Liu Cheng frowned, he tried his best not to look at the face of Chechen Taiji next to him, he knew very well that his answer was related to the success or failure of this expedition, and he had already invested so much, the slightest carelessness would come to naught. Every word, every expression had to be weighed carefully, and he admonished himself as he took a large sip of sour mare's milk to buy time. When he put down his wine glass, Liu Cheng asked, "Then tell me your attitude towards this expedition first, and then I'll talk about it!" ”

As Liu Cheng expected, Bolza laughed, this sworn brother of Chechen Taiji is a confident and arrogant person: "Of course I support this expedition, my Anda has just left his father, and needs pastures, tribes, and land to feed his cattle and feed his people, and Tushetu Khan is cowardly and incompetent, but he occupies a large area of fertile pastures, and the strong on the steppe are respected, and the winner is king, and those who have won them are ours!" ”

"For good reason!" Liu Cheng laughed: "Indeed, you have a good reason to attack Tushetu Khan. ”

"What about you? I saw, hundreds and thousands of caravans, a lot of weapons and soldiers, and I even saw artillery. Such an army will definitely pay a great price for crossing the Hanhai, what are you doing this for? You are a general of the Ming Kingdom, and the grassland is worthless to you, and besides, according to the agreement, you gave all the grassland to my An A. Yes, you have married the daughter of Baturtaiji, but that does not mean that you will do things for nothing for his son. ”

Speaking of this, Borza's eyes were blazing, staring at Liu Cheng's eyes, even if he didn't turn around, Liu Cheng could feel that Chechen Taiji on the side was staring at him, and he knew in his heart that if he couldn't give a convincing answer to the other party, this expedition would probably come to naught. He lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and finally raised his head and replied, "You can get the territory of Tushetubu, and I can get two benefits. ”

"Two benefits?"

"Yes, the first one is security, you know that I have controlled a large area of grassland from Guihua City to Helan Mountain, which is the most fertile land in the entire Monan, the Jurchens will definitely attack me in the near future, I don't want to disperse my forces to guard against the enemy in the north at that time, if this expedition is successful, then I will solve the threat in the north once and for all."

"A threat from the north?" Borza laughed: "The Tushetu people will cross the Hanhai to attack you? How is this possible? You're thinking too much, aren't you? ”

"Is it really impossible now? What if the Manchurians formed an alliance with it? Liu Cheng sneered: "Don't forget, the Manchurians and the Horqin Department have long been allies, and the pastures of Horqin and Chechen Khan and Tushetu Khan are bordered. ”

In the face of Liu Cheng's rebuttal, Borza did not speak, due to the reasons of nomadic life, the various departments on the grassland live by water and grass, and the range of activities is much larger than that of the Han people, just the change of grassland in summer and winter, it is not uncommon to migrate hundreds of kilometers, from this point of view, the Tushetu Department and the control range of the Houjin at that time can be said to be bordering, with the political skills and strong strength of Huang Taiji at that time, it is entirely possible for the two sides to establish an alliance, in the real history, the Great Khan of the Tushetu Department is exactly five years later, That is, in 1638 (the eleventh year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and the third year of Chongde of the Qing Dynasty), an envoy was sent to pay tribute to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and a white camel and eight white horses were paid to the Manchu Qing every year, that is, the tribute of "nine whites", thus establishing an alliance with the Manchu Qing at that time. Although Liu Cheng did not remember these historical details, it was not difficult to predict that as the strength of the Later Jin continued to grow and the Ming continued to weaken, the Northern Saibei forces like the Tushetu tribe would definitely gradually fall to the side of the Jurchens, and it would undoubtedly be a wise choice to eliminate them first and replace them with Chechen Taiji, who had an in-law relationship with him.

"And what about the second one?" Borza asked after a moment of silence.

