Chapter 714

The great temple of Qingcheng.

Beneath the rebuilt plaque of Hongci Temple.

Liu Chengzong stood upon the steps like a king of beasts, gazing into the distance.

Before him, between two massive cast-bronze lions, stood a gathering of lions, tigers, leopards, and bears in shoulder-baring battle robes.

The Yanmen Garrison Commander and Chakhar Taiji, Shaktu Taiji, stood in the center, his crimson battle robe bearing dark gold patterns, the rank badge on his chest embroidered with a qilin baring fangs and claws.

Beside him were Shuofang Garrison Commander He Huchen and Wuyuan Garrison Commander Wang Cheng'en — their battle robes identical in material and hue to Shaktu's, only their chest badges bore lions.

Next to Wang Cheng'en stood Yunzhong Garrison's Assistant Regional Commander Bai Wenxuan, his rank badge a tiger, making the Tümed Tümen's lord Ombu, in his leather jisün robe and jeweled cap, look like a mere attendant, ill at ease.

The Uxin Tümen's Satsang Taiji, however, had deliberately dressed like an attendant — plain cloth-faced iron armor — but with lowered brows and downcast eyes, he was utterly composed.

Because his liege lord, the Ordos Jinong Erinchen, was standing right beside him.

More to the point, when they traveled from Ordos to Guihua City to pay tribute to Liu Chengzong, Satsang had suggested to Erinchen before departure that, to make a favorable impression on the Great Khan, they should wear their ancestral battle armor.

Erinchen was very obedient and dug out the Golden-Scale Commander-in-Chief battle armor that the Longqing Emperor had bestowed upon his grandfather Jinong — it glittered dazzlingly in the sunlight, a real eyesore of a showpiece.

That suit of armor alone was enough to overshadow the Tümed lord Ombu, and all those mud-footed tümen lords still stuck at the stage of wearing whatever they had would be outshone as well.

Of course, it would not eclipse Liu Chengzong's radiance.

Because Satsang Taiji had previously inquired with Lu Bin, the Second Brigade's chiliarch stationed in the Uxin tribe.

The head of the Great Khan's guard, a man named Liu Tichun, had been granted a set of silver-scale lamellar armor for his earlier battlefield merits — still brand new, he wore it every day.

So, although Erinchen and Satsang Taiji were, like the other tümen lords, meeting Liu Chengzong for the first time, the armor they wore made them look like they belonged to the same faction.

Standing there at the front, anyone who saw them would privately wonder if they were the Great Khan's trusted confidants, the heads of the Kheshig.

This was precisely Satsang Taiji's aim: to establish, across Southern and even Northern Mongolia, the impression that Erinchen was a key minister of the Khanate, thereby enhancing his lord's prestige and making the tribes of both regions more dependent on Erinchen.

Only in this way, when Liu Chengzong eventually abandoned the Mongols, could the scattered Mongol tribes still have a backbone, and not, as they had for over a decade, be helplessly butchered by outsiders while also trampling upon each other.

In a sense, Satsang felt he identified with Liu Chengzong as Great Khan more than the other Mongol nobles did.

Because in his heart, Liu Chengzong was a very competent Great Khan — just not a very reliable one.

After so many years of chaotic strife on the Southern Mongolian steppe, Satsang Taiji's standards for a Heaven-sent Great Khan had fallen very low: whoever could stop the infighting among the Southern tribes, and stop making them fight and die for absurd reasons, was the one true Khan under heaven and earth.

That meant the ruler needed an extremely powerful army, capable of subduing the tribes and halting the conflicts, and also able to provide the things the tribes needed as rewards, solving their most urgent problems.

Who did those traits sound like?

Like an emperor of the Central Plains.

And therein lay Liu Chengzong's unreliability — he was less a Mongol Great Khan and more a Central Plains emperor handing out titles on the Mongol steppe.

Satsang's unease stemmed from this: as the de facto ruler of the Southern Mongolian steppe, Yang Qi had run off at the drop of a hat just because of two imperial edicts granting kingship from someone else, galloping back to the Central Plains without a moment's pause.

If Yang Qi was like that, Wang Cheng'en and He Huchen were surely no different.

And Liu Chengzong would naturally be the same.

The Southern Mongolian steppe was not that important to them. The pessimistic Satsang Taiji had always believed that when a major war broke out in the south, Liu Chengzong would abandon them and go be his Grand Marshal in comfort in the Central Plains.

He prepared for rain because he knew sooner or later it would rain.

