"Yes!" The merchant bowed his head respectfully.

It turned out that this one called himself Muhammad. The man in white was the leader of the Baishan faction in the Yichan sect, an important Yi/Si/Lan sect in Xinjiang in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At the end of the seventh century A.D., a religious sect called Sufism emerged in the world of Islam/Si/Lan, which was known for its mysticism and birthism, which was severely attacked by the upper rulers in the early stage of its formation.

By the fifteenth century A.D., this small group, which had originally been for individual practice, had developed into a well-organized order organization, with a large mosque as the center of schools and monasticism, headed by a respected Sufi elder, with a large amount of land and religious property as the economic pillar, and a strict hierarchy within the order, with absolute obedience from the lower members to the superior members, and the teacher-inheritance relationship changed from the early succession to the hereditary system, and generally the head would make a successor before his death. and give it a secret inheritance to inherit the Taoist lineage. At that time, the Yi/Si/Lan world called it a mutual aid society, a brotherhood, or a religious order.

The Naqshbandiya Order is one of the most powerful Sufi orders in Central Asia, and since its third generation of patriarch Ahlar, the order has tried to communicate the relations between the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, which ruled the Xinjiang region of China at that time, in an attempt to gain the power to preach in the region. To its fifth-generation Imam Mehdom? In 1533, he himself went to Xinjiang to preach in Yarkand and Kashgar, and was so successful that his followers called him Yizen, or "perfect man." But Mehdom? After the death of Azam, his sons fought against each other for his throne, and his eldest son Muhammad? Occupied by Imin. His youngest son, Ishag, did not want to send people to the fence, so he went to Xinjiang in 1580 to set up another household, and was strongly supported by Mahmud Khan, the leader of the Yarkand Khanate at the time, and his sect was called the Ishagye sect, that is, the Montenegrin faction; His eldest brother Muhammad? Although Yimin himself did not go to Xinjiang, he also sent his fourth son, Muhammad. Yusuf went to the Yarkand Khanate, and the sect was called the Ishaniyya, or the White Mountain School. Thanks to Mehdom? Azam claimed to be the nineteenth generation descendant of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, and Ali, the fourth caliph, so he and his descendants were called "Hodr", meaning descendants of saints. Although the founders of the two factions of Montenegro and White Mountain are uncles and nephews. There was no difference in the teachings, but there was an extremely fierce struggle for religious, political, and economic rights. Soon after Yusuf arrived in Xinjiang, he was denounced as a heretic and forced to leave the country, where he went on a missionary mission while looking for an opportunity to make a comeback.

The carriage skirted the crowded streets, approaching the West Gate. A group of people came over, and when they were far away, they saw the gongs that opened the way, the signs of "silence" and "avoidance", and all kinds of honor guards. But he also knew that this was a local high-ranking official on patrol, so he hurriedly jumped out of the carriage and knelt down on the side of the road. Yusuf is a caring person, and he secretly raised his head to see it. I saw that the two rows of cavalry in the front were all dressed in iron armor, and the infantry behind them all carried arquebuses on their shoulders. Wearing cloth iron armor and a saber on his waist, many people's armor and war horses still have blood stains that have not been washed off, and a fierce aura of the tiger and wolf division is rushing to his face, seeing that there should be a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty behind him, he didn't dare to look more, and hurriedly bent down. After a long while, this group of people passed, and Ahmat hurriedly helped Yusufu up, and said in a low voice: "I have to do this in the realm of the Ming people, I am wronged and Zhuo!" ”

"It's okay!" Yusuf smiled: "I think this Ming weapon is very sharp. ”

"Not bad!" Ahmat looked at no one on the left and right, and said in a low voice: "I heard from a familiar Ming person that this General Liu is not only good at using firearms, but also good at making firearms, and the firearms used in his army are all made by himself, especially compared to other Ming army!" ”

"I see!" Yusuf smiled and suddenly asked, "Brother Ahmat, let me ask you a question, are you willing to make sacrifices for the development of Allah's faith?" ”

