"Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, and the city is about to be destroyed, and the light of armor opens towards the golden scales of the sun——"
Standing on a high platform, Yu Chenglong lifted up the Thousand Miles Realm. In his eyes, a small stone castle stood erect.
This is a mountainside, surrounded by mountains, forests and rivers. There is only a winding path leading to the fortress, and around the stone fortress, there are some rice fields.
It's a pity that with the advent of war, the rice fields have been leveled and become the location of military camps.
Yu Chenglong didn't want to flatten the rice fields unless he had to, but he had to do so if he wanted to conquer this stone fortress.
On the top of the city, some men, women and children were wearing gray and black short clothes, holding wooden poles or stone knives in their hands. They all had yellow faces and thin muscles, but the stubbornness in their eyes could be felt even if they were hundreds of steps away.
indomitable.
Yu Chenglong sighed.
This is the twentieth day of his campaign to quell civil unrest.
That is, the Qingyuan Prefecture and Yongding Chieftains rebelled.
The entire Guangxi is divided into two parts because of the Dadeng Gorge.
The area to the west of Dadeng Gorge is mostly populated by Yao and children, and there are more chieftains, while the prefectures such as Wuzhou, Xunzhou, and Pingle to the east are completely organized into households.
In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Dadeng Gorge Rebellion was conquered three times by Yingzong, Xianzong, and Shizong. In particular, Wang Shouren, an important minister during the Jiajing period, died of illness on his way home to appease the people.
Not long after Yu Chenglong arrived in Wuzhou, a rebellion broke out. He could only mobilize Guangxi and nearly 5,000 Guangdong troops to suppress it.
Appeasement, that will happen after the peace is settled.
However, there are many high mountains in Guangxi. Attacking one cave after another, coupled with the unrelenting resistance of the Yao people, made the officers and soldiers extremely tired.
The key to fighting a war is morale. Food, disease, and natural disasters will all affect morale.
For the Ming army, disease and rugged terrain were the most debilitating factors.
The indomitable morale has almost dissipated as time goes by.
Unless additional rewards are given to Jackie Chan, it will only be a failure.
The Guangxi general soldier on the side hesitated to speak.
Yu Chenglong pretended not to see it.
After several more days of this, morale became increasingly low and the soldiers were weak.
Until then, a piece of good news came: the red artillery had arrived.
The cannon that was urgently shipped from Guangzhou arrived at noon.
Yu Chenglong was overjoyed: "Blow the hell out of me."
Obviously, the many days of tossing was not only difficult for the soldiers, but also for him, the governor.
"Don't worry, with the artillery here, these Yao thieves can't escape."
The commander-in-chief of Guangxi was overjoyed.
The specific combat command is naturally the responsibility of the commander-in-chief. What Yu Chenglong can do is to stabilize the morale of the military and support the army with money, food and materials.
This is also his responsibility as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.
Just like today's red-coated artillery, if it were the general soldier of Guangxi, he would be exhausted and unable to coordinate, but for the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, it is just a matter of words.
"Boom——"
With loud noises, Shibao's coat was continuously taken off, revealing his true appearance.
In the end, the huge stone castle collapsed, and the remaining Yao people had no choice but to flee deep into the mountains and forests to another castle.
In this regard, Yu Chenglong could only sigh.
However, with the addition of artillery, adding more castles will only take more time.
The captured Yao people raised their heads stubbornly: "Our land is constantly being annexed by you. Whether we buy salt or cloth, the prices are increased by profiteers..."
"For the gold mine, for the land..."
"Wait a minute -" Yu Chenglong listened to his howl and his heart became iron-clad. Officials must be iron-hearted.
But when it came to the word 'gold mine', he instantly became more vigilant.
"Press him up."
Yu Chenglong said in a deep voice.
Soon, he roughly understood the reason.
The Yao people said that the Han people were seizing the mines and that they were bullying them too much.
But the officials said that the Yao people looted and massacred people wantonly and were lawless.
"There must be something fishy about this."
Yu Chenglong frowned and said nothing, pacing and thinking.
Obviously, on the surface this is a rebellion, but in fact it is a struggle of interests.
It could be land, but more likely it could be gold mines.
In Guangxi, no gold mines have ever been reported.
What a great article!
However, as a traditional bureaucrat, he hates rebellion the most. Even if the government forces the people to rebel, let alone the Yao people.
Everything must be done to convince the Yao people and make them compromise.
The power of artillery made the mountain forts on which the Yao people relied for survival vulnerable. After destroying three stone forts, the chieftain of the Yao people had to give in and signed an alliance under the city.
The chieftain was abolished, and the chieftain was still a hereditary official, but he did not govern the people and retained his worth and property.
