Bu Lostu pointed to the earthen platform in the distance and the Mongols who were watching and asked in surprise: "This, what is this going to do?" ”

"Funeral for Lin Dan Khan!" Wang Anshi said with a smile: "Great Khan and be patient, after the funeral is over, I will start counting the people." “

"Why is it making such a big noise?" Bu Lost Rabbit felt that his hands and feet were cold, and he was scared and angry in his heart: "This guy is just a heinous man, if he doesn't break his body into ten thousand pieces, it's not bad to abandon the corpse in the wilderness, what is the reason?" “

"Great Khan, this is Master Chesang's idea, and Governor Lu and General Liu have also agreed!" Although Wang Anshi's tone was very humble, there was an irresistible taste in his bones: "Anyway, he is also a descendant of Dayan Khan, and he was once the Great Khan of the Mongols, shouldn't you be more magnanimous in front of a dead man?" “

Just as Bu Lost Rabbit didn't know how to answer, a loud horn came from the earthen platform in the distance, which attracted his attention. The Mongols gathered under the platform began to walk up to the platform according to their tribe, to look at the corpse of their leader, and to place small objects such as firewood, garlands, or rosaries on the seats, and then walked down the platform. The voices of the monks chanting scriptures under the earthen platform also became high-pitched, and the cries of the people on the stage became one.

Soon, firewood and all kinds of small objects piled up the ground next to Lin Dan Khan's body, and some of the mourners had to pay homage to him under the earthen platform, this sad atmosphere infected many people present, and the loud cries were heard clearly even from the viewing platform hundreds of meters away from the high platform.

Finally, when all the Mongols had completed the ceremony, Delegadler led the relatives of Lindan Khan to bid farewell to their husband and father, and the widow walked up to Lindan Khan, kissed her husband on the lips, and said loudly: "Goodbye!" In the order of immortality. We'll all come with you! The rest of his wife, children, and two younger sisters followed the example of Delegedele to say goodbye to Lindan Khan, and the musicians under the earthen stage began to play mourning music. Several lamas led two good horses and several hounds that Lin Dan Khan loved during his lifetime to the cremation pile and killed them, and they put the blood of the horses and dogs in clay pots, poured honey and mare's milk wine, and sprinkled them on the pyre as sacrifices to the god of death.

After all this is done. A few people walked up to the earthen platform, and Bu Lost Rabbit was surprised to see that it was Lama Chesang and Dele Gedle, this woman was holding a baby in her arms, and she was holding a young man in her left hand, and she looked dressed as Erkong Goluo Ezhe, the eldest son of Lin Dan Khan. A bad omen rose in Bu Lost Rabbit's heart, and he turned his head to find a way to escape, but found that he didn't know when his personal guards had disappeared, and were replaced by more than a dozen powerful Ming soldiers with fierce faces.

"Great Khan. What are you looking for? Wang Anshi asked.

Bu Lost Rabbit was anxious and asked, "I have some urgency to urinate, I don't know where to find a convenient place?" ”

"It's about to be exciting, why don't you bear it anymore?" Wang Anshi said with a smile: "If you really can't help it, you guys will lead the way for Da Khan, so as not to get lost." His last sentence was said to the Ming soldiers on the side.

Seeing that there was no way to escape, Bu Lost Rabbit had to smile and say: "Since this is the case, I can bear with it!" At this moment, there was another trumpet sound from the high platform not far away. Drew everyone's attention back to the past.

On the high platform, Dele Gedler glanced at Chesan. Chessan nodded slightly, took a half step back, and gave her a spot on the edge of the platform. The noble widow walked to the edge of the earthen platform and said in a loud voice: "Mongols, soon your Great Khan, my husband, will leave this world and return to the place where our common ancestors lived. Death is not terrible. Every one of us has this day, everyone dies, and dying in battle is the fate of warriors! But he did not die on the battlefield, but in his tent by the sword of a traitor! Who slew your Khan, and your eagle? “

The Mongols under the high platform exchanged heads and ears. Asking each other about the names of the traitors, suddenly several loud voices shouted: "It is the Turmut Khan of Bu Lost Rabbit, it is he who killed our Khan, our eagle!" “

Bu Lost Rabbit's face had become as pale as a dead man, and from his position, he could clearly hear the roar of the crowd under the high platform: "Kill him!" ”

"Hang the Lost Rabbit!"

