Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was winter of the twenty-ninth year of the Qianyuan era (1672). The Great Khan Lianhua, who had been back in Beijing for several months, was still diligent in his duties, reviewing memorials late into the night in the bedchamber of his favorite concubine, Erdeni Bumba.

"Pfft~" The Supreme One suddenly smiled.

"What brings you such joy, Great Khan? Have you found a gold ingot?" Erdeni Bumba joked. This lady was naturally lively and bold; she was the only one in the entire harem who dared to speak to the Emperor like this. After giving birth to Prince Chen, Suhebalu, her figure became even more voluptuous, and her smile was captivating. This aroused the Great Khan's affection, and he picked up the beauty and began to tell her jokes about Mandulatu, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

It turns out that the Kingdom of David and the Kingdom of Annam were embroiled in a dispute over a place called "Nawo (Nahu)" on the border between Guangxi and Annam. This place had historically belonged to China and was under the jurisdiction of Siling Tusi Prefecture in Guangxi. The Siling Tusi Prefecture Chief, surnamed Wei, and the Annamite chieftain, surnamed Wei, were of the same clan. A few years ago, the Siling Wei family, lacking funds, secretly pawned the land to the Pingwei family. Wei Desheng, the Annamite chieftain of Pingzhou, believed that Nawo was fertile and undeveloped, and took the opportunity to lead Annamite troops to garrison there, using Nawo as a base to gradually encroach on Siling Prefecture. The Siling Tusi Prefecture Chief, Wei Rongyao, was unwilling to tolerate this and led his army to resist, but the other side had the support of Annam, and he gained no advantage in several battles. Wei Rongyao had no choice but to seek refuge with the Cen family of Sicheng, attempting to use the Cen family's power to resist Annam. After the Cen family was destroyed, he then sought refuge with the Kingdom of David and appealed to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Mandulatu, hoping that the Celestial Empire would help him recover the lost territory.

At this time, the Kingdom of David was gaining momentum, and all civil and military officials considered territorial expansion a merit. Especially for a fierce general like Mandulatu, upon hearing this news, how could he let it go unpunished? He immediately ordered the troops of seven chieftains—Zhao Dianhui (Prefect of Longzhou), Li Kaijin (Prefect of Taiping), Huang Bi (Prefect of Guide), Nong Tingfeng (Prefect of Dujie), Feng Taiyi (Prefect of Dukang), Zhao Hongji (Prefect of Guohua), and Xu Shaowu (Prefect of Xialei)—to march to Siling Prefecture to support and encourage Wei Rongyao, the Prefect of Siling. However, this fierce general also knew that the Great Khan's primary concern was the Zheng family in Taiwan, and that he and the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian, Su He, had been preparing for a naval expedition. Now was not the time to provoke a war with Annam. Therefore, while submitting a memorial explaining the ins and outs of the dispute, he also proposed his own ideas for resolving the matter.

Indeed, these are very insightful ideas: First, Brother Mengjiang believes that the land of Siling Prefecture belongs to the David Dynasty, and without the court's approval, the Siling chieftain has no right to pawn that land to the Annamese chieftain; therefore, the pawn agreement is invalid. Second, Brother Mengjiang has sent people to investigate the situation in Annam. Currently, the Later Le Dynasty in Annam is in a period of north-south confrontation. The Trinh family, who actually controls the Le Dynasty, has been fighting repeatedly with the Nguyen family in the south. In the north, there are two other forces, the Cao Bang Mo family and the Tuyen Quang Zhenwu family, who are not subservient to the Trinh family. It is suggested that these forces be united to counterbalance the Trinh family. Third, Brother Mengjiang knows that the Great Khan does not want to actually wage war against Annam. It is suggested that the Trinh family's current predicament be taken advantage of, and that military pressure be applied first, followed by sending envoys to negotiate, in order to subdue the enemy without fighting. The Trinh family, who now effectively hold power in the Le Dynasty, are in dire straits. After seven major battles that have lasted for forty-five years with the Nguyen family in the south, both sides are exhausted and unable to continue fighting. Meanwhile, the Junior Tutor, Tong Quang Thuan, who had been staying in Thang Long, took advantage of Le Gia Tong and his senior minister Trinh Kan's southern campaign against the Nguyen lord to return to his hereditary fiefdom of Tuyen Quang and launched a rebellion. He attacked and plundered the people of nearby prefectures, proclaimed himself "King of Little Gia Gang," and colluded with remnants of the Mo family, causing chaos in the north. Caught between attacks from both the north and the south, the country desperately needs a neutral mediator to end the war with the Nguyen family as soon as possible.

