Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with the conditions negotiated between Lu Shanji and North Korea.

After the lords were enfeoffed in both North and South Korea, the future structure was basically determined.

The Joseon royal court will become increasingly weaker as its direct territories decrease. Facing the Ming Dynasty's request, it has no choice but to agree.

Even if something unexpected happens to the Ming Dynasty in the future, Korea will not be a threat to the country.

Before it could set its sights on the Ming Dynasty, it needed to first deal with the internal lords.

Under the protection of the Ming Dynasty's Aristocratic Council, the King of Korea could not have much control over them.

The Ming Dynasty could easily mobilize them to cause trouble and prevent North Korea from threatening the outside world.

The Korean monarch and his ministers also saw clearly this consequence.

But for the ministers of Korea, they welcomed the enfeoffment of the Ming Dynasty, because for them, it meant wealth and honor for generations.

Even though the King of Korea wanted to resist, he had no choice but to surrender in the face of the reality of the invasion.

Compared to surrendering to the barbarians without knowing the consequences, the reputation of the Ming Dynasty is more secure.

Moreover, the current King of Joseon, Yi Jong, came to power by opposing Gwanghaegun's collusion with the Jianlu.

If he wanted to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, he would first be condemned by the people.

It can be said that the current situation in North Korea is the result of coincidences from all aspects.

If it weren't for the invasion of the Jianlu, it would not have been so easy for Zhu Youjian to divide the fiefdoms.

This made him feel happy thinking about it, and he was secretly proud of himself:

"So what if Huang Taiji can fight?"

"You still have to be my forerunner!"

"Without his pressure, how could North Korea surrender so easily?"

"And if this happens, the Later Jin will never be able to become Goguryeo again."

This was also the reason why Zhu Youjian forced Korea to divide and encouraged the Koreans to fight bravely.

As the Ming's military power grew stronger and the Jianlu found it difficult to move south, they would seek another way out and expand their influence to the surrounding areas.

The north is a cold and bitter place, and the Jianlu have little interest in it.

The suitable directions for development are the east and west.

Especially Korea in the east, which has a large population and land. As long as the Jianlu take it over, it will become another Goguryeo.

In order to prevent this, Zhu Youjian enfeoffed meritorious officials such as Mao Wenlong and Cui Nanyi there. He also promised the Joseon generals that they could obtain titles and fiefs if they made meritorious contributions. Even if they could not become barons, it would not be difficult for them to become hereditary knights.

Under this temptation, capable people in Korea would certainly resist resolutely. The Jianlu captured the city, but the righteous army in the rear was rising up.

As long as the Koreans persist in their resistance, the Later Jin will never be able to annex Korea or become Goguryeo.

Even because of the mountainous terrain of Korea, it is very suitable for ambushes. With the new fire guns and ammunition supported by the Ming Dynasty, it will become a place where the Jianlu will bleed.

In this way, the Jianlu might turn westward in the future and seek to conquer the Mongols.

This was their strategy throughout history, chasing after Ligdan Khan who migrated westwards and unifying the grassland forces.

After annexing the Chahan tribe, Huang Taiji was promoted to emperor and had the strength to rule the Central Plains.

In order to prevent this, Zhu Youjian convened a joint meeting of the Privy Council and the Lifanyuan in Wuying Hall:

"How is Man Gui's grassland coalition army doing?"

"Are you still near Chengde?"

This was an arrangement he had made earlier to prevent the Jianlu from threatening northern Zhili via the grassland.

Zhu Xieyuan, the commander of the Great Wall, said:

"General Man has been trying his best to restrain the grassland cavalry, but some tribes have been leaving one after another."

"Moreover, some grassland people are quite unruly and even want to go south to harass the Great Wall area."

"The Great Wall has been put on alert to prevent their invasion."

This was a side effect of Zhu Youjian's summoning of Mongolian cavalry.

