The wool business was just getting started, and Inge Khan saw great potential in it. After much thought, he inexplicably thought of Princess Lanqi, and how she looked when she first arrived on the grasslands, and his heart burned with excitement.
Ignoring his subordinates' advice, he insisted on sending someone to the capital to meet the emperor and ask to marry a princess from the imperial family in order to reassure the border people.
As for whether the Qing Emperor would agree, Inge Khan didn't even consider it. She was just a half-sister; it didn't matter who she married!
The envoy rode swiftly, arriving at the capital in a dusty and weary state. For Khan Inge was old and not in the best of health.
They worried that if they didn't act quickly, the Khan would be gone before the princess even reached Dzungar.
Upon arriving in the capital and explaining their purpose to the emperor, the previous dynasty did not pay much attention to the matter. After all, intermarriage between the Manchus and Mongols was an old custom, and it was common for princesses to be married off to foreign rulers.
But the imperial harem was in an uproar!
The eldest daughter, nicknamed "Big Orange," didn't have many sons, and even fewer daughters. Although Shuhe and Wenyi were both under six years old, historical records show that there were empresses as young as six.
(Empress Shangguan married Emperor Zhao of Han at the age of six.)
But if we were to say who was most worried, it would be Princess Chaogui, the youngest daughter left behind by the late emperor.
"Please, Your Highness, save me! Chao Gui doesn't want to marry Khan Inge; he's already over sixty!"
Sun Miaoqing helped Chao Gui up from the ground and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.
"He's a toad trying to eat swan meat, his wishful thinking is too much. I've watched you grow up, and even if the Emperor is interested, I won't let you marry someone who's practically buried in the ground."
Chao Gui said happily, "Thank you, Your Highness."
"If my royal brother truly desires a marriage alliance, I would gladly marry into a harsh and desolate land. However, Khan Inge is already quite old; how long will he live if I marry him?"
“If I die within two years, and I have no children, according to the local custom, I will have to marry the next Khan and become a concubine instead of a queen.”
"Even if my imperial brother takes pity on me and is willing to let me return to the court, there have been no princesses who have remarried since the Qing Dynasty entered the pass. If the country needs them again in the future, what will happen to Shuhe and Wenyi, who are still under the age of 18?"
"I am not afraid of making sacrifices, but these sacrifices must bring sufficient benefits to the Qing Dynasty. The princesses of the Qing Dynasty are not so worthless."
Sun Miaoqing looked at Chao Gui, and she hadn't realized before that she was actually thinking this way.
Using one's marriage as a bargaining chip and remaining so open about it—two hundred years from now, no woman could do that with such composure.
Sun Miaoqing said, "This is a matter of great importance to you. Even if you are a princess, if you marry someone who is not respectable, your life will not be easy, even though you are thousands of miles apart!"
"Don't say that princesses enjoy the privileges of the world and must do their best for the world. The daughters of wealthy merchants and tycoons, apart from not being allowed to use things that are not their own, are not much worse off than you in terms of fine clothes and sumptuous food."
"If your imperial brother's empire can only be secured by sacrificing his daughters and sisters and marrying them off to an old man who is about to die, how will he face the late emperor when he passes away?"
Chao Gui was deeply moved. Her birth mother was just an unfavored noblewoman, and after her brother ascended the throne, neither she nor her mother were valued.
Aside from her mother, this was the first time anyone had truly considered her feelings. But she didn't want to follow the same path her sisters and aunts had taken.
"Does the Imperial Concubine know Elizabeth?"
"Of course, a Queen of England."
Chao Gui said, "I want to be like her, and marrying a Mongolian prince is the best choice."
"With my elder brother's backing, I will seize all the power in the tribe and completely transform the Mongols into subjects of the Qing Dynasty. Just like what Sister Kejing did, I will do even better than her."
Chao Gui's ambition truly exceeded Sun Miaoqing's expectations. The fat orange cat's use of wool to control the Mongols would yield results in just a few years.
The deeper the grasslands' dependence on the Qing Dynasty, the higher the princess's status would be, and the easier it would be for her to accomplish things.
As long as there is an heir, she doesn't even need to give birth herself. With the support of the Qing Dynasty, she can sideline her husband or send him away to scout ahead. If she plans carefully, it's not a difficult task.
I thought it was a little white rabbit, but it turned out to be a big gray wolf in rabbit skin.
Sun Miaoqing didn't know whether she should support this or not.
During dinner, Big Fat Orange came over with his hands in his pockets and Chao Gui repeated what she had told Sun Miaoqing during the day.
The chubby orange cat was so startled that it stood up and paced back and forth several times.
"I am usually busy with state affairs, and the Empress is frail and ill and unable to manage affairs. I have not shown you enough care, and it is my fault."
"Your Majesty is very busy with state affairs, and the two Consorts are very kind to me because of him."
The chubby orange tree sighed, "I am very pleased that you are so understanding. Inge Khan is indeed not a good match. You are my only unmarried sister. You must choose your future husband carefully."
Chao Gui said, "Your Majesty, I thank you."
......
Years later, Chao Gui looked at the body of her short-lived husband and cried bitterly.
She did not marry Inge Khan that year, but waited two years before marrying Mog, who succeeded to the Khanate.
Ambitious, but lacking the strength to match. He always dreamed of taking their place and leading his troops back to their Yuan capital.
Chao Gui put a lot of thought into it; a disobedient person is just a waste of rice to live.
The epidemic came at just the right time...
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