174 Change and Strength (4)

The sky is vast and wild, and the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep. Somewhere in the Hulunbuir grassland, Captain Wei Wendu was heading towards their yurt under the guidance of his master.

This is definitely the most luxurious yurt in the nearby area, with a grand scale, exquisite shape, exquisite materials, and the interior furnishings also reveal a luxurious atmosphere, so that people can know the wealth of the owner at a glance.

In fact, it is also true that Nahai, the owner of the yurt, studied for many years at the Hailan Pao Hanmeng School opened by the people of the East Coast, and later inherited his father's chieftain throne with the support of intelligence officials on the East Coast, and became the leader of a small Mongolian tribe with hundreds of tents. Later, Nahai, who believed in Tianzun, led his troops into the edge of the Hulunbuir grassland and began to herd, which can be regarded as a preliminary foothold.

Of course, nomadism did not bring much wealth to Nahaibu, in fact, his main wealth was obtained by acting as an intermediary for the sale of goods from the east coast to the grasslands, and this seems to be one of the main reasons why they succeeded in gaining a foothold in the Hulunbuir grasslands. Because they didn't want to offend them, lest they lose access to goods from the eastern coast, even though Nahai was likely to have taken refuge with the enemies of the Manchu Bogd Khan.

However, although Nahai personally believed in Tianzun, his wife, children, and subordinates may not all believe in this. In fact, there are still many people who believe in the Yellow Religion, at least a lot more than the Taoist ones, so the lamas are still very popular and respected here.

This is not uncommon among the Mongols. For example, in 1455, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate also did not spend the second Sutan (and also did not spend the second Sutan, and the second and the sultan's, which shows that at this time, the Mongols in the Western Regions had not yet been completely assimilated by the Green Religion and still maintained certain cultural characteristics).

The wife of Amasang Chishi was the sister of the late Great Khan of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, who was captured during a battle with Amasang Chishi's father, Ye Xian Khan, and had to give her sister to the Great Khan to redeem herself, but the First Great Khan did not look down on his sister and threw it to his own son. The marriage between Amasanchi and his sister was in the form of the Green Religion, and their two sons also believed in the Green Religion under the influence of their mother, but Amasanchi insisted on the Yellow Religion, as almost all Warat Mongols did.

Therefore, the Mongols of this period were rough and rude, and the belief system was also chaotic. The Mongols in the old land of the Chagatai Khanate, because several rulers were influenced by the mullahs of the Green Religion, fiercely promoted the Green Religion in the country, slaughtering the Mongols and Uighurs who refused to believe in religion, and the Yugurs in later China were the Uighurs who refused to believe in the Green Religion and fled to Gansu.

However, the Warat Mongols firmly believed in Tibetan Buddhism and fought a Hundred Years War with the surrounding Green Cultists. I believe that if it weren't for Kangxi's three expeditions to Galdan and the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties to continue to conquer the Warat Mongols, the Kazakhs, the Mughal people and other Green Sect Khanates would probably have been conquered and slaughtered.

Now, following the Green Religion and the Yellow Religion, the Neo-Taoism, the state religion of the East Coast, has also stepped in and spread the majesty and love of Tianzun in the vast Outer Northeast, Manchuria, and Mongolian steppes. At present, the area under the jurisdiction of the Heishui Pioneer Team is the area with the most investment in New Taoism, which can be said to be all over the Taoist temples, and there are clergy everywhere to preach, and the cause is prosperous.

It stands to reason that these are vast areas, with harsh weather, sparsely populated, and low productivity, and should not be invested, even by a deep-pocketed institution such as the Taoist General Association. However, several leaders of the Taoist Federation in the Far East all believed that the civilization level of the people in the area under the jurisdiction of the Heishui Pioneer Team was generally low, and most of the beliefs were primitive worship such as shamanism, which was very low-end and had no competitiveness in the face of new Taoism. Once successful among these indigenous peoples, there is no doubt that the notification of the East Coast people will be stronger and deeper, and the local natives will lose their cultural identity more quickly and gradually adopt the East Coast way of life, which will naturally be incomparably faster.

