Chapter 1723: Wait Obediently for Us to Come and Seize You (The Strongest Extra in History, Please)

Kuku Hoto, the glazed-tile Golden Throne Hall.

"Our dynasty's Son of Heaven has personally led twenty thousand iron cavalry out beyond the Datong border wall! But there is no need for the Great Khan to fear — our Son of Heaven has not come to attack the Chahar, but to seize the eldest princess of the Uriankhai."

The one speaking was the utterly shameless grand diplomat Zu Kefa. Yet even a scoundrel like him felt his cheeks burn a little as he delivered the words Zhu Youjian had put in his mouth. What sort of business was this? The little emperor wanted to seize someone's widowed eldest princess, and had sent him to give notice of it. Wait obediently, and don't run off!

Could a man who did such a thing possibly be a wise sovereign?

And besides, that Uriankhai eldest princess had quite a temper — would she not, in a fit of rage, put the envoy to the sword?

As Zu Kefa spoke, he stole a glance at the Uriankhai eldest princess. Huh — why did she look rather pleased? Someone is coming to seize you! Are you not angry? Do you not want to hack someone to pieces? And she actually looked happy — utterly shameless!

"Zu Kefa, has the little emperor really brought twenty thousand iron cavalry to seize me?"

While Zu Kefa was still grumbling inwardly, the shameless eldest princess had already cheerfully opened her mouth to ask.

"There are indeed twenty thousand!" Zu Kefa said with a straight face. "All of them iron cavalry."

The Uriankhai princess turned to her elder brother, the grimly smiling Khutugtu Khan, and said: "Elder Brother, I told you — the little emperor still likes me. See? He has sent twenty thousand troops to seize me! All iron cavalry! It has been many years since the great grasslands have seen a bride-seizure on this scale, has it not?"

Hearing his sister's words, Khutugtu Khan found them deeply reasonable and actually nodded, saying with a smile: "My sister is indeed the pearl of the grasslands — naturally loved by all who see her. No wonder the Southern Emperor would send twenty thousand troops to seize her."

Zu Kefa understood Mongolian and knew that bride-seizure was common among the Mongols — but surely that was something only common folk played at? Khutugtu Khan was a Great Khan, and the Uriankhai woman was an eldest princess! With their status, how could they be pleased to hear that someone was coming to seize a bride?

"Zu Kefa," the Uriankhai eldest princess asked with a smile, "where did the little emperor say he would seize me?"

What did she mean? Did she want to deliver herself to the designated spot? Zu Kefa thought to himself: should she perhaps prepare ropes and whips on her own?

Zu Kefa nevertheless relayed the bride-seizure location Zhu Youjian had set: "Our dynasty's Son of Heaven wishes to seize Her Highness the Princess at Lower Lake."

The so-called Lower Lake was a body of water the Mongols called Daigen Tala — a saltwater lake. It lay in a long, narrow basin between Horsehead Mountain and Manhan Mountain, very close to the Datong border wall. Because the grass and water in this basin were lush, and it was hemmed in by mountains on all sides, it counted as defensible ground. After the Altan Khan's investiture and tribute, it had become a manor directly under the Prince of Shunyi's household. By the shore of Daigen Tala Lake stood the Prince of Shunyi's detached palace, and all around were fertile wheat fields.

The Uriankhai princess said with a smile to Ligdan Batur: "Elder Brother, now that the Great Ming Son of Heaven is not coming to Kuku Hoto, you can set your mind at ease. It seems the Great Ming Son of Heaven has come for me alone. Why not grant me the land of Daigen Tala? I will take my tribesmen there and let the Great Ming Son of Heaven seize me. Afterwards, you can gather the right-wing tribes and come to Daigen Tala to hold a covenant assembly with the Emperor. That way our Chahar's position among the right wing will be secure!"

At first glance this line of thinking seemed odd, but in fact it fit quite well with the grassland logic that the strong rule.

By now all the tribes of the right-wing grasslands knew the truth of the Datong battle — whether or not the Great Ming Son of Heaven had personally outmatched three armies, he had certainly beaten the Chahar badly. Though the Chahar had deep foundations and could still absorb such losses.

But Khutugtu Khan's already low prestige had fallen even further because of this defeat. So the right-wing Mongol tribes that had originally submitted to or taken refuge from the Chahar were now all nursing thoughts of resisting Khutugtu Khan.

A grand anti-Chahar alliance was brewing!

Yet Khutugtu Khan was not strong, and the right-wing Mongol tribes were even weaker. They did not dare stand up against the Chahar on their own — they needed a thick leg to cling to.

And the only ones who could serve as that thick leg were none other than the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian and the Great Jin Tiancong Khan Hong Taiji.

The Great Jin's Hong Taiji was far away, while the Ming's Emperor Zhu was close at hand. If Emperor Zhu colluded with Khutugtu Khan, the right-wing tribes would have nothing left to hope for.

Because if Khutugtu Khan and Emperor Zhu turned ruthless, either one could take their lives!

