Chapter 36: The Road is Open (Part 2)

  A thin cold mist enveloped the mountains of Hohleind and Lindgruen, hiding the turmoil that was taking place there.

  In order to prevent the unexpected entry of Chahar people from discovering the changes here, Di Zhe set up many informants at the Liangcheng border. Once someone enters, they will immediately report back.

  At the foot of Hei Mountain, Tumuert cavalry flaunted their might. Geng Guang had received news two days ago, but he didn't leave because he was a fugitive from Shaanxi and Ming Dynasty had no hiding place for him.

  Geng Guang interrogated the horse thieves who escaped from Lao Ya Mountain again and again. The Tumet people initially advised Zhongshan Lang to surrender, but it was the Han cavalry that launched a surprise attack on Zhongshan Lang, which suggests that the Tumet people may be willing to accept the Han people. When all else fails, they can only rely on the Tumet people. Every year, there are Han people who leave through the western pass and join the Tumet tribe, Geng Guang never thought he would take this path himself.

  The three roads down the mountain were all blocked, and cavalry came and went on the road in the forest below. Geng Guang couldn't figure out how many people had come, but he was sure that there were more of them than his own men. He decided to send someone down the mountain to probe for information.

  Di Zhe was arranging for his troops to camp, when two messengers came down from Hei Shan. The leader of the two was a thin and frail-looking man who looked more like a scholar than a bandit.

  Princess Ulan did not appear again and was received by Geerdiltu and Chao Zhe.

  The envoy bowed and said: "Our great Khan says that he has no intention of being an enemy to the Tumet people, and promises never again to disturb the Tumet herders!"

  Ge Rile looked at Di Zhe.

  "Considering you are all Chinese, if you leave now, I promise to spare your lives!"

  The messenger stole a glance at Di Zhe and said with a bitter smile: "Leaving here, we have no way out!"

  Di Zhe didn't understand and asked: "Why?"

  "Last year, Shaanxi suffered a great famine, and the people were forced to sell their children for food. When the border troops were summoned to the capital to defend the emperor, the starving people rose up in revolt on all sides. Now it's like a scene from hell; we're only leaving the pass because we have no other choice."

  "Is the Great Ming more difficult than the grasslands?" Zhai Zhe disbelieved.

  The messenger sighed and said, "If we could kill people to fill the fields and cook their flesh for food, it wouldn't be difficult! But our masters can't bring themselves to do such a thing. If we eat people today, tomorrow we might also be eaten by others."

  Di Zhe saw that the messenger answered fluently and asked: "Have you read books?"

  "I was once a scholar!"

  Although a Xiucai in China cannot hold office, they already have some status in the Ming Dynasty. Who would have thought that he ended up in a den of thieves?

  "You can stay with Huling'er too, but you must surrender and accept our reorganization." Zhai Zhe let out a sigh of relief.

  "The great Khan said, willing to surrender to the Tumed tribe, but wants to still be stationed in Heishan!"

  "That's not acceptable, if you surrender, everyone must come down the mountain, I promise not to harm you!"

  The messenger hesitated for a moment and said: "I want to go back to the mountain to ask for instructions!" He first came down from the mountain to explore the situation at the foot of the mountain, now that his goal has been achieved, he decided to return.

  Di Zhe had a good impression of this messenger and asked "What's your name!"

  "My humble name is Wang Yi."

  "In three days, if you don't come down the mountain within three days, I'll attack the mountain and not a single chicken or dog will be left!" Since Wang Yi thought that Geng Guang's conscience was still intact, Zhai Zhe also wanted to test him out and see if he was really like this.

  Wang Yi returned to the mountain two days ago and there has been no news from him. Di Zhe and Princess Wulan led nearly a thousand horses and men, hiding at the foot of Hei Mountain, being cautious day and night, preventing Geng Guang from breaking out.

  On the third day after noon, Wang Yi went down the mountain alone and saw Di Zhe, saying: "The patriarch said that he is willing to surrender, but these people on the mountain must all stay here, the Tumote tribe will support them!"

  "That's natural!"

  Wang Yi turned back to the mountain, and more than 20 people came down from the main mountain road half an hour later. The leader had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with bulging muscles, and surprisingly wore only a few thin clothes in such cold weather.

