Zhu Qiyu is sitting on the throne, and below him are Zhang Min and Yu Shiyue from the cabinet, Wang Ao from the Ministry of War, and Yu Qian who has just returned to Beijing.
"Everyone should know the news about Bodu's arrival in Beijing, right?"
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhu Qiyu spoke directly.
Since the last time Yang Jie returned to Beijing, the grassland has become a mess. First, Tuotuobuhua and Agaduoerji died in internal fighting. The Tatars split into three major forces. The Tatars originally belonged to Tuotuobuhua. The Karaqin tribe and the Wengliguot tribe under the Hua genocide respectively elected the eldest son Togusi Mengke and the youngest son Marco Gurgis of Totuobuhua as Khans, while Chahar belonged to Agadoerji. The Ministry then supported his son Chuktai.
Later, during the confrontation in the Xuanfu, the Karaqin tribe and the Wengliguote tribe suddenly turned against each other, killed the Chahar tribe's envoy, formally broke with the Chahar tribe, and expressed friendship to the Ming Dynasty, even at the expense of doing so. Marco Guergis was sent to the capital as a hostage. Now, the youngest son of the former Great Khan is studying diligently in the Imperial College!
After careful consideration, the Ming Dynasty accepted Togusi Mengke's surrender and recognized his status as Great Khan. However, it rejected his request to stop trading with the Chahar tribe.
In other words, today the Tatars are still in a state of serious division. Tuogusi Mengke used the prestige of the Ming Dynasty to temporarily stabilize the situation, but in fact he can control, or in other words, support him. The leader of the Qin tribe can only control the Asov tribe in his name, who is loyal to Totuo Buhua.
The remaining four major tribes, the Chahar tribe, simply rebelled completely, did not recognize Togu Smenke's status as the Great Khan, and still supported Chuktaji.
The remaining Tumut and Horqin tribes also took shelter under the Khan's court because they suffered heavy losses in the war with Wala. However, they maintained considerable independence and seemed to obey the orders rather than the propaganda. .
As for the Ordos tribe, which has the most intact strength, it simply remains neutral. On the one hand, it surrenders to the Khan's court. On the other hand, it has constant contacts with the Chahar tribe. Relying on its strong strength, both parties can only turn a blind eye. One eye.
In addition to the complicated relationship between the various ministries, there are also constant overt and covert struggles within the Khan's court. Tuogu Simeng was able to be supported by Bo Lai, so he was naturally constrained by it. He wanted to regain power, but he had no real power in his hands and wanted to seize power. Difficulties abound.
As for Bulai, after all, he was the first. The Karaqin tribe in his hands was originally just a medium-sized tribe. Now, relying on the prestige of the Khan Court, it has absorbed many surrounding tribes. However, let alone the Compared with those of the past, it was quite difficult to compete alone with the other major tribes.
Therefore, he still needs to rely on Tuogusi Mengke's reputation. Although the two are fighting openly and secretly, they each have their own considerations and maintain relative restraint.
This situation, for the Ming Dynasty, was naturally happy to see it come to fruition. In other words, the current complicated situation in Tatars is inseparable from the Ming Dynasty.
At first, after accepting Marco Gurgis as a hostage, Ming Dynasty resumed mutual trade with Tatars, but at the same time, it also resumed transactions with Chahar and other tribes.
This also led to the fact that for the small tribes on the grassland, the Khan Court was not their only choice, further making the division of Tatar forces more complicated.
At the same time, the opposite side of Wala was also in chaos.
After Yang Jie left Oara, he left behind a clever plan to instigate Ye Xian into a fight with the Bodu brothers. First, he imprisoned Bodu. Later, his aristocrat Alazhiyuan took advantage of his unpreparedness and attacked and killed Ye Xian.
According to Bodu's calculation, the next scene should be for him to step in and execute Alazhiyuan, and then control Wala naturally.
But it is a pity that things are far from that smooth. Alazhiyuan himself is also an extremely cunning person. He has already been prepared for Bodu's plan. Therefore, as soon as he killed Ye Xian, he
He kidnapped Ye Xian's eldest son, Borona Hall, and used him as a banner to take Dulbert tribe, one of the four major tribes of Wala, away. At the same time, he sent a letter to Ye Xian's younger brother, King Saikan, informing him that
All the truth about his matter.
