Chapter 861
Threat
Esen laughed and said, "I will not kill Your Majesty. We Mongols have no fondness for killing prisoners, especially a noble person like Your Majesty, whom we will treat with kindness."
Zhu Qizhen frowned, looking at him with confusion: "If you're not going to kill me, why are you arresting me?"
Esen sat down next to the emperor and sighed, "Your Majesty, I don't want to hurt you, I'm just sad."
Zhu Qizhen stared at him blankly.
Esen said, “I regard the Ming Dynasty as my elder brother and have always treated it with utmost respect for many years. However, last year, you inexplicably reduced the rewards you gave us. We sent two thousand men over, but you only gave three hundred men as rewards. This year, you have even decided to only give a small amount of gifts each year, which is completely different from the generosity of your ancestors.”
"I wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Ming Dynasty, and you clearly agreed, but then suddenly went back on your word. I'm seething with anger, so naturally I've come to demand an explanation."
Zhu Qizhen cursed inwardly. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that the number of people from foreign states such as the Oirat Mongols who came to the capital to pay tribute each time should not exceed three hundred.
Since his ascension to the throne, the Oirat Mongols have sent more than three hundred envoys every year, and the number has increased year by year.
They would bring some inferior horses and cattle and sheep and ask the court for generous rewards. The national treasury had to subsidize the Court of State Ceremonies every year. Whenever foreign envoys came, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue would complain that the rewards given to the foreign envoys were too generous.
It's clearly you who broke the rules, so how come it's become our fault?
Let's talk about the marriage alliance again...
Zhu Qizhen looked at Esen's old face. He looked older than his father, but in reality, he wasn't much younger than his father, and his son was older than him.
He asked to marry the princess, but he didn't have a daughter, and his sisters were all married. There were no unmarried princesses in the Ming Dynasty. Even if there were, Ming princesses would not marry into foreign lands.
The Ming Dynasty's ancestral precept of "no marriage alliances, no tribute" meant that tribute became the measure to maintain border policies, replacing marriage alliances.
Emperor Taizu said, “My descendants must not rely on China’s wealth and power to bully the weak and small… and must not lightly agree to marriage alliances, lest they bring shame upon themselves.”
Emperor Taizong also said: "The northern barbarians are fickle, and a marriage alliance would only be feeding the tiger."
He is a tiger, but not stupid. How could he possibly violate the ancestral teachings of two ancestors?
Esen's proposal of a marriage alliance was malicious in the first place, but the envoy from the Court of State Ceremonial was also a fool, daring to deceive Esen on such a matter, giving him an excuse to send troops.
Zhu Qizhen cursed inwardly, but outwardly he didn't argue with him. Instead, he sighed and asked, "Now that things have come to this, what should you do?"
"I want compensation," Esen grinned at him. "Our Oirat forces have paid a heavy price to seek justice. Your Majesty cannot let our soldiers have worked for nothing, can you?"
After a long silence, Zhu Qizhen asked, "What do you want?"
Esen said, "Yan and Zhao were once the capital of the Northern Yuan, while the capital of the Ming Dynasty was once Nanjing. How about you move back to Nanjing and give me the land of Yan and Zhao as your capital?"
Zhu Qizhen, of course, disagreed.
Esen was not in a hurry. He smiled at Zhu Qizhen and said, "Your Majesty, please rest tonight. There will be another tiring meal tomorrow."
Zhu Qizhen was on tenterhooks and was placed under strict surveillance.
The next day, he was pushed to the front lines and forced Xuanfu to open its city gates and surrender.
Yang Hong's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he suddenly saw the emperor in front of the battle.
He remained silent, but the soldiers behind him were pacing anxiously, asking hurriedly, "General, is that His Majesty?"
Yang Hong clenched his fingers and said in a deep voice, "He's dressed in plain clothes, and he's so far away, how can he see clearly? Don't trust them. Have the archers prepare, don't let them cross the line, and shoot arrows... Try to avoid that person." If he's not the emperor, why should we try to avoid him?
