Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

At the same time as Dongjiang Town sent out troops, Man Gui's memorial requesting the dispatch of troops was also received.

Advancing from both the east and west was the established strategy of the imperial court.

However, it was not in the court's plan for Man Gui, the person in charge of the Xuan-Da defense line, to go on the expedition.

After receiving the memorial, Zhu Youjian immediately convened a meeting of the Privy Council, showing sufficient respect for this number one military commander:
"You have all seen Man Gui's memorial requesting the dispatch of troops."

"Whatever you think, just speak freely."

Zhu Xieyuan was the commander-in-chief of the Great Wall, and the Xuanda area was also under his jurisdiction. He was the first to express his opinion on this, saying:

"The Xuanda defense line is of vital importance. I think we should reject Man Gui's request."

"Still according to the planned plan, the troops will be led by the fierce tiger."

Yuan Keli, who concurrently served as Chief of Staff, did not follow the staff's plan at this time and said to his ministers:

"Man Gui is good at attacking, and he can't bring out his abilities if he stays in the Xuanda defense line."

"Moreover, Lin Danhan is unruly. Without a general of sufficient rank, it would be difficult to restrain him."

"I think we can let Man Gui lead a battalion of 5,000 men to lead the grassland coalition army to the battle."

Qin Shiwen, the Minister of Border Defense and former governor of Xuanfu, also said:

"After recruiting Lin Danhan, the Xuanda area is no longer under such great pressure, and there is no need to keep a brave general like Man Gui to defend it."

"And his reputation is more suitable for the grassland."

"I think that Hei Yunlong and Jin Guofeng are enough to defend Xuanda, and there is no need for Man Gui to stay behind."

Most of the other privy ministers also agreed with Man Gui's decision to send troops, and were very concerned about the grassland coalition that Man Gui mentioned.

Obviously, most of them did not trust Ligdan Khan, but believed more in the coalition forces organized by Man Gui.

Zhu Youjian was also tempted, but he distrusted Ligdan Khan even more than the other privy ministers. He was worried that the soldiers led by Mangui might be sold out by Ligdan Khan, so he would flee and leave Mangui to fight the Jianlu.

Therefore, he did not want Man Gui to lead a large number of Ming troops out of the border. After thinking about it, he finally said:

"Let Man Gui select 3,000 elite troops to go to the border, and let Meng Ruhu recruit 3,000 men from the grassland for reorganization."

"These 6,000 men are Man Gui's main force. Let the other forces decide how many to contribute as soon as possible."

"Tell them that the imperial court will not take a single cent of the spoils from this expedition."

"If they have made contributions, there will be rewards. Titles and rewards are waiting for them."

Then he said to Shi Fenglai:

"Send an order to Liaodong to transfer Zhu Mei to Xuanda to temporarily take over the post of Great Wall Commander and take over the 2,000 Fu Biao left by Man Gui."

"The Liaodong Vanguard General is disbanded, and frontline affairs will be under the charge of Admiral You Shilu."

"Then transfer General Jin Guofeng from Xuanfu to take over Zhu Mei's previous position as deputy commander."

With this exchange, the generals in the Xuanda area seemed much stronger.

Moreover, transferring Zhu Mei, the only general from Liaodong, was also in line with the court's strategy to suppress the Liaodong generals.

All the Privy Councilors knew this strategy and agreed with it.

Moreover, Zhu Mei started out as a guerrilla fighter and was quite famous on the grassland.

Promoting him from general to acting admiral can really not be considered unfair treatment.

I believe the Liaodong generals have nothing to say.

The plan was decided, and the Privy Council immediately adjusted the battle plan, allowing Man Gui to lead the grassland coalition forces and march north with Ligdan Khan.

Zhu Youjian also specifically reminded him to be careful of Lin Danhan and not to be careless and get killed by others -

Sometimes the most dangerous person is not the enemy, but the so-called teammate.

Historically, Man Gui's death was confusing and it was said to be related to the behavior of some teammates.

