Early the next morning, nearly 300,000 soldiers and strong men (real numbers) of the Ming army's northern expedition began. In the sound of horns one after another, the vast land between the Sheep River and the Qingshui River, the marching people and horses seemed to be a sea of people.

The red morning sun hung in the sky, but the earth was sprinkled with yellow sunlight. Under the oblique sunlight, the color of everything is very saturated, and the soldiers seem to be covered with a layer of orange and yellow paint.

Countless helmets surged, and there were many wide-brimmed iron helmets as far as the eye could see, which was not quite the same as the border army in the north. Because more than half of the men and horses were mobilized from the Beijing Division, it was rainy in the south, and the helmets were all wide-brimmed.

The sound of horses' hooves mingled with the sound of grand footsteps, and there was a thick "rumbling" noise between the heavens and the earth.

"Whew!" A high-pitched eagle chirp was heard in the air.

Zhu Gaoxu held the reins in his hand, and when he heard the sound, he looked up at the blue sky high and saw an eagle hovering in the sky.

This kind of eagle is called Haidongqing, produced in Liaodong, and is said to be able to detect the enemy; Liaodong officials boasted in the song, claiming that after Haidongqing's training, they could even distinguish the different banners of the enemy and us. However, when the falconry performs before, Zhu Gaoxu found that its reliability was relatively low, and it was better than nothing.

Only those who are familiar with Haidongqing's eagle trainers can understand and understand Haidongqing's "language". Zhu Gaoxu did not understand it at all, but he could conclude that there could be no hostile situation south of the pass pass (Zhangjiakou); So he guessed that the eagle's roar just now was not an early warning of the enemy's situation.

Maybe Hai Dongqing was shocked by the scene and let out an exclamation when he overlooked the vast people and horses on the ground?

In addition to Hai Dongqing, Zhu Gaoxu also made other preparations for this northern expedition. Compasses, compasses, etc., are naturally not mentioned...... There are also technical officers transferred from the naval fleet, who can use tools such as star plates and nine-star maps to locate positions, which are all things used in the navy.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at those things for a long time, and he didn't fully understand them; But he knew what it was for. It is roughly a few rough longitude and latitude positioning methods, with the Beijing Division as the center, to determine the approximate distance and direction between the location and the Beijing Division at that time; Then use the map to figure out the area where you are located.

In addition, there were many Mongolian ancients who accompanied the army, and they were natural guides.

The dynasty before the Ming Dynasty was the Yuan Dynasty established by the Mongols. Throughout the Hongwu period, the Ming army fought many times with the Mongols; In previous wars, the Ming army captured a large number of Mongolian and ancient people. The most time, the battle of fishing in the sea, the Ming army captured nearly 100,000 Mongolian ancients in one time!

Even during the "Battle of Jingyan", the generals under Zhu Gaoxu's command were called chickens, and they were Mongols. This time I was also in the army.

Therefore, it was very easy for the Ming army to find the Mongols who knew the way......

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the surrounding marching scene and thought: This northern expedition should not get lost, and there is almost no danger of destruction.

After all, the current Mongolia is no longer the period of Gengji Si Khan. Not only are they torn apart, but with their current population and strength, they are afraid that they will have almost no way to deal with the 250,000-strong army that has been registered by their real names.

And the Ming army at this time was not a rabble at the end of the dynasty, and it had considerable combat power! Even if the Mongol army were allowed to occupy all the geographical advantages and besiege it, it was unlikely that it would be able to gnaw down such a large army.

So he decided: Whether he can catch the Tatar army on this expedition is the biggest question!

Zhu Gaoxu, who was wearing heavy armor, was very agile, and suddenly stepped on the stirrup and turned over on the horse. He took the reins, looked back to the left and right, and said, "No matter what, this time we must find a group of Tatars and annihilate them to deter the north!" ”

The generals bowed one after another and said, "The ministers obey the holy decree!" ”

Nearly 300,000 people, including various Wuhan Iron and Steel carts, mule carts, donkey carts, horse-drawn carts, and wheelbarrows, carrying artillery ammunition and large quantities of grain and straw. However, the area south of the pass pass was flat and open, and the army was able to march on a march, still maintaining the speed of marching more than 40 miles a day. The army passed through the pass in the afternoon of the same day.

Directly north of the pass pass is a large mountain, so the men and horses take the northwest direction and detour from the relatively gentle mountain area, and after only one day, they can reach the Xinghe Shouyu Senhu (Zhangbei County). From here, the Ming army would soon enter the area where the Mongol tribes were active.

Xinghesuo, now occupied by the Ming army, there is a military town of Qianhusuo. But during the Hongwu period, there were repeated battles for this place; At the end of last year, the Thousand Households did not play a role in defending against the Mongol cavalry......

In the northwest of the pass pass, between Zhixing and Shouyu Senhusho, there is a large road passing through a valley. The mountains on both sides are not high, but they are large, and the mountains are overgrown with wild grass and trees, and there are not many people around. But at the foot of the mountain, you can see graveyards everywhere, and there are some decaying wooden monuments!

Countless soldiers passing by looked sideways at the overlapping graves.

Zhu Gaoxu gradually remembered the past.

There are not many people here, and those buried in the graves are all Ming soldiers who have died on the grassland before!

