Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 122: The end of the traitor, dogs are worse than humans!
Fengzhou Beach in the northern part of the Saibei.

Also known as Tumochuan, it extends from Hetao in the west to Ximalin in Xuanfu in the east, backed by the rolling Daqing Mountains in the north and bordered by the Big and Small Heihe Rivers in the south. It has a flat terrain, abundant pasture, and is suitable for grazing and farming. It was the grazing place of Altan, the leader of the Tumed right wing of the Tatars.

Since Emperor Taizu Gaodi of the Ming Dynasty established Nanjing as its capital, the army marched northward. Emperor Shundi of the Yuan Dynasty and the court retreated to the desert, but the country's name remained. At one point, they attempted to recover the old territory and recapture Dadu.

Emperor Chengzu Wen launched several expeditions to the north and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

A large number of soldiers and civilians from the grasslands south of the desert and Liaodong surrendered, and all tribal forces retreated to the desert grasslands, but the two sides still clashed from time to time.

Emperor Yingzong was captured in Tumu Fortress, and the Ming Dynasty switched from offense to defense. It built the Great Wall along the terrain, established nine important border towns from Liaodong in the east to Gansu in the west, and deployed large armies to guard them.

The internal forces of the grassland that fled north were constantly fighting and killing each other for fame and territory, and they split into three major tribes: Tatar, Oirat and Uriankhai.

Tatar was the name given to the Eastern Steppe by the Ming Dynasty. They roamed the area south of Lake Baikal and north of the desert, in the winter in the Onon River and Kherlen River basins, in the west to the Hangai Mountains and the upper reaches of the Selenge River, and in the south of the desert.

Wala was the name given to the western grasslands by the Ming Dynasty. They were nomads in the northwest of the vast grasslands from the Altai Mountains to the lower reaches of the Selenge River.

Wuliangha is the name of an ancient tribe, which lived in the northern desert and outside the Liaodong border.

After the Tatars suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the Oirat tribe living in the northwest of the desert rose rapidly and advanced eastward in a massive manner, controlling the entire grassland for a time. The leader of the Oirat tribe, Yesen, who defeated the Ming Dynasty's 500,000-strong army at Tumu Fortress, proclaimed himself "Great Khan of the Yuan Dynasty". However, the act of calling himself Khan not only did not bring glory to the Oirat, but instead brought him fatal disaster. The Oirat power declined from then on, and the Tatar tribes gradually occupied the north and south of the desert.

Dayan Khan, who was known as the "violent leader of the revival", unified the grassland after many debates.

But after Dayan Khan's death, his third son Barsborot became the Great Khan.

Dayan Khan's other sons were dissatisfied and forced him to abdicate. Eventually, the throne was inherited by Dayan Khan's eldest grandson, Bodi. The Ming Dynasty called him Tuman, also known as the little prince.

In order to appease his uncle Barsborot, the little prince appointed his three sons, Jinang, Altan and Kunduliha, as little khans.

Jinang occupied the land of the Ordos Wanhu. Kunduliha, namely Laobadu, was stationed in Hetao and Kalaqin to the west. Altan was the Tumed Wanhu chief and was stationed in Fengzhoutan.

Altan Khan was ambitious and good at fighting. He unified the desert. Although the little prince had the power to be the co-leader, he was forced away by Altan Khan and moved to Liaodong.

At present, the Altan tribe, as a Tumed Wanhu, is the strongest, dominating the right-wing tribes and constantly expanding its territory. He has become the Khan of the grassland, and the Ming Dynasty has succeeded him as the "Northern Barbarians".

In the past, Tumochuan was just a place with some tents, but in just over a decade, it has turned into a Han city called "Bansheng".

At the northernmost end of the city, at the foot of Baofeng Mountain, there is an ancient castle called Meidaizhao, which is the remains of the garrison set up by Emperor Taizu Gao during the Hongwu period.

After Altan Khan led his troops to settle here, he chose this place as the Khan's court.

Several decades ago, the White Lotus Sect of Xishan, led by Zhao Quan and Qiu Fu, came here to surrender to the Tatars and built a magnificent three-story palace specifically for Altan Khan.

