Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1142 Master
"The Secretary Fang Yizhi greets the Prince Consort." After Fang Yizhi realized what was happening, he quickly stepped forward and saluted.

Wang Hai hurriedly returned the greeting and said politely. His action greatly increased Fang Yizhi's favor towards Wang Hai. Fang Yizhi never expected that this rough-looking Mongolian was not only the imperial concubine of the Ming Dynasty, but also so polite. It really surprised him.

Fang Yizhi had not been in officialdom for long, and had not experienced the time when Tana and her son came to Beijing to watch the ceremony when Zhu Shenzhu ascended the throne. Naturally, he did not know much about the current situation in Mongolia.

Although he knew that the Shunyi and Shunning kings of Tumed and Chahar were canonized by the Ming Dynasty, he did not know the true relationship between the Tengger brothers and the emperor, let alone Tana. However, Fang Yizhi had heard that the emperor had a niece who was raised by the emperor since she was a child and treated her very kindly, just like his own daughter.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he conferred titles on two princesses. One was the emperor's elder sister, Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess, and the other was this princess.

But the latter was said to have married out a long time ago. Fang Yizhi had only heard about this but did not know the details, let alone verify it. When the emperor pointed at Wang Hai and told him the other party's identity, and told Fang Yizhi that this Mongolian was the princess's consort, and that he also had a Chinese name called Wang Hai, Fang Yizhi suddenly realized it.

It was not uncommon for the emperor's son-in-law to be a lieutenant to be a concubine in the Ming Dynasty. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there had been countless emperor's son-in-law to be a concubine. Although the rank of the emperor's son-in-law was very high, being the first rank, his status was above the earl and below the marquis, as a royal relative, the emperor's son-in-law to be a concubine had no real power. To put it bluntly, he was just a title like the previous nobles.

But that was in the past, not now. After Zhu Shenzhui became emperor, many rules of the Ming Dynasty changed. Not to mention other things, the status of nobles and military generals is no longer comparable to that of the past. With the emperor's suppression of various parties in the court and the division and disintegration of local gentry groups, the nobles and military generals groups that had been suppressed for nearly two hundred years finally got their heads held high and gradually gained a certain influence and voice.

Support the group of nobles and military generals to form a three-way balance with the civil service group in the court, changing the previous situation where the civil service group was the only dominant force.

Under such circumstances, the two imperial concubines of the Yongming Dynasty were not simple. Zhou Anmin, needless to say, was the husband of the eldest princess and the earl of the Ming Dynasty. When he became the head of the Jinyiwei, he did not have the title of imperial concubine. The saying that a husband is honored by his wife could not be applied to him at all. Although Zhou Anmin is no longer in charge of the Jinyiwei, it should be known that the police department is in his hands, and Zhou Anmin also controls the Ming Dynasty's foreign intelligence agency. The power in his hands is no less than when he was the commander of the Jinyiwei.

The same is true for Wang Hai in front of him. He is not only the imperial son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty, but also a general of ten thousand households in the Tumed Mongols, second only to Tana and Tengger. How can such a person be despised? Although Fang Yizhi has the arrogance of a scholar, he is not a bookworm.

After a brief introduction, Fang Yizhi performed his ceremony and retreated. Then Zhu Shenzui, without any hesitation, directly pulled Wang Hai onto the emperor's carriage.

This move made the accompanying officials stunned. Not everyone can sit in the emperor's carriage, even if the other party is the son-in-law of the emperor, he is not qualified! But the emperor was so casual, and Wang Hai accepted it calmly. This is really unimaginable.

On the contrary, the new army and the guards who were on guard around the imperial carriage were not surprised by this. You have to know that Wang Hai was the commander of the new army together with Wang Jinwu, and his status and influence in the new army were no less than Wang Jinwu. Most of the middle and senior officials in the new army were Wang Hai's former subordinates, and some were even trained by Wang Hai. They certainly understood how important Wang Hai was in the emperor's heart. Not to mention riding in the same carriage, even riding on the same horse was just a small matter.

As for the guards, there is no need to mention them. This time, because they were coming to Mongolia, the guards that Zhu Shenzhu brought with him, except for a small number of sons of nobles, were all Mongolian guards who had followed him back to the Ming Dynasty. These Mongolians, like the new army, were originally Wang Hai's subordinates. Naturally, they had no objection to this. Instead, they couldn't help but smile because of Wang Hai's arrival and the emperor's attitude.

"Master..." After getting on the carriage and without any outsiders around, Wang Hai couldn't help but call out his original title.

But before he could finish his words, Zhu Shenzhui interrupted him: "Didn't I tell you this long ago? Why are you still calling me that? It was fine before, but your status is different now. It's inappropriate to call me that."

"What's wrong with this? The master is always the master of the servant, even if the master becomes the emperor. Anyone in the world can call you Your Majesty, but only the servant can call you Master!" Wang Hai said so. Looking at his stubborn and determined expression, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't do anything about him, but at the same time he felt very emotional.

