Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 366 This child’s parent

"In this battle, we captured 328 Tatar Grand Master Arutai, Shangshu Duoerjie Bo, Yesian Polo and other civil and military officials, four from ten thousand households, twenty-seven from one thousand households, and surrendered twenty-six thousand troops. There are more than a thousand people, including more than 197,600 Tatar tribesmen, more than 75,000 horses, more than 6,700 camels, more than 226,000 cattle, and more than 70 sheep. Ten thousand."

On June 24, the seventh year of Yongle, in Shichengzi on the north bank of Kuoluanhaizi.

When Zhu Neng told the story of the capture of the Ming army in the battle of Onan River, in Shichengzi, in the large tent that was once Arutai, almost all the faces of the Ming army generals were filled with smiles.

Zhu Di, who was sitting in the main seat, was wearing armor and stroking his beard quite proudly.

"Back then, I just didn't like that blue jade. I captured more than 70,000 people and then arrogantly wanted to compete with Duke Ying and Duke Song. Now my achievements are much greater than him."

Zhu Di has never admired many people in his life. Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Fu Youde are three of them. Lan Yu respects the former two equally, but Lan Yu does not respect the latter Fu Youde so much.

After the great victory in Yuerhai, Lanyu compared himself with Xu and Chang, and even Feng Sheng and Fu Youde didn't take him seriously, and naturally he didn't look down on Zhu Di.

In addition, Zhu Fan has been driving a wedge between Zhu Di and Zhu Biao, and Lan Yu's feelings towards Zhu Di are not much better.

The relationship between the two was not good, so Zhu Di started teasing Lan Yu right now.

But he was just teasing. After teasing, he still turned his attention to the generals.

"Your Majesty, then this Kuoluanhaizi..." Qiu Fu was a little reluctant to part with it, but Zhu Di nodded and said:

Zhu Gaoxu had thought that the results of Zhu Di's northern expedition would be great. After all, matchlocks and cannons were paired with Wang Yi and Zhu Neng, a group of reliable helpers that had not been seen in history. It was normal for the results to expand, but he did not expect that the results would be so great. .

At present, the Ming army only needs to return along the Yinma River, or they can return to the vicinity of Yidao Mountain Pass in a few days, and the reality is also the same.

"I will accompany you to build the city in the east for a month. After one month, I will lead the troops back to Nanjing. This Qianhu Station will be called Hailaer Qianhu Station and will be under the jurisdiction of Daningdu."

If the second son becomes the emperor in the future, and the imperial court has enough power in Modong to support the army to sweep the north, then it will be much easier to clean up Mobei. It can be regarded as an advantage left to the second son.

Moreover, the relationship between these three parties is not good, and it is difficult for them to get together to deal with the imperial court. Therefore, if they only need to use troops against Oara in a few years and severely damage Oara, it will not be a problem to exchange for more than ten years of peace.

On the seventh day of July, while everyone in the world was busy celebrating Chinese Valentine's Day, Zhu Gaoxu, the supervisor of the country, sat in a palace and sighed while holding the urgent imperial edict that had just been delivered.

Due to the addition of more than 200,000 people and millions of livestock from the Tatar headquarters, the food that was originally enough to last the army for several months was only enough to last for two months.

All in all, there are still 600,000 to 700,000 Mongolians in Mobei and Moxi at this time, and they can pull out 80,000 to 90,000 soldiers and horses, which is much weaker than the 11,120,000 soldiers and horses before the war.

Under Zhu Di's arrangement, the thick meadow of Hailaer Qianhu Residence was dug up, and the simple gullies were dug into frames. After the cement was transported to this place in the future, they were built and the gullies were built. Canals were built to irrigate local farmland.

"Zhu Neng, what did Alitai say?"

However, in history, the Ming army always marched from the south to the north from the Kaiping Guard, but this time it was from the Zhenlu Guard from the east to the west.

"Yes!"

Zhu Di finished telling the generals everything, and then arranged the army's retreat route tomorrow.

"However, after our army is reorganized, he should return to Kuoluanhaizi. After all, west of Hulanhuwenwen is the grassland of Oala, and he can only occupy both sides of the Onan River."

He quickly figured out the situation in Mobei. In terms of the situation, there were 4 to 50 thousand Walas tribesmen and 40,000 to 60,000 combatable soldiers. Counting Guilichi, that was more than 60,000.

