The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 333: The Qing Empire
At 1733 p.m. on July 7, 2, when teams of Khalkha cavalry, disarmed and abandoned, appeared at Bayan Pasture (now Ulaangumu City, Outer Mongolia) on the shore of Lake Uvs, Hongliang, the Qing Kingdom's Mongolian envoy, suddenly realized that the situation was not good.

Could it be that the pseudo-Qin court in the south acted so quickly that it had already sent its elite troops to Kobdo and defeated these Khalkha Mongol cavalry?

"... Lord Beile, the reinforcements from the Pseudo-Qin army have not arrived at all." The Guard Commander-in-Chief Bode ran over with a look of contempt on his face, and said breathlessly: "Those Khalkha Mongolian cavalry... were defeated by the Pseudo-Qin army of more than 500 defenders in Kobdo City. They abandoned all their baggage and fled all the way back!"

"What? More than 3,000 cavalrymen were defeated by 500 defenders?" Hongliang's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are these Khalkha Mongols a bunch of pigs? Didn't they send a message a few days ago saying that Kobdo City had been surrounded by them and the city would be captured soon? How come they were beaten back by the defenders in the blink of an eye?"

"My Lord, I heard from the Khalkha cavalry that the pseudo-Qin defenders tricked hundreds of Mongols in the city into surrendering, lured them into the city, set up barricades and chevaux de frise, and then used intensive artillery and musket fire to kill more than a thousand Mongol cavalry on the spot. The rest fled in the chaos, and the pseudo-Qin defenders took advantage of the situation to kill them. They were unable to stop the defeat and fled all the way back."

"Useless!... They are all a bunch of fucking useless!" Hongliang cursed after hearing this. "These Mongols are getting worse and worse. They don't have any of the spirit and bravery they had during the Mongolian heyday. They are unworthy of being the descendants of Genghis Khan!"

"Then..., Lord Beile, does our Qing Dynasty still need to send troops to Khalkha?" Bode asked carefully.

"Why don't you send troops?" Hongliang glanced at him. "After so many years, the Khalkha Mongols finally mustered up the courage to launch a large-scale anti-Qin movement. If we don't take the opportunity to intervene and cause some trouble for the pseudo-Qin, are we going to sit back and watch them slowly integrate and conquer the Khalkha Mongols? ... Do you understand the principle of the loss of lips and teeth?"

"But..., but... our Qing Dynasty doesn't have much capital!" Bode said worriedly, "Looking at the situation of the Khalkha Mongols, don't let them trick us!"

"Does the Qing Dynasty have any other choice?" Hearing this, Hongliang sighed, "Bohai is bent on fighting westwards and wants to seize the more abundant Yenisei River Basin. They are not interested in Khalkha Mongolia at all and have no intention of sending troops to the south. If we do not support the Khalkha tribes and provide them with sufficient military support, believe it or not, it will take less than a year for the pseudo-Qin to defeat these cowards! Besides, if the Qing Dynasty does not take advantage of the chaos in Khalkha Mongolia to plunder more people, how wasteful would that be?"

After the remnants of the Qing Dynasty retreated to the Uriankhai region, in order to develop and survive, they actively contacted the Bohai Kingdom and formed an informal alliance with this kingdom established by the former Qing rebels. They even lowered their status and served Bohai as an elder brother.

In order to ensure the security of its southwestern flank, the Bohai Kingdom was also willing to support the Qing Dynasty in maintaining a military presence in the Ulianghai region, thereby containing the power of the Qin Dynasty in both the Khalkha and Western Regions directions.

As a result, the Bohai Kingdom resold a large number of firearms provided by the Northern Ming and Qi Kingdom to the Qing Kingdom, helping them defeat the resistance of the local Mongols, Tohuit tribes and other local indigenous peoples, and quickly gain a foothold.

Of course, the firearms and other material aid provided by the Bohai Kingdom were not given for free. The Qing Kingdom needed to exchange them for furs, medicinal materials, gold and silver, and the prices were ridiculously high.