"Send him to the stake!"

The shouts rose wave after wave, like the waves of the rising tide. Bu Lostu grabbed Wang Anshi's arm and begged in a low voice: "Lord Wang, Lord Wang, I killed Lin Dan Khan for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, I am a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and the governor must not leave me alone!" ”

Wang Anshi didn't answer, just smiled silently, and pulled Bu Losttu's hand off his arm, this action was a signal, two Ming soldiers rushed up, twisted his arm, and pressed him to the ground. Wang Anshi said in a low voice: "Send this guy to the Mongols!" ”

Like a wild boar about to be sent to the altar, Bu Lost Rabbit began to struggle desperately with all his might, as if he only realized at this time that the people around him wanted his life. Horror, despair, and pre-death madness were all on his face, and his mouth was covered with foaming white, and from his chest came a beastly howl. On two occasions, he even broke free from the hands of the people next to him, but was quickly grabbed by countless arms sticking out of the way. The Mongols grabbed him by the arm, pulled at his chest, his beard, his hair. He struggled, he tore, he screamed, he fell to the ground, and he got up again, covered in blood, and looked like a hideous devil. When he finally came to the bottom of the high platform, he was already dying, his clothes were torn to shreds, one eye socket was gouged out, his hair and beard were torn naked, one arm was twisted, and the whole person was like a broken puppet, scattered on the ground. The two lamas dragged him up to the high platform and forced him to kneel in front of the body of Lin Dan Khan, and Delegedele handed a short sword to Lin Dan Khan's eldest son, Erkong Guoluo Ezhe, who took the short sword without saying a word, and pierced the heart of Bu Lost Rabbit with a fierce sword, he walked to the edge of the high platform, raised the bloody short sword, and the Mongols in the audience let out a crazy cheer.

"Mr. Liu, why are you doing this?" Hu Kejian asked with some dissatisfaction: "Anyway, Bu Lost Rabbit is also showing favor to me?" Kill him. Didn't he force the Tumut tribe to rebel? “

"Gonggong Hu, there is no more Tumut Department!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "Last night, my generals had already crossed the river, and at this time they should have almost arrived at the camp of the Tumut Department." ”

"What? Is there such a thing? Hu Kejian's face immediately became ugly: "You are provoking the border!" There are 20,000 cavalry in the Tumut Division, what if something goes wrong? ”

"Huh! Father-in-law don't worry, the majority of the coalition is Gushi Khan. The Tumut tribe is only three or four thousand people, and there is an internal response. If you don't believe me, you can ask the governor! ”

Hu Kejian looked at Lu Boqi, his face looked a little better, and he snorted coldly: "Mr. Liu, you are hiding from our family!" Tell me, what else are you hiding from our family? “

"Gonggong Hu, it's not that the last general is hiding from you, but the military situation has changed, and the last general can't do it!"

"Has the military situation changed? Where does this begin? ”

"The day before yesterday, the Chesang Lama came to report. It is said that this Bu Lost Rabbit has a secret agreement with the Eastern Captives, and after recovering his subordinates and hometown, he will take refuge in the captive chieftain, thinking that he is his wings. ”

"What?" Hu Kejian's face changed slightly, and he snorted coldly: "Yi Di is really a dog and a sheep, afraid of power but not virtuous, they have been raised by my Daming grace for nearly a hundred years, and they actually took refuge in Dongyu, and Liu Zongbing killed well!" “

"After the lower officials learned about this. Immediately send a message to the governor and start to deal with it. There is something missing in the hurry, please forgive my father-in-law! Speaking of this, Liu Cheng lowered his voice and said: "I originally wanted Mr. Zhao to bring a message, but this is such an important task for military aircraft, and the subordinate thinks it is better to be cautious." ”

Hu Kejian remembered the 25,000 taels of silver that Zhao Youcai sent for Liu Cheng, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. With a hint of a smile, he said in a low voice: "What Mr. Liu said is that it is indeed better to be cautious in this kind of matter, but since you have killed Bu Lost Rabbit, how do you plan to deal with these tens of thousands of captives?" ”

Liu Cheng saw that Hu Kejian would no longer pursue it. also breathed a sigh of relief, this person returned to Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen would inevitably ask him about the military situation in Ningxia, if he could not be perfunctory, he would cause disaster, and hurriedly replied carefully: "Gonggong Hu, the last general and the governor have discussed before this, and plan to adopt the method of helping the weak and suppressing the strong, and the strategy of controlling the big and small." ”

