Save the Bachelor of Heaven

Chapter 3458: 3460【Conquer the East and the West】

After Xiang Nan accepted the surrender of these tribes, he not only gained tens of thousands of new troops, but also captured countless cattle, sheep, and horses, which undoubtedly added to his strength. Beef and mutton alone solved a considerable part of the supply problem.

After Xiang Nan rested, he continued his campaign and went all the way north to attack the Mongolian Kingdom in Mobei.

 Mobei Mongolia is also called Khalkha Mongolia. During the Western Han Dynasty, General Wei Qing drove the Xiongnu to Mobei, and then Huo Qubing went deep into Mobei to Langjuxu Mountain;

General Dou Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty fought with Beidan Yu in Jiluo Mountain. Beidan Yu was defeated and fled. The Han army captured more than 200,000 Xiongnu people. Dou Xian climbed Yanran Mountain and Ban Gu wrote the "Inscription on Yanran Mountain". Wen, carved in stone to commemorate his merits and return them.

These deeds have been recorded in history books, so famous generals in the past dynasties all hope to seal the wolf as a subordinate, and take the stone Yan Ran as a supreme honor.

Emperor Yongle also made five expeditions to Mobei that year, defeating the Northern Yuan Dynasty and forcing them to flee. It's a pity that despite defeating the Mongolian army, the Ming Dynasty never established a stable and solid rule in Mongolia.

Hence, the Mongolian tribes surrendered and then rebelled, and rebelled and surrendered again, capriciously, and became a lingering border trouble for the Ming Dynasty.

  Comparatively, the Qing Dynasty’s rule over Mongolia lasted longer. From the late Jin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty's control over Mongolia had always been very stable.

 …

Xiang Nan's army attacked all the tribes in Mobei, conquered countless tribes along the way, and captured countless prisoners, cattle, sheep, horses, and treasures. They fought all the way to the shores of Lake Baikal and conquered all the surrounding tribes before ending.

 Subsequently, Xiang Nan's troops were divided into two groups, going all the way to the west to attack the Simon Kingdom, that is, the Duerbot tribe and the Jungar tribe; and all the way to the east, attacking the Eastern Mongolian Kingdom, that is, the Tatar tribes.

 For the territory that had been captured, Xiang Nan disrupted all the original tribes, divided all the Mongols into various prefectures, and sent officials to manage them. Officials regularly visit various places and are responsible for handling local government affairs and disputes.

As for the previous chiefs and kings of the various tribes, naturally they no longer exist. It's the same as the "reform the native land and return it to the local people" he implemented in Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, and Yunnan and Guangxi.

 The hereditary chiefs and khans were abolished and managed by officials sent by the imperial court. As a result, those chiefs and kings lost their power and identity, and it would be very difficult for them to rebel again.

In terms of military affairs, Xiang Nan registered the Mongolian men and incorporated them into their household registrations, and then recruited men to join the army. In this way, the Ming Dynasty's military equipment can be enriched, and the Mongolian military power can also be weakened.

And he also built a series of castles and passes on important transportation routes. The castle was used to garrison troops and suppress local rebel forces. The passes can restrict the flow of Mongolian people, so that they can never leave the Ming Dynasty's rule.

In addition, Xiang Nan also promoted Lamaism on the grasslands. The imperial court built monasteries specifically for lamas, and allowed lamas to be exempted from service and tax, and enjoy various privileges and high social status.

 These measures were all learned by Xiang Nan from the Qing Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty defeated the various tribes of the Mongolian state, it was divided into two to three hundred banners, large and small, and each banner was assigned Manchu officials to rule.

The various tribes in Mongolia were already quite divided, and they were further divided by the Qing Dynasty, and they became even more scattered. As a result, it will be difficult for all Mongolian flags to unite as one.