In fact, even now, standing outside Hongci Temple, Satsang Taiji assumed Liu Chengzong had come to Southern Mongolia in person merely because he had won a battle in the south and was passing by to flaunt his might.

He had no idea why Liu Chengzong had come, nor why Subadi had come.

But to him, the steppe was full of strange happenings — one more made no difference.

Before long, dust rose from the streets within the city as several riders galloped up, first reporting that Subadi had already entered the city.

A moment later, the Minister of the Rites Office, Zhang Xianzhong, arrived riding abreast with Subadi.

The officers and nobles in attendance at Hongci Temple parted into two lines. Subadi dismounted and saw Liu Chengzong surrounded in the center. He was about to kneel in salute, but Liu Chengzong, who had already strode forward two steps with hands outstretched, caught him and held him up.

"Ha ha ha! Elder brother, you have traveled a thousand li to come here — your sentiment speaks for itself. What need is there for formalities? Come, come inside the great temple with me so we can talk in detail."

Subadi could not understand what he was saying; he was simply grabbed by the arm, but seeing Liu Chengzong's expression showed no anger, he laughed along and let himself be led.

Once his attendant Gao Letu translated, Subadi smiled and went along with it, saying to Gao Letu as they walked toward the great temple: "Quickly tell the Great Khan that I have urgent military intelligence to report."

They had just stepped through the temple gate when Liu Chengzong heard this. His pace did not falter as he asked with a smile: "What elder brother wishes to say — could it be that the Later Jin have mobilized their troops?"

Liu the Lion had long guessed at Subadi's purpose in coming, reckoning there were only two possibilities, both military in nature.

Either the western route of the Khalkha had been attacked and he had come seeking aid, or the Jin state had mobilized and he had come to report it.

Beyond these, he could not imagine what matter would make Subadi, one of the three Khans of Northern Mongolia, come in person.

Subadi, for his part, was unsurprised by the question; a look of "just as I expected" crossed his face.

He exhaled in relief and smiled. "As expected — the Great Khan is here with his army and must have already heard of this from elsewhere. It seems my trip was unnecessary."

Liu the Lion stopped walking. He turned to face Subadi and said with utter sincerity: "No. Even if many others had told me, I could not possibly have marched troops here so quickly."

"I merely deduced it — since Hong Taiji intends to proclaim himself emperor, the Jin state would likely send troops to intimidate its neighbors. But I was not certain in my heart; I only worried he would strike my Southern Mongolian vassals, so I brought the army here as a precaution."

That was not what Liu the Lion truly thought in his heart.

In truth, the fact that the Later Jin had mobilized and he had stationed his army in Southern Mongolia was a deductive achievement he was rather proud of.

But Subadi had traveled a thousand li without shirking the distance, arriving travel-worn to deliver this intelligence — faced with such goodwill, he did not wish to show off.

Subadi, however, did not claim credit for it. Even more sincere than Liu Chengzong, he spoke: "To be honest, this intelligence was not discovered by my own scouts. It was learned by the Chechen Khan's son Babu, who was invited to the Jin state to attend the Chongde Emperor's enthronement ceremony."

"As soon as Babu returned to Northern Mongolia, the Chechen Khan relayed the news to the western route and had me come warn the Great Khan to be on guard."

"Sholoi?"

This genuinely surprised Liu the Lion. He asked: "I recall he bore no hostility toward the Jin state. Why would he leak intelligence to me? Is he not afraid of the Jin state raising troops against him?"

"It is as the Great Khan says — the Chechen Khan borders the Jin state and indeed bears no hostility. It is just that these past two years, Hong Taiji has been increasingly aggressive, insatiable in his demands, which has been… unbearably vexing."

Subadi sighed and shook his head, then explained the whole story to Liu Chengzong.

In the end, it all came down to money.

Previously, the three Khalkha tribes had always traded with the Great Ming at Xuanfu, until the Great Ming, in order to contain the Later Jin, granted the million-tael market stipend exclusively to Ligdan Khan of the Chakhar, giving him control over the trade routes of all Mongolia except the Kharachin and Tümed.

The Kharachin's Subudi was the Great Ming's Duoyan Commander, and the Tümed's Boshektu was the Great Ming's Prince of Obedience — both held the right to trade with the Great Ming.

Later, when Ligdan Khan was threatened by the rising Jin Kingdom and migrated westward, it was not some mad, reckless act of making enemies. Rather, the market rewards were in the hands of the Prince of Shunyi, so Ligdan Khan could not centralize his khanly authority, and thus his strength could not overcome powerful foes.

Subudi of the Kharchin kept jumping back and forth, and with the Great Ming and Later Jin at his back, Ligdan Khan truly could do nothing about him, so he had no choice but to migrate west and attack the Tümed.

