Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 892 - 736: Taxing the People and Draining the Treasury?

Chapter 892: Chapter 736: Taxing the People and Draining the Treasury?

Li Xuan’s northern campaign route, after passing through the border, closely resembled the route taken by Emperor Taizong on his second northern expedition.

All seven hundred thousand troops passed through Zhangjiakou to Dalu city and then crossed the Hanhai, also known as the great desert or the Gobi Desert of later times, using two clear water sources to the north and south and Saihan Mountain, arriving in MoBei. Subsequently, they directly attacked Ulan Bator from Qihu Mountain and Jiesheng Ridge.

The so-called ’Hanhai’ or great desert is later known as the Gobi Desert, spanning thousands of miles, extending west to the Tian Mountain and east to the Great Xingan Mountain. Meng Wu used this as the border, dividing the area into MoNan and MoBei.

The MoNan area, where Li Xuan had defeated Tuotuobuhua last April, decimating tens of thousands of Datan, had already become indefensible to the Oirat People.

Over the past year, General Zhenshuo Zhu Guoneng and Zongbing Fan Guang of Xuanfu continued to send troops northward to plunder, sweeping across most of the vast grasslands north of the Great Wall.

All of the Oirat tribes on this grassland either temporarily withdrew to MoBei or submitted to the Jin Dynasty.

Hence, Li Xuan’s target this time was ’Ulan Bator’ in the grasslands of MoBei, where the tents of the Datan people’s Khan were located.

This place was very close to the Meng Wu’s earliest capital, ’Helin’. After ’Helin city’ was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty, the remaining Datan tribes had no choice but to relocate their capital to the east to ’Hulun Buir’, relying on this region to resist the Jin Dynasty for decades.

The ’Buyuer Sea’ battle during this period took place south of ’Hulun Buir’, where the Great General Lan Yu massively defeated Meng Wu, beheading over a hundred thousand and causing the Datan tribe to be unable to recover their strength for decades.

It was not until after Emperor Taizong’s death that the Datan people gradually moved back, choosing to rebuild their Khan’s tent near ’Ulan Bator,’ close to Helin.

The area near Ulan Bator was intersected by many rivers and boasted lush grasslands, with most of the Datan people now gathering nearby. The population was dense, with herds of cattle and sheep.

Emperor Taizong’s second northern expedition was an attack on Ulan Bator, where they achieved a great victory over Shiwei near this area, driving the power of Shiwei people to the east of the Aruhun River.

This northern expedition route was one of the few that could provide enough water sources to support the crossing of hundreds of thousands of troops through the Hanhai.

Li Xuan and Yu Jie were both decisive and acted swiftly, having planned and prepared for the northern expedition for several months, ensuring ample supplies and well-equipped military.

When the two led seven hundred thousand troops through the border, they advanced north at an astonishing speed.

In less than five days, the army’s vanguard had already traversed one thousand nine hundred miles, arriving at Saihan Mountain south of the Hanhai.

——This marching speed can be said to be extremely exaggerated; throughout history, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops to travel hundreds of miles a day is virtually unprecedented.

However, on this occasion, one aspect of Li Xuan’s army was the audaciously fast march, hardly considering the possibility of ambush or interception, advancing at full speed.

On the other hand, the entire army from top to bottom had implemented a system of mounted troops, with the twenty-seven thousand cavalry each having two horses, the Shenji Camp and the ten battalions of the full firearms unit equipped with pack horses, and the rest of the infantry regiments also able to ride oxen and horses pulling side carts.

It wasn’t until they neared Saihan Mountain that the army made a brief halt for rest and reorganization. On one hand, they were recuperating and restoring energy; on the other hand, they were trying to restore the disarray caused by the forced march and reorganize the troops and horses.

Saihan Mountain was very close to Erlianhaote, only a hundred miles away.

On the very night Li Xuan reached Saihan Mountain, he handed over the subsequent military affairs to Yu Jie to oversee. He personally led eighty thousand cavalry along with seven battalions of the Shenji Camp, totaling one hundred sixty thousand men, to march towards Erlianhaote and sweep forward.

