Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 344 New Frontier

The Huangji Hall is very tall. Now the charcoal basin is burning brightly, and the hall is very warm.

After Zhu Changluo took off his outer robe and handed it to Wang An, he raised his hand casually: "Sit, sit."

The postures of all five people were very respectful.

Except for Tian Le who accompanied the emperor all the way, the other four people knew very well: after the emperor returned triumphantly yesterday and walked into Beijing city with his eldest son, the Taichang Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty would be as stable as a rock unless the emperor did several things that were obviously unreasonable and angered God and people.

That’s right, not just once.

He already has the capital to be "willful".

Even if an emperor has no foundation and has just ascended the throne, as long as the legal system is clear, he may even have the opportunity to do a few things according to his will. What's more, he is now the emperor who has pacified the northern barbarians and recovered the old territory?

After sitting down, Zhu Changluo looked at the other four people one by one.

"I am very relieved that neither the capital nor Jiangnan has been in chaos." Zhu Changluo said this as soon as he opened his mouth, and then laughed and teased, "I heard that Shen Yikuan has already set off and entered the capital with several princes?"

The one who responded was Ye Xianggao. He said cautiously and respectfully, "That's right. The Ministry of Public Security has received the letter of apology from Chief Counselor Shen."

"Lord Longjiang, Lord Longjiang..." Zhu Changluo continued to smile, "I was given the task in a time of crisis. Although it was not well-considered to request to keep half of the grain in Jiangnan, overall the merits outweigh the faults. Jiangnan is not in chaos. In addition, that half of the grain was originally the batch that crossed the Huai River three months ago, so it did not cause any delay."

After that, he put away his smile and said, "Besides that, the north needs more food now! The most urgent task is how to defend and govern Kaiping, Daning, and Liaohetao. There are many things that need to be planned as soon as possible. At present, there are only a few border troops stationed in a few important places. The court has not issued a regulation to the world, and the people dare not go there. This great strategy must be published in the court newspaper in the first month of next year."

Wang An and Zou Yi carried the screen over together. Zhu Changluo also stepped down from the throne, walked over there and waved to everyone.

With the signing of the peace treaty between the Ming Dynasty and the Chahar Khanate, the territory that nominally belongs to the Ming Dynasty has become much larger.

Zhu Changluo pointed at the map and said, "From the Dama Mountains, through the Xishui River, through Kaiping, east to the Qilaotu Mountain, then turn south to Daning, then along the Laoha River to the northeast to the Liao River, through Tongliao to Yehe, this is connected to the Liaoyuan Military and Civilian Prefecture in the east. At present, the Ming Dynasty can only control the area south of this line."

According to the peace treaty, the Ming Dynasty certainly wanted a larger area.

But from west to east, north of the upper reaches of the Luan River, which was called the Xishui River in ancient times in the Ming Dynasty and the Shangdu River by the Tatars, the Ming Dynasty prepared to settle the Tumed led by the King of Shunyi.

The so-called Dama Mountains are the mountains to the north of Zhangjiakou. The Yanshan Mountains stretch across the north of Beijing, running roughly east-west. In addition to the tributaries of the Yanghe River, which flow into the Yongding River together with the Sanggan River, the Dama Mountains also give rise to the Luanhe River.

To the east of the Dama Mountains is the Luan River system. This time, the Ming Dynasty wanted to control the entire Luan River system. To the northwest is Kaiping, the former Shangdu of the Yuan Dynasty, and where many tributaries of the Luan River converge is the famous Chengde. At this time, it had not yet received this name.

On the northwest side of the Luanhe River system is the Qilaotu Mountain, which is connected to the Greater Khingan Range at its northernmost end. Between Qilaotu Mountain and Nuruhu Mountain is the Laoha River, a tributary of the Xiliao River, and to the south of Nuruhu Mountain is the Daling River Valley.

According to Zhu Changluo's previous promise, the area east of Qilaotu Mountain, west of Laoha River, and south of Xilamulun River, the main stream of the upper reaches of Xiliu River, was the territory of the former Yehe tribe and the future Lingnan Jurchens.

