At night, Li Yu quietly crossed the Heihe River and rushed to the Silver Buddha Temple in the south of Kuku and Tuncheng, which used to be the family temple of Altan Khan, where the Living Buddha of Maidali and the Lama of Qiuerji had sat on the bed, and when Chahar invaded the west, Xi ordered Setaiji to dedicate this temple to Chahar Khan, and it is still in the hands of the Chahar people. The road was close to the arrival soon, Li Yu dismounted and saluted the lama at the door, and hurriedly entered the temple with several guards such as Mo Rige and Wu Xian.

"He's still waiting for you, he won't leave until he sees you, and he won't give me any face." Ortai greeted him and led Li Yu into a side hall.

"Sanghar Village Jinong, do you have anything important that you must see me?" Li Yu asked an old man with a white beard sitting in the hall - Chahar Khan urged for this year's military tickets, and now it should be called silver money, and it turned out to be the important minister Sangha Erzhai Jinong, Ortai personally handed over 10,000 taels of silver bills to him, but the old man refused to leave, and insisted on seeing Li Yu.

"Li Yucha, if Jin Guozhushen calls, what are you going to do? Fight, surrender, or flee? The old man stared at Li Yu and asked slowly.

"What do you have any definite news? Tell me! Li Yu jumped up in shock.

"There is no definite news at the moment, but the Chahar people who escaped from the Jin country brought another news, the Jin country has a famine again this year," Sanhar Zhai's face was full of sorrow, and his voice was low and said, "Last year, the Jin country also had a great drought, and the grain harvest was very bad, and the Jin Khan was forced to launch the battle of the Daling River under internal and external pressure, but this battle was almost nothing, but it added tens of thousands of mouths to the surrendered Ming army, and there was a snow disaster last winter, and the Mongolia and Zhushen of the Jin country suffered heavy losses like us, freezing to death, starving to death of countless livestock, and countless hands stretched out to eat, Jin Guohan can't do it if he wants to go to war! ”

"Maybe, maybe the Jin Kingdom will go south." After Li Yu finished speaking, he felt that he didn't believe it either.

"Don't dream, the Great Khan and you attacked people twice, and there will be a third? Prepare for battle, the Great Khan is a descendant of the Mongols, if you don't get rid of him, you won't conquer the Mongols, and the Great Khan doesn't even have a chance to surrender, I would like to know your plans. Sanghar Zhai said coldly.

"It's impossible for us to surrender, Fengzhou is too strong, they can't tolerate us, unless we are willing to be broken up to be the Aha of Zhushen. However, Sanghar Village Jinong, we have an oath first, and we are fully sure of repelling the attack of the Jin State with our strength. Ortai replied decisively.

"What would you do if I told you that the Great Khan had secretly sent people to the west of Ordos to scout the roads, water and grass?"

"He's trying to run away again! No, he will run and I will run, and he will not want to leave me behind. Li Yu shouted angrily.

"Can you run, the Chahar people live as nomads, you can run if you want, but you have crops, iron factories, workshops, and hundreds of thousands of Han people, where can you hide?" Sangha Erzhai said with a sneer, and Ortai couldn't help but show bitterness on his face.

"He has been lying to me, I should have thought of it a long time ago, let me increase my strength, and then kick me to the front, but I escaped, but I can't beat the Jin army! I need time, can't the Great Khan hold out for another three years? Li Yu covered his head and groaned.

"The Great Khan has already seen you through, you are a fool, the Great Khan has been silently cultivating an opponent for the Jin State in the past few years, and you have made him see hope, the Great Khan is really a saint!" Sangha Erzhai put away his smile and asked Li Yu again sternly, "You answer me honestly, is it to fight, surrender or escape?" ”

"Do I have a choice? Fight, fight to the end, I know what Sibeile will do, kill the people of Fengzhou first, and then divide the rest of the people to Zhushen to be Aha, and finally burn the Fengzhou River without hesitation, Zhushen has too little population, they will never have the courage to accept us. Li Yu said bitterly.

