Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 544: Marriage Strategy
Yuan Keli faintly smelled the smell of gunpowder, so he pulled back a little and said, "We can plan these long-term things such as catching wind and shadows, infiltration and espionage in detail later. Let's get back to the matter at hand."

Yuan Keli's pull immediately made Lu Wenzhao realize his unconscious misstep. "Huh," he sighed softly, collected his thoughts, and sat back down.

Seeing this, Yang Lian's frayed nerves relaxed slightly. If the Jinyiwei continued to dig deeper, he really didn't know how to respond. The Liaodong authorities simply didn't have enough information about the internal situation of the slave bandits, no matter what the reason.

"Ahem," Yang Lian coughed lightly, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, moistened his dry throat, and continued the previously interrupted topic: "Land envoy, Lord Jie Huan, although we have not been able to contact 'Wu'er Huda' for the time being, this does not affect the plan we are currently discussing. We plan to have Wang Youji formally contact the Chahan envoy in three days, when the Chahan tribe sends someone to collect the reward silver. In this case, Wang Youji will formally contact the Chahan envoy in the guise of the second son of 'Menggu Boluo'."

"Are you going to ask the envoys of the Chahan tribe about the whereabouts of 'Wur Huda'?" Yuan Keli asked.

Yang Lian shook his head. "We do intend to ask, but that's only one aspect. We don't expect to find out Wuerhuda's exact whereabouts from the Chahan tribe. Their information isn't necessarily any better than ours. After all, the half-dead Chaohua tribe is stuck between the Chahan tribe and the bandits. It would be better to send someone directly to find Lao Chaohua than to ask them about Wuerhuda's whereabouts. We sent Wang Youji to contact the Chahan tribe as the second son of Menggu Boluo, mainly for..." Yang Lian paused, "for a marriage alliance."

"Marriage!?" Yuan Keli and Lu Wenzhao widened their eyes at the same time and looked at Wang Shizhong who was still standing.

"Yes." Yang Lian also looked over and gestured for him to sit down. "Although Wang Youji is the second son of the former leader of the Hada tribe, Menggu Boluo, he has lived in the capital for over twenty years and is closer to the Chinese than the Yi. He has no connections or roots within the Yi tribes, and aside from the now-decimated Yehe tribe, he's virtually unknown. Even with the support and recognition of the Ming Dynasty, his prestige and influence are inevitably weak. Therefore, we plan to marry him to Hudun Tuhan, gaining recognition from the Chahan tribe. That way, even if Wuer Huda completely falls and refuses to return to the cause, Wang Youji can quickly establish his prestige and raise the banner of recovering Hada and rebuilding the Nanguan Pass."

"Marry a wife or take a concubine?" Yuan Keli's gaze slowly lowered along with Wang Shizhong.

"Marry her or take her as a concubine," Wang Shizhong was about to stand up again, but was stopped by Yuan Keli's gesture. "Marry her or take her as a concubine is fine."

"Is it okay to marry her?" Yuan Keli was shocked again. "How old is Wang Youji's beloved daughter this year? Has she reached the age of marriage?" Wang Shizhong looked very young, not at all like a man who could have a fifteen-year-old daughter.

"I have a concubine but no wife, and only one young son." Wang Shizhong said.

"Sister?" Yuan Keli reacted quickly.

"Yuan Bingxian has a good idea," Wang Shizhong nodded. "I have a younger sister who went to the capital with me in my early years, seeking refuge in the Celestial Empire and sharing the Emperor's grace. Now that my sister is past marriageable age, but unmarried, she can be married off to the Chahan tribe, to the sons and nephews of Hudun and Tuhan. Whether it's a marriage, a marriage of marriage, or a marriage is entirely up to the court."

Wang Shizhong had long hoped to find a good husband for his sister in the capital, but due to the Hada tribe's second fall and his brother's attachment to Nurhaci, no one in the capital wanted to be associated with them, so Wang Shizhong's sister's marriage has been delayed until now.

"Who came up with this idea?" Yuan Keli raised his eyebrows and looked at Yang Lian.

"The idea of ​​a marriage alliance was first proposed by Wan Youfu," Li Guangrong, the general, continued. "Earlier this year, when Naomao Da came to pay tribute in Beijing and passed through Guangning, Wan Youfu proposed the matter."

"So," Yuan Keli looked towards Li Guangrong and asked with a frown, "Has the Guangning Dao already informed the Chahan tribe of this intention?"

Lu Wenzhao didn't say anything, but his eyes changed slightly.

"No!" Li Guangrong hurriedly shook his head and said, "Of course we know that Guangning Dao can't make the decision on this matter. So for now, we have only informed the Jing and Fu Yamen. We haven't told the Chahan Department yet."

Yuan Keli nodded and asked Yang Lian, "Negotiations will begin in three days. Does that mean that General Xiong and Governor Yuan agree?"

