I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 420: Altan Khan, please do as you please!
Dawang Mountain is not high, only about sixty or seventy meters higher than the surrounding areas.

It is located at the bend of the Yu River, where the water flow slows down and the surrounding water is beautiful and the grass is lush. It is a rare good pasture, less than 100 miles away from Datong City and only 70 miles away from Zhenbei Pass.

Altan Khan's royal tent is now moved here. Among the tents and felt tents, a huge tent is particularly eye-catching.

It is the royal tent of Altan Khan.

Sitting on a tiger-skin chair, Altan Khan turned sideways, supported his forehead with his right hand, and rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger.

The current situation is giving him a headache!
It’s hard to get off the tiger!
Do we really have to beat the tiger up?
The tiger is too ferocious and it is impossible to hit it. It is easy for it to bite you back.

"Khan, this is a letter sent by Wang Chonggu, the governor of the Ming Dynasty." A guard brought an urgent letter.

When Altan Khan took it and read it, he found that it was a letter from Wang Chonggu, in which he used both reason and emotion to advise him not to go down a path that would hurt both sides.

"unwise!"

Aldan Khan cursed harshly.

Beshar and Nalin Taiji beside them asked hurriedly, "What's wrong, Khan?"

Altan Khan was not moved by Wang Chonggu's heartfelt letter, but suddenly thought of an important issue that he had been ignoring.

He said bitterly: "I have always faced Wang Chonggu, and never thought that he is a person who cannot make decisions! The person who can make decisions in the Ming Dynasty is far away in the capital, thousands of miles away. We are showing off our strength and showing off our strength to the blind."

Bosihaer said: "The Khan is right. The crown prince of Ming is in the capital, so he has no personal pain and cannot feel the Khan's military power.

However, before this, the Ming Dynasty court officials, especially the governors and governors-general of border towns, were best at deceiving their superiors and bullying their subordinates. They would do anything to protect their official hats and would agree to anything in private.

Look at this Wang Chonggu, he wrote one humble and courteous letter after another, so the Khan said that he could not change his bones even though his skin had changed, and deep down he still acted like a civil servant.

Peace is the most precious thing, and we must never resort to war."

Altan Khan's face turned pale, and he said in a grim tone: "The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty are best at talking nonsense, and they can make the dead alive and the mule a horse.

But once the war started, their words would be useless. So what they feared most was a real war, which they were completely powerless to deal with.

I had expected this. I didn’t expect that Wang Chonggu was sincere to me, spoke humbly and politely, and seemed willing to agree to everything just to seek peace, but in fact he didn’t dare to promise anything.”

Lin Taiji understood what he meant and said, "Great Khan, if that's the case, our troops are just a group of wolves in Wang Chonggu's eyes, and they are just afraid of them for a while.

But in their hearts, the prince in the capital is like a tiger, and they are extremely afraid of him!"

Bosihaer echoed beside him, "That's why Wang Chonggu sent one letter after another seeking peace, but they were all empty words and had no practical benefits.

Without the approval of the crown prince in the capital, he dared not promise anything. Khan, what should we do next? "

Yes, what should we do next? Should we lead the troops to Miyun and the north of Yanqing to have a chat with the Crown Prince of Ming in person?

No, it’s too close to the Luan River, and Qi Jiguang is stationed there with a large number of troops.

This man was a very good fighter. Xin Ai was defeated by him, and the Kharchin tribe was also defeated by him and collapsed.

With him here, if we go to Miyun and north of Yanqing, 100,000 troops are a bit too few and not safe.

Should we go all out and attack Datong, turn against the Ming Dynasty, and fight to the death?
Bosihaer, Nalin Taiji and others stared at Altan Khan, waiting for his decision.

Aldan Khan was too lazy to look at their expressions and closed his eyes.

A Nayan said, "Great Khan, it has come to this! We should just go all out and send troops to capture Zhenguan Fort and Datong City, then go south to Shanxi and plunder as much as possible."

"Yes!" Two or three Na Yan echoed.