However, the Qing Dynasty, located in a remote and poor area like Ulianghai, naturally had no choice but to accept the exploitation and oppression of the Bohai Kingdom.

To the north is the territory of the Russians, to the southwest is the sphere of influence of the Dzungars, and to the south is the Khalkha Mongols controlled by the pseudo-Qin. Only by crossing the mountains and ridges to the east can one reach the Bohai Kingdom and obtain the little weapons support.

It can be said that the Qing Dynasty was in an extremely bad geopolitical situation. If they could not get the support of external "advanced civilization", they would sooner or later become a group of ignorant and barbaric natives like the local Hotohuit Mongols, become food for others, and eventually disappear in the long river of history.

However, as the Qing Dynasty, which once ruled the Central Plains and almost became the second minority dynasty in China, naturally did not want to disappear into oblivion.

The Pseudo-Qin did not completely destroy us, which means that our Great Qing still has the Mandate of Heaven and our nation should not be extinct. So, after traveling tens of thousands of miles, can we revive in the Ulianghai region and create great achievements again?
Of course, we, the Qing Dynasty, do not dare to hope for the time being to turn the tide and fight back to the Central Plains. However, after enduring hardships and developing ourselves to a certain level of strength, we can still imagine controlling and influencing Khalkha Mongolia, spying on the old land of Dzungar, and even heading west to the Ob River basin to establish a vast western empire.

At present, the biggest unfavorable factor hindering the Qing Dynasty's continued development and growth is the serious shortage of population.

When Emperor Minzong (posthumous title of Kangxi) retreated from Khalkha to the Uriankhai area, the Qing Dynasty still had more than 14,000 Manchu, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners troops, and also brought with them more than 30,000 Han and Mongolian tribesmen. After successively conquering the local Hotohuit tribe, it gained more than 20,000 people. Together with the Tangnutuvas, Bruts (i.e. Kyrgyz), and Buryats in the deep mountains and forests, as well as some of Galdan's former tribesmen, it now ruled a population of more than 80,000, making it the most powerful force in the western desert.

However, more than 30 years later, as the brave and combat-ready Eight Banners soldiers gradually aged and died of illness, coupled with the barren land and lack of replacement, not only did the population of the entire Manchuria show a downward trend, but even its combat power also declined sharply. Not to mention competing with the Qin army, even the Dzungar Khanate did not dare to compete with it. Even those small Russian armed strongholds in the north were particularly difficult to deal with.

Under such circumstances, without the replenishment of foreign population, the Qing Dynasty can only continue to survive and accumulate strength at an extremely slow pace.

Therefore, in order to obtain population replenishment, the Qing Dynasty used the method of plundering the Chinese mainland a hundred years ago, and frequently dispatched small groups of elite cavalry to cross the dangerous mountains and go deep into the territories of Khalkha Mongolia and Junggar, searching for and plundering lone Mongolian tribesmen to increase the population size in the territory.

Even so, the Qing Dynasty was only able to maintain a population of 80,000 to 90,000, which was much less than the capital that Taizu (Nurhaci) had when he started the rebellion against the Ming Dynasty.

Last June, Chedenzab, the leader of the Kobdo Ulan tribe, openly refused the Qin's order to recruit young men, and organized a joint uprising with the Khalkha tribes to expel the supervisory agency (Duhufu) established by the Qin in Khalkha Mongolia, trying to get rid of the Qin's control.

When the Qing Empire learned the news, they were overjoyed.

God bless you, this bunch of useless Mongols are finally trying to stand up and rebel against the rule of the pseudo-Qin. This provides the Qing Dynasty with the best opportunity to intervene in Khalkha Mongolia.

Therefore, the Great Khan Yinzhi carried out military mobilization in the country, prepared troops and horses, and was ready to attack Khalkha at any time, while at the same time he sent envoys to the Bohai Kingdom to ask it to join forces to interfere in the situation in Khalkha.

However, in mid-August, the Bohai Kingdom replied to the Qing Kingdom, claiming that its main domestic military forces and combat supplies had been transferred to the western region in preparation for launching an attack on the Russian Empire, and that it had no time to look south for the time being.

