The desert is lonely, and the sun sets over the long river.

When the sun sets, the otherwise calm grassland turns into a sea of lively tents.

The simple tents stretch for more than 100 miles, forming a lively scene.

The 700,000-strong army in the middle formed a flat force, and not only the people on the grassland, but even the animals on the grassland also suffered.

Herds of wolves, leopards, and, rarely, bison, have become the targets of the army.

Everywhere you go, there is simply no grass.

Except for the bison, which were tamed by nose rings and tamed by heavy camps, most of the wild beasts became food for the mouths of the army.

Many generals would run dozens of miles with their guards to hunt during the camp, and most of the time they would not fail.

Zhu Zhanji also thought about it at first, but as soon as he left the camp, more than 2,000 people in Yulin Zuowei did not dare to be careless, so they had to follow.

This kind of hard work made him lose his interest in hunting.

Every evening, he could only lead his guards around the camp to practice riding.

In modern times, his riding skills were already very good, and when he came to ancient times, he practiced since he was a child, and now his riding skills are no worse than anyone else.

In particular, his horses are all the best horses of this era, and the sweat and blood horses and Arabian horses are a lot higher than the Mongolian (ancient) horses, which gives him a greater advantage on the battlefield.

His guards also became a sight for the army, and during the month of the march, he had covered almost all the guards.

Up to every general, down to every soldier, they all knew him.

Zhu Zhanji, who came from later generations, did not have too strict class thinking, whether it was a general or a small soldier, he treated him equally, which also made his good reputation spread throughout the camp.

When passing through the wasteland area, Zhu Zhanji encountered a baggage truck stuck in the sand, and jumped off the horse to help push the cart.

This insignificant act made countless people at that time fall to their knees and cry bitterly.

For those lowest-level soldiers, Zhu Zhanji, the grandson, helped them personally, which was a great blessing.

The hearts of the people are also gathered little by little.

The march of the army was not in a straight line, nor did it directly cross thousands of miles of wasteland. With an army of 700,000 people, food is easy to solve, and the biggest problem is water.

Therefore, the march of the army was also advancing from water to grass, and the route gradually shifted to the eastern grassland.

In later generations, Zhu Zhanji came to Mongolia and investigated the large-scale iron ore discovered at that time, although he did not invest, but he was not unfamiliar with the terrain here.

In later generations, it has become a wasteland, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the ancient plateau, in this era there are still more than half of the area is grassland, especially in the eastern region, many areas are still lush with water and grass.

After April, the grass on the grassland has grown, which also reduces the burden on the supply of grain and grass for livestock.

Halfway through the journey, the Warats had all gathered and were actively preparing for battle.

They practiced a policy of clearing the wilderness on the steppe, and for a month on the march, there was hardly a single person to be seen, except for a few abandoned elderly herdsmen.

Through the information sent back by the scout battalion of the young army and the scout of the large army, the Warat people have now withdrawn from the Hannan River and moved west.

Their current army is mainly gathered in the areas of Hulan, Helin, and Kanghari, facing the Ming army.

Although the Ming army broke the Tatars four years ago, the three tribes of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were not afraid of the Ming army, as long as they were not surrounded by the Ming army and gave full play to the advantage of a large number of people, the Warat people would not be afraid of the Ming army at all.

Moreover, this is still in the grassland, and the Warats can come and go as they please.

And the Ming army did not have any psychological advantage in the face of the Warat people who were good at riding and shooting, and they did not dare to divide the troops at all, because if they divided the troops, they would have a great possibility of losing the battle in the face of the various defeats of the Warat people.

It is a pity that the power of firearms in this era is limited, if it is ten years later, Zhu Zhanji is confident that he will arm a sharper Shenji battalion, at that time, the advantage of cavalry will no longer exist.

However, these can only be thought of, there is no such thing as a step to the sky, everything has to be done step by step.

In this era, Zheng He did not lose money when he went to the West, did not spend huge sums of money to build Beiping, and the national strength of the Ming Dynasty was thriving, and the strength and weakness would never be reversed in his hands.

"Your Highness, there is a barbecue in front!"

Zhu Zhanji raised his eyes and saw that there was a faint smoke rising from the river bay in front of him, and more than a dozen horses were thrown around to graze.

However, this is within the warning area of the Ming army, and the people who come and go are Ming soldiers, and it is impossible to be a foreign enemy.

Zhu Zhanji picked up the monoculars on his chest, pulled out the lens, adjusted the focal length, and the scene in the lens came into view clearly.

The telescope is made of wooden pillars with thick wooden pillars and thin wooden pillars, with hand-polished pure crystal mounted at both ends. Although it is only about six times as good, it is very effective when used in the desert.

"It's Yunchuanwei's soldiers, let's go, let's go fight the autumn wind."

When the guards heard this, they burst into laughter, for a period of time, Zhu Zhanji rarely ate in the camp, and when it was time for dinner, he would fight the autumn breeze everywhere.

was beaten by the grandson in the autumn wind, this is a very glorious thing. Therefore, every time it is time to set up camp, as long as there are soldiers who have harvested, they all deliberately set up pots and stoves around the camp, bonfires, and look forward to Zhu Zhanji going to fight the autumn wind.

