Di Ming

Chapter 215 Wusulianghai!

The 40,000-strong army marched in a mighty procession, their shouts and the neighing of horses echoing like a great river flowing westward.

The 15,000 cavalrymen were divided into four groups. The vanguard of 3,000 cavalrymen, more than ten li away from the main force, served as guides and led the way for the army.

The rear guard of three thousand cavalry was more than ten miles away from the main force.

The right wing consisted of 5,000 cavalry, all from Liaodong, led by the Li brothers. They were positioned more than ten li away from the main force, serving as a shield for the right flank.

The remaining four thousand cavalrymen followed the infantry to protect the supply train and the commander.

The army stretched for dozens of miles.

More than 3,000 chariot soldiers arranged hundreds of chariots into a huge hollow chariot formation, with each chariot only one zhang apart, like a mobile city.

More than 20,000 infantrymen and tens of thousands of supply wagons, including Zhu Yin's command vehicle, were all in the middle of the hollow wagon formation.

The outermost layer was guarded by cavalry, followed by the wagon barracks, ensuring the safety of the infantry and baggage train.

If the Mongol cavalry were to attack, their 40,000-strong army, composed entirely of infantry, cavalry, chariots, and firearms, would be difficult to break through the enemy forces.

Without 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, there would be no way to deal with these 40,000 Ming troops.

However, this is no longer the era of Anda Khan and Huang Taiji. Many tribes do not obey orders, making it difficult to quickly gather tens of thousands of cavalry in a short period of time.

Not to mention, the Ming Dynasty's Jin Dynasty and the Chahar tribe's "Northern Yuan Khan" had always been annexing each other and guarding against each other. The Ukhaliang tribe in northern Mongolia was also an enemy of the Ming Dynasty's Jin Dynasty.

They were already dissatisfied when Anda Khan was alive. Let alone ten years after his death.

Spies will exploit this contradiction to spread false information, sow discord, and form alliances.

Under these circumstances, Zhu Yin did not believe that the Prince of Shunyi could quickly mobilize a large force to deal with the Ming army.

Even if the capital city were to send troops, it wouldn't be able to muster a large force in a short time. By the time the capital city had gathered tens of thousands of cavalry, he had already crossed the Yellow River and entered the Hetao region.

Soldiers are very fast!
……

Although Qingcheng (Hohhot), the capital of the Shunyi King of the Tumed Mongols, was 200 li away from the Datong border wall, once you crossed the Datong border wall, it was Shunyi King's direct territory.

This area of ​​Fengzhou, which originally belonged to the Han people, has become a series of "bansheng" under the jurisdiction of the Qingcheng King's court.

The term "bansheng" is a transliteration by the Mongols of the Han Chinese term "baixing" (common people).

Mongol nobles frequently raided southwards to plunder the Ming Dynasty's population, bringing them back to the grasslands to be enslaved. Decades ago, Altan Khan even invaded Shanxi and Hebei, plundering more than 300,000 Han Chinese in a single raid.

Then the Gengxu Incident broke out. Altan Khan personally led 100,000 cavalry south through Gubeikou and besieged Beijing. A century after the Tumu Crisis, the Mongol nobles besieged Beijing for the second time.

Unable to capture the impregnable city of Beijing, Altan Khan could only engage in widespread burning, killing, and looting in the outskirts of the capital. Ming general Qiu Luan not only dared not fight the Mongol army, but also took the opportunity to order his men to braid their hair and impersonate Mongol soldiers to plunder.

The Ming emperor and his officials hid in Beijing, watching helplessly as the Mongol army wreaked havoc outside the city. Yan Song said the Tartars would return once they had looted enough, leaving the old Taoist priest with no choice but to pay tribute, utterly disgracing the Ming Dynasty.

In the end, Anda Khan returned home laden with spoils.

This is what is known as the emperor guarding the nation's gate.

Several times, the Mongols and Jurchens stormed into Beijing, displaying their military might and engaging in widespread burning, killing, and looting, leaving nine out of ten houses empty. The people of the capital region were incredibly unlucky to have such an emperor guarding the nation's gates.

