Outside the Yongguan Pass, it’s a bright sunny day.
The weather in July is the hottest time of the year. Li Qing's zhenqi was so strong that he was protected from the cold and heat, but the others were different. They were all sweating profusely.
Yu Qian took a sip of wine and admired the unique scenery on the prairie. Although it was hard work, he enjoyed it.
This time, he was fully prepared - nearly a hundred kilograms of wine.
One kilogram a day was enough for a hundred days, which cost him a month's salary.
Anyway, the army is in charge of food, so there is no need to worry about starvation, which is why Yu Qian dared to spend so much money.
We marched one day, and in the evening, the army stationed itself.
Shuaiying.
Zhu Di complained while eating ice-cold watermelon: "If those people hadn't hindered us, why would we send troops at this season? Maybe they would all come back after the war."
"I am here to see you, Your Majesty. Long live my Emperor..."
"No courtesy." Zhu Di said, and when he looked up, he realized that Li Qing had not reached him yet, and said angrily: "It's inevitable."
"Ah haha..." Li Qing changed the subject, "Your Majesty, is this melon sweet?"
"It's not sweet, it's bitter." Zhu Di took a big bite.
Li Qing said suspiciously: "I don't believe it."
"Believe it or not." Zhu Di was not fooled, "What do you want from me?"
"Your Majesty, it's too hot today." Li Qing smiled bitterly, "Not only can humans not stand it, but horses can't stand it either, and even donkeys can't bear it.
It's fine for two days a day, but if things go on like this, it will inevitably affect the combat effectiveness, and the water consumption is also quite large. These reasons make the march not very fast."
"You mean to say, march at night?"
"If you don't say that the emperor is wise," Li Qing said flatteringly, "it's very cool on the grassland at night, which can save a lot of water resources and greatly reduce the load of the soldiers."
Zhu Di frowned slightly: "It is indeed more comfortable to march at night, but the visibility at night is too poor. It's okay to have moonlight. If it's cloudy, you can hardly see your fingers. How can there be so many torches for lighting?"
"That's the second thing. What's more terrible is that all camp roars in the army happen at night." Zhu Di looked worried.
Li Qing smiled and said: "Your Majesty is overly worried, the chance of the camp roar is too small, and it is only possible under the conditions where the soldiers are under great psychological pressure;
The emperor has made several consecutive Northern Expeditions, with great victories every time, and the emperor's prestige is at its peak, so how can the soldiers have psychological pressure?"
"That's true." Zhu Di nodded lightly, "Okay, let's march at night instead, and set up a lighting team to ensure that the march route will not deviate... By the way, are the torches enough?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, this minister has thought of it a long time ago." Li Qing said with a smile, "We have plenty of tung oil and straw rope, which will definitely be enough."
Zhu Di smiled with satisfaction, "That's right, serving as a military supervisor for so many years was not in vain."
"...Are you praising me or hurting me?" Li Qing's face was full of black lines.
"Haha..." Zhu Di laughed: "You are really... alas...!"
He suddenly felt a little emotional, raised his face and sighed: "Now, after the old monk left, you are the only one who dares to talk to me like this. I am alone... It is really lonely. Fortunately, I finally have someone who can talk to me and be a friend."
…”
"Crack, click, click..."
Zhu Di turned around and saw Li Qing eating with gusto and taking a bite of each piece of watermelon.
"Your Majesty, please continue." Li Qing took another bite of the watermelon and sighed: "The watermelon is so delicious, cold and sweet."
"roll--!"
"Look at you, why are you still angry?" Li Qing muttered: "Aren't you just a melon?"
"Hurry up, I don't want to see you for a moment." Zhu Di was furious: I'm here to reminisce about the past, why are you here to eat melon?
"Get out of here." Li Qing was quite shameless and packed up the watermelon and took it away.
Zhu Di was angry for a while, then suddenly laughed again, "This guy..."
~
"Here, it was just taken out from the ice. Try it while it's cold." Li Qing handed over a piece of watermelon with a missing bite.
Yu Qian couldn't help but swallowed: Why is this watermelon missing a bite?
"I can't even take out more than one bite." Li Qing rolled his eyes, "Are you going to eat it?"
"Eat." Yu Qian took it decisively. It's a beautiful thing to have some iced watermelon on a hot day!
In the past two years of getting along, the relationship between the two has become closer. Yu Qian's kindness to Li Qing is far greater than his respect.
"Master Shangshu, how do you know what I am thinking?" Yu Qian took a bite of the watermelon with a look of enjoyment on his face.
Li Qing said with a smile: "It's all on your face. If I don't see it anymore, won't my decades of life be in vain?"
"Uh-huh...is it that obvious?" Yu Qian sneered.
…
Yurt.
"King, the Ming army is coming." Arutai looked serious.
"How many people and horses?"
"I don't know." Arutai said sarcastically, "The spies near Juyongguan rushed back immediately when they discovered that a large number of Ming troops were leaving the city. The exact number of people is not known, but the spies saw the yellow Luo umbrella cover.
I think the old emperor went on a personal expedition again."
After a pause, he hesitated and said: "King, now our strength has increased dramatically, but in the end, the general will think that... we are still no match for Ming Dynasty."
"Well, you're right." Mu Zhuoer sighed, "Mingting's contingency measures were too fast. According to my plan, Wala has already been eaten by now, but Mingting increased trade with Wala and helped them
I took a big breath, and now...sigh."
The wrinkles on Mu Zhuoer's brows deepened, and he said bitterly: "This Emperor of the Ming Dynasty... is really troublesome, just like his father Hongwu!"
