Mengwu steppe.

Evening.

Wang Qinian was taking a sip of mare's milk wine and taking a sip of roast lamb leg to gnaw happily, when he suddenly heard bursts of cheers from the surrounding Mongolian people.

He looked up and looked around puzzledly.

A large crowd of Mughal warriors was shouting for joy as they ran toward the chief's tent.

The woman and the children were not qualified to come closer, but they also craned their necks and looked over there with a smile on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Wang Qinian asked a steward beside him.

"It seems that the Tartars have withdrawn."

This steward was sent to him as a guide by a Han military prince in the Shanxi region who had defected to the Mughu, and he was very familiar with the customs of the grassland, the relationship between the various tribes, and the character and language of the Mughal.

With this shopkeeper as a guide, Wang Qinian's business on the grassland was relatively smooth, and the number of conflicts with local tribes was greatly reduced.

Of course, in order to hire this guide, the price paid by Wang Qinian also made his heart bleed for several days.

The Han army and princes in the Shanxi region all took refuge in Zamuhe, the co-leader of the various tribes of Mongol and Wuwu in Monan. And this Mughal leader had been crushed by the Jurchens very badly before, and now that they heard that the Tatars had finally withdrawn, the Mughurs would naturally cheer.

"Isn't the Muguls also tartars?"

Wang Qinian muttered quietly.

"What did Master Wang just say?"

"Nothing." Wang Qinian diverted the topic: "Why did this Jurchen withdraw?" It's only been three months since they've been here, right? Gone at least a little more than a month earlier than in previous years. ”

In previous years, the Jurchens plundered the grasslands, basically after the autumn harvest and plundered the Han land to obtain population and grain and grass supplements, usually lasted 4 to 5 months, from October to the beginning of spring of the next year, with the robbed people, cattle and sheep back to Liaodong, so that there was time to supervise the spring ploughing of the Ahabs.

This year the situation was completely different: the Jurchens came to the steppe almost two months earlier.

Now it seems that the end time is also very early, just after November, the Jurchen Tartars have begun to retreat.

"I don't know, but I'll ask, the king is waiting here."

The shopkeeper was very concerned about the progress of the war on the grassland, because it was related to whether the transaction was smooth or not, and also related to how much income the shopkeeper himself and the Han army marquis behind him could get from Wang Qinian.

Wang Qinian motioned for him to take care of himself, and he continued to bow his head and drink wine and eat meat.

After about half an hour, the shopkeeper returned.

This thin old man had an incredible expression on his face, and muttered: "The Han people of Qi Province swept through southern Liaoning, saying that they had broken through the Yan Lou Chamber and annihilated 100,000 Tartars. ”

"The nest of the third prince of the Tartars was raided, and he was in a hurry to go back to see his family."

Wang Qinian put down the wine bowl and asked, "Qi Province?" Xu Shiyang? ”

"That's him." The shopkeeper stared at Wang Qinian and asked, "The goods of the big boss are from Qi Province, right?" ”

"That's right." Wang Qinian admitted it very happily.

It seems that he has a good relationship with Xu Shiyang.

The shopkeeper really misunderstood: "So, is the big boss willing to go with me to meet our Great Khan?" ”

A horse thief leader with less than a hundred cavalry under his command naturally had no right to ask to see the Great Khan of the Muguls, in fact, Wang Qinian had not even seen the Han army prince himself before, and had only been in contact with an agent like the one in charge.

However, if Wang Qinian was a representative of a huge force that could defeat the Jurchens and sent to the steppe, then he naturally had the right to meet the Great Khan of the Muguls.

Especially in this situation where the Mughal people are divided into two major groups, Monan and Modong.

The Gul Khan of the Monghurs in Monan would naturally think of seeking support from forces outside the steppe in order to obtain the opportunity to unify the steppe and conquer the Jin Kingdom in the east.

Wang Qinian thought for a while, then picked up the wine bowl and drank the mare's milk wine in one gulp.

He said, "Then ask the shopkeeper to introduce me." ”

The trade is dangerous, but the more dangerous it is, the greater the profits.

……

Huai'an.

The night was hazy, the Great Zhou Jianghuai Xuanfu envoy, and the Taiwei Xu Shisong stood at his own gate of Dasheng, quietly looking to the north.

No one knew what Taiwei Xu was thinking, and no one dared to ask - Taiwei Xu was not a very good-tempered person, and in addition to the growing authority in the army, there were few civilian officials in the newly opened Jianghuai region, so no one could suppress Taiwei Xu here.

No one ......, but when Taiwei Xu was angry, someone could indeed persuade him.

"Husband, what are you thinking?"

Princess Renfu walked out of the big tent where the two lived in a demeanor and put on a luxurious fox fur for Xu Shisong.

"Nothing." Xu Shisong shook his head and refused to answer.

But if he's like this, as long as he's not a fool, how can he not see that he has something on his mind?

"Husband, you're homesick, right?" Princess Renfu said with a smile.

The Huai'an Mansion where they are now located is on the edge of the Huai River, which belonged to Su Province in the old days, and the Hongze Lake in the old days is next to it.

When Princess Renfu went north, she also passed by this place.

In other words, Xu Shisong was already very close to his hometown in Qi Province at this time.

However, he didn't know if he would be able to go home at this time.

Xu Shisong had already received the news that the Qi army had inflicted heavy losses on the Tartars in Gaizhou, and had once again achieved a result that the Great Zhou official army had never achieved.

He should have been happy, but Xu Shisong felt that his cousin's ambition was too great, and the victories that shocked the world again and again would definitely fuel this ambition.

If the officials and troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty were still as before, showing no signs of rising, at that time, Xu Shisong felt that he had to make a choice between being loyal to the court or finally the family.

Xu Shiyang has never eaten the king's fortune, so he can't talk about loyalty to the king. Even Xu Shisong felt that if he rebelled against the Great Zhou, it would be far easier for the Han people in Jiangbei to win the hearts of the people than for the Great Zhou court to take back Jiangbei.

But the problem is that he Xu Shisong is not Xu Shiyang, the emperor and the court married a delicate wife like Princess Renfu to Xu Shisong, and let him be the top of the martial arts in more than a year, which can be said to be trusted.

The boss of the Xu family felt that he should dedicate his loyalty to the court and be a loyal minister of the Great Zhou.

It's not difficult to be a loyal minister of the Great Zhou, but it's useless to be a loyal minister, what should I do?

"Madam, I can't go back to Qi Province."

Xu Shisong said with a wry smile:

"The more Shiyang wins, the bigger the win, the more I can't go back."

"What does husband mean ......"

"The imperial court...... if you don't rise up, no matter who wins in Liaodong in the end, it will not be good for the imperial court."

"Why didn't the husband tell Wen Xianggong this?" Princess Renfu asked with a smile: "Now my imperial brother and Wen Xianggong are still thinking about sending military food and salaries to Qi Province, so as to bring the Qi army under the jurisdiction of the imperial court." ”

"Why didn't the husband go to the court, telling them that it was useless to do this, and the Qi army would rebel sooner or later?"

"Because it's useless to say." Xu Shisong said helplessly: "The imperial court has been sinking for too long, and all the new lords, including the emperor and the minister of Wen, need to win the victory against the Tartars to consolidate their position." ”

"If you want this, can the imperial court's own army do it? What does it depend on if you don't rely on the Qi army? ”