Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 438: Enemy Shadow in Mobei, Internal and External Troubles

After several years of construction, the Chengde Summer Palace has been basically completed.

The lake is clear with painted boats, pavilions and fine trees forming shades.

It cost a lot of money just to build such a summer palace for enjoyment, so it can be called extravagant.

However, it was also an important project that promoted the development of Chengde Prefecture. For the construction of this summer palace, the transportation of materials and the continuous construction of labor for many years have cultivated a large-scale related industry for Chengde Prefecture.

What's more, it is also a gathering place for the Eternal Heaven Khan and the princes and nobles of the northern border.

Zhu Changluo was very comfortable on the painted boat. Only his harem, children, Liu Ruoyu and others were there.

They were divided into two groups. Zhang Shuangmei, Fan Sirong and Wang Wei played the instruments, while Donggo, Haoshan, Zhezhe and the nobles presented to the palace by the Tumed, Chahar and Bohai Jurchens sang or danced.

Zhu Changluo's third son, Zhu Youcai, was already eleven years old, and the fifth son, Zhu Youzhi, was only eight years old. The two younger ones were lying on their stomachs in front of the pleasure boat, looking for fish swimming in the lake, and they had a different kind of happiness from their father.

To date, Zhu Changluo has six sons and five daughters.

The eldest son Zhu Youjian was born to the empress and is now the crown prince. The second son Zhu Youzhu was born to Concubine Li and is now fascinated by natural science. The third son was born to Concubine Rong and is now out playing. The fourth son Zhu Youcha was born to Concubine Shen Wang Jiayue, but Wang Jiayue was not brought along this time, so he was not brought along either. The fifth son Zhu Youzhi was born to Concubine He Yehenara, and the sixth son Zhu Youshao was born to Concubine Xiu Zhang Fu in the 14th year of Taichang and is still young.

In addition, he gave birth to two daughters. The first was Concubine Duan Qi Yuechan, who gave birth to the fourth daughter of the emperor in the twelfth year of Taichang. At that time, she was already quite old. As Zhu Changluo's first woman, who could have thought that the emperor would suddenly plant seeds in her and bear fruit?
The other one is Consort Kang, Li Siqin. She gave birth to the second and fifth daughters of the emperor. In terms of favor, she seemed to be very favored, and she had been favored by the emperor frequently in the past ten years. But why did she get pregnant twice, but both of them gave birth to daughters?
Of course, Zhu Changluo also experienced the death of his children and the early death of his beloved women over the past decade. However, compared with the previous dynasty, the probability of his experience was much less, only four times in total, and all of them were miscarriages before the birth of the children.

This is something that cannot be completely avoided.

Now the family on the painted boat is enjoying themselves.

After listening to the song, Zhu Changluo waved his hand and said, "Take a break. Come, play cards or chess, I'll watch the game!"

Let's continue to relax today and let them wait at Aobao for a while.

Playing cards is very common. The earliest one was Lu Bo, and there were also Shuanglu, Ye Zi Xi, and Huliang Pai. It is said that there was a game called Wan Bing Tiao, which modified Ye Zi Xi and added three suits: Wan, Bing, and Tiao.

But in general, the prototype of mahjong has existed for a long time and is now quite mature.

Zhu Changluo was afraid that the women in the harem would be bored, so he naturally made some "improvements" to give them more ways to pass the time.

Coincidentally, Fan Sirong was the most enthusiastic about this. She also knew that Zhang Shuangmei didn't like this very much, so she quickly called out to Dong Ge, Hao Shan, and Zhezhe to sit at the card table together.

Wang Weize played chess with Zhang Shuangmei.

Zhu Changluo looked at Fan Sirong, who was beaming with joy. At this moment, she was no longer like a concubine. He couldn't help but tease, "Aren't you worried about Runling at all?"

"…Let them walk around and talk, Nijou!"

Zhu Changluo shook his head and concentrated on the chess game.

In fact, he was not worried.

Zhu Runling and Lu Xiangsheng toured the Summer Palace together.