"Okay, this is our Mongolian Humbaturu, the Great Khan is cowardly by nature, he has long lost the courage to fight a decisive battle with the Jin State, he also understands that he will fall sooner or later, but he doesn't want to let go of the Jin people, Mongolia needs to re-erect a big banner and continue to fight with the Jin State, I firmly believe that he has made a right choice," Sanhar Zhai said excitedly, tears flowed from his eyes, "I am old, I don't want to die in shame on the way to escape, the Chahar people are the descendants of the cowardly Xue Tieqi created by the ancestor Genghis Khan, You can die but you can never surrender, Humba Tulu, I want to fight with you! ”

"Sanghar Village Jinong, you saw the commander just to say this?" Ortai asked.

"Is there anything more important than that? I have to tell Humbaturu that he is not fighting alone, and the old Sangha Er Zhai will fight with him to the end," Sangha Er Zhai looked at Li Yu and said in a low voice, "I estimate that the time for Jin Guo Khan to attack us will be about April or May, and the Great Khan will definitely escape, but I will not obey my fate, but I will stay with my subordinates, if possible, I will intercept some of the Chahars, and then move closer to Weining Haizi together, and join your Xing and Wei Lian, we will continue to fight together, Humba Tulu, I believe in you, and you should believe in me as well. ”

Li Yu was silent for a while, then stood up and said, "Uncle Sangha Erzhai, I believe in you, let's fight together to the end!" ”

Li Yu, Ortai and Sanghar Zhai Jinong discussed for a long time, Li Yu agreed to take in the remaining Chahar tribes when the Jin army came to attack, and provided them with weapons, grain and grass, and Sankha Zhai asked Li Yu, as one of the Chahar Jinong, must take on the important task of protecting and leading the Chahar tribes at that time, Ortai also suggested that Li Yu use the statement about Dayan Khan's soul possession to re-erect the anti-Jin banner on behalf of the fleeing Great Khan, and unite the Mongolian tribes to drive the Jin people out of the steppe just as Dayan Khan drove out the Western Mongols.

At the end of the talks, Li Yu and Ortai said goodbye to Sangha Erzhai and hurried back, at this time the sky was already bright, Ortai suggested that he go to Fengzhou Wei to rest his feet first, and eat something by the way, Li Yu also felt sleepy and hungry, and immediately agreed.

Fengzhou Wei Daying is not far from the Heihe River, different from the Acropolis of Dongshengwei, here is the Bansheng gathering place, the people are mainly farming, living in the Ming Dynasty Shanxi style houses, the accent is also the Han dialect of northern Jin, there are also canals and large areas of farmland around, the Mongolian tents, cattle and sheep are relatively much less, Fengzhou Wei Daying is more like a Han village.

Fengzhou Wei Commander Bu Yantu and Tongzhi Zhang Miaoshou heard that the great commander and the big decision were coming, and hurriedly ran to the official room, Li Yu and Ortai were already eating the gruel with yam eggs inside, and a man in his thirties next to them was chatting with them while eating.

"There's nothing else, just passing by to beg for a hot meal, you can also come and eat together," Ortai greeted Buyantu and pointed at the man casually, "The Grand Commander was still saying just now, Gu Keli did a good job, and I want to transfer him to the Grand Commander's Mansion, do you have no opinion?" ”

"That's not good, I don't have much to do here, the Great Commander's Mansion is leaving, who will do my work here?" Buyantu hurriedly shook his head.

"I'm afraid that your Fengzhou Wei officials will not have a good relationship, and I will use those you don't want to use." Li Yu said with a smile.

"I'm not so dead-eyed, I'm going to use it if it's a talent, no matter where he comes from, Xiaogu is very capable, if the commander wants to promote him, let him be the servant of Fengzhou Wei."

"Great Commander, the villagers of Fengzhou Wei are familiar with me, and I am reluctant to leave them, so I will stay here." Gu Keli also said.

Gu Keli was originally the leader of Zhao Sheng's subordinates, and after immigrating to Fengzhou, he did not accept the official position sent by the Great Commander's Office, but went down to Fengzhou Wei to participate in a public election of 100 households, and was successfully elected as a 100 households. This person has read for a few days to be able to read and write, he has planted the land and has done business, his brain is more active, and he is fair and upright, his hundred households not only farm and graze, but also do business, mining, boiling salt, burning bricks, all kinds of work, the people's life is better, the relationship between Mongolia and Han is harmonious, last winter there was a snowstorm, his hundred households are the most united, the people help each other, the young and strong also go to the mountains to hunt, icebreaker fishing to find food, the whole hundred households did not die a single person, Buyantu found this talent, Without hesitation, he was transferred to the 5,000th household directly under him as a thousand-household, and this guy did a good job.

