My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 469 We can emulate the story of Yelü Dashi!

Liu Bingqiang suppressed his racing heartbeat, sat upright on his horse, and tried his best to straighten his back, which was trembling slightly from the cold and fear.

He suddenly pulled out the bright yellow imperial edict, a symbol of his status, from his bosom.

This was an imperial edict read to Prince Su, but at this moment it was a perfect tool to intimidate people.

Liu Bing raised his hand high, using all his strength, and shouted in the most authoritative and unquestionable Chinese he could muster:
"Insolence! I am Liu Bing, an imperial envoy of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty! I am here on a mission by imperial decree! Where is your leader? Lead the way at once! You cannot bear the consequences of delaying important matters of the court!"

Liu Bing deliberately ignored the language barrier and spoke in perfect Ming Dynasty Mandarin, speaking with an imposing manner, as if the other party was obligated to understand and obey.

The leading Mongol centurion was intimidated by his imposing presence and the dazzling bright yellow of his uniform. Although he couldn't understand the specific language, they knew the weight of the words "Imperial Envoy" and "Emperor" through long-term border trade and conflicts.

Then look at the twenty Ming cavalrymen behind Liu Bing, who, though few in number, were elite and had resolute eyes.

The centurion hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his scimitar, signaled his men to put away their bows and arrows, and used broken Mongolian mixed with gestures to signal them to follow.

Liu Bing was "escorted" to the outside of the Wushen tribe leader's tent, where the atmosphere became even more tense.

Prayer flags and ribbons were hung around the large tent, and the sound of chanting could be heard throughout the camp.

Liu Bing was pushed into the main tent by the centurion.

The tent was filled with the smell of roasted mutton, leather, horse manure, and the strong body odor of the burly warriors.

The leader of the Wushen tribe, Nalibulai, was a burly man with a face full of scars and eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

He sat perched on the tiger skin, coldly scrutinizing the minor Ming official who dared to venture deep into the enemy's lair, while the surrounding tribal nobles and warriors also watched with predatory eyes.

To Liu Bing's surprise, the leader of the Wushen tribe, Nali, was also fluent in Chinese and could communicate directly with Liu Bing without the need for an interpreter.

Now Liu Bing could finally relax.

That Libulai said with hostility:
"Why should an official of the Ming court pay homage to me? Is it because you think your neck is too long?"

A burst of murderous laughter erupted inside the tent.

But Liu Bing remained completely calm.

The leader of the Wushen tribe, Nalibulai, even used Chinese in his provocative words, clearly indicating that he was more willing to negotiate than to go to war.

During the Battle of Soutao, the Wushen tribe was decimated by Qi Jiguang and fled north into the grasslands.

Although the former and latter Tao regions were more fertile and closer to the northern grasslands, the Wushen tribe did not dare to flee back to the former and latter Tao regions where Qi Jiguang's troops were stationed. Instead, they infiltrated the western Tao region, still fearing Qi Jiguang in their hearts.

Moreover, due to the influence of grassland trade in recent years, the power of the grasslands has been declining.

The entire tent was filled with the aroma of sugarcane wine.

Sugarcane wine has become an indispensable commodity for the grassland people. Every year, the Ming Dynasty can extract a fortune from the grasslands through the sugarcane wine trade.

Of course, although the Wushen tribe feared Qi Jiguang, how they would treat Liu Bing remained an unknown.

Liu Bing's heart pounded wildly, almost leaping out of his throat. His hands, hidden in the wide sleeves of his robe, trembled violently, his nails digging deep into his palms to barely steady himself.

He knew that the grasslands feared the strong, and that he had to show a more assertive attitude to intimidate them.

He took a sudden step forward, ignoring the chilling killing intent, and spoke to the weakling in an even louder, more furious voice:
"How dare you! I represent His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming! Chief of the Wushen tribe, have you forgotten that the Prince of Shunyi has already submitted to His Majesty and paid tribute? The Great Ming and the Mongols are no longer enemies! Your Wushen tribe is also under the command of the Prince of Shunyi, and should naturally obey the Prince's orders and be loyal to the Emperor!"

Liu Bing suddenly launched an attack, and the Wushen warriors in the tent immediately lost their momentum.

That guy, Li Bulai, was quite composed. He played with the small knife he used for cutting meat and said:

"An envoy from the Ming court? The Ming court sent envoys instead of troops, does that mean they want us to obediently withdraw from the Western Tuo region?"

"That's impossible! This time, our Wushen tribe will never retreat, even if it means death!"

The Wushen leader was filled with grief and indignation.

Back then, the Wushen tribe was also squeezed into the Hetao region by Anda Khan.

The Wushen tribe was a marginal tribe on the grassland. Unable to secure good pastures, they had to go to the Hetao region to find food.

When Anda was powerful, he would pretend to support the Wushen tribe and allow them to go to the Hetao region to contain the Ming Dynasty.

