Chapter 408: The Wager

Liu Chengzong's command tent had been moved outside Octagonal City.

Upon hearing that Lindan Khutugtu had not much time left, Baatur Khong Tayiji and the Dzungar nobles congratulated each other; the Oirat leaders unanimously believed that though this war was a defeat, honor remained.

This was not treating a funeral as a celebration, but rather that while the Oirat had failed on the military level, their strategic objective had been achieved.

People revolve around political activity. What is called politics — "zheng" is the contest over what ought to be, and "zhi" is the implementation of the contest's outcome.

As for war, it is merely a tool for political actors in the process of contest or implementation.

The Oirat raided five thousand li not to be slapped to the ground by Liu the Lion, but to secure a foothold for the Khoshut tribe and to carry on the fine Oirat tradition of sending the Golden Family's Great Khan to heaven.

The former concerns the Oirat's internal conflict between people and land, deflecting it outward to avoid civil strife; the latter determines the Oirat's future freedom of development. The Great Khan did not necessarily have to die, but he absolutely could not remain alive in Moxi.

This involves the grievances between the Oirat and the Mongols. Genghis Khan's Mongolia was an empire, but by the time of Kublai Khan it had become a confederation.

By now, this confederation includes both the Yuan-dynasty Tatars, the Three Khans of the Khalkha in Mobei, and the Four Oirat Tribes.

The Northern Yuan Great Khan's rallying power over the Oirat is basically equivalent to the rallying power of the Han imperial clan over the generals of Cao Wei.

It exists, but not much.

This is also why the Dzungar Khong Tayiji was willing to help Liu Chengzong build momentum and create the reincarnation of Genghis Khan.

A Han man becoming the reincarnation of Genghis Khan could directly drive the legitimacy of the Mongol Great Khan to rock bottom, and by relying on this, Baatur Khong Tayiji could firmly bind Liu Chengzong to the Oirat war chariot.

He neither violated the tradition that only the Golden Family may be called Khan, yet could also place the Oirat on the same political footing as the Khalkha, making it easier to annex others.

Unfortunately, Liu Chengzong did not operate that way.

Relying on the army to gain power means bearing the cost of soldiers' deaths and injuries; relying on monks to bring power likewise means bearing the responsibility of looking after the monks.

Everything in this world is a double-edged sword; there has never been a matter that only reaps benefits without cost.

Even so, the Grand Marshal decided to keep the Khoshut in Qinghai and grant them pastureland, resolving Baatur Khong Tayiji's most pressing trouble.

Now that Lindan Khutugtu's days are numbered, the Dzungar Khong Tayiji is beaming with delight. What does this war mean to him?

It means only a minor defeat, a battle that sorted out who is the greater king and who the lesser between him and Liu Chengzong.

He admits that Liu Chengzong is the greater king. Using the death and retention of five thousand soldiers in exchange for a steady supply of firearms and cannon support — this might not count as a huge profit for him, but it certainly does not count as a loss.

Precisely because of this, Baatur Khong Tayiji could say to the various Dzungar nobles without the slightest politeness: "The Dzungar are the greatest victors of this war."

Of course, in name they might have a suzerain called the Marshal's Manor, and many nobles would constantly need to travel on the road, but this posed almost no threat to his rule over the Oirat; on the contrary, it was a powerful aid.

After all, the distance between them was too great. For the Marshal's Manor's garrison to survive well in the Tianshan Mountains, they needed the strength of the Dzungar tribe; and after he ruled the Tianshan Oirat, if he wanted to sit securely, he also needed this garrison.

Now the only thing left hanging was to see what title Liu Chengzong would enfeoff him with.

Baatur Khong Tayiji was in no hurry. He believed that Liu Chengzong's most important matter at present was, as the host, to handle the Mongol Great Khan's funeral affairs.

This Dzungar Khong Tayiji had not a shred of courtesy toward the Great Khan. The Great Khan was not even dead yet, and he had already sent men to prepare the coffin that would follow the Great Khan into the grave.

