Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 340 Like Wolves and Tigers Reclaiming Homeland
The Ming Dynasty is about to launch a counterattack beyond the Great Wall. For nearly two hundred years since the Tumu Crisis, the Ming Dynasty seems to have lost all interest in the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. Even when it sends troops beyond the Great Wall, it only launches a brief attack and then retreats.

Incursions by northern barbarians became commonplace, and it seemed that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had all gotten used to it, with none of them ever considering how to completely resolve the problem.

During the Jiajing reign, there was a governor named Zeng Xian who wanted to completely solve the problem of the Northern Barbarians. However, the Jiajing Emperor had Zeng Xian executed for reasons unrelated to the Northern Barbarians, which resulted in Altan Khan invading the capital region and plundering for several days before leaving!

There were countless absurd and bizarre things in the Ming Dynasty. Almost all the emperors were good at neglecting their duties but terrible at governing the country.

Or rather, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were misled by people with ulterior motives, and none of them seemed quite normal.

Fortunately, the neurotic Chongzhen Emperor has now been replaced by the domineering CEO Zhu Jue.

He knew very well that to completely solve the problem of the Northern Barbarians, he had to launch a counterattack beyond the Great Wall, take over all the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, and deprive the Northern Barbarians of their foundation for reproduction and survival. His first target was the former territory of the Beiping Commandery, which was the pasture that Emperor Yongle had given to the Doyan Three Guards.

The three guards of Duoyan were unaware of the impending danger.

They never expected that the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty would target them.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's enemy at this time was the Jurchens, and they were playing both sides, meaning they didn't completely side with the Ming Dynasty or the Jurchens. If the Ming Dynasty was strong, they would help the Ming Dynasty; if the Jurchens were strong, they would help the Jurchens. They helped both sides and didn't offend either side to the death.

Their idea was to make both sides feel that they had value, so that both sides would try to win them over.

They've been doing this for nearly two hundred years since the Tumu Crisis. They even led the way when Altan Khan invaded the capital region during the Jiajing reign, and the Ming Dynasty didn't do anything to them.

They never imagined that the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty would suddenly turn against them!

Right now, they've just finished hibernating and are migrating north, just like usual.

However, this migration is not a direct northward drive, because the pasture doesn't grow that fast.

They can only wait for the pasture to grow slowly from south to north, and then slowly move north to graze. This is not a matter of one or two days. It usually takes them two or three months to reach the south bank of the Lamulun River.

At that time, the south bank of the Lamulun River was lush with pasture. They would drive their cattle, sheep and horses there to graze, and then drive them back. By the time they returned to the Laoha River Valley, it was almost winter and the land was frozen over.

It can be said that the former territory of Beiping Commandery was a grazing paradise, with abundant water and lush pastures. Crucially, there was also the Laoha River Valley, a place to escape the cold winter, so cattle, sheep and horses would not freeze to death in the winter.

The northern nomadic peoples feared nothing more than the "white disaster," which was a cold wave that struck in winter, leaving cattle, sheep, and horses with nowhere to escape the severe cold on the vast grasslands, where they would freeze to death.

To escape the white disaster, one must have several large river valleys surrounded by mountains, where there is no shortage of water and pasture, and the mountains can also protect against the invasion of cold waves.

There are very few large river valleys like this in the northern frontier that offer shelter from the cold waves; apart from the Laoha River Valley, there is only the Hetao region.

These two places are rare grazing lands for the nomadic peoples beyond the Great Wall.

The Mongol Yuan dynasty rose to power by occupying the Hetao region, while the Liao dynasty rose to power by occupying the Laoha River Valley.

The reason is that these two auspicious places can avoid the White Disaster and are suitable for cattle, sheep and horses to breed and thrive.

Back in the Yongle reign, the Doyan Three Guards were able to breed 80,000 warhorses thanks to this precious land, which shows how good this land was.

If they hadn't been opportunistic and lacked ideals, they could have seized power like the Jurchens, or at least become as formidable as the Tumed tribe.

