On a plain west of Yuquan Mountain, in the western hills near a nameless river, hundreds of yurts are dotted with yurts, making it look as if you have arrived in a grassland outside the Saiwai. To the east of this small river, there are patches of crop fields, and there are several villages with smoke in the middle, which looks like a typical Han land scene.

The farmers who were busy working in the crops in Hedong did not have much fear of the knights running and shouting on the hills of Hexi, and many young people looked at the knights on horseback galloping on the opposite bank with some envy, forgetting the work in hand, which attracted a reprimand from the elders on the side.

The reason why these farmers were able to work in the fields with peace of mind and not worry about the trouble of the knights on the opposite side coming to them was naturally because among these knights hunting here, there was the figure of the Ming Emperor. Although the Ming army had no military discipline to speak of once it left the station, under Chongzhen's nose, these sergeants were much more restrained, even the Mongols in the team were no exception.

Chongzhen obviously didn't have much interest in hunting, except for an activity with everyone when he arrived on the first day, and the next few days, either reading books in the camp or crossing the river to check the status of local crops. Chongzhen's approachable attitude made the nearby villagers eliminate their fear of this hunting team and return to their daily lives.

There was a lone honey locust tree on the earthen bag in the east of the camp, and Hai Lanzhu stood alone under the tree and watched the movement in the distance. At this time, it was close to noon, and she estimated that Chongzhen and the others, who had gone out to hunt early this morning, should also return, so after preparing the noon diet, she came here to watch the movement outside the camp.

Shrubs, hills, and woods obscured her vision, but looking at the startled birds in the distance, she also knew that Chongzhen and the other hunting team had indeed returned. When Hai Lanzhu was about to turn around and return to the big tent, Meng Genqige, the maid who had followed her into the customs, had already climbed the hillside to find her.

"Gege, come down quickly, the villagers on the other side of the river have sent worthless things over today, you should take care of them, I think they are just looking for an excuse to come and ask for rewards." The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was too young and not majestic at all, and even his subjects dared to take advantage of him with cheap food. ”

Although the rewards received by these villagers were not taken out of her pockets, watching these villagers take the rewards back, Meng Genqige still felt some heartache and unhappiness, and couldn't help but run to Hai Lanzhu to complain.

Hai Lanzhu looked at the brand-new robe she was wearing, and couldn't help but smile and replied: "Qi Qige, we can be regarded as a guest of the Ming Emperor now." The emperor is willing to give things to his subjects, and we are not qualified to interfere. ”

Meng Genqige's eyes widened suddenly, and he said, "How can we be considered guests?" You're the one who is going to be the emperor's wife. According to our Mongolian custom, it is only natural that men are in charge of foreign affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs.

For the reward and management of the subordinates, of course, it is the matter of the emperor's wives and concubines. Now that you are the only one by the emperor's side, how to distribute rewards to your subjects should naturally be in charge of the overall situation. ”

Rao is Hai Lanzhu, who has always been calm, was also blushed by Meng Genqige's cheeks, and she suddenly reproached in a low voice: "What are you talking nonsense, I haven't become the emperor's person now, they Han people pay the most attention to etiquette, if you spread this, wouldn't it be a big loss of face for my Horqin Department, and I can't mention it next time." ”

Seeing that Hai Lanzhu, who had always treated her like a sister, became so strict, Meng Genqige, who was only sixteen years old, suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and looked at Hai Lanzhu carefully.

For this young and delicate maid, Hai Lanzhu was also a little helpless. When she decided to enter the customs to avoid the end of going to Shenyang to serve her aunt and sister with her husband, the nobles of the Horqin tribe who wanted to maintain their independent status were naturally happy to see it.

But after all, Hai Lanzhu is a woman who has been married once, and the nobles of the Horqin Department are naturally unwilling to let the emperor of the Ming Kingdom know this fact, so the maids around her were left in the grassland, but two more outstanding girls were selected from other noble families, as the maids by Hai Lanzhu's side, and followed into the customs.

These two maids, one is Meng Genqige in front of her, and the other is Naren, who is slightly older than her, Naren has a gentle and steady personality, and she has helped Hai Lanzhu a lot along the way. Meng Genqige, on the other hand, has a more lively personality and does not know so much about the world.

On the grassland, Hai Lanzhu is the princess of the Horqin tribe, and no matter where she appears, people will maintain a certain respect for her. But after entering the customs, the people of Daming will not respect her because she is the princess of the Horqin Department. The etiquette they maintained for her was entirely due to rumors that she was going to become the concubine of the Ming Emperor because she had been misled by her.

During Hai Lanzhu's journey from Ningyuan to the capital, she could feel that the people at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty were disgusted and wary of them, the Mongolian Tatars outside the Guan. The local officials and family members who entertained their team along the way seemed to be enthusiastic, but they could never hide their contempt for their living habits.

Before meeting Chongzhen, Hai Lanzhu had even begun to doubt her decision to enter the Ming Dynasty. She chose to come to the Ming Kingdom, although she already had the idea of sacrificing herself to protect the future of the Horqin Tribe. But if the Ming people always have prejudices and vigilance against them, the Mongolians outside the Guanwai, then her arrival will not have any effect.

However, this suspicion and some regret finally disappeared with Hai Lanzhu's contact with Chongzhen. Compared with the attitude of the people and officials of the Ming Kingdom, the young Ming Emperor was obviously more open-minded. Although the young emperor came up with a difficult topic for her and asked her to receive the leaders of the right-wing Mongolian tribes as the master, Chongzhen did not have a discriminatory attitude towards the Mongols, which made Hai Lanzhu's heart finally settle down.