However, as a de facto military ally, the Bohai Kingdom was willing to provide some material support for the Qing Kingdom's intervention in the Khalkha situation, but did not want them to invest too much energy. It also required them to allocate part of their troops to advance to the Yenisei River to cooperate with the Bohai Navy to attack the Russian Yenisei Military District.

According to the strategic plan formulated by the Qi State Combat Staff Group, Bohai will strive to move westward in the next few years, cross the Yenisei River, enter the Ob River basin, and cut off the land connection between Russia and Daqin.

Given the size of Bohai, it is definitely impossible to start a war on two fronts. Moreover, given the poor economic situation of Khalkha, it is unlikely to make much money. If it intervenes rashly, it may not be worth the loss. It may even be retaliated by Daqin, which will trigger a war between the two countries again. Bohai, Dongdan and Beiming have just reached a ceasefire agreement under the mediation of Qi. You can't turn around and provoke Daqin again, making the other party angry and fighting you to the death. That would be very bad.

However, if the Bohai Kingdom could take over the northern part of Khalkha while the Khalkha tribes were rising up against Qin, it would be of great benefit to expanding the defense depth of the North Sea (now Lake Baikal) area.

The Bohai Kingdom was once shaken, considering whether to turn south and break away from the Khalkha Mongols from the Qin Dynasty and make it a buffer zone for the Bohai Kingdom.

But they did not dare to refuse the orders from the Qi people. They needed to implement the so-called "World Island Plan" according to the established plan, attack Western Siberia, and block Russia's further eastward advance.

In order to realize this plan and to better support (control) Bohai State, Qi State promised to build a Lingbei railway across the east and west ends of the country in the next ten years, so that the rich resources of the inland areas of Bohai State can be transported to coastal ports and then exported to Northern Ming and Qi State.

To be honest, after seeing the convenience of Beiming's Zhenzhou Railway, both Dongdan and Bohai were envious and tried their best to urge Qi to build a domestic railway for them to improve local transportation.

The State of Qi happened to have excess capital at home and was looking for investment opportunities around the world. Although Bohai and Dongdan were poor on the surface, their domestic resources were extremely rich. If a railway could be built to the inland hinterland, those dormant mineral resources could be transported out continuously and converted into money.

In addition, Bohai and Dongdan are almost completely dependent on Qi and Northern Ming in terms of economy and military, so the investment security factor is absolutely very high. There is no political risk. The worst case scenario is that the investment return period will be slightly longer.

More importantly, once this railway is built, Qi State will not only be able to radiate its influence to the hinterland of Central Asia, but will also be able to extend its commercial tentacles there, thereby expanding the sales channels for Qi State's products.

In view of this, the people of Qi specially formulated a grand westward expansion plan for the Bohai Kingdom, allowing them to take advantage of the fact that the Russians had not yet gained too much strength in the Western Siberia region and attack them first, and try their best to extend their tentacles to the edge of Central Asia.

However, although the Bohai Kingdom focused all its energy on the west, it also kept an eye on the direction of Khalkha Mongolia.

Unable to bear the "brutal" rule of the Qin Dynasty, the Khalkha tribes rose up in rebellion, and with the interference of the Qing Kingdom, it was foreseeable that a large-scale melee would inevitably break out in the entire Khalkha Mongolian region, causing countless Han immigrants and Mongolian herdsmen to be displaced and become war refugees.

This would be an excellent opportunity to attract immigrants for the Bohai Kingdom, which also lacks population.

To this end, in addition to providing the Qing Kingdom with some military equipment and supplies and allowing it to cause trouble in Khalkha, the Bohai Kingdom also set up a number of immigration resettlement sites in the southern controlled area near Khalkha Mongolia to accommodate refugees fleeing the war.

In mid-July, under the siege of Khalkha Mongolian cavalry, except Dingbian City (now Kobdo City, Outer Mongolia), several important military strongholds controlled by Daqin, including Jingyuan City (now Uliastai City, Outer Mongolia), Suining City (now Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia), and Fubei City (now Xiurte City, Outer Mongolia), were all breached. The governor of Mobei Protectorate, Xu Wenchun, and thousands of soldiers and civilians under him were all captured, and the entire situation of Khalkha Mongolia changed.

