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

Chapter 1144: The Alliance is Coming
The alliance held in Guihua City this time was on a grand scale. It was not only the first large-scale alliance of the Mongolian tribes on the grassland since the complete demise of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, but also the first alliance presided over by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in person as the overlord of the grassland.

The Ming Dynasty was the first dynasty in the history of the Central Plains to unify China from south to north, and it was also a dynasty established on the basis of expelling the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Mongols have been the Ming Dynasty's biggest enemy. The war between the two sides has never stopped in the past two hundred years. In order to solve the Mongolian issue, successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty have been fighting with the Mongols in the north. Even though there were short periods of peace, small-scale wars have always existed.

But among them, only three people, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, set foot in Mongolia.

The first one was Taizong, also known as Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di. After Zhu Di seized the throne through the Jingnan Rebellion, he launched many wars against Mongolia. He personally went to the front lines in every battle, making the Mongolian tribes suffer greatly and directly destroyed the forces that competed with the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di died during his northern expedition. It can be said that this emperor was the first to set foot on the Mongolian grasslands after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Di, the second person to set foot on the Mongolian grasslands and fight the Mongols was Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji. Zhu Zhanji had followed Zhu Di since he was a child and participated in many wars against Mongolia. After Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, he also launched a major war against Mongolia. From this point of view, Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji, grandfather and grandson, were the second Ming emperors to visit Mongolia in person.

Although Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen also lived in Mongolia for a period of time, he was an exception. It was not his wish to end up in Mongolia, but from the perspective of setting foot on the Mongolian grasslands, he can barely be considered one.

As for Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, although he personally led the army to fight a fierce battle with the Mongolian prince, he fought this battle in Yingzhou, Shanxi. In fact, the war took place in the territory of Ming Dynasty, not in Mongolia. So from this point of view, it is a pity that Zhu Houzhao never set foot on the Mongolian grassland.

But no matter whether it was Zhu Di, Zhu Zhanji or Zhu Qizhen, they came to Mongolia either to start a war or for special reasons. But this time Zhu Shenzhui's appearance in Mongolia was completely different. Zhu Shenzhui did not come to fight, but came to Mongolia as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty to show the Ming Dynasty's suzerainty over Mongolia, and he presided over this grand alliance in Mongolia.

The current Ming Dynasty is not the same as the previous one. The current Ming Dynasty not only eliminated the internal troubles, but also solved the Jiannu in Liaodong. In particular, the shock brought to the Mongols by the latter was unparalleled.

You must know that after the rise of Nurhaci, the Jiannu's momentum was extremely fierce. Nurhaci not only declared war on the Ming Dynasty, but also on various Mongolian tribes. The Mongolian Khan at that time, Lindan Khan, suffered losses at the hands of Nurhaci several times. Nurhaci also took advantage of the internal divisions in Mongolia to continuously win over and annex various Mongolian tribes, which made the Mongolians so depressed that they could not breathe.

After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he united the Mongolian tribes to defeat Ligdan Khan and expelled the Mongolian Khan directly from the Chahar headquarters. Eventually, Ligdan Khan, who had moved westward, died of smallpox in Qinghai.

After defeating Ligdan Khan, the Jiannu basically controlled the Aohan, Naiman, Inner Khalkha, Kharchin, and Khorchin tribes. Later, the leader of the Al Khorchin tribe, Dalaichu Hur, the taiji of the Sizi tribe, Iljabmergen Taiji, the taiji of the Aluisut tribe, Qisang Darhan, and Galma Ildeng, led their troops to surrender to Huang Taiji one after another.

Later, under the powerful military force of Huang Taiji, the Balin, Ongniud, Asut and other tribes also defected to him. At this time, the strength of the Jiannu reached its peak. It can be said that most of Mongolia was under the control of the Jiannu, or became Huang Taiji's allied tribes.

If there had been no Zhu Shenzui, it would only have been a matter of time before Huang Taiji suppressed the Mongolian tribes and conquered the entire Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert. Unfortunately, it was because of Zhu Shenzui's appearance that the Tumed Grassland became a stumbling block for Huang Taiji to conquer the Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert. When he sent troops to Tumed with the intention of completely conquering the entire Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert, the Jiannu suffered a bloody defeat. With the defeat of Dorgon and his brothers in the battle of Tumed, the Jiannu's westward momentum was curbed, and Tumed became the only existence in the Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert to directly defeat the Jiannu.

As the situation changed, Huang Taiji failed in the Battle of the Great Wall and the later Battle of Jinzhou. With the Ming Dynasty's series of adjustments to its Liaodong strategy and its dual economic and military blockades, the Jiannu's military power began to gradually decline.

By this time, the Tumed had continued to grow stronger with the support of the Ming Dynasty, and its influence gradually extended eastward. Through several wars, it suppressed the western region of Chahar. Later, Agudamu led his troops to officially enter Chahar, and step by step, they recovered the Chahar tribes that had originally depended on the Jiannu. Finally, they joined forces with the Ming army to launch a counterattack, not only conquering the entire Chahar area, but also directly attacking Khorchin and Inner Khalkha Mongolia. At this time, the Ming Dynasty also launched a campaign in Liaodong, defeating the so-called Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop, and breaking through Shengjing (Shenyang). The once powerful Jiannu was wiped out.

During this period, Tenger also assisted the western Mongolian tribes in winning the war against the northern Mongolian tribes in the west. Chao Ketu Taiji was killed in this battle and the northern Mongolian tribes were defeated.

