There were more than a dozen tall horses, both men and horses covered in heavy armor. The twenty or thirty guards could not stop them. Anyone who came close would be knocked away.
A dozen Tiefutu cavalrymen, like a whirlwind, knocked away the guards. With a quick grab, they picked up Tan Yuan, put him on the horse, slapped him like cattail leaf fans, and immediately killed Tan Yuan.
He was knocked unconscious.
All the guards were dumbfounded. The imperial envoy was kidnapped right under their noses?
Just when they were stunned, Yang Xuan on the side shouted: "Hurry up, hurry up and chase."
Several guards glared at him. Now you are shouting loudly. The more than 100 Yulin guards just now would not have allowed your master to be captured so easily if they had stopped him a little bit.
However, they did not dare to delay and rushed back to the inn to fetch the horses and notify the other guards.
If something happens to the Imperial Envoy, they can't escape their involvement.
In the biting cold, Tan Yuan woke up and found that he was in a tent. His hands and feet were tied behind his back, and his cotton robe and leather jacket had been taken away. It was already extremely cold at this moment.
The lips are blue.
Not far away, a group of prairie people were warming themselves over the fire and eating meat, chatting in prairie dialect.
Tan Yuan originally entered the court as an official with the rank of "Tanhua". He was a very talented man. His Majesty the Emperor praised him for his intelligence and eagerness to learn.
In order to maintain this praise, Tan Yuan is really very diligent, learning everything that is useful but not useless. Being in an officialdom, it is always right to learn more skills and put them to use.
.
So now, the prairie dialect he had learned came in handy.
Although his learning was not very authentic, and these prairie people were talking while eating, so he could not hear them very clearly, but he still understood half of them.
After his own analysis, he roughly came to a conclusion.
This group of iron pagodas were deserters who fled because they were afraid of the battle during the last siege of Tumu Fort.
Now they can't go back to the grassland, so they make a living by robbing people on the grassland.
However, due to the cold weather, there were no traders on the grassland. Today, they had no choice but to venture into the Tumu Fort. They wanted to plunder, but in the end they encountered a large number of officers and soldiers from the Dasheng Dynasty. They thought they had been exposed.
That's why he rushed out with all his might.
As for Tan Yuan, it was just a matter of convenience, because the leather robe he was wearing looked very valuable.
Then the grassland people chatted and talked about how to deal with this Tan Yuan.
One of them, probably the leader, glanced at Tan Yuan and said nonchalantly: "Just kill him."
This sentence immediately frightened Tan Yuan. If the other party was really targeting him, it might be better. As long as he had an agenda, there would be room for bargaining.
But these people only came here for the leather robes they were wearing. Now that they have the leather robes, they have no value to them.
Just when he thought of this, a prairie man had already pulled out the scimitar from his waist, got up and walked towards him.
Looking at the shining tip of the knife, Tan Yuan's mind raced with fear. He immediately felt his heart skip a beat and shouted in prairie dialect: "Don't kill me, don't kill me. I'm an official of the Dasheng Dynasty."
When these grassland people heard that Tan Yuan could speak the grassland dialect, they all rushed over.
"What about the officials of the Dasheng Dynasty? Killing you is no different from killing a sheep." The prairie man said, raising the scimitar again.
"In exchange for silver, you can exchange me for silver." Tan Yuan was so anxious that he almost jumped up. Are these grassland people stupid?
I went to Tumubao to exchange for silver, and exchanged for lots and lots of silver."
When several prairie people heard about silver, they immediately became excited and made eye contact with each other for a while. Then the leader said: "How much silver can be exchanged for?"
"One hundred taels." Tan Yuan said while observing his words. He immediately saw the disdain in the leader's eyes and quickly increased the price: "Five hundred taels, you can exchange for five hundred taels."
The leader's expression changed, and then he said to the other grassland people: "We are all deserters. Chief Fucha will definitely not let us go. If we exchange this guy for money, he will definitely expose our whereabouts. For a mere five hundred
Two, it’s not worth taking such a big risk.”
"One thousand taels." Tan Yuan continued to increase the price: "I can ask the people at Tumubao for a price and ask them to give me one thousand taels of silver."
The leader curled his lips and shook his head slightly: "There are thirteen of us here, and each of us needs one thousand taels."
Tan Yuan's eyes almost popped out of his head. Thirteen thousand taels, how dare you speak? I have been an official for more than ten years, plus the filial piety collected from hundreds of officials during this period, the total sum is only one thousand taels.
More than ten thousand taels.
But now he was under the eaves, with a knife on his neck, what else could he say?
He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll pay for this money."
The leader laughed: "Duha, what are you doing so stupidly? Why don't you untie people and return the leather robes to them? This is our God of Wealth. Don't let him freeze."
"Barbecue, roast some meat for our God of Wealth."
Tan Yuan's salary suddenly improved, making him suddenly feel that the money was worth it.
In this weather, even if a few prairie people don't take action, he probably won't survive tonight.
As for silver, it has no name, so what do you need money for?
Anyway, as long as you are still a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, are you afraid that you will have no chance to make money?
…
At dawn, the pursuing guards returned to Tumu Fort dejectedly.
Although it was a little late for them to pick up the horse and pursue it, the horse's hoof prints on the ground were clearly visible in the ice and snow, but who knew that they would lose track of them after following those horse hoof prints around and around.
This is normal. It is not that difficult to search for elite cavalry on the grassland.
"Master Tan was kidnapped by thieves. Please ask Master Yang to send troops to assist us in the search." Several guards looked helpless.
Yang Xuan sighed: "I have sent people out to search overnight, but those grassland people last night were deserters in Tiefu Tu. They have robbed and killed many business travelers these days. They are cruel and vicious, and I am afraid that Master Tan has already encountered it.
Unexpected."
The guards were all dumbfounded. The imperial envoy was kidnapped. They could not absolve themselves of the blame. Dismissal and investigation would probably be the best outcome.
Thinking of this, the guards also complained a little in their hearts. They had already returned to Yingtian Mansion, eating and drinking to prepare for the New Year, but Master Tan had to come out of the pass. Now, after one night, Master Tan almost
There was no possibility of survival.
After all, in this kind of weather, hungry wolves will come out to look for food on the grassland. Even if the people in the grassland don't kill Mr. Tan, he won't be able to come back.
When they were at their wits' end, a warning horn sounded from the city gate.
Everyone was shocked and hurried to the city gate.
I saw an iron pagoda covered in armor, standing right outside the city gate in such a relaxed manner.