"Can threaten the flanks of the Manchurians!" Liu Cheng casually picked up an iron chisel, uncovered the sheepskin on the ground, and drew on the soil below: "There are three Jurchens: Jianzhou Jurchen, Haixi Jurchen, and East China Sea Jurchen. The captive chief Nurhachi is the leader of the Jianzhou Jurchens, after the annexation of the Haixi Jurchens, the power gradually strengthened, and the heart of inferiority was born. Among the three Jurchens, the Jianzhou Jurchens are good at foot warfare, the Haixi Jurchens are good at cavalry warfare, and if they are stoic and good at fighting, they are not afraid of the dead, they are the Jurchens of the East China Sea. Because it lives in the far north and pays tribute, I also call it the savage Jurchen. After Nurhachi's rebellion, he often sent troops to recruit the Jurchens of the East China Sea, and the strong ones were soldiers, and the old and weak were slaves. This time, I plan to pacify the Tushetu and Chechen Khans, send wise and resourceful people to the East China Sea, give them elite soldiers and strong armor, teach them the art of war and defense, and put a big trouble behind the back of the Eastern Captives, so that they can't care about each other, so as to solve my worries about the Ming Dynasty! “

"Hehehehehe!" Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Borza suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed, his loud voice shook so loudly that the oil lamp hanging on the top of the tent vibrated violently, and the dust fell on Liu Cheng's face, Liu Cheng wiped the dust off his face and asked, "What's the matter, do you think my idea is ridiculous?" ”

"No, no!" Bolza wiped the dust off his face, picked up the horn cup and poured a sip of sour mare's milk and smiled: "I just think your idea is interesting, Chechen An, such an interesting thing can't miss us, isn't it?" With that, he turned his head and squeezed his eyes at Chechen Taiji.

Borza's answer made Chechen Taiji a little embarrassed, but he was more concerned about Liu Cheng's attitude, whether the powerful Ming general would be angered by the contempt in his brother's words, and after confirming that Liu Cheng was not provoked, he asked carefully: "Brother-in-law, I know that you have great ambitions and are very human." If it is based on the relationship between you and me, it is not difficult for me to stand on your side, but what can I gain from your side? “

"To the north of Hanhai, to the east of Hulun, to the east, to Kobdo, to the south, to the desert, the pastures of the Khalkha tribes can all belong to you!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "I only need the south of Hanhai, and only a few fortified trading stations and Ru trade in the north of Hanhai, and I will definitely try to give priority to the supply of firearms and medicine you need!" ”

"Good!" Liu Cheng's answer satisfied Chechen Taiji, who separated from his father Khan and headed east into the pastures of Tushetu Khan. For the vast majority of Mongols, the land of Mobei, especially Horin Nai, located at the southern foot of the Hangai Mountains, was a sacred place, where the mighty Uighur Khan had set up his tent as early as the 7th century BC, where successive steppe rulers had commanded armies to launch one attack after another on the agrarian world. As a little khan who had just been driven out of the tribe by his father, it was already an unattainable dream to be able to rule the heart of the Mongolian nation.

"Oh!" A loud hutche broke the solemn atmosphere in the tent, Borza stretched his waist, walked straight to the tent, kicked the sheepskin on the ground at will, lifted the hem of the leather robe, took out the words and went straight to urinate, and the tent was immediately filled with a strong smell of urine. Even with Liu Cheng's cultivation, his face showed a look of disbelief, and Chechen Taiji explained embarrassedly: "Brother-in-law, please forgive me, although my An An is a noble birth, I am a little sloppy on weekdays!" ”

"A little sloppy? It's blatant urination in a tent! As soon as he remembered that he had just eaten the barbecue on the iron chisel from this guy's hand, Liu Chengcheng felt his stomach tumbling, and he forced himself to suppress his nausea and said: "Chechen Taiji, I am tired from the journey, I will go to rest first, please forgive me for the rudeness!" After that, Chechen Taiji couldn't speak, so he got up and took his leave.

"A, what are you doing!" Sending Liu Cheng away, Chechen Taiji returned to the tent and saw Borza sitting by the fire, drinking sour mare's milk while munching on mutton: "My brother-in-law is a rare guest, we want to gain a foothold here, but we can't do without his help!" ”

"Pee!" Bolza slammed the horn cup to the ground: "After drinking so much sour mare's milk, naturally you have to pull it, otherwise you won't burst your belly!" ”

"Then why do you pull in the tent? You should know that the Han people care about this, right? Chechen Taiji patted the ground angrily: "I originally wanted to ask for some more benefits from him." ”

"An'a, your brother-in-law is as good as a fox, and you still want benefits from him?" Borza smiled and took a sip of sour mare's milk: "Think about it, what kind of thing he promised you is his own?" Whether it's pastures or livestock, we have to buy it with blood and sweat, and he hasn't come out with anything! “

"Didn't he give us a thousand birds?" Chechen Taiji retorted somewhat unconvinced.

