Chapter 1035: I Am the Most Well-Behaved (Seeking Subscriptions)

After receiving permission from Zhu Cilang that "Dodo is truly dead," Mulima, the Jinzouyuan Commissioner of the Andong Protectorate, did not dare delay a moment. The next morning he chartered a passenger boat straight to Shanghai, then boarded a sand-ship of the Jiale Trading Company and, riding the spring southeast wind, sailed north all the way. In early third month he reached Incheon Port in Joseon, and a day later entered Hanyang, the Joseon royal capital, where he reported Dodo's "death" to King Jin Erbo of Joseon, who had just turned sixteen this year.

"Wuwu, Great King, Great King, the Old Great King has returned to Heaven!"

Inside the Seonjeong Hall of Changdeokgung, King Jin Erbo of Joseon, seated cross-legged on a soft cushion in a red python robe, stared at Mulima, who was dressed in mourning hemp and wailing loudly, completely stunned. Because Mulima was crying and talking at the same time, he could not make out what was said; he only thought it strange: why is Mulima in mourning hemp? Who died? Oboi? I haven't heard anything.

"Mulima, you must restrain your grief and accept what cannot be changed!" Dorgon's son Duo'erbo said kindly. "The dead cannot return to life. Your elder brother Oboi was over forty this year; that can hardly be called an untimely death!"

What? Oboi? What does this have to do with Oboi? Could he have been killed by the Ming army and the Tumed and Chahar forces?

It turned out that for the past two years Oboi had been fighting in the Khalkha Mongol and Eastern Mongol steppes, helping the four Mongol tribes against the Ming-aligned Tumed and Chahar vassal states.

Because the four Ming vassal cavalry forces of Anbei, Shuofang, Beiping, and Daning frequently sent troops to assist, the fighting in the Khalkha Mongol steppe and the Eastern Mongol steppe generally favored the Tumed and Chahar vassal states that had submitted to the Great Ming.

However, because the territories of Khalkha Mongol and Eastern Mongol were too vast, their populations too sparse, and there were no cities to rely on (the Tumed and Chahar vassal states had each built one fortress, and beyond that there was nothing), the four-tribe Mongol alliance, though it had suffered many defeats, could still hold on, and occasionally even won a few victories to recover some strength.

Moreover, the Chahar and Tumed tribes were unwilling to completely shatter the four-tribe Mongol alliance. For once the four Mongol tribes utterly collapsed, they would break into many scattered small tribes, a considerable portion of which would migrate westward and be absorbed by the Dzungar tribe.

In the past two years, as the flames of war raged unceasingly across the Khalkha steppe, quite a few small Mongol tribes fleeing disaster had already migrated west.

Thus the Dzungar tribe, already very powerful, had begun to show signs of savage growth. After destroying the Yarkent Khanate, it had begun sustained military campaigns against the remnants of the Kazakh Khanate — after its defeat at the Chu River, the Kazakh Khanate had fallen into fragmentation, shattering into a great many small and medium tribes. But because their faith differed from that of the Dzungars, it was very difficult for the Dzungar tribe to absorb them.

Therefore the war on the Moghulistan steppe was also dragging on endlessly!

In the original history, the Dzungar tribe, until its very destruction, had never managed to subdue the Kazakhs of Moghulistan. But the present situation had changed somewhat: as more and more Yellow-Faith Mongols fled the fighting on the Khalkha steppe and joined the Dzungar tribe, the Dzungars' strength had soared — in truth it was simply a matter of having more people, because the Kazakhs' fighting strength was not great; the reason they had held out so many years was simply that the Dzungar population was too small and could never fill the great steppe.

If the Dzungar tribe absorbed most of the population of the three Khalkha tribes and the Khorchin tribe, then the Kazakhs too would sooner or later be absorbed by the Dzungars, and all of Moghulistan would become Dzungar territory.

When that time came, would the khan of the Choros house spare the two "legitimate Mongol Yuan" great khans and lesser khans of Chahar and Tumed?

Therefore the strategy of Chahar and Tumed on the Khalkha and Eastern steppes was to fight and to woo at once, seeking to absorb and merge the three Khalkha tribes and the Khorchin tribe.

Because they were unwilling to strike truly ruthless blows, the war on the Khalkha and Eastern steppes had become a protracted affair.