Of course, Chongzhen's attitude does not represent the attitude of other Ming people. When she entered the court of the Ming Kingdom, the only people she could rely on were the two Horqin compatriots around her. Therefore, after reprimanding Meng Genqige, Hai Lanzhu softened her tone and patiently taught her.

"Besides, you just said that the emperor's character is too weak and easy to be deceived by his own subjects, which is not right. This time, the emperor accompanied the leaders of the right-wing Mongolian tribes on a hunting trip, and in addition to some palace guards, he was a battalion drawn from the new army.

Whether it's the palace guards or the soldiers of the new army, have you ever seen them leave without permission while on duty? The sentinels who patrol the perimeter of the camp every evening and early morning have never delayed a handover. I had never seen such a scene in my time in the Horqin Division.

In order to send us to the Ming Kingdom safely, my eldest brother brought the most outstanding warriors of the Horqin Division, and these warriors also admired these soldiers of the Ming army very much. However, these soldiers of the Ming army always maintained a respectful and enthusiastic posture in front of the emperor. If the emperor is really a person with a weak character, how can these heroic soldiers show such an attitude.

In addition, being a leader and having a kind heart for his subjects is not a sign of weakness. There may be tribes without leaders in the world, but there will never be leaders without tribes.

The Ming Emperor owns the wealth of the whole world, and letting his subjects share some of it will only allow him to gain the loyalty of his subjects without any harm. I believe that the emperor must have thought about it this way, so he deliberately pretended not to know and let these people come to reap the benefits. ”

Meng Genqige blinked his eyes, and then replied with a sense of understanding: "I seem to understand a little, why don't I go to Sister Naren and tell them the rest of the food from yesterday?" ”

Hai Lanzhu thought for a while before saying, "It's okay, tell Naren in addition, the emperor is about to come back, let her start preparing for luncheon." Also, don't call me Gege anymore in the future, since we have come to the Ming Kingdom, don't use the title of this Jurchen anymore..."

While Hai Lanzhu was still teaching his maids, Zhu Youzhen finally returned to the camp with a large group of men, on his left was Wu Keshan and King Shunyi of the Horqin Tribe, and on his right were the Erdos Minister's Ephochen and several other leaders.

These Mongolian leaders were one horse head behind Chongzhen, and their faces were a little impressive, and they carefully paid attention to Chongzhen's expression from time to time. Regarding the caution of these Mongolian leaders, Zhu Youzhen seemed to be unaware of it, and still chatted with the Mongolian leaders on the left and right with a calm expression.

There is also a reason why these Mongol leaders were so careful. Today, it is rare for the emperor to go hunting with them again, but everyone's harvest is not bad, only the emperor has nothing, and they are all a little worried that Chongzhen will be angry because of the loss of face, so they don't want to say the wrong thing to anger the emperor.

However, Chongzhen didn't care about what he didn't get anywhere, and after more than two years of practicing his riding skills, he was able to drive his mount to run without falling, which was already a great improvement for him. Although the speed of a horse is not as fast as that of a car, the feeling of sitting on the back of a galloping horse is more exciting than that of a car driving more than 120 miles.

On the back of such a bumpy horse, he still has to aim at the target and draw a bow and shoot arrows, Zhu Youzhen really can't do it. Even if he stood on the flat ground and shot at a fixed target ten paces away, he could hit six or seven arrows with ten arrows.

It is precisely because of his poor skills that Zhu Youzhen regarded this trip as a rare spring outing. And these Mongolians go out hunting, but also wait and see the scenery.

Although he didn't gain much from hunting, he really got closer to these Mongol leaders. The closeness shown by Chongzhen personally accompanying them on the hunt, and the military prestige of the Ming ** soldiers who ordered the prohibition during the hunting made these Mongolian leaders more psychologically inclined to the Ming Dynasty.

Hai Lanzhu's brother Wu Keshan is not the Wu Keshan who went back to the Horqin Department to report the news. The future Zaisang of the Horqin tribe was originally full of vigilance against the Houjin, believing that the relationship between the Horqin tribe and the Houjin was an alliance, not a subordinate relationship.

Houjin broke the covenant between the two sides, deliberately regarded the Korqin Department as his subordinate, and diligently wanted to eliminate the Chahar Department, which made him disgusted. But one of his aunts and a younger sister are already Huang Taiji's wives, and no matter how much he opposes Houjin within the clan, not many people in the clan are willing to believe him.

This situation is undoubtedly quite frustrating for Wu Keshan. Therefore, he also strongly agrees with Hai Lanzhu's decision to enter the Ming Dynasty. After entering the Ming Kingdom, he has always believed that this decision is not wrong, the Ming Kingdom is vast and rich, even if the Houjin won a few games for a while, but for the Ming Kingdom, it still did not reach the level of breaking the muscles and bones.

In the places he passed, the people of the Ming Kingdom seemed to be doing quite well, much better than the people of the Later Jin Kingdom outside Shenyang. Although the emperor of the Ming Kingdom was young, he respected him very much, and he was not like Huang Taiji, who had to teach him a lesson when he saw him.

Therefore, in just a few days, Wu Keshan became familiar with Chongzhen. This also made the leaders of other Mongolian tribes look up to this Horqin Taiji a few points.