It is true that Kuoluanhaizi and the upper reaches of the Yinma River are more suitable for building cities, but these places are too far from the exit of the post road, and it is easy for Hu Qi to bypass them accidentally.

Fortunately, after sending them to Modong, Liaodong, and Bohai for resettlement, the food and grass can be maintained for a while longer.

"Back to Your Majesty, there is no news about Alitai after his escape, and there is no trace of the prisoners released by our army. I guess that Alitai has not found a place to stay, or he may have gone west along the Onan River. .”

"Although this Kuoluanhaizi is good, it is too far away from the official road opened by the Zhenlu Guards. I am planning to set up a Qianhu Station not far from the post road. The army and civilians will take advantage of the onset of winter in the past two months to use domesticated animals. Let's quickly open up some farmland with our horses, get some cement from the Zhenlu Guards, and build a city there."

"This place is left to Alitai and the remnants of the Tatars. Without enough pasture, they can't resist the Oriental invasion."

It was said to be an arrangement, but in fact there was nothing to arrange. The Tatars had been severely damaged. More than 80% of the senior officials and half of the people were captured, and they were unable to harass the Ming army.

"Being able to capture Arutai and nearly half of the Tatar tribe is something I really didn't expect..."

After arranging everything, Zhu Di couldn't help but flash the figure of his sister in his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Zhu Di talked about seasonal issues and said again:

Zhu Neng's analysis was correct. The Tatars suffered heavy losses. Even if they escaped with an Alitai, they would need to recuperate for many years to regain their strength. Moreover, it would depend on whether the Ming army and Oala would give him a chance.

"Well, the army still has enough food and grass for four months, but it's almost July now, and there are only more than two months until September, when winter begins."

It was precisely because of this choice that he was calmly captured by Zhu Di, causing the Tatar headquarters to suffer heavy losses.

Although Alitai fled, if he could stabilize the hearts of the Tatars, he could maintain a tribe of 200,000 to 300,000 Tatars and lead a team of 20,000 to 30,000.

The Ming Dynasty only wanted Alitai to be its vassal, but Warak was not so kind.

Zhu Gaoxu was a little sad and continued to read the imperial edict.

Zhu Di thought simply. Since he could not fundamentally control Mobei, he could only continue to attack the Tatars and Oara tribes in Mobei, constantly weakening their power and making them unable to go south.

"But it's okay to leave it to them. I'll wait until I'm free in two or three years and then come north to deal with these guys in Wala."

"There are so many things that have changed..."

You must know that Arutai escaped from Zhu Di three times in history. In terms of escape skills, he was really first-rate.

It took seven days for the army to arrive near the headquarters of Hailar Qianhusuo with a million cattle and sheep and more than 200,000 Tatar prisoners, while supervising the escort of more than 200,000 Tatar prisoners through the post road. Entering Modong, the villagers were left to cultivate the land and dig the city foundation in Hailaer Qianhu.

First build a thousand-household residence not far from the post road entrance, then build a city step by step towards Kuoluanhaizi, and finally completely master the grassland near Kuoluanhaizi. This is a sustainable arrangement.

Zhu Di first asked about the situation of escaping from Alitai. Upon hearing this, Zhu Neng also bowed and said:

Due to the change in route, by the time Arutai reacted, he could no longer escape to Feiyun Mountain and Feiyun Valley like in history. He could only escape towards Beishan Valley.

Relying on the Yinma River, Hailaer Qianhusuo can completely reclaim nearly one million acres of cultivated land, but only if there are enough talents. Therefore, Zhu Di asked Tang Qi to add an additional edict, that is, let Zhu Gaoxu collect all the people who committed crimes this year. The prisoners were sent to the army and sent to Hai Laer Qianhu to guard the border.

Building a city in the eastern part of Kuoluanhaizi grassland will make it easier to attack Yuerhai and Kuoluanhaizi at any time. This is an issue that Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu had already discussed before the northern expedition.

The situation in Mobei has changed. Benya lost the fact that Arutai killed Guilichi. It would be difficult to easily enter Mobei and replace Guilichi as the Great Khan.

However, just in case, I still have to give some snacks to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate to prevent them from supporting Benya in order to attack Oara.

"Why are you so worried about such good news?"

A female voice came from the side, waking Zhu Gaoxu from analyzing the situation.

