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

Chapter 562 Political Marriage
When Xu Xiancheng took office as governor, Zhu Shenzui had returned to Guihua City for nearly half a month.

Compared to when he left, Guihua City is now very different. With the stability of the Tumed tribes and the removal of the threat from the west after the death of Ligdan Khan, Guihua City, which has experienced several wars, has once again become the most important city on the grassland. Moreover, its location and route happen to be in the core of the grassland, making it an important thoroughfare connecting the east and the west and the north and the south.

With the help of the people left by Zhu Shenzhui, Tana ruled Guihua City and encouraged all tribes to trade in Guihua City, which made the business of Guihua City prosperous. Now Guihua City is not only an important city on the grassland, but also the center of grassland trade. Here, the Mongols can not only sell their cattle, sheep and other resources, but also exchange them for various scarce goods from Ming Dynasty.

Although these goods are ordinary, most of them are necessary for the daily life of the Mongolians, and the prices are very reasonable. Trade in Guihua City is both safe and convenient. In less than a year, Guihua City has prospered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the City Lord's Mansion, Zhu Shenzhu was half lying on the couch, holding a scroll in his hand and looking at it carefully. Beside him was Tana.

Zhu Shenzhui took so long to come back this time, which made Tana very worried. Although Tana also learned on the grassland that Zhu Shenzhui was delayed because of the invasion of Jiannu, and later he wrote a letter asking Wang Hai to go to Daming, this letter was also to bring peace to Tana. But the couple had been separated for nearly a year, and Tana, who had naturalized, missed him very much.

"Stop looking at it!" Seeing Zhu Shenzhui holding the scroll and reading it non-stop, Tana reached out and took it from him, then threw it aside: "What's the point of looking at this account book? The managers and accountants of the business you left behind have done a good job. Besides, it's not like I don't understand these things. I've already reviewed them. There's no point in looking at them any more."

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and did not refute. Although the people who stayed in Guihua were arranged by him and they were also trustworthy old people in the company, as the "boss", necessary review was still needed, even if they had to make a gesture.

After all, human hearts are unpredictable. No one can guarantee that even the most loyal subordinates will not become greedy if they are not supervised under the trend of huge interests. Although Tana has been tempered, the last time he was away was nearly a year. He was away for such a long time, and now the naturalization is developing so rapidly. How can he not understand the situation carefully after he comes back?
But what Tana said was not wrong. She said she had already checked it and Zhu Shenzhui did not find any problems when he opened it just now. This made Zhu Shenzhui quite satisfied.

"By the way, Namu Zhong has sent someone again. What are your plans for this woman?" Tana leaned against Zhu Shenzhui and couldn't help asking. Before, when Wang Hai returned to Ming Dynasty, Tana asked Wang Hai to bring a letter to Zhu Shenzhui, informing him of the struggle for the Khan position within the tribe after the death of Lindan Khan, and also mentioned Namu Zhong's intention to marry Zhu Shenzhui.

"What? Are you jealous?" Seeing Tana's slightly anxious expression, Zhu Shenzhui asked back with a smile.

"Hehe, I'm not a woman from the Ming Dynasty. This kind of thing is very common in our Mongolia. Besides, if you marry Namu Zhong, I will still be your first wife. Even if she becomes the mother of the Khan, she will still call me sister. How can I be jealous?"

Tana's bright eyes flickered as she continued to say to Zhu Shenzhui, "I think this is a good thing. If I had opposed it, I wouldn't have asked Wang Hai to bring you the letter. News came from the west that Namu Zhong and Su Tai, the mother of Erkong Golo Ezhe, were fighting fiercely. They almost tore off their last bit of face for the position of Khan."

"But I heard that Su Tai seems to be better. After all, she has been the first wife for many years, and Erkong Guoluo Ezhe will be an adult in a few years. Abunai is only three years old now and can't even speak clearly. Naturally, she has an advantage in this aspect."

"She sent someone here now, she must be a little overwhelmed by Su Tai's pressure. If you marry her now, then Su Tai will no longer be a problem, and her son will be able to win the fight."

"According to you, you still want me to marry this woman?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

Tana nodded generously. This kind of thing is really nothing in Mongolia, not to mention that political marriage has existed since ancient times. After the death of Lin Dan Khan, the two sons he left behind were the most suitable heirs. Compared with Erkong Golo Ezhe, Abunai was more suitable for the Tenger tribe. Moreover, Namu Zhong was willing to marry Zhu Shenzhui. Once the two got married, Abunai would become Zhu Shenzhui's stepson and could exercise the power of the Khan in the name of regent. This would be of great benefit to the Tenger tribe, including Tana's eldest son Tenger.

However, Zhu Shenzhui shook his head. He had been thinking about this matter carefully since Tana asked Wang Hai to bring him a letter. On the surface, Zhu Shenzhui did have many benefits in marrying Namu Zhong. Not only could he control the next Mongolian Khan, but he could also bring great benefits to the Tenger tribe.

Political marriage meant nothing to Zhu Shenzhui. If necessary, he could marry the young Namu Zhong, or even the older Su Tai.

