In the late Ming Dynasty, these large caravans traveling outside the border basically completely monopolized the commercial trade of various tribes in the southern desert and northern Mongolia outside the border. They made huge profits, so their strength was indeed very strong.

Especially large caravans like what Li Ma said, where several merchants join forces and travel together, often using thousands of camels and pack horses, hundreds of mules, horses and carts, camel heads, porters, and thousands of guards.

Neither situation is uncommon.

The ordinary small group of horse thieves on the grassland, once they encounter such a huge caravan, usually can only be disappointed.

However, Yang Zhen was not worried after hearing what Li Ma said. On the contrary, such a large caravan would only be useful if it was captured.

Usually, a caravan consisting of thirty or fifty camels and ten or twenty carts is easy to rob, but the supplies that can be grabbed are definitely not much.

Moreover, when small caravans are traveling outside, most of the goods they carry are not what Yang Zhen wants.

For example, in this era, the daily supplies needed by tribes outside the Great Wall, such as brick tea, medicinal materials, needles and threads, pots and pans, even if Yang Zhen snatched them, it would not make much sense!

On the contrary, the larger the caravan, which has many carriages and horses, many guards, and a very clear trading target, the more it dares to carry some large, special, and relatively expensive commercial supplies, such as iron bars, arrow clusters, silks, and cloths.

, brimstone, fire, saltpeter, spirits and the like.

At the same time, only this kind of bulk supplies are worthy of Yang Zhen taking his troops to go there in person.

As for the guards and boxers who accompanied the caravan, Yang Zhen was not afraid even if they were equipped with a batch of shotguns and firecrackers.

They can deal with ordinary grassland horse thieves. After all, some grassland horse thieves are very poor, and some don't even have strong bows or crossbows. They can't defeat this kind of caravan guard with only light swords and fast horses.

But Yang Zhen is different. In addition to his advantage of being able to calculate mentally and not being careless, he also possesses the relatively best group of muskets and musketeers outside the Ming Dynasty in this era, not to mention that he also possesses increasingly powerful ambush weapon——

The flying general has a grenade.

Therefore, no matter how serious the situation Li Ma told everyone, once there was news about the Zhangjiakou caravan's departure, he would definitely go out.

Li Ma and Meng He were both the new commander-in-chief of the advance battalion's cavalry. Seeing that Yang Zhen was so determined and his tone was unquestionable, they looked at each other and finally Li Ma said:

"The caravans coming out of Zhangjiakou usually go to Duolun first and then to Harqin after arriving at the border. If they don't return after arriving in Harqin, then they are really big caravans!

"When large caravans come out of Karaqin, they will most likely branch off and head north. Some camel teams will go all the way north to Ongniute and Bahrain, and some mule teams will turn east, first to Aohan, and then north to Naiman.

He and Culun finally ran all the way to Horqin, north of Tieling!"

Speaking of this, Li Ma squinted her slender eyes and thought for a moment, then added: "Of course, in the past few years, from western Liaoning to the border area, all the territory north of the Daling River has been Mannu territory!

"The caravans from Zhangjiakou are also brave. From time to time they will pass by the Three Towers and Yizhou City, and go directly from there to Guangning City where the Manchus are entrenched! Others are even more courageous, and go directly to the Manchus from there.

What Shengjing City!”

After Li Ma said these words, he looked at Yang Zhen in silence, and finally said: "There are basically no exceptions for the caravans coming out of Zhangjiakou, especially the large caravans. To the west of Nurul Tiger Mountain, the Xilamulun River

The tribes along the coast will go to trade one by one!

"As for the caravans at the west entrance, I don't know much about them. However, I heard that they are more courageous, take wilder routes, and run farther. Some even dare to go to Mobei Rakshasa!"

When Yang Zhen heard this, he was even more happy to see that Li Ma actually knew the name of the Rakshasa north of Mobei. However, it was not the right time yet, so he did not pick up the conversation.

However, after listening to Li Ma's words, he combined it with what he knew in his two lifetimes and verified it. He probably had an idea in his mind about the trade routes on the grasslands of Eastern Mongolia. After pondering for a moment, he thought about Li Ma again.

Ma and Menghe said:

"Is there any place that the caravan from Zhangjiakou must pass through after leaving Harqin, especially before heading north or east?"

The grassland is too big. If we don't have a rough range and can make preparations in advance, then even if we have news about Yang Shen and the others, it will be difficult to arrange an ambush at once!

After Yang Zhen finished asking, he saw Li Ma and Meng He looking at each other, both of them frowning in thought without speaking.

