Despite strengthening the garrison of Liangzhou Mansion, Li Zicheng was still not at ease.

Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, is the focus of his business, but Lanzhou is backed by the Yellow River and close to the border wall, as long as the nomadic tribe breaks the border wall, Lanzhou will bear the brunt.

No, such an important town must not be placed under the tiger's mouth of a nomadic tribe!

Li Zicheng opened the march map, although Lanzhou is close to the side wall, but to the north of Lanzhou, there is an outer wall, if the territory is advanced to the outer wall......

Between the inner and outer walls, there is a buffer distance of at least three hundred miles, and there are a large number of valleys in the middle, and the end is an excellent terrain for defense, but I don't know, who is the owner of this land now, it should be a tribe of the Mongols, right?

To the southwest of Lanzhou is Gongchang Mansion, which is already the territory of the Mandate of Heaven Army, but in the northeast direction, that is, directly north of Gongchang Mansion, it is the Jingyu Guard of the Ming Dynasty, which also threatens Lanzhou Mansion.

The inner and outer walls, Jingyuwei, and the escaped Tashhai, Huluke Zhaisang, the three sets of data are twisted in the brain like a ball of twisted flowers, if it were not for the incident of the Mongols escaping from the big grass beach, Li Zicheng almost ignored the protection of Lanzhou City.

What to do?

The matter of Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisang is best solved, summon Lin Dan Khan, and punish them to be finished, they were originally Mongols, and their dependence on the Mandate of Heaven is only temporary, and the punishment is heavy, which is likely to trigger their centrifugal tendencies, besides, they are already so poor that it is difficult to have a fine and confiscated income.

However, Jingyuwei is more important, this is a strategic place for the Ming army to protrude west of Longshan, and it can be used as a springboard to attack Lanzhou and Gongchang in the west, and retreat, which can rely on the remaining veins of Longshan to block the eastward advance of the Mandate of Heaven.

If you want to ensure the safety of Lanzhou Mansion, Jing Yuwei must be uprooted.

Among the seven thousand households of the Mandate of Heaven Army, there are now Li Guobu, Qin Danian, and Song Wen Ministry, who are resting in Xining, and the troops are abundant.

Judging from the number of battles, Qin Danian's department obviously lacks the experience of large-scale battles, and it should be the most suitable for Qin Danian's department to attack Jingyuwei, but the matter of entering Bashu in the south is about to be ruined.

The area between the inner and outer Great Wall has always been the blind spot of the Heavenly Mandate Army, judging from the marching map, in addition to the peaks of different sizes, there is basically no place name, and this is not the territory of the Ming Dynasty now.

Nomads pose a greater threat to Lanzhou.

In order to expel the nomads, it is necessary to use cavalry, although Li Guobu has a thousand households of soldiers and a thousand households of auxiliaries, but they have very few battles with the nomads, Li Zicheng is not sure of victory.

Besides, Li Guo only has a thousand soldiers, is it enough?

Li Zicheng put these three things together and suddenly had an idea, why not so?

He decided to send out his men to investigate the area first.

The next morning, the heralds sent by Zhou Bin arrived in Xining, apparently on their way overnight.

Only then did Li Zicheng get relatively complete information: Tashhai and Huluke Zhaisang first drunk the prison army of the Heavenly Mandate Army, then killed them, and escaped with the young men of Yonggu City at night.

In addition to carrying food, they fled completely lightly, and even their respective women and children were left on the big grass beach.

Li Zicheng asked the herald to go down to rest, but he was furious in his heart, even the prison army dared to kill, if there was no punishment, who would dare to serve as the prison army in the future?

He immediately sent a message to Zhou Bin, asking Lin Dan Khan to hurry to Dacaotan, and at the same time gathered Li Guo's cavalry, prepared dry food and water for five days, and set off in the afternoon to rush to Dacaotan.

