After resting for half a day, Yun Zheng led his troops to advance along the east side of Qinlin grassland.
In the first two days, they didn't see a single ghost.
However, Yun Zheng was not discouraged.
This is normal.
Knowing that the fall of the royal court was inevitable, the tribes around the Qinlin grassland that were closer to the royal court must have fled long ago.
It was not until the afternoon of the third day that the Eighteen Ghost Riders who had gone out to explore the way brought back the news.
About twenty miles to their right front, there was a large-scale migrating tribe.
Judging from the direction of their migration, they should be migrating to the northeast.
Upon hearing the news, Yun Zheng and Qin Qihu became excited.
"Order Qin Qihu to lead his troops to meet us immediately! All our soldiers, dismount and collect fodder for them, as much as you can!"
...
...
Yun Zheng quickly gave the order.
Soon, Qin Qihu arrived with the rear army.
After a short rest, they joined together and quickly launched a surprise attack in the direction of the tribe.
Soon, they saw the tribe.
Without any extra words, as Yun Zheng gave the attack gesture, the army quickly rushed towards Beihuan's tribe.
There is no suspense in this battle.
In addition to the elderly and children, there are also many young people and women in this tribe.
But these young and strong men didn't even have armor or decent weapons. When they saw Da Gan's elite troops suddenly attacking them, many of them knelt on the ground and surrendered.
Even sporadic resistance did not cause them much substantial damage.
Only two soldiers were unfortunately injured by hunting bows.
Looking at the murderous cavalry, all the prisoners huddled together, their faces filled with fear.
The young children were so scared that they wanted to cry, but the people around them covered their mouths tightly, fearing that the children's crying would anger these murderous cavalrymen.
Looking at these frightened Beihuan people, many people showed pride on their faces.
The morale of the Beihuan army and the people was completely destroyed by Da Gan!
"Your Highness, this tribe doesn't have any decent war horses. They basically only have draft horses and foals..."
Soon, Qu Zhi came riding back with report.
"No decent warhorse?"
Yun Zheng frowned, "Go find someone to ask, where are their war horses? This is not a small tribe, it should be impossible that they don't have decent war horses!"
"Indeed not."
Qu Zhi smiled bitterly: "I have sent people to interrogate the tribesmen. All the usable war horses in their tribe have been requisitioned. Now there are only some inferior horses and a small number of stallions, and the rest are pregnant mares..."
Is that so?
"Where's the food?"
Yun Zheng immediately asked again: "Does this tribe have enough food?"
“There is basically no food.”
Yu Shizhong shook his head and said, "Now, livestock milk, wild vegetables, and grass roots are basically their staple food. When livestock milk is not enough, they have to kill livestock to fill their stomachs..."
Listening to Yu Shizhong's words, Yun Zheng felt a little sympathy for the people of this tribe, but also a little happy.
Even the tribes around Qinlin Grassland have become like this, which shows that Beihuan’s war potential has been almost exhausted.
If their plan succeeds, Beihuan's surrender will not be far away.
Perhaps, there is really no need to send troops on a long expedition in the autumn.
After thinking silently for a while, Yun Zheng walked up to the captives who were kneeling together and asked expressionlessly: "Whose tribe are you from?"
Faced with Yun Zheng's questioning, many people lowered their heads.
Finally, an old man said tremblingly: "In reply to your words, sir, we used to be the tribe of Princess Jiayao, and now we are the tribe of King Daming..."
"Was it Jiayao's tribe before?"
Yun Zheng was curious and asked, "Then how did you become the tribe of King Ming?"
Could it be that Guyu dares to annex Jiayao's tribe?
Guyu doesn't have the courage to do that, right?
After the old man's trembling narration, Yun Zheng finally understood what was going on.
There are still many people in this tribe who are from Jiayao’s original tribe.
However, because Beihuan needed a large amount of military supplies and war horses, Jia Yao first attacked his own tribe.
She confiscated many of her tribe's livestock, leaving only some lambs and the like.
Then, she dispersed her tribe into other tribes. She did not ask other tribes to treat these people well, but only asked to give her people something to eat and not let them starve to death.
Before disbanding these people, Jia Yao promised them that he would compensate them double in the future.
After the old man finished speaking, he said tremblingly: "Princess Jiayao said that the King of Jingbei is... a good man and will not kill innocent people. Please... let us go..."
Good person?
Yun Zheng almost laughed out loud at the old man's words.
Is Jiayao trying to give himself a good guy card all over the world?
What a good person you are!
I guess, in the eyes of the Beihuan people, I am the devil?
"Don't worry, I always abide by the rules of the grassland!"
Yun Zheng suppressed his smile, looked at the old man indifferently, and immediately ordered Yu Shizhong: "Leave their horses behind, and kill all the other livestock! Let them have a good meal!"
"Sir, don't!"
Upon hearing Yun Zheng's words, the old man immediately pleaded with tears in his eyes: "We only have so many cattle and sheep. Please have mercy on us and give us a way to survive..."
As he spoke, the old man kept kowtowed to Yun Zheng.
Following the old man's actions, many people began to kneel down and kowtow.
"Sir, don't!"
"Without these livestock, we can't survive!"
"Please have mercy, sir..."
In an instant, everyone knelt down and begged, kowtowing continuously.
Yun Zheng's eyes were cold and fierce, and he shouted, "Remember this face of mine. I am the King of Jingbei that Princess Jiayao mentioned, and I am also her husband! You can make dry food from the meat of these livestock. If you have nothing to eat, you can come to Shuobei! As long as you move to Shuobei, I promise that you will not starve!"
After saying that, Yun Zheng turned around and left, as if he couldn't hear these people's pleas at all.
Of course he knew that without these livestock, these people would not be able to survive for long.
Although they have a lot of meat now, what will happen when the meat is finished?
It's like a person holding a thousand dollars in his hand and having to live on it for a year.
But now, he spent a thousand dollars on a feast of fish and meat.
I can eat comfortably now, but how will I live in the future?
He just wants to force Beihuan to surrender!
"Brother, should we follow the old rules for these prisoners?"
At this time, Qin Qihu came over to ask again.
Yun Zheng shook his head gently: "Release them all!"
"ah?"
Qin Qihu was dumbfounded.
Release all?
This... this is not like Yun Zheng's style!
Yun Zheng explained: "We killed those people before because we were worried about exposing our whereabouts! But now, we want to deliberately expose our whereabouts! Let them spread the news that we are heading in this direction! Force those tribes that are approaching this side to turn around and run towards the Guifang and northern barbarians."
It was for this reason that he did not kill the horses of the people of this tribe.
He wanted the people of this tribe to ride out on horseback to help him spread the news!
Whether to kill or not depends not only on whether these people should be killed, but also on strategic intentions.
Moreover, they are now trying to force Beihuan to surrender.
I still have to show my benevolent side to the Beihuan people.
"Okay, I'll tell you right away!"
Qin Qihu immediately took the order and left.
I hope Jiayao can see the situation clearly!
If the fighting continues like this, I wonder how many people in Beihuan will starve to death.
As the princess regent, doesn't she think about her people?
After a night's rest, Yun Zheng and his men had recovered their strength.
The next morning, everyone ate the slaughtered cattle and sheep in the tribe.
Before leaving, Yun Zheng told the tribe's patriarch that he would spare the lives of these people this time, but if he met them again next time, he would kill them all!
Afterwards, Yun Zheng led his troops to launch another surprise attack...
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