Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

The so-called Shunyi King tribe was actually the Tumed tribe. In the sixth year of the Longqing reign, Altan Khan of Mongolia reached a tribute agreement with the Ming Dynasty and was named Shunyi King by the Ming Dynasty, a hereditary title.

Altan Khan was originally the leader of the Tumed tribe, so from then on the descendants of the Tumed tribe were also called the Shunyi Kingdom by the Ming Dynasty.

"You came at the right time. I was just looking for them!" Zhang Shikang sighed.

"They were helpless. Almost all the Mongolian tribes in the south of the desert had already sided with Huang Taiji, and the Dong Tumed were incorporated into the Eight Banners of Mongolia by the Qing Dynasty.

Although the Western Tumed tribe nominally submitted to the Qing Dynasty, they were not trusted by Huang Taiji. They were worried that Huang Taiji would attack them, so they wanted to increase their chances of joining our court. "Lu Xiangsheng replied.

"I remember that the batch of war horses you sent to Xishan Camp two years ago seemed to be exchanged with the Western Tumed tribe, right?

Let me think about it, why are they not trusted by Huang Taiji?

Governor Lu, did you have any hand in this?" Zhang Shikang keenly noticed the blind spot and said with a wicked smile.

Secretly doing business with the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji's mortal enemy, and the items involved were such scarce strategic materials as war horses. One can imagine how serious the consequences would be once Huang Taiji knew the news.

Sure enough, when Zhang Shikang asked this question, Lu Xiangsheng did not deny it at all.

"Sure enough, I can't hide it from you, Marshal. I think that even if the Ming Dynasty doesn't have more financial resources to manage Mongolia for the time being, we must not become enemies with all the Mongolian tribes.

The Ming Dynasty is already short of war horses. If there is no channel, there will be almost no cavalry available in the border towns unless there are 50,000. "Lu Xiangsheng said worriedly.

Just look at Guan Ningjin and you will know that decades ago, when the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry was at its strongest, it was no match for the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

And now, there are only more than 4,000 Guanning cavalrymen left in the entire Guanningjin defense line. It's not that there are no people, but that there are no horses.

“Governor Lu is right, but that was in the past. Things are different now. From now on, we must devote enough energy to continue to participate in and even gradually control the entire Mongolia.

The Xitumed tribe is the starting point." Zhang Shikang said with a stern look.

The Qing Dynasty's control over the Mongolian tribes can be divided into three stages, starting from Nurhaci and ending in the Huang Taiji period, when it basically controlled the entire Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert and part of the Mongolia north of the Gobi Desert.

During the Shunzhi period, the rule over the entire northern Mongolia was basically completed. During the Kangxi period, in order to completely eliminate the threat of the Mongols, an offensive against the Dzungar tribe of western Mongolia was launched. This war lasted for several decades.

By the Qianlong period, the Khoshut Mongols and Torghut Mongols in the south, north, and west of the desert, as well as in Qinghai, had all submitted to Qing rule.

But now, Zhang Shikang has come, and history will finally be rewritten.

Lu Xiangsheng certainly knew how big Zhang Shikang's plan was, so before entering the meeting room, he truthfully informed him of the progress of the current communication with the Xitumed tribe.

Since Zhang Shikang had arrived, Lu Xiangsheng naturally took the initiative to hand over the initiative in contact with the Mongols.

There was a lot of noise in the conference room. The three Mongolians were talking in loud voices, in a language that Zhang Shikang couldn't understand. It seemed that they were having an argument.

"Second Taiji, this time we must get a clear guarantee from the Ming court. The situation is critical and we don't have time."

"Yes, the leader also wants the Second Taiji to find out what the Ming Dynasty is thinking. If it's just for trade, it will be a loss for us.

Alas, the leader made a wrong move! "

"Tobok, do you dare to criticize the leader?"

"I'm telling the truth. Huang Taiji is not a fool. Is it so easy to be a fence-sitter?"

"If you say that again I'll beat you up!"

"Who's afraid of whom?"

"Okay, okay, both of you be quiet for a while." The young man called Er Taiji waved his hand to stop the fight between the two.

"My father Khan has his reasons for doing this. If we submit to the Qing Dynasty, we will truly become its pawns.

Look at the people of Mao Ming'an tribe. In a battle two years ago, most of the young and strong people in the tribe died inside the Ming Dynasty.

Although we were in a dangerous situation, at least we saved the lives of our people."

The two people who were arguing thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth. They stopped arguing and one of them said:

“However, in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty court seems to be different.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, who were unable to wipe out the bandits within the Great Wall, were able to defeat the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. "

"You probably don't know this, but that's because a remarkable figure has emerged in the Ming Dynasty. I've made inquiries, and his name is Zhang Kang.

Did you know last year? This man killed all the officials of the Ming Dynasty in one go!

With such a person around, I think the Ming Dynasty has a good chance of reversing its downward trend. The leader did not completely bet on Huang Taiji, which is called wisdom.

"Oh, it would be great if there were such a person in our tribe."

"Oh, if you were really in our tribe, you would definitely be one of the people killed by him!"

"Mao Han! Do you really think I'm afraid of your mother? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will kill you!"

"If you two keep arguing, get out!" Er Taiji slammed the table angrily.

"It's not easy for us to come out here. We are here to discuss cooperation with the Ming Dynasty court, not to watch you two fight!"

"I obey your orders. He was the one who provoked me first."

"Humph."

"But Second Taiji, I feel that Lu Xiangsheng is not sincere and does not speak a single straightforward word.

It's been hidden for several days!"

“The officials of the Ming Dynasty are all the same, they are most active when it comes to buying horses from us.

When he bought our more than 6,000 war horses two years ago, he gave us whatever we wanted.

Now that we have no war horses, we are just being perfunctory."

Although the tribe has a large number of horses, there are strict standards for selecting them as war horses. Horses that are too short, too strong, have poor physical strength, or are under the age of 50 are not acceptable.

Half of the more than 6,000 war horses were looted from other surrounding tribes. Otherwise, their tribe alone would not be able to provide so many qualified war horses at once.

"Isn't it because the grade is not high enough?"

"Impossible. The Governor is an official second only to the Emperor in the Ming Dynasty."

"You're not right. I asked someone these days. That Zhang Kang is now the Marshal of the Army appointed by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The Governor is below the two of them."

"Is that what I mean? I mean that Lu Xiangsheng might not be favored by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Why give him military power if he is not welcomed?"

"Are you trying to pick a fight on purpose? These are two completely different matters!"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, the one called the Second Taiji frowned and was about to scold them, when Lu Xiangsheng and Zhang Shikang walked in.

"Wow, it's quite lively!" Zhang Shikang greeted the three Mongolians present with a smile.

"Let me introduce you, Marshal. He is the second son of the leader of the Tumed tribe in Guihua City. His name is Guru." Lu Xiangsheng pointed at the young man called the Second Taiji and said to Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang showed a strange expression when he heard this.

"Gulu?"

……

PS: Today I have made up a lot of knowledge about the Mongolian tribes in the late Ming Dynasty. I have to say that the territories and relationships of the Mongolian tribes were really messy. I will resume the frequent updates starting tomorrow.