Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 288 Parents

Before the Ming Dynasty, the emperor showed goodwill to the Jianzhou Jurchens: the emperor verbally ordered that Nurhaci's daughter could be canonized as a concubine, which meant tacitly approving him to unify the Jurchen tribes.

Nurhaci simply mobilized all his troops and divided them into two groups to attack Huifa and Ula respectively.

This was certainly unwise, and contained the worst possibility: the Ming Dynasty would use this as an excuse to join the war against Jianzhou, and the Jianzhou Jurchens would fight on three fronts.

But if the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty already had this plan, doing so or not would not change the outcome.

If Nurhaci did not come to pay homage, the Ming Dynasty would have an excuse; if it did nothing but come to pay homage, it would be purely hoping that the emperor's goodwill was true.

Rather than risking being killed in the Ming Dynasty and letting the Jianzhou Jurchens wait passively, it would be better to swallow up more people and land of the Huifa and Ula tribes. In this way, even if the bet is wrong, the Jianzhou Jurchens can still quickly grow stronger and retreat to a farther place.

Didn't the Ming Dynasty or the Yehe tribe need time to digest the territory left behind by the Jianzhou Jurchens after their retreat?

For Nurhaci, this was the most dangerous gamble in his life.

There was nothing that could be done about it. If the Ming Dynasty did not allow it, Jianzhou would always be in this predicament. His coming here in person had already fully demonstrated his attitude that he did not want to go against the Ming Dynasty, and his ambition was only for the Jurchen tribes.

Now that they were already in the Ming Dynasty, in front of the emperor who was guarded by the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, he and Nalinbulu first watched the emperor execute the three Doyan guards who had repeatedly surrendered and rebelled again.

Chang Ang, who had relied on Kalaqin's strength to dominate the Liaohe River and Zhangbei for decades, was brought in front of them like a dying old dog, and then died under the Ming Dynasty's muskets, falling in a pool of blood of his descendants.

The atmosphere in the hall was depressing, and many people were fidgeting. Nurhaci lowered his head, and in the corner of his eyes there was only the motionless figure of the young emperor. He did not dare to immediately look at the emperor's expression.

But Nalinbulu looked at the emperor in fear, only to see a calm and indifferent expression on his face, as if this matter that was about to cause great turmoil was insignificant, and that Tabunang, the governor of the Kharchin Wanhu and the governor of the Doyan Guard, were people who could be dealt with so rashly.

Zhu Changluo indeed felt so in his heart.

Changang? Who?

If Zhu Changluo had not come here to become emperor and listened to the ministers of the Privy Council analyze the surrounding situation in detail, he would not have known this person.

In this contemporary world, Chang Ang seemed to be a very important figure, and he became even more important after the death of Qingbadu, the leader of Kalaqin Wanhu. He was a barbarian chieftain who needed to be paid close attention to in the Xuanda and Jizhen directions of the Ming Dynasty.

He was just a defeated general under Qi Jiguang, the guy who swore to surrender back then.

During the period after Wanli's reign, Zhu Yijun was negligent in his government affairs, there were factional struggles in the court, and there were also issues such as aiding Korea to fight against Japanese pirates. All he could do was to stabilize the northern direction and use his best troops elsewhere.

When there are no heroes, the young men become famous.

Now, just kill him.

"You have also invaded the Ming Dynasty in the past, but that was before I ascended the throne. You are not like the three tribes of Duoyan, who dared to invade Shanhaiguan last year."

Zhu Changluo stopped watching the soldiers outside cleaning up the scene and looked at Nurhaci and Nalinbulu in turn: "Since you have served the Ming Dynasty as your master, you must not be loyal and treacherous in the future. I am young and have a bad temper."

"...don't dare."

Of course, he could only say it in person. Zhu Changluo smiled and said, "After hearing the imperial decree, you all immediately decided to come to the court. I am very pleased with your loyalty. I heard that you all want to offer your daughters to serve me in my palace, and you have prepared the gifts for the court?"

"Exactly."

Nurhaci stood up again and knelt down, prostrating himself on the ground with his butt raised high.

