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

Chapter 579 Barrier
Wang Hai lived up to Zhu Shenzhu's trust and successfully completed the task, making great contributions to the battle. However, the price he paid was also heavy. Wang Hai's troops were composed of the main force of the Tengger tribe and the elite troops drawn from various tribes. The losses in this battle were not small. Several centurions and decurions under Wang Hai were killed, and even Wang Hai himself almost died on the battlefield.

Fortunately, Wang Hai was well-equipped with armor, which blocked the heavy arrows of the Eight Banners. But even so, he was wounded three times. One of the arrows was the most dangerous. If it had been a little bit off, he might not have been able to come back.

"I'm glad you're okay. If something happened to you, I really don't know how to explain to Qiao'er." Zhu Shenzui patted his shoulder. Wang Hai grinned. Since he married Qiao'er, his relationship with Zhu Shenzui has become closer. Now Wang Hai is Zhu Shenzui's nephew-in-law and a real family member.

Inviting him to sit down, Zhu Shenzhui poured him a cup of tea. After asking about the military arrangements, Wang Hai reported while drinking tea that it would take some time to clean up the battlefield, and it was not convenient to continue at this time because it was getting late, so it would not be too late to do it tomorrow.

As for the troops, they had been settled in, all the prisoners had been taken into custody one by one, and everything was in order.

"Well done." Zhu Shenzhui praised him.

Wang Hai said that this was what he should do, and his attitude was very humble. Seeing him like this, Zhu Shencui was even more satisfied. After thinking about it, he told Wang Hai the suggestions of Burigude and others and asked for his opinion.

"Uncle, I was also thinking about this before I came here, but my thoughts are different from Burigude and the others. I do not recommend continuing to move eastward."

"Oh, why is that?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Wang Hai said solemnly: "Our army won a great victory in this battle. The Jiannu were defeated and fled, and the various tribes in Chahar suffered heavy losses. If we continue to move eastward, it will not be a big problem for our army to take Chahar. At least we can occupy a large area of ​​grassland in the west of Chahar. But the problem is that it is easy to take it, but it is difficult to hold it. Once our army moves eastward and takes Chahar, we will inevitably face two problems."

"Speak carefully!"

Wang Hai pointed to a cup in front of him and said, "The first problem is the Chahar tribes themselves. Although the main forces of the tribes have been defeated here, the main bodies of the tribes have not been damaged. Moreover, the Chahar tribes are just like the Tumed tribes in the past. Although Lin Dan Khan could command the tribes in the name of the Great Khan, the tribes pretended to obey Lin Dan Khan but secretly disobeyed him. Otherwise, Lin Dan Khan would not have abandoned Chahar and fled to Qinghai later."

"Even if we capture the leaders and nobles, it will not be easy to completely subdue the various tribes in Chahar. What's more, our tribe has no roots in Chahar. It is not Tumed. If we want to stabilize Chahar and make it our uncle's territory, we must station troops there for a long time, and even move nearly half of the tribes from Tumed there."

"Such an approach will lead to a significant reduction in the strength of the Tumed headquarters, and will further weaken the power of the headquarters. In addition, the Chahar tribes are not very close to us. If we want to solve the Chahar problem, it will take a very long time and a huge amount of energy."

"From the current perspective, Tumed is the foundation of my uncle. It is already very difficult to manage Tumed. I am afraid that I cannot devote my energy to managing Chahar, which is full of hidden dangers."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded and asked, "You mean to swallow Chahar? We don't have such a big appetite now, right?"

Wang Hai smiled embarrassedly and nodded, "Uncle, I think so. It is not difficult to take over Chahar, but it is difficult to stabilize Chahar and suppress the tribes after taking it. Uncle, you spent several years planning to conquer Tumed, and it happened to coincide with the westward advance of Lindan Khan, the death of Bu Shitu, and the spread of smallpox. If these things had not happened, do you think the tribe can control Tumed so easily now? And can it suppress the Tumed tribes?"

