Zhu Zhanji was very wronged. Li Qing obviously had more food than him, so why should he take the blame alone?
"Grandpa, I want to report it!"
"Well..." Li Qing, who was sleeping, stretched and opened his eyes sleepily, "Hey, the emperor is here?"
Zhu Di glanced sideways at him, then looked at his grandson, "What do you want to report?"
"Your Majesty, are you here to reward the grandson of the emperor?" Li Qing spoke first: "Your Majesty is thoughtful. It is the time when the emperor's grandson is growing, and his growth cannot be affected by poor food."
After a pause, he picked up the leg of lamb and handed it to Xiao Zhanji, "Emperor Taisun, please eat more, this thing is good for you."
"I won't eat." Zhu Zhanji shook his head desperately. He was so angry with Li Qing. Why is Uncle Qing like this? Isn't this adding fuel to the fire? "Grandpa, please listen to my explanation..."
"No need to explain." Zhu Di glared at him fiercely, but did not criticize him again, "If you are greedy, just eat. Be careful in the future."
He also didn’t want his grandson’s health to be affected by poor food. “If you want to eat, just eat openly. How can it be inappropriate to be secretive?”
"That's what the emperor said." Li Qing answered, "The same goes for the emperor's great-grandson. The emperor can still starve you. If you really want to eat it, you can just say it. There is no need for this."
"I..." Zhu Zhanji was extremely angry, "Grandpa Huang, it's not like that."
"Okay." Zhu Di flicked his sleeves and said with a cold face, "Having the guts to eat but not having the guts to admit it is a sign of cowardice. Go to bed early after eating."
Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, walk slowly."
After Zhu Di left, Li Qing hugged the leg of mutton and made a meal, which made Zhu Zhanji very angry, "Uncle Qing, you said you would carry it for me before, why just now..."
"I did it!" Li Qing shrugged, "Just tell me if your grandfather punished you?"
"..." Zhu Zhanji was so angry that he reached out to grab the leg of lamb, but he couldn't grab it.
"Didn't you just say you won't eat?" Li Qing said angrily, "A man must keep his word."
"Ah..." Zhu Zhanji went crazy, "Uncle Qing, you have gone too far."
Li Qing persuaded him kindly, "It's easy to accumulate food if you eat too much at night. Uncle Qing is thinking about you. You made the half roasted chicken and take the time to rest. We have to march tomorrow;
Also, no loud noises are allowed in the army!"
"..." Zhu Zhanji was helpless when he met such a person, "Uncle Qing, have you always been like this?"
"Yeah!" Li Qing said unclearly, "Is there any problem?"
"Then it's really not easy for you to live to such an old age." Zhu Zhanji vomited, angrily lying back on the ground and no longer paying attention to him.
Li Qing looked indifferent, he was already polite enough to Xiao Zhanji.
The boat of friendship can capsize at any time.
…
The next day, the army advanced again.
Along the way, the chatty little Zhanji became much quieter. Li Qing felt more relaxed and could enjoy the scenery with peace of mind.
~
More than a month later, the army set up camp two hundred miles away from Wala's range of activities and stopped advancing.
Zhu Di sent scouts to explore the east side of Wala.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the scouts set off, Wala's envoy arrived first.
In the camp, Zhu Di met with the Wala envoy.
"Meet His Majesty the Ming Emperor." The envoy was very respectful and even brought a plump roasted whole lamb, which seemed to be full of sincerity. "This is a gift from our Great Khan to His Majesty."
Zhu Di was too lazy to talk nonsense with them and said directly: "Tell Mahamu to go back to his hometown immediately and guard his three-acre land peacefully. I can be gentler."
The envoy was a little indignant and said with cupped hands, "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, why do we have to be treated like this? Outside the customs is not the land of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Is it the Ming Dynasty in the whole world, inside and outside the pass?" Zhu Di has always been unreasonable, "Should we retreat or not?"
A rough man said in a low voice: "What if we don't retreat?"
"Then there's nothing more to say." Zhu Di stretched his body and said, "Tell Mahamu to wash his neck. Tomorrow soldiers will arrive soon."
Another messenger smiled apologetically and said: "Your Majesty, Emperor Ming, please calm down and we can discuss whatever you have to say..."
"roll--!"
The Wala messenger's face froze, and he held back his anger and said, "We can guarantee that we will never invade the Ming Dynasty in the future. We hope that the Ming Dynasty will not interfere in our internal affairs."
"It's too late!" Zhu Di sneered, "When you were weak before, you surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. Now that you have some confidence, you dare to peek into the Central Plains. Do you think I, the Ming Dynasty, can be bullied?"
"We..." the Wala envoy said, "we can still submit to the Ming Dynasty in the future."
