Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 390 All for profit
"rustling"

In early September, on this day that coincided with late autumn, an army was walking along the mountain road, looking around vigilantly.

In front of them, nearly ten thousand people were cutting down trees, digging out tree roots, filling in the mountain roads, and opening up a solid road.

This is in the mountains and forests in the southwest of Donghai Prefecture, only more than ten miles away from the Yalu River.

A few months have passed since Zhu Gaoxu ordered Chen Chang to lead his troops to Donghai Mansion. A month ago, Chen Chang crossed the Bohai Strait and took a boat to Dingliao Guard. He recruited local civilians to accompany the army by boat to the upper reaches of the Yalu River and landed there. He began to repair the south bank. The old way of Liao and Jin Dynasties.

After nearly a hundred years of neglect, the water post has long since decayed into ruins, and the former post road has become overgrown with trees.

Chen Chang led three Shandong guards to Donghai Mansion this time. In addition to recruiting Ahachu and Meng brother Timur to serve as officials in the interior, he also wanted to repair the land post road so that Donghai Mansion and Liaodong could be connected in the future.

"Shut up!"

He rode his horse to the mountain valley road and reined up his horse. The villagers had built a five-foot-wide official road here, and the road had been rolled over with stones and sprinkled with a lot of lime.

In the tent by the forest, Chen Chang came out after hearing the sound of horse hooves. Now he had just turned thirty and was in his prime. When he saw hundreds of households in Tangqi, he asked, "How is it?"

"The armor is still bright, but it lacks a bit of vitality." Tangqi Baihu said bluntly: "Judging from the standard, they can only fight with the wind, but they will be vulnerable to our army."

Thinking of this, Chen Chang said in a deep voice: "Continue to build the road. When the post road is repaired, I will go over and take care of him slowly."

"Sorry..."

Now that the imperial court wants to recruit them to serve as officials in the mainland, Ahachu would rather go to the mainland to be a guard commander than continue to make a living in a barren place like Donghai Mansion.

Although his sister-in-law was acquired by him, she always missed her late husband, so she encouraged Elbek Khan to kill the minister Haohai Dayu who praised her beauty.

If it weren't for the support of Ming Dynasty, they would have been driven out of Donghai Mansion by North Korea's side riders.

No one found anything strange about Ahachu's behavior. After all, when choosing a concubine in the second year of Yongle, Ahachu offered his daughter and was selected to become a member of Zhu Di's harem.

They hadn't seen each other for many years, but after meeting again, they were still close.

"Yes!" The generals bowed in return, and Chen Chang also reported what happened in Donghai Mansion back to the south through Tangqi.

"You must be on guard." Chen Chang was as steady as ever and did not despise the North Korean army because of their declining combat effectiveness.

Behind him were more than a thousand cavalrymen wearing armor. The team was long and outward, but even from the air, it could be seen that there were not many people following him.

"Aha (brother)!"

If North Korea grits its teeth now, it can still mobilize an army of 70,000 to 80,000 people. Although in Chen Chang's opinion, they will not make such a stupid choice, they must be on guard against others.

"Yes." A commander bowed and said, "Aha has said that he will accept the court's favor at any time, but Meng Brother Timur has not yet given accurate information."

"Back to the Marquis, North Korea in the south did send a lot of Tangqi, but we reprimanded them all and sent them back to the south."

Borjijin Benya Shili, he is the son of Elbek Khan, and the woman in his arms is Princess Samur.

"Well..." Chen Chang nodded, and a commander standing next to him also said: "After all, it is normal for the combat effectiveness to decline after more than 20 years without fighting."

Because he heard people around him saying that his brother's wife was beautiful, he absurdly killed his brother and took his sister-in-law.

"Tangqi continues south and maintains a patrol range of thirty miles."

While he was delivering the news, the northwest, which corresponded to the northeast, was not a peaceful place.

This woman was only in her early twenties, four or five years younger than the young man, but behind her stood a man in his forties.

Because of this, Aha's decision did not go beyond everyone's expectations, but it was Timur's attitude that made everyone angry.

