Ming politicians

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The leader of the Xibo tribe tied himself up and knelt in front of Su Tiancheng.

Thanks to Su Tiancheng's timely dispatch of scouts, he notified Hong Chengchou not to attack the army of the Xibe tribe for the time being, and told Hong Chengchou clearly that he led the troops and defeated the army of the Daur tribe. For specific matters, the two met After that, we discussed again, so Hong Chengchou continued to confront the army of the Xibo tribe, but did not launch an attack.

On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the army led by Su Tiancheng finally joined up with Hong Chengchou.

At this time, the leader of the Xibe tribe already knew that the Jiangning camp had captured the leader of the Daur tribe alive. The Daur tribe suffered a disastrous defeat under the attack of the Jiangning camp. It was naive to talk about conditions, so he obeyed the opinions of his subordinates, surrendered to the Jiangning camp, and bowed his head as a vassal.

There is another very important reason for the surrender of the leaders of the Xibe tribe, that is, after the leader of the Daur tribe was captured, the Jiangning camp did not massacre. Except for taking away some gold and silver treasures, there was no massacre of the tribe. women and children.

Population is a crucial factor for grassland tribes. Life is hard, and the birth rate and survival rate of the population are not very high. If the women and children of a certain tribe are massacred, the tribe will inevitably decline and lose the power of other tribes. In addition, the Mongolian tribes believe in the concept that the strong is king, which is also the reason they have learned on horseback for a long time.

After settling down the two leaders of the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe, Su Tiancheng and Hong Chengchou slowly walked towards the wilderness.

Hong Chengchou still didn't quite understand what Su Tiancheng meant. With such a good opportunity, as long as the Xibe and Daur tribes were slaughtered, there would be chaos on the grassland and wars between the tribes.Undoubtedly, it was ignited, even if Hou Jin sent troops to intervene, it would not have much effect. On the grassland, the law of the jungle is the iron law, and only a certain tribe has become stronger.Only then would it be possible to restore temporary peace. If the grassland fell into civil strife, on the one hand, the borders of the Ming Dynasty would be at peace.

It can be said that Hong Chengchou's understanding still exists in the preliminary stage.It's impossible to go as far as Su Tiancheng thought, and it's impossible to have the ambition of Su Tiancheng.

"Master Hong, are you wondering why I gave the order to stop the attack at such a good opportunity, and even accepted the surrender of the leaders of the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe?"

Hong Chengchou nodded, but did not speak.

"Indeed, this question. I also suddenly changed my understanding. If we follow the predetermined plan and wipe out the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe, the two most powerful tribes on the grassland will be wiped out, and the entire grassland will inevitably be in chaos. Who would want to snatch this piece of fat in the Hetao area, but have you ever thought about it? This place used to be the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and it belonged to my Ming Dynasty. Over the years, because of the rise of the Jin Dynasty, The imperial court has lost control of this place. Everyone seems to think that it is impossible for the imperial court to regain control of this place."

Hong Chengchou suddenly raised his head and looked at Su Tiancheng, his eyes were full of horror.

"My lord, what do you mean..."

"No, we haven't reached that point yet. According to our current capabilities, it is still difficult to control this place, let alone other ideas. The harm between the two powers is the lesser. It is better to destroy the two tribes and leave two Among the tribes, I think we can get more benefits by keeping two tribes."

Hong Chengchou was obviously thinking.

"The grassland has the advantages of the grassland, especially the Hetao area, the place where war horses are produced. To put it bluntly, even if the people of my Ming Dynasty came here, the war horses raised here are not comparable to the war horses raised by the Mongolian tribes. Besides. , The mutual market at the border has always existed, if we can firmly control the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe, on this basis, wouldn’t we be able to get the greatest benefit by spending on the mutual market.”

"My lord, the grassland tribes are poor. If the expenses are exchanged, only the Xibe and Daur tribes will not gain much."

"Hehe, the mutual market between us is of course conditional. We will trade food, ironware, silk and other items with the two tribes. The prices are of course unusual. We also need to secretly support these two tribes and let them When they grow stronger, let them plunder the other tribes in the grassland, let them gather wealth, and give it to us continuously, we need to get horses, cattle and sheep, gold and silver from them."

Hong Chengchou's eyes were a little straight. He obviously couldn't think of such a far-reaching thought.

Soon, Hong Chengchou thought of the actual problem.

"My lord's thoughts are far beyond my reach. I can only admire them. But even if we trade with the two tribes, they are also in the areas controlled by the Ningxia Guard, including the areas controlled by the Yulin Guard. How can the Jiangning Camp control it? It's beyond the reach of the whip."