Zhu Gaoxu still has the impression in his memory, when he was only ten years old, and he followed Zhu Di and walked this road more than once. Every time a brother dies on the battlefield, if the weather is not hot, he will try to transport it back to the land of Daming for burial, as if he is afraid that the soul of the dead will not find a way back to his hometown...... So there are so many graves.

He didn't feel such memories now, but now that he saw so many graves, his heart gradually became a little heavy.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting on horseback, couldn't help but lean forward to the left side and salute with fists. Soon, the surrounding civil and military soldiers understood the reason, so people turned sideways and bowed to the wild grave on the side of the road.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and couldn't help but say to Qi Tai, the secretary of the military department: "In this northern expedition, I felt that the border was so close to the political envoy of Beiping. ”

Qi Taizuo said: "The saint is wise. Therefore, since Hongwu, the north has always been the focus of border defense. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and looked up at the horizon to the north.

I think that the place where Lan Yu attacked the Northern Yuan Dynasty back then, the fishing area of Erhai was the area where the Tatar tribes were often stationed; That place is still more than 2,000 miles away from here. The journey has just begun.

……

However, the first person to go to the fishing area of Erhai (Bear Lake), more than 2,000 miles away, was the eunuch Huang Yan.

Huang Yan sat weakly on the horse's back, drooping his head. A group of more than a dozen of them had just crossed a large desert with no people. The scorching sun was in the sky, his eyes were full of yellow sand, and the depressed Huang Yan was drowsy.

But when he opened his eyes and suddenly saw the sea of fishing, his eyes suddenly widened!

Beyond the vast sandy field, the endless blue water suddenly appeared in front of you, which was very shocking. Huang Yan hurriedly looked up at the direction of the sun, looked around, and for a while almost thought that he had gone in the wrong direction and came to the eastern coast!

A Uliangha man next to him said in Chinese: "Fishing in the sea, have you heard of it?" ”

Huang Yan immediately nodded and said, "Our family knows, knows." ”

A moment later, there was a shout of excitement behind him, and several Mongols rushed to the lake, jumped into the water, and laughed heartily. Huang Yan also followed, dismounted by the lake, bowed a few sips of water, and poured water on his face. He let out a long sigh and straightened up, squinting at the marvelous landscape ahead.

Huang Yan turned his head and asked, "When you arrive at the fishing sea, the royal tent of the Great Khan of Mongolia should not be far away?" ”

"This desert is not big, and if we go further north, we will find the pastures of Arutai. Tokh is a person under Aru's account, and he will help Huang Gonggong speak. ”

Another big man with oily yellow skin and deep wrinkles on his face nodded coldly to Huang Yan.

Huang Yan asked again: "Will the gold and silver that our family gave you work in front of the Mongols?" ”

"Of course it works! There is no one who does not love gold! The Uliangha people smiled, "The Tatars and the Ming are enemies, and it is not easy to do business, but we Uliangha people are friends of the Ming Dynasty!" The Tatars needed iron pots, horseshoes, tea, and salt, and would trade with the Uryanha. Cattle, sheep and horses, gold, silver, copper coins, all work! ”

The Wuliangha people said: "Huang Gonggong promised to give me five times the gold and silver after the matter is completed, but I can't forget it!" ”

Huang Yan said quietly: "Don't worry, what is the identity of our family in Zhao Wangfu, you know." That bit of possessions, our family can just take a painting and it's worth it. ”

Huang Yan said while slandering: He, mother, last year, the Uliangha people pretended to be Tatars, and followed them to the border to plunder, and they were embarrassed to say that they were friends?

The Uliangha people shook their heads and said: "Paintings and antiques are not good, those things don't work on the grassland, the copper coins are too heavy, and they need gold and silver." ”

Huang Yan nodded in agreement.

The Uliangha people asked again: "Huang Gonggong can speak in front of King Zhao, why did he flee to the Tatar Khan?" Can you still get what you promised? ”

Huang Yan said: "Our family said that if we can get it, we will definitely be able to get it!" You don't have to ask, and we can't say a word clearly. In short, the Ming and Mongolia were enemies, but the Han and Tatars were not necessarily enemies. Do you understand? ”

The Uliangha shook his head and said, "I only care about the money. ”

"Fill the cowhide water bag, we're on our way." The Uliangha man said and greeted.

Huang Yan filled it with water and climbed back onto the horse. He looked at the boundless sand to the north, and the fear of the unknown road ahead made him sigh again.

If it weren't for the fact that there was really no way, how could Huang Yan run to this barren land?

At that time, as soon as he heard that Yang Pu and the others were exposed, he knew that the matter was completely over! You can only wait for death, or run away.

At that time, the rumors were very tight, and he was a eunuch who was not easy to hide his identity in the Daming Kingdom, and it was too easy to be noticed. Near Beiping, Chaoxian was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and only Mongolia did not have much contact with the Ming Dynasty and had been fighting.

And Huang Yan knew some Mongols, and even some Uliangha people in the past, and they still groveled in front of him. In a hurry, he decided to go to Mongolia through this Uliangha who was a trader to go to Benyali Khan.

Perhaps, Huang Yan's knowledge, connections and wealth of Daming can make Benyali lose sweat? But who knows the outcome? Now Huang Yan is just a desperate lost dog.