Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

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Zhao Yuan dipped his finger in tea and drew a line on the table: "The eastern extension of the Yinshan Mountains is called the Daqingshan Mountains."

"The Ongud tribe, also known as the White Tatars, which moved south a couple of years ago, were driven back north of the Daqing Mountains last year."

"The derogatory term 'Tartar' originated from the Tatar tribe."

Chapter 3364 Three Heroes Standing Side by Side

"The White Tatars are north of the Daqing Mountains, while the Black Tatars are in the eastern part of the Mongolian steppe."

"Even the Mongols at this time were collectively referred to as the Black Tatars."

"Of course, this is a name that the Liao and Jin dynasties used indiscriminately without distinguishing between them."

“When Yelü Dashi was still alive, all the tribes respected him.”

"But it's only in name; in reality, very few tribes truly support it."

"When Yelü Dashi led his troops on a western expedition and left the northern desert, a power vacuum immediately emerged."

“The climate has been getting colder and colder in recent years, especially in the northern desert. They dare not go south to plunder, so they will definitely have to fight and annex each other.”

"Therefore, whenever Yelü Dashi went on a western expedition, the tribes in the northern desert would go to war."

"The Mongol tribes were very powerful, and the Jin Dynasty supported other Black Tatars to keep them in check."

"These Black Tatars, also known as the Tatar tribe, were once allies of the Mongols, but now they have become an obstacle to the Mongol expansion."

"When the Mongols attacked the Tatar tribe, it was tantamount to openly betraying the Jin Dynasty, because those people were protected by the Jin Dynasty."

Wen Huanzhang suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

The Great Khan of the Mongols at this time, namely Khabul Khan, the great-grandfather of Genghis Khan, was also the first Great Khan of the Mongols.

Yelü Dashi led his troops on a westward expedition, and Khabul Khan immediately began to expand, unifying the Mongol tribes in two years and declaring himself "Khan" last year.

Historically, when Khabul Khan was expanding his territory, it coincided with intense internal strife within the Jin dynasty and its defeat in the war against the Southern Song dynasty.

Left with no other option, the Jin state could only try to win him over by inviting him to visit Harbin.

Khabul Khan dared to march straight into the Jin capital with only a few attendants.

Even after getting extremely drunk, he went to stroke Wu Qimai's beard.

At that time, the pro-peace faction of the Jin Dynasty released him back to the grasslands, but the pro-war faction went back on their word and sent troops to attack him.

Over the next ten years, the Jin dynasty sent troops to conquer Mongolia five times.

In every war, the Mongol army would hide in the mountains, and the Jin army would run out of food and supplies and have to retreat.

Then, the Mongol army came out of the mountains to intercept them, and defeated the Jin army, causing them to lose their armor and weapons.

Ultimately, the Jin dynasty ceded territory and paid reparations to sue for peace, and appointed Khabul Khan as "King of the Mongols".

The situation in this timeline is even more chaotic, because the Ming Dynasty is holding back the Jin Dynasty's military forces, and Yelü Dashi has crippled the Tatar tribes.

Khabul Khan ceased his friendly alliances with the Tatar tribes through marriage and instead embarked on a direct path of conquest and expansion, leading to a trend of the Mongol tribes rising to power ahead of schedule.

...

On the day before New Year's Day, Zhao Yuan received the Mongol envoy.

Genghis Khan's fourth uncle, Khutula, is still very young.

He wasn't as imposing and majestic as described in historical records, but rather a short, stocky Mongolian youth with a round face.

"Khutula, by order of the Great Khan of all the Mongols, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming!"

"The Great Khan of Mongolia asked me to give my regards to the two of you and to present gifts from all the Mongols."

Zhao Yuan smiled and nodded: "Please also convey my greetings to the Great Khan of the Mongols. Please take a seat."

Khutula was overjoyed upon hearing this, because Khabul had only proclaimed himself Khan last year.

Apart from the Mongol tribes, no one else recognized it, yet the Ming emperor actually verbally endorsed it.