"Yes. Before I received the imperial edict and came here, I had already heard about this matter from Xiong Jinglie and Governor Yuan. Neither Xiong Jinglie nor Governor Yuan had any objections." Yang Lian stated directly, "I agree too."

"Has the emperor heard about this?" Lu Wenzhao interrupted. He had never heard of this matter before, and if he hadn't heard of it, it probably meant that the emperor hadn't heard of it either.

"I plan to wait until things become clearer before reporting to the emperor." Yang Lian's nerves tensed up and he said tactfully.

"Then you don't know?" Although Lu Wenzhao respected Yang Lian, he had to get to the bottom of this matter.

"If the Jing and Fu Yamen did not submit a memorial, then the emperor should not know about it." Yang Lian did not know whether Xiong Tingbi and Yuan Yingtai submitted a memorial to the emperor to report the matter.

"Then wouldn't it be better to wait a little longer?" Lu Wenzhao deliberately softened his tone. "If the memorial is submitted and the emperor approves it, even if Wang Youji and Hu Dun Tu Han reach an agreement and arrange marriage, wouldn't it all be in vain in the end?"

"What the land envoy is considering," Yang Lian was somewhat surprised, wondering why the land envoy had suddenly softened, "is that intermarriage and appeasement of the barbarians is a common policy with more benefits than disadvantages. It has been practiced throughout the dynasties, including this one. Furthermore, the matter is still under planning, and the attitude of the Chahan tribe is unclear. If I rashly submit a petition, and the Emperor approves, but Hu Dun and Tu Han refuse to submit it, wouldn't that be a waste of time and effort? So I plan to vaguely test the Chahan tribe's intentions first, but keep it secret. If the Chahan tribe is positive, I will then submit a detailed petition. At that time, the Emperor can approve it if he wishes, otherwise it will be fine."

"I understand what you mean." Lu Wenzhao nodded and said no more.

"Wen Ru!" Yuan Keli seemed to have suddenly thought of something.

"What advice does Lord Jie Huan have?" Yang Lian responded immediately.

Yuan Keli said, "If I remember correctly, the prerequisite for the Ming Dynasty to continue with the reward is that Hu Dun Tu Han sends someone to hand over the detained Nu tribe envoy, or the head of the Nu tribe envoy, to us. Otherwise, the reward amount will be reduced by half. Has the Liaodong side already obtained that person's head?"

Yang Lian was stunned for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Is there such a thing?"

"You don't know?" Yuan Keli was a little surprised. "I don't know." Yang Lian slowly turned his head and looked at Li Guangrong.

Li Guangrong quickly shook his head. "I haven't heard of that either!"

"Where did Lord Jie Huan hear this?" Yang Lian asked Yuan Keli.

"Of course it's the Ministry of Rites," Yuan Keli said in surprise. "Xu Zixian told me personally that this was something the Emperor told Naomaoda in person when he was paying homage to the Emperor. Naomaoda came to the capital in February, and it's already April. Wen Ru and General Li are in Guangning, so they shouldn't be unaware of this, right?"

"I really haven't heard about it. I received the imperial edict on the second day of March. I had just returned to Liaoyang at that time, and it was already the sixth day when I rushed to Yizhou. I didn't see Naomao." Yang Lian said.

"When Yang Zhongcheng came here, Naomaoda had already left," Li Guangrong interrupted. "He left in a hurry and didn't stop in Yizhou. He left through Daqingbao that same day."

"I understand!" Yuan Keli suddenly realized, "They sent the note to Liaoyang!"

Without express delivery, an official letter would have taken over a month to travel from the capital to Liaoyang and then back to Guangning. Furthermore, during this time, Nurhaci launched a massive invasion, sparking conflicts between Liaoning and Shenyang. With the various towns in a state of emergency, other than the express delivery and the Tangbao, which could not be delayed, all other news was inevitably affected and slowed down.

"Isn't this news released by the Ministry of Public Security?" Yang Lian asked quietly.

"At that time, Yuan Bingxian should still be marking papers in the Imperial Examination Hall." Lu Wenzhao kindly said helpfully.

Yuan Keli nodded silently. If he had been on duty at the time, he would have asked someone to send a copy to the Guangning Dao Yamen.

"Lord Jie Huan," Yang Lian nodded, then asked thoughtfully, "What's the name of the envoy from the Nu tribe who was detained by Hu Dun Tu Han?"

"Hmm, it seems to be called..." Yuan Keli thought hard, a puzzled look gradually appearing on his face. "It seems to be called 'Shuose Wubashi', if I remember correctly, it should be this. Wen Ru has never heard of it?"

