Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1666 The prince who loves fried pork chops!

Although Habib did not choose to make the information public after receiving the information sent by his confidant Diyar from the city of Lesa, what he would not have thought at this time was that his two most trusted confidants were secretly meeting in an ordinary tent at this time.

"Makhachev, do you still want to continue fighting?"

Seeing Umar open the door and get straight to the point, Makhachev was silent for a moment and replied:

"The Khan wants to continue the fight!"

After hearing Makhachev's answer, Umar did not ponder the meaning of Makhachev's words, but spoke directly:
"My soldiers don't want to fight anymore. They want to go home. It's almost autumn now. They want to go back and prepare the extra cattle, sheep and hay. They don't want to fight here anymore!"

Makhachev said nothing when he heard this, but his expression was very gloomy.

Although he did not ask his soldiers what they thought like Umar did, not asking did not mean that Makhachev did not know. On the contrary, Makhachev knew very well that after more than half a year of fighting, the Cuman soldiers had become war-weary!
In order to win the battle, Habib spent a lot of money on the Kipchaks, making them feel that as long as they worked hard, victory would be a natural outcome. The Kipchaks could not only fulfill their ancestors' long-cherished wish to unify the entire grassland, but also go to Changjing to plunder the wealth of the Central Plains...

But the reality now is that the war has lasted for more than half a year. Although the Golden Horde has achieved remarkable results in military operations and gained an advantageous position on the battlefield, their actual spoils of war are very small!
And most importantly, all the little spoils were divided up by Khabib's generals, leaving the ordinary soldiers without even a scrap of leftovers.

Therefore, when they were fighting with their lives at risk but gained nothing, the fighting enthusiasm of the Cuman soldiers declined greatly!
Besides, it is August now and September is coming soon, which is the busiest time period on the grassland.

Autumn is an important period for fattening cattle and sheep on the grassland. The grass seeds on the grassland are their favorite food, and late autumn and early winter every year are also the time when cattle and sheep are the fattest.

This is the best time to slaughter cattle and sheep. Slaughtering cattle and sheep at this time can produce more than ten or even dozens of kilograms of meat.

If cattle and sheep are not slaughtered in the autumn, they still need to eat in the winter. Winter is not like spring, summer and autumn when cattle and sheep can go out to eat on the grassland, but all they eat in winter is the hay prepared in the autumn. However, this hay is also very precious and is a necessity for herders to keep warm in winter!
If the livestock are not well fed, they will lose weight, and the results of fattening in summer and autumn will be lost!

Therefore, in order to maximize profits and allow a sheep to produce dozens of kilograms of meat, slaughtering cattle and sheep in autumn has become a custom of all grassland peoples.

These Cuman soldiers in the tents now are soldiers when fighting and herdsmen when not fighting. In the late autumn of previous years, they were all preparing to slaughter cattle and sheep at home.

In addition to preparing to slaughter cattle and sheep, they also have to prepare hay in the fall. In short, in order to survive a cold winter, these Kipchak herdsmen have a lot to do...

Seeing that autumn was getting closer and the war showed no sign of ending, these Cuman soldiers could no longer sit still. Although they did not dare to speak directly due to the majesty of their superiors, their inner voices were becoming stronger and stronger.

In Makhachev's opinion, the most important reason why the Cuman army has not taken Damao Mountain until now is not how strong the Daqian Luobe coalition forces on the mountain are, or how resolute and tenacious their resistance is!

Those Daqian troops might have been very strong when they had firearms, but now that they have no help from firearms, they are like a tiger without teeth!

The real reason why these once invincible Cuman warriors hesitated to move forward in this small Damao Mountain was that there was a change in the hearts of the Cuman soldiers!

This kind of inner change did not just start now. In fact, war-weariness had already appeared in the army more than a month ago. It was Habib who promised the soldiers that as long as they fought well in the battle of Turte Grassland and wiped out the main force of the enemy in one fell swoop, they could return home with a full load!
But the result now seems to be that returning with a full load is already a distant prospect, so many people don’t want to try their best anymore!
Just when Makhachev was feeling depressed, Umar started to speak:
"Daqian's Second Army has already headed north, with its sword pointed directly at Lesa City. We should withdraw now..."

