Because of the Qi army's superiority in equipment, it was difficult for the Mongolian army to defend the city when facing the Qi army. Once the Qi army captured the city, the Mongolian army would inevitably suffer heavy casualties if they wanted to recapture it.
Now Wokuotai does not have many available troops and cannot recapture the Hebei prefectures and counties occupied by Zhao Tai.
Throughout the ages, the Hebei Plain had a dense population and a large amount of arable land. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, it had been an important tax land for the Central Plains dynasty, providing food for the Central Plains dynasty.
At this time, most of Hebei was occupied by Zhao Tai. If Zhao Tai was allowed to develop, the prefectures and counties occupied by Zhao Tai would soon surpass the Han areas controlled by Mongolia in terms of population, economy, and grain production.
This will be extremely detrimental to Mongolia, and Mongolia will naturally have to find ways to deal with it.
In order to prevent Zhao Tai from restoring Hebei and using Hebei's population and land to increase his strength, Wo Kuotai adopted Yang Weizhong's suggestion and took advantage of the fact that Hebei was undefeated. He sent multiple groups of cavalry, with a team of 100 people, deep into Hebei to specifically attack villages and destroy People in Hebei carry out spring plowing.
The Qi army had few cavalry, but the Mongolian cavalry had many, and the light cavalry came and went like the wind. The Mongolian cavalry did not fight the Qi army, but only destroyed people's farming and massacred villages and towns in Hebei.
For a time, war broke out in Hebei, and the Qi army had no way to crack the Mongolian tactics. They could only send cavalry to drive away the Mongolian army, collect the people into the city, and order the villages to actively build fortresses.
Hedong, Taiyuan.
After the rebellion broke out in Xiongzhou, the Mongolian high-level leaders felt that the hearts of the Han princes were shaken. Wo Kuotai led 50,000 Mongolian cavalry and hurried south to station in Hedong, intending to stabilize the hearts of the Han princes and sway the momentum of the Han princes to Zhao Tai.
In the palace of the Mongolian Khan, Wo Kuotai summoned counselors to discuss strategies to deal with Zhao Tai and stabilize people's hearts.
At this time, there was a huge map hanging in the palace. Wo Kuotai stood with his hands behind his hands. While looking at the map, he asked: "Is everyone here?"
Yelu Chucai said: "Liu Heima, Shi Tianze, Xiao Chongxi, Ta Bu'er, Shi Mo Bedier and others have arrived in Taiyuan, but Wang Dechen only sent his son Wang Weixian here, and several others only sent their subordinates."
After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty and conquered the Northern Song Dynasty, Hu and Han people lived together in the north. In the eyes of the Mongols, the leaders of the Han princes were not all Han Chinese. Xiao Chongxi, Ta Wei'er, Shi Mo Bedier were Khitans, and Wang Degu was He is from Wanggu tribe.
The strong rise of Zhao Tai shook the confidence of these princes in Mongolia. Wo Kuotai patrolled the south of Hedong and summoned many princes in order to stabilize people's hearts.
Ogedai heard that many people did not come in person, and he was quite dissatisfied. It seemed that the rise of Zhao Tai had indeed affected the majesty of Mongolia.
At this time, Ogedai walked to the Khan's seat and sat down. He looked at several staff members and said, "Since the war last year, the hearts of the Han people have been shaken. Now that I am summoned by the Khan, some people do not come to see me in person. Do you think that this Khan should What can we do to stabilize people's hearts and restore our Mongolian majesty?"
Several staff in the hall had discussed this for a long time. Yelu Chucai said: "Great Khan, because Xiongzhou rebelled against the Mongols and returned to Qi, the hearts of the princes everywhere were shaken. Those people who did not come in person may not necessarily want to join Zhao Tai, but may be worried. After arriving in Taiyuan, he will be controlled by the Great Khan, so he is suspicious."
