Li Huai and Zhang Chuanjie took a sentry of the standard cavalry out of Shoukou Fort and Yanghekou, galloped all the way east along the Great Wall, and halfway to the way they met the east sentry led by Han Dagong who retreated westward, Han Dagong recognized at a glance that this was the patrol cavalry that had been trained with them on the side of the Baideng River, and immediately rushed out of the team and ran to Zhang Chuanjie with a shout.

"Zhang Dusi, save my Brother Yuzi, it's too late to go." Han Dagong followed Li Yu and saw Zhang Chuanjie a few times, and shouted anxiously from afar.

"Little brother, don't panic yet, you tell us about the situation over there first." Li Huai grabbed Zhang Chuanjie, who was in a hurry to reinforce him, and said to Han Dagong.

Han Dagong wiped the sweat on his head, roughly described the situation outside Xinping Fort, and then said eagerly: "There are at least three thousand Chahar people, and many of them are armored cavalry, we only have a few hundred people who have been put together temporarily, please go and save our people, Brother Yuzi, they won't be able to resist for long." ”

After Han Dagong finished speaking, Zhang Chuanjie and his subordinates couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, the strength of the other party is too strong, there are only more than 100 of them, it is really hard to say how many can come back after filling in, Wang Yongqiang and Liu Qian, the two captains are staring at Zhang Chuanjie, waiting for him to make a statement, Zhang Chuanjie hesitated for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, this time I will fight with the Yuzi brothers, whether it is dead or alive, Lao Tzu will admit it, let those **** barbarians also understand the power of the Ming men." ”

Zhang Chuanjie's determination, others have nothing to say, since they are out of the customs, they are ready to fight, they can't retract back in a gloomy way, Wang Yongqiang is about to set off immediately, but Liu Qian, who loves to use his brains, proposed to find more branches to drag behind the horse, create some smoke and dust bluff to scare the barbarians.

"There's no need to be so troublesome, how many of us can't hide the barbarism that has lived a lifetime on the horse," Li Huai has been very calm, and smiled slightly when he heard Liu Qian's strategy, these strategies in "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are purely wishful thinking of the literati, and the common people in the Guannai who have not seen much cavalry may sound like gods, but it is in vain to use it on veterans who play cavalry, Li Huai raised his head and pointed in the direction of Xinpingbao and said loudly, "Under the Great Wall is also the territory of my Ming Dynasty, and the barbarians are just a wild dog that runs in, Zhang Dusi, Tell your team to unfurl the banner and blow the military horn, and let's drive over in a dignified manner, and order the barbarians to get out immediately! ”

"Brothers, let's go to Xinping Fort and drive out the barbarians." Zhang Chuanjie was in high spirits when he heard this, and immediately rushed out with his cavalry, the bright red Ming battle flag fluttered in the wind, the sound of the military horn echoed among the mountains, and the Ming army on the Great Wall along the way watched in amazement as the Ming iron cavalry galloped away on the land outside the side wall.

Li Huai and Zhang Chuanjie rushed all the way, rushed to Xinping Fort before the sun was about to set, at this time the Chahar people who were hit by three cannons were still frightened, Zhang Chuanjie waved his hand, more than 100 Ming cavalry held high the battle flag, facing the Chahar people lined up, Li Huai rode out, pointed at the other party with a long sword in his hand, he shouted in Mongolian: "Chahar people listen, this is the foreign land of the Ming Dynasty, you and others are bold to enter the country to provoke, do you want to come to find death?" Our army will come after that, and if it does not depart at once, it will be destroyed in one fell swoop. ”

After Li Huai finished shouting, he breathed a sigh of relief, and roared again in Chinese: "Tuman, get out!" Zhang Chuanjie and his subordinates also shouted with Li Huai: "Tuman, get out!" ”

"Brute, get out!" When the Ming troops on the various piers of Xinpingbao saw their military flags appear outside the pass, they immediately shouted in unison in high spirits.

The angry shouts of the Ming army were earth-shattering, Garma's heart was empty, he gritted his teeth and ordered an immediate retreat, it was going to be dark soon, and the Ming army suddenly appeared in front of him, which made him afraid - although the number of Ming troops in this team is not large, but who knows how many Ming troops are following behind, the behemoth of Ming Guo is not something he can bear, so it is better to run away as soon as possible.

