The march trend of Chenxi once again became the most concerned thing in the court and the country, and even everywhere in the nine sides.

However, it was not easy for them to investigate clearly. Chen Xi led his troops deep into the grassland. This time he used cavalry to carry out a pursuit battle that lasted thousands of miles. Naturally, there would be great lag in the transmission of intelligence. Moreover, Chen Xi did not want the people of the court to restrain him, and hoped to give himself enough stage to perform.

Zhu Houzhao has issued an order to discuss the title of Chen Xi, and is also concerned about Chen Xi's situation on the grassland. Unfortunately, there is too little information that can be obtained, and it is not even as much as Sanbian has learned. However, Sanbian wants to pass the information to Zhangjiakou Fort, it will take two days to use a fast horse, which makes the news that Zhu Houzhao knows even more lagging behind.

But Zhu Houzhao's anxiety in the past few days has not affected him eating, drinking and having fun.

When Zhu Houzhao felt that she had become a wise king of all ages, she began to get dark again. She asked Concubine Li, Qian Ning and others to arrange programs for him for several days. Concubine Li had no resources, so it was all thanks to Jiang Bin to provide her.

That night, Zhu Houzhao was watching a show in the other courtyard, hugging her left and right, while Concubine Li sat at the next table for refreshments... What Zhu Houzhao changed compared to before was that she would call Concubine Li every time she had fun, instead of throwing it aside. Concubine Li could also feel that Zhu Houzhao's trust in her seemed to have increased a lot.

As soon as the play ended, Zhu Houzhao was indifferent. The opera in front of him could not satisfy him. After all, his opera troupe in the capital was the best opera troupe in the country. In Zhangjiakou Fort, he could not enjoy the treatment of the leopard room.

Even the women here are not as beautiful as those in the leopard room in the capital, so Zhu Houzhao began to miss the life in the capital.

Then Zhu Houzhao held back the women around him and the actors on the stage. After each rewarded him, Zhu Houzhao had no interest in summoning him again.

Zhu Houzhao turned his head and said to Concubine Li: "My beloved concubine, to be honest, I have been here enough for Zhangjiakou Fort, but now I always feel unwilling to accept it when I return to Beijing. How could this war with my commander-in-chief have developed to such a level? There is a great victory, but I have not yet taken the battlefield. Instead, Mr. Chen led his troops deep into the grassland, making me feel empty."

Concubine Li smiled and said, "Going to war is what the minister should do. Your Majesty can achieve today's results in his personal battle. History will eventually record the credit on Your Majesty... Because Your Majesty did not stay in the capital and wait for news, he chose to go out in person, and he also knew the pearl and dispatched Lord Shen to the front line of the battlefield, and finally achieved a brilliant victory. This is where Your Majesty's wise wisdom lies."

Zhu Houzhao sighed: "That's the case, but I still feel it's not good. There is no news these days, saying that Mr. Chen is going to chase the Tartars. Shouldn't he send more news back?"

Concubine Li said: "Actually, Your Majesty doesn't have to worry at all. In such a difficult environment before, Lord Shen could lead his troops to win. Now the Tartars have no power to fight back. Why should Your Majesty worry about Lord Shen's safety? I believe that it won't take long before Lord Shen's news will be sent back one after another, and Your Majesty will be able to return to the court at that time."

In addition to the conversation between the two, Xiao Guozi also stood on the side. Xiao Guozi didn't expect that a visionary woman like Lifei would even speak for Chen Xi. It seemed that from the beginning, Lifei chose to stand on the same front with Chen Xi.

Xiao Taozi thought to himself: "Empress Li Fei judged the situation and knew that she could not compete with Lord Shen now, so she kept saying good things for Lord Shen. In this way, Lord Shen should also support the Empress and me, right? What's the good thing about the old man named Zhang? He is simply an ungrateful and shameless person."

After hearing Concubine Li's words, Zhu Houzhao looked much better. There were no ones who could enlighten him in front of him.

Zhu Houzhao still seemed very disappointed and said, "I hope to enter the grassland with Mr. Chen, but unfortunately I did not send troops on time. If I go, I can join Mr. Chen... It's all because of Zhang Yuan's dog thing!"

Although Zhu Houzhao was scolding, his tone was not that intense, and he seemed to regret the punishment of Zhang Yuan guarding the imperial tomb.

