The large group marched north, came to a confluence of rivers, and left the banks of the vortex and marched along a canal. The canal has recently been dredged, and some new soil and silt have been piled up on the bank, and the saplings on the bank are also newly planted.

Zhu Gaoxu rode away from the brigade, and Yao Ji Muzhen and other imperial concubines also changed into corsets and roamed with him. There were no cities around, and the caravan passed through several villages and redirected along the dirt road towards the riverbank.

This place has belonged to the territory of the Henan Political Envoy, and the terrain is very flat. However, the surrounding vegetation is abundant, and small forests, crop fields, and ridges block people's views. There are harvested wheat stakes and yellowed paddy fields on the land.

It is the crisp autumn air and cool breeze.

When people arrived on the main road on the bank of the canal, they saw several official ships coming. The canal was not wide, and soon the soldiers on the ship saw Zhu Gaoxu's robe clearly, and many people stood on the side of the boat, shouting to the shore, and the sound of "long live" came and went. After a while, military music was played on the ship, and the officers and men lined up on the boat to perform military salutes.

Zhu Gaoxu also reined in his mount and clenched his fists in the face of the official ship. The soldiers raised their guns and cherry guns and cheered on the water, and the canal was in an uproar.

When the official ship drifted away, the shouting did not stop. Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and glanced at Yao Ji next to him, and saw that she looked comfortable and in a good mood. Yao Ji retracted his gaze and said, "The Holy Lord has won the hearts of the military and the people. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I just tried my best to do some things that should be done. ”

As they spoke, they continued to ride slowly along the river. At this moment, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves behind him, and a cloud of yellow dust rose up.

In a few moments, the man on horseback caught up with the horse caravan, and the cavalry behind did not seem to stop him. Zhu Gaoxu looked back and saw the face of the person who came, it turned out to be Hou Hai, the imperial envoy of the left guard.

"Phew!" Zhu Gaoxu shouted at the brown horse that was sitting down, and raised his hand to let the horse team gradually stop.

Hou Haihai stepped forward, turned over and dismounted, took out an opened envelope, and said, "The minister greets the saint." The officials of the Northern Administration of the Imperial Department got some news in Beiping, and this time the ministers had to pay tribute to the saint as soon as possible. ”

The mention of "this time" in his words probably alludes to the last time he was negligent and delayed.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on horseback and leaned over to take the things.

There is an official document written by Guo Ang, an official stationed in Beiping, and a letter from the eunuch Huang Yan. This Huang Yan is a sinner, implicated in the rebellion case on behalf of the king, which can be described as a big crime, and has fled to the Tatars for several years. It is a bit strange that no one has yet convicted Huang Yan of what crime he is; Zhu Gaoxu guessed that the matter might involve King Zhao, and it was difficult to handle the Yamen, and the criminals were not caught and no one urged them, so the matter dragged on.

Huang Yan wrote a few pieces of paper freely, most of which were self-defense and shouting grievances, and his words were almost pleading, and Zhu Gaoxu was not very interested. After flipping through it twice, Zhu Gaoxu finally found a useful passage in it.

According to Huang Yan, he received reliable information from the powerful people of the Horqin Ministry. The Tatar prefect Arutai was trying to contact the Mongolian ministers to support the head of the Korqin tribe as the Great Khan of All Mongolia.

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu looked at his surname, he knew that the leader of the Horqin tribe was a descendant of Genghis Khan.

"I know

Finish. Zhu Gaoxu roughly finished reading it and responded. He returned Guo Ang's official letter to the North Office and Hou Hai, but put Huang Yan's letter in his sleeve pocket.

Hou Haizuo bowed, of course he didn't dare to reply to the letter.

Zhu Gaoxu and the others rode horses and continued to wander around the river, and only after they had their best did they turn around and look for the escort brigade.

Along the way, he already felt that something was a little strange in his mind. According to everyone's previous speculation, the reason why Arutai took the initiative to claim the title of vassal and entrust someone to take over the Tatar remnants of Hamiwei was because there were important figures in the Tatar remnants, most likely the son of Benyali Khan. Now Arutai wants to help the Horqin people, so wouldn't it be in vain for him to try his best to rescue the remnants?

Or, the previous inference of Zhu Gaoxu and a group of people in the Ming Dynasty was completely wrong?

When the sun was setting, the armies of the army were encamped. The Chinese army is still a requisitioned village, but the village cannot accommodate more than 10,000 guards, and most of the troops choose camps nearby to set up tents.

Zhu Gaoxu asked someone to invite the important civil and military officers who accompanied him to the courtyard where he lived to have dinner together. Among them are Hou Hai, Gao Xianning, as well as Xungui Qiu Fu, Wei Da, Wang Bin and others. After the order, Zhu Gaoxu specially called Cao Fu and invited the horse He Kuisi to also come.

Everyone got the news and came one after another. In the courtyard of this private house, there was naturally no place like a throne, so after the civil and military officials finished their big salutes, Zhu Gaoxu asked them to sit around a square table. The guards took some snacks and dried fruits, and set out a few jugs of wine.

Zhu Gaoxu reached into his sleeve pocket, took out Huang Yan's letter, handed it to Qiu Fu next to him, and then asked everyone to circulate it. Qiu Fu didn't say a word after reading it, handed it directly to Wang Bin, and reached out to take the wine jug and pour the wine.

