prosperous age

Chapter 796 895 Mongolia’s Conditions

"So, 22 people including Duke Xu Wenbi of Dingguo and Zhang Siwei, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, thought that the Mongolian petition could be accepted. 17 people including the British Duke Zhang Rong and Zhang Shouzhi, the minister of household affairs, thought that the peace treaty could not be accepted. Zhu Heng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry The other five people think that paying tribute can be implemented, but mutual trading is not convenient."

Emperor Longqing was in the Qianqing Palace, looking at the results of the court discussion. To be honest, although the voting results seemed to be in favor of the supporters, in fact, including Zhu Heng and other courtiers who had conditionally agreed, it was essentially a vote against Wang Chonggu. Ce raised objections.

From this perspective, the voting result is actually the same as the number of votes Wei Guangde originally calculated, which was 22 votes.

From this, and considering that the attitudes of the five ministers in the cabinet were surprisingly unanimous, that is, they supported Wang Chonggu's policy, Emperor Longqing finally firmed up his position in his heart.

Looking at the cabinet ministers and several ministers who were standing in awe, Emperor Longqing finally said: "The decree is sent to Wang Chonggu to talk about it. This matter must not be disputed in the future.

The court will make further plans after there are results from Datong. "

Yes, now Wang Chonggu just gave an idea, and he didn't know how An Dahan would react, and the whole court was already noisy.

This is why the cabinet wanted to cover up the matter at the beginning. This kind of matter has to wait until Wang Chonggu has negotiated the matter, and then you court officials can discuss whether it is feasible.

Frizzy, what does it look like?

Unfortunately, almost no imperial memorials can be kept secret.

When local memorials are sent to the capital, as soon as they enter the General Affairs Office, they seem to have a pair of small wings, and they will soon spread throughout the yamen of the capital.

Although Guo Qian, Zhang Shouzhi and others were dissatisfied and wanted to stand up and say a few words, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong would not give them a chance to speak.

Guo Qian was able to speak earlier because he was the host of the court meeting, and he was the one who naturally had to report the matters that were presented.

"The minister obeys the order."

"The minister obeys the order."

The first assistant and the second assistant had already stood up to receive the order, and then Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and others bowed to receive the order and shouted.

As the cabinet ministers accepted the order, Pan Sheng, the Minister of Rites, Liu Ziqiang, the Minister of Punishments, and others also bowed to accept the order. Even Zhu Heng, the Minister of Industry, who had objections to this, chose to accept the order at this time.

Although he had the same attitude as Guo Qian and others, after all, the emperor had already spoken, so he naturally could not resist.

At this moment, several people in the cabinet breathed a sigh of relief. The matter they asked Datong to contact Ada Khan finally had the approval of the court.

Prior to this, although the emperor's tacit approval was obtained, there was no explicit purpose after all.

They asked Wang Chonggu to contact Ada Khan, but word spread that this was a major mistake.

Just look at the opposition forces in the DPRK and China and you will know that a riot could overthrow them directly.

Fortunately, no one outside the cabinet knew about it, because the people who knew were still in Datong, which allowed them to survive this disaster.

Not to mention that everyone in the cabinet secretly has their own thoughts, but this time is different. Everyone is in the same boat. If one thing goes wrong, everyone will fall into the water, so they have come together unprecedentedly to tide over the difficulties together.

After coming out of Qianqing Palace, Guo Qian, Zhang Shouzhi, Ge Shouli and others were unconvinced, but they had no choice at this time. They just snorted heavily and strode out of the palace gate.

"Shandai, you are smart this time and have helped us a lot."

On the way back to the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng praised Wei Guangde lavishly.

Zhang Juzheng's words were certainly recognized by others.

The results of this vote did not surprise them, but the final conclusion gave people another feeling, that is, the supporters seemed to have the upper hand, and the reason was just a word from Wei Guangde.

He directly divided the opposition before the vote, distinguishing the opposition to Wang Chonggu's memorial from the opposition to "mutual markets." The result was that the opposition's strength was divided into two, becoming 22 votes and [-] votes. It seems that the [-] votes in favor of the party have the upper hand.

Although it was just a word game, when the results of such a court discussion spread to the outside world, it would probably make many people calm down.

At this time, in the sweat tent in the center of Anda Khan's camp, Anda Khan was also struggling with this matter.

In the past few days, he has had separate discussions with the powerful figures in Mongolia, including his son Xinai Huang Taiji and others. They are all tribal leaders with tens of thousands of people who control strings, and they have great influence on the grassland. great.

