Chapter 21 Either Promise or Die

Fang Zikun knew that this was Ligdan Khan. Hearing this, he was not afraid but smiled and said, "As long as the Khan is happy, the death of Fang Zikun is nothing. I am afraid that after my death, the Khan will become enemies with the Ming Dynasty, and I will really become a sinner!"

Lin Danhan immediately sneered and said angrily: "Don't think that just because you have taken a little advantage, I will be afraid of your Ming Kingdom!"

Fang Zikun said with a smile: "Khan gallops across the grassland like the wind, so he is not afraid of our Ming infantry. But what if the Later Jin comes to attack us?"

Nurhaci could be said to be the scar of Ligdan Khan. Fang Zikun was just blatantly exposing his scars. Ligdan Khan could not tolerate this and he immediately stood up, drew his sword and prepared to attack. The situation in the big tent immediately became tense.

However, Fang Zikun still did not show any fear on his face. He raised his hand and said, "Khan is a great hero. I don't think he will be angry just because I told the truth, right?"

Fang Zikun was still unscrupulous. Seeing that Lin Danhan had raised his knife, he chuckled and turned to the main topic, saying, "If the Khan kills me, no one will give you the reward granted by the emperor."

Everyone in the Chahar tribe was stunned. The two armies had just fought a fierce battle, and the Ming army general on the opposite side even personally commanded a night attack last night. Now they were talking about a reward!
Could it be that the Ming army general on the opposite side has something wrong with his brain?

Seeing the expressions of the crowd, Fang Zikun sneered and said, "According to the imperial order, I, the Ming Dynasty, have no intention of interfering with what you are going to do on the grassland, Lin Danhan, but I hope you can understand that you and I are friends, not enemies."

Fang Zikun tried hard to recall the contents of Chongzhen's handwritten edict and said, "The Nu chieftain has invaded my Liaodong, and his troops have also marched to the left wing of Mongolia. It is unwise to go to war with my Ming Dynasty at this time! However, if you want to fight, my Ming Dynasty soldiers will never be afraid!"

The imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen was neither humble nor arrogant, and Lin Danhan couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Compared with the previous emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not seem to be a mediocre ruler, and he keenly grasped the common interests of the two.

Fang Zikun continued: "I have already stopped all Mongolian tribes from buying and selling rewards, and the Chahar tribe is no exception..."

Ezhe had been patient because Fang Zikun had said that the Emperor of Ming was going to give a city reward. But when he heard this, he couldn't help but get angry and asked, "Is this city reward going to be given or not?"

Fang Zikun smiled and said, "This is Prince Khan, right? Don't worry, my emperor means that this city reward can be given to you as an exception, and it can even be directly exchanged for salt, iron, tea, food and other materials that your tribe urgently needs."

At this point, the eyes of Lin Danhan and others all lit up.

Salt, iron, tea and other items are things that the grassland cannot be self-sufficient but are indispensable. Every year, in order to purchase these materials, the unscrupulous Ming merchants make countless times the profit.

But the imperial edict from the new Ming emperor actually said that they could be given directly as rewards?
The two sides had just fought a great battle, and even if Lin Danhan didn't want to admit it, he had to know that the other side was the winner. Even if he could move to Xuanfu and Jizhen to plunder, there would always be risks and losses. It would not be as comfortable as getting it so easily.

Is the Emperor of Ming a fool, giving himself such a huge benefit for no reason?

No matter how much Lin Danhan looked down on the Ming people, he would not really treat Chongzhen as a fool. He immediately asked in a deep voice: "What does the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty want me to do?"

"The Khan is indeed wise!" Fang Zikun flattered him halfheartedly, saying, "What the emperor means is that since your tribe's homeland is on the left wing, why did you go through the trouble of moving west? Why not go back and assist my Liaodong army in containing the Nu chieftain Nurhaci from the flank? You and I..."

"impossible!"

Before Fang Zikun could finish his words, Lin Danhan flatly refused.

Fang Zikun had seen Chongzhen's inference about Lin Danhan's westward migration in the handwritten edict, which was because he was deserted by his relatives and friends in his hometown and was unwilling to engage in a head-on battle with Nurhaci, so he fled to the right wing.

It seemed a little unlikely to let them go back. However, Fang Zikun just turned around and opened the curtain of the big tent, and saw dozens of unarmed Ming soldiers standing next to a dozen large wooden boxes in the open space outside the tent. When they saw Fang Zikun appear, they immediately opened the lids of the wooden boxes, revealing a bunch of silver.

Lin Danhan made a rough estimate and estimated that it was about 100,000 taels.

Although the imperial court had spent no less than one million taels of silver on Ligdan Khan since the Tianqi period, this was the first time that it had given him 100,000 taels of silver in cash at one time.

For a moment, everyone, including Lin Danhan, opened their mouths wide with greed.

Fang Zikun curled his lips in disdain, but soon calmed down and said, "As long as the Khan agrees to return to the right wing of Mongolia, these rewards will be yours."

Lin Danhan laughed evilly and said, "Even if I don't agree, the silver still belongs to me!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Mongolian Tartars around the big tent put their hands on the hilts of their swords, as if they were ready to snatch the silver if there was any disagreement.

Fang Zikun was too lazy to continue playing coy and sneered, "The emperor asked me to bring the silver here, so naturally he has no intention of taking it back. But there are only two outcomes for the Khan's silver!"

Lin Danhan sneered, "Oh, what result will the Emperor of Ming give to this Khan?"

Fang Zikun said word by word: "First, after receiving this silver from the Khan, he will immediately lead his tribe back to the left wing of Mongolia to coordinate with our Liaodong army to deal with the Later Jin!"

"Second, I will ignore the threat from the Later Jin, mobilize the army to unite with the 26 tribes of Ulianghai and the Shunyi King of Tumed, and keep you and all the people of the Chahar tribe, regardless of gender, age or age, in the right wing of Mongolia! This 100,000 taels of silver will be regarded as a funeral gift!"

"This is too much!" Ezhe drew out his sword and wanted to kill Fang Zikun.

Fang Zikun just sneered and said fearlessly: "Come on! If it weren't for the emperor's order, do you think I want to negotiate with you? If you kill me, my emperor will definitely exterminate your entire Chahar clan to avenge me!"

"You..." Everyone was shaking with anger, but Lin Danhan quickly raised his hand to stop Ezhe.

Lin Danhan stared at Fang Zikun for a long time before he suddenly exhaled and laughed, "As expected of a high envoy from the Celestial Empire, his bearing is truly extraordinary!"

"Please go back and tell His Majesty the Emperor that our Chahar tribe has accepted his terms!"

"Father Khan..." Ezhe said in surprise.

Lin Danhan directly rebuked him: "Shut up, I have made up my mind!"

Bagen, who was behind him, saw this and finally let go of his worry.

The Ming Emperor’s handwritten edict was truly shocking!

He united the 26 tribes and Altan Khan of Tumed and made every effort to wipe out the Chahar tribe.

This was like pinching Lin Danhan's sore spot, so he didn't find it strange that Lin Danhan compromised.

(End of this chapter)