Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 292: War Everywhere
The emperor personally took Xiao Daheng's hand and came to the Huangji Palace. Xiao Daheng's face was filled with inexplicable emotion and anxiety.

Ye Xianggao lowered his head and refused to look any further: It turned out that precisely because the position of the governor-general and minister of state affairs was so difficult this time, he was able to receive the emperor's unusual favor.

Of course, all of this is due to Mr. Xiao’s age.

The emperor was just showing respect to his old minister.

"Wang An, please give me a seat." Zhu Changluo scolded, "You are all important ministers who assist me. From now on, whenever I discuss matters with the heads of the four courts, please give them a seat first. You don't have to wait for my order."

Wang An bent down and said, "I'll remember that."

This is again a sign of respect, but it is at this point in time that this new rule is established.

Everyone thanked him first and then sat down one by one.

The Imperial Study, Jinxianyuan, and Shizhiyuan were located on the emperor's left hand, while the Silijian, Privy Council, and Jianchayuan were located on the emperor's right hand.

This pattern has already been formed, and the emperor has only spent a lot of effort to make the Privy Council and the Censorate understand their duties.

The imperial court no longer simply distinguished between civil and military officials.

"The Liaodong frontier reported that the Yehe tribe has gathered troops outside the Zhenbei Pass." Tian Le spoke first, "From the Privy Council, I have received an order to pass on the message to the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office. The Liaodong frontier troops are now preparing in Kuandian Liubao, Kaiyuan, and Guangning."

Wang An then added: "Changminghao has already recruited more than 6,000 people as employees. In addition, the families in Shanxi have also persuaded many branches and in-laws to move east, enough for more than 4,000 people. At the clan office, Hou Zongling is already compiling a list. According to his report, more than 2,000 people below the rank of lieutenant are willing to go, and more than 4,000 people are willing to go to Shanxi and Shaanxi."

According to the arrangement of the Privy Council, the troops of the six forts in Kuandian could threaten the Jianzhou Jurchens who were attacking the Huifa and Ula tribes from the rear, and face the territories of the thirty-six families of the Kharchin Wanhu Doyan in the direction of Guangning, which had already begun to fall into chaos.

There are a lot of troops in Kaiyuan, and we need to prepare according to changes in the situation.

But military strength is only part of it. Once we go out to fight this time, the subsequent digestion problems will definitely require a large number of Han people.

At this time, Liaodong was still cold and barren, with poor infrastructure. The only way Zhu Changluo could think of was to send Changming and the royal family.

To the Changminghao, it was half an order and half an encouragement: the families in Shanxi are more adapted to the north, and as long as they are willing to move further north, why can't every family become a big family in the Northeast in the future?
As for the royal family, there are indeed a large number of poor people. Although those lower-level royal family members can now receive full royal salary from the clan government in a timely manner, it is not enough for them to expand their family business.

"The best outcome would be that the Yehe tribe could conquer the Hada tribe first, and the Jianzhou Jurchens could conquer the Huifa and Ula tribes. The Ming could mediate with national strength, give each of them a good beating, and then rearrange the imperial edicts as agreed in Jizhen. In the future, there would be only two Jurchen tribes left. The lands of the Hada, Huifa, and Ula tribes could be divided, which was somewhat of an inducement. It would save military pay and food, and could also be used as resettlement expenses."

Zhu Changluo talked about the most ideal development of events, which was the flexible use of troops in the Kaiyuan direction.

If any of them disobeyed, the Ming army from Kaiyuan would simply attack them first. To attack Yehe, one force from Kaiyuan would suffice. To attack Jianzhou, a pincer attack could be launched from Kuandian and Liubao.

After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "The Privy Council will respond to any changes in the war situation. Today, we will discuss how the Jinxian Academy can select a group of local officials who are willing to go to the border areas, and how the Tongzheng Academy can organize border information for them to study and become familiar with the customs of the border people. The Administrative Council needs to cooperate with the Privy Council to prepare food and wages for the march and war, and secondly, come up with a strategy for how to relocate Han people to the border areas in the newly developed areas."

