When the Ming Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom fought in Ningjin, the Fengzhou River was a peaceful scene, under the blue sky and white clouds, the vast grassland has been covered with green makeup, countless wild flowers are dotted among them, a group of cattle and sheep are wandering on the pasture, and a piece of crops is also growing in the farmland, it has entered the summer, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, but this is the busy season of Fengzhou, the herdsmen and farmers are sweating and working like rain. Kuku and Tun south of the barbarian mountains at this time is quiet and cool, a roe deer leisurely in a stream to drink, this is a very experienced adult roe deer, drinking water did not forget to look up from time to time, the surrounding quiet let it rest assured, continue to bury its head in the stream to drink, suddenly it felt something, suddenly raised its legs and wanted to run, but it was too late, a sharp arrow into its head in an instant, it did not take a few steps and fell headlong.

"Shot! Shot! Two young men rushed out of the bushes, and after a while they carried the roe deer to Li Yu, and the young man said excitedly: "Brother Yuzi, what a good archery!" More than a hundred paces away, he was killed with an arrow, and this time he finally hit the big guy. ”

"Okay, Erzhu, stone, pack up and go back, it's been a long time since I came out early this morning," Li Yu said with a smile, and then he turned back and shouted behind him: "Wuhai, Buck, you take the pheasants and hares you hunted, and we go back to the camp." ”

Five people packed up their prey and happily walked down the mountain, Chen Erzhu and Liu Shishi, the two young people were very lively, the two of them carried a roe deer on their shoulders, a pheasant in their hands, and kept talking in their mouths, Chen Erzhu said: "It's different to follow Brother Yuzi out, when it snows, we hunted a wild boar and a badger in the Barbarian Mountain, and hunted a wild boar and two red deer in Daqing Mountain, this time I hit a roe deer in half a day, no wonder the people in the village said that after you came, everyone often had meat to eat, Brother Yuzi is definitely the best hunter in our Toyoshu River. ”

"Brother Yuzi, Meng Ke and Hadari both said that you have beaten tigers, you have taken us to fight wolves on the grassland, next time you take us to hunt bears, we have bears in the mountains here, but we generally dare not provoke them." Liu Shishi also interjected.

"That kind of beast can not provoke the best, and the wolves, that guy is a group when he comes, and he can't deal with it if there are fewer people, if you want to be a good hunter, you must first learn to protect yourself, and if your heart is too big, you will get into trouble." Li Yu hurriedly reminded the little brother that he took them around hunting this winter, bringing their hearts to the wild.

"Otherwise, let's follow you as soldiers, the officials of the Ming Kingdom have pro-soldiers, and we will also be pro-soldiers for you, anyway, you won't be able to eat at home." Chen Erzhu had another whim.

"Erzhu, do you think you can eat enough by becoming a soldier? Dream on, we don't have military pay when we are soldiers, we have to bring our own horses, rations and weapons, if it weren't for Baturu to speak this time, we wouldn't be able to get two liters of miscellaneous food this day, and the Ming army has military salaries, but it also depends on whether other officials accept you. Wu Hai, who was walking behind, was carrying a few hares, and poured cold water on Chen Erzhu.

"Brother Yuzi, then let's go to the Ming army." Chen Erzhu said unconvinced.

"Think beautifully, when you are in the Ming army, you don't want to get military salaries, don't look at us here you are Han people, when you go to others, you are the same as us are Beiyu and Tatars, at most let you be a mouth-guard, and you can't eat enough." Buck, who had not spoken, spoke, he and Wuhai were both the hundred elders of the Boshuo Ketu Khan's palace guards, and they were a few years older, and they were all honest when they spoke.

"Then we deserve to be poor for the rest of our lives, why?" Liu Shishi was dissatisfied.

Wu Hai sighed and said: "If you want to blame, we can only blame us for the wrong birth, if we are reincarnated into a Taiji family, we will be served by someone when we are born, and when we grow up, we can also be divided into population, livestock and pasture, and we don't have to worry about eating and drinking for the rest of our lives, in the final analysis, our lives are not good." ”

Everyone sighed all the way down the mountain, and saw the big camp under the mountain from a distance, Wuhai suddenly laughed: "There is meat to eat for dinner today, fortunately we sent Zhao Ji and Qiu Xian's gang away. ”

"Thankfully, they're finally leaving." Buck couldn't help but be happy, but he immediately added: "Follow Baturu, although the practice is a little harder, but there is meat to eat and official positions, everyone still has a head." "Some time ago, Li Yu trained their gang more ruthlessly, there were many people who were not convinced, Li Yu didn't talk much, whoever was not convinced would be singled out, and as a result, they beat their gang to be obedient, and from then on they all called Li Yu Baturu.

