Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Abandon Qing and return to Wei?" Kenzhe Ule frowned and thought, "Have you forgotten the two massacres in Chongde 5 and 8? Even heroes like Bomubogor were no match for the Qing army. If we act rashly, we may bring disaster upon ourselves. Now, there are only 4,000 people left in our four Mukuns, including the elderly and children. We can no longer withstand such a catastrophe!"

"Brother only knows one side of the story," Anggacha was calm and laughed, "After the Qing army was defeated, Angbang Zhangjing Bahai will inevitably retreat to Ningguta, which is far away from us; the Durbert, Zhalai, Gorlos, and Khorchin tribes in the middle and lower reaches of the Nenjiang River that are close to us have already surrendered to Lianhua Khan. You know, the Khorchin tribe is the in-laws of the Qing emperor, and even they surrendered, which shows how powerful their army is. If they refuse to surrender, Lianhua Khan only needs to order the tribes to attack, which is far beyond our ability to resist with our weak power."

Kenzheyule nodded slightly, "What you said makes sense. But the Han people have a saying: If you are the one who is eager to get something, it is not a good deal. If you surrender too early, Lianhua Khan may not take you seriously. Besides, the Barhu, Buryat and other tribes have not made a decision yet, so we can't be too hasty about this matter. Well, we can send people to the ancestral land of the Jieya River to contact other Daur tribes to act together."

"Brother, ever since the Qing Dynasty appointed our cousin Bayalbuha as the Mukunda (clan leader) of the Dedule tribe, our cousin has lost his former courage and only wants to be a loyal subject of the Qing Dynasty. It may be difficult for us to work with them," Anggacha shook his head disapprovingly.

"No matter what, we are all from the same tribe. If we can hold together, we will be much stronger. Let's do this first, let me think about it again." Kenzhe Ule narrowed his eyes, but his thoughts went back to the bloody storm nineteen years ago. Back then, Baldazi, Koyobulu, and Merdiin flattered the Qing Dynasty and bullied their own tribesmen. The tribute minks collected increased year by year, which led to the disaster. As a direct result, more than 10,000 people in the entire Dedu tribe were either killed or taken to the Qing territory to be organized into the Eight Banners. He and others were also forced to move to the upper reaches of the Nenjiang River and were organized into a Solon Niulu. Alas! If everyone had been united at the beginning, how could such a disaster have happened?

Every Mongolian knows how to use a whip, but it is not easy to use the whip for the entire tribe. As the Mukunda (clan leader) of the Nenjiang Daurde Dule tribe, Kenzhe Ule naturally cannot act as he pleases like his cousin Anggacha, and must put the safety of the entire tribe first. So he was very hesitant. He was not the only one who hesitated. The leaders of the Barhu tribe southwest of the Nenjiang Daurde Dule tribe and the Buryat tribe in the Barguzin River area east of Lake Baikal (North Sea) faced the same situation. In particular, the Barhu tribe living in the Hulunbuir area west of the Greater Khingan Range, in addition to bordering the Nenjiang Daurde Dule tribe in the northeast, is adjacent to the Mongolian and Northern Mongolian deserts in the east, south, and southwest. After the Wei army unified the southern and northern deserts, their geographical location was also close to the David Kingdom, and they were also vulnerable to attacks by the Wei army. However, the area east of Lake Baikal where the Buryat Mongols, a branch of the Barhu tribe, live is far away from the Wei Kingdom and is relatively safe. The Lotus Khan, who regarded himself as the overlord of Mongolia, did not care about the distance. When he was Khan, he sent envoys to the Daur, Barhu, Buryat and other Mongolian tribes, asking them to pay homage. However, because the distance was too far at that time and the David Kingdom did not show enough strength to make these tribes respectful, no leader was willing to show support.