"Then what should we do?" Arutai asked: "Do we want a decisive battle?"
"Fight? What to fight with?" Mu Zhuoer shook his head, "The emperor of the Ming Dynasty will fight in person, so he must be an elite man."
Arutai choked for a moment, then said harshly: "Why don't we form a raiding team, attack the enemy camp at night, and behead the emperor."
"What nonsense!" Mu Zhuoer snorted coldly: "The emperor of the Ming Dynasty must not move. If we really kill him, the entire Ming court will definitely unite and fight the Tatars until death."
"Then...should we still fight?"
"Hit, the people have come all the way to show their appreciation." Mu Zhuoer smiled, "The night attack on the enemy camp you mentioned is very feasible, but it cannot kill their emperor. Of course, even if you want to,
I probably can’t kill him either.”
Arutai nodded, then became a little discouraged: "King, when do you think we can accomplish this?"
He was a little anxious. He was no longer young and had entered his sixties.
"It won't be long." Mu Zhuoer comforted, but there was also a hint of worry between his brows.
She is no longer young. She is 56 years old this year. She has long lost her youth and feels that time is precious.
Sighing, Mu Zhuoer put aside the negative emotions and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty won't be able to survive for long. I heard that the prince of the Ming Dynasty is a fat man and is not good at arching horses;
The Ming Dynasty had two consecutive Emperor Wu, and the civil servants would certainly not tolerate the emergence of another Emperor Wu. Once Yongle died, the Ming Dynasty's military preparedness would inevitably slacken, and that would be the time for us to counterattack;
We just need to maintain our strength. From Emperor Wu to Emperor Wen, the civil servants and generals of the Ming court will inevitably make a fuss, and that is the best time."
Arutai nodded slightly: "How many troops will be sent this time?"
"Let's not rush this. It will take at least half a month before they arrive. Let's make some strategic arrangements first..."
…
After a night's march, the Ming army set up camp and buried pots to make rice.
Not long after, the aroma of rice filled the military camp.
Li Qing had no appetite, so he ate some casually and ran to the nearby hills alone to enjoy the breeze.
"Uncle Qing, what are you thinking about here?" Zhu Zhanji came over, took off the wine gourd from his waist, "Two sips?"
"No, I'm not in the mood." Li Qing waved his hand and simply lay down, looking at the blue sky, silent.
Zhu Zhanji uncorked the wine and drank a few mouthfuls of it, "Tons, tons, tons..." "Stop being bored and tell me, maybe I can do something about it?"
"Yeah." Li Qing put his hands behind his head, crossed his legs, and hummed, "I'm too lazy to get up, so you can lie down."
Zhu Zhanji had no choice but to lie down and follow Li Qing's example of resting his hands on his hands and crossing his legs.
Needless to say, it's quite comfortable.
"It's so blue!" Zhu Zhanji said with emotion, "We marched all the way and ignored such beautiful scenery. What a waste of natural resources."
"Haha..." Li Qing laughed dumbly, "Where is life without scenery?"
"Uncle Qing, you are still at a high level." Zhu Zhanji flattered him, "Can you tell me what you are worried about?"
"Tatar." Li Qing said softly.
Zhu Zhanji smiled, "What's there to worry about?"
He sounded confident: "Although we only have 50,000 combat troops, they are all the best of the best. Almost all of the Shenji Battalion is dispatched. With such a lineup, the Tatars can win with their lives?"
Li Qing nodded: "Of course you are not afraid of fighting head-on."
"We're not afraid of sneak attacks." Zhu Zhanji added, "We have scouts on guard, so we don't have to worry about this at all."
"Ah, yes, yes..." Li Qing rolled his eyes: "If you can think of it, Tatar can also think of it."
Zhu Zhanji made it clear, "You mean, the Tatars won't fight us head-on, or even start a war with us?"
"Yeah." Li Qing sighed: "For us, if we don't give the Tatars a head-on blow, we will lose. For the Tatars, as long as they preserve their combat power, they will win;
A trip out of the Ming Dynasty costs a lot of money, but they already live on the grassland, so the cost of fighting is different."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhanji also fell into deep thought. After a while, he said: "I think he will definitely fight!"
"reason?"
"It's very simple. Although the grassland is vast, finding the Tatars is not like finding a needle in a haystack." Zhu Zhanji said, "Grandpa Huang spent most of his life fighting against the forces on the grassland. We also have relatively detailed maps. It is difficult for them to completely
cover your tracks;
The grassland is large, but there are not many places suitable for large tribes to live, especially for super large tribes like the Tatars."
"It makes sense." Li Qing asked back: "Then what if they separate a team and fight with us, consuming our energy, food and fodder?"
"Ah? This..." Zhu Zhanji was stunned and pondered for a moment, "It's not completely impossible. We can find Wala. In the past six months, Wala has been severely beaten by the Tatars. They attacked the Tatar base camp.
There must be a general understanding.”
As expected of a good saint, his head is really good... Li Qing felt relieved and asked the question again: "What if the Tatars move their camp in advance at this time?"
"This..." Zhu Zhanji smiled bitterly, "There is nothing I can do now, but I think..."
"It's very likely to happen." Li Qing interrupted his speculation, "Have you forgotten the Tatar trap last time?"
Zhu Zhanji was startled, and then he became worried, "Uncle Qing, do you have any idea?"
"Not yet." Li Qing smiled bitterly, "otherwise I wouldn't have to worry."