Anatolia, Ankara.

Timur, who was remembered by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yunxi, who was thousands of miles away, was standing on the edge of the battlefield at this time, and said to his civil and military ministers in high spirits: "One of the main forces of the Ottomans, the Janissaries of more than 20,000 people, have surrendered, and the Great Cannibals, Kurds and Tatars who are good at seeing the wind and steering the rudder have even waved their swords at the allies who fought side by side yesterday, and the Ottoman army that is still fighting for Bayezid I is less than 30,000, and now there are more than 100,000 soldiers fighting for our army, even if Bayezid I escapes, The Ottomans were also badly wounded in this battle, and they were not to be affected for at least ten years. ”

All the officials present cheered for another great victory for Timur, but then his general, Jesbou, bowed down and said: "Great Khan, the Ottomans have indeed lost this battle, and the great and invincible Majesty has won another great victory. But I do not think that the Ottomans will not be in danger for at least ten years, if Bayezid I succeeds in escaping. ”

"Although Bayezid I is not as good as the Great Khan, he is also a very great king and commander, if he can be captured alive, the Ottomans now have no legitimate heir, and it will be difficult for the Ottomans to threaten the empire within ten years, or even twenty years, and may even decline."

"But if Bayezid I is not captured alive and he flees back to Bursa, he will certainly be able to reunite the people of the Ottoman kingdom who were terrified after the battle by virtue of his prestige, and the army lost will certainly be re-established in less than five years, so I think the Great Khan must capture Bayezid I alive."

"What are you talking about calling Bayezid I, the defeated of the Great Khan, a great monarch and commander? Modern people, except the Great Khan, no one can be called great. A minister came out and said.

Jesbou looked disdainful and did not speak. When the minister saw this, he wanted to say more, but suddenly saw Timur's expression change, and he didn't dare to say anything more and retreated.

"I remember saying before that humility makes people progress, and arrogance makes people regress. Although the Timurid Empire has won one victory after another, it must not be taken lightly by people from other countries, including my defeated generals. Timur said.

Everyone immediately bowed down to accept his teachings.

"What Jesbu said just now is very reasonable, Bayezid I, nicknamed Thunder, although he has only been the Ottoman monarch for more than ten years, he has defeated the Hungarians, the Bulgarians, the emperor of the Eastern Cross (Byzantium) and the emperor of the Western Cross (Holy Roman Empire), and has created a great reputation in the West, and the emperor of the Eastern Cross even wanted to escape from Constantinople for a time, and if he is let back, it is likely that the Ottomans will recover sooner than I expected."

"Therefore," said Timur to his main generals, "take Bayezid I alive, and if he can't, kill him." ”

"Yes, Great Khan." The generals bowed and said.

Timur gave a few more commands, and most of them retreated to carry out his orders.

Timur looked at the generals who rushed to command his troops, and suddenly sighed: "Oh, it's really old, if I can be more than twenty years younger and the same size as these generals in their forties, I will definitely wield a saber to kill the Ottomans in such a great war, but unfortunately I don't have this strength now, I can only show my face on the battlefield when the war starts, so that the soldiers know that their Great Khan has not died of old age, and then they can only hide behind and command." ”

"Where is the Great Khan old? The Great Khan was still very young, and last year he conceived a child with a concubine. One of the eunuchs who served him said.

"Haha." Timur laughed twice and said: "I really can't feel old, there is another great war, and it will be the greatest war of my life waiting for me to fight, how can I feel old!" ”

He then turned to a man of oriental appearance and said, "Let the gentleman see the joke." ”

"Birth, old age, sickness and death are things that people must experience in their lives, whether they are emperors or beggars, they are nothing but a joke." The man said.

The man who was talking to Timur was dressed in a traditional Turkic robe, a Turkic-style hat, and a pair of Turkic-style shoes. But the language he used to talk to Timur just now was the authentic official dialect of the Ming Ying Tianfu!

This person was the envoy to the Timurid Khanate in the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu, but was detained by Timur when he wanted to return to China, and then Timur took him to the west in order to boast of the strength of the empire, Fu An.

Because Fu An was an official of the Ming Empire, which was known as the Timurid Empire at that time, Timur always wanted to persuade him to surrender; But Fu An has always been loyal and unyielding, sticking to his mission like Su Wu. But the more he did this, the more Timur tried to persuade him to surrender, and from time to time he talked to him.