Concubine Li said: "Your Majesty, the pursuit is actually very difficult to fight. I think that the Tartars are in a panic and have grown up on horseback since childhood. They are good at bows and horses. They can run more than a hundred miles a day. Moreover, they are familiar with the grassland environment. Our Ming soldiers and horses are somewhat unaccustomed to them when they arrive there. They may be broken up after long-distance attacks every day. How hard is that? Your Majesty might as well stay at Zhangjiakou Fort and wait for the good news of Master Shen's triumphant victory."

Zhu Houzhao's eyes rolled around, then nodded and said, "You are right, I can endure hardships, but chasing the Tartars... Tsk, it's not a fun thing. After hearing what you said about you, I'm glad that I didn't go out of the frontier. Otherwise, it wouldn't hurt my butt every day and I don't have much time to rest every day? The worst case is that I can't stand it halfway through, so I asked Mr. Chen to continue leading the troops to chase him. At that time, my face would be greatly lost! Haha!"

Zhu Houzhao was a little unhappy before, but after Concubine Li was relieved, Zhu Houzhao laughed happily, as if it was a fun thing to go deep into the grassland to pursue it thousands of miles away.

Concubine Li smiled and said, "So, chasing the enemy, I will leave this hard work to Lord Shen. Your Majesty can actually understand why there is no news about Lord Shen for a long time. The cavalry chased so far this day, and there were too many people and horses. Later, they didn't even know where they chased them. How could they accurately convey the news? Those scouts may not be able to find the way. Even if they could find it, they could not explain the marching route of Lord Shen's troops when they came back, because they would not know where Lord Shen's troops were... "

After thinking about it carefully, Zhu Houzhao nodded heavily: "It would be great to tell her beloved concubine that this matter was a long time ago. Why did I think randomly? This principle is actually very simple. Even if Mr. Chen has the ability to be in heaven, he cannot send the news back immediately. I should not worry about it... The more I should trust Mr. Chen, it's a pity that I can't go to the grassland to take a look!"

At the end, Zhu Houzhao's tone was full of regret, but it was no longer as obvious as before.

It seems that it is just a kind of emotion. I feel that my health is not good enough and I can't stand the pain. It's better to stay in Zhangjiakou Castle and eat, drink and have fun, and wait to become a wise lord.

Zhu Houzhao said: "It's not too early, so my beloved concubine will continue to arrange it. I still want to watch some shows! Otherwise... my beloved concubine will accompany me in? Haha, I have to serve me well..."

Amid Concubine Li's shy smile, Zhu Houzhao helped Concubine Li and the two went downstairs together.

Xiao Taozi followed behind and murmured in a low voice: "Whether the abilities of these people around His Majesty, Concubine Li is simply unmatched. Since there is Lord Shen in this world, why should there be a capable person like Concubine Li? But His Majesty has encountered them all! God bless me to the Ming Dynasty!"

...

...

Beijing, Shen family.

The news of Chen Xi leading the army to achieve a brilliant victory was returned, and the Shen family was filled with joy.

Since Chen Xi went on the battle, everyone in the family has been worried, and then there has been no news about Chen Xi for a long time, which has further aggravated the family's worries.

But after the news of the Yuxi River victory came back, the Shen family immediately entered another atmosphere. Everyone's face was filled with a cheerful smile, and their daily life became colorful.

"...I don't even look at who it is, that's my son!" Zhou's face suddenly shined.

When she came to Xie Yuner, she spoke more toughly, completely different from the frowning she felt when she came to ask about Chen Xi’s situation before.

Because Shen Yongqi went to the army this time, the Shen family had high expectations for Chen Xi. Before, Shen Mingjun and his wife were under great pressure. The main reason was that if Shen Yongqi died with the army, Chen Xi would probably become a sinner. After all, the loss of two "pillars" at once will be interrupted.

Of course, all this is mainly because after Chen Xi went to war, there was no news for more than a month. Not only did there be no letter from home, but even the court did not report any news. The people even knew nothing about Chen Xi's movements.

But one thing is good, that is, the news that the Shen family jumped over the Shenxi River and was trapped in Yuxi River, and directly received the news that Chenxi led the army to achieve a great victory.

If the Shen family knew that Chenxi was trapped in Yuxi River for several days and was desperate, the entire Shen family might have a mental breakdown.

