"Great Khan, I have a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not!"

"There are no outsiders here, so there's nothing to say."

"The Great Khan, I mean whether the Great Belle has fallen for the enemy's tricks."

"Treacherous? What do you mean? “

"Great Khan, you and I both know that although there are only two thousand people in the Great Baylor this time, the elite of the Three Banners is one person and three horses; Even if you can't win, you always run away. Although there were many people in the two Tumut Chahar divisions he pursued, most of the young and strong were not there, so how could they lose? It is clear that the enemy is wrong, and the party will be defeated! ”

Huang Taiji didn't speak, Fan Wencheng actually only said half of what he said, and Huang Taiji already understood it. It was the intelligence handed over by Yue Tuo that said that Liu Cheng had extracted 7788 from Ding Zhuang of the Tumut and Chahar departments, and he made a plan for Haoge to pursue the two divisions with 2,000 elite soldiers to pursue the two divisions moving west. As soon as this hat was buttoned off, Yue Tuo would have to shed his skin if he didn't die, but Haoge became a victim instead, not to mention that the crime was small, and the threat of the Daishan-Haoge family to Huang Taiji's line was much smaller.

Fan Wencheng saw that Huang Taiji had not spoken, and his heart became more and more anxious, although his official position in the Houjin regime was not high, he won the trust of Huang Taiji and was able to participate in secrets. Wei and Jin Zhongshu; The privy councillor of the Tang and Song dynasties, Xuanhui boasted of himself, thinking that he was humble and powerful, and he was the confidant of the Son of Heaven. However, Fan Wencheng also knew that the Later Jin regime was different from the highly centralized Central Plains Dynasty, and because of the adoption of the Eight Banners system of soldiers and people, the most powerful military force, the Eight Banners, was in the hands of the Jurchen relatives and nobles, and Huang Taiji himself was only able to control the Three Banners. Both the Mongols and the Han Chinese were actually excluded from the core of power, and Huang Taiji was in power, and if there was a major change in power, Han Chinese like himself, who had no foundation and relied entirely on their own talents and the appreciation of the Great Khan, were likely to fall victim. He looked at the nearest person who was also three or four feet away, gritted his teeth and said: "Great Khan, as Wei Chen can see, Da Beile's setback this time will damage the military prestige of my Dajin Kingdom, and I am afraid that the Mongolian tribes will repeat." Lord Yue Tuo should be asked to step up his attack on the New Naturalization City to deter the small group! “

Huang Taiji snorted coldly, how did he not know Fan Wencheng's subtle thoughts: since Haoge lost the battle, only by letting Yue Tuo fight a bigger defeat could he get it back and restore the balance of power. It's not enough just that the information is wrong, forcing Na Yuetuo to suffer some hardships under the fortified city. It's just that Huang Taiji's bearing and mind are much more clever than Fan Wencheng, and he knows very well that although Da Ming is already a dying old man, after all, a big country that has been established for 300 years, the reason why the Jurchens were able to start from the thirteen vice-armors, won many battles, and developed to this point in just 30 years, depends on the unity of the top and bottom and the external work. Of course, this does not mean that there is harmony within the upper echelons of Houjin, on the contrary, since the beginning of Nurhachi's family, the Aixin Jueluo family has been full of blood and conspiracy, and Nurhachi and Shulhaqi brothers have killed each other; The forced burial of the concubine Abahai, the sudden death of Mang Gultai and what happened after his death, and the persecution of his son Hauge by Dorgon after the death of Emperor Taiji are all stark examples. But the infighting of the Aixin Jueluo family has always been controlled within a very narrow range, and the victor's side is quite self-controlled, not expanded, and kills the loser's side, implicating too many people. For example, after Nurhachi defeated his younger brother Shulhaqi, who tried to stand on his own, he did not put him to death, but imprisoned him, and did not discriminate against his sons, the second son Amin became one of the four great beylers, and his sixth son Zilharang later became one of the auxiliary ministers after the death of Huang Taiji; Although Huang Taiji and his brothers forced the concubine Abahai to death, they did not cut the grass and eradicate the roots, harming Dorgon, Azig, and Duoduo, the three sons of Abahai who were still young at the time, and these three people were not suppressed and discriminated against from later on. It is precisely because of this that the Later Jin regime was able to safely survive the power vacuum caused by the sudden death of the two leaders, Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, and did not have a devastating civil war, which is inseparable from the vision and mind of its upper leaders.