Li Yu smiled bitterly and was silent, after he settled in Fengzhou, Batu told him about his situation, and the two discussed that talents could not be wasted, so they placed a cow as a dowry and asked Li Yu to be the instructor of the royal guards.

Boshuo Ketu Khan's royal guards were actually the elite of the various tribes he could control, and it was also the only standing army in the entire Fengzhou River, with more than a thousand people, all of whom were armored cavalry, most of whom were Fengzhou people, and a small part were people he brought from the West Sea, according to the Mongol tradition, these people did not have military pay as soldiers, but could share livestock, so the soldiers also had to bring their families to graze livestock as a source of food and clothing, horses, rations, and weapons had to be solved by themselves - in addition to valuable armor, Of course, if you fight, you can also get a share of the spoils. Boshuo Ketu Khan is old, his body and energy are not as good as before, the royal palace guards are usually handed over to his favorite youngest son Batu to manage, but Batu is not this material, he prefers to read, and is not interested in fighting and killing, and now Chahar Khan is coming to the door, and the two of them remember to take care of their own soldiers.

The royal guards only train once a month, Li Yu was startled when he saw the royal guards training for the first time, this is the army, it is simply a group of ordinary people, the armor is not neatly dressed, not to mention, the formation is chaotic for half a day, and it is even more chaotic when charging, the formation accelerates as soon as it starts, and some people collide together, and the officers are all the children of the Taiji family in various departments, these guys may not have done this work for a long time, and some people are actually squeezed off the horse by their own people, and all the formations that were finally lined up are disrupted, and the soldiers are also like headless flies, Screaming and screaming from one team to another, some of the fellows ran triumphantly, and simply turned their heads on their horses, and the arrows were also scattered in a mess. These guys have not forgotten to do their own work when they go out to exercise, they are trying to perform here, their wives and children are herding sheep and feeding cattle over there, and from time to time shouting a few voices for their own families, before noon, everyone is very conscious of quitting, they have to take care of their livestock, but also to eat, and the drill once a month is over.

Li Yu saw it and directly told Batu that such a soldier was sent to death on the battlefield, of course Batu also understood this truth, but he couldn't come up with a way, he could only let Li Yu think of ideas, Li Yu pondered and simply took the soldiers out to practice, so in April, the team of thousands of people was pulled to Yemachuan for training, Li Yu also invited Zhao Ji's gang of people who were idle and had nothing to do to practice, Zhao Ji They had long seen that this group of palace guards was not pleasing to the eye, and invited more than 100 good players from the villages of Bansheng to Yemachuan at once, and Boshuo Ketu Khan was also ruthless, The trainees were given two grains a day. Li Yu was even more ruthless, and set a rule for everyone, if you want to take the grain, you can take the grain, but you have to find Zhao Ji to challenge them, whoever wins will take the grain.

So, the wild horse river shouted and killed every day, Zhao Ji's gang was also ruthless, and beat the royal guards to the wolf howl, some people couldn't stand it, especially the children of the Taiji family who were officers were beaten the worst, these people simply stopped doing it, Li Yu was also happy, and he didn't want to go home to herd sheep, as soon as Li Yu let go, nearly half of the royal guards left one after another, and there were only about 800 people left, but the group of people left behind was really able to fight, and Zhao Ji and their gang of good hands can also fight evenly, Wuhai, Buck, the children of commoners, also took the opportunity to become officials.

After a month, the palace guards finally looked like this, but people couldn't stand it a little, everyone complained bitterly, and the sky became hotter and hotter after entering May, Li Yu and Batu knew that they couldn't continue to practice hard, so they took the team into the Barbarian Mountain to rest. The Bansheng masters brought by Zhao Ji went all the way west to Ordos, Chahar Khan was coming, and Karaqin in the east was going to fight, so they naturally had to change places to do business. Meng Ke quarreled with Li Yu and followed Zhao Ji away - Meng Ke was very dissatisfied with Li Yu's lavish spending after he arrived in Kuku and Tun, claiming that he wanted to go out to make some money for his family, Chen Erzhu and Liu Shishi were unwilling to stay too far from home, and honestly stayed with Li Yu.