Moreover, even so, the Qing Dynasty has always been strictly guarding against Mongolia. Not only did it often mobilize troops from various parts of Mongolia to fight in various places, but it also stationed a large number of troops on the front lines of Chahar, Rehe, and Suiyuan, and also ordered troops outside the customs. General Shengjing and others monitored the various ministries of Mongolia.

 The most important thing is to promote religion on the grassland.

Because lamas enjoy various privileges, many poor people enter monasteries to enjoy the privileges and spend time in front of the Buddha. This directly leads to great damage to the livestock industry in Mongolia. Other herdsmen who have not entered the monastery, while their livestock industry has been damaged, they also need to support more and more lamas, and their lives are difficult.

 The overburdened life in turn forced more poor people to enter the monastery. Under such a vicious cycle, the nomadic people who once lived in pursuit of water and grass gradually lost their true nature. The influence of Buddhism accelerated the transformation of the originally martial Mongols into gentle and peaceful Buddhist disciples.

Qianlong proudly expressed in "Lama Shuo": "The reason why the Huang Sect has brought peace to the Mongolian people is not a small matter... Today's old and new Mongolian people are fearful of power and have virtue. How can we achieve peace in a few decades?"

 …

Xiang Nan’s troops were divided into two groups, one attacking Modong and the other attacking Moxi.

Xiang Nan also led a group of troops to attack Moxi. Because the Tatar tribes in Eastern Desert have long since declined, it is not difficult to defeat them. On the contrary, although Wala is divided into the Duerbot tribe and the Junggar tribe, it still has some wealth and is relatively difficult to defeat.

What's more, Xiang Nan doesn't just want to conquer the Mongolian Kingdom. He plans to use the intersection of the Western Region to Tibet to invade the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and completely take Qinghai-Tibet into his pocket.

 Qingzang is also known as Uszang Dusi. In the early years of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the local chieftain and the King of France submitted a letter of surrender to the Ming Dynasty, expressing his willingness to submit to the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did indeed establish the Usi Tibetan Capital Command and Envoy Department on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which included the Xuanwei Department 2, the Marshal's Office 1, the Recruiting Department 4, the Wanhu Office 13, and the Qianhu Office 4.

During the Yongle period, Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty also carried out large-scale enfeoffment according to the monk-official system, and enfeoffed eight Dharma kings in Qinghai and Tibet. As a result, the Ming Dynasty basically completed the enfeoffment of various political and religious forces in the snowy area, from top to bottom leaders at all levels.

 Despite this, Qinghai and Tibet still have an aloof relationship with the Central Plains, and they are not sincerely seeking refuge.

Just like the chieftains in Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, and Diangui, they nominally submitted to the Ming Dynasty, but behind closed doors, they were the local emperors. They did not pay taxes, do no corvee, and did not obey the king's laws...

 That's why Xiang Nan prepared to conquer Qinghai-Tibet, absorb its population and fields, and add another piece of territory to the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, another advantage of taking Qinghai-Tibet is that we can follow the trend and catch all Tianzhu, Gurkha, etc. in one fell swoop.

Of course this is just a plan.

 …

Xiang Nan led the army all the way to the west. His army numbered more than 50,000 people, of which 20,000 were composed of Mongolian prisoners.

Xiang Nan promised them that if they performed military exploits, they would be pardoned from their slave status, and they would be given cattle, sheep, and pastures, so the Mongols were allowed to fight bravely.

 In fact, the reason why Genghis Khan was able to mobilize so many Mongols to work for him was because he was willing to distribute the captured cattle, sheep, and treasures to his fellow tribesmen.

For this reason, he was once despised by the chiefs of other tribes, thinking that he was so stupid that he actually distributed the spoils of war to his tribe. You must know that the chiefs at that time liked to eat alone, and the tribesmen were basically like slaves to them.

 But because Genghis Khan was so generous, all his subordinates were brave and willing to sacrifice their lives for him.

Xiang Nan followed suit and was so generous, so those Meng people were willing to sacrifice their lives for him.