Chapter 219 Continuous Betrayal

Zhu Shenzhui and his party arrived safely, and Tana was completely relieved. At the same time, their arrival also made Ashi Timur feel relieved. Especially when he saw that this caravan brought much more goods than usual, a smile appeared on Ashi Timur's face.

On the first day of the caravan's arrival, Ashe Temur did not disturb his daughter and son-in-law. He knew that when they met again after a few months of separation, young people would naturally get close to each other, not to mention his grandson. Isn't it normal for a young couple and three children to get together? As a father-in-law, he was also young once, so how could he not understand such a thing?

The next day, Ashi Temur sent someone to call Zhu Shencui to his tent. A moment later, Zhu Shencui, dressed in a Mongolian robe, arrived. Seeing his son-in-law coming, Ashi Temur smiled and asked him to sit next to him. He also personally cut a piece of good meat for Zhu Shencui and placed it on a silver plate in front of him.

"Where are Tana and the child? Why aren't they here?"

He reached out to take the knife beside him, skillfully cut off a piece of meat with the knife, dipped it in salt and put it into his mouth: "Tana said she will not come because she has to take care of the children. Let me accompany you to have a few drinks."

"Hahaha!" Ashitemur laughed and patted Zhu Shenzui's shoulder hard. His most beloved daughter understood him, and the more he looked at Zhu Shenzui, his Han son-in-law, the happier he was.

After eating a few pieces of meat and drinking a few sips of wine with his father-in-law, Zhu Shenzui asked about his recent situation. After not seeing him for a few months, Ashi Temur looked a little haggard, and his originally round face seemed to have become thinner.

"Something happened on the grassland." Ashitemur put down his wine glass and sighed, "I don't know what has happened in recent years. It has never been peaceful. I thought it would be better this year, but something happened to the Khan some time ago..."

"What's wrong?" Zhu Shenzhui asked hurriedly. He had not received any news in the Ming Dynasty. He had just arrived at the tribe and had spent the whole night with Tana. They had only said some words about missing each other in private. He did not have time to tell Tana about the situation on the grassland, and Tana did not tell him either.

Ashe Temur looked solemn. He told Zhu Shenzhui that just a while ago, Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji, who was in charge of 30,000 households on the left wing of Mongolia in the Mongolian headquarters, betrayed Ligdan Khan and surrendered to Nurhaci with 3,000 Mongolian households under his direct command. He has now arrived in Liaoyang.

"How could this happen?" Zhu Shenzhui was shocked when he heard the news, because he often traveled to the grasslands, and after marrying Tana, he had Tenger, so Zhu Shenzhui was already half Mongolian. In addition, he and Ashe Temur had always had a good relationship as father-in-law and son-in-law. When they were in the tribe, Ashe Temur would often talk to Zhu Shenzhui about Mongolian things and communicate with each other.

As he got to know Zhu Shencui better, Ashe Temur found that Zhu Shencui had a keen eye and unique ideas in many things. As the leader of the tribe, Ashe Temur was not an ordinary Mongolian. Especially now that Mongolia was in a turbulent time, many times as long as Zhu Shencui was there, Ashe Temur would look for him to discuss some internal issues of Mongolia, including how to respond in a way that was beneficial to the tribe under such circumstances.

Because of this, Zhu Shenzhui was very familiar with the situation of the various Mongolian tribes, including the Mongolian headquarters. Especially those princes and nobles, he knew almost all the famous ones, and the Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji mentioned by Ashe Timur just now, who was in charge of the 30,000 households of the left wing of Mongolia, was naturally among them. This Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji was not an ordinary person, he was an important official of the Mongolian headquarters, and whether in status or power, he was not comparable to Ashe Timur.

First of all, Ashetemur was only a Wanhu of the right wing of Mongolia, while the other party was in charge of 30,000 households of the left wing of Mongolia. Wanhu and 30,000 households were not of the same level. What's more, Sirhunak Dulenghongtaiji was still the headquarters of Mongolia, while Ashetemur was only a Wanhu of the right wing of Tumed.

Secondly, Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji was a minister of the Mongolian headquarters. If he were in the Ming Dynasty, his position would be equivalent to that of a cabinet minister and a minister of the Ministry of War, a real important official in the court. However, Ashe Temur, the right wing commander, was at best a local general or commander-in-chief. The difference between them can be imagined.

It was incredible that such an important official had actually left the Mongolian headquarters and defected to Nurhaci with 3,000 Mongolian households under his direct command. Not to mention the population loss caused by his betrayal to the Mongolian headquarters, this move alone had greatly undermined the prestige of Lin Danhan and shocked the entire grassland.

"This is a long story if I really talk about it." Ashe Temur picked up the wine glass again, poured all the remaining wine in the glass into his mouth, shook his head and sighed.

