In early July, the grassland felt like it was being burned by a raging fire. Most of the rivers that once flowed like a spider web have dried up.
However, it is also possible that the wild growth of weeds has obscured the river bed, and only smart animals can find the river water under the turf.
Suddenly, the earth trembled, and the animals fled frantically. Only the insects living at the roots of the grass remained stable.
A large group of cavalry fled southward crazily, showing no mercy to their horses and waving their whips very fast.
Behind them, a small group of cavalry was also chasing hard, with a tired but joyful smile on their faces.
Although the yellow, red, and blue armors of various colors were stained with a lot of dust and became dirty, they still revealed their identity as the Eight Banners.
With only more than two thousand people, they dared to chase ten thousand people, and the more they chased, the more powerful they became. Like a greedy snake, they opened their huge mouths and swallowed prey that was far larger than themselves.
Chahun Dorji looked back and saw the Manchu Qing cavalry persisting. He was instantly angry: "Damn it, why are you chasing us if you don't chase Norbu?"
Lama Tenzin said helplessly: "Maybe it's because of the Great Lama Hutuktu?"
Chahun Dorji glanced around him. Hundreds of loyal knights were firmly protecting his younger brother. In the innermost circle were a group of lamas wearing Buddhist robes.
Most of the cavalry in the army surrounded Jebtsundamba, with only two thousand people on his side protecting him.
There is no way, he is the stepping stone for this trip.
"Let's go -" Chahun Dorji gritted his teeth and continued galloping. He felt that his buttocks were about to be broken.
Following this hot pursuit, the two armies gradually approached and began to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Obviously, although the Mongolian cavalry was superior on horseback, the Qing soldiers had the upper hand in armor and weapons, and their morale was high, almost overwhelming them.
They were like a pack of wolves, clinging to each other, obviously treating them as prey and exhausting their energy before killing them.
And the target of the sudden blow was Jebtsundamba in the center of the crowd.
Seeing that it was like a sharp blade piercing the army, heading towards Jebtsundamba, Chahun Dorji's escape was stopped in an instant: "Go and save Hutuktu——"
Jebtsundamba, on the other hand, did not panic at all. He rode on horseback wearing a monk's robe, with his clothes fluttering. Facing the surging Manchu and Qing cavalry like hungry wolves, he kept his head down and crawled.
He understood that even if he was captured, the Manchus would not dare to kill him.
But in this way, he truly becomes a puppet, which is not what he wants.
"Buddha bless you -" A circle of lamas waved their scimitars and looked around sharply, as if they wanted to fight to the death with the slowly approaching Qing army.
"Woo--" Suddenly, a horn sound came from the distance, and then the earth began to shake violently.
This is a cavalry force of no less than ten thousand people.
The direction is from the south.
Chahu Dorji was overjoyed: "From the south, only Ming people will come. This is the Ming army——"
The Qing army's originally ferocious fighting suddenly slowed down.
If it continues, it will get mixed up with the Mongolian army, and the organization will be in chaos, and the Ming army will have no time to kill them one by one.
The cavalry without a lineup is like a stray wolf that dares to bully even a fox.
Soon, the two armies broke away from contact and even gradually distanced themselves.
The leader of the Qing army was a tall man with a beard spilling from his helmet and a pair of extremely eye-catching leopard eyes.
He is Obai, who is known as the "No. 1 Warrior in Manchuria" and is also known as Batulu.
"The person coming is Mingren——"
Obai squinted his eyes and looked into the distance when a low voice sounded.
"Type the word Wu on it..."
The deputy general asked worriedly: "Could it be Wu Sangui?"
Oboi remained silent.
If it were normal times, they would not panic at all when encountering Wu Sangui, and would even dare to press him and fight him.
But now that they are exhausted and their strength is at a disadvantage, and they encounter a new force, it is difficult to fight against this Ming army.
Oboi was still hesitant, but after he saw the Ming army with one man and three horses, he immediately turned the horses' heads and let the army retreat.
Retreating when faced with difficulties and not squandering, this is the foundation of being a general.
And Wu Sangui came from a distance, wearing simple and airtight armor, with a very conspicuous flag beside him.
"What a pity, I ran away too fast."
Wu Sangui sighed, patted the horse on his crotch, and after a while, he arrived in front of the Mongolian army.
Although the two armies share the same enemy, they still remain vigilant.
Chahu Dorji sent people to communicate with him many times before he got the accurate information, and then he took Jebtsundamba to meet him.
"The great lama is polite -" Wu Sangui bowed and saluted, maintaining a respectful attitude of worshiping the Buddha.
The Mongolians and lamas on the side showed a smile one after another, and their expressions became much more relaxed.