Unfortunately, they lacked Nurhaci and Altan Khan, let alone Yelü Abaoji and Genghis Khan. They were like reeds in the wind, swaying back and forth, and naturally, they could never stand upright.

Let's leave that aside for now.

As they were leisurely migrating northward with the growth of pasture, the northern exit of the Laoha River Valley was suddenly blocked by 100,000 Ming troops!

Before they could figure out what was going on, suddenly tens of thousands of chariots and soldiers appeared in the Daling River Valley to the east, the Chaohe River Valley to the west, and the Luanhe River Valley to the south.

The three Ming army chariots surrounded them like three iron gates, leaving them nowhere to run.

This time, the Ming soldiers acted out of character, showing no mercy or compassion whatsoever. These guys were like wolves and tigers, killing anyone who dared to resist.

They had no choice but to keep retreating northwards from the Laoha River Valley, while sending out elite troops under the cover of night to sneak into the mountains and forests on the east and west sides, rushing to the Horqin Grassland to ask Huang Taiji for help.

Upon receiving the news, Huang Taiji finally understood that the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty's target was the former territory of the Beiping Commandery!
This move is too ruthless. If the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty were to take back the former territory of the Beiping Commandery, not only would they be unable to invade the capital region of the Ming Dynasty, but even trading with the eight imperial merchants would become extremely troublesome.

The problem is, even if he understood, he wouldn't dare lead his cavalry to support the Three Guards of Doyan at this point.

There was no other way; the Liaodong chariots and cavalry had all gathered south of the Horqin Grassland, and the Sichuan Army's White-Spear troops were also frantically infiltrating the former territory of the Jianzhou Three Guards.

If he were to lead his cavalry to support the Three Guards of Doyan, it's uncertain whether he could save them, but he certainly wouldn't be able to hold onto his stronghold.

Under such circumstances, how could he dare to send troops?
If Huang Taiji does not send troops to help, the Doyan Three Guards are like widows who have lost their sons, with no hope left.

At this point, Huang Taiji had reduced their warhorses to less than ten thousand, and their able-bodied men were also less than ten thousand. In addition, the Ming army was as fierce and ruthless as wolves and tigers. How could they possibly resist?

Ultimately, hundreds of thousands of them and millions of cattle, sheep and horses were all squeezed into the narrow area where the Laoha River and Luoma River meet and could not move.

At this time, to the north of Luoma River, 100,000 Ming soldiers and 5,000 chariots were on high alert, and to the east of Laoha River, 100,000 Ming soldiers and 5,000 chariots were also on high alert. To the west and south, 200,000 Ming soldiers and 10,000 chariots were still pressing towards the center.

They were squeezed out of their options, so they had no choice but to lower their prices.

They originally thought that after surrendering this time, things would be the same as before. The Ming army would just teach them a lesson, and they would just bow their heads, admit their mistakes, and then swear to obediently submit and pay tribute. That would be the end of it. The Ming army would eventually withdraw, and they could continue to live and multiply in the old territory of Beiping Commandery.

Who would have thought that this Ming army was completely different from the previous ones?

These guys just arrested all the able-bodied men without saying a word and took them to Liaodong. They even took all their horses!

They only have a few hundred thousand elderly, women, and children, and a few million cattle and sheep left.

That’s nothing.

In the direction of the Chaohe River Valley to the south and the Dalinghe River Valley to the east, hundreds of thousands of craftsmen and able-bodied men are rapidly laying tracks. In the direction of the Xiliao River to the north, ships are shuttling back and forth, constantly pulling in hundreds of thousands of infantrymen at a time, seemingly without end!
It seems the Ming army had no intention of withdrawing this time!

In early May, the grasslands beyond the Great Wall are lush with grass and eagles are soaring, and the Yanshan Mountains are also a verdant green.

Early that morning, around dawn, several thousand cavalrymen suddenly surged out from the Miyun Rear Guard on the southern slope of the Yanshan Mountains, followed by hundreds of horse-drawn railcars, and then several thousand more cavalrymen.

