Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The decision was made to implement education through the military garrisons, and then to further subdivide the ethnic minorities within their jurisdictions. The Privy Council quickly sent a document to the Liaodong front, requiring them to take charge of the population of each tribe and determine the educational policy.

The task on the Liaodong front also shifted from fighting to governance.

Man Gui received the "punishment" from the imperial court, but he didn't care at all.

Because relocating Halashen was something he was going to do anyway, and he needed people under his command when he went to Liaoning to become the governor.

To his delight, the imperial court bestowed upon him the title of viscount, a truly unexpected and joyous occasion.
“A viscount’s fiefdom is two hundred li in circumference.”

"I would like to trouble Governor Hong to select a location to help my son establish his territory."

Entrusting this matter to Hong Chengchou, the two established a friendship while on the front lines in Shenyang.

Hong Chengchou also wanted to befriend Man Gui, and he took a liking to Man Gui's cavalry, saying:

"General Man, won't you send some troops to help?"

“There are quite a few Jurchens in the mountains and forests over there in Andong.”

Man Gui laughed heartily and said:
"Then leave a thousand men for Governor Hong."

"Another thousand people will be recruited from the Jurchen people in the future."

He then pointed to the imperial documents and said:

"Speaking of which, we can no longer call them Jurchens directly. We should call them Fish-Skin People, Warka People, or Hurha People."

"As long as there are differences in language and customs, they should be distinguished."

"The Jurchen Bureau of the Translation Bureau was all changed to the Northeast Bureau, which specializes in dealing with these things."

This was undoubtedly something he wasn't used to, because when talking about conquering someone, he had to specify which tribe, instead of just saying "Jurchens" in general.

Even translators were specially assigned to deliver the pronouncements to them.

The thought that his subordinate tribes—Halashen, Naiman, and Aohan—were all Mongols, yet he had to subdivide them, made Man Gui feel irritated.

Hong Chengchou also found it somewhat troublesome, but he could discern the court's intentions from the detailed draft sent by the imperial court. He smiled and said to Man Gui:

"It's good that you broke up!"

"They are all divided into small tribes, making it easier to conquer them."

"Otherwise, even if General Man's Dongping Marquisate had two guards, it would probably be difficult to deal with a large tribe of tens of thousands of people."

That's true. Although Man Gui was confident of defeating the Mongols who didn't even have armor, he wasn't so sure about his own descendants.

If further subdivision would prevent the various tribes from uniting, he would certainly support it.

I'm afraid this whole thing is pointless, a completely unnecessary undertaking.

What he didn't know was that the imperial court not only differentiated the names, but also helped them create a new script.

They used Latin alphabet to record the pronunciation of Korean characters and Hangul, modeled after the script used in Korea. They described the differences in accents among the various regions as language differences.

Then, under the guise of facilitating communication, the upper echelons of each department were made to learn Chinese characters as the common language. Eventually, this was extended to the lower echelons, completely assimilating them.

This strategy has already been implemented in North Korea, where the upper echelons are mostly proficient in Chinese characters. Now, it is being further promoted to the lower classes through newspapers, dramas, schools, and the imperial examinations.

Ultimately, in the future, written and spoken language will be unified.

Generations later, even if they cannot completely replace the original language and script, they will, like the Western countries, develop different languages ​​using phonetic scripts, making it impossible for these tribes to unite again.

This is a long-term strategy, and Man Gui doesn't see any benefits yet; he just finds it troublesome.
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Hong Chengchou still held military officers in contempt and didn't discuss the matter further with him, instead changing the subject:
"Speaking of which, does General Man, who was granted the hereditary title of Viscount, still need the title of Shuntian?"

"General Mao was very dissatisfied with this and did not want to be ranked with the barbarians."

Mao Wenlong, who was making a fuss about breaking away from North Korea, wanted to draw a line between himself and North Korea in every way.

The same applies to titles and ranks; in his view, the Shuntian nobility was simply a gift to foreign barbarians.

As a meritorious official of the current emperor, he deserves a better title.

During this period, he actively lobbied among the meritorious officials in Liaodong, hoping they would offer their opinions.

When Man Gui first heard this, he didn't pay much attention. Having lived in a Mongolian tribe, he didn't think there was anything wrong with sharing the title of Shuntian with other Mongolian nobles.

It wasn't until Hong Chengchou pointed out that the Shuntian nobility titles were mostly granted to foreign barbarians that his expression became serious. He shared Mao Wenlong's opinion that the nobility should not be ranked alongside barbarians.
“We are His Majesty’s meritorious officials, and it is indeed inappropriate to use the same title of ‘Shuntian’ (meaning ‘obeying Heaven’) as the barbarians who have submitted.” “If General Mao wants to submit a memorial, then I will be included.”

