"Kiln"

At the beginning of September, on this late autumn day, an army was strolling through the mountain roads, looking around vigilantly.

In front of them, nearly 10,000 people were cutting down trees, digging up roots, filling in the mountain paths, and carving out a solid road.

This is in the mountains and forests in the southwest of Donghai Province, only more than ten miles away from the Yalu River.

A month ago, Chen Chang crossed the Bohai Strait, went to Dingliaowei by boat, recruited local people to go to the upper reaches of the Yalu River with the army by boat, and landed on the south bank.

After nearly 100 years of non-management, the water post has long been decayed into ruins, and the former post road is also overgrown with large and small trees.

Chen Chang led the three guards of Shandong to Donghai Mansion this time, in addition to recruiting Ahachu and Mengge Timur to go to the mainland as officials, but also to repair the land post road, so that Donghai Mansion and Liaodong could communicate with each other in the future.

"Phew!"

Riding a horse to the mountain valley road to restrain the horse, here has been repaired by the people to make a five-zhang wide official road, and the road has been crushed with stones, sprinkled with a lot of lime.

In the tent at the edge of the forest, Chen Chang, who heard the sound of horses' hooves, walked out, and now he had just turned thirty and was in the prime of life. ”

"Back to Lord Hou, North Korea in the south did send a lot of Tang horses, but they were all ordered by us to retreat to the south."

Tang rode hundreds of households off their horses to make a bow, and Chen Chang also asked: "See what they look like, how?" ”

"The armor is still quite distinct, but it lacks a little bit of blood." Tang Qi Baihu said bluntly: "Judging from the standard, they will fight a tailwind battle at most, and they will be vulnerable when they encounter our army." ”

"Hmm......" Chen Chang bowed his head, and a commander standing beside him also spoke: "After all, after more than 20 years of no war, it is normal for combat strength to decline. ”

"Judging from their situation, I'm afraid they won't dare to compete with us for Donghai Mansion at all." Another commander spoke.

"Don't be on guard." Chen Chang was as steady as ever, and did not despise the North Korean army because of their declining combat strength.

If the current North Korea grits its its teeth, it will still be able to pull out an army of 70,000 or 80,000, although in Chen Chang's opinion, they will not make such a stupid choice, but the heart of defense is indispensable.

"The Tang Cavalry continued to the south, maintaining a patrol range of thirty miles."

"Yes!"

After the order, Chen Chang looked back at the two commanders: "What, is there any news from Brother Meng, Timur and Ahha?" ”

"There it is." A commanding envoy said: "Aha said that he would accept the court's appeasement at any time, but Brother Meng's Timur has not yet given accurate information." ”

Everyone didn't think it was strange about Ahache's approach, after all, when Yongle chose a concubine in the second year, Ahache offered his daughter and was selected to become a member of Zhu Di's harem.

Although this woman has nothing to do, she is the daughter of Aha after all.

Now that the imperial court wants to appease them to enter the interior as officials, Aha would rather go to the interior to be a guard commander than continue to make a living in Donghae Mansion, a place where birds don't.

If it weren't for the support of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that they would have been driven out of Donghai Mansion by the border cavalry of North Korea.

Because of this, Aha's decision did not surprise everyone, but it was the attitude of the fierce brother Timur that made everyone angry.

"A border Yi is not satisfied with the grace of the imperial court to expand, and now he dares to ignore the will of the imperial court."

A commander scolded bitterly, and Chen Chang's face beside him was not good-looking.

The Jurchen tribe he appeased was not eighty but also a hundred, and he only saw one Jurchen head like Mengge Timur who was supported by the imperial court and then dared to throw his face at the imperial court, that is, Xiyang Ha, who was shot by his own royal highness.

Thinking of this, Chen Chang said in a deep voice: "Continue to build the road, and when the post road is repaired, I will go over and slowly clean him up." ”

"Yes!" The generals returned the favor, and Chen Chang also reported what happened in Donghai Mansion back to the south through Tangqi.

While he was delivering the news, the northwest, which corresponds to the northeast, was not a peaceful place.