Li Yu returned to the camp, Batu was already waiting for him in the big tent, pointing to a man in his thirties wearing Hanfu next to him to introduce Li Yu: "This is Boss Zhang of Kuku and Tun, who came to us specifically and wanted to sell us a batch of arrows from the Ming Kingdom, you can take a look." ”

Li Yu knows this boss Zhang, this person's name is Zhang Shi'an, there is a business store in Kuku and Tun, he can be regarded as a Ming businessman with great powers, at the beginning of the year, Li Yu also did a business with him, Li Yu used four Baylor to give him ten catties of ginseng from him for a new iron plow, according to this guy said that his iron plow is an authentic Shanxi Yangcheng mirror plow, if it weren't for Li Yu is a kind person, he was reluctant to change it.

Boss Zhang saluted with a smile on his face, he was very impressed by Li Yu, Fengzhou is poorer than Guannei, and most people use wooden ploughs to farm the land, this person will take out ten catties of good ginseng for a vice iron plow, that must be a rich man, it seems that he has a good relationship with Batu Xiaotaiji, this person must have a good stutter, he said polite words and pointed a box of black arrows to Li Yu: "My lord, please see, this is a sample, all the things in the military arsenal of Datong Town, as long as you can afford it, I can get one." 20,000 pieces. ”

Li Yu took a few arrow clusters and looked at them carefully, then checked and knocked them with his hands, shook his head and said: "This kind of arrow cluster shoots quite far, but it is lighter, and the molten iron is not very good, some are brittle, and it is a little difficult to shoot through the iron armor." ”

"This is really taken out of the military arsenal of Datong Town, and the Ming army uses this kind of arrow." Zhang Shi'an was afraid that the business would fall through, so he hurriedly explained.

Batu also took a few arrow clusters and looked at them again, and hesitated for a moment before saying to Zhang Shi'an: "You go to Bilig to discuss, if the price is right, we will buy some." After sending Zhang Shi'an away, Batu said to Li Yu: "Don't pick and choose, it's very good to have these, although we have a blacksmith workshop, but if we really fight, the little things they make are not enough." ”

Li Yu had no choice but to nod, Batu was telling the truth, there were many workshops in Fengzhou, but the scale was very small, there were fewer qualified craftsmen, and the things made were shoddy, and the quantity was far from enough, and it was impossible to rely on them to make ordnance.

When eating, the guards brought a large basin of steaming roe deer meat, Batu was happy, and said that there was Li Yu to come out with him, but Li Yu boasted of the Barbarian Mountain, he felt that the grassland south of the Barbarian Mountain was a good place to garrison soldiers, here is not far from Kuku and Tun and the border wall of the Ming Kingdom, the cavalry can go to Kuku and Tun or the foot of the Great Wall in less than a day, and there is Manhan Mountain in the north, Matou Mountain in the south, Yinma River in the east, Cangtou River in the west, and there is a saltwater lake in the middle - Xiashui Haizi, and the enemy can be rejected on all sides, If you can't fight it, you can hide in the mountains, the Yema River is also not far to the south, you can train cavalry, set up the military camp here to attack, retreat and defend, there are large areas of grassland to graze, and the mountains can also be reclaimed to grow crops, and even better is that Xiashui Haizi is a natural salt lake, and you don't have to worry about eating salt at all.

Batu smiled: "Don't think about it so much, how many soldiers do we have in Tumut, it's not enough to defend Kuku and Tun, so why don't you need to set up any military camp here, okay, let's go back to Kuku and Tun tomorrow, this time has also exhausted everyone." ”

Li Yu nodded and said: "It's time to go home, if you continue to practice, people will collapse, but I want to go to the Great Wall to get familiar with the terrain and roads in this area, you go back first, I will take Wuhai and Buck two hundred people to walk around, and I will go back in a few days." ”

Batu agreed: "You just go for a walk, and bring Bilig with you, this guy often deals with Mingguo, and he is most familiar with the passes along the way." ”

