Chapter 57 Recruitment

  At noon, the sun was high in the sky. On the mountain path to the east of Lao Ya Mountain, more than a dozen horse bandits were patrolling along their fixed route. In order to avoid the Chahar people, Xiao Zhiyan had already narrowed down the surveillance area and no longer set foot on the land of Liangcheng.

  The horse thieves patrolling this road have to walk three times a day, and except for occasionally encountering wild rabbits jumping in the forest, there has been no other movement.

  The bandits were very relaxed, chatting while walking, talking about the news of the Great Ming, the predicament of the Tumet people, and of course, they would also complain a few sentences, it had been a long time since they had robbed, not even seeing a woman.

  Deep in the dense forest, several long arrows suddenly flew out, and three horse bandits by the side of the road let out a mournful cry, falling to the ground with arrows lodged in them.

  The remaining horse thieves drew their swords and looked around, unsure how many people were in the woods. Arrows flew out of the forest, hitting two more men.

  "Quickly return to the stronghold!" The horse bandits came to their senses and turned their horses around, galloping back along the way they had come.

  A dozen knights burst out of the forest, pursuing relentlessly.

  Fortunately, under Xiao Zhi's command were all old horse thieves who had been lurking in the grasslands for many years, with excellent riding skills. One by one, they completely lay their bodies on the horseback, reducing the area that could be shot by bows and arrows. The war horses galloped up and down the mountain path, a road they had traveled countless times, and even with eyes closed, they could feel every turn and deep ditch, gradually leaving the pursuing soldiers far behind.

  "Have you been ambushed?" asked Xiao Zhiyan on top of Crow Mountain, looking at the patrol soldier in front of him who was still in a state of shock.

  "Yes, I lost five brothers. The pursuers behind me can't be seen clearly, but judging from the noise, there are over a dozen people." The escaped horse thief was still trembling with fear.

  "Summon the brothers on the mountain at once!" Xiao Zhi got up and took down the longbow from the wall, striding out in big steps.

  A team of scouts was dispatched to monitor the movements on the Linhe Road, and Xiao Zhiyan also ordered people to inform Meng Kang in Heishan to be vigilant.

  Several fixed sentry posts set up in the mountains did not report back to the camp, indicating that no large troops came from Liangcheng. Xiao Zhishen was restless and personally led 50 men down the mountain with the escaped horse thieves to search for the direction of the incident.

  Everyone be careful. From the mountain path where they were chased, Xiao Zhi's words made Xia Ma carefully examine the hoof prints left on the withered grass until the ambush point.

  Five corpses lay flat on the ground, with swords and bows and arrows gone, and war horses nowhere to be seen.

  "Horse thief!" Xiao Zhi's words were softly spoken.

  Only horse thieves can do such things.

  "Search for me!"

  Lao Ya left Lei Yanqian's border troops on the mountain to guard, and all the horse thieves went down the mountain to search for them in a carpet-like manner in the mountains.

  Xiao Zhiyan led his personal troops to tightly lock down the traces left by those people walking in the mountains and forests, and when it came to reconnaissance work, even the best hunters were no more than that.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the traces left in the woods became more and more blurred. It seemed that they could no longer follow them, and Xiao Zhiyan shook his head helplessly. It seemed that they could only continue tracking tomorrow. The mountains were connected to Ling'er and Liangcheng, and at night, poisonous insects and wild beasts often appeared. Since everyone had entered the mountain far away, they urgently needed to find a spacious place to camp.

  After walking for a while, Xiao Zhiyan suddenly noticed that there was a flash of light in the nearby woods.

  "Someone!" He lowered his voice and warned the guards behind him, then looked carefully again, and the distant lights flickered in and out of sight.

  People grope in darkness and move towards the light.

  In the dark night, the light seemed to be right in front of us, but it was actually very far away. A group of people walked along the road, and after more than half a time, they finally arrived at a place where they could see clearly.

  A dozen Mongolians gradually gathered around a bonfire roasting meat while eating and chatting.

  "Tumet people!" Xiao Zhi's words raised the corner of his mouth, and he raised the longbow in his hand, changing his mind.

  A long arrow suddenly shot out of the dark jungle, just fixed on the raging flames, sparks splashing everywhere, scaring the Mongolians who were leaning nearby to shout and scramble for their weapons.