Yang Hong turned and went downstairs. He sent someone to inform Kuang Ye in Datong and someone else to inquire about the imperial carriage. Finally, he summoned his trusted confidant and said with a livid face, "Send someone to find Yang Jun and tell him to come see me immediately!"
Xuanfu did not open its city gates that day.
The next day, Esen again had the emperor escorted to the city gate and made to call for his return. This time, they used the emperor as a shield and advanced more than twenty meters. Yang Hong did not dare to order the arrows to be fired.
Esen seemed to have tested Yang Hong's bottom line. With a slight smirk, he didn't ask Yang Hong to open the city gate this time, but instead demanded money.
Esen starved the emperor for a night, then said to him, "If you can get the money, I will serve you wine."
The emperor chuckled and said, "What's so difficult about that?"
The next day, the emperor went to the city gate and shouted at Yang Hong on the city tower: "Yang Hong, do you no longer recognize me as your emperor?"
Yang Hong was drenched in cold sweat and dared not admit to such words. He immediately ordered his men to bring all the valuables from his home and sent soldiers to open the small door and deliver the money to the Oirat army through it.
The Oirat army then escorted the emperor and his valuables away.
Esen finally tasted the sweetness of having the emperor in his hands, and began to slowly torment the Ming army. Seeing that the emperor was very sensible and did whatever he was told, Esen treated him even better.
The soldiers were puzzled.
Esen asked, "With our current military strength, can we recreate the glory of the Northern Yuan?"
That is not possible.
Moreover, it wasn't just a matter of military strength. Kublai Khan was able to establish the Yuan Dynasty not only because his grandfather had conquered the entire world for him, but also because he had countless capable people under his command. Now, there wasn't a single person in the entire Mongol Empire who could support Esen in taking over the entire Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, Esen had a clear understanding of the strength of the Ming Dynasty. He could continue to wear down the Ming Dynasty's strength, but it would be difficult to eradicate it in a short time.
"So our goal is to drive the Ming Dynasty back to Nanjing, north of the Yangtze River, and make the Ming Dynasty like the Song Dynasty. Once we are strong enough, we will take it over in one fell swoop."
Having the successful history of the Northern Yuan, Esen was full of confidence in himself and the Oirat Mongols. His immediate priority was to break through the defenses of Datong and Xuanfu, advance south, take the emperor with him, break through Beijing, and force the Ming court to move south!
After hearing Esen's plan, all the soldiers' eyes lit up.
Esen: "Therefore, an obedient emperor is our good friend. Treat him well, and as long as we have him in our hands, we can have everything we need."
Arachi hesitated: "If he commits suicide..."
“So we must keep a close eye on him. However, I don’t think he has any intention of committing suicide,” Esen said. “I despise Han people who commit suicide to preserve their integrity. Only by living can a person have infinite possibilities. The young emperor has a lot of energy and a never-give-up spirit, and I like his never-give-up attitude!”
The young emperor, unwilling to admit defeat, was also thinking about escaping, but before he could act, the soldiers who had been captured with him arrived first.
They had sneaked out, intending to infiltrate and take the emperor away, but they were discovered as soon as they got close to the tent where the emperor was imprisoned. Then, in front of the young emperor, all of these soldiers were beheaded.
The emperor was pale and barely managed to maintain his balance. When he returned to his tent, he collapsed to the ground.
When Esen learned of this, he immediately came to comfort him and advised him, "Your Majesty, I have no intention of harming you or the people of the Ming Dynasty. I only want to receive the compensation I deserve. If you can persuade Yang Hong to open the gates of Xuanfu, I will let you leave."
The emperor's fingers trembled slightly, but he remained silent.
Meanwhile, Cao Nai arrived in Xuanfu with his civil and military officials and the remnants of his army. Yang Jun had arrived in Xuanfu even earlier than them. (End of Chapter)