Li Xianzhong occupied all the territory of the original Chahar Tribe, Tumote Tribe, and Ordos Tribe in Monan Mongolia.
After taking away the land with rich water and grass near Kaiyuan and Guangning, the remaining land in Inner Khalkha was handed over to the Horqin tribe.
In the entire Monan Mongolia, only the Horqin tribe is not under his direct control.
Lin Danhan was afraid of being pursued by himself, so he ran all the way to Qinghai and took refuge with Oirat Mongolia there.
However, Li Xianzhong currently only controls the Jiuyuan City area in the far west, and is temporarily out of reach of Lin Danhan.
Faced with a vast territory spanning two to three thousand miles from east to west, Li Xianzhong could only let the leaders of various tribes and alliances manage it for the time being. They paid him a certain amount of money in kind as taxes on a regular basis.
Anyway, I can rob their wealth in disguise through trade, so there is no need to oppress them too hard for the time being.
And he stationed troops in Chahanhot City, Guihua City, and Jiuyuan City, and moved 10,000 people in Liaodong who were good at herding to these three cities respectively, and gave them pastures to let them graze in the surrounding areas. , forming a gathering place for Han people on the grassland.
And let merchants stationed in these three cities to form a fixed market, thereby radiating surrounding tribes.
Over time, these places will become the real political, economic, and cultural centers of the Monan region.
The natural next step is to expand the cities. These cities are too small and can be used as inner cities at best.
Thanks to cement, the Ming army could quickly build a taller outer city on the grassland.
It will definitely require a lot of investment in the initial stage, so all the 800,000 taels obtained by Lin Danhan were used to build Monan. In addition, some food needs to be transported to Monan.
The eight Otoks under Chahar, including Alakzot, Aohan, Naiman, Uluru, Haoqite, Ujumqin, Sunit, and Keshiketeng, were directly dismantled by Li Xianzhong into independent Eight Mongolian tribes.
Then he asked the tribal leaders to send their eldest sons to Kaiyuan City, while the noble children of other tribes received free education in Chahanhot City, Guihua City, and Jiuyuan City.
In this way, the aristocratic children on the grassland will gradually be Hanized and eventually be convinced by Han culture.
At present, the eight tribes of Chahar, plus the Tumote tribe, the Ordos tribe, and the Inner Kalkha Mongolia have a total of more than 300,000 tribes. Li Xianzhong organized these tribes into 30,000 cavalry, which were placed under the jurisdiction of three cities.
Finally, Li Xianzhong established the Monan Capital Command Department in Guihua City, with General Mangui as the Monan Capital Commander and Master Liu as the Monan Chief Envoy.
And left 10,000 Liaodong troops stationed in the Monan area.
Although this somewhat disperses one's own forces, it is still worth the effort for the long-term peace and stability of the Monan region.
There are nine meanders in the Yellow River, but there is only one rich one.
The fertile Hetao Plain was Shuofang established by Emperor Xiaowu. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was an important base to curb the movement of northern nomads southward.
Shuofang was an extremely important military town in the Tang Dynasty, and Guo Ziyi's Shuofang Army was an important support for the Tang Dynasty to quell the Anshi Rebellion.
It can be said that the Ming Dynasty made a major mistake by abandoning the Yinshan and Tonghetao areas.
Li Xianzhong personally went to the Hetao Plain and together with Mao Yuanyi selected the location of the new Shuofang City.
Because Jiuyuan City only controls the "front set", only by building Shuofang City can the "back set" be controlled. Only in this way can the entire Hetao be completely controlled.
Since the Central Plains Dynasty had abandoned the Hetao area for too long, there was no foundation for building a city here, and everything had to be started from scratch.
Even Mao Yuanyi had to sigh: "It's 2,500 miles from Liaodong to Shuofang. Even if we have cement, it might not be that easy to build a Shuofang City?"
Li Xianzhong understood what Mao Yuanyi meant. At present, the Liaodong Army should make full preparations for the future to seize the pass. If Shuofang City is built, it will have to go hundreds of miles west of Jiuyuan, which will be a huge test for supplies.
Li Xianzhong said: "It's just to spend more money and food for the sergeants. If we don't build a city here, we can only control the Loop. Sooner or later, this place will be occupied by the grassland tribes again."