"Great Khan, this is unacceptable!" Lin Taiji advised hastily, "Once the war starts, both sides will suffer. Great Khan, the Ming Empire has stationed more than 100,000 troops in the eastern part of the southern desert, and has also surrendered most of the Chahar tribe and the six tribes on the left wing, forming six wings, with at least 40,000 to 50,000 more cavalry.

By then, when we are exhausted fighting in Datong Shanxi, and the Ming army marches westward, Great Khan, we will be in danger!"

"Yes! Yes!" There were more than ten people who agreed with Lin Taiji, accounting for the majority in the big tent.

There are a few, like Bethhar, who remain silent.

Altan Khan's eyes swept over the faces of these people one by one, and he guessed their thoughts almost accurately. Why are these people so disunited and harboring evil intentions?
Has it always been like this, but I just haven't noticed it; or have I discovered that I'm getting old and can't lift a knife anymore, so all of these things pop up one after another?

"Report!"

"what's up?"

"Great Khan, the garrison commander of the Zhenguan Fort, the deputy commander of the Beijing Camp, Xue Yi, sent a letter."

"Xue Yi?"

Altan Khan thought the name sounded familiar.

"It seems to be the nephew of Xue Lin, the former general of Datong."

Xue Lin knew him. He was an old acquaintance. Before the peace talks, the Tumed and Yongxiebu tribes had suffered a lot at his hands. That Lin Taiji had the deepest impression of him.

That year, he led his troops to Zhangjiakou Fort to extort benefits, but was ambushed by Xue Lin. He was chased by Xue Lin for more than 300 miles in one breath and almost ran out of breath.

His nephews and nephews must be no good people either.

He sent someone to deliver a letter. What does that mean?
Altan Khan, proud of his position, showed Bosihar the letter from Xue Yi. "Great Khan, Xue Yi said that he wants to meet you in person tomorrow, five miles outside of Zhengguanbao, on behalf of his prince."

"what!"

The whole tent was in an uproar.

Following the wishes of his prince, a man whose words are trustworthy has finally arrived.

Everyone looked at Altan Khan.

He was silent for a while, then answered decisively: "Okay! Tomorrow at 2:00 pm, five miles outside of Zhengguan Fort, I will meet with him in person."

Xue Yi wrote a letter to Altan Khan to arrange a meeting, and also wrote a letter to Wang Chonggu to inform him.

Wang Chonggu was very annoyed after reading it, and couldn't help but invite Ma Fang over to complain.

"Your Highness, what do you mean by this? Don't you trust me? Why can't you just tell me directly? Why do you have to let Xue Yi say it?"

Ma Fang looked at Wang Chonggu, who was so angry that his hair and beard were all blown up, and comforted him, "Prince, your Highness is wise and has his own rules and regulations for doing things. Your Highness did not tell you, but asked Xue Yi to convey it. Some of the words you said have completely different meanings."

"what is the difference?"

"Prince, you are the governor-general of the three frontiers of Shanxi and the commander-in-chief of the armies in the three frontiers. Xue Yi is only a deputy general. He can be your highness's envoy, but you can't.

Or perhaps, the matter that His Highness discussed with Altan Khan was extraordinary, and he didn’t tell you because he was protecting you and letting you avoid suspicion.”

Ma Fang's words calmed Wang Chonggu down and he slowly sat down on the chair.

"Master Ma, what you said makes some sense. What do you think His Highness wants Xue Yi to discuss with Altan Khan?"

Ma Fang shook his head. "It's hard to predict God's will. Even I can't guess it."

"Master Ma, let's go to Zhengguanbao overnight to see what they are talking about."

Ma Fang thought for a long time and finally agreed, "Okay!"

On the second morning, the sun slowly rose from the east, illuminating the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers north of Datong City. The rolling mountains and winding rivers were awakened by the sunlight at this moment, bursting with vitality.

Xue Yi was wearing a Feiyu suit and a big hat, with four guards behind him. Five people and five horses slowly walked out of the north gate of Zhenganbao.

