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

Chapter 1145 The auspicious time has arrived
Guihua City has been built for nearly a hundred years, but it has never been as lively as it is now.

Although Guihua City was built based on the original Yuan Dynasty capital, it has only been an important town of Tumed for many years. Although it is famous in the whole Mongolia, it is just a city. But today's Guihua is different from the past. Not only has the city expanded more than twice in recent years, but it has also prospered unprecedentedly due to the relationship between Tumed and the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the Ming Emperor arrived in Guihua City to convene a meeting of Mongolian tribes. There are already hundreds of Mongolian tribes of all sizes coming to Guihua City, and this place has become the focus of attention of the whole Mongolia.

Now, densely packed yurts can be seen everywhere in the western and northern areas of Guihua City. These are the temporary residences of the leaders and taijis of the Mongolian tribes who came to the alliance. Considering the capacity of Guihua City and the presence of the Ming Emperor in the city, all the Mongolians who came to Guihua were settled here. The large number of people not only made it lively, but also caused various troubles, because conflicts often occurred between the Mongolian tribes, and conflicts between large and small tribes also existed. In addition, many Mongolians had living habits and casual temperaments. As more Mongolian tribes arrived, such troubles also appeared one after another.

However, Tenger had already made preparations for this. He not only provided these people with the necessary living conveniences outside the designated temporary living area, but also sent personnel to maintain order. Because of this arrangement, although conflicts were still inevitable, such as fights that occurred every few days, at least the overall order could be maintained. After all, all Mongolians knew that there were not only powerful Tumed and Chahar tribes, but also the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. If something went too far and angered the other party, there would be no good results.

As time passed, the day of the alliance finally arrived.

On the day of the meeting, the leaders of various Mongolian tribes, taijis and others who came to participate in the meeting entered Guihua City in an orderly manner. The specific meeting place was not located in the city lord's mansion in the city, but in the square of the Silver Buddha Temple in the city.

The Silver Buddha Temple was built when Guihua City was built. This temple belongs to the Yellow Sect, but the difference is that the Silver Buddha Temple is one of the very few temples in Mongolia that does not have a living Buddha residing in the temple, which is different from other temples.

Although the Mongolian tribes believed in Buddhism, the doctrines of the Yellow Sect and the Red Sect were different, which also led to slight differences in the beliefs of the Mongolian tribes. For example, Ligdan Khan believed in the Red Sect. Due to the difference between his beliefs and the Yellow Sect believed by most of the Chahar tribes, it led to fierce internal religious conflicts. This was one of the reasons why he could not truly control Mongolia despite being the Great Khan of Mongolia and could only resort to force.

The person currently serving as the abbot of the Silver Buddha Temple is none other than one of the nine disciples of Master Sangge who had visited the Tengger tribe and blessed Tengger.

After traveling around Mongolia, Master Sangge returned to Gandan Monastery and never left. After Zhu Shenzhui captured Guihua City, he decided to use Guihua City as the core of the Tumed tribe and move the tribe to this place.

At this time, Zhu Shenzui thought of the Master Sangge whom he had met once before, and also remembered what Master Sangge had said to him that year, including his comments on Tenger.

One has to admit that this master was a person with extraordinary abilities. Zhu Shencui had never seen another such person except the master. After taking Guihua City, the master's assertion at that time became a fact. In addition, Zhu Shencui later returned to the Ming Dynasty, entered the capital on the pretext of Jingnan, controlled the government, and finally ascended the throne of emperor. One cannot help but sigh at the ability of Master Sangge back then.

In order to help Tenger firmly control the Tumed tribe, Zhu Shenzhu specially sent people to Ganden Monastery to invite Master Sangge to come to the Yinfo Temple in Guihua City to practice. But Master Sangge did not come, and only sent a disciple to Guihua City, and also brought a message to Zhu Shenzhu and Tenger, which meant that Master Sangge was old and had no plans to leave Ganden Monastery again. Moreover, since the Yinfo Temple would not have a living Buddha after it was built, this was in line with Buddhism. Whether it was the Yellow Sect or the Red Sect, they were all Buddhist. If Master Sangge came to the Yinfo Temple to practice, it would be a fall from grace. It would be better to let the Yinfo Temple continue to maintain its original structure. This was the best choice.

Therefore, sending only one disciple here would not destroy the special status of the Silver Buddha Temple, and could also assist Tengger in presiding over the temple. This was enough. Zhu Shenzhui was thoughtful after hearing this answer, and he respected Master Sangge even more in his heart. At the same time, he also admitted that Master Sangge was right.

On the day of the alliance, more than one hundred leaders and taijis of various Mongolian tribes gathered here. These people were arranged in a U-shape on the three sides of the square. In the front was of course the position of the Ming Emperor Zhu Shenzui. The gorgeously dressed Tana sat on Zhu Shenzui's right hand. On both sides of them were Tenger and Agudamu.

Such an arrangement surprised not only the Ming officials who came with the emperor, but also the Mongolian tribes participating in the alliance. Although Tana's status was noble, she was Alia of the Tenger tribe, the biological mother of King Shunyi and King Shunning, and she was also the first-class loyal lady canonized by the Ming Dynasty.