"The method of helping the weak and suppressing the strong, the strategy of controlling the big and the small?" Hu Kejian asked: "It is clear to help the weak and suppress the strong, what is the solution of the big and small system?" ”

"Father-in-law, please listen to my explanation!" Liu Cheng smiled and pulled Hu Kejian aside, and said in a low voice: "After the death of Lin Dan Khan and Bu Lostu, the enmity between the two tribes of Chahar and Tumut is as deep as the sea. The so-called large and small system is to send its chiefs to the Beijing Division, favor the officials, and hand over their practice to their subordinates, so that the size of the system cannot be combined, and it can naturally achieve long-term stability. “

"Yes, that's a good idea!" Hu Kejian high-fived and praised, Liu Cheng's method is simple, that is, to send the highest-ranking chieftain of his grassland departments to the interior of the capital to learn culture and become an official in the Ming system, and to separate the original big tribes and hand them over to many subordinate nobles to manage. In this way, although the first-class nobles have status and prestige, but they cannot make chaos when they are separated from their subordinates in Beijing, and the second-class nobles will be grateful to the Ming Dynasty for their power from the Ming Dynasty, and they will be grateful to the Ming, even if they are in turmoil, due to their low status, it is difficult to appear a figure that convinces many tribes, and the Ming Dynasty can also appoint the first-class nobles in the Beijing Division as the commander, and use their prestige and connections to lead the troops to deal with the second-class nobles. This actually severed the strict organizational structure of the nomads based on blood, and eliminated their power in internal friction, which was really a clever way to kill people without a knife.

Hu Kejian touched his smooth chin and suddenly asked, "Mr. Liu, although this method is good, but in this case, it is necessary to set up an institution to appease the barbarians, right?" Otherwise, these Tartars will definitely fight for the water and weeds. ”

"My father-in-law really knows everything!" Liu Cheng said with a smile, secretly thinking that this eunuch was not a good person, and he found out the flaws of his method so quickly. According to Liu Cheng's plan, the top nobles of the Chahar and Tumut tribes would be swept away and all sent to Jingshi to serve as dukes, and the rest of the tribes would be divided into dozens of units, which would bring a new problem - who would manage and deal with the conflicts between these units? It must be known that at that time, even in the Han land with fixed land boundaries, it was common for clans in various villages to have armed conflicts with tens of thousands of people over marriages, water sources, roads, murders, and other things. Not to mention the nomadic herding for a living, the main property is the four-legged livestock, water and grass resources are often shared by the grassland tribes. It was certainly not possible to count on the Ming generals in the frontiers, and from past experience, it would not take these greedy Qiu Ba to snatch the last lamb of the Mongols of these two tribes in a few years, and then provoke a larger war. Moreover, this work requires a deep understanding of the customs and history of the local tribes, the old contradictions between them, and the characteristics of animal husbandry, and it must also gain the trust and respect of the Mongols, which is not possible for the Han civil officials. And for this point, Liu Cheng has already had a belly case.

"This governor and the last general also have a plan, and plan to ask the Son of Heaven to canonize Master Chesang as Hutuketu (the meaning of the sage), preside over the Silver Buddha Temple, dispose of the various departments, and balance the dispute."

"Master Chesang, are you talking about the lama who reported that Bu Lost Rabbit was secretly colluding with Dongyu?" Hu Kejian asked, as a prison sent by the Great Tomorrow, he was instinctively wary of any civil and military ministers who might pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty. Although Liu Cheng's previous actions have been proved to be for the security of the border in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, if he wants to grasp the power of balancing the various ministries into his own hands, then Hu Kejian will definitely carry out his duty of supervising the army. The reason is very simple, if this is the case, as a general soldier, Liu Cheng may have too many troops, which is beyond the unspoken political rules that the Ming Dynasty has relied on for three hundred years of long-term peace and stability.

"Not bad!" Liu Cheng nodded: "Father-in-law, this Chesang Lama has made great contributions to my Ming Dynasty, and the Mongolians believe in Lamaism, and respect the monks in the religion like gods. ”

"Hmmm! These matters must be decided by the Son of Heaven. “

"That's nature!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "This Chesang Lama will enter Beijing with Lin Dan Khan's widow at that time, and the Son of Heaven can see it and comfort him." (To be continued.) )