A conductor cursed, and Chen Chang beside him looked unhappy.

After giving the instructions, Chen Chang looked back at the two commanders: "What's up? Is there any news about Meng Brother Timur and Aha?"

"Yes!"

"are you doing okay?"

"Judging from their situation, I'm afraid they don't dare to compete with us for Donghai Mansion." Another commander also said.

"A border barbarian is not satisfied with being able to expand under the favor of the imperial court. Now he dares to ignore the imperial court's will."

When the familiar voice came, the young man was stunned, but soon he saw a noble woman walking towards him.

As a great khan, his moral character was very poor. During his five years in power, he did nothing but was cruel and lustful.

Crossing the Gobi and deserts, when a mountain range appears across the western part of the Great Gobi, thousands of tents stand in a valley east of the Hangai Mountains.

He recruited not less than eighty but also a hundred Jurchen tribesmen. He had only seen one Jurchen leader like Timur, who was supported by the imperial court and then dared to scorn the imperial court. That was the man who was raped by his highness. Xiyang Ha who was killed by a gun.

The man who was comparable in age to their father was his brother-in-law, Choros Mahamu.

Among the many tents, the largest tent was even enough to accommodate hundreds of people dancing happily.

Although Elbek Khan was of Yuan descent, his reputation on the grasslands was not good.

Although this girl has no origin, she is the daughter of Aha after all.

The sound of tired horses was heard, and a young man on horseback scanned the surroundings. Everywhere he looked, there were basically very strong men.

Hundreds of people from Tangqi dismounted and bowed to report. Chen Chang nodded and asked, "How do you think you can see what they look like?"

The young man got off his horse and hugged his sister who was married to another man.

Facing the young people arriving, many Wala people watched from a distance. This may be one of the few opportunities for many of them to see Yuan Yi.

This is the headquarters of Choros in Wala, and it is also the goal of the young man's trip.

After Elbek Khan realized that Haohai Dayu had been wronged, in order to make up for his mistake, he married his daughter Princess Samur to Haohai Dayu's son Mahamu, and named Mahamu the prime minister, promising him that he would be the prime minister in the future. He commanded the four tribes of Wala.

However, at this time, the leader of the four tribes of Wala was still the great nobleman Ugeqi Hashha.

Therefore, when he learned that he was about to be replaced by Mahamu, Ugqi Hashha used the excuse of "Khan's political misconduct, sexual abuse and lawlessness, and the shame of killing his minister Hao Hai." As an excuse, he sent troops to attack Khan. Ting.

Elbek was originally a puppet supported by the leaders of the Mongolian tribes and did not have much strength. Therefore, when faced with the attack and killing of Ugqi Hashha, he was unable to resist at all, and soon fell in a pool of blood.

This incident caused the Kublai Khan family, which had finally recovered, to lose its throne. Not only did the Orthodox faction in Eastern Mongolia suffer heavy losses, but many tribes in the Mongolian plateau also had to succumb to his rule.

It was after this incident that Benya Shili led his escort to flee to the Timur Empire in Central Asia.

Originally, he thought that he could return to the Mongolian Plateau with his identity as a Yuan descendant and Timur's troops. However, Timur's sudden death disrupted all his plans.

Seeing that Timur's country was in civil strife, he quickly led his escort to move to Mughalstan and gathered a group of people there who were willing to support him.

However, this group of people is not large, because Yuan Yi's name is no longer so famous, so now he only has three thousand troops and thousands of tribesmen.

In comparison, his brother-in-law Mahamu had tens of thousands of troops and nearly 30,000 troops.

If he has Mahamu's support, he can undoubtedly replace Guilichi and regain his position as the Great Khan.

Looking at the guy who was old enough to be his father, Ben Yasili forced a smile and hugged him: "You take good care of my sister."

"Of course!" Mahamu, who always had a cunning look in his eyes, grinned, and even motioned for Benya to look aside.

Beside them, a young man in his early ten years was looking at Ben Yali.

"This is your nephew." Mahamu said proudly, and at the same time said to the young man: "Take pleasure, meet your uncle soon."

