Outside the city, 35-year-old He Shen touched his buttocks and inner thighs that were sore from the horses, and kept cursing in his heart.

However, after looking at Chahar, who was nearly 60 years old and staying beside him, he managed to calm down a little.

"I've been running around day and night these past few days, and I'm almost falling apart. Fortunately, Baotai's old bones are still holding on. If I show even a little bit of timidity, I'll definitely be seen by Baotai. This is me

It’s your first time to take charge of the overall situation, so don’t lose your composure in front of him”

But Baotai on the side was thinking: "There are many famous generals in our country nowadays, and the most famous ones are the children of nobles. The old one is Agui, and the younger one is Fukang'an. Facing such a war, the emperor will not send these two people to preside over it."

For the overall situation, he sent a favorite who has never led troops before. It seems that he is preparing to focus on peace talks and war as a supplement."

"Forget it, it would be better to have peace talks. Nowadays, the remnants of the White Lotus Sect are rising again in various places. The country is suffering from internal and external troubles. If there is another big defeat in Khalkha, the empire will be in danger. It can be delayed for a few years."
p>

In an instant, Lawang and others arrived on horseback.

......

In the General's Mansion, He Shen took the upper position.

Chedenzabu's prediction was correct. As the commander-in-chief of Chahar, Baotai only had 5,000 cavalry under his command. Only 3,000 cavalry were able to come over immediately, and he brought them all.

Compared with He Shen, who was clearly holding back the pain and sitting upright, Baotai looked as normal. It seemed that his reputation as the leader of Chahar was not in vain.

"Everyone"

Although he has never led troops in a war, as a minister of the imperial court, He Shen has shown his extraordinary skills in nourishing qi, and his voice is also very stable and peaceful.

"The Emperor is already aware of everything about Khalkha and asked me to bring an imperial edict to deal with the matter..."

Everyone quickly knelt down.

Heshen took the imperial edict from his entourage and read it, but no one heard any specific plan for handling Khalkha affairs from it. There was only one sentence: "Khalkha affairs are decided by the imperial minister Heshen with full authority."

/p>

After enduring the pain and reluctantly sitting on the chair with the help of his entourage, He Shen forced out a smile.

"This minister understands your concerns, but the affairs of Khalkha are not entirely decided by military affairs."

"Before coming, the Russian Ambassador to our country Petrov and our country had reached a new border agreement, and the land south of Lake Bogar was reclassified to our country!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was shocked.

The so-called Lake Bokal is Lake Baikal in later generations, and the place to the south is where the Buryat Mongols are. Unlike the Qing court, the Russians did not interfere much with their religion, resulting in a population decline in the last five years.

The development has been rapid in the past ten years. According to the Qing court's estimates, there are at least 40,000 tents and 200,000 households.

The Russians' greed for land was fully exposed in the Treaty of Nerchinsk. Unexpectedly, they gave up a large piece of land at once!

However, as General Ulyasutai, Lawang snorted in his heart.

"It seems that what I expected is absolutely correct. The imperial court is preparing to let the Buryat people and the Russians intervene in this matter. After the Russians occupied the Buryat land, they slaughtered all the nobles there."
p>

"The so-called leader Baladan at the moment was originally a horse thief who followed the Cossacks to explore the Far East. After making some achievements, he was named Buryat Khan by the Tsar. He had already joined the Orthodox Church and was completely different from the Mongols in Khalkha.

People all the way, even if the land south of Lake Bogar is returned to the Qing Dynasty, he will not completely listen to the imperial court!"

"Moreover, once it is assigned to the Qing Dynasty, the Russians will have nothing to say, so what's the use?"

Seemingly seeing his worry, He Shen glanced at him and said, "I know your thoughts, but Your Majesty, after discussion with all the ministers, I think it is still necessary."

"After all, the Buryats are Mongolians. Except for a few who have converted to Orthodox Christianity, most are still shamans and lamas. They can still be fought over vigorously."

"What's more, the two major commercial tax centers in the south and north of our country now account for the majority of the tax revenue of the Ministry of Household Affairs. One is naturally the Guangzhou Thirteenth Bank, and the other is Kyaktu. Our country has already established a close relationship with the Russians and Baladan people.

It has been discussed that from now on, our border trade will be directed towards the Baladan people, and the Russians will no longer interfere."

"The tea and other items obtained were resold to them by Baladan's people. With such a huge profit ahead, Baladan had no choice but to obey us, and he also agreed to let the Buryat Mongols join the Eight Banners."

"He also promised that he could gather 10,000 spirits to ride to Khalkha within a month!"

Rawang couldn't bear it anymore.

"Sir, ten thousand people don't seem to have much impact on this crucial battle."

But He Shen shook his head, "You don't know something. At this time, the Buryats are not a tribe that mainly rides and shoots like the Khalkhas, but are somewhat similar to the Russian Cossacks. They travel

Naturally, they were riding horses, but they also had artillery and muskets, and mostly firearms!"

Lavan thought to himself: "It seems that the Russians have been arming the Buryat people for a long time. If they win this battle, they will naturally set up their flags in a big way. In order to defend Khalkha, the imperial court will probably dismantle Khalkha and destroy it."

Maybe part of it will be allocated to them, by the way, most likely Tangnu Wulianghai and Kobuduo."

"If it's just 10,000 tribal cavalry, it won't be of much use in front of the Truchen people, but if it's 10,000 cavalry with a lot of firearms, that's another story."

Then, his eyes began to light up.

But it soon dimmed again.

Heshen continued: "Of course, it is impossible for the Buryats alone to defeat the Truchins. The most important thing is peace talks."

Songyun interjected: "Sir, I have something that I don't know whether to say or not."

He Shen nodded, "But it doesn't matter."

Songyun said: "Although the Truqin people are arrogant, there is still some truth in what they say."

"Which sentence?"

"What about 'negotiations alone will not achieve the goal, only negotiations within the range of cannons can be effective'"

He Shen cursed secretly in his heart, but his face remained normal.

"You're right, but we haven't figured out what Truqin's purpose is yet. Even if we want to fight, we need to figure it out. Our country borders it everywhere, and a fight will be a national war. How can we take it easy?

View it?"

"This minister will go to Khovd in person tomorrow morning to negotiate with General Hardan!"

Only then did everyone look at him with admiration. Although He Shen was not well-known, he was an imperial envoy after all. He was able to go to Khovd to negotiate in person. If nothing else, his courage was worthy of praise.

Moreover, none of the people here actually have much confidence in fighting a war. It would be great if we could get a few years of peace on the negotiating table and let them prepare, although they also know that even if they are given a few more years, they will not be able to prepare anything.
Chapter completed!