"That's it!" Huang Taiji sighed: "Mr. Fan, forget your method, some things can't be started, and they can't be finished at the beginning!" ”

"Wechen should be damned, Wechen should be damned!" Fan Wencheng fell to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "Fang Cai Weichen is talking nonsense, and I hope that the Great Khan will punish him!" ”

"Mr. Fan, get up!" Huang Taiji stretched out his hand to help Fan Wencheng up: "I understand your hard work and loyalty, but as a Great Khan, there are some things I can't do, otherwise I will come to Jiuquan in the future, and I will not have the face to see my father Khan, let alone the thousands of people who died for Dajin!" ”

Fan Wencheng looked at Huang Taiji's somewhat haggard face in shock, and after reading through the history books, he naturally knew how taboo it was to meddle in the emperor's family affairs as a minister. It's just that he is a Hanchen who has no foundation, and it is not his turn to choose the opportunity. Fang Cai Huang Taiji rejected his proposal, thinking that the next thing would be the fury of thunder, but he didn't expect Huang Taiji to let it go gently, and his heart was both panic and gratitude. He just wanted to say something, but he heard Huang Taiji say to himself: "The Ming Kingdom can't continue to delay, and the troops must be withdrawn as soon as possible, but if this is the case, they are only afraid that they will be dissatisfied!" ”

"Great Khan, you have to prioritize!" Fan Wencheng said in a low voice: "If you are concerned about Neiqi's side, you can deduce that you want to transport the first batch of looted people and livestock back to Shengjing, withdraw the two yellow flags from the exit, and let them do their own thing." ”

"That's all there is to it!" Huang Taiji nodded: "Mr. Fan, you have to investigate Haoge's matter as soon as possible, and find out how he is doing now!" ”

"Yes, Great Khan!"

Through the tall golden horde dome, the sunset glow is sprinkled with woolen carpets, the walls are hung with dark red stripes, the exquisite tapestries depict scenes of hunting and grazing, and through the tent mouth, you can see the majestic tombs of the Western Xia kings and the Helan Mountains in the distance, all of which are immersed in a blood-red color in Liu Cheng's eyes. He sat on an ornate chair made of gold, silver, antlers, and ivory, which is said to be a pound. The booty plundered by Hülegü from Baghdad was obtained by Tushetu Khan Qiubu as his throne. Like this magnificent golden horde, it was all the trophies that Liu Cheng had snatched from Tushetu Khan, and when he sat on such a chair, he only felt that the bottom of his buttocks was hard and sick, especially the row of antlers born on the backrest, like two rows of sharp teeth, which made it impossible to rely on.

"Lord Lu!" Liu Cheng stood up with a smile and gave up the throne: "Come on, this is what I snatched from Tushetu Khan, you can try it too, it looks okay, it's just too hard, it's not as comfortable as the Hu bed!" ”

"Well, this isn't good!" Lu Boqi stood in front of the chair with some hesitation, and looked at the throne in front of him with a curious gaze: "I'm afraid this is not something that a human minister can sit on, right?" ”

"Hey! Lord Lu, you are too careful, there are only you and me here, there are some Tartars outside, are you still afraid that there are people from Beizhen Fusi among them? ”

Hearing Liu Cheng mention the name of Beizhen Fusi, Lu Boqi's face suddenly changed greatly, and he subconsciously looked left and right, confirming that all the Mongolian guards outside the tent were Liu Cheng's guards, and then said in a low voice: "Lord Liu, you still have to be careful when you speak, some jokes are not allowed!" ”

"Yes, yes!" Seeing Lu Boqi like this, Liu Cheng knew that his joke was a little excessive, so he hurriedly smiled and said: "Lord Lu, forgive me, I have been in Mobei for the past few months, and the Tartars around me who drink blood are also a little careless in their words and actions, and they are still a little unaccustomed to it when they come back." ”

"That's it, what else is there to say between you and me!"

Liu Cheng apologized so solemnly, and Lu Boqi didn't want to say anything, so he waved his hand and gave up. But he was still on that throne, sat for a while, and when he got up, he still looked unsatisfied and reluctant, Liu Cheng saw it in his eyes, and couldn't help but wonder secretly: This chair is obviously hard and sick, why does this guy seem to be enjoying a lot. He couldn't suppress his curiosity, so he pretended to be casual and asked, "Master Lu, how is this chair?" ”

"Good, good!" Lu Boqi said hello twice, and when he saw Liu Cheng's confused look on his face, he asked, "Lord Liu, what do you think this chair looks like?" ”

Liu Cheng looked at the chair, thought for a while and replied: "It's like a huge mouth, the person sitting on it seems to be in the mouth, those antlers are like teeth, these barbarians, a good chair is made like this!" ”

"Lord Liu, I see it this way too!" Lu Boqi said with a smile: "Look at this chair should be the position of the prince, presumably the person who made this chair wants to remind the king: the person who is the king is like being in the mouth of a beast, trembling all day long, walking on thin ice, in order to be able to hold the profit and Baotai and pass it on to future generations!" ”

"Hehehe!" When Liu Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Lord Lu, I didn't expect this chair to make you say so many big truths." Anyway, I don't want to sit on this chair! ”

"Lord Liu, in fact, this truth is not only for those who are kings, but even if we are courtiers, we must know!"

