Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 398 Dong Qing: The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

After the beginning of spring, the temperature starts to warm up day by day.

The snow on the grassland gradually melted, and tender green grass sprouts began to emerge.

The young herdsman rode on the horse's back, looking leisurely, waving his whip from time to time.

Driving the cattle and sheep to graze on the tender green grass buds on the pasture.

The livestock have been hungry for a whole winter. Now that the weather has finally warmed up, they naturally want to eat something good as soon as possible to gain some fat.

Looking at the sparse grass sprouts around him and the sandy land that was like a patch of scabies and could not be covered by the grass sprouts at all, the young herdsman could not help but sigh.

There is visible sadness on his face!

Thanks to a job they did in Zhangjiakou before winter, and the fact that there was no heavy snowstorm, the Sunite tribe had a rare warm winter last year.

But the problem lies in this rare warm winter!
There was little snow last winter, and many experienced elders in the tribe predicted that locust and drought disasters might be inevitable after the beginning of this spring.

By then, the entire grassland will probably turn into a purgatory.

This is definitely not a good thing!
The ecological carrying capacity of the grassland is too fragile compared to that of the interior.

If there is a natural disaster inside the pass, perhaps we can survive it by holding on.

But on the grassland, once a natural disaster occurs, it can easily be a catastrophic disaster.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the complicated emotions in his heart, the young herdsman began to drive the cattle and sheep to the next pasture.

Sheep are brainless creatures. If you don't watch them, they will eat all the tender shoots and grass roots on the pasture.

Once the grass roots are eaten away, the grassland will be ruined.

Although the herders do not understand the principles of desertification, they know that sustainable development is necessary and they cannot let the animals eat as they please.

Therefore, if you are a shepherd, you have to drive the sheep frequently and change places frequently.

"Let's go, let's go, let's change places..."

The herdsmen waved their whips to drive the sheep.

The sheep that were grazing bleated and began to move reluctantly.

Just, at this time.

The horse under the herdsman's crotch suddenly neighed uneasy and stamped its hooves on the ground.

Xilulu! Xilulu!
At the same time, the sheepdogs he brought with him began to bark wildly in one direction.

The herdsmen were somewhat confused when they saw this.

But he still subconsciously comforted the horse under him.

The thick and warm palm stroked the horse's mane, and the horse, which had been neighing anxiously, finally quieted down.

But at this moment, the herdsmen also realized that something was wrong.

Because he felt the ground shaking.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Loud rumbling noises came from a distance.

What followed was a large cloud of smoke and dust at the end of the sight.

The young herdsman looked closely and saw a large group of cavalrymen galloping.

There is a flag in the cavalry group.

On the red flag, there is a huge word "Tang".

"Eshout!"

"The cavalry! It's the cavalry!"

"The Tang Army's cavalry is coming!"

"..."

The young herdsman let out a scream and was greatly frightened.

He immediately turned his horse around, not even bothering to look after the cattle and sheep he was grazing, and rode away, fleeing in the direction of the tribal camp.

Behind him, the Tang cavalry rushed in pursuit.

The sound of horse hooves is like thunder!
……

On the shore of Aruyinchadamu Lake.

In the camp of the Sunite tribe.

A hot pot of hot pot was placed on the table.

Onion slices, red dates and other ingredients are cooked in boiling hot water.

Next to the pot, there are plates of freshly cut beef and mutton.

The Sunite Khan Eduo is entertaining guests.

"Haha, Master Ma, please try it."

"This is the fattest lamb on my Sunite grassland. Just boil it in water and dip it in sesame sauce. It's very fragrant."

“This is the real flavor of Beijing!”

Ma Xiangyun on the opposite side did not refuse when he heard this. He picked up a piece of bright red mutton with chopsticks and put it into the pot.

After a while, the bright red mutton changed color and was quickly cooked.

Ma Xiangyun picked up the mutton, dipped it in sesame paste from the seasoning bowl, and then put it into his mouth to chew.

In an instant, the delicious taste of mutton and the aroma of sesame paste bloomed in his mouth.

Tasting the delicious food and recalling his past life in the capital, Ma Xiangyun kept nodding and praising the food.

"As expected, the lamb from the Sunite grassland is delicious."

After saying that, he put down his chopsticks and looked at Eduo seriously.

"I wonder what the Khan thinks of the alliance I proposed?"

Ma Xiangyun is the newly appointed Minister of Rites of Dongqing. He is from the Eight Banners of the Han Army. His purpose of coming to the grassland this time is to win over the grassland tribes and form an alliance with Dongqing to resist the military pressure from the Tang Dynasty and Western Qing.

As the Tang Dynasty appointed the new emperor of Xiqing as the Prince of Xiqing, it accepted Xiqing's surrender and executed Yi alive by slow slicing in the capital.

The pressure on Dongqing is increasing!
In order to break the impasse, Gui Liang ordered envoys to be sent to the grasslands, requesting an alliance with the various grassland tribes to jointly deal with the threats from Xiqing and the Tang Dynasty.

In Gui Liang's view, as long as he could gain the support of various tribes on the grassland, then conquering Xiqing would not be a problem.

