Liu Chengzong's New Year's Eve dinner was not actually very sumptuous, but the cooks brought back from Dajian Lu were very skilled, and there were chicken, duck, fish, pig and sheep, all of which were delicacies that Chahar could not enjoy during the westward migration.
Chahar's food shortage is also divided into classes. Ordinary soldiers, herdsmen and slaves are mainly short of meat, vegetables and pasta; big and small nobles are short of pasta and vegetables.
As the saying goes, a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice, but this is not the case on the grassland. What they lack is a pot.
Before Emperor Chongzhen exempted the Chahar tribe from the silver reward, the Chahar tribe used to be the tribe with the most iron pots on the grassland. Later, they drove away the Tumote and moved west to Tumochuan. Relatively speaking, they were richer in large-scale cast ironware. But things were different when we moved further west. Heavy iron pots were difficult to carry, and the horses and oxen that dragged the carts fell to death one by one. There were very few iron pots left.
And in this matter, Guitu Taiji suffered more than others.
Others didn't have meat to eat because they didn't have an iron pot and there was no meat, but Nutu Taiji had an iron pot with enough meat, but he couldn't eat it.
Because my brother always said that people are already cannibalizing people, so we must provide limited supplies to people, and don’t be greedy for enjoyment. You are my brother, and if you don’t support me, we will be finished.
So much so that in the Marshal's Mansion, Xie Erhu was still urging him to drink: "Let's have another glass of bartaiji!"
It's not because Xie Erhu has never dined with the noble Tai Ji at the Eight Immortals table, but because he wants to make Tu Tai Ji embarrassed in the Marshal's Mansion.
The ancestors of Xie Erhu were Ba'erxi, also known as Barhu, a common people in the forest. This tribe was incorporated into Yongxiebu by the Arutai Grand Master of the Northern Yuan Dynasty during the Yongle period, and became one of the ten camps of Yongxiebu.
Later, Yongshebu was one of the 30,000 households on the right wing. He followed Tumote's Ada Khan and made great achievements. Until five years ago, during the war between Tumute and Chahar, Yongshebu's tribe dispersed and the name of the tribe disappeared.
.
For a small leader like Xie Erhu, there is no deep hatred, but he is happy to see the younger brother of Chahar Khan make a fool of himself.
But Tutaiji didn't know this. He only thought that Xie Erhu was a Mongolian leader who was attached to Liu Chengzong, and he was deliberately trying to win over him, so he drank a few glasses of shochu half-heartedly.
For a whole year, in the first half of the year, I was preparing for future wealth, and in the second half, I was busy moving westward. I didn't drink much, and soon I had a silly smile on my face.
Wine is not a good thing most of the time, but sometimes it can have magical effects.
For example, at this time, Liu Chengzong was thinking that if Guitu Taiji drank wine, it would be easy for him to tell the truth about Hu Duntu.
Beside him, Chieftain Qi Guoping also kept quietly sizing up his hand holding the wine glass, thinking: Marshal Liu is drinking, and he will definitely be able to find out the truth about the Marshal's Mansion.
Although many chieftains who have lived in the Hehuang Valley for generations have been lost in the face of the Marshal's Mansion's continuous efforts to invest eastward and have left the court behind, Qi Guoping is different from them.
He still remembers the Ming Dynasty and his father, whose name is Qi Bingzhong.
On the Double Ninth Festival of the 23rd year of Wanli, the 11th chieftain of the Qi family fought a bloody battle in Xining and was promoted to the guerrilla general of Gansu Flood Camp. The imperial court built a memorial arch for their family in Xining.
In October of the 44th year of Wanli, in Yinding of the Ordos tribe, Dao Qing led more than 2,000 cavalry into the fortress, burned, killed and looted. Yongchang's general Qi Bingzhong led 300 Qi's troops to resist. They fought bloody battles for two days and nights to wait for reinforcements. They repelled the enemy's cavalry and recaptured it.
The property that was robbed by the people is still there in Yongchang, and there is still a stone tablet carved by the people for his father.
Until the second year of Tianqi, his father was killed in Liaodong by Sun Degong, who secretly paid money. He was shot with three arrows and two knives, and he shed the last drop of blood for the Ming Dynasty.
His name is Qi Guoping, and he will be the vassal screen of the country.
