Dream of the Red Chamber: I can upgrade my entries!

Chapter 63 Meeting the Father-in-Law: The Jia Family's Once Glorious Moment!
Datong, a corner of the prisoner-of-war camp, inside a white felt tent.

"Abu."

"What do you think he means?"

"If we hadn't switched sides at the last minute, would Daqian have won so easily?"

"You've kept us locked up here for so many days without asking us anything. If you're going to kill us or torture us, at least give us a heads-up."

The straightforward Batel made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with Jia Yan, muttering incessantly.

"Big brother."

"Don't be impatient."

“The Great Qian is different from the grasslands. Such a big matter cannot be decided by him alone.”

Na Risong, who knew something about the Qian Dynasty, spoke up to appease Batel.

The Khorchin leader, Surileheke, sat cross-legged on the ground covered with a blanket, seemingly unmoved by external affairs.

‘Wow! ’

Suddenly, the tent curtain was lifted, and a tall figure walked in. He was handsome with sharp, chiseled features, instantly attracting the attention of the father and his two sons. They recognized him at a glance as Jia Yan.

"Guard the outside and do not allow anyone to approach."

Upon entering the felt tent, Jia Yan expressionlessly gave instructions to his personal guards.

"Yes."

Without a word, several guards stood watch outside the tent, their eyes cold and their right hands always gripping the hilt of their swords.

"You're finally here."

Batel stared at Jia Yan with a displeased expression.

"Brother-in-law."

That day, Song showed a gentle expression and welcomed Jia Yan's arrival.

"Ah."

Nodding slightly, Jia Yan had a general impression of his two brothers-in-law.

Batel is brave and strong, but reckless, making him suitable for charging into battle. Narisong, on the other hand, is calm and deliberate, making him more suitable to be a leader.

"Chief Suril and Ke".

"According to the customs of our dynasty, I should address you as father-in-law."

"I have been busy with many matters these past few days and have had no time to attend to the Khorchin tribe. I would like to apologize for that."

Looking at the middle-aged man at the head of the table, Jia Yan made his stance clear.

"It doesn't matter."

Surile and Kelao showed kind expressions and said with a smile, "Back then, your father and I became sworn brothers. The Khorchin tribe will always be a friend of the Jia family. I believe in you, and I believe in the Jia family even more."

"Uh..."

Upon hearing this, Jia Yan was stunned. He really hadn't expected that Jia Jing would have this kind of relationship with Su Rile and Ke.

"Can we go back to the Eastern Desert now?"

"I can't wait to ask," Batel asked.

"I came here today to talk about this."

Meeting the gazes of the three men, Jia Yan was not at all reserved. He plopped down on the lower left and said, "Father-in-law, you can't leave yet."

'what? '

Batel jumped to his feet, glaring at Jia Yan, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Surileheke and Narisong were not too surprised. After such a major battle, the defeated Khorchin tribe would naturally go to the capital to pay homage, which was a long-standing custom.

"The 60,000 Mongol cavalry, along with their armor, bows, and arrows, are all to be returned to the Khorchin tribe." "The Xilin Gol Grassland and West Ujimqin, which were occupied by the Bairin tribe, are all yours."

"From now on, the entire eastern part of the Gobi Desert will become the territory of the Khorchin tribe."

With a wave of his hand, Jia Yan made a promise that made Su Rile and his two sons, Ke, restless.

The grassland is divided into northern, southern, and eastern parts. Southern part mainly includes the area around Juyan Lake and the Hetao region. Northern part is vast with sparse vegetation. Only eastern part is rich in water and grass. Whether it is the Xilin Gol Grassland, the Hulunbuir Grassland, or the Ujimqin Basin, they are all first-class grazing areas.

Among the various Mongol tribes, apart from the Chahar tribe, the Khorchin and Bairin tribes, which were entrenched in eastern Mongolia, were the most powerful. Now, the entire eastern Mongolia region belongs to the Khorchin tribe, and the Khorchin tribe's strength will surely increase by leaps and bounds.

"what would you like?"

"I'm afraid it's not just about us dealing with the Jurchens."

That day, Song's eyes were deep, and he spoke in a heavy tone.

"Ok?"

Su Rile and Ke, along with Batel, once again focused their attention on Jia Yan.

“The ancestral land of Khorchin is now controlled by the Mongol Eight Banners of the Later Jin. I don’t believe you have no intention of taking it back.”

"The Chechen Khanate, the Tushetu Khanate, the Zasagtu Khanate, and the Bairin Khanate have all submitted to me, and their new leaders are on their way to the capital to pay homage to the Emperor."

“The old methods of governance are no longer viable. When faced with external threats, the Mongol cavalry are no longer as invincible as they were more than a thousand years ago.”

"I believe you all know about Tsarist Russia and are aware of how formidable the Jurchen army was."

With a calm expression, Jia Yan slowly began to speak.

"Tsarist Russia?"

"The Rus'?"

Surile and Ke frowned.

"It seems you have indeed encountered them, and you must have experienced the ferocity of the Cossack cavalry."

Jia Yan gave Surile and Ke a deep look and said something inexplicably.

The records of foreign states in the Qing Dynasty are far less extensive than those of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had more than 140 vassal states, while the Qing Dynasty had fewer than 10, mainly from East Asia and Southeast Asia. The maritime pilgrimage routes were blocked by the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese, not to mention the land routes.

Even with a behemoth like Tsarist Russia, the so-called understanding is merely based on clues, far less detailed than that of the Qing Dynasty in normal times.

Due to the rise of the Dzungar Khanate, Tsarist Russia's expansion into the East was not so smooth. Although the Russians occupied parts of the middle and lower reaches of the Yenisei River and the upper reaches in 1632, and established Upper, Middle and Lower Vilyuysk in the Lena River basin.

In 1638, the eleventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Tsarist Russia established the Yakutsk Governorate on the right bank of the Lena River. Centered on Yeniseysk and Yakutsk, Russia invaded the Lake Baikal region from the west and north respectively.

However, after the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty, Tsarist Russia seemed to have disappeared. There was no news from the various Mongol tribes, the Later Jin, or even the Qing Dynasty. Only through the merchants from the Dzungar Khanate who traveled to and from the Great Qian Dynasty could one vaguely learn some information.

"You do not know?"

A strange smile appeared on the faces of Su Rile and Ke.

"what do you know?"

Jia Yan always felt that there was ill intent hidden in his father-in-law's smile.

"In the sixth year of the Tiansheng era, Emperor Taizu of the Great Qian ordered Duke Ningguo Jia Yan to lead an army of 100,000 to conquer the northern desert."

"It was from that time that the Khorchin tribe and the Jia family established a deep friendship."

“Duke Ningguo Jia Yan marched north all the way to the shores of Lake Baikal, and all the Khalkha and Buryat Mongol tribes submitted to him.”

"Not only that, the Great Qian Dynasty and Tsarist Russia clashed on the shores of Lake Baikal. Three thousand Cossack cavalrymen were slaughtered by eight hundred riders from your Jia family's Black Cloud Cavalry. All of Tsarist Russia's strongholds on the west shore of Lake Baikal were eliminated."

'? ? ? '

Jia Yan knew that 'Tiansheng' was the reign title used by the founding emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, but he really didn't know that the Jia family had such a glorious period, when eight hundred cavalrymen utterly crushed three thousand Cossack cavalry.

However, he roughly understood that the transformation of the Jia family's Black Cloud Guard from a highly decorated personal guard into an underground organization was probably closely related to these long-forgotten histories, or perhaps to the royal family.

(End of this chapter)