Chapter 1690: We'll Talk Again at Datong Prefecture!

Zhu Youjian's dispatch of a peace mission to Köke Qota was, in truth, a display of weakness!

Although both the Great Ming and the Chahar tribe were somewhat weak, and both were threatened by the militarily powerful Later Jin state, with hard days for each, there was indeed a need to cooperate against the enemy.

But what was the Chahar tribe's origin? The direct line of the Northern Yuan, the legitimate heirs of the Mongols, descendants of Genghis Khan! In their eyes, the Great Ming was nothing but rebels. Could Hutuktu Khan willingly pay tribute and submit as a vassal to the Great Ming? Absolutely not! And Hutuktu Khan could never set aside his designs on plundering the Ming borderlands.

The Mongols never had a rule that once protection money was collected, they would stop raiding the grasslands. Once the money was taken, they would still go and rob — only a little less, that was all.

Besides, Hutuktu Khan also needed to establish his authority by giving the Great Ming a good thrashing!

These past few years he had fought the Mongols quite fiercely, but against outsiders (the Later Jin), he ran faster than a rabbit. He was a khan who was expert in civil war and useless in foreign war. That made it very hard to command respect. And he had no way to do as his ancestors did and carry out wheel-executions across the Mongolian steppe. Whether Left Wing or Right Wing, all were subjects of the Golden Clan — how could Hutuktu Khan slaughter them wholesale? If he truly killed too harshly, they would all go over to the Later Jin!

So Hutuktu Khan had to produce results in foreign war to win the trust of the newly submitted Right Wing Mongol tribes. The Later Jin to the east could not be defeated, so Hutuktu Khan could only use the Great Ming as a whetstone to establish his authority.

Yet he also feared the Great Ming would fight him without end, because right now he truly lacked the capital for a protracted war. Even if the Later Jin sat back and watched the tigers fight, his Chahar tribe could not afford to fight one.

Because the Chahar had abandoned their old stronghold in the Liao River bend, and hundreds of thousands of people had moved in one mass to the Tumed plain to seize territory — and they had hurried west only last winter!

In winter, the steppe is sealed in ice and drifting snow — hardly the season for nomadic migration. For this westward migration, the Chahar tribe had shown the resolve of one who smashes the cauldrons and sinks the boats: they slaughtered all their cattle and sheep. And in the migration and the series of battles that followed, they lost great numbers of horses as well.

Although the Chahar tribe on their westward march smashed many tribes belonging to the Uriankhai Tumen and the Tumed Tumen, the plunder was not great. Because the Chahar feared that the Shunyi Prince of the Tumed plain, Boshetu, would make long-term defensive preparations at Köke Qota, they sought only speed along the way, made no attempts to persuade surrender, sought no allies, merely smashed the enemy quickly, and did not pursue — thus they could not obtain enough livestock.

And the Shunyi Prince of the Tumed plain, Boshetu, was also a "rabbit" — his skill at fleeing at the first sign of danger was no less than Hutuktu's. After his great general Wulu Huang Taiji was slain by the Chahar, he led his followers in flight to the territory of the Ordos Tumen.

So although the Chahar's western campaign was victorious, the cattle and sheep they gained were not many. The most valuable spoils they obtained were the city of Köke Qota and the vast agricultural lands around it. But because of the Mongol custom of letting soldiers plunder freely, Köke Qota was nearly emptied, and most of the farmers of the Tumed plain had fled. Without several years of recovery, it would likely not be restored.

Under such circumstances, how could the Chahar tribe have the spare strength for a protracted war with the Ming?

If Zhu Youjian had not proactively dispatched the mission of Li Chengyun and Zu Kefa, giving Hutuktu Khan the illusion that he could use fighting to force negotiations, he might have been bluffed by Man Gui.

Köke Qota, the Glazed Golden Throne Hall.

"Great Khan, my court's Son of Heaven means this: our Ming and your Chahar tribe — cooperation benefits both, conflict harms both. The Jianzhou Jurchen are the great enemy of both houses. As the saying goes, when the Jurchen number less than ten thousand, they are invincible; when they reach ten thousand, none can withstand them! How formidable these Jianzhou slaves are, the Great Khan surely knows. Otherwise the Great Khan would not have fled from the Liao River bend to the Tumed plain! So my court's Son of Heaven proposes that our two houses make a pact and join hands. No need to clash head-on with the Jianzhou slaves — a pact of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' will do!"

