On the official road on the edge of the Yanghe River, a group of cavalry dressed in Mongolian costumes, escorted by a group of Ming troops, was heading in the direction of Zhangjiakou. For the horse team of hundreds of people, the merchants and travelers on the road all gave way to let the team pass first. Looking at the high-spirited Mongols in the team, many Shanxi people on the road speculated about the origin of these Mongols and whether there was any change in the grassland.

The Mongolian knights in the team did not pay attention to the suspicious eyes of passers-by, for some of the Mongolian knights from Mobei, this trip to the Guannai was simply a fantasy journey, and the scenery and characters completely different from the Mobei grassland made them feel extraordinarily fresh.

A Mongolian knight in his early 20s in the center of the team asked cheerfully to a young man beside him, "Ezhe, how have the people of Han always been?" From the time I killed the tiger's mouth to here, the people I saw were almost more than the entire tribal population of Mobei, but I didn't see the sheep they grazed. ”

Lin Dan Khan's eldest son, who was only fourteen or fifteen, was obviously not as arrogant as this young man from Mobei. He has always been under the protection of his mother, and he has a strong father, which makes his character look a little weak, not at all like a fearless prairie man.

The first time he was away from his mother, he was always feeling very uncomfortable in a strange place that was a former enemy. He always felt that the Ming cavalry escorting them on the periphery would attack them at the next moment, capturing him and Arslan, the eldest son of the Kuiktutaiji, in order to blackmail their fathers.

Thinking of those bloody scenes, his legs unconsciously wanted to clamp his mount, and he turned around and ran back the way he came. Because of such a psychological burden, he is not in the mood to pay attention to the character style since entering the Guannai. At this moment, after listening to Arslan's heartless question, he suddenly replied weakly: "Yes, the Han people don't need to graze their sheep, they can support themselves just by planting those crops. Isn't there farmland outside the naturalized city, and those Han people lease land for planting, and they pay rent to us every year. Your favorite millet porridge and bread are the foods grown by the Han people. ”

Arslan suddenly grew his eyes and looked around, and after looking at it for a long time, he said with some doubts: "No, there is nothing in the open space near here, I remember that there are a lot of neat grass and reeds growing in the fields outside the Naturalization City. ”

Hearing such ignorant words, Ezhe suddenly forgot his worries, and retorted to Arslan angrily: "Those are wheat and corn, not grass and reeds. When you come to naturalize, they are not yet mature, of course they are neat in the ground. But now that it's winter, the crops in the field have been harvested..."

In the midst of the conversation between Arslan and Ezhe, the Great Wall and a castle were finally revealed in front of the road. Liu Jingting, who had been running in front of the team, rushed to the two of them, and said to the two: "Two little princes, Zhangjiakou has arrived, please prepare the two little princes, and when you meet Your Majesty after entering the city, don't forget the etiquette of meeting Your Majesty." ”

Ezhe nodded yes very obediently, but Arslan said with some doubts: "But we are Mongolians, why do we use the etiquette of the Han family to meet His Majesty the Emperor?" ”

Liu Jingting, who already knew something about this young character, didn't think about discussing this issue with Arslan at all, but replied with a smile: "Little prince, this is your father's order, I don't think you will even have to disobey your father's order, right?" ”

Arslan was silent for a moment, his father had never been pretentious to anyone other than treating the monks with respect, even his son had to whip a few lashes from time to time.

Liu Jingting saw that Arslan was soft, so he accepted it when he saw it, opened the topic, and talked to the two of them about various precautions when meeting the emperor.

In the general's mansion in Zhangjiakou Fort, Zhu Youzhen summoned the two little princes, and he had already heard from Liu Jingting at this time that although Lin Dan Khan was willing to ally with him, he was unwilling to come from Guannei with a small number of troops. He decided to go to Zhangjiakou from outside the Great Wall with Qiuketu Taiji, and let their son come to meet the emperor first instead of them, so that Chongzhen would not wait for them to arrive and really leave Zhangjiakou.

Chongzhen, who walked out of the back hall, saw Ezhe and Arslan bowing to him stiffly, so he couldn't help but quickly step forward and help the two of them up and said, "This is not a formal court summons, you don't have to be like this, get up." My father and I are considered to be the same generation, and when you see me, you will be treated as if you were meeting your own parents, and you don't have to be too restrained. ”

Although Arslan was older than Chongzhen, the momentum displayed by the emperor made him feel that he and Ezhe were both juniors.

Whether it is the experience of the previous life, or the result of the continuous struggle with those court ministers in this life, Zhu Youzhen, who is sitting in Ezhe and Arslan, does not make the two feel that he is just a 19-year-old boy at all.

For the two little princes with equally strong fathers, it was the first time they met an elder who was higher than them and was willing to listen to their thoughts, and the other party also affirmed himself from time to time, which made them quickly have a good impression of the emperor.