The Ming Dynasty is still unable to completely control the various grassland tribes. For some unknown reason, some grassland cavalry even want to run wild in the Great Wall area.

If Man Gui had not stopped it in time after receiving the news, big trouble might have occurred.

When some officials in the court learned about this, they were quite worried. They kept impeaching Man Gui and suggested dispersing these cavalrymen.

After Jianlu turned to invade Korea, there was no possibility of invading northern Zhili this year. These officials immediately disliked the grassland coalition army and wanted them to disperse as soon as possible.

However, Zhu Youjian kept them for his own use, and asked the Minister of Logistics Min Mengde:
"Have you prepared the rewards and supplies I promised you before?"

"If there is a shortage, find the local guard post's warehouse to replenish it."

Min Mengde agreed very readily this time and replied:

"The old weapons in the warehouse have begun to be refurbished and repaired."

"In addition to the armor that Your Majesty ordered, we also prepared iron pots and other items."

Zhu Youjian nodded, knowing that a mere 5,000 sets of armor would not be difficult at all for the Ming Dynasty.

After deciding that the entire army would switch to firearms and producing arrow-shaped bullets and rifled muskets, not only did Zhu Youjian know that iron armor would not be of much use in the future, but many officials in the Privy Council also shared this understanding.

Many soldiers of the patrol camp said that armor was useless against muskets. Even the newly recruited musketeers from Korea were not given armor at all, so that they could run and ambush in the mountains and forests more easily.

Therefore, the iron armor in the Ming Dynasty's stockpile was not valued and was taken away by Zhu Youjian to be given to the grassland people to enhance their strength.

After selling 5,000 pairs to the nobles of the Chahan tribe such as Lin Danhan and 2,000 pairs to the nobles of the Shunyi King and other tribes, Zhu Youjian ordered to take out another 5,000 pairs as a reward for the grassland soldiers.

One thousand of them were supplied to the nobles of the Chahan tribe other than Lin Danhan to make up for their losses in the Battle of Khorchin, so that they still had 3,000 sets of armor to counter the remaining 1,000 armored cavalry of Lin Danhan.

The other four thousand pairs were intended to be awarded to those who made contributions in the Battle of Khorchin. After consideration, Zhu Youjian decided to distribute two thousand pairs first.

The remaining 2,000 pairs will be distributed later, because Zhu Youjian needs them to do one thing:

"Now the Jianlu army of 40,000 to 50,000 is heading east to attack Korea, and the troops left in Liaodong are at most 20,000 to 30,000."

"I intend to send Liaodong cavalry across the Daling River to the Liaohe River area to bluff and contain these Jianlu."

"Man Gui led the grassland coalition forces to attack Naiman, Aohan and Inner Khalkha."

Pointing to the various forces on the grassland on the map, Zhu Youjian said:
"Let Nengqi, Tujin, and Daiqing send people to contact the Naiman and Aohan tribes and persuade them to surrender."

"Let Zaisai go with you to persuade the Inner Khalkha tribe."

"If they are unwilling to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, then let the grassland coalition army attack them at will, and all the captured people and livestock will belong to them."

Zasai was one of the leaders of the Inner Khalkha tribe. During the Battle of Tieling, he led 10,000 people to aid the Ming Dynasty. However, he was defeated and captured by the Jianlu. As a result, the Inner Khalkha tribe was forced to sign an alliance with the Jianlu.

Zhu Youjian took him seriously. After learning that he still had ambitions to fight against the Jianlu, he planned to make him an earl and let him persuade the Inner Khalkha tribe to surrender.

This tribe originated from the Khalkha Wanhu, belonged to the Left Wing of Mongolia, and was subordinate to Khan Tingchahan's tribe.

However, after they signed an alliance with the Jianlu, Lin Danhan felt that the tribe was disloyal to him and wanted to annex it completely. The Jianlu attacked the Inner Khalkha tribe many times because the tribe continued to collude with the Ming Dynasty after signing an alliance with them.

