Horqin, Mongolian language means "archer", in the Yuan Dynasty, is one of the nomadic areas under the jurisdiction of Genghis Khan's second brother Habtu Hazar, Horqin grassland west and Xilin Gol grassland, north of Hulunbuir grassland, vast territory, beautiful scenery, rich resources.

Of course, to occupy such a place rich in water and grass resources, the strength of the Horqin tribe itself is naturally not to be underestimated. As one of the few large tribes in Mongolia, the Horqin tribe has a total population of more than 200,000 and more than 30,000 soldiers, and the cavalry of the Horqin tribe has always been known for being good at war.

Because the Horqin tribe is so important, it is also the most important ally of Houjin, and in order to win over this ally, Nurhachi even regarded the marriage of Horqin as an important policy.

More than half a month ago, when Gulbush and Golgol, who had returned from a great defeat, returned to the Korqin tribe, the entire tribe was shaken.

The leader of the Horqin tribe, Prince Zhong Borzigit Buhe, also known as Zaisang-Buhe, was furious when he heard the news, and if it weren't for the intercession of his daughter Hailanzhu, Zaisang would probably have slaughtered these two guys on the spot.

It should be mentioned here that the word Zaisang is not a personal name, but an official name in Mongolia in the Ming Dynasty, which is probably equivalent to the meaning of "prime minister" in Chinese, and has been passed down from generation to generation. For the Horqin tribe, each leader can be called Zaisang.

And when Gulbush and Gol said Nurhachi's request, they almost didn't make Zaisan angry and had a stroke, which is too bullying.

Oh...... It's not enough for me to marry my sister and youngest daughter, you still want my eldest daughter to marry Huang Taiji, you are destined for my family.

For three days in a row, Zai Sang was so angry that he didn't eat the mortals, and the entire Horqin tribe was also talking about it, and most people thought that this time Houjin was really too much. This time, the Horqin tribe sent troops to help Houjin attack the Ming Kingdom, and finally came back with a loss of troops, and you Houjin didn't say anything at all, and finally sent something over and asked us to take the most beautiful pearl on the grassland, isn't this taking advantage of the fire to rob.

It's just that after getting angry, Zaisang fell into danger again, Houjin's strength is undoubted, and he is also well aware of Nurhachi's temper, as long as he makes a decision, he will not give up, if he rejects Nurhachi's proposal, then it is likely to lead to the deterioration of the relationship between the Horqin tribe and Houjin. The thought of losing Houjin's ally made Jae-san's mood become worried again.

It is true that the Horqin tribe is powerful, but it is not without enemies. Qili Khan of the Khalkha tribe to the south and Lin Dan Khan of the Chahar tribe entrenched in Moxi are eyeing the Horqin tribe, and once they lose the powerful ally of Houjin, will the Korqin tribe survive the eyes of these two powerful opponents? And the reason why Nurhachi has the audacity to even say that he is a little arrogant and proposes to let him marry Hai Lanzhu to Huang Taiji is precisely to see this.

Today is October 16, in the south of the Ming Dynasty at this time is still autumn and cool, but on the grassland has begun to enter the winter, standing on the grassland Zai Sang looked at the sky with the north wind whistling, his mood is as gloomy as this weather, behind Zai Sang is standing Gulbush and Zhu Guoer and a few guards.

Looking at Zai Sang, whose face was a little gloomy, everyone didn't dare to speak, just stood aside with their heads down and quietly accompanied him.

After a while, Zaisan turned his head and said, "Gulbush, when you came back last time, did my in-laws say when Huang Taiji would arrive?" ”

Gulbush thought for a while and said respectfully: "Lord Zaisang, last time the Great Khan said, let us come back to you first to report the good news, and in about half a month, he will let Huang Taiji come to propose marriage with a bride price, according to the itinerary, it should have arrived the day before yesterday, I think they may have been delayed by something." ”

Zai Sang's face changed slightly when he heard the word "propose", and then he stared at the two of them and asked, "Gulbush and Zhu Guoer, do you think I should marry Hai Lanzhu to that Huang Taiji?" ”

"This ......"

Gulbush and Golgol's eyebrows twitched at the same time, and they smiled bitterly, if they could talk about other things, but it was really difficult for them to intervene as subordinates and outsiders when it came to mentioning relatives, whether they were in favor or against, they would be looked at by others, which was really embarrassing for them.