"Didn't you want us to die for him? If you hire someone to catch fish for you, you have to give someone a net, and you can't let someone else work empty-handed, right? ”

"This-" Chechen Taiji was speechless, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Then what do you say should be done?" What about not fighting the Tushetu people? ”

"We still have to fight, otherwise how can we have a foothold? But we have to know why we want to fight and where to fight! Bolza stuffed a piece of mutton into his mouth, chewed vigorously and said in a muffled voice: "For example, this Tushetu Ministry, we naturally want to fight, but the Chechen Ministry, and the Jurchens, what do we have to do with them, why do we want to bleed for your brother-in-law in vain?" ”

"You have a point, Ann!" Chechen Taiji nodded: "I will join forces with him to defeat the Tushetu people, and then I will do it!" ”

As if to confirm Borza's suspicions, on the morning of the third day, the united army set out for Zhaomodo, which was autumn and the best season on the steppe. The vast and empty plain stretched out in front of me, flat and vast as far as the eye could see, like a sea, but instead of blue water, the waves of turquoise grass were tumbling on the surface of the sea. There are no hills, no mountains, no trees, no roads, no cities, only blades of grass that sway with the wind, filling the entire field of vision.

The total number of the army exceeded 40,000, but less than half of them were combatants, Liu Cheng had less than 3,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalry, while Chechen Taiji had 4,000 cavalry, including 1,000 birdmen. For Liu Cheng, the addition of Chechen Taiji as an ally can not only make up for the shortage of troops, but more importantly, solve the problem of logistics -- the livestock and dairy products in the tribe can reduce the consumption of grain, and slaves, women, children, old and young can undertake all kinds of heavy chores such as collecting firewood, finding water, and cooking, otherwise in order to transport grain, at least ten times the number of people in the army will have to be mobilized, which is absolutely impossible for Liu Cheng to bear at this time.

"My lord, do you think that Chechen Taiji is trustworthy?" Hao Shaoqi looked at Chechen Taiji, who was galloping on horseback not far away, and asked Liu Cheng in a low voice: "Please forgive the last general, I think these Tartars are like wild beasts, and they are completely untrustworthy!" ”

"Really?" The corners of Liu Cheng's lips turned up slightly, and he said with a smile: "Wave the flag, that Chechen Taiji is Minmin's brother!" ”

"Madame is naturally different!" Hao Shaoqi lowered his head in embarrassment and explained: "In the tent that day, how can that Bolza look like that? “

"Wave the flag, I see what you mean!" Liu Cheng kicked the horse's belly twice, the war horse sped up his pace, and opened a little distance from the guards behind, Hao Shaoqi knew that what he was going to say next was more important, and he didn't want the third party to hear it, so he hurriedly beat the horse and followed.

"If it is just to attack Tushetu Khan, Chechen Taiji they are still credible, after all, one mountain is difficult to accommodate two tigers, if it is an ordinary scattered tribe Tushetu Khan, maybe he can also set aside a piece of land for him to graze and include it under his own banner. And Chechen Taiji is Baturtaiji's biological son, and in the case of Baturtaiji's expeditions to the east and west, and repeated victories, Tushetu Khan will never allow the Eruts to stick nails in their own territory. There is no fight yet, but the time is still short, and Tushetu Khan may not have figured it out yet. Chechen Taiji knows this, and I know, there is nothing to worry about. ”

"And what about after taking Tushetu Khan?" Hao Shaoqi anxiously asked: "I remember that day in the tent, didn't you say that you would continue to take down the Chechen Khan and send troops to the East China Sea Jurchen?" Do you flank the East? ”

"Hehehe!" Liu Cheng laughed: "Waving the flag, that's just a reassuring pill for Chechen Taiji." ”

"Reassurance?"

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "Wave the flag, you don't understand, people like Chechen Taiji, since childhood, have been accustomed to intrigue and deceit, if you are honest with him, we will take Tushetu Khan together, and the pasture and pasture here will be given to you, you will defend the north for me, and I will be dedicated to taking the land of Monan and dealing with the eastern captives." Instead, he will think about it and give rise to many incidents. It's better to lie to him and say that I sent troops across the Hanhai for this kind of thing, so that he thinks that there is an opportunity to take advantage of me, but he will think that he has a plan, and he will not play tricks against Tushetu Khan. (To be continued.) )