"The poor monk Galdan respectfully wishes His Majesty the Great Emperor to greet you. Long live my emperor, long live, long live..."
A short lama with a big head, small eyes and a very tanned complexion knelt in the audience hall of Huangjue Temple, kowtowed to Emperor Zhu who was sitting high on him, and spoke fluently. Chinese.
Zhu Cixiang looked at the little lama and imagined him traversing the grasslands and conquering all directions, and then asked with a smile: "You can also speak Chinese? You speak it well. Where did you learn it?"
"Returning to the emperor, I learned Chinese in Yulin." The young lama said. "When my master, Lama Celing, was in Yulin, he got seriously ill because he was not accustomed to the acclimatization. So he lived there for several months and learned Chinese." Chinese.”
"Do you recognize Chinese characters?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
"I recognize a few of them," said the little lama, "and they can write their names in Chinese characters."
"Really? Write it for me to see." Zhu Cixiang immediately ordered the left and right to get paper and pen, and asked the young lama Galdan to kneel down and write the name. After writing, he asked Huang Xiaobao to take it over.
"Ge Erdan?" Zhu Cihong almost laughed out loud when he saw the three Chinese characters written crookedly by the little lama.
Good Galdan, why is it written as Ge Erdan? Who did Galdan learn Chinese from? Couldn't he be a village scholar from the countryside of Yulin?
"Erdan," Emperor Zhu affectionately called Galdan by his nickname, "do you know why you came to Nanjing?"
"I know," Galdan nodded, "E'ada (father) asked E to come to Nanjing to be the emperor's hostage so that he could exchange some muskets to fight the Kazakhs. If E'ada dares to oppose the emperor, E will die... ..."
This Baturhuntaiji is really a real person! Zhu Cihong said to himself, but if he told a nine-year-old monk about passing away, would it hurt his young mind?
Zhu Cixiang smiled gently: "Erdan, don't be afraid."
"Well, don't be afraid!" Galdan also laughed, "Well, he is the fourth Wensa Living Buddha. Even if he passes away, he can be reincarnated as the fifth Wensa Living Buddha..."
Can you still be reincarnated?
Emperor Zhu was speechless after being told by "Er Dan"!
With reincarnation, I am no longer afraid of death... Can I still have such a hostage?
"In addition to being a living Buddha, are you going to do anything else?" Zhu Cixiang had no choice but to change the subject.
Galdan, there is always ambition!
Galdan shook his head and looked at Emperor Zhu with a confused expression, "Well, I don't know anything. I know how to chant sutras and become a living Buddha."
"You can learn if you don't know!" Zhu Cixi said with a smile, "I have set up a primary school here in Laoshan. You can go there to study."
"What do you teach in primary schools?" Galdan asked, "Do you teach chanting sutras?"
Why do you just want to recite sutras? Zhu Cihong thought to himself: You like chanting sutras so much, why are you so sweaty in history? Wouldn’t it be enough to be a living Buddha and go to Emperor Kangxi for alms?
"Of course they don't teach sutra chanting in primary school!" Zhu Cihong said, "But the courses at Laoshan Primary School are also very useful. Laoshan Primary School offers courses in arithmetic, Confucianism, martial arts, geography and French. I also hired a proficient Chahe for you. Teachers of Taiwanese and Farsi will give you extra lessons."
Galdan's happy childhood is over!
He has to learn six languages including Mongolian, Tibetan, Chinese, French, Chagatai and Persian, as well as mathematics, Confucianism (Confucianism courses include Chinese) and geography (mainly studying the geography of Central and West Asian countries). ), and also learn traditional Mongolian skills such as horseback riding and archery...
Of course, after returning to the temple from school, I still have to chant sutras and study Buddhism! If you fail to pass the exam and become a prostrate, you can still become a living Buddha.
In short, as long as you study hard, you don't have to worry about your future.
...
"Great Emperor, this is the memorial for Erdeni Batur and Huitaiji of the Junggar tribe to declare himself a minister!"
Galdan's study issues have been discussed, and the monks from Huangjue Temple are now leading him to settle down. Lama Cering, who brought Galdan to Nanjing, took out Baturhuntaiji's memorial.
The name of this Batur Hutaiji is Batur. Hutaiji is a title. It was originally the Mongolian word for the crown prince, and later evolved into a title. Because Choros Batur was not from the Golden Family, calling him Khan would cause a lot of disputes, but calling him Taiji would be fine.
