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

Chapter 1151 Tangled
The northern part of Horqin Grassland.

There is a tribe here, which looks no different from other small tribes in Khorchin, except that compared with other tribes, this tribe has a slightly higher proportion of adult men, and looks a little tougher, but everything else seems to be the same.

In this tribe, in a yurt located in the center, the former Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, Bumbutai, was listening attentively to Ebilun's report, and sitting next to her was the former Prince of Khorchin, Bumbutai's nephew and son-in-law Qitate, and serving on the side was Wu Liangfu.

“Is that all?” Bumbutai asked.

"My lord, that's it. As for other news, I'm still trying to find out. But on my side..." Ebilun paused and looked towards Qitat.

Bumbutai nodded slightly, indicating that he understood the hidden meaning of Ebilun's words. Although they had been hiding in the Horqin grassland for more than half a year, and at Bumbutai's request, everyone had to disguise themselves as Mongolians, and even couldn't speak Chinese or Manchu in their daily conversations, they had to communicate in Mongolian. In addition, in order to better hide their tracks, their tribe had also undergone two migrations, moving the original location of the tribe to the current area, further away from the previous area.

But even so, Manchus like Ebilun could not become completely identical to the Mongols in a short period of time. After all, the two sides were two different ethnic groups. Although they had many customs in common, they might be able to hide it if they were facing the Ming people, but they could not conceal it at all when facing the native Khorchin Mongols.

There is no way around it, even if Bumbutai and Qitate were originally Khorchin Mongols. You have to know that there are many Mongolian tribes, and each tribe has its own customs and characteristics. This is just like the people of the Ming Dynasty. Although they are both Ming people, one lives in the Central Plains and the other lives in the south of the Yangtze River. They both communicate in Mandarin, but their local accents appear as soon as they speak.

In addition, there are differences in customs. For example, people in the Central Plains like to eat noodles, while people in the south of the Yangtze River like to eat rice. These habits are deeply rooted in the bones. It is okay to fool outsiders, but it is impossible to fool familiar fellow villagers. Even if Ebilun and his friends have pretended to be 80% similar, there are still 20% differences.

Ebilun had finally found out this information, but it was difficult for him to investigate in depth. So to find out the truth, he had to ask Qitat to do it. After all, he was once the Prince of Khorchin, and he had real Khorchin Mongols under his command.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go down and have a rest." Bumbutai said to Ebilun. Ebilun responded, saluted, and turned to leave the yurt.

After Ebilun left, Bumbutai turned her gaze to Qitate, and after a moment's silence, she gave him a few instructions, asking him to send someone to find out the details of the meeting in Guihua City as soon as possible, and to be careful not to reveal his origins when inquiring for information, and to report to her immediately as soon as he had any information.

Qitat responded quickly, stood up and left in a hurry. He had heard it clearly just now, and naturally knew that this was not a trivial matter, and he had to find out the situation as soon as possible in order to deal with it.

After Ebilun and Qitate left, only Bumbutai and Wu Liangfu who was serving him were left in the yurt.

Wu Liangfu stood there, watching his nose and his heart, motionless and silent. As for Bumbutai, who was concentrating on something, it was unknown what he was thinking about. The yurt was so quiet that it seemed as if no one was there.

After an unknown amount of time, Bumbutai sighed softly and said to Wu Liangfu, "Is the young master settled down?"

"My Lord, I have already arranged for someone to come. How about I go and take a look?"

Seeing Bumbutai nod slightly, Wu Liangfu was relieved and left the yurt after paying his respects. After Wu Liangfu left, Bumbutai, who had just been very calm, suddenly showed anxiety and uneasiness on his face, as well as deep uneasiness.

"This...what should I do..." Bumbutai asked herself softly. The news brought by Ebilun surprised her too much. She never thought that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would go to Mongolia in person and summon the leaders of all the Mongolian tribes in Guihua City, and hold a grand alliance meeting at the same time.

As the former Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, Bumbutai was no political novice. Even though she did not know much about politics, she had a deep understanding of the power struggles and sniping within the Qing Dynasty after the death of Huang Taiji. Compared with the previous Empress Dowager, her aunt Zhezhe was much more experienced in politics, but what was Zhezhe's fate in the end? Faced with crises step by step, Bumbutai could only bite the bullet and face them, and she also forced herself to grow up as soon as possible.

Bumbutai may not be very experienced in politics, but her political vision is not bad. The former is experience, and the latter is talent. This also proves that although Bumbutai is a woman, she has good political talent.

The news of the alliance had spread, and even Bumbutai and the others who were hiding here had heard the news. Moreover, Bumbutai could vaguely guess what this alliance meant. Once the alliance was successful, the whole of Mongolia would nominally become the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Mongolian tribes still maintained their independence, they were actually canonized by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This method was used by Huang Taiji in the past, and it was used very well. It was precisely because of this that the Khorchin and other tribes would tie themselves to the chariot of the Qing Dynasty and fight for the Qing Dynasty. But now everything has changed completely. With the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the rise of the Ming Dynasty has become unstoppable. The Ming Dynasty, which is in its heyday, is not only not satisfied with recovering Liaodong, but also has its eyes on the whole of Mongolia.

