Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 242, Learning from Foreign Strategies to Govern the Tartars

Gao Li, who was stationed in Datong, sent back an urgent report.

However, Gao Zhi went to Datong.

On behalf of Dore, the rightful successor of Qah Khan, he presented a letter of alliance to the King of Wu, requesting an alliance.

The alliance agreement states that Dore is willing to form an alliance with the King of Wu on behalf of the grasslands, send his sister to marry the King of Wu, and call the Kingdom of Wu his elder brother for generations. In return, Dore will send three thousand sheep, two thousand horses, and one thousand cattle as tribute every year. In return, the King of Wu will need to send troops to help him quell the rebellion on the grasslands.

(PS: Wu is Fang Yong's fiefdom, encompassing the entire Suzhou and Huizhou regions, as well as Huzhou and Jiaxing in Zhejiang. A formal investiture ceremony has not yet been held.)

Looking at this alliance document, Fang Yong thought of many things in an instant.

Interfering in other countries' internal affairs, plundering other countries' economies, supporting puppet leaders, creating ethnic conflicts... cough cough, this approach seems a bit familiar.

This seems to be a tried-and-tested approach that I recall.

However, while doing so might bring some benefits, it might not sound very pleasant to others.

We should use a different approach.

For example, restoring order, supporting the legitimate rulers, and selecting a wise and capable Khan for the grasslands!

It will sound much better if it's spread out like this.

Based on current intelligence on the grasslands...

The eldest son, Tuolei, completely manipulated the second son, Duolei.

The opponent never took Dorei seriously, confident that even if Dorei was released, they would still be able to defeat him.

Now, Tuolei has gained a reputation for benevolence and kindness, established his authority through Duolei, and made a name for himself on the grasslands. At the same time, he has also subdued the neighboring Adil tribe. It can be said that he has killed three birds with one stone and achieved three goals with one arrow.

How can such an insidious and ruthless fellow manage the grasslands?

Fang Yong felt it was time to set things right.

The second young master, Dorei, is honest and kind, as can be seen from how Tuolei treats him like a fool. He is a loyal and kind master.

This is the perfect candidate to be the Khan of the grasslands!

The only thing that made Fang Yong somewhat dissatisfied was that the other party offered too few conditions.

You think you can get him to send troops with just a few thousand head of livestock?
Not enough, far from enough!
It's not just a matter of quantity.

There were other rights that Fang Yong also wanted.

For example, he wanted to carve out a separate piece of land in the area from Datong to Yinshan to build a city where the grassland people and Han people could trade together.

At the same time, Fang Yong also wanted to send some troops to garrison the area to protect the city's safety...

These are all very reasonable conditions, aren't they?
Fang Yong instructed, "Go and summon Yin Li..."

Halfway through his sentence, Fang Yong remembered that Yin Li had gone to Jizhou, and after thinking for a moment, he said:
"Let's call him Xue Ke!"

Not long ago, Ma Laohei led his troops in a surprise attack on Jizhou.

Mao Cheng's arrangements were easily defeated. Ma Laohei swept away the outer defenses of Jizhou in just one day, and his army was at the gates of Jizhou.

Mao Cheng was so frightened that he retreated into the city and dared not leave the city. He sent someone to Fang Yong overnight to seek peace and express his willingness to surrender.

This time, he dared not mention the condition of retaining his troops again, he only asked Fang Yong not to strip him of his title.

Mao Cheng still had a considerable number of troops under his command. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. If a real attack were to occur, the casualties would certainly be significant. Therefore, after some consideration, Fang Yong agreed to Mao Cheng's terms.

It's just a title, nothing serious.

Besides, it's a title from the Great Xi Dynasty; he can simply refuse to acknowledge it later.

What does the title of nobility from the previous dynasty have to do with my new dynasty?
Therefore, Fang Yong dispatched Yin Li as an imperial envoy to Jizhou to read out the imperial edict ordering Mao Cheng to surrender.