The memorial itself is clear, logical, and well-founded, with no inherent problems. The issue lies in the fact that it came from the mouth of the valiant general Mandulatu, making it seem rather odd. Mandulatu was a valiant general who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; his heavy spiked club had slain countless warriors. However, he was illiterate and had always been perceived as "brave but reckless." Now, he was proposing such a wise strategy—how could one not find it laughable!

"I always thought Mandulatu only knew how to hit people with a big stick, but I didn't expect him to have learned to use his brain! It must have been really difficult for this 'brute' to come up with such a brilliant plan! Hahaha~" Suletan hugged Consort Zhuang and laughed loudly.

Erdenibumba blinked her clever and lively eyes and said in a soft and sweet voice, "The Great Khan values ​​civil administration, and officials of all ranks in various places like to recruit staff to assist in handling official business. As a governor of a region, Mandulatu must have many staff under his command. In my opinion, this must be a method that his people came up with for him."

“What my beloved consort says is certainly reasonable, but she underestimates the generals of our Great David Kingdom. As far as I know, Mandulatu, Suhe, and others have been diligently learning Chinese characters and have even hired tutors to teach their own children. They have made considerable progress over the years. If it weren’t for this, how could I have trusted them to serve as governors-general? This idea certainly involved the advice of my advisors, but he himself also put considerable thought into it,” Sultan didn’t entirely agree with his consort’s words, but his eyes were full of admiration for his beloved generals. He picked up his pen and wrote in reply: “Your plan is excellent.” "Land is the foundation of David's nation, and not yielding an inch is the national policy of this dynasty! I am not afraid of your troubles, but only of your weakness and the loss of the court's dignity! I hereby appoint Wu Zhaoqian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, as an envoy to Annam to confer upon the Le family the title of King of Annam, the Trinh family the title of Pacification Commissioner of Thang Long, the Mo family the title of Pacification Commissioner of Cao Bang, the Vu family the title of Pacification Commissioner of Tuyen Quang, and the Nguyen family the title of Pacification Commissioner of Quang Nam, demanding that the Le Dynasty cede the territory it has seized and to mediate the war between the Trinh and Nguyen families. You may send troops to assist, but you must distinguish between primary and secondary tasks, and your elite troops must be concentrated along the coast!"

This imperial edict perfectly illustrates the attitude of the Great Khan's Kingdom towards its territory, as bright as the rising sun: not an inch will be yielded! After reviewing the memorial, the Great Khan embraced Consort Zhuang and went to bed. The matter of recovering Nawo will be handled by the officials. If they do well, they will be richly rewarded; if they do poorly, they will lose the dignity of the court and be punished upon their return.

Wu Zhaoqian did not disappoint the Great Khan, displaying his seasoned diplomatic skills during his mission. First, he conferred titles upon the King of Annam and local power holders, clarifying the suzerain relationship between the Kingdom of David and their respective suzerain states. Then, taking advantage of the exhaustion of both the North and South after seven major wars lasting forty-five years, he mediated the war between the Trinh and Nguyen clans, but did not rush to reach an agreement. Instead, he used negotiations as leverage to force the Le Dynasty to withdraw its troops from Na Wou. With the support of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Mandulatu, he gathered local troops from eight local prefectures near Na Wou, namely Long, Taiping, Quy Duc, Do Gia, Do Kang, Guo Hua, Ha Lei, and Si Linh, to exert pressure through force. At the same time, he secretly supported the Xuan Quang Vu clan and the Cao Bang Mo clan in sending troops to Thang Long, further pressuring the Trinh clan. This series of events left Trinh ruler Trinh Tho in a state of utter chaos, forcing him to dispatch officials Duan Junke and Le Chi Tsun to Viet Teck Seng's army, ordering Viet Teck Seng to withdraw his troops back to Annam and return the territory to David. Soon, under David's mediation, North and South Annam reached a peace agreement: a ceasefire was declared, the river was designated as the border, Trinh and Nguyen would each govern their own territory, and the Nguyen clan would recognize Le as the ruler of Annam. This event is historically known as the "Peace Treaty." (End of Chapter)