Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Smuggling to the Ming Dynasty

Text Chapter 529: Eliminating the Threat to the Grassland

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    A few days later, Murad was arranged by Zhou Zhong to study at the naval academy, and he was also promised that after he graduated from the military academy, he could serve in the Ming Navy. As long as he performed well enough, he would be willing to support him.  Return to the Ottoman Empire to compete with his brother Suleiman.  In fact, Zhou Zhong didn't have much hope for Murad. After all, few people in the Ottoman Empire knew Murad's identity. It can be said that Murad had no foundation in the Ottoman Empire. In addition, Suleiman was known as the  The most outstanding emperor in the history of the Ottoman Empire, how could such a person be defeated so easily?  However, even though he knew that Murad had little hope of regaining the throne of Sultan, Zhou Zhong still decided to train him with all his heart. After all, the Ottoman Empire was the only country in the world that could compete with the Ming Dynasty. If it could use Murad  If you create some trouble for the other party, it will only be beneficial and harmless to Daming, and what Daming pays for this is just a small and insignificant price.  Just when Zhou Zhong had just finished arranging Murad's affairs, the results of the battle between Zhengde and the little Tatar prince finally came from the fishing sea in Liaodong. When the little Tatar prince arrived with 40,000 cavalry,  , Zhengde has led 60,000 fire dragon cavalry to strictly guard the place, and the two sides launched a duel between cavalry and cavalry on the grassland.  The Ming side had the advantage in numbers and equipment, and more than half of the entire Fire Dragon Cavalry were Mongolians. Therefore, in the early stages of the battle, the Ming Dynasty had the upper hand, especially with the use of firearms such as grenades, although the direct lethality was limited.  , but it can have the effect of frightening the opponent's horses, thus disrupting the opponent's charge formation.  For the cavalry.  when the charge was disrupted.  The power of the cavalry will be reduced by half.  Occupying such a huge advantage, the Ming army suppressed the cavalry of the little Tatar prince from the beginning, and Zhengde was determined to consume the Tatar strength, so he was ready to fight with the Tatars from the beginning.  Anyway, the Ming Dynasty has a strong national power and a large population. Although it is not easy to form the Fire Dragon Riders, they have been exhausted even this time.  As long as there is enough money and food, they can be reorganized in a short time, but if the Tatar cavalry is exhausted, it will definitely be a huge disaster for the grassland people.  It is precisely because of this that the little Tatar prince fell into passivity from the beginning. Even if he had the advantage at the beginning of the war, he could not withstand such consumption as Daming, not to mention that they were defeated from the beginning.  Being downwind, there is no possibility of turning over.     Facing this circumstances.  The little Tatar prince was also very helpless, and finally had no choice but to retreat.  Originally, he hoped that the Ming Emperor opposite could lead troops to pursue him, so that he could take advantage of his familiarity with the grasslands to eliminate the Ming army on the grasslands, and even directly capture the young Ming Emperor, just like they captured  Same as Ming Yingzong.  But it is a pity that Zhengde has no intention of pursuing. After all, he also knows the weaknesses of his side. When they stop at the close logistics behind, they can use the advantages of weapons to defeat the opponent. But if they go deep into the grassland alone, they will simply lose their own  Although righteousness is confident when one's life is left to others, it is not to the point of arrogance.  After the little Tatar prince was defeated, he did not give up. After waiting for a month, he once again organized an army to send troops to Xuanfu. As a result, he still returned without success this time. However, after the last battle in Zhengde, the Fire Dragon Rider suffered a lot.  The damage was small, and the little Tatar prince was also on guard against the Ming Dynasty's sneak attack on his home base from the direction of the fishing sea. Therefore, although Zhengde made an appearance of attacking, he did not dare to actually send troops in the end.  They failed to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty's army twice in a row, which also made the Tatars demoralized. In addition, the cement roads between Xuanfu and Yuerhai were also slowly extended forward.  When the cement road advances one step forward, the Ming Dynasty's trade routes also expand forward. The commodities on the grassland are transported to the Ming Dynasty from the cement road, and the commodities of the Ming Dynasty are transported to the grassland along the cement road. Many prairie tribes even try to compete with the cement road.  The Ming Dynasty took the initiative to move the tribes to both sides of the cement road. Many grassland herdsmen personally joined the team of building cement roads for the rewards given by the Ming Dynasty.  The little Tatar prince was also helpless against the Ming Dynasty's slow encroachment. He had sent troops twice before to destroy the Ming Dynasty's actions, but not only did it not have any effect, but he also lost a lot of troops. What's even more terrifying  Yes, these two defeats, coupled with the previous defeats against the Ming Dynasty, have dealt a huge blow to his reputation. Many tribes have begun to doubt his ability, which also makes the little Tatar prince dare not  If he continues to send troops easily, otherwise if he is defeated again, I am afraid that his position as the Great Khan will be taken away by others.  