"I don't want to guard the Great Wall every day. I have given Mangui a death order that Shuofang City must be built in half a year. Whether it is Nurgan Dusi or Shuofang, as long as it is a land that has been lost in history, I will It must be brought back!”
Mao Yuanyi clasped her fists and said, "I am willing to follow the Duke of Liao to recreate the prosperous times of the Han and Tang Dynasties!"
This expedition to Monan was a long journey and had taken several months. After settling in, it was time for him to return to Liaodong.
As for his eight new concubines, Li Xianzhong opened a separate courtyard for them in the Liao Duke's Mansion in Kaiyuan.
This is a purely political marriage. Although these eight people are all good-looking, Li Xianzhong has no interest in having a relationship with them. If he accidentally has a child, it may not be his own.
To be honest, except for the eldest concubine Na Mu Zhong, he had hardly noticed the looks of the other concubines.
But at this time, Mao Yuanyi brought Lin Danhan's third concubine Su Tai to pay homage to him.
Li Xianzhong was also shocked when he first met Su Tai, because she was almost 9 points similar to his wife Haqiya.
The two are also similar in age.
After inquiring, I found out that Sutai was not a Mongolian, but the grand-niece of Yehebele Jintaiji. It was said that he was also related to Haqiya.
Mao Yuanyi said: "The third concubine Su Tai is grateful that the Duke of Liao did not kill her son Ezhe, and he is willing to go to the capital to replace the Duke's wife Haqiya."
Sutai's son Ezhe is Lin Dan Khan's only son and is only 6 years old this year.
Considering that the Chahar tribe had just surrendered, Li Xianzhong did not kill his only son.
To be honest, Li Xianzhong even suspected that this child was not Lin Dan Khan's at all, because Lin Dan Khan is 34 this year, and he has so many beautiful wives, but he only has such a child. It is really incredible.
That can only mean that Lin Danhan is most likely not fertile at all.
It seems that Su Tai is a very smart woman. He knows that he does not kill Ezhe just to appease people's hearts. Sooner or later, he will have to eliminate the root cause.
That's why she was willing to risk herself in exchange for Li Xianzhong's promise never to kill his son.
Sure enough, maternal love is great!
Li Xianzhong said: "Ezhe is still young at the moment. When he grows up, our guild will let him command some Chahar tribesmen!"
It is now six years since the Apocalypse, and Zhu Youxiao probably doesn't have many days left.
After all, the capital is surrounded by dangers, so we should rescue Hazia as soon as possible if possible!
In addition to Hazia, there are many children of the Li family who are also officials in the capital or the imperial court.
The Li family in Liaodong is actually a big family. Due to Li Chengliang's relationship, many members of the Li family serve in the imperial court.
However, Li Xianzhong did not reuse too many Li family members. Except for his eldest brother Li Huaizhong, who has been serving as the commander-in-chief in Liaodong, the Nanzhen Fusi controlled by Li Xingzhong has been used more by him.
There wasn’t much interaction with the others.
On the one hand, Li Xianzhong came through time and had no family ties with these people.
In addition, there are so many children of the Li family in the capital, which can also confuse Zhu Youxiao.
Mao Yuanyi said: "Although a suitable substitute has been found, there are spies inside and outside the Liao government from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, as well as people from the Wucheng Army and Horses Department."
"And my wife is almost under house arrest now and rarely goes out. Even the Intelligence Department may not be able to replace her."
Li Xianzhong thought for a moment and said, "I have a clever plan of my own!"
Then he leaned next to Mao Yuanyi and whispered a few words.
After hearing this, Mao Yuanyi was shocked and said: "Blowing up the gunpowder magazine in Wang Gong Factory, will this cause too much noise?"
"There are many people living around Wang Gongchang, so the number of casualties is probably not small. In addition, our Crystal Garden in the north of the city is also likely to be affected."
Li Xianzhong said: "There is not much commotion, how can we take advantage of the chaos to rescue my wife?"
"I heard that the War Bureau has imitated many Dutch flintlocks. If all these equipments get into the hands of the imperial court, it will be our Liaodong soldiers who will die in the future."
"The imperial court's black powder is not powerful enough, so we must increase the power of the explosion."
"In addition, don't make this an accidental explosion, but make it God's punishment for Zhu Youxiao!"
