While it is true that the Qianlong Emperor's family has never done anything good, and there hasn't been a decent one among them from the root, the problem of the grasslands that the Central Plains prefectures couldn't solve for thousands of years was perfectly handled by the Qianlong Emperor's ancestor.
The key was that by the time these grassland princes realized something was wrong, the grasslands had completely lost their ability to resist my Great Qing.
Now that the Qianlong Emperor is finally useless, these grassland princes, who never liked him anyway, naturally began to get friendly with the Solun people.
Of course, being friendly with the Solun people is one thing, but how close they are to their brother, the Great Ming, is another matter entirely.
It all depended on the Qianlong Emperor.
If the Qianlong Emperor continued to squander the empire's wealth, and the Great Ming recovered Zhili and drove them back to their homeland beyond the pass, then the grasslands would be an inalienable part of the Great Ming, and everyone would still be brothers connected by bone.
If the Qianlong Emperor suddenly regained his strength, and Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, met the same fate as Wu Sangui, the Emperor of the Great Zhou, then the grasslands would have nothing to do with the Great Ming, and they wouldn't know each other at all. This situation arose mainly because Zhu Jinsong suddenly stopped his offensive against my Great Qing, allowing the Qianlong Emperor to temporarily occupy Zhili, thus making these grassland princes hesitant – everyone was worried that the Qianlong Emperor might suddenly regain his strength.
After a long silence, the prince of the Lute tribe looked at Jiang Xinlong and asked, "Chairman Jiang, when will the Emperor of the Great Ming send troops to Zhili?"
The Taiji of the Alzai tribe also looked at Jiang Xinlong and said, "Exactly. Since we have come to Heilongjiang, we intend to have a frank discussion with Chairman Jiang – as long as the Emperor of the Great Ming sends troops to Zhili, we Mongolian tribes can immediately raise an army in response, and we will not refuse to implement agricultural societies and Han laws."
"However, if the Emperor of the Great Ming keeps delaying and refuses to send troops to Zhili, then please don't blame us for being indecisive. After all, the Qing Dynasty has not fallen yet. Emperor Qianlong has the Manchu Eight Banners, the Mongolian Eight Banners, and the Gurkha Eight Banners. Now Emperor Qianlong is defeating Joseon step by step, and our grassland tribes cannot afford to provoke him."
Jiang Xinlong was well aware of this. However, for Jiang Xinlong, the "Imperial Appointed Chairman of the Heilongjiang Agricultural Society," it didn't matter if the grassland tribes could provoke the Qianlong Emperor, but their refusal to establish agricultural societies still proved his own incompetence.
Therefore, Jiang Xinlong smiled and said to the grassland princes, "Now the people of the Solun tribe can farm like the Han people, they can study, and they have established many factories. They truly have enough for the young and support for the old, and no longer need to risk their lives hunting as before. Even if they encounter white or black disasters, the people of the Solun tribe can survive."
"In Heilongjiang, in all of Liaodong, in all of Guánwài, and even in the entire world outside the Great Ming, how many places are like this? The Qianlong Emperor has sent troops to encircle and suppress the Solun tribe many times and has been defeated every time. Does this not prove the advancement of agricultural societies?"
When it came to the matter of the Qianlong Emperor repeatedly sending troops to suppress the Solun tribe and being defeated, these grassland princes were also a bit confused.
It was said that the Solun people had a difficult life before. The harsh living environment had forged their strong physique and fearless spirit. However, since the Emperor of the Great Ming sent people to establish agricultural societies, these Solun people began to farm and hunt, and no longer had to fight ferocious beasts as before.
Under these circumstances, the combat effectiveness of the Solun people should have declined rapidly, at least they should not have been as fearless as before, right?
However, what these grassland princes could not understand was that the combat effectiveness of the Solun people had not only not decreased at all, but had become even more fearless than before.
But, could these words from Jiang Xinlong be enough to make the entire grasslands completely lean towards the Great Ming and even promote agricultural societies?
The prince of the Lute tribe shook his head and said, "We know that the Solun people's lives are better than before, but this is not enough. At least, the grasslands that are not united cannot resist the army of Emperor Qianlong, unless you can make all the tribes, including the Khorchin tribe, unite with us."
The Taiji of the Durbert tribe agreed, saying, "We have expressed our sincerity. Should your Great Ming also express your sincerity? Even if your emperor does not agree to send troops to Zhili immediately, he must publicly declare in your 'Newspaper' that he publicly acknowledges and accepts us grassland tribes. When Emperor Qianlong attacks us, your Great Ming Emperor has the necessity to protect the safety of the grassland tribes."
Jiang Xinlong felt that these grassland princes, Taijis, and chieftains might be dreaming.
Why did the Great Ming accept the Solun tribe?
Because the Solun tribe found the Great Ming first and requested a marriage alliance. The entire tribe, from top to bottom, unanimously supported the Great Ming. In addition to the "dowry" cavalry left behind at the beginning, they sent another thousand cavalry to guard Jinan, which effectively bound the Solun tribe to the Great Ming.
And the grassland tribes?
From the time Jiang Xinlong accompanied Agutai to the Solun tribe, these grassland tribes had been sending people to test the waters. Most of them wanted to observe and then make a decision. Even the few tribes that showed the most determination only secretly sent a few thousand cavalry to the Solun tribe for training.
What was this?
Wanting benefits but not wanting to bear the responsibilities?