And Khutugtu Khan had just been beaten so badly by Zhu Youjian — to then offer up his own sister on his own initiative would look a bit humiliating. After all, they were the Northern Yuan legitimate line, the direct descendants of Genghis Khan — they could not be that spineless!

So he had deliberately told Zu Kefa that he would marry his sister off to some Khotogoid Khan, precisely to test Zhu Youjian's sincerity.

And Zhu Youjian had brought twenty thousand troops to seize the bride — now that was sincerity in full measure!

This showed that Zhu Youjian placed great value on the bloodline of the Golden Family's direct line! And it also raised the value of the Uriankhai eldest princess. How could the eldest princess not be delighted? She was a woman the little emperor had seized with twenty thousand troops! How could she not be esteemed?

And this woman worth seizing with twenty thousand iron cavalry had, in the end, given her brother Khutugtu Khan a suggestion — to gather the tribes to come watch her being seized!

This was the most glorious moment of her entire life — she wished all Mongolia could come and watch!

Moreover, it was also a fine opportunity to bring about the great covenant assembly of the "Southern Emperor and Northern Khan."

"Good!" Ligdan Batur laughed, and said to Zu Kefa: "Envoy Zu, this khan's sister is willingly seized by your noble country's Emperor. This is a grassland custom, not a true seizure. This khan will afterwards gather the forces of the tribes and hold a covenant assembly with him at Daigen Tala, swearing brotherhood as sworn brothers. Henceforth, Southern Emperor and Northern Khan shall share peace."

Southern Emperor and Northern Khan, indeed! Zu Kefa thought to himself: our Great Ming little emperor is a true Southern Emperor, with martial prowess unmatched under heaven! But are you a true Northern Khan? Your homeland has been taken from you — is there such a Northern Khan?

"Great Khan, here is the Luan River, here is the Khara Loop, here is Gubeikou, here is Xifengkou. If we can hold the Luan River line, using the Khara Loop as our main stronghold, we can strike Gubeikou to the west and Xifengkou to the south. Gubeikou and Xifengkou are merely the great passes on the Ji Garrison's Great Wall. Though they are strategically difficult, they can be bypassed — it is only that the roads are not easy. We can very well use the tactic of making a feint to the east while striking in the west: feign attacks on Gubeikou and Xifengkou to draw the attention of the Ji Garrison's southern troops, then break through elsewhere."

The man explaining the conditions along the Ji Garrison's Great Wall to Hong Taiji inside the Later Jin army camp at the Khara Loop was a thick-browed, large-eyed fellow named Sun Degong. He had originally been a favored general of Liaodong Governor Wang Huazhen, holding the rank of Central Army Mobile Corps Commander. Later, at the Battle of Guangning, he had led his men in surrender to Nurhaci, and afterwards commanded the surrendered troops under the Bordered White Banner. He had always been pushed to the very front line of the Later Jin's confrontation with the Ming, and was not much liked.

But this time the situation was different. Hong Taiji wanted to take advantage of the moment when the Great Ming little emperor was campaigning west at Datong to strike the Ji Garrison's border wall, and he needed a guide familiar with the terrain.

Sun Degong had once served in the Ji Garrison army, and was very familiar with the conditions of the Ji Garrison's border wall.

"I have heard that the Southern Dynasty's great general of the Liao Garrison, Zhao Shuaijiao, has led a portion of the Liao troops to a new post in the Ji Garrison. The defenses at the various passes of the Ji Garrison's Great Wall must have been strengthened. I fear it will not be easy to break through?"

The speaker was a burly man of about forty dressed in the court robes of a Later Jin Beile, with a square face, a moustache shaped like the character eight, and small squinting eyes — he looked somewhat like a Mongol man of the grasslands.

This fellow was named Manggūltai, the fifth son of Nurhaci and the banner-lord Beile of the Plain Blue Banner. He was also one of the Four Great Beile enfeoffed when Nurhaci ascended the throne at Hetu Ala, ranked third, and so was called the Third Beile.

Hong Taiji glanced at this Third Beile (Hong Taiji himself was the Fourth Beile), then looked at Sun Degong and asked as well: "Can we break in?"

Sun Degong laughed: "Great Khan, Third Beile, this Zhao Shuaijiao may be fierce enough, and the Liao Garrison troops can hold their ground. But the trouble is that the Ji Garrison's Great Wall is simply too long. Even if we count only the stretch from Miyun to Shanhai Pass, it is seven or eight hundred li long. To defend it tightly, even a hundred thousand troops would not be enough! How many men does Zhao Shuaijiao have under his command? How could he possibly cover it all?"

Hong Taiji nodded and laughed: "If We were the Southern Dynasty's little emperor, We would certainly abandon all the lands west of the Liao River, withdraw the troops inside the passes, and strictly defend the Ji Garrison's Great Wall. It is a pity this Zhu Youjian has only abandoned half of western Liaoning — so he does not have enough strength to defend the Ji Garrison's Great Wall. Therefore, this time, we will surely return laden with spoils!"

(End of Chapter)