After the surviving Tatars followed the Ming army through Jiayu Pass, within a few days, the people arrived at Suzhou, which was directly ruled by the Ming Dynasty.

It is a good place, with clear streams, open pastures with abundant water and grass, continuous crop fields, majestic castle towers, and cattle and sheep in the fields. Autumn is crisp and the scenery is pleasant.

The prime minister took off the fire and followed the crowd into the acropolis, and ate mutton noodles in the city.

At the height of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols were very fond of this food. But when they retreated to the steppe, pasta became a rarity for the aristocracy, and ordinary Mongols had no access to flour at all, so their diet changed. On the contrary, the Han people on this side of the Hexi Corridor still love to eat noodles.

Everyone was happy in the dining room, and there were not too many people in the room, but there was a warm atmosphere. People were chatting with great interest while wiping the sweat from their heads. The room was full of noise, and if anyone spoke too quietly, the person sitting opposite couldn't hear it.

The noisy sound of "buzzing" is also mixed with the sound of "huhuhu" sucking noodles, and the movement is very loud. Not far away, several Tatars smashed their mouths, already expressing the deliciousness of the noodles.

Most Tatars believe in Islam and don't eat pork lard, and this mutton soup noodles are just right for everyone's taste.

Only the fire was in a heavy mood, and he stuffed a large chopstick noodle into his mouth, chewing while being a little distracted.

Most of the whole incident was planned by Dehuochi, at least he was the one who initiated the conspiracy.

A few years ago, Dehuo Chi discussed with the Privy Council Governor Arutai how to use the Ming Dynasty and eliminate the Warat people; That is, "borrowing a knife to kill". The Tatars had such a strategy, which was simple: they tried many times and found that they could not defeat the Warats on their own; So it is reasonable to think of borrowing the military strength of the Ming Kingdom.

At that time, the talks between Dehuochi and Arutai were very smooth, and a consensus was almost reached. Arutai was very supportive of the strategy of depriving the Red Army, eliminating the Warat forces, allowing the "Mongols" to once again unify the steppe, cutting off the coercion, and maintaining the Mongol bureaucratic system such as the Privy Council and Zhongshu Province, so that everyone could have a way to benefit from the tribes. It can also open up trade routes to the west.

In addition, Arutai also has the obsession of believing in the sun. He was very religious, fearing that if Western Mongolia was allowed to remain strong, the Warats might abandon Islam and become pagans.

But during that time, because of the civil war that broke out in the Ming Kingdom, many Tatars saw an opportunity. The people abandoned this strategy and joined the people who raided the Ming border and plundered the goods. The strategy of killing people with a knife was abandoned until the Ming army's Northern Expedition and the Tatars suffered heavy losses.

Later, after the defeat of Benjari's Khan's headquarters and the fall to the Warats, the remnants of the fire and Chi fled to the Hami kingdom after many setbacks, and they have been exhausted for their lives. It wasn't until Ashari gave birth to Benjari's sweaty heir that she woke up; He realized the opportunity and began to plan this conspiracy to "kill people with a knife".

Dehuo Chi first let a small Tatar leader who accompanied him "accidentally" learn of the existence of the little Mongolian prince; Then he beat the little boss under the pretext of beating him, and threatened to kill him sooner or later. As expected, the little leader fled, and the only place he could flee to was the Warat tribe.

As a result, this incident attracted the coercion and attack of the Warats.

After the Warats were tricked, it was still difficult for the whole thing to succeed, and it was full of uncertainties. One of the most difficult is Arutai's cooperation, after all, they are too far away to be contacted.

Arutai has a spy on the Warat tribe, but does not necessarily get useful information; Of course, it is not easy for Arutai to guess the intention of the fire from the abnormal attack of the Warats on the Hami Kingdom.

It's just that Dehuochi still has hope, after all, he has worked with Dehuochi for many years, and they have also discussed the national policy of "killing people with a knife". With Arutai's knowledge, it is possible to think of a strategy for getting rid of the fire.

After that, things went unexpectedly well, and Arutai's reaction showed that he had taken the initiative to conspire with Dehuo. The two are literally connected.

Just when Dehuo Chi felt lucky, the biggest accident happened! The Ming army suddenly mobilized a large number of horsemen to rescue them, and found the place where the Warats were blocked. This is something that Dehuo Chi did not expect at all.

The situation changed abruptly and became very bad.

If there was no Ming army to save them, the Warat people slaughtered hundreds of Ming army guards, captured Tuohuochi and Asari and others, and there was still a lot of room for maneuver. Although the Warats and the Tatars hated each other; However, after the Warats got rid of the son of Benyali Khan, it was normal for them to exchange the fire for a large number of cattle and sheep, and the Warat Tatars knew each other very well.

Compared with provoking the anger of the Ming court, it is very cost-effective to lose some cattle and sheep.

However, now things did not happen as expected, and Dehuochi felt that he was in a very troubled situation. The most dangerous part is, how could the Han people think of sending troops to rescue? Do they already know about the conspiracy of the fire red?

The more he thought about it, the more worried he felt, and said in his heart: How could Zhu Di's second son be so terrible?