Wang Chonggu and Ma Fang stood on the city wall, watching Xue Yi and his four companions heading north.

Soon, an endless stream of soldiers and horses emerged from the northern sky and earth, countless flags fluttered in the wind, and swords, spears, armor and weapons gleamed coldly in the sun.

A large banner appeared in the middle, and in front of it was Altan Khan, wearing a gorgeous sun robe, a pointed hat with flowers on his head, and a golden and jeweled scimitar on his waist, looking solemn and majestic.

The Tumed army stopped five miles away from Zhengguan Fort. Swords and spears were like forests, flags were like the sea, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were boundless. The solemn and silent atmosphere made them even more murderous.

Xue Yi walked up to Altan Khan, who was only fifty meters away, and bowed to him.

Xue Yi picked up a large iron loudspeaker and shouted, "I am Xue Yi, the deputy general of the Ming Dynasty's Beijing Camp, and I am here to convey the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty to Tumed Altan Khan."

An attendant beside him, who was fluent in Mongolian, took out a large loudspeaker, translated Xue Yi's words into Mongolian, and shouted loudly to Altan Khan and tens of thousands of Tumed soldiers.

"The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty informed Tumed Altan Khan that you were all conferred titles by the Ming Dynasty. The first one is the King of Shunyi, and the rest are either governors or deputy governors, or commanders and thousand households. All of them are foreign ministers of the Ming Dynasty and are treated equally.

Your internal strife is your family affair, and the Ming Dynasty will not care about it or interfere. Qiejin Taiji and Bahanaji came to the border as the commander and the thousand households of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty accepted them as usual. The master accepted the subjects, why should others say anything! "

Altan Khan's face turned red, as if he had been slapped dozens of times on the left and right sides of his face, and blood was almost dripping out.

"I know that you, Altan Khan, are unwilling to accept the situation and are now leading your army southwards, intending to force the Ming Dynasty to hand over someone to admit their mistakes! I tell you, everything in this world can be negotiated, but the majesty of the Ming Dynasty cannot be negotiated! Since the Ming Dynasty has taken in the families of Chejin Taiji and Bahan Naji, it must protect them to the end.

Aldan Khan, you can raise an army to punish me!

I just want to tell you that if you dare to break through the border of my Ming Dynasty and hurt the life of any soldier or civilian of my Ming Dynasty, I, Zhu Yijun, swear to heaven that I will do nothing else for the rest of my life, and will use all the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, mobilize all the troops in the world, and swear to the North to target you, Altan Khan, your Tumed tribe, and the running dogs in the south of the desert, and beat them to death!
One year, three years, five years, ten years, even if I spend my entire life and countless financial resources, I swear to behead you, Altan Khan, kill all of your Borjigin clan, and destroy your Tumed tribe.

Heaven is above, the sun and the moon are witnesses! I am the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun! On the twelfth day of the fifth month in the summer of the third year of Longqing! "

There was complete silence, only the flags fluttering in the wind, like a whip, constantly lashing the hearts of Altan Khan and others.

After Xue Yi finished reading Zhu Yijun's "oral order" and waited for the interpreter to finish translating it, he pulled the reins with his left hand, turned the horse's head to make way, and continued speaking while holding up a loud speaker in his right hand.

"Xue Yi's head is here, and the Ming border is over there. Altan Khan, please do as you please!"

It was still deathly silent, and countless eyes turned to Aldan Khan.

There was a thunderous cheer in Zhenguan Fort. It turned out that someone had passed the prince's oral instructions conveyed by Xue Yi back to Zhenguan Fort.

The soldiers on the tower were greatly encouraged. Tens of thousands of soldiers on the dozens of miles long wall shouted to each other: "Great Ming will win!"

"Swear to kill the invading northern barbarians!"

"We will live and die together with the border town!"

The cheers surged like raging waves.

On the other hand, on the Tumed side, there was still silence. Aldan Khan's face was ashen, his body was shaking slightly, and the air was frozen and suffocating.

"Report!" A rider galloped from the east, breaking the silence!
(End of this chapter)