The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 489: The King's Teacher

Toghto Mishi was defeated and tortured to death, and his body was divided and eaten.

The news quickly spread throughout Anxi.

This was naturally done intentionally by Timur in order to intimidate the Anxi tribes.

The effect was indeed very good. The tribes that had been ready to make trouble all became obedient.

In particular, various internal forces praised Timur's greatness.

Timur once again became the powerful overlord of Anxi who was feared by the world.

But not long after, another news came out that Timur sent an army of 400,000 to attack the Qin State.

He also ordered the troops along the way to prepare food and supplies for the army.

Those who disobey the order will be exterminated.

The tribes along the way were complaining bitterly. With 400,000 troops passing through their borders, how could these tribes be safe?

Many tribes began to migrate to avoid this war.

Some tribes considered themselves powerful or were close to the Timurid Khanate and chose to cooperate with Timur.

But what no one expected was that many tribes chose to move their entire clans to the areas controlled by the Qin State.

Not only that, some tribes took the initiative to send troops and requested to cooperate with Qin in the war.

These troops ranged from a few thousand to a few hundred.

The smallest tribe only sent a few dozen people.

It’s not that they don’t want to send more people, but their tribe only has a few hundred people in total, and these dozens of people are already the most elite young and strong.

This scene made everyone feel incredible.

Not to mention Azasa and the white-robed princes, even Zhu Chong himself suspected that he had heard it wrong.

But there is only one person who thinks this is natural.

That was Shah Mansur, the former ruler of the Muzaffar Empire. Upon hearing the news, he laughed and said:

"The King of Qin has strict laws and treats all tribes equally... He brought order to the chaotic Anxi. This is the style of a king."

"The submission of all tribes is exactly what the people want."

Then he said to his tribe:

"Those real alien races all know who to rely on. As descendants of the Chinese, are we no better than the alien races?"

As a result, the remnants of the Muzaffar Empire, who were originally hesitant and didn't know what to do, finally united their thoughts.

Fight for Qin.

Liu Yunniang also quickly brought back detailed information:
"These people are truly loyal to the king."

Zhu Chong asked in confusion: "Why?"

Liu Yunniang had a strange expression on her face and said, "They said that the king is kind and treats all tribes well."

"Timur is cruel and ruthless...They don't want to be ruled by Timur anymore and are willing to fight for Qin to end Timur's tyranny."

Li Fang at the side opened and closed her mouth again and again. What does that mean? Am I deaf?

Zhu Chong? Kindness?
What the hell... do those people have some misunderstanding about kindness?
Zhu Chong himself laughed in silence and said, "Mercy? Don't they know how I treat my enemies?"

Liu Yunniang replied: "But you will not destroy a tribe without reason, and you will not bully the weak."

"In the past, Anxi was a place where the strong preyed on the weak, and small tribes deserved to be bullied."

"After you came, although you deprived the tribes of certain powers, you also gave them protection."

"You make the rules, and when they are bullied, they have a place to cry..."

"These are what the surrendering tribes told me personally. Coming to surrender at this time shows that this is their truest thought."

Li Fang couldn't help but be stunned. How could the Qin State be so great?
But isn't what they are doing what every dynasty in China has been doing?
Compared with the Ming Dynasty, what they did is really not worth mentioning.

He was actually regarded as a savior by the various tribes in Anxi?

Zhu Chong also fell into silence.

He could understand why the light taxes and levies were praised.

But in order to centralize power and better rule this place, he established some "harsh" systems.

It is actually regarded as a benevolent policy by the people here?

At this time, he couldn't help but think of the vassal system formulated by Chen Jingke.

To be honest, although he was a prince of the Ming Dynasty, he still thought that the new vassal system was a bit harsh.

The vassal states were subject to all-round constraints in terms of politics, economy, diplomacy, and military.

But now, he has a deeper understanding.

Although constraints will limit the development of vassal states, they will also protect them.

Prevent nations from being enslaved by the cruel law of the jungle.

Just like what is happening right before our eyes.

He centralized power, but he also made rules to protect the small tribes.

So that they don’t have to worry about being bullied or killed in their sleep every day like before.

Another point is that although he is bloodthirsty, he no longer tortures and kills people for pleasure as before.

Firstly, I think that is too childish. A true king would kill millions of people and scare the whole world into submission.

Secondly, it was for his wife and children. He didn't want to make Guanyin Nu worry, nor did he want to teach their children bad things.

Therefore, he has been restraining his desire to kill.

If I really can't help wanting to kill him, I have a legitimate reason.

The more cruel the means of killing for a reason, the more awe-inspiring it is.

It can also deter more people from trampling on the rules he set.

The more people abide by the rules, the more people will benefit, and the more convinced they will be.

Moreover, the Qin State did not kill women and children.