Zhu Di didn't want to talk nonsense to these people anymore, so he raised his hand and waved, and the soldiers at the entrance of the camp immediately blasted the messenger out.
The next day, the scouts returned and reported the specific location of Wala.
After Zhu Di learned about it, he led his army to advance without saying a word.
The other side.
After Mahamu learned of the Ming army's actions, he did not show any panic on his face.
Wala has developed rapidly in recent years, especially after the Tatar defeat, his power has become even more powerful.
Although Oara does not belong to the Mongol orthodoxy like the Tatars, they have not been attacked by the Ming Dynasty in recent years and have been quietly making a fortune.
After the Tatar defeat, he made many mistakes. Today's Oara is much more tyrannical than the Tatars who were at their peak a few years ago.
Wala's power expanded, and Mahamu also expanded.
Mahamu was confident, but his generals were not as confident as he was, and they all looked sad.
The names of people, the shadows of trees, and the tyranny of the Ming army are obvious to all. The Tatars were an example a few years ago.
When they thought of the Ming army dispatching 500,000 troops, their hearts trembled.
"Let's... Why don't we just give in? Anyway, it's not nothing..." The general was interrupted before he could finish his words.
"What, are you afraid?" Mahamu's direct general said angrily, "Our current strength is not comparable to that of the Tatars back then."
The general forcibly redeemed his respect: "It's not because I'm afraid, I just don't think it's necessary to fall out with the Ming army now. I'll wait a few more years, wait..."
"Hmph, don't make excuses for your cowardice." The direct line general scoffed, "Heroes on the grassland are not afraid of death. If you are, then..."
"Okay." Mahamu interrupted his confidants and scanned the crowd. Under his hawk-like gaze, the generals slowly lowered their heads.
Mahamu's sharp eyes gradually softened, and he sighed: "Why don't I want to wait any longer, but the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty doesn't give him a chance? How can he return without success if he leads hundreds of thousands of troops on an expedition?
Even if we give in, he will still attack us, so why not fight?"
Everyone was silent.
Seeing this, Mahamu said again, "It is true that the Ming army dispatched 500,000 troops, but excluding a large number of supply troops, the maximum number that can participate in the war is only 150,000, so what is there to be afraid of!?"
After a pause, he said loudly: "Don't worry, everyone, the Ming army is not invincible. We were able to conquer the Central Plains more than a hundred years ago, and it may not be impossible a hundred years later."
When all the generals heard this, they felt a little confident, and their eyes shone brightly when they thought of the wealth in the Central Plains.
Seeing this, Mahamu smiled slightly and said, "The reason why the Tatars were defeated was because their leader was incompetent;
The nominal leader of the Tatar tribe is Taishi Arutai, but in fact he is not, but a woman. As far as I know, she is a former Yuan princess;
If a woman directs a war, it would be surprising if she can win!"
"That's right!" Tuohuan (Mahamu's son) agreed, "The reason why the Tatars and the Ming army were defeated so miserably was because the leader commanded blindly, not because we prairie men are incompetent."
After hearing this, the generals became more confident.
Mahamu struck while the iron was hot, "Everyone, as long as we win this battle, it will be just around the corner to march to the Central Plains. By then, the world will be ours!
I promise that by then, each of you will have vast land, stunning beauties, and countless gold and silver..."
After a big meal, the generals were full of energy.
…
A few days later, the Ming army entered Oara's sphere of influence.
Zhu Di gave the order, and all the generals immediately dispatched. The Ming army launched a large-scale attack, and its morale was high.
Zhu Zhanji was so greedy that he came to the commander's camp to ask for a fight: "Grandpa Emperor... No, Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the army to attack and serve the country!"
Zhu Di was a little confused. On the battlefield, swords and guns had no eyesight. If the great grandson did anything wrong, the gain would outweigh the loss.
Then I thought about it, wasn't it just to sharpen him that I brought him here this time?
If you're not even allowed to go to the battlefield, then what's the point of following?
Zhu Di was not an indecisive person, so he readily agreed: "If you are ambitious, I will give you three thousand cavalry, so that Wala can see the power of our Ming army!"
"Yes, I will live up to the emperor's expectations!" Zhu Zhanji trembled with excitement.
He has been practicing martial arts with his grandfather since he was a child. He has fantasized about fighting on the battlefield countless times. Now that he finally got what he wanted, how could he not be excited?
"Perform well." Zhu Di patted Dasun on the shoulder, "Don't let me down!"
Zhu Zhanji nodded heavily, "I will fulfill my mission!"
"Okay!" Zhu Di smiled heartily, "Li Qing, you will be the supervisor of the emperor's grandson."
Li Qing: "..."
The true commander-in-chief of Liushui, the iron-clad supervisor!