They want to tie up with Zhu Zhanji, and Zhu Zhanji also wants to use such an opportunity to win people's hearts. So even if Zhu Zhanji knew what these people's intentions were, he deliberately took the initiative to send them to the door.

Life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills.

Less than three miles away, horseback riding is a matter of minutes.

Zhu Zhanji led the guards to this river bay, and the soldiers who were busy peeling and slaughtering meat stopped their work one after another as if they had just woken up from a dream and bowed down. "See His Royal Highness Taisun."

Zhu Zhanji jumped off his horse and said with a smile: "No courtesy...... How's it going to be today? ”

The leader was about 20 years old, wearing a thousand household clothes, and when he saw Zhu Zhanji's questioning, he immediately said: "Back to Your Highness, I hunted six wolves today, and a female leopard. ”

There are twenty or thirty people on the other side, and the lowest rank is also a hundred households, and no matter how low the official rank, there will be no free time for dinner.

And there are nearly 100 people on his side, and these gains are barely enough to eat.

Zhu Zhanji smiled: "I don't know if I am welcome to wait for ......"

"This is an honor for the ministers, I just hope that His Highness will not be contemptuous."

Zhu Zhanji saw that they had set up a cauldron, and knew that they were prepared, so he turned back to Li Liang and instructed: "You send someone back to bring fifty catties of wheat flour, and a few more people will go over to help." ”

Wheat flour is flour, and white flour is also a staple food in this era, and most civilians can afford to eat it.

Today, if you have meat, pick a little wild vegetables, and make a pot of gnocchi, it is a good meal in this era.

Seeing a few eunuchs go up to help, a group of soldiers were not polite. Because what they want to do makes Zhu Zhanji feel delicious, they also need the eunuchs who are most familiar with Zhu Zhanji's preferences.

Zhu Zhanji handed the reins of his horse to Li Liang, rubbed two handfuls on the neck of the sweaty horse, and then followed Li Liang to a river beach with lush water and grass.

In this small river in the desert and grassland, the flow is very small, less than a meter deep and less than 20 meters wide. In the fall, I'm afraid it will be cut off.

Zhu Zhanji does not know the specific location here, but according to the test of the sextant, it is about 46 degrees north latitude and 112 degrees east longitude.

Because there was a lake upstream and a small river downstream, it served as a base for the camp.

Greeting all the soldiers one by one, everyone trembled with excitement, which is also the norm for most soldiers. For them, Taisun and them are the gap between heaven and earth.

Only the leading Qianhu was calm as usual, Zhu Zhanji looked at him a little familiar, and said: "Yunchuan Wei is stationed in Yunzhong County, Meng Yuan changed to Zhenwu, and the commander makes me remember that it is Liu Zhu, right?" ”

"Your Highness has a good memory, the current commander of my Yunchuan Wei is indeed Lord Liu, but since Yongle defeated the Tatars in the eighth year, our border guards have moved to the left, and now they are stationed in Shengle Land City."

Seeing that he was neither humble nor arrogant, Zhu Zhanji asked: "I don't think you are from an ordinary family, where is your ancestral home?" ”

His calm face couldn't help but be a little excited, and he hurriedly lowered his head and hugged his fists and said: "The minister's name is Xu Jingyan, his father is the longevity of Dingguo Gong, and he is the second in the family, and now he is in Yunchuan Wei for a thousand households." ”

Zhu Zhanji paused for a moment, frowned at him and said, "So, you are still my cousin, but why have you never heard of you?" ”

Dingguo Mansion, Jingzi generation, that is Queen Xu's nephew, is a generation older than Zhu Zhanji.

Although Zhu Zhanji is not close to the Xu family, he also has some contacts during the New Year's holidays.

Zhu Zhanji has also seen the three sons and two daughters of Xu Zengshou, the prince of Dingguo in the previous generation, and now there is a sudden one that he has not heard of, and it is inevitable that there will be some suspicions.

Xu Jingyan hesitated for a moment and said: "After the minister's mother's sin, she is not allowed to enter the family tree." ”

Zhu Zhanji was a little relieved at this time, the hierarchy in the early Ming Dynasty was strict, and it was already rare for a background like Xu Jingyan to be recognized by the Xu family and arrange a position for a thousand households.

He said with relief: "Fame is only taken from the horse, what a hero is a husband." Ruzu Wei Guogong I is a hero, your father Dingguo Gong is upright, I hope you don't fall into their reputation. ”

"The minister will never live up to His Royal Highness's high expectations and fight for a future."

This is clearly wanting to take refuge in himself. Zhu Zhanji smiled and nodded, but said nothing else.

No matter how nice it sounds, it's better to fight with real knives and guns. His eldest brother Xu Jingchang has been moving closer to him, but he is talentless and mediocre, and Zhu Zhanji can't look down on him.

If he is really capable, Zhu Zhanji doesn't mind supporting him, but if he doesn't have the ability, he won't embarrass the Dingguo Mansion because of him.

At the end of the day, it's about having the ability.

However, with the idea of supporting him, and being a relative, Zhu Zhanji naturally treated him differently, and when he was eating, he specially let him sit next to him and introduced him to his guards.

This can be regarded as leaving him a shortcut.