I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 373 Altan Khan’s decision!

Altan Khan stood inside the big tent with his hands raised. Sanniang put a shawl jacket on his shoulders and hung agate and lapis lazuli beads on it.

Altan Khan put down his hand and wiped Sanniang's delicate face, "My dear, you will always be the most beautiful flower on the grassland."

The third lady smiled shyly and raised her head proudly.

"The most beautiful flowers on the grassland must be picked by the strongest heroes on the grassland."

Altan Khan laughed loudly. He was already sixty years old, while Sanniangzi was only nineteen. This most beautiful flower on the grassland had been with him for ten years.

This is one of the things he is most proud of.

Sanniangzi helped Altan Khan get dressed and asked casually, "Great Khan, are we going to march west again this year?"

Last year, Altan Khan led his troops on a western expedition to Oirats, bringing Sanniang with him. When they were stationed in Bakdi in the Altai Mountains, Sanniang gave birth to a son and named him Butashili.

Altan Khan was overjoyed and held a grand wedding banquet, which made everyone rejoice. From then on, Sanniangzi became more and more favored and valued by Altan Khan, and she listened to his advice on all matters, big or small.

Altan Khan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Western Expedition? The people I sent to the east to gather information should be back by now."

The third lady was stunned. "Great Khan, in the east? What happened to the Chahar tribe and Tumen Khan?"

Sanniangzi knew that on the southern steppes of the desert, the only thing Altan Khan was afraid of was Tumen Khan of the Chahar tribe. Although he was often oppressed and intimidated by the Tumed tribe, he was strong and could not be ignored.

"Great Khan, are you worried that Tumen Khan, this vicious wolf, will take advantage of our westward expedition to bite us?"

Altan Khan shook his head and said, "I am worried that this evil wolf will be beaten to death by the Ming Dynasty."

Sanniang's face changed. "How is it possible? The Ming Dynasty destroyed the Chahar tribe? My Khan, the Chahar tribe is not a small tribe, and Tumen Khan is not an unknown person."

"In the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has been sending troops to the east to wipe out the Jurchens in Jianzhou and Xihai. I have never been to those places in the far east, but I have only heard that they are on the flank of the Chahar tribe.

The most nervous person in the Ming Dynasty's campaign to suppress the Northeast was Tumen Khan. In the past, he often tried to win over the Jurchens in Haixi and Jianzhou and the Liaodong region of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the Ming Dynasty has taken over Haixi and Jianzhou, the Chahar tribe's flank is in danger.

The third lady pondered for a while, "Great Khan, are you saying that Tumen Khan couldn't hold back and launched an attack on the Ming Dynasty last year, and it is very likely that he fell into the trap of the Ming Dynasty?"

Altan Khan laughed loudly: "My clever Yan Chu. Yes, the people of the Ming Dynasty are very cunning. I also know this Tumen Khan. He is a man who acts without any strategy. No one knows what he will do next.

The Ming Dynasty has made peace with us, and there is no pressure on the western front. They can transfer a large number of elite troops to the east to deal with the Chahar tribe. The troops of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty are different from previous years, as if they have become a different person.

He also recruited many famous generals. Tan Lun, Qi Jiguang, and Li Chengliang were all difficult for the Khan to deal with, and Tumen Khan was no match for them.

Altan Khan lifted the curtain and walked out of the tent, followed closely by Sanniang.

The people around them bowed and saluted Altan Khan and Sanniangzi.

Altan Khan maintained his dignity, smiling, and waved his hand casually. The third lady was much more amiable, showing two dimples, and waved to everyone.

Aldan Khan raised his head and looked towards the east.

"One winter, the roads were blocked by heavy snow. I had no idea what happened to the Chahar tribe."

After greeting, Sanniangzi turned around and asked, "Great Khan, if the Chahar tribe is conquered by the Ming Dynasty, what should we do?"

Altan Khan stared towards the east with a serious expression. After a long while, he said firmly: "The fact that the Chahar tribe was conquered by the Ming Dynasty is not good for our Tumed tribe. From now on, we will share the south of the desert with the Ming Dynasty, and our flanks will be threatened by it at all times.

The Chahar tribe today may be the Tumed tribe tomorrow."

The third lady asked in panic, "Great Khan, are you going to go to war with the Ming Dynasty?"

"Start a war?" Altan Khan smiled bitterly, "I thought that opening a border trade would make the Tumed tribe's purse fatter and the tribe richer.

But unexpectedly, after a few years, Tumed's purse became empty instead of full, and everyone wanted to take out the last copper coin in their purse to buy the goods of the Ming people.

Alas, the goods of the Ming people are endless. Even if you sell all the cattle and sheep on the grassland, you still can't buy them all."