Seeing the Chahar people retreat like a tide, Li Yu turned over and dismounted and sat on the ground, he now only has 400 people left, and the people are sleepy and lacking, if the Chahar people attack again, he can only go into the mountains to escape, Namur, Terig and others finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then sat on the ground, and immediately staggered down a large area on the hillside, and those Shoukouyi people who hid in the mountains also came here in groups of three or five

"Do you remember me?" Li Huai went up the hillside, sat next to Li Yu and asked with a smile.

"Remember, you're Mr. Li." Of course, Li Yu remembered this scholar who asked him a lot of things in Baishan Mountain, this person almost asked him to the bottom of the question, and opened his collar to look at the back of his neck, but at that time Li Yu couldn't get angry, this young man who was not a few years older than him always spoke and behaved towards him with a love that seemed to be only between relatives, which made him feel a rare comfort.

"Didn't I tell you, call me brother in the future, I heard Lord Song say that he gave you a table called Hanmin, then I will call you Hanmin in the future," Li Huai said kindly, but his hand gently wiped the blood on Li Yu's body, and after a while he breathed a sigh of relief, "There is no wound, it seems that the thief didn't hurt you, this time it's too dangerous, you can't be reckless in the future." ”

"Mr. Li, our Yuzi is an iron man, it's not easy for thieves to hurt him," Zhang Chuanjie looked at him in surprise for a while and said, then he pointed upwards again, "It's not early, we have to hurry back, today we are going to walk at night, Mr. Li will go to Yuzi to supervise military affairs in the future, there are many opportunities to talk." ”

"Mr. Li, no, Brother Li, you also want to go to Barbarian Mountain? It's very bitter there. Li Yu asked in surprise.

"Hermes-Epitek is not afraid of hardship, can I, as an elder brother, be afraid?" Li Huai replied with a smile.

Chen Erzhu's trumpet like shouting cattle sounded again, everyone got on their horses again and prepared to go on the road, Li Yu said to Mo Rige: "Brother Mo Rige, you have killed some brothers today, and the livestock, weapons, and armor on the battlefield will be left to you, and the first-level Fang Staff General will give it to him if he wants, and by the way, please help bury the corpses of the villagers, and thank you to General Fang for me after returning to Xinping Fort, I remember this favor." ”

"You can rest assured about this, the remaining brothers will do a good job, I won't go back to Xinpingbao, I have already made an appointment with a dozen brothers to go home with you," Mo Zhige shook his head and said, seeing that Li Yu was a little hesitant, he continued with a smile, "If you want to starve, everyone will starve together, Tumut River is our home!" ”

"Let's go, let's go together." Li Yu nodded, it was already dark at this time, and the torches were lit, and the team went west by the light of the fire.

The team walked more than ten miles, and met the five hundred barbarian mountain iron horsemen led by Zhao Ji, and the two teams were already exhausted - Zhao Ji's men and horses were also after receiving Bi Lige's letter, one person and two horses hurriedly came out of the barbarian mountain, and they hurried out of the barbarian mountain without stopping along the way, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Li Yu and his party, everyone was tired and hungry, and after a few simple words, they rushed to Yanghekou together.

In the second half of the night, the two teams returned to the Hu'er Mountain camp outside Yanghekou, Bi Lige is indeed a good housekeeper, has prepared hot soup and hot rice for everyone, Li Yu and the soldiers gobbled up their stomachs, and then the soldiers went to the bottom of the horse's belly and fell asleep, Li Yu pointed to a few thatched houses, and asked Li Huai and Zhang Chuanjie to take the people who supervised the standard to rest, but he was strong and took Bi Lige to arrange a vigilance.