Wang Hai was right, and Zhu Shenzhui had also thought of this. With the favorable geographical conditions and the support of the people, and with many changes, the Tenger tribe was lucky enough to be naturalized and became the leader of Tumed. But even so, the Tumed grassland is not a monolithic entity. There are also Mongolian nobles among the tribes who surrender on the surface but secretly disobey. In the future, Zhu Shenzhui will use this great victory to confirm the prestige of the Tenger tribe in Tumed and even the whole of Mongolia, and continue to suppress and subdue the Tumed tribes.

Even Tumed, which is already in our hands, is in such a complicated situation, not to mention Chahar. As Wang Hai said, it is not difficult to take over Chahar now, but the difficulty lies in the subsequent issue of how to rule and maintain this territory after taking it.

This is not just a city or a state in the Central Plains. The entire Chahar is vast, and the size and number of the tribes are no less than that of Tumed. It is simply impossible to effectively rule such a large area and thoroughly absorb and digest it in a short period of time.

Seeing Zhu Shenzhui thinking about something, Wang Hai picked up the teacup in front of Zhu Shenzhui and continued, "The second problem is the Jiannu. This time, the Dorgon brothers returned in defeat, and our army also dealt a heavy blow to the Jiannu. But in fact, the Jiannu's strength has not been greatly damaged. You must know that the main force of the Jiannu is still in Liaodong, and the chieftain Huang Taiji can easily raise tens of thousands of troops to attack. In comparison, our strength is still not Huang Taiji's opponent."

"Once we take over Chahar, we will not only have to take care of the problems of the various tribes in Chahar, but also worry about the threat from Jiannu. You should know that to the east of Chahar is Inner Khalkha, and to the northeast is Khorchin. These two tribes are actually under the control of Huang Taiji. Jiannu can use these two places as a base to attack Chahar."

"The reason why Lin Danhan abandoned Chahar was that there were not only internal troubles but also external troubles, and this external trouble was the Jiannu who were eyeing the enemy covetously. Therefore, I think it is not appropriate to move eastward now. Once we move eastward, not only will there be no benefits, but it will also cause a lot of trouble." Zhu Shenzhu nodded silently. Wang Hai's words touched his heart. He had also considered this before. Taking over Chahar would mean directly bordering the Jiannu. As the saying goes, how can you allow others to snore beside your bed? Huang Taiji was a man of great talent and strategy. How could he sit back and watch Zhu Shenzhu grow in Chahar and become the next Lin Danhan?

By then, I am afraid that wars will continue to break out, and Huang Taiji will certainly unite the Mongolian tribes to attack him. In this way, Chahar, which has not been stable, will be in even greater danger. Once defeated in Chahar, not only will the newly occupied Chahar fall into the hands of Huang Taiji, but Huang Taiji will even pursue the victory and attack directly to Tumed. How can Zhu Shenzhu resist at that time?

From these two aspects, the disadvantages of taking over Chahar are much greater than the benefits. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhu Shenzhui decided to give up the temptation and decided not to attack Chahar anymore.

"If we don't attack Chahar, what should we do next?" Zhu Shenzhui continued to ask Wang Hai.

Wang Hai thought for a moment and said, "Although we will not attack Chahar, we must make corresponding arrangements. Keeping Chahar is nothing more than a barrier to the east of Tumed. In this way, the leaders of the various Chahar tribes captured this time can be used, and perhaps it will have a miraculous effect."

Hearing this, Zhu Shenzhui's eyes suddenly lit up and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Wang Hai's words hit home immediately. He was still worrying about how to deal with these captives before, and now Wang Hai gave him the most appropriate option. Once this method is used well, it can not only provoke conflicts among the Chahar tribes, but also make the Chahar tribes a barrier to the east. As long as these tribes are there, even if Huang Taiji is gritting his teeth against the Tengger tribe, he will not easily attack from afar.