Qi Guoping noticed that Liu Chengzu and Li Wanqing, the two generals of the Marshal's Office, were not present, and that Juerwan's cavalryman Yang Yao also did not attend the banquet.
If it hadn't been for the arrival of Qututaiji, Qi Guoping would have asked Liu Chengzong, but now Chahar Mongolia is a more serious problem.
Qi Guoping did not want Liu Chengzong and Hu Duntu to unite.
He offered Liu Chengzong a glass of wine and whispered: "Commander, beware of the Tiger Chief. He is greedy for profit, lustful and unable to control his subordinates. Although he is a famous king among the captives, he is unruly and dishonest."
He cupped his fists and said: "The imperial court originally wanted to unite with the troops, but he was greedy, collected rewards and did not send troops, and when he sent troops, he got lost; and he bullied the weak and conquered Horqin many times. The five major battalions of Chaohua asked him to join forces, but he turned a blind eye and rebelled against the invasion of Chaohua.
The fifth camp of Chaohua collapsed under the attack of Hou Jin and the Tiger Chief. This man received millions of rewards from the court, but never really fought against Hou Jin."
The so-called five major camps of Chaohua are the five tribes of Inner Khalkha. Between Jiajing and Longwan, the leader of the five tribes, Chaohua, is the most powerful and has actual control over the five tribes, so it is called the five major camps of Chaohua. p>
Similar titles include the Eighth Battalion of Chahan, the Tenth Battalion of Yongxiebu, the Sixth Battalion of King Shunyi, Twelve Sentries and Seventy-Three Branches, etc.
Liu Chengzong knew that Huduntu was the Mongolian Khan, but the actual contact was only a letter from Qututaiji. He asked Qi Guoping: "Is everything you said true?"
Although he was in the western border, Qi Guoping was well aware of the situation in the Northeast. After saying this, he solemnly clasped his fists and said: "Hou Jin and I are enemies of our country and family, and the Tiger Chief is also the enemy of Hou Jin. I have no intention of sowing discord. If I say anything,
For slander, the commander-in-chief can draw his sword and kill me here."
Liu Chengzong did not trust Qi Guoping enough. He turned to look at Li Tianyu and others and found that they all nodded in agreement with this statement. He even saw that his generals, Li Bei, Bao Hu and others also agreed with it. p>
He attached great importance to Li Bei and Bao Hu's opinions on this matter. Li Bei really led troops to fight in Liaodong, while Bao Hu had an official position in the court and could see the Tang newspaper.
At the same time, Bao Hu, like Qi Guoping, has Mongolian ancestors.
Liu Chengzong shook his head helplessly, wondering what kind of world this was. The most outstanding prison chief of the Han people was reincarnated as the emperor, and the best grassroots bandit of the Mongols was reincarnated as the Great Khan.
Qi Guoping said nothing and sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, he meant to sow discord.
He wished that both Liu Chengzong and Hu Duntu would lose in a fight, but he did not slander him.
Because Hu Duntu Khan doesn’t need to slander, he can achieve the effect of sowing discord by just telling him what he has done.
Liu Chengzong doesn’t like Hu Duntu very much now.
He frowned and asked Guitu Taiji, who was enjoying his meal: "You have never fought against Hou Jin?"
Chen Qindai had just finished asking the question. As if his tail had been stepped on, Guitu Taiji stood up in a hurry. He didn't even bother to wipe his mouth, and said a lot with angry eyes.
Chen Qindai clasped his fists and said: "Commander, he said that in the first year of Tianqi, Xiao Baiqing, the leader of Aohan, one of the eight camps of the Han Dynasty, led two thousand cavalry to surround Shenyang for several days, and fought with the defenders of the Later Jin Dynasty."
In a blink of an eye, Li Bei cupped his fists and said: "Commander, the leader of Aohan, Qingtianqi, was drunk for four years and fought with the defenders of Baitayu, and was shot dead by the defenders; among the eight battalions of the Han Dynasty, the two battalions of Aohan and Naiman were killed by the Tiger Chief. Attack, in June of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the two battalions betrayed the Tiger Chief, and after surrendering, Jin and Huang Taiji swore an alliance."
"Wait."
Liu Chengzong frowned and asked Li Bei: "Hu Duntu attacked our two camps?"
Li Bei nodded and said, "As for the reason, I'm not that clear."