"As for those glass greenhouses, it's summer anyway, so move all the tulips outdoors. Other flowers don't matter, they're not worth much."
"By the way, the glass in the warehouse must be moved in advance. If such an explosion occurs, it is estimated that a lot of glass in Beijing will be damaged. There will definitely be a lot of people re-glassing by then. We have to stock up in advance!"
Mao Yuanyi had to admit that the idea of igniting Wang Gongchang was a bit poisonous, but it was indeed powerful.
Not only did they blow up a large amount of firearms and supplies belonging to the imperial court, but they also took the opportunity to build momentum and described this as God's punishment to His Majesty.
Nowadays, the glass in the capital is basically saturated, and the demand is no longer large. After such a shock, another wave of glass can be sold.
It seemed that rescuing the lady had become a matter of course.
This is killing four birds with one stone!
My own prince is really hard to see through. He sometimes worries about the country and the people; but now he seems to be possessed by Jia Xu and Li Ru.
This is really the number one conspiracy in the world!
Wang Gong Factory is located in the southwest corner of the capital. It is the warehouse where gunpowder is stored by the War Bureau. There is also a gun production workshop nearby.
Now the father-in-law Han of the Liaodong Arsenal was an old man in the war bureau, and he was very familiar with Wang Gong Factory. Under his guidance, the Intelligence Department quickly formulated a blasting plan.
In addition to the people from the Intelligence Department who were originally lurking in the Military War Bureau, they also directly bribed the eunuchs in charge of the Military War Bureau through Eunuch Han's connections, so this was absolutely foolproof.
In order to increase the power of this explosion, not only a large amount of granulated black powder was used, but a large amount of white sugar was also added.
Almost all the sugar in Liaodong's inventory has been used up.
In addition to the gunpowder depot, firearms workshop and warehouse of Wang Gong Factory, the Intelligence Department also added several detonation points in the surrounding area to ensure that the scope of the explosion was greatly expanded.
Of course, the explosion itself is not difficult. What is difficult is turning this event into a punishment from heaven, which requires a lot of thought.
It is expected that the scope of this explosion will affect about 700 meters near Wanggong Factory, so the additional blast points will be far away from nearby temples, so that the temples will not be affected by the explosion, and have the effect of blessing from gods and Buddhas.
In addition, before the explosion, it was easy to artificially create a fireball at the Fire Temple in the capital, causing the fire elephant to shake.
No one would notice it beforehand, but once a big explosion occurs, people will naturally associate it with the anger of the god of fire and punishment from heaven.
As for the punishment being caused by the emperor, it would be easier. Then the Intelligence Department could just bribe some beggars to spread some nursery rhymes.
Of course, the cooperation of the Shenji Battalion is also needed, because the gunpowder from Wang Gong's factory supplies the three major camps of the capital and the Yulin camp.
Now that the Yulin Battalion is still besieging the White Lotus Sect in Yanzhou, it naturally supplies the Shenji Battalion. So the Intelligence Department bribed the people of the Shenji Battalion and asked them to find excuses not to receive gunpowder, so that Wang Gong's factory would have more gunpowder. Some.
On the sixth day of the fifth month of the sixth year of Chaotianqi's reign, Emperor Zhu Youzheng of Tianqi was having breakfast in Qianqing Palace. He heard a loud noise and suddenly the hall shook.
Zhu Youxiao thought it was an earthquake and quickly threw down his job, got up and went straight to Jiaotai Hall.
His reaction speed was so fast that the chamberlains had no time to catch up, and only one personal guard supported him.
But when they walked to the Jianji Hall, wooden sills and mandarin tiles fell from the sky. Zhu Youxiao's personal guard had his head cracked and died.
Emperor Tianqi was still panting and ran into Jiaotai Hall alone and hid under a table in the main hall.
Soon after, Wei Zhongxian and others welcomed His Majesty out.
At this time, the main hall of the Qianqing Palace was seriously damaged and in a mess, with the throne and imperial cases overturned to the ground.
All the eunuchs who served the emperor for breakfast were martyred, and no one survived!
Just as Zhu Youxiao was congratulating himself on surviving the disaster, a servant suddenly came to report that the third son of the emperor, Zhu Cijiong, had died of shock due to the big explosion.