Zhu Gao looked to the side and saw Queen Xu sitting there who was much thinner than at the beginning of the year.

Looking at the much thinner Empress Xu, Zhu Gaoxu said with some distress: "When dad comes back, I will scold you to death when I see mom like this."

"Haha, I will tell him then." Empress Xu looked at Zhu Gaoxu kindly. Although the new physical therapy recommended by Annan was indeed useful for him, the fact that breast cancer is a terminal disease in this era still cannot be changed.

The imperial doctors could not tell how long Queen Xu could live, and neither did the doctors at the hospital.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't know whether they were afraid of losing their heads, or whether they really couldn't get the diagnosis results, but he knew that the days when he and Empress Xu could see each other were becoming fewer and fewer day by day.

Because of this, he has been handling government affairs in Huagai Hall for several months, and asked Guo Yan to take Queen Xu to Huagai Hall to rest in peace every day.

This is not in compliance with the rules, but it is even more against the rules for Zhu Gaoxu to be guarding the Qianqing Palace. The group of Jiangnan literati may write obscene unofficial histories about the harem.

"When will your father come back?"

Queen Xu asked Zhu Gaoxu, and he said without hesitation: "I said I would come back after the Mid-Autumn Festival. It will probably be frost when I return to Nanjing."

"Frost..." Queen Xu murmured and nodded slightly.

"I'm a little tired. Let's go and have a rest."

Queen Xu stood up slowly, and Zhu Gaoxu also stood up when he saw this. He followed her and escorted her into the side hall. After arranging for a female doctor to be on call at any time, she returned to the main hall and continued to ponder the content of Zhu Di's decree in front of the empty table in the main hall.

The situation in Mobei is just like this. What changes will happen depends on the specific situation.

Just in terms of the results alone, this battle is almost greater than the results of Zhu Di's five northern expeditions in history. I have to say the importance of having a group of good teammates.

If Zhu Di's men still have the same old configuration in history, it is estimated that Arutai can really break through successfully this time.

Without the matchlock gun and Chen Chang's stability, Wang Zhong and Wang Cong alone would definitely not be able to stop Arutai from breaking through.

"Old man, this configuration makes you comfortable."

Zhu Gaoxu teased his father who was thousands of miles away, and then thought about the Western Regions and Qinghai-Tibet, the Three Propaganda and Six Comforts and Nanyang.

What Zhu Di wanted was to capture Hami and use the north and south of Hami as a springboard to attack Oara in Moxi.

But as far as Zhu Gaoxu knew, when the precipitation line moved northwest in later generations, there was not much cultivated land in Hami. In his previous life, he saw this with his own eyes when he followed his unit on a business trip to Hami, Turpan, Urumqi, and Ili in northern Xinjiang. Saw it.

Even if the precipitation line moves northwest in later generations, and modern machinery is used to build various canals and reservoirs, the situation of Hami's cultivated land in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains is not optimistic, let alone this era. Hami and Zhu Gaoxu asked Guo Yong to build Shazhou and Guazhou, which are more than 600 miles apart. When he passed here in his previous life, he complained that the road was full of desert and deserted, with only the Xingxing Gorge as the entrance and exit.

He could remember driving for four or five hours that day despite the high-speed conditions of later generations, let alone the road conditions of this era.

Even after reaching Hami, if you want to send troops from Hami to attack Wala in Moxi, you have to walk another five to six hundred miles, which works out to almost 1,200 miles, and water sources are scarce along the way. This is the biggest problem.

Therefore, in Zhu Gaoxu's view, it is far easier to go from Hami than to Mobei. At least Mobei can still walk along the Yinma River (Kulun River) all the way west to the Hulanhu hypothermia area, and then walk more than two hundred miles. The land route connects to the Tule River and the Selenge River, and finally reaches the Yanran Mountain and Jiluo Mountain in the west of Moxi.

Although the east-west span is nearly two thousand miles, judging from the situation of the Ming army's northern expedition, they only need to establish a foothold in Hailar'er Qianhu Station and stockpile 200,000 shi of military rations and enough The Ming army could recruit civilians to camp in the middle reaches of the Yinma River, and then supply the cavalry with a month's worth of food and horse materials to attack Moxi.

In this era without trains, walking two thousand miles by relying on rivers is much simpler than walking more than 1,200 miles with scarce water sources. Even if these rivers cannot be navigable by large ships, at least the army will not lack water sources.

