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

Chapter 130 Nephrite
Zhu Shenzui was moved by the death of Eris and the affiliation of the tribe, but he also paid attention to the situation of the grassland mentioned by Burigude.

The weather has been getting colder these years, and the winter has been getting longer every year. This is true inside the Great Wall, not to mention the grasslands in the north.

“Is life hard on the grassland now?”

Burigude nodded and said, "The weather has been very strange in recent years. It snows heavily in winter. I heard from the elders in the tribe that such days were rare in the past, but have become more and more common in recent years."

"We Mongolians live by herding. If there is no grass to eat, the cattle and sheep will starve to death. The heavy snow covers the pasture, so they can't eat the grass underneath. In addition, the winter is very cold. When you are unlucky, many people freeze to death overnight."

"It's better for a large tribe like ours. Those small tribes are lucky to survive a winter. Besides..." Burigude shook his head and sighed, "It is said that the Khan is going to fight again. No one knows when the Khan will issue an order to gather troops. If there is another war, the young and strong people in the tribe will have to go to war again. In this way, only the old and weak will be left in the tribe. How can the tribe survive with these old and weak people?"

"The Khan wants to go to war again? Or is it to fight against the Chaohua of Inner Khalkha?" Zhu Shenzhui was stunned.

Burigude shook his head: "This time it's not Chaohua. After the last defeat, the Khan was furious. If it weren't for the joint efforts of Khorchin and Houjin, Chaohua would have been destroyed by the Khan long ago."

"The Khan is out of reach of the Later Jin for now. To defeat the Later Jin, we must first destroy the Inner Khalkha tribe. However, the Khan thinks that the root cause of the last defeat was the Khorchin tribe. If the Khorchin tribe had not colluded with the Later Jin and suddenly sent troops, the battle would not have been lost."

"The Khan is going to attack Khorchin this time?" Zhu Shenzhui asked in surprise.

Burigude nodded, with a worried look on his face: "This is the news that came, but it is not certain whether it is true or not, but..."

Although Burigude said this, from his tone one could tell that Ligdan Khan had probably already decided to attack Khorchin.

You have to know that Burigude is a Mongolian nobleman and a direct subordinate of Ligdan Khan. He is much more well-informed than other Mongolians.

However, when Lindan Khan was going to attack Korchin, Burigude did not have the same lofty ambition as when he fought Chaohua before. Instead, he was filled with deep worry and uneasiness.

After all, compared with the powerful Inner Khalkha tribe, Khorchin is no soft persimmon. Among the Mongolian tribes, Khorchin is still very strong, and is no worse than the Inner Khalkha tribe in its heyday.

The last time Lindan Khan gathered his troops to attack Chaohua of the Inner Khalkha tribe, Chaohua was weak after being beaten severely by the Later Jin. But even so, Chaohua fought with Lindan Khan for a long time. Later, Khorchin and Later Jin jointly sent troops and dealt a heavy blow to Lindan Khan's ribs, causing the battle to fail.

Now, after a winter, Lin Danhan had the idea of ​​launching a war again. But this time the target of the war was no longer Chaohua, but Khorchin. This decision was really incomprehensible.

It stands to reason that if Lindan Khan continued to attack Chaohua, it would be understandable, after all, the target of last year's battle was the Inner Khalkha tribe, and it is normal to continue to send troops to make a comeback this year. But this time Lindan Khan targeted Khorchin, which is really speechless. Even if Lindan Khan wanted to avenge last year's defeat and teach Khorchin a lesson, there was no need to do so!

Shouldn't they have stabilized Khorchin before destroying Chaohua? Shouldn't they have made up for the past and prevented the previous situation from happening again? Why did they target Khorchin before they destroyed Chaohua? Wouldn't this be equivalent to forcing Khorchin and the Inner Khalkha tribe to join forces with the Later Jin, so that the three parties would be completely united?

Even Burigude could think of this problem, how could Lindan Khan not think of it? He was the Great Khan of Mongolia! The common ruler of the grassland! As the common ruler, how could he do whatever he wanted? Moreover, as the Great Khan, he successively went to war against two large tribes of the Mongolian people. In this way, there would be no other ideas in Mongolia, right?

In addition, there are the feelings of ordinary Mongolians. Burigude, as a direct subordinate of the Khan, showed his war-weariness. Wouldn't other Mongolians think so? More importantly, the Mongolians have not had a good life in recent years. The bad weather has caused the Mongolian tribes to finally survive a winter. Now that spring has just arrived, isn't it time for the Mongolian tribes to rest and recuperate? But now Lindan Khan is going to send troops again. If they win, it's fine. But what if they lose again?
The young and strong men in the tribe are not like leeks in the field, which can grow again immediately after being cut. Moreover, let’s not talk about how many of these young and strong men can survive when they go to war. Who will graze the cattle and sheep of the tribe? Relying on the old and weak who stay behind? It’s impossible!
"The Khan has his own ideas, and you cannot decide on such matters. Perhaps the Khan will take the situations of various tribes into consideration, and you don't need to worry too much." Seeing that Burigude was worried, Zhu Shenzhui comforted him with these words.

After listening to this, Burigude nodded, then laughed and put the matter behind him for the time being.