The little Tatar prince did not dare to act rashly, and the Ming Dynasty encroached on the grassland even more unscrupulously. Countless Ming caravans began to swarm into the grassland. Wool, horse hair, and various leathers were their favorite commodities. In recent years, the Ming Dynasty's  Industry and commerce are developing rapidly and the demand for raw materials is huge, so even if it is harvesting?No matter how many raw materials there are, there is no need to worry about sales.  In addition, while purchasing raw materials, merchants in the Ming Dynasty were also slowly transforming the pastoral structure of the grassland people. For example, the textile industry in the Ming Dynasty was very developed and the demand for wool was huge. Therefore, these merchants gave priority when entering the grassland trade.  Naturally, what was purchased was wool, and even sheepskins, which were commonly used in the past, are now somewhat unsaleable, because with the development of the textile industry, people's first choice is naturally cheap textiles, and they also like to wear cotton jackets instead of leather jackets in winter.  First of all, the demand for leather has naturally declined. Of course, this decline has been for the lowest-end sheepskin. For mid-to-high-end furs such as cowhide and wolf skin, there has always been as much demand as possible.  Merchants of the Ming Dynasty liked wool the most, and the tribes on the grasslands were naturally not stupid. They quickly adjusted the types of animals they grazed, such as increasing the proportion of sheep, and then reducing the number of cattle and horses. Among them, cattle  As the number of horses decreases, cowhide will also decrease, and cowhide is the main reason for the prairie people to make armor. As for the horses, let alone the horses, the prairie people without horses are simply like cripples without legs, posing no threat at all.  Of course, the adjustment of the pastoral structure on the grassland is very slow, and based on the knowledge of the grassland people, they are simply unable to notice the impact of this change on themselves. Even many "smart" tribes are already consciously adjusting  Change the breed of sheep they graze. In the past, they mainly raised sheep to drink goat milk and eat mutton. Sheep can be said to be their main source of food. But now, because Ming merchants like wool the most, they began to raise those with large wool yields.  The breeds with slender wool are second in terms of milk and meat production. After all, they can exchange enough food from Ming merchants by selling wool, and they can even exchange for fine wine and silk.  First, they don't have to worry about raising sheep that produce milk and meat.  Although the adjustment of our animal husbandry structure is slow, it is spreading like a virus across the entire Mongolian grassland. After all, the life of the herdsmen on the grassland is too hard, and they do not even have basic life protection. Maybe a disaster in winter  A white disaster can make a medium-sized tribe disappear, and by relying on transactions with Ming merchants, they can exchange for food that is easier to store and even warm clothes. With these, even if there is a famine in a certain year,  They can also carry it through, instead of just waiting to starve to death like before.  But with the adjustment of this structure, gradually the grassland people will find that they will become more and more dependent on the Ming Dynasty. For example, wool is now in short supply, but if the shepherds on the entire grassland raise sheep, plus  With the saturation of the wool textile market, there will always be a day of overproduction. At that time, it will not be Ming merchants begging them to sell, but they will beg Ming merchants to buy.  What is even more frightening is that when there is a surplus of wool production, the grassland people will also find that their food, clothing, housing, and transportation are completely in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty does not buy their wool, then they will be without food, salt, tea, and clothes.  , iron pots, etc. Even when they want to resist, they will find that even war horses have become very scarce, and they can no longer be able to run thousands of miles in a day like before.  In addition, the most critical thing is the cement roads built starting from Xuanfu and Yuerhai. On this hardened road, there will be a solid fortress every hundred miles, and each fort will be stationed with a hundred people.  , when two cement roads cross on the grassland, a cross-shaped iron chain will be formed, locking the entire grassland firmly. Any changes anywhere in the future will be difficult to escape from Daming's eyes, and with the help of convenient transportation  , Ming Dynasty can mobilize the army at the fastest speed and strangle the changes on the grassland in the cradle.  Seeing that the situation in the grasslands is getting better day by day, the grassland people in tribal units have also begun to slowly move closer to the Ming Dynasty. As one goes and the other goes, the power of the Tatars becomes even weaker, and even many leaders of the large Tatar tribes fight for their own interests.  For the survival of the tribe, they have secretly sent people to the Ming Dynasty, hoping to ask for some benefits from the Ming Dynasty and then give their tribe to the Ming Dynasty. After all, they are not stupid. They know that if this continues, they will follow the Tatars.  Destruction, in this case, it is better to take advantage of now to get some benefits for yourself, and at the same time, it can also help the tribe survive better.  The decline of the Tatars finally made everyone in the Ming Dynasty breathe a sigh of relief. Especially Zhou Zhong and the cabinet felt that a big burden had been lifted. For this plan to encroach on the grassland, the Ming Dynasty had invested countless manpower and material resources. If it could not  If it succeeds, it will be a huge loss.  But just as the border troubles in the northern grasslands slowly disappeared, Zhou Zhong was also discussing with the cabinet how to bring Zhengde back. After all, it was unreasonable for an emperor to lead troops outside all year round. But at this moment, Zhou Zhong had been worried about  One thing suddenly broke out.  (To be continued)
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report