Since Yin Li won't be back for a while, he's leaving the matter of the grasslands to Xue Ke to discuss.

Xue Ke frequently traveled to the grasslands to trade horses and was relatively familiar with the affairs there, so he was a suitable candidate. As for Gao Li, Fang Yong dispatched another 20,000 troops to him, and also assigned all the heavy cavalry to Gao Li.

Fang Yong gave him a secret order that if necessary, he could directly send troops to intervene in the situation on the grassland.

Previously, Fang Yong had trained a heavy cavalry force of 3,000 men and a number of light cavalry using horses from the grasslands. Later, after Xue Ke and others from Dezhou returned with new horses, Fang Yong trained an additional 2,000 heavy cavalrymen. Now, the complete heavy cavalry force is around 5,000 men, with each man having three horses, for a total of 15,000 warhorses.

This force is not particularly strong, but it is by no means weak.

It's unlikely that the steppes will be completely wiped out, but supporting Dore's regime should be enough.

As for logistics, that naturally falls to the grassland people.

He's already done Dorei such a big favor, so isn't it only right that Dorei helps him raise his army?

All Dorre needs to do is collect taxes relentlessly.

He has even more to consider.

What if the lives of the grassland people become difficult as a result?
Fang Yong believes that everyone is one family.

Han people are Han people, and grassland people are grassland brothers.

We're all family, so let's not be formal. For the sake of our shared happiness in the future, it's only right to endure some hardship and fatigue now.

Let's set aside the matter of the grasslands for now.

The land reclamation policy in Zhili and Shandong is currently proceeding smoothly.

After Fang Yong confiscated those eight families as examples, the other powerful families in the two regions quieted down considerably, and almost no one dared to resist the new policy anymore, which was implemented very smoothly.

The reason things went so smoothly was partly because Fang Yong didn't take too big a step.

After all, Fang Yong only took away half of these people's land, and they still firmly held the other half in their hands.

Moreover, Fang Yong did not touch the two fundamental pillars of the imperial examination system and the official system.

The scions of aristocratic families remain aristocratic families, and the sons of officials remain officials. The basic structure remains unchanged, only the wealth has decreased, so these aristocratic families are not about to turn against each other.

Simply put, Fang Yong's reforms are still within their tolerance range.

If Fang Yong had directly converted everyone's private property into public property from the beginning, one can imagine that Zhili and Shandong would have been filled with rebellions.

This slow, insidious approach to reform can reduce resistance significantly, but it also has a serious drawback: the reforms are not thorough enough.

A dull knife cuts off a pound, and the aristocratic family gains another eight ounces. This cycle continues, and even by the time Fang Yong dies, the harvest may not be completely finished.

When the new emperor ascends the throne and policies change, these powerful families will rise again.

However, Fang Yong was not worried about this at all.

Because he has a system, he lives a long time!

[Exercise Method: The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic (General)]

【Progress: 16/100】

[Efficacy: When Yin and Yang are in harmony, all things ascend to the bright hall, resplendent and magnificent; when Yin and Yang interact, spirit and energy blend, body and mind are in harmony. Accumulating the old and absorbing the new, thus the Qi is abundant and the body strong, leading to longevity.]

The exercise has a clear effect on prolonging life, and after Fang Yong practiced it for many days, this effect is by no means unfounded.

He discovered that by practicing the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, both the practitioner and the audience could simultaneously increase their vital energy and spirit, and by combining this increase, they could achieve the effect of yin and yang in harmony and unity.

This growth is different from Fang Yong's previous entries.

Previously, the growth he gained from practicing archery, swordsmanship, and other skills was one-sided and unrelated to other attributes.

Even though Fang Yong later studied poetry and specifically increased his divine attributes to make up for his shortcomings, the divine attributes he gained only improved his mental state and made him clear-headed, but they did not combine with other attributes.

(End of this chapter)