Fu Guoer stubbornly said: "Lord Zaisang, I think it is better to gather the big and small heads of the tribe to discuss this matter, to be honest, we don't really know what to do." ”

"You ......" Zai Sang snorted lightly, he originally wanted to scold people, he saw the bitter gourd faces of these two, he could only sigh helplessly, and was silent for a while before saying: "This time you followed Houjin to go out to the Ming Dynasty, and the loss of troops was just a loss, and there was no gain, and the life of our tribe will be sad this winter." And according to my observations, this year's north wind came half a month earlier than in previous years, if it is not surprising that there will be a white plague in eight or nine times out of ten this year, if there is no good stocking of food and clothing and quilts for winter, this winter will be a lot of people. ”

Hearing this, the faces of the people behind him changed a little, as a native of Mongolia, they are too familiar with the white plague, once the white plague comes, the wind is howling, the snowflakes are flying, and there is a white expanse everywhere. The vast pastures will be covered by heavy snow, which will increase the difficulty of livestock feeding and walking, and also reduce the overall food source, the cattle and sheep of a bad tribe will be starved to death, and the whole tribe is likely to suffer great losses after a white plague, so the nomads also love and hate the snow.

Gulbush hurriedly said: "Lord Zaisang, our tribe's food and firewood reserves are still not enough, and if the heavy snow comes early, we may not be able to survive until next spring." ”

"That's why the bride price sent by Houjin is so important to our tribe." Zai Sang said a little irritably: "Those cattle, sheep and jewelry are all right, but the 100,000 catties of grain are very important to us, and with this batch of food, our tribe will be more sure of the white plague this time." ”

Gulbush and Fugol were silent, on the surface, 100,000 catties of grain was not much, and for the Horqin tribe, which had more than 200,000 people, they could only get half a catty of grain per person at best, but the account was not calculated like this.

There are more than 200,000 people in the Horqin tribe, and they are divided into dozens of small tribes, large and small, and the gap between the rich and the poor of these tribes is also very large, with this 100,000 catties of grain in hand, Zaisang can calmly deploy and send these grains to the most difficult small tribes and herdsmen, sometimes it is very likely that just so more than ten or twenty catties of grain can save the life of a herdsman, so although Zaisang knew that the bride price sent by Houjin was a poisonous bait, he had to swallow it against his will, That's where his helplessness lies.

"Alas......"

Everyone sighed in unison and shook their heads helplessly.

"Report ......"

Just when everyone was in a depressed mood, a cavalryman galloped towards them, and soon stopped in front of them, although the weather had begun to turn cold, the cavalryman was sweating profusely and looked very panicked, only to see him almost jump off his horse, and shouted: "Lord Zaisang, something is wrong...... Later Jin came to ...... The mission that came to greet the relatives was ...... It was wiped out by the Ming army. ”

"What...... The mission that came in to welcome the relatives was wiped out by the Ming army? ”

The news blinded everyone like a thunderbolt, and almost everyone couldn't believe their ears.

This is the Mongolian steppe, the Ming army has not stepped here for more than a hundred years, how can it be possible that a Ming army suddenly appeared to destroy the Houjin Greeting Mission, if in normal times, almost everyone including Zaisang could listen to it as a joke, but today I don't know why there is an ominous premonition in everyone's hearts.

Gulbush stepped forward and grabbed the detective by the collar and shouted, "What did you say? Do you know that lying about the military situation is to be divided by five horses! ”

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

The face of the detective, who was grabbed by the neck, turned red, and he began to dance with his hands out of breath. In the end, it was Zaisang who stepped forward and knocked off Gulbush's right hand and angrily reprimanded: "Gulbush, do you want to kill him? ”

The sentry who finally regained his freedom coughed for a while before he gasped, looking at Gulbush, whose face was so gloomy that he was about to kill, the sentry panted and said: "Lord Zaisang, what I said is true, yesterday afternoon, I and several warriors of the same clan patrolled at the junction of our tribe and the Khalkha Department according to the management, and I happened to see a group of Ming troops fighting with the men and horses of the Later Jin, and the men and horses of the Later Jin were defeated and fled, and a lot of cattle, sheep, slaves and grain were captured by the Ming army, and then I saw ...... The Ming army occupied the nameless hill in the southeast, and then the Khalkha tribesmen surrounded the Ming army. ”