At the same time as Man Gui went on the expedition, Hu Dawei had already led the coalition forces of the Harashen tribe to sweep away the tribes that were affiliated with the Jianlu.

Similar to its strategy against the grassland coalition forces, the Ming court did not take a penny of the captured spoils, but instead distributed the merits of war to various tribes.

After receiving people, cattle, sheep, and property, the tribes praised the Ming Dynasty highly and agreed to build Chengde City, which the Ming Dynasty was planning to build.

Hu Dawei therefore recruited some grassland people and stationed them at the confluence of the Luan River and the Wulie River, looking for a suitable place for building a city in the future.

It can be said that he also formed a small tribe on the grassland, and received the emperor's promise that he would have a fiefdom near Chengde in the future.

The two armies on the grassland, plus the two Ming armies in Dongjiang and Lushun, meant that there were four armies dispatched at once, and they launched an attack on the Jianlu at the same time in May.

Huang Taiji, who was still fighting smallpox in Shenyang, would soon realize that war was raging in various parts of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Moreover, not only these four armies were dispatched, but the General Staff's plan of setting up a ten-sided network, in addition to the two main defenses of Liaodong and the Great Wall, also included the Andong Protectorate, Ningyuan Earldom, Jiangling Principality, and the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River. After the spring thaw, they were also preparing to attack.
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Zhang Tongchang of Jiangling Principality, after experiencing the coldest winter, finally returned to the capital with the help of his cousin Zhang Tongkui.

Returning with him were the soldiers of Gao Yingxiang's team and the beauty presented by Zhang Xianzhong -

This beauty was not only extremely beautiful, but also a noble lady of the Khorchin tribe.

When the Ming Dynasty wanted to recruit the Khorchin tribe, she was a ready-made link.

So when Zhang Tongchang knew her identity, he took her very seriously and not only arranged a separate room for her on the ship, but also arranged a maid for her.

If it weren't for the "Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions" stipulating "Do not accept gifts from ministers", he would have wanted to take this woman from Zhang Xianzhong and present her as his own.

At this time, he already had a premonition that this woman would be very popular because of her appearance and status.

This idea was further deepened after encountering the North Korean fleet.

There was not only the crown prince in the Korean fleet, but also tribute girls presented by Korea.

This reminded him that Jiangling Principality was also a vassal state. Could it offer some women as tribute girls?
Some ministers with integrity were unwilling to do such things, but for him, it did not hinder him at all.

After all, he is a nobleman and relies entirely on the emperor's trust.

Even Hong Chengchou selected some beauties for the emperor in the name of helping Korea select tribute girls.

How many people would not be willing to do so if it could bring them closer to the emperor?

Therefore, after returning to the capital, Zhang Tongchang quickly sent the woman to Tsinghua Garden to stay with the beauties offered from the grassland.

Zhu Youjian didn't care much about this at first, but when Zhang Tongchang specifically mentioned her and pointed out her identity during the audience, he suddenly became interested:
"Lady of the Khorchin tribe, so you and Zhang Xianzhong both think that the Khorchin tribe can be won over."

"These are die-hard supporters of the Jianlu. How can we get them to surrender to the Ming Dynasty?"

We have some understanding of the special relationship between the Jianlu and the Khorchin tribes. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, many concubines were from the Khorchin tribe.

He didn't think that the Khorchin tribe could be won over by the Ming Dynasty just because of a noble lady.

Zhang Tongchang heard this and said:
"It didn't work in the past, but I can't say for sure in the future."

"Gao Yingxiang and his men have set up camp on the north bank of the Heilongjiang River, and have been sending out troops to plunder the Khorchin tribe from time to time."

"The Khorchin tribe was overwhelmed by the harassment and sent out troops to clear out the enemy in the early spring, but Gao Yingxiang's troops used the Heilongjiang River to stop them."

"Now the Khorchin tribe can no longer capture Gao Yingxiang and his men, and can only passively defend themselves."

