Chapter 578: Refusing Hailanzhu

Wukeshan naturally knew that his sister was thinking of him.

Although his position was secure for now, that did not mean there were no variables.

But after thinking it over, Wukeshan firmly shook his head.

"This matter, I will handle it myself." Wukeshan said slowly.

Seeing that his sister still wanted to say something, Wukeshan directly made a stopping gesture and smiled gently: "This matter cannot be done by you. You will still be getting along with the Emperor in the Great Ming in the future—do not give him the impression that you involve yourself in political affairs."

"Besides that, there is no harm in me being the one to do this. As long as I can earn the recognition of the Great Ming Emperor, my position will be high enough that the people in my family will have no way to contend with me—they lack the ability. With the support of the Great Ming, my position as Khan will be the most secure."

After hearing these words, Bumbutai felt that it seemed quite reasonable, nodded and no longer insisted, saying with a smile: "Then I'll listen to you."

In fact, given the current strength and status of the Great Ming, who would rise to power in Khorchin in the future truly depended on the Great Ming's say.

On this point, everyone was very clear in their hearts. And to be an official of the Great Ming—this point was also very clear.

After the brother and sister finished their discussion, they each went back to their own business.

Bumbutai went to prepare for her marriage. As for Wukeshan, he had also received his sister's comfort and understood that some things could not be rushed. The Great Ming Emperor would surely summon them soon—being prepared was more useful than being anxious.

Zhu Youxiao, within his field headquarters, was indeed preparing to summon these Mongols at this time.

Although they could not yet be brought under the Great Ming's governance, that was only a practical impossibility—in name, they absolutely had to be secured.

Zhu Youxiao had already thought this through long ago.

Many people might think that nominal authority was useless, but it made things legitimate and justified. When the day came that the Great Ming could swallow them up, it would be a matter of course.

After all, with no burden of reputation remaining, one could simply act directly. Moreover, after so many years of nominal rule, they had more or less already developed some sense of identification in their hearts—that made things even easier.

On the third day, Zhu Youxiao held another banquet.

This time, the main participants were these Mongols.

The banquet had abundant food and wine, and everyone chatted freely and drank heartily while watching song and dance—the atmosphere was very harmonious and lively.

Bumbutai once again sat beside Zhu Youxiao, and the relationship between the two appeared very intimate.

Zhu Youxiao even poured wine for Bumbutai once.

This scene, seen by the people below, was a meaningful action. Under such circumstances, these people could not help but feel uneasy.

Wukeshan sat below, a smile on his face, his expression very calm.

News from home had already arrived—the person had arrived yesterday, and his other sister, Hailanzhu, had now reached the city of Shenyang.

If nothing unexpected happened, today Bumbutai would introduce Hailanzhu to the Great Ming Emperor.

By that time, his side would have two people before the Great Ming Emperor.

In fact, at this very moment, Bumbutai was already telling Zhu Youxiao about this matter.

After hearing these words, a hesitant expression appeared on Zhu Youxiao's face.

Khorchin had actually sent another person over? And it was the famous Hailanzhu at that?

This woman Hailanzhu was truly, truly famous. In the original history, after she married Hong Taiji, it could be said that she dominated the affections of Hong Taiji's harem.

One should know that when Hailanzhu married Hong Taiji, she was already twenty-six years old—four years older than Da Yu'er. Even so, Hong Taiji liked her very, very much.

It was said that Hailanzhu was extremely beautiful, with extraordinary bearing, skilled in song and dance. After Hailanzhu died, Hong Taiji was deeply grieved.

Under such circumstances, Khorchin had actually sent Hailanzhu to his side?

This kind of maneuver on their part was not surprising—after all, they had once married off Jere, Da Yu'er, and Hailanzhu all to Hong Taiji.

Khorchin had done this more than once, and such maneuvers were understandable. They just had not expected that they would use this maneuver on him.

The most critical point was that the one who came was actually Hailanzhu—it seemed this woman was quite extraordinary.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao did not want to take in any more women, whether from Joseon or from the Mongol tribes.

On this matter, he had already made up his mind. After all, having one Da Yu'er was already enough—whether it was splitting their relationships or extending his influence, these things were all easier to do.

Although what had been sent now was Hailanzhu, which made Zhu Youxiao somewhat hesitant—after all, this Hailanzhu was truly an extraordinary woman, and he really did want to try her out.

But then Zhu Youxiao suppressed this thought.

He was the Emperor of the Great Ming and could not set aside public duty for private desire. Even if Hailanzhu were the finest woman, he could not do such a thing.

Zhu Youxiao directly shook his head and said: "This matter can be discussed later."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao reached out and took Bumbutai's hand, saying: "Let's not talk about this today."

