stubborn thief

On the remote Monan grassland, He Huchen was indeed doing the work of the Beibei.

This is a complex undertaking.

Specifically, just like the former king of this grassland, Bol Jijin Lindan Batur.

Run away.

Because Hou Jin is here again.

In April of this year, the leader of the Zhengbai Banner, Dorgon, who was in charge of the civil service during the Later Jin Dynasty, set out from Shenyang to join forces with Horqin, Kong, Geng and the Han army. By the time they crossed the Luan River in Duolun, the number of soldiers and horses had reached 18,000, and their swords were pointed at Monan. aggressive.

But they walked very slowly on the grassland, and uncharacteristically settled the people along the way without killing anyone.

Dorgon did not even ask for food and grass from the tribes in Monan. He told them that Tiancong Khan would only attack Yang Qi during this expedition and would not beg other tribes. He would treat the Mongolian invaders as always and feed them easily.

After hearing the news, Yang Qi, the Monan governor of the Marshal's Mansion, was so angry that he cursed his mother in Guihua City.

What the hell do you mean to only attack Yang Qi? You are a powerful leader of the Jin Dynasty, and you are such a huge regime in the Northeast. Do I, Yang Qi, deserve to say such a thing?

You should say only fight Liu Chengzong!

Oh shit!

But Yang Qi actually knew that Huang Taiji hated him now.

And rightfully so.

In the blink of an eye, it was spring and summer again. In these six months, Yang Qi himself did not do anything to infringe on Hou Jin's interests.

He was just busy smuggling back and forth, farming, raising sheep, and enfeoffing Mongolian nobles, but if he didn't do any serious work, someone would do it for him.

The policy of the Monan Governor's Office is to eat here and there, eat Chongzhen's food, and support Liu Chengzong's Han people.

Yang Qi went to great lengths to convince Yang Sichang that the 100,000 men and horses of the Three Khans of Mobei belonged to him, and defrauded him of external aid of 20,000 kilograms of grain per month, which he used to support 13,000 Han Dynasty governors. soldiers.

But under the jurisdiction of the Dudu Mansion, there are still more Mongolian soldiers. When the three Khans of Mobei returned to Mobei alone, they left 18,000 cavalry; plus the soldiers and horses of Monan's own tribes, there were three Thousands of people.

His way of supporting him is... to enfeoff nobles.

In the name of Liu Chengzong, the pasture land in Monan was enfeoffed to various Mongolian nobles. If there were ten soldiers, one hundred households would be enfeoffed, and if there were one hundred soldiers, one thousand households would be enfeoffed.

As for the little nobleman with a thousand soldiers, congratulations, you are the ten thousand households of our Monan Governor's Mansion!

Under his command, Liu Chengzong alone officially issued documents to canonize twenty-three households, of which eighteen were from Mobei and five were from Monan.

Not to mention, among all the subordinates in the Marshal's Mansion, Liu Chengzong gave Governor Yang Qi the greatest autonomy.

At that time, Yang Qi sent letters conferring these people's titles to Lanzhou. Important officials in the Marshal's Office, including his father Liu Xiangyu and teacher Yang Dingrui, said it was nonsense.

No one agreed at all.

Liu Chengzong also knew that this matter had great hidden dangers. The current situation in the Monan Grassland did not allow for self-sufficiency by canonizing the land nobles.

What's more, don't say that these soldiers who are to be canonized have never met him. Just by his name, Mongolian experts like his son Ezhe and Dalai Taiji from the Marshal's Mansion don't know who he is.

Everyone's name is very simple, but because it is a Mongolian-Chinese translation, it is okay for more than 200,000 households. Ezhe and Dalai can recognize a few, but for more than 200, thousands households, it is completely blind. , I don’t know where it came from.

Of course, I can't recognize the road. On the Monan grassland, many people's names are made up when they reach the thousand-household level.

Because Yang Qi's requirement for canonizing a thousand households was to be able to unite a hundred Mongolian soldiers.

This is a very embarrassing social position.

Ordinary shepherd soldiers with even lower social status do not have a surname, but have their own names, and they use their own names in daily life.

Mongolian aristocrats with higher social status would take the name of their tribe or their outstanding ancestor as their surname, and they would also have names chosen by their own adults very seriously.