In late July, the Qing Empire dispatched 3,000 Eight Banners cavalrymen into the Bayan area, cooperating with more than 2,000 Mongolian cavalrymen from the Ulan tribe to capture the border town again.

Unexpectedly, the governor of the Moxi Protectorate, Peng Fengnian, had already evacuated Kobdo with more than a thousand soldiers and civilians and temporarily retreated to Chenghua City on the left wing of Ulianghai (now Altai City, Xinjiang).

In early August, Yinzhen, Prince of Heshuoyong of the Qing Kingdom, led an envoy to Kulun (after the capture of Suining City, the princes of the Khalkha tribes changed its name back to Kulun, now the city of Ulaanbaatar) and discussed the integration of Manchuria and Mongolia with many Mongolian princes and taijis, suggesting that everyone unite to resist the attack of the Qin Dynasty.

However, this move was opposed by some princes such as Chechen Khan Erdeni and Zasaktu Khan Khebaatar, who believed that Khalkha should not be tied to the Qing Dynasty, which led to the crazy attack of the Qin Dynasty.

Back then, the Qing Dynasty fled all the way from the Central Plains to the south of the desert, and then retreated to the north of the desert, only then did it gradually attract the Han people over, causing the entire Khalkha Mongolia to suffer a heavy blow from the Qin Dynasty, and finally had to surrender to the Central Plains dynasty.

The Khalkha tribes did not rise up against the Qin Dynasty to fight a war to the death, but just wanted to get rid of the infiltration and control of the Han people. As long as the Qin Dynasty no longer interferes in our internal affairs and no longer threatens our security, thus restoring the former Mongolian governance model, we Khalkha tribes are willing to worship the Qin Emperor as the Great Khan and pay tribute on time every year.

If we get involved with the Qing Dynasty and establish the so-called Manchu-Mongolian integration, then Daqin will definitely think that our entire Khalkha Mongolia has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and has the intention of coveting the Central Plains, which will inevitably cause Daqin to be highly alert.

In order to prevent trouble before it happens, the Qin Dynasty will definitely send troops to the northern desert to kill all the Khalkha princes and taijis who participated in the rebellion.

For the sake of peace on the grassland, we, the Khalkha Mongolian tribes, should stay away from the Qing Dynasty.

Yinzhen was active in Kulun for half a month. Except for the Kobdo tribes who expressed their willingness to unite with the Qing Dynasty to resist Qin, most of the Khalkha tribes such as Chechen, Zasaktu, and Tushetu were indifferent. Instead, they actively planned how to start peace talks with Qin and realize the tribes' desire for limited autonomy.

"What a bunch of short-sighted fools!" Yinzhen cursed fiercely, "Don't they know that with the huge population base of the Han people, even if they rule the Khalkha tribes in a tributary manner, they will be slowly devoured by them in a few decades, and all the Mongols will die without a burial place! The Mongolian desert is a lesson for them, can't they see it?"

"Uncle Prince Yong, the Khalkha Mongols are just a bunch of useless people!" Hongliang shook his head and said, "Since they don't want to fight the Qin Dynasty to the death, we, the Qing Dynasty, can't force them to do anything. For now, recruiting people should be the top priority."

"Well, Hongliang has gained a lot." Yinzhen sighed, "You have to keep an eye on this matter, and don't treat the collected people too harshly during transportation. In addition, the Han craftsmen, farmers, and scholars must be well taken care of, and try to bring them all back to the Qing Dynasty alive."

"Uncle Yong is going back to Shengjing (now the capital of Tuva Republic, Kizil City)?"

"Well, I need to report the situation in Khalkha to the Khan." Yinzhen glanced at him and said calmly.

Great Khan Yinzhi was seriously ill. If he didn't rush back in time, wouldn't he miss some major political changes?
(End of this chapter)