Altan Khan turned to look at Sanniangzi, his face full of regret, "In just a few years, look at my warriors, they have gone from jackals, tigers and leopards to drunkards.

The women in the back tent wore silk, gold and jade hairpins, ate frosted sugar, held glasses, drank honey tea, sprayed perfume, and added spices to the meat. All of these needed to be exchanged from the Ming people with our cattle, sheep, and horses. They were addicted to comfort and luxury, and it was difficult for them to get out of it. "

Sanniang could hear Altan Khan's distress and said, "Great Khan, if we go to war with the Ming, the border trade will be cut off and these goods will no longer be available. Those who are used to enjoying them will turn their anger on you, the Khan."

Altan Khan nodded and said in a deep voice: "Those ungrateful wolves will not remember any reward no matter how much they are given. They just think it is their due. If I give them one less leg of lamb, they will regard me as the enemy who killed their father.

When we go to war with the Ming, what I might worry about most is someone shooting an arrow at me from behind."

Sanniang raised her head and looked at Aldan Khan with pity, her eyes wandering over his dark, red, wrinkled face.

My Great Khan, I believe that nothing in this world can stump you!

"Great Khan, the scouts sent to the east are back!"

An attendant ran over from a distance, reported to Altan Khan, then turned and pointed to the distance.

Altan Khan and Sanniang looked up and saw several fast horses coming at lightning speed from the distant hills.

After a quarter of an hour, the fast horses stopped outside the big tent. A Ming Antu and three of his men dismounted from their horses. With sweat all over their foreheads, they quickly ran to the tent and knelt on one knee on the ground.

"Your Majesty, your faithful servant Hamik has returned with the news."

"Speak, speak quickly!" said Altan Khan, who was always calm, anxiously.

"Great Khan, Tumen Khan has suffered a great defeat!"

"It was a great defeat!" Altan Khan became even more anxious. "What kind of defeat? Explain it clearly!"

"Great Khan, we rode four horses each, heading east day and night, and crossed the Xilin River, where we met a group of herdsmen fleeing westward. They said that the Ming army set out from the Huanghe and Tuhe rivers in the south, swept across the Wulu River, and occupied the king's tent of the Chahar tribe. Tumen Khan's wives, concubines, children, and relatives, as well as nearly 100,000 tribesmen and countless cattle, sheep, and horses, all fell into the hands of the Ming army."

Altan Khan's face turned livid.

"We continued to chase them, but they couldn't explain themselves. We thought that we might run into the Ming army if we went east or south, so we decided to go around them from the Dalaibulak Gobi Desert in the north.

There we met some remnants of the Chahar who had fled north, as well as remnants of the Duoyan and Taining tribes. From them we learned more detailed intelligence.

Last autumn, Tumen Khan quietly moved the main force of the Chahar tribe to the east of the Black Mountain, and sent Heishitan and others to lead the Duoyan, Taining and other tribes to harass the Liaohe Hetao area and tie down the Ming army.

Tumen Khan suddenly launched an attack on the Ming army in the northeast, but was defeated. The remnants of his army were stranded east of the Black Mountain for a winter, suffering heavy casualties. In the spring, Tumen Khan led the remnants across the Black Mountain and prepared to return to the royal tent. On the way, he learned that the Ming army had robbed his royal tent, so he had to turn north and retreat to the Khalkha tribe west of Xuanming Pool (Hulun Lake).

Ming Antu looked up at Altan Khan and said cautiously, "Great Khan, I heard a rumor."

"What rumors?"

"Tumen Khan threw away the golden seal of the Mongol Khan and the nine-flag white banner passed down by Genghis Khan, saying that they were seized by the Ming army."

Aldan Khan's face turned pale!

Tumen Khan was the direct descendant of the Mongolian Golden Family, the Borjigin clan, and the two things in his hand were proof of this. Therefore, he had a high prestige in the grasslands of the south and north of the desert.

When the Tumed tribe rose to power, no matter how powerful Altan Khan and his son were, they did not dare to kill Tumen Khan and his son. They could only drive them eastward.

Now these two most important items of the Mongols were lost by Tumen Khan and fell into the hands of the Ming people!

What a prodigal!

Aldan Khan raised his head and looked at the sky with an extremely solemn expression.

Crisis, a huge crisis for the Mongols!
But for me, it is another huge opportunity!

"Send an order to summon all the taijis, zaisans and nayans to the king's tent to discuss matters." Aldan Khan said loudly to his entourage.

"Obey the Khan's order!"

Soon, with the sound of horse hooves, dozens of riders holding the Khan's golden medals galloped in all directions!

(End of this chapter)