stubborn thief

Chapter 330 Four Methods
Ji Tutaiji was greedy.

Liu Chengzong's New Year's Eve dinner is not very rich, but the cooks brought back from Dajianlu are very skilled, and there are chickens, ducks, fish, pigs and sheep, all of which are delicacies that Chahar could not enjoy during the westward migration.

Food and grass in Chahar are in short supply, and there are classes. Ordinary soldiers, herdsmen, and slaves mainly lack meat, vegetables, and pasta; nobles and nobles lack pasta and vegetables.

As the saying goes, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, but this is not the case on the grasslands. What they lack is a pot.

Before Emperor Chongzhen exempted Chahar from rewarding silver, the Chahar tribe used to be the tribe with the most iron pots on the grassland. Later, they drove away Tumote and moved west to Tumochuan. Relatively speaking, large-scale iron castings were relatively rich.

But moving westward was different. The heavy iron pots were not easy to carry, and the cattle and horses dragging the carts fell down one by one, and there were very few iron pots left.

But in this matter, Pitu Taiji was more uncomfortable than others.

Others don't have meat because they don't have an iron pot and there is no meat, but Pitutaiji has an iron pot and there is enough meat, but he can't eat it.

Because my elder brother always said that the tribe has already eaten people, and we should provide the limited supplies to the tribe, don't be greedy for enjoyment, you are my brother, if you don't support me, we will be finished.

So much so that Ji Tutaiji ate so much in the Marshal's Mansion, Xie Erhu still persuaded him to drink: "Have another glass of Bar Taiji!"

It's not because Xie Erhu has never eaten at the Eight Immortals table with the nobleman Taiji, but because he wants to make Ji Tutaiji make a fool of himself in the marshal's mansion.

The ancestor of Xie Erhu was the common people in the forest, Ba Erqian, that is, Barhu. This tribe was incorporated into Yongxiebu by the Alutai Grand Master of the Northern Yuan Dynasty during the Yongle period, and became one of the ten battalions of Yongxiebu.

Later, Yongxiebu was one of the [-] right-wing households who followed Tumed's Altan Khan and made great achievements. Until five years ago, during the war between Tumed and Chahar, Yongxiebu's tribe dispersed, and the name of the tribe disappeared. .

For a small leader like Xie Erhu, there is no deep hatred, but he is happy to see Chahar Khan's younger brother make a fool of himself.

Ji Tutaiji didn't know this, he only thought that Xie Erhu was the Mongolian leader who was attached to Liu Chengzong, and he had some deliberate intentions to win him over, so he drank a few glasses of shochu.

For a whole year, during the first half of the year he was on guard against Houjin, and the second half of the year was busy moving westward. Ji Tutaiji hadn't had a lot of alcohol, and soon a smirk appeared on his face.

Alcohol is not a good thing most of the time, but sometimes it can work wonders.

For example, at this time, what Liu Chengzong thought was that if Ji Tutaiji drank wine, it would be easy to get out of Huduntu's falsehood.

Beside him, chieftain Qi Guoping has been silently looking at his hand holding the wine glass, thinking: Marshal Liu is drinking, so he must be able to figure out the reality of the marshal's mansion.

Although many chieftains who have lived in the Hehuang Valley for generations have been lost in the face of the continuous investment of interests from the Marshal's Mansion to the east and left the court behind, Qi Guoping is different from them.

He still remembers the Ming court, and he also remembered his father. His father's name was Qi Bingzhong.

On Chongyang in the 23rd year of Wanli, Qi Bingzhong, the No.11 chieftain of the Qi family, fought bloody battles in Xining, and chose to be promoted to the guerrilla general of Gansu Hongshui Camp. The imperial court built a meritorious memorial archway for their family in Xining.

In October of the 44th year of Wanli, Yinding and Eqing of the Ordos Department entered the fortress with more than [-] cavalry to burn, kill, and loot. The looted property, now Yongchang still has a stone tablet engraved by the people for his father.

Until the second year of Tianqi, his father was killed in Liaodong by Sun Degong, who secretly surrendered gold. He was shot with three arrows and two knives, shedding the last drop of blood for Daming.

His name is Qi Guoping, and he wants to be the vassal of the country.

