The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 155 "Remnants of the Qing Dynasty" struggling to survive

"If the Junggar tribe is defeated, how will the tens of thousands of people in Manchuria get along?"

The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, oh, no, it should be the Great Khan of Manchuria, Aisin Gioro Yinti, sitting on a bearskin chair, sitting blankly for a moment, then he glanced at the Eight Banners Governors and Ministers present, and asked in a tired tone road.

The minister of political affairs and the commander-in-chief of Manchuria's Zhenghuang Banner, Hesheli Aljishan (son of Suo'etu), looked at the silent ministers on the left and right, hesitated for a moment, then bravely stood up and said: "Don't worry, Khan. , if the Junggar people are defeated, we in Manchuria can contact the Rakshasa people in the north, rely on them as vassals, and seek their protection."

"Tsk..." Fucha Fuliang, the minister of bodyguards and the commander-in-chief of Manchuria with a red flag, sneered, "Be a dog for the Rakshasa people, be careful that you end up being stewed in a pot and eaten until all your skin and bones are left."

"How to talk?" Aljishan glared at Fu Liang with an angry look on his face, "We are looking for a backer to prevent the counterfeit Qin from destroying our Manchuria. Why should we treat ourselves as dogs but not dogs? Why don't we have to be dignified?"

"In our situation, what kind of dignity do we have?" Fu Liang rolled his eyes and said with some hesitation: "Since we lost the beautiful scenery of the Central Plains, there has been nothing like this. From Beijing to Monan, from Monan to Monan. Nan fled to Mobei, then fled from Mobei to Moxi, and finally fell to Kobdo. Now, this Junggar has been hit hard by the puppet Qin, and lost Ili. It is impossible to see it. Without the Junggar people to attract the attention of the Han people , then the Puppet Qin is going to point its troops towards us in the west? With tens of thousands of people in Manchuria, how can we withstand the attacks of others for years? You talk about it, if we can't defeat it again and again, why don't we continue to flee? He’s going to become a lost dog!”

"The Junggar has more than a million people under its jurisdiction, and more than 100,000 people who control strings. Even though it suffered heavy losses in Ili, its strength has not been greatly damaged. It still has the vast territories of Yarkand and Kazakhs. It has been dormant for several years. When we can recover, we will fight against the puppet Qin again." Marsai (the grandson of Tuhai), the minister of bodyguard and commander of Mongolia's Xianglan Banner, glanced at Fu Liang and said in a deep voice: "It can be foreseen that in the future, In a few years, the target of the puppet Qin will still be Junggar until it is completely destroyed. During this period, all our Manchurian ministries need to unite sincerely and make plans early, so that we can make a difference."

"What to do?" Fu Liang smiled bitterly and said: "To the north are the Rakshasa people, who can't give us any benefits, and their country is very ambitious, and the tribes that have surrendered are not worthy of attention; to the east are the Khalkha Mongols, who have long been After being beaten to pieces, the tribes with some strength either surrendered to the Han people or attached themselves to the Junggars; to the south and west are the Junggar forces. As you Marsai said, even if they were severely damaged by the puppet Qin, their strength is still there, which is not something we can provoke. Start. To put it bluntly, if the northern area of ​​Khovd (today’s Tangnu Ulianghai) had not been a barren land with little oil and water, and if several forces were constraining and opposing each other, it would have been crushed into powder long ago.”

After speaking, everyone looked at each other and sighed, and the hall fell into a dead silence.

In other words, more than thirty years ago, although our Qing Dynasty was expelled from Monan by the Han people and retreated to Mobei, it still had strength. It could still use the vast grassland to compete with the pseudo-Qin and wait for the opportunity to take over the Central Plains again. However, in the 1688th year of Kangxi (3), Galdan, the leader of the Junggar tribe, personally commanded cavalry, divided his troops into two groups and marched eastward. When Tuxie Tuhan led his troops to attack the Zhasak Tuhan tribe, he entered the area. Territory, wiped out the few soldiers and horses left behind by Tuxietu Khan, and captured tens of thousands of his tribe. Subsequently, Junggar took advantage of the situation and invaded the Chechen Khan tribe in the Kherulun River Basin, defeated Chechen Khan Murdoch, and tried to conquer the entire Khalkha Mongolian region in one fell swoop.

In order to stabilize the basic foundation of our Qing Dynasty, Manchu and Mongolia, Emperor Kangxi united with Tuxietu Khan Chahui Dorji and the remnants of Chechen Khan Murdoch to gather more than 28,000 troops to fight back against Galdan. The two sides fought in Hubei. Rodonol.

