1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 832 Enemy in the North

On March 1668, 3, Nanjing, the Mansion of the Governor of the Five Armies.

King Qin of Ming Dynasty, Grand Master of Dongge University, and Chief Assistant of the Cabinet Sun Kewang were standing in front of a huge map with a look of surprise on their faces.

"The former Uzang (now Tibet) area is now the territory of the Mongols?"

"Returning to His Royal Highness, according to the people of Qi, Uszang was already in the territory of the Mongols 30 years ago. It seems that a Mongolian tribe called Oirat, under the leadership of their leader Gushi Khan, During the civil strife, Qinghai led troops to enter the area, destroyed the Zangbahan regime, and established the Heshuote Khanate. Later, they also led troops into Xikang. Now, they can be said to control almost the entire snow area and threaten Hexi.” Ma Bao, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army, pointed to the location of Uzang on the map, and carefully explained it to Sun Kewang.

"In addition, more than 20 years ago, the Heshuote Khanate submitted a form to the Qing Dynasty and accepted the canonization of the Qing Dynasty's puppet emperor, thus confirming the suzerain-vassal relationship between them."

"If that's the case, wouldn't our entire Sichuan region be easily flanked by the Heshuote Khanate and the Qing captives?" Sun Kewang looked at the Uzang and Qinghai areas occupied by the Heshuote Khanate, next to each other. Several prefectures and counties in western Sichuan couldn't help frowning.

"Although the Xikang and Qinghai areas occupied by the Heshuote Khanate are close to several prefectures and counties in the west of Sichuan, the terrain is high and the roads are difficult. They will not invade Sichuan on a large scale from the west." Ma Bao said: " But if we regain the northwestern regions such as Shaanxi and Gansu in the future, we will definitely face the Heshuot Khanate in the Hehuang area.”

"Didn't Wu Sangui bring tens of thousands of people from Shaanxi to the Gannan area? Will they fight with the Heshuote Khanate for territory?" Sun Kewang asked.

"Since that Wu Sangui rebelled against Shaanxi a few years ago, we haven't paid much attention to him." Ma Bao said with a little shame: "But we will write about Sichuan in the future, so that the king of Shu (Liu Wenxiu died of illness a few years ago, his son Liu Zhen (Xi Jue Shu Wang) sent people to investigate one or two."

"I never thought that the power of the Qing captives would extend to the southwest and northwest regions." Sun Kewang said: "In the future, after we succeed in the Northern Expedition and expel the Qing captives, we will have to spend some energy to fight against the Heshuot Khanate. A lot of wrestling."

"Your Highness..." Ma Bao hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the northwestern Biesh Bali and the Khalkha Mongolian region (in present-day Xinjiang and Outer Mongolia) on the map, and said, "Your Highness, in the northern part of Biesh Bali and Kalkha Mongolia In the west of Erka Mongolia, there is also a powerful Mongolian force currently entrenched, called the Zhungeer Khanate. According to the people of Qi, this Khanate has grown rapidly after occupying the Ili River Valley with rich water and grass. Attacking places everywhere. If they develop like this, sooner or later they will conquer the entire Bessa Bali region and Khalkha Mongolia, and eventually establish an extremely powerful Mongolian Empire. At that time, they will inevitably covet the Central Plains and repeat the Mongolian Yuan incident In other words, the Zhungeer Khanate will be a nomadic force that is even more difficult to deal with than the Heshuot Khanate.”

"The Zhungeer Khanate?...the matter of Meng Yuan?" Sun Kewang's eyelids twitched a few times, "Are the people of Qi a little alarmist? They are far away in the Hanzhou Continent, how can they find out about the far northwestern region? In addition, the Qing Dynasty has been operating in the north for decades. Hasn’t it conquered all the Mongolian tribes one by one and brought them into their sphere of influence? Could it be that the Qing Dynasty will see the rise of the Jungar Khanate and threaten their retreat? "

"Your Highness, the Qing Dynasty has been confronting Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. It is estimated that all their forces have been restrained on the front lines of the Huaihe River, the Yangtze River and Shaanxi. Therefore, they may not be able to take care of the Khalkha Mongolian area. The Geer Khanate took advantage of the situation to grow bigger."

"In other words, once we succeed in the Northern Expedition, we will not only have to deal with the Heshuot Khanate in the northwest, but also face the threat of the rising Jungar Khanate in the north?" Sun Kewang sighed while resting his right hand on his forehead. .

"Your Highness, if we expel the Qing Dynasty and unify China, in addition to facing the threat of these two Mongolian Khanates, there will be a more powerful and greedy Raksha State further north. Oh, Qi State People call it the Tsarist Russian Empire." Ma Bao showed a dignified expression, "The people of Qi state say that this Raksha state is more difficult to deal with than the two Mongolian grassland forces, Heshuote and Zhungeer."

"Raksha country?"