Zhang Miaoshou said to Li Yu: "Xiaogu can't go, he wants to build an iron factory in Fengzhou Beach, and the iron-making furnace has been built, and it won't be long before we have our own iron factory in Fengzhouwei, and we can make weapons and farm tools by ourselves." ”

"You built your own iron works? It costs a lot of money, and besides, do you have the craft? Li Yu shook his head again and again, there are some blacksmith shops in the Wei Institute, but it is the first time I have heard of the ironworks.

Buyantu said proudly: "We have no money and no craftsmanship, but we have two treasures, the commander has not been back to Baita Village for a long time, your village has two iron masters from Yangcheng, Shanxi, first make some iron needles and iron sickles to sell, and then take over the work of the Ordnance Division, the kind of bird gun pipe in the past twenty taels of silver can not be done, people work well and do it quickly, the deputy envoy of the Department of Industry and Commerce Wang Chong is also a native of Yangcheng, Shanxi, and is about to partner with two fellow villagers to open an iron factory, Xiao Gu said that this is a good opportunity to make a fortune, and our health office has also entered a share, This is, of course, our ironworks. ”

Li Yu was very interested, and immediately asked carefully, Gu Keli said very honestly, in fact, things are not so simple, now there is only one iron-making furnace, and it takes three or four days to produce a furnace of molten iron, which is only a hundred catties of pig iron, and it will take a few years to become a climate. Everyone talked for a while, Gu Keli said hello and went out to get busy - Bu Yantu and Zhang Miaoshou are both participating in politics or councils, and they are qualified to participate in major confidential matters, and it is not appropriate for him to stay, and the people in the room began to talk about important matters at this time.

"Then let's fight, Chahar Khan is unreliable, our own home is guarded by ourselves," Buyantu listened to the matter of Sanghar Village, and said after a long silence, "Chahar invaded the West, I have already escaped once, it is not pleasant to be chased and beaten, I don't want to run anymore, I want to die on the land of my hometown." ”

"Where else can we escape, there is no way to live in the pass, and we can't take away the crops, iron factories, and workshops, let's fight, it's better to die in battle than to starve to death when the homeless people die, and many people will admit to death." Zhang Miaoshou also said firmly.

Li Yu nodded and said: "If the Jin army comes to the door, we can't fight it, I don't believe that 200,000 people can't beat the tens of thousands of Jin troops from afar, what I'm most afraid of is the people of Fengzhou, Buyantu, I know you have ideas about immigration, let me ask you, when the fight starts, can you take the villagers of Fengzhou Wei out and work together to fight to the death?" ”

"The Great Commander doesn't trust me," Buyantu got up and opened the door, pointing to a mound not far away, "We Mongolians call that mound an iron base, according to legend, it is the tomb of the princess Wang Zhaojun of the Han Dynasty, I plan to repair the tomb when I have money later." Princess Zhaojun married on the grassland, eliminated the war between the Han and the Xiongnu, helped the people on the grassland learn to dig wells, farm, and raise pasture, and the people everywhere they went were healthy, agriculture and animal husbandry were prosperous, and the people on the grassland admired her and commemorated her from generation to generation. ”

"But I hate the Ming Kingdom, when we were in the West Sea, our children were starving, women were freezing, and it was hard to find a pasture to graze, and the soldiers of the Xining Guard of the Ming Kingdom came out to drive us away, saying that it was their territory, that was the grassland where the grassland people had grazed for generations, why did they say that it was theirs, we couldn't afford to provoke them, we were willing to honor their emperor, and we could also pay tribute to the court, but they thought we were dirty, we were poor, they didn't care about us at all, and they wanted to kill our people, Du Wenhuan, who just came, led the Ming army to kill countless of our clansmen, do we deserve to die if we are poor? Buyantu roared angrily, pointed at Zhang Miao's hand and said, "I also said this in front of Lao Zhang, I just hate the Ming people, but I hate those Han people who are hypocritical and unkind, like Lao Zhang and Xiao Gu, who are willing to live and die with us, and I am also willing to treat them as brothers." ”