As a result, after the war, no one took advantage of the two families. It can even be said that both sides suffered losses. Although Junggar lost the opportunity to unify Khalkha and Mongolia, they had to retreat to the Western Regions in a hurry to lead troops to quell the rebellion in the rear. We, the Qing Dynasty, were also casualties. Not small, even the elite Eight Banners lost more than 7,000 people.

When the puppet Qin who gathered troops in Monan learned the news, he immediately dispatched more than 13,000 cavalry and rushed into Mobei, rushing to take advantage of it. The Zasak Tuhan tribe, which was almost crippled by the Tuxie Tuhan tribe, was the first to express its allegiance to the Qin Dynasty. Later, the Chechen Khan tribe, who was assessing the situation, also expressed its acceptance of the rule of the Qin Dynasty and sent envoys to pay tribute.

Under this situation, the Manchu and Mongolian coalition forces, whose strength had been severely weakened, did not dare to compete with the puppet Qin, so they took over ten thousand tribesmen of Tushetu Khan tribe and headed northwest. Finally, they reached the northern part of Khovd to recuperate and recuperate. Waiting for recovery.

Twenty-four years ago (1703), Kangxi fell ill from worry and anger, and after many years of wandering, he died in Bayan Ker at the age of forty-nine. Officials (mainly the only remaining Han civil servants) gave him a posthumous title. Min Zong.

This emperor who succeeded to the throne at a young age suffered many disasters for the country during his reign, and was eventually driven out of the Central Plains by the puppet Qin who resurrected in the south. Although this national disaster did not arise from the complete mediocrity of Kangxi, he was unable to recover after all. Therefore, the group I can only express my regret and sympathy for being given such a decent posthumous title.

As the eldest son of Kangxi, Yinti was promoted as the Great Khan of Manchuria by the Eight Banners ministries and ministers. Yes, as early as when Kangxi retreated to Khovd, in order to protect himself, he removed the throne. He first broke off the war with Galdan and shook hands to make peace, agreeing to fight against the Qin State together. Later, Cewang Alabutan gained strength and defeated Galdan. Kangxi then added insult to injury and launched a surprise attack. Together with Cewang Alabutan, they annihilated the Galdan tribe and consolidated their rule in the Khovd area.

However, the land of Kobdu is barren and not rich in products. Tens of thousands of Manchu tribes occupy the land. No matter how hard they try, they cannot achieve substantial development. The terrain here is higher in the east and lower in the west. In the east is the Upper Yenisey Basin, which is mostly forest, and in the west is mostly mountains and deserts. The north and south are surrounded by the Sayan Mountains and the Tangnuula Mountains respectively. 80% of the land is mountains and plateaus, and there is not much plain land that can be cultivated. Compared with Liaodong, where they started their business in Manchuria, it is not even a bit worse.

At that time, we had an army of more than 14,000 Manchu, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty, and we had more than 30,000 Han and Mongolian tribesmen. After easily conquering the local Hetuohite tribe, we obtained more than 20,000 Dingkou, and added In the deep mountains and old forests, the Tangnu Tuva people, the Brut people (i.e. the Kirgiz people), the Buryat people, as well as some of the original Galdan tribes, have a population of more than 80,000, which is considered to be high-level science. The most powerful force in Buduo and Moxi regions.

However, more than twenty years have passed. As the once brave and capable Eight Banners soldiers have aged and died of illness one after another, and the army has never been able to obtain sufficient personnel and weapons, the combat effectiveness of the entire Manchuria has continued to decline. Not to mention competing with the Qin army, which was armed to the teeth, not even the Junggar Khanate could cope with it. Even the small groups of Rakshasa armed forces in the north were extremely difficult to deal with, allowing the Cossacks to rob them frequently.

The Eight Banners of Manchuria are now in a state of incomplete banners and broken institutions. The Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty and the Eight Banners of the Mongolia, which used to have a large number of people, also have a lot of shortages in the face of an increasingly shrinking population. Even the Manchu Eight Banners, which relied on it as the core, could not maintain a complete Niulu in each department.

People's hearts were broken, and it was difficult to lead the troops. Not only did the Mongolians at both ends of the river kept fleeing to rely on the more powerful Junggar tribe, or they jumped east into Mobei to join the Mongolian tribes who had surrendered to Qin. In order to seek a better life, even the once loyal Han people lost confidence in Manchuria, which had no hope of recovery, and left without warning, seeking another branch.

