***
The carved windows of the Wuying Palace were all open. On a small black lacquer table inlaid with mother-of-pearl, there stood a copper enamel and jade-inlaid flower basket. The clever Li Xiangjun had gotten up early in the morning and picked fresh flowers from the imperial garden and put them in the basket.
The flowers with dewdrops are like beauties, charming and beautiful, pleasing to the eyes.
Qin Mu was dressed in a black robe, sitting in front of a black lacquered ivory carved peony screen. Compared to the frown he had yesterday, today the confidence that he could control the world returned to his face.
The beauty of a country can sometimes make a man lose his country. But on the other hand, she can also make a man feel happier, more comfortable, and more confident.
Qin Mu, who had deeply experienced the benefits of combining work and rest last night, said slowly to Sima An, Li Yuan, Gu Jun'en, Yu Shangyou, and Yang Chao: "I remember that during the Spring and Autumn Period when Wu and Yue were fighting for hegemony, Yue sent cooked seeds to Wu, which led to a complete crop failure in Wu that year. Yue took the opportunity to destroy Wu in one fell swoop. Ministers, is this true?"
"Your Majesty, this is definitely recorded in history books."
Yu Shangyou and others didn't know why the emperor suddenly brought up this matter. Now the Qin Dynasty was facing the Qitat, Batur, and Turubaihu, all of whom were nomadic peoples. Even if you gave them seeds, they wouldn't farm.
"What do you think are Gushri Khan Turubaihu's weaknesses?"
The ministers sitting below seemed to be thinking about something. Sima An spoke first, "Your Majesty, Qinghai-Tibet is a high-altitude cold region, and winter comes relatively early."
"Yes, that counts as one. Winter comes earlier in Qinghai-Tibet, while the terrain in Longyou is much lower. Obviously, there is a time difference between the winters in the two places. In other words, the mountains in Qinghai-Tibet are already covered with snow, while in Longyou, troops can still march and fight."
The question and answer between Qin Mu and Sima An made Gu Junen and others feel suddenly enlightened.
Roads are formed by people walking on them. In this era, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is vast and sparsely populated. In fact, there are no roads at all. Once the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, it is almost impossible to travel.
"Tea." Yu Shangyou said suddenly.
Qin Mu said calmly: "Yes, this is also one, but how to send the tea to Tulubaihu's army?"
The Khoshut tribe is also a Mongolian people, and they also mainly eat meat. It can be said that they cannot do without tea for a meal. What the enemy relies on is often the enemy's weakness.
It is not difficult to deliver the tea to Turubaihu's army, but the difficult part is how to make the enemy drink the tea without noticing the trick.
Qin Mu sighed at this time: "As the saying goes. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child."
***
Hetao, Ordos grassland.
Bayinnur Lake is like a tear dropped by a fairy on the grassland. It is clear and bright, reflecting the high blue sky and white clouds.
The wind blowing from Yinshan Mountain echoes with the cries of wild geese.
Looking west, the majestic Helan Mountains are like thousands of horses galloping, the white snow on the tops reflects the sunlight, and the clouds are magnificent.
Bayinnur means "rich lake" in Mongolian. This lake is worthy of its name. The area along the lake is flat and lush with grass and water. Cows are mooing and sheep are running. Thousands of sheep are like white clouds spreading on the grassland. Herds of horses are galloping happily on the grass and neighing in the wind... ...
There are yurts by the lake, like mushrooms growing on the grassland, with curling smoke floating up to the sky, and everything seems peaceful and beautiful.
Wen Cunxiao led two thousand Qin troops and advanced towards Bayinnur Lake like a black cloud. The autumn wind on the frontier blew in their ears, and the rumbling of iron hooves broke the tranquility of the Bayinnur Lake.
Hadanbaatar, the former taiji of the Ordos Right Wing Middle Banner and now the captain of the Bayinnur Thousand Households of Daqin, came out with more than 20 young and strong men from the tribe. They dismounted from their horses at a distance, bowed and greeted them with an extremely respectful attitude.
Wen Cunxiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was no change near Bayinnur Lake. He finally arrived before the Qitate army.
He ordered the army to stop and came to Hadanbaatar with dozens of his personal soldiers.
"Your humble servant respectfully welcomes General Wen." Hadanbaatar spoke Chinese with an awkward accent that made it difficult for people to understand, but his attitude was definitely humble enough.
Wen Cunxiao jumped off his horse and said loudly, "Captain Bater, there is no need to be so polite. I'm sure you know the purpose of my visit. Do you have any news about the Qitatai army?"