How could Lu Xiangsheng not know the seriousness of the matter? Although it was his "master" who allowed him to deepen his friendship with the princess, they had not yet married, so being able to travel together like this was already extremely open-minded, how could he go beyond the rules?

Also visiting the Summer Palace at this time were the Dutch "mission" and the Ryukyu mission.

Shu Boqing, who accompanied them, was naturally very familiar with the Summer Palace. The route they took was around the perimeter of the lake.

Starting from the Fan Academy here, we went all the way to the Khan's tent.

"In the ninth year of Taichang, Your Majesty held a meeting with the tribes in the northern border in Tongliao. The leaders of each tribe requested that Your Majesty be made the Khan of the Eternal Heaven." Xiao Dehe pointed to the north. "This is the Khan's tent, and there are also tents for the princes of each tribe. Now, the princes of each tribe have arrived, and they will meet Your Majesty here tomorrow."

"Shu Sitang, then we..." Xiang Heling, one of the former three officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom, asked worriedly.

The reason why he is called the predecessor is that the current Sansiguan is no longer one of the five famous surnames in the past of Ryukyu, but a newcomer supported by Satsuma. The prestige of the Ryukyu royal family Shang clan is still there. Satsuma cannot directly replace Xiang clan, but now it is trying to control Ryukyu through the Sansiguan.

Xiang Heling is Shang Feng's uncle. Shang Feng, the younger brother of the current Ryukyu ruler, may be less talented, but as one of the five great nobles of Ryukyu, the Xiang family would cultivate talented people with good manners in every generation, and they would take turns to serve as the Sansi officials with the other four surnames.

In Ryukyu, being well-educated and well-mannered first requires learning the Chinese writing system and the etiquette of the Chinese Plains.

Xiang Heling's address was very authentic. The various sub-offices under the Lifan Yuan were actually equivalent to the various ministries under the Executive Yuan. A minister of a ministry would be respectfully called a minister, and although the chief ministers of the various sub-offices under the Lifan Yuan were not of the second rank, they were not far off.

Shu Baiqing was naturally very happy to hear this. He then looked at Shang Feng with a smile on his face: "No hurry. Since His Majesty has asked you to come here, he must have made a wise decision. How could he let you come here in vain? Let's put aside our worries and continue our sightseeing. Let's go east..."

In the eyes of island nobles such as Xiang Heling and Shang Feng, the Chengde Summer Palace is naturally like a paradise on earth.

The Dutch delegation was also amazed by the scale of the garden. The garden style itself was very different from that of Europe, and they also knew that this was not the palace of the Eastern emperor, but a specially built palace.

Along the way, Shu Baiqing had already introduced to them the construction process of this palace.

This is a symbol of conquest. The Eastern Emperor, who was a master of military prowess, defeated the Mongols in the north and the Jurchens in the northeast at one go, taking back the homeland that had been occupied by the Mongols for nearly two hundred years. Only then did he start building this summer palace.

On the way here, they passed the Great Wall, which was originally the northern frontier of the Eastern Empire. The Eastern Emperor built his first palace outside the Great Wall, which was a declaration of absolute confidence.

The Eastern Empire is confident that it can guard this beautiful palace and will not let it fall back into the hands of its northern enemies.

They continued walking eastward along the northern shore of the lake. Behind them on the left, the princes and nobles of various tribes in the Khan's tent area had indeed arrived.

At this moment, they are still waiting.

The emperor had already arrived at the summer palace, but today he had not come to receive their audience, claiming he was too tired from the journey. Of course, they could only wait.

"...What was the loss to Khorchin during the white disaster last year?"

With nothing to do, they naturally gathered on the grass.

Lindan Batur looked up: the sunshine in the south was so warm, and the wind was gentle and the clouds were light.

After hearing his words, everyone felt the warmth here and was silent for a while.

"The loss is much greater than that six years ago..."

Finally, someone spoke up.

"Even if the city has stored a lot of food and fodder in advance, it is not enough to support the entire tribe." Lindan Batur lowered his head, patted his legs and stood up after a while, "Let's go under the tree, it's a bit hot."