Hutula said, “My father Khan used to follow Yelü Dashi and serve Yelü Dashi as his master.”

"But Yelü Dashi was too timid and was frightened by the Jin Kingdom, so he left the grassland."

"In order to resist the Jin Dynasty, Father Khan is willing to stand up and request the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to confer titles upon him."

"From now on, Mongolia is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and we are willing to fight alongside the Ming Dynasty against the Jin Dynasty."

Ma Kuo, who was also present as the translator, asked, "How do you plan to fight?"

Hutula said, "The Tatar tribes are dogs raised by the Jin Dynasty. We have already contacted the Ongud tribe to join forces to defeat the Tatar tribe and completely cut off the Jin Dynasty's wings in the northern desert."

"The Jin Kingdom will most likely send troops to attack us. We hope that the Ming Dynasty can take the opportunity to send troops at that time."

Ma Kuo was not just a translator; he explained to the emperor in Chinese: "The Mongols and the White Tatars (led by the Ongud tribe) have joined forces and intend to divide up the central and eastern grasslands of northern Mongolia."

"They were worried that they couldn't defeat the Jin army, so they requested that our Great Ming send troops to interfere with the Jin."

"Once the Mongols and the White Tatars succeed, the Mongolian Plateau will be a two-way power struggle."

"No, it should be said that three powers coexisted."

"In the western grasslands of northern Mongolia, many tribes still pledge allegiance to Yelü Dashi."

“In the future, Yelü Dashi will be in the west, the Ongud tribe in the center, and the Mongols in the east.”

"If they want to continue expanding, the Mongols and the Ongud tribe will fight each other first."

"Whoever can completely defeat the other side has the potential to unify the northern desert."

"Our Great Ming can sit back and watch the tigers fight, always supporting the weaker side and letting the Mongols and White Tatars fight each other indefinitely, without giving them a chance to decide the winner."

Zhao Yuan shook his head and said, "If the northern deserts are allowed to fight each other for a hundred years, and the strength of our Great Ming declines, then the unifiers of the northern deserts who are raised to fight will be very difficult to deal with, no matter which faction they belong to."

"We must find an opportunity to subdue them and then bring the northern desert into a relatively stable situation."

Chapter 3365 The Great Khan of the Mongols

"Do we need to officially recognize the Great Khan of the Mongols?" Zhao Yuan asked.

“We can bestow titles upon them,” Wen Huanzhang and Ma Kuo said simultaneously.

The former laughed and said, "We can appoint two kings."

"One Mongol king, one Tatar king."

"If the Naiman tribe breaks away from Yelü Dashi, a Naiman king can be appointed."

"A triangle is the most stable shape; it would be best to have the three kings of the Northern Desert stand side by side!"

Khutula rose from his seat and knelt down: "Thank you for the investiture by the Emperor of the Great Ming. The Mongols are willing to acknowledge the Emperor of the Great Ming as the Heavenly Khan!"

Zhao Yuan immediately laughed: "You even know about the Heavenly Khan?"

Hutula said, "When I passed through Shaanxi, I asked the officials there."

"They say that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was the greatest, the Heavenly Khan who could rule the grasslands."

At this time, the Mongols didn't really have such high expectations; unifying the eastern part of Mongolia was already a distant goal for them.

Of course, ambition will gradually grow; wanting more after getting what one has is human nature.

After dismissing the Mongol envoy, Zhao Yuan asked, "Do you think the Jin dynasty would send troops to suppress the Mongols if they were to raise an army?"

Ma Kuo said, "The Jin state will not launch a large-scale military campaign."

"For the Jin state, the northern desert was too far away to be effectively controlled, and each expedition consumed countless amounts of money and provisions."

"If we lose too much food and supplies, how can we fight against us?"

"Even if troops were to be dispatched, only a detachment could be sent."

"Five or six thousand is a reasonable number, and no more than ten thousand."

“The rise of the Mongols is a foregone conclusion; the only question is whether the White Tatars can restrain them,” Zhao Yuan said.