"What is a pact of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao'? Ah, that is an allusion from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period — I won't explain it. I'll just speak concretely. If the Jianzhou slaves send troops against the Tumed lands beyond the Datong border wall, our Ming will strike the Jianzhou slaves in western and southern Liao, forcing them to turn back. If the Jianzhou slaves send troops against the border walls of Ji Garrison or Xuanfu, then you, Great Khan, will march on Khorchin or the Liao River bend and force the Jianzhou slaves to withdraw."

"What? Market bounty? Great Khan, rest assured: my house's Son of Heaven does not use men for nothing. If the Chahar tribe is invited to send troops against Khorchin and the Liao River bend, silver will certainly be given in full! And our Ming will take the loss — when it is our turn to send troops to Liaodong, we won't ask a single coin from you."

The man pouring out his own house's entire hand to Hutuktu Khan in an endless torrent was none other than the great diplomat Zu Kefa, whom Zhu Youjian thought highly of. Though he was only the deputy envoy — Li Chengyun was the chief envoy.

But Li Chengyun could not speak Mongolian, so Zu Kefa dealt directly with Hutuktu Khan. And this fellow had a quick tongue — once he started talking, he forgot that Eunuch Li was sitting right beside him. This was actually only natural: Zu Kefa was a household retainer who knew only fighting and killing. What did he understand of diplomatic negotiation? He just said whatever came to mind!

Li Chengyun, at his side, could not understand the words either. Seeing Zu Kefa rattling on like beans pouring from a gourd, he knew things were going wrong, and so he kept signaling Zu Kefa with his eyes. But Zu Kefa never noticed, and simply went on talking.

When he finished, he stood there foolishly, waiting for Hutuktu Khan's reply.

Hutuktu Khan and his circle of senior ministers had dealt with Ming envoys plenty over the years, but this was the first time they had met such an honest one.

Hearing his words, they all began to wonder in their hearts: was this man really a Ming envoy? Not a Later Jin spy in disguise?

Hutuktu Khan and several senior ministers exchanged glances, and Guiyingqia made an exorbitant demand: "Your Ming asks our Great Yuan to send troops — of course you should give silver! But this has nothing to do with market bounty. Market bounty is the annual tribute your Ming gives our Great Yuan: five hundred thousand taels of silver a year, not one coin less!"

"What? Five hundred thousand..." Zu Kefa, hearing this, lost his composure. He turned to Li Chengyun, who was already beside himself with rage, and said, "Eunuch, the Mongols want five hundred thousand taels in annual tribute, not one coin less. What do you think we should do?"

"What should we do?" Li Chengyun rolled his eyes. "Of course not one coin can be given. The Great Ming pays no indemnities, makes no marriage alliances, cedes no territory! How could we give annual tribute?"

That was right — what the Great Ming gave was called "market bounty," bestowed upon the Mongols, not annual tribute! Calling it annual tribute would sound as though the Ming had knelt to the Northern Yuan. How could that be possible?

In truth, the Mongols had no intention of quibbling over the name of the silver. As long as the silver was real, what difference did it make whether it was called annual tribute, market bounty, or New Year's money?

Guiyingqia raised the term "annual tribute" only to make clear the nature of these several hundred thousand taels of silver — not that he truly wanted the name "annual tribute." But Zu Kefa did not explain clearly, and Li Chengyun did not think it through (this was also his first mission), so they misunderstood.

Zu Kefa, being an honest interpreter, said to Hutuktu Khan: "You want money without doing any work? Not a chance! Over the years we've given you a million in total, bit by bit. What have you done? Just run and run, never once fighting the eastern barbarians properly!"

Was this diplomacy? Or was it taunting the enemy? Hutuktu Khan's face instantly turned iron-blue. If you said it in Chinese, that would be one thing, but you said it in Mongolian — there were plenty of Mongols in the great hall! No one spoke, but in their hearts they all had some grievance about their khan's "fleeing at the first sign of danger."

Everyone looked at their khan, as if with reproach.

Hutuktu Khan snorted and glared viciously at Zu Kefa. This Hutuktu Khan did not look particularly fierce — he was somewhat gloomy, giving people a sense of sinister cunning. Now that his face darkened, it was still a little frightening.

Zu Kefa did not have the moral backbone of a Ming civil official. Seeing that Hutuktu Khan seemed angered, he actually softened, and said with a grin: "Great Khan, do not be angry. I was just speaking offhand."

The moment he softened, Hutuktu Khan's bearing grew even more imperious. His face hardened, and he snorted again: "It seems nothing can be settled here in Köke Qota. I, Ligdan Batur, will lead four hundred thousand Chahar warriors to Datong Prefecture to negotiate with the Ming Emperor!"

(End of Chapter)