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

Chapter 137: War Between the Two Sides

These Mongols are the best warriors and can be of great use with a little training.

Zhu Shenzhui believed that with his own methods, he would be able to completely subdue these Mongols within two years, and thus become the sharpest knife in his hand.

It was for this reason that he proposed such conditions to Ashitemur. In Ashitemur's view, he thought that Zhu Shencui just wanted to use this method to ensure his and Tana's sense of security and status in the tribe. He did not think further and agreed to it very readily.

No matter how cunning the fox is, it cannot escape the hunter's calculations. While Ashitemur was contentedly getting what he needed, Zhu Shenzhui also got everything he wanted.

In the words of later generations, this might be a "win-win" situation. Both Ashi Temur and Zhu Shenzhu were complacent at this moment, thinking that they were the ones who got the better deal.

Two days passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye it was the wedding day.

Zhu Shenzhu had prepared the betrothal gifts in advance. According to the Mongolian customs, Zhu Shenzhu asked Burigude to help him formally propose marriage. Burigude did not refuse and happily agreed. According to reason, he belonged to the woman's family, but because Zhu Shenzhu was not a Mongolian, he did not need to be so particular about his status. In this way, he formally proposed marriage according to etiquette. As the father of the woman, Ashi Temur accepted the betrothal gifts, which was equivalent to formally agreeing to the marriage.

On the wedding day, Zhu Shencui did not wear his own clothes, but changed into Mongolian clothes, carried a bow and rode a horse, and was accompanied by Burigude and others to welcome the bride.

In addition to the previous betrothal gifts, they also brought the prepared cattle and sheep, and the group arrived at Tana's yurt in a lively manner. Then there was a series of steps such as blocking the door to welcome the son-in-law, offering sheep and toasting, asking for the name and birth date, removing the sheep's neck, distributing the bridegroom's hair, mother's blessing, etc. Zhu Shenzhu was like a puppet, allowing himself to be manipulated. The whole process lasted from morning to afternoon.

Then comes the final stage, where the groom unveils the bride's veil, offers tea to the parents, etc. After all these are completed, the wedding is considered complete, which also means that the bride and groom have become a family.

Finally, according to custom, the bride and groom stay overnight. After the Mongolian wedding, the groom cannot take the bride away immediately, but stays at the bride's home that night.

However, for Zhu Shencui and Tana, such customs were just a formality, because Zhu Shencui was not a Mongolian at all, and Tana would not leave the tribe after getting married. Although Astemur gave Tana those guards and made her independent, she was still a member of the tribe.

In the joyous yurt, the noise outside was blocked by thick felt cloth. Candles were lit inside. Tana, wearing her wedding dress, lowered her head slightly with red paint on her lips. Her beautiful face was illuminated by the red candles with a hint of shyness and sweetness.

Sitting beside her, gently holding her hand, Tana looked up and smiled at Zhu Shenzhui.

When seeing this scene, Zhu Shenzhui's heartbeat suddenly quickened, he unconsciously felt his lips become a little dry, and he swallowed subconsciously.

"We are husband and wife now." Tana said softly.

"Yes, we are husband and wife..." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, hugging Tana's shoulders. Tana snuggled up to him and gently placed her head on his broad shoulders. At this moment, she felt happier than ever before.

"You'll be nice to me, right? Forever?"

"Forever! I promise! I swear to Eternal Heaven!"

"It's great! It's just as good as in the dream." Tana said happily, her eyes were shining brightly, her dark eyes were as brilliant as the starry sky, and extremely heart-moving.

Looking at the face so close to him, feeling Tana's charming breath and eyes, how could Zhu Shenzhui hold back? He whispered something in Tana's ear, and Tana suddenly laughed like a silver bell, shaking her whole body with laughter.

After laughing for a while, Tana stood up, walked to the red candle beside her, puffed out her mouth and blew out the candle in one breath. Then she turned around and pounced towards Zhu Shenzhui. Suddenly, bursts of tearing sounds and rapid gasps came from the dark yurt...

The spring night is short and the sun is rising. From now on, the king will not go to court early!
The next day, Zhu Shenzhui finally realized the emperor's pleasure. He rubbed his sore waist and climbed out of the bed with difficulty.

In the following days, Zhu Shenzui and Tana spent the most wonderful and happiest time since they came to the grassland.

He and Tana rode horses around the tribe. Under Tana's guidance, he traveled to many areas near the tribe. He met a lot of people he had never met before and received a lot of various gifts.

In addition to these, Zhu Shenzhu also went to meet the Mongolian warriors that Ashi Temur assigned to Tana. These were all good guys, and they were directly under Tana's personal guards, and naturally they were also Zhu Shenzhu's men. Zhu Shenzhu taught Tana a lot of things, explained the details of commerce to her, and told her many stories about the Ming Dynasty.

Tana is a very smart woman, and when Zhu Shenzui and others leave, they will leave two people to assist Tana. These two people will help Tana get familiar with these things as soon as possible. With them here with Tana, Zhu Shenzui can rest assured after returning to Ming Dynasty.

