The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 363: Rebuilding Nurgan

Nurgancheng.

The former main city of Nurgandusi.

Tang Hao looked at the deserted city and felt a little tired.

This joint land and sea operation by the Ming Dynasty, with the cooperation of Korea, took half a year and successfully massacred the three major Jurchen tribes.

The Jianzhou Jurchens were once slaughtered to the point of being wiped out. Even because of Tang Hao's call for a bounty, many Mongolian tribes also joined in the encirclement and suppression of the Jianzhou Jurchens. After all, the head of a Jianzhou Jurchen could be exchanged for an iron pot in the market. For the unproductive Mongolian tribes, it was a huge profit!

Under the joint attack of the three parties, the Jurchens had no power to resist at all. Tribes were slaughtered one after another, and young and strong men fell in a pool of blood.

As for the remaining elderly, weak, women and children, most of them were captured by the Mongols, while a small number were gathered together and thrown directly to the Korean Army to be dealt with at their will.

After half a year of fierce fighting, Tang Hao was also a little tired, not to mention the soldiers of the three armed forces who were responsible for the main combat tasks.

This kind of fatigue is not only physical, but also mental.

After a long period of bloody killing, especially the massacre of the elderly, the weak, women and children, the soldiers of the three armies gradually became numb.

The North Korean army couldn't help but tremble with fear when they saw this change.

After all, they had never seen such a bloody, brutal and disciplined terrorist army!
Fortunately, they are Ming Dynasty’s allies, and always have been!
Therefore, after arriving at the site of the old city of Nurgan, Tang Hao immediately ordered the army to rest for half a month and held a grand celebration banquet to appease the soldiers of the three armies.

Thanks to the gold, silver, jewelry, cattle, sheep and horses seized from the Jurchen tribe, cattle and sheep were slaughtered at the banquet and people drank and had fun. The soldiers finally smiled and got drunk.

Alcohol is prohibited in the military during wartime. This is a ban.

However, the situation this time is special. If the soldiers of the three armies are not allowed to relax for a moment, their tense nerves will break in an instant, and if so, terrible incidents such as mutiny and camp bombing will occur, which will be troublesome for themselves.

Generals such as Tang Hao, Tang Mu, Zuo Yidao and others were all here, as well as Nam Gun and Li Ju from the Korean Front Army.

Nan Gun took the initiative to pick up the wine glass and tried to show goodwill to the Ming Dynasty Zhongshan Marquis.

After all, the domestic situation in North Korea was complicated. With the support of Zhongshan Hou Tang Hao, Cui Dam was in charge of the East China Sea trade. Yi Yue became the leader of the old meritorious forces and held a high position of power. Even Nan Gun and others were far inferior to him.

But before Cui Tan made friends with the Ming Dynasty's Zhongshan Marquis, he was just a governor of Jeju and was squeezed out of the court.

This meteoric rise to fame all came from the Marquis of Zhongshan in the Ming Dynasty.

Nan Gun thought that he had good family background and talents, so he also hoped to gain the friendship of the Ming Dynasty's Zhongshan Marquis.

Otherwise, Nan Gun would not have personally led the army to fight.

"Lord Tang, we fought to the utmost in this battle and completely wiped out the Jurchen barbarians, all thanks to Lord Tang's wise command!"

The flattery was not very clever, but it made the listener smile.

Tang Hao glanced at Nan Gun, then also picked up the wine glass.

"That's not right!"

"This battle is all thanks to the heroes of the three armies!"

"Drink this cup to its full extent, in return for his service!"

Soldiers from all three armies echoed the words one after another, and the atmosphere of the banquet immediately reached a climax.

Tang Hao also saw Nan Gun's initiative to show goodwill, but the East China Sea trade was handed over to Cui Tan based on the overall situation. There was no need to create a political enemy for Cui Tan.

As long as Cui Tan obeys, that's enough.

Of course, if he doesn't obey, Tang Hao has plenty of ways to deal with him.

Soon the banquet was over, and Tang Hao summoned a group of generals to the central military tent.