Dacaotan is in the northeast direction of Xining, if you rush to Kadang City, it is a long detour, Li Zicheng crossed the Huangshui, and then traveled dozens of miles north along the Shatang River, and camped in Weiyuan County that night.

After dawn, after breakfast in Weiyuan County, enter the eastbound Dacaotan Road, along the way every dozens of miles, you can see Mongolian villages, most of them are tents, but there are also some earthen thatched houses.

It seems that there are already people who are used to settling.

Li Zicheng did not disturb these Mongolian herdsmen, but went straight to the center of the big grass beach, Yonggu City.

Under the guidance of the herdsmen, before dusk, the blue-gray mud walls of Yonggu City appeared in front of his eyes.

The current Yonggu City is still the same as it was before the frost last year, the city wall is only seven or eight feet high, and it is only the prototype of the castle, and there is not even a city gate.

More than 1,000 cavalry entered the city, setting off a grand formation, for the old and weak women and children who stayed in the city in Mongolia, they had not seen so many cavalry for a long time.

Moreover, Tashhai and Huluke Zhaisang have just escaped, will the Han people blame them?

The old men all silently got into their tents, or the simple thatched huts they had just built, and they didn't dare to poke their heads out, and the women were inspired, each pulling their own children, and going back to the house first, although there were a few half-old children, and they wanted to continue the original game, but they were all dragged into the tent by their Ehe (Niang).

The tents of the Mongols were just a thick layer of tarpaulin, and they did not have the ability to guard, but through the tents, as long as they could not see the cavalry of the Han Chinese, the fear in their hearts would be lowered.

Li Zicheng saw that there were two thatched huts with courtyards in the center of the city, which were estimated to be the residences of Tashihai or Huluke Zhaisang, so he pointed with his hand, "Let people go indoors and have a look!" ”

"Yes, Grand Duke!" He Xiaomi agreed, Li Zicheng took several personal soldiers to investigate in the house, and soon retreated, followed by a middle-aged Mongolian woman, "Governor, there is only one woman in the house!" ”

"Oh?" Li Zicheng asked a soldier who was familiar with the Mongolian language to come and translate, "Who are you?" Why is there only one person in the room? ”

A few strands of hair fell out, covering half of the face, and the rest of the body was dark, I don't know if it was the color of the skin, or it was stained with ash.

The shape and contour of the face are good, the top and the bottom are pointed, maybe when she was young, she was still a beauty on the steppe, but her waist is too thick, from the shoulders to the hip bones, almost comparable to the Mongolian horse's milk bucket!

The woman's eyes were a little dull, flickered twice, and Fang said, "I must (I) be...... Tash ...... The woman, Tashhai...... It's gone...... So only ...... remained. I will ......"

It turned out to be Tashhai's wife! Li Zicheng sneered in his heart, Tashhai was so busy that he didn't even want his wife, after all, he was a Mongolian! "What about Tashhai? Where did he go? ”

The woman shook her head blankly, "He's gone, don't have (me) anymore......"

Abandoned by Tashhai, the woman must have experienced great pain and blows, so she became in a trance, however, Li Zicheng did not sympathize with her, "If you are not of my race, her heart will be different", the Mandate of Heaven Army can not raise the Tashhai with a large grass beach and white-faced steamed buns, such a foreign race, don't do it!

He Xiaoxiao saw that Li Zicheng's eyes were not good, so he leaned forward and cut down with his right hand, "Metropolitan Governor, do you want to ......?"

Li Zicheng shook his head, it may be useful to keep this woman.

He asked his soldiers to pitch tents in the city, but he asked his own soldiers to bring in the Mongols who were in charge of the city.

About a bag of cigarettes, the soldiers brought seven or eight old men, "Governor, they said that the people in charge of the city were originally Tashhai and Huluke Zhaisang, but now they have all run away, and there is no manager in the city, so ...... The subordinates captured a few old men......"

"Ask them how many people are still in the city!"

