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Chapter 376 By the Daling River

"When should I set off for the expedition?"

Li Ruzhang also laughed and fell in love with the emperor more and more. It will be very comfortable to work with him. You don't have to worry about taking the blame, you don't have to worry about being betrayed, and you don't have to bow to the civil servants.

What's more important is that no matter how dirty the thoughts are or how despicable the methods are, they sound so justified when spoken from the emperor's mouth, allowing his soul to be enlightened and sublimated without any burden.

"I will ask Du Song and Sun Chengzong to make logistical preparations. You can bring troops in at any time, but it is best to divide them into several batches and do not wear military uniforms. I don't care when to leave, but don't delay too long, otherwise Mountain roads will become impassable once snow falls.”

Another characteristic of Hong Tao that most people like is his willingness to delegate power. As long as he can gain relative trust, he will completely hand over a piece of work to you, and will no longer dictate or do anything for you, or even ignore it.

However, this may be a shortcoming in the eyes of some people. If you don't direct or supervise, what should you do? Therefore, the latter type of person will never be reused under Hong Tao. He values ​​the results and despises the process. People who are not capable of taking charge of their own affairs are simply too lazy to deal with them.

The emperor and his ministers had been plotting for most of the night. When the sky was just getting dark, Yuan Keli and Li Ruzhang left the palace again. One went back to the Navy Yamen to prepare for the expedition, and the other went home to wait to meet up with his old subordinates who knew the way.

Hong Tao didn't have much more free time than the two of them. After a hasty breakfast, he had to dress up and go to court, and then summoned the six ministries, nine ministers and cabinet bachelors to the Yangxin Hall for an imperial meeting. There is only one topic of discussion, which is to open up the discussion to the Karaqin Mongolian tribe.

In the face of doubts from many ministers, Hong Tao's explanation was very reasonable and very touching. He said that he couldn't sleep well these days, and all he could think about was how to sell the products in the factory, for fear of losing money to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.

Diligence can make up for weakness, and I finally came up with a good idea, open to discussion. In this way, not only can some Mongolian tribes live in peace with the Ming Dynasty, but the products can also be quickly replaced by horses, gems, cattle and sheep. No matter what it is, it will make a lot of money anyway.

Why doesn’t it have to be the Karaqin Mongolia? The emperor also gave a reasonable explanation. Karaqin Mongolia is the closest to Beijing, and the entire North Zhili borders it, so it poses the greatest threat. As long as the two sides can hit it off, the defensive pressure on the North Zhili border wall will be much reduced in an instant.

Of course, we cannot relax because of this. In order to ensure safety, the Jinyiwei and Yumajian warrior battalions were specially dispatched to the pass to supervise it. No one from the border army generals to local officials could relax in the slightest, ensuring that all traders could only trade in the forex market outside the pass. One person You can't enter the customs either.

Faced with an emperor who was so thoughtful and considerate of his subordinates, the ministers had nothing to say except unanimous support. At this time, anyone who opposes the emperor is equivalent to opposing himself, and whoever has a grudge against Qian.

As for whether the emperor was thinking hard for the interests of his ministers, the ministers were basically skeptical. But I couldn't find any loopholes for a while, so I could only bury my doubts in my heart and take one step at a time.

"Aww... flutter..." A melodious horn horn echoed in the valley, startling a group of pheasants hiding in the grass, and they all flapped their wings and flew halfway up the mountain.

"Boom...whoosh!" But with two muffled sounds, the two pheasants suddenly stopped in the air and fell to the ground.

There was a rapid sound of horse hooves in the distance, and a group of riders appeared in the valley one after another. The leader was an old man about fifty years old. His beard and hair were all gray, his skin color was darker, his face was wide and his eyes were slender, and he was dressed a little. A leather robe of indistinguishable color, standard Mongolian shepherd dress. "Selenge, slow down, there are many rocks on the road, be careful of the horse's hooves!" At this time, he was rolling his hands into a trumpet and shouting at a galloping black horse dozens of meters away.

"Selenge wants to take the pheasant to show his courtesy to his Saren, and he will not listen to your command anymore." The rider on the black horse seemed not to hear the old man's shout, and his speed did not slow down at all, and soon disappeared in In the bushes.

Another pinto horse came up behind the old man. The rider seemed to be about forty years old. While waving his hands to drive away the dust raised by the horse's hooves, he revealed the secret of his companion to the old man.

"Yes, we have been away for more than a year. Who can miss home?" The old man known as Sai Mugai grabbed the skin and took a big sip. He wiped the water drops from his beard and looked at the road at the foot of the mountain from a distance. A river like a jade belt, in addition to joy, also has a touch of sadness.

When I left the pasture by the Daling River last summer, there were 153 warriors in the cavalry behind me. After a year of fighting with the Jurchens in Jinzhou, 21 of them would never return to their families. Seventeen people were seriously injured and would never be able to ride horses again.

This battle was fought in a haphazard manner. First, the leader of the five tribes, Zoliktuhong Batulu, sent people to inform the tribes that the Ming Emperor had abandoned Liaodong Town and had withdrawn all his troops into the pass.

Most of the areas in Liaodong Town are hills and plains, and have been managed by the Han people for hundreds of years. Both the living conditions and the grazing areas are much better than those in the mountains. After hearing the news, the Baylors and Taijis of various tribes gathered their troops and excitedly crossed the border wall to take this sacred land as their own.

It went smoothly at first. If it was as rumored, not a single Ming army was found near the border wall. All the forts, including the city, were deserted. Only a few farmers in the villages continued to farm.

But soon the enemy appeared, not the Ming army but the Jurchens who loved the new country, and they also came to take advantage of the situation. As the old saying goes, enemies in the same industry are enemies. The Mongols and the Jurchens have never been on good terms, so they got into a fight without much nonsense.

This fight lasted for more than a year, with each side having its own victory or defeat. Then the fight became more and more tiring, and the fight became less and less energetic. The land in Liaodong is very fertile and the water source is abundant, but no matter how good the pasture is, it must be managed by someone. Just fighting all day long, not only has no income, but also has to work hard, which is obviously not economical after a long time.

So various envoys wandered between the Mongols and Jurchens like a revolving lantern. It is said that even the Great Khan was not idle and also received the Jurchen envoys. Everyone had the same goal, peace talks.

The conversation lasted from summer to autumn, during which the two sides fought more than once. Each wanted to occupy more land before the boundary was finally drawn, and they were also testing the other's strength to see if they should give in.

Anyway, it was finally settled. In order to prevent further conflicts, with the consent of the leader of the five tribes, Zorik Tuhunbatulu, the daughter of the leader of the Bahrain tribe was married to Dai, the son of Kundulun Khan Nurhaci of the Aixin Kingdom. A good wife.

(End of this chapter)