Knowing that Lin Dan Khan and Qiuketu Taiji would take four or five days to arrive, Zhu Youzhen simply took the two of them to Xuanfu for a visit, which is different from the naturalization of the city, which is only commercially developed, although Xuanfu is an important border town, but the entertainment projects in the city are basically not far from the mainland.

After just a few days of contact, Arslan likes hunting and liveliness, and Ezhe likes books, and his interest in books is completely revealed in front of Chongzhen. Zhu Youzhen gave Arslan a set of armor and a large box of books to Ezhe, which immediately made the two overjoyed and regarded Chongzhen as his real elder.

The Mongolian knights who followed the two little princes also got a lot of benefits because of this, so that these Mongolian knights who originally thought they had come to the tiger's den in Longtan dispersed a lot of vigilance against the Ming Kingdom.

However, this harmonious atmosphere between the two sides disappeared after Lin Dan Khan and Qiuketu Taiji arrived outside Zhangjiakou Pass. Zhu Youzhen stood on the Great Wall and watched, and the Mongolian cavalry standing under the pass couldn't help but sneer at Gui Yingcha behind him: "The way your Khan invited me to meet is really special. ”

Gui Yingcha's face turned red, and he could only say hesitantly: "The Great Khan just wants to show His Majesty the strength of the Chahar Ministry, so that His Majesty knows that it is not a loss to form an alliance with the Chahar Ministry. If Your Majesty is worried, it is better to set up a big tent at the gate, and everyone will meet in the big tent, so as not to be suspicious of each other and cause problems. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the two little princes with ugly faces on the side, and after seeing the cavalry brigade lined up outside the pass, the two little princes felt a little embarrassed, and one was silent and did not speak.

Zhu Youzhen turned his gaze to the officers and soldiers on the city wall, looked at their nervous expressions, and couldn't help but smile loudly and said: "I invited the Great Khan and the Kuiketu Taiji to come over to join the alliance, so that the peace and friendship between the Ming and Mongolia can last forever, and everyone will help each other to deal with those common enemies together."

The Ming Dynasty and the Mongols are both Chinese, how can they continue to be hostile because of some old things in the past, and since Lin Dan Khan and Choktu Taiji have agreed to my invitation to come here, can't I move my feet to meet them? The Mongols are also my Chinese people, so what is there to worry about my safety?

Ezhe and Arslan, you two go and make a stand for me, and tell your father that after I have bathed and changed my clothes, I will go to the camp to meet them. Vice Dong will prepare a batch of wine and food for you and send it together, which can be regarded as picking up the wind and washing the dust for these Mongolian soldiers. ”

Ezhe, Arslan, and Deputy General Dong all agreed, and then hurriedly went down to the city to prepare. After these people walked away, Gui Yingcha finally couldn't help but ask Chongzhen, who was about to go down to the city: "Your Majesty really wants to go to the camp outside the city to meet the King of Khan?" ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him and said with a smile: "Why, with you, the number one warrior of Mongolia, you can't protect my safety?" ”

Gui Yingcha immediately replied: "No, King Khan did not mean to plot against His Majesty, and asked His Majesty to learn from it." ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, and couldn't help but lower his voice and asked, "If King Khan really has this intention, what does the general plan to do?" ”

Gui Yingcha hesitated for a long time before he said: "If the King of Khan orders the foreign ministers to attack the border pass of the Ming Dynasty, the foreign ministers should do it." But if the Khan wanted to trick His Majesty into the camp, the foreign ministers would not let the Khan do such a self-destructive thing. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately patted him on the shoulder with a smile and said: "The general is really a kind person, and there are many brave and reckless men on the grassland, but there are not many sincere gentlemen like the general. Well, with your promise, I still have something to fear. ”

After Zhu Youzhen finished speaking, he went down to the city tower and returned to the general's mansion to bathe and change clothes. For the emperor's adventure, whether it was Hai Lanzhu or Wu Huai and other generals were not in favor, although the Ming army in Zhangjiakou was much more than the Mongolian cavalry outside the city, 30 miles away from here, there was a Ming cavalry team monitoring the Mongolian army.

But if the emperor himself had entered the camp of Lin Dan Khan, these troops would not have been able to count on them. Zhu Youzhen didn't care about this, he said to the people who advised him: "In this world, there is no way to succeed without taking risks, and this alliance between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian left will determine whether the two sides can trust each other in future cooperation."

If, like Lin Dan Khan, I did not dare to leave my personal safety to the Mongols to protect them, how could the leaders of the Mongol tribes believe that the Great Ming really wanted to treat them as his own and not use them to destroy the enemies of the Ming Dynasty? I went to see Lin Dan Khan, not to win the trust of the Chahar tribe, but to tell the Mongol tribes that in my eyes, they were no different from the Han people in Guannei.

As long as the Mongolian tribes can be convinced of our Ming Dynasty, then the south of the desert, the north of the desert, and even the Western Regions and Central Asia will become the land of China. ”