Zhu Cihong's arrival surprised the two of them, and they stepped forward to salute together. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After a salute, Zhu Cihong turned his back to his hands and walked to the main hall to look at the giant map: "The soldiers have put a lot of effort into the drawing of this map. Now, we can finally see the face of my Ming country. ”

This is a measure that Zhu Cihong began to focus on when he was in charge of the country in Nanjing, and the national map surveying and mapping.

To this end, the Jinyiwei, the Privy Council, and the state capitals all received corresponding orders, and a team of more than 500 people traveled around the country, and it took more than two years to complete a detailed map of North China. It is precisely because of this that Zhu Cihong finally appeared in front of his eyes a map that was slightly similar to that of later generations, rather than being misguided.

Compared with later generations, the current territory of the Ming Dynasty has actually shrunk a lot. The northeast, northwest and southwest regions of the entire interior are greatly inferior.

In the northeast, out of Jinzhou City, the east is occupied by Jiannu, which is not to mention the old history. Out of the Great Wall to the north, Mongolia does not belong to the Ming Dynasty, you know, there is no distinction between Inner and Outer Mongolia at this moment.

In the northwest, the border line of the Ming Dynasty ends at Yumen Pass, and the Turpan Basin further west naturally does not belong to the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the northern and southern Xinjiang of some later generations.

As for the southwest, although Yunnan and Guangxi still occupy the region, due to the concentration of ethnic minorities in the southwest, many places are subject to the Tusi restraint policy, and the binding force is not strong. If Zhu Cihong remembers correctly, in a few years, the challenge from South Asia will come, and Myanmar and Thailand in the south will be ready to move north.

As for Tibet, although it is nominally the territory of the Ming Empire, everything is only in name.

Such an empire seems huge, but it is too far from the powerful Chinese Empire in Zhu Cihong's heart.

Ni Yuanlu and Yang Wenyue didn't have so much emotion, they just looked at the countries around Daming, and finally their eyes slowly fell on the northeast of the empire.

There is the most powerful challenge of the Ming Dynasty in the past 20 years, a challenge that is almost enough to destroy the country.

"I don't know what the Jiannu nobles in Shengjing are thinking at this moment? Fortunately, in the past six months, Dolgon has died, and Jiannu himself has been in civil strife for a while, so he has no strength to go south. Yang Wenyue muttered.

Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "It should be said that I had to take care of internal affairs at these times, so I didn't take advantage of Dorgon's rebellion and the Jurchen power vacuum to go north." ”

"The march in the cold winter month still needs to think twice." Ni Yuanlu persuaded in a low voice.

Zhu Cihong nodded, did not continue the topic, but walked to the chamber of the Privy Council. This is the most built building in the yamen of various departments after Zhu Cihong took power. This is perhaps the most changing place in the political ecology of the Ming Dynasty, where everyone sits down together, can see each other's eyes, and no longer needs to stand or even kneel to discuss issues.

Feeling this, looking at several privy council scribes fiddling with the sand table against a pamphlet, Zhu Cihong lay on the chair and said in a deep voice: "Presumably the two Aiqing already know what I am going to do." ”

"Holy ...... Determined to conquer the north and build slaves? Yang Wenyue asked solemnly.

"Our war with Jiannu began when Nurhachi rebelled. Their relationship with us is a life-and-death relationship. The crimes committed by Jiannu against my Ming can only be washed away with blood. I will not accept the result of being defeated by Jiannu, so I will not give up the goal of killing Jiannu from the beginning and recovering thousands of miles of fertile land in Liaodong. Once upon a time, our empire could only think of holding on to its current territory, but now it's time to turn from a strategic defensive to a strategic offensive! Zhu Cihong looked at the map, took the stick in his hand and landed on the place where the map was Shengjing.

Ni Yuanlu and Yang Wenyue sat up almost at the same time.

"Please also ask the Holy Lords to teach me." The two of them said one after another.

Zhu Cihong waved his hand and motioned for everyone to relax: "I didn't come to the Privy Council today to admonish. It's just that they have some feelings, but the two Aiqing can think carefully about where our strategic counterattack should begin. Of course, it doesn't matter if you can't finish thinking about it today. If you have a plan, come to me and report it. ”

"Your Ministers understand." The two paused, but Ni Yuanlu asked with some hesitation: "Dare to ask the Holy Lord...... Will you still drive this time? ”

"Yes." Zhu Cihong smiled.

"If this is the case, the ministers hope that this time the strategic counteroffensive can focus on the northern Xinjiang first." Ni Yuanlu said his plan in a deep voice.

Zhu Cihong frowned: "You mean Mongolia?" ”

"That's right!" Ni Yuanlu pointed to the map of northern Xinjiang and said: "If you want to level Jiannu, you can't help but level Mongolia." If I counterattack the Ming Dynasty, it must be carried out with the purpose of destroying the country. In this way, if we don't solve the Mongols and splash the flanks of Jiannu, then our Ming counterattack will be unsustainable. ”

If you want to talk about Mongolia, it's a long story.