Unlike Bodu, King Saikan was Ye Xian's most trusted younger brother. In the Battle of Oara, after Bodu retreated, it was he who led the army to break through the border and forcibly opened a passage for Ye Xian.
Covering Ye Xian's retreat, he is absolutely loyal to Ye Xian.
Therefore, after learning the truth of the matter, King Saikan immediately broke with Bodu and supported Yesian's second son Ashe Timur as the new leader of Wala.
As a result, the situation Bodu faced was very bad. As Ye Xian's most trusted younger brother, King Saikan controlled the Heshuote Department, one of the four major departments of Oara. After Ye Xian died, he also controlled the previous
He also personally controlled the power of the Dzungarian tribe that had been passed down from generation to generation by the Choros family. Although Bodu escaped, he still only had the support of the Torgut tribe and a small number of Dzungarian nobles.
Facing the anger of the king of Saikan, he almost retreated in succession. Fortunately, the king of Saikan was too brave but insufficient in resourcefulness. Moreover, on the one hand, he started a war with Bodu, the mastermind behind the scenes, and on the other hand, he also
Ara Zhiyuan was unwilling to let go.
When the two sides started fighting, they fell into a long-term stalemate. Faced with this situation, Bodu had no choice but to get in touch with Alazhiyuan again, hoping to cooperate with him to deal with the king of competition.
It's a pity that Alazhiyuan was unwilling to believe him this time. Later, Bodu turned to seek help from Tuogusi Mengke. This time, it worked out. Tuogusi Mengke agreed to grant him the same award as Ye Xian.
Although he was called Grand Master, when it came to sending troops to help, there was no movement at all.
Now, more than two years have passed since Li was killed first. This time, Bodu came to Beijing in person, and what he asked for may not be simple...
"Your Majesty, it has been seven days since Bodu entered the capital. In addition to the insult given to him when he was greeted at the city gate, Honglu Temple has also been quite indifferent to him during these days. However, Bodu has not shown any dissatisfaction. Not only
In this way, it is said that during these days, he has been bribing the officials of Honglu Temple and wants to meet him as soon as possible. It seems that his situation on the grassland is indeed not optimistic."
The first person to speak was Wang Ao from the Ministry of War. Logically speaking, this was the job of the Ministry of Rites. However, the eldest uncle had always ignored it, so Wang Ao could only do it himself.
Although the imperial court was obviously indifferent to Bodu and the envoys he led, in fact, they were secretly paying attention to their every move.
"Um……"
Zhu Qiyu nodded slightly and said.
"The Ministry of Rites just submitted the memorial submitted to Bodu. I won't say anything else. I will only talk about his purpose. According to the memorial, he has two requests. One is that he hopes to move the tribe inward.
, it contains the Ming Dynasty, and is officially canonized by the Ming Dynasty and protected by the Ming Dynasty."
"The second is to ask the Ming Dynasty to reopen the mutual trade with Oara. Of course, it is only open to him. For this reason, he promised to be the first line of defense for the Ming Dynasty to resist the invasion from other grassland tribes."
"What do you think of these two requirements?"
It has to be said that Bodu came with sincerity this time. The so-called internal attachment is not as simple as just moving inward. Accepting the canonization of the Ming Dynasty means completely becoming a subordinate tribe of the Ming Dynasty. This is different from the previous tribes.
The surrender is different. Once it is attached, in addition to receiving material help from the Ming Dynasty, it also has to accept the Ming Dynasty's etiquette, systems, and even words and habits.
The most obvious point is that when the Oara envoys came before, they always touched their breasts as a courtesy according to Mongolian etiquette. However, like the last time Asu of the Seven Guards of Kansai came to Beijing, he knelt down and bowed in accordance with Ming etiquette.
This difference may seem like a trivial matter, but cultural subtleties are sometimes far more useful than war.
From just one sentence, it can be seen that Bodu is probably really forced to have no choice now...
However, after hearing his two requests, several ministers present frowned in unison.
After taking a look at Wang Ao and seeing that he was still hesitating, Yu Qian couldn't help it anymore and spoke directly, saying.
"Your Majesty, Bodu is a man who harbors evil intentions and should not be trusted easily!"
Later, Yu Qian further explained.
