Chapter 784: Sweep the grassland and build the Guihua City
When the leaders of the three guards and the fourth saw that the cavalry they had arranged to return to their hometowns appeared in the camp one after another, they knew that it was completely over.
They couldn't figure out why King Yan did this.
You must know that almost most places on the grassland cannot be farmed. If the Ming Dynasty wanted to rule the grassland, it would have to continue to transport food from the interior.
Who can bear such a burden?
Even if the Duoyan Three Guards surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty would only let them manage themselves and would not give them military pay or food. Naturally, they would not rule them.
In the past, the Central Plains dynasties raided the grasslands to balance the power of the grasslands. This was also a common practice. The behavior of King Zhu Di of Yan obviously violated this practice.
"Don't worry, it's not just the people you arranged to leave, but also the clan members from your respective hometowns. I will also send people to bring them back so that your family can be reunited, isn't it? A family must be neat and tidy.
"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said.
This great victory made him feel extremely comfortable. In the 24th year of Hongwu, Zhu Di surrendered the Mongolian Naierbuhua and captured the Northern Yuan general Thorin Timur alive. This was the most proud thing in his life.
Now, one more thing has to be added, to pacify the three guards of Duoyan.
I have to have fun.
In the 20th year of Hongwu's reign, the Duke of Ying, Fu Youde, the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, the Duke of Song, Feng Sheng, and the three Dukes of the Ming Dynasty also led an army of 200,000 to force the three guards of Duoyan to surrender, which was how they surrendered at that time.
Now Zhu Di has completely pacified the three guards of Duoyan just by himself. Based on this calculation, his achievements can be compared with those of the three princes.
After gathering the stragglers of Duoyan Sanwei, Zhu Di was not in a hurry to go to war immediately. Instead, he asked his two sons and Zhang Yuzhu Neng to capture all the clan members of Duoyan Sanwei's hometown.
The biggest gain this time was the acquisition of nearly 100,000 war horses, which meant that the number of war horses in the Ming Dynasty suddenly soared. No matter how you calculate it, this alone is Zhu Di's greatest achievement.
However, unlike the prairie cavalry, it was naturally impossible for Ming army soldiers to mount a horse and become cavalry.
Riding training is very difficult, and each cavalry requires a long period of training, which can range from several months to half a year.
The requirements for cavalry are not just to be able to ride a horse, but also to be able to bend a bow, shoot an arrow, load a musket, and fight against the enemy while riding a horse.
The ability of prairie people to sleep on horseback cannot be trained in just a few years.
However, there are also ready-made cavalry candidates here in the Ming Dynasty, but they have not received ideological education and cannot serve as members of the Ming Dynasty army for the time being.
These captured young men had to undergo ideological education at the military academy, and only after passing the qualifications could they be incorporated into the Ming army.
Among them, a series of educations such as etiquette, justice, integrity, and shame must be instilled. The reason why the prairie people are called barbarians is that many of their customs are very primitive. For example, if the father's wife or concubine dies, the son can inherit it, but of course this does not include his biological mother.
It is difficult for Central Plains people to imagine such a thing.
For example, if his father's concubine gives birth to a son, and the eldest son who inherits the concubine has a son with the concubine, the relationship is completely chaotic.
At this time, the ancient mythology system that Zhu Ying once asked Yao Guangxiao to work on played a great role.
The first thing all captured non-Ming people came into contact with was the prehistoric mythology system, destroying their original beliefs.
The grassland's beliefs are mainly based on the wolf totem and the Immortal Sky. Such beliefs are actually very thin and simple. Compared with the huge prehistoric mythology system, they are not at the same level.
Even in today's era, the prehistoric mythology system can be said to be the most complete in structure, especially the concept that Buddha is originally Tao, and it can easily integrate Buddhist culture.
At present, Buddhist culture has spread widely in the world, because its ideas of ignorant people and the concept of suffering in this life and blessings in the next are more suitable for the interests of the ruling class.
"This little brat really doesn't give me peace of mind. He is too murderous."
Although Zhu Gaoxu left, it was naturally impossible to hide what he did from Zhu Di.
Killing people wantonly for selfish gain is a taboo in the military.
However, Zhu Di just cursed and didn't take it seriously. He knew the character of the second child very well. He was a reckless man, greedy and ambitious.
