Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 84 An Intricately Linked and Watertight Plan

Offer up the pastures and support the Great Khan!
This is no longer betrayal; this is desecrating the ancestral graves of his Golden Family!
This is tantamount to handing over the entire legitimacy of Mongolia to the Jianzhou Jurchens!
Lindan Khan always thought it was just a feud between tribes.

Only at this moment did he realize with horror that behind this game of chess stood Huang Taiji's greedy and ruthless face.

And he is the commander-in-chief in this game of chess, who is about to be strangled by all the pieces!
Lin Danhan looked at the quiet letter on the table, as if he were seeing a noose slowly tightening.

Inside the tent, there was a deathly silence.

After a long while, Lin Danhan finally raised his head. The anger in his eyes had subsided, replaced by an almost deathly calm. He looked at Lu Wenzhao and slowly asked, "What does your emperor want?"

He knew that since the other party was able to deliver such crucial information—enough to determine his life or death—to him, they were definitely not there to watch a show.

Lu Wenzhao knew that the time was right.

Instead of answering directly, he asked in return, "Before answering that question, I would like to ask the Great Khan, how much time do you think you have left?"

Lin Danhan didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Lu Wenzhao's voice grew increasingly cold, as if he were reading a pre-written verdict.

"I have one last piece of intelligence here."

"The Great Khan won a battle in Abuqa, but he also turned the hearts of the people to Shengjing."

These words struck Lin Danhan like a thunderbolt, causing him to abruptly raise his head, his eyes revealing a murderous intent.

Ignoring his anger, Lu Wenzhao continued, "After the great victory in the Battle of Abuha, you, Great Khan, occupied their pastures, seized their cattle and sheep, and tried to force them to submit with swords. And what about Huang Taiji? He pretended to open the door and took in those defeated dogs in your eyes. He used what you discarded to win over your hearts."

He took a step closer, his voice lower and more penetrating:

"The delegation sent by the Kharachin tribe to Shengjing has already departed, led by four high-ranking lamas and accompanied by 220 people. They will arrive in Shengjing in early June."

"At that time, Huang Taiji will hold a grand oath-taking ceremony with them outside the city. Then, the Aohan and Naiman tribes will submit to the Later Jin and move east to the Liao River."

Lu Wenzhao paused slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife, his voice low, yet each word struck the other's heart like a thousand-pound stone.

"Great Khan, do you think this is just an ordinary alliance? No, Huang Taiji's real trump card is marriage! He is using women's connections to weave a net that will trap your Chahar tribe!"

He took a step forward, his eyes growing even sharper.

"Great Khan, please recall that as early as the 40th year of the Wanli reign, Nurhaci married the daughter of Ming'an Beile of the Khorchin tribe. That was the first wedge that the Later Jin drove into Southern Mongolia, and the first Manchu-Mongol intermarriage!"

"Two years later, in the 42nd year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, it was the Khorchin again! Zhe Zhe married the current Huang Taiji. From then on, the Khorchin, the strongest Mongol tribe, became the most loyal hound of the Later Jin, firmly holding your eastern flank in check!"

"Look at what's happened recently! Just last year, the Kharachin tribe, which is right next to you, also offered their daughter to the Later Jin! Great Khan, the Kharachin were once your bulwark, but now they have become a dagger pointed at your chest!"

Lu Wenzhao's voice carried a chill, as if he were stating an irreversible destiny.

"Khorchin, Kharachin... who will be next? Huang Taiji used these marriages, along with swords and oaths, to gradually dismantle your alliances, isolate your royal court, and ultimately unify the entire Southern Mongolia!"

"This process will not take more than two years!"

Lu Wenzhao's gaze was fixed on Da Shan, and he said, word by word:

"This is His Majesty's answer to you, and it is also the time He has left for you, Great Khan."

Lin Danhan froze completely.

The color drained from his face at a visible speed, turning him as pale as a corpse.

If the previous intelligence only made him feel the crisis, then this last piece of intelligence, with its precise details, was like an insurmountable mountain crashing down, completely shattering the last shred of hope in his heart.

He lost.

He flailed his fists in the dark like a blind man, unaware that the enemy's knife was already at his neck, waiting for the right moment to strike.

But this southerner before him, this envoy from the Southern Dynasty whom he had always looked down upon, lit a lamp for him, allowing him to clearly see the sword hanging over his head.

An unprecedented, bone-chilling cold enveloped him. Looking at Lu Wenzhao's calm face, Lin Danhan felt as if he were seeing the young emperor sitting on the dragon throne deep within the Forbidden City, watching him coldly from a thousand miles away, watching every hunter and prey on this grassland.

"Speak." Lin Danhan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all emotion had vanished, leaving only the cold rationality of a survivor in dire straits. "What does your emperor want me to do? And what... can he give me?"

A smile finally appeared on Lu Wenzhao's face.

"His Majesty does not want the Khan to do anything," he said slowly. "His Majesty only wants to help the Khan do what he himself most desires—to take revenge!"

He gently pushed the letter on the table toward Lin Danhan.

"This is a treaty prepared by His Majesty for the Great Khan."

“First, there’s the sharp blade.” Lu Wenzhao held up a finger. “The reason why Huang Taiji’s iron cavalry was able to defeat the Great Khan was simply because they outnumbered him and wore heavy armor.” “Accompanying me are enough fine steel arrowheads to arm fifty cavalrymen; this is a gift for our meeting. If the Great Khan agrees to the alliance, starting next month, ten thousand catties of fine iron will be delivered to you every month through the secret trade route of Datong border town.”

