It’s already August in the blink of an eye.

The Siberian steppes in August are already slightly cooler.

Sayak is the northernmost place in the Kazakh steppe. There are dozens of lakes, large and small, and rolling hills near the lakes.

On the north side of a lake also called Sayak Lake by the locals, Luo Jizhi came to the place where the Arati caravan was attacked. This place is about two hundred miles south of Hulujin's station and belongs to the Kelei tribe that now believes in Tianfang religion.

Summer pasture.

About five hundred miles southwest of here, there is a place called Aksu, located on the south bank of the Erqisi River (this name will also be used in later generations). It is one of the four Oirat tribes and was once the largest Durbot tribe in Huitai.

The royal flag of Jidalai Taish is located.

Today, it is the pastureland of his most beloved youngest son, Omubu Daiqing. He has the largest number of herders, up to 10,000 households, but now Omubu Daiqing has joined the Zhungeer tribe.

The current situation is: with the Erqis River as the boundary, the east is basically the pastureland of Gumubu and Zhabu, and the west is the Kazakh Krei tribe, which has taken refuge in Omubu Daiqing of Batur.

Naturally, it is impossible for Arati's caravan to go to the tribe of Ombutaiqing in the southeast. Now the Kazakh Khanate and the Dzungar Khanate are life-and-death enemies. The two sides have been fighting for many years, with each winning or losing.

Not long ago, Jianger, who was actually in power in the Kazakh Khanate, was defeated at the hands of Batur and was captured by Batur. This was a great shame and humiliation for the Kazakh Khanate, and there was no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides.

Therefore, after Arati's caravan arrived at Lake Sayak, it turned southwest. From there, there was a road with intermittent rivers and large and small lakes as the baseline, all the way to where the royal city of Jianger is today.

, a city in Turkestan located on the north bank of the Syr Darya River.

Like Nikan, Jiang Geer also has three major field army groups under his command - the Central Army, the Eastern Army, and the Southern Army. The total number is as high as 200,000. Among them, the Central Army deals with enemies in the west and north of its territory; the Eastern Army is in

Irtysh faced the Dzungar Khanate near the Chu River; the Southern Army was along the Syr Darya River, deterring the Bukhara Khanate and the Mughal Empire in the south.

At present, among the four tribes of Oirat, the Torgut tribe has gone to the Volga River Basin, the Heshuot tribe has gone to Qinghai, and the Durbot tribe has been divided into pieces. Some of them followed the Torgut tribe to the west, and some of them followed Gushi Khan.

They went to Qinghai, and some of them went to Nikan (Sudukui, Zhabu, Gumubu). Among them, the direct lineage of the Dalai Lama, his youngest son Omubu Daiqing, took refuge in Batur.

Therefore, at present, strictly speaking, there is only one Jungar tribe in the Junggar Khanate today. Batur is slowly gathering Turgut, Durbot, Heshuote, Tuohite, and Qighar.

After the Erghis and other tribes, it has expanded to a large tribe with more than 100,000 tents.

As early as a few years ago, Batur established the Jungar Khanate, which was among the strongest in the Western Region.

Although the number is still smaller than that of the Kazakh Khanate, Batur, who is known for his toughness, still maintained a roughly balanced outcome in the war with Jianger.

By the Sayak Lake, there were almost no traces of the fighting. The local herdsmen had long robbed the caravan of supplies. However, because Sayak Lake was quite sacred to the locals, they buried all the bodies.

.

The key point is that due to the status of Sayak Lake as a "holy lake", the Klei tribe usually does not allow herders to graze nearby. Therefore, when Arati was attacked, there were no witnesses.

There is one witness.

That was the person who reported the news who narrowly escaped.

Unfortunately, when the man found Luo Jizhi, he gave him a letter and died without saying a word.

A letter with special symbols.

It was a gray snake wrapped around a dead tree.

Press the sign of Chasi Gray Guards!

That person should be the Gray Guards spy hiding in the Arati caravan. Maybe he is the Gray Guards spy responsible for exploring the Kazakh Khanate and the Bukhara Khanate.

Why did this person find me?

Luo Jizhi immediately smiled bitterly.

Most likely it was because during the time when he served as the captain of Nikan's personal guard, because he often followed Nikan on tours, he was also around when Nikan met with important people.

There was only one sentence in that letter.

"Follow the picture to find out"

What do you mean? Do you still want to pursue it yourself? But you have other tasks. Besides, why should you listen to the gray-clothed guard?

When he thought of the pale face of Wang Wenhui, who was in charge of the Gray Guards, he couldn't help but feel a twitch in his heart.

But what if this is related to the overall situation of the Daxia Empire?

Then he thought that if it hadn't been for that gray-clad guard causing trouble that night, he would have almost solved the strange behavior of Man Hai and others, and he could safely leave it to them to deal with, but in the end, this was the result?

The person who reported the news was wearing the clothes of the Alati caravan guard. From this point of view, the gray-clothed guard was mixed with Alati's caravan.

Here comes the problem.

Is this the only Gray Guard? Or are there others?

Then I thought, what are the origins of these people in Manhai?

