Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 572 The weak and the strong
On the grassland, whoever has the bigger fist is the boss.

This battle had to be fought no matter what. Tumed was the territory that Zhu Shenzhui had worked hard to build, and it was also the foundation for his future struggle for the world. How could he give it to others?

Zhu Shenzhu made the final decision and decided to compete with Dorgon.

Last time in the capital, Zhu Shencui had only a few soldiers with him, and he was hasty in the battle, so he only had a brief fight with the Eight Banners. Moreover, his opponent at that time was not Dorgon, but Manggurtai, the leader of the Zhenglan Banner. Although Manggurtai was also a brave general, his fame was far inferior to that of the future famous Dorgon.

In the initial battle, neither side really fought hard, and Manggurtai did not use the main force of the Zhenglan Banner to attack, but only made some attempts. As for Zhu Shenzhu, it goes without saying that when the main camp was broken, Zhu Shenzhu's task was to defend. From this point of view, no one tried their best, and the scale of the battle was not large.

It was different now. Dorgon was about to join forces with the Chahar tribe to attack. This was going to be a big war. Zhu Shenzhui had to see whether Dorgon's Eight Banners were stronger or his own Mongolian cavalry could fight. As long as they won this battle, the Tumed would no longer be a threat in the next few years, and the Tenger tribe would be able to completely secure its position in southern Mongolia. As for the tribes of the Chahar tribe that betrayed Lin Danhan, it was even more so. These fence-sitters had always been swayed by the wind. As long as Dorgon was defeated, their fragile alliance with Huang Taiji would be broken, and it would not be so easy for Huang Taiji to borrow the power of Chahar in the future.

The meeting ended and everyone left.

Zhu Shenzhui asked Tengger with a smile how much he understood from what was said just now.

As a teenager, Tengger only understood a little of the discussion at the meeting and could not figure out what was going on. However, he knew one thing, that was that a war was about to break out, and it was a war with the Chahar tribe and the Jurchens in the east.

"Abu! If a wolf comes, you must kill it. Even if you can't kill it, you must hurt it thoroughly! Only in this way will these wolves not target our cattle and sheep in the future, don't you agree?"

When Tengger asked this question, Zhu Shenzhui burst into laughter, and even Tana beside him was overjoyed.

"Good boy, you are right!" Zhu Shenzhui put one hand on Tenger's shoulder and said, "When the evil wolf comes, of course we have to fight it back. It is best to kill the evil wolf so that it will never dare to come again! In this way, our grassland, our grassland and cattle and sheep can be preserved, and our people can live and work in peace. You are the leader of the tribe, the Shunyi King of Tumed, and the Jurhan of the grassland. Today, Abu will teach you the simplest sentence, 'A kind man is bullied, and a good horse is ridden'! Only when you have enough power will people be afraid of you."

Tenger muttered this sentence, nodded vigorously after a while, raised his fist and waved it: "I understand, Abu, if we teach them a lesson, we can protect the tribe. But Abu, if they don't come to fight us, can we fight them?"

"Hahaha! Good question!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed and said, "Kid, you have to remember that the law of the jungle is the truth in this world. When you are weak, you will be bullied. Only when you are strong can you protect everything. And when your power is so strong that no one can defeat you, of course you can teach them a lesson. Those evil wolves will become sheep in front of you."

"Great!" Tengger's eyes lit up, this sentence made the young boy feel excited. Although he is not the real King of Shunyi yet, and is only Jurkha in name, he has half Mongolian blood and grew up on the grassland. He has the bravery and fearlessness of the Mongolians in his bones, and he has a natural desire to conquer. After hearing what Zhu Shenzui said today, Tengger already has expectations and goals for the future.

"Aren't you afraid that your child will think too much about what you said today? Don't forget that he belongs to the grassland after all. What if you take over the Ming Dynasty in the future and he grows up and has other ideas?" When Zhu Shenzhui and Tana were alone, Tana couldn't help but say these words to her husband.

Although she was very pleased with Zhu Shenzhu's words about teaching the child today, she was also worried. Although Tengger was Zhu Shenzhu's eldest son, he could not be Zhu Shenzhu's true heir after all.

Her husband was a member of the Ming royal family and would be the future emperor who could rule the world. If there really was such a day, when Zhu Shenzhui won the throne of the Ming Dynasty, Tengger would not be able to become the next emperor.

Tana had known this for a long time, and she also had some ideas about the throne of the Ming Dynasty. As a Mongolian and Tenger's mother, Tana just wanted Tenger to grow up happily and become the leader of a large grassland tribe in the future, and she didn't want to have anything to do with the Ming Dynasty.

But today, Zhu Shenzhui told Tengger the truth of the jungle and encouraged him to become a strong man. This made Tana worried. What if Zhu Shenzhui really became the master of the world? Would the father and son kill each other? Or after Zhu Shenzhui left, would Tengger fight with his brothers and nephews? This was something Tana didn't want to see.

"What can you think of? It's nothing but ambition." Zhu Shenzhui smiled and waved his hands. He was not worried about these things. As for ambition, it is better to have it than not to have it. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui had already made a decision. From the moment he rejected Namu Zhong, there would be no more Mongolian Khans, and Mongolia would not be truly unified in the future. Even if Tenger was his son, Zhu Shenzhui would not hand over all of Mongolia to him.

Therefore, compared with the powerful Central Plains Empire, Mongolia's future definition is just a barrier and vassal in the north. With only the Tumed, Mongolia has no power to compete with the entire empire. Besides, how could Zhu Shenzhui's son be raised to be a waste like other Ming royal family members now? As the saying goes, a wolf walks a thousand miles to eat meat, and a dog walks a hundred miles to eat shit. His descendants will definitely only be the former, and will never be the latter.

