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Chapter 856: Sudden Changes on the Plateau 2
Just when he was at his wit's end, a noble man appeared and made him see the light again. This man was Chokyi Wangchuk, the sixth living Buddha of the Red Hat School of the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.

Choegyi Wangchuk invited Ligdan Khan to Qinghai and told him that both the Western Tumed and Ordos tribes were willing to serve him as the Great Khan of Mongolia, and that he also had the support of the chieftains of Kang region and the Zangba Khan.

As the saying goes, "Eating steamed bread for free is not bad, but we are almost like a stray dog, so we must cherish the nest we have." Without much hesitation, Lin Danhan led the remnants of the Chahar and one of the seven Outer Khalkha tribes led by Chao Ketu Taiji, crossed the Qilian Mountains and entered the area west of Qinghai Lake.

Why did Choegyal Wangchuk specifically look for Ligdan Khan and invite him to settle in Qinghai? Why was the Xitumed tribe willing to accept the two stray dogs of Ordos and Chahar? Who were the chieftain of Kang region and the Zangba Khan, and why did they support Ligdan Khan?

If we want to explain these issues clearly, we have to write nearly a hundred memorials like Fang Congzhe did. To put it simply, there are two very common words: power! To be more specific, religious power!

Tibetan Buddhism is said to have been introduced to Mongolia by Kublai Khan. A relatively famous figure in history was called Phags-pa, who served as the first imperial teacher of the Yuan Dynasty.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty and the retreat of the Mongols to the north, the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia was at a low point. It was not until the reign of Altan Khan of the Tumed tribe that it flourished again.

The lama who was regarded as the national teacher by Altan Khan at that time was called Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Because the lamas of the Gelugpa sect all wore yellow robes, it was also called the Yellow Sect. The Qing Dynasty later regarded the Yellow Sect as orthodox, and Mount Wutai and Lama Temple were also Yellow Sect temples.

In addition to the Yellow Sect, Tibetan Buddhism also has the Red Sect, the White Sect, and the Flower Sect, which correspond to the Nyingma Sect, the Kagyu Sect, and the Sakya Sect respectively.

As an atheist, Hong Tao has no idea what the difference is between them, and he is not interested in understanding them, and he dare not discuss them. It's not that he is afraid of being criticized, but some people are narrow-minded and will report if they lose the criticism.

This topic is too sensitive, and basically no bad words are allowed, otherwise it will easily attract the claws of the big crab. So in the following plots, I will try my best to avoid related content and not mention it if possible. Anyone who is interested can look up the information by themselves. Please forgive me for my poor service.

Since Altan Khan, most Mongolian tribes have believed in the Yellow Sect. When Ligdan Khan came to power, he felt that being like others seemed to be lost in the crowd, and could not reflect his noble bloodline, which would be disadvantageous to his future rule over all of Mongolia. So he took the lead in converting to the Red Sect.

Unfortunately, the result was not what we wanted. Most of the Mongolian tribes not only did not flock to it, but also collectively opposed it. If a more mature leader saw that things were not going well and aroused public anger, he would definitely find a reason to change it back.

Anyway, religion serves the purpose of ruling, and cannot become an obstacle. What's shameful? As long as they can get power, they can be completely shameless. Whoever mentions this will be killed, and it will all be forgotten after a generation.

But Lindan Khan was young and had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, so he couldn't stand this kind of humiliation. The more others opposed him, the more he defended them. As a result, he failed to change his religion, but offended many tribal leaders and lost a large number of potential supporters in vain.

However, it is not that he did not gain an ally. The Red Sect in the Qinghai-Tibet region must attach great importance to him, and the Xitumed tribe living in this area will definitely support him.

The Ordos tribe is probably just a fence-sitter. Seeing that the general situation is hopeless and returning to the Right-wing Mongolia has become a pipe dream, and it has also offended the Ming Dynasty, they can only say that they also believe in the Red Sect.

Hong Tao originally intended not to interfere in the affairs of the Snow Region too early. They could play however they wanted. Once he controlled the Western Regions and stabilized Yunnan and Myanmar, there would be no threat with only the resources and manpower on the plateau. But the Losers Alliance was going to make a comeback in Qinghai, so he couldn't just turn a blind eye to it, let alone tolerate it. It was obvious that with Lin Danhan's character, once he recovered, the first thing he would deal with was the Ming Dynasty.

Regardless of how much strength he can recover, it is very annoying for him to sneak down from the plateau for no reason and cause trouble.

The area was sparsely populated, with inconvenient transportation and a special climate. It would cost a lot to send a large army to defend it, but it would be useless if there were too few people. The best way to solve the problem once and for all was to strike first and nip the danger in the bud.

In addition, solving the Qinghai issue will also be of great help to the Western Expedition. The current Shaanxi Xingdusi has a very passive geographical location, occupying only a narrow strip north of the Qilian Mountains from Suzhou (Jiayu Pass) to Liangzhou. It has no strategic depth and is vulnerable to attacks from both the north and south.

If Qinghai is taken, the Shaanxi Xingdusi will no longer have to worry about threats from the south and can focus on dealing with the west and north. In addition, going west from Qinghai will also allow access to the Western Regions, so in the future, the north and south routes can advance simultaneously.

The industrial base of Lanzhou is more than 400 miles away from Xiningwei, and there is a post road connecting them, which is just right for serving as a logistics base for the Qinghai attack. Supplies, ammunition and personnel can be assembled here and then transported to the front line by land.

Why not build an industrial base in Xiningwei? That would save another 400 miles. It would be great if it could be done, but it is not possible.

Xining in the Ming Dynasty was not a city, but just a small town and a garrison stationed there. It had neither population nor natural resources, and its transportation conditions and climate were relatively poor, making it unsuitable for the development of heavy industry.

However, in the spirit of making the best use of resources, Hong Tao did not give up his efforts to make use of his remaining energy. The construction team of the Ministry of Construction was currently expanding Xiningwei, still using the old method of blasting stones to build a castle. If it could not be a general logistics base, it could be an advance base and a place for garrisoning troops.

The reason why Li Zhizao and Wang Zheng were sent here was nominally to focus on the construction of the Lanzhou Industrial Base, but in fact it was also to force the Ministry of Construction to shift most of its resources to Lanzhou and Xining. Sometimes a colleague's words are more effective than an imperial decree, and the county magistrate is not as good as the current one.

"Humph, you guys were still reading the Hundred Family Surnames while I was making up lies!"

Sun Chengzong, who was standing in the gate of the tower holding a telescope, saw Li Zhizao and Wang Zheng laughing. He also knew that the two were lying, based on the evidence from the staff of the General Staff.

If the Lanzhou Industrial Base wants to start production as soon as possible, in addition to raw materials, factory buildings, and equipment, it also needs people, or to be more precise, craftsmen, many of whom are very skilled.

These people came from Luanzhou Industrial Base, Haihe Machinery Factory and Royal Gunpowder Factory. Dozens of them were master craftsmen. Whenever they went on a long journey, they had to be accompanied by staff officers from the General Staff and brave warriors from the Imperial Stables. They were more glorious than provincial governors and governors.

As luck would have it, the staff officer who was in charge of escorting the master craftsmen to Lanzhou had previously served in the new army and they had a very good relationship. He privately revealed some of the news he had heard from the master craftsmen.

(End of this chapter)