Zai-sang frowned: "Surrounded? Why? ”

"It is said to be...... It was these Ming troops who came all the way to continuously slaughter the people of the Khalkha tribe, and also captured many people from the Khalkha tribe, so the Khalkha tribe sent people to wipe out this Ming army. ”

"This Ming army actually killed the people of the Khalkha Department?" Gulbush, Fuguoer, Zaisang and others couldn't help but look at each other, this Ming army took the wrong medicine, how could they kill wherever they went? Is this a rhythm that is going to be hostile to all the Mongols?

"Yes, I heard that they captured many people from the three Khalkha tribes, and Qili Khan was furious and sent more than 10,000 people from the three tribes of Udam, Zasaktu Khan, and Chechen Khan to pursue this Ming army."

Zaisan asked eagerly, "And now, are they still fighting?" ”

"Nope!" There was an incredible look in the sentry's eyes and said: "Just last night, the Ming army and the people of the three Khalkha tribes had a big battle, the men and horses of the three Khalkha tribes were defeated, the Buhe Chaolu of the Chechen Khan was killed in the battle, and Udamu and Balhu fled back with the rest of the people. ”

"What? Udamu defeated? ”

This news is more surprising than the defeat of Houjin's welcoming team, after all, the people of Houjin are here to welcome relatives, and there will definitely not be many people in the team who can fight, but Wudamu is different, he is a famous warrior of the three Khalkha tribes, why did he even lose it?

Zai Sang was silent for a long time before staring at the eyes of the sentinel and asked solemnly: "And one last thing, is the emperor Taiji who came to greet him dead or alive?" ”

The sentry shook his head: "I don't know about this, because we can only observe from a distance on the periphery, and there is no way to get close to that Ming army." ”

"Udamu was also defeated." Jae-sang muttered to himself while shaking his head, "It's incredible. ”

"Hmph...... It would have been better if it had been Udammu who had been killed. On the side, Gulbush and Fuguor felt a little regretful, if Udam, the first warrior of the Tuhan tribe, also died in the chaos, the Tuhan tribe would not be afraid.

Unlike Gulbush and Fugol, what shocked Zaisang even more was the combat effectiveness of the Ming army, which was able to defeat Huang Taiji's welcoming team and the Khalkha three-part coalition army in succession, which was enough to prove the terrible nature of this Ming army. Suddenly, Zai Sang seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "By the way, do you know which Ming army it is?" ”

"This ...... We secretly got the news from a rout of the Khalkha tribe that this Ming army was an army from the interior of the Ming army, what it seems to be called...... River...... Jiang ...... "Speaking of this, the sentry stammered a little, and he was really a little embarrassed about his explanation of the country's place names and human lives.

"Is it called Jiang Ningjun?" Suddenly, a shrill voice rang out.

"Right...... That's right, it's Jiang Ningjun! The sentry nodded repeatedly.

"It's him...... Make him ...... How did he come to the savannah. Gulbush and Golgol glanced at each other, and their faces turned a little pale at the same time.

Zai Sang's face also sank, and his gaze instantly became extremely fierce: "Is that the Jiangning army that defeated Dai Shan and Amin and killed more than 2,000 of our Horqin warriors?" ”

Gulbush's face was bitter: "If Daming doesn't have a second Jiangning army, I think it's them." ”

Zai Sang had a gloomy face, slowly paced in place, and said slowly for a long time: "If I am not wrong, this Jiangning army should be coming for us." ”

"Coming at us?"

Gulbush and Golgol were taken aback.

Gulbush blurted out: "Although we followed Houjin to attack Daming last time, but we have already defeated it, do we still want to chase him over?" ”

"Leave us alone?" Zai Sang sneered: "You are too naïve, the Ming army has hit our doorstep, don't you still believe this fact?" ”

"It's not...... I was just...... Just ......"

Gulbush could not go any further, and at this moment another sentry rode his horse and galloped over, and before he could reach the man he shouted loudly: "Lord Zaisang, there is a Ming army coming towards us in front of us, a distance of sixty miles, and it is expected to reach our tribe to-morrow." ”

"Woo woo woo ......" Soon, the desolate horn sound began to sound in the Horqin grassland......