"The people of Qi State said that this Raksha State is already the largest country in the world today. Their original core ruling area was located in the European region tens of thousands of miles to the west, but after hundreds of years of continuous expansion, they have now extended their influence to Beihai (today's Lake Baikal) and the old land of Nuergandusi. Your Highness, please look..." Ma Bao said, pointing to the top of the map, from the northern part of the Jungar Khanate to the northeastern part of Liaodong. Although the land occupied by the Raksha Kingdom is located in the extreme north in a bitterly cold place, the area is vast and far exceeds that of the mainland of China. Moreover, the Raksha Kingdom is not like Mongolia and other grassland nomadic forces. They have a more complete The national organizational structure and more abundant human resources, and their weapons and equipment are more advanced than those nomadic forces. In time, this country will inevitably become our Ming Dynasty's strongest opponent in the future."

"The map given to you by the people of Qi and some explanations about the north are not forged by them, right?" Sun Kewang stared at the huge map in front of him, his face uncertain, "Could they be Through this method, I want to warn us that even if we drive back the Qing captives and unify the mainland, we will still face more powerful enemies, so that we cannot get rid of our dependence on them."

"His Royal Highness King Qin..." Ma Bao was taken aback for a moment when he heard this, and then he said with some hesitation: "...the people of Qi should not forge this map and the information about the north. The situation is very well understood. However, their purpose may be exactly as His Highness said. In the future, when we face these powerful enemies in the north, we will inevitably rely on them Qi. Even when we reduce or ban their immigration in the future, we will not Excluding them will use this to coerce and constrain us."

"Hiss..." Sun Kewang took a breath, with a stern expression on his face, he paced back and forth in the hall, and glanced at the map on the wall from time to time.

"Recently, how is the Nanjing Firearms Field's progress in imitating Qi's guns?"

"Returning to Your Highness, in the past three months, the firearms field has imitated more than [-] firearms of the Qi State style. Although the performance and range are slightly inferior to the Qi State firearms, it is better than the bird guns we made ourselves a few years ago. You have to win a lot." Ma Bao said hastily.

"Oh?" Sun Kewang heard the words, with a smile on his face, "Gu Zeng remembers that last year, the firearms field had not made much progress in imitating the Qi country's muskets. Unexpectedly, in a few months, you have already created There are more than a thousand sticks. When I have free time, I will go to see it.”

"Returning to Your Highness, the reason why the imitation muskets in the firearms field have achieved today's results is that in addition to Yizhou's dedication of more than ten Yizhou craftsmen, we also got a talented firearms maker."

"Since he is a master firearms maker, he should be treated well, and don't treat him harshly. The imperial edict is generous to his family and children, so he must make firearms with peace of mind."

"Your Highness, this person is not weak yet." Ma Bao said with a smile: "Besides, he is also from a family of officials. His name is Dai Zi, and he is the son of Dai Cang, a famous calligraphy and painting artist in Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

"Since it is also a family of officials, Dai Zi will be given the post of head of firehouse (sixth grade) of Yu Hengqing official of the Ministry of Industry." Sun Kewang turned around and ordered: "He will undertake all the affairs of the firearms field."

"Dai Zi accepts this king's order, and he must be grateful and serve his life with death." Ma Bao clasped his hands in response.

"Declaration, order the envoys of the Qi State to come to the Huagai Palace to meet the Emperor of Ming Dynasty at Sishi tomorrow (9:11 am to [-]:[-] am)." Sun Kewang paused, and said in a deep voice: "I would like to hear, King Qi Yiguo Zhonghonglu Temple You came to Daming as a messenger, what exactly do you want to tell us!"

"...Father, the envoy of the State of Qi left Nanjing two days ago." Sun Zhengqi, the son of King Qin's face suddenly changed, hesitated for a moment, and said eagerly.

"The envoy of Qi has left?" Sun Kewang looked at his eldest son in surprise, "Where did they... go?"

"Father, forgive me." Sun Zhengqi quickly bowed and replied: "The envoy of Qi State left without warning two days ago under the escort of two gunboats. As for where he was going, I didn't have time to ask."

"Confused!" Sun Kewang looked at Sun Zhengqi angrily, "The envoy of a country leaves the capital, and you not only let him go, but you don't know where he is going? Let you practice in the Ministry of Rites, and you are so neglectful of political affairs!  … Why don't you quickly find out the whereabouts of the envoys from Qi State, what are you doing here?"

Seeing that King Qin was angry, the Chinese and military officials in the hall did not dare to persuade him, and all bowed their heads in silence.The king of Qin left the envoy of the Qi State in Nanjing for nearly a month without paying any attention to it. Everyone thought that he was planning to take the opportunity to launch an attack on the Qi State and at the same time express his dissatisfaction with the King of Qin.But he never expected that the envoy of Qi State would be so impatient, seeing that he didn't get the attention of Da Ming, he left directly.

In the territory of Ming Dynasty, only the envoys of Qi State dared to do such acts of despising the imperial court and King Qin.Small vassal states such as North Korea, Annan, Ryukyu, and Myanmar dare to leave Nanjing at will, and even the route of pilgrimage to Ming Dynasty has to be planned in advance by me, Ming Dynasty.

