Mobei.

The large tent of the Ming army.

"Your Majesty, when these barbarians saw our army approaching, they immediately became frightened and fled in all directions. The soldiers searched the surrounding area for hundreds of miles, but they didn't even see a hair. They were so angry."

"It is said that when our army set off, these tribes had already migrated away. I am afraid that there may not be any tribes around for hundreds of miles."

Fu Youde said in confusion.

This time Zhu Yuanzhang went on a personal expedition, and not only Fu Youde, but also old men like Feng Sheng came with him.

Especially Fu Youde, who originally thought he was retiring and returning home, but ended up being named.

That's right, Your Majesty is already at such an age, and you're already doing the conquest yourself, and you still want to rest and dream.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "To fight them, the most important thing is not to fight them, but to look for them. If you can't find them, then your efforts will be in vain."

"Throughout the ages, many dynasties have tried to eliminate the dangers of the grasslands. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty spent national power, but he failed to completely eliminate it."

"In the vast grassland, even if a million troops come in, it is like a drop of water in the ocean. Trying to find the Tatar tribe accurately is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Feng Sheng, who was standing next to him, saw that His Majesty was in a good mood, and also smiled and said: "Ying Guogong, His Majesty told you before, and you still don't believe it. If you have to lead troops to catch it, you are not a cat. How can you catch mice?"

"When it comes to catching mice, Duke Liang is better at it."

After saying that, Feng Sheng turned his eyes to Lan Yu.

Naturally, Lan Yu also followed.

Zhu Ying said that the nobles of Huaixi should delegate power. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's personal expedition this time will definitely be followed by the nobles of Huaixi.

Hearing this, Lan Yu looked proud: "Of course, I couldn't find their traces when the sky was filled with yellow sand."

"When looking for these rats, you need to be patient. It is not advisable to search in large groups. Instead, you need to divide into multiple groups of patrol cavalry to look for their traces. Groups of dozens of cavalry will search widely, and then wait for opportunities to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, Lord Ying, just rest for now and don't run around. The three kings of Qin, Jin and Yan have already taken the places of Tatar, Wala and Wuliangha respectively, probably also

It’s no use, these barbarians are very cunning.”

"What we have to do now is wait for the train tracks to be laid, and then start to build the city. I don't believe it. Is it possible that they can all run out of this grassland."

"Among the grassland tribes, the most capable ones are the Wala. If they want to escape, they can go directly to their hometown."

Wala is the name of the Ming Dynasty. On the grasslands, they are called the Oirat tribe, which means the people in the forest.

The hometown Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned refers to both sides of the Yenisei River Basin, where they lived.

When Genghis Khan established the Great Mongolian Kingdom, he sent his eldest son Shuchi to recruit the Oirat people, a people of fishing and hunting in the vast primeval forest, commonly known as the people in the forest.

The Mongols called him a good man and a vigilant.

After Beiyuan returned to the grassland, in addition to its own cavalry, Oara became a very important military force in Beiyuan. The former minister of Beiyuan, Haohai Dayu, was an Oara person.

Everyone in the big tent was in a relaxed mood and did not feel impatient because they could not find the Mongolians.

Zhu Yuanzhang's army marched very slowly, and would stop to rest after a day or two.

The reason for this is that railway tracks are being continuously constructed from Datong Town to here.

Wherever the rails are built, trains can go, and a steady stream of logistics can be brought by trains.

This time for the Northern Expedition, the Ming Dynasty prepared 50 million shi of food, enough for a million troops to stay here until the end of the year without having to worry about food problems.

——

Assut Department.

After Arutai heard the news that the Ming Dynasty was marching into the grassland, he had already fled with his tribe. In the vast grassland, they did not have to worry about being found by the Ming army.

At the same time, Arutai was also constantly sending people to investigate the movements of the Chinese army.

"Reporting to the Grand Master, after the Ming army entered the grassland, they were divided into three groups, led by the King of Qin, the King of Jin, and the King of Yan. Among them, the King of Yan is coming towards us."

"The Ming army built railways on the grassland so that their trains could pass through."

Arutai looked a little solemn when he heard this.

After the reporting soldiers went out, discussions began with the various leaders.

"Grand Master, did the Ming army do this because they wanted to stay in the grassland? They built all the railways."

"The emperor of Ming Dynasty doesn't seem to be in a hurry to come to us. Do they want to build a city on the grassland?"

"The emperor of Ming Dynasty is crazy."

The leaders talked a lot.

The Assut tribe is actually the Mongolized Parthians, also known as the Alans. They were also called Hesu in ancient times and originated from the Iranian Plateau.

