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

Chapter 677 The Boy’s Dream

After a brief rest and replenishment, Wu Sangui led his troops to continue their march to the northeast.

About 100 miles northeast of the Khalhahetao is a traditional nomadic land. This place originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty and was the northern area of ​​the capital. It was under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty. However, later, as the Ming Dynasty's military forces took the initiative to withdraw from the grassland and returned to the south of the Great Wall, this area was abandoned.

In later generations, this place has a famous name, that is Chengde. The real name of Chengde was in the Qing Dynasty. In the 42nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, he began to build a temporary palace in Chengde. Since then, Chengde has become an important city north of the Great Wall and has been regarded as a summer resort by successive Qing emperors.

There is no such thing as a Summer Resort in Chengde today. This place doesn’t even have a real name. It is just a small town or even a village.

Due to the abundant water and grass nearby, it became a grazing area for the Mongols after the Ming Dynasty withdrew from here. Together with the villages originally left behind by the Ming Dynasty, it gradually formed a gathering place for the Kharchin and Ongniud tribes.

Around the Chengde area of ​​later generations, the Kharchin tribe was in the northwest, and the Ongniud tribe occupied the southeast, and the two tribes together controlled this grassland.

Both the Kharchin and the Ongniud were large tribes in Chahar. The former, in particular, had a population of more than 50,000 people at its peak, and its sphere of influence extended directly from Chahar to the area east of Tumed.

As early as the period of Ligdan Khan, Bushitu, who occupied Guihua City, opposed Ligdan Khan and united various tribes to fight against him. Among them, the Kharchin tribe was a supporter of Bushitu. Unfortunately, Bushitu was eventually defeated by Ligdan Khan in that battle. After the defeat, Kharchin's strength was greatly damaged, and most of its grasslands were lost. Moreover, under the repeated suppression of Ligdan Khan, the entire tribe fell from a large tribe of the Chahar tribe to the size of a medium-sized tribe.

It was also for this reason that the grasslands near Chengde were finally controlled by the Kharachin and Ongniud tribes, and the two sides had maintained such a balance for more than ten years. In order to restore the glory of the Kharachin tribe, when Huang Taiji united the Tumed tribes to rebel against Ligdan Khan, the Kharachin tribe was the first to jump out and surrender to Huang Taiji. It was also because of the Kharachin tribe's surrender that Ligdan Khan was defeated by Huang Taiji, and since then he lost the Chahar homeland and fled to Qinghai.

That’s not all. When Yuan Chonghuan was in charge of Liaodong, Kharchin also helped Huang Taiji a lot. Yuan Chonghuan sold a lot of grain to Huang Taiji through the Kharchin tribe, allowing Huang Taiji to easily survive the famine and become stronger with the grain.

It can be said that if the Kharchin tribe had not made repeated movements, Lindan Khan would never have been easily defeated by Huang Taiji in Chahar, and Huang Taiji would not have been able to obtain a large amount of food from Yuan Chonghuan so easily and thus secure his position as Khan and overcome the difficulties.

The previous Ji Si Rebellion, the subsequent grassland war, and this time when Huang Taiji repeated his old tricks, the Kharchin tribe all acted as Huang Taiji's vanguard.

Now, the Kharachin tribe has drawn a large number of young and strong cavalry to participate in Huang Taiji's new war against the Ming Dynasty, intending to bring rich benefits to the tribe through this war. The neighboring Ongniute tribe naturally saw what the Kharachin tribe did, and the Ongniute tribe was not willing to lag behind. In order to flatter Huang Taiji and not be suppressed by the Kharachin tribe, the leader of the Ongniute tribe also drew a large number of young and strong from the tribe to support Huang Taiji. Now half of the cavalry units of the two tribes are under the command of the Dorgon brothers in Baimachuan, and the other half directly attacked Xifengkou under Huang Taiji's men. Only a small number of young and strong and tens of thousands of old, weak, women and children were left in the tribe. In their opinion, this protection was enough. Now Huang Taiji's army is suppressing the Ming army, and the north is safe and sound. After the invasion of the Ming Dynasty and plundering everywhere, these gains will be enough to make the tribe stronger after the warriors who went out to fight triumphantly return.

"Bagen, when do you think Aha and the others will be able to come back?" On a ranch near Chengde, the young Ulihan was riding on a horse, with the bridle placed next to the saddle, one hand holding the reins and the other holding the whip.

On his left was a Mongolian man named Bagen who was about the same age as him.

"What? Do you miss your Aha?" Bagen asked with a grin.

"Don't you miss your Abu?" Ulihan rolled his eyes at him.

Bagen drove his horse closer to Wulihan with a smile and put his arm around his shoulders: "Boy, I see you are not missing your Ah Ha, but the good things that your Ah Ha promised to bring you, right?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Ulihan refused to admit it with a stern face, but even though he was pretending to be like that, he couldn't change the change in his expression.

