How can one be Emperor Chongzhen without money?

Chapter 188 We can't let Su Tai's wife run off to surrender to Emperor Chongzhen!
The sky over the border region finally brightened.

The light pierced the ruins of Chahan Khan's court. The charred tents were still smoking, and the corpses of men and horses lay scattered on the ground. Blood seeped into the cracked earth, turning it dark brown.

Huang Taiji sat on the chair that his personal guards had just brought, on the very spot where the golden-topped tent of Hudun Tuhan had stood yesterday. Now only a charred foundation remained. His face showed no joy, as calm as ice.

Yang Guli, Tong Yangxing, and several of his trusted confidants, including Xi Fu and Fan Wencheng, stood solemnly to the side, waiting for the results of the count.

A blood-soaked Ba Ya La Zhangjing rushed over, knelt on one knee, and panted, saying, "Reporting to the Great Khan! A rough count has been conducted. The captured cattle, sheep, valuables, armor, and weapons are countless, and the surrendered tribesmen number approximately twenty thousand. However..."

Huang Taiji raised his eyelids slightly: "Speak."

The official swallowed hard and forced a smile, saying, "But... we searched the entire camp and couldn't find Consort Nangnang and Consort Sutai! It seems... it seems they ran away in the chaos!"

The scene fell silent. Yang Guli frowned, and Tong Yangxing gasped. These two women running away was a bit of a problem!
The Mongol customs are quite peculiar. Khans often assign their followers to their wives to lead—making them both wives and generals! The two most powerful wives in Huduntu Khan's harem were Nangnang Dafujin and Sutai Fujin. One led Huduntu Khan's central palace ordu, and the other led the khatun ordu—"khatun" being equivalent to empress. Sutai, leading the "empress" ordu, should logically be Huduntu's "empress," but she also had a Dafujin above her.
In short, this rule is quite strange.

Huang Taiji's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the chair, tap, tap, tap. Each tap struck a chord in people's hearts. He was silent for a moment before speaking: "Go find a few prisoners you know well, quickly."

Before long, several captured Chahar nobles and servants of the Khan's court were dragged up, trembling with fear, and knelt on the ground.

Huang Taiji didn't look at them, his eyes fixed on the brightening horizon in the distance, and asked, "Nangnang and Sutai, where did they run off to?"

A slightly bolder nobleman stammered, “Reporting to the Great Khan, Consort Nangnang… she should have gone to the southwest… her Gor'ord has four or five thousand followers who have been sent to keep an eye on the Tumet people near Kuku and Tun.”

"As for Sutai Fujin, she most likely went towards Datong Town... Her Khatun Ordo has been nomadic near Angganor outside the Datong border wall, and she also trades with Datong Town..."

At this moment, an old man with white hair and beard, dressed in a Mongolian doctor's robe, was pushed over. He was Batu, the imperial physician of Huduntu. Fan Wencheng leaned close to Huang Taiji's ear and whispered, "Great Khan, this man is Huduntu Khan's personal physician. He has been taking care of Sutai Fujin recently."

Huang Taiji's gaze then fell on Batu: "Is there something wrong with Sutai Fujin's health?"

Batu was so frightened that he lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to lift his head, and stammered, "Your...Your Majesty, please understand...Suktai's wife...she's almost two months pregnant..."

"What?!" Yanguli exclaimed involuntarily. The generals below the tent also looked at each other in bewilderment.

Who doesn't know that Hudun Tuhan couldn't have children? He took so many wives and tried for so many years, but he didn't even have a daughter, let alone a son. How come he suddenly has one now?
A cold glint flashed in Huang Taiji's eyes, and he leaned forward slightly: "Are you sure?"

Batu kowtowed repeatedly: "It's absolutely true! It was...it was when the Ming Dynasty emperor released Consort Sutai back last time that he secretly gave her the palace's secret medicine, the 'Fertility Pill'...The medicine is incredibly potent, so...so that's why Consort Sutai was able to conceive..."

“Shengzi Dan…Ming Dynasty Emperor…” Huang Taiji slowly sat up straight, feeling utterly bewildered and even sensing a strong sense of conspiracy.

"Good! Good for Chongzhen! He's really far ahead!" Huang Taiji sneered, then suddenly stood up, his mind made up.

"Yanguli!"

"Your subject is here!" Yanguli stepped forward.

"I'm giving you 1,500 elite cavalry, all in armor! Travel light, with ten days' worth of rations, and set off immediately towards Datong in the southeast! Su Tai and the child in her womb are the root of all evil! They must be eradicated! We must find them alive or dead!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I will certainly do it!" Yang Guli accepted the order and turned to muster the troops.

"Abatai!" Huang Taiji called out to another general. "Your subject is here!" Abatai bowed and replied.

"Take two thousand men and go to Kuku and Tun. Consort Nangnang doesn't have many men with her; her main force is still there. Don't launch a direct attack; focus on appeasement. Tell her that as long as she brings her followers from Gor'er'er'er to surrender, I, the Khan, will not mistreat her. I can even take her as a secondary consort and share in her glory! If she doesn't understand the situation... then you can act accordingly."

Abatai was slightly surprised. Was this Khan going to follow in the footsteps of Emperor Chongzhen and "rely on a woman's kindness"? But he immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I understand! I will certainly use both soft and hard tactics to subdue this tribe for Your Majesty!"

