When the leader of the Duleng tribe received a warning from the cronies sent by Seleng, the leader of the tribe hurried to the Han Chinese village less than a mile northwest of the Mongol tribe.

The camp of the Duleng tribe is located on a hilly area near the river, surrounded by a low wooden fence outside dozens of scattered yurts. To the southeast of the camp is an open grassland, and seven or eight herds of cattle and sheep are scattered on this green carpet of grassland, like clouds of different colors.

To the northwest of this small Mongol tribal camp is a hill hundreds of meters high, with low shrubs and grasses except for a few separate dense forests.

From a distance, it looks like an undulating green carpet with a few dark green traces wet by the rain. But now in this beautiful picture, several caves have been dug in the middle of the mountainside, and the caves outlined by the brownish mud clearly spoil the beauty of this paradise.

At the foot of the hill there is a community of wooden houses, which are also surrounded by a one-man high wooden fence, but the houses in the wooden houses are very well built, and are built entirely along two horizontal and two vertical streets.

The south-west side is the earliest and appears to be the most densely populated, and is inhabited by the largest number of people. The houses to the northeast have only been built, but the foundations of the houses along the sides of the street have been staked, and it looks like they have been booked.

In fact, after those Ming merchants discovered the minerals here and built houses and settled here, the life of the Duleng Department became more and more comfortable.

In the past, although the Duleng Department did not worry about food and clothing, even in the year of the great famine, the pastures here did not encounter the problem of dry grassland because of their proximity to the river.

However, in addition to cattle and sheep, the herdsmen of the Duleng tribe also needed handicrafts such as rice, tea, iron, and cloth. However, the place where the 36 departments were closed was in Guangning, neither in Zhangjiakou, nor in the border passes of the Great Wall such as Xifengkou, which was close at hand.

Rushing from this place to Quang Ninh Mutual Market, Du Lengbu not only had to pay great energy, but also endured the heavy exploitation of the Jiangmen in western Liaoning. The western Liaoning region was already short of materials, and the prices were much higher than those in the Guannei region, and the prices at which they traded with the Mongols were no different from directly grabbing money.

However, according to the regulations of the Ming court, the 36 departments of the closed gate could only be traded in Guangning, and even if some tribes were not far from Zhangjiakou or Xifengkou, they were not allowed to trade with each other nearby.

For the upper-class nobles of the 36th Division, because the Ming people had a system of city rewards when they traded with each other, their losses could be compensated for from the city rewards given by the imperial court. But for ordinary herdsmen and small tribes like the Duleng tribe, they could only silently endure being exploited by the merchants of the Ming Kingdom, or by the leaders of these large tribes.

Since last autumn and winter, these Ming merchants came to Du Leng to establish a village here, not only brought a large number of cheap Ming goods to Du Leng Ministry, but also opened up a new source of wealth for Du Leng Ministry.

Even without this vein, just because these merchants bought their cattle, sheep and other specialties at fair and reasonable prices, the herdsmen of the Duleng Department not only survived the great famine, but also collected many scattered herdsmen roaming the grasslands.

Therefore, the leaders of the Du Leng tribe were intent on marrying their youngest daughter, the Ming merchant who was in charge here, so that they could be kept for a long time.

After hearing the news from the Sereng faction, the leader of the Du Leng tribe, Boto Du Leng, ran over without hesitation and revealed the news to Wan Haisheng, the local manager of the Sihai Commercial Bank.

Hearing the news, Wan Haisheng, the manager of the trading house in his early 40s, immediately ordered Yan Hao, an apprentice beside him, to take two silk horses and hand them to Boto Duleng.

Seeing that Boto Duleng was hesitant to accept it, Wan Haisheng said with a smile: "These two silks are not for the leader, but for the friend who came to deliver the message, as for the leader, you here, our Four Seas Commercial Guild has another intention to send it." Now the goods in this store are too cheap for me to deliver. ”

Boto Duleng held the two silk horses, and said a little helplessly: "I'm just here to remind you, you don't have to be so polite." This is also the meaning of the Selenta cloth bag, I think you want to thank you, or thank you for the Serengta cloth bag. ”

Wan Haisheng said very sincerely: "Whether it is the Selengta cloth bag or the leader of Du Leng, I will have a heart to send it when I arrive."

However, just the day before yesterday, we happened to have a caravan transporting ore back to the pass, I want to ask a few more questions, I don't know if the leader knows, what is the number of Jin troops after this? And what was their marching route? When to depart from Qingcheng? ”

When Sereng sent his cronies to inform Botuo Duleng, he only told him to remind the Ming merchants that the Later Jin were going to attack the Great Wall Pass on the line of Xifengkou, and persuaded them not to return to the pass recently, so as not to be accidentally injured by the Houjin army. As for the number of the Houjin army and other information, it must not be revealed at will.

After all, it is the people who close the 36th Department to lead the team to Houjin, and if something goes wrong in the middle, the 36th Department may not be able to resist the anger of the Houjin Qingui General.