Bagen burst into laughter, patted his shoulder and said, "You are still being stubborn, kid. I know that your Abu promised to bring you good things this time, especially southern silk and beautiful jewelry. By the way, these things are for Baoyin, right? Tsk tsk, I heard Baoyin and my sister say that when your Abu comes back, he will propose to Baoyin's Abu for you. What? Am I right?"

"I...I..." After all, Ulihan was a young man, or just a teenager who had not yet completed the recognition. What Bagen said was right. His Aha did promise Ulihan that he would bring him good things from the Ming Dynasty after the war and propose marriage to Baoyin's Abu on his behalf.

Wulihan has been in love with Baoyin for a long time. As early as when they were children, Baoyin was their playmate. As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful. In Wulihan's heart, Baoyin's face was more attractive than the colorful clouds in the sky, which touched his heart even more. Baoyin also liked Wulihan, who was tall and straightforward. The two teenagers had already decided to spend their lives together in private. One would not marry anyone but the other, and the other would not marry anyone but the other. It can be said that they loved each other.

However, in order to get together, according to Mongolian customs, the elders must propose marriage and offer a gift, which can be cattle, sheep, or property. Only after the other party's parents agree can Ulihan officially marry his beloved woman.

Ulihan's father had passed away. He died in the war with Ligdan Khan. Ulihan also had an older brother, Aha, who was ten years older than Ulihan. After his father passed away, Aha had been taking care of Ulihan, like a brother and a father.

As his younger brother grew older, the older brother could naturally see what the boy was thinking. Moreover, Baoyin's family and Ulihan's family were very familiar with each other. In the eyes of the older brother, a beautiful girl like Baoyin was certainly worthy of his younger brother, and he was even more happy that they could be together.

Not long ago, the tribe's Taiji received an order from Huang Taiji to mobilize the tribal warriors to follow the Qing Emperor to attack the Ming Dynasty.

Before, the Kharchin tribe had followed Huang Taiji to invade the Ming Dynasty. That war brought a lot of benefits to the tribe, including the warriors who followed him to the battle. Who did not gain a lot when they returned to the tribe? Many of the rare items looted from the Ming Dynasty were things that these Mongols had never seen in their lives.

In order to put a perfect end to his brother's marriage, Wulihan, as the elder brother, promised Wulihan that he would help him propose marriage to Baoyin's family when he returned. Wulihan originally wanted to go to war with his brother. He was not young anymore. Although he was not yet an adult, he was already the best rider and archer among the young men in the tribe. In his opinion, the cowardly Ming people in the south were like lambs on the grassland, and they could not stop the iron hoofs of the Mongols. If he could go to war with them, he would definitely gain something. Wouldn't it be better to propose marriage with the looted property?

Unfortunately, his request was rejected by Aha, and he had no choice but to stay in the tribe. As the days passed, Wulihan didn't know how his Aha was doing in the south. Did he and other tribal warriors attack the heartland of the Ming Dynasty? Did they defeat the Ming army and make them flee in panic? Did they have a lot of harvest?

That must be the case!
Wulihan thought confidently, with a bright smile on his face. His Aha was the bravest warrior in the tribe, his horsemanship and archery were unmatched, and the sword in his hand was also captured in the last battle with the Ming army, and it was extremely sharp.

He glanced at the knife on his waist. This knife was the one Aha brought back for him last time. Although the knife was not thick and looked light when wielded, its sharpness was far beyond the sabers used by ordinary Mongolian herdsmen.

It was strange to say that the cowardly Ming people were not good at fighting, so how could they make such good weapons? There were also exquisite silks and all kinds of good things, which were completely wasted in the hands of the Ming people. In Wulihan's view, these things were only qualified to be owned by Mongolian warriors like them. The whole world should not be allowed to be occupied by the Ming Dynasty. They, the Mongolians, were the masters of the world. One day, they would be like their ancestor Genghis Khan, trampling on the Central Plains, turning all the good fields of the Ming people into Mongolian pastures, and all their property would become Mongolian property.

Thinking of this, Wulihan's face showed pride and expectation. Bagen, who was standing by, had no idea what he was thinking just now and thought that he was worried about his marriage with Baoyin.

Bagen and Ulihan are friends who grew up together. His Abu also went with the tribe on this expedition, but Bagen did not have as many expectations as Ulihan. Although it would be great to win the battle and come back with a lot of rewards, in Bagen's heart, Abu's safe return is the most important thing, and everything else can be put aside.

The two friends chatted and laughed as they drove the sheep to continue grazing. When it was afternoon, they looked up and saw that the sun was getting late. They were more than ten miles away from the tribe, so it was time to go back.

Just as the two were about to call on the other partners who came out to graze together and were about to drive the flock back, Bagen, who was looking to the west, was suddenly stunned. He squinted his eyes as if he was looking at something.

"Bagan! What's wrong?"

"Look! What's that over there?"

"there?"

"West!"

Wulihan looked in the direction that Bagen pointed. Because it was afternoon, the sun had gradually set in the west. Looking over there, the sunlight was very dazzling. Wulihan raised his left hand to cover his eyes and squinted to look carefully.

(End of this chapter)