Ashi Temur told Zhu Shenzhui that the root of Xirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji's betrayal was actually planted more than a year ago. Do you remember the first time Zhu Shenzhui came to the grassland, that is, the time when he met Burigude in the tribe of Ers? That time, Lin Danhan gathered troops to attack Chaohua of Inner Khalkha. The initiation of this war was related to Xirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji. As the Minister of the Left Wing of Mongolia, Chaohua of Inner Khalkha was under the jurisdiction of Xirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji, but this jurisdiction was only nominal. In fact, in the Mongolian tribes, except for the directly affiliated tribes, many tribes in the grasslands, regardless of size, had their own independence, and formed the entire Mongolian whole in a relatively loose way. But in fact, many times the so-called jurisdiction is useless. The other party recognizes you, or you are too powerful to suppress the other party. Such jurisdiction is effective, otherwise it is just a name.

Just like Ligdan Khan, who was the Great Khan of the Mongols, was recognized by all the tribes on the grassland. But in fact, except for the Chahar tribe directly controlled by Ligdan Khan and the Tumed tribes who firmly supported Ligdan Khan, the other tribes only respected Ligdan Khan as their leader in name, but maintained strong independence.

From this point of view, the entire Mongolia was divided into pieces. Unlike the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Khan Lindan Khan did not have the ability to directly command the entire Mongolia. This was also the main reason why Lindan Khan had been pursuing the unification of Mongolia and restoring the former glory of the Mongol Empire since he ascended the throne.

Chaohua of Inner Khalkha was defeated in the war launched by Nurhaci, and was forced to form an alliance with the Later Jin Dynasty, and also intermarried with the Later Jin Dynasty, made a covenant, and other behaviors. When this happened, Lin Danhan was furious, thinking that Chaohua had lost face for the Mongols and betrayed Mongolia, and he raised an army to attack Inner Khalkha.

At the same time as the uprising, Ligdan Khan called Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji and gave him a severe reprimand, scolding him for failing to discipline Inner Khalkha.

That’s not all. After this incident, Lindan Khan even began to suspect Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji. He thought that the reason why Chaohua formed an alliance with Nurhaci might be because of Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji. Perhaps Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji had been flirting with Nurhaci in private without his knowledge. This was the real reason why Inner Khalkha betrayed him.

Because of the Chaohua incident, Lindan Khan became suspicious of Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji. This suspicion became more and more serious after his unsuccessful attack on the Neikar tribe. Lindan Khan not only believed that the failure of the attack on the Neikar tribe was related to Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji, but also after the failure of the attack on Khorchin, he also believed that Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji was in collusion with Khorchin.

Half a year ago, Ligdan Khan was ready to take action against Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji, intending to take measures when necessary. The so-called "necessary measures" was just a euphemism. According to Ashe Temur's judgment, there were only two kinds of necessary measures. One was to arrest Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji and deprive him of his official position and Taiji, and the second was to kill him directly.

Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji was not stupid. He had already noticed that Lindan Khan was suspicious of him, so he naturally refused to sit still and wait for death. In addition to these contradictions, there were also religious contradictions. Since Lindan Khan ascended the throne, he had converted to the Red Sect and always regarded himself as a Red Sect believer. However, in the Mongolian headquarters, including the Mongolian tribes, most of them believed in the Yellow Sect. Religion has always been incompatible. A Khan who believed in the Red Sect led a group of Mongolian tribes who believed in the Yellow Sect. It would be strange if there were no contradictions.

As time went by, Ligdan Khan decided to formally take action against Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji, but he did not expect that just when he was about to take action, someone inside Mongolia secretly told Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji about this matter.

Upon hearing the news, Sirhunak Duleng Hong Taiji, who was unwilling to sit and wait for death, immediately made a decision. He took his 3,000 direct households and left the Mongolian headquarters, heading east into the Inner Khalkha grassland and surrendered to Nurhaci.

When Lin Dan Khan learned the news, it was too late. Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji and his people had not only left the Mongolian headquarters, but also fled to Liaoyang. Upon hearing the news, Lin Dan Khan was furious and scolded Sirhunak Duleng Hongtaiji in the Golden Tent. He wanted to send troops to take over the Inner Khalkha grassland and join forces with the Ming Dynasty to officially declare war on Nurhaci.

But before Lindan Khan could prepare to gather his troops, several incidents occurred one after another, which dealt a severe blow to this ambitious but incompetent Mongol Khan.

Shortly after Sirhunak Dulenghong Taiji broke away from the Mongolian headquarters, Inner Khalbashi, Sonom, Manggo, Dalai Taiji and others also led their 500 households each to defect to Liaoyang City and became Nurhaci's subordinates.

In addition, Dorji Chechen Jinong, the son of Ongundulaer of the Ujumchin tribe, and Seleng Erdeni Taiji, the son of his uncle, also fled to the Outer Khalkha in the northern desert due to their disagreement with Ligdan Khan. Susai Batulu Jinong of the Sunite tribe, Tsering Yilden of the Hochiite tribe, and Dusigar Zasaktu Jinong of the Abaga tribe also fled to the northern desert with their own troops.

For a time, the Mongolian headquarters was on the verge of collapse, and many tribes broke away from Ligdan Khan one after another and betrayed him, the Great Khan. This caused a huge shock within Mongolia, and Ligdan Khan was overwhelmed by one trouble after another.

(End of this chapter)

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