Zhu Cijiong is the third son of Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao. He also has high hopes for him and is about to be canonized as the crown prince.
His mother, Ren, was even canonized as an imperial concubine by Zhu Youxiao.
It was precisely because his concubine Ren Guifei gave birth to a dragon heir for His Majesty that Wei Zhongxian became favored again.
The Crown Prince Wei Zhongxian was even more caring and sent his confidants to take good care of him. Unexpectedly, he died in the explosion.
Zhu Youxiao was extremely sad and posthumously named the crown prince Zhu Cijiong as Prince Xianhuai.
After that, he vomited a mouthful of blood and fainted. Wei Zhongxian was so frightened that he quickly sent Wang Huazhen to come for treatment.
Originally, Wei Zhongxian knew that Zhu Youxiao was in poor health, and the third prince would be his support in the future. If something unexpected happened to His Majesty, he could still assist the young master and be his "Nine Thousand Years Old"!
Now this incident has made Wei Zhongxian's overall plan come to nothing.
At this time, news came from the palace that due to a sudden huge earthquake, a large number of craftsmen who were under construction fell from the scaffolding or were injured. There were many casualties, more than a thousand people.
The censors He Qianshu and Pan Yunyi were shocked to death in the Qianqing Palace, becoming the highest officials martyred in the palace.
In fact, the palace was only on the periphery of the explosion, so the impact was not the greatest.
Outside the palace is a mess, it can almost be said to be a hell on earth.
"The sky was clear and cloudless" when the explosion occurred.
There was a muffled thunderous roar from the northeast, and the rumbling sound gradually moved to the southwest. Suddenly there was a loud noise, and dust suddenly filled the sky for more than ten miles around Wang Gongchang. Then the sky darkened, and soon it was shrouded in darkness.
People only felt that the earth was violently shaking, tens of thousands of houses collapsed, and many big trees were uprooted. The elephant house near Wang Gongchang was collapsed by the earthquake, and the elephants fled in panic.
People were shocked, Wang Gongchang roared again, the ground suddenly burst open, and two large pits more than ten feet deep appeared.
The southwest corner of the capital where Wang Gong's factory was located was almost in ruins.
On Shihuma Street, a large stone lion weighing 5,000 kilograms was thrown out of Shun Chengmen.
In the Xi'an Gate area, iron slag the size of rice grains flew and splashed in the air. In the Chang'an Street area, heads fell from the air from time to time, some with only eyebrows and noses left, especially outside Desheng Gate.
In Miyun territory, more than 20 big trees actually flew in. What is even more incredible is that many of the dead and injured people, regardless of age or sex, were "naked."
Within the center of the explosion, the sedan chairs of officials Xue Fengxiang, Fang Zhuangwei, and Wu Zhongwei walking on the street were damaged, and many people were injured. Dong Kewei, the Minister of Industry, had his arms broken.
When the news reached the palace, Wei Zhongxian was also confused.
According to the speculation of the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division, the explosion should have been caused by the gunpowder magazine of Wang Gong Factory.
With Wang Gongchang as the center, almost all the houses within a radius of about 220 feet (750 meters) were destroyed, and the number of casualties in the capital was as high as 20,000.
Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, said: "Rumors are spreading in the capital now, saying that His Majesty has lost his moral character, so the gods have punished him. The fact that the prince was frightened to death is proof of this."
Wei Zhongxian cursed angrily: "You bastard, who is taking the opportunity to spread rumors? Let's arrest them all!"
Tian Ergen was also helpless at this time. He said: "I immediately sent out Jin Yiwei to arrest the people who spread the rumors, but there were so many people who spread the rumors that I couldn't catch them at all."
"Nowadays, the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, the prison of Fusi in Beizhen, and even the imperial prison in Dongchang are all overcrowded!"
Under the operation of the Intelligence Division, many magical things happened.
As soon as the explosion ended, they bribed a large number of beggars to strip off the clothes of the deceased, creating a spectacle of the deceased being naked.
In addition, people with good intelligence took advantage of the darkness to move the stone lions and big trees to a far away place in advance.
Coupled with the abnormality in the Fire Temple before the explosion, the people of the capital were convinced that this punishment was due to the anger of the God of Fire.
Of course, it was difficult for this punishment to be brought against the Weather Emperor Zhu Youxiao.