Crossing the Gobi and the desert, when a mountain range appeared in the western part of the Great Gobi, thousands of tents stood in a river valley somewhere in the eastern part of Hangai Mountain.

Among the many tents, the largest tent is large enough to hold hundreds of people dancing in it.

"Sigh the law ......"

The sound of tired horses came, and a young man on horseback glanced around, and as far as the eye could see, there were basically very strong men.

This is the Varat Division, which is also the target of the youth's trip.

Behind him were more than a thousand armored cavalrymen, and the line was long and outward, but even from the air, it could be seen that there were not many people following him.

"Aha (brother)!"

The young man was stunned when a familiar voice came, but soon saw a noble woman walking towards him.

The woman was in her early twenties, four or five years younger than the young man, but behind her stood a man in his forties.

The man who was as old as their father was his brother-in-law, Syros Mahamu.

"How are you doing?"

The young man turned over and dismounted, and hugged his sister, who was already married to another woman.

They hadn't seen each other for years, but when they met again, they were still close.

In the face of the arriving young people, many of the Warats watched from a distance, which was perhaps one of the few opportunities for many of them to see the Yuan descendants.

He was the son of Erlebak Khan, and the woman in his arms was Princess Samuel.

Although Elbok Khan was of Yuan descent, his reputation in the steppes was not good.

As the Great Khan, his virtue was very poor, and during his five-year reign he did nothing, but was cruel and lustful.

Because he heard people around him say that his brother's wife was beautiful, he actually killed his brother absurdly and took over his brother-in-law.

Although his brother-in-law was obtained by him, she was always worried about her deceased husband, so she instigated Elbek Khan to kill the minister Haohai Dayu, who praised her beauty.

After Elbok Khan reacted to the wrongs suffered by Haohai Dayu, in order to make up for his mistakes, he married his daughter Princess Samur to Haohai Dayu's son Mahamu, and named Mahamu as the prime minister, promising him to lead the four wars in the future.

However, at this time, it was still the great nobleman Ugqi Hashha who was in charge of the four tribes of Warat.

Therefore, when he learned that he was about to be replaced by Mahamu, Ugqi Hashkha was ashamed of "Khan's political misconduct, fornication and abuse of the law, and killing his ministers Haohai." "Under the pretext of sending troops to attack the Khan's court.

Elbok was originally a puppet supported by the leaders of the Mongol tribes, and he did not have much strength, so in the face of the attack of Ugqi Hashha, he was powerless to resist, and soon fell in a pool of blood.

As a result of this incident, the Kublai Khan family, which had been restored with great difficulty, lost its throne again, and not only did the orthodox faction in Eastern Mongolia suffer heavy losses, but many tribes on the Mongolian plateau also had to submit to his rule.

It was after this accident that Benjamin fled with his escort to the Timurid Empire in Central Asia.

Originally, he thought that he could return to the Mongolian plateau with the identity of the Yuan descendant and Timur's soldiers and horses, but the sudden collapse of Timur disrupted all his plans.

Seeing that Timur's country was in civil strife, he hurriedly led his escort to move to Mughulstan, where he gathered a group of people willing to support him.

However, there are not many people in this group, because the name of the Yuan descendant is no longer so loud, so now he only has 3,000 soldiers and horses, and thousands of troops.

In comparison, his brother-in-law Mahamu has tens of thousands of troops and nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses.

If he has the support of Mahamu, he can undoubtedly replace Gui Lichi and regain his position as Great Khan.

Looking at the guy who could be his father at that age, Benjamin reluctantly squeezed out a smile and hugged him: "You take good care of my sister." ”

"Of course!" Maham, who always had a cunning look in his eyes, grinned, and even motioned for Benjamin to look to the side.

Beside them, a young man in his early teens was watching Benjamin.

"This is your nephew." Ma Hamu said proudly, and at the same time said to the young man: "Dehuan, meet your uncle quickly." ”

"Uncle." Tuohuan greets Benjamin, but Benjamin feels that he is humiliating him.

Fortunately, at this moment, he still had to ask for others, so he had to suppress his temper and say, "Can we go in and talk?" ”

"Of course!" Maham motioned for Benjamin to enter the tent and led his men into it with his wife and children.