"Together with the elderly, women and children, there are more than 300 people in total!"

"After Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisang left, what have they been feeding for the past few days?"

"There are some beef and mutton jerky left from before, but it's almost gone!"

"And some of the Mongols, where do they live? How do you contact them on a daily basis? ”

"Scattered around Yonggu City, they don't communicate with each other on weekdays, and when something happens, Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisang will send people to look for them."

"Where is the corpse of the Han prisoner?"

"They are worried about the retaliation of the Han people, and they have already buried the bodies of the Han people, just outside the southern city!"

"Tell these Mongols that if anyone dares to escape again, they will be killed!" Li Zicheng felt that his words were superfluous, these old and weak, and the lack of horses, let them escape, and they could only starve to death.

After dawn, Li Zicheng combed the Mongols in the city, not a single young and strong, although the Mongols' food was good, but they only had a few days' food, they really couldn't get it, they could only let them fend for themselves, it was really not good, they could only slaughter livestock.

Li Zicheng went outside the city to pay respects to the two Han Chinese prisoners who had been killed, and then cleaned up the Mongol villages closer to the city.

Probably because they were worried that the old and weak were dragging their feet, even on the road to escape from Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisan, the Mongol villages were still intact, and the young and strong did not accompany them.

According to their own accounts, they learned about the escape only after the flight of Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisan.

Li Zicheng did not embarrass them, but returned to the city to wait for Lin Dan Khan.

Two days later, Lin Dan Khan and Namu Zhong rushed to Yonggu City with a thousand cavalry, and when they heard that Li Zicheng was in the city, they immediately came to the big tent to pay respects, "Knock on the Mandate of Heaven Khan!" ”

"Hutuktu Khan, what's going on with your subordinates?" Li Zicheng kept a calm face and did not let Lin Danhan and Namu Zhong get up.

"Mandate of Heaven, Ben Khan is stationed in Datong Mountain, and they don't have much contact with Tashhai on weekdays, Ben Khan really doesn't know...... Tashhai, Huluk Zhaisang, these two things should be eaten by wolves......"

"Khutuktu Khan, you don't know a word, do you push it cleanly?" Li Zicheng was still angry, and said viciously: "They are your subordinates, whether you instruct them or not, they will inevitably be overlooked......

"Destiny Khan, Ben Khan...... Ben Khan really didn't know...... "Lin Dan Khan was used to seeing Li Zicheng's easy-goingness, but he didn't expect Li Zicheng to be so angry that he was so anxious that he sweated on his forehead."

Namu Zhong raised his head slightly, looking forward to a pair of big eyes, "Heavenly Destiny Khan, things have happened, and now...... Is there any remedy? ”

Li Zicheng glanced at her, sighed, and said, "You guys, get up first!" ”

"Thank you Destiny Khan!" Lin Dan Khan and Namu Zhong both got up, but they didn't dare to sit down.

"Khutuktu Khan, Ben Khan gave them the steppe and food, and they turned out to be ......"

Lin Dan Khan's gaze was both frightened and angry, "Heavenly Destiny Khan, what should I do now...... Something like this happened...... Ben Khan pleaded guilty ......"

"Hey......" Li Zicheng knew that he couldn't be forced too hard, so he said: "I heard that in the Songshan area, there are people who are responding to Tashhai and Huluke Zhaisang ......"

"Matsuyama?" Lin Dan Khan suddenly raised his drooping head, and his eyes lit up, "Heavenly Destiny Khan, maybe Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisang are still in the Songshan area!" ”

"Impossible," Li Zicheng shook his head, "They didn't even bring women and children, they just wanted to run faster, how could they stay in Songshan and let you chase and kill?" ”

"Heavenly Destiny Khan," Lin Dan Khan clenched his fists, and even his bones "snapped" loudly, "In the Songshan area, it is the truth, Huoluochi and other departments, they eat inside and out, collude with Tashhai and Huluk Zhaisang, they must not let them go!" ”