Altan Khan usually lived here, but it was difficult to change his nomadic habits over the years, so he set up another camp at the foot of the Daqing Mountains.

Outside the big tent, cavalry and infantry were guarding the place, swords flashing and bows and arrows everywhere. Cannons and iron guns were set up at the four corners. It was almost noon when a tall white horse galloped over from the grassland outside the city. When it arrived in front of the big tent, a girl of about twelve or thirteen jumped off the horse and ran into the big tent happily.

The Tatars have always been averse to riding horses quickly to the front of the tent, believing that this would not only alarm people and animals, but also mean bad news.

This is similar to the principle that one should not knock on the door too hastily in Zhongyuan.

But facing the girl, the soldiers did not try to stop her, and she walked through the sea of ​​swords on her own.

The girl, who was as beautiful as a butterfly, was the third wife of Altan Khan. Among the Tatars, she was called "Ketuhatun" and in the Ming Dynasty she was called Sanniangzi, Yerzhongjin.

She was the woman who caused Hannaji to defect.

Perhaps it was because of her young age, or perhaps she really didn’t know anything, but when Zhong Jin, who was blessed with supreme beauty by the Eternal Heaven, entered the Khan’s tent, she was like an oriole on a tree, happily calling out, “Zuhan!”

Although he had become Aldan Khan's Ketuhatun and had done everything he should have done with Aldan Khan, Zhong Jin still liked to call Aldan Khan his grandfather. And because his grandfather was the Khan of the grassland, he called him Zu Khan, continuing the way he called him in his childhood.

Altan Khan was in his sixties, but he was strong and short and fat. He had a bronze, square and round face with high cheekbones. His big, long eyes occupied half of his face above the bridge of his nose, and a thick, coarse beard hung on his chest.

Altan Khan saw the girl at first sight, liked the girl's name, opened his arms, hugged Zhong Jin, and his joyful voice spread throughout the Khan's tent.

All the bodyguards covered their ears, looked at their noses with their eyes, and looked at their hearts with their noses.

"Zuhan, I heard that we are going to negotiate with the Ming people." Zhong Jin said with his eyes blinking.

"Yes."

Altan Khan, who was overworked, was obviously a little exhausted. "That kid Hanaji ran away to the Ming court, and the Shanxi merchants were massacred by the Ming court's Jinyiwei. From now on, not a single grain of food can enter the grassland. Over the years, the grassland has been getting colder every year. The high priest received a revelation from the Eternal Heaven that it will get colder and colder in the future, and there will be more and more blizzards. The cattle and sheep on which we depend for survival will find it difficult to survive the extremely cold winter. There will eventually be a spring, which will be the day to bury the Tatars. Therefore, we want to take Hanaji and the Ming court's food. If we can't snatch it, we can only negotiate..."

Aldan Khan kept complaining about the worthlessness of Shanxi merchants and the decline of the Tatar cavalry. Zhong Jin listened with great interest, looking up at Aldan Khan, his mouth sometimes opening and sometimes closing as Aldan Khan spoke.

After Altan Khan finished speaking, his energy seemed to weaken a little. Zhong Jin said seriously, "But the condition for our negotiation with the Ming people is that we return the Han people in Bansheng. Once we hand over these people, it will be much easier for the Ming people to attack our Tatars. By then, not only will we not be able to get Brother Bahan Naji back, but even Zu Khan himself will be in danger."

Altan Khan, who was shrewd all his life, of course knew who taught Zhong Jin these words, but he did not blame him. He stroked Zhong Jin's hair and said, "When the Ming envoy arrives, I will talk to him in person and exchange cattle and sheep for Zhao Quan, Qiu Fu and others."

Over the years, even if it was just a dog, he had developed some feelings for it, and Altan Khan was not willing to give up good dogs like Zhao Quan and Qiu Fu easily.

But if it is really impossible and the Ming court does not give in, then there is nothing we can do. After all, dogs are not as important as people.

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhong Jin clapped his hands with a smile.

(End of this chapter)