He did indeed rule Guihua City for a few years, only to be defeated by a joint attack of the Tümed and Later Jin, driven westward, gnawing at the border walls, and ultimately wandering thousands of li before finding his final refuge with Liu the Lion.

In fact, between the time he struck the Ningxia border wall and found his refuge in Qinghai, when the Chahar tribe migrated west beyond the Gansu border, they had also once planned to attack the Three Tribes of the Northern Desert to the north.

This directly caused the Three Khans to detest the Chahar, especially Subadi's Jasaghtu Khan tribe.

His subordinate, Erdeni, chieftain of the Khotogoid tribe, was in an extremely harsh geopolitical environment: Russians to the north, the Oirat to the west, Ligdan Khan to the south. Hearing that the Chahar had ambitions to march north, to guard against the unexpected, he swore allegiance to Russia on one hand and made peace with the Oirat on the other.

But Ligdan Khan left, the Great Ming's markets remained, and the Setsen Khan tribe of the Three Tribes of the Northern Desert received the market patent documents that Liu Chengzong had passed on.

Last year's trade, though it did not buy what they needed most, truly solved their most urgent needs through Yang Qi's circular trade.

Only, when they returned to the Northern Desert, Setsen Khan Sholoi received a warning from Hong Taiji.

Hong Taiji had also set his sights on the trade permit in Setsen Khan's hands, and informed him that he was about to ascend the throne, demanding they submit a memorial urging his enthronement and come to attend the ceremony, and that henceforth they must no longer trade with the Great Ming, but instead trade with Daiching Gülen.

What scheme this was, Sholoi knew perfectly well in his heart. It was nothing more than the Later Jin themselves lacking food and clothing, so they forbade him from trading with the Great Ming, hoping to use the Setsen Khan tribe's name to trade with the Great Ming.

By all reason, this was a fantastical absurdity that a normal person would not even consider, but the Jin Kingdom's military threat was very real.

Sholoi had just returned to the Northern Desert, still carrying the terror of Dorgon leading troops on a western campaign. He was extremely cautious about his reply, and specially brought it out to discuss with Gombu and Subadi how to respond.

Subadi and the other could not come up with a plan either. On whether to participate in urging enthronement, the three of them unanimously agreed not to wade into those muddy waters, but on the matter of future trade and attending the ceremony, none could make up their minds.

As a result, they dragged it out for two months, and then heard that Dorgon had returned empty-handed from the Southern Desert, and that Yang Qi was still alive, bouncing around full of life in Guihua City.

The backbones of the Three Khans straightened right up.

After discussion, Gombu sent no reply.

Subadi, on the matter of the Setsen Khan tribe's trade, gave Hong Taiji a thorough scolding. The mocking, cutting insults were all dictated by Sholoi, only the signature was Subadi's, allowing Setsen Khan to vent his grievances fiercely.

As for Sholoi himself, his reply to Hong Taiji was quite obedient. In the letter, he congratulated him on his enthronement, saying that Hong Taiji, in driving out the Chahar Khan, was a benevolent and righteous monarch seeking the path of peace, and naturally should have wise judgment. The trade matter could be discussed but not coerced. He had recently broken his leg in a fall and could not ride a horse, for which he was truly sorry, so he was sending his son Babu to Shenyang with gifts to attend the ceremony.

Liu the Lion, hearing this matter, laughed so hard he rocked back and forth. Without calling for an attendant, he personally brewed tea for Subadi, brought over a Yaozhou celadon tea bowl and handed it to him, saying, "You two elder brothers are truly amusing. What is Setsen Khan's plan? Does he still intend to continue the border market with the Great Ming?"

Subadi rose to receive the tea bowl, thanking him repeatedly, and then shook his head, saying, "The Jin Kingdom is right before his eyes; how would he dare to still go to the border markets?"

"Ha! Sholoi!"

Liu the Lion let out a laugh, looking at Subadi, waiting for him to continue.

Subadi saw his disdain, put down the tea bowl, cupped his fists, and said, "Setsen Khan has his reasons, but he also has no intention of defecting to Hong Taiji. Instead, he wants the tribesmen of the Tüsheet Khan to continue receiving the market rewards, and then he will trade with the Tüsheet Khan tribe."

"Only, this matter must be known to the Great Khan. Should they go to Shahukou to continue trading with the Great Ming, or come to Guihua City to trade with the Great Khan?"

Liu the Lion, hearing these words, nodded with a trace of approval, praising, "Setsen Khan still has some boldness."