But if you bypass Mongolia, there is no way to do it. Far away, you can start with Zhu Yuanzhang's rebellion. The Ming Dynasty was taken back from the Mongols. The entire diplomatic history of the Ming Dynasty can be said to revolve mainly around the Mongols.

In fact, the Ming can be said to have waged a war with the Mongols for two hundred years. Since Zhu Yuanzhang raised troops to establish the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu of the founding place of the country both went north to Mongolia, constantly fighting against the remnants of the Yuan forces, and later relied on the huge nine-sided military array system, with the attitude of the Son of Heaven guarding the country, which maintained the safety of the empire, and no longer worried about the empire being reoccupied by the Mongols.

In the end, the Tumubao Change, Yu Qian's defense of Beijing and the peace talks with the Mongols during the Jiajing period can be said to have greatly affected the security of the empire.

Just like the collapse of the Soviet Union and the great development of China's reform and opening up.

Zhu Cihong understood that relying on the reorganization of three corps and an independent division and one guard army at present could be said to have temporarily reduced the pressure on national defense. However, if the border troubles in the north are not resolved, it is difficult to say that the empire can maintain long-term peace and stability, let alone develop overseas.

Of course, during the Jiajing period, it was the old yellow calendar. The influence of the Mongols on the Ming Dynasty today is mainly due to the fact that the Mongols are now following the Jurchens, that is, they are ruled by Jiannu.

The first is Monan-Mongol.

In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, that is, in 1616 AD, Nurhachi established Houjin. At this time, Nurhachi had already controlled the Jurchen tribes, and after expanding towards the Ming Kingdom, Nurhachi did not stop his pace of conquest and began to march towards the Mongolian steppe.

At that time, the Mongol Chahar Lingdan Khan (Huduntu Khan) was in the ascendancy and also had ambitions to reunify Mongolia. The Korqin Sixth Division and the Khalkha Fifth Division, located between the Houjin and Chahar Divisions, became important objects of contention between the two sides.

Ming'an, the leader of the Horqin tribe, and Xibe and Gualecha, the leaders of the Khalkha tribe, participated in the nine-part coalition army against Jianzhou, and after the defeat, the leader of the Horqin tribe, Oba, first submitted to Houjin. Lin Dan Khan led his troops to attack Oba across the Khing'an Mountains, but was defeated by the Houjin army at Zhaocheng. Among the five Khalkha tribes, Xibe and Gualeta were also defeated by Houjin and Lin Dan Khan, and the rest of the three tribes of Bahrain, Wengniut, and Zarut also surrendered to Houjin one after another. Later Jin also induced the four divisions of Tumut, Aohan, Naiman, and Karaqin, which were the eastern strikers of Chahar, to leave Lin Dan Khan and attach them, and Lin Dan Khan's power was declining day by day.

In 1628, the Later Jin soldiers broke through Lin Dan Khan in the area of Sirha, Xibotu and Yingtangtu, that is, the line from Linxi to Keshiketeng Banner in Inner Mongolia in later generations, and as a result, Lin Dan Khan's forces were expelled from the West Liao River Valley.

In 1632, that is, in the fifth year of Chongzhen, the Later Jin Emperor Taiji and the attached Mongol tribes attacked Lin Dan Khan on a large scale. Later, the Jin army braved the rain to advance westward, crossing the Xing'an Mountains to the Dale'e Desert. Lin Dan Khan did not expect the enemy to suddenly arrive, crossed the Shangdu River and ran westward, and his troops scattered seven or eight out of ten along the way. Subsequently, Lin Dan Khan fled all the way to Karamangnai, and when he heard that the pursuing army was coming, he hurriedly walked to the city of Guihua, and crossed the Yellow River to the south. Later, the Jin army scattered in pursuit and issued a proclamation to disintegrate the Chahar tribes. After Huang Taiji entered the Naturalization City, his soldiers and cavalry went out in all directions, capturing a large number of people, and the rest of Tumut also surrendered to Houjin.

Two years later, Lin Dan Khan died in Qinghai.

In another year, the Houjin army continued to attack the remnants of Chahar, and Ezhe, the son of Lin Dan Khan, surrendered to Huang Taiji, and presented the jade seal that is said to have been taken away by Emperor Yuan Shun when he left the Central Plains, and the Ordos Department was also annexed by the Houjin. At this point, Monan Mongolia was incorporated into the Later Jin territory.

Having lost the Mongols, a barrier that had already negotiated peace with the Ming Dynasty and restored bilateral relations to normal, the Ming Dynasty faced all the pressure from Jiannu.

So much so that the world said: "The Ming Dynasty is not dead, but the first to die, all the departments are folded into Jianzhou; The more difficult the national plan becomes, the more thorny the side affairs become, and the more complicated the court discussions, the more Ming can not do anything. ”

After the surrender of Monan, the Mongols surrendered to Jianzhou into the tribute of nine white horses (eight white horses and one white camel).

This meant that the tribulation of the Mongols became a force that could be used in the hands of Jiannu, so that he no longer had to worry about being stabbed from behind by the Mongols. For this reason, not only did Jiannu pass through the Mongols to enter the Great Wall defense line from due north, but also had a large number of troops, and in the entire strategic situation, it surrounded the north of the Jingshi of the Ming Empire.

