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

Chapter 279 An unexpected surprise
Zhu Shenzui's judgment was very accurate. Not long after Burigude returned to the tribe, good news finally came from Ligdan Khan, who had been silent for a long time.

After sending the captives to Ligdan Khan, he was overjoyed. Perhaps it was because he had been holding a grudge in his heart for the past few years. He had sent troops to fight with various tribes several times but had gained nothing. On the contrary, not only had his strength been constantly declining, but many people within his group betrayed him and left the Mongolian headquarters.

Lin Dan Khan, who was extremely dissatisfied with the tribal taijis who did not respect him and planned to find an opportunity to teach these tribes a lesson, suddenly received a "big gift" from the Tenger tribe. This made Lin Dan Khan very happy. He felt that he, as the Great Khan, still had prestige among the Mongolian tribes. At least the Tenger tribe was loyal to his tribe. This directly helped him solve the problem of a tribe with disloyalty and allowed him, as the Great Khan, to save face after the defeat in Mobei.

After receiving the captives, Lin Dan Khan killed them all without hesitation, and sent their heads to other Mongolian tribes as trophies to show off his power, so that the taijis of these tribes could see the consequences of betraying him.

At the same time, Lindan Khan did not forget the loyalty of the Tenger tribe. He finally remembered the enthronement of the Tenger tribe. He generously sent an envoy to the Tenger tribe in the name of the Khan, and formally enthroned Tenger as the Wanhu of Jinong and Tumed Right Wing. Thus, Tenger's status was recognized by Lindan Khan and could never be shaken.

At this time, Zhu Shenzhui also received a letter from Zhang Xijun in the capital. He was extremely surprised after reading the letter. He never thought that he just wanted Zhang Xijun to find a reliable backing for the Tengger tribe through Wei Zhongxian's channel. This backing was the Ming Dynasty. If he could establish a relationship with the Ming Dynasty and get the recognition of Ligdan Khan, the tribe would have no hidden dangers in the future. If other tribes in the Tumed grassland wanted to deal with the Tengger tribe secretly, they must first consider whether they could offend these two great gods, Ligdan Khan and the Ming Dynasty.

But what Zhang Xijun did now was beyond Zhu Shencui's imagination. He originally just asked for an official identity of the Ming Dynasty and was overjoyed to be given the title of Tongzhi. Who would have thought that Emperor Tianqi would actually confer such an official position of the level of General Longhu on Tengger.

The official position of Dragon and Tiger General was not low, and as a member of the Ming royal family, Zhu Shencui was very familiar with the Ming Dynasty's official positions and rewards. Generally speaking, the official position of Dragon and Tiger General was granted by the Ming Dynasty to alien leaders, and they were alien leaders of very high status, just like the current Shunyi King Bu Shitu was previously the Dragon and Tiger General, and Nurhaci, an old slave of the Later Jin Jiannu, also held this position before he started the rebellion.

Tenger was appointed as the Dragon and Tiger General, which meant that his status on the Tumote grassland was second only to Shunyi King Bushitu. In addition, Emperor Tianqi not only awarded Tenger the title of Dragon and Tiger General, but also awarded Tana the title of Lady Zhongshun.

Back then, Sanniang had the Hao Ming of Lady Zhongshun, and now Tana has also obtained this Hao Ming, which is of far-reaching significance. The mother and son, one has a first-rank Hao Ming and the other has a second-rank military rank, which is enough to show the importance that the Ming Dynasty attached to the Tengger tribe.

In addition, there was another thing that Zhu Shenzui had not expected, which was that the Ming Dynasty gave the Tengger tribe the right to engage in border trade.

This news made Zhu Shenzhui even more surprised. He was so surprised and happy that he was spinning around. You know, the right to border trade with Mongolia, that is, to open border markets, was not given to many people in the entire Ming Dynasty, and this authority was usually given directly to nobles of such status as Ligdan Khan or King Shunyi. It was the first time that it was given to an ordinary tribal taiji.

After carefully reading the explanation in Zhang Xijun's letter, Zhu Shenzhui saw some hidden things behind the opening of border trade. On the surface, this authority is similar to the authority of border markets, but in fact it is different in operation.

Because this authority did not restrict the establishment of trade points in fixed areas between the Tenger tribe and the Ming Dynasty border, nor did it limit the time and number of trades each year. Instead, it proposed a new way of cooperation, that is, the Ming Dynasty sent personnel to conduct border trade with the Tenger tribe alone. This kind of transaction is somewhat similar to the current Zhu Shenzhui smuggling trade, and it is out of the previous normal model of fixed opening of border markets.

In addition, the personnel and trading partners sent by the Ming Dynasty were also different from those of the Ming government, because the person in charge of this work was actually a eunuch sent by the East Factory and the Jinyiwei. In other words, the so-called border trade was actually a trade cooperation between the Tenger tribe, the East Factory, and the Jinyiwei, without the intervention of the local government of the Ming Dynasty, including the Ministry of Revenue.

This was the first time such an approach had happened. Zhu Shenzhui was surprised, but after thinking about it, he suddenly realized why this had happened. He recalled the situation when Feng Quan came to Shanxi, and thought of Wei Zhongxian.

"Haha, I didn't expect that the flowers I planted with care didn't bloom, but the willows I planted by accident grew into a shade!" Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but laugh. He had asked Feng Quan to secretly report the Donglin Party before, but for some reason the matter was never resolved.