Although Chengde is relatively cool in midsummer, it is certainly a foolish decision to stand under the scorching sun.

They had just come out of a brutal winter, and they subconsciously longed to get more sun.

Everyone stood up and walked towards a big tree nearby.

It's nice to enjoy the shade under a big tree, but it's rare for these leaders to be able to sit under a big tree without any grudges against each other.

That was of course because of the tree above his head. "The white disaster is getting worse and worse," said Lindan Batur. "I am young, but Daiqing Taiji also said that a white disaster like last year's would only happen once every few decades. Now we have had two in just a few years."

It was also because the living environment became increasingly harsh, and it was no longer possible for them to reorganize and unite to plunder the Han people in the south.

Can't beat it.

There are alternatives, too.

"If there weren't so much coal and furnaces, many more people would have died." Manggusi of Khorchin nodded. "I heard from Lord Shu that in order to transport more coal to our tribes, the coal briquettes in Beijing were in short supply last winter. I don't know if it's true or not."

"The amount of coal shipped from Datong to Dabansheng is indeed 40% more than the year before," said Zhongshun Gong of Fengzhou Beach. "I heard that Daming has started using machines to mine coal, but it is only used in one place. We suffered the least last year, firstly because of the blessing of Yinshan Mountain, and secondly because Dabansheng was built a long time ago and has enough houses, but it is also thanks to the 40% extra coal."

The Tumed tribes in Fengzhou Beach were the longest settled and had some farming foundation. They had been engaged in trade with the Ming Dynasty for many years and their accumulation was much richer than that of other tribes.

Lindan Batur thought about Xilinhot, which was built on top of a hill, and recalled the heaviest snowstorm there last year.

There are no mountains to block the view. Although there is the Greater Khingan Range to the east, the wind blows from the north in winter.

Naturally, you can only experience the strongest winds and the coldest freeze.

Even if Chahar had its own easily exploitable coalfield, it would be useless because there were too many things to buy.

"The last time, the Khan of Changshengtian said that the Ming Dynasty has been constantly observing the climate. In addition, the Ming Dynasty is also searching for records from past dynasties, saying that it is likely that every few hundred years, there will be a time when the weather gets even colder." Lindan Batur murmured, "I don't know if it's true or not."

No one took it seriously at the time.

The white disaster six years ago certainly caught them off guard, and when the emperor later wanted them to build a city, they simply thought that the emperor wanted to better control the tribes and prevent them from having any disloyal ideas.

But who would have thought that there would be another cold winter last year, and it was even more severe than six years ago.

After the second time, when Manggusi and others heard Lindan Batur say this, they felt uneasy.

"Where are Chaohua and the others?"

Lindan Batur's eyes trembled involuntarily, and he sighed: "In Hulunbuir, more than half of the livestock and people froze to death last year..."

Manggusi’s face turned pale.

If more than half of the livestock froze to death, how many people would survive?
The Inner Khalkha tribes in Hulunbuir are the only ones that have not built cities to exchange caravans with the Ming Dynasty on a regular basis and stockpile grain and other supplies.

In this comparison, it seems that Changsheng Tianhan really cares about them and makes preparations for a rainy day.

"What should we do if it gets colder and colder and snowstorms become more frequent?" Manggusi was worried. "Khorchin..."

Korqin is very far to the north.

Although it is located between the Greater Khingan Range and the Lesser Khingan Range, last year was already very difficult. If it were like this every year... let alone whether we can get so much coal every year, doesn't it mean that coal doesn't need money to buy it?

They could not burn charcoal, let alone dig coal. Their income over the years was all earned from wood, livestock and furs.

The problems faced by Manggusi are also the problems they all need to face.

Since we can’t rob, we can only rely on trading.

As for trading with the Ming Dynasty, even if the Lifanyuan and the Official Property Bureau of the Ming Dynasty had agreed on a rough price range with them in advance, how could the timber they cut, the coal and iron ore they mined with difficulty, and the livestock furs be equivalent to the salt, iron, tea, and cloth that the Ming Dynasty provided?