Liu Chengzong's view was that he was a Great Khan after all, and his burial could not be too shabby; they had to get the finest coffin.

Where was the finest coffin of the Marshal's Manor? In the Great Ming.

The little Prince of Han in Pingliang City had surely prepared a coffin for himself, and the quality would certainly not be poor, but the journey to fetch it was far too long and they probably would not make it in time for the Great Khan's burial. So the simplest method was to find the Su Principality in Lanzhou and swindle Prince Su's coffin out of him.

The odds that Prince Su would dare refuse were slim; he might even throw in extra burial goods to show that the Marshal's Manor had fulfilled its duties as host.

But Baatur Khong Tayiji felt there was no need to go to such trouble. Just follow their tradition: split a log down the middle, hollow it out, lay the Great Khan inside afterward, nail it shut, and bury it.

He said to Liu Chengzong: "Grand Marshal, rest assured, the coffin is already being made. It absolutely will not delay the Great Khan's timely departure to the west. Grand Marshal, just name the day — if he won't go, I can send him on his way too."

Baatur Khong Tayiji had long been impatient to send the Mongol Great Khan to heaven.

But Liu Chengzong was in no hurry.

He and Lindan Khutugtu had no deep hatred. The Mongol Great Khan who commanded thousands of troops and horses posed little threat to him, let alone a dying man gravely ill beyond cure.

It truly was not Liu the Lion looking down on Khutugtu.

Take the hundred thousand or so Mongols from various tribes under the Marshal's Manor's jurisdiction — if not for his Han army keeping them in check and Xining Prefecture governing them, these people fighting among themselves would have their brains splattered all over the ground.

If a Tumed saw a Khalkha, they would certainly fight, but if they both saw a Chahar at the same time, they would definitely bond and join forces to beat him up.

So even if Liu the Lion paid no attention to the Mongols under his command, if the Chahar Great Khan rallied them with one shout, the result could not be called a gathering of followers — at most, shared hatred against a common foe.

Add to that the Great Khan's superb skill at eliminating population — the Batu of Genghis Khan, lord of four hundred thousand Mongols, in just a few years has become the lord of four thousand Chahar.

Give him over a hundred thousand people, and in three to five years, they would still be gone all the same.

His political ability is right there for all to see; it is not a problem that tens of thousands of troops can solve. The Great Ming's problems are not something the Chongzhen Emperor can solve — it requires a Huo Guang; the Mongol problems are not something Lindan Batu can solve — they need an El Temür.

On this basis, Liu Chengzong did not mind showing some pity toward a dying man, at least fulfilling the Marshal's Manor's duties as host in the matter of medical treatment.

He instructed the physicians to treat him with full effort — do everything humanly possible and leave the rest to fate.

The complications caused by the Great Khan's smallpox — even if you took just one of them alone, the Marshal's Manor's best physicians, using anti-inflammatory and detoxifying herbal decoctions, would only have a seventy percent chance.

With so many complications arriving all at once, never mind this era — even three hundred years later, even the immortals would be hard-pressed to save him. Four hundred years later, one might give it some thought.

At the same time, he also granted Shaktu Khong Tayiji's request and had Haixi County Magistrate Liu Guoneng bring over Khutugtu Khan's relatives and family. In case the Great Khan was in a hurry to ascend to heaven, at the very least his kin could see him one last time.

Having received Liu the Lion's summons, Liu Guoneng personally led two hundred mounted troops and a hundred Mongol guards, escorting Lindan Khan's sisters, younger brother's wife, eight consorts, and his son and daughter together to outside Octagonal City.

When the people arrived, there was no reaction of earth-shaking wailing. Everyone knew very well what contracting smallpox meant; it was just that their expressions were ultimately inevitably tinged with fear and unease.

The Mongol Khan's harem was also called ordu or ordo, meaning palace tents. In reality, each ordu was like a tribe, with its own subjects, army, and pastureland.

Therefore Liu Guoneng reminded him that these eight consorts were not so much eight women as they were eight tribal chieftains.