Hearing Umar's decisive tone, Makhachev said nothing, but a bitter smile appeared on his face.

In fact, it was not only the soldiers who were homesick, but Makhachev also wanted to go back. His wife, children and the elderly were all in the city of Lesa. Now the Second Army was heading north, although Habib said it was only a small force. The Second Army, which was mainly composed of infantry, would find it difficult to quickly attack the city of Lesa!

But Makhachev didn't dare to gamble. Besides, the Damao Mountain had been under siege for a long time and the morale was getting lower and lower. Deep down, Makhachev himself was becoming less and less confident about winning the war!
Although he already had some pessimistic thoughts in his mind, Makhachev did not dare to tell Khabib, because he knew that Khabib had already put all his eggs in one basket!

Seeing that Makhachev didn't say anything, Umar became a little impatient and directly expressed his thoughts.

"Makhachev, I have a trick that will get us home!"

Makhachev was startled, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke seriously:

“Although Umar is having a hard time now, as long as we unite as one, we can still overcome this difficulty!”

"I'm not trying to betray the Khan, I just want to go home. We can spread the news that the Daqian Second Army is heading north. This will inevitably affect morale. The brothers are all eager to go home. Even if the Khan wants to continue fighting, he must consider everyone's thoughts!"

Hearing Umar say this, Makhachev was shocked at first, and then fell into deep thought.

Umar waited for Makhachev for about half a cup of tea, but seeing that Makhachev was reluctant to speak, he became impatient and asked:

"What do you think, Makhachev?"

Facing Umar's question, Makhachev slowly raised his head and said:
"I don't know what you are talking about! What you want to do has nothing to do with me!" After saying that, without waiting for Umar to continue, Mahasif stood up and left the tent.

Umar was a little surprised to see Makhachev leave so decisively without even giving him a chance to speak, but he soon realized Makhachev's attitude and his eyes flickered.

Two hours later, when Habib was in the tent thinking about how to fight tomorrow, a familiar voice was heard outside.

"Great Khan! I, Aimanhali, have an important matter to report!"

The voice interrupted Habib's thoughts, but Habib did not hesitate and ordered:

"come in!"

"Yes!"

A moment later, Aimanhali walked into the tent. Under Habib's gaze, he reported without any hesitation:

"Great Khan, a rumor has spread among the army tonight that the Second Daqian Army is heading north to attack the city of Lesa. This news is spreading rapidly among the army. Please make your decision, Great Khan!"

Habib was shocked when he heard this, and he looked at Aimanhali with suspicion.

This Aimanhali was a senior general in the Kipchak army, but he was not a close confidant of Habib, so he did not know that Habib had already received the news, and he continued to preach to Habib:
"Great Khan, such rumors are spreading at this time. They must have been deliberately spread by Luo Bi and Da Qian's spies in order to disrupt the morale of our army. Your Majesty, please order the spread of rumors to stop. I have already stopped the spread of rumors in my army!"

Hearing what Aimanhali said, Habib couldn't help but smile bitterly, and silently sighed in his heart that the truth will eventually come out!

As early as the day when he decided to block the news, Habib knew that he could only block it for a while. Sooner or later, the news of Daqian's Second Army's invasion of Lesa would be revealed...

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August 27, Yijing, Imperial Palace
In An Miaoyi's room, Ye Mingsheng and his family of three were enjoying the delicious food carefully prepared by the imperial chef.

Under normal circumstances, Ye Mingsheng would have about three to five dishes for dinner, but today An Miaoyi prepared twelve dishes, each of which was a delicacy from land and sea and very expensive. According to Ye Mingsheng's understanding of the prices in Yijing, these twelve dishes would cost at least twenty taels of silver, and if it was a little more, thirty taels of silver was entirely possible!

