"No, no one can bully anyone in Fengzhou, this is what I have always insisted on, I have never bullied anyone, and I will never allow Fengzhou officials to bully anyone, I work in the field with the officials, and the soldiers shed blood and fight together, we share weal and woe with the people, how did the people become Ahha?" Li Yu said with some dissatisfaction.

"The Great Commander is a good man, everyone knows this, so the people really support you, but the actual situation is not what you think, and he knows best about the law." Li Fugui shook his head and pointed at Ortai and said.

"Nian Feng is right, the situation is indeed different from what we think, the people were deprived of land, livestock and property by us, in fact, the right to be a man is gone, the following thousands of households, hundreds of officials are disobedient, oppress the good, deduct rations, drive the military household is not uncommon, and the high-sounding dry, the people have to swallow their anger in order to eat, but the work is not as energetic as before, I go down once a month, the whip does not know how many people have been whipped, but it is still useless, now it is just some to take the rations, Clothes, the trivial things that drive military households to do private work, what will they do in the future? We have to think long-term. ”

"Therefore, we must leave a little room for the people to be independent, and the system of health care should be retained for the time being, which can allow us to mobilize manpower and material resources to deal with the current crisis to the greatest extent, and we intend to allow the people to cultivate and raise livestock on their own in addition to the fields and livestock of the guards, and the harvest will belong to them, and they can also buy and sell freely," Li Fugui turned his head to look at Fan Yongdou and said, "Mr. Fan, this time you don't have to worry about no one to do business with you." ”

Fan Yongdou was stunned, he couldn't figure out who was in charge of Fengzhou, Li Yu was the commander, but Li Fugui, Ortai and even Ma Qi seemed to be able to talk and count, and when he heard Li Fugui ask him, he nodded hurriedly.

Fan Yongdou was very satisfied with the harvest of this trip to Fengzhou, and they a group of Zhangjiakou businessmen only scraped together 10,000 taels of silver in exchange for a huge business opportunity, and forced Fengzhou to make government affairs adjustments for them, he felt that he was too face-saving, and immediately said that the silver would be delivered within three days, and the transaction would be done in the first month, and he could leave Fan Erxi as their business representative.

A few days later, Fan Yongdou and his entourage returned satisfied, after they walked for a day, the snow began to fall, and it didn't stop all at once, Li Fugui looked up to the sky and sighed, it should come or come, this year is a cold spring, and I am afraid that the next will be a big drought.

Li Huai braved the wind and snow at this time to come to the Barbarian Mountain, his sudden appearance made everyone ecstatic, Fengzhou is really short of people, Li Yu and Zhao Ji will only lead troops to fight, Na Mu'er is too young to be a big responsibility, and others can't count on it, Li Fugui and Ortai are going to be exhausted, this time everyone regards Li Huai as their own person, and unanimously elected Li Huai as the secretary of the Great Commander's Mansion, the secretary in charge, and the secret, Batu also became the secretary of the Great Commander's Mansion.

Li Huai listened to Du Wenhuan's words this time, resigned from the errand of the Yulin Governor Yamen and made a special trip to Fengzhou, heard that the Barbarian Mountain had controlled most of Fengzhou, and couldn't help but applaud loudly, the Dongsheng, Xinghe and Liangwei that the marshal hoped to get were so easy to get, he told everyone about the conspiracy with Du Wenhuan, Shen Shoulian, Sun Tingyao and others, but everyone did not appreciate it, Ortai was very dissatisfied, Fengzhou is ours, what are they mixed with in the northwest.

Li Huai slowly stood up and said: "The northwest is already in chaos, Daming will soon face a bottomless abyss, and Daming will be in chaos, can this Ye Xiaozhou in Fengzhou be spared?" There are still many crises ahead of us, and Toyoshu needs allies more than ever. ”

"Don't wait, the crisis is coming." Li Fugui lamented.