"If this continues, the Khorchin tribe will definitely seek peace."

Hearing that Gao Yingxiang had led his troops to achieve such great results, Zhu Youjian was extremely delighted and immediately ordered:
"Promote Gao Yingxiang to lieutenant general and allow the establishment of a lieutenant general camp."

"After he established himself in the Heilongjiang area, he was awarded the Black Dragon Flag and his troops were called the Black Dragon Camp."

"Allow him to recruit soldiers and expand in the Heilongjiang area."

This was Gao Yingxiang's biggest request. Zhang Tongchang was very happy for him when he heard that the emperor agreed. With the Black Dragon Camp upstream, his pressure downstream was much less.

So he spoke up for Gao Yingxiang again:

"Gao Yingxiang sent his nephew Li Zicheng back to ask for permission to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers."

"Shaanxi is currently relocating its population. Will you agree to this?"

Zhu Youjian was just thinking about moving the unstable elements out of Shaanxi, so he immediately agreed:
"Let him recruit as many as he wants."

"But you must report your move and avoid causing any trouble along the way."

As he spoke, he thought of Zhang Xianzhong, who was known as Li Zicheng, and asked:

"The beauty from the Khorchin tribe was presented to us by Zhang Xianzhong through you."

"If he has any request, he can just tell me directly!"

Zhang Tongchang then said:
"Zhang Xianzhong was unwilling to be outdone and wanted to set up his own battalion."

"He also has his own men who are back to recruit soldiers this time."

Even the recruiters were sent back, indicating that Zhang Xianzhong had made up his mind to establish himself.

From this we can see this person's rebellious nature.

In fact, Zhang Tongchang also saw this, and he had tried to recruit Zhang Xianzhong last year.

The result was naturally a failure, as this person was not lured to the Principality of Jiangling.

So when Zhang Xianzhong entrusted him to present the beauty to the emperor, he thought about taking her away from him.

Zhang Xianzhong's request was never mentioned to the emperor.

He didn't say it until the emperor mentioned it.

Zhu Youjian also frowned at Zhang Xianzhong's behavior of asking for an official position, and for a moment he even wanted to get rid of this scourge.

But thinking that the other party was sincerely offering him a beauty and had not shown any rebellious intentions, he finally said:
"Zhang Xianzhong's request can be granted. I allow him to establish the Daxi Camp as a guerrilla general."

"Let him continue to explore the west and recruit troops and appoint his own officers."

Zhang Tongchang was somewhat surprised and asked:
"Leave him completely independent, without any restrictions?"

Zhu Youjian said with certainty:

"This person is extremely unruly and cannot be restrained. It will only increase resentment."

"Let him do what he wants and see if he can snatch the North Sea where Su Wu grazed his sheep from the Mongols and Russians."

"If he succeeds, I will confer a title on him and allow him to establish a fiefdom."

This is his attitude towards Zhang Xianzhong. If he wants to cause trouble, he can go to the West, but as long as he doesn't interfere with the Ming Dynasty, he can just go there.

At worst, we can make Zhang Xianzhong a king in the future and let him establish the Great Western Kingdom.

This attitude made Zhang Tongchang even more wary of Zhang Xianzhong.

Even the emperor thought that this man was uncontrollable, so of course he had to be careful in the future.

In particular, he was responsible for military deployment in the Heilongjiang area and was nominally Zhang Xianzhong's superior.

Then you should pay more attention to avoid being implicated by him in the future.

After discussing these things, Zhu Youjian highly praised Zhang Tongchang's development in Heilongjiang, and encouraged him to build good relations with the Jurchens and Mongols there, and even recruit soldiers from them to fight against the Jianlu.

As far as he knew, the Solon tribe, which later supported the combat power of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, seemed to be in the Heilongjiang area.

If the Ming Dynasty recruited the Saurons in advance, it would have an extra force.

It can be said that Zhu Youjian attached great importance to the Heilongjiang area, and even paid attention to the income of the Principality of Jiangling, so as to prevent Zhang Tongchang from being unable to hold on.