But he is really good at leading troops in battle.
The news that Zhu Di had conquered the three guards of Duoyan quickly reached Arutai.
After all, there was a huge movement this time, with more than 200,000 people, so it is normal for tens of thousands to escape.
There were many marriages between the Asut tribe in Arutai and the Duoyan Three Guards. After these people escaped, they naturally came to Arutai.
"What do the Ming army want to do? They want to kidnap all the people. Are they crazy?"
Arutai felt bad after hearing the news.
This is drawing money from the bottom of the cauldron.
Without the foundation of the common people, what future would there be for the tribe? For now, the entire Duoyan Sanwei can be considered useless.
Arutai did not dare to be careless and immediately sent people to investigate the movements of King Zhu Di of Yan.
King Zhu Di of Yan, after basically conquering all the people of the three guards of Duoyan, dispatched an army of 50,000 people and sent these people to Zhu Yuanzhang's central army camp.
Most of these more than 200,000 people will be punished with hard labor as criminals, and the young adults aged 14 to 30 will be sent to detention centers at grassland military bases for reform.
After the transformation, if they can perform meritorious service on the battlefield, their family members can obtain Ming household registration and move to the border of Ming Dynasty, or live in a new city.
Before the Northern Expedition, these strategies, arrangements, and processes had been determined, and there was a complete set of detailed plans to educate the grassland people.
News of Zhu Di's victory quickly reached Zhu Yuanzhang.
"The fourth child does have some brains, and he is quite good at fighting."
Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy after receiving the news. There were only so many powerful tribes in the grasslands now, and among all the tribes, the Duoyan Three Guards were ranked at the forefront.
As far as Mongu and Mobei Plateau are concerned, Tatar, Asut, and Duoyan are the strongest.
Now one of the three is eliminated, which is equivalent to a great victory for the Ming army.
It will be much easier to deal with the remaining two.
If Zhu Di were to defeat Arutai again, it would mean that Mobei would fall into the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, the traces of the Tatar tribe have been found. They fled east of Bell Lake along the Onan River." Feng Shenghui reported.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What's going on over there with the second child? The fourth child has already surrendered to the three guards of Duoyan, why hasn't he moved yet?"
Feng Sheng replied: "Your Majesty, the King of Qin did not pursue the Tatar tribe, but directly led the army to Lake Bell. Perhaps the King of Qin wanted to cut off the Tatar tribe."
Where Lake Bell is located is the Hulunbuir Prairie, the birthplace of the Mongolian people.
The King of Qin, Zhu Ping, obviously understood that the Tatar tribe was too capable of running away. If they followed behind, they would definitely suffer a big loss. With strong logistical support, he simply went straight to Huanglong and marched into the Hulunbuir Prairie.
As long as they occupy the Hulunbuir Prairie, the Tatars will have no choice but to fight against the Ming Dynasty.
"Forget it, let them do it. Have you chosen the location for the city?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
The current location of the army is in a place called Hohhot in later generations.
Of course, there is no city here yet, and the earliest Guihua City built was more than a hundred years later.
"Your Majesty, you have already determined that the shadow of Daqing Mountain and the bank of the Yellow River is the most suitable place to break ground and build a city." Feng Sheng replied respectfully.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Then let's settle it like this."
After thinking for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict.
"I ordered Lan Yu and Fu Youde to lead 50,000 troops each to conquer the grassland tribes. All the people they saw were captured and used as laborers to build the city."
"According to the decree."
After determining the bridgehead, Zhu Yuanzhang's purge began.
At this time, the railway tracks have basically been built and can transport a large amount of materials. There is no need to worry about logistical support. Naturally, it can raid various parts of the grassland on a larger scale.
Now is the most beautiful moment in the entire grassland, the season when the grassland is blooming. From March 3rd to the present, it is already nearly June, and it has taken nearly three months.
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will follow the guide and occupy all the best pastures on the grassland, forcing all the grassland tribes to fight with the Ming army.
If they just avoid it, the impact on the tribe will be huge.
In the summer on the grassland, all tribes have to graze cattle and sheep. Only at this time can the cattle and sheep grow better. If they continue to migrate, the losses to the entire tribe will be extremely huge.