The Chahar had fought year after year, and by now the various tribes had suffered grievous casualties and were nearly wiped out. The Great Khan's eight ordus had also suffered great losses during their flight — after all, they were once ten-thousand-household ordus, and now the largest was merely a thousand households. Yet compared to the other tribes, they could still be considered to have survived the calamity, becoming the most powerful force remaining among the Chahar.

On the afternoon they arrived at Octagonal City, Liu Chengzong slaughtered a sheep outside his command tent, put on a leather apron, and prepared to skin it, when he saw Liu Guoneng come bounding over to report, saying: "Grand Marshal, the Tiger Chieftain's eight consorts, along with his eldest son Ejei, have come to request an audience..."

Seeing Liu the Lion in this state, he thought the Grand Marshal might be being a bit discourteous, and asked hesitantly: "Should we have someone tidy things up?"

Liu Chengzong looked around and thought to himself, what is there to tidy up? He shook his head and said: "No need, let them come. Call Da Daozi over to serve as interpreter."

In just a moment, the consorts were led over by Liu Guoneng. As they entered the vicinity of the command tent, both he and Dai Daozi wore somewhat awkward expressions.

Dai Daozi had originally been at the Dzungar camp. The moment he heard that Lindan Khan's consorts who managed the eight ordus had arrived, Baatur Khong Tayiji also followed him out, pestering Ejei the whole way, trying to coax Ejei into going to the Tianshan Mountains.

Ejei was now the sweet pastry of the steppe. Baatur Khong Tayiji had merely received the news early; if word spread that the Great Khan had died in Qinghai, he would by no means be the only one trying to coax Ejei away.

The Three Khans of the Khalkha would all send people, hoping to take Ejei away.

Liu Shizi laughed, waved a hand to tell the two not to mind, turned his head toward Ligdan Khan's rear palace, untied his leather apron and gestured for Liu Guoneng to finish his task, then turned around and sat down in front of the tent, waving for the consorts to be seated.

The eight consorts varied in age and origin, and their attire and adornments differed greatly as well. Daizi stood in attendance beside Liu Chengzong, extended a finger toward the consort left of center, and said, "Commander, that is Ejei, the Khan's eldest son. His birth mother is the Khan's Third Consort, Yehe Nara Sutai."

Liu Chengzong looked over. Ejei stood right beside the Third Consort Sutai, looking only twelve or thirteen, dressed in a small Mongol satin robe. He had removed his large beaded hat and, after saluting, stood obediently at his mother's side.

He asked, "From the Jurchen Yehe tribe?"

Daizi nodded and added, "Her elder sister is the wife of the Jin State's Beile Jirgalang."

Liu Chengzong nodded. He had no idea who Jirgalang was, and simply said, "Ask them when they plan to enter Eight-Sided Fortress to visit the Khan. I'll make some preparations for them."

By all reason, the Khan's royal tent was already affected by smallpox and they should not be allowed to go, but this was also a matter of basic human feeling.

Liu Chengzong had no particularly good methods for smallpox prevention either. Emergency inoculation would be too late. He could only prepare some hemp garments and face coverings for them, allowing a brief visit while minimizing the risk of infection.

Unexpectedly, Liu Guoneng, still wearing his apron nearby, turned his head and said, "Commander, none of the eight consorts have had smallpox. On the way here they already discussed it and hope to wait until the Khan's pox scabs have fallen off before visiting."

Liu Chengzong paused a moment, then nodded. "That works too."

That was certainly safer, though whether the Khan could hold on until the scabs fell off — no one could say.

It was Daizi, who had just met them, who said to Liu Chengzong instead, "Commander, I did speak with the Dzungar Khong Tayiji. He reckons the eight consorts coming here is less about seeing the Khan one last time and more about discussing the submission of the various Chahar tribes."

"With catastrophe looming, the Chahar main tribe has little left for anyone to fight over and inherit. The eight consorts still have their own ordos that need the Commander's care."

Just as Daizi finished speaking, perhaps catching words like Dzungar and Chahar in the talk, the Third Consort, seated not far away, led Ejei forward and, with a faint smile, spoke a sentence.