  "Down with Geng Guang!" The big man nodded to Di Zhe and the others, his attitude very arrogant, and he didn't seem to feel any discomfort at all from surrendering after coming down the mountain.

  "Go down, Di Zhe!" Di Zhe walked a few steps forward.

  "You are a Han! I want to see a Mongolian!" Geng Guang didn't even give him a glance.

  Di Zhe smiled and said: "The Tumet's Han department will be led by me!"

  "I surrender only to Tamerlane!"

  "Then go back!" Zhai Zhe waved his hand.

  Geng Guang almost choked, and after a moment, seeing that Ge Rile Tu and others behind Di Zhe had no reaction, he hesitantly said: "After surrendering, my subordinates will continue to be under my command!"

  "You can choose fifty people to stay with you, and I will arrange for the others. No one can guarantee anything on the grasslands, and I will treat them just like other Han people!"

  "You!" Geng Guang took a step forward, standing opposite Zhai Zhe, his ox-like eyes staring at Zhai Zhe, and after a long while, he let out a breath and nodded silently.

  Di Zhe leaned forward, sticking his head next to Geng Guang's ear and saying in a mosquito-like voice: "Don't worry, we are both Han people. On the grasslands, Han people can only stand firm by working together."

  After a few probing sentences, Geng Guang also saw that these Han people were not subordinate to the Tumet people, and their relationship was more like cooperation, with a heap of doubts in his mind.

  The handover went smoothly, with over 300 people on Hei Mountain, including some elderly and weak women and children. Geng Guang chose 50 of his personal soldiers to stay behind, while the others were temporarily relocated to Lao Ya Mountain. Geng Guang was still worried and rushed to Lao Ya Mountain to personally settle his subordinates, many of whom were his clansmen.

  Soldiers resolved the Hei Shan issue without bloodshed, and Di Zhe's excitement was beyond words.

  Killing cannot bring him joy, compared to killing people, living people will make him more at ease. The foggy mountains still hide some dying refugees, Zhai Zhe orders to search for them all, those who can survive are lucky, and those who cannot be saved are destined.

  From Duo Yan grassland brought five hundred people, plus more than five hundred horse thieves who surrendered at Sha Hu Kou, Zhai Zhe directly led the horse thieves exceeded one thousand people, and there were also some refugees who could not ride or shoot, more than four hundred people.

  On Lao Ya Mountain, Di Zhe divided the men and horses into five groups. Che Feng, Meng Kang, and Geng Guang each led 150 people, while he and Xiao Zhiyan each commanded 300 people. He also called over Wang Yi to take charge of the refugees, which would also put Geng Guang at ease.

  Geng Guang and Meng Kang were stationed on Hei Shan, while the others temporarily stayed at Lao Ya Shan. On Hei Shan, apart from Geng Guang's fifty trusted men, everyone else was brought over from Duo Yan Cao Yuan. Meng Kang felt very reassured with Di Zhe there, but he still had to be on guard against Geng Guang for a while.

  Borrowing the prestige of the Tumet people, he completely settled accounts with several major horse thieves in Lin'er before spring arrived, and Kill Hu Kou had already opened his arms to welcome him.

  Winter is almost over, and it takes as much grain to feed people as spring is the season for sowing.

  When the soldiers surrounded Hei Shan, Ning Sheng led a merchant team to Kill Hu Kou, first to make some preparations. Di Zhe planned to enter after Yuan Xiao Festival to pay respects to various business households.

  Princess Ulan saw that the situation in Helin was already settled, and she also led the Tumet cavalry back to Motian Ridge. In order to confuse the Chahar people, Zhai Zhe still had to regularly send Han Chinese bandits to raid the Tumet herders on the Tokto grassland. Of course, Zhai Zhe didn't know that Lindan Khan's eyes were no longer focused on such a trivial matter. After solving the problem of the Tumet tribe in the south of the desert, he wanted to return to Zhangba Grassland and compete with the Jurchen people for control of the Mongolian tribes east of the desert, because he was the great khan of 4 million Mongolians, and he wanted to unify the various Mongolian tribes like his ancestor Genghis Khan.