Qi Guoping noticed that Liu Chengzu and Li Wanqing, the two generals of the marshal's mansion, were not there, and Yang Yao, the cavalry general of Juerwan, also did not participate in the banquet.

If it hadn't been for the arrival of Jitu Taiji, Qi Guoping should have asked Liu Chengzong, but right now Chahar Mongolia is a more serious problem.

Qi Guoping does not want Liu Chengzong and Huduntu to unite.

He toasted Liu Chengzong with a glass of wine, and said in a low voice, "Marshal, be careful of the tiger chief. He is greedy for money and sex, and can't be controlled. Although he is a famous king among captives, he is unruly and untrustworthy."

He clasped his fists and said: "The imperial court originally wanted to unite with the Ministry, but he was greedy, and he would lose his way if he received the reward without sending troops; and he bullied the weak, and conquered Horqin many times. The Fifth Battalion caused the Chaohua Fifth Battalion to collapse under the attack of Houjin and the Tiger Chief. This person received millions of rewards from the court, but he never really fought against Houjin."

The so-called five camps of Chaohua are not only the five ministries of Neikalkha, but between Jiajing and Longwan, the leader of the five ministries, Chao Hua, is the most powerful and has actual control over the five ministries, so they are called the five camps of Chaohua.

Similar to it are the eight battalions of Chahan, the ten battalions of Yongxiebu, and the twelve posts of Shunyi Wangliu battalion, 73 branches, etc., all of which are similar names.

Liu Chengzong knew that Huduntu was the Great Khan of Mongolia, but the actual contact was only a letter sent by Ji Tutaiji. He asked Qi Guoping: "Is what you said true?"

Even though he was in the western frontier, Qi Guoping was very familiar with the situation in the Northeast. After finishing speaking, he solemnly clasped his fists and said: "I and Houjin are enemies of the country and family, and the tiger chief is also the enemy of Houjin. I have no intention of sowing dissension. If there is a half sentence For slander, the commander-in-chief can draw his sword and cut me here."

Liu Chengzong didn't trust Qi Guoping enough, turned his head to look at Li Tianyu and others, and found that they all nodded in agreement with this statement, and even seeing his own generals, Li Bei, Bao Hu and others also agreed with this.

He attaches great importance to Li Bei and Bao Hu's views on this matter. Li Bei really led troops to fight in Liaodong, while Bao Hu has an official position in the court and can read the Tang newspaper.

At the same time, Bao Hu, like Qi Guoping, has Mongol ancestors.

Liu Chengzong shook his head helplessly, thinking what kind of world this is, the most outstanding jailer of the Han people was reincarnated as the emperor, and the best grass bandit of the Mongols was reincarnated as a profuse khan.

Qi Guoping didn't speak any more, sat back and breathed a sigh of relief, in fact, he meant to sow discord.

He wished that Liu Chengzong and Huduntu would lose both in the fight, but he did not slander.

Because Huduntu Dahan doesn't need to slander, just tell what he has done, and the effect of sowing discord can be achieved.

Liu Chengzong doesn't like Huduntu very much now.

He frowned and asked the feasting Botutaiji, "You have never fought against Houjin?"

Just as Chen Qindai finished his question, Ji Tutaiji stood up abruptly after being stepped on his tail, without even wiping his mouth, he stared angrily and said a lot.

Chen Qindai clasped his fists and said: "Commander, he said that in the first year of Tianqi, the leader of Aohan, one of the Eighth Battalions of the Han Dynasty, led [-] cavalry to surround Shenyang for several days, and once fought against the Houjin defenders."

Li Bei clasped his fists in a blink of an eye and said: "Commander, the leader of Aohan, Qing Tianqi, was drunk and fought with the Baitayu defenders for four years, and was shot and killed by the defenders; the two battalions of Aohan and Naiman in the Eighth Battalion of Chaohan were killed by the Tiger Chief Attack, in June of the seventh year of Tianqi, the two battalions rebelled against the Tiger Chief, and joined Houjin and Huangtaiji alliance."

"and many more."

Liu Chengzong frowned and asked Li Bei, "Huduntu attacked your two battalions?"

Li Bei nodded and said: "As for the reason, I am not so clear."