Suddenly, the sound of hooves thundered through the Yanshan Mountains, and migratory birds took flight in fright.

These tens of thousands of cavalrymen and hundreds of carriages, like a long dragon, meandered through the vast mountains, heading northwest.

On the carriage, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, Liu Ruoyu, and others were all incredibly excited, while Zhu Jue kept staring at the map, looking at it repeatedly, lost in thought the whole way.

They traveled for two days and two nights before finally emerging from the Yanshan Mountains and arriving in the Laoha River Valley. They then traveled northwest for almost a day before reaching their destination.

Around dusk that afternoon, as the sun set, wisps of smoke rose from the densely packed tents amidst the ruins of the former Beiping Regional Military Command's central stronghold, Daning Guard. Hundreds of thousands of artisans, able-bodied men, and tens of thousands of cavalrymen from the capital had begun preparing meals.

Suddenly, a thunderous sound of hooves came from the southwest, shaking the ruins and causing dust to fall from them.

Lu Xiang-sheng, Yuan You, Huang De-gong, and the others quickly got up, mounted their warhorses, and went to meet them.

Before long, they merged into the cavalry of the capital garrison who had come to escort the emperor, and boarded the carriage in which the emperor was traveling. Once inside the carriage, Zhu Jue and the others exchanged greetings, and then Zhu Jue asked, "Jian Dou, how is it? Have you counted the number of people, cattle, sheep, and horses captured?"

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded slowly and said, "Ying Yuan and the others have almost finished counting. This time we captured more than 400,000 people from the Three Guards of Duoyan. However, there are less than 10,000 young men in their twenties. Even if we count all the men aged fifteen to thirty, there are still less than 50,000."

We captured a total of nearly five million head of cattle, sheep and horses. However, most of them were sheep, with only a little over 100,000 cattle and less than 100,000 horses, of which fewer than 10,000 were warhorses.

There was no other way; Huang Taiji was conscripting too many men. If this place weren't close to Liaodong, Jizhou, and Xuanfu, and didn't need some self-defense capabilities, probably all the able-bodied men would have been drawn away by Huang Taiji, and not many warhorses would have been left either.

How should I put this gain?

He had originally thought that retaking the former territory of the Beiping Commandery would allow him to expand the cavalry of the capital, but it seems he was overthinking it.

With fewer than 10,000 warhorses, expanding the Beijing cavalry force is of little significance.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "There aren't many warhorses, but there should be quite a few horses to pull the carts, right?"

Lu Xiang-sheng pondered, "If we include all the warhorses, there are probably around 50,000 horses that can pull carts."

Fortunately, there are enough horses to pull the carriages for now; 50,000 horses are barely enough to keep the 20,000-mile-long railway running.

They can now lay more tracks in the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again, and then asked, "Father-in-law, how long of track can these 400,000 or so able-bodied craftsmen lay in a day?"

How do you say this?

Upon hearing this, Yuan You cautiously said, "Your Majesty, in principle, these 400,000 or so artisans and able-bodied men could lay more than 100 li of track a day without any problem. And this is in the mountains. If it were on the grassland, they could lay more than 200 li of track a day without any problem."

Unfortunately, it takes time to deploy so many people, and it also takes time to transport materials such as tracks, sleepers, and cement. Before the tracks are laid, they can only walk on foot. Even with ordinary horse-drawn carts, it would take a day to transport the tracks, sleepers, and cement more than a hundred miles in the mountains.

Therefore, these past few days I have divided them into four groups, each with over 100,000 able-bodied men. One group lays the tracks, another digs the roadbed, and the remaining two move forward. They work in shifts like this, and each day they can lay about 70 or 80 li (approximately 35-40 kilometers) of track.

This speed is actually already quite good.

After all, the main road of the Beiping Commandery is only from Miyun Weihou to the former Quanningwei, which is only about a thousand li in total. Even if you include the section along the Lamulun River and the south bank of the Xiliao River, it is only about two thousand li in total.