"Ashamed." Jebtsundamba is knowledgeable and proficient in Chinese.
He still looked calm and composed, maintaining his posture and nodding slightly: "Jing Guogong saved me from a critical situation. I am really grateful."
"This is the blessing of Buddha." Wu Sangui said sweetly, and the tense atmosphere became much more relaxed.
Chahun Dorji felt instantly ignored.
However, Jebzundamba did not forget this brother and introduced him: "This is the Prince of Tuxietu——"
Even though Chahu Dorji called himself Oqi Laisein Khan within the tribe, in front of Wu Sangui, he could only be the Prince of Tuxietu County, which was a gift from the emperor.
Also because of his status, Wu Sangui bowed his head and saluted again.
"General Wu's army was so powerful that the Qing army collapsed without a fight. I am truly grateful." With the help of an interpreter, Chahun Dorji hurriedly began to thank him.
Wu Sangui was noncommittal, and after chatting for a few words, he merged with the Mongolian army and marched toward the south in a mighty manner.
This place is still more than five hundred miles away from Guihua City.
At this time, nearly ten thousand herdsmen had arrived outside Guihua City, and Zhang Guowei, the governor of Suiyuan, was extremely busy.
Allocating herdsmen to marginal pastures in Suiyuan, solving cattle and sheep fodder problems, and resolving disputes between herdsmen are all presided over.
However, tens of thousands of Ming troops gathered at Hongli Temple and the Four Princes' Headquarters, and few herdsmen dared to act recklessly. The only concern was the issue of money and food.
Chen Yongfu was anxiously waiting for Wu Sangui's army.
If Jebzundamba is lost, it will be a huge loss for the imperial court's Mobei strategy.
Obviously, Wu Sangui did not disappoint him and soon led Jebtsundamba back.
And with the arrival of Chahu Dorji, the essence of the Tushetu Khan tribe has been preserved, and it will be easy to return the next day.
After many days, Chahun Dorji finally drank butter tea.
But what awaits them is a long journey:
The emperor wants to receive them.
After another long journey, Chahun Dorji and Jebtsundamba arrived in Beijing.
This is a place that many Mongolians have never been to in their lives.
When Zhu Yixi received the news about the battle in Mobei, he felt a bit like fate was playing tricks on people.
Wild fire, in spring.
Who could have imagined that the embers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty would rekindle?
But what is gratifying is that both Tushetu Khan and Jebzundamba are safe.
This will give Ming Dynasty a great advantage in its future strategies.
Needless to mention the shock along the way, the one who greeted Chahun Dorji was Budali, the king of Beihai County.
The Khan of the Chahar tribe was still reluctant to part with the prosperity of Beijing. After spending a long and severe winter, he returned to the mansion given to him by the emperor.
The emperor also captured his young men and served as errands to welcome him.
The Tushetu Khan tribe and Chahar were distant relatives, and even had a subordinate relationship during the Lindan Khan era.
"Budali, aren't you in Chahar?"
Chahun Dorji couldn't help but said in surprise.
"Why can't I be here?" Budali rolled his eyes, and he came over with a calm expression: "Beijing is so nice, much better than in Chahar."
"You don't have to worry about eating and drinking here. You can take a bath every day. You wear silk and satin and use porcelain cups. The beauties you serve are all warm and juicy. It's much better than on the grassland."
Budali said proudly: "I'm telling you, as long as you stay here for two or three months, you won't want to go back to Mobei."
“Let’s go, I’ll take you around Beijing—”
The emperor received Jebtsundamba, while Budali took Chahun Dorji to visit Beijing. The two Mongolians were leisurely and leisurely, as if they were on vacation.
But the cabinet is not idle. They are studying how to help Tuxie Tuhan's tribe return to Mobei.
Different from the Chahar tribe, it is located in the Monan region, only a few hundred miles away from Beijing, and has abundant water and grass, which can not only be used for grazing, but also cultivated and cultivated.
Mobei is a different place, it's too vast.
More than 90% of the land is semi-desert grassland, and grazing is the main way of survival, which is not suitable for the Han people.
To put it bluntly, the tribes in Mobei can only restrain Mi, but not directly control them like Monan.
"Give them armor directly, not firearms. This is condoning them." Wang Yingxiong said solemnly:
"If Tuxie Tuhan directly defected to the Manchus, wouldn't this be a case of stealing the chicken but losing the rice?"
"Then send the army north -" Lu Daqi's eyes widened: "Escort them to Mobei, and the coalition forces will march towards the Manchu Qing Dynasty to completely eliminate the so-called Fengjing City."
"No -" Yan Chongxin shook his head and said: "Thousands of miles along the way, long-distance attacks, narrow escapes, tens of thousands of troops on the vast grassland are like sand scattered on the ground, it is difficult to find them."