Li Huai sighed, sat down next to a fire lit by Zhao Ji and closed his eyes to recuperate, Zhang Chuanjie glanced at the soldiers who were still in a daze around him and scolded: "Can't you sleep without a tent?" Learn from other people's examples, and let me sleep. ”

When the sky was bright, Bi Lige gently woke up Li Yu: "Baturu, the deputy envoy is here!" ”

Li Yu opened his eyes, Song Tongyin was standing in front of him, he hurriedly stood up and saluted, Li Huai, Zhang Chuanjie, Zhao Ji, Namur and Terige and others who were sleeping together with him were all awakened, Song Tongyin held them down and whispered: "Don't make a sound, sit down, let the soldiers sleep a little longer." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor and I have received a battle report from Xinping Fort, the barbarians have been driven away by us, descendants, you have done a good job!" When Song Tongyin said this, he glanced at the soldiers who were asleep, and his voice couldn't help but choke a little, "Let the soldiers rest for a while, I will let Shoukoubao bring breakfast to everyone, and I will eat millet porridge and white flour steamed buns today, and I will be full!" ”

Song Tongyin pulled Li Yu and Li Huai to sit down, and said in a low voice: "The Governor and I both want to help you, but unfortunately we can't do it, here are two hundred taels of silver for you to use first, and we can't take out more and don't dare to take it out, the Governor has already instructed the Governor of Datong and the Governor of Datong to allocate dozens of stone of grain to you every month in the future, I know that this is not of much use, but the three towns of Xuanda are also poor!" Yushan, Hanmin, you must control the Barbarian Mountain in your hands, defend this land outside the fortress for the Ming Dynasty, and do your best to contain the barbarians. ”

"When the brothers are rested, I will go back to the Barbarian Mountain." Li Yu felt a sour feeling in his heart when he heard this, he couldn't even afford porridge with this little money and food, could he still expect us to restrain the sweat? But the deputy envoy said it to this point, and he had to admit it head-on, Zhao Ji didn't eat this set, he didn't want to get angry in front of Li Yu, so he simply didn't say a word and pulled up Namu'er and left, just this little money and food is not as much as Lao Tzu to earn as a thief, don't want Lao Tzu to work hard for your Ming Kingdom.

"My lord, I won't return to Yanghe this time, I will go up to the Barbarian Han Mountain with the Han people, and ask my lord to bid farewell to the governor on behalf of the late students." Li Huai didn't expect such a result, and said expressionlessly.

Song Tongyin sighed and nodded helplessly, now it is a time when the green and yellow are in short supply and coincide with the chaos outside the Guan, the grain price of Xuanfu and Datong is more than one or two silver per stone of white rice, even miscellaneous grains are almost five yuan a stone, and this money really does not play a big role.

In the Manhan Mountain in late March, the snow has melted, and the clear and cold stream flows down from the mountain along the mountain stream, the spring of Fengzhou Beach is beautiful, the mountains and grasslands show patches of green again, and the colorful wildflowers also drill out to compete for beauty, and the water in the sea has also turned green, attracting flocks of birds to roost by the sea. Spring is also busy, under the blue sky and white clouds, herdsmen cattle and sheep flocks roaming the grasslands, farmers are also busy cultivating crops, along the rivers and streams of some newly reclaimed land planted sorghum and corn, even the relatively gentle slopes, between the ravines are also planted with potatoes and maize.

All this would have been a peaceful and peaceful picture if there had been no war, but now it is obviously not so pleasant, from time to time there are teams of cavalry with swords and spears and bows and arrows galloping through the grassland, there are also sentinels on various intersections and high grounds, at the foot of the mountain countless tents, thatched houses composed of a simple camp surrounded by wooden fences, outside the wooden fence also dug trenches, paved with deer, horse rejection piles, several highlands also built watchtowers, shepherds and farmers who came out to work carried weapons, Those who are not armed also have at least one sharpened wooden stick on their side.

In the camp of the Chinese army fluttering with a black eagle flag on a red background, Li Fugui is counting a large group of people in high spirits, everyone has been hiding in the Barbarian Mountain for a month, the life in the mountains is not good, all of them are disgraced, only he is more and more energetic, big and small things are indispensable to him, Li Yu went to Yanghe, the affairs of the Barbarian Mountain should have been decided by Ulan, but Ulan is just a sixteen-year-old girl, she would rather go to see the little lamb than take care of chores, so Li Fugui took the initiative to jump out, this guy is very excited, He's in charge of everything.