You have to know that Yi Jing was an ordinary worker, and his annual income was only about five or six taels of silver, which was equivalent to one meal eating up the annual income of five or six workers!

Although Ye Mingsheng felt that it was a bit extravagant for a family of three to have twelve dishes for a meal when the court was in financial difficulty, considering that he had not had dinner with An Miaoyi and Jingren for some time, Ye Mingsheng did not want to ruin the atmosphere because of this, so he did not say anything!
As a person who loves food, Ye Mingsheng doesn't like to say anything to others during a meal, so adhering to the concept of not doing to others what you don't want others to do to you, Ye Mingsheng did not disturb Jingren's meal. The father and son concentrated on enjoying the delicious food carefully prepared by the imperial chef...

Compared to Ye Mingsheng and Ye Jingren, father and son, who were focused on eating, An Miaoyi's mind was not on the delicious food in front of her.

Looking at Jingren, who was so focused on frying pork chops that he had lost track of the world, An Miaoyi felt extremely helpless. For today's reunion dinner for the family of three, she asked Jingren to prepare for an hour just to make him perform well in front of Ye Mingsheng.

But now, when it comes to food, Jingren forgets everything. An Miaoyi really doesn’t know what’s so delicious about this fried pork chop, and why Jingren can’t get enough of it!
If she wasn't worried about gaining weight from eating fried pork chops all the time, An Miaoyi really wanted Jingren to eat fried pork chops every day. She just wanted to see if Jingren could eat enough fried pork chops to the point where he would feel sick at the sight of fried pork chops!

Seeing that Jingren had lost all consciousness, An Miaoyi glanced at Qiqige who was standing beside her and serving her.

Although An Miaoyi did not speak, she and Qiqige, who grew up together, already had a tacit understanding. With just a glance, Qiqige understood An Miaoyi's thoughts, and immediately fetched a jar of wine, then poured a glass for Ye Mingsheng and Jingren respectively.

After pouring the wine, Qiqige touched Jingren calmly again. Jingren, who was still immersed in eating pork chops, was stunned for a moment, then looked at Qiqige blankly, as if he didn't understand Qiqige's action.

Although Daqian's financial situation is not very good, as the crown prince of Daqian, Jingren can theoretically enjoy all the delicacies, and fried pork chops are one of Jingren's favorite foods...
Originally, Jingren could have imagined fried pork chops, but Ye Mingsheng casually told An Miaoyi that fried pork chops are high in calories and eating too much will easily make you fat. Although An Miaoyi didn't know what calories were, she could understand what Ye Mingsheng said later, so she ordered that the supply of fried pork chops to Jingren be limited!
In the past two months, Jingren had only eaten fried pork chops once, so when he saw the fried pork chops in front of him again today, Jingren was a little out of control for a while, but after seeing his mother's eyes, Jingren realized something, and immediately picked up the wine glass, stood up and said:
"Dad! You have been very busy with official duties recently, often working until late at night. I am worried about your health. I hope you can take good care of yourself. This glass of wine is for you!"

After saying this, under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Jingren directly put a glass of wine into his mouth.

Looking at Jingren's actions, Ye Mingsheng glanced at An Miaoyi beside him out of the corner of his eye. He knew that An Miaoyi liked this kind of behavior the most!

Although he knew that Jingren was suddenly so concerned about his health, most likely because of An Miaoyi's teaching, Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded affirmatively:
"Jingren, it's rare that you have such filial piety!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng picked up the wine glass and took a sip. Although Ye Mingsheng didn't like drinking very much, but with just one sip, Ye Mingsheng could tell that the wine in the glass was authentic Jiangnan Girl's Red, and the age was definitely not low.

Although he knew that this was a rare good wine, Ye Mingsheng himself was not a wine lover, so he just tasted it briefly and then put down the wine glass. He said to Jingren, who had just finished the wine in the glass and now looked a little drunk:

"Although Jingren's wine is good, don't drink too much. Alcohol is not a good thing..."