He looked at Xiao Daheng and said, "I'm talking about the general direction. We should take root there, start a family, raise children, and own land. Intermarriage should be encouraged. The marriage of the rich and powerful is far less important than the large number of ordinary people becoming one family. In order to make those Jurchens who don't want to leave with Jianzhou or Yehe tribe truly willing to become Han people, we should make good use of the advantages of the people of the Ming Dynasty who are good at farming and construction, so that they can live a better life. We should help develop some profitable businesses over there, such as fur, saltpeter, tailoring, and herbal medicine."

This is not the end. Zhu Changluo concluded: "These three areas are just for demonstration, which is a little difficult. But if we can take over Liaohe, there will be thousands of miles of fertile land. In the future, construction will go smoothly and good fields will be reclaimed. I don't know how many hardworking Han people will be willing to farm. The Northeast will no longer rely on grazing, fishing and hunting for a living, but farming will be more prosperous. Not only will there be no worries about food, but there will no longer be barbarians in the Northeast."

That is a fertile black soil plain, but successive dynasties have never had the energy and motivation to cultivate and consolidate it.

There are many fertile fields in the Ming Dynasty that have been carefully cultivated for thousands of years. For example, in Huguang, it is only in the last hundred years that the farming conditions have gradually improved and the output has taken a big step forward.

However, the contradiction between population and land has always existed. In fact, the Ming Dynasty has a large number of laborers but not enough land to cultivate the fields, and industry and commerce are not yet sufficient to absorb enough population.

Opening up new territory does not mean that people will flock to it. Relatives and friends, hometown sentiment, living habits and language are all difficulties.

In the past, when faced with the need for a real border, either compulsory orders or exile were used as a solution.

So this time Zhu Changluo could only start with Changminghao and the royal family and make a good example.

There is another way, but it is not advisable to use it immediately.

To put it bluntly, it's nothing new, it's still a military settlement. But, isn't it the Production and Construction Corps if it's renamed?

The key is that the situation in the northeast has not yet stabilized, and a large number of recruits must be retained. It is not impossible to form a team from the various guards in the hinterland, but the three parts sound a lot, but in fact the total area is not that large.

If we want to do this, it is better to put it aside and do it in the area between the north of the Liaohe River and the Songnen Plain.

Half defense and half development, with border troops as the main force, the supply lines will be much closer.

The theme of this "cabinet meeting" was clear: the Ming Dynasty was not studying how to expand its territory, but how to effectively digest the territory after expansion.

It seemed as if the expansion of territory was about to be achieved. At this time, a fierce battle was raging in the distant northeast.

"If we have to spit it out again after we take it down, then why do we need to kill so many of our people?"

Outside Wula City, Nurhaci's eldest son Zhu Ying was furious: "After Wula City is taken, the remaining four fortresses will be nothing. But how many of us will have to die to take Wula City? Father, why did you take it down for the Ming Dynasty!"

Nurhaci came here without stopping after returning from the Ming Dynasty. The Jianzhou tribe had already captured the Yihan Mountain City before Nurhaci went to the Ming Dynasty, and during this period of time, they had advanced to the base camp of the Ula tribe.

After he told his decision, his sons and generals didn't understand.

Of course I can't understand it.

Nurhaci said sullenly: "It's time for Bujantai to surrender! Don't worry, the Yehe tribe will not come to rescue, no one will come to rescue!"

"Father! Why did we give it to Ming Dynasty after we conquered it?"

"If you don't give them to the Ming Dynasty, then you must give the city of Hetuala to the Ming Dynasty, and the entire Jianzhou to the Ming Dynasty!" Nurhaci was of course also angry, but he could only tell the truth, "I just want you to take down Ula and give it to the Ming Dynasty, and let Daishan take down Huifa and give it to the Ming Dynasty! If you are not willing, just remember what happened this year! Now is not the time to argue about these things, step up the attack, the faster the better!"

