned over and placed it on the felt blanket between the two of them, and said in a loud voice: "General Li, I told you that our Nuantu Department came to beg for rewards, and we got something. Why do we need to travel hundreds of miles more? The grass here is not fertile, and our good horses are starved and thin. Tomorrow, we will break camp and return to the west."
Li Rubai took Zaisai's dagger with both hands and said with a smile: "Brother Zaisai is a smart man, and he is also cheerful."
That night, Li Rubai was wiping his long hair in the tent. The soldiers brought him a bucket of hot water and asked diligently: "Commander, after the Mongolian Tatars withdraw to the west, can we return south?"
"What the hell," Li Rubai said, "not to mention whether Zai Sai will go and come back, the meaning of the Minister of War Zhang is very simple, let me lead people to block in Kaiyuan, in case Nurhachi also contacted several other Mongolians. , go to Fushun."
The soldier nodded repeatedly: "This subordinate is stupid."
Li Rubai sighed: "The court still doesn't trust me. Otherwise, why couldn't I defend Fushun if I'm such a good soldier? Did I become half a Tatar after sleeping with Nurhachi's niece? Damn it."
The soldiers were busy combing their hair: "Commander, blocking the Mongolian reinforcements from the north just shows that the court values the commander-in-chief. Our Li family has long been the generals of Liaodong, and we don't care about competing for the top spot."
Li Rubai took off his boots, dipped his feet into the barrel, and said with some self-deprecation: "Beheading people is not enough, so donating money reminds me of me." Zhang Quan, a civil servant who seemed to be gentle and gentle, asked me to give three hundred gold to the Mongols. .”
The soldier continued to comfort: "The commander-in-chief must think this way. If other civil servants come to Liaodong, the commander-in-chief will have to give them five or six hundred gold to prevent them from speaking ill of our Li family in the capital. And then Mr. Zhang returned the ceremonial gold given by the commander-in-chief, and now it is like letting the commander-in-chief use half of the ceremonial gold to get through safely, and still get some military merit in exchange."
When Li Rubai heard this, he glanced at the soldiers and said, "You're not stupid either."
Then he said: "I think that Zhang Shilang ordered me to use Ye He's daughter's story to stimulate Zai Sai. It was a move by someone close to me. Otherwise, how could he, Zhang Quan, an official of the Ministry of War in the capital, know about Ye He's daughter Dong? Brother, those messy things? I asked my Jurchen mother-in-law, she was like a silly roe deer, her face was full of ignorance."
The soldier scratched his head: "Yeah, it can't be General Mao, right? We have been in Liaodong for many years, and we don't know how Jianzhou Tatars and Mongolian Tatars can fight like that over a woman?"
Li Rubai chirped: "Those are all excuses. From ancient times to the present, no man would go to war for a girl. Dong Ge's incident only hit the Mongolians and made them realize that Nurhachi is not a good person. However, Don't underestimate the ladies either. Before leaving Liaoyang, I saw that Miss Zheng, who accompanied my Jurchen wife to Hetuala, came again, bringing things and people that Shilang Zhang had been looking at for a whole day."
