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Chapter 667: Three Heroes Meeting

"Your Majesty, the cavalry on the opposite side has stopped advancing. There are more than three thousand of them, but they have only sent dozens of cavalry towards us!" A quarter of an hour later, Du Wenhuan learned about the movement ahead from the signalman's flag signals.

"Zhang Ran, send someone over to ask." At this time, Hong Tao stood on the roof of the van with a telescope but could not see anything. It seems that whether on the sea or on land, it is always right to stand high and see far.

In this case, we should get a hot air balloon when we go back this time. The wooden ladder is quite ingenious and can be loaded into a van after being folded, but the height is still not enough. If each bathroom has a hot air balloon available, it should be more useful than a wooden ladder if the wind is not too strong.

There were many Mongolian descendants among the warriors of the Imperial Horse Guard, and some of them knew Mongolian. Du Xue led the horses to meet them. The two sides met more than a mile away, chatted for about an incense stick of time, and then turned their horses around and ran back to the main camp.

"Your Majesty, the people on the other side claim to be the Great Taiji Baihong of the Kharchin tribe and the Shunyi King Bushitu of the Tumed tribe. They have been invited to meet you. They arrived two days ago and set up camp outside Xinghe City. They heard that Your Majesty had come out of seclusion and came to greet you."

"You go and tell Bai Hong and Bushitu that I will set up camp in the south of Xinghe City. I will arrange a banquet in the city to entertain the guests from afar. There is no need to mobilize a large army now." Upon hearing that the leaders of the Kharchin and Tumed tribes had arrived as promised, Hong Tao's face showed no joy at all and he bluntly rejected the other party's kindness.

"Your Majesty, why don't I come forward to deal with them, and by the way, test their strength." This made Du Wenhuan secretly shake his head. After all, he was an emperor who had never had any contact with the Mongolian tribes, and no matter how wise he was, he still had his shortcomings.

Mongolian herdsmen are bold and informal by nature, but they are also very irritable and especially hate being looked down upon. The emperor's move was seen by the Mongolians as a serious lack of trust, which could lead to misunderstandings.

"Commander Du, there is no need to say more, just do as His Majesty orders! Now you should pay attention to whether the soldiers' formation is appropriate and whether the horses are safe." Without waiting for the emperor to reply, Chief of Staff Ding Shun spoke, pulling Du Wenhuan's sleeve and walking to the side.

"Chief of Staff, has Mr. Du made a mistake again?" This confused Du Wenhuan. The army's combat preparations were very simple. Dozens of centurions had already lined up, and some had even dug artillery positions.

The horses were surrounded in the formation, and each horse's reins were fixed by two-foot-long iron nails driven into the ground, so they could not run around even if they were startled by the sound of artillery. Unless he found obvious signs of the enemy's attack, his commander would be nothing more than a decoration.

"It's not wrong, but you haven't gotten rid of the border army's habits in your mind. The biggest taboo of the army is to be approached by others. If Your Majesty agrees to welcome the other party, the two armies must travel together. If something unexpected happens, at such a close distance, I'm afraid there will be considerable losses."

Ding Shun was relatively tolerant of this old-school officer who was old enough to be his uncle but not very experienced. This was mainly for the emperor's sake. Otherwise, given his military rank and duties, he would have exercised his supervisory power at any moment and temporarily deprived him of his command.

"...They dare... Chief of Staff, Your Majesty is taking risks alone. Do you want to deal with the Mongols?"

As soon as these words came out, Du Wenhuan immediately realized another big problem. The emperor not only had to test the attitudes of the border army generals, but also had to find out the attitudes of the two Mongolian tribes.

But the problem is that the border army generals alone are troublesome enough. If we add the tens of thousands of cavalry from the Kharchin and Tumed tribes, the more than 5,000 ground forces seem to be insufficient.

This is not the coastal road outside Shanhaiguan, where there are cities and the sea to rely on. There are grasslands and hills everywhere, with a wide view, which is most suitable for cavalry raids. Once surrounded, it will really become a second earthen fort. If you catch a big fish, I am afraid that even the fishing rod will be pulled away. "The court also said this when His Majesty personally led the expedition. Be patient. The specific response will only be given by His Majesty, and you and I will execute it."

Ding Shun had no idea how to solve this problem, but his loyalty or confidence in the emperor was something he had been accustomed to since he was a child. As long as the emperor said it was okay, it was okay, and he would not think about anything else.

The cavalry that came to greet them were indeed under the command of Baihong Da Taiji of the Kharchin tribe and Bushitu, the king of Shunyi of the Tumed tribe. These two tribal leaders were indeed in the big tents on the east and west sides of Xinghe City.

Tumed camped in the west of the city, and Kalaqin camped in the east. It can be seen that even if they are from the same clan and have a good relationship, they will not be too careless about safety issues, and will not trust others too much.

Hong Tao did not enter the city, but set up camp about a mile south of the city. Then he brought a hundred or so warriors from the Imperial Stables and members of the Cuju team, drove two four-wheeled carriages into the ruined city walls, and set up a banquet at the relatively intact South Gate.

The Cuju players strung the marinated beef, mutton and vegetables into skewers, laid out several kinds of sugarcane liquor with different degrees, and started to grill them! He himself was half-lying on a folding chair made of leather straps, smoking a cigar, enjoying the gentle breeze, and staring at the two teams of riders approaching from afar.

Bai Hong Da Taiji was in his forties, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a beard, and long hair braided into several large braids with some pendants hanging on them. He was tall and strong, with dark brown skin. He didn't look like a Han or Mongolian, but more like a Central Asian.

Shunyi Wang Bushitu was obviously older, probably about the same age as Wang An. He looked very much like a Mongolian, not in his clothes but in his appearance. He had long eyebrows and eyes, a round and chubby face, and only a tuft of beard on his chin, which was braided into two small braids, one on the left and one on the right, which was quite funny.

"You all go and wait downstairs, and only one interpreter will be left behind!"

When the two leaders were climbing the tower, something went wrong. They wanted to bring their guards up with them, but Zhang Ran refused. In the end, Hong Tao gave the order, and all the other people except the leaders and an interpreter went down.

"This is not the imperial court, so there is no need to be polite. Today I am the guest, and the two great taijis are the hosts. The guest should follow the host's wishes. Please take a seat!"

The three interpreters had another debate on the issue of how to greet each other, and then Hong Tao gave the order, telling everyone to call each other whatever they wanted, as long as it didn't have obviously derogatory meanings.

"Your Highness, they call you Sun and Moon Khan. These two interpreters are Tushmer and Demozi. When they ask me what my position is, how should I answer?" Hong Tao's interpreter was a warrior from the Imperial Stables. He encountered problems at the beginning of the communication and did not dare to make a decision on his own and had to ask for instructions.

"You should help me grill the meat. Use less salt and sprinkle the chili powder twice! Taiji, what are the positions of these two in Mongolia?"

Hong Tao thought, well, let's not bother to convey it. Since the other party also knows Chinese, I should do it myself. Otherwise, you say one sentence, this side translates one sentence, I reply one sentence, and the other side translates another sentence, which disrupts the rhythm of the conversation and makes it very awkward.

(End of this chapter)