Lin Danhan's breathing became rapid involuntarily.

"Secondly, it's about revitalizing the people." Lu Wenzhao held up his second finger. "The Great Khan was defeated, and his people were scattered. What they lack most are resources to unite their hearts. Your Majesty knows that empty promises are far less substantial than a bag of grain or a brick of tea."

"Accompanying me are 50,000 taels of silver, 500 shi of military rations, 1,000 jin of tea bricks, and 3,000 jin of salt. This is His Majesty's gift to the warriors under the Great Khan."

"In the long run, what His Majesty wants to give you is the power to control the lifeline of all tribes." Lu Wenzhao's tone was calm, but every word struck Lin Danhan's heart like a hammer blow.

"The Great Khan must know where the iron pots, tea, and cloth that Huang Taiji used to win people's hearts came from. They were nothing more than Shanxi merchants sucking blood from my Great Ming like parasites, and then reselling them to him."

Lu Wenzhao smiled slightly, but his smile carried a hint of icy coldness.

"But now, those parasites, along with their families and trade routes, have been crushed by His Majesty's own hands. Huang Taiji's smuggling channels to the interior have been completely cut off! He is now like water without a source or a tree without roots."

"His Majesty will set up a special horse market for you in Guihua City. In the future, those tribes that have rebelled against you will naturally understand whose whip is the only way to survive when they find that they can no longer get a single grain of rice or a piece of iron from Huang Taiji."

Lin Danhan's fist clenched quietly under the table.

This is a powerful tool for winning people's hearts and minds, and it is the capital that allows him to take back his followers from those traitors!
"Secondly, it's about legitimizing the dynasty." Lu Wenzhao held up a third finger, his voice carrying a seductive power. "Huang Taiji wants to become the Great Khan of Mongolia, which is nothing more than trying to steal the legitimate name of your Golden Family. His Majesty says that if he wants to steal, we will not let him succeed."

"After the alliance is signed, His Majesty will immediately issue a letter of state, in the name of the Celestial Empire, to confer upon you the title of 'Prince of Chahar of Mongolia' and proclaim to the world that you are still the only legitimate Khan of Southern Mongolia."

“Finally…” Lu Wenzhao looked at Lin Danhan, his gaze becoming profound, “it’s vision.”

"From this day forward, I, and the small team I have brought, will be stationed here as His Majesty's liaison officers. All the eyes that the Embroidered Uniform Guard has placed in Shengjing, Liaodong, and the Kharachin tribe will see will become your eyes."

"You will know exactly which of Huang Taiji's princes is dissatisfied, when the Kharachin tribe will run out of food, and their next military move. Your Majesty, you will be transformed from a passive victim into a prophet who can foresee all of the enemy's actions."

A sharp weapon in military affairs, a vital lifeline in the economy, a legitimate basis in diplomacy, and a visionary ally in intelligence!

A meticulously planned and flawless scheme was thus presented to Lin Danhan.

This is not a simple aid program; it is a rebirth plan tailor-made for him, a return from hell to earth!

Lin Danhan remained silent for a long time.

His heart was in turmoil.

From the very beginning, the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty never intended to appease him or use him.

He wanted to transform this wounded lion, about to be devoured by wolves, into an unprecedented war monster equipped with sharp swords and heavy blades, possessing far-seeing eyes and keen ears, and bestowed with the name of the legitimate dynasty...

Then he was released back onto the grassland like the fiercest hunting dog, to tear apart all his common enemies.

What a terrifying method!

What a grand undertaking!
A chilling feeling of being completely seen through and manipulated by a stronger being, mixed with the ecstatic joy of escaping from a desperate situation, caused Lin Danhan's body to tremble slightly.

He looked at Lu Wenzhao, but it was as if he could already see that young emperor sitting on the nine-layered palace, using the whole world as a chessboard, coldly and precisely placing a piece.

And he, Lin Danhan, was that one.

Will you willingly be swept away from the chessboard like trash by Huang Taiji and those traitors, or... become a pawn in the hands of this terrifying player?

The answer is self-evident!

Ligdan Khan stood up, walked around the table to Lu Wenzhao, extended his right hand and firmly grasped Lu Wenzhao's shoulder, and said in a deep voice with the oldest and most solemn Mongolian etiquette: "Go back and tell your emperor that the descendants of Genghis Khan are never afraid of battle!"

A flame reignited in his eyes.

"I, Lin Dan, accept his alliance!"

Lu Wenzhao looked at him quietly, nodded, left behind half of the manpower and all the supplies, and quietly departed with Lin Danhan's oath.

In the last rays of the setting sun, Lindan Khan stood alone on the hillside beside the camp. He looked down at the tents below, which, though still dilapidated, had been relit with smoke thanks to the distribution of food and salt. He listened to the long-lost laughter of his people in the distance, and the confusion and despair in his eyes gradually faded.

Instead, there is an endless thirst for blood and revenge, like a hungry wolf in the dead of winter!

　I feel a little apprehensive, afraid of letting everyone down.

　　Tens of thousands of words of plot lines were cut, and it was revised again and again, so the update was half an hour late.

　　Good night, everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)