Maham sat in the main seat, and let Benjamin sit first on the right, which gave him some face.

After everyone was seated, mare's milk wine, hand-grilled meat, roast mutton, and other food were brought to the table, and Mahamu also asked Benjamin:

"I heard that Timur died and his grandchildren fell into infighting."

"That's right." Benjamin explains: "His two grandsons each had 70,000 or 80,000 troops, and when I returned to Mughulstan, they were very fought. ”

"But then I heard that his grandson Ma Heima had died, and now the whole country is under the control of another grandson, Haril."

Benjamin's news was a bit delayed, but it was sensitive enough for the Mongols.

"They have a lot of soldiers and horses, if I were them, I would definitely take Mughulstan, and then Mobei."

Maham asked tentatively, and Benjamin also nodded: "Timur thought so at the beginning, but fortunately he died on the way out." ”

"Hehe......" Mahamu smiled and didn't pick up the conversation.

After a while, Benjamin couldn't bear it anymore and took the lead in speaking: "I came back this time to regain the throne that belongs to me, so I hope you can help me, and after the matter is completed, you will be the prime minister of the Khan Court." ”

Benjamin's words made Mahamu laugh and said: "Although my current strength is very strong, and I can easily destroy the ghost power chi, but after all, there are three tribes in Warat, even if I destroy the ghost power red, I have to see if the peace and the vultures are willing to replace the Khan king." ”

Mahamu's words are very nonsensical, after all, Guilichi is a descendant of Ogedei supported by Arutai, and has little to do with Warat.

Now that Arutai has been defeated and captured by the Ming army, and the strength of Eastern Mongolia has been greatly weakened, then a ghost power is insignificant at all.

As long as Mahamu wanted to, he could support Benjamin, keep the Khan's court under his control, and take the opportunity to annex the Taiping, take the vultures and Polo, and declare war on Alitai in Eastern Mongolia.

After all, Eastern Mongolia considers itself Mongolian orthodoxy, but it does not even have Yuan descendants.

In this grassland, in terms of Yuan Origin, there is no one more pure than Benjamin's bloodline.

It's just that for the time being, Mahamu has no idea of supporting Benjamin at all, perhaps because he saw the tragic situation in Eastern Mongolia, and he knows very well that once he supports Benjamin, he will be hit by the Ming army.

Now he is still recuperating and does not want to fight with the Ming army for the time being.

"I'm going to convince the Taiping and put the Bald Polo."

Benjamin was about to get up, but the guards behind him held him down on the shoulder.

Benjamin looked at Mahamu angrily, but Mahamu smiled and said, "You and Samuel haven't seen each other for so many years, and it's not easy to come this time, so stay with her for the time being." ”

As he spoke, Mahamu looked at Samuel, whose face was pale, and saw that she was hugging Tuhuan and not saying a word.

Seeing this, Benjamin realized that his brother-in-law was just using himself as a bargaining chip.

He clenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do but wait and see what Mahamu was going to do to him.

However, his fantasies did not materialize, and after eating, Mahamu had him taken to a nearby yurt to rest, and he was not forbidden to move among the tribes.

He didn't know how to deal with this arrangement, but it was only after he had Benjamin and Samuel taken away that he spoke to the generals:

"Get the news out of Benjamin's return to the grasslands, and see if anyone will come to us."

"In addition, pay more attention to the things in the south, and if there is any movement in Daming, notify me immediately."

When Mahamu spoke, one of the generals saluted and said, "Why don't we support him?" ”

"Do you want to be surrounded by the Ming army?" Mahamu asked Wanhu rhetorically and said to everyone:

"If Da Ming doesn't react, then we can temporarily detain him, and if the Ming army reacts greatly, then I will use his head in exchange for the qualification to exchange with Da Ming."

Due to Zhu Gaoxu's chaotic incursion, Zhu Di did not play too much of a balancing policy in the grassland, so far the Ming Dynasty has not formed a tributary trade with the Wara tribes.

