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Chapter 663 Far-reaching Plan
The Tumed tribe originated near the North Sea. When Genghis Khan followed them on their western expedition, they were responsible for guarding the 12 passes of the Altai Mountains, so they were called the Twelve Tumed.

After Dayan Khan unified the Mongolians south of the desert in the early 16th century, he listed the Tumed tribe as one of the households of the Right Wing of Mongolia, led by his grandson Altan Khan. He occupied the most fertile pastures near Chilechuan, built cities, controlled the households of the Right Wing of Mongolia, and squeezed out the Left Wing of Mongolia.

This period was the most glorious years of the Tumed tribe. Later, Altan Khan was proclaimed Khan and reached a tribute agreement with the Ming Dynasty. He was canonized as the King of Shunyi. From then on, the two sides started to negotiate with each other.

With the material support from the Han area, the Tumed tribe developed very rapidly. After annexing many small tribes, it expanded its influence to Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After the death of the capable Altan Khan, none of his successors could convince the people. Due to constant internal disputes over the Khanate, the tribe even split into two parts, the Western Tumed Tribe, which lived in Qinghai and was called the Western Tumed Tribe, and the Eastern Tumed Tribe, which stayed near Guihua City.

Datong Town faced the Dong Tumed tribe that stayed in Guihua City. After Altan Khan's death, this part was controlled by his eldest son, Borjigin Xinaihuang Taiji, but the one who actually made the final decision was Altan Khan's queen, Nayanchu Zhonggen Hatun, referred to as Sanniangzi.

This princess was a remarkable person. When Altan Khan was in power, she helped him in every way. When Xinai Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, she married his son and continued to be the princess. After Huang Taiji died, the Shunyi King was inherited by his eldest son Chelike, and Sanniangzi married his grandson and continued to assist him.

Marrying three generations of grandparents is strange enough, right? Don't worry, there is more to come. After Chelik died, his eldest grandson, Bushitu, succeeded him as Khan. Sanniangzi, as Bushitu's great-grandmother, became Dala Sun's bride again.

In fact, this kind of thing is not uncommon among nomadic peoples such as Mongolia and Jurchen, it is a custom. But Sanniangzi's political vision and skills are indeed very powerful. It was she who made great efforts to promote the tribute of Altan Khan. For decades, insisting on trade and peaceful coexistence with the Ming Dynasty was also her guiding ideology.

But whether it is a tribe or a country, it cannot be strong for a long time just by relying on the ability of one person. With the death of Altan Khan and Sanniangzi, the once powerful Tumed tribe also gradually fell apart.

At present, great changes are brewing in the Tumed tribe. The current Shunyi King Bushitu and Sanniangzi's grandson Sunang Taiji are at odds with each other. Bushitu advocates inheriting Sanniangzi's policy and continuing to coexist peacefully with the Ming Dynasty to recuperate.

Su Nang Taiji felt that the Mongols were born to live on cattle and sheep, and should not learn from the Han people to farm and settle down. It was too wasteful for them to allow the wealthy Ming Dynasty to rob them.

If it was just the difference in ruling philosophies between the two people, it wouldn't be the worst. The worst thing was that outsiders would intervene. The territory of the Eastern Tumed or Naturalized Tumed was sandwiched between the Kharachin and Ordos tribes, and the two tribes were incompatible in their attitudes towards the Ming Dynasty.

The Kharchin tribe was willing to trade with the Ming Dynasty and obtain the necessary materials through reasonable exchanges, and was unwilling to go south to plunder. The Ordos tribe was unwilling to learn from the Han people to make a living by farming, and insisted on going south to rob whatever they needed to maintain Mongolian orthodoxy.

Now the Tumed tribe in Guihuacheng was in a state of turmoil. Under the pull of internal and external troubles, they gradually moved to the edge of division. Some tribesmen who were used to the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral life in Guihuacheng supported Bushitu, while others, including the Western Tumed tribe in Qinghai, supported Sunang Taiji.

Although the army is strong in combat, the Mongolian Plateau is too deep. If you want to deal with the highly mobile Mongolian ethnic groups, it is not enough to rely on strong attacks. The best way is to provoke disputes within them, and then win over one faction to fight against another. Originally, Hong Tao planned to make a fuss about the Kharchin tribe, but he didn't find a breakthrough. After seeing Wang Xiangqian's secret letter, he immediately turned his target to the Tumed tribe.

As the saying goes, flies don't bite cracked eggs. The dispute between Bushitu Taiji and Sunang Taiji over the Khanship is a crack in the hard shell of the Tumed tribe and even the Mongolian ethnic groups. As long as you can make good use of it and find the right time, it will be natural for you to get in and lay a maggot.

In addition to spreading the news of the border tour in the court early, the Ministry of Rites also sent envoys to the Kharachin and Tumed tribes to invite their leaders, Baihong Dataiji and Shunyi Wang, to attend the meeting. After three-party consultations, the meeting place was finally set at Xinghe City outside the border wall.

Although this place is outside the border wall, it is only 40 miles away from the nearest Datong Town Xinpingbao and 60 miles away from Xuanfu Wanquan Youwei. The terrain is relatively flat and it is impossible to hide a large army. It is also located at the junction of the Kharachin tribe and the Tumed tribe, which is a place that can make the three parties feel more at ease.

Of course, this is only a superficial relief. In fact, if one of these two leaders comes, the herdsmen living on the Mongolian Plateau will be worried for the next few decades.

We are not afraid of no good things, but we are afraid of no good people. Hong Tao's move was not to maintain peaceful relations with the Kharachin and Tumed tribes, but to see the contradictions between them and the Mongolian tribes, and to use practical actions to sow discord.

As long as the Ming Dynasty reaches an agreement with King Shunyi again and continues to expand the scale of border trade, it will be tantamount to forcing Su Nang Taiji's faction to launch a general attack in advance. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the longer it drags on, the stronger King Shunyi will become.

If the Prince of Shunyi also sees this step and does not intend to continue to reach an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, it doesn't matter, we still have the Kharachin tribe. Come, let's build a few more factories, not only can we use wool, but also process beef and mutton.

As long as the Kharchin tribe agreed, they would have to stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty in dealing with the internal disputes of the Tumed tribe. Then Shunyi King Bushitu would find himself surrounded by three parties. If he did not want to lose his Khanship, he could only and must continue to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty.

Is it enough to just mess up the Tumed, Ordos, and Kharchin tribes? Since Hong Tao has already used himself as bait, he will definitely not be easily satisfied. He has a more sinister series of plans.

The first step is to support the Tumed and Kharchin tribes and oppress the Ordos tribe. This move will not only cause turmoil in the right wing of Mongolia south of the desert, but also put the left-wing Mongolian Khan Ligdan in a dilemma.

If it was just an internal dispute within the Tumed, or a conflict between the Tumed and Ordos tribes, Lin Danhan would not say a word, but would secretly be happy in his heart, hoping that the two right-wing Mongolian tribes would fight each other. Only a weak Mongolian right wing would be in line with his plan to unify Mongolia.

But once the Kharchin tribe, which belongs to the Left Mongols, got involved, the matter became a little complicated. The Right Mongols would definitely think that they were ordered by Ligdan Khan. Don't explain. It's useless. The Mongolian herdsmen don't have time to sit down and talk about the reasons. Unless you can produce evidence to prove yourself, it's you!

(End of this chapter)