Chapter 803: The Northern Yuan's End is Nigh
Shi Jian, Zao Ying, and Zheng Daniu stood atop the ancient fortress at Wangjia Fork, their gaze fixed on the northwest.
Not long ago, Wang Chenggong had led a rebellion at this very fortress, only to be swiftly subdued by the Gao Family Village Militia and sent to a labor reform camp.
With its former occupant gone, the Wangjia Fork fortress stood empty.
An ownerless property? There was no way the Heavenly Lord would let it go unclaimed.
He instructed Shi Jian to send a letter to Governor Hong Chengchou, explaining that he had recently been suppressing bandits in northern Shaanxi and was capable of overseeing the Wangjia Fork fortress as well.
This was, of course, welcome news for Hong Chengchou, who was desperately short on troops and couldn't spare a detachment to garrison the fortress. He readily handed its command over to Shi Jian.
Shi Jian thus naturally absorbed the Wangjia Fork fortress into their domain, dispatching men to repair it and assigning soldiers from Gao Family Village to its defense.
The location quickly became a 'forward operating base' for Gao Family Village.
This base was indeed quite remote, even further than Bai Yuan's journey to Luoyang...
"Difficult or not, we do it!" Zheng Daniu grinned. "The Heavenly Lord's command is paramount."
Daniu, while guileless, had been the most loyal in executing orders since joining Gao Family Village. He and Gao Chuwu were like two unwavering generals; they simply did whatever the Heavenly Lord commanded, without question. They didn't care about difficulties, nor did they even ponder if the task was right or wrong; if the Heavenly Lord spoke, it was simply to be done.
His declaration brought a smile to Shi Jian's face. "Daniu, your understanding is truly enlightened. If the Heavenly Lord says something must be done, there's certainly a reason. No matter how troublesome it seems, we just follow through, and that's that."
With a flourish, he pulled out a scroll of documents and waved it towards Zao Ying and Zheng Daniu. "These are the records I had people gather, intelligence on the Mongolian Wushen Tribe."
Zheng Daniu grunted, "Don't read it. Can't understand it."
Zao Ying chuckled. "Don't make it hard for Daniu. Just read it aloud to him."
Shi Jian had no choice but to read: "The Mongolian Wushen Tribe, located deep within the Maowusu Desert, belongs to the larger Ordos confederation. The Ordos, in turn, falls under the lineage of Genghis Khan, currently led by Ligdan Khan. We, the people of the Central Plains, generally refer to this entity as the 'Northern Yuan.'"
"Huh?" Zheng Daniu's brow furrowed. "That was like listening to nothing at all."
Shi Jian elaborated, "Simply put, the Heavenly Lord wants us to absorb the Wushen Tribe and make them part of our forces... The Wushen Tribe isn't just a simple tribe; it's actually part of a larger state called the Northern Yuan."
At this, Zheng Daniu finally seemed to grasp it. "Oh!"
Shi Jian continued, "That's essentially it. What we're about to do is tantamount to invading the Northern Yuan state and seizing a city within their territory called Wushen."
Zao Ying, however, was a little curious. "Defeating a single tribe wouldn't be hard, but I'm worried we might poke a hornet's nest. If the entire Northern Yuan comes after us, we'll be constantly running ourselves ragged."
No sooner had she spoken than the small cotton figurine of the Heavenly Lord, hanging on Zheng Daniu's chest, suddenly came to life. It grinned, and a voice resonated, "There's no need to worry about the entire Northern Yuan."
"Ah! The Heavenly Lord has arrived!"
The three quickly bowed in reverence.
The cotton Heavenly Lord figure declared, "I have divined it. The Northern Yuan is on the verge of collapse."
The three stared, utterly bewildered. Not that they doubted the Heavenly Lord's words, but they were astonished that he would reveal such heavenly secrets to them.
The cotton Heavenly Lord figure continued, "The Manchus are insatiably ambitious. They don't solely target our Great Ming. The Manchus will also attack the Northern Yuan. In the near future, the Northern Yuan will be utterly destroyed by the Manchus..."
At this point, Zao Ying was the first to understand. "Once the Northern Yuan falls, its various tribes will be like dragons without a leader, thrown into chaos. That's when we can move in and claim their tribes. If we're too slow, they'll become subjects of the Manchus and be sent to fight us. But if we're swift, they'll become our subjects and eventually fight the Manchus!"
"Truly, a former horse bandit," Shi Jian remarked, also coming to the realization. "We can't wait until the Northern Yuan is truly destroyed before we start claiming tribes; that would be too late. We need to establish relationships with some of these tribes *before* the Northern Yuan falls, so they will naturally align with us when it happens."
Seeing that they
understood, the cotton Heavenly Lord figure wasted no more words. He smiled and said, "The Wushen Tribe is the closest to us, so let's start with them. Remember this one thing..."
He paused deliberately at this, and the three quickly pricked up their ears, knowing an important point was coming.
The cotton Heavenly Lord figure's voice turned slightly serious: "The nomadic people of the steppe are different from our agricultural folk. Treat our farmers well, and they will follow you faithfully. But the steppe tribes are full of a wolf-like nature; being kind to them won't work. You must... hehe... be stronger than them. Only then will they wholeheartedly obey you."
Zao Ying chuckled wryly. "Isn't that just like us horse bandits? Horse bandits only listen to those stronger than themselves. The weak, well... they're all just prey, ha ha ha ha!"
"Stronger than them?" Shi Jian understood. "Show them our might, right?"
"This time, I understand too!" Zheng Daniu raised his massive, bowl-sized fist. "First, a good beating, then we talk sense."
The Wushen Tribe had been experiencing difficult times lately.
The tribe was not large to begin with, numbering only a few thousand people, with only about half of their able-bodied young men capable of riding and fighting.
Several days prior, the Wushen tribe leader had led over a thousand of his young men to 'raid for supplies' in Great Ming territory. Near the Wangjia Fork fortress, they encountered a battle between Ming forces and rebels. The tribal leader, in a fit of hot-headed ambition, decided to try and seize the Ming army's cannons.
The result... was that they lost hundreds of young cavalrymen and fled back in utter disarray.
For a tribe of a few thousand, losing several hundred able-bodied men in one go severely impacted their strength. The Wushen Tribe's fighting power plummeted, instantly making them the weakest tribe within the Ordos confederation.
And the weak, as always, were destined to be bullied!
Recently, the Wushen people had been tormented by their own kin.
The Etuoke Tribe, settled not far to their west, had taken to harassing the Wushen Tribe at every opportunity. Today they'd steal a few horses, tomorrow dozens of sheep...
This was hardly unusual among nomadic peoples. The adage, 'If you're weak, you deserve a beating,' had been their brutal reality since ancient times.
The Wushen people had no other solution but to desperately try and produce more children.
One day, as the Wushen tribe leader was diligently 'creating people' inside his tent, he suddenly heard shouts from outside: "The Etuoke are here! The Etuoke are here!"
Immediately, the clamor of men shouting and horses neighing erupted. All the young men of the tribe were scrambling onto their horses, preparing for battle.
The tribal leader sprang up with a start, abandoning his current endeavor. He threw on a robe, burst out of the tent, and vaulted onto his horse. "The Etuoke again? Fight! This time, we *must* win. If we lose again, they'll be riding roughshod over us!"
He gathered the remaining seven or eight hundred young men of the tribe, and together they spurred their horses forward, charging to meet the enemy...
Free reading.
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