It was April, and spring finally arrived on the grassland.

The ice and snow melted, and the green grass grew vigorously, creating a vibrant scene.

Under the clear sky, cattle and sheep are everywhere, and horses are galloping. It is a beautiful scene.

Under the sunlight, there was a large group of cavalry.

The shining armor showed the excellence of this cavalry. In the center was Zhu Di, who led the army.

Since arriving at the border, Zhu Di finally regained his old feeling.

Being in his prime, he was eager to fight and make contributions.

When the ice and snow began to melt, Zhu Di led his army and began to conquer the grassland.

Behind the army were a large number of captured herdsmen, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, and thousands of horses.

"Your Highness, this battle was a great victory. All the members of the Taka tribe were captured. Although some escaped, they are no longer a threat. From now on, there will be no Taka tribe among the tribes on this grassland."

Zhu Neng said flatteringly.

The Taka tribe has 10,000 households, which is considered a medium-sized tribe on the grassland. It has more than 4,000 cavalry and more than 20,000 tribal people.

Now Zhu Di led 5,000 cavalry in a surprise attack. In just one day, he not only defeated the Taka cavalry, but also gained many gains.

These cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as a large number of high-quality war horses, are in short supply at the border today.

This is a great contribution to the entire border area.

Zhu Di's face showed some fatigue, after all, he had been rushing for several days in a row, but it was covered up by his joyful expression.

"Move all these cattle, sheep, horses, and herdsmen to the grassland military base. I wonder how that brat Liu Buyi can continue to act so rampantly."

"Don't think that you can lead the entire military base just because you have the order from my nephew. Even if he is the leader in name only, everything he does must be decided by me."

Zhu Di snorted coldly.

He originally thought that he and Duke Lan Yu of Liang would be confronting each other in this grassland military base, but he didn't expect that Liu Buyi would suddenly appear.

Still in the name of the dean of the grassland military base.

This made Zhu Di very unhappy.

Although in terms of status and position, the dean Liu Buyi is not that high, in terms of power, his status is far inferior to his own.

But in terms of actual power, a three-way balance of power has already formed.

On this point, Zhu Di was extremely critical of Zhu Yingzhen.

When they went to fight Japan, Feng Sheng was the leader, and his two brothers were assigned to restrain him on both sides.

Now he has come to the border grassland and caused such a scene again.

It really is true that all is fair in war.

However, Zhu Di had no choice at this time. He understood that even if Zhu Ying trusted him, he would not give up his military power.

All you can do is continue to make contributions.

Taking down the Taka tribe today is something Zhu Di is extremely proud of recently.

…

Grassland Military Base.

This place is not on the border of the Ming Dynasty, but is directly located on the Liaodong grassland.

From a distance, the huge camp is out of place among the Mongolian yurts on the grassland and is completely in the style of the Ming Dynasty.

Nomadic grassland tribes would never spend so much effort to build it.

Just the defensive fortifications on all sides make this grassland military base extremely strong. Even if tens of thousands of light cavalry come to attack, it would be no different from siege.

However, as far as the grassland military base is concerned, it is not like the cities in the Ming Dynasty, and it actually has a huge disadvantage.

That's supplies.

The reason why the cities in the Central Plains are said to be impregnable is that they have extremely strong material reserves. Even if you attack the city for a year or two, there will be no problem at all.

But this military base is different.

The only source of water is from nearby rivers, and food rations need to be transported from the border every three months.

The transportation of supplies can be said to be the weak point of this military base.

However, in Zhu Ying's idea, this grassland military base was not used for defense at all, nor was it about building a city on the grassland.

There are absolutely no civilians in this military base.

Except for some herdsmen and workers, almost all of them were soldiers.

This is a huge training ground, and everything is done for the purpose of better training the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty.

It not only teaches riding skills, tactics, and personal martial arts, but also provides a complete set of detailed brainwashing courses such as literacy and loyalty to the emperor.

It can be said that it is a complete assembly line development.

The main reason for this is that the Ming Dynasty's treasury is now abundant, which can support such a large consumption.

The current military base is almost the same as other tribes on the grassland, with an almost entirely cavalry lineup.

The latest light armor, bows and crossbows, long swords, meat and rations they wore were all provided by the Ming Dynasty.

There are already more than 30,000 cavalrymen in the entire military base.

They were respectively under the command of Zhu Di, Lan Yu, and Liu Buyi.

