My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 526 Another Northern Expedition
After seeing off Zhang Zhong's fleet, Zhu Zhanhe took Li Qi and others back to the capital. Zhu Di had also begun to gather troops to prepare for another northern expedition to the grasslands.

Oara's Tuohuan has been expanding eastward. Adai Khan, who replaced Arutai, was unable to withstand Oara's soldiers. He was defeated by Tuohuan in several battles, causing the Tatars' sphere of influence to shrink again and again.

If the Ming Dynasty does not send troops again, it will have to sit back and watch Oara unify the grasslands. This is something Zhu Di does not want to see anyway.

Of course, Zhu Di's decision to send troops again was still strongly opposed by Xia Yuanji and others. In the end, Zhu Di was so angry that he almost ordered Xia Yuanji to be arrested. Fortunately, Zhu Zhanhe came back in time and persuaded Zhu Di.

However, no matter how much Xia Yuanji and others objected, they could not stop Zhu Di's determination to send troops, not only because of Zhu Di's toughness, but most importantly because of Zhu Di's money.

In the past, when Zhu Di launched the Northern Expedition, his two major sources of income were issuing treasure banknotes and Zheng He's voyages to the West. Later, the voyages to the West were no longer profitable, but Zhu Zhanhe promoted the opening of the sea. The tax revenue collected by customs in various places every year was astronomical.

In addition, Zhu Di also formed a fleet of his own, participated in sea trade, and went to sea to do business as a royal. He was much better than those ordinary merchants, and his annual income was also considerable.

This money is enough to meet Zhu Di's expenses for sending troops. In addition, Zhu Di holds military and political power, and the cabinet can only obey his orders and cannot check and balance the imperial power in his hands. Therefore, when he made the decision to march to the north, it was destined that no one could block.

So on the morning of this day, Zhu Di led the army again and ordered Zhu Gaochi to supervise the country, assisted by Xia Yuanji and others, and then the army left the capital in a mighty manner.

Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Yong were also in the army, but Zhu Yong was the vanguard, leading an army to clear the way for the front army, and Zhu Zhanhe accompanied Zhu Di, so it was actually difficult for the two to meet in the army.

However, the day before the expedition, Zhu Yong came to Zhu Zhanhe and asked him for his views on the northern expedition.

After Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment, he told Zhu Yong very frankly that he was not optimistic about the Northern Expedition. As long as he was not stupid in having fun, he would not be able to confront the Ming Dynasty head-on.

In the original history, Zhu Di's last three northern expeditions were almost all aimed at attacking Arutai, and Arutai was also very cunning. As soon as he heard that the Ming army was coming, he would immediately run away, even as far as Mobei. It was impossible for Ming's army to pursue them.

Now that Arutai is dead, Tuohuan, who defeated him, is younger and more cunning. So in Zhu Zhanhe's opinion, he will definitely choose the same strategy as Arutai, and run away if he can't be beaten. The grassland is so big anyway. Da, Ming's army cannot stay on the grassland for long, and will retreat sooner or later.

However, even if Zhu Zhanhe expected that the results of this Northern Expedition would not be very good, he did not dissuade Zhu Di. On the one hand, he knew that Zhu Di was determined to consume more of the living forces on the grassland before his death, so He couldn't persuade her either.

On the other hand, even if Zhu Di's Northern Expedition cannot find the main force of Tuohuan, it can also greatly damage Tuohuan's reputation and even interrupt Tuohuan's rise. After all, he escaped, but the tribes that had previously surrendered to him did not. They might all follow and flee. At that time, in order to avoid Ming's revenge, these tribes can only cut off their ties with Tuhuan.

In the original history, Arutai was used by Zhu Di in this way to blunt the momentum of the rise of the Tatars. In the end, although Zhu Di died on the way to the Northern Expedition, Arutai was liberated a few years later. Huan is eliminated in one fell swoop.

It was getting late, and the army set up camp on a piece of flat land outside the fortress. In the commander's tent, Zhu Zhanhe held a candle with his own hands. Zhu Di carefully looked at the map on the table under the candlelight, marking today's march and the news that the scouts had found. on the map.

"Zhanhe, according to the news from the grassland, the main force of Oara is stationed in the Shahuyuan area in order to pursue the remnants of the Tatars. As long as we can use our troops to hold back their main force before they notice, there will be no suspense in this battle. ”

Zhu Di pointed to the location on the map where Hu Yuan was killed and said, his face full of hesitation and ambition.

Arutai was destroyed before, and if Wala can be destroyed this time, then the two most powerful forces on the grassland will disappear. Although other new forces may rise in the future, at least within ten years, the grassland will There is no strength to threaten Ming's borders. "Why is it called Killing Hu Yuan?"

Zhu Zhanhe also asked curiously when he heard the name.

"It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, General Xue Rengui defeated the Hu people there and annihilated tens of thousands of enemy troops in one fell swoop, hence the name. However, the grassland people did not like this name."

Zhu Di explained with a smile.

"I see, but this is a good place. If the emperor can annihilate Tuohuan's Wala army in one fell swoop, it will be a good story!"

Zhu Zhanhe nodded in admiration.

"It's not difficult to defeat Wala's army, as long as they don't run away!"

Zhu Di also showed worry at the end.

Although he has issued an order to block the news of the army's expedition, such a large-scale troop dispatch, coupled with the entry into the grassland, will definitely let the news leak out.

So Zhu Di is now betting that Tuohuan will get the news later. As long as Zhu Yong's vanguard can catch up with Tuohuan and then delay for a while, he can give the main force in the rear a chance to surround them.

"Grandpa Huang, what if Tuohuan learns the news in advance and leads his troops to escape?"

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment, and finally asked the question he was most concerned about.

In his opinion, Tuohuan will definitely pay close attention to the movements of the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Di's dispatch of troops this time may not be able to hide it from Wala's eyes and ears. By the time Zhu Di's army arrives to kill Hu Yuan, Tuohuan will probably have escaped long ago. By then, Zhu Di What to do?
"If that's the case, then I can only kill Wala's lair and try to eliminate part of Wala's power, thereby damaging Tuohuan's reputation and curbing his rise."

Zhu Di sighed at the end. If Tuo Huan really ran away, that's all he could do.

Zhu Zhanhe was silent for a long time after hearing this, and in the end he didn't say anything, because he didn't have a good solution to this matter. Now he can only gamble his luck like Zhu Di. Although the winning rate is very small, it is not impossible. hope.

So in the next few days, Ming's army rushed all the way and rushed to kill Hu Yuan.

However, when there were still three days to go before killing Hu Yuan, the army was suddenly stopped, and someone begged to meet Zhu Di.

The man who asked to see Zhu Di was named Yexian Tugan. This man was the sixth generation grandson of Yexianbuhua, King of Hengyang during the Yuan Dynasty. He was one of the lords of the Tatar tribe and was famous for his fierceness and cunning. When Arutai was still alive, he He often interacted with the Ming Dynasty, and was well known by Zhu Di. He even made him the governor. He was a grassland person who was relatively close to the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)