Erlianhaote, also known as ’Sunite Etook,’ has a fertile grassland that serves as a pasture for the seventy thousand households of the Datan left flank.

It’s also the last stronghold held by the Datan tribe since the battle at Xuanfu last year.

Although this left flank of seventy thousand households suffered heavy losses in the battle of Xuanfu, they still had tens of thousands of men ready to fight, able to mobilize fifty thousand light cavalry at their peak.

Therefore, over the past year, the left flank of seventy thousand households was still barely able to contend with Zongbing Fan Guang of Xuanfu, holding onto a stretch of grassland near Erlianhaote.

At the time when Li Xuan led his northern campaign, Erlianhaote became the biggest threat on their flank, capable of encircling and cutting off the Jin Army’s rear.

Therefore, Li Xuan regarded it as a thorn in his side, a nail that had to be removed.

Before his troops march into MoBei, the left flank of seventy thousand Datan households must be swept away.

Meanwhile, Zongbing Fan Guang of Xuanfu had also already led the direct cavalry and the Sanqian Camp, a total of seventy thousand cavalry, to move ahead, crossing the Hanhai to MoBei in advance, seizing Qihu Mountain.

Qihu Mountain, also known as ’Yidu,’ is the strategic pass for communication between the south and north of the great desert.

In the past, when Emperor Tai of Jin was still the King of Yan, he had achieved a great victory over Meng Wu here, capturing the Taiwei of Northern Yuan Nairbuhua and the chancellor Yidu at this location.

Later, in the sixteenth year of Yongle, Emperor Taizong, on a northern campaign, passed this place. He ordered his ministers to make sacrifices to the mountains and rivers, renaming the mountain "Qihu Mountain," and carved the words ’Hanhai as the blade, Tian Mountain as the edge’ into the giant rocks, as well as establishing Guangwu city here to store military provisions.

Unfortunately, after the sudden death of Emperor Taizong, the fortress and provisions at Qihu Mountain fell into the hands of Meng Wu, and Guangwu city was razed to the ground.

The Jin Dynasty only needed to occupy this place, and from here, all the way to the Meng Wu Khan’s quarters ’Ulan Bator,’ the terrain was smooth, with no natural defenses to hold.

As Li Xuan had predicted, when news of the Jin Dynasty’s northern campaign reached the left wing of the Datan tribe of Erlianhaote, although they were forewarned several days in advance, the leaders of the seventy thousand households of the left wing didn’t have enough time to evacuate their scattered herds and tribespeople over the hundreds of miles around Erlianhaote.

They didn’t dare confront Li Xuan’s advancing army head-on and could only hurriedly gather their core tribespeople and retreat towards MoBei in haste.

Thus, they abandoned tens of thousands of herdsmen and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep to the pursuing Jin Army.

Li Xuan’s massive cavalry force of over a hundred thousand continued northward in pursuit until they halted at Zamenwude.

Arriving there, Li Xuan found a hill to climb for a better view of the distant landscape.

He glanced at the vast Hanhai to the north and then surveyed the terrain around him. He then pointed to a low mountain to the east and said to an official from the Ministry of Works who accompanied the army, "That location is good, and it has a water source. Choose that place to build a fort by the mountain. The fort must be four miles in length and width, hexagonal, with the capacity to store military provisions for five hundred thousand, station seventy thousand troops, and accommodate thirty thousand livestock.

I have already ordered ninety thousand troops from Datong to be stationed here, and an additional hundred and fifty thousand laborers from Datong for the construction. The construction materials will be sent from Xuanfu. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to inform me in advance, and I will do my utmost to fulfill your needs. I only demand one thing—this fortress must be completely constructed within three months!"

This northern expedition led by Li Xuan also involved the mobilization of a hundred and twenty thousand troops from Weisuo and an additional hundred and fifty thousand civilian laborers from Datong.

However, to prevent the Meng Wu people from being alerted in advance, besides the cavalry from Datong, the rest of the troops from Datong weren’t gathered towards Xuanfu.