Liu Cheng felt the tense atmosphere in the tent, but Lu Boqi's usually mediocre face was solemn at this time, and he sneered and said: "Lord Liu, listen to you say this, I led the army across the Hanhai Sea this time and broke the northern captives, but it's mine?" “

"Lord Liu!" Today's Lu Boqi is different from the past, he looked at Liu Cheng without giving in: "It is naturally a good thing to break the thief's meritorious service, but it is not a good thing to pretend to be seriously injured, send troops privately, and hide everything from the airtight, right?" You know, after all, I am the one appointed by the imperial court to supervise the military affairs of Ningxia and supervise the generals! “

"This-" Lu Boqi's words said that Liu Cheng was a little embarrassed, the set he played before was indeed not very popular, and it could almost be said that the real supreme commander of Ningxia Lu Boqi was completely empty, if this was changed to another civil official, I was afraid that he would have written to the court long ago and asked to be removed from the position of chief soldier, Lu Boqi endured until this time, and privately ran to himself to complain, obviously not wanting to tear his face. Whether it is from personal feelings or political interests, Liu Chengdu must respond to Lu Boqi's kindness, he thought about it, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Lu, this matter is mine, it's just that the soldiers are not tired of cheating, if I don't pretend to be seriously injured, how can I hide from the thief and catch him off guard?" ”

"Humph!" Lu Boqi obviously didn't accept Liu Cheng's defense, but he let it go and asked, "It's okay." Then after you left the division, why didn't the Tumut, Chahar and General Du Shen stationed in the new naturalized city obey my command? I obviously ordered General Du Shen to give up the New Naturalization City and return to Ningxia, but he disobeyed the order, saying that you have already made arrangements, what does he think of me, the governor of Ningxia? ”

"Your Excellency, please stop your anger!" Liu Cheng had a wry smile on his face, and said in a low voice of comfort, he naturally knew why Lu Boqi's order was invalid, in order to prevent Lu Boqi from taking advantage of his absence to interfere in the army and sabotage his own deployment; Liu Cheng made special arrangements before leaving: Min Min took Abnai to control the two divisions of Chahar and Tumut; And Du Guoying led a battalion of soldiers to stick to the new naturalization city, and Liu Cheng also specially told him that except for his own orders, no one should pay attention to him, and everything will be borne by himself after he returns. What he was most afraid of was that after Lu Boqi heard that Houjin had launched a large-scale westward expedition, he would withdraw all his troops to Ningxia and defend them by the river. In this way, it is equivalent to loudly telling all the Mongols that the Ming army did not regard the land of Hetao as its own territory at all, so the most advantageous choice for the Mongols is naturally to follow Huang Taiji to attack the Ming Dynasty; Secondly, if he gave up the new naturalized city, Huang Taiji could safely and boldly lead the army to cross the Yellow River (the Yellow River is a "several" shape outside the fortress, and the new naturalized city is today's ******** located on the right bank of the vertical right side of the "several" character), instead of sending a mere 2,000 people to cross the river in pursuit. As a seasoned commander, Huang Taiji knew very well that there were too many unforeseen things in war, and if he ignored such a heavily guarded enemy fortress as Xinguihua City, he would lead a large army across the Yellow River to the west. Then when winter comes, when he leads his army back to cross the river, it is very likely that he will be attacked by the enemy's front and rear. In fact, Liu Cheng deliberately kept ten long boats in the castle, which was intended to come in handy in this situation - when the Houjin army returned to cross the river, they loaded these boats with gunpowder and oil-soaked wool, and went down the river to ram the enemy's pontoon bridge, cutting the enemy army in two.

Of course, all this is not Liu Cheng's reason to make his own decisions and overhead the governor. Civil officials, eunuchs, military generals, and generals fighting wars are the iron laws of the army system since the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Liu Cheng's series of practices are, to put it mildly, intertwined and dominant, and there is no long-term view; At worst, it is ill-intentioned and intended to rebel. is also willing to talk to such a potential thief alone, which shows that Lu Boqi is still very affectionate. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng sighed: "Lord Lu, don't blame them, these are all things I specially told before I left." (To be continued.) )