"Look! We are here!" Suddenly, he stretched out his hand and pointed forward. Looking in the direction of his finger, there appeared many cattle, sheep, and horses, as well as many yurts. This was the tribe of Burigude. It was Zhu Shenzhu's first time here. Compared with the small tribes he had seen before, the tribe of Burigude was much larger. Apart from other things, the cattle and sheep alone were like white clouds dotted on the grassland. It was impossible to count them at a glance.

When the group arrived at the tribe, their arrival made the people very excited. A severe winter had just passed, and even the big tribes had a hard time. The arrival of the caravan brought the tribe much-needed goods and supplies, which were what the Mongols had been looking forward to.

After having his men settle the caravan, Burigude brought Zhu Shencui to his yurt and called his wife and children to meet Zhu Shencui.

The young Bu Rigude actually has three wives and seven children.

Mongolians get married early, not to mention Mongolian nobles like Burigude. Living on the grassland not only faces natural disasters, but also requires sufficient strength to resist various dangers. In this case, manpower is very important.

The oldest of Burigude's three wives was only in her early twenties, and the youngest looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. As for his seven children, the oldest was already six years old, running around with a red face, as strong as a calf. The youngest was still breastfeeding, held in his mother's arms, staring with round eyes, curiously looking at Zhu Shenzhui, a stranger.

Seeing Burigude's wife and children, Zhu Shenzhu naturally had to give gifts according to custom. Fortunately, he prepared a lot of gifts before going out this time, and now they came in handy.

The three women and the sensible older children were very happy after receiving the gifts. Although these gifts were nothing in the Ming Dynasty, they were good things in Mongolia. Burigude on the side was even happier. He patted Zhu Shenzhui on the shoulder and grinned, saying, "Why are you so polite?" But in fact, he didn't seem to be humble at all. He pulled Zhu Shenzhui to sit down and shouted for someone to bring in the prepared roasted whole lamb.

When they arrived, Ma Shizhou and others were busy settling down first, while Wang Hai took the wine that Zhu Shencui had brought. After delivering the wine, Wang Hai bowed and left, guarding outside the yurt alone, sitting quietly and not saying a word. Burigude saw his behavior. He knew Wang Hai, and Wang Hai had come here with Ma Shizhou last time, but he didn't have this attitude last time. Today, it was clear that he was guarding Zhu Shencui inside.

Out of curiosity, Burigude asked who this boy was and who he was to Zhu Shenzhui. Zhu Shenzhui smiled and told him about Wang Hai's origin. When Burigude found out that Wang Hai was the little slave he had given to Zhu Shenzhui before, he was quite surprised. He did not expect that the humble little slave would become what he is now, and he was so loyal to his master. Burigude was quite envious.

However, this envy only lasted for a moment, and soon Burigude's attention was focused on the fine wine brought by Zhu Shenzhui.

For Burigude, slaves were never a problem. What kind of slaves did the tribe need? Even if there were none, it was common for him to capture a few when he led his men out. He was just a slave who was loyal to his master, which was not uncommon among the Mongols.

On the contrary, the fine wine brought by Zhu Shencui made Burigude even more rare. Although Mongolians also have wine, the most famous is mare's milk wine, and highland barley wine close to Tibet is also common in Mongolia, but the real good wine is only available in the Ming Dynasty. It is difficult for ordinary Mongolian nobles to drink such good wine. Except for the Khan, when do ordinary Mongolian nobles have the opportunity to drink it to their heart's content?
A whole roasted lamb with grease and aroma, and a glass of fine wine, these are the best enjoyments in life.

Raising his glass, Burigude invited Zhu Shencui to drink with him. Zhu Shencui naturally would not refuse. He and Burigude were friends, and now they were also partners. It was only natural for a guest to follow the host's lead when visiting someone else's territory. Moreover, this drink would be more beneficial to their future cooperation.

Isn't it just drinking? Zhu Shenzhui was never afraid of this, and he immediately drank three cups with Burigude. After the three cups, Burigude laughed happily, and then took a knife to help Zhu Shenzhui cut the mutton, and asked him to taste the delicious roasted mutton.

After drinking wine and eating mutton, several friends who had drunk together in the camp last time came. Everyone was so excited that Burigude's wife even came out to dance to liven up the atmosphere. As they danced, the Mongolians were so happy that they pulled Zhu Shenzhui to come out to dance with them. Everyone danced and laughed in the yurt.

Zhu Shenzhui didn't know how much he drank or how long he danced, but he was completely drunk that night.

He had no memory of the last moment, and he didn't even know how he got drunk. In a daze, Zhu Shenzhui fell into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, his head was still swollen and painful, his whole body was weak, and even his vision was a little blurry.

Being drunk is not a pleasant feeling. Zhu Shenzhui subconsciously reached out to feel if there was any water bag nearby. His throat felt like it was burning with a knife, so he had to drink some water to moisten his throat.

But who would have thought that as soon as the hand moved and hadn't even stretched out of the quilt, he felt something soft, warm and smooth. Zhu Shenzhu was slightly stunned and didn't react for a while. He stayed there for a moment before suddenly turning his head to look. When he saw clearly, his forehead exploded.

(End of this chapter)