It was almost no different from what Zhu Ying expected.
Here in the Indus Valley, Timur's army was overwhelming and encountered no decent resistance at all.
Historically, when attacking the Delhi Sultan, Timur only had an army of 100,000 to push across. But today, due to the combined threat of the Ming Dynasty and the Grassland, Timur directly dispatched an army of 300,000.
This makes the local forces in Delhi Sultanate even worse.
Of course, not all the local governors in the Indus River region surrendered directly, there were also those who resisted to the death.
It's just that facing Timur's army of 300,000 people, although not all of them are elite, they are still like a mantis using its arms as a chariot.
After the siege, according to the tradition of Timur's army, the city was slaughtered for three days.
"If it hadn't been for this increasingly cold winter, I would have gone to the royal capital of the Tughluq Dynasty this year, tied up their sultan, and sent him to Samarkand."
The speaker was Khalil, son of Miran Shah, the third son of Timur.
He stood on the city wall, watching the slaughter of the soldiers below and laughing wildly.
Standing next to him was Pilma Heima.
Pi'erma Heima frowned and said, "Actually, there is no need to massacre the city. Now we are building inns and cement roads, and we need a lot of slaves."
"If you kill them all, where will anyone come to build our roads?"
Khalil's eyes flashed with disdain: "I think you have been infected by their pedantry after staying in the Ming Dynasty for so long."
"To deal with these untouchables, only by making them feel fear can they surrender. It is our army's tradition to massacre the city. I don't need you to teach me how to do it."
The Sultan's army that marched into Delhi this time belonged to Miran Shah's army and was controlled by Khalil.
Pirma Heima came here not to direct the war, but to take a look at the terrain and then prepare to build a cement road.
Because the formula of cement was brought by Pierma Heima, Timur put him in charge of the construction of cement roads across the country.
Now Pir Mahima does not have an army in his hands. The armies left by his father Jahangir are now commanded by his eldest brother Mahima Sultan.
In terms of status, as the second son, Pi'er Ma Heima is a little nobler than Khalil, but without an army, he can't do anything to Khalil.
"The Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet will pose a threat to us from the sea. The Eastern Chagatai Khanate has also united a large number of troops, so grandpa will send 300,000 troops to attack the Sultan of Delhi."
"I have heard news that the Ming Dynasty seems to have sent envoys to the Sultan of Delhi. They don't want grandpa's plan to succeed."
"If you were smarter, you shouldn't choose to massacre the city. It will only make the Sultan of Delhi hate us even more. If they cooperate with the Ming Dynasty, it will make this attack much more troublesome."
Pi'erma Heima said coldly, he really didn't want to talk to Khalil, even if the two of them were connected by blood.
But in fact, the relationship has never been very good. If his grandfather had not asked him to come and follow him, he would not want to work with Khalil at all.
Khalil glanced at Pi'erma Heima and said with ridicule in his tone: "You have soiled your noble bloodline and actually feared the Ming Dynasty."
"The Ming Dynasty was once a subsidiary of Mongolia. It was just that the Ming Emperor named Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the opportunity to succeed. You see, sooner or later our army will set foot on the land of the Central Plains again."
"This time in Delhi Sultan, no one can resist me, even if Ming Dynasty helps Tughluq."
"If they dare to send people to intervene, I will let them know what fear is."
Khalil's arrogant laughter echoed clearly with the massacre in the city below.
Even the sunset was stained with blood red.
Seeing Khalil like this, Pirma Heima didn't want to continue arguing.
Only by personally visiting the Ming Dynasty can we know how strong and prosperous the Ming Dynasty is now.
It was a very stupid act to go against the Ming Dynasty. Even Timur now regrets that he should not have detained the Ming Dynasty envoys, which led to the current passive situation.
The royal capital of Tughluq, Delhi.
This place is more prosperous, cleaner, and even more beautiful than the Ming envoys imagined.
Compared with the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, the city of Delhi seems much empty, especially the large number of garden designs located in every corner of the city, making the whole of Delhi seem to be in a beautiful garden at any time.
Even in the winter season, there is still a lot of green coverage.
This was due to the previous Sultan Firouz of the Tughluq dynasty.
Firouz was a sibling as his elder brother Muhammad was killed in a battle with rebels in Sindh.