Altan Khan organized the large number of Han people he had captured into groups called "bansheng," which became manors specifically for the settlement of Han slaves. They cultivated the land, raised silkworms, spun silk, and planted fruit trees for the royal court.

After the two sides made peace, they sent money to the Mongols every year. Altan Khan also demanded that the Ming Dynasty pay him a princely salary and sent people to Datong to collect the money. Zheng Luo refused helplessly, saying, "China cannot support all the nations of the world."

Zhu Yin snapped out of his thoughts, took out the telescope made in Daishan, and observed the manor not far away, where he found many Han Chinese slaves working.

Zhu Yin's expression turned grim. How many Han Chinese slaves were there among the Mongol tribes?

I don't know about other places, but in this Tumochuan area alone, there were hundreds of thousands of Han slaves and hundreds of "bansheng" manors, which actually formed a large area of ​​serf villages.

These serf estates and villages were allocated to Mongol nobles. The lords had the power of life and death over the serfs in the estates.

Most of these Han Chinese slaves were captured. A smaller number were White Lotus sect members who fled to the border regions, deserters and rebels from the Ming Dynasty, or peasants from the border areas who could no longer bear the oppression.

Before Altan Khan, the Mongol tribes could only have one Khan, namely the Northern Yuan Khan stationed in Chahar.

However, because Altan Khan controlled the Right Wing Three Thousand Households and became the most powerful force in the Mongol world, the Northern Yuan Khan of Chahar was forced to bestow the title of "Tushetu Chechen Khan" upon his cousin.

After that, all Mongol nobles of the ten-thousand-household level were qualified to call themselves Khan, and thus the phenomenon of multiple Khans coexisting appeared in the Mongol world.

When did the fighting strength of the Mongol tribes decline? It was after Altan Khan was brainwashed, abandoned the shamanism that worshipped the Eternal Heaven, and converted to the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

After converting to the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, a large number of Mongolian nobles became monks. On one occasion, more than a thousand Mongolian nobles were ordained as monks.

By the late Ming Dynasty, Lamaism had become the dominant religion in the entire Mongol world. From nobles to horse herders and slaves, the most common phrases used by Mongols were no longer "May the Eternal Heaven protect us," but rather "May the Buddha have mercy."

Altan Khan wanted to maintain his rule through Tibetan Buddhism, but he didn't expect what the Mongols would bring.

……

At the foot of Yinshan Mountain lies Guihua City (Qingcheng).

In ancient times, this place was called Chilichuan.

Qingcheng is the largest city on the grassland, modeled after the Yuan Dynasty capital, Dadu. When Altan Khan aspired to become emperor, he had the palace in Guihua City built to be magnificent and resplendent.

Unfortunately, Altan Khan, who flew beyond the Great Wall, built Qingcheng into a pearl of the grasslands, but he was not the true Great Khan of the Mongols (the Khan of the Northern Yuan).

Outside Guihua City, there are not only lush pastures but also many "bansheng" manors. Not only are there herds of cattle and horses and yurts everywhere, but also wheat fields, paddy fields, and mulberry groves.

On this day, several knights came from the south and went straight into the palace, bringing astonishing news.

Tens of thousands of Ming troops marched out of Datong and headed west!
When Shunyi King Chelike and Lady Zhongshun's third daughter learned of this, they were both somewhat incredulous.

The Ming army launched a large-scale expedition beyond the Great Wall? What is the Ming Khan planning?
Third Sister, who was worshipping Buddha at the temple, immediately threw away her prayer beads and said:
"This is a disaster caused by the Khan (Chelik). He has always thought that the Ming Dynasty is a weak lamb and wants to use his immature and powerless claws to threaten the Khan of the Ming Dynasty."

"Two years ago, he went to the Blue Sea and incited those ambitious nobles to provoke the Ming Dynasty and ignite the anger of the Han people. What was the result? The Khan of the Ming Dynasty stopped the trade and even went to war."