In the first month of the second year of Chongzhen, the hundreds of households adjacent to Chahar reported one after another, and the Chahar people crossed the border one after another, and this kind of report attracted the attention of the Great Commander's Office, which ordered all thousands of households and hundreds of households to strengthen their vigilance, and if there were those who dared to enter the country to rob them, they must be exterminated, and Li Yu also wrote to tell his brother-in-law that he must take care of his own people. But the situation soon exceeded everyone's imagination, the Chahar people did not come to rob, but to ask for food, and they couldn't drive away, first they rushed in, and then they came in groups, and then they grew to hundreds of people, these people came from very complicated sources, almost all the people of the Chahar tribe have, some are still the Tumuts, Yongshaobu and Ordos people who have been co-opted, and the border guards have not taken it seriously, and they were sent home after a meal, but they came back after two days, The guards were forced to send out armed young men to escort them back to the Chahar officials, but the Chahar officials were very simple, killing people in front of the escorts, and the people who were sent out were scared back, and about three or four thousand Chahar people were stranded in Fengzhou, and they did not leave, these illegal smugglers had no food and clothing, and no livestock and property, and they lived entirely by begging, and there were people who froze to death and starved to death every day, and the situation was unbearable, and the border guards had no choice but to ask the commander how to deal with it.

In the Great Commander's Mansion, Li Fugui couldn't help but shake his head, he also drove people to the Ming Kingdom back then, but neither he Li Fugui nor the officials of the Ming Kingdom dared to use knives to kill people, the Chahar people were ruthless enough, which clearly drove people to Fengzhou to eat together.

Li Yu slapped the table and scolded, his brother-in-law replied, the letter did not mention the reception of illegal immigrants, but asked him for food again, Chahar Khan said, he had a famine there, frozen to death, starved to death of countless people and animals, he was anxious every day, but there was nothing to do, now only his most trusted brother-in-law Li Yucha can help him, everyone is a family, you have something to eat, you should help me. The brother-in-law also assured that he was asking Ming Guo for the eighty-one thousand taels of silver that he promised him, and that he would definitely consider giving him more as soon as the money arrived.

After Li Yu scolded and scolded for a while, he asked Li Huai and Li Fugui how much grain they still had, and Li Fugui smiled bitterly and said, "Yuzi, you have to be a good person again!" ”

"What can I do? You can't watch those people starve to death and freeze to death, save people first, and then say, Chahar Khan will not give him a grain of food. Li Yu said resentfully.

"I've already checked, our food is not enough, I sent Ma Qi and Fan Erxi into the customs to find a way, I should be able to get some grain back," Li Huai's eyes were red during this time, and he said softly, "Anyway, it's always a good thing to increase the population, so let's put these people into the nearest guard first, and help us prepare for spring ploughing, so that they can have something to eat." ”

Li Yu nodded helplessly.

Li Yu didn't give food obviously caused trouble for Chahar Khan, his brother-in-law was angry, the consequences were very serious, and it didn't take long for Chahar Khan to write again, directly telling Li Yu that his food there was almost finished, and Ming Guo began to play tricks on him again, and the promised money was dragged and not given, Li Yu didn't give him food, he sent Yun Rong to lead 5,000 people to Fengzhou to eat, everyone is a family, there is no need to divide you and me, Yun Rong will be your slaughter in the future, and the 5,000 population will also belong to you.

Li Yu almost fell headlong, Chahar Khan's hand is too vicious, he will drag you to the end if he doesn't live well, Li Huai is also pale and at a loss, he has nothing to do, Li Fugui laughed: "Chahar Khan is so vicious, Yuzi, he has seen you through, you know what to do." ”

"Assemble the guard battalion and follow me to intercept the Chahars." Li Yu gritted his teeth and shouted, and Batu ran out excitedly.

On the surface of the Black River, the ice was solid, and a black and oppressive flow of people stepped across the ice, rushing towards the south, they were unclothed and staggered, except for a small number of wagons and carts of livestock, they could not see what they had any belongings, the coughing of the old man and the crying of the children were constantly heard in the crowd, and the young men tried to maintain the order of the team, but they were obviously extremely tired, and could only cheer up the crowd in a hoarse voice, "Everyone work harder!" One day to go to the Barbarian Mountain, Humba Tulu is a good man, he will take us in. ”

There was a black eagle flag on a red background in front of them, and the people who finally found Humbaturu laughed happily, this big flag that once made them fearful, but now it is so lovely, this is their hope to live, if it is not for the lack of strength under their feet, they will definitely shout and pounce on it.