Although ambition has disadvantages, it also has advantages. The world is so big, where can't we go? Further north and further west, there are vast territories and countless foreign races. The ancestors of the Mongols have been there and conquered those lands and foreign races. If so, then his son Zhu Shenzhui can do the same. After deciding to send troops, Tumed began to prepare for war.

A conscription order was issued to the Tumed tribes in the name of King Shunyi, ordering them to dispatch cavalry to accompany them in the expedition.

After the order was issued, countless messengers went out in all directions from Guihua City, and the conscription order was delivered to various tribes a few days later.

The tribes dared not disobey the call issued by the Tenger tribe, and dispatched cavalry according to the size of the tribe to the meeting point to follow the battle. After the smallpox incident, Tenger's prestige in Tumed was at its highest.

Of course, this is also related to Zhu Shenzui's previous actions. Any tribe that did not respect the rule of the Tenger tribe and pretended to obey was either directly annexed by Zhu Shenzui or destroyed when smallpox spread. The current Tumed is not the Tumed during Bu Shitu's time.

Half a month later, cavalry from various tribes arrived one after another, and the recruited troops from various tribes reached more than 30,000 cavalry. Together with the accompanying herdsmen and logistical supplies, the total number was 40,000.

In addition to these conscripted troops, the Tengger tribe itself dispatched 16,000 troops, including 2,000 new troops and 14,000 cavalry, which was more than half of the Tengger tribe's military strength.

The reason why nearly 5,000 cavalry troops were left behind was to protect Guihua City and serve as a mobile force for the Tumote grassland. Grassland warfare is completely different from Ming warfare. The grassland is flat and suitable for cavalry warfare. There are no passes or cities. The cavalry come and go like the wind. They fight on horseback, and there is no siege at all.

This time, Zhu Shenzhui had to face Dorgon, who was very young but experienced in battle. When he was young, he followed Nurhaci to fight and made many contributions. After Nurhaci's death, Dorgon and his brothers endured the hatred of their mother being forced to death by Huang Taiji and served Huang Taiji. Over the years, they fought in many battles and made outstanding contributions. They were one of the most capable brothers under Huang Taiji.

This time, Huang Taiji asked Dorgon to lead the army in the expedition to Mongolia, and he also valued his military ability. This was a very difficult opponent to deal with. Although Zhu Shencui was not afraid of the opponent, necessary preparations were still required, so nearly 5,000 cavalry were left to garrison Guihua to prevent Dorgon from making a detour to attack Guihua after the war.

Guihua City is the most important area of ​​Tumed and even the entire grassland. It is also the headquarters of the Tenger tribe. There must be no losses in Guihua City. This must be guaranteed.

After the troops were gathered, Zhu Shenzui had 14,000 cavalry from the Tengger tribe, 2,000 new troops, 30,000 cavalry drawn from other tribes, plus nearly 10,000 herdsmen and cattle and sheep accompanying the army.

The last time a war of this scale took place was when Ligdan Khan marched westward. Zhu Shencui's opponent was not weak either. He had just received news that Dorgon had more than 50,000 troops under his direct command, of which 15,000 were from the Eight Banners. In addition, there were Mongolian cavalry drawn from various Chahar tribes, and another 4,000 cavalry reinforcements from Khorchin. In terms of numbers, their military strength had exceeded that of Zhu Shencui, which was enough to show Dorgon's determination to wipe out the Tumed in one fell swoop by relying on his strength.

Zhu Shenzui led the troops personally. His central army consisted of 10,000 cavalry from his headquarters plus 2,000 new troops. Wang Hai was in charge of the vanguard. Originally, this task was to be given to Hatulig, but Wang Hai insisted on serving as the vanguard. Zhu Shenzui finally let him serve as the vanguard, leading 3,000 cavalry from his headquarters plus 3,000 cavalry recruited from various departments.

The left and right wings were led by Hatulig and Burigude respectively, and there were also generals and cavalry from various tribes. The army marched out from the camp east of Guihua and headed straight for Jining.

Because it was not clear yet where Dorgon's troops were going, while sending out numerous scouts to inquire around, Zhu Shenzui decided to take the initiative by attacking as defense and lead his troops straight to Chahar.

Jining was the best target for attack because it was located at the junction of the left and right wings of Chahar. As early as the Han Dynasty, Jining belonged to Yanmen County. In the Tang Dynasty, it was the location of Shanyu Protectorate. In the Liao and Jin Dynasties, a county was established in Jining, which belonged to Xijing Road. When the Yuan Dynasty unified the Central Plains, Jining belonged to Jining Road of the Secretariat.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's northern expedition to the Central Plains and expelled the Mongols, Jining fell into decline. Over the next two hundred years, this place gradually became a nomadic area for the Mongolian Tatars and no longer resembled its former glory.

Although Jining no longer looks like the original ancient city, it is still an important place. Not only is it located at the junction of the left and right wings of Chahar, it is also an important area of ​​Chahar headquarters.

Especially the Qierhaizi, southeast of Jining, which is the Huangqihai area in later generations, is the main road to Chahar headquarters. When Zhu Shenzhui first came to the grassland, he happened to meet Burigude gathering troops for Ligdan Khan. The gathering camp was near Qierhaizi, and this place was also the place where Wang Hai first met Zhu Shenzhui and changed his fate, so this is also an important reason why Wang Hai insisted on grabbing the vanguard.

(End of this chapter)