According to the plan, Zhu Shencui intended to stay in the tribe for a few more days to accompany his newlywed wife. But no one expected that plans could not change quickly. After only half a month, when Zhu Shencui and Tana had just returned from playing outside, Ashi Temur sent someone to find Zhu Shencui.

I brought Tana to Ashetemur's yurt. I was slightly stunned after entering the door, because not only Ashetemur was sitting in the yurt, but also his eldest son, Hadanbaatar, who was Tana's eldest brother.

"Abu, Aha..."

He stepped forward to salute the two of them. Seeing Zhu Shenzui, who was dressed in Mongolian costume and looked very heroic, Ashi Temur smiled. Hadan Bater beside him also smiled and nodded to them.

Waving his hand for them to sit down, Zhu Shenzui and Tana sat down on the right side of Ashe Temur, opposite Hadan Bater.

Zhu Shenzhui had just picked up the silver teapot in front of him and poured a cup of milk tea for Tana beside him. Before he had time to pour for himself, he heard Ashil Timur speak.

"The Khan is going to take action against Khorchin!"

The hand holding the teapot paused slightly, and Zhu Shenzhui looked up at Ashitemur with a questioning expression.

"Hadanbaatar, you tell it." Ashe Temur instructed his son. Hadanbaatar nodded and immediately started talking about the matter.

Just after receiving the news, Lin Danhan finally made up his mind to attack Khorchin. This time, Lin Danhan planned to recruit 12,000 troops from the right wing of Mongolia, and combined them with the left wing of Mongolia and his own troops to form a large army to attack Khorchin, in order to punish Khorchin for joining forces with the Later Jin to disrupt his strategic deployment to attack Chaohua.

The messenger arrived last night and left after delivering the order. Zhu Shenzhui and Tana went out early yesterday morning and only came back today, so they did not meet the messenger and therefore did not know about this matter.

After listening to Hadanbaatar's story, Zhu Shenzhui asked, "Why did the Khan suddenly want to take action against Khorchin? Didn't he say last time that the Khan had given up the idea?"

"Brother-in-law, there is something you don't know. I just got the news that the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty in Liaodong are fighting again." Hadan Bater explained.

"What? The war in Liaodong started? When did the war start?" Zhu Shenzhui was suddenly shocked. Since the Battle of Sarhu, the war between Liaodong and Jiannu has never stopped, but because of Xiong Tingbi's previous strategic deployment and tactical response, the scale of the war has been controlled within a very small range.

Xiong Tingbi advanced steadily and without revealing any flaws. He used the powerful strength of the Ming Dynasty as a backing and slowly advanced forward on the basis of a stable front, thus gradually squeezing the living space of the Jiannu.

Although the old slave Nurhaci used various methods to lure Xiong Tingbi and the Later Jin into a decisive battle, he planned to replicate the model of the Battle of Sarhu again and defeat the Ming Dynasty's effective forces in Liaodong in one fell swoop.

But Xiong Tingbi ignored Nurhaci completely and would not be fooled by his provocation and enticements. He used his established tactics to slowly erode the power of the Later Jin. This style of play made Nurhaci very uncomfortable. Although the Later Jin won a great victory in the Battle of Sarhu and its strength increased greatly, compared with the powerful Ming Dynasty, the Later Jin's advantage was not absolute. The temporary formal possession was far from the true result of the strength comparison.

Under Xiong Tingbi's response, in less than a year, the brief advantage that the Later Jin had gained in Liaodong was gone, and the initiative began to gradually shift back to the hands of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, due to natural disasters in recent years, the Later Jin had no way to be self-sufficient. Unable to break through Xiong Tingbi's strategic arrangement, Nurhaci could only think of other ways, such as turning around to attack Chaohua and other Mongolian tribes, and using the materials plundered from Mongolia to meet his own needs.

If things continued like this, Xiong Tingbi would not need to engage in a decisive battle with the Later Jin. As long as he kept pressing forward like this, he would be able to outlast the Later Jin in a few years.

Unfortunately, Wanli died too suddenly. After Wanli's death, Xiong Tingbi lost his biggest supporter in the court. Not to mention the later Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo, this short-lived emperor was emperor for only a month and couldn't wait to follow his father Wanli to meet his ancestors.

Zhu Shenzhui was furious when he thought of his nephew's speechless actions. After Emperor Taichang passed away, Tianqi succeeded to the throne. This young emperor had no foundation. When he ascended the throne, the court was already controlled by the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party had never looked down on Xiong Tingbi, and when Wanli just passed away, they couldn't wait to jump out and impeach Xiong Tingbi.

After Emperor Taichang's death, the impeachment of Xiong Tingbi became more and more intense. Even if Tianqi did not want to remove Xiong Tingbi, he was powerless under such tremendous pressure. He could only follow the wishes of the civil service group, especially the Donglin Party, to remove Xiong Tingbi and replace him with Yuan Yingtai as the governor of Liaodong.

(End of this chapter)