Chapter 771: The Mobei Protectorate

The captive chief had no idea what had become of the broom-spirit.

Liu Shizi had merely deployed troops beyond the Ji Garrison border to demand reward silver for his followers and swell his own momentum.

Of course, he had not been idle either. The Marshal's headquarters launched the Lingdong campaign. Though the fighting was against Huang Taiji, the strategic objective was to bind the Mongols irrevocably to his war chariot.

Now that the campaign had ended in victory, he naturally intended to leverage the prestige of that great triumph to reorganize the Mongol tribes north and south of the Gobi.

Over the course of half a month, orders were issued one after another. First, two new commanderies, the Mobei and Songmo Protectorates, were established. The Monan Protectorate was then downsized, while across the grasslands, meritorious officers were enfeoffed on a grand scale.

The greatest change occurred in Monan.

In official documents, Liu Chengzong formally recognized and re-enfeoffed Yang Qi as Prince of Obedience, retaining him as Commander of the Monan Protectorate. However, he withdrew a large portion of Monan's troops and downsized the three garrisons and three guards of Yunzhong, Wuyuan, and Shuofang.

Twenty-three myriarchies were reorganized, through additions and reductions, into fifteen chiliarchies. In other words, after fighting a war, everyone had been collectively demoted.

Yet there was little resentment.

Because the Monan tribes were the ones who truly reaped tangible benefits from this campaign. They plundered a vast number of people, livestock, and goods from the Khorchin. After the reorganization, although the inflated myriarchies became chiliarchies, their territories expanded to varying degrees.

Secondly, in name, there could only be one seal-holding commander, but there could be many who did not hold the seal. Everyone was a commander, marking a transitional phase from tribe to garrison, so the psychological gap was not that great.

For the twenty-three myriarchs, this was actually a good thing, because it signified the normalization of the Monan Protectorate's structure. Normalization meant stability, and only stability could guarantee hereditary succession.

That is to say, with the end of the Lingdong campaign, those destitute upstarts from Monan and Mobei who had risen from nothing truly became hereditary nobles on the grasslands.

But in reality, Liu Chengzong's true purpose in establishing the three guards in Monan was to have the Monan Protectorate set up a military academy in Guihua City. After completing basic education there, they would be transferred to the military academy in Xi'an Prefecture to properly give these fellows—who ran wild the moment they hit the battlefield—a good lesson.

In the Marshal's headquarters, plundering was regarded as a sublime art of war. The wasteful plundering methods of these men and their multi-stage-rocket style of fighting truly pained and grieved Liu Shizi.

So many cattle and sheep had died in vain. Such colossal waste was a crime in every sense.

The newly established Songmo Protectorate was placed under He Huchen, transferred from Monan, as its Commander. He was stationed in Shangdu City with full authority over the defense line along the Khingan Range.

For his meritorious service, Choutu Taiji of Yanmen Garrison was promoted to Vice Commander of the Songmo Protectorate, while still retaining his post as Colonel of Yanmen Battalion and stationed in Jining.

Jining Guard was established on the former territory of the Chahar tribe, with Bei Yuan Ying Ge'erma appointed as its commander. One thousand seven hundred households of the Ordo and Chahar were relocated from Hehuang and Qinghai, and placed under the jurisdiction of the Songmo Protectorate.

Wang Cheng'en, who had distinguished himself and been wounded before the battle, was promoted to Assistant Commander of the Songmo Protectorate, assisting in the protectorate's affairs.

Scout Guo Jiayin, on the merit of having stabbed Geng Zhongming, was promoted to Defender of Songmo City, continuing to oversee the fortification and repair of that castle.

Beyond these, the biggest change was that on all maps of the Marshal's headquarters, the name Khorchin no longer existed, replaced by the Dala Khan Grasslands.

This was not a case of Liu Shizi plundering them clean and then grinding his heel into them, but rather that funeral rites are always performed for the living to see.

The Khorchin and the Jaisang Gurun, bound by long intermarriage and alliance, shared weal and woe. The vast majority were diehards who could hardly surrender to him, so naturally there was no place for them in the Marshal's headquarters.