The generals didn't know much about the inside story of this matter, but Gao Xianning and Hou Hai knew that even He Kuisi, the commander of the horses, had also talked to Zhu Gaoxu.

Sure enough, He Kuisi was the first to speak: "Dare to love us, we guessed wrong, the people of Benyali's Khan family are not in Hamiwei?" ”

Gao Xianning said quietly: "Arutai took the initiative to claim the title of minister, why did he do it? ”

He Kuisi looked thoughtful and couldn't answer. At this time, Wang Bin's voice said: "I shouldn't have let go of the Tatar prime minister earlier, find a reason, and arrest him and beat him up, don't you know everything?" ”

"Pounce!" Qiu Fugang choked on a sip of wine, and said busily: "The Holy Lord forgives sins, and the old minister is disrespectful, not intentionally. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "There is still some tribute wine in the palace, if the Duke of Qi likes to drink it, go back and ask someone to send some to the house." ”

Qiu Fu hugged his fists and said, "Thank you for the grace of the saint." ”

Wang Bin looked at Qiu Fu seriously: "Did I say something wrong?" ”

Qiu Fu smiled: "Let's just listen, this matter is not in the hands of the generals." As he spoke, he glanced at He Fu's son, who was also a military general.

He Kuisi's voice said: "There are many things in the world that don't make much sense, but what Arutai does should have a reason. This Arutai was no ordinary figure, he held power in Mongolia for many years, supported several Great Khans, and is still the leading figure of the Tatar tribes. ”

Zhu Gaoxu agreed: "You are right, most of these people have long-term plans. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the Tatars suffered heavy setbacks in the Hongwu and Wude periods. But many

The Tatars have not yet changed their mentality, and they still have the illusion of the great Yuan martial arts of the year. Therefore, if Arutai did not have a plan, there was no need to take the initiative to become a vassal, and other Tatars would also dissuade him. ”

After a while, He Kuisi hugged his fists and said: "The minister has some guesses, but they don't seem to be marginal, and I don't know whether to talk about it or not." ”

"If the colt thinks it's not right to say it, you won't ask it." Zhu Gaoxu said casually.

Qiu Fu and several other generals couldn't help but laugh.

He Kuisi said: "The minister thinks that the first thing Arutai wants to deal with at this time is the Tile Thorn people, so he is willing to temporarily bow to the Ming court." The Northern Expedition of the First Saint of Wude caused a lot of losses to the Tatar elite, and Arutai was no longer able to compete head-on with the Watts. Therefore, Arutai's best strategy is to use the power of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Go on." ”

He Kuisi nodded and said: "Arutai is a minister, but he still can't really ally with the Ming Dynasty." The imperial court has always been wary of the Tatars, and Arutai should also understand. At this time, the most practical way is to provoke a big war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tile Spurs. When the Tile Thorns were weakened, Arutai took the opportunity to fall into the ground, which was the best way to defeat or even eradicate the Tile Thorns. ”

Zhu Gaoxu became more and more interested when he listened, and said: "I think that the remarks of the concubine are very marginal. ”

He Kuisi's expression was a little embarrassed, "The inference behind the minister is a bit like speculation. The minister boldly guessed that all the things that Arutai had done recently were to provoke Daming and the tile thorns.

Among the Tatar remnants of Hamivi, there may not be any descendants of Benjari Khan. Arutai deliberately released the news that the Vaspurs mistakenly believed that the son of Benyali Khan had fled to Hamiwei; That's why the attack on Hamiwei by the Tile Thorn Army a while ago happened.

Arutai deliberately sent people to Beiping, Zhangde and other places to find Han people to pick up the remnants in the west. Then he sent an envoy to claim the title of minister, and the only request was to borrow the way. All this hints to people that Tatar has very important people in Hamiwei. This man, as we and the Varspurs can easily guess, is that only the son of Benjari Khan has enough weight. ”

He Kuisi changed his tone and continued: "Mahamu, the leader of the Waspur, has already supported a man named 'Tabali' as the Great Khan of All Mongolia, and claims to be the younger brother of Benyali Khan. However, since he came to power, he has been questioned by many people, and the Tatar ministries have not recognized Bari's identity.

At this time, if the Varspurs learned that Benjari Khan had a son in Hamiwei, they would most likely send troops to stop the attack.

And Arutai was entitled, and he was promised by the Ming court to protect the remnants of the Tatars. When the remnants of the Tatars take the way, including the Ming Guards, they may be attacked and killed by the Watts. Coupled with the fact that the Tile Spur tribes continue to sit on the throne and the ambitions of Mahamu swell, the imperial court is becoming more and more jealous, and the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Tile Spur may break out as a result. ”

The room was quiet for a long time, and everyone seemed to be thinking about He Kuisi's statement.

Gao Xianning broke the silence: "It makes sense, but some of these specific things are difficult for Arutai to do." ”

"At least imaginative." Zhu Gaoxu said, "He Yuma is quite a spiritual person. ”

At this time, the sun had already set, so Zhu Gaoxu asked the eunuch Cao Fu to arrange and prepare to serve the food. There was no further discussion about the Tatars.