Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1924 Change and Strength ([-])

Gansu in April is already a beautiful time when the grass grows and warblers fly.Outside the Acropolis of Suzhou, a fortress in the west of the province that was newly established by the Qing court not many years ago, a cavalry unit has just returned.

They were going to wipe out a cavalry of the Oirats (Oirat Mongolia) who were fleeing nearby.These horse bandits set out from Turpan. They were small in number, but they were very capable. They plundered many villages, horse farms and fodder farms west of Suzhou, and killed a caravan returning from the Qinghai area in the south. They were very arrogant.

In view of this, Liu Jincai, the guerrilla general of Jiayuguan and Han Banner General in charge of the defense of the nearby area, immediately ordered Suzhou to send troops to suppress.A part of the horse team stationed in Suzhou was dispatched urgently to the surrounding villages to track down the horse bandits, and finally captured about a hundred of them in the area between Jiayuguan and Suzhou Acropolis, and wiped them out after a bloody battle , Now this is the team that just triumphed.

"Prepare soup, medicine and food quickly, brothers need it." A Qing army officer wearing a sheepskin cap threw his horsewhip into the arms of a soldier who was waiting in front of him, and ordered: "These lowly slaves in Turpan, who dare not go before Resisting the barbarians who came from the river, and not daring to show their teeth to the new masters, the Oirats, but dared to repeatedly cross the border to harass our tribe, are you really stupid for religious belief?"

The "subjugated slaves" mentioned by the officer actually refer to the descendants of the Turpan Khanate that was conquered by the Yarkand Khanate about a hundred years ago. Discriminated against by the upper class, life is so hard that they can only go to the territory of the Qing Dynasty to fight the autumn wind to maintain their lives.

The so-called Turpan Khanate is actually the former East Chagatai Khanate, which was first named "Bieshabali" in the history of the Ming Dynasty. (in today’s Jimsar County, Xinjiang), it was later called the “Yilibali” Khanate in the history of the Ming Dynasty, because Waisi Khan moved the capital to Yilibali (now in the Yili River Valley of Xinjiang) during his reign. near Yining).Then, there is something even more bizarre. In 1481, Yu Nusi Khan handed over the eastern half of the Khanate to his youngest son (the Ming Dynasty called it Sutan Ahima, that is, Ahmed Sultan), and set his capital in Turpan, so he was once again Known as the Turpan Khanate.

In fact, the so-called Bieshabali, Yilibali, and Turpan Khanate all refer to one country, that is, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. The reason why there are so many titles is that the Ming Dynasty and the Western Regions are different. Bordering the border (separated by the loyal kingdom of Hami Kingdom, the so-called Kansai Seven Guards), it is not clear why.After all, you can't expect a country that can't even effectively control Qinghai to know everything about Xinjiang. What's more, the main military pressure of the Ming Dynasty came from the Mongolian grasslands in the north.

The Eastern Chagatai Khanate has been conquering east and west since its establishment. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, the country and the Ming Dynasty fought back and forth in the Hami area. The Ming Dynasty sometimes lost the Hami Kingdom and sometimes regained it (three establishments and three wastes).During the period of Mansoor Khan (Mansur Sultan), the national power of the Ming Dynasty declined, and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate completely annexed the Hami Kingdom, pushing the national border to the west of Jiayuguan, directly bordering the Ming Dynasty, and has been fixed to the East Chagatai since then. The Hetai Khanate was conquered and destroyed by the Yaerqiang Khanate that rose from the city of Ya’erkan — Interestingly, Said Khan (Sayyed Sultan) who established the Yaerqiang Khanate was the younger brother of Mansul Khan, The son of Ah Heima, because he was afraid of being murdered by his elder brother, he went to Central Asia to seek refuge with his cousin Babur. He was killed and returned in 1514. He rose from southern Xinjiang and established the Yarkand Khanate.

Said hated the persecution of his brother Mansoor very much.Perhaps this kind of hatred was also passed on to future generations. After conquering the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (the land was divided up by the Yarkand and Oara Mongols), they have always looked down on its survivors, not only the heavy tax burden In fact, a lot of soldiers have to be dispatched in wars, and life is miserable.

