Midstream of the Ertix River, in the Durbet's great tent, Dalai Taishi met the Khoshut Tribe's Envoy.
"Are you saying the Great Khan is asking me to jointly dispatch troops to force the Dzungar to return the herdsmen and pastures they've encroached upon?"
"Precisely. The Great Khan said that Huntaiji Khara Khula of the Dzungar has been arrogant and overbearing in recent years, encroaching upon neighboring tribes everywhere.
This is truly intolerable, so he requests you dispatch troops to seek justice."
In the past five years of Oirat civil war, the main battlefields were in the grazing lands of the three major tribes: Khoshut, Durbet, and Torghut, while the Dzungar was less affected.
Khara Khula and Batur, father and son, took the opportunity to rise, taking in refugees, expanding their power, and gradually gaining the strength to contend with the former leader, the Khoshut Tribe.
This father and son pair were both wise and arrogant, becoming tyrannical after their power grew.
Most of the pastures left behind by the Torghut after their westward migration were seized by them, yet they were still not satisfied and encroached upon a large amount of pasture land belonging to the Khoshut and Durbet.
The newly enthroned Guoshi Khan felt the threat posed by the Dzungar and decided to strike at them under the pretext of reclaiming the herdsmen and grazing lands.
Reclaiming the grazing lands was a pretense; making the various Oirat tribes understand who was truly the leader was the real reason.
However, the wise Tulubaihu knew clearly that after five years of civil war consumption, the Khoshut Tribe's strength was not as great as before, and relying solely on himself for a real fight, he might not be absolutely certain of victory.
Politics is like chess; without absolute certainty, a skilled player will not easily make a move.
Therefore, he sought out Great Taiji Dalai Taishi of the Durbet, who was also dissatisfied with the Dzungar's wanton expansion.
If you are strong, I will find allies to deal with you together.
Although he had always been wary of the Dzungar and had long thought about teaching that fellow Khara Khula a lesson, Dalai Taishi did not immediately express his stance.
He was a bit older than Tulubaihu and could remain calmer when facing issues.
Since the Khoshut people came to him first, he might as well make them wait and not rush to agree.
"Honorable Envoy, please return to the great tent to rest.
This matter is significant, allow me to discuss it with the various Taiji," he said politely.
The so-called "discussion" was an excuse; he had been in charge of the tribe for many years and his word was already law.
The reason he said this was to gain the initiative in negotiations and obtain the greatest benefit.
After several rounds of negotiations, the two sides reached an agreement: they would jointly dispatch troops to subdue the Dzungar, the Khoshut Tribe would obtain the Gurbantunggut Desert, and the Durbet would obtain the pastures west of the Emin River.
On the surface, it seemed the Durbet gained lush pastures, while the Khoshut Tribe only obtained a desert, appearing to have suffered a loss.
But Tulubaihu was extremely excited and heavily rewarded the returning Envoy.
Firstly, the Gurbantunggut Desert is located north of Urumqi, in the central and southern part of the Dzungar Basin.
Obtaining this area created a strategic buffer zone between the Khoshut and the Dzungar.
If the Dzungar wanted to move south and harass the Khoshut, they would need to cross the desert, which would not be easy;
Secondly, both the Dzungar and the Durbet belonged to the Choros clan, tracing back to the same ancestor.
What this Guoshi Khan worried about most was these two strong tribes uniting.
If that happened, the Khoshut would truly be finished!
Previous history was indeed like this; after the strongman Dalai Taishi of the Durbet died of illness, most of the Durbet people defected to the Dzungar, greatly increasing the power of the Dzungar Khanate.
Now that they had conflicts and were fighting, it couldn't be better!
Great statesmen possess great wisdom and never get bogged down by petty gains.
After Tulubaihu and Dalai Taishi reached an agreement, they quickly combined their forces of over forty thousand and gathered south of the Gurbantunggut Desert.
Although the Gurbantunggut Desert was considered the heartland of the Dzungar, it was a vast desert difficult to station large forces in.