"Mom, I heard that the master led his troops to the north afterwards, saying that he wanted to pursue the barbarians on the grassland. It would take dozens of days to go there. As for the troops returning to Beijing, it would probably be even later!"

Although Xie Yuner was very happy when facing Zhou, she always had a hint of loss in her smile.

Since marrying Chen Xi, the couple has been together for a long time. As the mistress of the family, she has been under much pressure than others.

When she encountered unhappy things, she could not show it. She also wanted to comfort the women at home and cheer them up. It can be said that Xie Yuner took care of the entire Shen family's back house for Chen Xi.

Zhou's face was a little worried: "There will be no more trouble when fighting later, right?"

Xie Yuner smiled and shook her head: "Mom, don't worry. I heard that the barbarians in the north have been defeated by the husband's leadership and are everywhere. It is not easy to wipe them out. However, with the master's ability, it should be no problem. If you win the most difficult battle, will there be any problems?"

"Yo! I dare not say that."

Zhou seemed very panicked, "It's good luck, it's okay! The naive baby is just a tough life. When he was born, he thought he was too small and might not be able to survive. Who knew he was so capable? He suffered a lot when he was a child, and almost died when he was five years old! Alas! But since then, he seems to have become smarter and his life has improved. Although we took him out of the mountains, he actually came up with a way to keep us in the city!"

Xie Yun'er looked at Zhou with a smile, not wanting Zhou to discover her inner worries.

Zhou waved his hand: "Since there is no more news, my mother is back first. Remember to ask Xiaoshan to inform him as soon as possible. Xiaoshan has been beautiful these two days. Who asked her to marry a husband who has always won battles with me? I also have to go to the house for dinner... I was bullied to death by them before, but this time their son also made achievements with my son. The next step may be to become an official, see if I don't live with poverty!"

...

...

Just as all parties were closely following the traces of Chenxi and wanted to know his further movements on the grassland, Chenxi was still running on the grassland, and he and his troops engaged in a special pursuit battle.

After the Tatars defeated Yuxi River, the main force was less than 20,000, and the 20,000 were divided into three groups, led by Dayan Khan Batumonk, the eldest prince Turuborot and the national teacher Susuha. Although the direction of escape was deviated, it was basically retreating to the northeast. Chenxi next only took the road of withdrawing troops again.

Along the way, Chen Xi's troops used the captured Tatar war horses, one to two cavalry, to launch a rapid pursuit.

But after all, not everyone in the Chenxi army is proficient in riding, which makes some people only stay in the camp on the north bank of the Yuxi River, or be responsible for sending the prisoners and wounded and sick back to Yulin Acropolis after the next few small-scale wars.

After leading the army through Quyechuan, Chen Xi basically no longer left his troops because he was far away from the border of Daming. Even if he caught the prisoners, he could only join the horse team and let them be with the people from Yongxiebu's troops. If he had any unfair intentions, he would be executed directly.

Chen Xi treated prisoners very favorably. As the news spread, the small tribes of Yongxibu tribes and the unpowerful tribes of the Dayan tribe came to surrender, and Chen Xi's soldiers and horses gradually grew stronger.

When Chen Xi sent troops from Yuxi River, his troops were only more than 11,000, including more than 2,000 Yongxibu tribes.

When the Chenxi soldiers passed Quyechuan, their troops had expanded to 14,000.

Chen Xi led his troops deep into the grassland, and people guided him along the way. There were many small tribes on the grassland, with the few perhaps only a few dozen people, and the most likely four or five hundred people. These small tribes used to rely on large tribes to survive, but at this time, they had to defect to Chen Xi's command.

Chenxi's method of dealing with these people was very simple. Young and strong must follow the army to fight. The women, children, elderly and weak left behind migrate south and all of them will go to the Ming territory. Their cattle, sheep and livestock will not be deprived of them and will still belong to tribes, which reduces the worries of these tribes.

Because Chen Xi was afraid of the Tatars in the past few years, the people who passed by were basically surrendered and did not encounter decent resistance.

Even the main force of the Dayan army, the troops led by Batumonk himself, were greatly lost. However, Batumonk's escape speed was first-class. Although Chen Xi was chasing him, Batumonk still crossed the Yellow River first by Batumonk.

When Chenxi's troops arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, it was already the fifth day of the seventh month. After a brief rest on that day, Chenxi used a sheepskin raft seized from the Tatar camp to build a floating bridge and forcibly cross the river. There was no resistance during the crossing.