Liu Chengzong nodded. From these hearsay stories, he roughly knew what the Hu Duntu Khan looked like, so he said to Chen Qindai: "Ask him how many people, how many war horses, and how many livestock they have."< /p>
After Chen Qindai asked, Guitu Taiji calmly said the number.
But before waiting for translation, Liu Chengzong raised his arms and said: "Let him think carefully before answering. It has nothing to do with me whether they have 400,000 or 40,000 people. But if they come to Qinghai from the Han tribe, will they escape life or die?" It was in his answer."
Liu Chengzong estimated that there were only 20,000 to 40,000 of them. After all, the tiger and the rabbit in the letter asked for 40,000 sheep, so why couldn't they all share one sheep with each other?
Zhututaiji originally wanted to give a high number, but Chen Qindai knew what Liu Chengzong meant. He said to Zhututaiji: "You have never fought against the Yulin Army or the Ningxia Army. We have fought against both of them. Generalissimo We all win. The more people you have, the more useless you become. Let’s be honest.”
He can exaggerate about his military strength, but the battle lines will not lie.
Goututaiji lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "We have more than 67,000 people, more than 40,000 horses, and more than 40,000 livestock."
Liu Chengzong didn't have anything to say about the numbers. He only said: "Since we are being honest, don't be pretentious. With tens of thousands of control strings, Chook Rabbit Taiji led his army into Qinghai to fight for heaven and earth. He was killed. He deserves the blame on himself."
”
Goututaiji's face was full of confusion. The truth of the matter is this. If you die, your skills are inferior to others. I don't know where a big brother came from to ask for a scene.
Isn’t this in itself about using power to suppress others? Then we must first have the power to suppress people.
There is no such thing in Chahar Mongolia.
Liu Chengzong picked up the wine glass and took a sip before continuing: "I have no grudges with you in the past. Hou Jin is your enemy and mine. If you come to seek refuge with me, I am willing to give you a way out.
Zhu Mu, I will not attack you."
Liu Chengzong had already determined in his heart that as long as Hu Duntu leads his troops into Qinghai, there will be a battle between them.
But this battle cannot be fought when Hu Duntu has just entered Qinghai, because this guy is too cowardly to attack hard internally but is fierce externally.
Liu Chengzong was worried that if he spoke too harshly, he would frighten the tiger and the rabbit into not entering Qinghai... He would ask Huang Taiji to capture him later. It would be better to let him in first, and then try to catch him slowly. At least there would be a fight in Qinghai.
The Gansu border troops guarded the gate, making it difficult for the tiger, the rabbit, and the rabbit to escape.
But when he said this, Qi Guoping stood up on the spot: "Commander, you must not join forces with the Tiger Chief!"
"Hou Jin is his enemy, and he is also my enemy. If I attack the insertion department at this time, what is the difference between me and Hu Duntu who attacks the fifth camp of Chaohua?"
Qi Guoping opened his mouth without saying anything, and said with a happy face: "Well, Marshal, the sheep mentioned in the letter..."
"If you don't have sheep, why should I give you sheep?"
Liu Chengzong smiled and raised his hand and tapped his temple, saying: "Think about it, if I want Hu Duntu to give me 10,000 horses, what should I do? I'll teach you."
Ruotutai was stunned for a moment, and saw Liu Chengzong spread his fingers in front of him, pointing with his other hand and saying: "I will buy gold and silver weapons or any other goods you need; I will ask Hu Duntu Da Da
Khan forms an alliance with me and asks the leader to help me with 10,000 horses."
Liu Chengzong followed the temptation and said: "If that doesn't work, I can go and express my surrender to the Great Khan, swear to obey the orders and never betray, and ask the Great Khan to give me 10,000 horses. In short... I won't go out of my mind to give the Great Khan a gift."
Paper, I hope the Great Khan will give me ten thousand horses."
After that, Liu Chengzong changed to a more comfortable sitting position and asked Qututaiji seriously: "Speaking of which, if I do this, will Hu Duntu Khan be willing to give me 10,000 horses?"
Perhaps because of drinking, Tututaiji seriously considered Liu Chengzong's proposal. Considering the current ration situation of the Chahar tribe, he shook his head with difficulty.
Snap!
"That's right. I buy, I form an alliance, I pledge allegiance. Even the Great Khan is not willing to give me 10,000 horses, so there is only one last option left." Liu Chengzong clapped his hands and pointed at Zhututaiji and said: "
Send troops to rob. The Great Khan’s troops are similar to those of Choco Rabbit. Defeat the Great Khan and all the horses will be mine.”