Yongding Chieftain was renamed Yongding County, with 1,321 households registered. In addition, there were hundreds of households with captive rebels and resettlement issues.
In the end, Yu Chenglong figured out the reason.
A group of businessmen discovered a gold mine in the mountains and forests, and the chieftain confiscated it. The businessmen were opposed to it, and then they openly provoked it, triggering a so-called rebellion.
And just for this gold mine that did not belong to the imperial court, he, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, spent more than 300,000 yuan to put down the rebellion.
This Niao Gold Mine will take at least ten years of mining to recover its investment.
The governor reaped the credit, the officials reaped the political achievements, and the businessmen reaped the gold mines. On the surface, they all gained great profits, but the most innocent ones were the ordinary people.
"The people are suffering."
Yu Chenglong sighed, he could only report to the imperial court and provide tax-free care for the newly established Yongding County for three years.
While he was busy, officials from the Qin State hurried to Wuzhou to request hundreds of Yao people.
Obviously, Guangxi is close to the Qin State, and news of the rebellion spread quickly. The Qin State has been preparing for a long time, just for the sake of population.
The abandoned Yao people in Guangxi are no less than a tonic pill to Qin.
In a foreign country, these unruly Yao people will be the King of Qin's right-hand man, just like the soldiers who stayed in Qin's capital camp back then.
Nothing is impossible for Jackie Chan.
In Hanoi, the Qin State, the hope and enthusiasm for the Yao people were extinguished with the arrival of the Ming Dynasty communiqué.
Of the dozens of people who went to Beijing to become Jinshi, not one of them made it to the list.
The whole country of Qin was wailing.
You know, the vassal states compete for the share of poor provinces. Is it possible that the Qin State cannot compare with Suiyuan and Chahar?
The King of Qin couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that the literary style of our Qin country is not good."
…
For grasslands, April and May are the first months of green grass, cattle and sheep have entered the breeding season, and herdsmen are very busy.
But if there was a white disaster last year and many livestock were killed or injured, in order to restore their vitality, the major tribes on the grassland began to continuously conquer, thus starting the big fish eating small fish pattern.
However, for the Mobei Governor's Palace and the original Tuxie Tuhan tribe, the past few years can be said to be the longest period of peace.
"Abba, I'm going to the city."
After milking the goat, Aduqin fed him some more fodder, then he took two bundles of things and mounted the horse.
"Go for it!"
The parents of the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy are very satisfied. He is already a qualified herdsman on the grassland and is an adult.
The horse's back was slightly heavy, and the horse could not help but snort and scratch the ground to express dissatisfaction.
In this regard, Aduqin could only calm down his anger by constantly comforting him.
Immediately, one man and one horse were running on the vast grassland, with white clouds above their heads, wandering towards the city of Kulun.
Cullen, a city built by Yin, is the only city within a thousand miles and is an important trade center.
On the horse's back, there are beef tendons, cowhide, horns, etc., which can be said to be very complete, weighing dozens of kilograms.
When he arrived in Kulun, the whole city was bustling with traffic, and a large number of herdsmen were driving their goods, which were exchanged for grain, salt, or cloth in the city.
Abdul Qin took the trouble to find the merchant and sold a bundle on horseback.
Various types of beef tendons and horns are not uncommon on the grasslands, but they are cheap enough for merchants.
Zeng Ying, the governor of Mobei, looked at the herdsmen coming in and out and couldn't help but said:
"In the past, in border areas, there was often no harvest in spring and summer, so herdsmen had no choice but to go south and invade the borders to plunder enough food."
"Now that the city of Kulun has been stabilized, the herdsmen have a trading point where they can exchange food at any time, which has greatly enhanced the herdsmen's ability to resist."
On the side, the Chief Envoy of Mobei snorted and did not reject Zeng Ying's words.
This passage is actually very correct.
Although the city is extremely expensive on the grassland, it has the advantage of settlement: the immobilization of the trade center.
For example, Kulun can radiate to herdsmen thousands of miles away. Everyone is accustomed to coming to Kulun to buy and sell things and is highly trusted.
At the same time, Kulun has the blessing of the Great Lama Jebtsundamba, so the herdsmen are naturally happy.
The combination of faith and needs has shaped Cullen's unparalleled charm.
"But we can't build a new city." The chief envoy lowered his voice: "It's not that you don't know, now is a critical period."
Zeng Ying naturally knew what it meant.
Nowadays, a large number of caravans are constantly carrying all kinds of baggage like ants moving, preparing for the force to march north to Fengjing Mansion.
It would be inappropriate to build a new city at this time.
In response to this, Zeng Ying smiled and said: "At this time, it is time to use the new city to offset its impact."
Then he whispered again: "Besides, a large number of troops and supplies must be consumed, otherwise something will happen easily."