At this moment, Dehuo Chi noticed Asari sitting opposite, she was looking at her with scrutiny and doubt. Dehuo Chi sensed that Asari might have doubted herself a little.

Seeing that she raised her head, Ashali said, "The prime minister is not very happy? ”

He was reluctant to tell her the truth, because she might be angry and do something unreasonable because she would be tempted by using her son as a temptation. What's more, this conspiracy is relatively hidden, and now the fire is not completely certain, and the matter has been exposed; The more people who know, the more dangerous it is.

"Half joy and half sorrow." Dehuo was expressionless, and said unhurriedly.

Asari said: "Of course, everyone is happy that they escaped death, look around." Why are you worried? ”

Detachment said quietly: "In the long run, there is a very powerful emperor in the Ming Kingdom, but he is young and strong, which is definitely not a good thing for us." Zhu Er is not an idle person, looking back and thinking about the distance and speed of this reinforcement, as well as Zhu Er's timely access to the news, which one is easy to do? ”

Asari pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, reluctantly agreeing with the reason for the de-fire. They stopped talking, continued to bury their heads in noodles, and then fell back to their houses to rest.

The Ming army and the Tatars repaired in Suzhou for a day, and the next day they marched east and entered the hinterland of the Hexi Corridor. Along the way, the Ming army's men and horses gradually decreased, and many soldiers and horses were mobilized from the Hexi Corridor, and they returned to the garrison at this time.

The Han Chinese magistrate, who was in charge of arranging the trip, continued his previous post

Responsibility, asked the guards to take the Tatars to Beiping. There was an extra group of horsemen in the guard, the marquis surnamed Wang, and his men.

…… The marquis sent by Zhu Gaoxu to the northwest was Wang Yu. After Wang Yu's report was sent to the camp in the south of the river in an expedited manner, several of the monarchs and ministers talked about him.

The civil and military forces present are still those high-ranking people. In addition, the imperial concubine Mu Zhen was wearing a gray robe and was waiting for Zhu Gaoxu next to her, and she was also listening to everyone with great interest.

Gao Xianning's voice said: "Marquis Ning Yuan is familiar with the terrain and has accurately found the place where the Warat people may appear, and he is really a good general under the command of the Holy Lord. If it weren't for General Wang's mention of weak water in the report, the minister would not have known that there was such a river. ”

The court officials praised He Kuisi's father in public, He Kuisi was not modest, and it was not very good to be used, he pondered for a moment, and said: "The Warat people want to bypass the seven guards outside the border such as Hamiwei (Hami Kingdom), and there is also a water source, so they can only roughly follow the flow of weak water to the south, and there is almost no other choice." However, the Holy One knows how to make good use of people and makes decisions at the right time, which is the key to victory. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "I at least know that He Fu has led troops in the northwest several times, at least he knows the local situation better than me, and it is very likely that he knows better than everyone here. Therefore, the key to this matter is that I still used Wang Yu, not Qi Guogong and other three generals. ”

Suddenly, Wang Bin and the others all had a sudden look on their faces.

The noble generals rested in Beijing for a long time, and they all wanted to receive this errand before, Qiu Fu, Wang Bin, and Wei Da took the initiative to ask for help. But Zhu Gaoxu finally chose Wang Yu.

The Ming Dynasty was humble and hierarchical, although He Fu was the chief military officer of the northwest, he was a marquis; If the person who goes to Ningxia Mansion is a Guogong, his status is higher than He Fu, and many things can hinder He Fu. Wang Yu is different, he is also a marquis, but in terms of seniority and prestige, he is far worse than He Fu. Moreover, He Fu has a powerful official position, so he can be the master in all matters and ensure that He Fu can make decisions in a timely manner.

He Kuisi said: "The luck of this reinforcement is also good. Although General Wang and his brother were non-stop, it was still too late. Fortunately, the Warat army was reluctant to attack, and besieged the official army for four or five days, so the reinforcements of the official army were extended. ”

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and said: "Many things depend on luck, how can you be clever every time?" It's nothing more than weighing in advance, in case of bad luck, whether you can afford it. ”

He didn't change his gambling nature, but over the years, he finally realized the second half of the sentence just now.

He Kuisi complimented again: "If it weren't for the saint's quick decision, luck would be useless." At that time, the ministers speculated about everything, but there were many accidents and no evidence, and even the ministers themselves did not dare to believe it. Only the Holy One has the courage to make a decisive decision. ”

The truth has already been decided, and Zhu Gaoxu said lightly: "Some things are accidental, but some truths are inevitable. After I weigh it, it doesn't hurt to take a gamble. ”

Everyone bowed one after another: "The Holy One is wise and martial." ”

Zhu Gaoxu saw the ministers' happy and worshipful looks, and then glanced at Mu Zhen next to him, and saw her full of admiration, and suddenly his mood was very happy. Either way, it's always good to win a bet.

He got up and said, "I won't go to the northwest, this time I just need to inspect the situation in the eastern section of the nine sides." After the boat bridge on the big river is built, let's go to Zhangde Mansion first. ”