prosperous age

The prairie in November is in the autumn season. The sky is blue and the sun shines on the vast land through sparse clouds.

The green grass on the grassland has gradually turned yellow, but it is still swaying in the breeze. The mountains in the distance are like ink, which contrasts with the grassland, forming a beautiful picture.

On the edge of the prairie, groups of cattle and sheep are leisurely foraging.

The cows and sheep lowered their heads and gnawed on the grass. Occasionally, a cow or sheep would make a cry, and then the same kind next to them would make similar sounds, reflecting each other.

Suddenly, as if they felt something, the ears of some cattle and sheep kept shaking around, and then they raised their heads and looked in one direction.

Unlike the sound of herdsmen riding horses that they were used to, it was only the sound of one or two horses' hooves after all.

Following their line of sight, a string of small black dots appeared on the grassland in the distance and was gradually enlarging.

Closer, it was a team of more than ten horses.

Some timid cows and sheep on the edge of the herd unconsciously squeezed in, unable to care even if there was no rich pasture.

"Sir, there are indeed sheep here, and there must be a Mongolian tribe nearby."

In front of the cavalry, a low-level officer of the Ming army, who was fully armored, faced a man next to him who was wearing a blue official uniform of the Ming Dynasty and had a squatting animal embroidered on his chest. He was looking up at the sun or the moon in the sky.

Officials can tell at a glance that this animal is Biao, a ferocious beast called a golden cat. According to legend, it is a liger that is a cross between a lion and a tiger.

In Chinese culture, Biao is a mysterious spiritual beast between tigers and leopards. According to legend, Biao is the ancestor of the Wei Kingdom and originated from Meng Ji, the daughter of Uncle Mao of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Such a mysterious animal, but the color of the official uniform it is equipped with can be recognized by anyone familiar with the color and grade of official uniforms in the Ming Dynasty. This is just a sixth-grade military general and a hundred households who were the least classy in the Ming Dynasty. .

However, for those who are familiar with Akito generals wearing helmets and armor, when they first see a person wearing official uniforms, they will still subconsciously think that he is a big shot, and will never think that his rank is actually just that. He was just a small officer in charge of hundreds of people.

"Split into two teams and search left and right to see where the herdsmen are?"

The official spoke in a loud voice that everyone behind him could hear clearly.

Soon, four people separated from the back of the team and ran in pairs to both sides of the herd of cattle and sheep.

Although waiting here will soon attract the attention of herdsmen and come to contact them, it is obvious that these Ming people can't wait to find someone.

"It's really uncomfortable to ride a horse in this official uniform."

After the people left, the general couldn't help but pull the front of his official uniform and said casually.

"Master Bao, actually you look very majestic in this official uniform. You look more like an official than wearing armor."

The man next to him seemed to be very familiar with Mr. Bao, so he answered immediately.

"Here, I still feel that wearing armor is more reassuring."

Master Bao said casually.

"We are not here to fight the Tatars, but to find people."

The little leader said, "Sir, do you think that if we bring the news to Altan, we can really all be promoted to a higher level when we return?"

"The governor himself said it, but it's still false. After returning, each person will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. This is what the governor Fang personally promised.

Although those officials are greedy for money, they won't slap themselves in the mouth just for these dozens of taels of silver. "

Lord Bao answered.

If it weren't for the temptation of promotion, who would be willing to go out of the Great Wall to find the Mongols? The relationship between the two parties is not good, and they are even life-and-death enemies.

This group of cavalry, who were obviously from the Ming Dynasty, were naturally sent by Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda, to contact Ada Khan, and the leader was Bao Chongde, the flag officer of the governor's Biao camp.

It's just that this time when he went out to contact the Mongols, he didn't wear armor. Instead, he rummaged through the cabinets at home and found this set of official uniforms that were almost never used.

For the generals in border towns, although they are used to armor and weapons, as officials, they still need to prepare official uniforms.

It was Governor Wang's special instruction to change into these clothes, because they were sent out not to fight the Mongols, but to establish contact.

For Bao Chongde, when he heard that he was going to be sent as an envoy to Mongolia, he was so scared that he almost peed.

It’s not that he is timid, he is almost 40 years old and has never seen anything like this.

However, he knew better what happened to those envoys from Mongolia more than ten years ago. After explaining their purpose of coming, they were still ruthlessly killed by the Ming generals, and their heads became a certificate of merit for the superior officials.

