When people in later generations mention Qinghai, they often associate it with Tibet, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It seems that there are many Tibetans there, and of course there are many Han Chinese, but there are not many Mongolians. Few people know that Qinghai Province was the territory of the Mongols three or four hundred years ago, just as Xinjiang in the past was not Hui, but Dzungar Mongolia.

The Qing court extended its tentacles into Qinghai in a big way, or in the early years of Yongzheng, after Nian Qianyao pacified the grandson of Gushi Khan, Prince Heshuo Luo Buzang Danjin, he changed Xiningwei to the government, and set up Xining County, Nianbo County and Datongwei. And set up the "Prime Minister of Qinghai Mongolian Fanzi Affairs" to manage the Mongolian Zasak and Goluo, Yushu and other Tibetan tribes, and its outpost was located in the new town of Mangya, which was directly administered by the minister in Xining. Set up 29 Mongolian banners, Yushu and other 40 ethnic Tusi, so that they do not belong to each other, and are not allowed to cross the Yellow River.

At that time, there were at least 100,000 accounts in the 29th Banner of Qinghai Mongolia, which was still a powerful force. Naturally, the Qing court implemented a policy of "supporting and suppressing Mongolia" in Qinghai in order to weaken the power of the Mongol princes. By the time of Jiaqing and Daoguang, the Mongolian tribes north of the Yellow River gradually declined, leaving less than 60,000 accounts, and thirty years later, during the Xianfeng period, the entire Qinghai Mongolia was left with only 30,000 accounts. It is inferior to Khalkha Mongolia. But the Tibetan population south of the Yellow River is growing. In the early years of Xianfeng, the Tibetans even ignored the ban and moved north to the area around Qinghai Lake to nomadic herding, where they fought with the Qing army in Xining and the local Mongol banners for an unknown number of times. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), the Qing court allowed Tibetans to stay in the north of the Yellow River to herd, forming the third major force in Qinghai today - the eight ethnic groups around the sea in the area of Qinghai Lake.

It can be said that the Mongols and Tibetans in the Qinghai region are very contradictory. And the forty toasts in the Yushu area are not fuel-efficient lamps, and the rebellion that broke out in the True God Cult in recent years has also extended to Qinghai, encompassing the entire Xining Prefecture.

In the official discourse of later generations, this region is the nation, the spear, and the shield are sharp.

Under such circumstances, when Liu Xian released a large amount of firearms and gunpowder into Qinghai, it can be imagined how strong the purchasing power of various forces in Qinghai was.

If you don't buy it, your opponent will buy it; If you don't buy it, your enemies will grow stronger.

Here, it is simply an arms race.

In just 20 days, before the second batch of firearms and gunpowder that Huo Guangzheng hurriedly transferred had not yet been delivered to Songpan Hall, seven Han merchants brought back 5,000 horses and more than 600 people's friendship with each other.

Horses were immediately added to the expeditionary army, and first the cavalry was paired with two horses. Whether it was the cavalry of the Qin army or the cavalry of the Dong army. The rest of the horses were replaced by some old and weak horses, and finally the remaining more than 1,000 horses were equipped with two elite cavalry brigades, forming an assault force with three horses.

More than 600 cannon fodder is what Liu Xian urgently needs.

After all, his expeditionary army is less than 6,000 people, and there is no qualified cannon fodder, even if the five or six thousand Han army is covered in iron, how many nails can be crushed?

This is what he called 'the friendship of the tribes'!

If the road is not unobstructed, it is just cannon fodder for all ethnic groups. In front of people, Liu Xian will not say it nakedly, but Huo Guang is behind his back, and he can make it clear to the seven merchants.

Among the more than 600 people, Mongolians accounted for one-third, and there were a few ** who could ride and shoot well, and Liu Xian specially singled them out. If these men drop their bows and pick up their Minnie rifles and still be amazingly accurate, the sniper team will be where they will go next.

If not, Liu Xian would not have kept them by his side, and still returned to his original department.

Three Mongolian squadrons and four Tibetan squadrons formed the first army under the expeditionary army. Named Hussar Battalion.

Let the family die, but also send a nice name.

After the military uniforms, battalion flags, and the salary system that treated the Han army equally, sure enough, the morale of the cavalry teams of the two squadrons of Mongolia and Tibet rose greatly.

At the end of April, Liu Xian led his army across the Yellow River and officially marched into Qinghai. was urgently reported to Chengdu by Wang Pan and the others, so many days have passed, and I haven't seen Luo Bingzhang and Chonghou fart a sound.

If he continued to wait in Songpan Hall, at most half a month, a large number of horses and cannon fodder would be sent over by seven merchants. But time does not allow it, it is already May.

Liu Xian had to cross Qinghai and march to Xinjiang, because he didn't want to be blocked by the heavy snowstorms on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and he couldn't even do it with food, clothing, and goods to the enemy.

Leaving the affairs of Songpan Hall to Huo Guangzheng to deal with, Liu Xian left all his chores and entered the role of 'general' again.

Crossing the river from Dari to the north, Liu Xian is Yushu Forty Tusi on the left, and the Mongolian Twenty-nine Banners on the right, until Huashi Gorge, the army turns to the northeast, which is considered to have entered the territory of the Mongols. And along the way, the expeditionary army also deeply experienced what is called the Qing Dynasty version of the military and civilian fish and water situation.

Whether it is the Forty Tusi of Yushu or the Twenty-Nine Banners of Mongolia, they are so warm and thoughtful and courteous to Liu Xian's army.

Of course, while being warmly welcomed by the Mongolian and Tibetan nobles on both sides, Liu Xian was embarrassed not to point out the use of firearms by the people on both sides.

After paying so much, all he got was a batch of firearms that were two eras behind, and the enthusiasm of both sides of Mongolia and Tibet did not make Liu Xian embarrassed, but only made him sigh again the truth that 'if you are backward, you will be beaten'. And, after thinking about it again, he didn't tell him what he knew.

Compared with these backward firearms, the silage of forage and fodder is really important to the Mongolian and Tibetan people in Qinghai who live on animal husbandry.

The "Wang Zhen Nongshu" of the Yuan Dynasty and the "Youfeng Guangyi" of the Qing Dynasty both recorded the fermentation methods of silage such as Shoukai and Ma Yajue, but these did not attract the attention of the world at all.

In Europe, silage has been recorded in ancient Egypt and Rome, but the actual application of silage to actual production began in Sweden, Germany and the Baltic countries in the 18th century.

Silage is recognized as a method of grass storage, and the date of actual experimental research is unmistakably in the 19th century of the Western calendar. In 1842 Grieswaid was the first to publish an article on silage.

And then, and then...... There was no then. To this day, there has not been much progress in silage research in European and American countries. may not be as profound as an agricultural silage instruction article casually searched on the Internet in Liu Xian's previous life.

……

The expeditionary army set out from Dari and arrived at the Huitenan Banner in the southeast of Qinghai Lake, with a total length of 1,200 li and walked for 24 days.

Along the way, the vast grasslands and lush pastures make it much easier for the expeditionary army to arrive in a good season. The horses only need to be fed some bean cakes every day, and the grass everywhere is already 'delicious' for Mongolian horses.

As Liu Xian's army advanced on the grassland, groups of horses and cannon fodder also continued to merge into the expeditionary army under the guidance of the seven merchants.

When Liu Xian and the Zasak Dolji Shamu [Beizi Grade Fuguo Gong] of the Huitenan Banner were eating meat and drinking, the hussar battalion under his command had changed from more than 600 people to 1,000 people, and the number of horses in the army had increased from less than 13,000 to more than 16,000.