Zhu Shenzhui originally thought that the Donglin Party had suppressed the matter, but he didn't care much. This matter was originally a matter of trying to disgust the Donglin Party. Didn't the Donglin Party say that they were smuggling? They also reported to the emperor and sent people to investigate him. Zhu Shenzhui believed that he had never offended the Donglin Party. Everyone kept to themselves. I did my business and you made your money. As a member of the royal family, he had always been careful in his arrangements in the Ming Dynasty and never missed any tributes from the locals.

But who would have thought that the Donglin Party would inexplicably target him, and then think about the previous caravan attack on the grassland. Even though it was known that Galiba was the culprit of the previous grassland attack, the accomplice on the Ming side had not been found yet. Now the Donglin Party suddenly said that they were involved in smuggling trade. From this point of view, the Donglin Party was probably instructed by the Shanxi merchants to use this method to deceive him, intending to use the emperor to deal with him.

If you do something on the first day of the month, I will do it on the fifteenth day. Zhu Shenzhui is not the kind of person who will swallow his anger when being bullied. He took the opportunity of Feng Quan to not only clear himself of suspicion, but also used his power to directly expose the inside story that the Donglin Party secretly cooperated with Shanxi merchants to engage in large-scale smuggling. After that, the trouble from the capital disappeared, and no one was heard of anyone continuing to investigate his smuggling. However, the inside story that Zhu Shenzhui exposed was never followed up. Zhu Shenzhui thought that the Donglin Party had retreated because they were afraid of the consequences, but now Zhang Xijun's letter has revealed the mystery for him.

It seems that it is not what he imagined at all. The course of events might have been intentional by Wei Zhongxian and Emperor Tianqi, which made the Donglin Party stop.

Now the Emperor Tianqi has promised the Tenger tribe the right to trade with the border, and let the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard take charge of this matter, which is equivalent to secretly cutting off the income of the Donglin Party and the Shanxi merchants who cooperate with them. Once such trade is established, the interests that originally belonged to the Donglin Party and the Shanxi merchants will be greatly reduced. As a result, the money will flow into the hands of the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that is, into the hands of the Emperor Tianqi.

One has to admit that the move by Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian was indeed brilliant. On the surface, they did not pursue the previous incident, but now they used the Tengger tribe to teach them a severe lesson.

Zhu Shenzhui was a little worried while admiring. He was not the Tianqi Emperor, nor was he the powerful Wei Zhongxian. They did not have such concerns, but what about himself?
Once this kind of border trade was launched, the Tengger tribe became a noticeable tribe and a thorn in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty merchants. No one knew what these merchants would do at that time, and it was even more uncertain what reaction the Donglin Party and other court officials behind these merchants would have.

What's more troublesome is that Zhu Shencui has been very cautious since he started trading with the grasslands, fearing that others would pay too much attention to him. After all, his identity is not ordinary. If he is just an ordinary Ming person, it would be fine, but he is a member of the Ming royal family.

It was fine before, but once the border trade is officially opened, who can guarantee that their identity can continue to be well hidden like it is now? This is also what Zhu Shenzhui is most worried about.

After thinking about it carefully, Zhu Shenzui could not give up this opportunity. You know, once Tengger's border trade is launched, the profits will be extremely huge. It can even be said that he has directly monopolized the trade between the entire Tumo grassland and the Ming Dynasty.

If nothing unexpected happens, the future profit in one year will be equal to or even more than the profit from smuggling in secret for several years. How could Zhu Shenzhui give up such a huge profit? He lacked gold, silver and materials in both the Ming Dynasty and the Tengger tribe. If he could accelerate his profit through this border trade cooperation, then what he could do would be much easier.

But concerns also had to be guarded against. Zhu Shencui thought for a long time and finally came up with a solution. He planned to return to Ming Dynasty in a few days to completely eliminate the subsequent troubles. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zhu Shencui would no longer lead the trade team personally, and the business would be handed over to Kang Youfu. Zhu Shencui would completely fade out of people's sight from then on.

After receiving Zhang Xijun's letter, Zhu Shenzui began to make preparations in the tribe. At this time, the people he sent back to the Ming Dynasty also came to the grassland again with goods as usual, and the smuggling trade that had been interrupted before gradually resumed.

After waiting patiently for a month, news from the Ming Dynasty finally arrived. The delegation sent by Wei Zhongxian arrived at the grassland through the border and headed straight for the Tengger tribe.

After learning the news, Zhu Shenzui sent people to greet them. He would not show up in person for the subsequent reception and entertainment, which would be entirely handled by Tana and Tengger. Wang Hai, Hatulig, Burigude and others would accompany Tana to accept the imperial court's enthronement and discuss subsequent border trade cooperation.

A few days later, the delegation arrived at the tribe. With the arrival of the delegation, Zhu Shenzui, wearing ordinary Mongolian clothes, watched the appearance of the delegation.

The entire delegation consisted of quite a few people, more than 200 in total. In addition to a eunuch who led the delegation and announced the imperial edict, there was also a civil servant wearing a fifth-rank official uniform. This person should be an official representing the Ministry of Rites. Judging from his rank, if I am not mistaken, he should be a Yuanwailang.

In addition, there were guards and border troops from the Jinyiwei and Dongchang. The Jinyiwei and Dongchang were led by two colonels, and the border troops were led by a centurion. A group of people came to the camp from the south in a mighty manner with flags.

(End of this chapter)