Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Ordos.

Near the Ulanmulun River, on a small hill.

"Guardian Zhao, that camp by the river is the ordnance of Gunbilikmergen, the 30,000 households of the Right Wing of the Mongols."

A middle-aged man dressed as a Mongolian pointed to a large tent camp not far away.

"Of course, we Han people are more accustomed to calling this Mongol Khan Jinang, and referring to the Ordo as the Mongol Royal Court."

"Master Xiong, how many people are in this camp area where the Right Wing Mongol royal court is located?"

A young man took out a brass monocular telescope from his pocket, brought one end to his eyes, and looked at the center of the camp not far away.

Through the telescope, a huge tent appeared, several times larger than the tents next to it.

The entire tent was covered with white felt and decorated with colorful silk.

To the south of the camp stood a towering white banner with nine tassels, a symbol of power reserved exclusively for the Mongol Khans since Genghis Khan.

After Genghis Khan's death, his successor, Ögedei Khan, as well as Möngke Khan, Kublai Khan, and the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty, all inherited Genghis Khan's nine-stripe white banner.

The Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, and the Ilkhanate also produced their own versions of the nine-stringed white banner.

At this time, the Mongol heartland had two nine-stringed white banners. One was in the Chahar tribe, belonging to the current Yuan emperor, the nominal sovereign of the Great Mongol Empire, Borjigin Bodi.

Indeed, although the Ming Dynasty had been established for over 170 years, the Yuan Dynasty never truly perished, and successive Mongol Khans still claimed to be the emperors of the Great Yuan.

Bodi Khan's grandfather, Dayan Khan, was the restorer who reunited the fragmented Mongol territory. His official title was "Dayan Khan of the Great Yuan Dynasty, representing all of the Mongols".

In his official correspondence with the Ming Dynasty, Dayan Khan consistently used the title "Emperor of the Great Yuan".

Both the Veritable Records of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming and the Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming clearly state that "the barbarians called themselves the Great Yuan Emperor".

Of course, the Ming Dynasty never acknowledged him, and in most documents, they did not even use the term "Great Khan of the Mongols," but instead referred to him as "Little Prince."

That's right, it's the Mongol "little prince" who clashed head-on with Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao.

In his later years, Dayan Khan also encountered the same problem that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, had faced: his eldest son, Tulubolot, on whom he had placed great hopes, died before him.

At this time, Dayan Khan also faced a difficult choice: whether to pass the throne to his eldest grandson Bodi or to his powerful third son, Barsborot.

If handled poorly, it could turn into a Mongolian version of the Jingnan Campaign.

At this point, the Mongol tradition of enfeoffment came into play. Since the eldest grandson could not suppress his uncle, they might as well not suppress him at all and simply divide the family property.

Dayan Khan granted 30,000 households of the Ordos, Tumed, and Kharachin Yongsheb out of the 60,000 households of the Mongols to Barsbolot, thus establishing the Right Wing Mongols.

The royal court of Balsbolot was stationed in Ordos, and was called Jinong. He was granted a nine-stringed white banner.

Bodi Khan, the eldest grandson of Bodi Khan, inherited the three 10,000 households of Chahar, Khalkha and Uriyangkhai of the Left Wing Mongols. His royal court was located in Chahar, and he was called the Great Khan of the Mongols and the Emperor of the Great Yuan.

Subsequent Right Wing Mongol Jinongs only nominally recognized the Left Wing Mongol Great Khan as the legitimate ruler, but in reality, they were independent khanates.

Today, the first Right Wing Mongol Jinong Balsbolot has also passed away, and Gunbilik Mergen is the second Jinong.

"Guardian Zhao, this Ordo is centered around the white felt and gold tent of Jinang, and the five or six hundred large tents around it are also inhabited by Mongolian nobles."

The middle-aged man, referred to as Master Xiong, replied.

"The innermost layer is the tent of the sons of Ji Nang."

The title "Taiji" is actually a transliteration of the Chinese word "太子" (Prince). The Mongols considered this title to be prestigious, and it became the title for all princes.

Outside the Taiji tent were the tents of Nayan Qin Gui, and even further out were the tents of the Kheshig personal guards directly under Jinang.

These people are the core of the Ordos Ordos, totaling only three or four thousand people.

The outermost small tents housed the artisans and servants who served Jinang, numbering three to four thousand.

"The mighty Right Wing Mongol royal court has fewer than ten thousand men?"

The young man put down his binoculars.

"I once heard Protector Li mention that Jinang had invaded the border several times, each time mobilizing more than 100,000 troops."

Where are all these troops usually stationed?

"The Ordos Ten Thousand Households were divided into nine Ordos Turks by Jinang, each of Jinang's nine sons leading a part, scattered throughout the Ordos grasslands, not all crammed into the royal court."

Master Xiong explained,

"Each Otok has at least several thousand, and at most ten or twenty thousand, male soldiers. If Jinang decides to send troops, he will have to mobilize troops from nine Otok to participate in the war."

Moreover, Jinang was the overlord of the three households of the Right Wing Mongols. In addition to the Ordos household directly under his command, Anda of the Tumed household and Laobadu of the Kharachin Yongshebu household also obeyed his orders.

Anda and Laobadu are both Jinang's younger brothers.

Like Dayan Khan, the previous Jinong Balsbolot also granted the right wing of 30,000 households to his three sons.

The hundreds of thousands of troops mobilized by Jinang for his several border raids did not come solely from Ordos itself; Anda and Laobadu also brought many men to participate in the battles.

"Isn't the Mongol custom of granting fiefdoms just like our Han Chinese practice of issuing edicts of grace?"

The young man laughed.

"The Han Dynasty implemented the Edict of Grace, which was intended for use by the vassal states. All sons were given territories, which gradually reduced the originally powerful vassal states to smaller and smaller ones, making them no longer able to pose a threat to the court."

The Mongols, on the other hand, applied this decree of grace directly to their own territory!

Today, Bodi Khan of Chahar is nominally the supreme ruler of all Mongolia.

They are both Dayan Khan's grandsons. Would Jinang really take his cousin's words seriously?

Similarly, when Jinang was alive, he was able to keep his two younger brothers, Anda and Laobadu, in check. In the next generation, they or their successors would still obey the orders of Jinang's son.

No wonder that every time a strongman emerged in Mongolia, after a brief period of rise, it would fall into division and internal strife again within two generations.

"Protector Zhao is right."

Master Xiong cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards the young man.

"Fortunately, the Mongols have this custom. If they were too strong, it would be detrimental to our leader's grand plan."

"I taught them to utilize the power of the Mongols, not to help them retake control of the Central Plains."

"Master Xiong, how many of our people are there in this Ordos royal court now?"

After a moment of silence, the young man spoke.

"Last year, the sect leader sent me here with the 'Dragon-Tiger Golden Elixir' to present to Ji Nang."

Master Xiong smiled and said,

"The effects of the 'Dragon and Tiger Golden Elixir' are truly remarkable. Ji Nang was overjoyed after taking it and bestowed upon me the title of 'Daerhan'."

Later, I was also given the honorary title of "Nayan". Although I had no fiefdom, I could still be treated as an equal before a real Mongolian Nayan without having to kneel.

Those Mongolian nobles usually called me "Little Noyan".

Because I am a Han Chinese, Ji Nang also rewarded me with many Han Chinese slaves, all of whom were captured from the Ming Dynasty during the various invasions.

Now, the men I brought from the main altar in Pingding Prefecture, plus my Han Chinese slaves, number nearly two hundred.