Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Just after dealing with the Torghut tribe's request for help, the Great Khan Lianhua received a piece of news that made him very excited: the great hero Wu, who claimed to be "the master of land and water under the imperial order, the general who restored the Ming Dynasty and defeated the invaders" and took it as his mission to restore the Ming Dynasty and defeat the invaders, actually ascended the throne in Changsha! He named his country Da Zhou, called himself the King of Zhou, established the reign of Zhaowu, changed Changsha to Dingtianfu, rewarded all officials, and created a new calendar... In short, he just shouted the slogan of reviving the Ming Dynasty and then slapped himself in the face.

"Hahaha~ I thought Wu Sangui was a strong enemy before, but I didn't expect him to be so short-sighted. He dared to proclaim himself emperor when the world was not settled and his foundation was unstable? After all, the Ming Dynasty lasted for more than two hundred years. In the hearts of most Han people, the old Zhu family is still the orthodox. Some Han people supported you before because you were under the banner of reviving the Ming Dynasty and fighting the invaders. Without the banner of reviving the Ming Dynasty, who are you, Wu Sangui, a traitor? How can you call the wind and rain?" The Great Khan Lianhua laughed loudly and excitedly summoned important officials to discuss the matter.

"I think Wu Sangui made a bad move. Most of the main forces of Wu's army are Han Chinese. This move not only lost the hearts of Han Chinese, but also the hearts of the army. It is the right time to attack Wu and Zhou!" The chief minister Batu Hetan said passionately. This old man knew the great Khan Lianhua's character of daring success and knew that the Lord must have planned to attack Wu before he summoned him and others to discuss, so he played to his will to win the favor of the Lord. Sure enough, the Emperor was very pleased to hear this.

"I heard that Wu Sangui likes to use private individuals, and most of his subordinates are relatives and old friends. He is in a hurry to become emperor in order to reward his confidants. Although this move can win over his subordinates, it will make the hearts of Han people all over the world disappointed. The opportunity cannot be missed. I agree with the proposal of the Prime Minister to raise an army to attack Zhou," said the second assistant Tie Moliuer.

Seeing that the first and second ministers had both expressed their intention to attack Zhou, all the ministers agreed. For a time, everyone was excited, as if the Wu Zhou regime in the south was made of paper and would fall down with a single push.

"I thought Wu Sangui was old and sick, and he was worried that he couldn't wait any longer, so he was so anxious," Wanhu Chang'en and Batu's remarks drew laughter from the whole court and eased the heated emotions a little.

"Mr. Xue, Mr. Hu, how was the grain collection last year? How much silver is left in the treasury?" Grand Secretary Xue Zongzhou and Minister of Revenue Hu Lianqi were in charge of grain and salary. The Khan, who had been a soldier all his life, naturally knew this and asked the two with hope.

"In reply to Your Majesty, last year's autumn harvest was a bumper one, and the grain stored in the treasury was enough to feed 300,000 troops for a year. Because our army quickly ended the wars in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Kuidong, and the growth in maritime trade led to a surge in tariff revenue, last year's expenditures remained basically flat. The treasury currently has 6.31 million taels of silver in reserve, which is barely enough to support a major war," Xue Zongzhou said with some complacency. In recent years, Hu Lianqi followed the Khan in his campaigns, and most of the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue were managed by him, a university scholar. Last year, while supporting two major wars, the treasury's expenditures were able to remain flat, which can be said to be a remarkable miracle.

"Although there is sufficient food and grass, I think the southern expedition should still be postponed," the Minister of Revenue Hu Lianqi raised an inopportune objection, "Although the two campaigns to destroy the Ming and Qing did not last long, they were rare major battles. The soldiers are very tired and urgently need to recuperate. I think we should wait until next spring to attack Zhou." This minister was famous for his straightforwardness and sang a different tune from the first and second assistant ministers.

However, he was not the only one who supported fighting again after next spring. First-class Kashilek Marquis Aldar and second-class Hoboksali Marquis Obodu Ulanghai all agreed to fight again after next spring. One reason was that they had just fought in a war and received rewards and were a little tired. Another reason was that it was the habit on the grassland that war horses easily lost fat in winter. From spring to autumn, the war horses would be fat and strong, and the cavalry would be more effective in fighting.

After hearing the words of Aldar, Bodu Wulanghai and other generals, the Great Khan realized a problem: the army was indeed a little tired of war after fighting one after another. Although Wu Sangui made mistakes, he was a veteran general. If the army had no fighting spirit, it might not be possible to destroy Wu in one fell swoop! Thinking of this, his expression became gloomy, and he slowly asked Hada, the second-class Kezigong and the head of the Wuyi Guard, "What else has Wu Sangui done these days besides proclaiming himself emperor?"

