Mobeiwei, Orkhon City.

It was once the old camp of the Warats, but it was reduced to ruins during the First World War.

Now, five years later, with the continuous support of the imperial court, a prosperous walled city has appeared on the desert.

A year ago, Qi Qike went to Beijing to petition and asked for the construction of the railway, which was to lead from Beijing to Orhun.

In the original plan, Orkhon City was not the end, and further north, you could reach Beihaiwei.

At present, the section from Orkhon City to Beihaiwei is still under planning and is expected to be opened to traffic in a year.

The food has to be eaten one bite at a time, the road has to be repaired section by section, and the infrastructure construction has to involve all aspects, and it is not in a hurry.

Zhu Qizhen is not worried, because Beihaiwei is rich in products, can grow rye, and has abundant fishery products, quite the style of the small Jiangnan outside the Saiwai, and there is no need to communicate with the Central Plains for the time being.

Mobeiwei is different, there is a shortage of materials here, although a large amount of farmland has been reclaimed, and workshops have been built, but the food is still not self-sufficient, especially the lack of tea, salt and sugar, iron pots, dishes and other daily necessities.

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People here urgently need to exchange cattle and sheep for daily necessities, and Qiqike went to Beijing to petition because this railway is very important.

The speed of the steam train is very limited, but it is stable and has a large loading capacity, whether it is for passengers or freight, it is far more efficient than pulling horses and horses.

Moreover, people of this era have never seen high-speed rail, and do not feel that the speed of the train is slow, and even think that it is ...... It's too fast.

Zhu Qizhen sat bored by the bed window, looking at the wheat field covered under the snow.

This year's winter was unusually cold, and the wheat seedlings in the field had just grown two or three inches, and then encountered the cold ice and snow, and from a distance, it looked as if they were frozen to death, but when spring came, these inconspicuous wheat seedlings would immediately grow strongly.

However, he did not want to see the Tatars in the far north usher in spring like wheat seedlings.

The couch on the side of the bed will not allow others to sleep soundly!

This time, no matter what kind of conspiracy and trickery he played, he had no return.

Yuan Bin looked out the window, looked at the map again, and said, "Your Majesty, there is Orkhon City in front." ”

Zhu Qizhen nodded slowly and said, "Are you all ready?" ”

Yuan Bin hurriedly replied: "According to the emperor's orders, the minister arranged for five hundred elites to enter Orkhon City in advance, even if the emperor wants to find a mosquito in Orkhon City, the minister can catch it!" ”

"Remember, you must be cautious, and you must not startle the snake!"

"The minister has already taken care of it, but it's just ......"

Speaking of this, Yuan Bin suddenly became hesitant, and it seemed that some words were not easy to speak.

Zhu Qizhen asked: "There is no one here, you have something to say." ”

"Yes!"

Yuan Bin nodded and saluted, and then asked cautiously: "I don't understand, the emperor went out of the palace to inspect Mobei, which could be just and bright, why did he sneak ......?"

This question has been bothering him since he left Beijing, and he couldn't help but ask it before getting out of the car.

Zhu Qizhen said: "If it goes through the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, I don't know how many twists and turns it will take. ”

Yuan Bin was still puzzled, and said: "The emperor's exit from the palace is a major event, and the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites should be treated with caution. ”

"It's not that I think they are slow, but the court has made a decision, and it will definitely be fanfare, so as to avoid having to be escorted by the army, if you are not spoiled, will you show up when you see such a battle?"

Yuan Bin frowned and said, "What the minister is worried about is ...... In case you really make a plan for it, the forces that can be called upon by the emperor's side are limited......"

"Don't worry!"

Zhu Qizhen smiled confidently and said, "I have already arranged for three thousand battalions to be stationed in Mobei to deal with the remnants of the Tatars, which is enough!" ”

Yuan Bin knew that the combat effectiveness of the 3,000 battalions naturally had nothing to say, so he was afraid of it......

"Your Majesty, this is not a Jingshi, there are eighty percent of them...... No, at least more than ninety percent of them are Mongols, and the ministers are worried, worried......"

Zhu Qizhen took over the conversation: "Worried that I have fallen into the mouth of the tiger? ”

Yuan Bin didn't say anything, just nodded, and the expression on his face was very tangled.

If it is said that the Mongol tribes in Mobei have anti-intentions, it is not appropriate.

As the strongest intelligence department in the Ming Dynasty, Jin Yiwei has been investigating and secretly visiting for many years, and has never heard of any anti-thieves there.

