When he arrived at the Niulu Zhai Fort where he was, there was a group of people around the gate of the fort, talking noisily, Zhang Zhongqi leaned over to take a look, it turned out that this year's election had begun, and some teenagers were waiting in front of the wooden pole to start.

I saw two wooden poles on the clearing, and another one on top of them. This is the method of choosing the Dingkou of the Tartars, the general wooden stick is five feet high, and it is not considered to be the Dingkou if it is passed under the flat pole, if it is exceeded, it will become a formal flag Ding, and bear the grain tax and conscription of a qiē flag Ding, in previous years, when the situation was good, everyone wanted to be selected early, and there could be a chance to go out and promote, but in recent years it has not been so popular.

A female voice was arguing loudly, Zhang Zhongqi dropped the ox cart and squeezed in, only to see Hailan yelling at the newcomer Niu Lu.

"Every year, the selection of Ding is five feet, why do you have to lose two inches today, my brother is only fourteen, how can he afford so many labor taxes."

Zhang Zhongqi turned his head to look at the Niu Lu Ezhen, this new Niu Lu Ezhen is really called Lai Daku, wearing a silver-white iron armor, a face of horizontal meat, looking at people with fierceness, he came from the yellow flag, replacing the old Niu Lu Ezhen who died in the bamboo silk mouth.

After Hauge became the main banner of the Zhenglan Banner, Baylor, he almost wiped out the former nobles of the Zhenglan Banner, and installed a large number of middle-level cadres with yellow flags, and the remaining cadres of the old Zhenglan Banner no longer dared to come forward. Haug, the strong dragon, really suppressed the Earth Snake. Of course, this is not a good thing for Zhang Zhongqi, that Niu Lu really doesn't regard him as his own, just a Ding Kou who pays grain.

Therefore, Zhang Zhongqi saw that someone was really making trouble with Niu Lu, and he was quite gloating in his heart. This Hailan is the daughter of Uncle Ilantai, and now married to Taktan, Zhang Zhongqi has no good impression of Hailan because of his previous dumb things, and it doesn't matter to him who wins or loses.

I saw that the original Paishku came to pull Hailan, and this Paishku was called Cherg. Soon he took refuge in the newcomer Lai Daku, and still retained his position.

Cherge said while pulling Hailan: "It's two inches less, which is also the case with all flags this year, not just a blue flag, don't believe you go and ask the red village next to you." ”

Hailan waved his hand and took off the car Erge and scolded: "Seeing that I want to take autumn grain, I came to choose Ding at this time, and deliberately lowered it by two inches, are you Lai Daku poor and crazy......"

Lai Daku over there shouted angrily, and the two white-armored soldiers drew their swords and were about to come up to arrest Hailan. Zhang Zhongqi thought that he had a good relationship with Taktan, and was about to go up to pull Hailan, when he saw Taktan rushing out of the crowd. Holding the knife to block the direction of Bai Jia, he dragged Hailan vigorously.

The crowd was noisy, some persuasive and some noisy, and Lai Daku's eyes were fierce, and he drew his knife and walked over. Zhang Zhongqi saw that it was not good, and hurriedly ran into the field with a whip, just blocking Lai Daku's route, and hit Hailan headlessly, scolding while beating: "You woman's family, what do you have to do with the master's selection." Is there a place for you to speak, you get out, get out! ”

Hailan was beaten by Zhang Zhongqi. She scolded Zhang Zhongqi: "Dog slave, you dare to beat me, one day I will drag your new dumb man to feed the dog......"

Zhang Zhongqi stopped suddenly, looking at Hailan with blood-red eyes. His hand was on the handle of the knife, and Cherg ran over and grabbed Taktan. While explaining to Nalai Daku, several old men also came over to stop Taktan and dragged him out of the circle.

Hailan was still scolding, and Cherge shouted angrily at her: "Hailan, you are enough, if it weren't for Elantai's sake, I would have slashed you earlier, can a woman take care of the things in the Niu Lu, Seven Belle or Dorobelle, he Fujin took care of his daughter's marriage, and he was also severely punished by the Great Khan." ”

Hailan said loudly: "Xuanding is a five-foot-high stick, why doesn't he follow the rules." ”

Cherge interrupted: "You are still embarrassed to say the rules, then let me ask you, last month you sold the coat Nikan to the blue flag of the stunned, the Great Khan expressly ordered, the coat can only be sold in the market of this cow, if you want to sell it with the flag, you must first report the amount of the cow record is really approved, have you ever reported to the master of Lai Daku, the master of Lai Daku has spared you once, you also tell me the rules." ”

Hailan was speechless, and Taktan also persuaded her and pulled Hailan away.