“A pitiful and incompetent person will surely weep helplessly, clutching his own hair. Doesn’t he know that he is neither his grandfather nor his father?”

The most esteemed mistress of Qingcheng was furious at this moment.

She wore a tall, ornate crown, and in the dim light of the Buddhist hall, her shadow stretched long, yet it did not tremble at all.

The prayer beads rolled to the ground and jumped under the shrine, startling the rats that were lurking inside, trying to steal the sesame oil. The rats squeaked and scurried away.

Third Sister looked coldly at the Buddha statue and said with a mocking expression:

"The Tibetans in the west say how useful you are, but what use are you? Since we Mongols have believed in you, what have we gained besides making offerings to the Three Jewels? You can't even stop the rats from stealing your sesame oil."

Third Sister was extremely beautiful. Even though she was over forty, she still retained her charm and allure. A Han Chinese once wrote a poem praising her: "Half-drunk on Tusu wine, her cheeks are cold; a peach blossom brings the chill of spring."

She was the wife of three generations of the Han dynasty: Anda Khan, Huang Taiji, and Chelik. After the ancestor died, she married her son; after the son died, she married her grandson.

San Niangzi was one of the few Mongolian nobles who was close to the Han Chinese. She greatly admired the culture of the Central Plains and personally went to the pass to pay tribute many times. She was also a good friend of Zheng Luo, the governor of Xuanfu and Datong, and they corresponded frequently.

After Chelik succeeded to the throne, he was no longer able to control the right-wing Sanmanhu.

If it weren't for the prestige of the Third Lady, the Right Wing Three Ten Thousand Households would have long since collapsed and defected to the Chahar royal court.

Just as San Niangzi was speaking, Chelik, who lived in Ordos, rushed over.

This is a man with a thick beard who likes to wear a lama's robe and wears Gelugpa ritual implements around his neck.

At first glance, it's hard to tell whether they are Mongolians or Tibetans.

“My beautiful Khatun, my dear mother,” Chelik said, placing his hand on his chest, “Am I not the master of the Tumed Ulus? Why didn’t you tell me that tens of thousands of Ming soldiers had left the pass and abandoned their safe city?”

Third Sister coldly stared at her husband, who was twenty years younger than her, and clearly saw a louse crawling out of his beard. But obviously, the young Prince Shunyi sensed it. He skillfully raised his hand, picked the louse from his beard, threw it into his mouth, chewed it up with a crunch, then took off his ornate corrugated hat adorned with jewels and stroked his bald head.

His narrow eyes stared at Third Sister with an unfriendly expression, muttering under his breath.

Chelik lacked the abilities of his father and grandfather, and was dissatisfied with his wife's subservience to the Ming Dynasty. He was also very unhappy that his wife shared power with him.

"Khan, I only just learned of this myself. The horse that brought me this news has no more wings than your messenger."

Chelik was a little incredulous. "My Khatun, is there something you don't know? Isn't that old man from Han territory your friend? Why would he keep such a big thing from you?"

He was somewhat panicked. Now, the various tribes were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant towards him, and he could only mobilize a maximum of thirty to forty thousand iron cavalry, which would take more than half a month to assemble.

Qingcheng only has a little over ten thousand cavalry that can be mobilized immediately.

But the Ming army, it is said, numbered in the tens of thousands.

Third Sister sneered: "Why? It's all because of you! Khan, don't you know that the Ming army is heading for Ordos? They didn't come to Qingcheng, but went to the west. That's to retaliate against the tribes that supported Bo Bai. Merchants from the south told me that the Great Ming Khan wants to take over the Hetao region."

"What?" The Prince of Shunyi was taken aback. "It's for the Hetao region? Then let them go!"

Third Sister frowned. "Why do you think that way?"

Shunyi Wangdao said, "More than one person secretly informed me that my good cousin, the Taiji of Ordos, was secretly contacting the Vytra tribe (Oirat) to seize my position. They support Bobai because Bobai has also sided with the Vytra people, those wolves!"