Only this group of people who have a certain appeal in the original tribe are civilians who work for the nobles. They do not use their own names, but are mostly called by their positions. When requesting canonization, they will also leave the most prestigious name for them. .

This resulted in the fact that when more than 200 households registered their names, there were seven Zaisangs, 16 Darhans, and 19 Batulus.

This is normal, but what is even more outrageous are eight Mergens, 14 Boks, 16 Chechens, six Manglaichs, nine Borshus, and thirteen Karachis.

Translated, it means marksman, wrestler, wise man, vanguard officer, cook and fire-headed soldier.

Yang Qixun thought that such a high-ranking name would not only offend the commander-in-chief, but also to facilitate management in the future, and also to get some serious names, he suggested that they choose a good name and use a new name in the future.

But in fact, it doesn't matter to Liu Chengzong what they are called.

He still went against all objections and wrote canonization documents for these Mongolian soldiers.

There was only one reason... Although it sounded a bit callous, he really didn't think that these people could survive the attack of Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin.

So it doesn’t matter what you call it.

But then again, if he really fought bloody hard to protect his Monan enclave and finally survived, then he should deserve a share of the land he granted to him.

It's just that neither Yang Qi nor Liu Chengzong had any intention to interfere, and underestimated how much "becoming a noble" would inspire these Mongolian soldier leaders who were born from common people.

Although they had never met Liu Dahan who was far away in Qinghai, each of the Han army princes who had descended from Kublai Khan in the Yuan Empire were ready to push Liu Chengzong to the throne from the moment they accepted the canonization.

Although Han Junshihou has a Chinese character and the subject is Han Chinese during the Mongol Empire, it actually goes against the Mongolian tradition of sinicization.

When the Mongols took over the Central Plains and used the methods designed by the Han people to manage the Han people, it was Sinicization; when the Han people took over the grasslands and used the methods designed by the Mongols to manage the Mongols, it was Mongolianization.

According to the tradition of the Han Dynasty, the emperor performed the deeds of the gods as a mortal, and was a role model full of divinity. He used this as the legitimacy of his rule. He promoted favors and cut off vassals to concentrate power, so that the power of tens of millions of people could be gathered in one place to spread across the vast territory. Unparalleled power burst out from it.

The Han military princes of the Mongol Empire happened to violate the nomadic feudal system of Hanization.

However, the Yuan Dynasty became Sinicized, and Kublai Khan suppressed and abolished the Han army princes.

At this moment, Liu Chengzong's Mongolian army prince seems particularly weird. It is neither Chinese nor Mongolian. This behavior itself goes against the Mongolian tradition at this time.

Because today's Mongolia is no longer the original Mongolia, but the Mongolia of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. The Northern Yuan Dynasty itself is a very, very Chinese nomadic empire.

The reason why it looks very similar to Mongolia before the Yuan Dynasty is because its hundreds of years of war and blockade with the Ming Dynasty caused its culture to lapse and return to the dark ages when paper could not be made.

In fact, even in the dark ages of cultural rift, Northern Yuan Mongolia were still highly civilized cultural people in terms of political system, architectural art, etc. compared with their nomadic relatives in the west.

In heaven and on earth, neither the emperor of the Ming Dynasty nor the great Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty would grant these nomadic mud-legged people land and hereditary official positions. Only Liu Chengzong, who was shrinking in Qinghai, was the source of their power to rule the land.

Therefore, the first thing they worried about was not whether they could be hereditary, but whether Liu Chengzong could be hereditary.

It was this unintentional move that aroused great hatred for Yang Qi in Huang Taiji.

For no other reason, the real Mongolian nobles in Monan, those who came from the Marshal's Mansion Wanhu in Monan, were very calm after receiving the canonization.

They knew what they would face after accepting the canonization. The tribesmen were short of food, their livestock died, and they also faced the dual threats of the Ming court and the Hou Jin Dynasty.

But those Mongolian military princes who had just become a thousand households were very restless and approached the most powerful Mongolian nobles in Monan, who were also the two Khans in the past on the Monan grassland.

One is Ombu of the Tumed tribe, and the other is Jinong Elinchen of Ordos.

