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

Chapter 405 Changes
Just as Zhu Shenzhu was making preparations, Huang Taiji also began to prepare to take action against Ligdan Khan.

Shortly after returning to Shenyang, Huang Taiji contacted the Khorchin, Kharchin and Khalkha tribes. The Kharchin tribe was terrified of the Qing Dynasty after the Battle of Aomulun. In addition, Huang Taiji took the initiative to extend an olive branch for peace talks. After much deliberation, the Kharchin tribe finally decided to surrender to Huang Taiji and betray Algdan Khan.

In fact, it is not to blame these tribes for joining the Qing Dynasty. The key is that Lin Danhan has done too much in recent years. The Mongolian tribes on the grasslands are dependent on the strong. Their survival law is to listen to whoever is strong. As the leader of the Mongolians, Lin Danhan naturally respects Lin Danhan as the leader. However, Lin Danhan has always wanted to unify Mongolia by force, which makes these tribes miserable.

During the time of Nurhaci, the Later Jin army often sent troops to Mongolia to attack the various tribes on the left wing of Chahar. In theory, as the ruler of Mongolia, Lin Danhan had the responsibility and obligation to protect these weak tribes and provide timely rescue and fight against them when the Later Jin army sent troops.

But the problem is that Lindan Khan's thinking is different from that of normal people. Every time these tribes asked Lindan Khan for help, Lindan Khan agreed verbally but did not take any actual action. He planned to profit from the conflict between the two sides and sat back and watched these tribes being attacked by the Later Jin.

When the war was over, Lindan Khan suddenly sent out troops again, taking advantage of the situation to either annex those small tribes that had suffered heavy losses or plunder their herdsmen's cattle and sheep.

How could anyone accept that a great Khan actually did such a thing? After several times, these tribes were extremely disappointed with Lin Danhan and even resented him. In addition, the Later Jin used both military oppression and conciliatory means, and Nurhaci was good at using marriage to win over the tribes. Over time, they naturally turned to the Later Jin.

After the Battle of Aomulun, the Dorote tribe was almost destroyed, but Ligdan Khan remained indifferent after the war, which made many tribes more disunited.

Now Huang Taiji was leading the way, raising the flag and shouting: "Your boss, Lin Dan Khan, is an idiot. You will only continue to be unlucky if you follow him. You might as well follow me. As long as you follow me, you will get a lot of gold bills and cattle and sheep. After driving Lin Dan Khan away, I don't want any inch of Chahar territory. I will give it all to you. As long as you recognize me as your big brother, will you come? If you are coming, please shout quickly. Don't miss the opportunity if you pass by. It will never come again!"

Since Huang Taiji was the leader and made such generous promises, who wouldn't be tempted? Besides, in the eyes of these Mongols, the credibility of the Later Jin was much better than that of the fickle Lin Dan Khan, and Huang Taiji was more generous than Nurhaci and seemed more reliable.

What's more important is that the Eight Banners under Huang Taiji are capable of fighting. Even the elite cavalry directly under Lindan Khan lost more than they won when facing the Eight Banners. Instead of continuing to follow Lindan Khan's sinking ship, it would be better for them to switch to Huang Taiji's new ship. Even if Huang Taiji's promises are not fully fulfilled in the end, as long as half of them are fulfilled, it will be enough for them.

For a time, all the tribes privately expressed their willingness to follow Huang Taiji. They patted their chests and turned their guns to fight with their former big brother, driving the former big brother away, robbing people, cattle, sheep, and territory. The good days of eating and drinking well were just around the corner.

With the addition of these tribes, Huang Taiji's chances of conquering Chahar were suddenly much greater. At this time, Lin Danhan was still busy fighting among his own people.

After the Dorote tribe was defeated by Huang Taiji, the Naiman and Aohan tribes of the eight Otog tribes under Ligdan Khan were wavering between the forces of Ligdan Khan and Huang Taiji, fearing that they would be the first to suffer the next time Huang Taiji continued to advance westward.

To this end, they began to contact Huang Taiji privately, not to betray Ligdan Khan, but to mediate the conflict between Huang Taiji and Ligdan Khan.

Without Ligdan Khan's consent, they sent people to Shenyang to meet Huang Taiji and proposed peace between Mongolia and the Qing Dynasty. The most important point was that they hoped Huang Taiji would not continue to use military force against Chahar. They would also persuade Ligdan Khan to no longer be hostile to the Qing Dynasty. It was not good to always fight wars and kill so many people. Wouldn't it be better for both sides to shake hands and make peace and be happy friends?
After hearing their naive words, Huang Taiji found it funny. At the same time, he also understood the concerns of the Naiman and Aohan tribes. They were simply worried that the war would break out again and they would be the first to be involved.

Huang Taiji directly rejected the request for peace talks, and instead proposed that Naiman and Aohan join his alliance and turn their guns to fight against Ligdan Khan. As long as they nodded in agreement, Huang Taiji promised to treat them equally and give them part of the Chahar grassland that originally belonged to Ligdan Khan after he drove Ligdan Khan away.

Huang Taiji's answer disappointed them very much. They had no intention of betraying Ligdan Khan, but just wanted to maneuver between the two sides.

They had never thought of betraying Ligdan Khan or even joining Huang Taiji, so they had no choice but to return home and find other solutions.

But they never expected that when they returned, Huang Taiji secretly spread the news, and with Huang Taiji's deliberate arrangement, the news soon reached the ears of Lin Dan Khan.

Upon learning that the Naiman and Aohan tribes had gone to Huang Taiji to negotiate peace without his knowledge, Lindan Khan did not consider their difficulties at all, nor did he send anyone to find out the actual situation. He preconceivedly believed that they had betrayed him.

