In the blink of an eye, it’s the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month.
It was still dark, and Pang Pei woke up from his tent. Before he could get up, he suddenly heard Li Zengbo murmuring something.
"When the lotus flowers are blooming, there is mist and rain on the five lakes, and there is a small boat in the West. I turn my head back to the corner of my dream, and recruit people to join the new autumn."
"Commander, what did you say?" "Nothing."
Li Zengbo shook his head and stood up and left the tent.
They all slept huddled together to keep warm. As soon as they got up, a steady stream of soldiers came out of the small tent, more than twenty soldiers came out.
"It's so cold that my nose froze off."
"Hey, scholar. Did you hear just now? What did the commander say?" Pang Pei asked in a low voice.
"Those are the words of the commander-in-chief. He may have dreamed of taking a boat in the West Lake, and when he woke up he found himself on this battlefield... Don't talk nonsense to others, in case it damages the morale of the army."
"What kind of military morale can be ruined? The commander-in-chief is not the only one who misses home during the Chinese New Year."
"General Pang, are you from Liangzhou? I'm curious to ask you, did you... celebrate the New Year before?"
Pang Pei smiled bitterly and said, "I used to be a Mongolian expatriate. How could I celebrate the New Year at that time?"
While they were talking, they had already reached the defense line, picked up shovels and began to build the defense line.
While working, Pang Pei said: "I have lived three years in this life. The year His Majesty regained Liangzhou, I no longer worked as a driver, divided the land and built a house, and hey, I married a wife. That year
, there was a big opera in Liangzhou City, and each soldier in the army was given three kilograms of meat. My wife and I were drooling around the broken pot. Then the next New Year's Eve, there was a big fat boy in my family, haha
.Scholar, what about you?"
"You also know that I came from the south of the Yangtze River with the commander-in-chief. The New Year celebrations there are so festive that you don't even dare to think about it, so don't mention it."
"How festive is it? There are several stages singing great operas?" "Haha... ugh."
With a sudden sigh, Pang Pei also became sad and said: "I miss home, it makes my heart tingle."
"Who isn't?"
"But let me tell you, scholar, I don't regret coming here. The commander-in-chief said yesterday that it would be better for us to fight the leader in this damn place than to fight the leader to Liangzhou and fight ten battles in Liangzhou." Pang Pei
He became proud again and said: "My wife and son are still in Liangzhou."
Pang Pei has always said that he was born in Xukou and had a humble life. However, there have been three New Year's Days in his life, and he felt that this year was particularly deserted.
He could see that Li Zengbo had been arranging defense, and he felt that the figure of the old commander was particularly absent today.
So, he ran to the top of the mountain, raised his telescope and scanned around, trying to find some flavor of the new year in the enemy's camp.
However, the Mongols are not very interested in New Year's Day, and are more concerned about the Naadam Conference held in summer and autumn. The Yuan army camp is no different from ordinary days.
"Damn it, tens of thousands of people are as good as dead."
Pang Pei became inexplicably angry. After thinking about it, he simply called a few soldiers under his command and said, "Let's go, it's the Chinese New Year. Let's go get some cattle and sheep and bring back some food for the brothers."
When it got dark, Li Zengbo, who had been busy all day, finally returned to the tent. Seeing that the bonfire was a little small, he went to chop some more firewood to add fuel to the fire.
After finally sitting down, he sighed with emotion: "His Majesty is not in Chang'an during the New Year's Eve, so I am afraid that the court will be uneasy." "The commander-in-chief is still worried about this."
"How can we not worry?" Li Zengbo said: "Your Majesty has been away on the expedition for a long time, and there is no news that there will be chaos in Chang'an."
"The general doesn't understand. Chang'an can still have a good year this year. Not only Chang'an, but everywhere can have a good year. Thanks to the commander-in-chief and your majesty, they managed to lure the captive chief here. Why is there still chaos?"
"The human heart." Li Zengbo sighed slightly.
He has lived to this age and has seen many things. It is conceivable that few people who are spending New Year's Eve safely in the country at this time will think of the difficulties the Northwest Army is experiencing. On the contrary, some people may have other reasons because the emperor has been absent from the court for a long time.
thought.
Being surrounded by a large army, it is inevitable to feel a little depressed... "Commander!"
suddenly,
Someone outside the defense line shouted, "It's the last general. The last general has come back after snatching a few cattle and sheep."
Li Zengbo stood up and rushed over to take a look. He saw that Pang Pei was covered in blood, and there were countless arrows stuck in the cotton armor behind his back. But Pang Pei looked up and his face was full of smiles. "Commander, we are here.
Have a good New Year, brothers."
Li Zengbo originally wanted to take military action, but when he saw those eyes full of joy, he was stunned for a moment.
Just for this moment, the soldiers around him cheered. "Haha, General Pang is so powerful!"
"Here, help me, kill sheep and cattle, and have a good year..." Li Zengbo turned around and saw that even the few school generals he had brought from Jiangnan had rushed over to hook up with Pang Pei.
Backpack.
"Well, you Pang Pei, you've been told by heaven that you have a low life, and you'll still have sex after the New Year."
"Haha, look what this is?" "Wine?" "No way?!"
The army soon burst into laughter, and instantly there was a New Year's atmosphere.
Li Zengbo then stroked his beard and smiled, shook his head and muttered: "If you stop recruiting people... you still have to celebrate the New Year."