Was this what the grassland tribes called sincerity?
After thinking about it, Jiang Xinlong simply smiled and said to the grassland princes and Taijis, "I am very happy that you all came to Heilongjiang Agricultural Society to visit and learn, but I do not like that you all still refuse to establish agricultural societies."
Hearing Jiang Xinlong's words, the expressions of the princes and Taijis changed.
What did that mean?
Were they going to fall out?
After exchanging glances, the prince of the Lute tribe was the first to say, "What does Chairman Jiang mean by this? Are you threatening us?"
The Taiji of the Alzai tribe also had a dark expression and said, "The Emperor of the Great Ming has not attacked Zhili all along, yet he wants us to directly rebel and establish agricultural societies in the grasslands. Where is such a good deal in this world?"
The Taiji of the Durbert tribe also added, "Is Chairman Jiang not worried that we will completely defect to the Qing court and join Emperor Qianlong to target the Solun tribe?"
Jiang Xinlong first let out a ha-ha laugh, put down his teacup heavily, and then snorted coldly, "What? Threaten me? Let me tell you, in this world, only my Great Ming can threaten others, and no one has ever been able to threaten my Great Ming!"
Agutai, who had been a silent observer, also said in a deep voice, "The Great Ming fears no threats, and the Solun tribe fears no threats – anyone who tries to threaten the Great Ming will be an enemy of the Solun tribe!"
With Jiang Xinlong and Agutai's words, the grassland princes and Taijis were completely taken aback.
Didn't Chairman Jiang Xinlong issue the threat first? Why are we now being portrayed as the villains?
After a long silence, the prince of the Lute tribe was still the first to ask, "Then what is Chairman Jiang's intention?"
A smile reappeared on Jiang Xinlong's face, and he said, "Actually, this matter is very simple – as long as the grassland tribes do not rebel, the Qianlong Emperor's policy of population reduction will continue to be implemented in the grasslands. Therefore, even for the sake of the interests of you princes and Taijis, the matter of raising an army to rebel against the Qing and promoting agricultural societies must be implemented as soon as possible."
"In this way, I will not make things difficult for you princes and Taijis. Since you are not ready to rebel against the Qing immediately, then do not rebel for now. If you think it is not appropriate to establish agricultural societies now, then do not do so for now. We can talk about it when you princes and Taijis feel the time is right."
"However, this school must be established immediately, right now."
"I will send people to help your tribes establish schools, so that the children of all the grassland tribes can study and learn. Of course, you princes and Taijis must also send people to cooperate."
His own emperor had once said that the biggest problem with the grassland and Liaodong tribes was that they had never been united with the Central Plains prefectures.
The biggest reason for this situation was the difference in language and writing, which made the tribes in the grasslands never consider themselves a part of the Central Plains prefectures, and the Central Plains prefectures did not consider them their own people.
Therefore, the solution to this problem was also very simple: to promote sinicization in the grasslands first, so that the entire grasslands would speak Chinese and write Chinese characters, making them identify with the Central Plains prefectures from the bottom of their hearts.
As for the harsh living environment, which forced them to rely on southward raids to ensure the survival of their tribes, such claims were basically nonsense. Those who held such views were either idiotic fools or bad seeds who could not produce crops.
And promoting sinicization in the grasslands was naturally not an easy task. It was easy to get these tribal princes and Taijis to learn Chinese language and characters, but it was not necessarily willing to get all the herdsmen to learn as well.
Therefore, Jiang Xinlong first proposed the demand for the grassland tribes to raise an army to rebel against the Qing or establish agricultural societies. After these princes repeatedly refused, he then proposed the condition of establishing schools and promoting sinicization.
You see, if you disagree with me tearing down the roof, then opening a window should be fine, right? If you don't even want to open a window, then don't blame me for flipping the table, right?
And the reactions of these princes and Taijis were indeed within Jiang Xinlong's expectations.
After the princes and Taijis exchanged glances, they agreed to Jiang Xinlong's proposal to establish schools.
Of course, establishing schools in the grasslands was not that simple.
First of all, the living habits of the herdsmen were different from those of the people in the Central Plains prefectures.
The people in the Central Plains prefectures mostly lived in villages or towns, while the herdsmen in the grasslands had to move with the grass, and might move from time to time. For children, going to school became a big problem. If they were close to the school, it was fine, but what if they were far from the school? Riding horses to school? That would be like a spring festival gala.
As for building cities in the grasslands, it was not very realistic. After all, the grassland tribes were nominally under the rule of my Great Qing, and it was difficult to build cities without my Great Qing knowing. And for these tribal princes and Taijis to directly raise the banner of rebellion, they did not have the courage.
In the final analysis, the policy of population reduction implemented by my Great Qing in the grasslands was too successful, which greatly reduced the control of these tribal princes and Taijis over the grasslands.
Jiang Xinlong did not seem to care much about the concerns of the princes and Taijis: "Didn't my Great Qing divide the grasslands into various banners and stipulate the grazing ranges for each banner?"
"Set up a few yurt-style classrooms near your tribal royal tents, and a few more for student accommodation. Have a few women from your royal tents take care of these students."
"When it is a day off or during winter and summer vacations, students can go home, or their parents can come to visit them."
"In this way, it not only solves the problem of students studying but also reduces the burden of child-rearing for your tribal herdsmen, which is killing two birds with one stone."