Chapter 798: Oirat in the West, Joseon in the East

Compared to Shunzhi, Dodo is the real final boss. Not only because Dodo's military ability is outstanding, but also because Dodo now controls the most important military asset of the Great Qing — after pulling more than three hundred thousand veteran Eight Banners troops (including Han troops, Mongols, and booi) out from inside the passes, Dodo is now capable of expanding his standing army from around ten thousand men to twenty thousand!

And these are twenty thousand new-model cavalry or mounted infantry armed with muskets, each man equipped with at least two horses, and capable of fighting in coordination with 3-pounder cannon.

An army like this is extremely difficult to deal with when conducting mobile operations — a great war between north and south does not necessarily have to be decided through a formal pitched battle. The playbook of first strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, then luring the enemy deep, and finally striking at their supply lines has been used to death in the struggles between the Northern and Southern Dynasties!

Even a civil Chief Grand Secretary like Wei Zaode knows he needs to make trouble for Dodo, so that Dodo has no spare strength to support the war in the Central Plains.

"Galdan of the Oirat Dzungar tribe has already arrived in Nanjing and is on his way to Old Mountain Palace; he may arrive today." Minister of War Wu Xiang said, "Ever since Gushi Khan of the Khoshut, who comes from the Golden Family, entered Tibet more than ten years ago, the various Oirat tribes of the Western Regions have been led by Batur Khong Tayiji of the Choros clan. And this Batur Khong Tayiji has some real ability — over the past dozen or so years he has campaigned in all directions, suppressing the Oirat tribes internally while resisting Russia, the Kazakhs, the Uzbeks, and other states externally, and he clearly shows signs of recreating the Oirat golden age.

If the Oirat revive, they will certainly send troops against the Khalkha Mongols, and then Dodo will have no choice but to split his forces to support the Khalkha tribes."

Although the Mongols nominally revere the so-called Golden Family, most of Genghis Khan's descendants are actually rather worthless; it is the Oirat Choros clan that has always been a thorn, with every intention of replacing the Golden Family.

The Esen who long ago captured the Ming Yingzong Emperor alive was the leader of the Choros clan. At that time, under the Choros clan's leadership, the Oirat unified all Mongolia and were extraordinarily powerful.

Later Esen made too many enemies and died in internal strife; the Choros clan and the Oirat declined together and withdrew to the Western Regions to recuperate. By now, the Golden Family branches among the Khalkha Mongols have all fallen into decline due to the Great Qing's repeated strikes and divide-and-rule tactics, so the more distant Oirat have gained another opportunity to rise. And once the Khoshut, that "outside household" (the Khoshut are not true Oirat), departed, it was only a matter of time before the Choros clan unified the Oirat.

"Your Majesty," said Minister of Rites Qian Qianyi, "the King of Joseon, Yi Ho, has recently been sending secret envoys to Nanjing repeatedly, hoping to return Joseon to the Great Ming. The Joseon envoys say that ever since Yi Ho ascended the throne he has been plotting a northern expedition, expanding his army and preparing for war — increasing the Royal Guard Command troops stationed in the capital from 7,000 to 21,000 men. The palace guard has been increased from 600 to 1,000 men, all reorganized as cavalry. He also plans to train a new Capital Garrison Army of 10,000, all trained by new methods, but they lack muskets and cannon, and he hopes our country can provide some support."

The King of Joseon, Yi Ho, has always been a "Ming fanboy" — historically he wanted to oppose the Qing and restore the Ming, and now of course he wants it even more.

Over the past few years, the Great Ming's world-empire system has gradually taken shape; even "rebellious subjects" like Annam have returned to the fold. How could Joseon, the foremost outer vassal for more than two hundred years, continue to treat the Ming as an enemy?

However, the Great Qing also attaches extreme importance to Joseon, this "vassal that opens to the sea." The reason the Great Qing can now establish relatively close relations with Spain and the Mongol state in India is precisely because it controls Joseon.

If Joseon returns to the Great Ming's hands, then Vladivostok, the Great Qing's most important port for foreign trade, will face attacks from the Ming navy, and the "fur empire" business will no longer be viable.

Zhu Cilang turned his gaze to his military strategist Li Yan. Li Yan had just graduated with excellent results from Prince Condé's tutoring class, and his skill in the use of troops had greatly improved — don't think this kind of free tutoring class is useless. For a commander of Li Yan's level, the military classics have long been memorized to the point of falling apart; the various regulations, drill manuals, and training handbooks were all drawn up with his own participation, so of course he knows them inside out! What he lacked was the study of real battle cases. Although China also has many classic battle cases to study, the vast majority of those cases are from the cold-weapons era.