The number of each person is also about the same, more than 10,000.

Don't underestimate these more than 10,000 people. They are all real cavalry and combat soldiers, not auxiliary troops.

Among them, the cavalry under Liu Buyi seldom went out and basically stayed in the military base, while the cavalry under Lan Yu and Zhu Di often went out to forage.

The goal is to expand the size of one's own cavalry and to seize more cattle, sheep and horses for the military base.

Naturally, the news of Zhu Di's victorious return had been reported by scouts long ago.

When Zhu Di and his entourage arrived at the military base, two knights excitedly ran straight to the center of the army.

Zhu, who was in the lead, could see it and waved his hand with a smile to let the surrounding cavalry make way, and the two riders headed straight for Zhu Di's central army.

Zhu Di saw his two sons from a distance.

The visitors were Zhu Di’s second son Zhu Gaoxu and third son Zhu Gaosui.

"You two little bastards, why are you so impatient?"

After the two men came to his side, Zhu Di scolded with a smile.

Zhu Gaoxu dismounted and bowed, then said, "Father has returned victorious, and as his sons and subjects, we should be the first to greet him."

With his brother in front, Zhu Gaosui followed suit, bowed, and called his father "king".

They were both young, about thirteen or fourteen years old.

However, in today's era, children in many families have already started to take charge of household chores at this age.

It is not uncommon for people to get married and have children at the age of fourteen.

When Zhu Di was only ten years old, he had already followed Zhu Yuanzhang to live in the army.

"Okay, follow your father into the city."

Zhu Di laughed, dismounted and patted his two sons on the shoulders. He liked these two sons very much, unlike being indifferent to Zhu Gaochi.

Then he mounted his horse and entered the city.

There were already soldiers lined up at the city gate. When they saw Zhu Di's army entering, drummers beat drums and military music sounded.

Although it is rather simple and not as good as the Ming Dynasty city, it is very rare in such a place.

This time, Zhu Di made a major addition to the military base.

The cavalry at the current military base does not come from the Ming Dynasty’s mobilization, but is trained and cultivated entirely by themselves.

This time, Zhu Di captured more than 2,000 cavalrymen, as well as fine horses and young and strong men, who were the reserve forces of the cavalry.

The herdsmen, young and old, including women, will be sent to the territory of the Ming Dynasty for resettlement and are not allowed to stay in the military base.

This is also a kind of restraint on these cavalry.

Their parents, relatives, and children feel like hostages.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty did not do this.

After these herdsmen are settled in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, they will be taught a series of job training such as farming and weaving. If they perform well within three years, they will be directly granted Ming Dynasty household registration and be considered Ming people.

Only outstanding herdsmen would stay to herd cattle and sheep at the military base to increase meat supply.

The daily meat consumption of more than 30,000 people is a huge number in a military base.

Naturally, there will also be vegetables, fruits, rice, wheat, sweet potatoes, etc.

As a soldier, you can get enough food every day in the cafeteria of this military base, and there are so many choices. This is why the grassland base can grow rapidly.

Nearly half of the more than 30,000 cavalrymen were not transferred from the Ming Dynasty, but were sent by Zhang Bo’s son Zhang Wen to persuade many Jurchen tribes to migrate.

Because of Zhu Ying’s embargo on the grassland, there are now too many starving tribes on the grassland.

When the grassland military base is established, it will be easy to recruit a large number of cavalry.

A full meal is considered a heavenly enjoyment in today's grasslands.

There is no such thing as loyalty in this world. You will work for whoever can give you food.

"Your Highness the Prince of Yan is indeed invincible. It has only been half a month, but he has already completely defeated the Taka tribe. Moreover, our army has suffered very few casualties, and we have captured so many spoils and prisoners."

"I will definitely report this to the capital and make a strong note of the merits of His Royal Highness Prince Yan."

Liu Buyi, who came to greet him, dismounted from his horse, bowed, and then began to flatter Prince of Yan Zhu Di.

Zhu Di just glanced at it.

At first, he was deceived by the cunning boy Liu Buyi, and knew that this guy was a complete smiling tiger.

I used to think he was a coward, but after suffering a few losses in secret, I finally understood him thoroughly.

The logistics of the military base were all arranged by Liu Buyi, and even his own gains had to be handed over.

He said with a bad face: "I don't care about merit or not."