However, news came from Ouchi: the third son of the emperor, Zhu Cijiong, was frightened and died due to the big explosion.
Now the story that Emperor Tianqi lost his virtue and was punished by God is finally confirmed.
The third prince was frightened to death. It was obvious that God was punishing His Majesty, and the common people who were killed in the capital just followed the bad luck.
Of course, there are positive examples. Due to the precise calculation of the explosion point, the damage to temples such as Zhenru Temple and Chengen Temple near Wanggongchang was relatively minor.
The common people believed that this was the blessing of God. Otherwise, why would the nearby buildings have been greatly damaged, but these temples were fine.
With so many coincidences coming together, it is definitely not a coincidence. Although the arrests by the government have made the people afraid to discuss it openly on the street, they do believe it in private.
The news that "Your Majesty was unethical and was punished by heaven, the capital was bombed and the prince was buried" quickly spread to various places at a rapid speed.
But after arriving in Liaodong, it was another version.
Previously, the news that the Duke of Liao went on an expedition to Monan and obtained the jade seal passed down from the Yuan Dynasty spread in Liaodong.
Although the Liaodong governor's office and the Liao government promptly refuted the rumors, saying that there was no such thing.
But the people don’t believe it!
With the help of the Intelligence Department, the people of Liaodong soon combined these two things.
Your Majesty was unvirtuous and was punished by heaven; the Duke of Liao was the chosen one and received the imperial seal.
Obviously the Duke of Liao, Li Xianzhong, wants to replace him!
Although the government denies it, the common people still know something about the relationship between the imperial court and Liaodong.
Anyway, in Liaodong, they have long been accustomed to "there is only the Duke of Liao, but no His Majesty!"
The laws and tax system in Liaodong are different from those in the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the people, it was Li Xianzhong who made them live a good life.
At this time, Haqia was looking at the land in the distance. Since he married Li Xianzhong in the 47th year of Wanli, he had been staying in the capital as a hostage. In the blink of an eye, 7 years had passed.
Although this day is not a scary day, it is also a time of less gathering and more separation.
She was also extremely torn in her heart. On the one hand, she wanted Li Xianzhong to accompany her, but on the other hand, she was afraid that he would be imprisoned in the capital by the emperor.
They had not seen each other for several years, especially after sending away the child, she felt even more lonely.
Now that she can return to Liaodong and reunite with her husband and children, she is naturally very happy.
Soon the warship docked at the trestle in Yingkou.
The originally busy pier has now been cleared out.
Soldiers holding firecrackers stood guard in the distance, but there was only one lonely figure on the long trestle.
The moment she saw Li Xianzhong, Haziya couldn't bear it anymore.
She quickly got off the boat and ran towards Li Xianzhong.
The two people, who were crying with joy, finally embraced each other. The moment their lips touched, Li Xianzhong felt as if his whole body was electrocuted.
In the end, Haziya pushed Li Xianzhong away and said, "This is a dock. How can the majestic Duke of Liao be seen?"
Li Xianzhong said with a bad smile: "I have asked people to clear the place a long time ago. Didn't you see that the soldiers all turned their backs to us?"
Then he stroked Hazia's face and said softly: "I have made you suffer all these years!"
Hazia grabbed Li Xianzhong's waist, squeezed hard and said: "You have been very romantic and happy these years, and the women around you have changed one after another. I heard that you went to Monan a few days ago and married in one fell swoop. You have 8 concubines, can your body still hold on?"
After finishing speaking, Hazia added a little more strength to her hands.
Li Xianzhong, who was in pain, quickly begged for mercy and said: "Madam, I know I was wrong. I swear to God, I didn't even look at those eight concubines, let alone touch them!"
Hazia was nestling in Li Xianzhong's arms and said softly: "My lord, so many people in the capital died because of me. Isn't it a bit too much?"
It can be seen that Haziya has indeed become much calmer over the years, and she already has the demeanor of a mother to be able to say this.
Li Xianzhong said: "Don't talk about the matter of making a marquis, because one general will make thousands of bones wither!"
"The main purpose of this time is to destroy the capital's firearms and make people in the world feel that God is punishing Your Majesty. Saving you is just incidental. You don't need to blame yourself!"
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(End of chapter)
