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

Chapter 541 Confirmation of Marriage
After returning to the mansion, he kowtowed to Zhu Shenzui respectfully and paid his respects to him. Zhu Shenzui helped him up and looked Wang Hai up and down.

The skinny boy back then has now become a real man. Wang Hai is now about the same height as Zhu Shenzhui, but he looks stronger. He has a slightly dark face with a broken beard, and his facial features are straight and smiling. Because of his identity and status in the tribe over the years, Wang Hai has a faint aura, and his long years of martial arts training make him look even more sturdy.

"Did you have a smooth journey?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a friendly smile as he took Wang Hai's hand and sat down.

"My Lord, I am sorry to have worried you. I have been safe all the way." Wang Hai replied, and then took out a letter from his arms and handed it over: "This is the letter that the mistress asked me to bring to you."

"Thank you for your hard work." Zhu Shenzui took the letter without reading it, put it aside for the time being, and casually asked about the situation on the grassland.

Wang Hai told Zhu Shenzui everything he knew about his situation and immediately told him in detail about what happened after he left the grassland.

Wang Hai told Zhu Shenzui that the current situation in Tumed is good. With Bu Shitu and Lin Danhan returning to Changshengtian one after another, the Tenger tribe moved into Guihua City. After a series of operations by Zhu Shenzui, the Tenger tribe has now become the real master of the Tumed grassland.

Long before Zhu Shenzhui returned to the Ming Dynasty, the situation in Tumed had stabilized, and Tenger's status was recognized and supported by other tribes. During the time when Zhu Shenzhui was away from the grassland, there were no major changes. Although some minor problems occurred, they were quickly resolved with the joint efforts of Wang Hai and Tana. Now the Tenger tribe has a solid foundation and its prestige in Tumed is getting higher and higher.

However, Wang Hai told Zhu Shenzhui that there were two more difficult issues at the moment. One was the attitude of the Chahar tribes towards the Tumed. When Ligdan Khan was driven away from Chahar by Huang Taiji, the Chahar tribes threw themselves into the arms of the Jiannu and became Huang Taiji's running dogs.

At the end of last year, Huang Taiji and the Chahar tribes attacked the Ming Dynasty. Although they did not take the capital, they turned the capital upside down. Later, they were forced to withdraw their troops due to Sun Chengzong's tactical adjustment and suffered some losses, but they gained a lot from the Ming Dynasty this time. Apart from Huang Taiji, who gained the most, the Chahar tribes who followed him were also the ones who gained the most.

The property and people looted from the Ming Dynasty greatly enriched the strength of the Chahar tribes, making them more powerful. Moreover, they felt that they had Huang Taiji as their backing, and their confidence swelled and they became a little carried away.

These days, the Chahar tribes seemed to have the intention of fighting the Tumed. According to the news from Chahar, these tribes were extremely dissatisfied with the Tengger tribe replacing Bushitu. In their opinion, the Tengger tribe was not qualified to be the leader of the Tumed, especially since Tengger was not a descendant of the Golden Family, and it was not legitimate for him to occupy Guihua City. They intended to instigate the Tumed tribes and move westward.

In addition, there were some changes in the Ligdan Khan's tribe in the west. Although Ligdan Khan had died, Mongolia had no nominal Khan since his death. As the smallpox epidemic gradually subsided, the remaining Ligdan Khan's tribe, especially his two sons, split into two factions under their respective supporters.

Among them, Erkong Golo Ezhe was the eldest son, and his biological mother was Sutai, the eldest wife of Ligdan Khan. Abunai was the youngest son of Ligdan Khan, and his biological mother was Namu Zhong, the wife that Ligdan Khan loved the most.

When Lin Dan Khan died, his eldest son Erkong Golo Ezhe was only 13 years old, and his youngest son Abunai was only two years old. One of them was a teenager, and the other was just a baby. However, due to their status, as the two sons of Lin Dan Khan, they were both qualified to compete for the position of Khan, so with the support of their respective mothers, they won over Lin Dan Khan's old generals and began to compete for the Khan position.

It stands to reason that the eldest son, Erkong Golo Ezhe, is more qualified to succeed the throne, especially since his mother is the first wife of Ligdan Khan and has a high status. But Abunai's mother, Namu Zhong, is not a pushover. Namu Zhong was born in the Abagha tribe and her surname is Borjigit. This shows that Namu Zhong was born into a noble family and has collateral blood of the Golden Family.

The two sides are now fighting fiercely, both wanting to inherit the throne of Ligdan Khan, but because they are evenly matched, they can never defeat the other and cannot achieve final victory.

Moreover, after the death of Lin Dan Khan, the smallpox incident also occurred, and the remaining forces of Lin Dan Khan were greatly weakened, and they had long lost their original confidence and strength. Both sides were worried that the fishermen would benefit from the quarrels between the snipe and the clam, so they did not dare to fight directly. Once the civil strife broke out and the foreign enemy took advantage of the situation, then even if they won the Khanship, it would be useless.

So the situation came to a standstill for a while. Although the internal fighting was fierce, they remained consistent in external matters. In order to win the support of various tribes, the two sides used various means and even sent people to Tumed to win the support of the Tengger tribe.