Seeing the fate of Arutai in Eastern Mongolia, Mahamu naturally would not be the first bird, if Da Ming really cared so much about the Yuan descendant, then he would not hesitate to send Benjamin out.

Of course, the premise is that the Ming must allow Warat to join the tributary trade, because only in this way can Warat become strong.

If Da Ming doesn't even give this thing, then even if he doesn't support Benjamin, he won't let Benjamin this card go or give it away.

With Mahamu's order, the news of the return of Yuan Benyali to Mobei began to spread, and such news was naturally known to Hai Lar in the east of Mobei.

Just before the winter moon, this news was sent to Nanjing, and appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's table together with the information from the East China Sea Mansion.

"Benjamin, Brother Timur ......"

Sitting on the main seat, Zhu Gaoxu, who was dressed in a fox fur, squinted his eyes and looked at the two notes.

"Tell Chen Chang that if Brother Meng's Timur is obsessed, he will be destroyed directly according to what I said before."

Zhu Gaoxu took the lead in making arrangements for one of the two notes, and then picked up the notes about Benjamin's loss and got up slowly.

"Arrange Buyu, I'll go to the Qianqing Palace."

It's about the Mongols, although Zhu Gaoxu can handle it very well, he still has to talk to Zhu Di.

In addition, he hasn't been to the Qianqing Palace to see his mother for three days, so it's good to take this opportunity to pass.

Under his fatwa, Buyu was quickly ready, and half an hour later he appeared outside the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as he stepped down, he saw two figures, one black and one white, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin.

"Second Uncle (Dad) ......"

Looking at the little black fat man in front of him who was honestly calling his second uncle, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but have a toothache, and completely ignored Zhu Zhanyan, who was bouncing beside him.

"Big nephew, where are you going?"

Zhu Gaoxu squatted down and asked Zhu Zhanji with a smile, but Zhu Zhanji was so frightened by his smiling face that he was sweating.

"I'm going to go to the middle left back door with Zhan Yan to practice arching."

Zhu Zhanji replied with a smile, and after hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and patted him lightly on the shoulder: "Well, go ahead......"

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and walked straight into the Qianqing Palace.

After he left, Zhu Zhanji looked at Zhu Zhanji, who was neglected beside him: "Second uncle is usually so terrible?" ”

"Terrible?" Zhu Zhanyan was stunned for a moment, looked back at his father's back, and said in a daze: "I think my father is quite approachable." ”

"I don't think it's ......"

Zhu Zhanji shook his head, and then walked out with his precious cricket jar, and Zhu Zhanji hurriedly followed when he saw this.

While they were leaving, Zhu Gaochu also walked into the side hall of the Qianqing Palace, and saw Zhu Gaochi, who was leaning on a chair and drowsy, and Zhu Gaosui who was holding a villain book and didn't know what he was reading.

Looking past these two guys, Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhang and Guo Yan, who were taking care of Empress Xu, and Zhu Di, who was sitting next to him holding Empress Xu's hand.

"Second brother, are you here?"

Although Zhu Gaosui was reading, Yu Guang still saw Zhu Gaoxu, so he hurriedly shouted.

His shout woke up Zhu Gaochi next to him, and he stood up in a daze.

Zhu Di and Zhang's They also set their eyes on Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di saw that he was holding a note in his hand, so he put down Queen Xu's hand and said softly: "Gao Xu is here, it is estimated that there is some government affairs, I will come to accompany you later." ”

"Your Majesty doesn't have to be in the Qianqing Palace all the time... The court needs you even more. ”

Empress Xu was a little weak, but Zhu Di changed her old grin and said gently: "You need me more than the outer court, I will come later." ”

After that, he wiped the non-existent sweat on Queen Xu's forehead with his rough big hands, and tiptoed up, for fear that if the movement was too loud, he would disturb her.

After he walked out of the stepping bed, Zhu Gaoxu also walked into the hall, nodded and said hello to the eldest and third, and then handed the music in his hand to Zhu Di:

"Although Erchen can handle this matter, after thinking about it carefully, I feel that my father will not want to miss this matter, so I came to present it to the sonata, and I took a look at my mother by the way."