Zhang Tongchang is indeed in urgent need of profits now. Last year, he organized a fleet to the north and has exhausted the Zhang family's savings.

After the emperor asked, he immediately requested to cooperate with the inner court enterprises to sell furs, oriental pearls and ginseng.

This was also the main export commodity of the Jianlu. It has now been listed as a controlled commodity by the imperial court, and a special tax on luxury products is levied.

Without special permission, it cannot be sold privately.

Zhang Tongchang did not want to be impeached and planned to cooperate with the inner court enterprises.

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and asked Zhang Tongchang to cooperate with the Royal Trading Company, which was originally the Baohe Six Stores. Now it has been divided into categories and is responsible for different businesses.

Among them, Baohe and Baoyan stores focus on luxury goods, mainly selling jewelry, medicinal materials and wine.

Shunning and Heyuan stores focused on furs and livestock and were mainly responsible for trade on the grasslands.

The Fude and Fuji stores were transformed into department stores, selling a variety of products from inner court enterprises and royal suppliers.

Each store also competes differently, responsible for high-end and mid-to-high-end products. Successful imperial stores will be the first to be upgraded to commercial banks and expand to the entire Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chaoyong, who was in charge of the Royal Commercial Bank, was very attentive to this. Since he took charge of the Baohe Six Stores, he had always been able to make a profit.

He even requested the emperor to transform Shunning Imperial Store into a trading company first and run it jointly with the Shuntian nobles on the grassland.

This allowed him to win over many powerful people on the grassland, and was also the reason why Man Gui was able to form the grassland coalition so smoothly.

Zhu Youjian briefly explained the situation of the Royal Trading Company and asked Zhang Tongchang and Wang Chaoyong to discuss the matter.

Then he asked Zhang Tongchang:

"There are many Jurchens and Mongols in the Heilongjiang area. Do they have many horses?"

"Now the Patrol Battalion is going to form a cavalry battalion, and Changping Town is also going to form a cavalry battalion."

"Can your Jiangling Principality purchase some horses?"

Given the current relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the grasslands, it should not be short of horses. However, Zhu Youjian wanted to support the Jiangling Principality, so he naturally had to give him policies.

At the same time, horses from the Heilongjiang area were also used to lower prices to prevent the grassland people from raising prices arbitrarily.

Zhang Tongchang was somewhat embarrassed when he heard this and said:

"The mountains are high and the forests are dense in the Temple Street area, so there aren't as many horses as there are on the grasslands."

"There are even fewer suitable war horses, and they need to be specially bred."

"If you want to buy horses, you need to exchange them from the Khorchin tribe."

Zhu Youjian didn't care much and said:
"It's good to have horses. They don't have to be war horses. As long as they can run, it's good."

"The Patrol Battalion needs to form mounted infantry, and the Chariot Battalion also needs horses to draw carriages."

"The army needs many types of horses. Jiangling Principality should have suitable ones."

"Even if there are a lot of mountains and forests over at Temple Street, Kuwu Island is so large that there should be grasslands suitable for raising horses."

"You need to send more people to look for horses and develop the horse breeding industry."

"The Ming Dynasty will need millions or tens of millions of horses in the future. Don't worry about not being able to sell the horses you raise."

He pointed out the places where the Ming Dynasty needed horses, and specifically mentioned horse-drawn trams. He encouraged Zhang Tongchang to develop horse breeding to compete with the horses on the grassland.

Finally, he also mentioned oil and asked Zhang Tongchang to send people to search for oil seedlings on Kuwu Island together with the people from the Royal Energy Group.

He remembered that the oil fields on this island were discovered a long time ago, and there were ready-made oil and gas seeps just like on Sumatra. As long as they looked carefully, they should be able to find them.

If we can find oil to refine kerosene and heavy oil, it will be another source of income for Jiangling Principality, allowing Zhang Tongchang to have more power to support the Liaodong war. (End of this chapter)