When Qianlong attacked Junggar, the army taking the northern route through the grasslands had no problems, but the army taking the southern route was almost wiped out due to supplies.

The Qianlong period coincided with the end of the Little Ice Age, and global temperatures were slightly higher than those during the Yongle period, let alone the current situation.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, it would be good to control Hami to slowly collect grain. When the Eastern Chagatai Khanate split, taking the opportunity to capture the Western Region would be the best opportunity for the Ming Dynasty.

Once such an opportunity is missed, it will be difficult to have such a good opportunity again.

Of course, the more important thing is that if there are no problems within the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, this split should happen after the death of Waisi Khan, which is about thirty years later.

Zhu Gaoxu is twenty-eight years old now, and will be fifty-eight in thirty years. If he can live until then, he can take advantage of the internal strife in the Eastern Chagatai Khanate to occupy the Western Region. Even if he cannot, he can still train Zhu Gaoxu. Zhanhe captured the Western Region.

As long as we hold the Ili Valley, it will be much easier to control the entire Western Region.

As for whether future generations will abandon the Western Regions, it is difficult for Zhu Gaoxu to predict.

"Father! Father!"

"Your father is not dead yet!"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu put his thoughts on Zhu Zhanhe, he heard a childish voice yelling crazily.

I have to say that the child's voice was really sharp. Zhu Gaoxu was worried that Zhu Zhanhe would wake up his mother, so he hurriedly replied.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a child of about six years old walking into the Huagai Hall accompanied by Yi Shiha.

The child was wearing a round-collared robe, a golden crown on his head, and a short bow in his hand.

"Wake up your grandma and stop playing today."

Zhu Gaoxu glared at Zhu Zhanhe, who also sniffed and walked to the table with his bow under the care of Yishiha.

Although he is only six years old, Zhu Zhanhe is already three feet and four inches tall, a little taller than an ordinary child.

"Dad, has grandpa come back victorious?"

Zhu Zhanhe walked to the table, holding a short bow and was about to jump into Zhu Gaoxu's arms.

Zhu Gaoxu snatched his short bow and put it on the table, then held him in his arms and gestured to him to look at the imperial edict in front of him: "Can you understand it?"

"Of course!" Zhu Zhanhe raised his voice, then looked at the contents of the imperial edict and asked about some uncommon words. In a short time, he understood the full meaning of it.

"Is it too much to capture more than 200,000 people?"

Zhu Zhanhe didn't know whether Zhu Di's victory in this battle was big, so he asked.

"This is the greatest result of this dynasty since the Battle of Lingbei." Zhu Gaoxu boasted about his father's achievements without hesitation. After hearing this, Zhu Zhanhe also said:

"Grandpa can achieve such results, so Dad, you must be able to achieve greater results, right?"

"Why do you ask that?" Zhu Gaoxu was a little surprised, but Zhu Zhanhe said:

"I have been practicing archery in the East Palace these days. The military attaches who taught me all said that you have greater military exploits than grandpa and are more powerful in battles."

"Then Grandpa can achieve such results, you should be even more powerful, right?"

"I can't say for sure." After being flattered for no reason, Zhu Gaoxu was in a good mood, but he never thought that before he could be happy, he heard Zhu Zhanhe say:

"When I grow up in the future, I will go to the battlefield with my father and become an emperor like my grandfather and fathers!"

Zhu Zhanhe is the emperor's grandson, and he is also the emperor's grandson who was named by Zhu Di himself. There is nothing wrong with him saying this. But when he heard him say that he was going to the battlefield, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of his nephew who was a foreign student.

"Going to the battlefield to fight is no joke. It depends on whether you have the ability to command a hundred thousand soldiers."

Zhu Gaoxu awkwardly tried to dissuade Zhu Zhanhe, but Zhu Zhanhe said: "Grandpa and dad can do it, why can't I?"

"Grandpa and dad led the troops step by step, but you didn't have this chance..." Zhu Gaoxu replied awkwardly, but Zhu Zhanhe said:

"Then grandpa and I can lead the troops and learn from them little by little, can't we?"

"The military attaches all said that I have the same style as my grandfather and father. Although I don't understand what it is, I also want to make contributions and expand territories like my grandfather and father."

