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

Chapter 652 How come I don’t know?

The Battle of Guanshan wiped out almost all the main forces of the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop. From then on, the offensive and defensive positions of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty changed.

Based on these military achievements alone, the main generals such as Lu Xiangsheng and Huang Degong who participated in the entire battle could be promoted to titles.

This does not include the subsequent campaign to recover lost territory. If Sun Weifan can make more achievements, the title of Duke Huaiguo may be hereditary.

It’s a pity that Sun Weifan only had one son, Sun Dasheng, and Sun Dasheng also won many military merits in this battle and had a title himself.

There were two titles but only one heir, so Huang Degong often joked with Sun Weifan, asking him to have another child as soon as possible to avoid wasting the title.

Zhang Shikang took the initiative to propose a toast, and the main generals present naturally drank it all in one gulp.

Putting down his wine glass, Zhang Shikang ordered someone to bring a map of the area outside the Great Wall.

The map not only marks the specific locations of the existing cities of the Qing Dynasty, but also marks all the forces of Mongolia in the south of the Gobi Desert and some forces of Mongolia in the north of the Gobi Desert. It is even more detailed than the existing maps of the Ming Dynasty.

This is the result of more than 1,200 Jinyiwei cavalrymen running around on the prairie for more than a year, all for this day.

"Now that the Jianlu are severely weakened, not only will they no longer pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty, but the Mongols who previously submitted to the Jianlu have also suffered heavy losses.

In the past two years, the Jinyiwei has infiltrated many Mongolian tribes outside the Great Wall. From the information collected, many tribes were forced to submit to Huang Taiji only because of the military threat posed by the Jianlu in the past. Many more tribes have been in a state of obeying orders but not decrees, especially the Mongolians in the northern desert.

However, no matter what state they are in now, the advantage created by the Battle of Guanshan cannot be wasted.

Governor Lu, I want you to lead 100,000 Tiger Guards north to crush all the Mongolian tribes south of the desert. Those who obey will be spared, but those who resist will be slaughtered. I want Mongolia south of the desert to become the empire of the Ming Dynasty."

Finally, Zhang Shikang stated the first goal of this meeting - to end the threat posed by nomadic peoples to the Ming Dynasty.

The Jiannu army has been aggressive in recent years, using its own 60,000 Manchu Eight Banners and mobilizing 200,000 Mongolian tribal soldiers to launch a series of invasions, including the southern invasion of the Ming Dynasty and Korea.

During these decades, the Mongols were constantly being drafted and constantly dying on the battlefield.

However, in the past few years, Zhang Shikang fought several major battles with the Jianlu, and 80% of the enemies he killed were Mongols.

In the Battle of Guanshan, the elite Mongolian troops were completely annihilated, and this was the time when the Mongolian tribes south of the desert were at their most empty.

"I have received the order. Tomorrow morning, I will lead the troops north." Lu Xiangsheng hesitated for a moment and agreed happily.

During the decades when the Jiannu invaded the Ming Dynasty, the Mongols acted as accomplices, and the Celestial Empire's conquest of them was completely justified.

"Governor Lu, do you really understand what I mean?" Zhang Shikang asked with some doubt.

In the thousands of years before this, the Han Dynasty launched countless northern expeditions. Even if they won, they were just teaching the nomadic peoples a lesson. The country's territory was mostly still bounded by the Great Wall.

Including the five campaigns against Mongolia during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, which consumed a huge amount of food, fodder and military equipment, he eventually chose to retreat back to the interior and defend it.

To the extent that Zhang Shikang once believed that Chengzu looked down on the grassland where there was not even a tree, and the Confucian scholars' contempt for the barbarians and their land.

Just teaching the other party a lesson without expanding the territory is definitely a losing deal.

He thought this was very important and simply asked the question directly.

"Reporting to the Marshal, we will incorporate the Mongolians south of the desert into the territory of the Ming Dynasty and let them accept the etiquette and system of the Ming Dynasty, just like the many chieftains in the interior of the country."

Lu Xiangsheng was quick-witted and familiar with Zhang Shikang's temperament, so how could he not understand Zhang Shikang's true purpose?

He answered very straightforwardly, although deep down he didn't really care about the Mongolian land.

After all, apart from raising horses for the imperial court, the place is almost useless. A snowstorm during the long winter will cause heavy losses to livestock, and grazing requires mobility, which makes it very difficult for the Central Plains dynasty to manage and rule.

To put it bluntly, it's useless. If the Ming Dynasty wanted war horses, it could get them through trade. The Mongols needed almost everything produced by the Han people, but the Ming Dynasty only needed their horses.

However, Lu Xiangsheng knew clearly that Zhang Shikang longed for territory, so he did not raise any objections at this critical juncture.

He was thinking that perhaps a few years or even more than ten years later, Zhang Shikang would understand that the cost of ruling that area was too high, and the Marshal was still too young.

Zhang Shikang may not know what Lu Xiangsheng was thinking at the time, but if he knew, he would probably sneer at him. This is a dimensionality reduction attack from the perspective of future generations.

However, Zhang Shikang still changed the generals' views on the Mongolian grasslands with just a few words.

"That's what I mean. The Mongolian grasslands are important to the imperial court not just because of their war horses.

You all know that the Jinyiwei have made many infiltrations outside the Great Wall in the past two years, but what you don't know is that the Jinyiwei have also discovered gold, silver, copper, and iron mines on the Mongolian grasslands, and there are more than one of each."

His words were like a bolt from the blue, leaving all the generals present stunned.

What does the Ming Dynasty lack most now?

It's not about grain. With potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes, the Ministry of Households estimates that the food problem will be basically solved by next year.

What the Ming Dynasty lacked most was copper mines.

In order to cast copper cannons, the Ministry of Revenue even greatly reduced the production of copper coins, so that the shortage of copper coins among the people is now very serious.

As for why silver is not used as the main currency, the reason is simpler: it is unaffordable, and the reason for not being able to use it is because it is scarce.

Not to mention gold, which has been banned from circulation in all dynasties for the same reason. Even Emperor Chongzhen used gold-plated lead ingots to reward his meritorious officials.

Zhang Shikang said that there were gold mines, silver mines, iron mines and copper mines in the Mongolian grasslands, and there was more than one. This was tantamount to telling everyone that if they conquered that place, the Ming Dynasty would take off, and they would eventually be remembered by history.

All of a sudden, everyone present began to breathe heavily.

Only Jinyiwei commander Liu Wenbing was different. He was also a little confused, but from a different perspective.

He looked at the commander with a puzzled look, thinking:

'Sir, when did our people discover so many mines on the grassland?

How come I don't know?

……