Takaki was just an ordinary Mongolian warrior. He couldn't understand this and still shouted: "You Ming people have lied to us. We will never trust you again."

Ma Hewen said: "My master will definitely do what he promised to others. When you were dispersed by the Ming army, my master braved the heavy snow to ask Governor Xuanda to come and save you. Do you know Governor Xuanda?"

Guimu nodded and said: "I heard you mentioned that he was a good official in the Ming Dynasty."

Ma Hewen nodded quickly and said: "Yes, my master did not lie to you. He went to find this good official to save you."

At this time, Lama Zhuofan said: "So, Wang Xiangqian promised to help us?"

Ma Hewen shook his head, pointed to Li Yi beside him and said: "He is the one who can save you. He is the disaster relief ambassador."

Lama Zhuofan turned his head and looked at Li Yi and said, "You really won't go back on your word again?"

Li Yi nodded and said: "I will definitely do what I promised you, but do you still want to be naturalized in the Ming Dynasty? Are you still willing to listen to me?"

Guimu threw away the wooden spear in his hand and said loudly: "We don't want to join the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is too terrible. We just want to stay outside the Great Wall."

Li Yi nodded and said: "You can stay outside the Great Wall, and I can find a tower to house you, but you must swear to join the Ming Dynasty."

Lama Zhuofan said: "Well, we agree to convert to the Ming Dynasty. As long as you can help us and we are willing to listen to you, you will be the master of these herdsmen."

Takaki immediately clapped his hands and said: "That's good, that's good. You come to be our nobleman, our master, and we are your subordinates. In this way, if Ming officials want to kill us again, you will have to make the decision for us."

Li Yi was stunned, not expecting these Mongolians to make such a request.

At this time, Ma Hewen immediately agreed: "That's right. Masters will protect their subordinates. As long as the disaster relief ambassador becomes your master, Ming officials will no longer continue to kill you."

All the Mongols immediately shouted to let Li Yi be their master, so that they could rest assured.

Lama Zhuofan took Li Yi's hand, looked at him solemnly and said: "Every herdsman on the grassland has a master. They need a master. If you are really kind-hearted, just agree to it."

Li Yi had no choice but to agree temporarily.

He led the five thousand people to an abandoned fort, not far from the Great Wall. It used to be the Ming Dynasty's garrison on the grassland. Later, after Emperor Yongle canceled it, it gradually became deserted. Now there are only Ruins and broken walls.

These five thousand people began to live around Wubao. They lacked food and tents, and many of them only wore a ragged sheepskin to keep out the cold. It could be said that they were truly destitute.

Li Yi asked Ma Hewen to take people to the Great Wall to find Song Tongyin, and asked him to send troops to deliver food and tents. On the other side, he continued to search for other hungry Mongolian people who had escaped in the snowfield.

After searching for three days, 10,000 hungry people gathered around the fort. They had given up their original tribal identities and all claimed to be followers of Li Yi, the great disaster relief ambassador of the Ming Dynasty. They completely regarded Li Yi as their own tribe. master.

Li Yi asked Ma Hewen to lead the Fuguo Society to continue to manage the affairs of these victims, and any conflicts would be resolved by Lama Zhuofan.

Lama Zhuofan is a yellow-robed lama who has a high reputation among the Mongolians, and these hungry Mongolians all listen to his words.

A month passed like this, and it was already March of the second year of Chongzhen.

On the grassland, the silhouette of a black horse approached very quickly along the grassy slope opposite the Dongyang River on the iron line, and then jumped into the Dongyang River, water splashing on the horse's hooves.

It was a young knight. His tall body was carried by a war horse and galloped on the grassland. He was like a handsome wolf, mighty and fierce, and intimidating.

Finally, the knight gradually stopped his black horse and looked at the Dongyang River flowing from the horizon, as if deep in thought.

Soon, a group of riders approached quickly and stopped beside him.

"Master, this is the Dongyang River, and in the distance is Daqing Mountain." The leader, a burly Mongolian man wearing a sheepskin hat and a red nose, said.

The young knight nodded and said: "Takaki, you told me not to call me master, but to call me lord."

Takaki chuckled and said, "Isn't it my master's intention, I understand."

Li Yi shook his head helplessly, looked at Ma Hewen behind him, pointed to the fertile land along the Dongyang River and said: "How many people can be fed by opening up wasteland here?"

Ma Hewen looked up and said: "The land on both sides of the Dongyang River is very fertile. If we open up wasteland for farming here and use the new seedlings selected by An Xin, we should be able to feed 100,000 people."

A smile appeared on Li Yi's face. The food he brought from Yuan Chonghuan had been eaten up, and the disaster relief food allocated by the emperor was also decreasing rapidly. Therefore, if he wanted to feed these Mongolians, he needed to open up wasteland and cultivate fields so that he could be self-sufficient.

"But master, we Mongolians don't know how to grow food, we can only herd animals." Takaki rubbed his cold nose.

Li Yi was slightly stunned after hearing this and said, "Don't you farm?"

Guimu smiled stupidly and said: "We grow food, but we let Han slaves do it, and the herdsmen only graze. The only people who can grow food on the grassland are Bansheng Han people."

"Bansheng Han?" Li Yi was slightly startled.

Ma Hewen, who was next to him, walked up, opened the map and pointed to the west: "Bansheng is north of Datong. It is a place where Han people gather. It has complete farmland. The Han people there also make a living by farming."

Guimu nodded and said: "The Han people in Bansheng are the best at farming. When we encounter famine years, we will rob them of food."

Staring at Takaki fiercely, Li Yi said: "Is there a famine in Bansheng?"