Erdeni is the title given to Batur by the Tibetan lama, which means "treasure".
If this "Erdeni. Batur. Huitaiji" is translated, it means the crown prince baby Batur...
Zhu Cihong took the memorial and unfolded it. He saw that it was written in both Mongolian and Chinese languages. The general idea is that Batur Hutaiji of the Zhungeer tribe led his people to turn their backs on the Qing Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, sent his son as a hostage, and asked the court for assistance with guns, gunpowder, etc.
Zhu Cixiang finished reading the memorial, thought for a while, and asked: "Can I appoint Batur Hutaiji as the Protector of the Beiting... The status of the Protector is the same as that of the Jiedushi, and they are both internal vassals of the Ming Dynasty. , I wonder if Batur is willing to let the Junggar tribe become an internal vassal of the Ming Dynasty?"
The Ming Dynasty now has internal vassals and external vassals. The outer vassals have greater autonomy than the inner vassals, but they can get less support from the Ming court. The inner vassals have less autonomy, but they can get more support.
Even though both Wu Sangui and Zhu Cizhao were involved in loan sharking, the two vassals were still able to receive financial and weapons assistance from the court.
The current aid amount provided by the Ming Dynasty to Pingxi and Shuofang is 350,000 taels per year! The two vassals of Western Sichuan and Eastern Sichuan are 250,000 taels, and the two vassals of Jinou and Jinghai are 150,000 taels. Dongning Fan handed over 1.5 million taels... It seems that it can be a tie!
"Batur Hutaiji is willing to guard the Beiting for the Ming Emperor!" Lama Celing replied.
Of course Batur Hutaiji is willing to become an internal vassal. Only when he becomes an internal vassal can he get money!
Emperor Zhu would not give money to foreign vassals. There is a difference between inside and outside!
"Okay!" Zhu Cixiang is willing to pay, but he won't pay for it in vain!
He said: "The military salary I issued to the Beiting Protectorate is 250,000 taels of silver per year, but the silver is not found, but is broken into guns, artillery, ammunition, cloth and iron tools. But these things are not given for free... ...First of all, you Beiting must cooperate with the imperial court in the battle to regain Anxi! Are you willing?"
"Yes!" Lama Celing said, "Batur Hutaiji has long wanted to send troops to teach the Yeerqiang Khanate a lesson!"
Want to grab something? Zhu Cihong thought to himself: The Yeerqiang Khanate is an unlucky man, and anyone around can come and grab it! If the surrounding areas don't come, their own Mongolian tribes will come to rob them...
Zhu Cixiang added: "After Anxi is restored, Batur Hutaiji must lead his troops back to the north of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Shannan area should be handed over to the Pingxi Army... Wu Sangui, the governor of Pingxi, will also serve as the guardian of Anxi. From now on, Anxi , Beiting is bounded by Tianshan Mountain. Do you, Beiting, have any objections?"
You can get 250,000 taels a year, so of course you have to work!
"No objection!" Lama Celing's answer was straightforward.
Batur Hutaiji was interested in pastures and wealthy cities, but there was neither in southern Xinjiang. Because of the mischief of the Yeerqiang Khanate, the people of Southern Xinjiang are now extremely poor and poor, and Southern Xinjiang is an oasis economy with little pasture.
Therefore, after Batur Hutaiji obtained muskets and cannons, he wanted to conquer the two khanates of Kazakhstan and Bukhara (Uzbek Khanate). After completing the conquest of these two khanates, Batur Hutaiji will also consider eastward expedition to the Mongolian grassland...
"I have one more condition," Zhu Cihong said. "After the Beiting Protectorate conquers the Kazakh Khanate, the Protectorate must also build a fundamental city at the place designated by the court...the cost of building the city, The imperial court will provide part of it, and will also send master craftsmen to help with the construction of the Beiting. In exchange, the Beiting Protectorate needs to hand over one-third of the land inside the newly built city to the officials sent by the imperial court."
This condition was newly added by Zhu Cixiang, with the purpose of establishing a trading city in the Western Region that could connect the East and the West.
Only when the Silk Road in the Western Regions is reopened can the economies of Anxi, Gansu, and Shaanxi improve.
Lama Celing didn't think much, and nodded in agreement: "The great emperor is willing to help Beiting build the city, and Batur Hutaiji is of course a dream come true."