The purpose of doing this is naturally to capture women and children and assimilate them into their own tribe.

But in the land of Anxi, this is already very merciful.

Mainly because there are other people to compare with.

Everyone still remembers clearly what the Mongols did back then. Wherever they passed, not a blade of grass grew.

The subsequent Mamluk Kingdom (Egypt), Ottoman Empire, White Sheep Kingdom, etc., were all masters of genocide.

The best among them is Timur.

Slaughter of Bari Black City, Slaughter of Urgench, Slaughter of Herat, Slaughter of Astrabad...

Wherever the army passed, the land was cleaner than wheat fields infested by locusts.

Of course, Timur was only cruel to his enemies. He was also a capable ruler who enforced laws and regulations strictly at home.

But everything is afraid of comparison. When compared with the Qin State, he was completely defeated.

Besides, behind the Qin State stood the Ming Dynasty.

In this era, the influence of Todai is unquestionable.

When they had to choose sides, those small and medium-sized tribes naturally chose Qin.

After Zhu Chong understood everything, he immediately knew what to do.

Administrative personnel were sent to contact these small tribes that had surrendered and understand their wishes.

While ensuring the interests of Qin, try to meet their needs as much as possible.

At the same time, military personnel were sent to integrate the armies of these tribes.

It is unrealistic to turn them into a complete army.

Zhu Chong’s goal is to assign tasks to everyone and establish a system for communicating information up and down.

Enables him to command these troops effectively.

Don't expect them to fight a tough battle, but at least they should not lose their composure when the situation is favorable.
-
The changes in the situation in Anxi soon reached Zhu Gang and Zhu Gaochi.

When they learned that Timur led an army of 400,000 to attack Qin, they were both very worried.

Zhu Gang looked far to the west, his expression full of worry.

He really wanted to go over and help in the battle, but with the Chagatai Khanate in between, he had no choice but to watch.

In a fit of anger, he ignored the cold weather and forcibly sent troops to harass the area controlled by Chagatai.

The Chagatai Khanate's defenders complained bitterly.

The winter in the Western Regions is cold, so people usually stay at home and wait until the beginning of spring to deal with anything.

Why don’t you, the Ming Dynasty, follow the rules?

Of course, they also knew the reason why Zhu Gang went crazy.

While getting beaten, he gritted his teeth, and things changed over time.

After Timur Khan destroys the Qin State, I will come back to seek revenge on you.

However, Zhu Gang was not crazy. Although he did this to vent his anger, his greater purpose was to occupy several outposts in advance.

Prepare for sending troops in early spring next year.

He was powerless in Qin State, so instead of worrying about it, he should just do his job well.

Zhu Gaochi of Yan State was different. He had the opportunity to send troops to support Qin State.

In fact, he did so and dispatched an army led by Zhang Fu to support Zhu Chong.

But Timur had already considered this and sent his third son, Miran Shah, to guard the Khyber Pass.

As mentioned before, outside the Khyber Pass is grassland, but inside is a barren land stretching for hundreds of miles.

It is easy for outsiders to occupy this place. They can fight if they want to, and withdraw if they don’t want to.

The subcontinent is in trouble. The hundred-mile uninhabited area is the biggest enemy. Such a vital place is useless in defense.

This is the reason why the subcontinent has been invaded by enemies from here at any time in history.

Now, Yan State is facing the same situation.

Zhang Fu and his army finally crossed a hundred miles of uninhabited area, only to face the Milansha who were ready for battle.

The result is that I'm stuck here and can't move.

Therefore, facing this battle, the Qin State can only rely on itself.
-
On the eve of the war, small and medium-sized tribes flocked to the disadvantaged side, and the impact was huge and far-reaching.

Everyone will think deeply and analyze why those tribes would accompany the Qin State to "die".

The policies of the Qin State were analyzed one by one.

China's open and diverse culture is also being studied in detail.

All the questions eventually point to one answer.

The Qin State can bring the order that everyone wants.

Previously, the Qin State had been trying to promote its own system and Chinese culture, but the results were not obvious.

After all, the Han people have been away from Anxi for too long, and this place has its own unique cultural system.

The Qin State’s foothold here was too short to influence the deeply rooted local ideas.

However, this upcoming war unexpectedly helped Qin complete this task.

As we all know, it is easy to believe in what you study.

When these people began to actively study Chinese civilization, Chinese thought quietly entered into their midst.

However, in order to truly achieve ideological change, Qin needs to make more efforts.

For example, opening a school, etc.

These are all things for the future, and for now the Qin State needs to get through this difficult time. The surrender of so many tribes has greatly boosted the morale of the Qin State and its allies.

If others are willing to believe us, what do we have to fear?
The people's hearts, which had been somewhat unstable within the Qin State, quickly calmed down.

The whole country began to move around this war, and more young and strong people took the initiative to join the army.

