The success of the peace negotiation with the Ming Dynasty relieved the worries of the south, and the Peiping Army could concentrate its efforts on dealing with the Tatars. Among the more than 80,000 troops of the Peiping Army, nearly 50,000 elite troops were drawn out to form the Northern Expeditionary Army, commanded by Zhou Tianhui, commander-in-chief of the First Army. Heading north from Juyongguan, we began our journey to the north.
The Second Army of the Second Group Army stationed in Daning also has to coordinate operations and is responsible for supplying food and grass. In fact, since ancient times, the Central Plains dynasty has generally suffered a disadvantage when using troops against the nomadic tribes in the north. Not only because they do not occupy the advantageous position when fighting away from home, Also, because the road is so long, it is difficult to replenish food and grass.
In addition, the nomadic people have no so-called base areas and do not need to defend the city. If they cannot defeat them, they will run away and try to extend the front line as much as possible. On the one hand, the Northern Expeditionary Army must be prepared for the enemy's guerrilla tactics, and on the other hand, it must divide its troops to protect the grain roads to provide food and grass. Being robbed is a huge disadvantage.
It was precisely because the nomads were so difficult to fight that Wan Lei named Zhou Tianjie to lead the expedition, because Zhou Tianjie was mature and relatively stable. Not only did the general staff headquarters come up with a feasible strategic plan - squeeze and cannibalize, that is, fight steadily, Little by little, they seized the southeastern part of the Mongolian Plateau, and gradually pushed the Tatar tribe into the wilderness of the northwest.
While the army was fighting steadily, Wan Lei was also preparing to launch the Northward Movement, which was to encourage people to go north to engage in animal husbandry and set aside large tracts of the occupied pastures for the newly settled herdsmen to raise horses and herd sheep.
In fact, the Central Plains Dynasty has never been able to effectively control the Mongolian Plateau. Even the most powerful Han and Tang Dynasties were unable to truly conquer that area. Because it is a natural pasture, originally a paradise for nomadic people, it is difficult for agricultural civilization to develop here. Take root in a piece of land.
Even if the nomads above are exterminated quickly, another group of people will soon replace them; even if the people of the Central Plains are forcibly moved north, they will eventually either be wiped out by the nomads, or they will be "Humanized" to form another new nomad. The nation continued to confront the Central Plains dynasty, which was dominated by farming civilization.
The people of the Central Plains are mainly self-sufficient farming civilization, and their daily lives are relatively moist. The nomadic people are located in the grasslands, with few products and relatively poor lives. Naturally, they yearn for the flowers and mountains of the Central Plains. Once the Central Plains dynasty's national strength is weak, they will take advantage of it. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the early Ming Dynasty, this has been the case for nearly two thousand years.
These two civilizations have been in confrontation for nearly two thousand years, and the conflicts have intensified to the point where it is difficult to reconcile. Starting from the Qin Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasties began to build the Great Wall in an attempt to stop the nomads from heading south. However, these walls could only stop them for a while. They can't be stopped forever. When the time comes, they will come again and become a lingering nightmare for the Central Plains Dynasty.
The peace and marriage policies of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the currency diplomacy of the two Song dynasties were all helpless actions. There were even tragic histories such as the Five Husties' rebellion in China and the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties' claims to rule. At the same time, the nomadic peoples also paid a heavy price, such as the Xiongnu The Turkic Khitans and other ethnic groups were driven out of the pastures of the Mongolian Plateau and moved westward to the desert areas.
The Tatar Mongols are now occupying the Mongolian Plateau. What the Peking Army has to solve is not only these Mongols, but also the long-standing problem left over for two thousand years, that is, the conflict between farming civilization and nomadic civilization. In the final analysis, the two The root cause of great civilizational contradictions is differences in economic structure.
Due to differences in geography and climate, the Central Plains are suitable for farming and the grasslands are suitable for grazing. The crops grown by the people of the Central Plains are easy to store, can hoard large amounts of food, and are highly resistant to natural disasters. They can also divide labor in society, develop industry and commerce, and then establish A self-sufficient economic system.
But nomadic herding is different. The carrying capacity of the grassland is limited, and the number of cattle and sheep that can be grazed is limited. Therefore, the nomadic people have to migrate in pursuit of water and grass. If there is a disaster year and the water and grass are not abundant, the cattle and sheep will starve to death, and people will They would have to starve. At this time, the nomadic tribes would either kill each other or reach out to the south.
In addition, because the nomadic people mainly focus on herding, their economic structure is simple, and their handicraft industry is backward, they are not self-sufficient in many daily necessities, such as tea, porcelain, cooking utensils, etc., and have a strong dependence on farming civilization. The Central Plains Dynasty occupies a dominant position in border trade, so it is natural to use this as its basis. Means are used to restrain the nomads. The already fragile bilateral relations between the two sides often break down due to trade frictions, leading to wars.
In fact, there is no way to solve this problem. The way is to integrate farming civilization and nomadic civilization to achieve economic and political integration. However, this method is not feasible in a feudal society dominated by small-scale peasant economy. Because small-scale peasant economy is self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency determines its strong closedness.
The North Parallel Province has begun to embark on the road of industrialization. The characteristics of industrialization are openness and expansion. Industrial production requires abundant raw materials and a broad market. The Mongolian Plateau is a wool producing area. As long as sheep are raised in a pen, they can produce wool. Produce a large amount of wool needed for the wool spinning industry.