However, if Mo Beiwei is okay and safe, I am afraid that I don't believe it.

Zhu Qizhen seemed to understand what he was thinking, and said: "Times have changed, now this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the people here are the people of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Yuan Bin hurriedly said: "The emperor is serious, but the minister just thinks ...... It's never a bad thing to be prepared, no matter what time it is. ”

At this time, the speed of the train slowly decreases and then stops on the platform.

Zhu Qizhen stood up and said: "Under the Putian, it is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister." I want to see if the people living on this desert are the people of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Yuan Bin knew that the emperor had made up his mind, and it was useless to persuade him further.

Now we can only take one step at a time, do our job well, and don't give the enemy a chance to take advantage of it.

"Your Majesty, the minister went to inform Mobei Wei ......"

"Don't!"

Zhu Qizhen hurriedly stopped him and asked, "When is the agreement with Qi Qike?" ”

Yuan Bin thought for a while and replied, "Three days later." ”

Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "That is to say, we only have three days to observe the people's feelings, let's go, hurry up!" ”

He didn't want to alarm the officials of Mobeiwei immediately, firstly, he was worried that the news would leak out, the imperial court soldiers and horses would arrive too quickly, and he would not dare to show his head, and secondly, if he wanted to really understand a place, he did not look at the numbers on the report, he only needed to walk into the homes of ordinary people, and everything was clear.

Those officials are smart, and they are all masters of counterfeiting.

They have 10,000 ways to wrap themselves, black can be written as white, dead can be written as alive.

But the stoves in the people's homes were not fake.

Look at what the people at the bottom eat every day, and whether they can eat enough, it is definitely more real than the performance of those officials.

The two disguised themselves as businessmen, and the other twenty brocade guards also dressed up differently and protected them in front of and behind them.

The platform is high and the wind is cold, but from here, you can see far into the distance.

"The Emperor...... Huang Ye, are you going to the city? ”

Zhu Qizhen stood in the cold wind and said, "Don't worry, look over there!" ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the east.

Yuan Bin looked up, there were many tents more than ten miles ahead, and it seemed to be a market town.

Zhu Qizhen asked, "Where is that?" ”

Yuan Bin took out a map, which contained all the information collected by Jinyiwei, and said: "This place is called Helin, it is a market town, mainly engaged in cattle and sheep business, and the vast majority of people living there are Warat people. ”

"It's the Warat......"

When Zhu Qizhen heard the three words of Warat, the depths of his eyes became extremely complicated.

For a hundred years, there have been constant wars between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols.

Throughout history, the Central Plains Dynasty and the nomads have always been swords and soldiers.

In that battle five years ago, the Ming army completely defeated Warat and Tatar and took advantage of the situation to recover Mobei.

And now, once again, it is so close to the gathering place of the Warat people, and my heart is suddenly full of mixed feelings.

This mood is both pride and worry.

Proudly, this has become the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the remnants of the Tatars are frightened by the Ming Iron Horse, and they have fled far to the far north, but ......

Ten years from now, a hundred years from now?

If I am gone, will this situation be broken now?

The conquest of the nomads to the Central Plains Dynasty has never stopped, and the Central Plains Dynasty's blows to the nomads have never stopped.

Today, we have driven out the Warat and Tatar, and the Jurchens, who knows if a new nation will emerge in the future......

"You say...... Will they call themselves Warats, Mongols, or Ming? ”

Yuan Bin said: "It should be a bright person. ”

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "What is going on, just go and see it." ”

Yuan Bin's face changed, and he hurriedly said: "The ministers have arranged all the spies in the city, and there is no ...... over there Please forgive the emperor! ”

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand: "I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of?" ”

"The minister is not afraid, yes, yes...... Lose sleep over something! ”

"Worried about what?"

"Burden, worry about ......"

"Okay, I'm not difficult for you, let's go!"

After speaking, Zhu Qizhen didn't wait for him to reply, and walked forward.

Yuan Bin had no choice but to keep up, but he was nervous in his heart, for fear that something would go wrong.

"Your Majesty, judging from the map, it's quite far away, so why don't you rent a carriage?"

"Yes!"

After a short time, Yuan Bin came back with two horses.

"Your Majesty, there is no carriage nearby, only a horse ......"

"Then ride a horse!"

Zhu Qizhen is no stranger to horseback riding, so he took the reins, stepped on the stirrups, and turned over on the horse.

The two rode their horses one after the other, galloping across the vast grassland, and soon arrived at Helin Town.

