Only after getting a sense of the enemy's true strength did Li Chuangwang realize that this group was not Tartars, but a combined force of the Chahar Mongols and the Khorchin Mongols.
The Chahar Mongols had already surrendered to the Tartars, which was one thing, but it would be very bad if the Khorchin Mongols also came to assist the Tartars.
Li Chuangwang immediately halted to regroup his troops, while simultaneously reporting to the imperial court to advise caution on the southern front as well.
Although, in theory, the Tartars inviting the Mongols to come was certainly more about blocking Li Chuangwang, but what if?
The news of the Mongols aiding the Tartars put a lot of people under pressure.
The Tartars were already very difficult to deal with, especially since Qian Qianyi and others who had previously surrendered were working for them. Now, with the addition of the Mongols, it was feared that things would become even more difficult in the future.
Zhu Ci remained quite calm about this. From the very beginning, the Qing Army had been suppressing and recruiting the Mongols, the Mongols had contributed significantly during Hong Taiji's conquest.
One must realize that the current Empress Dowager of the Qing is from the Khorchin Mongols.
Fu was originally worried that the Little Emperor would be unable to sit still upon hearing this news and would bring up the matter of a Personal Expedition again.
It wasn't that he was adamant about stopping him; it was mainly because they didn't know much about the current situation of the Mongols. He wanted to let Li Chuangwang probe their true strength first. Once the Little Emperor set out on an expedition, he had to win; otherwise, the blow to morale would be even greater.
As a result, just as he stepped into the Imperial Study, the Little Emperor asked without even looking up, "Do we have anyone who can speak Mongolian?"
Although Fu did not expect him to ask such a question, he reacted quickly and said, "Yes, my caravan has once been to Guihua City."
Zhu Ci was stunned, looking up with a momentary look of confusion.
The name Guihua City was somewhat unfamiliar, but since he happened to have a map laid out before him, he asked, "Where is it?"
Fu walked over and pointed it out to him. Zhu Ci suddenly understood, "Oh, Hohhot. That makes it simple. I remember Guihua City is in the Torghut Mongols' territory, right?"
Fu vaguely guessed what Zhu Ci meant and nodded in agreement, "Yes, Your Majesty wishes to form an alliance with them?"
“No alliance. An alliance is not something that can be done lightly, but we can win them over. However, one Torghut Mongols is not enough; it would be best if we could establish contact with the Wuzhen Chao-ha Mongols of the West.”
The Wutela Mongols were actually the Oirats, as they were called during the Great Ming era, the relationship between the Great Ming and the Oirats was mostly one of hostility.
When mentioning the Oirats, not a single member of the Great Ming's monarch and ministers held them in high regard.
However, Zhu Ci's stance was relatively neutral. Currently, Great Ming did not share many borders with the Warl, but rather, there were frequent frictions between the Warl and the Qing Court.
After all, the core of the current Warlas is the Dzungar Mongols, while the rest are the Khoshut Mongols and the Torghut Mongols.
Friction between the Dzungar Mongols and the Qing Court continued until the middle of the Kangxi Era. The Khoshut Mongols had little contact with the Qing Army, but they did not have much friction either.
As for the Torghut Mongols.. they were essentially enemies of the Dzungar Mongols. Because of their conflicts with the Dzungar Mongols, they were forced to migrate westward all the way to the Volga River basin.
This was too far away; Zhu Ci's main objective was still to win over the Dzungar Mongols.
He believed that the Dzungar Mongols would also need foreign aid.
Fu Lue thought for a moment and said, "The current rulers of the Dzungar Mongols are Batur Khunbul Khos and Duoheqin. Currently, the Oirats are under his rule, this man's ability far exceeds that of his father. The Dzungar Mongols are currently dealing with Tsarist Russia and have no friction with the Tartars, furthermore, Duoheqin has pledged allegiance to the Qing Court; I fear it may not be easy."
Oh, so the friction between the Dzungar Mongols and the Qing Court should be after the Qing Court unifies the world; for now, they are still in a state of peaceful coexistence, perhaps because neither side wants to come into conflict.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: As long as you swing the hoe well, there is no corner you cannot dig out. A kitty jumps onto the hoe handle and stands on one leg like a golden cat. jpg
Next update at noon~
Chapter 197
Zhu Ci looked at Fu and asked with some curiosity, "How do you know so much about the Dzungar Mongols?"