"When you divide your troops, just give more to me."

"It would be best if you could provide my soldiers with better food. It would be good for you to do this."

Whether they surrendered or were captured.

These soldiers cannot be directly assigned to the army, but must train in the grassland military base for three months before they can be assigned.

It's equivalent to recruit training.

The trained new recruits do not belong to whoever they are captured. They need to be distributed as a whole.

Basically, it follows the principle of 433.

For example, among the young and strong men and prisoners captured by Zhu Di this time, 3,000 cavalrymen were qualified after high-intensity training.

In principle, Zhu Di could be allocated 1,200 cavalry.

The rest was divided among Lan Yu and Liu Buyi.

The same principle applies to the capture of Liu Buyi and Lan Yu.

This is the rule set by Zhu Ying, and it is also intended to better balance the three forces.

There are also strict level restrictions on rations.

There are nine levels in total.

First gear is the lowest and ninth gear is the highest.

Prisoners, for example, belong to the ninth category. Basically, they eat white rice porridge with sweet potatoes, which is enough to fill their stomachs but not starve to death. There are also certain restrictions on the amount.

Only in the fifth gear can you enjoy meat.

New recruits can enjoy the sixth level for three months. After three months, if the new recruits are qualified, they will start from the third level.

Among them, outstanding soldiers can be promoted to a higher level. A very small number of soldiers who win a good ranking in the military exercise competition can be directly promoted to the fifth level and have meat to eat every meal.

As for the ninth tier, it is exclusive to Liu Buyi, Lan Yu and Zhu Di.

The General was in seventh and eighth gear.

When it comes to the seventh level, there are no restrictions on food, you can just eat as much as you want.

Zhu Ying was very clear.

In a place like the military, if you want to motivate the soldiers, it is absolutely impossible to have a big pot of rice. Only by having a strict hierarchy can the military discipline be enforced.

The nine levels of meals made all the soldiers extremely excited.

Good comparison and competition can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the entire army.

In fact, this is also true of the current grassland military base.

Even Lan Yu and Zhu Di were extremely shocked by this rule.

They had seen Zhu Ying leading the troops.

But when it comes to knowing about soldiers, I could clearly feel the huge gap.

This can be said to have completely deviated from the scope of Central Plains military books.

It is stated in military books that generals should eat, live and train with their soldiers in order to win the hearts of the soldiers and build up morale.

But Zhu Ying's method is more effective on the grassland at present.

As the commander-in-chief, Zhu Di could feel the soldiers' vigorous fighting spirit every time he led his troops out.

They did it for no other reason than to make military achievements so that they could get a better quality of food.

In the cafeteria, the lower-ranking soldiers were often extremely envious of the higher-ranking soldiers, especially when they heard the wonderful sounds of those eating heartily next to them, their mouths would water.

Now that we have this opportunity, how can we not seize it?

The military discipline in the military base is extremely strict, and soldiers who make mistakes will not be subjected to severe corporal punishment.

What the soldiers feared most was the decline in the quality of their food.

This is much more cruel than whipping them.

The most cruel thing about Zhu Ying is...

Different levels of food require completely different chefs and seasonings.

The food in the sixth grade has an extremely rich aroma.

Just smelling it can make people salivate.

What you can’t get is always there.

In such an environment, the stimulation for the soldiers is really sufficient.

The power to allocate troops and adjust food levels is in the hands of Liu Buyi.

This is also the reason why Zhu Di would rather not take any credit.

Upon hearing this, Liu Buyi smiled bitterly and said, "Don't embarrass me, Your Majesty. These are the rules set by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I would never dare to step out of line."

"The prince won today. According to the rules of the base, all the brothers who went out to fight today can enjoy the sixth-level meal treatment."

"I have prepared food for the brothers, please enter the city, Your Majesty."

This is the glory of a great victory.

Before the King of Yan could speak, the soldiers who heard him behind him had already started cheering.

A barely perceptible fluctuation flashed in the depths of Zhu Di's eyes.

This guy Zhu Ying, relying only on some simple means, was able to make the soldiers lose their loyalty to their commander.

Although the current cavalry are extremely useful, Zhu Di can also feel the difference when leading the troops in battle.

In the past, it was easy to win the hearts of the soldiers when leading them.

But now, although these cavalrymen are his commanders, if he leads them to rebel, he will probably be the first one to be tied up.