Chapter 28: Searching

  Xiao Zhi's words were like a hunting dog, checking tracks in the forest and grasslands, from hoof prints to animal dung. Di Zhe could only wait, among his personal guards there were many skilled hunters, who had witnessed Xiao Zhi's tracking skills and were also amazed. After searching for more than half a day, passing through dense forests, Xiao Zhi pointed to the distant grasslands and said: "Do you see? There is a Mongolian tribe over there!"

  Three Mongolian yurts stand at the foot of a grassy slope, with herds of livestock in the distance.

  The cavalryman behind him took a closer look and said, "That's right, it's the Tumet people!" Having been slaves in the Tumet tribe for nearly ten years, they could still clearly distinguish the appearance of their former tribe.

  Xiao Zhiyan shook the reins and said, "Let's go past them again tonight, don't scare them!"

  Di Zhe laughed and said, "It's getting late! I think you really want to scare them!" He immediately picked out ten of his personal guards and ordered Che Feng to lead the others to temporarily camp in the mountains. He urged his horse to head towards the grasslands. The twelve cavalrymen walked slowly in the direction of the Mongolian yurt, and the Mongolians soon discovered them.

  Six or seven men rushed out of the tent, quickly mounted their horses and ran while shouting: "Horse thieves! There are horse thieves!"

  Di Zhe raised his hands high on the Great Black Horse, and the cavalry marched at a moderate pace.

  After a moment of confusion, the Mongols found that the situation was not as bad as they had thought. This group of people did not look like the usual horse thieves. Seven or eight Mongols urged their horses towards Zhai Zhe's direction, holding bows and arrows tightly in their hands, being cautious and on guard.

  "We're not horse thieves!" Zhao Zhe shouted loudly.

  "Where are you from!" The Mongolian man walking in front took out an arrow and placed it on the bowstring.

  "We are from Da Ming, we are all Han people!"

  The eyes of the Tumet people are still full of suspicion and doubt.

  Di Zhe turned his head and let the people behind him stop, keeping his hands high and urging the big black horse to walk past.

  Seeing this scene, the Tumet people also lowered their bows in their hands.

  "I am an envoy from the Great Ming, sent to the grasslands to find the Ombo Khan of Tumuerte!"

  The sturdy man opposite him burst out laughing and finally said with tears in his eyes, "Han people, you can go now, the Great Khan is no longer here!"

  "Ombu Khan is the Shunyi King appointed by the Great Ming. The Great Ming and the Tumet people are brothers, we came here to help the Tumet people!"

  "He's gone!" The man threw up his hands, "No one knows where he went!"

  Di Zhe thought for a moment and said: "Can you temporarily take us in? We have been ordered to come, we must find the Khan!"

  The man carefully sized him up and replied stiffly: "No way!"

  Di Zhe wanted to say more, but the man turned his horse's head and beckoned to the people beside him, leading others to retreat towards the Mongolian yurt.

  Di Zhe also made a gesture to the people behind him, and Xiao Zhisheng followed closely. Twelve cavalrymen followed behind the Tumet people, heading in the direction of the Mongolian yurt.

  The Tumet people were furious, and the Han man led his troops back, asking: "What do you want to do?"

  Di Zhe spread his hands and said: "We really need to find a big sweat, and our supplies are not many, want to buy two sheep from you!"

  "Not for sale!" The man took down his bow and arrow again.

  After Di Zhe's death, Xiao Zhishan and others also picked up arrows in their hands.

  A young fellow behind Khan shouted loudly: "Temur, they are not robbers!"

  The man turned his head and shouted angrily: "Shut up!" Then he weighed the situation in front of him, relaxed his tone and said: "I can only sell you one sheep!"

  Di Zhe showed a gesture to Xiao Zhen and others to put away their weapons, smiled and said: "I will use fine wine to exchange, the Han people and the Tumote people are brothers!" After finishing speaking, he took down the wine bag hanging on the horse, poured a mouthful into his own mouth, and then threw it forcefully towards the opposite side.

  Temur opened the wine pouch, carefully sniffed it first, then took a sip. His eyebrows slowly relaxed as he said: "Han people, don't blame us for being rude, we are not what we used to be. The Chahar and horse thieves have been harassing us in turn, making our situation difficult!"

  Di Zhe urged his horse forward, stretching out his right hand and saying: "The Han people and the Tumote people are brothers!"