According to the shape of Mutan's long sword, it was probably owned by Bayala of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. However, some of the elite cavalry of the Ming Dynasty also had that kind of long sword. Then again, the long sword of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was still based on the long sword of the Ming Dynasty.

The shape of the knife has been modified, and in the end it is unclear who is the ancestor and who is the descendant.

This is not the key.

The core point is, if they are people from the Ming Dynasty, why did they send people here?

From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, there should be only one enemy on the surface at present, the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. If the idea of ​​​​"distance and close attack" was pursued, it would just contact the Dzungar Khanate occupying the north of the Tianshan Mountains, and the only target to be dealt with was

One - Daxia Empire.

However, judging from the past situation of Ming Dynasty, it is really hard to imagine that he would do this.

What if it was Manchu and Qing Dynasty?

It is really possible. They are more active and aggressive than the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, after the Battle of Kuhuzheer, anyone with a discerning eye can see that without foreign aid, it will be a matter of time for them, who are isolated in Liaodong, to eventually become extinct——

This was especially true after Nikan occupied Xingkai Lake and the Vladivostok area.

Because, in that case, they would be tightly trapped in the plains, and they would have no way to escape if they failed.

Well, it would make sense if it were Manchu and Qing Dynasty.

The Zhungeer tribe and the Russians are the great enemies of the Daxia Empire, and they are also bordering the Daxia Empire. If the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty form an alliance with them, they may really pose a threat to the Daxia Empire.

He also thought that Manhai and others had not been seen since the day before the departure of the Hulu Department. When he asked Fan Yonghe, he responded with "He made a big mistake and was sent back to the headquarters for reprimand."

"Humph!" Looking at the sparkling lake water and various water birds in front of him, Luo Jizhi couldn't help but sneered, "Who are you kidding?"

Things are becoming clearer and clearer.

But here comes the problem again. If Manhai and the others disguised themselves as the Han navy and killed Arati's caravan, then this would be incredible. Manhai and the others only had about ten people, while Arati's guards had thirty people.

Including the other people in the camel team, the total number is no less than a hundred people. How can it be completed by just a dozen of them?

It is still possible to kill Arati alone and take away two of his concubines, but to kill all the people in the camel team. If this combat power is true, it is simply chilling. Do they have helpers?

?

So who will this helper be?

According to the map and Hulujin's description, the tribe closest to this place is the Omubu Daiqing, which is dependent on this tribe. If Manhai and the others had colluded with the Zhungeer tribe early on, everything would make sense.

What a vicious plan!

Thinking of this, Luo Jizhi thought that he had figured out all the plans of Man Hai and others.

First, I relied on my relationship with the Fan family to sneak into his caravan. After arriving at Zabu's station, I contacted the Russians and Zanyabandida. Most of the people I contacted in the Black Forest were Russians. I definitely contacted Zanyabandida.

It is to express one's admiration and possibly use the prestige of the living Buddha to connect people who believe in Lamaism.

If this step is successful, the three Khalkha units can be included in the next operational plan.

No wonder I had received a briefing from Yangdu before setting off from Yenisei. It mentioned that the Manchu Qing Dynasty had established a lamasery in Shenyang. This was the original purpose.

He used his own belief in Lamaism as a guise to draw all those who believed in this religion to his side, and then used another guise of expelling heretics to unite against the Great Xia Empire.

Yes, that must be the case!

As for the Russians, I guess the Manchus also had the attitude of giving it a try. It would be best if they could succeed, but it didn’t matter if they couldn’t. Their focus must still be on the Dzungar Khanate!

From this point of view, if the massacre of the Arati caravan was indeed done by Manhai and others, then the direction in which they fled must be the Dzungar Khanate.

If this matter succeeds, it will also be beneficial to Batur, the Great Khan of the Gur Khanate. First, it can involve the Kazakh Khanate in the alliance against the Great Xia Empire - because the reporter clearly pointed out that

, "The murderer is wearing Han Haijun's clothes." Secondly, with the Manchu Qing involved in the east, he can devote himself to dealing with the Kazakh Khanate and Yeerqiang Khanate!

"Man Hai, Mu Tan, Li Jinzhong"

During the time when he served as the captain of the Nikan Guards, in order to meet the needs of his duties, he also learned about some of the generals of the Qing Dynasty from Wang Wenhui and Gari.

Now that I think about it, it finally becomes a little clearer.

Manhai was probably Mandahai, the youngest son of Daishan. No wonder Mu Tan and Li Jinzhong both respected him. Although they usually blocked him, some subconscious actions could not be blocked.

Li Jinzhong is most likely a descendant of Han Junqi, or a descendant of a certain high-ranking Han official. Judging from his ability to speak Mongolian, he is probably a certain Han general who married a Mongolian lady according to Huang Taiji's request.

"Last name is Li?"

There were many Han Chinese named Li who defected to the Manchus in Liaodong, but two of them were the most famous.

One of them is naturally Li Yongfang, the father of Li Yangeng who is currently in the Daxia Empire. He has many sons. Moreover, Li Yongfang once was in charge of the Manchu spies system. It is not unusual for one of his sons to become a spy.

The other one is Li Guohan.

"By the way, he must be Li Guohan's son."
To be continued...