"The most important thing at the moment is to rebuild, add to or renovate at least seven new border cities: Kaiping, Daning, Hazhou, Linhuang, Tongliao, Fuzhou and Qingzhou."

Needless to say, Kaiping and Daning are two important entrances to the Luanhe River system from the northwest and northeast sides.

The so-called Hazhou is the area around the Laoha River where the Aohan and Naiman tribes are located. After the Lingnan Jurchens were settled to the west of the Laoha River, the Ming Dynasty also needed to build a city to the east of the Laoha River to defend the Liaohe River in the east together with Daning by relying on Nurulhu Mountain.

Linhuang is located at the Sancha River where the Laoha River and the Xilamulun River merge into the Xiliao River. This area was once the location of the Liao Shangjing, but now it is the fertile Horqin grassland.

To the west of Linhuang, there is Qingzhou located north of the Xilamulun River, and Tongliao located south of the Xiliao River. It then extends to Fuzhou and Liaoyuan Military and Civilian Prefecture, which were changed from the Yehe tribe to the south of the Dongliao River. This is the new border of the eastern half of the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.

Qingzhou is a salient that not only controls the Yehe tribe, but also, together with Linhuang, forms a western bridgehead for continuing to advance into the Songnen Plain in the future.

"Seven cities..." Xiao Daheng muttered. In his eyes, of course, it was all money.

"It can't be any less." Tian Le said, "The new border is thousands of miles long, and only seven cities are built. How can it be enough? It's just that the Ming army is at its peak now, so we can suppress it for a while."

Of course, no one will refute this point. Seven border towns are certainly not too many.

"Take your time." Zhu Changluo said, "Plan first. In the short term, it will mainly be a military city. Earthen walls or even wooden walls are not a bad idea. To match it, the three towns of Xuanfu, Jizhen, and Liaodong need to be rearranged."

Now that the border has been pushed further north, the Great Wall is no longer necessary as the first line of defense.

"The Privy Council's intention is to change Ji Town to Liaoxi Town. It starts from the former Kaiping Left and Right Garrison in the west and ends at Linhuang in the east, with the seat of government in Daning. I hope Liaodong Town will start from Tongliao in the west, pass through Fuzhou and Liaoyuan, and end at the future Jianzhou, Qianshan and Longgangshan on the north bank of the Yalu River."

Xiao Daheng looked at him, then at the emperor: "Then the hinterland of Liaodong now..."

"Now that the threat from the northern barbarians has been alleviated and Liaodong is peaceful, we should set up a province called Liaoning." Zhu Changluo said as a matter of course, "Xuanfu Town covers the Dama Mountains and extends to Kaiping in the northeast, and Chengde Prefecture will be set up in the heart of Luan River. We should take this opportunity to put the reform of local government offices on the agenda." Everyone was shocked.

They all knew that setting up a new province was not the point; the reform of local government offices that had been discussed before involved a wide range of areas.

"We need to set up a model in Chengde Prefecture and Liaoning Province first. After all, it is still close to the border and it is newly established." Zhu Changluo looked at them, "Do you understand?"

"……Yes."

The so-called proofing means that Chengde Prefecture and its subordinate counties, prefectures, and all government offices in Liaoning Province should try to adopt the new system.

"After the war, there were many wounded and old soldiers in Liaodong and Jizhou. They became government officials, and this should also be taken into consideration." Zhu Changluo added, "The purpose of eliminating the threat from the north is to prevent the defense of the nine borders from becoming more and more expensive year by year. If the east is used as an example, it will be easier to defend the west in the future."

Finally, he paused and continued, "Things are different now. We will take the Tumed and Ordos in the west step by step. For now, we will help them establish the Southern Yuan Dynasty, and then change it to Inner Mongolia in the future. We will still allow them to govern themselves, but we must move towards integration, with the court taking over border security and appointing civil officials."