However, at present, the staff in each department are basically free, and they only need to be paid for a living. So on paper, they seem to be making a profit.

Lindan Batur looked around and then asked, "How many of you have fled here, looking for someone to marry, or staying here as a slave?"

“…Who knows?”

They were unable to accurately count the exact population of each small tribe, but everyone knew that there were always a few people missing from each caravan that came to the border city of Daming.

Even being a slave in the Ming Dynasty seemed easier to survive than on the grassland.

"Buyanggu, Bu Shitu, you have some idea of ​​it, right?" Manggusi asked.

"...You want us to send him back?" Buyanggu said with a sullen face, "It's inevitable!"

This buffer zone between the Ming Dynasty and Chahar and Khorchin is actually the biggest beneficiary of population migration - there is no need to worry about having too few fellow ethnic groups after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, and it is further south.

Although the Jurchens in Lingnan were still mainly Jurchens, in fact they were a mixture of Han, Jurchens and Mongolians.

The Shunyi King Bu Shitu's side was relatively purer, and most of those who fled there were from the Chahar tribe. Those who went to the Lingnan Jurchens were of course some small tribes of the Khorchin.

At this time, the shortcomings of their system when facing a disaster actually emerged. They were just a large tribe formed by small tribes, so how could the benefits of trade with Ming Dynasty be evenly distributed to every small tribe?

There are always some who are more difficult and dissatisfied, and they naturally have no choice but to find a way out.

In addition, the exchanges are more frequent now, which also makes it convenient for them to communicate in advance.

Manggusi immediately started quarreling with Buyanggu. Bu Shitu glanced at Lindan Batur, only to see that the Khan, who was once the nominal co-leader, did not say a word.

"Well, there's no point in arguing." Finally, he acted as a peacemaker. "I've already asked Chaohua, why don't we just come to Chahar? If there are more white disasters, we won't be able to feed so many people."

After a pause, he continued, "What's even worse is that there are traces of Westerners in the north. I caught one's tongue but couldn't understand what he was saying. Later I asked the Khalkha people and heard that they were from the Russian Kingdom in the west. The lower reaches of the Qian River to the north of the Qierjisi Five Tribes have been occupied by the Russian cavalry."

"Qianhe?" Manggusi asked in astonishment, "How did you catch their tongues? And how did you get to the south of Darajoer?"

Lindan Batur nodded with a heavy heart: "I sent people to Darajoer to investigate, and saw two more teams. They should be the first to explore the way."

The Qian River they mentioned was the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in later generations. At this moment, the Russian Empire, which had regained power, had indeed reached the lower reaches of the Yenisei River. Their next step was to continue eastward along the grassland that spanned the continent, preparing to conquer the Buryat tribes that had submitted to the Khalkha Mongols in the northern desert. The place where they lived was the shore of Lake Baikal, which was called Darajoer by Lindan Batur and his people.

It means a lake like the sea.

They have to face a white disaster that may become increasingly serious, and traces of new foreign enemies have been discovered.

Manggusi was not in a hurry for the moment - the other side of the Qian River was still far away. Even if they came, there would be Inner and Outer Khalkha and Chahar to stop them first.

But Lindan Batur said: "Those people seem to be born to move freely in colder places. Such a severe white disaster is almost a disaster for the tribes in the west and north. They are good at fighting swords, and I am afraid they will occupy a larger territory without much effort. If they gain a foothold in the north, it will be our turn to face them!"

"…Should we go on an expedition now? There is no benefit…" Manggusi shook his head.

"We must at least let the Khan of Changshengtian know about this." Lindan Batur's eyes were uncertain. "I heard from Qierjisi's people that those people are building a city downstream. They... also have artillery!"

"Russ... Aren't they the former slaves of the Golden Horde?" Bu Shitu asked in astonishment, "They all have artillery?"

"Batu has ruled there for many years. Who knows how much they know about us?" Lindan Batur said, "Anyway, they are here!"

(End of this chapter)