There is only one appeal: take us south, penetrate the Ming Dynasty, and meet the Great Khan! Ombu Xunxiang, please just calm down for a while.

I believe you sincerely want me to meet the Great Khan.

But the food rations of my Tumut department can still last until September. If we attack the Ming Dynasty in the south, I will die in May. I think you want to send me to meet Lin Dan Khan.

Compared with Ermubu, Ordos Jinong Elinchen was a more educated person.

He explained to the Mongolian princes in a simple and profound way how Yang Qi, the governor-general, raised the Han army and used the economic principles of circle trade.

E Linchen explained to people that Jinong does not doubt your desire to get ahead, but attacking Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Shanxi will break the circle trade and deprive the Han army of Governor Yang Qi of food.

Then before we can penetrate the Ming Dynasty, the Han army under Governor Yang Qi will beat you first.

The Mongolian army princes looked at each other in confusion.

This kind of political economy involving Emperor Chongzhen is obviously too profound for these prairie mud-legs.

Fortunately, people trusted E Linchen as a farmer, and they all asked E Linchen to give him an idea and not to waste time in Monan.

Originally, in order to respond to Yang Qi's call, these Mongolian petty officials and herdsmen heroes all worked hard to gather a team of a hundred strong men based on their personal reputation.

Now that the entrepreneurial team has been set up and the Khitan Khan has been conferred, it is impossible to work without projects.

If this continues, they will be too hungry to hit anyone.

As Mongolian farmers, Erlinchen should give them advice.

But as a person, E Linchen thought that I could give you some stupid ideas. I would have to go to Yang Qi's house for dinner this winter.

What's more, as the ruler of the Golden Family, Elinchen actually saw these Mongolian princes who were not from the Golden Family occupying land, just like Lin Dan Khan saw him claiming to be Khan without permission.

That was awkward from the bottom of my heart.

However, Erlinchen had Wanhu beside him, and he was also his most trusted friend and vassal, the lord of Besuti and Wushen tribes, Sa Nangchechen Huang Taiji.

Sa Nang has a well-established family background and is proficient in history. He has outlined an outline for the history book "The Origin of Mongolia" that he is compiling, which will include the history of the Indian monarchy, the history of the Tibetan monarchy, the history of the Mongolian Khanate, the history of the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Unified history.

He even prepared outlines for the Jurchen Khan's history and Liu Chengzong's imperial history...whoever wins will write it.

Anyway, this kind of history book cannot be written without taking twenty or thirty years. Sa Nang felt that he could just wait and see and see who had the last laugh.

Thirty years is just a blink of an eye in history, but in terms of human life, too many things can happen in thirty years. It is enough for Lin Dan Khan to transform from a famous king among the captives in the grassland to a tomb by the Qinghai Lake. Medium dry bones.

In this era, even the wisest people cannot see clearly where the world will eventually slide.

For Sa Nang, it’s slippery.

Anyway, Mongolia lost the opportunity to compete in the world with Lin Dan Khan Bintian. No matter who wins the world, they will slide down.

Sa Nang told Erlinchen, who didn't want to care about the matter: "Jinong wants to help them."

There is no need to consider any general trend at this time. In the era of Mongolia's overall decline, what Elinchen needs to do is to try his best to make as many Mongolians trust him and unite around Ordos.

The stronger this force is, the safer E Linchen will be no matter who Monan eventually belongs to.

The safer Erlinchen is, the less the Mongolians in Ordos will be slaughtered on the chopping block. No matter whose family Monan eventually belongs to, there will always be a place for the Mongols.

E Linchen thought about it, and it seems that this is indeed the case. The more troops Ordos can mobilize and the higher its reputation among the Mongolian tribes before meeting Liu Chengzong, the greater its value will be when they meet Liu Chengzong.

If the top and bottom are integrated and so tight that they cannot be disassembled, it is the most time-saving and labor-saving way for the Marshal's Mansion to rule Ordos through him.

Then go to war.

Yang Qi's circle trade cannot be destroyed, and there is no choice in the direction of attack, just to the east.

Harashen tribe grazing outside Zhangjiakou.

E Linchen wanted to tell Yang Qi the news immediately. After all, according to the regulations of the Marshal's Mansion, the Governor of Monan was the officer in charge of controlling him.