  The crisis was finally resolved, and a dozen or so horsemen followed Tumert to the Mongolian tent. Di Zhe took three more wine bags from his guards and handed them over to Tumert, in exchange for two sheep. The grassland people have always taken mare's milk wine as their main drink, and there is a lot of trade between Tumert and the Han people, who can also get Shanxi's Zhuyeqing, but that is not something that ordinary herdsmen can taste. Four wine bags were exchanged for two sheep, and both sides felt they had not lost out.

  The Tumet people accepted Di Zhe and others also because of the situation, after all, if both sides had a conflict, Di Zhe's side would have more people and momentum, and the ones who would suffer losses would still be their own side.

  Di Zhe's men, who had been living on the grasslands for a long time, quickly slaughtered and processed the two sheep, cutting them into chunks and putting them in bags. They also got the Tumet people to stew the remaining bones and meat, and for five days they ate dry rations with snow water, which didn't bother anyone else, but Di Zhe couldn't take it anymore.

  Hospitality is a characteristic of the Mongolians, with wine and meat, a group of people quickly became close friends, and with Di Zhe and others deliberately flattering, Temur's estrangement slowly dissipated.

  "To be honest, Da Ming brought us to the grassland this time to help the Tumet people!" Di Zhe drank a cup of Tumet horse milk wine and said seriously: "The Han people and the Tumet people have been friends for decades, don't rely on the Chahar people!"

  Temur let out a long sigh and said, "Nowadays, the Tumet tribe is restricted by the Chahar people in the Tokto Grassland, and some of our tribesmen are hiding in the Hetao Grassland. The Chahar people often rob us of our livestock, and it's really hard to make a living."

  Dai Zhe raised his wine cup and said: "Find the Ombu Khan, cooperate with the Ming Dynasty and the Tumet people, and drive the Chahar people out of the south together!"

  Herders were in high spirits, raising their cups of wine.

  After three rounds of wine, there was a speech by Xiao as an accompaniment. The Mongolians were drinking very happily. Di Zhe suddenly asked: "I don't know where the Khan is now?"

  A young herdsman suddenly said: "The Great Khan was in..."

  "Temur suddenly shouted: 'Uliji, shut up!'"

  Wuliji pouted and said: "They are people of the Great Ming!"

  Di Zhe revealed a very unhappy expression and said: "Temur, you're not treating us as friends!"

  Temur sneered and said: "The Great Khan indeed fell in an unknown place! If you don't believe it, go find him somewhere else on the Tokto Plain!"

  There were still many Tumet herders on the Tokto Grassland, but as Temur said, their flocks were no longer grazed for themselves. Chahar regularly levied livestock and also prohibited them from grazing eastward. Zhai Zhe and others wandered here for five days, scattering all over Daming to find news of Ombu Khan, until the food was almost exhausted without any news.

  Di Zhe always pitched his tent near Temur's and other Mongolians' yurts, and became increasingly familiar with those herders.

  Wuliji was very friendly to them, occasionally coming over to chat with them and ask about the situation inside the Great Wall of China. He was a happy Mongolian young man, enthusiastic and hospitable, except for talking a bit too much, there was nothing wrong with him. Zhai Zhe and Xiao Zhishan both liked him very much.

  It was another unproductive day, even the waist knife of his personal guard had been used to exchange for food. Xiao Zhiyan had lost confidence, only Di Zhe still seemed confident.

  When the sky was dark, Di Zhe and others returned to Temur's yurt again. Ulji's family had cooked hot soup for him. As the night slowly quieted down, Di Zhe hadn't fallen asleep in his tent yet when he heard a sound of horse hooves not far away.

  "Someone's coming!" Xiao Zhiyan also poked his head out of the tent.

  A dozen or so dark shadows lingered not far away, Temur's sheepdog barked incessantly. The herdsmen came out of the Mongolian yurt, saw the scene in front of them and were not surprised, each returned to their tent to take out the slaughtered livestock.

  A voice came from the darkness: "Is the messenger of the Great Ming here?"

  "Exactly!" replied Di Zhe loudly.

  "Follow me!"

  Di Zhe led out a large black horse, Xiao Zhi's words closely followed behind him.

  Temur saw the cavalry in the darkness and did not approach, shouting: "The livestock we offer to the Great Khan for winter are all ready!"

  "Some of the cavalrymen replied: 'There is enough food for winter, you can stay behind yourselves!'"

  Di Zhe ordered his other close guards to stay and guard the place, and rode off with Xiao Zhishen.

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