Chapter 80 A No-Stake Business

The camps of the Mongolian coalition forces were all ten miles north of Yizhou City. From the first blockade where Cao Wenzhao was located to the Mongolian camp, in just half an hour, the Ming side captured at least 800 heads.

Most of the Mongolian soldiers who were hiding in the camp and had no time to escape surrendered. The number of tents and yurts left behind by the two major tribes was so large that troops had to be dispatched from Yizhou City to escort them back.

It was around 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

"It's a pity that we didn't bring many cavalry, otherwise we could have captured more Mongolian soldiers."

Man Gui sighed and lamented. The total number of horseback servants he and other generals including Zuo Fu, Deng Maolin, Xu Zoufu, was just over 400.

They also had some servants who had to stay in the chariot camp to maintain morale and could not be pulled out to march and fight alone.

"I have a plan that can get thousands of Mongolian soldiers and more horses. I wonder if Marshal Man is willing to join forces with me to march north?"

Li Hao asked the fat general while sharpening his heavy sword.

At this time, there was still some time before the chariot soldiers in Yizhou City arrived at the Mongolian camp, so the generals gathered in the big yurt in Zhaisai to rest for a while.

"Northern Expedition? It will take at least ten days or half a month. I can't afford to delay it."

If it takes too long, Mangui won't want to go anymore.

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, a garrison commander leading his troops away from his garrison was considered treason. He was able to go north to help Jinzhou Town this time because he had an official document from Governor Yuan Chonghuan, which was stamped with a small official seal.

"Starting from here, we will arrive tonight and return to Yizhou tomorrow afternoon, which will not delay Marshal Manchu's return to Ningyuan."

After estimating the approximate distance, Li Hao gave the marching time.

Being able to be a general guarding a region, Man Gui naturally understood what this meant.

He said in surprise: "Only chased them to the vicinity of the city wall? Those Mongolian soldiers have no other skills, but they are first-rate at running around on flat ground. I'm afraid they are not easy to catch."

Li Hao laughed, "Someone helped us capture two large groups of Mongolian soldiers. Lin Danhan has been waiting outside the city wall for a long time."

He explained everything to Mangui.

The fat general narrowed his eyes into a slit, licked his lower lip, and came up with an idea.

"I have a plan. We can order the special envoy to return north quickly and tell him that the battle of Ningyuan was fought well and the court is preparing to recapture Guangning and Yizhou again and needs to borrow troops to defeat the Tartars. If Lin Dan Khan is willing to give us some of the captured Mongolian soldiers and horses, we can ask the court to reward him. Probably... 300,000 silver coins in goods, and also ask him to send troops to help in the autumn and winter of this year."

Capturing a large number of war horses was a great achievement. Although Man Gui was also given the title of governor and actually served as the commander-in-chief, he was still overshadowed by Zhao Lushio who was transferred to Shanhaiguan.

Because before and after the siege of Ningyuan, Zhao Lujiao defeated the invading Mongolian soldiers in Qiantun and seized a lot of war horses and supplies.

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb. Zukuan, you should return to Yizhou as soon as possible and bring all the reward silver that came with the army. After the special envoy has seen it, contact Ligdan Khan. Marshal Man, we will go to see him together. With two generals bringing silver, he will have no choice but to believe it."

As long as he meets Lin Danhan, Li Hao's combat power alone is enough to kill the guards around the Mongolian Khan, so there is no need to discuss with Man Gui and others.

"That's even better." Man Gui mistakenly thought that the Jinzhou general was going to exchange silver for prisoners. "Go to Lin Danhan to buy war horses and prisoners. Jinzhou and Ningyuan will split the money 50-50. I will give the silver to General Li after this is done."

In an emergency, he had to take the necessary measures, and he recognized Li Hao's flexibility.

"Do we need to divide the money so clearly? It's just a few thousand taels of silver. I just transferred two powerful generals from Brother Man."

Although Li Hao had no intention of taking out the silver and only brought it with him to let Lin Danhan take a look, he still had to say the polite words.

Man Gui laughed loudly, "Liaozhen is originally a family, but Brother Li has made great contributions in the war, and he has earned us three generals, so there is really no need to divide them so finely. Of the five battalions I brought, Governor Yuan arranged two battalions to garrison Youtun, Jinzhou."

As he spoke, he called out Deng Maolin and Xu Zoufu and instructed the two battalions to exchange towns.

Li Hao smiled as he gave the two men instructions on Jinzhou's defense, but he was not very happy in his heart.

The soldiers led by Deng Maolin were all foreign troops sent to aid Liao. They included soldiers recruited from Jizhen and soldiers from the Beijing camp. Not to mention being able to defend the city and fight the Tartars, they couldn't even run away as fast as the soldiers recruited from Liao.

Xu Zoufu was one of Yuan Chonghuan's confidants, and it was obvious that he was a thorn in Yuan Futai's side in Jinzhou.