After assigning the troops, Huang Taiji looked at his generals and said in a deep voice, "The rest of the troops, follow me to Kukuhetun (Guihua City)! As long as we take this stronghold on the grassland, the entire southern grassland will be our territory."

The town of Datong is located about 50 li north of the Great Wall.

Governor Yuan Chonghuan, leading a thousand elite soldiers, was inspecting the newly built Zhenhai Fort.

This fortress was built on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. Why is it called "Zhenhai" (meaning "Sea-Suppressing Fortress")? It's because it's next to a large lake, which the people on the grasslands call a "haizi" (sea). The Mongols called it "Anganaor," and later it was called Daihai. Su Taifu's wife's Khatun Ordos (herds) usually grazed their livestock in this area. Yuan Chonghuan had this Zhenhai Fortress built on the shore of the lake, serving as both a military stronghold and a place to stay for trade.

The man guarding this fortress now is a member of the Ma family from Datong, named Ma Degong. He used to fight alongside Wei Zhongxian in Xuanfu, where he distinguished himself and earned a badge as a fourth-class imperial bodyguard.

That day, Yuan Chonghuan, accompanied by Ma Degong, had just stepped out of the gate of Zhenhai Fort and was about to mount his horse to return to Datong Town. It was an autumn day in the border region, the sky was high and the clouds were light, the surface of Angganor Lake shimmered, and in the distance, the yurts and cattle and sheep of Hatun Ordos could be vaguely seen.

Suddenly, the sound of thunderous hooves from the north shattered the midday silence. A sentry on watchtower outside the fort came stumbling and scrambling, his face ashen with fear, his voice trembling:
"Lord Fu...Lord Fu! Commander Ma! Two cavalry groups are coming from the north! The first group is Mongolians, and judging from their attire, they seem to be from the Khatun Ordos. They're running in a panic! And the second group is right behind them. Judging from their banners and clothes, they are...the Jurchens!"

"What?!" Yuan Chonghuan's face immediately changed upon hearing this, and he put his foot down from the stirrup. How could the Jurchen soldiers have gotten this far? This place is dozens of miles from the border wall, and it's the territory of the Hatun Ordos!
"Quick! Get to the watchtower!" Yuan Chonghuan reacted swiftly, turning around and leading Ma Degong and his personal guards back, climbing the steep wooden ladder to the watchtower in the center of the fortress.

Ma Degong quickly handed over a brass monocular telescope, a Western import that Yuan Chonghuan had someone bring from Macau; it could see extremely far.

Yuan Chonghuan took the telescope, took a deep breath, steadied his trembling hands, and peered north through it. The distant scene suddenly zoomed in: several miles ahead, dust billowed, and about twenty or thirty Mongols were desperately galloping on horseback. Men and women, dressed in fine clothes, were covered in dust and looked quite disheveled. About a mile behind, hundreds of riders were hot on their heels, all wearing familiar yellow or red cotton armor. The gold-embroidered braids at the back of their heads were faintly visible. The banner of the leading general was indistinct, but their fierce bearing clearly identified them as the elite white-armored soldiers of the Jurchens!
Yuan Chonghuan's heart sank, as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He put down his telescope, his face ashen, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

"Huang Taiji... what a scoundrel! He's treacherous and untrustworthy, resorting to such a despicable sneak attack!" He practically spat out these words through gritted teeth. He instantly understood: the Jurchens had bypassed direct confrontation and sent elite troops on a long-range raid, their target the Chahar Khanate! Judging by this, Hudun Tu Khan was likely in grave danger, and those being pursued were most likely important figures in the Khatun Ordos, perhaps even... Sutai Fujin herself!
"Something terrible has happened!" Yuan Chonghuan turned around abruptly and gave the order in rapid succession:

"Quickly dispatch fast horses! One to Datong Town to report to General Li that the Jurchen elite cavalry has appeared north of Angganor, and there is a fear that a large enemy force is following behind. Order the entire town to be on high alert and light the beacon fires! The other to send an alarm towards Xuanfu!"

"Understood!" The captain of the personal guards immediately arranged for two elite night scouts to ride out of the fortress with the command token.

"Mahjong!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Ma Degong stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Gather all the cavalry in your fort and send them out to provide support immediately! Don't engage the Jurchens in a direct confrontation; use arrows to block them and make sure to bring those Mongols back to the fort! Remember to find out their origins and what happened ahead!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" Ma Degong, a fierce general from the Ma family of Datong, did not hesitate and turned around to rush down the watchtower to gather his men.

Yuan Chonghuan remained on the watchtower, raising his telescope once more to intently watch the distant movements. His heart pounded, not only because of the immediate crisis, but also because he realized that the situation in the north was about to change completely. Huang Taiji's move signified that the Later Jin had changed its mind; they were no longer targeting Jizhou and Liaodong, but instead were heading west to swallow up Southern Mongolia whole!
Datong and Xuanfu may soon face the even more powerful Later Jin army after annexing Southern Mongolia!
The fortress gates roared open, and Ma Degong, leading over two hundred Ming cavalry, charged out of Zhenhai Fortress like an arrow, heading towards the dust cloud to the north. The sound of hooves pounded against everyone's tense nerves.

Yuan Chonghuan watched Ma Degong's departing figure, then glanced at the approaching pursuers, and silently prayed, "Hopefully... it's not too late!"

(End of this chapter)