However, after Anda declined, the Wushen tribe was defeated by Qi Jiguang in the Hetao region, suffering heavy losses in its main force. After fleeing back to the grasslands, the Anda tribe became increasingly hostile.

They were assigned to the most barren pastures, and for two consecutive years they encountered snow disasters, resulting in the death or injury of most of their livestock.

What's even more hateful is that the Anda tribe monopolized trade with the Ming Dynasty and used commerce to bleed other tribes dry, even more ruthlessly than before!
Wushen wanted to sell cattle and sheep at low prices in exchange for supplies from the Ming Dynasty.

The Wushen tribe came to Xitao this time because they suffered too much loss last winter and came to Xitao to seek survival.

The Wushen tribe had no way out.

Liu Bing noticed this and immediately said:
"Chief, it is my mission to drive out the Wushen tribe."

Nalibulai asked coldly:
"What if we don't retreat? Will they send another large army? Does Lanzhou Garrison have any soldiers?"

That Libulai was indeed knowledgeable about the Ming Dynasty; he was clearly no ordinary tribal leader.

Liu Bing said:

"No, I'm here to show the leader the right path!"

After saying this, Liu Bing walked over and sat down in front of Li Bulao.

He picked up the small knife stuck in the meat, and the Wu Shen around him all drew their knives and stood up.

But Nali waved his hand, dismissing the surrounding warriors.

Liu Bing used a knife to carve a simple map of the Western Regions on the table.

“Chief, the Wushen tribe is not a direct descendant of Anda, and they have no place to survive on the grasslands.”

"Our Great Ming Dynasty is at its zenith. If we really want to wipe out the Wushen tribe, do you think we can survive in the Western Turkic region?"

That strength doesn't lie in silence.

There was no cover in the western part of the region; there was nowhere to hide.

Nali had witnessed the Ming army led by Qi Jiguang, which left him with a deep fear, and he knew that he could not defeat the Ming Dynasty.

"So, are we just supposed to wait to die?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bing was overjoyed. This leader of the Wushen tribe was indeed all bark and no bite; he was just a paper tiger.

Liu Bing shook his head and said:

"Chief, you are a nomadic people who follow the grass, why do you insist on staying in one place?"

"Since there is no place to live here, why not follow the example of Yelü Dashi and go to the Western Regions?"

Nali squinted his eyes.

Liu Bing knew that these nomadic peoples of the grasslands did not have written records of their history, so he patiently introduced Yelü Dashi's life story to them.

Yelü Dashi was the founder of the Western Liao Dynasty.

After the Jin army destroyed the Liao dynasty, Yelü Dashi led his army on a westward expedition, establishing a vast multi-ethnic dynasty in Central Asia.

This dynasty, known as the Western Liao, once controlled a vast territory in Central Asia. "The Huozhe and the Yarkand Khanate behind him occupied the territory of the ancient Dayuan Kingdom, a land rich in water and pasture with abundant rainfall. If we could seize this territory, it would definitely make the Wushen tribe great again!"

The Mongols had established a global empire, so Nalibulai naturally knew about the land of the Yarkand Khanate.

The core region of the Yarkand Khanate was later known as the Fergana Valley.

This valley floor is an intermontane basin between the Tian Shan and Gissar-Alai Mountains. It is a crossroads of Central Asia and the most fertile region in Central Asia!
This is a shining pearl of Central Asia.

The mountains on both sides of the valley blocked the wind and sand, and the melting snow from the mountains brought water.

In the ancient times when the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu were at war, the Dayuan Kingdom rose to prominence because of this valley and became one of the most powerful states in the Western Regions.

Besides farming, the Fergana Valley is also suitable for grazing. The Ferghana horse was a famous steed since the Han Dynasty, and Nalibulai had also heard about the horses produced in Yarkand on the grasslands.

This is indeed a treasure land, a better place than the northern frontier.

As Liu Bing said, there is no longer any place for tribes like the Wushen tribe to survive in the East.

East Asia is just too chaotic!

The East Asian Monster House has spawned countless nomadic tribes, and as Liu Bing said, many tribes that failed in the competition in East Asia transformed into monsters in Central Asia and established new empires.

Stepping outside the death arena of East Asia, the Fire Warriors, and the Yarkand Khanate behind them, don't seem to be that powerful.

This is not about blind self-confidence or a lack of ability.

Military technology has spillover effects.

The Ming Dynasty was progressing rapidly, and the surrounding Mongol tribes were also making progress.

They would also study the tactics of the Ming Dynasty and incorporate them into their own tactical system.

For example, Mongolian tribes today have also begun to use firearms.

Although they used some homemade or smuggled inferior firearms, they also developed a set of firearm cavalry tactics suitable for them.

For example, the Ming Dynasty's military command and organization system, and its fortification techniques, were also studied by the Mongols who fought against the Ming Dynasty.

Even a small amount of technological spillover can lead to tremendous progress.

Furthermore, the smelting technology of the Ming Dynasty spilled over, and many kitchen utensils and farm tools sent to the grasslands were considered powerful weapons in Central Asia.