But in his heart, Zhu Youxiao still felt some regret—sisters, ah.

A trace of disappointment clearly flashed across Bumbutai's face.

She was not worried about her elder sister competing with her for favor. Rather, it was the attitude shown by the Great Ming Emperor that made her somewhat worried—she feared that what she had imagined was somewhat too idealistic.

"I will obey Your Majesty in everything." Bumbutai said softly.

At this point, that was all that could be done. The Great Ming Emperor seemed to have no such intention, and if she insisted, it would instead trigger a series of troubles. So Bumbutai decisively shut her mouth.

The banquet continued on, and Zhu Youxiao did not bring up the matter again.

When everyone was flushed with wine and excitement, Wukeshan stood up, directly holding his wine cup and walking to the center of the hall.

After respectfully performing a salute, Wukeshan said: "Your Majesty, your subject has something to say."

Upon hearing these words, the hall instantly fell silent, and all eyes landed on Wukeshan.

The Great Ming officials wore expressions of indignation, their faces dark as they stared at Wukeshan, murderous glints flashing in their eyes.

Some even wanted to stand up and rebuke Wukeshan. After all, making such a move at this time was very, very impolite.

This was a banquet—normally, a banquet was for eating, not for saying all sorts of irrelevant things. If one wanted to discuss matters with the Emperor, one should do so in a more formal setting.

Wukeshan's behavior was more akin to pressing the Emperor.

Zhu Youxiao, however, did not mind at all. He waved his hand and shot a glance at those officials, signaling them not to jump out at this moment.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao was quite curious and wanted to know what Wukeshan would say.

Just now, Da Yu'er had already whispered the matter of Hailanzhu into his ear, so Wukeshan certainly was not going to talk about his sister's affairs now.

Whatever he said, it could only represent one thing—that Wukeshan was anxious, and his previous strategy had already produced results.

When a person is anxious, that is absolutely a major taboo in negotiations—it makes them easily agree to conditions they never intended to accept, and easily overturn what they had previously done.

Zhu Youxiao wore a brilliant smile on his face, took a sip of wine, and said, "My dear minister, whatever you have to say, speak freely."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject has several matters to raise today." Wukeshan's expression was extremely solemn—one look made it clear he was about to discuss serious business.

The Mongols around him all watched Wukeshan as well, wanting to see just what he was going to say.

"Go ahead and speak. We have plenty of time today—I will hear everything." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"The children of our grasslands spend their days riding horses and shooting arrows, and truly have not accomplished much of note," Wukeshan said in a grave tone. "They are, in truth, somewhat unlearned and unskilled."

"Now that the Great Ming shines with brilliant prosperity, and we have submitted ourselves beneath Your Majesty's banner, not speaking the language of the Ming, not writing the script of the Ming, and not understanding the poetry, books, and rites of the Ming—this truly lacks the proper conduct of a subject."

"Your subject hopes that Your Majesty will build an Imperial Academy in Daning City. The land and the funds can all be provided by your subject's tribe. Please send some teachers over to instruct the children of our tribe, and permit them to study within Daning City."

"In this way, in the future these children will surely become pillars of talent."

After hearing these words, the expressions of the Ming court officials instantly relaxed.

Many even stroked their beards with approving expressions, and when they looked at Wukeshan, their gazes had grown considerably kinder.

This is a clever man—just look at how reasonable his words are.

It doesn't matter that they are barbarians beyond the frontier, but you must study—only through study can you understand principle, and only then can civilizing influence bear merit.

This kind of credit cannot be allowed to go to others.

These Ming officials felt that upon returning, they could properly support this matter, and perhaps send some people over as well.

Zhu Youxiao frowned in thought.

This was indeed a good thing.

But what he was thinking about was another matter entirely.

Studying and understanding principle is a good thing, and learning Confucianism is indeed acceptable. But on the question of which school of faith, it seemed one could shift the balance of right and wrong.

Should the Daoists come? Or should the Buddhists come?

Daoism does not seem quite suitable—the grasslands have a tradition of believing in Buddhism, and rashly changing that would not be good.

They currently follow Tibetan Buddhism, which is not quite right—it should be changed to the Buddhist images of the Central Plains. Bringing in a whole contingent of monks from Shaolin Temple and Mount Wutai might be a good thing.

Later on, he should summon all those old monks to ask them, and see whether this could be arranged. Besides building the Imperial Academy, it seemed one could also build a somewhat larger temple.

The Ming side was very satisfied.

The Mongol side, however, was somewhat less satisfied.

Many Mongols wore an expression of "just as we expected."

That fellow Wukeshan truly had no bottom line—he had completely thrown in his lot with the Great Ming.

This put many Mongols on their guard.