Bumbutai was particularly worried about the close relationship between the Mongols south of the desert, that is, the Tengger brothers who occupied Tumed and Chahar, and the Ming Dynasty. She even recalled a previous rumor that the Tengger brothers were sons of the Ming Emperor Zhu Shenzui who were raised in Mongolia. Tana, who was called the second Sanniangzi, of the Tumed tribe's Alia was Zhu Shenzui's wife. Zhu Shenzui had started playing chess against Mongolia very early, even earlier than he took over the capital in the name of Jingnan and took control of the Ming Dynasty's government. It was also for this reason that the Tumed and Chahar tribes stood firmly on the side of the Ming Dynasty and were willing to be pioneers of the Ming Dynasty.

When she thought of this situation, Bumbutai couldn't help but shudder and felt deeply afraid of Zhu Shencui.

The shadow left on her by Zhu Shenzhui, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was so great that even Huang Taiji did not gain any benefit from the other side. Instead, he was completely suppressed by the Ming Dynasty, and went from taking the initiative at the beginning to being passive later.

Moreover, after the Ming Dynasty invaded Shengjing and conquered the entire Liaodong region, the once powerful Qing Dynasty collapsed, and even she, the dignified Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, could only flee with the emperor, changing her name and hiding here to survive.

Originally, Bumbutai thought that she could hide here and avoid the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, and finally hide herself. As long as she was not discovered by the Ming Dynasty, then it would not be the worst to exist only as a tribal leader in the future. At least she could save her life and have a certain wealth. If the Ming Dynasty gradually forgot about them after a few decades, there would be nothing to worry about.

In addition, the arrival of Qitat made Bumbutai see a glimmer of other possibilities. If he could gradually gather the other tribes of Khorchin and gradually strengthen himself, he would have a chance to eventually regain the rule of Khorchin.

If this is the case, even if her son cannot become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, he can still become the leader of the Khorchin tribe in the future. And she, Bumbutai, as Fulin's biological mother, can also have the supreme status in Khorchin.

But all these plans were completely shattered by the news of the alliance before they could really begin. With the Ming Dynasty's status as the suzerain of Mongolia confirmed and the surrender of the Mongolian tribes, their future could be said to have no chance.

It would be better if she hid. Once her movements were discovered, the Ming Dynasty would not give up. Then she would face war and destruction. Thinking of this, Bumbutai clenched her hands tightly. Her long nails dug into her palms because she was too strong, and even bled. However, she still didn't know and gritted her teeth in worry.

A few days later, people from Qitat brought new news one after another. Instead of reassuring Bumbutai, these news made her even more worried.

According to the news, the meeting in Guihua City has ended and the results of the meeting have come out. The Ming Emperor not only conferred titles on the Mongolian tribes, but also divided the grasslands and regions occupied by the Mongolian tribes as a new grassland order.

This move was too ruthless. Bumbutai instantly understood the real intention of the Ming Dynasty, which was to completely control the entire Mongolia. Moreover, the enthronement of the Mongolian tribes, including the division of grassland territory, not only established new regulations and order, but also effectively ruled all Jurchens just like Nurhaci established the Eight Banners system after unifying the Jurchens.

In Bumbutai's view, what the Ming emperor did to the Mongols was almost equivalent to the Eight Banners system. The so-called division of grassland territory, including enfeoffment, was exactly the same as the establishment of the Eight Banners.

If the Tumed and Chahar tribes were the "upper three banners" set up by the Ming Dynasty based on the Eight Banners system, then the four Mongolian tribes in western and northern Mobei that were later enthroned were equivalent to the "lower five banners" of the Eight Banners.

The Tengger brothers, including the leaders of the other four local alliance tribes, are equivalent to the flag owners of the Eight Banners. As for the other enthroned Taijis and the so-called Duke of Zhenguo and Duke of Fuguo, including the subsequent titles of General Zhenguo and General Fuguo, they are equivalent to the Niulu under the Eight Banners, and the positions of commander and deputy commander in charge of multiple Niulu.

As a result, the entire Mongolia was restricted by the Ming Dynasty's new system. The subsequent regional divisions further restricted the freedom of migration of the Mongolian tribes, binding them tightly to the divided grasslands.

This is extremely disadvantageous to Bumbutai. The reason why they can hide in Khorchin is because of the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongolians. But once the Mongolian tribes divide the regions and integrate and effectively rule the subordinate tribes, they will not be able to hide at all.

No matter how big Mongolia was, there was no place for them to hide. Bumbutai shuddered at the thought of the terrible consequences.

(End of this chapter)