"They have been restless for the entire spring and summer. We can win as long as we wait until winter. Now we are attacking fiercely..." Zhu Ying was so angry that he was about to explode, "Father! Are you going to wipe out all the elite troops of the four flags so that Daming can rest assured?"

"Go when I tell you to!" Nurhaci grabbed his collar, "We don't need the place, but we can have the people! Hurry up and fight with the Ming Dynasty for the people! Today, we have lost some of our four flags, but we will have eight or sixteen flags in the future! If it's too late, once the Yehe tribe has captured Hada and the Ming army has left the border wall, they will not leave us time to snatch the people!"

"What? The Yehe tribe conquered Hada?" Zhu Ying was shocked and angry, "Why don't you send troops to defend it..."

Nurhaci was not without prestige, but the decision he had to make this time was indeed difficult to understand. After all, the person in front of him was his brave eldest son, whom he had high hopes for.

But right now, even if I tell him about the long-term plan, it is not convincing.

After all, the Ming Dynasty can break its promises.

So it is better to point out the essence of the problem: "This is the will of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty! Now, Jianzhou does not have the strength to resist the Ming Dynasty, do you understand? I can come back alive because the Ming Dynasty is not worried about my coming back alive! If you can't figure it out, if you hate and are angry, just remember today!"

Outside the city of Ula, Zhu Ying and other Jianzhou generals had no choice but to follow the orders of the Jianzhou Jurchen leader.

The Jianzhou Jurchens did not have any firearms, but fortunately, Ula City was not a very strong city.

In the process of unifying the various tribes, the Jianzhou soldiers were much braver than the Ula tribe, and they also had high morale from their successive victories.

However, the Ula tribe relied on the city to defend itself, and many Jianzhou soldiers were still buried inside and outside the city.

But this cannot reverse the trend.

Bujantai still sat in a canoe along the Ula River and went out of the city to beg for surrender, talking about his in-law relationship with Nurhaci's family.

His sister was the wife of Nurhaci's younger brother Shurhaci, and he himself was the son-in-law of Nurhaci and Shurhaci.

Fighting and making peace were the ways of the various Jurchen tribes in the past.

But things are different now.

"Back then, you followed the Yehe and other eight tribes to attack Jianzhou and were taken prisoner. I married my adopted daughter to you, let you come back, and supported you to become the Beile of the Ula tribe." Nurhaci said coldly, "If you hadn't betrayed me, I would have planned to marry Mukushi to you. Now, I won't make the same mistake again and let you become the enemy of Jianzhou again!"

This time, instead of retreating after listing his crimes, he killed him on the spot.

He was killed while begging for surrender, and chaos broke out in the city of Ula.

Nurhaci rode his horse and came to a place not far from the city gate under the escort and shouted loudly: "Bujantai was arrogant and domineering. He forced the small tribes of Fucha to submit to me! You are not satisfied with such a mediocre leader? Submit to Jianzhou and become a family! I promise you that Ula will become the fifth flag of the Jurchens, and the flag owner will still be a member of the Ula tribe! Why can we only keep company with the wild Jurchens in the northernmost place? Submit to me, and the Jurchen flags will share the imperial edict equally. I will take you to a warmer place with more lush grass and water!"

In another direction, Baindari was cursing Nalinbulu.

Because the Jianzhou soldiers kept shouting: the Yehe tribe had already offered Donggo to the Ming emperor, and Baiyindari was a crazy guy who was willing to let the Huifa tribe be the banner of the Yehe tribe.

Now, the Yehe tribe attacked the Hada tribe instead of rescuing the Huifa tribe. As long as Baindari was killed, Jianzhou would still accept the Huifa tribe's surrender again.

The only one who betrayed was Baindari!

The Jurchen tribes were all on the move. On September 12, Ma Gui, who was in Kaiyuan, stood up after hearing the report: "Oh? The Yehe tribe has moved?"

(End of this chapter)