But the cavalry under the command of the Black Eagle did not pay attention to their enthusiasm, but quickly formed a line of cavalry, raised their bows and arrows towards them, and several armored officers came out on the opposite side, and shouted at them: "Chahars, you have crossed the border, retreat immediately across the Black River, and then go to the former to kill them." ”

"We rush over, there is a way to survive over there, and Humbaturu will not kill us!" After a commotion in the crowd, some young men shouted and rushed forward with the flow of people, and without hesitation, a row of arrows was shot from the opposite side, and the arrows were densely inserted in the snow under their feet, and several young men who rushed ahead recklessly were shot, and they kept wailing on the snow, and the officers on the opposite side shouted again: "Chahars, retreat immediately, and we will really kill people if we go any further!" ”

The Chahars finally stopped, but they were not willing to retreat, so they were in a stalemate with the Fengzhou cavalry, and the officer on the opposite side was impatient, and waved his hand to signal the cavalry to press forward, and the Chahars began to be in chaos, and some young men took their bows and arrows, raised their clubs, and strode to the front of the team to protect their villagers.

"Don't do anything, stop!" Rushing out of the crowd, the man waved vigorously towards the Black Eagle Banner, he stopped in front of the Toyosu cavalry, pointed at the officer and shouted angrily, "Do you still recognize me?" I know you, Qiu Xian, Borshu, you two bastards, you dare to order archery, open your eyes and see, who are they? They are like you, poor people who cannot live hungry, and you can bear to poison them? ”

Qiu Xian and Borshu of course recognized Mr. Yun who had taught them lessons, and the story he told about the monkey that jumped out of the stone has spread all over Fengzhou and has become the children's favorite story, Qiu Xian blushed and whispered: "Mr. Yun, it's not that we are ruthless, it's that we can't help it, our food is not enough to eat, you can only starve to death together when you come, Mr. Yun, please, let your people go back." ”

"Shall we go back? We have no way out, Chahar Khan doesn't want us, you have to kill us, then we will die here," Yun Rong looked up to the sky and laughed, Qiu Xian and Borshu both lowered their heads, and Yun Rong then shouted: "But before I die, I want to see your great commander, Li Hanmin, you come out!" Don't try to avoid me, I see your Flying Tiger Banner. ”

Li Yu was indeed hiding nearby, but he glanced at the Chahar people who were rushing in, and immediately ordered Batu to take over his command, he himself had an upset stomach and wanted to rest in the back for a while, and it didn't take long for Batu to slip back, covering his face and sobbing, muttering in his mouth: "I'm not doing it, I can't do it!" The Lama said that the indiscriminate killing of innocents is retribution. ”

Li Yu and Batu hid behind, closing their eyes and waiting for Qiu Xian and Borshu, the two former horse thieves, to do the thing, but these two uncompetitive guys were not willing to have blood on their hands, and they couldn't be ruthless, but Yun Rong's shout came, Li Yu knew that he couldn't hide, so he had to bite the bullet to see Yun Rong, Yun Rong grabbed Li Yu's collar and said coldly: "Li Hanmin, Hong Batulu, when did you become so ruthless, do you think you can hide?" Do you think that if you close your eyes, you can't see the corpses and rivers of blood flowing here? ”

Li Yu broke away from Yunrong and shouted: "It's not my fault, I gave you food, they should find the Great Khan and Taiji to eat, I really can't afford to support them." ”

"We have no food, and the food is in the hands of the nobles, and no one cares whether the poor live or die, you know? Chahar is already divided, Alakyut Otok has defected to Jin, Haozit, Uzhumuqin, Sunit Otok have defected to Khalkha, these people are these fugitive tribes, they have no livestock, no rations, Taiji and the masters have left them alone, no Chahar tribe is willing to feed them, they have a dead end, only you can save them. Yun Rong looked up to the sky and sighed.