On the other hand, he wanted the three Khans of Mobei to know: those without a place would be erased.

The effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkey was excellent.

The day after discovering that the Khorchin tribe had been erased from the Marshal's headquarters' maps, Subadi requested that the Marshal's headquarters establish a protectorate in Mobei.

Babu Taiji, however, was quite shrewd. With an air of "I've long been a general of the Marshal's headquarters," he looked about, smug and self-assured.

This was not a case of him putting on airs.

As early as Babu's first mission to the Marshal's headquarters on behalf of the Sechen Khan tribe, Liu Chengzong had appointed him as Commandant of Ningyuan, responsible for the tribute trade with the Great Ming valued at four hundred ninety thousand taels of silver.

However, by bringing up this official post now, Babu was actually being crafty, hoping to leave a little room for maneuver for the Sechen Khan tribe.

Gombu Khan was slightly more coy, though it was not that he did not want to join the Mobei Protectorate; he merely feared he would not be made its Commander.

Liu Chengzong indeed did not want him to be Commander.

But it turned out that Subadi was unwilling to be Commander. He sought out Liu Chengzong specifically and candidly explained that if he became Commander, he feared it would lead to internal strife and fighting once he returned to Mobei.

Liu Shizi did not care about fighting. He cared more about Subadi's loyalty.

All loyalty deserved to be rewarded. The Jasaghtu Khan tribe had borne the brunt of the casualties in the Lingdong campaign; the right wing's losses were greater than those of the entire rest of the army combined.

So much blood and so many lives were worth Liu Chengzong dispatching troops to help him quell any unrest.

But Subadi did not want to fight.

Mobei was not Monan. The Monan tribes were like the well-fed who know not the hunger of the starving, guarding "good land" while being instigated to slaughter one another.

The three tribes of Mobei eked out a living there relying on pure nomadism; it was not easy.

Subadi's willingness to throw himself into the southern war was not because Liu Chengzong had the appearance of a heaven-sent brilliant lord, but because the three Mobei tribes needed trade to exchange what they had for what they lacked.

The intensity of warfare was escalating, and their adversaries were more terrifying and perilous than at any time in the past.

Otherwise, Eastern European brigands steering small boats and wielding firelocks would blockade the north, cutting off their connection to the forest-dwelling subjects; the rising Oirat would tighten the noose on them from the west; the Marshal's headquarters would press in step by step from the south; and the Jaisang Gurun would expand madly in the east.

To form a standing army capable of resisting invasion required iron armor and all equipment that enhanced military strength.

And to mass-produce this equipment, they needed to transition toward a settled, pastoral lifestyle.

Trading with the Central Plains could greatly accelerate their settlement process.

Although Subadi could field ten thousand cavalry at a stroke in the southern war and showed no fear of death in battle, in reality, the Mobei Mongols could afford to lose people even less than the Eight Banners.

The Eight Banners could capture, breed, and, after fighting, recruit and pacify.

In the Mobei environment, the forest peoples were fewer than the Fish-Skin Tatars, so capturing was very difficult. Breeding? In this age, difficult births in Han lands were countless, let alone in the ice and snow of Mobei. As for recruiting and pacifying, well, looking around in all directions, whom could they defeat?

Subadi had no choice. The Jasaghtu Khan tribe was his very foundation.

As long as he could maintain trade and avoid hostility with Liu Chengzong, he cared nothing for the trifling empty title of Mobei Commander.

Liu Chengzong thus let the matter drop.

It was not that he had no ambition for the total conquest of Mobei. On the contrary, his ambitions were vast.

Because pulling an army from the Central Plains to the Khingan Range was actually a matter of great difficulty. The timing this time had been passable, but he could not pull troops from Shaanxi every time something happened at the Khingan Range.

Whereas moving troops from Mobei to Monan was easy.

In fact, no transfer was even needed. The Mobei tribes were willing to come south on their own, to trade a little by the border walls, selling furs and livestock.