Daizi immediately snapped into form. As a competent interpreter, he straightened up and said, "I have heard that Han nobles rarely do their own cooking. The Grand Commander is of scholarly origin — is that not so?"

Liu Chengzong paused briefly before it clicked: Sutai was referring to "the gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen."

He did not consider Ligdan Khan's consorts to be ignorant women who knew nothing. Liu Guoneng had already warned him — these eight consorts were eight chieftains.

This remark might be a show of weakness, using something she did not understand to open a conversation and ease the awkwardness; or it might be feigned ignorance to steer toward the topic she truly wished to raise.

Liu Chengzong followed the thread and said, "The Third Consort speaks of Mencius's words: the gentleman, having seen the animal alive, cannot bear to see it die; having heard its cry, cannot bear to eat its flesh. Therefore the gentleman keeps his distance from the kitchen."

Having said this, Liu Shizi smiled. The Third Consort Sutai, seated across from him, clearly knew the context of this line — it was a dialogue between Mencius and King Xuan of Qi.

The State of Qi was to hold a sacrifice and had brought an ox. King Xuan of Qi saw it, and when it came time to slaughter the ox, his heart of compassion was stirred, so he ordered the ox replaced with a sheep he had not seen. The people of the state thought him stingy and could not understand.

The point of the story was not the kitchen, but the heart of compassion.

And the point of the Third Consort's words was not Liu Chengzong slaughtering a sheep with his own hands, but Liu Chengzong's heart of compassion toward the widow and orphan of Chahar.

But this was like playing a lute to an ox — Liu Moo-moo only found it noisy.

"The Consort knows this story." He smiled. "But the Consort may not know: the gentleman sits in the Forbidden City and enjoys all under heaven. To him, these words have meaning. In my view, this story has another telling. Would the Consort like to hear it?"

Consort Sutai's expression shifted. The words she had been about to say next were caught in her throat. She could only nod.

"In my eyes, the Great Ming's war in the northeast is the ox in this story. Chahar was once one of them. To keep the ox from dying, the gentleman chose to let other sheep die. What crime had the sheep committed?"

Liu Chengzong's gaze turned dark and fierce. "I am that sheep!"

These words instantly broke Daizi, acting as interpreter, right out of his professional composure. He erupted in fury, "Damn right, Commander! I'm a sheep too."

Consort Sutai had been dealt a hard rebuff. She lowered her head for a moment, but the words she needed to say could not be held back. In the end, she simply prostrated herself, knocked her head to the ground, and said, "With the ailing Great Khan departing for heaven, I hope the Grand Commander will care for us, the widow and orphan, and help Ejei inherit the Chahar khanship. We will never betray the Grand Commander for all generations."

Ordinarily, anyone who kowtowed to Liu Chengzong would be raised up at once.

Only this time was an exception.

Liu Chengzong rose to his feet himself, took two steps to the side, and said, "You need not kowtow to me. The situation in Chahar right now — we are all very clear. The world is vast, but the Jin State, the Khalkha, the Oirat — they all want to be Great Khan. There is no place for you among them."

"We might as well lay it all out plainly. This is like playing leaf cards: whether your hand is high or low is only temporary. As long as you don't leave the table, there is always a chance to turn the game around. Once, Jianzhou was plowed under and its lairs swept clean; now, has it not swallowed Yehe and begun strutting and blustering?"

"If Chahar leaves the card table, I guarantee Ejei and all of you a lifetime of peace and wealth. Or, Ejei inherits the khanship and becomes a khan within a state. When I enter the Central Plains and all under heaven is stable, he will surely die an unnatural death. If I do not kill him, my son will."

"You are Ejei's mother. I think it is better to let you decide this: a lifetime of security, or a gamble to turn the game around for Chahar."

In the silence as the eight consorts looked at one another, a messenger arrived to report: "Commander, the Khan has awakened. He wishes to see you."

Liu Chengzong nodded, dismissed the messenger, then half-crouched down and beckoned to Ejei. "Ejei, come here. Uncle will roast some lamb for you tonight."

-----Off-topic-----

Good evening!