"With the current situation in Wala, Bodu has obviously been forced into a corner. In desperation, he came to ask for help from the Ming Dynasty. However, it can be seen from his request that this person does not really want to join, but just wants to
We need to rely on Daming to recuperate and recuperate. Once we agree to his request, given time, when he recovers his strength, he will definitely become a serious problem for Daming again."
With Yu Qian making this move, Yu Shiyue on the side also pondered and said.
"That's right, Your Majesty. On the one hand, Bodu claimed that it wanted to annex, but on the other hand, it asked the Ming Dynasty to reopen the mutual trade with it, and only open it to him. The intention of this move is not simple."
"He obviously wants to take this opportunity to regain his strength, and he also wants to go one step further and rely on mutual trade to win over the various tribes in Oara, and then annex King Saikan to regain the original momentum of Oara."
It should be said that this kind of truth is not difficult to understand, or even difficult to think of, but Bodu puts it forward so directly. In a sense, he may not actually want to conceal his purpose, because...
"Your Majesty, I think it is not as serious as what Yu Shaobao said."
As expected, after Yu Shiyue finished speaking, Wang Ao expressed his objections carefully.
"Bedu is certainly harboring evil intentions. What Yu Cifu just said is very reasonable, but the benefits inherent in it are also obvious."
"No matter whether Bodu wants to take this opportunity to regain his strength or not, once he comes to join us, he will indeed be able to form another line of defense outside the border."
"Moreover, the chaotic situation in the grassland is a good thing for the Ming Dynasty. If Bodu can defeat the king of Saikan and reorganize Wala, it is certainly not a good thing. But if Bodu is rejected and allowed to be destroyed by the king of Saikan, it will be a good thing for the Ming Dynasty.
In other words, the result is the same.”
"Therefore, I feel that we can temporarily protect it. After all, the initiative of the mutual market is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. If the capital cannot be defeated in the future, then it can be countered by cutting off the mutual trade. It does not need to be excessive.
Worry."
Coincidentally, after Wang Ao finished speaking, Zhang Min also expressed a similar view.
"Your Majesty, Bodu may have his own plans, but if the annexation is completed, it will attract more grassland tribes to join. In this way, it will be more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty to continue to control the grassland situation. Therefore, I agree
Wang Shangshu’s opinion.”
As a result, two completely different views formed in the palace.
Yu Qian and Yu Shiyue felt that keeping Bo was raising a tiger's risk and should not be taken lightly. However, Wang Ao and Zhang Min felt that no matter what Bo was thinking, at least the conditions he proposed were currently beneficial to Ming Dynasty, so
I can agree.
The two argued for a long time, but Zhu Qiyu just listened without taking any side. Even when they finally left, there was no result from the argument.
However, this is considered normal. Such a major matter cannot be decided in a day or two. Therefore, although there was some regret in the end, the several elders went back separately.
After they left, Zhu Qiyu looked at the memorial in front of him and couldn't help but fell into deep thought. Although Yu Qian and the others had just had a heated argument, in fact, in Zhu Qiyu's view, this matter was not difficult to solve. The other party asked for help.
Come to the door, then the initiative is naturally in the hands of Ming, and it is not difficult to take control.
However, he always has a feeling that Bodu's purpose of coming here may not be as simple as it seems. After all, the other party still holds a card in his hand, and there has been no movement until now...
After pondering for a moment, he lightly knocked on the table in front of him, and then sent someone to summon Shu Liang over. After giving him a few instructions, Shu Liangfang took the order and retreated.
As a result, it didn't take long for a lot of rumors to spread in the capital, all about the Wala Mission. Some of the claims were true or false, but they quickly aroused heated discussions among the government and the public. Naturally, the center of everyone's attention was
That is the memorial submitted by Bodu.
Although the imperial court did not officially announce the contents, what was said in it quickly spread to everyone. Even the senior officials of the imperial court expressed their disagreements about these requirements and even the hesitation of His Majesty the Emperor.
It was all spread.
For a while, the court was divided into two camps. One believed that Bodu should not be trusted easily, and felt that there was no need for the Ming Dynasty to interfere too much in the matter of the grassland. They should just let them handle it by themselves. They advocated sending the Oara mission away as soon as possible.
The other person felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the imperial court should take advantage of this opportunity to stir up chaos in the grassland and support the fight between Bodu and Saikan King in order to maintain the power of the grassland.
The news spread quickly and widely.
So, of course, it didn't take long for it to spread to the ears and eyes of all parties...