It was a gathering place for herders, so the main buildings were tents rather than masonry houses.

Looking up, it is very lively, and you can even see many Han people.

Countless cows and horses were tied to the stakes, and the smell of horse dung was everywhere, but the people here seemed to be in good spirits, and they spoke to each other in different languages, gesturing their fingers.

There is a particularly eye-catching tent with the word inn written on it in Chinese.

Zhu Qizhen was very surprised, he didn't expect that there would be an inn in this kind of place......

In the inn, a guy had already greeted him politely, and he looked like a Han man.

"Objective, eat or stay?"

Zhu Qizhen felt very interesting, so he asked, "Do you have everything in this inn?" ”

"Self-existent!"

The guy is very good at observing words and feelings, and as soon as he heard the other party's invitation, he immediately said: "With so many merchants coming out of the customs to buy, wouldn't it be extremely inconvenient if there was no inn?" Our tents here were all first class and comfortable, and the guest officers ......"

As he spoke, he raised his eyes and saw that Zhu Qizhen was only followed by a family member, and there was no female scroll following.

So, the young man lowered his voice: "We have a girl here to accompany ......."

Zhu Qizhen immediately straightened his face, and Yuan Bin on the side was also full of surprise in his eyes.

Development on the steppe...... Is it so fast?

The man continued: "Look what you like, Mongols, Hans, Semu...... It's all there! ”

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand impatiently: "Only live in the hotel!" ”

The guy smiled awkwardly when he saw that people were not good at this, and beckoned, "Okay, please!" ”

At this time, a Mongolian man walked over.

"Friend, do you want to buy cows, sheep, horses, or skins?"

His Chinese is a bit stiff, but simple and straightforward.

Zhu Qizhen turned around and asked, "How do you know that we are in business?" ”

"You Han people come here, aren't they all doing business, I have a lot of cattle, sheep and horses at home, do you want to go and see?"

Seeing that this person took the initiative to solicit, Zhu Qizhen suddenly became interested.

"Okay, let's take a look!"

Yuan Bin hurriedly and quietly grabbed Zhu Qizhen's sleeve and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, be careful of deception!" ”

Zhu Qizhen pinched his wrist, meaning that I knew it in my heart, and then followed.

The shopkeeper hurriedly asked, "Guest officer, are you still staying in the hotel?" ”

Yuan Bin waved his hand at him and said, "Let's go back and talk about it!" ”

"Alas, don't say it again, there will be no room when you turn back......"

Zhu Qizhen and Yuan Bin had already followed the Mongolian man far away, turning around and arriving at a simple tent.

The smell of horse manure here is stronger, and you can see a large number of cattle and horses enclosed in the fence, which is full of hundreds of heads.

"My name is Aturu, what do you call me?"

Yuan Bin stepped forward and said, "My lord's surname is Huang." ”

"Master Huang, come and see ......"

Aturu hurriedly introduced that his family's cattle, sheep and horses were not bad, and when they arrived at the customs, they would definitely make a small profit.

"Well, the cattle are strong, the horses are good, they are cheap......"

"I'll have to see again."

Zhu Qizhen's mind was not on these livestock, but asked, "Where did you learn your Chinese dialect?" ”

Aturu said: "I'm here, learn by yourself!" ”

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "...... yourself Who to learn from? ”

"Learn from you Han Chinese."

"Why do you have to learn Chinese?"

"Oops, I didn't understand it at the beginning, and I suffered a big loss......"

Atulu shook his head again and again and explained: "Some Han people are very cunning, they deceive people to their faces, we don't know it, and then they learn Chinese on their own and do business on their own. ”

Zhu Qizhen was puzzled: "There are liars, does the government care?" ”

"The government doesn't know either, they deceived people and ran away, and no one can be found, where can they go to complain?"

"So, you don't like Han Chinese?"

When Zhu Qizhen asked this sentence, his face seemed to be cloudy and light, but in fact, he was very worried in his heart.

Aturu laughed and said, "There was one before, but then there was no more, the Han people and the Mongolian people are all the same!" ”

Zhu Qizhen hurriedly asked, "Why?" ”

Without thinking, Aturu replied: "Where are the Mongolian and Han people, we are also the people of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

Hearing this, the stone hanging in Zhu Qizhen's heart finally fell to the ground.

It is not difficult to rule Mobei, and it is rare to be the heart of the people.

Only when the people recognize you as the emperor and the Ming court, can Mobei become the territory of the Ming Dynasty in the true sense.