The last battle of Nurhaci's life was the campaign against Inner Khalkha.

After Huang Taiji became the Great Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, he also attacked the Inner Khalkha tribe.

Ligdan Khan took advantage of the situation and the Inner Khalkha tribe collapsed under the attack of two major forces, leaving only the Balin tribe and the Zalantu tribe to rely on the Jianlu.

After the destruction of the Inner Khalkha tribe, the Urut tribe and the Inner Khalkha Bayut tribe to the east of the Chahan tribe, together with the Khorchin tribe, defected to the Jianlu in the second year of the Tianqi reign.

This exposed the Chahan tribe to the attack of the Jianlu army, and the two easternmost Otog tribes of Naiman and Aohan were under the greatest pressure.

The two tribes believed in the Yellow Sect, which was incompatible with the Red Sect believed in by Ligdan Khan. Huang Taiji took the opportunity to send lamas to secretly communicate with them.

When Ligdan Khan and the Jianlu were at loggerheads, the two tribes relied on their close relationship with the Khanate and wanted Ligdan Khan to make peace with the Jianlu.

Huang Taiji took the opportunity to use a counter-espionage tactic and told Ligdan Khan about their relationship with him.

Lin Danhan was furious and led his troops to attack the Naiman and Aohan tribes. The leaders of the two tribes were unable to resist and led their men to surrender to the Jianlu.

As a result, Ligdan Khan's Khanate lost its protection and faced the Jianlu army head-on.

Lin Dan Khan did not dare to fight against the Jianlu, so he migrated westward. After defeating some of the Halashen tribes, the Ming Dynasty intervened and arranged him in the Kaiping Wei area.

Some people from the Naiman and Aohan tribes who were unwilling to surrender to the Jianlu, led by the three leaders Nengqi, Tujin and Daiqing, surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

Now these three people and Zaisai have been arranged by the Ming Dynasty on the grassland north of the Great Wall and west of the Liaoxi Corridor to serve as a barrier.

Zhu Youjian wanted to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Jianlu was in Korea and let them return to their homeland to persuade the tribes to surrender.

This way, in the future, Lin Danhan can move back to his old place and no longer stay in Kaipingwei.

While he is here, the Great Wall Army in Xuanfu and Changping must devote their energy to keeping an eye on him, lest he suddenly go crazy and turn against the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian's idea was to let Lin Dan Khan attract Huang Taiji's attention. The Ming Dynasty would occasionally organize coalition forces to help Lin Dan Khan.

Maybe we can rely on the power of Jianlu to strengthen the control over these tribes, and make these grassland tribes with Shuntian titles completely become the internal and external vassal states of the Ming Dynasty like Korea.
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When all the privy ministers heard the emperor's strategy, they all talked about it.

Most of the ministers agreed with this view, because the Ming Dynasty would remain largely unscathed regardless of victory or defeat.

If they can successfully subjugate the Mongol tribes such as Naiman, Aohan and Inner Khalkha, it will also weaken the Jianlu.

There are about 10,000 to 20,000 Mongols in the Jianlu army today, equivalent to two flags of the Jianlu.

After the Han soldiers under Li Yongfang were basically defeated, if the Mongols were brought in, the Jianlu would only have about 50,000 Jurchens left.

Zhu Youjian has been committed to this, disintegrating the power of the Jianlu and clipping the wings of the Jianlu.

The specific combat plan needs to be formulated by the General Staff. Zhu Youjian stared at the Chief of Staff Yang Sichang who was somewhat silent during the meeting and said:

"After you formulate a battle plan, you will take it with you out of the border."

"This time, I will serve as Man Gui's chief of staff and see what actual combat is like."

"You must listen more, watch more, and know what real fighting is like!"

He planned to use this small-scale battle to train Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang was very surprised when he heard this. He never expected that the emperor would suddenly ask him to go to the front line, and not even as the commander.

But after the astonishment, he was moved, because the emperor did not make any demands on him, but just asked him to watch.