  More than twenty men with bows and arrows walked out of the forest, Xiao Zhiyan walking in the front row, saying: "Everyone raise their hands obediently, whoever moves again is looking for death!"

  The Tumet horse thieves looked at each other and, seeing no chance of resistance, raised their hands one after another.

  "It's tied!" Xiao Zhiyan waved his hand.

  Several bodyguards went up and tied the hands of the Tumed horse thieves one by one.

  Xiao Zhiyan walked into the bonfire, took a piece of roasted half-cooked meat and bit it in his mouth, rough to the taste, indeed horse meat.

  "Today it's your turn to die!" Xiao Zhi said, drawing out the curved knife from his waist.

  "Yes!" A thick-bearded Mongolian man said fearlessly.

  "Are you the horse thieves of Liang City?" Xiao Zhiyan pressed his curved knife against his throat.

  The Mongolians nodded their heads back and replied: "Yes!"

  "Why must you cross borders and launch a sneak attack on us!" Xiao Zhiyan's curved knife drew a bloody line across his throat.

  That Mongolian's face turned pale and said: "We were surrounded by Chahar, so we escaped!"

  Xiao Zhiyan sheathed his sword and ordered: "Take him back to the mountain stronghold!"

  Relying on their familiarity with the terrain, the crowd crept back to the stronghold under cover of night.

  Xiao Zhiyan only found out after interrogation that, after the drought, all Chahar tribes gathered in areas with concentrated water sources. The remaining Tumed horse thieves hiding in the mountains found it increasingly difficult to launch surprise attacks on Chahar herders, and were also pursued by Chahar cavalry who would not give up, suffering heavy casualties, and were preparing to retreat to Hohhot.

  Involving the Tumet people, Xiao Zhi did not dare to make his own decision and ordered someone to go to the Han camp to report to Di Zhe the next day.

  Di Zhe received the report and hastily rushed to Lao Ya Mountain with Che Feng and others.

  After arriving at Lao Ya Mountain and learning about the specific situation, Di Zhe's thoughts were heavy. He called Che Feng to his side and seriously asked: "Are you a Han or a Tumet?"

  Che Feng was taken aback and let out a bitter laugh, saying: "Both are true, I suppose. My appearance resembles that of a Mongolian, but in my heart, I wish I were more Han. However, the Tumet is also my tribe!"

  "I want you to be a Tumet person! Are you willing?"

  Che Feng raised his head and looked at Di Zhe, with a puzzled expression on his face.

  Di Zhe stretched out his hand and pointed to the cell where Guan Ya was holding Ma Zei, saying: "I want you to recruit Tumet horse thieves!"

  "These Tumet people have lost everything in the war and can only stay in Daqing Mountain and Liang City, just like your unfortunate experience. If they return to the Tumet tribe, they will have no relatives or livestock and cannot survive. By joining the Han camp, I can support them!" Di Zhe paced back and forth again, saying: "The Han camp has Tumet people, which will be very beneficial for the coexistence of Han and Tumet people in the future!"

  "It's all up to the master!" Che Feng bowed his head and said, "I only hope that the Han people and the Tumet people can live in peace!"

  "This is also my wish," said Zhai Zhe with his hands behind his back.

  "But from now on, you must bury the heart of a Han person and consider yourself a complete Tumet, in order to control these unruly horse thieves!"

  "Yes!" The sound of Che Feng's voice was somewhat hesitant.

  "Follow me down the mountain!"

  Di Zhe immediately led his entourage away from Old Crow Mountain, and the black horse galloped straight to Mo Tian Ridge near Tokto Grassland.

  He found Princess Ulan for one thing, borrowing twenty Khan account cavalry for use.

  With the sweat account cavalry as a signboard, let the car wind recruit Tumet horse thieves to achieve twice the result with half the effort. On the grassland, Mongolians will never become subordinates of Han people, only Han people may become slaves of Mongolians. Di Zhe wants to recruit Tumet people, and it is also a painstaking effort, looking forward to the future, carefully trying.

  From now on, the Han people who stay in the grasslands will no longer be slaves of the Tumet people. At least, the Han department under my leadership will not be. To improve the status of the Han people, we must first strengthen the power of the Han department and then change the impression of the Han people in the hearts of the Tumet people. If we do not take action when the Tumet department is at its weakest, I fear that there will be no such opportunity in the future.