"Uncle." Tuohuan greeted Benya Shili, but Benya Shili felt that this was humiliating him.

Fortunately, at this moment, he still had something to ask for, so he had to suppress his temper and said, "Can we go in and talk?"

"Of course!" Mahamu signaled Benya to enter the tent, and then led his subordinates, wife and children into it.

Mahamu sat in the main seat, letting Ben Yasili sit in the right seat, giving him some face.

After everyone took their seats, food such as mare kumiss, hand-chopped meat, and roasted mutton were served on the table. Mahamu also asked Benyasili:

"I heard that Tamerlane is dead and his grandchildren are engaged in infighting."

"That's it." Benyasili explained: "His two grandsons each had 70,000 to 80,000 troops. When I returned to Mughalstan, they were fighting fiercely."

"But then I heard that his grandson Mahimah died and now the whole country is controlled by another grandson Khalil."

The news of Benya's loss was somewhat delayed, but for the Mongols, it was sensitive enough.

"They have many soldiers and horses. If I were them, I would definitely capture Mughalstan and then Mobei."

Mahamu asked tentatively, and Benya Shili nodded: "That's what Timur thought at the beginning. Fortunately, he died on the way to the expedition."

"Haha..." Mahamu smiled and did not continue.

After a moment, Benya lost control and took the lead in speaking: "I came back this time to take back my throne, so I hope you can help me. After that, you will be the prime minister of the Khan Court. "

Benya's words made Mahamu couldn't help but laugh and said: "Although I am very strong now and can easily destroy Guilichi, there are three tribes in Wala after all. Even if I destroy Guilichi, I still have to Let’s see if Taiping, Batu Polo and others are willing to replace the Khan. "

Mahamu's words make no sense. After all, Guilichi is a descendant of Wokuotai supported by Arutai and has little relationship with Wala.

Now that Arutai has been defeated and captured by the Ming army, and the strength of Eastern Mongolia has been greatly weakened, then a ghost Lichi is simply insignificant.

As long as Mahamu wanted to, he could completely support Benya Shili, put the Khan Court under his control, take the opportunity to annex Taiping, capture Tupolo and the others, and declare war on Alitai in Eastern Mongolia.

After all, Eastern Mongolia considers itself Mongolian orthodox, but it doesn’t even have Yuan descendants.

On this grassland, no one has a purer bloodline than Benya Shili.

But at the moment, Mahamu has no idea of ​​supporting Benya Shili. Perhaps he saw the miserable situation in Eastern Mongolia, and he knew very well that once he supported Benya Shili, he would be attacked by the Ming army.

He is still recuperating and does not want to fight with the Ming army for the time being. "I'll go and convince Taiping and Batu Polo."

Benya Shili was about to stand up when he saw this, but the Troos guards behind him held down his shoulders.

Benya looked at Mahamu angrily, but Mahamu smiled and said: "You and Samur haven't seen each other for so many years. It's not easy to come here this time, so just stay with her for the time being."

As Mahamu said, he looked at Samur, who was pale, and saw her holding Tu Huan in her arms without saying a word.

Seeing this, Benya realized that his brother-in-law only used him as a bargaining chip.

He clenched his fists, but was unable to do anything. He could only wait and see how Mahamu planned to deal with him.

However, the deal he imagined did not happen. After eating, Mahamu was sent to a nearby yurt to rest, and he was not prohibited from walking among the tribe.

He didn't know how to deal with this arrangement. On the contrary, Mahamu spoke to the generals after asking Benyasili and Samur to be taken away:

"Spread the news that Benya has returned to the grassland and see if anyone will come to join us."

"In addition, pay more attention to things in the south. If there is any movement in Daming, please notify me immediately."

After Mahamu finished speaking, one of the generals saluted and said, "Why don't we support him?"

"Do you want to be surrounded and suppressed by the Ming army?" Mahamu asked Wanhu, and said to everyone:
"If Ming Dynasty does not respond, then we can temporarily detain him. If the Ming army reacts greatly, then I will use his head in exchange for the right to trade with Ming Dynasty."