Early the next morning, Li Yu and Batu set off from the camp, Batu took a large group of men and horses to the north back to Kuku and Tun, Li Yu and his party went east to the Yinma River, and then galloped all the way south along the Yinma River, and in the afternoon they arrived at the victory mouth outside the victory fort of the Great Wall - the victory fort of Datong Town, the fortress of Shoukou and Xinping Fort opened the horse market from the five years of Longqing, at first it was only the official mutual market, but with the active participation of the people on both sides, the scale is getting bigger and bigger, from the initial official city to the coexistence of the official city and the private market, and the time also has the initial three. Four months become open all year round, and every year from May to July is the most lively time, the big city is full of people, traffic, Mongolians carry livestock, skins gathered here, and the Ming people exchange food, cloth, ironware, paper, tea and other supplies, such a simple goods exchange market actually made the border wall inside and outside the war for 50 or 60 years.

When Li Yu arrived here, the market was almost closed, and Mongolian traders were leaving one after another with their cattle loaded with goods, and Bi Lige said a little proudly: "Our horse market here is better than other places, and this year's business is as good as it is, I heard that the horse market in Zhangjiakou is deserted this year, and the Chahar people have nothing to do when they come." "Bi Lige is a petty official in charge of trade in the Shunyi Palace, short and thin, with a face like a profiteer, and he gloates a little over the bad luck of his competitors.

The Ming army officer who guarded the horse market at the victory mouth saw that a team of people suddenly came, and hurriedly ran over to inquire, Bi Lige stepped forward and greeted the other party in Chinese, and the two said goodbye to each other after talking for a while, the Ming army officer waved his hand to Li Yu with a smile before leaving, and then went back slowly, Bi Lige came back and told Li Yu, we have to leave quickly, the officer said that if you happen to meet an ignorant official, you have to get into trouble.

Li Yu asked, "You know that officer, you two are talking quite hotly." ”

"I don't know him, everyone knows that the other party is a local when they hear the accent, I know a few words of Chinese, he knows a few words of Mongolian, and we just talked," Bilig replied, and then said lightly, "We have been fighting with them for more than 200 years, and we have already fought a relationship." ”

"Baturu, the Mongols and Han people inside and outside the wall here are easy to deal with as long as they are locals, they have our people on their side, and we also have their people on our side, and they have become relatives when they come and go." Wu Hai also said a word.

The team left the victory pass, all the way along the Great Wall to the west, Li Yu felt that he really had a long insight, the Great Wall stretched all the way, like a giant python lying in the mountains and mountains undulating, from time to time you can also see the red battle flag of the Ming army fluttering in the wind on the high wall, each mountain pass between the mountains has built a high fort of up to three zhang high with green bricks, the fort and the Great Wall are connected into one to form an impregnable iron wall, so that all people are daunted, Li Yu has seen the Great Wall built by the Ming State in Liaodong in Kaiyuan and Guangning, But the Great Wall there is already dilapidated, far from the momentum of the Great Wall here, Li Yu couldn't help but sigh: "Ming Guo is really rich!" Wherever you go, you can't forget to build a city and build a fort, this Great Wall is heard to be tens of thousands of miles long, let alone repair, even if you send people to guard it, you don't know how much food it costs. ”

"That's it, Ming Guo stretches out a finger that is thicker than our waist, and we are simply a poor bastard compared to them." Bilig said with envy.

"It's useless, it's okay to scare people with this wall, but it doesn't work to fight," Buck looked disdainful, and then said proudly, "Listen to my grandfather, when Altan Khan was here, we thought that we could cross the Great Wall if we thought about it, and Altan Khan also took us to surround the Jingshi of the Ming Kingdom." ”

Li Yu was a little surprised: "How did you get past such a high city wall?" You can't fly over it. ”

"Just find a cut and tear down the city wall." Wu Hai interjected.

"I understand, no matter how tall and strong the city wall is, it has to be guarded by people, and if people are useless, they can't help," Li Yu thought for a while and said, "We don't want this Great Wall, we can't defend it anyway, let alone defend it." ”

"Baturu, do you want to go to the city to have a look, I'll take you there tomorrow." Buck said with a grin at Li Yu.

Chen Erzhu and Liu Shishi, who wanted to be soldiers behind Li Yu's buttocks, immediately shouted to go together, and they also wanted to see what the Ming army on the Great Wall was like.