But Mulima, long stationed in Yingtian Prefecture, knew well how formidable the Ming court now was. Once the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming made up his mind, he could drive the Chahar, Tumed, and Dzungar tribes to launch a joint assault; and with only a small number of Four Garrisons cavalry joining in (the Four Garrisons cavalry were not steppe cavalry; without the steppe tribes providing logistics, they could not possibly roam the steppe for a year or half a year hunting Mongols), the four tribes of Khalkha and Khorchin would be doomed!

And Oboi, who led troops in their support, would likewise face grave danger!

Now, hearing Duo'erbo mention Oboi's death, Mulima immediately conjured up a mental picture of the Chahar, Tumed, and Dzungar tribes jointly attacking Khalkha, and of his elder brother Oboi leading his "Santa Claus" soldiers in heroic battle, only to be annihilated to the last man.

"Oh, elder brother, what a miserable death you died!" Mulima wept even more bitterly.

Seeing Mulima shed tears, Jin Erbo grieved along with him, and tears came to his own eyes as well. Just as he was about to console him further, He Luohui, the Chief State Councillor of Joseon assisting in governance at his side, sensed something amiss and spoke up: "Mulima, did you learn of Oboi's death in Nanjing?"

"No, no," Mulima said, wiping his tears. "I just heard it from the Great King."

"Me?" Jin Erbo blinked. "I saw you in mourning hemp and figured it must be that Oboi had died."

Figuring — Mulima truly did not know whether to laugh or cry. Why couldn't this Great King of yours figure something good for once?

"Great King, I am not wearing mourning for my elder brother."

"Not your elder brother?" Jin Erbo asked. "Could it be your Ama?"

He Luohui reminded him: "Great King, Mulima's Ama passed away in the eighth year of Tiancong."

Jin Erbo thought to himself: perhaps Mulima had a second Ama?

As he was thinking this, Mulima spoke: "Great King, it is your Ama who has passed away!"

"My Ama?" Jin Erbo blurted out. "Both my Amas died long ago. What mourning are you wearing now?"

"Great King, it is your birth Ama who has now formally passed away!"

Jin Erbo found the phrasing awkward. "Is there such a thing as an informal one?"

At his side, He Luohui's face had already changed color, and his voice trembled as he spoke: "Great King, the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming has laid his cards on the table!"

"Laid his cards on the table?" Jin Erbo still did not understand.

Mulima nodded and said: "The Chief State Councillor speaks most truly! The Ming Emperor is about to move against the Andong Army and Joseon, and so he has acknowledged the late king's death. Moreover, he has refused to allow the heir to inherit the entire Andong Garrison, proposing instead to divide the Andong Garrison into three, carving out Liaoyang Province and the territory of the Heilongjiang Protectorate, and to appoint Your Great King's eldest brother as Grand Protector of Heilongjiang."

"And Liaoyang Province?" Jin Erbo asked.

"All provinces of the Great Ming are directly administered!" Mulima said through gritted teeth. "The Son of Heaven of the Great Ming means to cut away the best territory of the Andong Garrison, and furthermore to sow discord between Your Great King, the heir, and the eldest prince!"

"How do I come into this?" Jin Erbo was puzzled again. It seemed none of this had anything to do with him!

Mulima said: "The Son of Heaven of the Great Ming has said that Your Highness is the imperial brother-in-law of the Great Ming, the younger brother of Worthy Consort. For the sake of Worthy Consort, so long as the Great King keeps to his place and behaves, he may continue peacefully as King of Joseon."

Is that so? Jin Erbo felt a great weight lift from his heart: I am the most well-behaved of all. I have no other virtue but being well-behaved. All I want is to be King of Joseon in peace and quiet.

"Great King! You must not trust the Ming Emperor!" He Luohui said loudly. "This is a trick of the Ming Emperor, meant to sow discord between Your Great King, the Defender, and the eldest prince. Now the enemy is strong and we are weak. If the three brothers of Your Great King can unite with one heart, there is still some chance of victory. If brothers fight among themselves, sooner or later the Ming will destroy us one by one!"

Destroy us one by one? Jin Erbo thought: my elder sister is much favored. The Ming Emperor will only destroy Zhulan and Duoni, not me!

"Great King," Mulima now offered a suggestion, "you would do well to make a trip to Jianzhou and hold a covenant meeting with the Defender and the eldest prince, to jointly resist the Ming!"

Jin Erbo naturally did not want to go. Just as he was searching for an excuse to decline, He Luohui at his side said in a deep voice: "The Great King must go! Not only to hold a covenant with the Defender and the eldest prince, but also to attend the late king's funeral.

As for Joseon, with this slave here, absolutely nothing will go wrong!"

(End of Chapter)