Chapter 583: Breaking with Ligdan Khan

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As soon as Sun Chengzong heard this, he knew exactly what Zhu Youxiao intended to do, but he also knew that this was indeed in line with the interests of the Great Ming Dynasty.

He said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you may entrust this matter to me."

Zhu Youxiao was taken aback.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Sun Chengzong. After all, the ministers of the Great Ming Dynasty were extremely talented in this regard. How many years had the Old Ancestors played these games? They were completely adept at it — it was just that without real strength, such games couldn't be played at all.

Now that the Great Ming Dynasty had such strength, playing these tricks came easily to them. But Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected Sun Chengzong to volunteer for this task on his own initiative.

After all, this matter was not so easy to handle. Any slight oversight could easily give others ammunition against you, and even if things were done well, it might still invite criticism.

For many ministers, this was a thankless task, especially for those in high positions.

You see, these ministers who had served for many years had already reached high office and were beginning to grow complacent. They strove to avoid mistakes rather than seek achievements. Under such circumstances, they were unwilling to take risks.

Zhu Youxiao had actually already prepared to replace a batch of old ministers. The new batch, compared to these old ministers, were in their prime, more vigorous and driven.

For example, the Minister of War — Zhu Youxiao planned to replace him with Xiong Tingbi. This time when he left, he would bring Xiong Tingbi along. Once they reached the capital, Xiong Tingbi would become Minister of War, and he believed there would be a fresh new atmosphere.

Moreover, in the future the Great Ming Dynasty would be engaged in more external military campaigns, so he needed to further strengthen his control over the Ministry of War.

At the same time, the Great Ming was about to usher in military reforms, which required someone with boldness and a sense of responsibility to lead them. Xiong Tingbi was a suitable candidate.

And Sun Chengzong's willingness to take on this matter at this time truly surprised Zhu Youxiao.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Sun Chengzong, smiled, and nodded as he said, "If Teacher Sun is willing to take this on, then nothing could be better. This way, I can get some rest."

"Leave the matter to me, Your Majesty can rest assured." Sun Chengzong said hurriedly.

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then Teacher Sun, go handle it."

Having said that, Zhu Youxiao clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the rear, his expression relaxed.

From now on, all he needed to do was wait quietly. No, wait — there was still one thing he needed to do: go meet the famous Hailanzhu.

After leaving Zhu Youxiao's residence, Sun Chengzong returned directly to his own quarters and ordered someone to summon Hasal.

For people like Hasal, when Sun Chengzong wanted to see them, it was as simple as saying a word.

Hasal never imagined that Sun Chengzong of the Great Ming Dynasty would personally meet with him. This teacher of the Great Ming Emperor held a position of tremendous importance in the Ming.

Upon receiving the news, Hasal immediately brought lavish gifts to Sun Chengzong's residence.

For their Ordos, the past two years had been very good, and they had earned quite a bit of money. Though their tribe was small, their pastures were decent, and the cashmere they produced was of good quality. Over the past two years, they had made a lot of money selling wool.

Under such circumstances, the Ordos had already become quite conspicuous. If not for the Great Ming Dynasty and Hong Taiji, they might have been swallowed up by someone already.

On the grasslands, good pastures and livestock were wealth. The Ordos was like a big piece of fat meat placed before everyone's mouths — no one didn't want to take a bite. Whether it was the Khorchin, the Inner Khalkha, or even Ligdan Khan himself, all were the same. Under such circumstances, it was not easy for the Ordos to fare well.

This time, Hong Taiji was finished, and from now on this land would be ruled by the Great Ming Dynasty. And everyone could see how friendly the Great Ming Emperor was toward the Khorchin — this time he wasn't just marrying Wukeshan's sister, he was marrying two of them at once.

As a result, the Ordos' comfortable little life was probably about to come to an end.

If the Khorchin and the Inner Khalkha went to war, the first to be eliminated would certainly be small tribes like theirs.

Before the Khorchin and Inner Khalkha fought each other, they would first swallow up the surrounding small tribes — first, to strengthen their own power; second, to prevent them from defecting to the other side; and more importantly, to prevent small tribes from growing strong while they were both weakened from fighting.

This time, it was small tribes like the Ordos that were extremely nervous. It was based on this situation that the Ordos had proposed the concept of a small tribes alliance.

Everyone would unite to resist those large tribes, maintaining equal relations with one another, helping and supporting each other, and acting together in times of war.

Sure enough, under the threat of external danger, all the small tribes agreed to the alliance, and with great enthusiasm at that.

But Hasal knew this was only on the surface. Once war broke out, whether someone would stab you in the back was anyone's guess. Such an alliance was far too loose, and its practical significance was limited. When the big tribes came courting, some might just surrender outright.

