The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 352: The Hero Is Not Ashamed

The capital is in turmoil.

The gentry wailed.

The officials involved in Zhu Chenhao's rebellion saved their lives, but their entire families were exiled to Japan!

A place like Japan is far away overseas, where people eat raw meat and drink blood and have no interest in civilization. It is a barbaric land. Wouldn't it be a suicide for these pampered literati to go to such a place?
What's even more cruel is that it wasn't just them who had to go, but their entire family was exiled together!

The imperial court has already issued an order to notify the families of the seventy or eighty officials involved in the case and prepare to migrate their entire families to Japan. Failure to comply would be considered disobeying the imperial order and tantamount to treason!
What is the outcome of treason?
Kill the nine tribes!
In other words, either you pack up your things and take a ship to Japan, or you don't leave and prepare to be beheaded!
For a moment, the capital was shaken and the whole world was in an uproar!

Because Emperor Zhu Houzhao’s move was so cruel and vicious!
The reason why the gentry were able to control the discourse of the times was because they controlled the land.

The local gentry, through their own fame and privileges, as well as various other means, divided up all the land and became local tyrants who were hard to get rid of. Even the county magistrates in the government had to act according to their wishes.

Why is it that the tail is too big to be cut off?
Because the imperial court wanted to maintain normal operations, it had to collect taxes.

However, most of the local land is in the hands of the gentry. If the court wants to collect taxes, it has to look at the faces of these gentry. Some of them have ways not to pay taxes or to default on taxes. Once the rated taxes cannot be collected, the local officials will be the ones who suffer. This leads to the local officials having to choose to cooperate with the local gentry. It's good for you, it's good for me, and it's good for everyone!
This phenomenon is most prevalent in the south of the Yangtze River!

The Jiangnan region, which controlled half of the imperial court's taxes, did have the confidence and qualifications to fight the emperor.

But now, the emperor's sudden and ruthless move stunned them.

This move is too cruel!
The foundation of the gentry lies in fame and in their land!
The emperor's move directly forced them to exile to Japan!

Then the land they have annexed now will naturally be forcibly taken away by the imperial court!
These nobles could even imagine the smug and ugly face of Emperor Zhengde!

Don't you like to annex land?

Then go to Japan to annex it!

You can annex the land however you want!

You can exploit the Japanese people however you want!

Anyway, it’s not the Ming Dynasty’s property, so you can do whatever you want to it!

In other words, these nobles not only had to leave their homes and their homelands, but also had to face the dilemma of going to Japan to establish their own business again!

They will lose everything!
The problem is, they still have to follow orders!

Because this time the fault was their own, because the young men in the family were corrupt and accepted bribes, so they were caught by Emperor Zhengde!
With irrefutable evidence, Emperor Zhengde could have punished them for treason!

Either kill all nine clans or go back to Japan!

How else could they choose?
If you want to blame someone, blame that damn tribe member!
Among this group of aristocratic families, the majority were gentry from Jiangnan.

They also wanted to unite and put pressure on His Majesty the Emperor, trying to use this to threaten Emperor Zhengde to show mercy and let them go!
However, when these people learned that Qiu Yue, the Marquis of Xianning who was in charge of the Beijing army, personally led 10,000 soldiers to the south of the Yangtze River, everyone became obedient.

Because they saw the determination of Emperor Zhengde!

This time, there will be no mercy!

Just as Zhu Houzhao was holding on to the evidence and lashing out at the gentry, the situation in Hetao also changed.

The news that the Ming army was repairing Dongsheng City quickly spread throughout the Hetao grassland.

The right-wing Mongolian tribes entrenched here, such as Yibula and Mandulai, soon learned the news.

Ten thousand households in Ordos are within the Khan's tent.

Compared with the golden-roofed Khan's tent and the magnificent yurt of the Mongolian Great Batumengk, Yibula's Grand Master's tent was greatly reduced in size, but being brave and warlike, he did not care about these things.

A grand banquet was being held in the Khan's tent. The noble leaders of the right-wing Mongolian tribes were drinking happily, not taking Batu Mengke, who was leading the army, seriously. Yibula was the leader of the Yongshebu tribe of the right wing of Eastern Mongolia. He took advantage of Dayan Khan's elimination of the two chief ministers, Qiasilan and Yisimayin, and gathered the troops of these two heroes. Then he led his army eastward and forcibly occupied part of the territories of Yongshaobu Wanhu and Ordos Wanhu. He also formed a powerful force by winning over the right-wing Mongolian noble leaders such as Mandulai, trying to compete with Dayan Khan.

Because Dayan Khan (Batumengke Borjigin) was ambitious and wanted to restore the Golden Family's rule over the Mongolian grasslands, after he came to power, he changed the situation in which successive Mongolian Khans were controlled by powerful ministers. He began to eliminate tribal lords who abused their power, abolished the positions of Grand Tutor, Prime Minister, Director of the Court and Censorate, and restored the traditional Mongolian agricultural system.

The so-called "Jinong" is equivalent to the deputy Khan, an assistant to the Khan, whose duty is to govern the political affairs of the right wing of Mongolia in accordance with the Khan's will.

The position of Jinong was usually held by the eldest son of the Khan. This was mainly to ensure political unity and coordinated rule between Jinong and the Khan, thus establishing the Golden Family's direct rule over the Mongolian tribes.

