Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 227: Which emperor is real and which is fake? The ministers pretend to be unable to tell

Northwest, Dunhuang City.

The temples of Mogao Grottoes were filled with the sound of Zen and a peaceful scene. The eminent monks from the Western Regions and the Dharma King of U-Tsang gathered together and would hold the "Great Fasting Ceremony for the Universal Salvation of Saints and Ordinary People in the Dharma Realm" in three days, which is the largest Dharma Assembly in Buddhism.

The water and land ceremony usually lasts for seven days and nights, and is divided into the inner altar and the outer altar. The inner altar is the core of the entire ceremony, and mainly includes rituals such as setting up a boundary, issuing talismans and hanging banners, inviting people to the upper hall, offering food to the upper hall, announcing amnesty, inviting people to leave the hall, offering food to the lower hall, granting the netherworld precepts, completing the offering, and completing the incense.

The outer altar is divided into six altars: the Great Altar, the Lotus Altar, the Pure Land Altar, the Sutra Altar, the Shurangama Altar, and the Avatamsaka Altar. Each altar has different Buddhist activities such as chanting sutras and reciting the Buddha's name.

During the ceremony, there are also steps such as sprinkling water to purify the boundary, sending envoys to set up banners, inviting the saint, bathing, making offerings, asking for forgiveness, inviting the saint to leave the hall, bathing, taking precepts, making offerings, and blessing in person, and it ends with general offerings to the saints and sending them off.

This time, in particular, was unprecedentedly grand, because there were eminent monks from India and the two great Dharma Kings from U-Tsang. Not only believers from the Western Regions, but also believers from the Central Plains and even Jiangnan came to participate in this grand event.

The Zhengtong Emperor stood on the palace tower, looking in the direction of the Mogao Grottoes, and said loudly: "I didn't expect that the two Dharma Kings of U-Tsang would really come. Hahaha, it seems that they don't want the imperial army to enter Guanxi either."

"Of course." Wu Xingdao smiled. "If the imperial army completely occupies Guanxi, then U-Tsang will be in danger. Sooner or later, the imperial court will completely control U-Tsang, and those Dharma kings will have no autonomy."

The Zhengtong Emperor looked at Wu Xingdao and praised him: "Military Advisor, you are the living Kong Ming. With just one simple move, you resolved the crisis in Guanxi. If the imperial army fails in Mobei, then our chance will come."

Wu Xingdao lowered his head. In his opinion, this was far from enough. At present, he hoped that the imperial army would fight Yesen in Mobei and both sides would suffer losses. In this way, Yesen and the imperial court would not be able to take care of the western part.

"Your Majesty, Military Advisor, there is a letter from Junshan Society." Xu Bin came upstairs with a letter.

The Zhengtong Emperor frowned slightly. Every time he received a letter from the capital, he felt that it was not a good thing. He took the letter, opened it, and quickly scanned it. His face changed drastically: "The imperial army won another great victory in Mobei and destroyed Boyan's 50,000-man army."

After Wu Xingdao took the letter and read it, he said in a deep voice: "Yu Qian, Shi Heng, plus the newly emerged Yang Guifang, the court is indeed powerful this time."

"This battle was fought by Yang Guifang's central army." Xu Bin frowned. "This Yang Guifang is the son of the former cabinet minister Yang Rong. His father was favored by three generations of emperors. How could he be so devoted to helping the false emperor?"

The Zhengtong Emperor was extremely angry: "They are all ungrateful people."

Compared to their anger, Wu Xingdao was much calmer and said, "All the civil and military officials in the court know in their hearts which emperor is real and which is fake, but do they care?"

The Zhengtong Emperor felt a chill in his heart and lost confidence in an instant. He sighed, "If this is the case, even if I return to the capital, I will be dead."

Xu Bin hesitated to speak.

He wanted to say that only by sneaking into the capital would there be hope of victory. According to the plan of the Junshan Society, quietly replacing the false emperor would be perfect if it succeeded.

"Your Majesty, Yesen's main force is intact, and the battle in Mobei has not yet been decided." Wu Xingdao smiled, "So we can't panic. Even if the court wins a great victory, we still have our plans."

The Zhengtong Emperor nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, military advisor, please stay calm. We cannot underestimate our current strength. Mr. Yuan has won another victory in Chagatai. Even if we take a step back, we can still retreat to Chagatai."

Xu Bin remained silent.

He sighed in his heart, Your Majesty is still naive. If the imperial court wins a great victory in Mobei, it will definitely develop the Western Regions. Judging from the attitude of the false emperor, he will definitely go west to compete for hegemony.

The Western Regions is a Buddhist country, but it is not a pure land.

"I should find a way to persuade His Majesty to sneak into the capital and carry out the plan of Junshan Society." Xu Bin thought to himself.

……

Mobei, Onon River, Ming army camp.

Yu Qian was reading intelligence reports. Some time ago, Yang Guifang had won a great victory in the center. When the news reached his left flank, the morale of the entire army was greatly boosted. They were eager to fight and all wanted to have a decisive battle with Yesen.

"General." Wang Yue came in and reported, "This is an urgent report from General Yang."

Yu Qian was startled, and quickly reached out to take it, opened it immediately, and after a quick glance, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Yang Guifang is a smart guy, he has a good idea, to force Naye to come out first."

"What's the good idea?" Wang Yue asked anxiously.

Yang Guifang's plan can be said to be an open one. The current situation in Mobei is that Yesen has gone into hiding and abandoned the other tribes. The grassland tribes are afraid of the Ming army and are migrating northward.

In this case, we should use Tutubuhua, who is a descendant of the Golden Family and has a certain appeal in the grasslands. Let him call on all tribes in the grasslands to convene a kurultai and re-elect the Khan of the grasslands.