Of course, this northward movement could not be accomplished overnight. During this period, not only did troops have to be stationed to protect the pastures and people to prevent Tatar counterattacks, but they also had to build fences, build towns and railways on the pastures to strengthen control over the grasslands. At the same time, in order to prevent herdsmen from becoming barbaric and causing divisions, civic education and patriotic education must also keep up.
In fact, the reason why nomadic peoples are unruly and unruly is largely because they are tribal. A tribal leader has absolute authority. The tribesmen only recognize the leader but not the country. During the Tang Dynasty, many nomadic tribes were recruited, but not long after The rebellion is unpredictable, mainly because these people have no sense of belonging to the country.
In order to avoid the chaotic situation like that of the Tang Dynasty, Wan Lei generally would not gather the Mongols. Even if they took the initiative to surrender, Wan Lei would disperse them and live together with the herdsmen moving north, and "hardly" stipulated that all herdsmen should They must receive school education, and all school-age children must receive primary and secondary education to cultivate citizenship and a sense of belonging to the country.
On March 20, the Northern Expedition reported good news. The 30,000 cavalrymen of the First Group met the 50,000 cavalrymen of the Tatar leader Guilichi in the Shajing area. Zhou Tianjie took the initiative on the battlefield with the help of artillery. The two sides fought fiercely for a day, and the Tatar tribe was exhausted and retreated across the board. The Northern Expedition took advantage of the victory and pursued it, beheading two thousand people, capturing nearly a thousand prisoners, and captured a large number of cattle and horses.
The Northern Expeditionary Army won the first battle and took control of the southern grasslands in the first battle. However, Zhou Tianjie did not advance rashly, but divided his troops and stationed them, and began to use a steady and steady encroachment strategy.
At the same time, Wan Lei sent people to divide the pastures and sold them to the public. In order to encourage people to go north to herd sheep, dozens of hectares of pastures were sold at a symbolic price of one silver dollar. Those whose families were poor and could not afford sheep , the government also provided ten breeding sheep for free, and even promised to provide subsidies for raising sheep, with a subsidy of one silver dollar for every 100 kilograms of wool.
With so many preferential policies, some relatively poor people who had just joined Bei Parallel Province were moved. Although they knew that it was dangerous to go north to herd sheep, they were still willing to take the risk driven by huge profits. Some officers and soldiers also grabbed When it comes to subscribing to pastures, after all, land is a permanent product, and hoarding pastures can also be regarded as an investment. For this reason, Wan Lei decided that each person can only subscribe for one share, so as to prevent some people from hoarding large amounts of pastures but leaving them idle.
Different from the nomads who migrated in search of water and grass, this group of new herdsmen are actually settled ranchers. The pastures are fixed and there are no boundaries between them. When the pastures are designated, barbed wire fences will be used as boundaries. To prevent wolves and thieves, but these are the rancher's own business, Wan Lei will only provide wire at a low price.
In addition, those demand areas will not be sold. Wan Lei also hopes to build large-scale demand industry bases in the demand areas in the future. After the opening of the Pingluo Railway, he began to focus on the construction of the Ping-Mongolia Railway to connect various demand area bases, and In this way, we can strengthen our control over the Mongolian Plateau.
While Wan Lei was busy conquering Mongolia, the Ming court was caught in a debate, and the subject of the debate was whether to learn from the "Barbarians" to gain skills in order to control the "Barbarians". The civil servant group headed by the Six Ministers felt that peace should be the Focusing on development, he advocated a truce with the Peking Army and secretly stole their skills to enhance his own strength.
The Xungui Group headed by King Gu of Qin advocated uniting with the Tatar tribe, attacking the Peiping Army, and desperately grabbing the city of Beiping. Then they would have everything, and there would be no need to follow the barbarians to control the barbarians. Of course, King Gu of Qin and others The reason why people made this suggestion was also selfish, because Beipingxing Province is located in the north. If it were captured, the one who would benefit most would not be the imperial court, but the King of Qin.
The King of Qin has been coveting the North Parallel Province for more than a day or two. He has long fantasized about occupying the North Parallel Province, borrowing Peiping's strong "national" power and military power, and then going south to "overcome the difficulties" and seize the high throne. .
This quarrel lasted for more than ten days, but there was no conclusion. However, on March 22, the court finally stopped arguing, because the news that the Tatar tribe was defeated by the Peking Army had come, and they united with the Tatar tribe to attack Peking. The army's plan came to nothing, and the faction of dividing the barbarians from the barbarians began to gain the upper hand. Emperor Jianwen finally made up his mind to develop peacefully first.
No, on March 28, the first mission after the peace talks officially entered Beiping City, and this mission also had Dong Lun, the Minister of Rites, as its ambassador, and was responsible for presiding over the "stealing of troops" matter.
In fact, the last time Dong Lun came to talk about peace, he started to steal the textbooks used in primary and secondary schools in Beiping City and gave them back to people to study. However, the more he read, the more confused he became, so he had to spend money. After looking for someone to teach me and hiring a few "tutors", I realized that these textbooks only taught basic knowledge, and I couldn't figure out a train with these superficial knowledge.
Dong Lun also found out that the Peking Institute of Technology teaches advanced technology and trains senior technicians. Even the so-called Chief Engineer Kuai teaches there. However, not everyone can enter these colleges, and the students and professors of this college They were all very united. Dong Lun sent people to lure them, but no one was willing to join them.
The methods of stealing technology and poaching talents failed, and Dong Lun was helpless but at his wits' end. If it was not possible, he could only come to the light. Early that morning, he dressed up and came to visit Wan Lei to discuss technology. Regarding the transfer, he knew that there would be no good things he could get for free, so he could only hope for exchange.