"Huh?" Zhu Di took the music suspiciously, and after opening it, he sat down unconsciously and watched the contents.

Zhu Gaoxu crossed him, walked into the stepping bed, and saw Empress Xu with a sunken face.

"Mother, my son is here, do you miss me?"

Zhu Gaochu knelt in front of the Babu bed and held Queen Xu's hand, and the words that came out of his mouth surprised both Zhang and Guo Yan, and Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, who followed behind, had a ghostly expression.

"You......"

Empress Xu was amused by him, and barely squeezed out a smile: "You are the same as your father, you are no less on weekdays...... It didn't worry me a lot, but after I got sick, it made me feel a lot more at ease......"

"If my mother recovers from this illness, my son will definitely come to see you every day in the future, and he will never leave for a moment."

Maybe he didn't see her for three days, or he saw that Empress Xu was getting weaker and weaker, in short, Zhu Gaoxu had a lot more words with her today.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to get better......"

Empress Xu shook her head gently, but Zhu Gaoxu held her hand tightly: "Needless to say, isn't the third sister happy?" You should at least wait until your grandchildren are born. ”

"I want to ...... too" Empress Xu had a kind smile on her face, but it was very reluctant.

Looking at this scene, Rao is daily experience, Zhu Gaochi and they still couldn't help but have a sour nose, feeling like their throats were blocked, and they couldn't speak.

"You have a good rest, it's going to be fine, and ......"

Zhu Gaoxu comforted Empress Xu to rest, and from time to time mentioned the things he thought of during this time.

When he said these things, Queen Xu just lay down, with a chuckle on the corner of her mouth, and looked at him quietly.

If it weren't for Zhu Di who had finished reading the recital, he was really anxious to wait, and patted Zhu Gaochu on the shoulder from behind, hoping that Zhu Gaochu would have been able to keep talking.

"The son will talk to his father first, and you will pick it up, the eldest brother."

Zhu Gaochu said goodbye to Queen Xu, and then turned back to let Zhu Gaochi pick up the conversation.

Looking back, he didn't forget to smile and said, "Big brother's mouth is broken, it's just right to chat with your mother." ”

Zhu Gaochi, who came up, was speechless when he heard this, but after Zhu Gaochu got up, he took his place and knelt down, held Queen Xu's hand and began to chatter.

Zhu Di took Zhu Gaoxu out of the side hall and came to the main hall to discuss Benjamin's return to Mobei.

Standing in front of Zhu Gaoxu, he rarely frowned and stuffed the song into Zhu Gaoxu's arms: "This Mahamu is not simple, he probably wants to see the reaction of the imperial court, and then decide how to maximize the interests of this Benjamin." ”

"If the court doesn't care about him, he can use the name of Yuan to win over the small tribes, fight the big tribes, and annex the three Warat tribes step by step."

"If the court is in charge of him, he will ask the court to open the mutual market with the Yuan descendant, or let Warat join the tribute."

"That's what Erchen thinks too." Zhu Gaoxu agreed with Zhu Di's analysis, and then spoke:

"Erchen wants Wang Yi to lead the cavalry out of the town and guard and go back and forth to Hulan and Hulan."

"In this way, we can not only express our position, but also show Warat the speed of our army's response."

"If the light cavalry can search for the vicinity of Hulan Huwan, then the heavy troops are gathered, and they should know where the imperial court can fight."

Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Di nodded in approval, and said:

"Do you remember to recruit a few people from the captured Tatar soldiers and horses, and let them lead the way for Wang Yi."

"Also, tell Alitai to be careful, I'm afraid that Mahamu will make a false shot and try to annex the Tatars."

"Good!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded in response, Zhu Di stopped talking when he saw this, and finally sighed deeply, as if he was a little older.

"I want to accompany your mother on this last journey, and I will work hard for you during this time."

Facing Zhu Di's guilty words, Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, just bowed, and then got up and glanced at the side hall.

His eyes revealed worry, his expression was a little gloomy, and even he couldn't convince himself of the words he said: "Mother, she ......"

"It should be fine......"

(End of chapter)