"Which two things?" Subadi, the leader of the Khalkha tribe, asked seriously.
"One, send troops to besiege Datong; two, sell horses!" Mao Wei Zhang answered with the same seriousness.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Without waiting for Subati to speak, the other Mongols in the tent expressed their rejection.
They are here to get food, not to cause trouble.
It would be fine to annoy the Ming court, but it would be impossible to provoke Li Zicheng again.
"Mao Wei Zhang, are you still asleep? You asked us to send troops to attack Datong and you also asked us to sell war horses to you! Are you dreaming?!" Chechen Khan Shuolei said mockingly.
"This guy has no sincerity at all, it's better to kill him!"
"Yes, kill him! Kill him!" the others shouted.
Mao Weizhang showed no fear: "What is a deal? If you think it is beneficial, then trade. If it is not beneficial, you can refuse. It is now the end of June. If I remember correctly, it has already snowed in Mobei in early October."
"You don't have much time left! Do you plan to take food back and spend the winter comfortably, or return empty-handed and watch the people in the tribe starve to death?"
"You're looking for death!" A Mongolian general could no longer bear Mao Weizhang's ridicule, so he kicked Mao Weizhang to the ground and put his unsheathed sword against Mao Weizhang's heart.
"Mao Wei Zhang does not regard us Mongols as human beings. I ask the Khan to allow me to execute him!"
Inside the central military tent, everyone was furious.
Although Mao Weizhang was telling the truth, it was so offensive to people that the Mongols wanted to execute him on the spot.
"Enough!" Subati slammed the table. "Will killing Mr. Mao solve the food problem? If it can, you can kill him. If it can't, just bear with it."
After these words were spoken, everyone stood there in silence.
It is now the end of June, and the grain in the fields throughout Xuanfu has either been harvested by the Jiannu or burned by the Ming army.
If you want to get food, there are only two ways: trading and attacking cities to steal food.
Since attacking the city is not an option, the only option left is trading.
Seeing that no one objected, Subati frowned and looked at the general who stepped on Mao Weizhang: "Help Mr. Mao up and apologize."
"I..."
"If you can solve the food problem, just pretend I never said that."
The Mongolian general was stunned for a moment, then reluctantly pulled Mao Weizhang up from the ground, lowered his head and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Mao Weizhang gave a fake smile at first, then his expression changed and he looked behind him.
The Mongolian general didn't know what was going on and hurriedly looked back.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mao Weizhang raised his right foot and kicked him hard on the buttocks. Although this kick failed to knock the Mongolian general down, it also made him lose face.
"You and I are even!" Mao Weizhang said calmly.
The Mongolian general, knowing that he had been deceived, turned back in anger. Although he was angry, he could only stand there and grit his teeth.
There was no way he could solve the food problem.
"Mr. Mao, let's get down to business." Subati brought the topic to the point.
Mao Weizhang slapped off the footprints on his chest, looked around, and said, "The first thing to do is to send troops to surround Datong, but not attack. If the Datong defenders go out of the city to fight in the field, you can fight or flee. But whether you fight or flee, you need to hold up the flags of you Mongolians and the Ming border troops."
Subati and a group of Mongols frowned and thought.
Surround but not attack?
What does the Ming court want to do?
Mao Weizhang continued, "The second thing is horse trading. In previous years, the average price of a horse was about six to eight taels of silver, which could be exchanged for three dan of grain."
(Buying in bulk has a lower unit price, but only one-third or even one-quarter of a group of horses can be used as war horses, and the rest can only be used as pack horses. Buying individually is expensive and not cost-effective.)
"The price of grain has skyrocketed this year. Add in the transportation costs and losses along the way, and the cost of transporting it to Xuanfu Town is already as high as three taels of silver per stone."
"To show our sincerity, one of your horses can be exchanged for four stones of grain this year! The price of cattle and sheep will be converted into silver according to last year's price and exchanged for the supplies you want. If we buy enough war horses, you can exchange cattle and sheep for grain."
"These are the two things I mentioned. Please think about them carefully." After Mao Wei Zhang finished speaking, he held his head high and walked out of the military tent dozens of steps away, leaving the Mongols with enough space and time to think.
Inside the military tent, everyone began to discuss.
"How about this condition?" someone asked.
“I think it’s OK because the price is really fair.”
"We can't sell war horses to the Ming court! We have already sent envoys to pay tribute to the Jiannu. If they find out, they will definitely cause trouble for us. Our current strength is not enough to compete with the Jiannu."
"Do you really take tribute seriously? The Ordos and Chahar tribes have already surrendered to the Jiannu. Are they loyal enough? Guess what? Aren't they still secretly selling horses to the Ming court? Because only war horses can be exchanged for enough food!"
After some discussion, all the Mongols present agreed to the horse trading plan.
There is only one reason: it’s such a good deal!
The same number of war horses can be exchanged for nearly 30% more food than in previous years!
Only a fool would refuse.
"The Ming court asked us to surround Datong. What do you think?" Subati asked.
"There is no choice. Mao Weizhang means that only if we agree to encircle Datong, the Ming court will exchange grain for horses at that price."
"That won't work! Li Zicheng has deployed a large number of troops in Datong. Although we are nominally besieging but not attacking, the bandits may very well come out of the city to fight in the wild. Should we fight or not? If we fight, people will die. If we don't fight, it will damage our reputation."
This group of Mongols who had lived in the northern desert for a long time looked down on the people of the Central Plains from the bottom of their hearts, and they looked down on Li Zicheng even more.
So I don’t want to be known as someone who escaped without a fight.
"Even the Ming court doesn't dare to confront our army head-on, let alone Li Zicheng! Even if they fight, Li Zicheng is no match for our cavalry. However... this kind of unexpected situation needs to be taken into consideration."
After some discussion, the Khalkha tribe decided on a plan.
"Mao Weizhang, we can help you besiege Datong, but there are conditions."
Mao Weizhang was overjoyed!
Done!
He pretended to be calm and asked, "What are the conditions?"
"You are responsible for the food supply during the siege of Datong. If there are casualties, you need to pay pensions according to Ming army standards."
Mao Weizhang pretended to be in a dilemma: "No, absolutely not! Not to mention the court, I personally will not agree to such a condition!"
"If you don't agree, it will be disadvantageous to no one."
"Then just wait and see!"
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