Different weapons mean different ways of fighting; different ways of fighting mean different tactics; different tactics mean campaign organization is naturally different as well.

Therefore, the European Thirty Years' War battle cases that Prince Condé brought could undoubtedly greatly enhance the military ability of Ming generals like Li Yan and Wu Sangui — men both wise and brave, with considerable real combat experience.

"Your Majesty," said Li Yan, his abilities now grown, to Zhu Cilang, "the King of Joseon's paltry forces cannot possibly withstand Dodo no matter what. Even if we support them with some muskets and cannon, it will be of no help. Once Joseon is destroyed, the muskets and cannon we provided will fall into Dodo's hands — no different from aiding the enemy.

Rather than let Joseon hand our muskets and cannon over to Dodo, it would be better to spend more effort on the Dzungar tribe. Once the Dzungar rise, they can not only tie down Dodo, but also resist Russia on our behalf — truly killing two birds with one stone."

"I only fear that once the Oirat grow powerful, the disaster of Esen will repeat itself!" Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode interjected. "Once the Oirat become strong, they will inevitably swallow up the Khalkha Mongols, and after that they will seek to move south into the Central Plains. Although with our dynasty's current strength, defeating the Oirat would be as easy as turning over one's hand, killing bandits is easy — guarding against bandits is hard!"

Actually, there is nothing to worry about if the Oirat grow powerful in the northwest. Shaanxi and Gansu have little to offer; if the Oirat invade, they will certainly lose more than they gain. No one does business at a loss, so there is no need for concern.

Besides, the Uzbek Khanate (Bukhara) south of the Kazakh steppe, the Timurid Empire of Hindustan, and the Kingdom of Iran are all quite wealthy.

If the Dzungar Khanate is willing to go south and play with them, that would actually be a fine way out.

But the problem is that historically the Dzungar Khanate adopted the foolish strategy of advancing eastward onto the Mongolian Plateau, fighting endlessly with the Great Qing.

At this thought, Emperor Zhu sighed with some regret: "If the Oirat could abide by the rites of a vassal state, they could serve as a screen on the western frontier. As for Joseon — they have sent envoys again?"

Qian Qianyi said: "The Joseon envoy Song Siyeol has already arrived in Shanghai and has met with Luo Dagong."

"Good, have him come to Old Mountain Palace," said Zhu Cilang. "We would like to hear what the Joseon people have in mind."

Just as he finished speaking, the brush-holding eunuch Huang Xiaobao walked in quickly, bowed to Emperor Zhu, and said, "My Lord, a group of lamas has arrived outside the palace, brought by people from Shuofang Garrison. They say Choros Galdan has arrived."

Emperor Zhu nodded: "Today's meeting ends here. We are going to meet this little Galdan!"

The place where Emperor Zhu received little Galdan was arranged at Old Mountain Huangjue Temple.

Zhu Cilang does not believe in any religion — he should be a Confucian scholar, a great Confucian! Yet he still built religious structures here at Old Mountain: Old Mountain Huangjue Temple, Old Mountain Great High Mystery Temple, Old Mountain Temple of the Heavenly Father, and others.

After all, his not believing is his own business, but he cannot stop others! Old Mountain Detached Palace is not a place where Emperor Zhu alone goes on vacation, but a place where the entire Ming court "vacations." When Zhu Cilang crossed the river to reside at Old Mountain Palace, the court in Nanjing followed him over.

So he had to build a few temples here at Old Mountain.

Moreover, these temples also serve some purpose in the Great Ming's diplomatic activities.

Huangjue Temple is often used to receive "envoys from Buddhist lands," while the Temple of the Heavenly Father is used for dealing with Christian foreigners.

Because it was known well in advance that Galdan was coming, the monks of Huangjue Temple had made preparations. They specially set aside a hall and decorated it in Tibetan Buddhist style, and also found several old monks who could speak Mongolian to serve as interpreters.

They also arranged a Chinese-language tutor for the young Galdan, to help him master Chinese in the shortest possible time, after which he would go study at the soon-to-open Old Mountain Primary School.

Emperor Zhu was also extremely concerned about Galdan's education.

To raise a child without teaching him is the father's fault; to teach without strictness is the teacher's laziness!

Now that Batur Khong Tayiji has handed his son over to Emperor Zhu, Zhu Cilang naturally has the obligation to educate Galdan properly. He must not let him go astray as he did in history.

It's time for chapter recommendations again. The author of "The First Playboy of the Zhenguan Era" has opened a new book called "The Great Tang Tutoring Class." I wonder what they're tutoring? Are there any readers who love tutoring classes? How about we all go get tutored together?

(End of Chapter)