The current attitude of the Ming Dynasty is obviously to build a city on the grassland, which means that they may escape from summer to winter.
But now the combat power of the grassland people is completely disproportionate to that of the Ming army.
Almost all the Ming army was equipped with matchlocks, and they were not afraid of the attacks of the grassland people at all. The Ming army used a coordinated method of cavalry and infantry. About 10,000 infantrymen would be equipped with 1,000 cavalry.
Among the ten thousand infantry, in addition to the provisions and matchlocks they carry, there will also be twenty artillery pieces.
With a powerful firearms lineup, even tens of thousands of prairie cavalry would not be able to successfully attack the camp.
They would carry several months' worth of dry food, and even if their steps were slower, they could move forward steadily and force the grassland tribes' strongholds.
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also established a special grain transportation team to replenish grain and grass.
In this way, a blockade like the Great Wall was formed, creating an impact on the grassland tribes.
History is always strikingly similar. Zhu Yuanzhang also named the newly built city Guihua City, which means surrendering to Wanghua.
When the Guihua City was first established, you could see that a large number of captives were being brought over for labor every day.
They are all tribes in the grassland.
Not all grassland tribes can escape like the Tatars, Walas, and Arutais, because each tribe raises its own cattle and sheep. This is their food and cannot be abandoned. The speed of movement is naturally limited.
Can't get up quickly.
The Ming army directly captured such tribes as criminals, and their cattle and sheep were naturally confiscated.
The only better thing is that while they work, they can also eat food every day.
In fact, for most herdsmen at the bottom, life is better than before.
You must know that the grassland aristocrats exploited the people at the bottom more thoroughly than in the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the grassland aristocrats, the people at the bottom are completely their own private property. Everything they own belongs to them and cannot be called human beings.
When we arrived in the Ming Dynasty, even if we were criminals, we were still considered human beings.
The current labor management system in the Ming Dynasty is relatively complete. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the grassland here seems to be much stricter, but there is still no problem in giving them a bite to eat.
These laboring criminals could eat two meals a day, mainly rice mixed with sweet potatoes.
Rice mixed with sweet potatoes will make you feel fuller more easily.
After a day or two, you can still see some fishy smell.
It is usually a thick soup made from the offal of slaughtered cattle and sheep.
High-intensity work can easily kill people if they don't supplement with some nutrition.
Except for those grassland nobles, most of the herdsmen were very honest and did not cause any trouble at all.
As for all the prairie nobles, the first step is to deprive them of their noble status, and they are also demoted to criminals.
Even captured young men who are capable of riding horses and archery must work for a month before being sent to the grassland military base for transformation depending on the situation.
The reason for this is because there are too many prisoners in Ming Dynasty.
Among them, the one who came from King Yan was the big one, and the other bits and pieces together should not be underestimated.
At present, the total number of people is approaching 400,000.
This burden on Ming Dynasty’s food supply also began to increase.
Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty's grain reserves have always been sufficient. From the very beginning of maritime trade, that is, when the sea ban was lifted, Zhu Ying began to consciously guide the import of grain, especially in Nanyang.
Promoting the birth of Nanyang manor owners is one of the methods.
The maritime trade caravans composed of the Jiangnan families of the Ming Dynasty had to pay a certain amount of grain every year before they could be allowed to continue to have sailing qualifications in the second year.
Zhu Yingke didn't care what method they used or where they got the grain. If they couldn't get the grain, they would face huge fines and be deprived of their maritime trade qualifications.
Of course, businessmen want to maximize their profits, but facing the conditions of the court, they can only try their best to achieve it.
Therefore, raising serfs has become a very popular thing in Southeast Asia.
Especially Kunlun slave is the most popular.
Because the Ming Dynasty prohibited the importation of slaves into Kunlun, once they were discovered, they would be subject to hard labor, and those who were officials would be demoted to common people.
Kunlun Nu is pitch black and difficult to hide, so few dare to take risks.
Basically they are raised overseas.
Kunlun slaves are very strong, and with a little training, they are good serfs. Nowadays, the manor owners in Nanyang have a large number of Kunlun slaves working under them, constantly cultivating food for the Ming Dynasty.
With these years of reserves, let alone if the Ming army stayed on the grassland for a year, even if it stayed for three to five years, there would be no possibility of shortage of food.