Until these years, Mongolia has no longer sent envoys.

Under such a relationship, wouldn't being an envoy deliver food to the Mongols?
If it weren't for Wang Chonggu's severe coercion, even threatening Bao family members, Bao Chongde would not have been willing to take over this job even if he was beaten to death. Even if Wang Chonggu offered him the inducement of promotion, from his heart, he would not accept such an order. Still resisting.

He won't stop others from taking this job, but if it falls on him, that's another matter.

As for the men behind him, he had deceived them with half-truths and half- lies after he was forced to take over the job.

Although I knew this trip was dangerous, I couldn't go looking for the Mongols alone.

These few people were all his soldiers with superb martial arts and riding skills, and two of them were former scouts of the Ming army.

In order to make them willing to follow him out, Bao Chongde privately promised to give the other party money, which impressed them.

Man will die for money, and bird will die for food. This is a wise saying everywhere.

Not long after, several horses came running towards this side. It was obvious that a group of people had contacted the herdsmen here.

However, when the herdsmen over there saw that there were several Ming people here, they obviously hesitated and slowed down their horses. Soon after, a herdsman stood on the spot, and only two herdsmen followed.

The Mongols were obviously wary of the Ming people.

"Sir, they are the herdsmen here. At first they were unwilling to come, but then I told them it was a caravan, and they were willing to follow."

A Ming soldier in front rode up to the front and whispered in Bao Chongde's ear.

Bao Chongde just nodded, then smiled and asked the herdsmen who were following him: "You are from that tribe. Where is your chief? We are not here to fight."

As soon as Bao Chongde said this, a herdsman on the opposite side shouted to them: "You are not a caravan, you are officials of the Ming Dynasty. As expected, you can't believe what the Ming people say."

After hearing this, Bao Chongde hurriedly changed the subject and said: "We are indeed not a caravan, but we are envoys sent by the Ming Dynasty. We are here to deliver a message to your Khan Altan, but we can't find your Khan's tent, so we came here."

Although the herdsmen were very wary of Bao Chongde and his party, after all, there were only a few of them here, and there were no signs of the Ming army hiding around.

After Bao Chongde expressed the purpose of his trip to them, the three herdsmen had no intention of starting a war with them. After all, they were weak and the battle was impossible to fight.

"Then you follow us back to the camp, but the weapons you have on you must be handed over to us for the time being."

The herdsman leader spoke again.

"No."

Before Bao Chongde could speak, the people around him immediately shouted.

It is very dangerous to go deep into the grassland and go to the Mongolian camp. It is even more unacceptable to hand over weapons under such circumstances.

"It doesn't matter, we hand over our weapons. As I said before, we are not here to fight you, but to deliver a message to your Khan."

Bao Chongde just glared at the people around him, and then said.

When he finished speaking, he had already reached out and pulled out the saber on his horse, and threw it in front of the herdsman's horse on the opposite side.

Seeing Bao Chongde surrendering his weapons so simply, although the others were reluctant, there was nothing they could do.

If they just left the others and ran away, they would be punished if they went back. Seeing that Bao Chongde had thrown away his weapons, they had to do what he did and throw away the weapons in their hands.

Of course, what they gave up were only sabers and bows, but they still kept the daggers they carried, which were both for self-defense and needed when eating on the grassland.

But on the battlefield, daggers are actually the most useless weapons.

A herdsman dismounted and put away their weapons, and then led them towards the camp. After seeing the gesture made by the people here, the man in the distance quickly ran towards the distance, apparently rushing back to the camp. Delivering a message to the leader.

In Datong, these heavenly kings Chonggu and Fang Fengshi, as well as Datong's chief military officer Ma Fang, also study and analyze the news sent by all parties together every day.

Although the Mongolian troops that were still roaming the border in the past two days have retreated, the tense atmosphere on the border has not eased at all, and both sides maintain a high degree of alert.

"I don't know if Bao Chongde and those people have contacted the Tatars, and when will they be able to see Anda Khan."

Fang Fengshi said.

Now the Ming Dynasty has very little intelligence on the Mongols. Due to the tense relations between the two sides, the Ming Dynasty has reduced the number of sentinels sent abroad.

There was no big battle, but there had been several skirmishes between Ming Dynasty's Ye Bushou and the Mongolian cavalry in the past few days, and several people had been lost, so Ma Fang simply withdrew everyone first.