"What could be more energy-consuming than building a city?"
Using the materials from the imperial court to work for the Mobei Governor's Mansion and covering up his traces was something Zeng Ying could not figure out.
The chief envoy finally had to agree.
The site of the new city was chosen near the upper reaches of the Tula River, sharing the same river water with Kulun City, and the distance was about three hundred miles.
Zeng Ying named it Luoying City, as the name suggests, it is a resting place.
This place is only about two thousand miles away from Fengjing Mansion in the Qing Dynasty.
Going north along the Tula River is the Orkhon River, and its water flows into the North Sea-Lake Baikal.
In Luoying City, the Mobei Governor's Mansion not only built granaries to store grain, but also built a shipyard and built some small grain transport ships.
From this, we can get a glimpse of the path of the Ming Dynasty heading north:
Follow the Tula River north to the Orkhon River, then directly arrive at Lake Baikal, and walk six to seven hundred miles northeast to where Fengjing City is located.
Tens of thousands of troops cannot live without food, let alone water, so this marching route is the safest.
…
In fact, Beijing already had a set of plans for grassland management in the post-Manchu and Qing Dynasties:
Build a city and radiate hundreds of miles of grassland.
Then use spider web-like roads to connect them to communicate with each other.
To put it bluntly, it is to use the city to assist the Qinghu and trade functions, so that the Mongolian tribes can gradually become accustomed to settling down, thereby stabilizing their rule.
Whether it is Mobei, Suiyuan, or Chahar, they always spare no effort in the construction of cities, and the results are very obvious.
Zhu Yixi did not trust the Qing Dynasty's measures to win over the middle and upper classes, and was concerned about the difficulty of managing the huge Mongolian plateau, so the enfeoffment system was justified.
Fragmentation of grasslands and settlement of herdsmen will be the future trend.
"Luoying City is pretty good."
The emperor immediately agreed to Zeng Ying's proposal and asked the Ministry of Revenue to provide money and grain to build the city.
With the arrival of summer, the entire palace moved to Yuquan Mountain like migratory birds.
The concubines in the harem were happy, but the oppressive palace was always uncomfortable.
At this time, Zhu Yixi thought of the Chahar Alliance again. Next year was the year of the Northern Expedition to Fengjing, and the attitude of these Mongolian nobles was also very important.
Therefore, while the concubines were at Yuquan Mountain, the emperor and his party went north to Chengde in Chahar, where they held another hunting alliance.
The Mongolian nobles in Suiyuan, Chahar, and Horqin were very knowledgeable and would basically arrive to accept the emperor's inspection.
And even this superficial project is too lazy to be a tribe, so naturally it will suffer a blow to promote the power of the Ming Emperor.
This hunting tour, with nearly a thousand people from the nobility and chiefs from Beihai County King down to Tabu Nang at the bottom, was extremely grand.
No one dared to look at the emperor.
Tens of thousands of cavalry are on its side, and the grassland is three thousand miles away.
Seeing the unruly Mongolian nobles prostrate themselves in front of them like domesticated wild dogs, extremely respectful, Zhu Yixi felt a sense of moral perfection for a moment.
But soon, he calmed down again.
This group of people cares about fighting but not eating. They must have a sense of presence in the market to make them obey.
"Horqin's left wing and right wing have nearly 30,000 accounts. The left wing has always been friendly to the Manchus. If the Northern Expedition is to be carried out, Horqin's tribe must be dealt with."
Having made up his mind, the emperor pretended to make a tour and asked, "Why don't you see Horqin's left wing troops?"
"Your Majesty, Horqin's left-wing nobles sent their sons here..."
"Everyone else came in person, but Horqin is special? He only sent his son here."
Zhu Yixi said angrily: "Does it mean that you don't take me as the emperor seriously because you have the support of the remaining Manchus behind you?"
The emperor was so angry that he bled thousands of miles.
Many nobles were lying on their knees, trembling continuously.
The representatives of the Horqin tribes were even more trembling and kept telling their reasons.
Zhu Yixi ignored them all: "Tell them that I won't see him for half a month. If he doesn't, you will bear the consequences."
For a moment, the whole Chengde was silent.
The right-wing pastoral area of Horqin was located in the Tongliao region of later generations, very close to Chifeng, only a few hundred miles away, and the news was conveyed immediately.
The entire Horqin tribe was shocked.
The right wing is approaching Chahar, so come quickly and stay neutral.
The left wing has been continuously marrying the Manchus over the years and is very close to Lake Baikal, so it is close to the Manchus and is not willing to follow the instructions of the Ming Emperor.
"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty trained the Chahar tribe into domestic dogs. Now he wants to do the same to me, Horqin?"