Fu said calmly, "I had also considered trying to win over the Oirats before."
Although the relationship between the Torghut Mongols and the Great Ming was not good, they were ultimately quite familiar with each other, not to mention that the ancestors had said to make distant alliances and attack those nearby.
The Great Ming of today has little friction with the Torghut Mongols, so joining forces is not an unacceptable prospect.
However, trying to win over the current Torghut Mongols was not an easy task; after all, the main pressure the Torghut Mongols were facing now was the invasion by Tsarist Russia.
After Zhu Ci found out, he said, "That's simple. We provide him with firearms, he can help us deal with the other Mongol tribes, can't he? Does he not wish to unify the entire Mongol tribes?"
The matter of allying with the Altan Mongols was not something that Zhu Ci and Fu could decide; ultimately, it would have to be discussed through a small court meeting.
The reason it was a small court meeting was that Zhu Ci had already foreseen it would invite opposition.
As expected, many people were not very supportive, even Zhu Ci rarely expressed his concern.
Your Majesty, the Mongols are ambitious. This is a strategy to drive out the tiger by inviting the wolf, but even if it works, we must be careful that the tiger does not turn and bite us back.
Zhu Ci gave a light laugh. "Do you think a tiger can bite back just because it wants to? We can form an alliance with the Mongols now; does that mean we won't be able to ally with Tsarist Russia in the future?"
Zhu Ci frowned, "But if we sell firearms to the Mongols, wouldn't that be equivalent to nurturing a tiger to create trouble for ourselves?"
“How do you know they don't have firearms now? How can the Torghut Mongols defend themselves against Russia without firearms?” Zhu Ci said calmly, “Besides, our military equipment has already undergone a wave of upgrades; it's the perfect opportunity to sell all those previous Birdlock Guns to them.”
Nowadays, the Birdlock Guns of the Great Ming have begun to evolve in different directions, making them completely different from before.
With the continuous production of rapid-fire guns, long-range guns, handguns, the old-style birdlock guns are gradually being phased out, it is not easy to recycle those being phased out.
The raw materials contain too many impurities and require further smelting, which makes the cost quite high.
Birdlock Guns can be recycled, but ammunition is quite troublesome; we can't exactly hire people to dismantle them piece by piece, can we?
Therefore, there were currently many old birdlock guns and ammunition piled up in the armory; it just so happened that this entire batch could be cleared out to the Dzungar Mongols, which could be considered a way of making use of waste.
Everyone listened in a daze, Zhu Ci asked in a bit of a trance, "The Dzungar Mongols would agree?"
Why wouldn't they agree? We are offering weapons at low prices to help them unify the Mongols; what could they possibly be dissatisfied with?
Huh? Unify the Mongols? Isn't that just asking them to defect?
Many people were puzzled for a moment before they all suddenly understood.
Indeed, if they were to attack the Tartars, Duoheqin would certainly disagree, but if they were to attack the Khorchin Mongols, they might not necessarily refuse.
This is also equivalent to severing one of the Tartars' arms, which is naturally a good thing for the Great Ming.
Your Majesty is wise, but one must still be careful not to nurture a tiger that will later cause trouble.
The conflicts between Great Ming and the Warl Mongols had never ceased; it was always either the West overpowering the East or the East overpowering the West. Before the Tartars entered the passes, the Warl Mongols had been a major threat to the heart of Great Ming.
Zhu Ci leaned back very relaxedly on the throne and said lazily, "From now on, the principle for selling military equipment shall be that only obsolete or second-rate items are to be sold; the most advanced ones are strictly forbidden from being sold."
As for maintaining secrecy, he didn't even need to say it; although the current imperial court was somewhat makeshift and everyone had their own agendas, one thing was certain: everyone harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Tartars.
The various ministers exchanged glances, the matter was thus decided. As for the choice of envoy.. they had no say in it.
There was no way around it; none of them or their subordinates knew the Walas language, so they could only watch as the Grand Secretary's subordinates took their orders and departed.
The Minister of Rites and Huang Chunyao were in-laws, the former said privately with a hint of jealousy, "The Grand Secretary's business is indeed vast; he even has dealings with the Mongolians."
After he finished speaking, his eyes darted around as he asked, "Brother Unshheng, do you think he and the Mongols.. might have some other dealings?"