Such obvious training made his mood, which had been somewhat subdued after being reprimanded, instantly heated up.

He decided to mobilize all the staff members to formulate a perfect plan and see if it could be implemented in actual combat.

After sending Yang Sichang, Zhu Youjian said to Kong Zhenyun, the deputy director of the Lifanyuan and the Minister of Internal Affairs:
"Mr. Kong, you will have to make another hard journey to the grassland as my special envoy."

"We will give them rewards as appropriate, and increase or decrease next year's trade quota based on their performance in this year's battle."

"If someone has made great contributions, they can also be canonized or promoted to a noble title."

The mission of this diplomatic mission was given to Kong Zhenyun.

In order to ensure the success of the mission, Zhu Youjian considered and asked Ji Ji to bring a team of guards to accompany him to protect Kong Zhenyun and reward the grassland coalition forces.

This bravest warrior in the world has requested to go to war several times since Cao Bianjiao went to Korea.

Zhu Youjian planned to let him protect Yang Sichang later and participate in the battle to attack Naiman and other troops.

Hu Dawei, who was fighting against the Jianlu tribe in the Harashen area, will also participate in this battle.

The troops led by him and Ai Wannian will be responsible for guarding against sneak attacks by the Jianlu, just like the troops led by Man Gui and Meng Ruhu.

However, Zhu Youjian estimated that most of the Jianlu who stayed behind were old and weak, and they might not dare to rescue at all.

Regardless of the combat effectiveness of this grassland coalition army, its number of people is indeed large.

If the Jianlu sent out their remaining elite troops, the city of Shenyang would be in danger.

The Ming army does not lack the strength to launch a surprise attack on Shenyang now.

Zhu Youjian even asked the Equipment Institute to develop secret weapons for attacking cities.

But now that the Ming Dynasty is the defending party, he asked people to keep this strictly confidential and not let it leak out at all.
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After all these were arranged, Zhu Youjian mobilized the navy.

After entering the end of October, places such as the Liaohe River estuary north of the Bohai Sea have begun to freeze, and the number of frozen areas is increasing.

The navy would not be of much use if it remained, so Zhu Youjian had already transferred some ships to Korea.

After the Liaodong coast was completely frozen, he planned to transfer the rest to fulfill his promise to the King of Korea.

However, because the Marine Corps is building Gaizhou City, it is not convenient to transfer there now.

This city that was ignored by Amin has now been built for the most part.

When Huang Taiji led his troops to Korea, he also ordered a troop to destroy it.

But he was anxious to take control of the Bordered Yellow Banner, so he did not send many soldiers. Ma Shilong and Huang Long sent out troops and built a temporary camp in the unfinished city to defend it.

They planned to make achievements by defending the city, just like they did in the Daling River defense battle.

Obviously, the outcome of the Battle of Dalingh River stimulated them.

In their eyes, He Kegang, with only one thousand Guanning soldiers and two thousand Dongning rookies, was able to hold out against the 50,000-strong Jianlu army for nearly a month.

Gaizhou City, which was also built into a bastion, obviously also has this potential.

At Ma Shilong's initiative to volunteer, Sun Chengzong decided to give this old subordinate a chance and let him and Huang Long lead a lieutenant general's battalion to defend Gaizhou City.

The 1st Marine Brigade therefore turned the fake play into reality and actually built Gaizhou City. Although they were not responsible for defending the city in the future, they had to hand over the city after it was built.

They are now speeding up construction and trying to leave here before it freezes completely.

The Privy Council also allocated various artillery and firearms, and asked He Kegang to send personnel to teach them how to defend.

It can be said that the situation in the Ming Dynasty is already very good, and there is no sense of pressure at all.

But Korea was in dire straits at this time. After Huang Taiji left Huangzhou, he led his army south to Seoul.

He wanted to capture the capital of Korea and make it submit to him in the future. (End of this chapter)