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

Zhang Shikang made up his mind since he learned about the situation of the Xitumed tribe.

With the Guards and the Tiger Guards around, he really looked down on the tens of thousands of troops of the Xitumed Tribe.

As the Ming Dynasty had been fighting a defensive war against the northern threat for a long time, it certainly did not know the situation of the many tribes in the Mongolian region as well as Ombu, who was himself a Mongolian.

Since the Mongolians south of the desert have already surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, what else is there to say? Just rob them!

They robbed and ran away. If they dare not appreciate it, they will be hit by the artillery of Guihua City.

"I... I am willing to obey the Marshal's orders!" Omubu was a little surprised, but still accepted the task.

Yes, what is he afraid of?

Since he entered Xuanfu City and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, he was no longer a small tribal leader without a backer and needed to be cautious.

Behind him, there is a powerful empire.

“Hahahaha, maybe in a month, you will have to call yourself the king.

I will advise His Majesty and recommend you to succeed him as King of Shunyi.

When you go back, you must explain the current situation to your tribe. From now on, your tribe will do nothing but herd livestock and rob.

I don't care what method you use, if you can produce 10,000 qualified Mongolian war horses every year, the court will give you another reward. "Zhang Shikang said happily.

During this border patrol, he had thoroughly understood the actual situation of each military town. Although the Huben Army had 400,000 soldiers.

But after the disbanding of the garrison troops, not counting Qin Liangyu's and Mu Tianbo's troops, the entire northern military garrisons, including Guan Ningjin, had only 240,000 troops.

This number may seem like a lot, but you have to know that each military town is responsible for a section of the Great Wall that is more than a thousand miles long.

On average, a military town has only 10,000 soldiers, which is not enough when deployed on a defense line of more than a thousand miles.

What's more, the Tianxiong Army and Qin soldiers, as important combat forces, are independent of the border towns, which means that the border towns will have fewer troops.

But this was not the most helpless thing for Zhang Shikang. The most helpless thing was that among the 240,000 soldiers, there were less than 26,000 cavalry.

Even so, Zhang Shikang has not yet carefully calculated how many war horses among the 26,000 cavalry should be retired and are barely holding on.

The situation is certainly much better than it was two or three years ago, but many aspects cannot be achieved overnight.

The problem now is that the imperial court is short of food, so it cannot immediately recruit soldiers on a large scale. Zhang Shikang only hopes that there will be a good harvest this year, and that there will be no problems with the Zheng family's food support.

It is also necessary to ensure that the plague can be controlled and does not spread to the canal digging campaign that has already begun. Canal digging is to solve the long-term drought in the north and is the largest part of the court's fiscal expenditure this year.

But the problem of war horses was more difficult, which required more time and energy, so Zhang Shikang simply handed it over to Ombu.

King of Shunyi was originally a title conferred by Altan Khan. Now that the Tumed was divided into two branches, east and west, it was actually unfair to give the title to Ombu of the Western Tumed.

After all, the entire Western Tumed tribe has only 50,000 to 60,000 people, while the Eastern Butumed, due to its dependence on the Qing Dynasty, has 80,000 to 90,000 people.

But Zhang Shikang didn't care about this. Those who surrendered didn't count.

There was another reason why he treated Omubu so well, and that was to show it to other tribes in southern Mongolia.

If you follow Huang Taiji, you will only be cannon fodder.

If you follow the Ming Dynasty, not only will you have enough money and food, be crowned a king and appointed as a prime minister, and live a comfortable life, you can also do what your ancestors did best - robbing.

If you follow Huang Taiji, you will only be robbed.

"Ombu obeys the order!" Ombu's face lit up and he accepted the order happily.

Even though he was about to become a prince of the Ming Dynasty, Omubu was still very respectful in front of Zhang Shikang.

He understood that all this was given by the young marshal in front of him. If the other party could give, he could take it back.

“You can discuss the specific immigration matters with Governor Lu. During the looting process, if the other party is too powerful, you should not take risks.

Choose the weak ones first to rob. This is your Golden Family’s specialty. You don’t need me to teach you.

If you encounter a tough opponent, you can first ask for help from Governor Lu, or send the Tiger Guards to assist, but you can't rely on the Tiger Guards for everything, do you understand?" Zhang Shikang reminded again.

"Xiao Wang understands."

"Well, that's it. Since you're here, Commander Lu, let's set up a banquet and entertain you before you leave." Zhang Shikang said to Lu Xiangsheng.

After traveling back and forth along the Great Wall for more than half a month, he was actually hungry.

Lu Xiangsheng naturally had no objection. Half an hour later, a table full of wine and food filled the table in the living room.

Zhang Shikang sat at the same table with Omubu and his two sons. While eating and chatting, he got a general understanding of the situation of the East and West Tumed and other Mongolian tribes south of the desert.

The leader of the Eastern Tumed tribe, Borjigin Gantu, was Ombu's uncle and had now been incorporated into the Eight Banners of Mongolia by Huang Taiji.

Omubu had a grudge against his uncle, and ever since Gantu was incorporated into the Eight Banners of Mongolia by Huang Taiji, he had coveted his tribe even more.

This is also the reason why Omubu did not intend to submit to Huang Taiji. He believed that even if he submitted to the Qing Dynasty, his uncle would not give up the idea of annexing his tribe.

After Zhang Shikang had eaten his fill, he started gossiping again.

"King Shunyi, I heard that after the death of the Great Khan of your Mongolian tribe, the successor not only inherits the Khanship, but also the widow of the deceased Great Khan. Is this true?"

Zhang Shikang asked with interest.

He remembered that Wang Zhaojun married Huhanye Chanyu, and after Huhanye Chanyu died, Wang Zhaojun married Huhanye Chanyu's son.

"That's true, Marshal, but the successor's biological mother is not among them," Ombu said truthfully.

After all, Omubu was already over 40 years old, so he could see the hidden meaning in Zhang Shikang's smile. He then explained:

"The Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, and perhaps it considers this to be immoral.

But we Mongolians live in a cold and bitter land, where survival is difficult and full of conflicts.

In addition, if a Mongolian warrior can bring back the body of a fallen warrior when he goes out to fight, he can get the wife of the fallen warrior.

Producing more offspring is a major tribal matter. This has nothing to do with morality, but is the tradition of my nomadic tribe."

Zhang Shikang was indeed very surprised when he heard this. Isn't this the real-life version of, after you die, I will support your wife?

Cao Mengde was not born on the grassland, otherwise he would have been overjoyed.

However, Zhang Shikang respected the customs of all ethnic groups and was just gossiping.

Who would have thought that Omubu would become addicted to talking about Mongolian traditions. Seeing that Zhang Shikang was interested, he continued.

"Marshal, my Mongolian tribe actually has a tradition.

If the tribe is very grateful to a warrior, or if the warrior saves the tribe's life.

They would give their daughter to this benefactor to show their respect."

When Omubu said this, his expression was a little unnatural, but Zhang Shikang was so surprised that he didn't notice it.

He stared at the Mongolian uncle in front of him with wide eyes.

What? To express gratitude, you Mongolians, do you want to turn your benefactor into a son?

I have little education, so don't lie to me.

"General, Xiao Wang has a little daughter named Qiqige, who just turned eighteen this year..."

……