~~
A copper pot was placed on the fire, and the water in the pot had been boiled. Someone cut the mutton into thin slices and put them into the boiling water. When the color of the meat changed in the pot, it was immediately taken into a bowl and sprinkled with fine salt.
Chopped green onion and minced ginger.
Kublai Khan took the bowl and ate the mutton while listening to the soldiers' reports.
Hundreds of years ago, the Khitan people ate mutton like this, but because Kublai Khan liked to eat it this way, this eating method spread among the army.
"Great Khan, King Sui Gedu is back." "Let him come in."
Soon, all the old men in cloaks and snow walked into the sweat tent, their faces full of joy.
"Great Khan! Uluru Khunai agreed to marry me!"
Kublai Khan stopped chewing for a moment, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashed in his eyes, and said calmly: "Sit down and talk, have you eaten?"
Soon, someone set up a copper pot for Sui Gedu. "The Great Khan, Uluru Hunai said that she can join the Great Khan as long as the Great Khan agrees to her a few conditions."
"explain."
"Her son Muba Cisha is dead, but Muba Cisha's wife is pregnant. If he is born a son, the Great Khan must let the boy inherit the throne of the Chagatai Khanate; if it is a girl, then
She will give birth to a son with me and inherit the throne of the Chagatai Khanate. This is the first condition."
Kublai Khan was noncommittal.
Sui Gedu added: "The second condition is that she said that the Yili River Basin was continuously destroyed by Alibu, Mangge, and Tuohu. Her herdsmen lost their property and cattle and sheep. This is the reason why she came east.
.I hope the Great Khan can reward her with 200,000 banknotes and 5,000 cattle and sheep to make up for her losses."
At that moment, Kublai Khan looked very unhappy.
Over the years, he has paid too much gold to bribe the Mongolian nobles for this Khan position.
Brother Sui sensed his elder brother's displeasure and persuaded him in a low voice: "Great Khan, Great Mongolia is never stingy with its loyal partners. This is the great tradition of Genghis Khan."
Kublai Khan snorted coldly and said: "How rich the great Genghis Khan is, how many friends need rewards? What about now? There is no population in the world, and the descendants of the Golden Family are constantly multiplying. What do you want me to rely on to maintain the tradition?"
"
In fact, since he showed his displeasure, he could accept this condition.
The water in the copper pot was gurgling, and Brother Sui had already scooped up a bowl of mutton.
"Do you believe it?" Kublai Khan asked.
Brother Sui had just put the meat to his mouth. After hearing this, he put it down again and asked cautiously: "The Great Khan is asking me... do you believe in the sincerity of Uluru Hunai? I do."
"Why do you think she agreed to submit to me?"
"This is the best way out for her." Brother Sui said matter-of-factly: "If she helps Li Xia, Li Xia will also seek to gain her favor. She came here just to seek favors between Dahan and Li Xia."
, she will help whoever gives more."
Kublai Khan didn't speak anymore, and sat there eating the mutton intently. On the contrary, Brother Sui wanted to promote it even more.
When this happened, he said: "Great Khan, there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends in the world. She helped Li Xia before and now surrenders to the Great Khan, all in order to preserve her strength and status. I will ensure that she can get
position, so she agreed." "Okay."
Kublai Khan put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands and said, "You don't have to go anymore. Send someone to tell Ulukukhunai that Ben Khan agreed to her terms."
Brother Sui is very happy.
The two brothers talked about this matter for a long time, discussed Uluru Hunai's surrender, and asked her to reveal Li Xia's military planes and besiege Li Xia together.
But when Brother Sui retreated, Kublai Khan shook his head and muttered to himself.
"Stupid Sui Gedu, you were so fascinated by her breasts that you lost your mind..."
After a while, another courtier came in and said: "Great Khan, those Han people have been waiting for a long time. Today is their New Year's Eve. Oh, they hope that the Great Khan will celebrate the New Year for them."
"Get ready and let them come."
Kublai Khan couldn't help but think of the Naadam Festival on the grassland. Unlike the Han people who like to celebrate the festival in the cold winter, the Naadam Festival is usually held in July and August every year when the livestock are fat. It is an entertainment and game held to celebrate the harvest.
Horse racing, wrestling, archery, singing and dancing are all so lively and joyful.
But there is no other way. Since we want the help of those Han people, we still have to allow their customs if necessary.
Kublai Khan still met with his Han ministers that night and held a small banquet... and he himself had already eaten boiled mutton.
Just like that, the time came to the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty.
But in this year of the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, many civil servants and generals of the Yuan Dynasty were still disappointed.
At a small banquet, someone hurried over. "Khan, Shi Gang is back."
Kublai Khan put down his wine glass, glanced at Shi Tianze first, and then looked at Tachaer, only to find that Tachaer did not come to the banquet.
"Does he know where Li Xia is?"
"Shi Gang said that he has important military information to report to the Great Khan."
The curtain was opened and the cold wind blew, which made many drunken Han officials sober up. When they took a closer look, they saw that Shi Gang had knelt down in front of Kublai Khan.
"Your Majesty, the general is not guilty! The general was defeated by Li Xia..." "Where is he and how many troops does he have?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Uncle Shu Zhen has surrendered to Li Xia, and more than 20,000 people are already fighting this way."
Kublai Khan turned to look at the large map hanging in the tent and realized that his estimate of Li Xia's military strength was wrong.
However, in front of all the ministers, he laughed. "It's good to be here. Ben Khan can finally see this boy...