Li Yu lowered his head, Yun Rong ignored him, returned to the Chahar people's team and dismounted, knelt down on his knees in front of Li Yu, buried his head deeply, and the Chahar people also knelt on the ground one by one when they saw this, and the snow on the bank of the Heihe River was full of black pressure after a while.

Li Yu silently looked at the Chahar people who knelt down in front of him, they had no one to plead, just quietly waiting for the verdict on their fate, the cold wind blew, they kept shivering, and the cries of women and children could be heard from time to time in the crowd. Li Yu felt that his eyes were sour, and tears flowed out involuntarily, he walked up to the Chahar people, wiped his tears, and shouted: "Chahar brothers and sisters, I beg you not to be embarrassed for me, I want to help you, but I don't have the ability, the people of Fengzhou are also starving, we can only starve to death together, get up and go back, please Da Khan, maybe he can help you." ”

Li Yu walked back and forth in front of the Chahar crowd and shouted loudly, but no one responded to him, people still knelt silently on the snow, and after a while, finally someone stood up, it was an old man with white hair, he dragged a child and slowly walked to Li Yu.

"I know you, I am Duhan of the Haozit Department, this is my grandson Wuen, do you remember the way to Hongci Fort to get out of the customs? I have long seen that you are not a mortal, but I can't think that you will be the great commander of Humbaturu in Tumut, I only know that you are a good person, I know that you are also difficult, I will go back immediately, you leave my grandson, he is already twelve years old, he will be able to work in two years, Humbaturu will not raise him in vain, Wun, you follow Humbaturu, he will be your master in the future," Old Duhan pushed the crying child towards Li Yu, and then turned around and shouted, "Humbaturu is a good person, let's not embarrass him, Let's go, those of us who don't use it. ”

Old Duhan staggered to the river with a wooden stick, and some old people also followed his example and left their children and grandchildren, and walked back by themselves, and there was a cry by the black river immediately, Li Yu couldn't hold back anymore, big tears fell, he hugged Xiao Wuen, who was about to rush out to find his grandfather, and shouted loudly: "No one will leave, they will all stay, we will live and die together!" ”

The Chahar people quieted down, a dozen fires were lit, a cauldron was set up on the fire, and the Fengzhou soldiers threw their own dry food into it, and this pot of hot porridge might have saved many lives. Li Yu silently leaned on his horse, watching the delighted Chahar people drink porridge, and Batu walked up to him without saying a word.

"See? The Chahar people you want to kill are here," Li Yu glanced at the pale Batu and continued, "The Han, the Mongols, and Zhushen are actually the same, if you pick up the butcher's knife, you will become a beast, and if you put down the knife, you will be a poor good person, do you still want to kill these poor people?" Forget about hatred! ”

"What do you do? Li Fugui and Ortai may scold you to death. ”

"Let's take one step at a time, isn't that how we stumbled over?"

Li Yu and Batu took Yun Rong back to the Barbarian Mountain Commander's Mansion, the servants of the Commander's Mansion were there, Li Yu lowered his head and told him about the shelter of the Chahar people, Li Fugui and Ortai snorted and turned their faces, Li Huai smiled and comforted him: "Don't be sad, it's always a good thing to have a population, we really don't have much food, but there are still a lot of yam eggs, together you should be able to survive until the weather gets warmer, and you will always find something to eat when the time comes." ”

"This is Brother Yushan, I have admired the name for a long time, in Yunrong Yunhezhou," Yunrong stepped forward to greet Li Huai, glanced at Li Fugui and Ortai again and said, "Don't blame Han Min, he is what kind of person everyone else eats, I brought people here, you can count and make up households according to the rules, there are more than 1,500 men among these 5,000 people, and it should be able to enhance your strength." ”

"As soon as Hanmin went, I knew that this was the result, people came when they came," Li Fugui nodded, and asked Yun Rong with a crooked face, "Yunhezhou, tell me the truth, what happened to you there, why did you come here?" If you don't tell the truth, I'll tell you about your broken monkey to the cows and sheep every day. ”