On the limited few oases in the desert, the Dzungar had only stationed a thousand soldiers, who were quickly defeated.
"How can this be!
I didn't provoke them, yet they dared to provoke me!"
With the large army pressing in, Huntaiji Khara Khula of the Dzungar was not afraid, but instead extremely angry.
This lone hero, who dared to charge the Khalkha army formation alone back then, never knew fear when fighting, roaring repeatedly like a roaring wolf.
The king is the courage of his subjects.
Generals such as Batur, Sahalletu, Alehui, Bingtu, Huergan, and Shuoketu Ubashi all requested to fight.
If you want to fight, I will fight!
Procrastination was not Khara Khula's style.
He gathered over twenty thousand troops and rushed to the Gurbantunggut Desert.
Although his forces were fewer than the enemy's, desert warfare primarily relied on logistics.
The more people there were, the greater the pressure on logistics.
The Dzungar were also familiar with the terrain and only maneuvered with the enemy in the desert, not seeking a decisive battle.
The two sides were in a stalemate, and as time went on, the Khoshut-Durbet united army's food and water supplies became scarce.
Tulubaihu began to think of retreating and said to Dalai Taishi: "I did not know the desert was so difficult.
The large army has fought for a long time without success.
Why not retreat?"
Dalai Taishi, however, was calm.
Pointing towards the northeast, he said: "A strong enemy is nearby.
The one who should be anxious is Khara Khula."
Tulubaihu was suddenly enlightened.
In the Altai Mountains area to the northeast, there were still troops of the Khalkha Khoshut Tribe.
That Khoshut Tribe's Huntaiji Omu Erdeni had always wanted to inherit his father Shulei Ubashi's dying wish: to conquer Oirat.
Now that the Dzungar's elite troops were dispatched, how could he give up this good opportunity?
He would surely send troops to flank Khara Khula's rear.
Omu Erdeni indeed came, leading thirty thousand troops to invade the Dzungar's grazing lands.
In fact, he was secretly lured by Dalai Taishi.
Dalai Taishi and Omu Erdeni had previously formed a secret peace treaty and had some friendship.
Khara Khula's second son, Mergen Daiqing, was greatly surprised and quickly sent his younger brother Chu Hu'er Wubashi to report to their father.
Upon seeing his third son, Khara Khula turned pale with fright.
It seemed the thing he worried about most had happened.
He composed himself and slowly asked: "Why did you come?
Did the Khalkha invade?"
"E Qi Ge, Huntaiji Omu Erdeni of the Khoshut Tribe led thirty thousand troops to attack.
Second Brother fought bravely, but was outnumbered and retreated step by step.
He specifically came to ask for your help."
"Ask for help?"
Khara Khula gave a bitter smile.
He was already struggling to deal with the united army of the Khoshut and Durbet.
Where would he get reinforcements for his second son?
"E Qi Ge, the only plan now is to immediately negotiate with the Khoshut and Durbet, and then concentrate our forces to deal with the Khalkha.
No matter what, we all belong to Oirat, there is nothing that cannot be discussed," offered his eldest son Batur.
"Alas!
That's the only way!"
Although Khara Khula was fond of fighting, he was not foolish.
He immediately sent out Envoys for negotiations.
Because he was at a military disadvantage, he had to make concessions in the negotiations: he agreed to use the central axis of the Gurbantunggut Desert as the border with the Khoshut Tribe;
agreed to use the Emin River as the border with the Durbet, and also symbolically returned three hundred households of subjects belonging to the two tribes.
The civil war between the three strong Oirat tribes ended anticlimactically.
The Khoshut and Durbet retook the occupied territories.
Tulubaihu effectively curbed the Dzungar's expansion, maintained the Khoshut Tribe's position as leader in Oirat, and his personal prestige reached a new height.
However, the ambitious Khara Khula, after suffering losses, was unwilling to let it go and was constantly thinking about having another showdown with Tulubaihu.
The Great Khan of Oirat, you Khoshut people can be one, why can't we Dzungar people be one?