Due to Zhu Gaoxu's intrusion, Zhu Di did not play too much with the balancing policy in the grasslands, so the Ming Dynasty has not formed tribute trade with the Oara tribes so far.

After seeing the fate of Arutai in Eastern Mongolia, Mahamu naturally would not stand out. If the Ming Dynasty really cared about Yuan Yi, then he would send Benya Shili away without hesitation.

Of course, the premise is that Ming Dynasty must let Wala join the tribute trade, because only in this way can Wala become stronger.

If Ming Dynasty doesn't even give this thing, then even if he doesn't support Benya Shili, he won't let go or give away the Benya Shili card.

Following Mahamu's order, news that Yuanyi Benya had disappeared and returned to Mobei began to spread, and such news was naturally known to Hai La'er in the eastern part of Mobei.

Before the winter moon, this news was sent to Nanjing and appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's desk together with the information from Donghai Mansion.

"Benya lost his way, fierce brother Timur..."

Sitting on the main seat, Zhu Gaoxu, wearing a fox fur coat, squinted his eyes and looked at the two memorials.

"Tell Chen Chang that if Meng Brother Timur persists in his obsession, he will be destroyed directly as I said before."

Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in making arrangements for one of the two memorials, and then picked up the memorial about the news of Benya's disappearance and stood up slowly.

"Arrange Bu Yu and I will go to Qianqing Palace."

When it comes to the Mongols, although Zhu Gaoxu can handle it very well, he still has to talk to Zhu Di.

In addition, he hasn't gone to Qianqing Palace to see his mother for three days, so he might as well take this opportunity to go there.

Under his instructions, Bu Yu quickly prepared, and he appeared outside Qianqing Palace half an hour later.

As soon as he stepped off the street, he saw two figures, one black and one white, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin.

"Second uncle (father)..."

Looking at the fat little black man in front of him who honestly called his second uncle, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel a bit of toothache, completely ignoring Zhu Zhanhe who was jumping around next to him.

"Eldest nephew, where are you going?"

Zhu Gaoxu squatted down and asked Zhu Zhanji with a smile, but Zhu Zhanji was so frightened by his smiling face that he sweated profusely.

"I'm going to practice horse arching with Zhan He at the back gate of Zhongzuo."

Zhu Zhanji replied with a smile. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu reached out and patted his shoulder gently: "Well, go ahead..."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and walked straight into the Qianqing Palace.

After he left, Zhu Zhanji looked at the neglected Zhu Zhanhe: "Is the second uncle usually so scary?"

"Scary?" Zhu Zhanhe was stunned for a moment, looked back at his father's back, and said confusedly: "I think my father is quite approachable."

"do not think so……"

Zhu Zhanji shook his head, and then walked out with his precious cricket jar. Seeing this, Zhu Zhanhe quickly followed.

After they left, Zhu Gaoxu also walked into the side hall of Qianqing Palace and saw Zhu Gaochi who was leaning on a chair and sleeping drowsily, and Zhu Gaosui who was holding a little book and not knowing what he was reading.

Looking past these two guys, Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhang and Guo Yan who were taking care of Queen Xu, and Zhu Di who was sitting next to him holding Queen Xu's hand.

"Second brother, are you here?"

Although Zhu Gaosui was reading, he still saw Zhu Gaoxu out of the corner of his eye, so he shouted out quickly.

His shouting woke up Zhu Gaochi next to him, and he stood up in confusion.

Zhu Di and Zhang also set their sights on Zhu Gaoxu. When Zhu Di saw the memorial in his hand, he put down Queen Xu's hand and said softly: "Gao Xu is here. He probably has some government affairs. I will come with you later." you."

"Your Majesty does not need to be in charge of the Qing Palace all the time...the outer court needs you more."

Empress Xu was a little weak, but Zhu Di changed his usual carelessness and said gently: "You need me more than the outer court, I will come in a minute."

After that, he wiped the non-existent sweat on Queen Xu's forehead with his rough hands, and stood up quietly, fearing that too much movement would disturb her.

