In front of the emperor, Shi Yongan began to combine his thoughts in these days with the information he had collected in the previous years, and slowly told Chongzhen about the historical evolution, geography, and residents of the Hetao place.

He concludes: "... The western belt on the eastern side of Helan Mountain, the Ordos Plateau in Henan, and the area from the Tumut River to the northeastern corner of the Yellow River are now occupied by various tribes and immigrants from the Guannai.

Only the depressions south of the Wolf Mountain, east of Ulan Bu and the desert, east of the Wula Mountain, and north of the Yellow River have not yet been settled. Although there is little grass and many sand dunes here, the place is flat, the lakes and rivers are criss-crossed, and the ground is about 1-3 meters higher than the water level of the Yellow River, which is convenient for irrigation.

The two counties of Shuofang and Wuyuan of the Han Dynasty are located here, and the minister heard that there seem to be many relics left by the canals of the Han Dynasty here, which shows that it is feasible to divert the water of the Yellow River to irrigate this area and develop it into a place for farming.

If we move to Shaanxi and Ningxia immigrants to reclaim the Houtao, then the Xitao and the Ordos Plateau will change from the front line to the hinterland. The Houtao area is sheltered by Wolf Mountain in the north and Ula Mountain and Daqing Mountain in the west, and only needs to set up fortresses at the east and west ends to defend this place.

This section of the Yellow River is where the water flow is the most gentle, and we can use the Yellow River water transport to connect the east and west ends of the Yellow River and the north and south of the Yellow River. Now, with the railway network to be built, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hetao and Ordos will also be connected as a whole. As a result, even if there were nomads from the north to the south, it would be difficult to cross the Loop.

If the rear set is developed to monitor the front set, then the governor's palace of our three sides should be moved to Baotou at the junction of the front and rear sets. Baotou is surrounded by mountains on three sides and borders the Yellow River in the south, which is not only conducive to garrison, but also has the convenience of waterway transportation.

In addition to building a railway connecting Ningxia-Baotou-Hohhot, the minister thought that on the south bank of the Yellow River opposite Baotou, a railway from Baotou South to Shenmu and Yulin should also be built. This will not only allow the Yulin border army to support Baotou in an emergency, but also further divide the Ordos department, making it difficult to unite as one..."

Zhu You looked at the map for a long time before saying: "In this way, the center of the Hetao area north of the Yellow River is no longer Guihua City, but Baotou." The Trilateral Governor's Mansion was moved to Baotou, and I don't think this name is very good, so it is better to change the name to the Hetao Reclamation and Animal Husbandry Bureau, and your envoy will also be changed to the Minister of Northwest Reclamation and Water Resources..."

On September 30, the Hulitai Conference held in Fengzhen came to an end. The delegates decided to formally convene the first meeting of the Mongolian local assembly on August 18 of the following year.

At the closing ceremony, Zhu Youzhen announced three things, the first is to offer a reward to find Lin Dan Khan, anyone who can send Lin Dan Khan back to Huahua or Fengzhen, can not only get a reward of 10,000 yuan, if the escort is a tribe, a separate flag can be set up, and if an individual is a knighthood reward.

The second is to once again condemn the shameless act of Houjin in attacking Lin Dan Khan for no reason, and decided to send questions to the three Khans of Transkhalkha, Tushetu Khan, Zasaktu Khan, and Chechen Khan in the name of the Kuritai Congress, asking the three Khans to make a statement on whether they colluded with Houjin to attack Lin Dan Khan, and asking the envoys of the three Khans to arrive in Fengzhen during the next meeting of the Mongolian local council to be questioned by the members of the banners.

The third is that Chongzhen officially invited Lin Dan Khan's Bafujin and his only son Ezhe to the capital to arrange Ezhe's education.

The representatives of the banners present at the meeting did not disagree with the emperor's three propositions, but felt that it was indeed time to question the three Khans of Transkhalkha for this matter. The Mongol tribes of Monan have always regarded themselves as the Mongol Zhengzhi, and Transkhalkha is nothing more than barbarians and slaves conquered by their ancestors, and their opposition to Lin Dan Khan is an internal contradiction, but Transkhalkha colluded with Houjin to murder Lin Dan Khan, which is the following crime.

Just as the representatives of the various banners dispersed one after another, Zhu Youzhen also planned to follow the route of Guihua, Baotou, Houtao, Xitao, Ningxia, and Lanzhou to go around the Yellow River to understand the real situation in this area.

But before he could get far away from Fengzhen, Choktu Khan hurried after him. The leader of the left wing of Transkhalkha, after Lin Dan Khan was attacked by the Houjin army and fled and disappeared, although he saved his troops by surrendering to the Houjin army in time, he also knew that his situation in Mobei was extremely dangerous.

So after Dolgon led the army to retreat, Choktu Khan finally refused to sit in the north of the desert and went south with 40,000 people, leaving only a small part of the troops and his young son in his hometown.

When Choktu Khan led his troops to the Xilin Gol grassland, he happened to hear the news that the Jurchen-Mongol alliance assembled by the Later Jin Khan had been defeated by the Ming and Mongolian forces led by the Ming Emperor, which made him very excited, and he thought that he had made the right bet this time to go south.