After hearing this, Wo Kuotai narrowed his eyes and pondered, and quickly understood the reason, "Are those Han princes afraid that I would take refuge in Zhao Tai, so they attacked them?"
Yelu Chucai nodded, "The Great Khan is wise!"
"We Mongolia are unable to govern the Han region, and we still need these princes now! If they think so, I'm afraid they will defect to Zhao Tai sooner or later." Wo Kuotai frowned.
Yelu Chucai said: "The war last year really shook the confidence of these princes in Mongolia. However, I think that for these princes, except for those who border the Qi bandits and are directly threatened by the Qi bandits, most of them are not Will easily surrender to Zhao Tai."
"Oh?" Now Wo Kuotai was very worried that Xiongzhou's rebellion would trigger a chain reaction in Han Dynasty. He couldn't help but asked: "Prime Minister, please tell Ben Khan!"
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"Because we, Mongolia, have allowed them to be marquises for generations and hold the same place forever. If they seek refuge with Zhao Tai, they will inevitably lose this privilege." Yelu Chucai saluted and said, "Now that many princes have gathered in Taiyuan, I thought that when the Great Khan summoned them, they would only We need to reiterate this point and further delegate power, so that these princes will become our help in Mongolia!"
Ogedai couldn't help but ask: "How else can I delegate power?"
Yelu Chucai was originally going to help Ogedei establish centralization of Mongolia and turn Mongolia from a tribal alliance into a real empire. But now the situation has changed, and he has to take the initiative to reverse course.
"In order to make these princes love Mongolia, I thought that the Great Khan could issue a decree. From now on, they will be responsible for the military and political affairs in the territory of the princes, giving them sufficient rights, and we in Mongolia only need them to provide a part of the tax and to Their army will undergo an assessment!" Yelu Chucai said: "If they can pay their taxes as scheduled and their soldiers and horses can meet the requirements of our Mongolia and become our help, we will allow them to guard the Spyge and grant them more fiefdoms. If If it cannot be completed, the fiefdoms will be gradually reduced and the land will be handed over to capable princes."
One of the reasons why Mongolia was unable to recapture Hebei this time was that the Han princes were ineffective and failed to provide enough troops for Mongolia.
In the past few years, the Han princes have been in a state of decline. First, the war was not going well, and they suffered too much loss. Second, Mongolia sent Daru Huachi, who raided the Han area too hard, interfered in the military affairs of the Han area, and acted recklessly in the Han area, resulting in the decline of people's livelihood. .
What Yelu Chucai meant was to redistribute the interests of the Han region, give the princes more rights, implement the tax farming system, and let them develop their own strength.
In this way, these Han warlords became the local emperors in their fiefdoms, allowing them to gain rights and interests. Naturally, they would not easily surrender to Zhao Tai.
Because they are independent princes on the Mongolian side, and there is a danger of losing their fiefdom if they seek refuge with Zhao Tai, they will help Mongolia fight against Zhao Tai.
Wokuotai thought for a while, it was okay for the Mongols to fight, but it was really difficult to govern the Han Dynasty, so it would be better to delegate power to these princes.
After Wokuotai pondered for a while, he nodded and said: "The Prime Minister's idea, I think it is feasible. However, how many fiefdoms and population these princes support, how many taxes and troops must be provided to Mongolia! There are two of these princes If there are ten thousand households, there must be twenty thousand elite soldiers, and if there are one thousand households, there must be one thousand soldiers and horses. These laws must be formulated. If they are not completed, the fiefdom will be reduced."
Previously, Mongolia's management of the Han Dynasty was very loose. Now, in order to counter the rise of Zhao Tai and utilize the population and resources of the Han Dynasty, Mongolia ceded power to the Han princes and also put forward conditions.
That is, each prince, or ten thousand households, must provide Mongolia with ten thousand soldiers.
In this way, Mongolia can not only stabilize the princes, but also allow them to provide Mongolia with a large number of servants.