Ruitu Taiji was still in an atmosphere of serious consideration. Not only did he not think there was anything wrong with what Liu Chengzong said, but he also felt it was very reasonable.
However, Liu Chengzong's final words about defeating the Great Khan made him sweat all over his back. The breeze blowing from the window of the Marshal's Mansion made him half awake from the wine.
Fortunately, Liu Chengzong saw the worry on his face, so he smiled and said: "I don't lack horses, so don't worry. I keep my word, and you will be allowed to live as pastors. I am more generous than the Great Khan. You go back and let the Great Khan
Think about it, he can send someone to buy it, just bring what I want and buy and sell it at a fair price."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
"You can also bring all the Mongolian nobles to submit to me. I will treat them with courtesy. Isn't it hard to say that I will give you 40,000 sheep? You can also form an alliance with me. I have a brother who is not yet married. Do you have any sisters?
”
Ruitutaiji thought for a while and said slowly: "Yes, yes, but I can't make the decision."
"Okay, it's okay. This is a big deal for two families to become a family. You can go back and ask." Liu Chengzong tapped his finger on the table: "If we are willing to form an alliance, my brother will marry Hu Duntu's sister. Our betrothal gift will be one.
Ten thousand sheep... Qindai asked him if he was full. When he was full, he took him down to rest."
The betrothal gift for the descendants of Genghis Khan is ten Berks, which means ten warriors, ten suits of armor, ten camels, fifty horses, and one hundred camels.
Sheep.
Even for special nobles whose ancestors have made great achievements, the maximum betrothal gift is only thirty Berks, one hundred and fifty horses, and four hundred sheep.
Goututaiji did not calculate how many people these sheep could feed. He knew his brother, and these sheep would not be distributed to his tribe, but he had accomplished his mission of delivering the message, and he probably could get some rewards from these sheep.<
/p>
At this time, when he heard that Liu Chengzong wouldn't let him eat, he didn't think about these things. He quickly sat down and took a few bites, then got up and left.
When he went out, the hall was in a state of chaos, and the chieftains rushed to congratulate Liu Chengzong.
But some people were happy and some were sad. Liu Chengzong took this opportunity to look at everyone's expressions and smiled at Qi Guoping and said: "What is General Qi thinking about, so sad?"
"Commander, Chief Tiger is by no means a person willing to be subordinate to others, and marrying General Liu is definitely not a good thing." After Qi Guoping said this, he was worried that it would make Liu Chengzong think too much, so he took the opportunity to ask: "But I haven't seen General Liu.
, it’s Chinese New Year, why didn’t General Liu come over?”
Liu Chengzong was happy. He waited all night. Finally, someone asked where Liu Chengzu was. He clapped his hands and asked everyone to sit down. Then he said to the chieftains: "Actually, please come over. There are two things. First, all members of the family are here."
Hehuang comes from a scholarly family, and there are many erudite people in the family."
He cupped his fists and said: "Brothers acquired Kangning in the south, and also took over the land occupied by leaders such as Lazunguru. There is a shortage of officials. We are in urgent need of talented and learned people to serve as officials in the south of Xining. Therefore, in the coming year, the Marshal's Mansion will open a department to recruit scholars.
Use them according to your talents.”
The chieftains in the hall were all dumbfounded and dared not speak.
Liu Chengzong ignored him and just waved his hands to everyone: "But if you chieftains are willing to follow me, Liu will have a generous reward. The descendants of the families do not need to go through the imperial examination. If the descendants of the clan recommend ten people from each family, I will reward them according to their talents."
Official position."
Qi Guoping suddenly had an extremely bad prediction in his heart. When he contacted Liu Chengzu, Li Wanqing and others were not present. He looked at Liu Chengzong in horror, and met Liu Chengzong's smiling expression.
"Recently, the price of grain in Hehuang has soared, and the people are starving. Liu is determined to take all of Hehuang to alleviate the suffering of the people. For the sake of your lives, please stay in the new city temporarily until the war is settled."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of armor clashing could be heard from the corridor outside the hall, and there were shadows of people outside the window.
Liu Chengzong looked at the chaotic crowd and asked with a smile: "Does anyone want to go home?"