After that, Tenger sent troops to the northern Mongolia several times and subdued the various tribes of the northern Mongolia, so that most of the northern Mongolia fell under the rule of Tumed. As a result, the situation of the entire Mongolian grassland changed drastically and was completely different from before. The military power of the Ming Dynasty was unprecedentedly strong, and its deterrent effect on Mongolia was also different from the past. In addition, the rumored relationship between the Tenger brothers and the Ming emperor forced the Mongolian tribes to recognize the Ming Dynasty's influence on Mongolia and its status as the suzerain.

The existence of the Tengger brothers made it impossible for the Mongolian tribes to ignore them. Now it can be said that the Tengger brothers are the strongest in the entire Mongolia. Especially Tengger himself has become a powerful force qualified to call on the Mongolian tribes after Ligdan Khan.

In addition, Agudamu occupied Chahar, and not long ago he took over Khorchin and Inner Khalkha Mongolia, so the whole of southern Mongolia was under the control of their brothers. In addition, Tenger's wife was the daughter of Ligdan Khan, and their son had the blood of the Golden Family. From this point of view, although Tenger was called "Gur Khan", it was not wrong to call him the Great Khan.

However, Tenger has never been officially called the Great Khan of Mongolia, after all, he is not a real member of the Golden Family. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu had already made arrangements for the problems of the various Mongolian tribes. In the future, the Mongolian grasslands no longer need a Khan who can command the entire Mongolia. The title of the Great Khan of Mongolia can be said to have completely disappeared since the death of Lin Dan Khan. In the future, Mongolia will not be unified. In the future, the entire Mongolia will be divided and ruled. It will no longer be the Mongols who control Mongolia, but the Ming Dynasty.

This is the real reason why Zhu Shenzhui came to Guihua City this time. This alliance was not only to confirm the Ming Dynasty's rule and suzerainty over Mongolia, but also had an important purpose of dividing the territories of the current Mongolian tribes.

The Ming Dynasty did not need a strong and unified Mongolia, nor did it need a Khan who could command the various Mongolian tribes. What the Ming Dynasty needed was a divided Mongolia, and the situation where the Mongolians lived wherever they went and where the borders were blurred had to be completely changed. In other words, just like the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, the entire Mongolia was torn into pieces, the territories of the Mongolian tribes were clearly divided, and they were restricted to the grassland areas they occupied. In this way, Mongolia would become a loose sand in the future and would no longer be a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

But Tengger and Agudamu are two exceptions. They will still occupy the two largest grasslands, Tumed and Chahar. Below them are the leaders of various tribes, Taiji, etc., who exist as agents of the Ming Dynasty on the grassland.

Such rule may not be a good thing for the Mongols, but it is the most suitable option for the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, with Tumed and Chahar in the north of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty can better ensure the suppression and management of the Mongolian tribes. This is Zhu Shenzhui's real purpose.

In the days after arriving at Guihua City, many Mongolian tribes came here one after another. When the agreed time for the alliance was approaching, most of the tribal leaders and taijis had basically arrived. Of course, there were also some who did not come, including Gushri Khan, Dzungar lord Batur Hong Taiji, and leaders of several other tribes.

The former had already anticipated Zhu Shencui. After all, Gushri Khan and Dzungar lord Batur Hongtaiji were not ordinary people. Their sphere of influence was in the west of the desert and even further west and southwest. One occupied southern Qinghai and Tibet, and the other occupied the western part of Mongolia in the west of the desert, including the Central Asian region further west.

The two tribes are powerful, and their territory and population are no less than those of Tumed and Chahar. In addition, although they had joined forces to deal with the Mongolian Mongols in the north, it was precisely because of that battle that they saw clearly the alliance between the Tumed and the Ming Dynasty, which made the two tribes wary of the Tumed. In recent years, while the Tengger brothers were concentrating all their efforts on dealing with the Mongolian Mongols in the north and moving eastward to Chahar, their strength continued to develop westward and southwest, and there were signs that they were breaking away from the Mongolian headquarters.

So from this point of view, Gushri Khan and Junggar lord Batur Hongtaiji not only ignored Tenger's request for an alliance as Jurchen Khan and the Shunyi King of the Ming Dynasty, but also took great precautions against it. Not only did they not come to participate in the alliance in person, they did not even send an envoy.

"What's going on with these tribes?" Zhu Shenzhui didn't care about the situation of Gushi Khan and Junggar. It would be great if they could come, but it didn't matter if they couldn't. Besides, the Ming Dynasty didn't have the energy to deal with them now, so they could be put aside for the time being.

But the leaders and taijis of the other Mongolian tribes had not shown up, and even the envoys had not come, which was a bit unexpected. Zhu Shenzhu looked at the list in his hand, frowned slightly, and asked.

"To reply Abu, several of these tribes are located to the east of Mobei. We did not take these tribes into consideration when we attacked Mobei. I guess they did not feel the same way as us and thought they were far away from us, so they took a chance and did not come. As for the specific situation of the other two tribes, I do not know. I need to ask them to find out." Tengger answered from the side.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and threw the list in front of him: "No need to ask, there are still two days before the alliance meeting, it doesn't matter if they come or not. The alliance meeting will continue at that time. If they haven't come yet, they don't have to come anymore. Their grasslands and their tribes can be dealt with separately at that time."

As soon as these words came out, Tengger also laughed. He immediately understood what Zhu Shenzhu meant. Indeed, it didn't matter whether a few small tribes came or not. As long as the alliance was completed, their life and death would depend on a single word, right?

(End of this chapter)