After a while, Meng He's low and hoarse voice sounded: "Sir, Commander-in-Chief! As far as I know, there are some places that must be passed by the caravan from inside the mouth to the outside of the mouth, such as Duolunuoer outside Duolun City, Karaqin's

Hongmiaozi is a place like this!

"When I was tracking caravans on the grasslands in my humble position, I learned a stupid way, which is to walk along the river! The caravans needed a lot of water because there were many mules, horses and camels, so they also walked along the river!

"As for the caravan leaving Haraqin, before there is a separation, if it goes along the river, it can only go to Laohua Mulun! Mulun is the river, and Laohua Mulun is the Laohua River!"

When Meng He said this, he seemed to suddenly realize something. He opened his little eyes and said: "It is safer for the large caravan to go together, so it is not easy to separate. If it is necessary to separate, it must be at that point."

place--"

When Meng He said this, he heard Li Ma on the side suddenly said loudly: "Tuchengzi!"

At this time, Meng He blurted out almost at the same time: "Tuchengzi! - Yes, Tuchengzi at the intersection of Laohua River and Yinjin River!"

In fact, when Meng He mentioned that Laohua Mulun was the Laohua River, Yang Zhen had already realized it. Although he had never heard of the Laohua River, he knew that there was an Laoha River on the Kalaqin Grassland.

Next, he saw that Meng He and Li Ma had all locked the place where the caravan must pass, and also mentioned a place at the intersection of Yinjin River and Laohua River. He immediately understood.

Laohua River later became Laoha River, and Yinjin River later became Yingjin River.

The names of these rivers are all transliterated from Mongolian transliterations. Different people have similar names, and different times have different names, but they refer to the same place.

Yang Zhen thought of this, and his heart suddenly became enlightened. At this time, he heard Li Ma also add: "The large caravan in Zhangjiakou left Harqin and headed north. Because they had many mules, horses and camels, they finally

The best road is to go north along the Laohua River, so there is no shortage of drinking water!

"But after arriving at Tuchengzi, a group going to the Wengniute tribe will have to cross the mouth of the Yinjin River and continue walking north along the Laohua River. Those going to the Aohan tribe will have to cross the Laohua River from there.

, coming to the east!

"So, the Tuchengzi area at the intersection of Yinjin River and Laohua River was the last place for the caravans outside Xuanfu and outside Jizhou, especially the big caravans, before they separated!"

Li Ma was very familiar with the terrain in the Qingluan Mountains and Daheishan area. He found a dead branch from the ground and moved it east and west. After a while, he drew a rough figure and pointed at the somewhat messy lines.

, explained to Yang Zhenyi.

Looking at the graphics drawn by Li Ma and listening to his explanation, Yang Zhen's heart quickly became brighter, and a rough topographic map also appeared in his mind.

What Qingluan Ridge they were talking about before, Yang Zhen suddenly knew where it was. Qingluan Ridge is the Daqing Mountain in western Liaoning. Like the Dahei Mountain they mentioned, it is part of the Nurul Tiger Mountains, except that Da Qing Mountain

It is in the southwest section, while Daheishan is in the northeast section.

The three towers later became Chaoyang in the mountainous area of ​​western Liaoning. They are located to the southeast of Daqing Mountain and on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Daling River on the ruins of the former Yingzhou Guards of the Ming Dynasty.

After Yang Zhen basically understood it, he told Li Ma and asked him to discuss with Meng He to describe all the mountains, rivers, rivers, east, west, south, and west of Liaoxi and Nurul Tiger Mountain, as far as he knew, for future use.

As for when it would be used, that is, when it would be taken out to the west, Yang Zhen did not say.

He couldn't tell at this time, because Yang Shen, Ma Zhuang and the others had not been heard from since they left Songshan, and no news had been sent back.

However, Yang Zhen is not in a hurry now. After all, there are still a lot of things in Songshan City waiting for him to deal with. If the things here are not dealt with, he will not be able to go outside even if he wants to.

That morning, Yang Zhen met with Xu Changyong and arranged for the team of more than 100 people brought by Li Ma from outside the border. He also learned about the situation in the grasslands outside the border from Li Ma, Meng He and others, and then encouraged them.

After a while, he sent them to Zhang Degui to mobilize people and horses with the warrants he issued.

Why did Li Ma, the horse thieves of more than a hundred people, come to serve as soldiers under his command to feed themselves? It is not important anymore. It is enough that they are familiar with the terrain and roads on the grasslands outside the border.

After recruiting a hundred grassland horse thieves, he would have to pay them 2,500 soldiers in the military camps over the course of a year, but at the same time, he would also have to recruit a group of guides to and from the grassland.
Chapter completed!