As long as he conquered the Western Qing, he would be able to reintegrate the power of the entire Qing Dynasty and unite the Mongolian tribes to jointly deal with the threat from the Tang Dynasty.

Only in this way will the Qing Dynasty still have hope!
Ma Xiangyun was the envoy he sent. His first battle on the grassland was against the Sunite tribe.

The reason why the Sunite tribe was chosen instead of the Khorchin tribe, which was once a staunch supporter of the Qing Dynasty, was mainly because the Khorchin tribe had been pulled over by the Western Qing Dynasty and was now fighting fiercely with the Western Qing Dynasty.

The Eastern Qing had no choice but to prepare to win over the Sunite tribe.

Upon hearing this, Eduo did not directly answer Ma Xiangyun's question, but continued to greet him.

"Haha, Master Ma, don't just eat meat, drink some wine!"

"Try the kumis of my Sunite tribe. My Sunite tribe doesn't just have mutton. This kumis is also a specialty..."

It is obvious that Eduo does not want to get involved in the dispute between Dongqing and Xiqing.

In other words, he didn't want to stand on Dongqing's side.

As for the reason, it's very simple.

Because the situation that Dongqing is facing now is too critical.

They were being intentionally targeted by the Tang Dynasty and might be in danger of destruction at any time.

If the Sunite tribe formed an alliance with the Eastern Qing at this time, they might be implicated when the Eastern Qing was destroyed.

Even if you are not implicated, being splattered with blood is not a good thing.

Ma Xiangyun heard the evasion in Eduo's words, his face darkened, and then he said.

"Whether the Khan is willing to admit it or not, Sunite and my Qing Dynasty are now tied to the same rope."

"The Khan's current evasion is meaningless."

"After the Sunite raid on Zhangjiakou, your tribe has already offended the Tang Dynasty. I believe it won't be long before the Tang army will march north to retaliate."

"By then, I don't need to say much about the fate of the Sunite tribe. The Khan should also know it."

"In the current situation, if the Sunite tribe wants to protect itself, the only way out is to form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty and fight the enemy together."

From the perspective of the Eastern Qing, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Since the Sunite tribe and the Tang Dynasty had fallen out, they would naturally be allies of the Qing Dynasty.

When Eduo heard this, the expression on his face became a little unnatural.

"This... this, this, the reason why my army went to Zhangjiakou was because we couldn't survive, right?"

"If not for this, how could we dare to take the initiative to offend the Tang Dynasty?"

The Mongols at this time are no longer the Mongols of the past. Having been targeted by the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty for nearly 500 years, Mongolia is now at the weakest stage in its history.

If there was no reason, they would not dare to take the initiative to provoke the emerging Central Plains dynasty.

The reason why the Sunite tribe chose to go to Zhangjiakou to make a move was because they had suffered a defeat and heavy losses in their battles with other Mongolian tribes.

During the retreat, most of the tribe’s supplies were stolen!

If they don't want to freeze to death in the winter, then going to Zhangjiakou to do something and steal some supplies is their only option.

Hearing this, Ma Xiangyun sneered and continued.

"is it?"

"But it is a fact that your unit seized Zhangjiakou."

"I don't believe that the Tang Kingdom will give up revenge and liquidation against your tribe just because your seizure of Zhangjiakou is excusable!"

"Who knows, the Tang army heading north may be on the way now!"

When Eduo heard this, the expression on his face froze instantly.

Because he had actually realized this a long time ago, but was unwilling to accept the reality, so he chose to ignore it and not think about him.

Now that Ma Xiangyun had exposed the truth, he could no longer deceive himself.

Naturally, I feel solemn in my heart!
Seeing Eduo's expression change, Ma Xiangyun continued to ask.

"How about it?"

"Is the Khan now willing to reconsider the alliance with the Qing Dynasty?"

Eduo opened his mouth, nodded and said in a serious tone.

"All right!"

"I will seriously consider this matter..."

However, at this moment, a loud commotion broke out outside Eduo's tent.

Eduo frowned and was about to curse when he saw a young herdsman running in in a panic.

"Sweat!"

"Something bad has happened, Khan!"

"Tang Army...Tang Army is coming!"

"..."

When Eduo heard this, the expression on his face kept changing.

"what happened?"

"what is going on?"

The young herdsman took several deep breaths, evened out his breathing, and then spoke.

"Great Khan, when I was grazing outside the camp, a group of Tang cavalry suddenly appeared and attacked from the south."

"I dare not delay. I left the cattle and sheep grazing and rushed back to report to the Khan immediately..."

Eduo took a deep breath and continued to ask.

"Tang cavalry?"

"how many people?"

The herdsman shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

"To reply to the Khan, the invading Tang...Tang army is endless."

"I can't even count how many people there are!"

It is said that once the number of people exceeds ten thousand, there is no limit.

As for cavalry, only a few thousand would be needed to achieve the same effect.

This herdsman was really frightened by the Tang cavalry who seemed to have descended from the sky, and he didn't even bother to count how many people there were.

Looking back now, all that remained in his mind was the spectacular sight of endless cavalry galloping.

Nothing else!
(End of this chapter)