Ma Kuo shook his head: "It's very difficult. The Ongud tribe couldn't even unify the White Tatars, but the Borjigin tribe unified Mongolia."

"Hebula is a man of great talent and strategy, far superior to the Ongud tribe. We must support the Ongud tribe when the time comes."

Zhao Yuan rubbed his fists. It seemed he still had to give Genghis Khan's great-grandfather a good beating!

Ma Kuo added, "If we go to war with the Jin Dynasty, the northern desert will also be engulfed in conflict. The Western Xia is very likely to take the opportunity to send troops and swallow up all the grasslands south of the Daqing Mountains."

"Moreover, they had a perfectly good reason: they were helping the Ming Dynasty attack the Jin Dynasty."

"Don't worry, let's destroy the Jin Kingdom first," Zhao Yuan said with a smile.

Ma Kuo suggested, "We can first appoint several tribal leaders as kings."

"Firstly, when the Jin state ordered the various tribes to send troops, they had a bunch of kings under their command whom we had appointed, so we didn't dare to use them with confidence."

"Secondly, those tribal leaders, having obtained the throne, are even more determined to betray the Jin Kingdom."

"If Western Xia wanted to take this opportunity to annex the kingdoms, all they would have swallowed were kings appointed by the Ming Dynasty."

Zhao Yuan clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Great idea!"

This diplomatic expert is incredibly cunning, and his schemes are all open and aboveboard.

One plan he devised disgusted both the Jin and Western Xia dynasties, and it also paved the way for the Ming Dynasty to annex the southern grasslands.

Watching Ma Kuo bow and retreat, Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "This person is quite good and deserves to be promoted and given important responsibilities."

Wen Huanzhang said, "The Privy Council is the most suitable for him, and it is estimated that he will be promoted to Vice Privy Councilor in the future. If there is a vacancy in the Cabinet, he can also be appointed to the Cabinet on behalf of the military."

It has almost become an unspoken rule that cabinet ministers represent various factions.

The military must have a cabinet minister to speak on their behalf. They don't necessarily have to be military personnel; a civil official who frequently leads troops in battle is also acceptable.

It started as a teacher's way, and now it's Zhang Shuye.

Zhao Yuan got up and walked out of the main hall, reaching out to catch the snowflakes and watching them melt in his palm.

A new era is about to truly begin.

.....

The statutory holidays of the Ming Dynasty were mainly inherited from those of the Song Dynasty, but some irregular holidays were abolished.

New Year's Day (Spring Festival) is a seven-day holiday.

The Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Festival) is a seven-day holiday.

However, normal work is required between the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival.

In addition, even on holidays, officials need to take turns working overtime to ensure the operation of government offices at all levels.

The Spring Festival holiday wasn't over yet, and Zhao Yuan was already back at work.

There are some things he had to accomplish before abdicating, which can also be considered his achievements as emperor.

A year has passed since the major cases were suspended. The revised second edition of the "Great Ming Code" was sent to Zhao Yuan in copies.

The entries are now more detailed!

Perhaps because too many children were exiled with their parents, the officials who amended the law couldn't bear it, so they designated "children under the age of seven" as a group that would not be held criminally responsible.

Of course, if it is a heinous crime and the perpetrator is implicated, or if the perpetrator intentionally kills someone, even the youngest child will be punished.

The officials made these changes simply to pardon many children.

For example, Li Bangyan had two grandsons and one granddaughter who were under seven years old. They could be taken away by paying a fine and did not have to continue to be exiled with their parents.

"I agree with this one." Zhao Yuan picked up his pen and drew a checkmark.

The emperor and his minister continued reading the changes and then discussed them one by one.

To be honest, the exile crimes committed in the early years of the Ming Dynasty were not true exiles at all, but more like a form of "forced migration to the frontier."

Chapter 3366 Exile

Upon arrival at the place of exile, the government would not force labor; in fact, they would distribute land, food, clothing, farm tools, and seeds.

Where in the world can you find such a comfortable exile?

All the exiles were essentially granted amnesty, except that they were left on the frontier and unable to return home.