In the past few years, as the Ming Dynasty gradually eliminated the Japanese pirates in the south, all attention shifted to the north, and elite soldiers and generals gradually gathered in the important towns of Jiubian. The Mongols gained less and less from each harassment, and they were gradually unable to make ends meet.

The Mongolian wars all relied on fighting to support war. Once the Ming army's reserves of supplies in the border forts were reduced, even if they succeeded in raiding and capturing the border forts, the harvest would be too little, and there would be nothing left after the pensions were distributed.

This situation has threatened the status of Ada Khan, because many tribal leaders are no longer content with making small fuss on the borders of the Ming Dynasty. They want to replicate the "Gengxu Revolution" again and enter the rich Gyeonggi area of ​​the Ming Dynasty to plunder.

It's just that during these 20 years, the Ming Dynasty did not do nothing.

In fact, in recent years, capable ministers and officials have been sent to border towns one after another, and the defense of each town has improved somewhat. At least the defense fortifications have been improved day by day, and it has become difficult to easily break through the border towns.

Moreover, under the leadership of Ma Fang, the Ming generals seemed to have become more courageous. From time to time, they dared to raid the grasslands, so that the nomadic tribes did not dare to get too close to the Great Wall.

Of course Anda Khan can accept the death of people in a war.

But it was hard for him to accept such meaningless consumption.

What's more, because it is difficult to use force against the Ming Dynasty, and the Mongolians are now in a difficult situation of living materials, his status in Mongolia is also on the decline.

This time the grandson made Han Naji run away in anger, which dealt an even greater blow to his prestige.

Anda Khan even suspected that those tribal leaders who were still inciting the attack on the capital of the Ming Dynasty in front of him and forcing the Ming Dynasty to release Han Naji wanted the life of their grandsons.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty's border troops has not improved much, the Mongolian military strength has not developed much in recent years. In fact, the strength of both sides has remained the same. He is not completely sure of rushing into the Ming Dynasty again to plunder property.

The living environment of the Mongols was too harsh, and their population replenishment was not as easy as that of the Ming Dynasty.

The key is that among the people who supported the war with the Ming Dynasty, there was actually his eldest son Xin Aitaiji, who completely ignored his nephew's life and death, which made Anda Khan feel frustrated.

Those people in important positions were close to Zhao Quan and others in Bansheng City and were encouraged by them. He thought it was understandable to say these things in front of him. His son Xin Ai was not on the same page as Zhao Quan and others. He actually had such thoughts.

Just when Ada Khan was sitting in the big tent in a daze, he suddenly heard the guard at the door shouting "Hatun". He took back his thoughts and looked at the tent door. A charming figure opened the curtain and left. Come in.

The person who came was Zhong Jin Hatun, or in other words, it was Na Yan Chu. It was this woman who caused the current situation.

Of course, in later generations she also had a more widely known name, "Sanniangzi".

But Anda Khan is not a fool. He knows that it is actually him who made all this happen.

If he hadn't been obsessed with sex and forced that Yan Chu from Zhe Heng, these things wouldn't have happened.

It is not Ada Khan's style to blame all faults on others, but his attitude is very difficult to understand when he sees Zhongjin Hatun now.

"Greetings to the Great Khan."

Although she is a princess, when she sees Anda Khan, the third lady still has to bow first. In fact, in the etiquette of the Han people, the three cardinal principles and the five constant principles are also regarded as the most basic human relations.

Three cardinal principles and five constant principles are actually two words: three cardinal principles and five constant principles, which come from the book "Spring and Autumn Fanlu" written by Dong Zhongshu of the Western Han Dynasty.

Dong Zhongshu believes that in human relations, there is a predetermined and eternal master-slave relationship between monarch and minister, father and son: the monarch is the master and the ministers are the slaves; the father is the master and the son is the slave; the husband is the master and the wife is the slave.

This is the so-called three principles: "The king is the guide for the ministers, the father is the guide for the son, and the husband is the guide for the wife."

Dong Zhongshu also believed that the five constant principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith are the basic rules for dealing with the relationship between monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, superior and inferior, and those who govern the country should pay sufficient attention to it.

In a centralized authoritarian system, in a patriarchal society, this theory is normal.

Even from a modern perspective, a country, a family, or a group must always have a master-slave relationship, a superior-subordinate relationship, and a leader-follower relationship. This is a natural principle.

After the third lady finished her salute, An Dahan asked her to stand up with an expressionless face.

Sanniangzi came here this time because she heard that an envoy from the Ming Dynasty was in the camp, so she wanted to find out about Han Naji from An Dahan.

Although she has no fate with him, he is also her grandson in terms of seniority.

"He lived a good life in Datong, and the people of the Ming Dynasty did not make things difficult for him."