For a time, the entire cabinet fell into a dispute.
Zhao Shu, the chief assistant, drank tea calmly and watched the dispute between these people without saying a word.
Having been in power for more than ten years, his prestige in the court was second only to that of the emperor. Even if several members of the cabinet united, they could only barely compete with him.
Under such circumstances, he would often sit firmly on the Diaoyutai, witness everyone quarreling, and then make the final decision.
Seeing that they had been arguing for almost a quarter of an hour and still had no answer, Zhao Shu raised his head and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice:
"The imperial court cannot allow tens of thousands of troops to go to Mobei, but it cannot condone the Qing Dynasty's wantonness."
"In my opinion, it's better to combine the two."
"Oh?" Wang Yingxiong squinted his eyes: "I don't know how to neutralize it?"
But I was cursing secretly in my heart, I've seen enough drama, let's start the end!
"It would be too bizarre for tens of thousands of troops to march north. It's hard to find the enemy in the vast desert. It's better to carefully select a few thousand elite soldiers and follow Tuxie Tuhan to go north to regain his homeland."
"At that time, we can also take the opportunity to control the Tuxie Tuhan tribe."
"As for some support, money and food don't matter, but the firearms must be handled well. They can only be used by our army. The Mongolian army should use more bows and arrows -"
To put it bluntly, just to avoid heartache, thousands of troops were sent north.
If it happens, that would be great.
If it doesn't work out, it's still an attempt and it won't hurt.
This is indeed in line with the golden mean.
Several people were impressed, He Xini was indeed very capable.
The emperor seemed to be aware of the situation and sent someone to summon them to discuss matters.
Sitting in front of the royal table, Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "According to the news from Suiyuan, this time the coalition forces of Tuxie Tuhan and Zhasak Khan were 100,000 strong, and they were defeated in less than half a day of fighting with the Qing army."
Snapped--
At this point, the emperor couldn't help but burst into laughter: "This is simply ridiculous."
"Thousands of miles of vast grassland, instead of looking for opportunities to wander around, they gathered together to fight, and then quickly defeated, with only tens of thousands of people fleeing."
"There are tens of thousands of herdsmen gathered in Suiyuan. They need to solve their grazing land, and at the same time, they must also find a way to let Tuxie Tuhan return to Mobei."
Zhao Shu calmly took a step forward and spoke about the cabinet's deliberations.
"Thousands of troops, waiting for an opportunity?"
The emperor muttered, with ripples in his heart.
Finally, we got an opportunity to intervene in Mobei and Tuxie Tuhan. We must not let it go so easily.
He knocked on the table unconsciously and began to think.
Several people in the cabinet did not dare to make a sound.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty had two ruling centers in Mobei, one was General Wusulitai's Mansion and the other was Minister Kulun.
General Wusulitai is responsible for the affairs of the three Khalkha tribes, while Minister Kulun is responsible for border affairs, mutual trade, justice, post stations, mainly Han trade, and the control of Jebtsundamba Lama.
Just like the minister stationed in Tibet had to draw lots from the golden urn, Minister Kulun also had to preside over Jebtsundampa's drawing of lots from the golden urn.
How could I forget this?
Zhu Yixi couldn't help but patted her head, raised her head, and said loudly: "What are you talking about?"
"However, the ministers sent should not be too restrictive, but should be as relaxed as possible-"
As he spoke, he smiled and said: "We can set up a general stationed in Mongolia to build a city in Kulun and stay there in the name of protecting Jebzundamba."
"But in essence, he will also take charge of the affairs of the Khalkha Mongolian tribes and act on behalf of the imperial court."
The emperor's words represent the expansion of Ming Dynasty's rule into Mobei, just like the generals of Jilin and Heilongjiang.
"But, Your Majesty, where does the money and food for the army stationed in Mongolia come from? The imperial court cannot transport it thousands of miles away."
Yan Chongxin cupped his hands and said.
"It's just taxing on the spot." Zhu Yixi accepted: "I don't believe that the huge Khalkha Mongolia cannot supply thousands of garrison troops."
Soon, several members of the cabinet agreed with the emperor's plan and decided to send a large army to Kulun in the name of escorting Jebzundamba Hutuktu.
His duty was to direct the joint operations of the Khalkha tribes against the Manchu and Qing armies.
Politically, he is equal to Tushetu Khan, Chechen Khan, and Zhasak Khan; religiously, he is responsible for guarding the safety of Jebzundamba and is the image of a protector.
Diplomats are responsible for all external affairs of Khalkha Mongolia; in terms of finance, they strictly manage finance and taxation, supervise the production of coins, reasonably allocate taxes and labor, etc.