Guimu looked at Li Yi cautiously and said: "There is also a famine in Bansheng. I am afraid that the Han people there have to ask for help from the Ming Dynasty just like us."

Ma Hewen heard this and said: "Sir, in this case we need to attract some Bansheng Han people, so that they can lead these Mongolians to farm and farm."

Li Yi nodded and said: "In that case, I will ask Song Tongyin for documents. You take Guimu with you, and I will ask Liu Zhi to lead a team of cavalry to escort you to recruit people."

Within a few days, Ma Hewen sent someone to send a letter saying that they had found many hungry Han people in Ban Sheng. The food there had been robbed by the Mongolian tribes, and the canals and fields were destroyed. Coupled with successive years of drought,

It’s impossible to survive now. As soon as I heard that the Ming Dynasty’s disaster relief ambassador was inviting Han people to farm, they all signed up. If they didn’t sign up, they would starve to death.

After waiting for more than ten days, Ma Hewen came back.

Returning with him were not only 3,000 Han people, but also 5,000 Mongolians. These were hungry people begging for food in Datong. The commander-in-chief there was Mangui, but he was a general who was not easy to mess with. These hungry people had their heads covered with wounds.

When Guimu heard that Ming officials were providing disaster relief at Dongyang River, they all followed him.

Li Yi gritted his teeth and looked at Guimu. He asked Ma Hewen to go to Datong to recruit Han people. How could this guy fool so many Mongolians?

These Mongolians knew that they were disliked, so they all smiled silly and called Li Yi "Master", even if they became part of the subordinates, they stretched their necks and stared at the iron pot, asking their companions next to them when the meal would be served.

Li Yi had no choice but to let people cook porridge and let the hungry people who had been hungry for many days wait for a while.

As the news about Dongyang River relief for the victims spread, more and more hungry people gathered here. They gathered from Chahar, Datong, Xuanfu, etc., and soon the number of people in Dongyang exceeded 30,000.

And the speed has not dropped.

Li Yi was startled at this moment. Seeing this situation, the victims from the entire southern Mongolian right wing were coming to him. He asked Ma Hewen to manage the affairs of the victims, and he and Zhu Qilong hurried to Datong.

Since the last trip to the Great Wall, Wang Xiangqian fell ill. This time, Li Yi had no choice but to bite the bullet and find this helper.

Li Yi, who was tired of work, walked into the Governor's Yamen, and Wang Xiangqian summoned him in the study.

Seeing the tired Li Yi, Wang Xiangqian also felt pity for him. He asked Li Yi to sit down and asked about the victims.

As soon as he mentioned this matter, Li Yi couldn't help it and told all the things about the increase in the number of victims, the lack of food, the shortage of clothing and tents.

Wang Xiangqian listened quietly. When Li Yi finished speaking, he coughed twice and said: "Zizheng, you are the disaster relief ambassador appointed by the emperor. This time things are indeed difficult, but Xuanda does not have food to support you."

, it’s up to you to figure it out yourself.”

Li Yi smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, what can I do? If the imperial court does not issue more food, I won't be able to survive for long."

Wang Xiangqian was silent for a moment and said: "The imperial court will not send you food anymore. Since the last time the emperor sent you food, now Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places are clamoring for food, saying that the emperor would rather send food to the Xilu

, are unwilling to help the people of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the emperor's prestige has been damaged, we must quickly stabilize the people's hearts. If we give you more food at this time, the Ming Dynasty will be even more chaotic."

Li Yi did not expect that Emperor Chongzhen would also encounter a problem, and he did not expect that this problem was caused by eight hundred carts of grain.

Now that Xuanda has no food, and the court will not distribute food to itself, what will happen to the victims outside?

Li Yi looked at Wang Xiangqian.

The two were silent for a while.

With a violent cough, Wang Xiangqian said patiently: "You can only rely on yourself to solve the food problem. There is nothing you can do about it. However, no matter what, the victims under your command cannot cause trouble, otherwise the declaration of the Great Border will cause another disturbance, and you will also be

condemn."

Li Yi said with a bitter face: "Master Butang, how can I appease so many victims without food relief?"

Wang Xianggan said: "You can figure this out yourself."

Li Yi stood up excitedly and said: "I can no longer do this job as disaster relief ambassador. I will resign from the court and let the court send capable people to serve."

"Zizheng, no." Wang Xiangqian was a little excited, and the thought of his violent coughing made his whole body tremble.

Li Yi hurriedly went up to support him, only to feel that under the large official uniform was an extremely thin body. It was hard to imagine that such a fragile body could actually bear the heavy responsibility of Xuanda.

Wang Xianggan suppressed his cough, stared at Li Yi with cloudy eyes, and said seriously: "Zizheng, relieving the victims represents the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards the Mongols. If we fail again this time, then the Mongolian tribes will fall back." Jin, when the time comes, the border gates of the Ming Dynasty will be in danger. This is the barrier of peace for millions of people in the Ming Dynasty. You must not give up."

Li Yi lowered his head and whispered: "But if there is no food, how can I help the victims?"

Wang Xiangqian thought for a while and felt that his previous words were too strong. He gritted his teeth and said: "In this case, I will return to the capital and persuade the court officials to raise food for you. But you have to promise me that you must be stable during this period." situation."

Li Yi nodded immediately after hearing this and said: "As long as there is food, I will be confident to appease these victims. After the snow melts, I plan to let them cultivate fields, herd and hunt. In just half a year, these Mongolians can be self-sufficient." It is self-sufficient and becomes the barrier of Ming Dynasty."
Chapter completed!