Chongzhen fifth year of the seventh day of the sixth month, early in the morning.

Outside Kuku and Tuncheng.

Abahai woke up in the morning and was in a good mood.

The sky was as blue as a wash, and Abahai took a deep breath of the cool morning air, wrinkling his nose slightly, and there was a faint smell of blood and corpse in the air.

The subordinate reported to Abahai: "Last night, Azig and the Mongol Taiji sent a total of 40 envoys to Kuku and Tun, and are now waiting for the Great Khan to summon them. ”

Abahai commanded: "The messenger has an audience." ”

Forty envoys, each representing a Mongolian Taiji who had sent troops to the family, hustle and bustle, saluted the Great Khan Abahai, and the Azig envoy Odui recounted to Abahai on behalf of the envoys the battle of the Azig army, and finally reported the number of captures of each department:

Azigateiji and Vanagbaksh captured three hundred and seventy-one men, two hundred and ten cattle, one hundred and fifteen sheep, and five camels;

Engdel captured seventy men, four camels, two horses, one hundred oxen, four donkeys, two hundred sheep, and two hundred and fifty-five ingots of silver;

The tribe of Tushetu Khan Korqin captured 1,300 men, 3,700 cattle, 1,330 sheep, and 20 camels;

The Karaqin tribe captured 1,250 men, 1,500 cattle, and 2,620 sheep, and captured the enemy officers Ubahisi Yachin and Kuseltai Daiha, and killed one of the ministers named Aha and Shuni Khurha;

On the right flank, the Zarut division captured seven hundred and twenty-eight men, six hundred and fourteen cattle, six horses, one camel, and one thousand and seventy sheep;

The left wing of the Zarut division captured three hundred and thirty-three men, six hundred and eighty-seven cattle, and one thousand three hundred sheep;

……

Muzhang captured thirty-five men, one hundred and fifteen oxen, and three hundred and forty-seven sheep;

Gendus Sheib captured thirty men and ten oxen;

Bandy Straw Dunai captured twenty men and five oxen;

Ombu Chuhuer captured seventy men and six oxen;

The Langzhu family, a subordinate of the Han Lama, captured 17 people, 3 oxen, 2 mules, 3 donkeys, and 1 horse;

The Mongols captured 5,523 men, 67 camels, 47 horses, 7 donkeys, 6,771 oxen, and 8,462 sheep. A total of 27,596 people and animals were gained.

With a smile on his face, Abahai praised the messengers one by one, dismissed everyone, and left Azig's envoy Odui alone.

Abahai put away his smile and asked Edui: "Is there anything abnormal in Emu Buchuhuer?" ”

Ombu Chuhuer was originally the Taiji of Tumut, and when Chahar conquered Tumut five years ago, he defected to Manchukuo, and this time he helped Manchukuo under the banner of Tumut.

Edui replied: "The slaughter of the rest of Chahar by Embu Chuhuer is extremely ferocious, so there is not much to gain. ”

Abahai nodded reassuringly, and asked again: "The last Han lama's subordinate Langzhu family, why haven't I heard of it before?" ”

Edui replied: "This Han lama was newly subdued by Azigetaiji, and the Han surname is Zhao. Lama Zhao has been doing business with Zhangjiakou Border Market all the year round, and his subordinates have a lot of people and property. He was originally loyal to Tumut, but later surrendered to Chahar, and now he has surrendered to our Manchukuo, sending his men to help in the war. Lama Zhao had revealed to Azigtaiji that the Ming State owed him and the Chahar a large amount of money, and suggested that Azigtaiji ask the Ming State for it, and Azigtaiji was negotiating with the Ming officials in Zhangjiakou. ”

Abahai repeatedly called it "good".

With a snort, Abahai lowered his face and asked, "Edui, you answered truthfully, why didn't Azig report the amount of wealth seized?" ”

Odui replied, "This ...... The minions don't know. ”

"Didn't Azig seize a piece of cloth?"

"This ...... The minions don't know. ”

"The Azig army claims to have captured sixty-seven camels, forty-seven horses, seven donkeys, six thousand seven hundred and seventy-one oxen, and eight thousand four hundred and sixty-two sheep, and that the number of camels and horses is low, so why is there so little number of donkeys?"

Abahai remembered clearly that the number of cattle captured by the Eight Banners around Kuku and Tun was 18 camels, 42 horses and mules, 797 donkeys, 5,941 cattle, and 11,965 sheep.

And the Azig army only captured seven donkeys, and Abahai keenly sensed that something was wrong here!

Odui replied, "This ...... The minions really don't know. ”

Abahai said angrily: "I don't know, you can go back to me tomorrow and come back after figuring out the number!" ”

Edui replied with a "click" and stepped back.

It is said that Azig led about 5,000 Mongol soldiers, and Abahai led nearly 10,000 soldiers on the left flank, and the number of cattle captured by both sides was about the same, and neither side had any wealth to capture, which has shown that Azig's results were better than Abahai's.

However, Abahai's big words about the armored soldiers of the Eight Banners have been released, and the capture of the Azig army and the right-wing army of Zilharang will inevitably be abundant. The Eight Banners are very much looking forward to the spoils of these two roads, and now the number of the Azig army is a bit embarrassing for Abahai.