"I've also thought about this question. Didn't we defeat the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe? Then ask the two tribes to hand over the hostages, who are their tribal heirs. We will take the hostages to the capital and find the emperor directly. , explain the reason clearly, and take this opportunity to control the places controlled by Ningxia Guard and Yulin Guard. To be honest, I have long thought about reforming the establishment of guards. With a lot of arable land and people who are still changing their ways, there is no need for such an army to exist."

"My lord, with such a big matter, wouldn't the imperial court want to make a fuss?"

"Hmph, I don't care about it long ago. If everything is done according to the cabinet's advice, I'm afraid we won't have the chance to come to the Hetao area, let alone defeat the Xibe and Daur tribes. I've already decided. As long as it is beneficial to my Ming Dynasty, I will do it boldly, and one day, everyone will understand."

Hong Chengchou nodded cautiously.

"Your Excellency is so high-minded, I will definitely support it, but the grassland tribes are bloodthirsty. After we left the Hetao area, they turned their backs on their promises and ignored the safety of the hostages. What should we do?"

Su Tiancheng smiled.

"Lord Hong, I am confident that although the grassland tribes advocate force and use force to determine their status, they are simple and trustworthy. Since they have surrendered, there will be no major problems. Of course, such things , no one can fully guarantee that if they dare to rebel, then we will fight again in the Hetao area, completely wipe out their tribes, and support new tribes."

The conversation took place inside the tent. Of course, this was not an equal conversation. In fact, it was a matter of Su Tiancheng stating the conditions and the leaders of the Xibe and Daur tribes nodding.

But Su Tiancheng was very smart. He first expressed his attitude. He still wanted to maintain the leaders of the Xibe tribe and the Daur tribe on the grassland, and he did not ask the two tribes to oppose Houjin, but the two tribes were not allowed to enter the pass. Harassment, otherwise the Jiangning Battalion will send troops again to wipe out the tribe completely, leaving no one behind.

With this major premise, there is a lot to say about the following. The two tribal leaders are most concerned about whether they can continue to be in the Hetao area and whether they can maintain their current status. As for the conditions for sending the heirs of the tribe as hostages, they do not hesitate. agreed.

When it came to the mutual market, the leaders of the two tribes were overjoyed. It had already failed completely. According to the rules of the Mongolian tribe, they had to donate property unconditionally. Unexpectedly, the Lord of Ming proposed to start a mutual market. In this way, their tribes could Get enough grain, ironware, cloth, etc., and the adults of Daming also said that they will only start a trade with the two tribes, and sell them grain ironware, cloth, even tea, silk, etc.

These two conditions, the two hastily agreed.

Of course, the adults of Daming also proposed that the Xibe and Daur tribes should continue to be strong, they should be the leaders of the grassland, and they must stop the rest of the tribes from moving around. Especially, they must be loyal to Daming. If Houjin has any requirements , Need to send someone to report the situation in time and so on.

At the end of the conversation, the leaders of the two tribes were a little grateful. They felt that they were a great country with the demeanor of a general. Although it was said to be a complete victory, they did not plunder the population, did not slaughter women and children, and gave them so many discounts. condition.

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng and Hong Chengchou led the army and left the Hetao area.

In this expedition, the Jiangning Camp lost more than 1000 soldiers. The remains of these soldiers were all collected. According to the rules, the Jiangning Camp burned the remains and took the ashes back.

Of course, they took away a lot of supplies, including 10 war horses, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, tens of thousands of taels of gold, [-] taels of silver, and left behind some supplies such as grain, tea, cloth, and weapons. , The two parties agreed that after the beginning of spring, each of them would send representatives to start mutual trading in the area of ​​Andingbao, where the Ningxia defenders are stationed.

With such a huge income, Hong Chengchou was overjoyed, and Xiong Zijian was even more happy. Seeing that all the wealth belonged to Jiangning Camp, the expenses were guaranteed, and through the mutual market, he could further accumulate wealth and guarantee the expenses of Jiangning Camp. The next step , The recruitment and training of sergeants have been fully guaranteed.

On the 22nd of the first lunar month, the vanguard of the army returned to Xianyang.

Su Tiancheng and Hong Chengchou will not waste time, they must rush to the capital, and take the heirs of the Xibe and Daur tribes to the capital to report to the emperor. Su Tiancheng has already written a secret document and sent it to the capital went.

With this victory, Su Tiancheng has sufficient confidence that he will be able to convince the emperor. (To be continued..)