He decided to join Mao Wenlong in submitting a memorial to the emperor, requesting that his title be changed.

Hong Chengchou thought the same way, after all, he knew that there were quite a few people in the capital who regarded the Shuntian titles of Man Gui, Mao Wenlong and others as the same as barbarians.

He is now a man of noble birth, and cannot be viewed in this way.

However, it is somewhat taboo to make demands on the imperial court based on one's merits.

While responding to Mao Wenlong's memorial, Hong Chengchou also proposed detailed measures on how to govern Andong, in accordance with the policies set by the court, to avoid being rejected by the court and facing punishment.

These memorials were quite complex and took several days to reach Liaonan. From there, they were transported by fast ship from Lushun, where the ice had not yet frozen, to Tianjin.

They arrived in the capital ten days later.
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At this time, Zhu Youjian was facing a petition from some powerful and influential people in the region: they were unwilling to relocate.

After the threat from the Jurchens was eliminated and the Liaoxi Province was established north of the Great Wall, some hereditary officials from the capital began to travel to the grasslands to select hereditary landholdings for their families.

The movements of these people were learned by the various tribes of Harashen, who naturally became aware of the Ming Dynasty's plan to establish a province in this area and relocate foreign ethnic groups.

These people were naturally unwilling to leave the fertile land of the Hala River bend, so they sent people to the capital to petition under the guise of paying tribute.

The Court of Colonial Affairs, of course, would not grant their petition. Huang Lijie and others knew that the relocation of Harashen was a foregone conclusion—

The capital of the Ming Dynasty needed stability, free from the threat of foreign tribes. The hereditary officials in the capital also needed resettlement; they had to vacate their land.

Unable to get answers from the Court of Colonial Affairs, these people then approached Princess Uriyangkhad, who lived in the capital, and asked her to pull some strings.

Now Zhu Youjian had no choice but to step in, because Princess Wuliangha, as the widow of Duke Shunyong Guiyingqia, still held some influence in the capital. Even though Prince Shunli was demoted to a prince, her title of princess was not lowered.

Furthermore, her request to enter the palace as a concubine led to rumors circulating in the capital that she had an ambiguous relationship with the emperor.

Zhu Youjian did not want the rumors to fester, nor did he want the people of Harashen to continue stirring up trouble in the capital. He summoned them and reprimanded them, saying:
“Your Harashen tribe originally came from the Hetao region and occupied the former territory of the Chahan tribe.”

"Because of your submission, the Ming Dynasty has allowed you to serve as a bulwark in the north, together with the Doyan Guard."

"But you are ungrateful and collude with the Jurchens."

“The court officials no longer trust you and are demanding that you be expelled.”

"I gave you the old territory of Chahan because I remembered the merits of the Doyan Guard in guarding the border."

"I can't believe you're so ungrateful, you actually don't want to migrate!"

His words were harsh and stern, and he even brought up the records of the correspondence between Hara Shen and the Jurchens that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had discovered, accusing them of disloyalty.

The envoys from the Harashin tribes turned pale with fright, for the Ming Dynasty now truly possessed the power to destroy them.

Even the powerful Jurchens were defeated by them, so how could the Khara-Shen tribe withstand the Ming army?
Especially since they knew that Man Gui was about to return to oversee their relocation. This killing god who had decisively defeated the Jurchens the previous year—who among them could stand against him?

These envoys could only use their previous experience of joining Man Gui in forming the grassland coalition as an excuse to demonstrate their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian's expression softened slightly upon hearing their willingness to continue fighting alongside the Ming army. However, he still firmly stated:

"The Kharashen tribes must be relocated out of Liaoxi Province, and Man Gui will allocate territory for you north of the Liao River."

"However, the Ming Dynasty will not mistreat anyone who has rendered meritorious service to the Ming Dynasty. The city of Chengde will still be built, and you will be allocated residential land and corresponding noble fields according to your noble rank."

“In the future, nobles with residential land will be able to live in Chengde for half a year each year and use market rewards to trade with Ming merchants.”

"When I have time, I will go there to receive the nobles' homage."

This method caused the envoys from various departments to whisper among themselves, and some of them discerned the emperor's intention:

The Ming emperors bribed powerful officials to get their cooperation in the relocation.

These envoys were originally sent by powerful figures from various departments, and now that the Emperor of Ming had offered these conditions, they naturally dared not make a decision on their own.

We must return to the grasslands and let those powerful figures make the decision.

Zhu Youjian successfully escorted them out of the capital and then ordered the Court of Colonial Affairs to send someone to handle the follow-up of the matter.

Then he saw the requests from Mao Wenlong, Man Gui, and others, hoping to change their titles and not be ranked with the barbarians. (End of Chapter)