And the number of donkeys reported by Azig is obviously unreasonable. Azig dared to deceive himself, which made Abahai really intolerable.

So, is the figure reported by Azig really a deception of Abahai?

The answer is: Azig did hide it.

The number of donkeys seized by Azig was actually eight hundred and seven.

Azig concealed eight hundred donkeys. Not only that, but Azig also concealed that the eight hundred donkeys were carrying eight pieces of cloth each, for a total of 6,400 pieces of cloth. Eight hundred donkeys and six thousand four hundred pieces of cloth make up eight hundred nines, which is the ransom that Azig, who is the eldest brother, has prepared for his younger brother Duo Erhong.

The ransom set by Manchukuo and the allied forces was 999 nines. According to the rules of the grassland, it is not clear what these nine hundred and ninety-nine are.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine is a total of eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-one, which can be eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-one valuable camels, or eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-one cheap sheep, or all kinds of cattle mixed with counting.

But let the three Azig brothers drive 8,991 sheep as ransom, the three brothers really can't do it - because it's too embarrassing!

If you don't pay back these nine hundred and ninety-nine nines, the three brothers can't do it - they can't keep their word, and they can't live anymore!

Nine hundred and ninety-nine, Abahai made it clear that the Eight Banners Treasury would not take care of it, and asked Duo Erhong to come out by herself, and Abahai as a brother could help Duo Erhong a part. Duo'er Hong said in a fit of anger that she didn't want others to care, and she would bear all the nine hundred and ninety-nine nines by herself.

The news reached Azig's ears, and Azig knew that Do'er Hong was saying an angry word. Nine hundred and ninety-nine pairs of nine is not a small number for anyone, others don't say it, the three brothers have depended on each other since childhood, and they must share it for Duo Erhong.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine nines, divided into three parts, each of which is three hundred and thirty-three nines. As the eldest brother, Azig had already made up his mind to take more than three hundred and thirty-three nines to be like words.

This time, Azig was lucky, and robbed Chahar's newly repaired treasury in Zhangjiakou, and obtained 11 Japanese satin, 79 Meilun satin, 200 red satin, 48 kudzu cloth, and 6,150 cloth, totaling 6,488 horses.

Without hesitation, Azig took out six thousand four hundred, with eight hundred donkeys, to make eight hundred nines, and took the lion's share of the ransom.

Engel, the left-wing Mongol leader who accompanied Azig, saw that a piece of cloth was already very valuable as an animal, and a piece of satin was ridiculously valuable.

Engdel snatched 340 horses of satin and 700 pieces of cloth from the Chahar treasury, and with Azig's consent, he exchanged the cloth he had grabbed for the satin in the Dorhong ransom.

Left-wing Mongolia took advantage of it.

So Engdel and Azig agreed that neither of them would report the matter to Abahai.

It's just that the two of them really can't do math. The number of donkeys they reported was too small, which aroused Abahai's suspicions.

When Abahai was suspicious of Azig, news came that Zilharang's right-wing army had returned!

It took a day for Zilharang's right-wing army to arrive at Kuku and Tun from Baidao.

The right-wing army, on which Abahai had high hopes, numbered more than 5,000 when it set out, and only 3,000 when the number was counted in the evening.

The heaviest losses were suffered by the Han army, which originally had 1,200 men, but now only more than 400 remained. All four red-coat cannons were lost, most of the tiger squat cannons were lost, and only the general artillery was spared.

When the blue flag, the red flag, and the red flag were divided, there were nearly 3,000 troops, but now there are less than 2,000. Sakhalian had a high fever and Yue Tuo was injured in his left leg, and only Zilharang was the only one to support him.

Only Ming'an Taiji, who was not favored by Abahai, led the Mongol soldiers to break off the whole army after losing the general Omdui, and almost the entire division retreated, with a loss of less than two percent.

Abahai had always planned to end the independent status of the Ming'an Ministry after returning to Shenyang, and replace Ming'an with Emdui, but now it seems that he can only give up.

On the night of the seventh day of the sixth month, Abahai's mood was extremely bad.

It was hoped that the two armies would bring back rich captures. Now it is good that the first army concealed the number of captures, and the other army not only did not capture, but even put their own horses and armor into it.

Especially without four red-coated cannons, how could the Manchurian army rob the Ming Dynasty?

If you don't rob the Ming Dynasty, how can you calm the morale of the Manchurian army?

——————

References (not related to the plot, can be skipped if you are not interested)

The record of the seizure of seven donkeys by Azig in the "Old Manchu Files":

On that day (the sixth day of the sixth month), the number of the ten banners was still eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifteen men, eighteen camels, forty-two horses and mules, five thousand nine hundred and forty-one oxen, seven hundred and ninety-seven donkeys, eleven nine hundred and sixty-five sheep and sheep, and eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifty-five livestock. There were thirty-seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two men and animals.

On the seventh day of the first month, Azigebel sent Ozigbel to lead 40 of his Mongol subordinates to report the number of captures. …… The Mongols captured 5,523 men, 67 camels, 47 horses, 7 donkeys, 6,771 oxen, and 8,462 sheep. A total of 27,596 people and animals were gained.