Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Countless bonfires were set up by the Guimao River, densely packed, reaching to the stars in the sky. Although the two sides were still clearly divided, from time to time bandits would carry dead horses to the Ming army's barracks in exchange for salt and seasoning.

From time to time, some people from the Ming army would go to the campfires of the bandits and bring hot rice in exchange for roasted horse meat or wild vegetables.

Beside a marching table, to the west, were Lu Mou, Wu Sangui and Zhang Huangyan.

Sitting to the east are Yuan Zongdi, Li Jin and Li You.

Lu Mou first apologized: "I'm sorry, we accidentally injured General Hao Yaoqi. I'm really sorry."

Yuan Zongdi said calmly: "It is inevitable that swords and guns have no eyesight. When we first rebelled, we had already disregarded life and death and sacrificed daily life during the war. There is no need to talk about being sorry or not." Then he said to himself sadly: "This It’s all fate.”

He raised his head again and handed over his hands: "Thanks to the regent for leading the army out of the fortress and rescuing us this time. Otherwise, all 50 of my brothers and sisters would have been thrown into the grassland. Yuan Mou is here to thank me."

Lu Mou also shook his head and said calmly: "You don't need to thank me. The real purpose of my coming this time is to intercept you. I will never let such a large force return to Shaanxi. That will give us The next step is to recover Shaanxi, which will bring huge difficulties. Although I rescued you first, my true intention is that in the face of foreigners, I don't want my compatriots to die in the hands of foreigners. Thank you for being the most critical. It’s time to help.”

Yuan Zongdi shook his head indifferently: "As you said, I don't want to watch our compatriots be annihilated by the Mongols."

Then the two people looked at each other and laughed: "Brothers are fighting against each other, but if there is a foreign invasion, we still have to deal with it unanimously."

Zhang Huangyan nodded in agreement: "The prince and the general are so concerned about the interests of the nation, why don't we just go to war?"

Lu Mou looked at Yuan Zongdi eagerly: "Are we still fighting?"

Yuan Zongdi glanced at the soldiers walking between the two armies, exchanging things with each other and smiled bitterly: "Why bother killing each other again?"

Lu Mou stood up excitedly and extended his hand: "Welcome to Ming Dynasty."

Yuan Zongdi shook his head and did not extend his hand: "I will not surrender to the Ming Dynasty."

Lu Mou was embarrassed and didn't know what to do.

Wu Sangui frowned and asked, "Do you still want to return to the west? We will never allow you to return to the west. We will never waver on this point."

Zhang Huang said: "What is the original purpose of your rebellion? It is not to fight for a living for the people, or to no longer be oppressed and exploited by the government. But you have also seen that now there are no more excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and officials no longer have excuses to exploit the people. The people have already obtained the land and live and work in peace and contentment. Haven’t you already achieved what you want? Then what are you still fighting for?”

Yuan Zongdi nodded painfully: "I have considered this matter. Therefore, I am no longer prepared to fight you, and I will no longer lead the people to wander around and sacrifice innocent lives.

I cannot surrender to you because of loyalty. I can keep everyone, but I need you to promise me that you will not stop us senior generals from leaving or leaving. "

For now, this is actually the most acceptable ending.

Therefore, everyone turned their attention to Lu Mou, waiting for his decision.

What Lu Mou needs now is people, not only to prevent the remaining more than 300,000 bandits from returning to Shaanxi to strengthen Gao Yigong, but most importantly, his Shanxi is too short of population.

More than 300,000 people are the cultivators of four to five million land. Next fall, the household department will receive an income of over two million yuan.

As for Yuan Zongdi's proposal to allow senior generals to stay and stay voluntarily, in fact, Lu Mou was still eager to do so. Three hundred thousand is a huge hidden danger. If their leader is here, once Gao Yigong counterattacks, he will rise up to respond, and in the blink of an eye there will be civil strife.

But the leaders have all left, and the three hundred thousand people left behind are leaderless, and it will be difficult for them to become a leader.

At that moment, Lu Mou nodded: "What I respect most are loyal people. Therefore, I agree to General Yuan's conditions. Not only you senior generals, but also ordinary generals, you can stay or stay voluntarily."

This negotiation ended successfully.

In the evening, Yuan Zongdi distributed most of the gold and silver jewelry that he and Hao Yaoqi had looted to the common people brothers who stayed behind. He said with a heavy heart: "Since you have chosen to stay and live a peaceful life, don't think about anything else. Be a good obedient citizen of the Ming Dynasty. This money is enough for you little rich people. Take this money and contract some land." Leave it to your children and grandchildren, start a small business, or find a husband for your children and cultivate the family."

The people cried bitterly and could not speak.

"But, I don't want you to covet wealth and join the Ming army again, so that I can face you. Therefore, I want to take away all the horses."

Even those leaders who stayed behind expressed that they would no longer accept rewards from the imperial court, even in accordance with Zhao'an rules. Just live the rest of your life as a civilian in peace and contentment.

At dawn the next day, Yuan Zongdi, with more than 4,000 generals and 50,000 to 60,000 horses, bid farewell to Lu Mou by the Guimao River.

Before leaving, Lu Mou did not forget to attack this group of people: "The war has been going on for too long, and the people want to be safe. In fact, your King Chuang has also fallen into the gentle countryside of Jiangnan and no longer wants to return to the northwest. According to my intelligence It shows that your King Chuang has already taken two concubines in Jiangnan, and your brothers are also taking wives and concubines in Jiangnan, and they are acquiring mansions. I guess they will betray your loyalty. "

Yuan Zongdi looked sad and could only smile bitterly.

"Okay, let's say goodbye today. I sincerely hope that you and I will never see each other on the battlefield again. When we meet again, we should have a good time over wine."

Yuan Zongdi silently handed over his hand, and then silently led his brothers, driving their horses and heading west carrying a small amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

In this battle, Lu Mou's army killed Guan Ning and 45,000 cavalry troops, and suffered 10,000 infantry losses. Compared with annihilating the enemy, it can be described as a complete victory.

Moreover, more than 50,000 war horses were seized, and the biggest gain was that more than 300,000 people were brought back.

Wu Sangui looked at the vast grassland with eager eyes: "This time, we and the rogue bandits annihilated a total of 200,000 people from the Torgut tribe. From then on, the Torgut general was in ruins and could not recover in twenty or thirty years. Prince Regent, why? How about transferring this territory directly to the Ming Dynasty without leaving any troops behind?"

Wu Sangui wanted to stay and become the king of the grassland with his father and uncle.

Lu Mou persuaded with sincerity: "The loss of our troops is too serious, it can be said that it is broken. If we keep troops here, the Manchu Qing will send troops here immediately, and we cannot resist.

But leaving the Torgut tribe, which is still alive and has no fighting power, will prevent the Manchu Qing from interfering here, and our border will be safe. Therefore, we must withdraw and regain our strength. "

In fact, Wu Sangui didn't know it, but it was a pity that this huge grassland failed to live up to his ambition.

In fact, he also understands Lu Mou's analysis. If he wants to realize his ambition, he must get the full support of Ming Dynasty, and now is really not the time.

In the grassland battle, although he united with Yuan Zongdi and severely damaged the Turgut tribe, the damage to Guan Ning in his hands was too great, and 30,000 people were directly killed. He proposed to occupy this place. Regardless of whether the regent agreed or not, the remaining This small number of troops is indeed difficult to withstand a thunderous blow from the Qing Dynasty. So he gave up in frustration. (End of chapter)