"Bu Yantu, you shut up for me, these words are for this reason, you must not go out and talk nonsense, at this time, I want every Fengzhou person to get along like a brother, and the old accounts of the past are not allowed to be mentioned again," Li Yu stood up and scolded Bu Yantu suddenly, paused for a while and said, "The tomb of Zhaojun will be repaired at the expense of the Grand Commander's Mansion, and it will be done after spring ploughing, and you Fengzhou Wei will save a few dollars." ”

Buyantu lowered his head and was silent for a while and said: "Don't worry, the Great Commander, I know in my heart, I will never cause chaos to the Great Commander's Mansion, if the Jin Army fights, Fengzhou Wei will definitely be able to fight to the death." ”

"That's it, Flying Tiger Ride and go back with the big break, I'll go to Baita Village to have a look, I haven't been back for a long time." After Li Yu finished speaking, he went out with his hands behind his back.

Baita Village is not far from here, Li Yu and more than a dozen guards galloped all the way, and soon arrived at the entrance of the village, the chief flag of the village, Su He, was walking outside the village with a cow - this person couldn't be idle, he came out early in the morning to sneak livestock, and saw the familiar figure coming on, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Yuzi, you're coming home." Su He said lightly, and patted the half-grown son who went out of the village with him, "Zhuzi, go back and tell grandpa and the people in the village that the general of our village has gone home." ”

Jida jumped off the horse and helped his brother hold the cow, Li Yu stepped forward and hugged Su He affectionately, and greeted him with a smile - Su He married the widow of Zhou from the Barbarian Han Mountain, Li Yu only knew afterwards, and complained that everyone didn't tell him, Ulan said that you are busy all day long, how can others be embarrassed to say, but Su He's family used to be her subordinates, and she wanted to fulfill the love of the main family, and she had personally gone to Baita Village to give a gift.

Su He accompanied Li Yu to the iron factory in the west of the village, and the two young men standing guard at the gate saw that the general flag came over with a group of people, and the tall man headed by him seemed to be a big official, as if he had seen it somewhere, Su He shouted to the two stunned guys, the commander of our village is here, go and inform your squadron leader, the two suddenly remembered that this was the person on the silver banknote, and ran away in surprise.

The iron factory was steaming, clanging, people were busy in groups of threes and twos, working with their heads down and ignoring the guests, Li Yu heard someone calling him, turned his head and saw that it was Han Laohan, the assistant of the former Ordnance Division Iron Factory, Han Laohan was so excited that he was about to shout, Li Yu waved his hand to signal not to alarm everyone, and asked why he was here.

Han Laohan resigned from the Ordnance Department at the end of last year, and the craftsmen from Yongping were too skilled, and he was embarrassed to mention the credit for making iron pots before, and it was a shame to hang a hundred household titles as assistants, taking advantage of the Fengzhou restructuring to allow private workers to do business, he ran back to Bansheng's hometown and reopened the blacksmith shop. At the beginning of the year, Qianhu Gu Keli found him, hoping that his old man would give full play to his spare heat and go to Baita Village to help Shanxi craftsmen who were not familiar with life to open an iron factory.

"Great Commander, we have worked well in the iron factory and earned money, and the villagers came to help when they were slack, Master Li and Master Chen are powerful people, thanks to Su and his brother who pulled them down in our hundred households, I will take you to see the molten iron today." Han Laohan accompanied Li Yu and said as he walked, he was really grateful to Li Yu, there was no commander, his son Han Dagong, who was not literate and martial, how could he have the opportunity to become such a big official as the inspector, Han Laohan said that he found that the horse lance and plate axe used by the commander were too old, and he specially selected the best fine iron and the best wood to make a new one, and it would be completed in a few days, so he asked his boy to send it to the commander.

The heat wave in the shed is rolling, a pot of molten iron on the iron stove is steaming, two craftsmen who are dressed tightly and only show their eyes stand aside, endure the heat wave and stir the molten iron with wooden sticks, the wooden sticks quickly melt in the molten iron, and the people next to them immediately hand over new wooden sticks, the two keep stirring, the wooden sticks melt one after another, and the color of the molten iron is also changing a little bit, after a while, they stop and clap their hands vigorously, several young people immediately turn the winch, and the crucible containing the molten iron is lifted up a little bit and moved out of the iron furnace and tilted downward, The molten iron sparks splashed into the trough and soon began to solidify, and the people in the shed cheered, and another pot of molten iron was baked!