Ma Fang already understood the meaning of the capital through that official document. The cabinet wanted to take this opportunity to contact the Mongols.

Since it is possible to achieve peace, it is not worth it to send his men out of the Great Wall to die at the last moment.

"Bao Chongde is also an old man on the border. He knows to avoid the area where Tatars appeared a few days ago and take a detour to find the Mongolian camp. It may only waste a little longer time, but it is better than safety."

Ma Fang said at this time: "If you exit from those border forts where the Tatars appear, although you can immediately escape to the opposite side, it will be more dangerous.

Ordinary herdsmen, on the other hand, don't have so many prejudices against us, and they won't fight to death upon meeting us. "

"I heard that Akito's caravans appear on the grassland from time to time. Is this true?"

Wang Chonggu suddenly spoke at this time.

Ma Fang nodded and said: "Yes, these caravans bribed the border guards privately and wanted to go to the grassland to make money.

However, most of those who managed to get out successfully had the tacit approval of the General Military Mansion. "

Ma Fang was not worried about anything, but directly replied to Wang Chonggu: "There are people I sent in the caravan, and the purpose is to spy on the intelligence of the surrounding Mongols.

Without the caravan as a cover, our people would not be able to enter their camp or get any information. "

"But."

Fang Fengshi still wanted to speak, but Wang Chonggu waved his hand and interrupted: "Mr. Ma must have already considered your concerns."

Ma Fang glanced at Wang Chonggu, and then said to him at the right time: "Those caravans will only bring a few iron pots, and the rest are things like salt and tea.

As far as the iron-making technology of the Tatars is concerned, in fact, even if they are given good iron materials, they cannot make any good weapons.

Many of their swords were produced in the Western Regions, and actually had nothing to do with the imperial court's concerns. "

"I have long heard that the iron-making technology in the Western Region is very strong. Is it true?"

Wang Chonggu asked again.

"There is an Ottoman Empire in the far west. It is said that the weapons manufacturing technology there is extremely high, and the Mughals' level is slightly lower."

Ma Fang actually heard this news when he was on the grassland. After all, due to the existence of the Mongols, the Silk Road had long been cut off.

It is extremely difficult for Ming Dynasty to know the news from the west.

"I heard that there is a country called Timur. I wonder if it is also very powerful?"

Wang Chonggu spoke again.

In fact, what they are talking about now may have been relatively timely news 30 or [-] years ago, but it is still due to information blockage and has long since become a thing of the past.

"Timur's empire used to be very powerful, but it probably isn't anymore."

Ma Fang was not sure, but he seemed to have heard of this country before, but it seemed that it no longer existed at that time.

"I just hope Bao Chongde can complete the task as soon as possible and contact Ada Khan."

Wang Chonggu sighed.

When Wang Chonggu received the document from the capital that day, he saw something fishy in it at the first sight.

What the imperial court issued was not a formal decree, but a "letter" written by the cabinet in an official document format.

Indeed, although it was written in an official document format, the meaning and signature of the letter were more like a letter written by a cabinet minister to them.

It can be seen that the emperor and cabinet ministers recognized the memorial he submitted and asked him to try to contact Anda Khan.

With this official document, he immediately called Fang Fengshi and Ma Fang. After analysis, he roughly guessed the capital's concerns, and that's how Bao Chongde went out to the Great Wall to look for An Dahan.

Waiting for such a long time was actually just waiting for an accurate letter from the capital. After all, if he sent someone to contact Anta Khan without authorization, this would definitely be a crime that would land him in jail.

With this document, which is not an official document, it can at least prove that he did not send people out without permission. Although there was no order from the court, it was recognized by the cabinet ministers.

If there is an investigation, then several cabinet ministers should be arrested and interrogated together.

Well, who in today’s Ming Dynasty dares to interrogate Mr. Ge?
"Sir, dinner is ready."

A servant announced at the door.

At this time, Bao Chongde and others had already entered the Mongolian camp. After explaining their intention to the tribe leader, although they still remained wary, the Mongolian people's naturally generous character still allowed them to prepare wine and meat for Bao Chongde and his party.

At this moment, a group of them were drinking koumiss in a tent, munching on roasted mutton and eating seaweed.

The tribe leader also greeted them and wanted to get more information from them.

If he wanted to see the Khan, this was of course not possible. He could only pass on the news and see what the Khan wanted.

However, the Great Khan may have met with these Ming people, after all, they said that they came with news about Han Naji.