"You stupid! Didn't I say that you should stay in the customs and not come back, why did people lie to you a few words, and you came back honestly, so many of you came back, where did we find food, and we had to starve to death, you thought that you were out of the customs, and the Ming government would really give you food? Li Fugui said angrily, it's no problem to hide tens of thousands of people in this place of Barbarian Mountain, but people always have to eat, Li Yu brought here the people of Bansheng and the Mongols who followed him from Kuku and Tun There are more than 20,000 people, and then many people came one after another, and there were no less than 30,000 people squeezed under the Barbarian Mountain, Li Fugui immediately started to crooked his brain, and even coaxed and deceived everyone to be cheeky to attach it, to put it bluntly, let everyone go to Mingguo to eat together, Mingguo is not afraid to block the border wall, and the side wall can scare outsiders. But it's useless for these natives, they can always find a way to sneak into the pass, during this time, Li Fugui fought wits and courage with the Ming State Government, and the Ming State Government drove people out, so he tried to stuff people back again.

"We don't listen to you anymore and enter the customs, you said that there are cattle and sheep and crops everywhere in the customs, and we don't have to worry about food and clothing, but we have seen that the Han people in the customs are not much better than us, and they are not the same poor, we can't get food if we want, and people still scold us for being Han Yi and Beiyu, anyway, we are hungry everywhere, it is better to come back and be with the villagers, even if we starve to death, we will admit it, and we will not leave this time." The group complained to Li Fugui very dissatisfied.

Li Fugui felt that his words had been in vain, squinted his small eyes and said to an old man: "Uncle Han, don't you have blacksmith skills, why did you come back with them, it is much better for you to go back to your hometown, I think you should go back to Guannei." ”

"Li Fugui, don't try to lie to me this time, our old Han family has been in Fengzhou for four or five generations, and the people in Shuozhou's hometown don't recognize me at all, I just want to do some small business, and people don't pay attention to me, and they don't have anything to do there, and they don't have food to support idlers, so my family stays here, and if you want to drive me away, you have to catch up, and it's not your turn." Han Laohan replied angrily, his son Han Dagong followed Li Yu as a scribe, so he was not afraid of Li Fugui.

"Okay, okay, I won't drive you away, as soon as you come back, there will be six or seven thousand people, and everyone will starve to death together," Li Fugui said angrily, everyone turned around and left when they heard him say this, Li Fugui shouted behind everyone, "You have to work when you come back, and you will go up the mountain with me to plant potatoes tomorrow." ”

"Brother Du Xing, you don't want to help me say a word, these people are back, how can we have food for them to eat, Yuzi has been gone for several days and hasn't come back, it seems that there are not many things to return, what do you say we should do?" Li Fugui and the others left, turned to Ortai, who was sitting silently on the side, and said, Now only the two of them are serious scholars in Barbarian Mountain.

Ortai originally fled west with Batu, and he didn't want to escape when he got to the Yellow River, he was a member of the West Sentinel, and he had followed Altan Khan since his grandfather's generation, and he had never left the Tumut River for several generations, he knew very well that even if he crossed the Yellow River, he might not be able to reverse the general trend, it was better to stick to the Tumut River first, and then find an opportunity to fight to the death with Chahar Khan, so he persuaded Batu to stay in the Tumut River, Batu was still a little hesitant, but Buyantu was immediately furious, saying that Ortai was going to kill everyone, and the two had a big fight, In a fit of rage, Ortai took Urden and hundreds of others out of the brigade and ran to Barbarian Mountain in the name of protecting Princess Ulan.

"Nianfeng, don't worry, it's always a good thing to have a large population, and it's not once or twice that the people on the grassland are starving in the face of natural disasters and man-made disasters, there will always be a way," Ortai smiled and replied, he has always had a good relationship with Li Fugui, after Li Fugui fled from Guannai to Fengzhou Chuan, with a good hand, he quickly got acquainted with Ortai Zaisheng, who was proficient in Sinology, and the two drank and studied scriptures together, Ortai also once wanted to introduce Li Fugui to Shunyi Wangfu on an errand, and when they arrived in Barbarian Mountain, they were rare of the same kind, Naturally, get along more closely and become friends who talk about everything.

After Ortai comforted Li Fugui for a few words, he put away his smile and said with a grim face: "It's not the most difficult time yet, Chahar Khan has beaten the Tumut River into a piece of erosion, except for us here, it is quite stable, and the rest of the place is already in chaos, you look at it, there will be more and more people who will come to the barbarians, and there are still bowls of porridge to drink in the Barbarian Mountain, what should I do in the future?" We have to think long-term. ”