Raising his hand and patting Wang Hai on the shoulder, Zhu Shenzhui's expression became much softer. He sighed and asked, "Did you have a smooth journey? How is Guihua City now?" "My master, I am worried that my servant had a smooth journey here." Wang Hai said, "The mistress and the young master in Guihua City have made preparations. Originally, the young master planned to come to greet the master in person, but the mistress said that the young master was needed in the city and could not leave. In addition, according to the master's previous instructions, the taijis and leaders of various Mongolian tribes have arrived in Guihua one after another in the past few days. These people must be settled first. In addition, the young master in Chahar is expected to arrive in Guihua City in the next two days. The young master really can't leave, so I took the initiative to come and greet the master."

Zhu Shenzui nodded slightly. Although he had informed Guihua City in advance before leaving Datong, he had actually made arrangements for his trip to Mongolia long ago and had written a letter in advance and sent it to Guihua City.

This time, Zhu Shenzhui came to Mongolia as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His purpose was to convene the Mongolian tribes to hold a meeting in Guihua City in Mongolia to confirm the Ming Dynasty's status as the overlord of the Mongolian tribes and formally announce the Ming Dynasty's ruling status over the Mongolian grasslands.

This was a major event, and it was also a matter of ensuring the status and long-term stability and peace between the Ming and Mongolia in the future. Therefore, as early as after the Liaodong War, Zhu Shenzhu informed Tana and her son of this intention and asked them to prepare. At the same time, he sent envoys to notify the various tribes on the grassland and asked them to come to Guihua City for a meeting.

The grassland alliance was of extraordinary significance to the Mongols. As early as when the Mongols were just rising, Temujin convened the kurultai on the banks of the Onon River, which ultimately established his supreme status among all Mongolian tribes. He was honored as "Genghis Khan" by all Mongols, thus establishing the Mongol Empire.

After that, the Mongolian tribes met together and held a meeting. All major events required the Mongolian tribes to choose a place to hold a meeting, including the succession of the Khan of the Mongolian Empire at that time. This situation did not disappear until Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty and replaced the previous Mongolian Khan as the emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty.

But after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the remaining Northern Yuan forces fled back to Mongolia, and the Mongol Khan once again replaced the title of emperor. As time went on, the Mongols picked up the previous way of alliance again. In the past two hundred years, there have been many alliances among the Mongolian tribes, but both their scale and influence were much less than before, resulting in the Mongolian alliance becoming a formality. The Mongol Khan who convened the alliance could only influence the tribes under his influence, and the other tribes were too lazy to even participate.

Under such circumstances, the grassland alliance was in name only, and by the time of Ligdan Khan, no one took him, the so-called Khan, seriously. So from this point of view, the alliance held in Guihua City this time was of great political significance. Zhu Shenzhu not only wanted to confirm the ruling status of the Ming Dynasty in Mongolia through this alliance, but also wanted to see the specific situation of the entire Mongolia.

Wang Hai learned that after receiving Zhu Shenzui's letter, Tana and her son began to prepare for this matter. They sent envoys to the Mongolian tribes in the south, north and west of the desert, conveying the news that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would soon hold a meeting in Guihua City in the name of Jurkhahan and King Shunyi of the Ming Dynasty, and asked the tribes to send envoys to Guihua City as soon as possible.

"How many people are here now?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

"The Tumed tribes that are closest have basically all arrived, and half of the Chahar tribes are here now. In addition, some people from Mobei and Moxi Mongolia have also come. It is estimated that the follow-up people will arrive in a few days."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly and said nothing. He knew that it was normal for people to come now. Tumed and Chahar were now under the rule of the Tengger brothers. As a lord, no one dared to obey his request for the tribal leaders to come to the alliance.

As for the Mongolians in the northern desert, they had just been beaten like dead dogs by Tengger and Wang Hai, and had already begged for mercy and surrendered, so they would naturally come. In the western desert, the tribes that had migrated westward with Ligdan Khan were coming, but Gushri Khan and the Junggar lord Batur Hongtaiji, who were farther away, had not yet arrived. In addition, there were several tribes that had not arrived yet. As for whether they could come, whether they would come, and what would happen next, it was still unclear.

Zhu Shenzhui needs to learn the details of the various Mongolian tribes after arriving in Guihua City. Now there is still about half a month before the agreed time, so there is still plenty of time.

Zhu Shenzui put the matter of the alliance aside for the time being, and asked about the situation of Tana and her son. Although Guihua City had been exchanging letters with the Ming Dynasty over the years, the longing for them after being separated for so long was self-evident. As he got closer to Guihua City, Zhu Shenzui missed Tana and her son, as well as Qiao'er, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. He wondered what they looked like after all these years, and whether they were still the same as in his memory?

Although Zhu Shencui was eager to return home and hoped to see Tana and her son as soon as possible, as an emperor, his itinerary had been planned long ago. In the following days, they continued to head north at the original speed until they finally arrived in Guihua six days later.

(End of this chapter)