Huang Chunyao glanced at him and said, "Don't think too much. Just cooperate well. If it weren't for Grand Secretary Gao's foresight, even wanting to join forces with the Mongols would be difficult to achieve now."
The court can't just recruit people on the spot, can they? Who knows if what they bring in is a person or a ghost?
The Minister of Rites sighed and said, "I just feel that the current situation is not very good. His Majesty relies too heavily on the Grand Secretary, the Grand Secretary's people are constantly being planted within the imperial court. He is on good terms with the Prince of Ning and the Duke of Xin. If you count them up, most of the people in the court are either arranged by him or are very close associates of his. How old is he? If this continues, I fear he will become Fu's Half-Court!"
Huang Chunyao raised an eyelid and said, "That is a matter for His Majesty to worry about. Don't get yourself involved; I am a cautionary tale."
He had also come to a realization: the court relied heavily on Fu at present, the Emperor would not easily strike against the Grand Secretary.
The Minister of Rites felt a chill in his heart. "But.. as high-ranking officials of the imperial court, we must at least provide His Majesty with some warning."
He didn't truly want to bring down Fu; it was just that one family dominating the court was ultimately not a good thing. It was only because the Little Emperor held military power, because Li Chuangwang had been personally persuaded to surrender by him, Zheng Chenggong had been rescued by him.
Liu Zhaoji and Shi Kefa were also among the first to follow him; otherwise, it wouldn't have been impossible for the Little Emperor to be stripped of his power.
Huang Chunyao thought for a moment and said, "Rest assured, His Majesty knows what he is doing, since the Grand Secretary is an upright official, there is no need to worry about so much."
Not only is Fu himself incorrupt, but all of his subordinates, or those who once worked under him and later entered the imperial court as officials, are all very incorrupt. Never mind corruption, they haven't even taken a single extra copper coin from their salaries.
Is that even believable?
When the Dali Temple investigated it back then, they refused to believe it no matter what, because the lives of those officials' families were very prosperous, not a single one was in financial distress.
Although the salaries of Great Ming officials have been steadily increasing, the tax revenue remains stagnant, the Emperor is unwilling to increase agricultural taxes, even going so far as to abolish many others. As a result, the national treasury is not only perpetually empty but also fails to see any significant surplus.
Under these circumstances, officials' salaries were only just enough to maintain a basic standard of living; they could achieve little more than that.
Many of those officials came from ordinary backgrounds and had ordinary family conditions; with only that meager salary, they could clearly never make ends meet, so there must be something suspicious going on.
As it turned out, after investigating, it was discovered that these officials indeed did not earn enough from their salaries to live on, but they had another source of wealth: Grand Secretary Fu, the Marquis of Huating, was giving them money.
These people either had family members working in the Grand Secretary's shops or merchant caravans and received a share of the profits, or they received a fixed monthly salary that was far more than the official's stipend. They were essentially receiving two salaries, their lives were incredibly comfortable.
At that time, even after Huang Chunyao learned the truth, he desperately wanted to ask Fu: "Do you think I still have a chance?"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: There's no chance left, he gave all his money to me! A kitty sitting upright on a treasure chest. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 198
The Minister of Rites had clearly thought of this matter as well, he couldn't help but mutter, "What exactly is the Grand Secretary after?"
Indeed, what was he after?
Could it really be solely to toil tirelessly for the Great Ming?
Many people didn't quite believe this conclusion, yet they couldn't find any other reason.
It was truly absurd, yet somehow reasonable.
And Fu Zhi, who was being complained about, was accompanying Zhu Ci to look at the parrot.
Zhu Ci looked at the large macaw in the cage, which was looking listless, said with curiosity, "A Macaw? Where did this come from?"
Fu Gang was about to answer when he felt an itch in his nose and turned his head to sneeze twice.
Zhu Ci immediately shifted his attention from the macaw to him, casually draping the cloak from Wu Xia's hand over him as he said, "Is it windy outside? I'll summon an Imperial Physician to examine you."
Fu subconsciously raised his hand to pull the cloak but accidentally grasped Zhu Ci's hand. He immediately let go as if struck by an electric shock and stepped back two paces, saying, "This official has been impertinent."
Zhu Ci did not mind, but instead took the initiative to squeeze his hand and said, "Why is your hand so cold in the middle of summer? I'll think of some dietary remedies later."