After two more days of pursuit, some remaining soldiers were gathered. On the afternoon of the seventh day of the seventh month, Chen Xi's troops arrived at the south of Yunnei and learned from a small tribe that it had been two days since the main Tatar force. Chen Xi calculated the time and the troops he led were getting farther and farther away from the defeated army of Dayan's troops.

The news spread out inexplicably, and the soldiers returned to their hometown. They had just followed Chen Xi to make achievements with aura. When they found that they could not get rid of Batumonk, they wanted to return to the Ming Dynasty and quickly took the credit, then returned to their hometown and live a comfortable life.

Seeing the turmoil of the army, the scout suddenly came to report and found a tribe in a nearby valley. The specific location was between the former site of Dongshengwei and Yunnei.

This tribe was once an affiliated tribe of Yongsebu tribe. He originally wanted to join the Dayan tribe, but he did not expect that they were hit by the Ming army before the arrival of the Khanate troops.

As Chenxi sent cavalry to the arrival, the tribe organized a resistance team of more than 300 people. Among the small tribes on the grassland, it was good to gather 300 young and strong men at one time, but they did not expect that they met the regular army of the Ming Dynasty. What they did not expect was that this time the opponent was the troops of Chenxi, who were terrified by the grassland people.

More than 300 resistance teams gathered at a high place to prepare for the attack, but found that the number of enemies in front of them expanded rapidly, and a large number of cavalry were approaching later.

These people were frightened and chose to retreat immediately because there was no cover on the grassland, and it was difficult to win the battle of fighting with few enemies. The martial arts of the tribes were not very different. They basically used crossbows to fight against the enemy. The principle followed was to avoid extermination of each other as much as possible, and to incorporate the weak side by bullying the small ones by bullying the small ones.

Wang Lingzhi personally led his troops to the top of the mountain, but found that the tribal cavalry, which was originally waiting for battle, had retreated and was very disappointed.

According to Chen Xi, the number of Tatar cavalry discovered this time is quite large, and it may be the main force of the Dayan tribe. When I looked down from the mountain, I saw that there were yurts scattered in the huge valley, but there were no traces of the activities of a large number of Tatar cavalry.

Then the troops from the rear arrived, and there were about 4,000 cavalrymen in the royal tomb. They quickly dispersed and surrounded the Mongolian below from three directions.

"Go back and tell the adults that this is not the main force of the Tartars, but just a small tribe." Wang Lingzhi ordered the messenger beside him.

Because Chen Xi had the words first, when encountering the Tatar tribe, unless the other party took action first, they could only check the situation first. After all, the Ming army had the advantage in numbers and its weapons were ahead of its opponents. Chen Xi was preparing to absorb the power of the grassland tribe with the Huairou policy, so it was impossible to kill small and medium-sized tribes.

Wang Lingzhi and others were not sure how many people the tribes below had. They probably only knew that less than a thousand soldiers could be dispatched. When they were four times the enemy, it was necessary to wait for the subsequent troops to arrive. After the battle at Yuxi River, he became calm and restrained, and his blind and impulsive temperament changed a lot.

Soon, the Chenxi military order came: "Don't act rashly, and you will make a decision after the arrival of the central army."

Because the central army led by Chen Xi was still about ten miles away from the vanguard, Wang Lingzhi did not dare to make big moves, because once things change and fighting with the tribes in the valley, he would definitely be punished by Chen Xi when he turned around.

Wang Lingzhi ordered all troops to prepare defensive formations to prevent small tribes from attacking, and at the same time, they should be more careful about these people breaking through.

...

...

At sunset, the central army led by Chen Xi arrived at Shantou.

At this time, defense has begun to be organized in the tribe camp below. Many fences are set up around and horse-rejecting are set up. The cattle and sheep in the tribe cannot come back because the herdsmen grazed within dozens of miles around and were unable to fully gather for a while.

Hu Songyue and Wang Ling went to see Chen Xi before, and Chen Xi used a telescope to check the enemy's situation on the mountain.

Hu Songyue said, "Sir, I have checked it. The Tartars below are only a few hundred young and strong. If they dare to act rashly, we can put a few rows of guns at their camp and they will be done!"

This time, he gave up a lot of things in pursuit of Chen Xi, and he basically left the artillery at Yuxi River camp, which made the attack equipment at hand seriously insufficient.
To be continued...