Ahmat was stunned when he heard this, although he was a Mu/Si/Lin, but as a businessman, his faith and piety could only be regarded as average, and he was so respectful to Yusuf, in addition to religion, it was more out of his own interests. After all, although the White Mountain faction is weak in the Yarkand Khanate, it still has a very strong force in Central Asia, even within the Yarkand Khanate, the White Mountain faction also has considerable potential power, if Yusuf can enter it in the future, the little investment paid now will be rewarded ten million times. Thinking of this, Ahmat hurriedly nodded and said, "As long as I can do it, I will definitely not refuse!" ”

Yusuf is such a shrewd person, how can he not hear Ahmat's thoughts, but he only smiled slightly: "Very good, Ahmat brothers, you should know that the power of the Montenegrin faction within the Khanate is very stable, if you want justice to be redressed, words alone are not enough, to deal with stubborn enemies, sometimes justice also needs the support of force!" ”

"You are right, the Prophet once said that a drop of blood shed for righteousness is worth a thousand prayers!"

"You say it well, Brother Ahmat!" Yusuf smiled: "But we can't let people who fight for justice fight with their bare hands against enemies armed with steel swords, do you know what I mean?" ”

"Hezhuo, do you want me to get a weapon?"

"Yes, to be exact, I bought a firearm from that General Liu, of course it would be better if there were others!"

"But—" Ahmat's face showed a sad expression: "Dear Hezhuo, that General Liu is not a businessman, and I am afraid that such things as firearms will not be sold, right?" “

"Brother Ahmat, as far as I know, there are very few people who can say no to gold. Do you think that General Liu is the one who can say no? Yusuf smiled and looked into Ahmat's eyes, Ahmat subconsciously lowered his head, and then shook his head.

"Very well, don't worry about spending too much, every gold coin you give will be remembered by Allah, and you will be richly rewarded in the Hereafter." Yusuf smiled: "Of course, I will also keep it in mind, when I return to Kashgar, everything you have done today will be rewarded unexpectedly!" Besides. Yusuf paused slightly, and said with a smile: "If you go back to Shache this time, you can get the right to mine a jade mine." “

If the first two blank checks still made Ahmat a little uneasy. The piece of pie that Yusuf threw out at the end immediately tickled him. He hurriedly bowed his fat upper body to Yusuf and replied respectfully, "Descendant of the saint, your will is an order to me!" “

The blood-red remnant sun shone on the surface of the river, as if it was not water flowing in the river, but crimson blood. Lin Dan Khan sat on the horse, his whole body swayed from side to side with the advancing mount, like a dilapidated puppet, not long ago the fiasco not only took away his wife, son, subordinates, power, and even his anger was sucked away, at this time the horseback was no longer a child. Lindan Batur, a direct descendant of the Golden Family, and the seventh grandson of Dayan Khan. It's just a living dead with an extra breath of air than a corpse.

"Great Khan, it's already dark, and the horses are tired, I'm afraid I'll hurt the horses if I hurry again! Let's stop and rest for a while! Tashhai asked his old master in a low voice, but Lin Dan Khan still stared blankly at the horsewhip in his right hand as if he hadn't heard anything. Seeing this, Tashhai sighed and called two of his subordinates to serve Lin Dan Khan, then turned around and went to count the number of people and arrange for his subordinates to camp and rest.

"Six hundred and fifty-seven rides!" Tashhai sighed with a wry smile. Although he was mentally prepared, this figure still surprised him slightly, if he remembered correctly, when he crossed the Yellow River from the pontoon bridge and fled into the grassland. He still had at least seventeen or eight hundred men under his command, but now only a third was left, and it was clear that no one wanted to side with the vanquished.

"No matter what the others do, I, Tashhai, must continue to stand in front of the Great Khan!" Tashhai said to himself. As if to remind myself. The sun was setting over the horizon, and the magnificent sunset was shining on the ground, across the vast meadows. Not a single figure can be seen in even the sharpest eyes. In this dark, dry, withered grass, there is not even a little wind and grass. The camp chosen by Tashhai is located on a hill on the bank of the river, which originally housed a Han village, but has long been destroyed by the invasion of nomadic herders, leaving only a ruined wall, stretching in the light of the setting sun. In the distance, the gentle Yellow River shimmers with scales, and she will go north to Sansheng Gong and then turn eastward, flow to Hekou Town, and turn sharply to the south, cutting the Loess Plateau into two large pieces, forming a huge zigzag. At this time, the sunset in the sky and the reflection of the river are changing and fading every minute. The defeated soldiers listened to the birds in the air crying across the river, the only sound that broke the silence.