Zhu Shenzui had not expected this situation. Logically speaking, the fundamental reason why Lindan Khan was defeated and fled to Tumed and had no choice but to go to Qinghai was that the Tenger tribe took action to eliminate Lindan Khan's southern army, which resulted in Lindan Khan's failure to directly defeat Bushitu's troops, and finally the battle between the two sides reached a stalemate.

Finally, due to the help of the Tenger tribe and the weather, Ligdan Khan was forced to give up his intention to occupy Tumed and led his troops across the Tumed territory to Qinghai, where he died of smallpox the following year.

From this point of view, the defeat of Lindan Khan had a lot to do with the Tenger tribe. If it were not for the Tenger tribe, Lindan Khan might have gained a foothold in Tumed. With the power and territory of Tumed, he could continue to deal with Huang Taiji, and even regroup and fight back to Chahar one day in the future. Unfortunately, all this came to nothing after the Tenger tribe took action. In the end, Lindan Khan also passed away in this way, and there was no possibility of revenge and returning to Tumed. Now, after Lindan Khan's death, Lindan Khan's two wives competed for the Khanship for their sons, and even intended to win over the Tenger tribe as foreign aid. It has to be said that it is quite surprising.

But if you think about it carefully, it is normal. The Mongolians think differently from the Han people. Mongolians are born to worship the strong. Moreover, in the Mongolian tribes, it is very common that you hit me today and I hit you tomorrow. Today we are enemies and tomorrow we are relatives.

Besides, survival is the first priority for the Mongolians. Before survival, everything else can be put aside. Moreover, it is very common for the Mongolian tribes to annex each other. Hasn't the Mongolians survived like this for hundreds of years? So it is natural for the widow and son of Lin Danhan to do this.

"What did their people say?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Wang Hai replied: "It's nothing more than showing goodwill and winning over, but Namu Zhong wrote a letter to the mistress, and the mistress seemed a little unhappy after reading it. The mistress didn't say what was written in the letter, and I didn't dare to ask more..."

At this point, Wang Hai glanced at the letter from Tana that Zhu Shenzhu had placed aside. Zhu Shenzhu immediately understood what Wang Hai meant. Perhaps Tana would have the answer in the letter to him.

After chatting for half an hour and giving a general account of the situation on the grassland, Wang Hai asked Zhu Shencui if there was anything that made him return to Daming this time? He had heard about what happened in Daming on the grassland, and he was especially worried when he learned that Zhu Shencui had actually taken people to the capital and even participated in the battle to defend the king.

If Zhu Shencui had not specifically told Wang Hai not to bring troops to the Ming Dynasty without his order, Wang Hai, who was worried about Zhu Shencui's safety, would have even planned to bring Mongolian cavalry to the capital to rescue Zhu Shencui.

Fortunately, he did not do so. Otherwise, what would it mean if several thousand Mongolian cavalry entered the Ming Dynasty? What would the consequences be? The whole world would be shocked, and Zhu Shenzhui would have no other way out except to rebel immediately.

"There must be something good about asking you to come here." Seeing Wang Hai asking this, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but laugh.

"Master, if you give me any orders, I will serve you, even if it means death!"

Waving his hands, Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile: "It's not that serious, and there's no need to risk one's life. By the way, you haven't seen Qiao'er for a while, right? Qiao'er has been thinking about you."

"Qiao'er?" Wang Hai was stunned. The figure of Qiao'er flashed through his mind in an instant and a smile appeared on his face.

Since he followed Zhu Shenzhui back to the Ming Dynasty, except for the initial stay in Wangjia Village for a period of time, he moved to Zhu's house.

During these years in the Zhu family, he and Qiao'er can be said to be childhood sweethearts. The age difference between them is not much, and because of Qiao'er's identity, Wang Hai not only has the care for Qiao'er as a young master, but also gradually develops a brother-sister relationship. As he grows older, this feeling has other meanings. Young people are all in love for the first time, and it is inevitable that they will have fantasies. However, Wang Hai knows that he is just a slave, and he is more grateful to Zhu Shenzhu for his cultivation and reuse of him. Although he has a good impression of Qiao'er in his heart, he never dares to express it, but just hides it silently.

Lowering his head, Wang Hai said, "It is true that I have not seen the young master for a long time. I wonder how the young master is doing recently?"

"This girl is doing well. I haven't seen her for more than a year. She has grown up a lot. Now she is a big girl. By the way, when I saw her a few days ago, she was still talking about you."

"As long as the young master is well..." Wang Hai replied softly. He hadn't seen Qiao'er for a long time. In his memory, it was a long time ago. Now Zhu Shenzhui said that she was already a big girl. Wang Hai was very happy, but also a little bitter, because he knew that Qiao'er had grown up, and girls of this age also have to face marriage. Maybe it won't be long before he will hear the news of Qiao'er getting married?

Although he was reluctant, Wang Hai was happy if Qiao'er could find a good home. However, if so, the possibility of seeing Qiao'er again in the future would be very rare.

(End of this chapter)