At this time, Timur heard Fu An's answer and said: "It is true, no one can go through these four steps. But I think people are different in different capacities. ”

"If a beggar is sick and has no money to buy medicine, he can only rely on his body to resist, and he can continue to carry it or die if he can't resist it; And the noble status of the person is different, the noble person can use the most precious medicinal materials for the best doctor to see the disease, the general illness is much more likely to survive than the beggar, isn't it? ”

"The Great Khan is right, but this does not contradict the fact that everyone will get sick, and besides, birth, old age and death are the same for everyone, so different people have lived similar lives even if they have different lifespans." Fu An said.

"Nope! Different people's lives are different. For example, after inheriting my father's wealth, I have fought in the north and south, seen countless strange customs, eaten countless different delicacies, dried countless women with different styles, and cut off countless heads with different faces. Timur said.

"Great Khan, your reasoning is not right, the Buddha said,......" Fu Andao.

Before he could finish speaking, Timur interrupted: "Don't talk to me about pagan ideas. ”

"Then there is nothing more to say." Fu Andao.

Timur didn't have the heart to continue the discussion with him on this issue, so he walked into a house that originally belonged to an ordinary resident in the neighborhood and sat down, took a sip of coffee, and said to Fu An, who also came in: "I ask you again today, are you willing to surrender to my Timurid Khanate?" ”

"Although I, Timur, have adopted Celestial Religion as the state religion, it is not that other religions are not allowed to exist in the country, nor are all subjects required to follow Celestial Religion, but it is not permissible to proselytize to followers of non-this religion. There are Armenians, Ukrainians, Greeks, and Turrists who believe in Eastern Christianity, there are Mongols, Indians, Gurks, and Tibetans who believe in Buddhism, and even Jews who believe in Judaism. I can also guarantee that the other ministers under my command will not discriminate against you. ”

"The kindness of the Great Khan, Fu Anxin received it, but Fu Ansheng is a Ming man and an official in the Ming Dynasty, so it is impossible to take refuge in the Great Khan." Fu Andao.

"I remember that you are not necessarily going to defect to foreign regimes, when the Mongols ruled the East, there should have been many Khitans who served as officials under the Mongols." Timur said.

"Loyal ministers don't care about the two masters. People who were born under the rule of the Yuan State, or people who did not receive favors during the Song Dynasty of the Jin State, whether they are Han people or other nationalities, are people of the Yuan State, and they can naturally be born in the Yuan State; But those who were once officials in the Song Dynasty of the Jin Kingdom surrendered to be ungrateful, and all dynasties would spurn them. Fu An spoke of the traditional concept of the Han people before modern times.

"What a strange point of view." Timur said: "But according to your opinion, if the son you have born in our country wants to be an official in our country when he grows up, is it okay?" ”

Fu An was silent for a moment and said, "It's indeed possible." ”

Timur shook his head, wondering if it was because the Han people were too surprised by their views, or because of something else.

At this moment, a herald ran in and said to Timur: "Great Khan, 20,000 of the last 30,000 men of the army fighting for Bayezid I have been defeated, Bayezid I has fled to a small dirt slope and commanded the last remaining 10,000 horses to fight. ”

"Although the slope is not high, the attack of the large army is always arched up, and it is not particularly easy to fight, and even if it is defeated, there will be many soldiers lost. General Jesbu sent me to ask the Great Khan if he could have a marksman shoot Bayezid I. ”

Timur pondered for a moment and said, "For the time being, the first purpose is to capture him alive, and if the last army of Bayezid I has not been destroyed at dusk, let the marksmen shoot him." ”

"Yes, Great Khan." The man commanded.

Timur was about to say something to Fu An, but before he could open his mouth, one of his guards at the door walked in with a wooden box and bowed to him and said, "Great Khan, the documents from Samarkand are coming as fast as possible. ”

"What's going on in or around Samarkand?" Timur muttered to himself, asked the guards to open the wooden box in front of him, reached out and took out the paperwork from the wooden box, and looked at it.

Timur behaved normally during the process of reading this document, but when he read it, he immediately said to the guards: "Go and give an order to Jesbo, and if you can find an opportunity, shoot Bayezid I immediately, and you don't have to wait until sunset." ”71