Third Sister remained silent. She wasn't worried about the Ming army. She knew very well that the Ming army would at most punish the Ordos tribe and take over the Hetao region.

What she was worried about was the restless Left Wing Sanwanhu in the east, who had always wanted revenge, and the Chahar royal court!

She was certain that once the royal court saw Qingcheng's decline, it would launch a westward expedition under the banner of unifying the Mongol Empire. After all, the one in Chahar was the nominal overlord of the Mongols.

She received information that the Khanate planned to borrow troops from the Jurchens to attack Qingcheng.

She did need to assemble troops as soon as possible, but not to fight the Ming army to the death. Instead, she needed to deal with the Uyghurs in the west and the Chahars in the east.

“We cannot wage war against the Ming, so we must be patient for now,” said Third Sister. “We need to assemble our troops as soon as possible. The Han people have no ambitions toward Qingcheng, but the other members of the Golden Family may not.”

The Prince of Shunyi laughed and said, "We're really one family! We've got the same idea. Let's ignore the Ming army and let them deal with the Ordos people!"

“When Ordos Taiji comes to me with nowhere else to go, I will directly annex his people.”

Third Sister didn't speak, and looked at Chelik as if he were an idiot.

...

Zhu Yin led a large-scale Ming army out of the Great Wall to conduct operations in the "Great Ming Jin Kingdom".

That's right. The Mongol Right Wing Three Ten Thousand Households, nominally with the Prince of Shunyi as their common ruler, were actually a single state.

The country's name was "Great Ming Jin Kingdom". The capital of the Great Ming Jin Kingdom was Guihua (Qingcheng Hohhot), which was built in imitation of the Yuan Dynasty's capital, Dadu.

The Great Ming Jin Kingdom, according to Mongolian grammar, translates to "the Great and Bright Golden Kingdom".

Zhu Yin still felt strange thinking about the name "Great Ming Jin Kingdom".

The Ming army marched beyond the Great Wall to confront the Jin Dynasty.
The Hetao Mongols were nominally part of the Ming Dynasty's Jin Dynasty. However, the capital city's control over the Hetao Mongols was very weak.

For Zhu Yin, this was a golden opportunity to recapture the Hetao region!

Of course, Zhu Yin only took advantage of the fact that Anda Khan, who had been bullying the people beyond the Great Wall, was dead, and Anda Khan's son, Huang Taiji, was also dead. Otherwise, he would never have risked retaking the Hetao region.

Zhu Yin did not ride a horse because it was not the right time yet; he needed to conserve his energy.

Zhu Yin sat in a two-horse carriage, flanked by his closest mounted guards. Lancha, Mao Wenlong, Meihe, Ding Hongying, and others were among the 360 ​​personal guards outside.

Xiao Hei, dressed in light dog armor, sat at Zhu Yin's feet, silently observing the people and horses around him, looking rather lazy.

Perched atop the carriage was a fierce bird, as if cast in iron, none other than the Falcon Flying Tiger.

Zhu Yin carried it, of course, for reconnaissance. Every so often, Flying Tiger would spread its wings and soar high in the sky, overlooking the surrounding forests and valleys.

Qi Jiguang, Shang Yang, and Zhu Yin rode in the same carriage. Looking at the rolling army, Shang Yang said with high spirits:
"I never imagined that one day I would be able to follow my lord beyond the Great Wall and recover the lost territory of the Hetao region. General Wei of the Han Dynasty was already over twenty when he left Yunzhong, while my lord was only fifteen."

"Once our lord reclaims the Hetao region, whose achievements and prestige can compare? When he returns to court to report his merits, he will at least be promoted two ranks, and may even be granted a noble title."

"In the past, Wei Qing defeated Baiyang and Loufan. Today, our lord has defeated Ordos. I first congratulate our lord."

Zhu Yin laughed and said, "Brother Zhouming, your congratulations are premature. Our army has only been out of the pass for a short time, and I haven't even reached the Hetao region yet. How can you say that we have already defeated Ordos?"