After he walked out of the Babu bed, Zhu Gaoxu also walked into the hall, nodded and said hello to the boss and the third child, and then handed the memorial in his hand to Zhu Di:
"Although I can handle this matter, after thinking about it carefully, I felt that my father would not want to miss this matter, so I came here to submit the memorial and visit my mother."

"Huh?" Zhu Di took the memorial in confusion. After opening it, he sat down unconsciously and read the contents.

Zhu Gaoxu passed him, walked into the Babu bed, and saw Queen Xu with a sunken face.

"Mom, my son is here, do you miss me?"

Zhu Gaoxu knelt in front of Babu's bed and held Queen Xu's hand. The words he said surprised both Zhang and Guo Yan. Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui who were following behind him looked like they had seen a ghost.

"You..."

Empress Xu was amused by him and forced a smile: "You are just like your father. You make me worry a lot on weekdays. However, after I fell ill, you made me feel more at ease..."

"If mother recovers from her illness this time, my son will definitely come to see you every day and never leave you for a moment."

Maybe it was because he hadn't seen her for three days, or maybe he was seeing Queen Xu getting weaker and weaker, but Zhu Gaoxu talked to her a lot more today.

"I'm afraid it won't get better..."

Empress Xu shook her head gently, but Zhu Gaoxu held her hand tightly: "There is no need to say such depressing words. Isn't Third Sister overjoyed? You must at least wait until your grandson is born."

"I also want to..." Queen Xu had a kind smile on her face, but it was very reluctant.

Looking at this scene, even though they experienced it every day, Zhu Gaochi and the others couldn't help but feel their noses sore, as if their throats were blocked, and they were speechless.

"Have a good rest and you will be fine. And..."

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Queen Xu to rest, and from time to time mentioned the past things that he had thought about during this period.

While he was saying these things, Queen Xu just lay there with a chuckle on her lips, looking at him quietly.

If Zhu Di hadn't finished reading the memorial and was really anxious about waiting, he patted Zhu Gaoxu on the shoulder from behind, maybe Zhu Gaoxu could have continued talking.

"Son, please talk to your father first. Brother, please pick up."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished talking to Queen Xu, he turned back to let Zhu Gaochi continue the conversation.

Looking back, he still smiled and said: "Brother is so talkative, it's just the right time for me to chat with you."

Zhu Gaochi, who was approaching, was speechless when he heard this, but after Zhu Gaoxu stood up, he took his place and knelt down, held Queen Xu's hand and started chatting.

Zhu Di took Zhu Gaoxu out of the side hall and came to the main hall to discuss Benya's missing return to Mobei.

Standing in front of Zhu Gaoxu, he rarely frowned and stuffed the memorial into Zhu Gaoxu's arms: "This Mahamu is not simple. He probably wants to see the court's reaction before deciding how to maximize Benya's loss."

"If the court ignores him, he can use Yuan Yi's name to win over small tribes, attack large tribes, and annex the three tribes of Oara step by step."

"If the court takes care of him, he will ask the court to open mutual trade as a Yuan descendant, or let Wala join the tribute."

"My son thought so too." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and agreed with Zhu Di's analysis, and then said:

"My son wants Wang Yi to lead the cavalry out of the town to guard the captives, and to patrol Hulan and Huwenwen."

"In this way, we can not only express our position, but also show our army's response speed to Wala."

"If the light cavalry can search the area near Hulanhuwenwen, then when heavy troops are assembled, they should know where the imperial court can hit."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Zhu Di nodded in approval and said at the same time:
"You remember to recruit a few people from the captured Tatar troops and let them lead the way for Wang Yi."

"Also tell Alitai and ask him to be careful. I'm worried that Mahamu will make a false shot and try to annex the Tatars."

"Okay!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement. Seeing this, Zhu Di hesitated, and finally sighed deeply, seeming to have aged a bit.

"I want to accompany your mother on this last journey, and you will have to work hard during this period."

Faced with Zhu Di's guilty words, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say much. He just bowed and bowed, then stood up and took a look inside the side hall.

There was worry in his eyes, and his expression was a bit gloomy. Even he couldn't convince himself with his words: "Mother, she..."

"It should be fine..."

(End of this chapter)