However, Hasal knew that the Great Ming Dynasty would likely look into the matter of the small tribes alliance. As long as they had the Great Ming's support, there wouldn't be much of a problem.

How did Hasal know?

Did you think the two hundred-plus years of struggle between the grasslands and the Great Ming Dynasty was all just for fun?

Over these two hundred-plus years, the Great Ming and the Mongols had been together and apart, fighting and contending. Wasn't it the same for these Mongols?

The Great Ming's divide-and-conquer, sowing discord, and diplomatic maneuvering had long since become familiar to the Mongols.

The Great Ming propped up the Khorchin and the Inner Khalkha, letting them swallow up the Doyan Three Guards — the reasoning was all the same. But among the Mongol tribes, none would submit to another. They not only had estrangement between them but also hatred, making unity impossible.

After all, no one else could reach into this grassland region, and many nominal things weren't that important. So they didn't care much either — the actual territory was under our control, what can you do to us?

Even if they clearly knew the purpose behind the Great Ming's actions, what could they do about it?

Hasal ran over to Sun Chengzong's place in great excitement. He knew his guess had been right — the Great Ming was indeed going to intervene. This was a good thing.

Upon meeting Sun Chengzong, Hasal hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting and said excitedly, "Hasal pays his respects to Lord Sun."

Sun Chengzong raised his head, glanced at Hasal, lightly lifted his eyelids, picked up his teacup and took a sip, then said, "Sit down and speak."

After Hasal sat down, Sun Chengzong didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I hear you're organizing a small tribes alliance? Is that true?"

For Sun Chengzong, there was no need to be polite or to mince words when speaking with people like Hasal of the small Mongol tribes. Being straightforward was best.

He could state his demands, and they could state theirs — but whether he agreed to theirs was his own business. And as for the demands he raised, changing them would not be easy.

An excited expression immediately appeared on Hasal's face — so it really was about this matter.

Hasal quickly said, "Yes, Lord Sun. We do indeed have this idea. After all, doing so makes many things much more convenient. Whether it's trading with the Great Ming or doing other business, everything becomes easier."

"You're afraid of being wiped out, aren't you?" Sun Chengzong directly shattered Hasal's pretense and put the matter on the table, saying, "We can understand why you're doing this. After all, the Great Ming has just finished fighting Hong Taiji. Peace in Liaodong was hard-won, and peace on the grasslands is even harder-won."

"In recent years, trade between the Great Ming and the grasslands has expanded very rapidly. You should have gained considerable wealth and benefits from it. This is a very good thing for everyone. The Great Ming very much does not wish to see war reignite on the borders. If the flames of war burn again, it is the common people who suffer, and everyone who sustains losses."

"Yes, yes, yes! Lord Sun speaks truly! You are benevolent and kind-hearted, truly a great minister of the Ming. I am deeply admiring!" Hasal said with an expression of reverence on his face.

He was also a shrewd old fox and naturally understood what Sun Chengzong meant by these words.

This meant they were going to intervene.

Sun Chengzong nodded with satisfaction, knowing that this fellow had learned from merchants — he looked very sincere, but in reality, that was about all there was to it.

Anyone who believed this Hasal and was fooled by his words would be a real fool.

"The Great Ming supports your formation of an alliance. The current source of instability on the Mongol grasslands is Ligdan Khan." Sun Chengzong looked at Hasal and said slowly, "The threat you all face is Ligdan Khan. The one you're all afraid of is also Ligdan Khan, isn't that right? That's why you formed the alliance?"

Having said this, Sun Chengzong's gaze locked tightly onto Hasal, his expression extremely serious.

The meaning was clear: dare to say no and see what happens.

The smile on Hasal's face vanished in an instant, and he was on the verge of tears.

He understood one thing very clearly: this time the trouble was huge, and he had thought of the Great Ming too simply.

Although this time it was only a formality, this formality was a fatal one. The Great Ming was forcing them to openly break with Ligdan Khan.

This kind of thing couldn't be done. If they truly did such a thing, they would be denounced as forgetting their ancestors, and the men under them might not even accept it — worst case, they would rebel outright. When that time came, his own days would probably be unbearable.

And the Great Ming was clearly intent on dragging everyone into opposing Ligdan Khan — this was a rhythm meant to force everyone to break ties.

Once they did this, no matter how things turned out on Ligdan Khan's side, he would never let them off. No Great Khan could tolerate such betrayal.

When the Khorchin and Inner Khalkha allied with Nurhaci, it had also been to fight the Ming together — there had never been any intention of targeting Ligdan Khan.

In those years, Nurhaci had pressured the Khorchin and Inner Khalkha to ally with him to attack Ligdan Khan, but that matter had never been settled, never been accomplished.

And now the Great Ming was going to do it?