A few years ago, one of the religious leaders of the Yarkand Khanate colluded with the Fifth Snow Mountain Monk (you know...) to overthrow the Yarkand Khanate.So the Xueshan monk found Galdan, the leader of Oara Mongolia who enshrined Tibetan Buddhism, and under the cooperation of the inside and the outside, he destroyed the country that had been established for more than 160 years.However, this does not mean that these new masters will give good looks to the residents of the old land of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.On the contrary, the Oirat Mongols, who have rejected the Green Sect's solicitation many times over the years and firmly believe in the Yellow Sect, are even more disgusted with these Moors (you know...), and they are completely driven by them as cannon fodder, and their lives are still miserable.

In the past two years, perhaps because of Galdan's request, more and more Turfans have harassed the border from the Hami area, occasionally mixed with some elite Oara Mongol soldiers.Surprisingly, the number of these soldiers, horses and firearms already subordinate to the Junggar Khanate is quite large, and they are also very skillful in use, which caught the Manchu and Qing troops stationed in the northwest border off guard and suffered a lot.Later, they transferred thousands of musketeers from Henan, and at the same time mobilized a large number of artillery from Jinzhou and Beijing (also established a large-scale cannon foundry in Xi'an) to reinforce Gansu, and they managed to maintain the balance of power.

However, after entering 1685, the cavalry of the Junggar Khanate on the border became larger and larger, which made the Qing court very nervous.In desperation, they began to deploy a large number of soldiers stationed in relatively inland areas such as Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan to garrison the border to increase the thickness of troops in Gansu and prevent sudden attacks by the enemy's main force.

Of course, as the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi, what he was most concerned about was always the movements on the Mongolian grasslands, not the northwest border of Gansu.The reason is very simple, the main weapon that the Manchurians rely on to rule the Han is the Mongols!The Emperor of Manchuria has always been the great khan of many Mongolians, and his authority and influence on the Mongolian grasslands are very important. Therefore, they are extremely vigilant against any Mongolian tribe that may rise.After all, their own population is always very limited, and they need to use the power of the Mongolian world to integrate and rule the Han people in the Guannei. The Mongolian grassland has grassland rules, and its cultural customs are quite different from those in the interior. Once a strong challenger appears, Then things will become very troublesome.

In history, the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong persevered in the conquest of Junggar and Mongolia, and finally completely conquered and defeated the grassland empire that had competed with the Manchu Qing for hundreds of years. The undisputed sweat of the Ministry.Otherwise, do you think that even in 1691 when the Mongolian princes met in Doron Nuoer, they would not rebel again?How can they talk so easily!Everything still depends on strength.

Therefore, at this time, the Beijing imperial court sent more troops to the northwest border, and at the same time sent many teams of envoys to the grassland to communicate with various ministries. Prestige, reduce the influence of Galdan, the hungry wolf, and keep things within his controllable range.

And in this way, it is naturally impossible for the Beijing imperial court to maintain the same level of attention to the south as before, and the pressure on Dashun Kingdom, the main separatist regime in the south, will inevitably be reduced a lot, especially when the surrounding areas of Gansu All the more so when the situation suddenly became tense.

Therefore, when the Manchu Qing emperor sent envoys to Hubei to reach a ceasefire agreement with Li Laiheng's special envoy—even if it was temporary—everything was doomed: this paper agreement determined the future of the Chinese mainland, the Mongolian grasslands, and even Central Asia. It may also affect the various layouts of the East Coast people on the mainland.But this is all a matter for the future. Naturally, someone later will deal with it. No one can formulate a strategy that will never need to be revised, even if he has insight into the historical trend.

"Those Mongolian cavalry were wiped out?" A familiar junior officer came out and asked.

"What Mongols? It's just going back. If I meet the fine cavalry under the golden tent of Galdan, will I still be able to come back? Moreover, this time the matter may not be over yet. I heard that Junggar sent many people to enter Qinghai, Xining City may be a bit troublesome. The imperial court’s control in Qinghai is not very stable. So far, only a few strongholds have been established, surrounded by hostile Mongols, Huihui or Tibetans. It is really dangerous Ah." The cavalry officer took a jug of wine, drank most of it with a straight neck, and then said with the strength of the wine.

