Chapter 265: Soft Heart, Bet
"More than twenty Ming people died." Jineng reported.
Altan signed a document and handed it to a civil servant, "Tell them that I also want to build a city, but I don't have the financial and material resources at the moment."
"Yes." The civil servant hesitated to speak.
"But is anyone dissatisfied?" I asked.
The civil servant said: "Some people say...if we don't build a city, we will be like bandits."
Altan looked at Jineng and said, "Jineng, what do you think?"
Jineng said: "If we build a city now, it will cost a lot of money and food. And we will need many craftsmen."
"Isn't that enough?" asked the civil servant.
"Not even close." Jinen said bluntly, "Those fools only see the benefits of living in the city, but not the disadvantages. If they settle down, within twenty years, the warriors will forget how to ride and shoot."
Altan waved his hand and the civil servant took his leave.
"Actually, I wanted to build a city." Altan's eyes were dim. "Although that great Khan showed goodwill to me, he looked down on me deep down and said that I stole the Khanship... That idiot, didn't he grant me the Khanship?"
"He's just an idiot who was sidelined." Jineng mocked the Mongol Khan who had passed away more than a year ago without any hesitation.
"Building a city is a symbol, Jineng." Altan said, "We need a symbol to unite the tribes. Nomadism is more in line with our tradition, but many times, we have to make compromises."
“But there are many things missing!”
"The White Lotus said they would help. Besides, Zhao Quan and others have been whispering in my ear that the Ming Dynasty has everything needed to build the city."
"What a shame." Jinen said, "We need a break right now."
"Yes!" Altan took a sip of tea, frowned and said dissatisfiedly: "This tea is very bitter."
“There’s good tea in the south.”
"So, after opening up trade, we can exchange cattle, sheep and furs for many things we are in short supply." Altan said, "This is also one of the reasons why I am willing to stop the war."
"What's infuriating is that the Ming people don't allow open trade." Jineng sneered, "They said they were secretly transporting goods to each other, but they were trying to cover it up, which made it even more obvious."
"No, this is both offensive and defensive." Altan said softly, "Jineng, don't underestimate our enemies. If goods are transported secretly, if there is any problem, the Ming people can cut off the trade at any time."
"But we can trade openly!"
"For the so-called Central Kingdom, the most important thing is face, that is, being upright." Altan said with a smile, "But the current Emperor Ming is different. As the saying goes, when two countries are at war, they don't kill the envoys. But the Emperor Ming doesn't care about this at all. He not only killed the envoy of the Khan, but also ordered his head to be sent to the nine borders."
"The Emperor is stubborn." Ji Neng said with a smile, "He quarreled with his ministers so much that he simply hid in the West Garden and did not show up."
"We should be thankful that the Emperor Ming and his ministers had a falling out. Otherwise, if the two joined forces, Jineng, a stubborn emperor who hated us, would have kept an eye on us and tried his best to deal with us. Therefore, we should be grateful to those ministers."
"Those Ming Dynasty scholars? Zhao Quan said that most of them are shameless, greedy fools."
"The more fools our opponents have, the better it is for us." Altan said, "Jiang Qingzhi is a smart man. When such a smart man suffers a loss, the first thing he thinks of is revenge."
"It was the wolf pack that surrounded and killed his subordinates. If he has the guts, he will seek revenge on the wolf pack." Jinen laughed, "But before that, I think we should comfort him."
"Please ask him to come." Altan picked up a document and Ji Neng stood up and left.
He went to Jiang Qingzhi's residence.
"Uncle, Jineng is here."
When Xu Wei came in, he saw Jiang Qingzhi in the tent... apparently playing in the mud.
Black, yellow...
Jiang Qingzhi looked up and said, "I'll be right there."
He clapped his hands and carefully put the pile of "mud" into the jar.
The raw materials for these muds were purchased by him before leaving Beijing, and they filled several large carts.
"Jineng!"
"Long Wilbur!"
The two of them bowed with a smile.
"The Khan was very sorry when he heard about that incident," Jineng said.
"Thank you." Jiang Qingzhi said with a smile.
Zhou Xia was looking at the teacher, and Xu Wei was spitting venom in his ear, "Remember, no matter who you have a grudge against, no matter how big the grudge is, once it comes to serious matters, you have to put those thoughts aside and even forget the hatred. Otherwise, you won't go far."