Lai Daku walked to the middle of the field with a knife, and did not chase Hailan, he didn't talk much, he glanced at Zhang Zhongqi in the field coldly, and asked, "Nikan who carries the flag?" ”

Zhang Zhongqi's blood-red eyes looked over, and immediately remembered that this person was Niu Lu Ezhen, and immediately changed his smiling face, "The slave is the one who carries the flag, but the slave has been in Niu Lu for almost ten years, he is an old man, and he has fought a lot of battles." ”

Lai Daku squinted at him, and finally turned away without speaking, and Cherg next to him said loudly to the teenagers, "Everyone continue to choose Ding." ”

Hailan's younger brother was the first to walk over, it was just a little less than the pole, and when he saw that he was about to pass, Lai Daku reached out and flicked the pole, "It's here, choose Ding alone......"

Zhang Zhongqi was a little frightened in his heart, he didn't know what Lai Daku's attitude was towards him, he had no intention of continuing to look at the election that had nothing to do with him, and hurriedly returned home, the dumb man was waiting for him at the door, and when he saw Zhang Zhongqi coming back, he happily greeted him, babbling and talking to him. Zhang Zhongqi had a warm smile on his face, and went up to take the mute hand and entered the courtyard together.

After he entered the door, he first went to see the child, then closed the door, glanced around the courtyard wall, and carefully took out some silver from under the manger, Zhang Zhongqi whispered to the dumb man: "You must be careful when taking the silver, don't let people know, otherwise someone will steal it." ”

Dumb nodded blankly, Zhang Zhongqi said while taking the silver: "This year, I'm afraid I can't go out, our blue flag has collapsed, the master of Mang Gurtai died in the bamboo silk mouth, the master of Tobo Hui and the master of the Derge class also died, there are only more than 1,000 soldiers in the banner, and they can't fight anywhere, even those thirteen or fourteen years old will be Dingkou, it's okay to fight others in the future, if you fight the Dengzhou soldiers......" Zhang Zhongqi shook his head as he said, and then continued: "This year, the Dengzhou soldiers have been fighting with us in Gaizhou, and more than 100 armor soldiers have died in the red flag, They haven't grown up yet, and now that they are about to harvest the autumn grain, they must still come, and they are dragging us, and they may not be able to go out this year. ”

As he spoke, he had gathered fifty taels, and there was not much left in the manger, and there were some jewels and the like, which could not be exchanged for much silver for a while. Zhang Zhongqi hesitated. When Taktan came back from Xuanfu, he grabbed a lot, Zhang Zhongqi originally planned to borrow some from him, but now that this incident came out, it is estimated that he is still angry, and he may not understand that Zhang Zhongqi is actually going to help Hailan, so he gave up this plan.

Zhang Zhongqi took the silver and drove the ox cart to the grain store, but the grain store did not buy enough money, and only sold 90 catties to him, and did not sell more. Zhang Zhongqi had no choice. Ninety pounds of grain were loaded into ox carts and hurried home.

Looking at the grain fields along the way, this year's harvest will not be too good. Zhang Zhongqi closed his eyes and prayed: "Dengzhou soldiers, don't come." ”……

"Great Khan, since May, the Dengzhou cavalry has raided the north of Yulinpu more than ten times, as far as Qiaotoupu, Yulinpu, Gaizhou, Polopu, and Qingshiling cannot be cultivated. The nearby Zhengbai Banner and the inlaid red flag suffered heavy losses, and the Tianyou Army in Gaizhou City was full of grass and trees, and fled as soon as they saw the Dengzhou cavalry. ”

In the Dazheng Palace, Yue Tuo whispered to Huang Taiji about the recent military situation, and there were also several scholars and scholars who listened to it.

He is now very careful in front of Huang Taiji, and he is no longer as calm as before. The first is that Huang Taiji's methods of cleaning up the blue flag are very vicious, and the second is that Yue Tuo offended Huang Taiji because of his own Fujin affairs, although Huang Taiji later summoned him alone. said that he was not to blame for the past, but with Yue Tuo's understanding of Huang Taiji, this matter violated Huang Taiji's taboo, and it would not be so easy to explain the past.