Those with strong combat effectiveness were incorporated into the baggage train.

Those who are not well trained will stay behind to assist in various tasks.

Various materials were produced and transported to the front line.

The slight unrest within the Arab and Persian states soon disappeared, and the armies quickly gathered towards the border.

Major ethnic groups such as the Turkmen and Kurds quickly unified their internal voices and sent troops to help.

By the time Timur's army arrived, hundreds of tribes had already defected to Qin.

The Qin army also had as many as 270,000 troops.

Among them, the Qin headquarters had 45,000 infantry and cavalry, the Arab and Persian troops had 80,000, and the rest were a combination of other tribes.

At least in terms of military strength, the gap with Timur's army was not that great.

When all these pieces of news were presented to Timur one by one, one can imagine how ugly his expression was.

He hated those ungrateful tribes to the core.

He swore more than once that once he defeated the Qin State, he would destroy them all.

But oaths are oaths, and the battle must be fought.

Facing his subordinates, he still showed disdain:
"They are just a mob. Among them, only the Persians and Arabs have some fighting power."

"The only ones who can pose a threat to us are the 40,000-plus people from Qin headquarters."

"As long as we defeat them, the rest won't be a problem."

What he said does make sense.

The more troops there are, the more difficult it is to command them, not to mention that the Qin coalition forces are composed of hundreds of tribes.

It is difficult to issue orders, let alone coordinate in combat.

Therefore, his subordinates were also full of confidence and felt that the Qin State could be destroyed easily.

Vytautas naturally had the same idea. The 270,000 troops of the Qin State were vulnerable to a single blow.

However, he had many questions in his mind. Why would those people choose to submit to the weak Qin State at this time?
He also heard some news and found a lot of rules and regulations about Qin and Ming Dynasty.

As a result of his research, he became even more confused.

Light taxes and levies? Love the people like your own children?
why?
Shouldn't the king and the lords take the lion's share? Why should they take the initiative to reduce taxes?

Why do you become kings?
It is only right to give some benefits to one's own citizens.

But why should we be so kind to those untouchables and foreigners who have surrendered?

Especially the "citizens" of Qin, why didn't they stand up and resist?

In Western countries, if the monarch dared to allow slaves to enjoy the rights of "citizens", the citizens would have been unwilling to do so.

Those noble lords would not agree to this either, as it infringes upon their interests.

But in Qin and Ming Dynasty, this seems to be very normal.

Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, it seemed that the monarch had absolute power, while the power of the nobles was squeezed to the point where there was little left.

They were more hereditary bureaucrats than aristocrats.

It's so strange that those people didn't stand up and resist.

In short, he was full of confusion and doubt about everything from China.
-
Unlike all of them, Hugrut became even more silent.

After Timur ceded Golden Horde lands to Vytautas without his consent and allied with him, he became much quieter.

Timur knew why.

He attached great importance to Huglut, personally appeased him and promised again that he would compensate him in other ways.

Hugrut also wanted to understand the other party, but the thorn in his heart made him unable to ignore it.

He couldn't help but wonder whether Timur regarded him as one of his own.
If Timur dares to cede the land of the Golden Horde without his permission today, will he sell him out directly tomorrow?

If Timur remained strong, he could only comfort himself and dare not have any other ideas.

After all, fists are the hard truth.

But the Qin State contacted him.

The connection between Qin State and him actually happened a long time ago.

Specifically, it was Toghto Mishi who restored the throne. After he was forced to step down, the Qin State sent people to contact him.

He had no intention of betraying Timur, so he was very dissatisfied with the Qin State.

However, the State of Qin did not make any demands for interests at that time, it just simply wanted to do business with him.

And he did need luxury goods from Qin and Ming to win over and appease the nobles who were loyal to him.

The relationship between the two sides was maintained in this way.

Everything changed until recently, when Timur formed an alliance with Vytautas without telling him.

Qin seemed to have noticed his thoughts and chose to confront him directly.

Timur is in this situation, and you are still loyal to him?
Aren’t you afraid of being sold out by him?
Who is Timur? In terms of bloodline, he is not a descendant of Genghis Khan.

But you are the orthodox descendant of Genghis Khan, with the blood of the Golden Family flowing in your veins. Are you willing to be inferior to him like this?
The Ming Dynasty conquered all the barbarians with its power, and Timur was just a grasshopper in autumn.

The Ming Dynasty recognized the historical status of Temujin and also recognized the historical status of the Mongols.

The book "Chinese Civilization" clearly states that the Han people and the Mongols are brothers, and the Mongols were a small clan that ruled the world.

Even if we are enemies, it is an internal conflict among brothers. How can we collude with foreign races?
As the saying goes, brothers quarrel outside the wall to defend against insults.

Timur's alliance with Vytautas was morally dishonest.