On the other hand, he thought that Yang Qi would also like this plan. Anyway, it is certain that Hou Jin will conquer Monan again this year, and Gulu Siqibu of the Harashen tribe will definitely join the expedition.

Anyway, they are enemies sooner or later. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the Jin army did not send troops, beat him first, steal his livestock and kill his people.

But the problem is that Yang Qi is now more nomadic than his mother's nomads. He is afraid of death to a certain extent. He wanders around the grassland with the governor's carriage all day long, and no one can find him.

Not waiting for time, Erlinchen immediately gathered more than 200 thousand households, cooperated with the Ordos tribe's 3,000 troops, and combined 20,000 troops. At the turn of spring and summer, they drove to Zhangjiakou in a mighty manner and launched a surprise attack on the Harashen tribe.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to launch a successful raid on the grassland.

Because Mongolia is a nomadic society completely dominated by nobles, there are intricate in-law and interest relationships among the leaders of various tribes. The tribes are also widely distributed, and it takes a long time to gather troops.

So much so that there is no airtight wall on the grassland.

But this time it was different. The Mongolian military princes all came from poor backgrounds and had no relationship by marriage at all. The Ordos tribe was relatively closed and independent.

So much so that until the troops were dispatched, not to mention the Harashen tribe did not receive the news, even Yang Qi, the commander in charge of wandering on the grassland, did not receive the news.

More than 20,000 cavalry composed of the Ordos tribe, Mobei Mongolia, and Monan Mongolia marched into the pastures of the Harashen tribe in early summer.

Those Mongolian military princes who were born as Mongolian veterans were not capable of fighting in battles, but they were very familiar with this kind of small-scale burning, killing and looting. They attacked every pastoral area in Harashen within half a month with continuous killing and looting. land, and then fled westward like a gust of wind.

The timing of their attack was just right. Harashen lord Gulusqibu led his troops east to meet Dorgon's Western Expedition army.

When Dorgon came with his troops, he almost cried in anger when he saw the miserable situation of Harashen's troops being plundered.

The reason why he was uncharacteristically gentle to the Mongolian tribes along the way was entirely because he was on a mission this time.

The situation in Houjin's country is very bad.

Last year, heavy losses were suffered in the Battle of Xuanda. The surrendered Han troops kept running westward, and the Eight Banners were sparsely populated. The Eight Banners in Manchuria were busy living and dying, which could no longer make up for the military needs.

After the war, more than 300 Niulu were disbanded by Huang Taiji and added to 240, and they began to hunt wild Jurchens and Yuskin Tatars on a large scale to the northeast.

From the autumn and winter of last year to the spring and summer of this year alone, more than 2,000 fish-skin Tatar men were captured from the deep mountains and old forests and armed. At the same time, a plan was made to supplement each cow with 200 small fish-skin Tatar dolls as war reserves. huge plan.

Therefore, when Dorgon sent troops this time, he absolutely did not dare to enter Kou Ming's territory from Xuanda. He was not even prepared to fight head-on with Yang Qi, the governor of Monan under Liu Chengzong. Instead, he planned to scare Yang Qi and avoid fighting.

Because Huang Taiji judged that the situation in Houjin's country was devastated by last year's war, but Yang Qi was extremely poor. He had just arrived in Monan, which had been devastated by war for decades. He would not be able to survive the past six months, and most likely he would not dare to fight with them.

Therefore, the purpose of sending troops this time is entirely to shock the tribes in Monan, and create an image for the newly kneaded Manchus in Liaodong that the Northern Yuanqi has been exhausted, and all the Mongols in Mononan have surrendered to the Jin Kingdom, so as to appease the Mongolian banner army. Domestic stability.

If this Western Expedition failed and the expected goal could not be achieved, Dorgon would have no choice but to send the Mongols to buy a piece of jade from the Ming Dynasty.

I carved a national jade seal myself and took it back to present to Huang Taiji. I used the reason that Lin Danhan lost the national jade seal while running away to show that the artifact has returned and good luck lies with me.

Then he proclaimed himself emperor first and snatched the title of Daiqing, a country of warriors, from the stupid Daiqing Khitan Khan in the northwest. (End of chapter)