Due to the Qin Dynasty's promotion of sinicization in Hetao, although Hadanbaatar still wore Mongolian clothing, his hairstyle was no longer the original Mongolian style of leaving a bunch of hair braided on each ear and another bunch of short hair on the forehead. Instead, he wore his hair in a bun like the Han people, which looked much more pleasing to the eye.
He saluted respectfully again and said, "General Wen, I heard that the Chitate rebels are still in Ejin Khoro."
Wen Cunxiao was a little confused after hearing this. It was about four or five hundred miles away from Dongshengwei to Yijinhuoluo. The Qitate army had entered Dongtao for many days, so why were they still in Yijinhuoluo
"When did you get the news?"
"General Wen, I received the news the day before yesterday. The tribesmen knew that the enemy had invaded Dongtao and were very worried. With the arrival of General Wen, everyone can finally rest assured. General Wen and the soldiers have come from afar and worked hard. Please come to my tent and have some wine and meat first. I have also asked people to prepare dinner for the soldiers."
"Okay, I'll trouble you then."
Wen Cunxiao returned to the army, gave a few instructions to the deputy general Zhao Zhensheng, and then went to the big tent by the lake with Hadan Bater.
Hadanbaatar shouted loudly in Mongolian. In the large yurts, Mongolian girls brought out wine, and Mongolian men carried out fat sheep, put them on the pile of dry firewood, and lit a fire to roast them. Soon, the aroma of meat wafted around the Bayinnur Lake.
Following Wen Cunxiao's instructions, Zhao Zhensheng ordered the two thousand soldiers not to remove their saddles, and left half of them to guard the horses, waiting for the other half to take over after dinner. He also warned the soldiers not to drink, not to tease Mongolian girls, and to remain vigilant.
In the big tent, Hadanbaatar didn't care about the Qin army's vigilance at all, and praised Wen Cunxiao: "General Wen leads the troops well, and this has really opened my eyes. With such soldiers, we can win the battle. My people and I can rest assured now. Come, let me toast to General Wen."
Hadanbaatar sat cross-legged on a blanket behind a small table, picked up the wine bowl and drank it first as a sign of respect.
Wen Cunxiao took off his sword and put it beside him, smiling and replied: "Captain Bater, you are too kind. My warriors of the Great Qin are not allowed to drink alcohol during marches and battles. I appreciate your kindness, but forget about the wine. As the commander of the army, I cannot break military rules first."
Hadanbaatar immediately laughed and said, "I was not thoughtful enough. Come on, change goat milk for General Wen..."
"No need, just give me a cup of tea." Wen Cunxiao has been in Hetao for several months, but he still can't get used to the strong smell of goat's milk. He picked up a piece of golden roasted mutton on the plate with a knife and started eating.
A Mongolian girl serving in the tent brewed a pot of tea and brought it over. As soon as it was poured out, the aroma of tea filled the air. It turned out to be the best Longjing tea.
Wen Cunxiao served the roasted mutton with tea and said as he ate: "Captain Bater, you are now also a general of the Qin Dynasty. Qi Ta Te invaded Hetao and will invade here sooner or later. If you don't want to surrender to the enemy, you must make preparations early. Tomorrow, let the young and strong men under your command go with me to fight the enemy."
Wen Cunxiao stopped eating and looked at Hadanbaatar quietly. He thought he would find an excuse to refuse, but unexpectedly, Hadanbaatar responded: "General Wen has given an order, and I will obey it. Tomorrow morning, I will gather the warriors of the tribe and follow General Wen to attack Qitate."
"That's good." Wen Cunxiao said with relief.
Now that the reinforcements have not arrived, Wen Cunxiao can only try his best to get these Mongolian tribes to join the battle. Hadanbaatar was granted the title of a thousand households, and he can mobilize 1,300 combat soldiers under his command, ranking second in strength among the Mongolian tribes in the eastern set.
Under the current situation, although these Mongolian tribes are not very trustworthy and Wen Cunxiao is very wary of them, it is better than pushing them to the Qitats anyway.
As long as we drag them onto the battlefield and have a bloody battle with the Chitats, and the two sides become enemies, then things will be easy.
Wen Cunxiao was cautious and vigilant everywhere, and it was indeed true that there was no poison in the meat and tea consumed by the Qin army. The first batch of soldiers ate for a long time and only after they found nothing unusual did it become the turn of the second batch of soldiers to eat.
But no one expected that something would happen that night.
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