During his thirty-seven years of rule, he first gave up the conquest of the south, and then concentrated a large amount of manpower and financial resources on the construction of Delhi.
There are many temples here, as well as a large number of hospitals and schools.
Even though Timur's army was approaching the Indus River area, most of the people in the city still showed happiness on their faces.
"Business girls don't know how to hate the country's subjugation, but they still sing songs in the backyard across the river."
"I didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence before, but today when I came to Delhi, I seemed to really feel it."
The speaker was Wang Jinyi, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty.
Wang Jinyi is not an orthodox Han Chinese, but a descendant of the Jin Kingdom. His ancestor is still the Wanyan family, but he changed his name to avoid being hunted by the Meng Yuan Dynasty.
These are all events of the past. Wang Jinyi himself graduated from the Ming Dynasty Military Academy and still had the reputation of being a scholar, but he was eventually assigned to the command of Uzang.
Because he can speak Turkic, Persian, and Pashto, the main official languages of the Delhi Sultan, and has a background of graduating from the Ming Military Academy, he became the leader of this mission.
Wang Jinyi used Chinese to communicate with his colleagues around him, but the Tughluq nobles next to him naturally couldn't understand.
After all, Chinese is the most difficult language to learn, not to mention Wang Jinyi also used poetic metaphors.
"Distinguished guests from afar, our Sultan is already waiting at the palace. Please come with me, distinguished guests."
Arriving in front of the Delhi Palace, someone immediately greeted me.
For the prestigious Eastern dynasty, it is obvious that Sultan Nahir al-Din Mahmud Shah of the Tughluq dynasty attaches great importance to it.
Sultan Mahmud originally wanted to go to the palace to greet him in person, but he canceled it after the persuasion of his courtiers.
After Wang Jinyi and five other envoys entered the palace, they were given a warm welcome ceremony.
On both sides of the road, there were pure virgins wearing brightly colored clothes, scattering flower petals in their hands to celebrate the arrival of Wang Jinyi and others.
The fact that flowers can appear at this time shows that a lot of thought has been put into it.
In the palace hall, Sultan Mahmud did not sit on the throne, but stood to greet the arrival of Wang Jinyi and others.
"Welcome distinguished guests from the Far East. I have prepared a large amount of food and wine. I hope you will like it." Sultan Mahmud opened his hands and said loudly.
Different from the serious court etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, the culture of the Delhi Sultan was very different and more similar to the West.
This hall is not only a place for discussions, but also a place where the monarch entertains his ministers.
There is a long table below, with barbecue and fine wine on it, and there are maids waiting behind it.
Except for Wang Jinyi, the other four people were obviously a little confused by this situation. They didn't expect that they would have to eat first when they met the Tughluq monarch?
Under the service of exotic maids and the stimulation of alcohol, it was obvious that the envoys of the Ming Dynasty had a rapid increase in their favorability towards the Tughluq Dynasty.
Wang Jinyi and others only felt that this mission was not in vain.
After drinking for three rounds, at the signal of Sultan Mahmud, Tughluq's minister asked Wang Jinyi: "I wonder what kind of support the noble Ming Dynasty will bring to us this time."
"Now Timur's army has reached the Indus River area. They are very cruel and vicious. We really want to get the support of the Ming Dynasty."
When it came to the main topic, Wang Jinyi and others began to restrain their original wild behavior. Wang Jinyi said seriously: "According to the decree of my Highness the Ming Dynasty Taisun, 50,000 elite soldiers have been gathered in Tubo. We just wait for His Majesty the Sultan to stamp his seal."
You can then set off to Delhi and obey the command of His Majesty the Sultan."
After speaking, Wang Jinyi took out a contract from his body and handed it to the minister of government in Tughluq next to him.
The minister took it and looked at it carefully. On it were the contents of the contract written in Chinese and Persian.
The general idea is that the Tughluq dynasty contributed 100,000 taels of gold, and the Ming Dynasty was responsible for providing 50,000 soldiers to join the war between the Sultan of Delhi and Timur.
The court minister quickly stood up and handed the contract to Sultan Mahmud's hand.
Mahmoud took the towel from the attendant next to him and wiped the oil on his hands before reading it carefully.
After reading it, I felt completely bad.
Asked in Persian: "Dear Eastern guests, the price of one hundred thousand taels of gold is not a lot, but this clause states that the capture of these soldiers will be completely attributed to the Ming Dynasty."
