In the summer of the seventh year of Chongzhen, the Mongol Khan Lin Dan, who had been desperate for a long time, finally came to the end of his life and died of illness in the distant Qinghai. His son Ezhe inherited the Khan throne with the assistance of Su Tai and became the nominal new ruler of the Mongolian Empire.

Ezhe was young and was assisted by Su Tai. He was weak and widowed, and his prestige was not enough to convince the public. In addition, the Mongol Empire had long been broken down at this moment. Although he was a Khan, Ezhe could only control more than a thousand households under his tent. The tribes that had nominally obeyed the orders of Lin Dan Khan also made a living, either relied on their own or surrendered to the Later Jin Dynasty, and the situation became increasingly difficult.

Huang Taiji of the Later Jin Dynasty believed that the time had come, so he led Dorgon as his general and led his troops to 10,000 troops to the Chahar tribe in Mongolia, which was ruled by Ezhe for the third time. In February, he set out from Shengjing and captured more than 10,000 people from various Mongolian tribes. In March, Lin Danhan, the great concubine of Lin Danhan, who was highly regarded in Mongolia, led his troops to surrender to Dorgon. In April, the army of the Later Jin Dynasty crossed the Yellow River and rushed to the base camp of the Moxi Erzhe.

The once glorious Mongolian Empire was like the fallen leaves in autumn, shaking and at any time there was a risk of destruction.

The Ming Dynasty expelled the Mongol Yuan from the Central Plains. The two never stopped fighting from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the more than 200 years later. When the Later Jin gradually rose, the contradiction between the two was reduced. They began to seek cooperation to jointly resist the powerful enemy of the Later Jin. However, the century-long hatred could not be resolved by explanation. They doubted each other and suspected each other, and fought several battles from time to time. In the end, the Later Jin became stronger and stronger, while the two became weaker and weaker.

Seeing this embarrassment in Mongolia, the Ming Dynasty was sad. After discussions among the ministers, Emperor Chongzhen decided to send an envoy to the frontier to the Chechen Khanshuoluo in the north of the Mo.

Chechen Khan Shuolei was a direct descendant of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. He surrendered to Lin Dan Khan at the beginning of his founding. After the latter's death, he also believed in Xin Khan Ezhe and asked him to move to the north of the desert to strengthen his rule over the Mongolian tribes. At the same time, he had a close relationship with the Ming Dynasty, and every year the Ming Dynasty purchased a lot of horses from him.

The Ming Dynasty sent envoys to the north of Mobei, one to explore the news about Ezhe Khan to determine the impact on the Ming Dynasty after the war. The other to clarify the attitudes of the Mongolian tribes towards the Later Jin and even the Ming Dynasty, to see which tribes can be used well, and to use them to restrain the Later Jin army.

Such diplomatic remarks should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, but in order to cover up and prevent the Later Jin from destroying the overall situation, they did not transfer people from the Ministry of Rites with great fanfare. Instead, they chose to send people to Taipu Temple to lead a caravan there in the name of buying horses.

Zhou Tianhong happened to be responsible for buying horses from Chechen Khan before, and no one could match his relationship with Shuolei. Therefore, this mission ended up falling on him.

Given the current situation in the north, this is a chore, and if you accidentally lose your life there, the emperor personally ordered that he could not refuse. Although he was confident that he could return safely with his understanding of Shuolei, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. The only thing that made him happy was that just a few days ago, Taipu Temple Qing was dismissed due to illness. As long as he came back from this trip, he would probably be promoted from Shaoqing to become Zhengqing. Thinking of this, he happily smiled and felt that this trip was still worthy of duty.

Of course, Zhou Xian didn't know these thoughts of his father. He only knew that on the third day after he arrived in the capital, before he could take him around, his father kept him and said he would take him to the outside world.

Zhou Xian wanted to cry without tears, thinking that he had a hard life! He had just spent a month on the road and was about to set off again. He wanted to refuse, but looking at his father's serious appearance, he thought about his fighting ability that night. He swallowed and said, "I'll prepare my luggage now."

Zhou Gan successfully entered the Yulin Guard. After Zhou Tai saw the appearance of the Miss Zhao family, he smiled and immediately cried and begged that he would not marry her in this life. In the end, the marriage was settled.

Zhou Tianhong felt that Zhou Tai was too embarrassed and kept him at home. He also ordered Gao Tian to be jailed for one month and not let him come out if he memorized the Four Books and Five Classics.

Jinse originally wanted to go to the outer world with Zhou Xian, but Zhou Xian didn't want her to suffer with her, so she tactfully advised her to stay in the capital. Li Kai accompanied him to the outer world.

The jujube wood gun that Li Xin gave to Zhou Xian was too long and was indeed not suitable for him to use now. He thought about it and finally decided to keep the gun at home. He carefully hid the hand gun made by Zhao Yu in the package and brought a long knife. Although he accompanied his father as an envoy this time, he should not be able to use these two things. However, Zhou Xian's personality always strives to be prepared for any trouble.

The Ministry of War sent a hundred soldiers, all wearing short-striking clothes, dressed as ordinary people. They were responsible for sending Zhou Tianhong to Xuanfu, and then the soldiers there sent them out of the frontier. They each performed their duties without any overcoming.

The Ministry of Revenue sent 5,000 taels of silver to serve as gifts and soldiers to consume. The rest were thirty trucks of goods. They contained salt and iron tools, which were all scarce supplies for various tribes outside the border. Even if the goal was not achieved in the end, these goods could be replaced with horses or other materials and transported back, which would still make a fortune.

In addition to the official road of Beijing, Zhou Tianhong faced a middle-aged official wearing a fifth-rank white squid official uniform and said with a smile: "Dr. Li, your Ministry of Revenue is becoming more and more stingy. Only the five thousand taels of silver, in addition to the consumption of the soldiers themselves, also have to make friends with tribal leaders along the way. No matter how you calculate it, it is not enough!"

Doctor Li said with a bitter face: "Zhou Shaoqing, it's not that my Ministry of Revenue is stingy, but that I really don't have much money. Just this 5,000 taels were pieced together. For this reason, I wonder how much hair we Lord Shangshu has lost! You can take more burdens and save some money along the way. We Lord also hope that you can exchange these goods for silver and subsidize our Ministry of Revenue!"

Zhou Tianhong smiled and said, "That's not OK. If you exchange them for silver, then the generals will ask me to replenish their war horses, what do you want me to give them?"

Doctor Li sighed and said, "These days are getting harder and harder, and there is no need for money everywhere. Your Majesty has been ascending the throne for eight years. Some time ago, an official saw that the palace was broken and suggested that he repair it a little. Your Majesty also had this idea, so he asked Yu Yin from the Ministry of Revenue. But after hearing this, he frowned and never mentioned it again. The emperor can do this, so how can we be so generous as officials?"

Zhou Tianhong frowned and said, "Your Majesty is the Holy Lord, but sometimes this situation is really not something that can be changed by mere manpower."

Doctor Li nodded and said, "Do your best! Zhou Shaoqing, my subordinates are here. Take care of you next."
Chapter completed!