Although he remained modest, Zhu Yin harbored a deep sense of ambition. The Ningxia rebellion presented the best opportunity to reclaim the Hetao region, and this opportunity was in his hands.

Hetao!

Wei Qing's great victory in the Hetao region involved defeating the Baiyang and Loufan Xiongnu tribes in the Hetao area.

Losing the Hetao grasslands, a traditional source of warhorses for the Han and Tang dynasties, was not simply a matter of losing a source of horses. The strategic location of the Hetao region was also crucial. Without the Hetao region, Ningxia would be in turmoil, and Chang'an would be uneasy.

When did the Ming Dynasty lose the Hetao region? It started with Zhu Yuanzhang (the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty).

During the reigns of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Jianwen, the Ming Dynasty controlled the Hetao region and established the Dongsheng Guard, relocating soldiers and civilians to guard it.

After Zhu Laosi rebelled and usurped the throne, he began to abandon the Hetao region. At the same time, in order to reward the Three Guards of Doyan, he gave the territory of Daningwei to the Mongols.

From then on, the Ming Dynasty's northern defense line shrank entirely inward. The Qin and Han Great Wall, located north of the Yellow River in the Yin Mountains, encompassed not only the Hetao region but also the Yin Mountains themselves. The Ming Dynasty's Great Wall, however, shrank to several hundred miles south of the Yellow River.

The Cricket Emperor and the Good Sage Sun abandoned the vast territory of the Hetao region.

The Tumu Crisis, the root of all evil, originated from this grandfather and grandson.

Before the Jiajing era, although the Ming Dynasty had lost the Hetao region, it would occasionally take advantage of the Mongol tribes in the Hetao region going to other places to graze their livestock and send troops beyond the Great Wall to cause trouble in the Hetao region, which was known as "searching the Hetao".

However, by the Jiajing reign, the practice of "searching the Hetao" had ceased. The Hetao region even became the headquarters of the Ordos tribe, one of the three myriarchies of the Right Wing of the Mongols.

During the Jiajing era, Xia Yan, Zeng Xian, and others wrote to the old Taoist priest, requesting that troops be sent to recover the Hetao region, which was the long-standing "proposal for the recovery of the Hetao".

The old Taoist priest, who only loved cultivating immortality and refining elixirs, refused time and again. Ministers who advocated for "reinstatement" were either imprisoned or dismissed from their posts.

The vast majority of court officials were conservatives who disliked territorial expansion, so the idea of ​​recovering the Hetao region was insignificant.

But this time, it's different!
In order to recover the Hetao region, Zhu Yin had long ago secretly instructed his cronies, associates, and secret agents in the court to create public opinion demanding that the court take back the Hetao region.

Under the influence of money diplomacy, more and more people are supporting the narrative of a return to the old ways. The cabinet has Shen Yiguan, and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has Tian Yi.

In this rebellion in Ningxia, the Mongols of the Ordos region supported the rebels, which will give the Ordos faction an even greater advantage.

Otherwise, Wang Xijue would not have agreed to Zhu Yin's risky approach when he discussed countermeasures with the cabinet before leaving.

Therefore, Zhu Yin was not worried at all that the court would punish him for "initiating border conflicts without authorization".

His only worry was not being able to win.

Qi Jiguang suddenly said, "Our army is almost at Daqingshan. There are mountains on the right and rivers on the left. It will be safer for our army to march along the mountains and rivers."

Zhu Yin knew that this was the hunting grounds of the northern nomadic tribes, the forests and gardens of the Chanyu and Khan. However, because it was situated between mountains and rivers, and the narrowest point was only a dozen miles wide, the Mongol cavalry could not spread out effectively and thus could not threaten the flanks of the Ming army, allowing the Ming army to advance boldly.

Unless the Mongols gave up their cavalry advantage, which was impossible.

Two days later, a beautiful, huge lake appeared ahead.

The army, the Yellow River, the grasslands, the blue sky, the Yinshan Mountains, and the lakes create a magnificent and picturesque landscape.

Wuliangsuhai!

(End of this chapter)