Liu Chengzong nodded. From these hearsay stories, he probably knew what Huduntu Dahan looked like, so he said to Chen Qindai: "Ask him how many people, horses, and livestock they have."

After Chen Qindai asked, Ji Tutaiji said the number calmly.

But without waiting for the translation, Liu Chengzong raised his arms and said: "Let him think carefully before answering. Whether there are 40 or 4 of them has nothing to do with me, but if the Han troops come to Qinghai, will they be born or die?" , in his answer."

Liu Chengzong estimated that there were only 2 to 4 of them. After all, it was believed that the tiger rabbits needed [-] sheep, so why not share one sheep with each person.

Pitutaiji originally wanted to say a big number, but Chen Qindai knew what Liu Chengzong meant, and he said to Pitutaiji: "You have never fought against the Yulin army, nor have you fought against the Ningxia army. We have fought against them all, Generalissimo They all won, the more you have, the more useless you are, let’s be honest.”

He could exaggerate the strength of his troops, but the front line is not deceiving.

Ji Tutaiji bowed his head and thought for a while, then said, "We have more than 4 people, more than 4 horses, and more than [-] head of livestock."

Liu Chengzong didn't have anything to say about these numbers, he just said: "Since you are being honest and honest, don't put on airs. Chuoke Tutaiji relied on tens of thousands of strings to lead troops into Qinghai to fight for the sky and land. He was killed and he will take the blame. "

Ji Tutaiji's face was full of embarrassment, the truth of the matter was like this, if he died, his skills were inferior to others, and I don't know where a big brother came to ask for a scene.

Isn't this in itself trying to suppress people with power, so first of all, you must have the power to suppress people.

Chahar Mongolia has no such thing at all.

Liu Chengzong took a sip from his wine glass before continuing: "I have no grudges with you in the past. Houjin is your enemy and my enemy. If you come to join me, I am willing to give you a way out. Zhu Mu, I will not attack you."

Liu Chengzong has already decided in his heart that as long as Huduntu leads his troops into Qinghai, there will be a battle between them.

But this battle can't be fought when Huduntu first entered Qinghai, because this guy is too timid to attack the inside and the outside.

Liu Chengzong is worried that if he speaks a little more seriously, he will scare Huduntu too much to enter Qinghai... Turn around and ask Huang Taiji to arrest him, why not let him in first, and then slowly figure it out, at least fight in Qinghai, there will be The Gansu frontier army helped guard the gate, and it was difficult for Huduntu to run out.

It's just that when he said this, Qi Guoping stood up on the spot: "Marshal, you must not join forces with the Tiger Chief!"

"Hou Jin is his enemy, and also mine. If I attack Chubu at this time, what is the difference between me and Huduntu who attacked the five battalions of Chaohua?"

Qi Guoping opened his mouth and said nothing, and the happy-faced Ji Tutaiji said: "Then, Generalissimo, the sheep mentioned in the letter..."

"Why should I give you sheep if there are no sheep?"

Liu Chengzong smiled and raised his hand to tap his temple, saying: "Think about it, if I want Tiger Duntu to give me [-] horses, what should I do? I will teach you."

Ji Tutaiji hesitated for a moment, and saw Liu Chengzong spread his five fingers in front of him, and pointed with the other hand: "I will buy gold and silver weapons or any goods you need; I will ask Hudun Rabbit Big Khan makes an alliance with me and asks the lord to help me with [-] horses."

Liu Chengzong was persuasive: "If it doesn't work, I can still submit to the Great Khan, swear to obey orders and never betray, and ask the Great Khan to give me [-] horses. In short... I won't lose my mind and give the Great Khan a piece of paper." Paper, I hope the Great Khan will give me [-] horses."

After all, Liu Chengzong changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and asked Ji Tutaiji seriously: "Speaking of which, if I do this, would Huduntu Dahan be willing to give me [-] horses?"

Maybe it was because of drinking, but Ji Tutaiji seriously considered Liu Chengzong's proposal. Considering the current ration status of the Chahar Ministry, he shook his head with difficulty.