"The campaign against the Jurchens can basically come to an end here."

"After this encirclement and suppression, only one in ten Jurchens survived, and all the young and strong men were killed. It is difficult for them to survive in the future."

"But our mission is not over yet."

Tang Hao looked at the generals and spoke with a smile.

"The first one is this Nurgan Dusi!"

"Liaodong is geographically very important. It is an important part of controlling the Mongolian grasslands. Using Liaodong to clamp down on the left wing of Mongolia is an important national policy of the Ming Dynasty for border defense." "Moreover, Liaodong also has the strategic significance of protecting the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing. North Korea must also go through Liaodong when paying tribute. Therefore, whether from the perspective of military, border defense, or diplomacy, Liaodong is an important frontier town of the Ming Dynasty."

"Once the Liaodong region is not peaceful, the rule of our Ming Dynasty will also be unstable, so how to manage Liaodong has become an imminent problem for the court!"

On the geomancy map, Tang Hao circled Liaodong.

"But when it comes to managing Liaodong, we have to mention the Nurgan Regional Military Commission."

"The vast area of ​​Nurgan is indeed a key place, and is no less important than the Western Regions."

"The Nurgan Regional Command stretches from the Greater Khingan Range to southern Liaoning, which is equivalent to the right wing of our Ming Empire. The right wing of the Nurgan Regional Command bears almost the same important military significance as the Western Regions. The direct cooperation between the right wing and the Ming Empire can not only threaten the Mongolian regime in the grasslands, but also effectively broaden the strategic depth of the Liaoxi Corridor to ensure the safety of the capital."

"In addition, now that the Ming Dynasty has conquered Japan, we can restore the Silk Road in Northeast Asia that Bohai State had established during the Tang Dynasty. This is because there are a large number of barbarian tribes in the Heilongjiang River estuary, Kamchatka Peninsula, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and even Hokkaido. They will come here to trade. Although the economic value is not worth mentioning, it will obviously help enhance the influence of the Ming Dynasty here."

All the generals' eyes lit up and they stared at Tang Hao with burning eyes.

"So, if our Ming Dynasty can continue to develop and cultivate this vast land of Nurganwei, the benefits will be far beyond imagination!"

"First, the Ming Dynasty can maintain military suppression of the Mongolian tribes from the right wing and the front to prevent the barbarians from the grassland from easily leading a large army to attack the capital. Second, if we cultivate the Nurgan Guard, we can recruit the brave warriors from these places and use them for our own use, which will effectively supplement our Ming Dynasty cavalry. Third, if the Nurgan Guard can become a self-sufficient cultivated land after deep cultivation, then the territory of our Ming Dynasty will expand a lot in an instant..."

Nurgandusi is a vast and fertile land, and also a strategic location.

In the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhu Di, he ordered eunuch Yishiha and others to lead more than a thousand soldiers and 25 large ships to escort officials including Kangwang to Telin on the other side of the Henggun River estuary to officially open the Nurgan Regional Administration.

Even Zhu Di repeatedly emphasized that the Heilongjiang River basin was the "key place", and Yishiha was ordered to go to Beihai nine times. During this period, the Ming Dynasty built a shipyard on the Songhua River and recruited a number of Jurchen tribes through the tributary system.

However, Emperors Renzong and Xuanzong began to work on the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty and abandoned the policy of military conquest against Mongolia. They maintained the tributary relationship with Mongolia through a series of diplomatic and economic means. Although Mongolia was still in a state of division, it contained factors for unification. In addition, the country was too busy unifying Mongolia to have time to look south.

Under these circumstances, both sides tried their best to maintain peaceful and friendly relations.

In addition, after Emperors Renzong and Xuanzong abandoned the policy of military conquest, they began to undertake strategic contraction, abandoning Annan, relocating Nurgan, and disbanding the personnel who had gone to the West.