Therefore, Yue Tuo is very careful in doing things now, and will never leave a small tail for Huang Taiji to catch. Huang Taiji did have the means to follow. Originally, the Red Flag was not stationed in Gaizhou, but Huang Taiji quickly asked the Red Flag to send a soldier to support Gaizhou. As a result, he was beaten by the Dengzhou soldiers and lost hundreds of armor soldiers.

Yue Tuo now has a clearer understanding of Dengzhou's advantages, that is, Dengzhou is all professional soldiers, and all their things are to fight, unlike Houjin, where a soldier still needs to farm and serve in labor in peacetime. According to the system, the Guanning Army in western Liaoning is also a professional soldier who receives military salaries, but their system has been decayed, and the organization and military law are not as good as those of Houjin, but Dengzhou is above Houjin.

Huang Taiji frowned and thought for a long time, there were still a few people in the palace, namely Bao Chengxian, Gao Hongzhong and Fan Wencheng, most of them had some errands in various ministries, these three people were all regarded as people valued by Huang Taiji, each of them had a population of seventy to three hundred, and belonged to the slave owner level.

After listening to this, Bao Cheng said to Huang Taiji: "Great Khan, according to Dengzhou Town's fighting style in southern Liaoning in previous years, the minions found that they like to attack in the spring and autumn harvest, dragging down my Dajin's farming, this year has not stopped from May to the present, and their cavalry has also suffered a lot of losses, but when the autumn harvest in September is over, they are afraid that they will attack in a big way." ”

Gao Hongzhong also seconded the proposal: "What Fan Chengzheng said is reasonable, this year's grain prices in western Liaoning have risen sharply, and Liaodong has three taels of grain, Chen Xin will not let go of such an opportunity, he will continue to attack, after Gaizhou, a horse and a flat river, if Gaizhou can't hold it, then Dengzhou sentinels are scattered, and it is difficult to prevent everything, if the grain fields near Haizhou are burned, then this harvest is more urgent." It is also necessary to dispatch vests to strictly guard the line from Gaizhou to Yaozhou Fort. ”

Yue Tuo looked at the ground and said coldly: "There are nearly 3,000 cavalry and dragoons in Dengzhou in southern Liaoning, and another infantry and Dongjiang Town have advanced to the Xiuyan area, and Kuandian and other places in the north have been attacked by Dongjiang Town many times. If Dengzhou is attacked in September, it will inevitably be together with the Dongjiang River, at this time Phoenix City, Zhenjiang is bound to be difficult to defend, far from defending Gaizhou, Xiuyan, Phoenix, Kuandian and other places are all mountains, and the roads are all along the river through the mountains, such a place, Dengzhou infantry combat strength is needless to say. I don't know how many men and horses they plan to send to defend, many grain fields have been destroyed in these places this year, and there are more soldiers and horses, so it will be necessary to transport supplies to Aha several times, and the grain will be consumed in vain, and then it will still fall into Chen Xin's calculation. ”

Huang Taiji looked at Yue Tuo and said, "Yue Tuobeile means to give up these places?" ”

Yue Tuo thought for a while, he didn't want to say such a thing, so as not to fall into the handle, but he was still worried about the entire Houjin in his heart, and finally nodded and said: "If you want to defend these places, you need a lot of money and food, and there are mountains in the meantime, the Dengzhou soldiers come by ship to transport troops, and their march is fast, our defenders must be exhausted, the slaves think it is best to give up Phoenix City and Kuandian and other places, retreat to Lianshan Pass in the middle road, retreat to Yunyang Fort in the east road, and do their best to defend Gaizhou and prevent the Dengzhou cavalry from entering Haizhou and other places to destroy." Or even launch an attack on Fuzhou to force Dengzhou Town to abandon Fuzhou, so as to ensure that the Dengzhou cavalry will not be able to attack Gaizhou and drag down our army in the autumn and winter of this year. ”

Huang Taiji nodded while listening, Yue Tuo's heart was slightly steady, Huang Taiji still showed the posture of a male lord, and did not have all opinions against Yue Tuo because of the Fu Jin matter.

Huang Taiji said slowly: "It's not that Phoenix City has never given up, and the old Khan has also gained and lost, but this is a God-given place, and it is not a trivial matter to give up, and this matter still needs the consent of Dai Shanda Baylor." ”

Fan Wencheng, who had not spoken, suddenly knelt down and said: "The slave has to say that I have to say that my Dajin respects the master as the Dajin Khan, and regards the Great Khan as the main one. ”

The other two Hanchen also knelt down at the same time, Huang Taiji stood quietly with his hands in his hands, Yue Tuo's eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the floor without saying a word.