Therefore, Ni Yuanlu asked to solve the Mongolian problem first.

Of course, the Mongolian problem does not stop there. In addition to Southern Mongolia, there are also Western Mongolia and Northern Mongolia.

Mobei Mongolia is Khalkha Mongolia, which has a very long history, dating back to the end of the 15th century. At that time, after the fifteenth Mujin grandson Batu Mengke, that is, Dayan Khan, unified eastern Mongolia, he merged the originally unrelated large and small territories of Monan and Mobei into 6 million households, which were divided into left and right wings.

The Khalkha Wanhu belonged to the left wing, with a total of 12 departments. The inner five tribes lived east of the Khalkha River, and Batu Menk conferred the title of the fifth son, Alchuborot; The outer seven departments lived in the west of the river and were awarded the title of the youngest son, Ge Senza Zalaierhun. After the death of Batu Mengke, the inner five tribes gradually migrated south, and in the early Qing Dynasty, the flag was compiled, which belonged to the Inner Zasak Banner, that is, Inner Mongolia; Ge Senzha stayed in his hometown, still called Khalkha, and his jurisdiction gradually expanded, and he had the Mobei region, that is, Outer Mongolia.

Of course, none of this has happened yet. It's just that Tushetu Khan, Zasaktu Khan, and Chechen Khan all have ties with Jiannu.

Then there is Moxi Mongolia, which is the Jurut Mongolia or Oirat Mongolia. Now in these years they are called Warat.

Historically, the Mongol nation was made up of two basic parts. In ancient times, the two were divided into "grassland people" and "forest people" (斡也剌ti, Buriyati). Later, it was Eastern Mongolia (Central Mongolia) and Western Mongolia (mainly Oirat).

The ancestors of Warat were both tribulators and tidies. Originally inhabited in the area of the eight rivers in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River, there are many people, and there are several branches, each with its own name. When Genghis Khan founded the country, there were 4,000 households in Kuduhebeg. He has a hereditary marriage relationship with Genghis Khan's golden family, and has always enjoyed a special status of "seeing the kings in front of him" in Mongolia.

In general, the Warat was divided into four major divisions: the Zoros or Dzungaria, the Hoshot, the Dulbert, and the Turgot. There are also small departments such as Huite.

When the imperial family of the Yuan Dynasty was in decline, Wara took the opportunity to expand his strength and actively participated in the disputes between various factions. When Mahamu, Taiping, and Vulture Polo were divided into Warat, Warat was so powerful that he was called 40,000 Oirat, indicating that he was prosperous, powerful, and had big fists. This population is not much for the Han Chinese, but for the Mongols, these are all forces that can fight.

At that time, in addition to the upper reaches of the Yenisei River, the territory of Warat also included the upper reaches of the Irtysh River and the Zabkhan River valley southeast of Kobdo. They fought against the eastern Mongol nobles who controlled the Khan's throne, and then dominated Mobei, while befriending the Ming court and sending envoys to the Ming court. On the other hand, it actively waged a struggle against the Mongolian ruling clique in the east.

In the twelfth year of Yongli, Ming Chengzu led the army to the north to conquer western Mongolia, and fought with Wara in Hulan and lost temperature, that is, the east of Ulaanbaatar in later generations, and Mahamu was defeated in this battle. In the east, Mongolia Arutai sent troops to attack again. Mahamu was defeated again, and died of grief and anger. Mahamu's son Tuhuan succeeded him, and for this reason, the court still named him the king of Shunning.

Nine years later, the relationship between the eastern Mongolian Arutai and the imperial court deteriorated and was defeated by the Ming army. The victory of the Drinking Horse River allowed Tuhuan to take the opportunity to become bigger and unify all the departments of Warat.

Eleven years later, in the ninth year of Xuande, Tuhuan sent troops to attack Arutai Yumuna Mountain, killed Arutai and his sons, and annexed the Arutai tribes, and Eastern and Western Mongolia was ruled by Tuhuan for a time.

History proves that once the imperial Chinese had a strong and unified regime in northern Xinjiang, it would mean no more difficult for China. Fortunately, although Tuhuan planned to establish himself as a khan after unifying Mongolia, because he was not a descendant of Genghis Khan's golden family, he was strongly opposed by his subordinates because he did not have the blessing of blood halo.

In this regard, the helpless Tuhuan could only solve the internal affairs first, support the Yuan descendants to take off without spending as sweat, and let them govern the old tribes of Arutai, living in the ******** grassland, and marrying his own daughter to take off off without flowers as his wife, and living in Mobei as a prince, making a trick of coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, in fact, controlling all the real power of Mongolia.

Five years later, in the fourth year of Yingzong's orthodoxy, Tuhuan died of illness, and his son also succeeded to the throne first.

Hearing this, Zhu Cihong raised his eyebrows, he probably knew what Ni Yuanlu wanted to say.

It was the war that was the turning point of the Ming Dynasty from prosperity to decline. (To be continued.) )