Chapter 55 Prince Yu's Self-Awareness
Chapter 55 Prince Yu's Self-Awareness
Anda is actually not the official title of a grassland tribe, but the name of the Khan of the Tumed tribe of Mongolia.
The reason why he was called "Anda" might be that Anda was too dazzling, so that the Ming Dynasty automatically ignored his tribal title and directly used his name as their title.
It is also possible that the Ming Dynasty used Anda's real name as a pseudonym in order to distinguish it from other Khans of the Tumed tribe.
Anda's surname was Borjigin. As to whether he was a descendant of Genghis Khan, there is no way to verify this now.
But what is certain is that most of those who can rise up on the Mongolian grasslands are descendants of grassland nobles, otherwise it would be difficult for them to have heroic appeal.
Because the Mongolian people are very different from the Central Plains.
Although the "interaction" between the grasslands and the Central Plains dynasties has never been interrupted since the Xiongnu, and both sides have won and lost, in terms of cultural essence, perhaps due to the limitations of geographical conditions, the northern grassland regimes have never truly formed a civilized system.
Their so-called civilization was nothing more than what some powerful rulers copied bit by bit from the southern kingdom after following the advice of Han officials.
However, this kind of plagiarism without core also means that the core of their civilization is still barbaric and crude.
Therefore, even after going through established dynasties such as Liao, Jin and Yuan, it was still difficult to conceal their barbaric nature.
A powerful grassland tribe, they are not only cruel to their own people, but also to external parties.
Therefore, if you want to gain a foothold in the grassland where chaos is constant, the first thing is to have a clearly explained heroic epic or the buff bonus of the hero's descendants. Only after having these two points can you call on other people on the grassland to attach themselves to you and become part of your strength.
Otherwise, it would be a pipe dream for a dung beetle that just jumped out of a gutter to become the leader of the grassland!
Because the barbaric grassland people have a heroic complex that the Han people in the south can never understand.
Although the Han people also have a heroic complex, they are more inclined to the saying "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born with a special kind of blood?" Therefore, in the real Han world, no one will assume that you will become someone else just because of your father.
This situation rarely occurs in Han culture.
Therefore, in the cultural idioms of the Han people, there are often some idiom variations that deny bloodlines, such as "tiger father, dog son" and so on.
This shows that there are huge differences in the ideological essences of the Han people and the grassland people.
And because of the barbaric nature of the grassland people, before a true hero completes the formal and substantive unification of the grassland, the power on the grassland will undergo major changes every once in a while.
For example, during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty's biggest enemy was the remnants of the "Northern Yuan Dynasty" who were driven out of the Central Plains. During the reign of Zhu Di, they became the "Tatar Arutai Tribe". During the reign of Yingzong, they became the "Oirat". During the reign of Zhengde, they became the "Little Prince" Dayan Khan, the grandfather of the current Alda Khan.
It can be said that in the past two hundred years, there has been no grand drama on the Mongolian grasslands. It has always been a rhythm of "you finish your song and I take the stage". However, this rhythm may be due to the advantages of the cold weapon era, or it may be due to the barbaric nature of the grassland tribes.
During the two hundred years of Mongolian succession wars, the power of the Mongolian grasslands was not substantially weakened. On the contrary, after each temporary unification, they would unconsciously recall the glory of the "previous Yuan Dynasty" and attempt to invade the south, and each time they achieved certain strategic gains.
This caused the Ming Dynasty's northern border to be constantly shrouded in the smoke of war, which consumed the Ming Dynasty's already unhealthy finances and also caused the Ming Dynasty's actual control and tributary areas to gradually shrink.
During the Hongzhi reign, the Hetao area was lost.
Although the territory was seized several times, the Ming court did not have strong financial support to fight such a long-term defensive war, so the Hetao area was officially lost during the Hongzhi period. It was not until more than a hundred years later that a regime called the "Qing Dynasty" rose up and waged a brutal Hundred Years War against the Dzungar tribe in the north, which completely eliminated the threat from the northern grasslands. It also returned the "Western Regions" that had been away from the Central Plains Empire for nearly a thousand years since the An-Shi Rebellion to the territory.
This shows that in the era of cold weapons, in order to resolve the threat from the north, in addition to having strong military strength, one must also have the financial power to sustain a war for hundreds of years.
Otherwise, the northern grassland will always be a rotten sore that heals and rots, rots and heals again, forever eroding and consuming the strength and finances of the Central Plains court.
Gao Gong told Zhu Zaigui the entire history of Anda in detail. After listening to it, Zhu Zaigui also had a clear understanding of this Anda.
Zhu Zaigui sighed, "It would be great if the Ming Dynasty could be as strong as it was during the Yongle period. Perhaps Altan Khan at this moment would be as good at singing and dancing as Jie Li Khan during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang."
Gao Gong couldn't help but smile bitterly as he listened to Zhu Zaigui's sigh.
The present era is not at all the era of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Not only does the current Ming Dynasty seem somewhat weak, but it also faces numerous internal problems. It is simply unable to launch a surprise war against the grassland tribes that could determine the fate of the country like the one that took place during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang.
What the Ming Dynasty needs now is stability, and it needs to change and solve its own problems, so that it will have the energy and spare capacity to solve the problems in the north.
Otherwise, even if we go to war with the grassland tribes in the north, we won't be able to establish long-term control if we win, and it would be even worse if we lose.
Therefore, in Gao Gong's view, the current strategy is to maintain peace with the Anda tribe in the north, so that the Ming Dynasty has time to solve its internal problems and restore the financial situation of the court.
Only by doing these two things well can the Ming Dynasty turn around and deal with the problems in the north properly.
But can these problems really be solved so easily?
Although Zhu Zaigui had confidence in Gao Gong, he had no confidence in the current Ming Dynasty.
If I remember correctly, in history, Gao Gong worked hard to change the status quo of the Ming Dynasty and made countless enemies, but in the end he was stabbed in the back by his "allies".
Zhang Juzheng took advantage of the death of Emperor Longqing and joined forces with Feng Bao to accuse Gao Gong of being disrespectful to the young emperor in front of Empress Dowager Li, thus dismissing Gao Gong from office and making him leave the political stage forever.
It can be said that in such a dangerous environment, it would not be easy for Gao Gong to clear up the sky of the Ming Dynasty just by relying on his passion.
However, Zhu Zaigui felt that if he could live a few more years than Emperor Longqing in history, he would definitely support Gao Gong wholeheartedly, allowing Gao Gong to solve the long-standing problems of the Ming Dynasty without any worries.
After all, Zhu Zaigui had a very clear understanding of himself.
Zhu Zaigui knew that his advantage was his familiarity with history, but when it came to actual reform and management, he felt that he could not catch up with Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, two great talents who emerged from nowhere.
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui could only secretly pray that he would live long enough, and then use his status as emperor to suppress the direct conflicts between Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, allowing the two of them to bring different changes to the Ming Dynasty in their respective fields of expertise!
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I drank too much yesterday, so I delayed the update. I will make up for it before noon. Sorry.
(End of this chapter)