Furthermore, agricultural technology, industrial technology, and political systems—even a small spillover from these can deliver a devastating blow to these small regimes in Central Asia.

This is also why Liu Bing wanted to borrow troops from the Wushen tribe.

It wasn't that the Ming Dynasty couldn't defeat the Fire People, but rather that the Fire People were too far from the Ming Dynasty's core area.

Lanzhou was a vital supply town in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, but it was more than 700 kilometers away from Jiayuguan.

Even with supplies from cities like Wuwei and Zhangye along the way, fighting in such a place would be extremely costly.

Besides, what good would it do to take it?

The territory occupied by the Firemen is the arid desert region of Turpan on the western frontier. Only scattered oases are available for agriculture and animal husbandry, and these resources are not even enough to feed the Ming army stationed there.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, the Silk Road could bring substantial profits, but now we live in the Age of Exploration. The Ming Dynasty had already opened its ports for trade, and land transportation was dangerous and expensive. Therefore, maintaining the Silk Road was more of a political matter than an economic one.

Liu Bing, being a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), naturally understood this point.

However, these problems are not problems for the Wushen tribe.

They were originally a nomadic people, so they didn't need supplies; they just fought their way through.

The Wushen tribe had already been squeezed into the western region, and they could still survive in Turpan. The Fergana Valley was like paradise to them.

Of course, Liu Bing didn't really want the Wushen tribe to establish another Western Liao in Central Asia. As long as the Wushen tribe could send troops to restrain the ambitious Huozhe, he would consider his goal achieved.

But then Li Bulai suddenly said:

"You Han people value a just cause for war. This time, I also need to persuade my people to send troops. Liu, what advice do you have?"

Liu Bing cursed inwardly, "You barbarians still want a legitimate reason to fight?"
Liu Bing thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered the chanting he had heard before entering the main tent. He tentatively asked:

"Great Khan, has your tribe embraced the Yellow Sect?"

Nali squinted his eyes, clearly pleased with Liu Bing's address of "Great Khan".

He nodded and said:
"When my unit was on the grassland, we followed Third Sister and became believers in the Yellow Sect."

really!

Liu Bing recalled that when he was in the capital, his colleagues in the Office of Transmission had said that after Altan Khan died, Huang Taiji and San Niangzi continued to submit to the Ming Dynasty. In order to stabilize the grasslands, they introduced the Yellow Sect (Yellow Sect) from the plateau region while maintaining trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Last year, a Gelugpa monk named Ah Xing Lama came to Ban Sheng City and requested an audience with Huang Taiji.

Upon meeting Huang Taiji, Lama Axing said, "Does the Khan know that Kublai Khan appointed Master Phagpa as the Imperial Preceptor? They established an unparalleled system of scriptures, teachings, and governance, and you, Khan, are the reincarnation of the present Kublai Khan!"

Phagpa was the national preceptor of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and Huang Taiji, who considered himself a descendant of the Golden Age, was naturally overjoyed upon hearing this.

But Lama Axing's words were not enough; he then presented witnesses:
"If the Khan does not believe, he can ask the reincarnation of Master Phagpa in this life, who is my nephew Sonam Gyatso!"

Sonam Gyatso was the abbot of Drepung Monastery at the time, and also the leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, chosen through the Golden Urn lottery.

The Mongol Yuan dynasty itself had a history of believing in the Yellow Sect. Huang Taiji, in order to establish his rule, hit it off with Lama Axing and began to promote the Yellow Sect on the grasslands.

It was under these circumstances that the Wushen tribe converted to Christianity.

The Yellow Sect (Yellow Sect) truly had many benefits for the rulers of the nomadic peoples of the grasslands.

Regardless of the specific branch of Buddhism, all teachings emphasize patience; a single faith can help herders endure the hardships of life on the grasslands.

If that's the case, then things are much easier!

Liu Bing said:

"Great Khan! The Fire People are persecuting Buddhism in the Western Regions, and now the area inside Jiayuguan is full of Buddhists who have been driven out. Since the Great Khan also believes in Buddhism, then you can use the name of protecting the Dharma to launch a war against the Fire People!"

After hearing this, Na Libulai stood up from behind the desk and laughed loudly, saying:
"Alright! Angel Liu has given me a legitimate reason to act, so what's there to hesitate about!"

"However, if my Wushen tribe sends troops, the Ming Dynasty must agree to three rules!"

"Speaking!"

"Firstly, the elderly and weak of our tribe need to stay in Xitao temporarily. The Ming Dynasty needs to accommodate them until we find a place to live!"

"This is natural!"

"Secondly, the Ming Dynasty must provide my troops with supplies to Jiayuguan, and I also need two hundred arquebuses, any old ones will do!"

"I need to discuss this with the prefect of Lanzhou."

"Thirdly, it was Liu Tianshi who made the decision, so you will have to go on the expedition with my troops!"

After much deliberation, Liu Bing gritted his teeth and said:
"I will obey the Khan's commands!"

(End of this chapter)