Li Xuan didn’t plan to take them to MoBei either. The sole task of these ninety thousand Datong troops and hundred and fifty thousand laborers was to guard the flank of Li Xuan’s northern campaigning army and to construct the fortress he had long planned.

The Ministry of Works official’s expression turned solemn, and he bowed respectfully, "Rest assured, Your Highness, with the hundred and fifty thousand laborers, constructing a hexagonal fortress that is four miles wide and long is more than feasible. Construction materials should be readily available from Xuanfu as well. The only slight shortage might be spellcasters; please allocate them as soon as possible, Your Highness."

Li Xuan had prepared thoroughly for the construction of this military fortress. Not only had he instructed the Ministry of Works to design the fortress blueprint well in advance, but he also directed the Ministry of War to stockpile various construction materials in Xuanfu six months earlier.

Now, the task at hand was simple—they just needed to conduct physical measurements, select the best site for the fortress, and proceed with the construction methodically.

At this moment, Shang Hong, who had been by Li Xuan’s side, couldn’t help but interject, "Your Highness, please forgive my blunt words, but in the past, both the Great Ancestor and Emperor Taizong of our dynasty had built numerous fortresses on the grasslands, yet now most of them are either in ruins or have been captured by the Meng Wu people."

Shang Hong had been temporarily assigned the role of ’Deputy Guanjunrong Envoy’ by The Court just a few days earlier.

This was a compromise made by the regent ministers to the conservative faction in the court.

Including the Grand Secretary Chen Xun and the Minister of Punishments Yu Shiyue, in fact, most officials were not very optimistic about this northern expedition.

At a time when the court was turbulent, and opposition voices were loud, they simply went with the flow and appointed Shang Hong as the ’Deputy Guanjunrong Envoy.’

Sending Shang Hong was also meant to serve as a check. They hoped that under his supervision, the Jin Army could avoid a great defeat, or at least ensure the main forces could safely retreat to MoNan.

Li Xuan couldn’t help it; he and Shaofu Yu Jie, along with Quan Dingtian, together only had three votes and couldn’t go against the will of the many.

Li Xuan glanced sideways at Shang Hong and then let out a sneering laugh.

He discerned Shang Hong’s implication, which was just short of directly criticizing him for wasting resources and exhausting the people’s strength.

Li Xuan didn’t bother to argue and simply tossed a scroll of maps over, "Half a year ago, spellcasters from the Chaotian Palace discovered a colossal open-pit copper mine about a hundred and twenty miles south of Hanhai. It contains massive reserves of gold, silver, and associated minerals. It’s estimated that just the copper mine alone might hold an amount reaching ten million stones. If it can be exploited, it may increase The Court’s annual income by more than thirty million taels of patterned silver!"

Shang Hong was taken aback and hurriedly spread out the map to look, "Is this true?"

His hands trembled slightly; although the copper coin had been abolished by The Court, which now used aluminum coins, the civilian demand for copper remained huge. Moreover, The Court needed a large quantity of bronze for casting cannons and guns.

"It couldn’t be truer," Li Xuan said with a slight smile, hands clasped behind his back, "If the Daxueshi doesn’t believe it, you are more than welcome to go and see for yourself. The place is called ’Oyutolgoi,’ which means the mountain of turquoise. It’s said that turquoise can be found everywhere there, and one can find it just by digging a bit into the ground."

—Turquoise is one of the ores associated with copper mines.

In the world that Li Xuan came from, Oyutolgoi was one of the world’s three largest copper mines.

Just the explored copper reserves at the surface were estimated at thirty million tons, with a thousand three hundred tons of gold reserves, and seven thousand six hundred tons of silver reserves.

Li Xuan believed that the geography of these two worlds was similar; so could there also be a copper mine in this world’s Oyutolgoi?

However, the results surprised him. The mineral reserves in this world far exceeded those of his original world.

Besides, not far from Oyutolgoi, there was Hamagotai—another world-class copper-gold mine containing vast amounts of copper and gold, although the Chaotian Palace’s spellcasters had yet to discover it.