Volume 1: The Wind Rises in Tumubao Chapter 41: A Share of the Pie
Bayan led his army on the grassland for several days, but every time he found traces of the Ming army, there was only a destroyed tribal camp, and the people had already run away.
"General, this is the camp of Right Prime Minister Zhe Luo!"
Boyan was riding on his horse, looking at the ruins on the ground, and the muscles on his face gradually became distorted.
Since ancient times, only the Oirat Mongols attacked the Han people's grasslands. Who would have thought that this time, the situation would be reversed and they would come to the grasslands to attack your grasslands.
This is simply outrageous!
"General, we've checked everything, there are no survivors!"
Boyan's breathing began to rapid, and probably because he only had one eye left, his expression looked extremely ferocious.
Zheluo was none other than an elder brother of the same clan as Bayan. If they were ranked according to age, Yexian would have called him "big brother" when he met him.
This man followed Mahamu Khan in his early years of fighting and became disabled. After Yesen took charge of the Oirat, he left him in the rear to take care of military supplies. However, he did not expect that he would .
"The little emperor is going too far. Pass the order down. Break up the troops into smaller units of a thousand and pursue separately. If you find any trace of the Ming army, don't rush to attack. Use the smoke signals to surround and annihilate them!"
"yes!"
More than 20,000 people were divided into more than 20 teams and dispersed to march deep into the grassland.
…
There is a camp on the shore of Chagan Nur Lake.
This was the supply transit station for Yesen's southern expedition, and was manned by Zager, the Left Inspector of the Privy Council.
It may be that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty had some misunderstanding about the official positions in the Central Plains, and they were rather arbitrary in assigning positions to people, resulting in an overabundance of left and right prime ministers, not to mention a small inspector of the Privy Council.
In short, as long as you sound like a high-ranking official, it doesn’t matter what you’re called.
The quiet night sky was broken by the sound of horse hooves. The sentry went forward to check and saw a team of about 3,000 cavalrymen rushing towards them under the moonlight.
The Chagan Nur Camp was an important base for the military supply of the Oirat. It received the news of the Ming army's raid on the grassland as soon as possible. Seeing an unidentified team, it immediately became alert.
"Stop! What are you doing?"
At the front of the team, a general replied in Mongolian: "We are General Bayan's men, and we have been ordered to pursue the Ming army!"
The sentry moved closer with a torch in hand and saw that the man was tall, had a full beard and was wearing wolfskin armor. He unconsciously let down his guard.
Looking towards the rear, there were actually a lot of prisoners tied up with ropes. It looked like there were at least one or two thousand people.
"Who are these people?"
"Nonsense, of course it's the Ming army!"
"You... caught them?"
"Of course!"
The person who spoke was Ha Ming. He was originally a Mongolian, and after changing his clothes, he looked no different from an Oirat officer.
Since Emperor Yongle Zhu Di's campaign against the Ming Dynasty, many Mongolians, especially those from the Three Guards of Doyan, began to join the Ming Dynasty. The newly formed Three Thousand Battalion were all selected from those with excellent riding skills, many of whom were of Mongolian descent.
Zhu Qizhen and Li Zhen discussed it and selected these people to pretend to be Wala cavalry, and then disguised the rest as prisoners, tied them up with ropes, and followed behind the team.
Everyone's clothes and armor were already in tatters. Some of them simply changed into the local people's leather clothes when attacking the Wala tribe. Their hair and beards were also messy, and if you didn't look carefully, you couldn't tell them at all.
Seeing so many Ming prisoners, the guards dared not doubt and said hurriedly, "General, please wait a moment. I will go and inform the Inspector General!"
Ha Ming looked impatient and waved his hand, saying, "Hurry up!"
After waiting for a while, dozens of guards came to the camp gate with one person.
The man first glanced at him, then asked, "I am Zager, the Left Supervisor of the Privy Council. What is the name of this general?"
Ha Ming dismounted and continued to reply in Mongolian: "I am Agula, a captain under General Bayan, and I am honored to meet the Inspector General!"
Zager asked again: "I heard that General Bayan personally sent troops to pursue them. I wonder where they are now?"
"The general led the main force to pursue northward. On the way, he was worried that the Ming army might launch a surprise attack on the Chagan Nur camp, so he sent me with a thousand soldiers to support them. With the blessing of the Eternal Heaven, we found the Ming army on the north side of Chagan Nur Lake. In this battle, we killed more than a thousand enemies and captured more than a thousand. I have sent a fast horse to inform the general. Now the soldiers are exhausted, so I came here uninvited. Please, Inspector General, prepare !"
Zager looked at the captives behind Haming, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. He said, "Of course, come quickly and invite the soldiers to the camp to rest!"
Ha Ming bowed and said, "Thank you very much!"
"General Agula, what are you talking about? Come in!"
Zager was very enthusiastic. He took Ha Ming's hand and walked inside. The other soldiers also entered the camp. They first detained the "prisoners" and then followed the stationed officers to the barracks to rest.
At night, the bonfire in Chagan Nur Camp was brightly lit, and the camp was filled with laughter.
"Brother, come and have a drink!"
At the dinner, Zager toasted frequently and Ha Ming accepted all of them. Before long, he looked a little drunk.
"Which tribe are Brother Agula from?"
Ha Ming replied: "Brother is from the Junggar tribe."
"So you are from the four tribes of Moxi. No wonder you look unfamiliar. Come and have a drink!"
"Mr. Supervisor, I..."
"Brother Agula, your words are too polite. At this point, you and I are brothers. What's the point of being an adult?"
"Yes, yes, we are all brothers..."
"That's right, come on, drink!"
While urging people to drink, Zagel said, "I am a few years older than you. It's not too much for you to call me big brother, right?"
Ha Ming said drunkenly: "Brother, I dare not pursue such a high standard..."
Zagel put down his glass and pretended to be displeased: "You are here again. If you do this again, I will be angry!"
"Okay, okay, big...big brother!"
"Why!"
Seeing that the time was ripe, Zager said calmly, "I heard that the Ming army flowed into the desert and massacred many tribes. Brother, you have done a great deed today!"
"Brother, excuse me for making fun of you. These Ming soldiers were just bullying the herdsmen. When they encountered our elite troops, they just… threw away their weapons and fled!"
"Come on, big brother, let me toast you another glass!"
Ha Ming drank it all in one gulp, and his face became even more drunk.
Seeing this, Zager said tentatively: "In fact, after receiving the news, I also made some preparations. If this Ming army overestimates its own capabilities and attacks the camp, they will definitely not be able to return! It's just that this credit was taken by you, brother, and I have no chance to get it. It's really a pity!"
"Brother, what are you talking about?" Ha Ming said with his drunken eyes open, "When the time comes, I will report to Grand Tutor Yesen and say that I went with you to suppress the rebellion. If there is any credit, we can all share it. Isn't that wonderful?"
Zagel was waiting for him to say this. He was overjoyed and raised his glass, saying, " Brother, you are so nice. Come on, I'll toast you another glass!"
"No, no...I can't drink...any more..."
Ha Ming shook his head and fell headfirst onto the table.
At this moment, he secretly admired the emperor in his heart. What the emperor said was right. Fame and fortune can really make people crazy.
Zager was stationed in the rear, so he was far away from the opportunity to kill the enemy and gain merit.
Seeing the huge military achievement in front of him, he didn't even have the mind to doubt Ha Ming's identity. All he was thinking about was how to get a piece of the pie and take some of the credit.
Well, I’ll give you a chance to make a contribution!