The imperial court actively cooperated and said that the Ming Dynasty would form an alliance with the new Khan. From then on, the people inside and outside the Great Wall would be as close as one family, and they would start trade and there would be no more wars.

This news will definitely reach Yesen, so why shouldn't Yesen be anxious? He was a self-proclaimed Khan. He had been bullying the tribes in the grasslands for years, and the tribes had long wanted to rebel. It was because the Wala tribe was too powerful that the tribes dared not rebel.

However, the situation is different now. The imperial court has 500,000 troops in the northern desert, and they are destroying Yesen. As long as the other tribes elect a new Khan, the imperial court will not move, and they can also form alliances and start trade. Decades of war have made the grassland tribes tired, and they are eager to live a peaceful life. If they can trade with each other and exchange horses, cattle and sheep for supplies from the Central Plains, who would be willing to fight desperately?

"Tuotuobuhua is looking forward to such an opportunity." Wang Yue said as he read the letter, "General Yang is really ruthless. After this plan, Yesen will definitely not be able to hide."

Yu Qian smiled and said, "There is one more. Look at the last part. There is something even more poisonous."

Wang Yue picked up the next piece of paper and looked at it with a strange expression: "This... is too vicious, isn't it? This is not good, right? It shows that we are not honest."

At the end of the letter, Yang Guifang said that he would wait until Yesen fell into the trap before destroying Toghtobuha. It was definitely not appropriate for him and Yu Qian to send out their two armies, after all, they were allies. The most suitable army for this was Shi Heng's right army, which had fallen behind because it had tied down the Jianzhou Jurchens. At that time, Shi Heng would pretend that he knew nothing and start fighting immediately when he met Toghto.

After Toghto was annihilated, the imperial court apologized superficially and supported another Khan. This newly supported Khan did not have the foundation of Yesen and Toghto, so he had to rely on the imperial court.

In this way, the imperial court could firmly control the northern desert. The same tactics that the Yuan Dynasty used against Goryeo were applied to them. The successor Khan had to be trained in the capital of the Ming Dynasty before returning to inherit the Khanate.

"Then let's pass this good news to Tuotuo." Yu Qian smiled slyly.

"I believe their envoy will come soon." Wang Yue nodded.

……

Kuoluan Lake, the main camp of the Ming army.

Yang Guifang stood in front of the map and pondered. Recently, all the tribes on the grassland have been saying that Toghtobuhua has returned and is going to convene a kurultai to re-elect the Great Khan of Mobei.

All of this was done by him. He was looking at the map to study where Yesen would emerge from after he could not wait any longer. The Ming army could ambush in advance and destroy Yesen's main force in one battle.

"General, an old friend is here to visit." Zhu Yong walked in.

He brought with him Bolai from the Oirat tribe. Bolai looked terribly gloomy and said coldly to Yang Guifang, "General, I helped you defeat Boyan, why would you help Tuotuo?"

"Old friend, are you getting impatient?" Yang Guifang spread her hands and smiled, "Who said we want to help Tuotuo? Tuotuobuhua is too ambitious and is not fit to be the Khan of Mobei."

Bolai looked suspicious and asked, "What does it mean that you helped Tuotuo call on the tribes of the grassland to convene a kurultai?"

Yang Guifang extended her hand to invite him to sit down, then slowly poured him a cup of tea and said:

"If I remember correctly, more than two hundred years ago, Temujin unified the Mongolian tribes and held a grand assembly at the source of the Onon River, announcing the establishment of the Great Mongol Empire. He was then elected as the Great Khan and given the honorific title of Genghis Khan."

"The kurultai was the main meeting of the Mongol Empire to elect the Great Khan. Whether it was Genghis Khan himself, or the subsequent Great Khans such as Ogedei and Mongke, they all officially ascended the throne through the election of the kurultai."

"At the conference, the leaders of all tribes have an equal voice and can discuss and debate major issues. It has been more than 200 years. There must be some changes when holding the kurultai again. It doesn't have to be someone from the Golden Family. Your Alagzhiyuan can also do it."

Bo Lai was surprised and suspicious when he heard this: "Will you support Ala Zhiyuan?"

"Yes!" Yang Guifang nodded affirmatively and smiled meaningfully, "Old friend, we will still support you. His Majesty said that Bolai is the first person who sincerely allies with the Ming Dynasty. He is the most suitable Khan."

Bolai was secretly happy in his heart, but on the surface he shook his head: "I am still far from enough."

"The future is enough." Yang Guifang poured him a cup of tea and said, "The court is not confident in Tuotuo, but more confident in you. We support Tuotuo on the surface, and support you secretly, so that you can be elected in the kurultai."

Bolai was overjoyed and bowed, saying, "In that case, please tell His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty that all the tribes in Mobei are willing to respect him as the Heavenly Khan and will never go south."

"Hahaha, good, good." Yang Guifang laughed, "I'll wait for your good news."

……

Beijing, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qizhen looked at Yang Guifang's memorial, spread his hands and smiled: "This guy is really vicious. He is going to stir up a bloody storm in Mobei. He has played tricks on all three parties."

"Your Majesty, after the war, the tribes on the grassland truly respected you as the Heavenly Khan." Xu Youzhen said with a smile.

“No, no, no!” Zhu Qizhen waved his hands. “I don’t need the title of Li Er! Just give me a respectful title, and I won’t destroy them? People inside and outside the Great Wall are all my subjects. I am their emperor, not some Khan.”

The ministers were excited, believing that the battle in Mobei would soon have a result.

The Ming Dynasty will win!

(End of this chapter)