The voice came muffled: "Since I congratulated Your Majesty on his ascension to the throne more than six years ago, I have had the opportunity to see Your Majesty's face and listen to His Majesty's teachings. I have always admired Your Majesty's wisdom and majesty. Now that I have been summoned by Your Majesty again, I am overjoyed. I only regret that I cannot serve Your Majesty in person due to the busy family affairs. I request that my daughter enter the palace as a slave and maid, and prepare generous gifts, just to show my loyalty and filial piety."

"Your Majesty!" Nalinbulu was a step late, and hurried out to kneel beside him, even closer than Nurhaci. "I was confused in the past and disrespected the Ming Dynasty. This time I am honored to come to the court, but I am afraid that Your Majesty will still blame the Yehe tribe. Not only me, but Donggo is also thinking about the tribe and is willing to enter the palace to serve Your Majesty sincerely. This is completely different from Nurhaci who abandoned his children to achieve his ambitions!"

"Nalinbulu, you are slandering me! Your Majesty, I have been deeply grateful to you for so many years and have never been disrespectful. My son was blessed by God to study in the Ming Dynasty, and I am afraid of disturbing his studies. My daughter also admires the majesty and is willing to serve you. How can you say that I abandoned my children? Besides, you are ambitious, I am innocent! For many years, only the Yehe tribe and the other eight tribes have continuously invaded my mountains and forests and killed my people. They have also constantly instigated the tribes to be enemies with Jianzhou with Donggo. If you want to talk about ambition, the Yehe tribe wants to offer Donggo to serve Your Majesty, that is ill-intentioned!"

Then began a passionate exchange of insults.

Nurhaci certainly had something to say about Donggo's age, experience, and prophecy. The Haixi Jurchens' past disrespect for the Ming Dynasty and the blood feud that resulted from their joint efforts with the Tatars and other tribes to first try to suppress the Jianzhou Jurchens. The fact that this time it was the Ula tribe that took the lead in robbing and killing the Jianzhou Jurchens.

His greatest advantage is that he has demonstrated his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty over the years.

Nalinbulu was completely at a disadvantage in this debate. His only hope now was that the Ming Dynasty did not want to see the Jianzhou Jurchens become stronger, so he only emphasized that the Jianzhou Jurchens had already swallowed up the Hada tribe and were now preparing to wipe out the Huifa and Ula tribes.

Especially since the emperor had already ordered the leaders of each tribe to come to the court with imperial edicts, he launched a bigger offensive during this period, making it impossible for Baiyindari and Bujantai to escape.

"Okay." Zhu Changluo said only two words to make them stop arguing. Then he pointed to the seats and said, "Go back and sit down first. I will take a look at your congratulatory letters. Are these words clearly stated in your congratulatory letters? I will make the final decision."

It is a congratulatory message for the Hajj and also a gift list.

And since this pilgrimage was caused by the dispute between the Ula tribe and Jianzhou, of course each side would give their own reasons.

There was a temporary silence in the hall. The people of Jianzhou and Yehe hated each other, but were also waiting vigilantly for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to express his position.

Nurhaci waited silently, feeling a little relieved.

Since after "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys" the emperor entered the stage of listening to their respective opinions, it means that the emperor had no intention of dealing with the problems among the Jurchen tribes as roughly as he dealt with the three Doyan tribes.

Even if it is because of the need to pretend, Jianzhou still has room for maneuver.

What Nurhaci did well was that he had been submissive to the Ming Dynasty in everything up to this point - after all, the fundamental interests of Jianzhou had not been touched before.

"Each of us has our own story, and the causes and consequences are complicated." Zhu Changluo shook his head, "Nurhaci, did you really bring along the Fucha clan and other clan leaders who have suffered from the oppression of the Ula tribe?"

"Yes." Nurhaci was even more certain of this. "After I arrived, Lord Fang met them and listened to their plea. Envoy Tao Qin was on my side, and he personally visited their people and asked about the whole story. Your Majesty, if it weren't for my generals and son fighting to the death, I would have lost my eldest son, second son, and generals. The Ula tribe sent out more than 10,000 troops, not just to kill them and make them submit to me? They came here to wipe out our Jianzhou! Since they are fighting to the death, how can I just sit there and wait for death?"

Zhu Changluo looked at Fang Congzhe, who stood up and saluted, saying, "Based on what they said, it is indeed true."

