reusable ajax editor for model in asp.net mvc not going ajax

ok so Im new to mvc. What Im making is a -create user form-. The UserViewModel has a branchcode property of type long. I want a small branch selector, where instead of a plain textbox for the code I have a textbox and a check name link, when clicked would return the name of the branch with some ajax.

So I made a branch selector and put it under Shared/EditorTemplates. Looks like this

@model long

<div class="editor-label">
    Branch ID: @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model)
    @Ajax.ActionLink("Get Branch Name", MVC.Admin.Home.BranchDetail(Model),
        new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "BranchName", LoadingElementId = "loading" })
    <p id="loading" style="display: none">
        Loading...
    </p>
</div>
<div id="BranchName" class="editor-field">
</div>

I have the UIHint setup in the viewmodel so when I say EditFor(model.BranchName) it shows up perfectly like this:

My problems:

1. There is no ajax! When I click it goes the the url : http://localhost:1159/Admin/Home/BranchDetail?brcd=0 And then the URL throws an error because there is no BranchDetailsView anywhere.

This is what the controller looks like:

public virtual ActionResult BranchDetail(long brcd)
        {
            if (Request.IsAjaxRequest())
            {
                //code to find branch
                if (br == null)
                {
                    return Content("No Branch Found");
                }
                else
                {
                    return Content(br.BranchName + "Circle: " + br.Circle);
                }
            }
            return View();//we should not be here.
        }

2. Another problem is, how do I get the AjaxLink to return what code what typed. If you notice the screenie, the url to the link has brcd=0. I want to send over the branch code to the controller! I tried BeginRouteForm with an input button inside the editor, but that ends up submitting the entire Create page form? Would that be the right way to do this?

Note: Im using T4MVC, also, Initially I forgot but I did reference both microsoft.ajax.js and microsoft.mvc.ajax.js in the create page.

Update : I managed to get this working with JQuery and it seems pretty nice and simple. However, I would really like to know how this kind of thing would be generally done with Ajax.BeginForm since Im learning MVC.