Chapter 10 If I Were the Emperor

Lin Danhan's power was severely weakened, and his allies had now become his enemies. He had to face possible attacks from the Later Jin at any time, so he had no choice but to move westward.

Even if we reach the right wing of Mongolia, we still have to be prepared to suppress possible resistance from the right-wing tribes.

The Ming Dynasty did not want to make enemies, but did Lindan Khan think about it?

What's more, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, so the Ming Dynasty may not be easy to mess with.

But after all, the Ming Dynasty killed someone's son-in-law. If Lin Danhan did not do something, the Chahar tribe, which was already demoralized, would become even more disunited!
It seems that a war between the Ming Dynasty and Ligdan Khan is inevitable.

But when Chongzhen expressed his doubts, Wang An laughed and said, "My dear brother, you are still too young. In this day and age, whoever gives you milk is your mother. The people on the grassland are more like leeches sucking blood from the Ming Dynasty than living a nomadic life."

"They know in their hearts that without the supply from the Central Plains, they will have no way to survive. What else is there on the grassland besides grass, mud and horses? Salt, iron, tea, grain and cloth almost all rely on the supply from the Central Plains to survive."

"This is why both Mongolia and the Later Jin like to plunder the Ming Dynasty and dream of moving into the Central Plains! Because the Ming Dynasty has the key materials they rely on for survival, as well as prosperous mountains and rivers that they can't imagine even if they rack their brains!"

"But all this is premised on them being strong enough. For example, Nurhaci of the Later Jin was intent on plundering the Ming Dynasty and using force to speak."

"During the Tianqi reign, when Lin Danhan was at the height of his power, didn't he often plunder the Ming Dynasty? It was only later, when the threat of the Later Jin Dynasty arose, that he turned to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen seemed to be thinking about something. These theories were not very profound, but for the new emperor who lacked education as a crown prince, they undoubtedly made it clear for him the interests between the Ming Dynasty and the northern forces.

It provided clear guiding principles for future strategies in dealing with ethnic minorities in the north and northeast.

This is completely different from those so-called imperial tutors who only knew how to hold the Four Books and Five Classics and advise Chongzhen to rule the country with benevolence and filial piety.

Seeing that Chongzhen seemed to be thinking about something, Wang An smiled and said, "So, do you understand, my dear brother?"

"What do you understand?" Chongzhen looked confused.

What I just asked you was whether there is any way to resolve the conflict between you and Ligdan Khan. Although you said a lot of reasonable things, you still didn't give me a direct answer!

Wang An said with a look of disappointment: "I really can't do anything with you. Think about it, is it more important for Lin Danhan to obtain survival supplies from the Ming Dynasty or to avenge the murder of his son-in-law?"

After being reminded by Wang An, Chongzhen immediately understood.

Lin Danhan was originally a bit like a lost dog. For him, the most important thing was to gain a foothold in the Mongolian right wing or even make a comeback.

He is just a son-in-law. As long as he is willing, it is not a big deal for him to find ten or eight husbands for his daughter.

As for shaking his prestige in the tribe, that is a matter for the future and can be remedied.

"So what you mean, brother, is that the court should punish the lieutenant general and make up the outstanding rewards in order to appease him?" Chongzhen frowned.

Wouldn't this mean supporting Cui Chengxiu's proposal and bearing the stigma of being weak?

Wang An shook his head and said with a smile: "I don't know what the court will do, but if it were me..."

"What if it's eldest brother?" Chongzhen asked excitedly.

Wang An laughed, glanced at Chongzhen and said, "Why should we ordinary people talk about national affairs? Can the emperor listen to us?" Chongzhen pulled the corner of his mouth and covered it up, "It's okay to talk about it when you have nothing to do. Besides, brother, you know that our family is at the border, so we have to care about it."

"That's right." Wang An nodded. Since his cousin was interested, there was nothing wrong with just chatting. After thinking for a while, he said, "If I were the emperor..."

But before he could finish his words, Wang Chengen couldn't help but shout, "How dare you! How dare a commoner call himself... call himself..."

Wang An sneered, and in his heart he despised people's reverence for imperial power.

Chongzhen also frowned, but still waved his hand and scolded: "Don't be rude to my brother!"

"This..." Wang Chengen stopped talking.

Wang An didn't take it seriously and continued, "Not only should we not punish the lieutenant general, we should also reward him greatly."

Chongzhen was surprised when he heard this and asked, "Wouldn't this anger Ligdan Khan even more?"

Wang An laughed and said, "Lindan Khan sent his son-in-law to Datong to demand a reward and threatened to attack the city if he was not given. This can be seen as an intention to attack and a serious provocation. It is simply grabbing the collar of the Ming Dynasty and slapping it wildly! How can we appease the anger of the people if we don't kill him?"

Chongzhen and his companions nodded continuously, thinking that Wang An's words made sense.

Although the Ming Dynasty was weak, in the eyes of the Chinese people, these barbarians on the grasslands were unevolved beasts. How could the great China be threatened by such beasts?
You can get beaten, but you can't lose face.

Especially since Chongzhen had just ascended the throne, he really couldn't easily bring shame upon himself and shake the prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

Wang An continued, "Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is losing ground at the border. Although rewarding meritorious soldiers may not necessarily boost the morale of the army, punishing them will surely cause the army to lose morale! Killing the enemy and still being punished, who will dare to risk their lives to kill the Tartars in the future?"

"Then instead of punishing the lieutenant general, we should reward Lin Danhan with a large sum of money?" Chongzhen was a little conflicted. After all, the decree to revoke the reward could be said to be his first policy targeting the nomadic peoples at the border. It was indeed a bit embarrassing to change his orders every day.

Wang An shook his head even more, as his first sentence hit Chongzhen's heart.

"Since the decree to abolish the reward has been issued, how can it be changed overnight? If Lin Danhan knows about it, won't he think that the new emperor is weak and can be bullied? In the future, whenever we are short of money, we can take the troops to Daoxuan to go. There is no silver in the national treasury that can feed them!"

"What should we do then?" Chongzhen was already fascinated by what he was saying, like a student eager to learn.

Wang An said: "We have to give the money, but we also have to fight the war!"

Chongzhen was confused and said, "If we give money, it means we are appeasing them, so why do we need to fight? Isn't this a waste of effort?"

"There are ways to fight when you pay money!" Wang An said with a smile, "We need to show some attitude to let Lin Danhan know that our Ming Dynasty is not his silver vault, so that he won't think we are afraid of him after we give him money."

"First, order Datong Prefecture to move residents outside the city into the city. Take away the food and grass outside the city that can be taken away, and burn the ones that cannot be taken away on the spot! We will defend Datong Prefecture to the death and let him come to attack!"

Seeing Chongzhen's worried look, Wang An smiled and said, "Don't worry. Datong City has high walls and is guarded by Xuanda soldiers. They can't fight in the wild, but they can still defend the city."

"Besides, Lin Danhan still wants to preserve his strength and rule the right wing of Mongolia, so he definitely won't dare to fight us to the death!"

Historically, although many people died when Datong Prefecture was invaded, they were all farmers outside the city, and Datong Prefecture itself was not taken down.

(End of this chapter)