Snapped!
"That's right. If I buy it, I make an alliance, and I pledge allegiance, even the Great Khan is unwilling to give me [-] horses. Then there is only one last solution." Liu Chengzong clapped his hands, pointed at Jitutaiji and said: " Send troops to rob, the strength of the Great Khan is similar to Chuoke Rabbit, defeat the Great Khan, and all the horses will be mine."

Ji Tutaiji is still in an atmosphere of serious consideration, not only does not think there is a problem with what Liu Chengzong said, but also thinks it is very reasonable.

However, Liu Chengzong said in the end that he would break the sweat and make him sweat all over his back. When the wind from the window of the marshal's mansion blew, he was half awake from the wine.

Fortunately, Liu Chengzong saw the worry on his face, so he smiled and said: "I don't lack horses, so don't worry, I keep what I say, and I will allow you to be the herdsmen, big or small. I am more generous than Da Khan. You go back and let Da Khan Think about it, he can send someone to buy it, just bring what I want, and buy it at a low price."

"You can also bring all the Mongolian nobles to submit to me. I will definitely treat each other with courtesy. How about giving [-] sheep? You can also form an alliance with me. I have an unmarried brother. Do you have sisters? "

Ji Tutaiji thought for a while, then slowly said: "Yes, yes, but I can't decide this matter."

"Okay, it's okay. This is a big event for two families to form a family. You go back and ask." Liu Chengzong tapped the table with his finger: "If you wish to form an alliance, my brother will marry Huduntu's younger sister. Thousands of sheep... Chindai, ask him if he is full, take him down to rest when he is full."

Ji Tutaiji was knocked dizzy by [-] sheep. Under normal circumstances, the dowry gift for the descendants of Genghis Khan is ten burkes, that is, ten warriors, ten suits of armor, ten camels, plus fifty horses, one hundred sheep.

Even for special nobles whose ancestors have made great achievements, the most dowry gifts are no more than 150 birks, [-] horses, and [-] sheep.

Ji Tutaiji did not calculate how many people these sheep could support. He knew his elder brother that these sheep would not be distributed to the tribe, but he had fulfilled the mission of sending letters, so he estimated that he could get some rewards from these sheep.

At this time, when he heard that Liu Chengzong wouldn't let him eat, he couldn't care less about these things, so he quickly sat down and ate a few mouthfuls before getting up and leaving.

When he went out, the hall was considered to be a blast, and the chieftains rushed to congratulate Liu Chengzong.

But some people are happy and some are sad, Liu Chengzong took this opportunity to look at everyone's expressions, and said to Qi Guoping with a smile: "What is General Qi thinking, so sad?"

"Marshal, Tiger Chief is by no means willing to be inferior to others, and marrying General Liu is definitely not a good thing." After Qi Guoping said, he was worried that Liu Chengzong would think too much, so he took the opportunity to ask: "But I haven't seen General Liu. , Chinese New Year, why didn't General Liu come over?"

Liu Chengzong was happy. He waited all night, and finally someone asked where Liu Chengzu was. He clapped his hands to let everyone sit down, and then said to the chieftains: "Actually, please come here. There are two things. Hehuang is a scholarly family, and there are many learned people in the family."

He clasped his fists and said: "Brothers took Kangning in the south, and took the land occupied by leaders such as Lazunguru. There is a shortage of officials, and there is an urgent need for talented and educated people to serve as officials in the south of Xining. Use what you have.”

All the chieftains in the hall were dumbfounded and dared not speak.

Liu Chengzong ignored it, but waved his hands to everyone and said, "However, if you chieftains want to follow me, Liu will be rewarded generously. The descendants of all families will not pass the imperial examination. If each family recommends ten people, I will reward them according to their talents." official position."

Qi Guoping suddenly had an extremely bad prediction in his mind, contacted that Liu Chengzu, Li Wanqing and others were not present, he looked at Liu Chengzong in horror, and met Liu Chengzong's smiling expression.

"Recently, the price of Hehuang grain has skyrocketed, and the people are starved of food. Liu decided to take all of Hehuang to relieve the suffering of the people. For the sake of your lives, please temporarily live in Xincheng until the war is settled."

As soon as the words fell, there was the sound of armor colliding in the corridor outside the hall, and the shadows outside the window were vague.

Liu Chengzong looked at the chaotic crowd and asked with a smile: "Does anyone want to go home?"

　good evening!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)