Yesen smiled. "I will not kill His Majesty. We Mongols have no taste for killing captives, especially a noble personage like His Majesty. He will be treated well."
Zhu Qizhen frowned and looked at him in confusion. "If you will not kill me, why did you capture me?"
Yesen sat beside the emperor and sighed. "His Majesty, I do not wish to harm you. I am merely aggrieved."
Zhu Qizhen stared at him blankly.
Yesen said, "I have regarded the Ming Dynasty as an elder brother and shown it every respect for many years. Yet last year, you arbitrarily cut the rewards granted to us. We sent two thousand men, but you were only willing to reward three hundred. This year, you have gone further and decreed that only a small number of gifts will be bestowed each year. This is entirely unlike the generosity and magnanimity of your forefathers.
"I wished to forge a marriage alliance with the Ming Dynasty. You had clearly agreed to it, only to suddenly go back on your word. I have been holding this breath of resentment in my chest, so naturally I came to demand an explanation from you."
Zhu Qizhen cursed inwardly. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that the number of tribute bearers from foreign states such as the Oirats could not exceed three hundred per visit to the capital.
Ever since he had ascended the throne, every Oirat delegation sent each year had exceeded three hundred men, and their numbers had grown year by year.
They brought a few inferior horses, cattle, and sheep, then demanded lavish rewards from the Imperial Court. The national treasury had to subsidize the Court of State Ceremonial year after year. Whenever foreign envoys arrived, the ministry officials complained that the rewards bestowed upon foreign states were