In addition, Dayan Khan also merged various Otog and small tribes into Wanhu, which were divided into left and right wings according to traditional customs. The 30,000 households on the left wing were Chahar, Kolkha, and Uriankhai. The Khan lived and grazed in the territory of Chahar Wanhu and directly governed the three tribes on the left wing; the 30,000 households on the right wing were Ordos, Tumed, and Yongshebu, and the Khan was stationed in Jinong in the territory of Ordos Wanhu to exercise jurisdiction over them.

Except for the Uriankhai Wanhu, Dayan Khan divided the remaining five Wanhu among his nine sons, and Jinong, the 30,000 Wanhu on the right wing, was his second son!

In other words, this damn Batu Mongke clearly did not want to leave any way out for the tribal nobles. He wanted all the noble lords of all the Mongolian tribes to serve him as dogs!

Since the Battle of Buir Lake, the orthodox Khanate of Usahar Khan Toghon Temur, the third orthodox Khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, was conquered by the Ming general Lan Yu, and a large number of royal family members were imprisoned, including the wife of the late monarch Ayushiridarala, the concubines of the current monarch Toghon Temur, his second son Dibaonu, princesses, etc. A total of 2,999 dignitaries were imprisoned. Only Toghon Temur, Crown Prince Tianbaonu and dozens of others escaped. The Khanate's rule on the grassland was completely over.

What's more, Yesugeil, a descendant of Ariq Böke, seized power and strangled Toghon Temur to death with a bowstring, which completely shattered the sanctity of the Golden Family!
Since then, the vast Mongolian grassland has been plunged into war and division. Tribes of all sizes have been fighting each other endlessly, and powerful ministers and lords have come to power, supporting a puppet Khan and calling themselves the Grand Master. This has become a common practice on the Mongolian grassland.

For example, the former Tatar Grand Tutor Arutai supported Guilichi, a descendant of Ogedei, as the Great Khan, and then killed Guilichi and supported Bayanchur as the Great Khan, calling himself the Grand Tutor and holding great power.

Another example is Yesen, the former Grand Tutor of the Oirat Mongols, who led his army into the Great Wall and nearly destroyed the Ming Dynasty. After that, the Oirat Mongols became extremely powerful, and Yesen didn't even need any fig leaf. He directly proclaimed himself Khan, calling himself "Great Yuan Tian Shengda Khan", and appointed his second son as Grand Tutor. He established the reign title of Tianyuan and regarded himself as the successor of "Huangyuan", breaking the traditional Mongolian concept that people who were not from the Golden Clan could not be called Khan. He became the first and only Khan in Mongolian history who was not from a Golden Family!
In other words, after so many years of division and fighting, the sacredness of the Golden Family no longer exists!

Perhaps the lower-class tribal people still recognize the Golden Family and hope that the Golden Family will come out to end this war-torn and chaotic world, but the tribal nobles and lords will never think so!

Since Aluta can hold power and Yesen can proclaim himself Khan, then why can't I, who is also a tribal noble lord, do the same?

Before Temujin Borjigin became famous, he was just a slave of a large tribe, making a living by fishing!

Yibula asked himself that his background was much better than that of Batumengke, and he was more qualified than him to unify Mongolia and sit on the position of the Great Khan of Mongolia!

Now the entire right wing of Mongolia is under his control. As long as he defeats Batumengke Borjigin once again, Yibula can annex the left wing of Mongolia, unify the entire grassland, and then learn from the Oirat Grand Master Yesen, proclaim himself Khan and create a second "Golden Family"!
In fact, this is not the first time that the two sides have fought a war.

The last time Batumengke personally led his army to attack the right wing, he was frightened by the Dalat people who drove their cattle to harass his camp. He lost his composure, retreated in panic, and became a laughing stock on the grassland!
This time, it will be the same. Yibula is confident that he can defeat Batu Mongke in one battle and completely unify the entire grassland!
The burly and strong Grand Tutor raised the ox-horn cup and delivered an impassioned speech of encouragement, which instantly pushed the atmosphere of the banquet to a climax.

As for the general mobilization before the war, we have to say some inspiring words and promise benefits to these lords of different surnames, so that they will follow us and fight Batu Mengke to the death!

At this moment, the captain of a thousand men came forward with a worried look on his face and handed Kumeili a note, which was obviously sent by the Saker Falcon.

Yi Bula was stunned at first, then his face darkened and he became extremely furious. He threw the ox-horn cup to the ground!

"These damn Ming people!"

"How dare they?!"

"After hiding for so many years, you actually send out troops at this moment!"

The Ming people actually renovated the Dongsheng Guard. It was obvious that they wanted to take advantage of the internal war in Mongolia to reap the benefits!
Over the years, the fertile pasture of Hetao has long been a grazing area for the Mongolians!
After all, the Hetao area is a plain pasture, a natural battlefield for the Grassland Cavalry. Relying on this place as a springboard, the Grassland Cavalry can use it as a stronghold to charge left and right, advance south and west, and frequently harass the military towns along the border of the Ming Dynasty and the interior areas.

So Hetao must not be lost!
This was clear to all the noble lords present.

What's more, if they don't deal with the Ming army in the rear, they might even be in danger of being attacked from both sides!

After discussing with Mandulai and other right-wing Mongolian nobles, Yibula decided to send a cavalry to harass the Ming army and delay its progress in repairing Dongsheng City.

After we win the decisive battle with Batu Mongke, we will gather our army to attack Dongsheng City and drive these damn Ming people out of the Hetao pasture!

Mandulai personally led five thousand elite cavalry and headed straight for Dongsheng City.

(End of this chapter)