"Opening up territory requires capital, and capital needs to be accumulated by oneself." Zhu Gaoxu motioned Zhu Zhanhe to look at the thick memorial:

"See, these are the capital, and it takes a few years to save up enough capital for the Northern Expedition and backup after dealing with it year after year."

"You still don't understand how difficult it is to deal with these things. When you do in the future, I'm afraid you will find it hot."

"I don't know how." Because of Zhu Gaoxu's care, Zhu Zhanhe has not learned much at this age except simple literacy, and he does not find this book of things difficult to handle.

Looking at his confident look, Zhu Gaoxu also smiled and said: "Okay, okay, you said this yourself. Don't regret it in the future."

"You won't regret it." Zhu Zhanhe agreed, then looked around again: "Where is grandma?"

"You have such a bad memory..." Zhu Gaoxu pinched his face: "I just told you that your grandma has gone to sleep and asked you to keep your voice down so as not to wake her up, but now you have forgotten it."

"I didn't hear it." Zhu Zhanhe argued while jumping from Zhu Gaoxu's arms.

"Dad, when are we going to eat?"

"Wait for another hour. If you are hungry, go to Chunhe Hall to find your mother and have a meal first."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanhe asking questions while standing on tiptoes to take the short bow on the table back into his hand, and answered him with satisfaction.

"Then I'll go out and shoot arrows and wait for you to have dinner together."

Zhu Zhanhe trotted out of the Canopy Hall with a smile. Yi Shiha originally wanted to chase him, but when Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he motioned for him to stay first.

Seeing this, Yi Shiha asked the two eunuchs to follow Zhu Zhanhe, while he stayed behind.

After Zhu Zhanhe and the eunuch left, Zhu Gaoxu asked: "How is the construction of the post road in Xifan land and how is the situation?"

"The central line has been built from Songpan to Dege. The progress of the southern and northern lines is slow due to sparse population."

Yi Shiha explained the situation of the Qinghai-Tibet Post Road. Zhu Gaoxu nodded and asked, "Hou Xian is currently stationed in Lhasa. Please pay more attention to the situation in Xifan."

"Once a chieftain wants to rebel, don't think about it and suppress it directly."

If the time does not come, Zhu Gaoxu would like to uproot all the chieftains in Xifan Land. After all, he has no good impression of the chieftains in Xifan Land.

If the Southwest Chieftain still knew how to let the horses run and take good care of them, then the Xifan Chieftain could only say that he was alive when he was governing the people and serfs.

"Speaking of the toast, I have to report something to you."

Yi Shiha spoke cautiously, Zhu Gaoxu frowned when he heard this: "Say."

"The Mu clan of Lijiang discovered a lot of gold and silver mines in the Santang and Qamdo areas, so they made a lot of unfounded charges against some chieftains, and then sent troops to suppress them. Do you think this matter needs to be taken care of..."

Yi Shiha reported what happened in the southern region of Duogan. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu touched his mustache:

"Tell Mu Tu that after all the rebellious chieftains are suppressed, the serfs under their rule will be registered, and the acres of land will also be recorded in the Fish Scale Atlas."

Obviously, Zhu Gaoxu did not want to manage what Mu Tu did. After all, Mu Tu was the first of the three chieftains in Yunnan to firmly side with the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, when the Ming army advanced into Yunnan, the Mu family also made enough concessions to let A lot of land was produced.

Because of this, Zhu Yuanzhang allowed the Mu family to expand to Xifan.

Now in the Yongle period, the stronger the Mu family is, the more beneficial it will be to the Ming Dynasty.

If they were strong enough to suppress all the chieftains in the land of Duogan, then Zhu Gaoxu would need to applaud them.

"Yes, Mu Tu is also very knowledgeable. He donated more than 200 taels of gold to the imperial court a few days ago."

Yi Shiha nodded in response. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu was also satisfied and said: "Let him not be burdened and just do his job well."

"By the way..." Zhu Gaoxu thought of things in the south and asked:

"A few days ago, the Xuanwei Department of Dagu La sent an urgent message to the court, saying that the Pacific Fleet had arrived in Da Kula (Yangon) and was building an officialdom and seaport there. During this period, Da Kula cooperated with merit. You drafted the edict, Give some rewards to Dagu Laxuanwei envoy Rasudari."

"Yes..." Yishiha responded with a salute. Zhu Gaoxu nodded and then lowered his head to continue processing the memorial. Soon the hall gradually became quiet...

(End of this chapter)