"This is indeed the first time I've heard of this name. Before Lord Jie Huan mentioned this matter, I didn't even know that the Chahan tribe had such a hostage." Yang Lian looked at Li Guangrong silently. Li Guangrong also shook his head silently.

"That's odd, Your Majesty." Yuan Keli had also observed Li Guangrong's actions. Yang Lian had been in Liao for less than a year, so his ignorance could be explained by a communication bottleneck. However, Li Guangrong had been stationed in Guangning for over two years. He was there when Hudun Tuhan and Nurhaci exchanged envoys. If he didn't know either, then how did the emperor hear this news?

Yuan Keli subconsciously glanced to his side, and Lu Wenzhao's eyes met. A startled expression filled Yuan Keli, he hastily averted his gaze, his fear of the Imperial Guards growing even stronger. Unbeknownst to Yuan Keli, if he had gone to the Forbidden City to ask the Emperor about the internal dynamics of the Nu tribe, the Emperor would have readily informed him that Nurhaci had likely deposed Daishan as Crown Prince. As to why Liaodong didn't know, while the Emperor did, Yuan Keli could only speculate.

Yang Lian also stole a glance at Lu Wenzhao. In his eyes, Lu Wenzhao still had that unfathomable calmness.

Yang Lian frowned and said, "This is troublesome."

"Has Wen Ru thought of anything?" Yuan Keli regained his composure and looked at Yang Lian.

"General Li and I have never heard of this 'Shuose Wubashi,' much less seen him. If the envoys from the Chahan tribe bring a dead head on the fifth day of the lunar year, how will we verify the authenticity of this person? We can't just run to the slave bandits and ask them about it." Yang Lian watched Lu Wenzhao, hoping this Jinyiwei would give some response. It would be even better if Lu Wenzhao could indicate that he knew what this "Shuose Wubashi" looked like.

How could he know that the Jinyiwei knew about the secret communication between Hudun Tuhan and Nurhaci by sending envoys to each other no earlier than the Liaodong side.

"Wen Ru is worried that the Cha Han tribe is falsifying and deceiving the public?" Yuan Keli asked.

"Well," Yang Lian nodded. "Wan Youfu, a descendant of a powerful official, is so greedy that he deceives his superiors and subordinates, whitewashing his own interests. What about the barbarians who harbor ulterior motives? If it weren't for the emperor's wisdom and insight, and if he had known about the interactions between the Chahan and Nu tribes through other channels, I'm afraid Hu Dun and Tu Han would still be hiding it from us."

"Indeed," Li Guangrong continued, seemingly defending himself. "This Hudun Tuhan has always been caught between two sides! He wants the benefits of the Ming Dynasty, but he doesn't want to completely sever ties with the Nu bandits. For the whole of last year, he sent people here every month to claim the rewards, but we've never heard of him sending troops to help suppress the rebellion. On the contrary, we've heard that this Hudun Tuhan is planning to take advantage of the Nu tribe's rebellion to attack the Chaohua tribe."

"Did Hudun and Tuhan attack Chaohua?" Yuan Keli asked.

"According to the latest situation, there have been many minor frictions between Hudun Tuhan and Chaohua, but they haven't fought yet. Yang Zhongcheng and I have agreed that when the Chahan tribe sends people to collect the silver, we will persuade and mediate. If they fight at this time, it will only allow the slave bandits to profit from it." Li Guangrong said.

"Since we know that Hudun and Tuhan are so cunning, why does Liaodong still hope to win over the enemy through marriage?" Lu Wenzhao couldn't help but ask.

"The land is weaker, because the key to the marriage lies with Nanguan Hada, not Xilu and Han." Yang Lian explained, "The marriage to Han is mainly to boost Wang Youji's reputation and prestige among the various Yi tribes. To put it more bluntly, all we want is the reputation of Gebaku, a descendant of the Hada tribe, marrying Hudun and Tuhan of the Han tribe. That's all."

"What if Hudun and Tuhan are unwilling to give us this false reputation?" Lu Wenzhao continued to ask.

"I don't think he'll refuse," Yang Lian said. "Marrying the descendants of Nanguan, who are supported by the Ming Dynasty, would be a good thing for Hu Dun Tu Han. Even if we take a step back, we can use the reward to coerce him into submission. As far as we know, Hu Dun Tu Han doesn't have absolute prestige among the Cha Han tribes, and he's not the kind of leader who has his way. He needs to boost his reputation to stabilize people's hearts."

"If the Ming Dynasty stopped rewarding him, or even cut off trade, his reputation within the Chahan tribe would plummet. Of course, doing so might provoke the Chahan tribe to become our enemies. But Guangning has made thorough preparations and is not afraid of his attack. Let alone a few crushing defeats, if he continues to attack without success and a standoff ensues, he will have no hope of ruling the Chahan tribe. Hudun Tuhan is no fool; he knows this clearly."

(End of this chapter)