The inaction policy of Emperors Renzong and Xuanzong towards Mongolia's military affairs created a strong external environment for the formation of a unified Mongolia and laid the groundwork for the Battle of Tumu. The northern barbarians, who had long threatened the Ming Dynasty with the Hetao region, also emerged after the Battle of Tumu.

It has to be admitted that Emperor Yongle's extreme expansion placed a certain burden on the finances, and border affairs also made the court quite complicated. Zhu Zhanji often dealt with this in the simplest way, which was to give up directly.

There were two Zhili provinces and fourteen provincial administrative commissions in the Ming Dynasty. After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he directly abandoned the provincial administrative commission of Jiaozhi and returned it to the people of Annan.

In the northeast direction, the territory was expanded very far during the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhu Di, and the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was established at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, with its jurisdiction extending as far as southern Siberia. The area in the far north was bitterly cold and the roads were inconvenient. By the end of the Xuande period, Zhu Zhanji gave up the plan to expand Siberia and moved the Nurgan Regional Military Commission to Sanwanwei (Kaiyuan, Liaoning).

As a result, the expansion of the Ming Empire in the northeast stagnated, and it generally directly managed Liaoning, while ruling the Jurchen tribes to the east and north through the vassal garrison system.

The end result was that under the rule of the羈縻卫所, the Jurchen tribes grew stronger step by step by exchanging resources for trade with the Ming Dynasty, while the Ming Dynasty was on the decline and was eventually stolen by the Jianzhou wild boar skin.

Zhu Zhanji, the good and holy grandson of Emperor Yongle, was worthy of being a wise monarch in terms of civil administration, but his military achievements were not up to par. He even caused many hidden dangers of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty abandoned Jiaozhi and stopped Zheng He's voyages. As a result, the ruling power of the Ming Dynasty in the Southeast Asian countries declined sharply, and the overseas tribute system built by Zheng He throughout his life's travels across the oceans collapsed.

Giving up on governing the Northeast and moving the Nurgan Regional Military Commission inland, the Ming Dynasty directly gave such a vast and fertile land as Nurgan to the Mongols and the Jurchens. As a result, the Northeast became a hotbed for the rise of the Jurchens. In the end, the Ming Dynasty paid a heavy price for this and directly lost its country!

It is indeed difficult to evaluate Emperor Xuanzong.

"By the same token, the Western Regions are the left wing of our Ming Empire."

"In terms of military, the Ming Dynasty could send troops from the right wing of the Western Regions to deter the grassland regime and reduce the military pressure on the dynasty. After the war broke out, the dual military deterrence on the flanks and the front made the grassland regime lose sight of the big picture. In terms of economy, the Western Regions were also an important part of the Silk Road. The Ming Dynasty could not only exchange what it had with the West through the Silk Road, but also collect substantial taxes."

"So the Western Regions and Nurgan Guard have the same strategic value, and the Ming Dynasty cannot do without them."

"Of course, for Nurganwei, economic taxes are a minor matter. What's important is the strategic value. After firmly controlling this place, the court can also rebuild a shipyard in Jiangyu, which will become a water and land transportation hub and material distribution center connecting Nurgandusi and Liaodongdusi, strengthening the connection between this remote northern area and the Ming Dynasty. In addition, it can also become one of the bases of the Ming navy, echoing the Japanese navy base. In this way, my Ming Dynasty can firmly control the maritime power of the East China Sea!"

Tang Hao looked at the generals and stated his request.

"I intend to rebuild the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, and the Emperor has also agreed. He is sending civil officials such as Guo Xun and Mao Ji to lead 10,000 soldiers."

"When Guo Xun arrives, one of you will lead the soldiers in front of you to stay in Nurgan and cooperate with the court to restore and rebuild this place!"

This time, it was Xu Tianci who took the initiative to volunteer.

This is his personality, he doesn't fight or compete, but when Tang Hao needs someone to take charge, he can rest assured and leave his back to him.

After confirming the candidate, Tang Hao immediately stood up and circled an area on the feng shui map.

There is no doubt that this is the next target of the Ming army!
And that was...Daning!
(End of this chapter)