Isn't this the case for all those who have accomplished great things in history? And there are countless successful people who married other people's wives or even widows. The most famous one is Cao Cao Aman in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The so-called Aman likes other people's wives is simply nonsense. Cao Cao is indeed lustful. Which man is not lustful? The saints have said that "food and sex are also surnames." But it is wrong to say that Cao Cao only likes other people's wives. Most of the wives (widows) Cao Cao married had political purposes. He used this method of marriage to win over various forces and use them for his own benefit.

Not only Cao Cao himself, but also his son Cao Pi was like this. The same reason why Cao Pi married Zhen Mi was that he wanted to use the political legacy of Yuan Shao after his death and his second son Yuan Xi for his own use.

In addition to the famous Cao Cao and his son, the same was true for Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. Li Shimin first married the widow Wei with her daughter and her cousin (also a widow). That was because he wanted to win over the Wei family in Guanzhong, thereby strengthening his own strength to fight for the world.

When he was 32 years old, Li Shimin specially married the queen of the previous dynasty, Xiao, who was already 63 years old. According to seniority, Li Shimin should call her cousin, but he still did so. Is Xiao, 63 years old, really a beauty?

Even if Xiao was beautiful when she was young, a 63-year-old woman is no longer young. How can a beauty in her old age compare to a delicate young woman? The reason for this is that Li Shimin had just seized the throne after the Xuanwu Gate Incident. Because he killed his brother and imprisoned his father, he was not stable after ascending to the throne. Xiao was the queen of Li Guang. Although Li Guang had long lost his country and died, there were still many nobles who missed the previous dynasty in the newly founded Tang Dynasty. Marrying Xiao could appease these nobles and show the world an attitude. There was very little emotional aspect in this marriage, and it was more important for politics.

Let’s not talk about the distant past, let’s talk about the more recent ones, such as the Ming Dynasty of the Zhu family, where this kind of situation also happened.

Zhu Yuanzhang's second son Zhu Chong, who later became the King of Qin, married a Mongolian woman. This woman was the sister of the famous Wang Baobao, and later became Minmin Temur, one of the important heroines mentioned by Jin Yong in his martial arts novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, whose Chinese name was Zhao Min.

Minmin Temur was the daughter of a Mongolian prince and the younger sister of Wang Baobao. In order to win over Wang Baobao and the Mongolian tribes, Zhu Yuanzhang arranged a marriage between Minmin Temur and his second son Zhu Chong after capturing her. In fact, Minmin Temur did not want to marry Zhu Chong at that time because she was already married, but for political purposes, Zhu Yuanzhang still forced the two to get married and canonized Minmin Temur as the Queen of Qin.

More recently, there was Bu Shitu, the former King of Shunyi. This guy married Sanniangzi despite her objections in order to obtain the throne of Shunyi. Did he really intend to marry his nominal "great-grandmother"? The answer is of course no.

Bu Shitu married Sanniangzi only for the throne of Shunyi King and to confirm his title as the leader of Tumote Grassland. This was also a political marriage. So Tana not only did not object to this matter, but was also very enthusiastic about it, because once Zhu Shenzhu married Namu Zhong, there would be many benefits.

However, Zhu Shencui did not think so. Although Namu Zhong was very tempting to him, he also knew the benefits of marrying Namu Zhong. But after deep thought, Zhu Shencui thought of an important issue, which was the ownership and inheritance of the Mongolian Khan's throne.

Since Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire began to appear on the historical stage. After Genghis Khan's death, the Mongol Empire reached its peak during the reign of Kublai Khan after four great khans, namely Ogedei Khan, Guyuk Khan, Mongke Khan and Kublai Khan.

After destroying the Southern Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty and ascended the throne of the Yuan Dynasty, thus combining the Mongolian Khan and the throne into one, and began the Mongolian rule in the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years.

After Zhu Yuanzhang raised his army in the south and unified the south, he marched north to the Central Plains and eventually drove the Mongols out of the Central Plains. After several major wars, especially the Battle of Buir Lake, the lingering small Northern Yuan Dynasty was completely destroyed. From then on, the Golden Family no longer had the crown of "emperor" and fell from the high throne, no longer having its former glory.

Although he lost the crown of emperor, he still retained the title of Great Khan of Mongolia. From this point of view, the Great Khan of Mongolia has existed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. However, with the passage of time, due to the internal divisions and struggles among the Mongols, as well as external factors, the title of Great Khan of Mongolia was no longer worthy of its name in the hands of Ligdan Khan. Apart from being a nominal leader of Mongolia, he, as the Great Khan, could not command all Mongols.

This is also the reason why Lin Dan Khan launched many wars after he succeeded to the throne, intending to unify Mongolia again by force. Unfortunately, Lin Dan Khan, who was ambitious but incompetent, not only failed to do so, but because of his repeated outrageous actions, he was eventually betrayed by his friends and relatives, and even lost his old nest in Chahar. He also failed to capture Tumed, so he fled westward and eventually died in Qinghai due to smallpox.

After the death of Lindan Khan, the position of Great Khan became vacant, which led to the current situation where his two sons are fighting for the Khan position. Once the winner is finally decided, it means that the Mongols will soon have another Great Khan. Although the Great Khan of Mongolia is no longer worthy of the title, the Great Khan is still the Great Khan. As long as this Khan position exists, who can guarantee that Mongolia will not change in the future? Will another hero appear to unify Mongolia again?
(End of this chapter)