"…One-sided!" Nalinbulu said quickly, "Your Majesty, please understand! Since those tribes have already submitted to the Ula tribe, it is natural that Jianzhou tempted them with benefits. Whatever they say, of course they will listen to him!"

"Is it just one-sided? There were more than just people from Jianzhou and Ula present at the time!" Nurhaci argued, "Your Majesty! When the Ula army robbed and killed my sons, the Korean border troops were watching on the other side of the river. Your Majesty only needs to ask Korea, which is enough to prove it!"

Nalinbulu's expression froze and he looked at the emperor nervously.

Now that things have come to this, of course I can only blame Bujantai for employing the wrong people, and his generals and soldiers are really not up to par.

How could they lose a battle like that? It wasn't a siege, it was a field battle! With such a huge disparity in military strength, if they lost, the morale of the Ula tribe would be gone!

He only hoped that the emperor could see the key point: the combat effectiveness of the Jianzhou soldiers is now indeed terrifying, and it is a major threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Of course Zhu Changluo could see it, and he looked at Nalinbulu.

What else can be said? The Haixi Jurchens tried every means to suppress the Jianzhou Jurchens, while fighting among themselves. Over the years, they used their own blood to help the Jianzhou Jurchens train strong soldiers, and from then on they could no longer do anything to the Jianzhou Jurchens, so now they can only rely on the Ming Dynasty.

"The reason is not important anymore." The emperor said, "Now the Ula tribe and Jianzhou are fighting to the death. Are you and your Yehe tribe also fighting to the death with Jianzhou? What about the Huifa tribe?"

Nalinbulu didn't know how to answer for a moment, but Nurhaci said, "How can I fight them to the death? Although the tribes are of the same origin, the Haixi tribes can't bear to see the Jianzhou tribe live and reproduce in peace. The tribes are fighting, and Liaodong is not at peace. Back then, Nalinbulu wanted to control the Hada tribe, and the court didn't want the Hada tribe's sons to seize the throne and cause chaos. Didn't Nalinbulu force the border? Baiyindari of the Huifa tribe is even more ungrateful. He killed seven uncles to seize the throne, and once provoked, he betrayed the peace treaty with me!"

"Then in your opinion, how can we resolve the conflicts among the Jurchen tribes and relieve the Ming Dynasty from worries about Liaodong?" Zhu Changluo looked at Nurhaci meaningfully.

"It's all up to your Majesty!" Nurhaci did not take the initiative to mention it, but added, "In the past, when Korea was in trouble, I also petitioned to send troops to help. The friendship between me and my neighbor is clear to all. I only wish to be as loyal and obedient as Korea, to defend the land and keep the people safe."

"Your Majesty!" Nalinbulu said quickly, "Isn't it clear that I said he had evil ambitions? Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. How could Nurhaci be willing to have another governor of Jianzhou Guard? Nurhaci! Everyone inside and outside the Ming Dynasty knows that you are the King of the Jurchens. Your Majesty, we knew that he would definitely eliminate our tribes, so we had to protect ourselves!"

"Be friendly with neighbors." Zhu Changluo laughed. "Nurhaci, do the neighbors you mentioned include the Haixi Jurchen tribe?"

Nurhaci was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded: "Of course it is included."

His heart sank, but he didn't expect everything to go so smoothly.

Even if the Haixi tribes still exist, as long as they dare not actively invade Jianzhou from now on, my next step would be to head east.

Moreover, as the Jianzhou tribe grew stronger, more and more small tribes like the Fucha would naturally come to submit to it.

As long as he can have a status...if he can't finish something, his son can just continue to do it!

Zhu Changluo looked at Nalinbulu again, acting like a patriarch handling family affairs: "What about the Yehe tribe? Are you willing to put aside your grudge with the Jianzhou tribe?"

Nalinbulu hesitated for a moment.

What he hoped most was that the Ming Dynasty would suppress the Jianzhou Jurchens. Why did they kill a chicken to scare the monkeys before, but now they are being friendly to Jianzhou?
What he hesitated about was...even if he was willing, Donggo seemed to want Nurhaci to pay for his blood debt with blood.

Can she still be sent to the emperor?

(End of this chapter)