Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 964: A lot of help
As they were approaching the Taining Guard’s headquarters and were preparing to set up camp, Zhu Xiongying and his party were greeted by a team sent by Azhashiri to greet them.

"Your servant Tuotuo, your Highness the Military Supervisor of the Imperial Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty." The leader of this team was Tuotuo, the son of Azhashiri. Tuotuo spoke Chinese with a half-familiar accent. Although the address he used was a bit incongruous, judging from his expression, he was extremely respectful to Zhu Xiongying.

"Hearing that His Royal Highness, the Military Supervisor of the Crown Prince, will soon be visiting our Taining Guard, my father, Azashili, the Commander-in-Chief of the Taining Guard, is extremely delighted."

"My father is loyal to the Ming Dynasty and is afraid that he might neglect Your Highness, so I have specially ordered this minister to escort Your Highness here."

"Taining Guards have prepared a banquet to welcome you, Your Highness."

You should not hit a smiling person. Moreover, Zhu Xiongying wanted to show the superiority of the new military system, and it was necessary to get the support of Azashiri. Therefore, his attitude was also very kind, and he smiled and said, "Young Commander, you are very polite."

"I came to Taining Guard this time only as a military supervisor in the Ming army to distribute military pay to our Ming soldiers in Taining Guard. It is not necessary to ask Governor Azashiri to mobilize so many troops."

Tuotuo smiled and said, "Your Highness is so noble, so a welcoming banquet is necessary. This place is only half a day's journey from our Taining Guard station. Your Highness, why don't you wait until we reach our Taining Guard before taking a rest?"

"It also saves my soldiers from the pain of sleeping in the open on the grassland."

Zhu Xiongying led his men to stay here not just to rest, but also for another reason, which was to wait for information and give Yang Lu time to investigate the news in Taining Wei.

However, Zhu Xiongying didn't think that Azashili would have any problems, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to come to Tainingwei. He was still a young man, and he was impatient when things happened, so he wanted to get to Tainingwei as soon as possible. However, Xie Jin and Fang Xiaoru were still greedy for the military scenery of the grassland, and thought it would be okay to stay overnight. Xie Jin then smiled and said, "The army is moving, and orders must be obeyed."

"His Royal Highness has just issued the order to station troops. It is not the right way to lead an army to change the position immediately after the order is issued. There is no rush to go to Taining Guard at this moment. We will go to Taining Guard with the Junior Commander tomorrow morning."

Tuotuo knew his father's plan and was already worried. After hearing what Xie Jin said, his face became a little stiff. He was afraid that the night would be long and he would have more trouble, so he urged Zhu Xiongying to go to Taining Weizhong to rest.

"Leaving early or late is a trivial matter. Why is Tuotuo so anxious?" Although Zhu Xiongying did not doubt Azhashiri, he was more inclined to Mr. Fang and Mr. Xie. What Xie Jin said made sense. Naturally, he did not want to disobey his order and let the Ming army soldiers who had just been busy setting up camp immediately break camp and go forward. Tuotuo had no choice but to force a smile and stay to accompany Zhu Xiongying.

Unexpectedly, Tuotuo stopped trying to persuade him, and Azhashili sent out two more teams to urge Zhu Xiongying to get on the road quickly. Zhu Xiongying was having a hard time refuting the repeated urgings, but at this moment, he saw Yang Lu hurriedly returning with a Mongolian dressed as a herdsman.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince." Yang Lu said hurriedly as he entered the tent. "There may be changes in the Taining Guards!"

"What!" Zhu Xiongying jumped up suddenly, Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin were also shocked. Yang Lu asked Zhu Xiongying to bring the herdsman into the camp and let the herdsman report the unusual movements of Taining Guard.

"My dear masters." The shepherd may have been in contact with Han merchants for many years, so although his Chinese is not authentic, it is still understandable. "My name is Hu Legen. Usually, I am responsible for doing some sheep herding work for Master Hubi Chi. Yesterday, Master Hubi Chi..."

Although the herdsman's speech was a little confusing, Zhu Xiongying, Fang and Jie were very knowledgeable and soon understood what he said. This Mongol named Hulegen had discovered that his master named "Hubi Chi" was forcibly conscripting herdsmen into the army and detaining Han people in the tribe, and seemed to be preparing to launch a war.

This "Master Kubiqi" was a close confidant of Azhashili, the leader of Taining Guard. He forced herders to join the army to prepare for war, which was of course Azhashili's order. Azhashili was the governor of Taining Guard of the Ming Dynasty. Without the imperial order, he recruited his herders with great fanfare. What was he going to fight?
Everyone felt their hair stand on end.

"Your Highness, when I arrived at Taining Guard as a Ming Dynasty merchant, I was wanted by Taining Guard. If it weren't for this brother Hulegen who tried to rescue me, I, Yang Lu, would never see you again!" Yang Lu was gritting his teeth.

Everyone then realized that it was Hu Legen who saved Yang Lu's life. Xie Jin was surprised and asked, "You are a Mongolian, why would you risk your life to save a Han merchant?"

Hu Legen was stunned for a moment, and finally sighed and said, "My fellow Han Chinese, to be honest, I really don't want to follow Master Kubiqi to fight."

"In the early years, we had nothing to eat and nothing to wear. If we didn't fight, we would have to be slaves and have no way to survive. That was fine..."

"But in recent years, your Han masters have often sent people to collect wool and do business. We can live better by herding sheep than in previous years. So why do we still have to fight?"

"Master Kubiqi has taken the Han masters. Without Han masters to collect our wool, how can we survive this winter? If we go to war with the Han people again, won't we have to live a miserable life like in previous years?"

At this point, Hulegen's expression turned angry. "They want to cut off our livelihood and ask us to work for them? We are living well under the Ming Dynasty, but they insist on doing such annoying things."

"We don't want to fall out with the Han gentlemen, so I saved Master Yang Lu, hoping to follow Master Yang Lu to warn Master Chang in Daning City. Gentlemen, this matter cannot be delayed."

"You should all be important figures among the Han people... Please, sirs, go to Daning City and meet the ordinary sirs!"

"I only ask Master Chang, for the sake of our reporting and warning, please do not cut off our transaction, otherwise the wool we have accumulated will be ..."

Hu Legen looked anxious and even knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Xiongying and others, begging them not to cancel the trade between the Taining tribe and the Ming court.

Zhu Xiongying, Fang Xiaoru, and Xie Jin looked at each other in shock. Fang Xiaoru sighed and said, "As the old saying goes, those who are righteous will have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous will have few. Azashiri has acted perversely, and even his herdsmen are unwilling to follow him."

Xie Jin also said: "Your Highness, you should quickly capture Tuotuo, the son of Azhashili, and then return to Daning City as soon as possible to report Azhashili's rebellion."

"It seems impossible to completely recapture Taining Guard. But using Taining Guard as a military achievement to promote our new military system is promising!"

(End of this chapter)