Sholoi was clearly a compliant donkey born holding a golden bowl.

I can trade with the Great Ming, and I can also hand over the matter of trading with the Great Ming to someone else, and then I'll trade with that middleman.

I can even let someone else trade with Liu Chengzong, and then I'll trade with him, letting the goods change hands four times — it doesn't matter.

The one and only thing is, you cannot force me to trade with you. Even if the terms are the best, I won't agree.

This man is somewhat interesting.

However, he did not immediately give Subadi an answer.

The market rewards of the Northern Desert were indeed a matter that required careful consideration for Liu Chengzong.

During the earlier Ningxia campaign, he had not considered this aspect. Now, suddenly asked by Subadi, he needed to ponder it carefully.

His army was massing in the Southern Desert. This land was quite friendly for marching — for three to five months, you could just let the horses out to graze and they'd eat, though they would lose flesh. Later, back in Shaanxi, he'd supplement them with concentrated feed and then compete with the horses again.

But it was not friendly to the soldiers. Food for men here was very expensive.

The local area lacked the capacity to supply a large army, and he could not possibly plunder his own territory for supplies.

Yet, to fight the Later Jin, the battlefield could not be in the Southern Desert Command.

The Later Jin generals were all veterans. No matter who led the troops, seeing that he was on guard, they would certainly not foolishly fight their way to Guihua City again.

He wanted to bolster the Southern Desert, to tell everyone through war that the Southern Desert was his territory — not a place where anyone could come as they pleased, fight as they pleased, and leave as they pleased.

The three progressive campaign objectives were: to make the Later Jin army unable to enter, unable to win if they fought, and unable to leave.

Of course, even at the lowest expectation, without considering killing the enemy, merely preventing the Later Jin army from entering the Southern Desert and making them return empty-handed, the enormous consumption of provisions and fodder would place unbearable pressure on their supply lines.

The livestock of the Three Tribes of the Northern Desert were, to him, undoubtedly a timely gift of fuel in snowy weather.

Only, the Marshal's Office's current level of trade goods production could not yet compare to the Great Ming's.

He had many handicraft products, of very high quality, but the hard goods the Mongols urgently needed — his range was incomplete.

His Censorate inspectors had just been established, so he had no stock this year, and his grain was only enough for his own people. These two hard goods were insufficient to support trade.

Just as Liu Chengzong was pondering, his silence was clearly misunderstood by Subadi.

He heard Subadi cup his fists and say, "Beyond this, my purpose in coming this time is also to lead troops to aid the Great Khan in battle. Only, my subordinate Khotogoid tribe is currently at war with foreign enemies, so I must leave some tribesmen in the Northern Desert. Therefore, I can only send ten thousand troops. I hope the Great Khan will not disdain this."

Liu Chengzong would certainly not disdain it. Though he did not really need this fighting strength — it was even possible that if Subadi mobilized troops from the Northern Desert now, the war would be over by the time the army arrived.

But this concerned the Northern Desert's attitude of support toward him.

He immediately nodded and said some words of thanks. Only after he finished did a question suddenly strike him: "The Khotogoid tribe... didn't elder brother just say that to his north he has allied with and sworn allegiance to the Rakshasa, and to his west he has made peace with the Oirat?"

Liu the Lion straightened his posture and folded his arms: "Who is he fighting?"

"I am not too clear either. A Temeng Khanate has risen in the Tom River basin, plundering and attacking Rakshasa settlements, and also seizing the subjects of the Khotogoid tribe. Erdeni, at the invitation of the Rakshasa envoys, will send troops to aid them once the north thaws, in exchange for trade support of urgently needed firearms, cannons, and other such items from the various tribes... Great Khan?"

As Subadi spoke these words, he himself felt they were vague and remote. After all, the territories of the Three Tribes of the Northern Desert were all vast, and the Jasaghtu Khan tribe had nearly split from the Khotogoid tribe, so he truly did not understand matters over there very well.

But as he spoke, he noticed that Liu Chengzong's originally amiable face had turned fierce in the eyes.

"Elder brother, send someone back now, ride fast with the whip, and stop the Khotogoid tribe from sending troops. For this year's trade, let Gombu still go to Shahukou to trade with the Great Ming. Elder brother, bring your livestock and horses to my place. It will be like the Great Ming horse markets, but better than theirs. Cloth, tobacco, wine, weapons, armor, and implements — everything you could want."

"This Temeng you speak of on the Tom River is no khanate. That is a garrison outpost established by my Tianshan Army when they attacked the Rakshasa, named Taimeng Outpost!"