In the past half month, news has continued to come from the Western Regions. It is said that on February 23, the Qin army braved the wind and snow, ran thousands of miles, and raided the Junggar Khanate, which was in civil strife. It beheaded more than 6,000 people and captured the Junggar Khanate. With more than 20,000 troops, they captured Yili in one fell swoop. Cewang Alabutan, the king of Junggar Khan, fled to the Issyk-Kul grassland (today's Almaty area) with only more than a thousand cavalry, and he was in panic all day long.

When they first heard the news, everyone in the Manchurian tribe thought that this must be false information fabricated by the pseudo-Qin, or a small conflict deliberately exaggerating the facts to frighten the tribes in the Western Regions and Moxi.

In the icy and snowy conditions of the twelfth lunar month of winter, where is the time to use troops, and they have to travel thousands of miles to attack? When did the Han people have such ability?

Over the years, the Puppet Qin has indeed been in a strategic offensive position relying on sharp firearms and a steady stream of population advantages. Not only has it suppressed the resistance of various Mongolian tribes in the Mobei and Moxi regions, but it has also continued to build cities step by step in the Western Regions. The fortress advanced bit by bit to the core area of ​​the Junggar tribe, leaving the grassland forces that once had strong mobility helpless and retreating steadily.

More than ten or twenty years ago, the Manchurian tribe also sent troops to follow the Junggar Khanate to raid the Mobei and Mongolian tribes. Sometimes they even went deep into the Monan area, looted property and settlements, and fought continuously with the Qin army. A fierce battle.

But after several years of fighting, the Manchurian Division felt that it was too much. Because the Qin army's cavalry fought more and more, and the number of Mongolian tribes under its control also increased year by year.

In fact, a large part of the Qin Army's cavalry was not cavalry in the true sense, but a type of mounted infantry. Well, to be precise, it should be mounted musketeers.

These musketeers have only received brief horse riding training, that is, they only have the ability to ride on horses. As for horse riding shooting, horse fighting, and even horse charging, they do not know anything about it.

But it was this kind of mounted musketeers that caused the Manchurian cavalry and Junggar cavalry to suffer a lot. After encountering the enemy, they did not engage in cavalry combat at all. Instead, they jumped off the horse, used the real cavalry as a cover on the wings, used the horses they were riding as a shield, and fired continuously with muskets. They sometimes also carry a light artillery weighing only three to four hundred kilograms to cover and block enemy cavalry when it comes. Faced with the Qin army's absolute firepower suppression, the prairie empire's proud cavalry advantage was no longer there. Under the continuous firing of volleys of guns, the cavalry's successive charges seemed to be a complete act of suicide. With the sound of gunfire, Sounded, the era of cavalry has come to an end.

You know, both the Manchurian cavalry and the Junggar cavalry have been practicing horseback riding and archery since they were young. They also have to practice swords and guns diligently and master various martial arts. Finally, when they are fifteen or sixteen years old, they can go into battle to kill the enemy.

However, facing the Qin Army's horse-mounted musketeers who had only trained for less than a year or even a few months, they could easily kill a well-trained musketeer by gently pulling the trigger and shooting a small projectile. cavalry. This situation gave all the cavalry a desperate and unwilling mentality.

With Qin's huge population and abundant material supplies, their soldiers seemed endless. Even if thousands or even tens of thousands of people were lost in a battle, as long as there were enough firearms and a few months of hasty training, a larger army could be formed.

Faced with this situation, not to mention that our poor and inhabited Manchuria cannot cope with it, even the Junggar Khanate, which has independent firearms manufacturing capabilities, dare not compete with the Qin army in such a struggle.

Therefore, when the Eight Banners of Manchuria went to clear grass valleys in Moxi and Mobei, when they encountered the Qin army, they would temporarily avoid their attacks and easily avoid fighting with them. Regardless of whether they can win the battle or not, the consumption of personnel, ordnance and supplies is not something the increasingly embattled Eight Banners Army can bear.

So far, the Eight Banners troops have gradually fallen into this situation: those who flee in the face of the Qin army are called superior bravery, those who flee upon hearing the news are called mediumly brave, and those who flee upon misunderstanding are called inferior bravery.

Unless I can't fight, I really don't dare to fight!

Before, it is not that no one has advised Emperor Kangxi and the current Great Khan Yinti. Since Manchuria is weak, we can "please surrender and surrender" to the Qin Dynasty and surrender to the Central Plains Dynasty in the name of a vassal in order to obtain "obscene growth". Opportunity, just like the time when Taizu (Nurhachi) went dormant in Liaodong, he endured for many years, and finally conquered the Jurchen tribes and established our Qing Dynasty.

However, Emperor Kangxi was "unbearably ashamed and angry" due to the loss of his country, and ignored this suggestion. He denounced it as "colluding with the puppet Qin and subverting the political principles", and would severely punish and denounce him indiscriminately.