Lin Danhan's special envoy and the soldiers from the chariot camp who were escorting the captured arrived soon. Upon hearing that the Ming Dynasty was about to have a new large reward, the special envoy immediately expressed his willingness to go north overnight and persuaded both sides to meet near the Great Wall for talks.

……

Around 9:00 p.m. on April 6, before the sun had even reached the top of the head, messages were being passed back and forth between the Chahar tribe and the Ming dynasty. After the envoys of both sides finalized the details, Lin Danhan finally agreed to discuss the reward silver with the Ming general on a flat ground one mile outside his military camp.

In order to enhance trust, each side sent ten people to participate in the meeting, and the remaining soldiers were placed one mile away from the meeting place, and no more than five of them were allowed to wear armor.

The two generals naturally wore armor when they met the men, and five of the servants who followed them took off their cloth armor.

"My servant Man Youzhi is from Kharachin, so he can be the translator." Man Gui suggested before leaving.

His ancestors were Mongolian military households who settled in Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. He himself grew up in Dunbao, Xuanfu, and could not speak Mongolian.

"also."

Li Hao's servant Gou Quanzhong was still on his way to Jinzhou with the Guancheng recruiting soldiers and did not participate in these small battles.

Only after the Ming side arrived on horseback did Lin Danhan dare to leave the camp and leisurely rode to the meeting place with his personal guards.

Li Hao has been staring at the last Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Lindan Khan's beard is not very thick, his face is not round, his eyebrows are long and thin, and he does not have a big belly. He is quite different from a traditional Mongolian.

"Previously, the reward silver was collected in Zhen'an Fort. Why are we discussing this in Daqing Fort now?"

When Lindan Khan dismounted from his horse, he was helped onto a blanket by his guards in great style, and a Mongolian guard named Koli began to question him.

The Ming Dynasty also responded with great confidence, roughly meaning that the situation was urgent and the original rewarded land had been occupied by the Tartars.

Even when they were talking face to face, the distance between the two sides was maintained at fifteen steps. Li Hao suppressed the urge to kill because Lin Danhan's horse was behind the blanket and he could escape by jumping on it.

The Jinzhou general must ensure that the enemy is killed with one strike.

"Have you seen the woman in white robes in the military camp? She is Namu Zhong, the first wife of Lingdan Khan. She is Oba's niece. The affairs of the Chahar tribe are mainly under her management. Hudun Khan actually does not have much real power."

Man Gui, who was sitting carefree on the chair, whispered what he knew.

He looked down on Lin Danhan, the Khan sitting opposite him, because he had given most of the power to his concubines. How could a woman be in charge of things?
Li Hao nodded and quickly memorized Namu Zhong's main characteristics. After killing Lin Danhan, the next target would be Namu Zhong.

After a long haggling, the two sides finally agreed on the specific terms of exchanging silver for prisoners. When the Ming side paid the deposit first, Li Hao stood up and, together with Man Youzhi, who acted as an interpreter, carried a small box and walked towards Ligdan Khan.

Man Gui was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and shook his head gently to signal the remaining seven servants not to move.

No matter what the Jinzhou general is going to do, at least he has to stabilize this section of the road.

Seeing a young general coming towards him, who had been sitting with the old general before, Lin Danhan felt palpitations for no reason.

"Khan, it's alright. Maybe the Ming general over there wants to personally say a few polite words to the Khan."

The personal guard Koli comforted his Khan in time.

Lin Danhan moved his body, but ultimately did not want to embarrass himself in front of the Ming general and the troops behind him.

If word got out that he was frightened and ran away by a Ming general carrying a box, his prestige, which was already low, would drop further.

After lifting the box weighing over 100 kilograms in front of Lin Danhan, Li Hao took the opportunity when Man Youzhi was about to open the box and smiled kindly at Lin Danhan.

Then he pounced on him, first knocking the Northern Yuan Khan down with his shoulders, and then smashing Lindan Khan's facial features with a headbutt.

He had noticed long ago that the man was wearing thick armor under his fur robe, otherwise he would not have needed the support of his personal guards to sit down.

The Mongolian guards on the side had different reactions. Some loyal ones drew their scimitars on the spot and slashed at the Ming general who killed the Khan.

Koli, who acted as an interpreter, knelt down and shouted words of surrender.

Man Youzhi, who came with them, was stunned by the sudden change. Li Hao drew out Lin Danhan's sword and pushed him to the open space behind him, and quickly chopped down several Mongolian guards who dared to resist.

The Mongolian cavalry in the distance witnessed the sudden change, and various whistling sounds came one after another.

After climbing onto Lin Danhan's warhorse, Li Hao shouted to Man Gui and others who were standing up and preparing to mount their horses: "Let's do a business without any capital!"

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(End of this chapter)