Even without mentioning the purchase of military supplies—

Iron pots, stirrups, hobbles, iron shovels, iron picket pins, iron axes, coarse cloth and silks and satins, gold foil for pasting on Buddhas, knife-paper for writing, tea to cut the grease, even cooking spices, combs, fine-toothed combs, and hair cords.

These daily necessities were in short supply everywhere in Mobei, even more sought-after than military supplies.

Without military supplies, one could simply avoid war. War occupied only a small part of daily life, and war itself consisted of long marches and waiting; actual close-quarters combat occupied only a small part of war.

When the situation turns bad, you just drive the herds and migrate.

But without daily necessities, people cannot live — it is truly torment from day to night.

Of course, the Mobei region is not so impoverished that these things have vanished entirely, but if any one of a few major items is missing when you need it, it's miserable — and the key is, you can't borrow one.

The most authentic nomadic life, in small family units, you can't find a soul for ten li around; you want to chop firewood but have no axe, want to wash your hair but have no fine-toothed comb, and when you come back from herding horses, your wife has gone mad.

They're willing to come to Monan — do a little trading, fight a little, eat army rations, and then loot a bit on top. Anyway, buying things in Mobei means traveling far too, so how can going out of your way compare to the speed of taking it right at hand?

Follow the Great Khan into Shenyang — Shenyang has everything, and you don't even have to sell your lambs.

But Liu Chengzong greatly respected Subadi's wishes.

He had no choice but to respect them — the man practices traditional nomadism and still lives out in that Mobei region. If truly provoked, Liu Chengzong could send troops and still not find him.

As for the Chechen Khanate, it still had to be approached gradually; keeping the Babu Taiji won over would be enough.

As far back as when Ligdan Khan was still alive, after the Battle of Guangning, Shuolei was already the strongest feudal lord among the entire Mongol direct-line subordinates.

He put on greater airs than anyone.

Ligdan Khan, Hong Taiji, Gumbu Khan, the Guoshi Khan, Subadi Khan — all had, on grounds of jointly discussing state affairs, revising laws, or forming alliances, invited him to attend great assemblies... Shuolei, without exception, never attended. His level of reclusiveness approached that of the Wanli Emperor.

He always sent his son Babu in his stead.

Liu Chengzong had never held any hope at all that Shuolei would come over to join the Mobei Command.

As expected, after waiting at Shangdu for about ten days, Shuolei of the Chechen Khanate sent a letter begging pardon, phrased with extreme courtesy, saying he had broken his leg and truly could not travel south for an audience, respectfully wishing the Daiqing Khitan Khan victory east of the mountains, and that the Chechen tribe supported the establishment of the Mobei Command.

He also sent one hundred white horses.

As for Shuolei's broken leg, Liu Chengzong knew perfectly well it was just an excuse.

He thought to himself, this leg, having followed Shuolei Khan, had met with truly wretched luck — it had to break several times a year.

When Babu Taiji came over, he had explained on Shuolei's behalf that his father had broken his leg and had not even gone for the Chongde Emperor's enthronement.

By now, the hundred days for bone and sinew to heal had long passed, and he had broken it again.

Liu the Lion suspected that, at this very moment, Shuolei was probably sending envoys to console the defeated Hong Taiji.

It didn't even need "probably" — he believed that Shuolei, knowing the Marshal's Army had won this campaign, absolutely had to be corresponding with that side.

But correspondence was not necessarily a bad thing; at least it counted as a window for obtaining intelligence.

And he truly had no good way to deal with Shuolei.

If Subadi were willing to unify Mobei, Liu Chengzong would not mind lending troops to intervene; but if Subadi was unwilling, relying on the Marshal's Army alone, the cost of fighting in the north was too great.

He could not afford to fight.

Just before setting out, Liu Chengzong formally confirmed the establishment of the Mobei Command, with Gumbu Khan as Commander, Subadi as Vice Commander, and Babu Taiji as Assistant Commander.