When he arrived in Jining Haizi, he heard the news that Lin Dan Khan had disappeared and had not returned, and that the Monan tribes had held a conference in Fengzhen. When he heard about the decision of the conference, Choktu Khan immediately realized that the anti-Yellow Sect alliance originally organized by Lin Dan Khan might not be able to exist, and even how to settle the people he led to the south became a problem.

After pondering for a day in Jining Haizi, the Khan left his army with his eldest son, Arslan, and rushed to see the emperor.

In Quanzigou, 30 miles west of Fengzhen, Choketu Khan finally caught up with the emperor's team, and after saluting Chongzhen, Choketu Khan immediately asked the emperor: "Your Majesty, after Lin Dan Khan was sneak attacked, my troops were bullied by the Houjin and the right-wing tribes of Transkhalkha in Mobei.

In order to escape from them, I had to take my subordinates south to join Lin Dan Khan, but I didn't expect Lin Dan Khan to disappear in the vast desert, and now my subordinates have no way to go, and I ask Your Majesty to take me in and let me find a place to settle them. ”

Zhu Youzhen did not immediately answer the Khan, he beckoned to Arslan, who was standing behind the Khan, and said, "I haven't seen you for more than a year, Arslan, you have grown taller, come up and compare with me, which of us is taller." ”

Arslan glanced at his father, saw that he nodded slightly, so he cautiously walked in front of the emperor, although he was only one or two years younger than Chongzhen, but in front of the emperor was obviously a lot naïve.

Chongzhen compared himself with him, and found that he was two fingers taller, so he couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder with a smile and said, "In the end, I am still taller, is the armor and sword I gave you easy to use?" Have you ever flipped through the books that were sent to you? ”

Arslan stretched out his hand and scratched his head, and said embarrassedly: "Armor and swords are easy to use, but it is so difficult to read, and I can't find a master in the north to teach me to read and write." ”

Chongzhen smiled and said to him: "Although the armor and sword must be practiced and used often, but you can't pull it down when you read. If you don't read and reason, how do you know who this sword is going to point? ”

Arslan said with a blessing in his heart at this moment: "This non-reading minister also knows that His Majesty asks the minister to face the sword at whomever the minister directs. ”

Zhu Youzhen laughed and said: "I like to hear this, since you can't find a teacher." Mr. Liu, you take Arslan to meet the Living Buddha Zhangjia, and you should be his teacher on this journey. ”

Liu Jingting agreed, and then took Arslan down to meet the living Buddha Zhangjia. After Arslan walked away, Zhu Youzhen said to Qiuketu Khan: "Qiuketu Khan, when Guiyingcha returned to Monan, he complained to me about you.

He said that Lin Dan Khan was attacked by the Houjin army that day, and he went to your camp to ask for help, but you refused to send troops, is this really the case? ”

Qiuketu Khan's face twitched suddenly, and it took a long time before he said hesitantly: "When Gui Yingcha came to me that day, there were only more than 100 people with him, and he couldn't even tell how many people were attacked by Houjin.

As the head of the department, the foreign minister naturally has to think more about the safety of the subordinates. By the time the foreign minister had matured and planned to send troops to rescue Lin Dan Khan, the Houjin side had already settled the situation and sent an envoy to persuade our troops to make a truce.

The foreign minister was also confused for a while, and he fell for Houjin's tricks, and asked His Majesty to forgive one or two. ”

Zhu Youzhen could only shake his head and said with a sigh: "Qiuketu Khan, you are a little unauthentic, you have sworn an oath with Lin Dan Khan and me."

In order to stand up for you, Lin Dan Khan led his troops all the way north to help you, but you were good, just watching him being driven into the desert by Houjin.

Now that you are going to divide the pastures of Chahar again, you should tell me how I will give you pastures? ”

The old face of the foreign minister was also red, and he came over for a long time before saying: "The foreign minister did not want to invade the pastureland of the Chahar Department, but just wanted to ask His Majesty to make it convenient for the foreign minister to go south to Qinghai and guard Qinghai for His Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and asked expressionlessly: "This fertile land in Qinghai that can store the population is either in the hands of my Ming Dynasty or in the hands of Tibetans. I don't know if you want me to be in the land of the Ming Dynasty, or are you going to have a fight with Baili Tusi? ”

He can be tough in front of the weak, but he can become very weak in front of the strong. In the past, he was in awe of Lin Dan Khan, but now he was in awe of the young emperor in front of him.

Seeing that the Khan muttered and did not dare to speak, Zhu Youzhen turned to look at the stream to the north and said, "Let me give you a suggestion, the so-called water flows to a low place, and people go to a high place." Since you have come to me with your subordinates, I will not turn you away, but it is impossible to live a free life like before.

There are many people in the Monan region and there is little land, I am afraid it will be difficult to give you a piece of land to feed the entire tribe, I mean divide your tribe, and then each have a piece of pasture land to live, what do you think? ”

Khan knew very well what it meant to be under a roof, and it was obviously not a good idea to go against the emperor's will at this time. So after the head of the Khan, Zhu Youzhen gave an order to Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Daozhou, asking them to take the Khan's troops into account when allocating the pastures of the Chahar banners.

As for the father and son of Choktu Khan, they were taken by Chongzhen and went to inspect the Hetao and the western region together.