"I know." Zhou Xia had always been a traditional scholar. After he entered the officialdom, he had been in the Hanlin Academy. He was either studying or teaching Prince Yu. It could be said that his experience was his weakest point.
Xu Wei said: "Your teacher wants to kill Jineng right now, but look, he is smiling so happily!"
Jiang Qingzhi's smile was not only happy, but also sincere.
"So, I'll just nag."
Jiang Qingzhi happily accepted Altan's request and prepared to attend the banquet.
As they approached the camp, a group of ragged, staggering slaves slowly approached.
Jiang Qingzhi stopped.
The slaves in front looked up and saw the clothes and armor of Jiang Qingzhi and others. Some of them screamed, "Someone from the court is here to redeem us?"
The slaves looked up and saw several riders galloping towards them. They were whipped and the slaves hid and cried.
But pairs of eyes filled with hope were still fixed on Jiang Qingzhi.
Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "Are you from the Ming Dynasty?"
"Yes." Jineng laughed even more happily: "The Khan's envoy was beheaded and sent to the nine borders. The Khan said that he sent this person out and he accepted the humiliation.
Although these slaves had to do hard labor, they were able to survive, which shows that the Khan is kind. What do you think, Long Wilbur?"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled.
Jineng said as he peeked at him, "We have brought in many captives over the years. The obedient ones were given fields to work for the Khan. The ones that Long Wilbur saw were disobedient. They will do hard labor for about five or six years. After that, they will be skinny and unusable."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him and said, "Thank you for your explanation."
A middle-aged slave in front knelt down and said, "Chen Xiao, commander of the Ming border army, greets you, sir."
A cavalryman rushed over and raised a whip to hit him.
"Stop!" Jinen shouted at the cavalry, then he slowly took a step back.
Jiang Qingzhi stood there.
One by one the slaves fell to their knees.
"Datong Li Jiu, nice to meet you, my dear."
"Xuanfu Wang Hu, I am honored to meet you, my noble master..."
The slaves spoke their long-lost hometowns and names in an awkward voice.
Principal Chen looked up and said, "Excuse me, sir, are you here to redeem us?"
Jiang Qingzhi remained silent.
Not far behind him, Chen Bao clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "I hate it! I hate my own incompetence! I hate the Ming Dynasty for being incompetent!"
Mo Zhan closed his eyes, "We should save them."
"How can we save them?" Chen Bao said, "Should we rob them? There are 10,000 elite cavalry here, and we only have 2,500. If they surround us, we will be wiped out, not to mention saving them." "Master... let's see if Master has any solution."
Jiang Qingzhi walked up to Chen Xiao and said, "After I return, I will report to His Majesty and make plans for you."
"Isn't that so?" Prisoner Chen lowered his head. "Yes, I was captured and deserved death. I shouldn't have thought of living."
Jiang Qingzhi patted his shoulder. He saw a woman carrying a child and walked over.
The woman looked up and said, "Please save my child!"
The child looked to be three or four years old. He was very hungry and what he had in his mouth seemed to be grass roots.
"Stone." Jiang Qingzhi turned around and Sun Chonglou brought the bag. Jiang Qingzhi took out the dry food and gave half to the woman. He distributed the remaining half to some slaves who looked weak.
"Let's finish eating now." Jiang Qingzhi said.
He just stood there, and a cavalryman came over and several slaves dodged in panic.
"Fuck you!" Jiang Qingzhi suddenly became furious. He snatched the stick from Xu Wei's hand, which he used as a crutch and a weapon for self-defense, and knocked the cavalryman off his horse with one blow.
Amidst the screams, Jiang Qingzhi handed the stick to Xu Wei.
Then he laughed and said, "If I break his legs, will Altan Khan complain?"
Jinen smiled: "Isn't Long Wilbur afraid of Khan's revenge?"
"You can try. I forgot to tell you." Jiang Qingzhi looked at Jineng, "The person who presided over the trade with the Altan tribe was none other than Benbo!"
Jineng's eyes narrowed, and he waved his hand. Two followers went over and carried away the cavalryman who seemed to have broken his leg.
Jiang Qingzhi waited until the slaves had finished their food before turning around and saying, "Let's go!"
When we met Altan, the banquet was already prepared.
After three rounds of drinks, Jinen raised his glass and said, "It's a pity for those warriors."
Jiang Qingzhi took a sip of wine and frowned, thinking it was too damn hard to drink. He asked, "Can that wolf pack be wiped out?"