"After Tunqi surrendered, Wu Sangui pardoned his crime, named him the King of Yiliang, moved him to Yunnan for residential surveillance, and then took over Tunqi's defeated army. He also lured Changsha General Liu Zhigang, Qiyang General Liu Wenjin, Jingzhou General Zheng Liuwei, Deputy General Du Chong and others to surrender, gaining a total of more than 60,000 surrendered troops and controlling most of Huguang. Liu Zhiyuan, the Qing Zhenhai General who was originally stationed in Zhenjiang and supported Tunqi, turned to Wu Sangui, who named him the Duke of Zhenhai and betrothed his niece to him. Niyaha, the third son of Liu Zhiyuan; Lang Tingzuo, the governor of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, lured Jiangning General Echu into the government in the name of discussing the restoration of the Qing Dynasty and captured him. Then he sent Liang Huafeng, the admiral of Jiangnan, to lead troops into the Manchu city of Jiangning and disarmed the Eight Banners soldiers in the city. Later, the Eight Banners soldiers were reorganized into a town and the Manchu city was demolished, and the Manchus were dispersed to live in various streets and alleys; Wu Sangui also wrote a letter to the Tai family in Taiwan, hoping that the Zheng family would pay tribute to him; in addition, hundreds of governors and generals in various places were awarded titles..."

Hada picked out important things to tell him one by one, and the more the Great Khan listened, the more uneasy he became. Although the old thief Wu made a big mistake in politics, he still had a way to consolidate his rule. Judging from the four things he did, namely, inducing the surrender of the Huguang garrison, winning over Liu Zhiyuan, resolving the problem in the city of Jiangning, and conferring titles on governors and subordinates in various places, this man was indeed a ruthless character!
"I also think that it will be more beneficial for David to launch a large-scale southern expedition next spring and autumn," Xue Zongzhou suddenly said slowly: "First, our army's morale is high and the horsepower is sufficient after resting; second, the art of war says that the first attack is of great strength, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. Right now the Wu army has just occupied Huguang and is in high spirits. If they cannot take advantage of the situation to cross the river and march north, their morale will surely decline; third, by next spring and autumn, the national treasury will have more food and wages accumulated."

After hearing this, the Great Khan was finally moved, and said in a deep voice: "Today's court discussion ends here, and the matter of going south to attack Zhou will be discussed again after the spring."

As luck would have it, just as the plan to attack Zhou was put on hold, the King of Zhou in the south, Wu Sangui, sent a delegation to negotiate peace. Wu Sangui was a sentimental person and liked to employ his old subordinates from Pingxi Fan. The chief and deputy envoys he sent were not outsiders. The chief envoy Fang Guangyang was the younger brother of his chief strategist Fang Guangchen, and the deputy envoy Guo Zhuangxun was the younger brother of his son-in-law Guo Zhuangtu.

"Wu Sangui sent an envoy to negotiate peace?" After hearing the news reported by Zuo Shedou, the Minister of Rites, Sultan smiled. I didn't plan to attack Wu immediately, so I could extort some benefits through negotiations! He immediately ordered Zuo Shedou, the Minister of Rites, and Wang Jiao, the Minister of Rites, to demand that Wu Sangui pay tribute to David, pay 5 million taels of silver per year, and offer 1,000 beauties. Paying tribute and paying tribute were to gain a reputation in the righteousness and extort benefits, while asking for beauties was to confuse the Zhou envoys and make them believe that he was a lustful emperor with no ambition to unify the south.

Unexpectedly, the Zhou envoys were stubborn and refused to pay tribute. They even agreed to give only ten beauties. After much discussion, they finally agreed to form a brotherly alliance between Wei and Zhou, with Wei as the elder and Zhou as the younger. The annual tribute of silver would be abandoned, but both sides would establish commercial ports for trade. As for the beauties, they would only offer ten for the sake of the Khan's health.

Upon hearing this result, Sultan was happy. "Wu Sangui did not take advantage of the momentum of capturing Changsha to cross the river and march north, but instead hoped to establish the Northern and Southern Dynasties through peace talks. What a coward! Anyway, I don't intend to let the peace last too long. It's approved! Let the envoy go back and tell Wu Sangui that from now on, Wei and Zhou are brothers. I am the elder brother and he is the younger brother. Hahaha~" (End of this chapter)