"Would the National Assembly of Qi cause a rift with my Ming Dynasty and do something unfavorable to Ming Dynasty?" The civil and military officials in the hall thought of this question in unison.
-
April 4, afternoon, Lanzhou.

More than 20 beggars were lying lazily on the side of the street, each of them was unkempt and dirty.They basked in the warm sunshine while catching lice on messy clothes.Occasionally, I caught one, and threw it in my mouth, chewed it carefully twice, and then slowly swallowed it into my stomach.

This time is not a good time to beg, because in the city of Lanzhou where supplies are scarce, ordinary people are reluctant to eat lunch - of course, they don't have extra food to eat a luxurious lunch.As for those rich and powerful families, these beggars dare not come to beg.If one is not careful, they will be killed on the spot, and then randomly discarded to the mass graves outside the city, where they will become the prey of wild dogs and jackals.

In the cold winter that just passed, at least half of the beggars in the city disappeared, or died of freezing and starvation, or died of illness due to unbearable wind and cold.In fact, each of them knew that their own fate would eventually be the same as those of the disappearing beggars.

A few years ago (1662), Lanzhou City was still peaceful and peaceful. When Wu Sangui, the Western King of the Qing Dynasty, suddenly led troops here, everything here became different from the past.

I originally thought that this King Pingxi was ordered by the Qing emperor to redeploy Lanzhou.But later, gossip from the market overturned this conclusion.

King Pingxi actually betrayed the Qing Dynasty!
In the first year since he came here, this King Pingxi dug up the entire Lanzhou City and several nearby prefectures and counties, looted wantonly, and almost looted all the property, food and livestock in the surrounding area, as if he had the intention of running away at any time .

But later, when they saw that the Qing Dynasty did not send a large army to conquer, they breathed a sigh of relief, put off their plans to continue fleeing westward, and instead had the idea of ​​occupying this place for a long time.

Lanzhou has a history of more than 2000 years since the Qin Dynasty. Since ancient times, it has been a transportation hub and military fortress that "connects the four domains and leads thousands of miles".Previously, it was named Jincheng with the meaning of "Jincheng Tangchi". It is known as the "Pearl of the Yellow River" and has always been an important transportation and commercial port on the Hexi Corridor.

Five years ago, Wu Sangui ordered his powerful general Wang Fuchen to lead the army to capture the important town of Hehuang-Xining, and captured dozens of Mongolian and Han officials under Dorjitaiji of the Heshuot Khanate.Afterwards, Wang Fuchen continued to lead troops to sweep the surrounding areas, successively defeated several Mongolian Taijis such as Hurumush, Sanggarza, and Gunbuchahan, and surrendered thousands of Tibetan and Mongolian tribes, bringing this fertile Hehuang Valley to life. It was taken from the Heshuote Khanate.

The left and right wings of Mongolia in Qinghai gathered troops to compete fiercely with the Wu army.After hearing the news, Dayan Ozir Khan, who was far away in Lhasa, also sent more than [-] reinforcements, together with various ministries in Qinghai, trying to completely drive the Wu army out of Hehuang.

After years of wars, people's lives in Lanzhou, Longzhong (now Dingxi City, Gansu Province), Huining (now Baiyin City, Gansu Province) and other places became more and more miserable, business travel was cut off, various supplies were extremely scarce, and countless people were displaced.

"Heaaaaaa..." There was a rush of horseshoes on the street, and the beggars immediately scrambled and shrank to the corner.Listening to the sound, these beggars could tell that these riders galloping through the city must be Wu Jun's spy horses.If he was trampled to death by them, he would not even have a chance to cry out.

"Bah!" Seeing the three fast horses galloping past, the beggar huddled in the corner spat fiercely at his back, "Scumbags, sooner or later those Mongols will chop off their heads!"

In a large hall in Pingxi Palace (formerly Daming Su Palace), Wu Sangui hastily opened the documents brought by the messenger, and scanned them several lines at a glance.

"Here!" Wu Sangui clapped his hands happily after reading the document, and sighed, "So, our chance has come!"

"My lord, what opportunity has come for us?" Zhang Guozhu, the chief soldier of An Ning, asked curiously.

"Dayan Ozir Khan of Heshuote Khanate died last month." Wu Sangui handed the document to Zhang Guozhu with a smile on his face.

"Oh, the Great Khan of Heshuote is dead, and there must be some internal competition for the succession of the Khan, so they will definitely be in chaos." Zhang Guozhu looked at Wu Sangui in surprise, "In this way, we may win the whole Qinghai in one fell swoop. , to force the power of the Heshuote Khanate back to Uzang. In this way, we have enough depth in the northwest region, and we have obtained a strong capital to stand on our own."

"That's right. After we occupy Qinghai, we will seize Hexi and connect to the Western Regions. The strength we possess will not be weaker than that of Xixia back then." Wu Sangui said vigorously: "In this troubled world, we might as well separate the northwest and establish our own country. Wait for the world If there are changes, we may not be able to sweep through Guanzhong and then compete in the Central Plains."

(End of this chapter)