Jineng said, "That wolf pack has hundreds of wolves, and the wolf king at the head is quite cunning. When hunting here in the past, the Khan also wanted to ambush and kill them, but the wolf noticed and avoided him every time he tried."
Tuotuo glanced at Jineng and said, "The Khan even offered a reward of 100 good horses just to wipe out the wolf pack. Many tribes tried to hunt them but never succeeded. Long Wilbur..."
Jineng laughed and said, "It's not that the Khan is unwilling to take action, but...Alas!"
Tuotuo said: "Chang Wei Bo is very good at using troops, is there any solution?"
Xu Wei, who was sitting in the back, said to Hu Zongxian, "These two are singing the same tune, trying to trap Lord Bo."
"My Lord is very good at deceiving people. They are just wasting their breath." Hu Zongxian raised his glass and Xu Wei shook his head. "This wine is really hard to drink."
Jiang Qingzhi sighed, "I am somewhat confident."
Everyone was startled.
Jinen smiled and said, "Really? How many minutes?"
"I'll definitely get 70, 80 or 9 points." Jiang Qingzhi looked a little lacking in confidence.
Tuotuo said: "How about making a bet? It would be fun, right?"
Jiang Qingzhi asked: "What are you betting on?"
Jineng said, "I think... why not bet on trade? If Long Wilbur cannot destroy the wolf pack, the Ming Dynasty should trade with us openly instead of doing it in private which is equivalent to smuggling."
Tuotuo sighed, "The Emperor is stubborn, and I'm afraid that Chang Wei Bo will be in trouble as well."
"Why bother to provoke me?" Jiang Qingzhi said coldly, "If I agree, what can you bet on?"
Jineng glanced at Altan who had been watching from the sidelines. Altan took a sip of his drink and asked, "What does the envoy want?"
"Since Altan Khan has offered a reward of 100 good horses, then if I can destroy the wolf pack..."
"I guarantee that every horse will make you jealous." Someone said sarcastically.
Jiang Qingzhi stared at Altan, who smiled and said, "This is a trivial matter."
"Really? Then, I saw more than a thousand slaves before... If I win, I will send them back to Ming!"
Altan's eyes turned cold, "What do you want slaves for?"
"I'm just asking, is it okay?!" There was more coldness in Jiang Qingzhi's eyes.
The atmosphere was a bit tense.
Mo Zhan held the hilt of the knife, while Sun Chonglou was gnawing on the lamb leg, looking at Altan's neck while gnawing.
"Why are you staring at his neck?" Zhou Xia asked.
"See where to start!"
Altan suddenly smiled and said, "In that case, I'll do as you say!"
The atmosphere in the tent suddenly relaxed.
If trade could be open, it would not only save a lot of costs, but also slap the Ming Emperor in the face... In the past, they would kill Altan's envoys at will, but now they would smile and welcome Altan's caravan.
Jiang Qingzhi held out his hand, "A gentleman's word is his bond."
"It's hard to chase a horse!"
The two hands clapped lightly.
Jiang Qingzhi stood up and said, "I'm back."
This person is so impatient?
Ji Neng glanced at Altan and stood up to see him off.
When he came back later, Tuotuo was laughing, "...the wolves are cunning, and strangling them many times is useless. Jiang Qingzhi is said to be domineering, but I didn't expect him to be soft-hearted for the sake of slaves."
"He wants to make a contribution." Jineng sat down. "We have strangled the wolf pack many times and tried every possible means, but we are still helpless. Jiang Qingzhi has only a few men, so he will definitely lose."
"When we return, the angry Emperor Ming will punish him." Altan said, "Remember, don't do anything tricky, lest he deny his mistakes."
"Don't worry, Khan."
……
Jiang Qingzhi went into seclusion as soon as he returned.
In the big tent, he carefully mixed some powders together, stirring with sweat all over his face.
After an unknown amount of time, he shouted, "Stone!"
"Master!"
Sun Chonglou came in.
Jiang Qingzhi waved his hand, "Come on, let's do some hard work."
Sun Chonglou took over the task of crushing and mixing, and did it with great ease.
"Damn, where do you get all this strength?" Jiang Qingzhi rubbed his sore arms, feeling envious.
"Young Master, what is this?" asked Sun Chonglou.
"Thunder!"
(End of this chapter)