"The scourge of Junggar is really getting bigger and bigger. The Yaerqiang Kingdom was destroyed, and the Oirat Mongolia was unified. In the future, it won't be a disaster to our hometown in Shaanxi, right?" the little officer asked worriedly, full of anger. Fengshuang's face was full of worry.He wasn't afraid. In fact, they, the swordsmen from northern Shaanxi, had been going through life and death for a long time, so they took these things lightly, but they still worried that the elders in their hometown would be harassed or even slaughtered by the Junggar Khanate's iron cavalry.

"Probably not. The imperial court also has soldiers and horses in the northern Shaanxi area, and there are many muskets. It may be disadvantageous in field battles. The defense of the city will not be defeated by the enemy." After thinking for a while, the cavalry officer said: "Besides, let's In Qin, even children can fight with spears. When it comes time to fight to the death, it is still unclear who will win the battle. The only thing to worry about is confronting Junggar. The situation in the south may be turned upside down. "

It can be seen that the cavalry officers are quite confident in the defense of their hometown, and at the same time, they are also a little worried about the Dashun regime in the south, worried that they will take the opportunity to go north to make troubles and make them suffer from the enemy.Although they are not very afraid of it, it is always a troublesome thing and makes people uncomfortable.

Of course, this cavalry officer had also vaguely heard of the "overseas visitors" yellow-clothed thieves in Denglai and Ningshao, and he was a little surprised at the ability of these foreign forces who have fought against the court for so many years but have never been wiped out. Worried that when they are fighting with Junggar and Mongolia in full swing, they will attack outrageously and attack the important areas of Gyeonggi in western Shandong and even Hebei. The damage caused by that will be too great!

But these are things that the old men should consider. For those of them who serve as soldiers and eat food, it is enough to do the immediate things well.That is to say, we should think about how to preserve ourselves and our comrades as much as possible in the battle of the Junggar cavalry, and bring as many old brothers back to our hometown in Shaanxi as possible. , Khan Sultan, none of their business!

"In two days, another guest army from Hanzhong will arrive in the city, and Suzhou will be even stronger. I heard that the imperial court has ordered the construction of many fortresses along the lines of Suzhou, Ganzhou, Liangzhou, and Xining. Use fortification tactics to block the way of these Mongols' eastward advance. The shape of the stockade is quite interesting. I heard that it was learned from the remnants of those who broke into the camp in the south. It takes a few people to block the way, which really makes it difficult for the Junggar Mongolian cavalry to move." The cavalry officer continued.

Of course, he didn’t say that in order to build these bastions, the Qing government ordered the felling of large trees in the southern area of ​​Longnan, and at the same time searched for sites in various places in Shaanxi and Gansu to overhaul brick kilns to provide raw materials for these fortresses.In order to transport these materials more efficiently, the Qing court also planned to expropriate people's power in the Shaanxi-Gansu area to build a wooden-clad iron track from Fengxiang Mansion and Gongchang Mansion to Liangzhou in the northwest border—no Doubtful, this is another new thing I learned from the people on the east coast of Denglai, a transportation system that is much more efficient than the traditional horse-drawn carriage. Changes have enhanced their national strength.

There are actually many similar examples.For example, the people of the Qing Dynasty tried their best to collect books published and privately published by people on the east coast from Denglai or Ningshao, and compiled a lot of useful knowledge into books and applied them locally.In particular, some small knowledge and tips about agriculture and animal husbandry (all published in the textbooks of the Agricultural School) were the most concerned by the Manchu Qing court, and they also began to experiment in Huangzhuang. If they are really good, they will soon be extended to The whole country is also great.

For another example, the Manchu Qing court paid a heavy price to acquire new textile machines from foreign businessmen who came to trade, in order to increase the production of silk, satin and cotton cloth produced by the government-run weaving bureaus they opened.You must know that these weaving bureaus are the purse and lifeblood of the Manchu Qing court. The scale is quite large, and the technology has not improved in the past few years. It is actually a very interesting thing to say.

It is really hard to say what the Junggar and Mongols, which have risen rapidly in the Western Regions, will look like in the face of such a Qing Dynasty.The world has undergone great changes, as happened in the Junggar, and so in the Qing Dynasty. What will happen in the future, whether the Junggar Khan dominates the grasslands or the Bogd Khan sweeps all directions depends on the fate of each.And in this process, didn't there have been any subtle changes in the internal political, military and economic structure of the Qing Dynasty?

(End of this chapter)