If you can lay 70 or 80 miles of track in a day, you can lay more than 2,000 miles in less than a month.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "What about Tian Guozhang's side? Where has the installation progressed?"

How do you say this?

Yuan You thought for a moment before carefully saying, "Your Majesty, the farmers on Tian Guozhang's side are all young and strong, and they don't have much experience. They are already having trouble laying the paving. In addition, the terrain from Daling River to this side is quite complicated. They can only lay about twenty or thirty li a day."

"Your Majesty, I have already sent men to check over there. They are still about a hundred li away from here, and it will probably take them another three or four days to lay the tracks."

Alright, anyway, once they lay the track over to Daningwei, it'll be over. It won't matter if it takes an extra three or four days.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then looked at the surrounding ruins and asked, "This Daning Garrison City was originally quite large, wasn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan You couldn't help but look at Lu Xiang Sheng.

This doesn't seem to be his responsibility.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this was originally the central capital of the Liao Kingdom. The city walls consisted of three layers, with the outer walls being seven or eight li wide. Its area was half the size of the original inner city of the capital, and it could easily house two or three hundred thousand people."

This great city must be built.

The capital is too far from the border regions, and Liaodong is located in the east. Only the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery is bordered by the grasslands beyond the border to the west and north. It is the most suitable place to use this area as the rear base for the counterattack against the grasslands beyond the border.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Jian Dou, is the foundation of the original Zhongjing City still there?"

The foundation is buried in the soil, and the original foundations were all made of rock, so it is highly unlikely that they would weather.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the foundation of the original Zhongjing city wall is still there. It is four or five zhang wide, and there is no problem in building a city wall three or four zhang high."

The foundation of the city wall is still there, so the city can be built quickly.

The problem is that the more than one million infantrymen they brought are still hundreds of miles away, and it will be very troublesome for them to get here.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Father-in-law, you said that laying tracks on the grasslands is about twice as fast as laying tracks in the mountains, right?"

Yuan You nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the mountain roads are so winding that laying tracks is too troublesome. The grasslands are flat and easy to lay tracks."

Then there would be no need for so many skilled craftsmen to lay the tracks.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Then you should leave half of the artisans and able-bodied men here to rebuild the city of Daning. The city wall only needs to be about two zhang long. The key is to lay more tracks, build more barracks and warehouses in the city to facilitate the transportation of supplies."

The construction of this city was nothing special for the young and able-bodied artisans.

Yuan You nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then carefully instructed: "Jian Dou, order the infantrymen who come later to dig the roadbed of the track at the same time as they lay it out on the south bank of the Lamulun River and the Xiliao River. This way, the track laying will be faster."

"We must first lay the tracks so that the materials for building the city can be transported there; this must be done as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue then explained in detail: "Father-in-law, it won't take more than a month for the remaining half of the able-bodied men to finish laying the tracks on the south bank of the Lamulun River and the Xiliao River, while it will probably take Jian Dou and the others at least two or three months to build the city and garrison on the south bank of the Lamulun River and the Xiliao River."

During this time, don't let the artisans be idle. Have them lay tracks wherever there's a need to build cities and fortresses, to facilitate the transport of supplies later.

Upon hearing this, Yuan You nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

What's next?

Oh, and military merit awards.

Although not many enemies were killed this time, the territory recovered was quite large. What title should be given to Lu Xiangsheng?
If he were to be promoted to Duke in one step, it would seem a bit too fast, and there would be no more titles to bestow later, which would be somewhat detrimental to the subsequent counterattack on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Ruoyu, draft an imperial edict to promote him to the title of Marquis of Doudaning and bestow upon him a hereditary title."

This is what it means to be granted a title and a noble rank!
Lu Xiang-sheng repeatedly clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then carefully instructed, "Also, report the military merits of your soldiers as soon as possible. We need to distribute the rewards for military merits promptly."

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)