Without saying a word, Lin Dan Khan flew into a rage and directly sent troops to attack Naiman and Aohan. He wanted to use this method to subdue his people and at the same time kill the chicken to scare the monkey to show the other wavering tribes a lesson.

But who would have thought that what Lin Dan Khan did would lead to extremely serious consequences. After learning that Lin Dan Khan was going to attack them, the Naiman and Aohan tribes were dumbfounded and quickly sent people to Lin Dan Khan to explain. However, Lin Dan Khan was so angry at this time that he would not listen to their explanation. Not only did he not listen, he directly killed the people they sent, forcing them into a desperate situation.

Helpless, they could not cope with the attack of Lin Dan Khan by themselves, so Naiman and Aohan could only think of ways to protect themselves, and the only feasible way to protect themselves was to seek help from Huang Taiji, so they took their people to join the Qing Dynasty. In this way, under the manipulation of Lin Dan Khan, Naiman and Aohan were forced to break away from the Chahar Mongolian headquarters and run to Huang Taiji's side.

Upon learning that they had come to surrender, Huang Taiji was overjoyed and personally welcomed them, holding their hands and being very affectionate. Not only that, Huang Taiji also personally signed an alliance with them, beheaded a chicken and burned yellow paper to announce the oath to heaven and earth, saying that as long as they followed him, he would never let them down, and all previous promises would be valid, and in the future everyone would be his own people.

Upon learning that the Naiman and Aohan tribes had surrendered to Huang Taiji, Lin Danhan was furious and could only swallow his anger because he was worried that he could not defeat Huang Taiji. The consequences of this incident were extremely serious. The people of the Chahar tribes were unsettled because of this incident. In order to suppress this incident, Lin Danhan strengthened his control over the tribes and killed several people in an attempt to stabilize the internal situation. However, he never expected that it was precisely because of his actions that the tribes were greatly disappointed with Lin Danhan.

Everything was ready except for the east wind. Huang Taiji quickly formed an alliance with the Mongolian tribes and was ready to attack Ligdan Khan.

However, it will take time for the troops from various tribes to gather, and Huang Taiji also needs to make some other arrangements, but the shadow of war has already shrouded Chahar, and a war between the two sides is about to break out.

In the blink of an eye, it was July. Due to the frequent use of Linglu Drink, Emperor Tianqi's body had undergone irreversible changes.

At first, when Emperor Tianqi first drank it, his health suddenly improved. He no longer looked sick as before, and both his complexion and spirit seemed to have returned to normal.

But just over a month later, for some unknown reason, Emperor Tianqi suddenly fell ill again. This time the illness was completely different from the last time. He was swollen, weak, nauseous, vomiting, and had diarrhea.

These symptoms were clearly heavy metal poisoning, but the doctors at the Imperial Medical Bureau could not find out what the disease was. As time went by, Emperor Tianqi's condition became more and more serious.

Entering July, the health condition of Emperor Tianqi became even worse and he was almost bedridden. At this time, Emperor Tianqi already felt that his life was slipping away and that multiple medications had no effect. This made Emperor Tianqi vaguely realize that he might not be able to get through this hurdle.

Faced with this situation, Emperor Tianqi was very unwilling. He was obviously young and in good health, but because of a fall into the water, he ended up being seriously ill. Could it be that he would die like Emperor Wuzong did? End his short life?

Not willing to give in! Not willing to give in!

Since he ascended the throne, although he was the Son of Heaven, the government affairs had always been controlled by the civil service group headed by the Donglin Party. Moreover, because of them, Liaodong suffered heavy losses one after another, making the Ming Dynasty face internal and external troubles. The Ming Dynasty, which had been established for more than 200 years, was in a precarious situation.

In order to turn the tide, Emperor Tianqi had no choice but to appoint Wei Zhongxian, using him to suppress the Donglin Party and seize power from the civil service group.

Wei Zhongxian did a good job. Although Emperor Tianqi knew that he was a villain, this villain was not only loyal to him, but also daring and fighting. Under his instructions, he won over many people in the name of the eunuch party and took back most of the power. At the same time, he also suppressed the Donglin Party's original arrogance.

If nothing unexpected happens, in a year or so, Emperor Tianqi will be able to completely solve the court problems and directly solve the problem that has troubled the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty, which is the weakening of the monarchy due to the excessive power of the civil service group. At that time, he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, will be the monarch with the most power since Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, and will completely control the empire.

Apart from the court, there was also the war in Liaodong. The Tianqi Emperor first used Sun Chengzong and then Yuan Chonghuan to stabilize the situation in Liaodong, and the old slave Nurhaci also died, which was an extremely encouraging event for the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the Tianqi Emperor, as long as he continued, the problem of the Liaodong slaves would be solved sooner or later. When the external and internal troubles were completely eliminated, with his reign over the world, the Ming Dynasty would surely be able to revive in his hands.

Everything was so beautiful, but now it is about to become a bubble.

As Emperor Tianqi became seriously ill, he felt that he would soon die. Although Emperor Tianqi smelled a strong conspiracy, he no longer had the energy to judge where the problem was, let alone why he was so seriously ill.

As an emperor, while worrying about his own life and death, Emperor Tianqi was more worried about the continuation of the empire. He could not let the empire passed down by his ancestors collapse after his death, so the issue of succession was already in Emperor Tianqi's consideration, and he knew very well that a decision must be made as soon as possible, otherwise if he did not arrange everything before his death, the Ming Dynasty would fall into chaos, which he would never accept.

(End of this chapter)