Zhu Shenzhui was very happy looking at Wang Hai with satisfaction and relief. He was indeed a disciple trained by him, and even more so a niece-in-law who married his niece whom he treated as his own daughter. Wang Hai really gave him a surprise. This guy was not only loyal and reliable, but also good at fighting. He was also very good at seeing the big picture. He was indeed a rare talent.

The next day, Zhu Shencui issued an order to prepare for withdrawal according to Wang Hai's suggestion. Although Burigude and others felt sorry that Zhu Shencui failed to continue eastward, they felt that now was the best opportunity to take Chahar in one fell swoop, but Zhu Shencui did not have this idea.

However, no one could change the decision made by Zhu Shenzui, and after the great victory in this battle, all the Tumed tribes were jubilant and looked forward to returning triumphantly and receiving rewards as soon as possible, so most people supported this decision and it was settled.

Zhu Shenzhu also had a plan for the treatment of the captured leaders, generals and ordinary Mongolian cavalry. He rejected the idea of ​​killing them directly, as some people suggested. Killing people is easy, just waving a knife, but what good can it bring?

In Zhu Shencui's opinion, keeping these people would be more beneficial, so he planned to release them gradually. Of course, there were conditions before releasing them. Before releasing them, Zhu Shencui would first meet these people to find out their background, and then prescribe the right remedy, cleverly instigating conflicts between the various Chahar tribes, and then using the captured Mongolian cavalry in his hands to make a series of arrangements.

Among them, Asut Taiji Aji was a very good candidate. Although the Asut tribe had always been a lackey of Jiannu, it was also one of the Mongolian tribes that surrendered to Huang Taiji very early. However, Aji's rise to the position of Taiji was not supported by Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji supported Aji's elder brother. Logically, Aji should not have been the Taiji, but he was the one who finally ascended to the position of Taiji and controlled the tribe.

The reason is very simple, because this guy Aji suddenly attacked and directly assassinated his brother.

After killing his brother, Aji announced his sudden death to the public and seized the position of Taiji. Then, in order to avoid trouble from Huang Taiji, Aji took the initiative to send Huang Taiji a valuable gift and expressed his willingness to follow his lead.

Although Huang Taiji was dissatisfied with Aji's ascension to the throne and knew how Aji came to power, for the sake of the overall situation, he had no choice but to accept that Aji became the Taiji of the Asut tribe.

On the surface, this matter has passed. In the past two years, Aji has been honest in his attitude towards Huang Taiji. This time, he even took the initiative to join the war as a pawn of the Dorgon brothers.

But it is impossible to say that there is no rift between the two sides. Aji knew very well that he was not the best candidate for Taiji supported by Huang Taiji. Moreover, after Huang Taiji ascended to the position of Taiji, he never gave up on winning over other people within Asut. Perhaps one day he would be taken down as Taiji by Huang Taiji and replaced by someone whom Huang Taiji considered more trustworthy.

It was precisely because of the special situation of the Asut tribe that Zhu Shenzui decided to release Aji first, so as to avoid the tribe falling into the hands of Huang Taiji. Of course, before releasing him, Zhu Shenzui naturally did not forget to instigate Aji and talk to him personally, and also hinted at the conflicts between Aji and Huang Taiji and other tribes, asking him to make some trouble after returning.

Although it was not a formal attempt to win over someone, it was an open conspiracy of interests and conflicts that was laid out on the table. Moreover, Aji was a man with considerable ambitions and was also an extremely daring guy. Otherwise, he would not have killed his brother and occupied the position of Taiji that should not have belonged to him.

In addition, Kang Wu, the Jinyiwei spy who had previously sent a letter to Wang Hai, was also a very good chess piece. His identity was not leaked, and he was originally Aji's personal guard. It was easy to rearrange him beside Aji and release him together.

(End of this chapter)