Regarding Sanniangzi's question, Anda Khan gave a direct answer without being secretive.

In fact, regarding how to deal with the relationship with the Ming Dynasty, Anda Khan not only consulted his son in power and the leaders of the large tribes, but he also asked his two wives.

However, he did not tell the third lady about this because he found it difficult to tell the truth.

"Did the people of the Ming Dynasty set any conditions for Han Naji's release? Why didn't he come back on his own, but the Ming Dynasty sent an envoy?"

Sanniangzi is not stupid. On the contrary, on the prairie, although the tribes are nominally under Anda Khan's account, there are no shortage of overt and covert fights for their own interests. It's just that there is no longer the scene of frequent military confrontations in the past. Khan mediates here.

After all, they are family members. When the third lady asked, Anda Khan would not hide anything and immediately told the conditions offered by the governor of the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Anda Khan explain the conditions given by the Ming people, it took a long time before Sanniangzi asked: "Does the Great Khan think it is possible for us Mongolia to regain the capital?"

"Unless Akito is in civil strife, it will be difficult."

Anda Khan knew the strength comparison between the two countries, so he would not be foolish enough to think that the Mongols could defeat the Ming army on the battlefield, which meant that they still had the power to conquer the Central Plains.

If the Mongols were really that powerful, they would not have been beaten back to the grasslands by the Han people.

It was also because he understood the gap in national power between the two countries that he took in those from the White Lotus Sect, because it seemed that only they could cause civil strife in the Ming Dynasty.

It's just a pity that after so many years, his support seems to be of little use.

The many riots organized by the White Lotus Sect in Shanxi, Shandong and other places were easily suppressed by the Ming Dynasty officials, and they did not achieve the purpose of weakening the national power of the Ming Dynasty at all.

"But we on the grassland need the food from the Ming Dynasty to help us survive the winter, we need their cotton and cloth to make clothes to protect us from the cold, and we need their salt and tea to improve everyone's lives."

Sanniangzi said, “All these can only be achieved by making deals with Ming Dynasty.

Only then can we live on this prairie.

The winters of these years have been so cold that even cattle and sheep cannot withstand the severe cold.

If we can reach a reconciliation with the Ming Dynasty, when winter comes, our tribe can move south to the border of the Ming Dynasty to resist the cold.

Even when we were short of food for the winter, we asked Ming Dynasty for help, so many people in the tribe would die. "

Sanniangzi has a strong political sensitivity. What she just said was something that she would never dare to think about before, because once they get close to the Great Wall, the Ming army will be on guard.

The Ming Dynasty would mobilize a large army to prepare for the war. Naturally, they would not be able to live there with peace of mind.

"You mean, Ben Khan should surrender to that Ming emperor?"

When he said this, An Dahan's white eyebrows moved slightly, showing his uneasy mood at the moment.

"Being a vassal is certainly not an easy thing to do. At least the Ming Dynasty should show enough sincerity."

The third lady smiled coquettishly at this moment, her charming face as gorgeous as a flower in bloom.

Anda Khan was distracted for just a moment and then calmed down.

After all, he is no longer a young man, he has already learned the taste of the marrow, not to mention that no matter how beautiful she is, she is not just at his mercy.

"What do you mean?"

Ida Khan asked hesitantly.

"The Great Khan's current mentality should be the same as that of the Ming Emperor, so they probably don't want to continue fighting."

Sanniang Zi began to analyze, while An Dahan couldn't help but nodded.

This scene, which happened when Zhao Quan and others found the grassland, happened again in the big tent.

"You mean, even if we don't fight, Ming will give us money every year?"

When An Dahan heard Sanniangzi's words, his heart immediately moved.

"Waging a war costs money. If you don't fight, you will save money. Shouldn't the money saved be shared with Mongolia?

What's more, for these so-called silver rewards, we also need to buy the necessary grain, cloth and iron pots, otherwise how would we have so much money to buy Ming people's things.

If we are only asked to sell cattle, sheep and horses, the Han people will lower the price too hard, and we may suffer big losses. "

Sanniangzi immediately explained, “With this money, the merchants doing business with us will definitely use their connections to help us convince their court to agree.

After all, all the money will end up in their pockets. If the negotiation fails, the business will not be possible. "

"Makes sense."

After listening to Sanniangzi's analysis, Anda Khan nodded again, obviously he had recognized her words.

"Since Governor Xuanda of the Ming Dynasty can put forward conditions, the Great Khan can naturally do the same. If the conditions are harsher, let the Ming envoy go back with a message and we can negotiate.

By the way, I will send someone to follow me to see how the prince lives in Datong."

(End of this chapter)