After being surrendered by Genghis Khan, he followed the Mongolian army into the Central Plains and formed the Asut tribe, known in history as the Asut Army.

Arutai snorted coldly, and many leaders immediately fell silent. Among the Asut tribe, Arutai's majesty was very high.

"The emperor of the Ming Dynasty wants to hunt us down in the desert. It's simply unreasonable. Even if he wants to build a city on the grassland, so what?"

"Can he still occupy the entire grassland?"

"An army of one million does sound scary, but they don't even have a hundred thousand cavalry. All the other infantry are just slow infantry. What else do we need to be afraid of?"

"But we can't let the Ming army build the railway like this. When we send warriors to block the railway track, without the rail, the train will naturally not be able to drive to the grassland, and it will cause some trouble to the Ming army."

"Inform Guili Chihan about these things and ask their army to cooperate with us. We may be able to ambush the Ming army."

Arutai supported Guilichi as the Mongolian Khan, but Wala did not obey.

Wala had three commanders, namely Mahamu, Taiping, and Batu Polo. They competed with Arutai and Guilichi for the dominance of Mongolia.

After Elbek Khan was killed by Guilichi, his eldest son Benyasili and his uncle Khaltaj fled to the Timurid Empire.

The two of them were able to escape, obviously with Wala's help.

Now that the Ming army is attacking, Gui Lichi and Arutai want to use the power of the Ming army to defeat Oala and gain a fisherman's advantage.

They have no intention of confronting the Ming army head-on.

However, there were too many soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, so they were divided into three groups and marched against Oara, Tatar, and Uliangha at the same time.

This forced Arutai to keep retreating.

——

Wuliangha area.

A large number of Ming army soldiers continued to pour in.

This Ming army was led by King Zhu Di of Yan.

The three guards of Ulyanha are different from the Tatars, Walas, or Asut tribe. Because they once submitted to the Ming Dynasty, they are not completely nomadic people now, but are semi-agricultural and semi-nomadic.

In places close to Liaodong, it is suitable for planting.

In this era, food was very important. The population on the grassland was about two million. Such a large population was naturally due to the previous relationship between the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties. At that time, the grassland could continuously obtain food from the plains, and the population grew rapidly.

normal.

But now, the Ming Dynasty has cut off food transportation, and the population has become a huge burden on the grassland.

The grassland cannot support such a large population.

The reason why the three guards of Wuliangha can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Tatars and Walas is also due to the support of the Ming Dynasty, including the trade of grain, which has caused the population of the headquarters to continue to increase.

"The Three Guards of Duoyan rebelled repeatedly. This time your Imperial Grandfather issued an edict to directly execute the leaders of the Three Guards tribe, and take all the prisoners to build railways and cities."

"This is your opportunity to make meritorious deeds. If you can make enough meritorious deeds, you can have a larger territory even if you are given the title of County King."

Zhu Di rode forward and said to Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui beside him.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to leave the credit to his sons, and Zhu Di naturally thought so too.

The eldest son Zhu Gaochi was not suitable for fighting, so Zhu Di naturally brought his two younger sons over.

Moreover, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui are still somewhat talented in the military. If they can make meritorious deeds, they will be able to receive more rewards in time.

Zhu Gaosui didn't say anything. Zhu Gaoxu said smoothly: "Father, Grandpa Huang will not arrange our county on this grassland, it is too desolate."

Zhu Di said: "If it can be arranged on the grassland, it will be your luck. Don't look at it. Now that the railway tracks have been built into the grassland, it will be very easy for goods from the Ming Dynasty to come here."

"Maybe the grassland will be more prosperous in the future. What's wrong with being a county king here?"

After Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he just frowned. Even if he didn't want to come, if he was really sealed here, there would be nothing he could do.

Seeing this, Zhu Di said: "You guys just don't want to study, but you know that there are a large number of personnel from the Scientific Research Department who came with the army this time. I know that those people are responsible for exploring mineral deposits."

"This means that there may be many mineral deposits on this grassland. If you can seal it here, you will be lucky."

Zhu Gaosui's eyes immediately lit up: "Father, is this true?"

When he was in Japan, he knew how many mines his father had mined, which was a lot of money.

Many of these mineral deposits were captured by the two brothers.

"My father can still lie to you, so do it well." After Zhu Di finished speaking, he immediately rode forward.

The enthusiasm of the two people was completely mobilized. When they thought that they could get a lot of money like they did in Japan, they couldn't help but feel excited.
To be continued...