The Blackwater Pioneer Government was also very supportive of the Taoist Association's actions, as it was clearly more beneficial to their rule. Not to mention, now that they have begun to prepare to advance into the Hulunbuir steppe and intervene in the Mongolian world, how can there be no religion to open the way? As a result, the Han and Mongolian schools and the Taoist General Association, which had been established for many years in Northeast China and Manchuria, became two powerful weapons for expanding faith, the former was to establish the "correct" three views and religious tendencies for the children of Mongolian nobles, and the latter was to spread faith and expand influence among ordinary herdsmen.

Nahai obviously accepted the religious belief of Neo-Taoism during his study at the Hailan Pao Hanmeng School, and was very religious. However, Tibetan Buddhism still has a large share in his area, and even his wife and father-in-law, who supported Nahai's throne, are devout Buddhists, as can be seen from the presence of many lamas today.

"Chief Wei, my child is sick today, and my wife insisted on inviting a lama to come over to see the illness, which makes you smile." Nahai's face was a little melancholy, he had studied and lived in the jurisdiction of the East Coast people since he was a teenager, and he knew a lot of things, and his knowledge was not comparable to that of ordinary ignorant Mongolian nomads. In his opinion, his youngest son was just suffering from some diseases, not some evil spirits, if he could, he wanted to ask the military doctor of the people on the east coast if there was a way to solve it, and this was also the reason why he invited Wei Wendu to come to his tent to talk about things, one is for official business, to talk about things about the Mongolian world, and the other is to let Wei Wendu's military doctor give his child a look at the disease (of course, after the lamas have done this ritual), and both public and private affairs are correct.

Although it is already late spring, the weather on the grassland is still a little cold. Wei Wendu walked into the yurt and found a fire lit in the middle, on which an iron pot was set up to cook mutton. At this time, the cauldron was already boiling, and the well-cut pieces of mutton were tumbling in the broth, and they exuded bursts of aroma with spices and peppers, which made the few lamas who were doing things next to them a little uncontrollable, and a few young ones even occasionally glanced at the iron pot, and it seemed that the cultivation was still not home.

A lama wearing a monk's robe of a high-quality fabric glanced at Wei Wendu, who was dressed in a military uniform, bowed his head imperceptibly, and continued to do things. Wei Wendu saw the little boy who was tightly wrapped and had a sick face, who was now held in his mother's hand, and in front of him was a low stool full of strange shapes carved from wood and facing the vicious little people, all of which were the images of demons or diseases imagined by the Mongols.

The Mongolian monks sat down in all directions of the child, opened the scriptures, and began to recite mantras. The leading monk also rang the bell from time to time, and then another strong lama struck a leather drum with a mallet, and the other lamas also struck the gong in their hands at the right time, and for a time the whole yurt was noisy, as if it had become a place for a heavy metal band to play, which made people's eardrums hurt a little.

The whole "playing" process lasted for several minutes, and then the leading lama raised his hand, and everyone stopped their movements at the same time, and then picked up the scripture book that was placed aside, and continued to chant the mantra in a low voice, and the conversation between Wei Wendu and Nahai also started at this time.

"Chief Wei, a while ago, you asked me to find someone to inquire about the matter of Gazan (Galdan), but failed." Seeing that there were no idle people within a few meters of the vicinity, Nahai lowered his voice and whispered: "They are the forces of Western Mongolia, the most powerful of the four Warat tribes, and they have been expanding their power for two hundred years, but they are mainly to the west, fighting with the Kazakhs and Mughal people for territory. Now they have acquired a large piece of land in Mughulstan, and the front of the army reaches Tashkent (Tashkent) in the west, Yaerkan (Yarkand City) in the south, the desert and steppe in the north, and the Jiayuguan in the east. I sent four groups of men to try to cross the Khalkha Mongol nomads to the steppes to the west, but they all failed, and on two occasions they were even hunted down. ”

"I appreciate your devotion to the country. Rest assured, the credit book will remember you. Well, in a few months, you will go to Manguitun, get a hundred new rifles and four guns, and bring more people. With these firearms, you don't need me to teach you what to do, right? Wei Wendu patted Nahai on the shoulder and said kindly. For such a deferential and willing person, he is still not hesitant to express his kindness, and is also willing to help within his ability.