Legend has it that in ancient times, a hunter named Barhu Daibaatar was hunting in the forest by Lake Baikal and accidentally discovered seven beautiful women bathing in the clear lake water. The young hunter could not help but feel excited, and while the girls were playing in the water, he secretly hid a piece of clothing. After taking a bath, the girls put on their own clothes and immediately turned into snow-white swans and flew into the sky. Only the youngest girl had no clothes to wear and could not turn into a swan, so she cried sadly. So the kind-hearted Barhu Daibaatar took her home to be his wife. They gave birth to eleven boys, and the descendants of these eleven boys multiplied into the first eleven surnames of the Barhu tribe... In short, the Barhu tribe is the descendant of the hero Barhu Daibaatar and the white swan, and is one of the oldest Mongolian tribes. The earliest record of them appeared in the Tiele Alliance period in the third century AD. The Huoli, Tumati, Barhuti, Buryat and other tribes are all branches of the Barhu tribe. Because of the long distance, although they both speak Mongolian, the pronunciation of Barhu Mongolian is quite different from the orthodox Mongolian spoken by the Chahar tribe, the direct descendants of the Golden Family, and belongs to the Barhu-Buryat dialect of Mongolian. Even so, after all, they share the same language and ethnicity, and deep down they identify themselves as Mongolians just like the Daur people. As Tibetan Buddhism also spread to the area where they live, the common religious beliefs made them more closely connected with other Mongolian tribes.

The Barhu tribes in Hulunbuir had already submitted to the Qing Dynasty, and many tribesmen were recruited into the Suolong camp of the Qing army in Ningguta. After the Battle of Sarhu, in order to win over the Suolong tribes, the merciful Great Khan Lianhua released 300 Suolong warriors captured in the war at one go, including Daur people and Barhu people. These warriors spread the vivid story of the Wei-Qing war, and the leaders of the tribes quickly learned the news of the victory of the Wei army.

The leaders of the Barhu Hurlat, Halebin, Yongshebu and other tribes could not sit still. They held a kurultai assembly on the banks of the Ergun River in accordance with Mongolian tradition. In order to strengthen their own power, they also invited the leaders of the Buryat Mongolian tribes such as the Qibuzinot, Kuicherik, and Huasai from the same clan.

"Everyone, Lianhua Khan has conquered the tribes in the northern and southern parts of the desert, and recently defeated Qingning Guta Angbang Zhangjing Bahai. His troops are heading straight for us. Should we fight or make peace? Please express your opinions," asked the respected leader of the Barhu Hulat tribe, Hulat Bilge.

"Is there any need to ask? The grass on the grassland bends in the direction the wind blows. Since the Lotus Khan is so powerful, we should just surrender to him," said Halbin Arsleng.

"Yes, we are all Mongolians. Maybe our life will be easier if we surrender to Wei than to Qing," Yongshebuen and Sen agreed.

"Hmph! Our Barhu tribe is the descendant of the hero Barhu Daibater and White Swan. Why should we submit to other tribes? In my opinion, we don't need to care about either the Qing Dynasty or David," objected Zibzinot Temur.

"Timur is right. Whether facing the Russians or the Manchus, we Buryats have never surrendered. Naturally, there is no need for us to bow to the Lotus Khan," Kuicherik Yirentai straightened his chest proudly.

The tribes of Timur and Yirentai both belonged to the Buryat Mongolian tribe. Their territories were far away on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, far away from the territory of Wei State, so they were not under as much pressure as other Barhu tribes.

Seeing that no one could reach a consensus on whether to fight or make peace, Old Bilge frowned. Just as he was worried, another leader of the Buryat Mongol tribe, Huasai Jizhigla, suddenly smiled and said, "The Daurde Dule tribe in Nenjiang is not in a hurry, so why should we be in a hurry?"

This sentence immediately set the tone for the kurultai: wait, wait and see what other tribes do. The leaders stopped arguing and sent people to carefully inquire about the news of the Daur, Yakut (Ewenki), Oroqen (Qiler) and other tribes, while preparing to move from Hulunbuir to the east coast of Lake Baikal immediately if the situation was not right. (End of this chapter)