"...How could they be willing?" Ye Xianggao couldn't help but say.

"I will do it even if I don't want to." Zhu Changluo said calmly, "This year, the Ming Dynasty defeated the Khanate when its weapons were still weak. In a few years, the Ming Dynasty's weapons and firearms will be completely improved. Besides, isn't fighting for wealth and honor? Although the power will be less, it will be richer than now, so why not? Let Yinshan also become the frontier of the Ming Dynasty, then the north will be intact."

Zhu Changluo would certainly provide assistance to the Duke Zhongshun.

The Yinshan Mountains block the cold wind from the north. Although Fengzhou Beach is not as densely covered with water networks as the Hetao area to the west, it is equally suitable for reclamation.

This had already begun when Altan Khan was in power. However, under the previous policy, Altan Khan could only rely on the captured Han people to reclaim some grasslands for food. However, this small population with richer farming experience also made Tumed the strongest in terms of food reserves and wealth.

Now, the Tumed tribe can graze their livestock from Fengzhou Beach in the west to the south of Dashawo in the east. Setting an example at Fengzhou Beach will be very attractive to the future Ordos, and will also be more resilient to the Mobei grassland tribes who migrate southward as the climate gradually cools.

If we can’t kill them all, we have to find a way to make them feel warmer in the Ming Dynasty, at least to make those lower-class grassland herdsmen feel that way.

Only by combining kindness and severity at that time can we have the possibility of completely changing the situation in the northern border.

On December 19th of the eighth year of Taichang, Zhu Changluo and his important officials began to outline the future picture.

The war with Jianzhou in the northeast has not yet ended, but Buyanggu can already breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at the retreating Korchin, Buyanggu looked at Ma Gui in awe.

He was not in awe of Ma Gui himself, but of the Ming Dynasty.

"He really knows how to handle things." Ma Gui said with a smile, "Once Chaohua and the others left, Korchin knew the situation was hopeless."

"Longan is in danger. Fortunately, the general sent people to help defend it..."

Ma Gui looked at him and said, "The governor will not still regard that place as the territory of the Yehe tribe, right? His Majesty's order has arrived. The governor should arrange for the people of the Lingnan Jurchen territory that Zhang Yonghou and I conquered for you after the beginning of spring. The government troops are guarding the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so they must do their best."

Buyanggu nodded in agreement.

The so-called Long'an is a place not too far to the north of the Yehe tribe, and is even further north of the Dongliao River.

There was originally a small tribe of Khorchin grazing there. At the beginning of the year, Yu Zigao led the Tianshu Camp through the territory of Yehe tribe to the north, and after a successful surprise attack there, he let the Yehe tribe take over.

Later, it had a new name, Changchun.

If they could firmly control that area, then the Dongliaohetao, northeast of the confluence of the East and West Liaohe Rivers, would only have to guard against the northwest. The grasslands in the northwest, however, were densely covered with swamps in summer, and were actually half a "natural moat".

Buyanggu actually thinks that the current territory of Yehe tribe is pretty good, especially since Ming Dynasty is already fighting against Nurhaci...

He actually wanted to govern the Jurchen tribes on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, but he knew that the Ming Dynasty would not agree.

Ma Gui looked at him again and said, "This winter, Khorchin will not dare to come from here again. It is still unclear whether they will turn to attack Yehe tribe to help Nurhaci. It is unnecessary for the governor to stay here. It is better to return to the tribe and arrange the migration."

"...Alright." Buyanggu nodded, and then asked, "To wipe out the Jurchens, do we need the help of the Yehe tribe?"

"Zhang Yonghou has been fighting for thousands of miles, and I can't steal his glory for being awarded the title of Yongzhen in the Northeast. If the governor mentions this to him, he might destroy your Yehe tribe first." Ma Gui laughed, "Why do we need your help in Jianzhou? Governor, you'd better go back quickly. My subordinates have come to ask for a fight several times. I'm just waiting for you to go back and attack Huifa City from Yehe tribe."

(End of this chapter)