Later, after Yinti succeeded to the throne, someone tentatively proposed that instead of surrendering to barbarian countries such as Junggar, it would be better to surrender to Qin and use it as aid. If we can get a steady stream of supplies and personnel from Qin, even if Manchuria cannot recover in the short term, we can still gain a better foothold in Khovd.

Since the age of 14, Yinti has followed Emperor Kangxi to fight in Monan and Mobei. He once participated in the Orodonor Battle with the Junggar people, and personally experienced the decline of the Qing Dynasty to Manchuria. Naturally, he also Feeling the helplessness of the changing times, he did not have the same psychological baggage as the late Emperor Kangxi.

In this grassland area where strength is respected, there is nothing shameful in joining the strong and seeking support. Besides, we have all been reduced to this situation, what else do we need to save face?

Not long after Yinti succeeded to the throne, he sent several waves of envoys to Suiyuan (today's Hohhot), Beijing, and even Nanjing, the capital of the Qin Dynasty, to request tribute as a vassal and express submission.

At first, Great Qin didn't really believe in Manchuria's surrender. In addition, due to the heavy killings and various destructions caused when it took over the Central Plains, it was naturally rejected by the Emperor and Cabinet of Great Qin.

Later, Manchuria sent envoys to surrender several times in succession, and presented many precious furs and local specialties as tribute to show their sincerity of submission.

Perhaps they felt that the northern area of ​​Khovd occupied by Manchuria was located on the flank and rear of Junggar, and could be used to help the Qin conquer the Junggar Khanate. The monarchs and ministers of the Qin Dynasty conditionally agreed to accept Manchuria as their vassal.

In addition to asking Manchuria to send Baylor, who had the right to inherit, to Nanjing as a hostage, the Qin State also asked Manchuria to mobilize the main force of the Eight Banners to flank the Altai and Zhaisangbo areas of the Junggar Khanate from the north, cutting off the Junggar Khanate's contact with the Mongolian tribes in Moxi and Mobei.

Yinti didn't think there was any problem with sending Baile as a hostage. The worst he could do was throw in a brother or a son. However, the Qin State asked Manchuria to mobilize the main force of the Eight Banners to attack Junggar, which would make it difficult for them.

This move of Great Qin was clearly a strategy to drive away wolves and devoured tigers, and at the same time, it also eliminated the possibility of re-union with the Junggar Khanate. What worries Manchuria even more is that Great Qin is driving them to attack Junggar. If they just want to use and consume their strength, thinking that they will completely devour Manchuria in the future and avenge the catastrophe of the Central Plains, then they will be in trouble.

Therefore, the Manchurians tried to push back and delay the attack, claiming that their strength was insufficient and their armor was unfavorable, so they were really unable to launch an attack on Junggar.

Can you, Great Qin, give us some assistance first, such as artillery, muskets, and war materials such as grain, ironware, clothing, tea, sugar, etc. You have to give us some charity. We are so poor that we can’t even open the pot. How to launch an attack on Junggar? Military offensive.

However, the Great Qin court has always been wary of Manchuria. The collapse of the Ming Dynasty should serve as a lesson for others. You, the remnants of the Qing Dynasty, are hiding in Kobdo to carry out Goujian's deeds. Are you deceiving me, the Great Qin, for being ignorant?

In this situation where both sides were unable to gain mutual trust, Manchuria's surrender to the Qin Dynasty naturally dropped and the state of hostility continued. However, the main target of Great Qin's attack has always been Junggar. For a while, it was unable to take action to deal with Manchuria, but it allowed it to continue to linger to this day.

I originally thought that with Junggar's vast territory and tens of thousands of elite cavalry, it would be able to compete with Da Qin for decades. Maybe in the end no one could do anything to the other and maintain an armed confrontation. In this way, they in Manchuria will have enough time to recuperate and slowly accumulate strength for their recovery.

However, it has been confirmed by various sources that the Junggar Khanate was indeed defeated by the Qin Dynasty. During the civil strife in the royal court, it was attacked by the Qin army on a snowy night. Not only did it lose thousands of elite cavalry and tens of thousands of troops, but it also destroyed Yili, where the royal city was located. Lost, he fled to the Issyk-Kul grassland in embarrassment.

So where will we go in Manchuria?

"Otherwise, let's go to the Bohai Kingdom to see if we can get help?" Ortai, the commander of the Xianglan Banner, said softly: "After all, we are all from the same Manchu clan, and we still have some incestuous feelings."

(End of this chapter)