But even with such status, she couldn't sit on equal footing with the emperor, right? According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, there was usually only one person who could sit on the emperor's right hand side on such occasions, and that was the empress, the mother of the country. But today's arrangement was made by Emperor Zhu Shenzhu, and even when someone tried to dissuade him, Zhu Shenzhu insisted on doing it, which can't help but make people think a lot.

Not far away, Fang Yizhi was watching this scene thoughtfully, as if thinking of something. Since arriving in Mongolia, everything he had seen and heard was different from what he had initially expected, especially the emperor's familiarity with the Tumed tribe, including his attitude towards Lady Zhongshun and Prince Shunyi, plus some other circumstances, all showing that their relationship was extremely unusual. Fang Yizhi couldn't help but think of some rumors. Although these rumors seemed impossible to Fang Yizhi before, everything he saw with his own eyes now told him that these rumors were probably true. This emperor of the Ming Dynasty not only had a close relationship with the Tumed tribe and the Chahar tribe, but he might even be the biological father of the two Mongolian princes.

Looking at the Tengger brothers, whose faces were somewhat similar to Zhu Shenzhui, and the emperor's intimate attitude towards Lady Tana, all this was further proved. With this thought, Fang Yizhi suddenly understood why the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia had become so close in recent years. The Mongols, who had always been unstable in the north, not only did not go south to plunder as often as before, but instead became a barrier to the north of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the Ming Dynasty's border trade policy with Mongolia and the act of transporting hundreds of thousands of captives to Mongolia after pacifying the internal troubles, as well as the emperor's decision to come to Mongolia and convene a meeting of the Mongolian tribes, all of these made sense.

Not only Fang Yizhi, but also some other smart people, including most of the leaders and taijis of the Mongolian tribes. The attitude shown by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not be clearer, that is, to tell all the Mongolian tribes that the Tumed and Chahar tribes are under the protection of the Ming Dynasty, the Tengger brothers are the emperor's people, and even their biological mother Tana has a special relationship with the emperor.

Although the Mongols were surprised by this situation, they were not too shocked. After all, this kind of thing was nothing to the Mongols. The marriage of the Mongols was not as strict as that of the Ming Dynasty. Marriage was very casual. For example, the famous Sanniangzi married many husbands in her life. Except for the first husband, Altan Khan, the rest were either Altan Khan's sons or his grandsons. Even the last husband, Bu Shitu, was considered the great-grandson of Sanniangzi. This kind of situation would never happen in the Ming Dynasty, but it was normal in Mongolia.

The auspicious time soon arrived. The abbot of the Silver Buddha Temple began with Buddhist rituals. After the abbot stepped down, the officials of the Ming Dynasty came on stage.

The ceremony music sounded, and the Ming officials came forward to read the imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty to the Mongolian tribes participating in the alliance, and announced the start of the alliance. After the Ming officials finished reading the imperial edict, Emperor Zhu Shenzhu sat in the main seat and explained the intention of inviting the Mongolian tribes to the alliance in fluent Mongolian. His attitude was kind but also majestic. Everyone listened carefully. After the emperor finished what he wanted to say, everyone couldn't help but whisper to each other.

"Quiet!" Seeing this, Tengger stood up, which made the noise of the people below gradually stop. Then he looked around and asked loudly: "Did you understand what His Majesty said just now?"

"Your Majesty, I understand what you have said, but Your Majesty, I have a question!"

"Say!"

"Your Majesty just mentioned the redivision of the Mongolian tribes, which makes me quite confused. We Mongolians have always lived on grass and water, and lived by grazing on the grasslands. There has never been a border between tribes, and we often settle down wherever we graze. If we divide the regions, how exactly will these regions be divided? Moreover, the grass and rivers on the grasslands often change. When cattle and sheep finish eating a piece of grassland, they will move to the next place. If we rigidly divide the regions, how can we ensure that there is enough grass and water? What if the divided area is not enough for grazing?"

"Yes!" As soon as the leader finished speaking, many people expressed their agreement and also raised their different opinions.

Throughout the history of the Mongols, except for the four Khanates during the Mongol Empire, there was no regional division policy for tribes. After all, the Mongols were nomadic people, they drove cattle and sheep on the grasslands and lived on water and grass. Even if each tribe had a general range of activities, this range was not absolutely fixed. If the water and grass were scarce in the original range due to climate or other reasons, the Mongols would go to other places to find areas with more lush water and grass and more suitable for grazing.

The Mongols have maintained this lifestyle for hundreds of years, and even when the Mongol Khan was in power, there was no restriction on this lifestyle, let alone for small tribes.

The ones who asked questions were mostly small and medium-sized tribes, while some large tribes did not express their opinions. After all, for large tribes, this situation was not a big restriction on them, because their tribes were large and they originally had a large grassland area. On the contrary, the small and medium-sized tribes were more worried about their future living conditions.

(End of this chapter)