At the same time, the former Chahar Jasag Qitat, the monk Gelong, Bayashu, and others who had rendered meritorious service in the Northern Yuan Camp were promoted to subordinate officials of the Command, responsible for specific matters such as military registers, land surveys, mapmaking, trade supervision, and reporting the troop strengths and noble rosters of the various tribes.

In the presence of Subadi, Babu, and Erdeni Khong Tayiji, he said to Gumbu Khan: "I originally intended to appoint Subadi Khan, who rendered the greatest merit, as Commander. But Subadi Khan still wishes to uphold the Mobei overlord. Such an appointment, in the eyes of my generals, would be unclear in reward and punishment. Therefore, Commander, you must earn more merit and devote yourself fully to your duties, only then can you make up for my entrusting you with this heavy responsibility and the debt owed to Subadi Khan."

"This area around Golden Lotus Plain is good land, but since the Haracin tribe was attacked and destroyed, three sides have fought over it, and it has become a place where no one stations and pastures. After you go to Guihua City to trade and then return to Mobei, each of you select a thousand battle-worthy cavalry. Before winter sets in, have your sons form a chiliarchy and come here to pasture."

"The soldiers will form the Mobei Camp, with Erdeni Khong Tayiji as its Colonel; the military households will form the Golden River Guard, with Subadi Khan's son as its Commander."

In an instant, Erdeni, who had been like an outsider all along, suddenly widened his eyes.

He had originally wanted to lead troops as a general under Liu Chengzong, but had never expected Liu Chengzong to have the army already prepared. Overjoyed beyond measure, he immediately stepped forward first to salute and accept the order.

Subadi had no objections to this; he could even leave a thousand troops right now. However, Liu Chengzong wanted military households and also pasturing on the Golden Lotus Plain — this was a good thing, so naturally he cupped his fist and accepted the order as well.

Gumbu Khan, however, was extremely embarrassed. He held it in for a long time before saying: "Reporting to the Great Khan, my son... was just born. He cannot lead troops."

Liu Chengzong laughed upon hearing this and said: "Then choose one from among your brothers who can lead troops and send him over."

Babu Taiji's situation was similar to Gumbu's, but he had no doubts on this matter — he clearly understood that what Liu Chengzong wanted was his brother, not his son.

As for troops, the Chechen Khanate was wealthy and powerful. Even without the pastureland of Golden Lotus Plain, a thousand households of men and horses was no great problem for the Chechen Khan.

What Shuolei had in greatest abundance under his command was men and horses.

With the framework of the Mobei Command set up, Liu Chengzong felt much more at ease.

With this one camp of nomadic troops on the Golden Lotus Plain, plus the three camps of the Songmo Command, and the Darkhan Army east of the Khingan Mountains, he could basically consolidate the territory gained from this eastern campaign.

As for subsequent border conflicts on the Darkhan Steppe, Liu Chengzong estimated they would not be few.

With this force stationed west of the mountains, at least on the surface, things would not look too ugly.

Only... he still had to leave some equipment at Shangdu. Later, he estimated, he would also need to pull a transport and supply line across the steppe from Monan to Songmo, in order to provide sufficient support to the Songmo Command.

But that was all a matter for after the Songmo Command was formally up and running. Liu Chengzong's current preparation was simply for this Command to hold out as best it could until next spring. Its continued existence would count as victory.

If this Command's destiny was truly too frail and it was wiped out by Hong Taiji in a single winter, then there was nothing he could do.

Survive until next spring first, then find a way to swindle the Great Ming a bit, and see if the supply problem could be solved.

Now, after the long march and war, it was time for Liu Chengzong to go home.

Before the troops even moved, he dispatched fast riders straight through Guihua City and into the border passes, ordering the Xi'an Prefecture to send over the official documents for these several men.

It was also time to deal with the Marshal's Manor's characteristic internal affairs.

While the army was encamped during the march, Liu Chengzong lit an oil lamp and eagerly unfolded the documents. He wanted to see just which part of the Marshal's Manor's vast territory was fighting again... no.

He wanted to see which part, remarkably, was not at war.

Good evening!

(End of chapter)