However, Boto Duleng only thought about it for a moment, and then decided to tell the Han man everything about it. He felt that he couldn't be sorry for his friends, and he had taken a lot of benefits from the Four Seas Firm in the past year, so he couldn't hide anything from his good friends.

In addition, the Houjin attack on the Ming State did not benefit Du Leng at all. If Ming Guo knew afterwards that it was the road that closed the 36th Department to bring Houjin, then the good days of Du Lengbu's just getting up would obviously come to an end.

What's more, the Du Leng Department is so close to the border pass of the Ming Kingdom, if the Houjin army retreats to Liaodong and the Ming army goes out to retaliate, their small tribe will inevitably bear the brunt.

Boto Duleng was unwilling to give up the traditional pastures of the tribe, give up this treasure land of feng shui, and go to Liaodong to look up to the people. Even if he wanted to take refuge in Houjin, people didn't look down on the Du Leng tribe, at most, they broke up their small tribe and distributed it to other big tribes.

In this case, he might as well go directly to Mingguo. Thinking of this, Boto Duleng said: "The specific people and horses are not very clear, but it is certain that there are no less than 30,000 people.

The banners of the Eight Banners of Houjin all appeared in the camp, except for the second prince of Jin Guo, who did not arrive, the eldest prince, the third prince and the fourth prince all arrived. The Horqin Mongol Department came with 5,000 elite cavalry, which was personally led by Tushetu Khan Oba.

He didn't know the specific route of the march, but from Qingcheng to the passes of the Great Wall, the marching schedule was only 6 days at most, excluding the day when the messenger was on the road, and the time for the Houjin army to arrive at the border pass was only 5 days..."

After sending Boto Duleng away, Wan Haisheng called a few guys in the store. As the manager of the Four Seas Commercial Bank, he must have to pass this amazing news back to Guannei, and he is still a native of Zunhua, if Houjin breaks through the pass, the first target is Zunhua City.

He looked at the four or five guys in the store, and left Yan Hao, who was 16 or 7 years old, and another apprentice in his 20s. Because these two people are young, they began to learn to ride horses after they left the customs, and now they are the two best riding skills in the trading house.

Wan Haisheng said to the two: "Liaodong Jiannu detoured to the gate and attacked the 36 territories of the Guannei, with no less than 30,000 troops, and the time was within these 5 or 6 days.

This news is related to the safety of tens of thousands of people and soldiers along the border of our Ming Dynasty, are you willing to send this news back as soon as possible, so that my soldiers at the border of the Ming Dynasty can be on guard? ”

Yan Hao and the other older apprentice immediately promised in unison, willing to pass the news back immediately.

Wan Haisheng immediately took out the prepared bag and handed it to the two of them and said: "These two bags contain the seal and secret words of my Four Seas Commercial Bank, you return to the pass, if those generals guarding the pass don't believe it, take it out and show them it, and then ask them to send someone to send you back to Zunhua City and hand it over to Director Wu of the branch in the city."

From here to return to Kannai, it will take about 2 days at the earliest, and it will take about 3 or 4 days to arrive in Zunhua. It stands to reason that you can return to Guannai before the Houjin army. But when the armies go out to war, there are always strikers and scouts, so you may not be safe on the way.

To be on the safe side, the two of you will probably have to act separately. All the way to Xifengkou, all the way to Daankou, you can choose all the way by yourself..."

Because Yan Hao was younger, the older apprentice suggested that he take the closer Xifengkou Road, while he took a detour to Da'ankou, which was farther away.

Yan Hao spent two days of hard work, and finally arrived safely at Xifengkou, the Ming army guard at Xifengkou did not believe the young man's words for a while, but when he showed the bag he carried, a general flag guarding the pass suddenly stood up to stop the general from continuing to interrogate.

Only then did this general know that he still had the existence of Jinyi Guards under his command. He suddenly became nervous, because it meant that the news that the Houjin army was about to come to the city was indeed true.

But the problem is that since last year, the imperial court has reorganized the officers and troops of Jizhou Town and adjusted the garrison strength, and the main forces that were originally scattered at the passes of the Great Wall are now gathered in Zunhua City, Santun Camp, and Qian'an.

At the passes of the Great Wall, there will be no more than 300 people at the big pass and 80 people at the small pass, and it is okay to defend against small-scale Mongol crossings, but when it arrives at a Jurchen army of tens of thousands of people, it is undoubtedly an egg hitting a stone.

After hearing the news, the guard general immediately sent someone to send Yan Hao back to Zunhua City, hoping that the chief soldiers and governors in the city could send troops to support him here. If it weren't for military discipline, he would have liked to be able to send Yan Hao back to Zunhua in person.

A day later, Yan Hao arrived in Zunhua City under the personal escort of the brocade guard. After Director Wu of the Four Seas Commercial Bank got the tips, he asked Yan Hao a few words, and then left in a hurry with the tips.

Four days later, the news that Da'ankou, Longjingguan, and Panjiakou had been broken by the Houjin army reached Zunhua. And the apprentice who entered the customs from Daankou never had any news. Yan Hao was very uneasy in his heart, he suspected that this senior brother was killed on the way.