"Thank you, Chief Wei! Thank you, Chief Wei! Nahai was immediately excited when he heard this, and even his voice was a little high, but he quickly reacted, looked around, and saw that no one noticed, and then continued in a low voice: "But I haven't seen Gazan's people, but the people I sent have also heard some useful news, that is, Gazan now wants to unify the Mongolian tribes, be the Great Khan of the Mongolian world, and then liquidate the Manchu Bogd Khan's poison to the Mongolian world for so many years, and establish a great country that encompasses the original Great Yuan and the Khanates." And the first step, if there are no accidents, should be the first to take the Khalkha Mongols. ”

This judgment is consistent with Wei Wendu's cognition. Compared with the Mongol tribes of Southern Mongolia, the distance between Mobei Mongolia and the Qing Dynasty is farther away, and the relationship is naturally more distant, and it belongs to people who are not so determined to work with Bogd Khan. Therefore, from a military strategic point of view, if Galdan, who was born in the Oirat Department of Moxi Mongolia, wants to conquer more Mongol forces, then the Khalkha Mongol tribes in Mobei are the best targets, that is, first easy and then difficult, first integrate Khalkha Mongols, and then clean up the Mongol tribes in Monan, and gradually shake the influence of Manchu Bogd Khan in the Mongolian world and the legitimacy of his rule.

Wei Wendu did not think that Galdan could not accomplish this feat. In fact, Galdan is still a man of great talent! From the limited information, it seems that after controlling the Mongol tribes in Moxi, Galdan vigorously reformed and absorbed many technologies, institutions, and cultures from outside the Mongolian world. He reformed the traditional Mongolian warfare methods, set up a large infantry formation, on horseback on weekdays, dismounted and fought with firearms during the battle, for which he also set up an arsenal in the territory, specializing in the production of all kinds of firearms and equipment, just like the Mongols did during the period of Genghis Khan, the level is much stronger than the level of the Mongolian tribes in Mobei and Mongol in the south of the Mo.

In addition, Galdan also greatly strengthened the fighting power of the Mongol cavalry. He took some of the people out of production as his standing army, training and fighting all day long, and was an elite force that crisscrossed the grassland. In the battles of conquering the Kazakhs, defeating the Yarkand Khanate, and sweeping away the nomadic armies of Central Asia, this brave cavalry unit played a great role and was famous.

With such a combination of infantry and cavalry, it is not so surprising that Galdan was a military success. Speaking of which, somewhat similar to the Cossacks and Tatars of the South Russian Plain, it is no wonder that they were able to suppress the colonial power of the Russians in Central Asia, and at the same time had the leeway to defeat all opponents. It is believed that if it were not for its great dream of unifying the Mongolian world, the Dzungar Khanate would have existed in the Western Regions for a long time, and even the colonization of the Russians would have to be stopped, and the Kazakhs and Uzbeks would not have had a bright future.

"Chief Wei, I said that the people who contacted Moxi Mongolia, if we can't do it, you might as well communicate with those lamas more. Their energy is actually still very large, and their network is all over the Mongolian world, as long as the benefits are enough, they may be able to turn the corner and help you contact the Warat people? And they are also easier to talk to, and we in Buryat Mongolia are separated from them by a layer of relations. And that of the sea is true. The Buryats are far away from the rest of the Mongolian tribes because they live in the north, so don't look at the Mongolian word in their names, and even in terms of culture and blood, they are closer to the tribes of Kaldan, but the whole Mongolian world does not regard them as their own people, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are second-class citizens, so their influence is still somewhat weak, not as good as those lamas.

"What orthodoxy is not orthodox?" When Wei Wendu heard this, he immediately said: "Buryat Mongolia is also Mongolia, you have now accepted the reform of advanced civilization, and you are the forerunner of the Mongolian world. I think this honor is far inferior to the Warats, Khalkhas, and even those Korqin people. Don't be discouraged, Nahai, follow our great east coast, Buryat Mongolia will also rise one day, the Mongolian world has the rules of the Mongolian world, of course our eastern coast will also respect, maybe Buryat Mongolia will also unify the Mongolian world one day in the future. As the protector of the Mongolian world, we, the Eastern Republic, will certainly help you to achieve this dream. ”