What's more, he is generous to others and uses your land to please foreigners...

These lobbying words are not very clever.

In the past, Hugrut would not have cared at all, and would even have laughed at Qin for being crazy.

But things are different now.

These words were like hammers, hitting the thorn in his heart again and again, making the thorn pierce deeper and more painful.

However, he also had his own concerns. Timur was too powerful, and the Ming Dynasty was too far away from Anxi.

Perhaps the Ming Dynasty will be able to destroy Timur in the future, but if I resist, I will be killed immediately.

What’s the point if the Ming Dynasty attacks us in the future?
Burn paper on your own grave?
Therefore, he did not agree to Qin's lobbying.

However, the lobbyist was not captured or driven away, but allowed to stay while hiding his identity.

After that, he began to collect all the information about the Ming Dynasty.

It was not difficult to collect intelligence on the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the merchants who came and went, his tribe had taken in many people who had fled from the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

It’s just that he was busy with internal power struggles before and was not interested in the Ming Dynasty, nor did he learn about it in detail.

All we know is that the Ming Dynasty was very strong and seemed to be undergoing internal reforms, and that's all.

At this time he wanted to know, and various detailed information was quickly gathered.

I also gained a better understanding of the situation in the Ming Dynasty.

In general, his feelings can be described in one sentence:
The Ming Dynasty is indeed the Celestial Empire.

Then he learned that the Ming Dynasty adopted a feudal system, which enfeoffed nobles overseas.

As the head of a country, he naturally knew the benefits of doing so.

The lands that the imperial court could not directly rule were granted to meritorious officials.

It not only achieved effective rule over the land, but also eliminated the threat posed by the noble group to the regime and boosted military morale.

It can be said to serve multiple purposes.

Then he also learned that the Prince of Yan of the Ming Dynasty was sealed in Sindhu.

At present, Yan State has occupied most of the land of Shentu and even sent an army to try to support Qin State.

But he was blocked by Milan Shah at the Khyber Pass.

After seeing this information, Hugrut fell silent again.

How could he not know what it meant for Yan State to occupy Sindhu?

Timur will face pressure from three sides of the Ming Dynasty.

No wonder he formed an alliance with Vytautas, and no wonder he was so anxious to destroy Qin.

Because this is his only way out.

But, can we really break the impasse?
Not to mention whether we can defeat Qin, what would happen even if we defeated it?

Zhu Chong could easily withdraw his main force from the sea.

Even if Zhu Chong was eliminated, what chances would Timur have of winning against the Ming Hexi Army and the Yan army?

The key point is that Timur has not told him such important information until now.

This shows that he is not trusted.

The thorn in my heart pierced deeper.

But Hugrut still did not make a choice.

After all, no matter how good the Ming Dynasty is, it is thousands of miles away. For now, we still have to depend on Timur's mood in Anxi.

It was not until he heard that countless small and medium-sized tribes, after learning the news of Timur's expedition against Qin, actually took the initiative to surrender to Qin.

The shock this information brought to him was unparalleled.

What made these small tribes prefer to die with the Qin State rather than accept Timur's rule?

Those small tribes dared to resist, so what were you afraid of?
As the saying goes, he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Can Timur really defeat the Qin State that has the support of the people?
At this moment, the scale in his heart finally began to tilt.

When the Qin lobbyists lobbied again, he said:
"You are not worthy enough to discuss an alliance with me."

The messenger was stunned at first, then said in ecstasy:

"Great Khan, please wait for a few days. I will send a message to the country."

Soon Zhu Chong received the information, and he said happily:
"This battle is won."

"Yunniang, you have made another great contribution."

Liu Yunniang said modestly: "It's all thanks to your wisdom, Your Majesty. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have thought of sending someone to contact Hugrut, and there wouldn't be any gains today."

Zhu Chong laughed and said, "Haha, don't be so modest. When you defeat Timur, I will reward you handsomely."

After that, everyone discussed it and sent Fu Zheng, the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, to negotiate.

When Hugrut learned that he was Fu Youde's son, he attached great importance to him and personally hosted a banquet to entertain him.

After that, the two talked in secret for a long time and finally reached an agreement.

Hugrut's request was simple: the Ming Dynasty should recognize the Golden Horde as a vassal state and enthrone his line as the leader of the Golden Horde.

From now on, only his direct descendants can be enthroned as the king.

If countries such as Lithuania and the Principality of Rus attacked the Golden Horde, Qin must send troops to help.

There were some economic agreements afterwards.

Overall, the agreement is fair.

Fu Zheng did not expect things to go so smoothly. He thought Hugrut would take the opportunity to blackmail him and make excessive demands.

Unexpectedly, the other party was very sincere and the conditions they proposed were very reasonable.

This made him feel good about Huglut and full of confidence in future cooperation.

(End of this chapter)