Night descended on the steppe, and in the legend of the Mongols, it was time for the ghosts to rule, in their legend, the day belonged to the living, and the night to the dead. When night falls, the spirits of those who have died violently or killed rise from the ground and fly freely in the air, and when midnight falls, these spirits will ride horses and gallop through the grasslands, shouting and chasing the living, bringing them underground, and sometimes such spirits will even merge into huge legions that can engulf entire villages. The defeated soldiers sitting by the fire couldn't help but tremble when they thought of this, and they took out the Buddha beads from their arms, chanted various mantras, and begged for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas.

And this does not include Lin Dan Khan, who sat motionless by the fire, like a clay carved wooden statue. Tashhai came over with a bowl and whispered: "Great Khan, drink milk millet!" “

Lin Dan Khan shook his head silently, Tashhai wanted to persuade a few words, but when he saw Lin Dan Khan's appearance, the words came to his mouth and swallowed back. He sighed, put the bowl next to Lin Dan Khan's knees, took another piece of bear skin and spread it beside it, and bowed to Lin Dan Khan before retreating.

Tashhai ate a few bites before he felt sleepiness rushing towards him like the sea, and even the iron-beaten man could not survive after a continuous hard battle. He threw down the leftover food and fell asleep, and he did not know how long it took for Tashhai to wake up, and suddenly he heard a clattering sound from the meadow below the mound, which he knew very well was the sound of the horses kicking the soft grass at high speed, and almost at the same moment as he jumped, the sentry scout warned that a man of unknown origin was rapidly approaching.

"Someone's coming, get up!" There was a shout from the mound, and people hurried to extinguish the bonfire with dirt so as not to expose themselves to the light. Tashhai ran quickly to a low wall and looked at where the sound had come from. I saw it in

A large group of horses was gathering in a half-moon shape in front of the hill, and about half a mile behind, he could see a large field of fire moving towards him in the distance. Tashhai was about to order his men to leave here as soon as possible, when a Ming Di shot at the earthen wall, which was only more than half a foot away from him, and it was obvious that this group of men and horses had noticed the movement on the earthen hill and used a signal to notify the group behind to surround him.

"Great Khan! Hurry up and get on the horse! As soon as Tashhai raised his head, another burst of arrows flew over, and he hurried to the ground, but he had already received an arrow in his shoulder, and he gritted his teeth and pulled the arrow off with all his might, but fortunately it was only a flint arrow, not an iron arrow with a barb as the Ming people, otherwise he would have to lose a large piece of flesh.

"Who are you! Our master is a descendant of the great Golden Family, a descendant of Dayan Khan, Khutuktu Khan of the Chahar tribe! The sharp pain covered Tashhai's forehead with beads the size of soybeans, and he at first thought it was the pursuing Ming army, but the Ming army should not be poor enough to use flint arrows, which only nomads who lacked iron tools would use. If so, he wants to end the battle without bloodshed.

Hearing Tashhai's shouts, the besiegers paused for a moment, which gave him the illusion that his shouts had already done their job. But it was only for a moment, and the besiegers pressed forward with even more violence, and the dust on the low wall was scattered like arrows. Driven into despair, Tashhai shouted: "My master is Khutuktu Khan of the Chahar tribe, who are you?" ”

"There is no Chahar Department anymore, and there are no descendants of the Golden Family, the descendants of Dayan Khan!" A high-pitched voice rose from the crowd under the mound: "Here there is only the despicable apostate Lindan Batur, who has slaughtered his own people, reneged on the faith of his ancestors, turned away those who asked for help from him, cowardly fled before the enemy, and put tens of thousands of Mongol warriors to death for his own ambitions, and by his actions he has driven himself out of the ranks of the great sons of the Sons!" (To be continued.) )