"At this point, should we discuss it again?"
Although one hundred thousand taels of gold was a lot for the Tughluq dynasty, it was not excessive.
However, all the capture of these soldiers was attributed to the Ming Dynasty, which seemed a bit excessive.
Because during the war, the Tughluq dynasty had to provide food and logistics, and the behavior of the soldiers was often uncontrollable.
Their capture may have been not only for the Timurid Empire's army, but also for the Delhi Sultan himself.
Mahmoud didn't think that the soldiers would be innocent when they were marching.
Wang Jinyi replied in Persian: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Sultan, the contract has already been stamped with the seal of my great grandson of the Ming Dynasty. If His Majesty the Sultan wants to change the above content, we can only ask for it.
His Highness Ming Taisun reapplies."
"If His Highness Taisun agrees to His Majesty the Sultan's plan, then another contract document with a seal will be issued from our Ming capital."
After hearing this, Mahmud felt very speechless.
From the Sultan of Delhi to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it would take almost four months at the fastest speed.
Counting the round trip, it would take eight months.
Eight months later, Timur's army had already reached Delhi. By then, even the Tughluq dynasty was not sure what kind of contract would be needed.
This is because the Ming Dynasty has strangled the current Tughluq Dynasty and is in urgent need of support, so there is no room for negotiation at all.
Wang Jinyi's words were just a step up, a little tactful.
"I don't know how your army will maintain discipline, and what their combat effectiveness is. Will they be able to fight against Timur's army?"
After Mahmoud was silent, he asked Wang Jinyi.
He knew that the fate of the Tughluq Dynasty was likely to be in the hands of these 50,000 elite soldiers.
Wang Jinyi smiled and said, "Please don't worry too much, His Majesty the Sultan. This army was established through the Beiyuan Mercenary Guild established by His Highness the Ming Dynasty Taisun."
"There are 30,000 of them. They are the most powerful warriors on the grassland. They have superb riding skills and superb shooting skills. They are not weaker than the cavalry of Timur's army."
"There are also 20,000 infantrymen gathered from various Tubo tribes. They are also the elite of Tubo and cannot be compared to Timur's slave army."
"With the help of these 50,000 troops, the Sultan of Delhi can definitely withstand the attack of Timur's army."
Mahmud and the ministers of Tughluq understood completely after hearing this.
Emotionally, the Ming Dynasty did not send any troops at all, only grassland soldiers and Tubo soldiers came, and the Ming Dynasty had to charge high intermediary fees.
In fact, this is because they don't understand that the market in Ming Dynasty is still very fair.
For the 100,000 taels of gold offered by the Tughluq dynasty, the Ming Dynasty only took 30%, which was 30,000 taels.
Everything else is included in pensions and military pay.
Although they felt that the Ming Dynasty was a bit dark, Mahmud and Tughluq's ministers felt a lot more relaxed when they heard that there were 30,000 Mongolian cavalry for support.
Mahmud also did not expect that the Sultan of Delhi had been resisting the Mongolian invasion and now needed the help of the Mongols.
Mahmud called his trusted attendants, brought the seal belonging to the Tughluq dynasty king, and stamped it on the contract document.
At the same time, he ordered the Minister of Finance to prepare one hundred thousand taels of gold for the Ming Dynasty envoy to conclude this transaction.
After the matter was settled, the banquet became obviously more lively.
Plenty of drinks were constantly served for everyone to enjoy.
Thinking of being able to repel Timur's attack, Mahmud suddenly felt very good.
As long as the Tughluq dynasty's rule over the Sultan of Delhi can be stabilized, no matter how high the cost, it will be worth it.
"I wonder who is the commander-in-chief of your army this time." Mahmoud asked with interest.
Hearing this, Wang Jinyi put down the drink in his glass, stood up, stroked his chest, saluted, and asked in Persian: "Reporting to Your Majesty the Sultan, I am the commander-in-chief of the army from now on."
Wang Jinyi is not only the chief of this mission, but also the deputy commander of the Uszang Command Department, and a top graduate of the Ming Dynasty Military Academy.
This means that for the Tughluq dynasty, the rise and fall of their dynasty was all controlled by Wang Jinyi.
After knowing that Wang Jinyi was the future commander-in-chief, the banquet reached its peak.