Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2440: Records of the Western Expedition (VII) Bonding of Interests (Part )
In the Kremlin's meeting room, candlelight cast flickering shadows on the granite dome. Alexei's riding boots stepped across the ground and stopped in front of a huge map covered with bear skin.

On the map, the special administrative regions during the reign of Ivan the Terrible were shattered into pieces by bloody cinnabar, and the special administrative regions west of the Ural Mountains were cut into fifty fiefdoms and marked with gold powder, each adorned with the family emblem of the noble who was granted the fiefdom.

At the same time, the former Tsarist Russian territory east of the Urals had been assigned to the Ming Dynasty, and bright yellow paint was used to mark out the chaotic strongholds whose names had not even been unified, such as "Jinghua Mining Field" and "Zhenbeibao Horse Farm". Obviously, this was because Siberia was too empty and the Ming army's westward expedition was too fast, resulting in the administrative establishment after the military occupation not keeping up.

In fact, the eastward expansion of Tsarist Russia was quite fast in colonial history. After all, the resistance it faced was not very strong. However, the progress of the Ming army's westward expedition was more than ten times faster than the eastward expansion of Tsarist Russia. There was no other way. The Russian army had too few troops, and who among the local people in Siberia was not a vassal of the Mongol Empire hundreds of years ago?
The biggest reason why Gao Youshi let Erdemutu lead the Western Expedition and did not even assign a Han general to him was this - his surname was Borjigin and he was a genuine descendant of the Golden Family.

According to the "legal theory" that Europeans love the most, even if Erdemutu abolished the usurped title of Russian Tsar, enfeoffed a large number of grand dukes in Russian territory and demanded tribute from them, it was nothing more than "restoring tradition", which was completely legitimate and reasonable.

Of course, Gao Youshi was very pragmatic and kept pace with the times. He would not really let Erdemutu do this - if the Russian Empire was completely divided at this moment, who would support the eastward expansion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? Letting the Ming Dynasty send 100,000 troops thousands of miles away to fight the Poles and even the European coalition forces, I am afraid that the hardcore hawks in the Ming Dynasty would feel the pain of the huge expenses.

Therefore, Tsarist Russia must exist, but it cannot be too centralized, and a certain degree of aristocratic democracy must be maintained.

At this moment, Gao Youshi finally understood why some hegemonic countries in later generations particularly liked to export their cuisine... You are a pile of loose sand, so I can easily make you into a ball or a flattened shape! If you were a solid block, wouldn't my teeth break if I took a bite of you?
So, it must be cooked, you must be cooked!
"My lords," Alexey's finger rolled over the mark of the Volga River Basin, "His Majesty the Tsar, in consideration of your loyalty in the Battle of the Oka River, has granted you half of the land in the Special District—" He pointed to an area with coal fields in the west, "Count Kuznetsk, your fiefdom is located east of Ryazan and Tambov and south of Kazan. It is rich in coal mines. From now on, you only need to provide 2,000 carts of coal to the Ming army every year to be exempted from commercial taxes."

In the past, the old count was just a big businessman in the southeastern region of Tsarist Russia. Now he was actually conferred the title of count. On the one hand, it was because of timely speculation, and on the other hand, it was also because Alexei took special care of his old business partner.

The old count held the imperial edict tightly between his mink gloves, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light - coal was extremely popular in Russia, a bitter and cold land, and although the tribute of two thousand carts seemed heavy, it could actually expand sales through the Ming army's channels.

There is no doubt that the Ming army's rear area also needs coal for heating. Although the Ming Dynasty will certainly gradually develop their newly established "Western Court Governorate", it will take a long time. At least for now, the Ming Dynasty does not have much manpower available in such a large area, so the development will inevitably be slow, and it will take a long time for them to profit from it.

Hearing Alexei's order, the old count bowed and saluted, and the silver family emblem rubbed against the bearskin map: "I am willing to serve the Tsar and the Ming Dynasty at my utmost."

"Marquis Mordovia," Alexei turned to the grassland pastoral area, where there was abundant grass and water but no Ural Mountains to block the view, "your fiefdom is located in the Volga grassland, and you need to provide the Ming army with 500 war horses and 2,000 beef cattle every year--" he suddenly lowered his voice, "the alfalfa in the Ming army's stables is a fine variety shipped from Ganzhou, Ming Dynasty. You can go and discuss the introduction of it with His Royal Highness the Prince of Shunyi. I will not ask about the specific terms of the transaction."

The Marquis's face changed slightly. Five hundred war horses and two thousand beef cattle were actually more difficult to deal with than two thousand carts of coal. However, the Marquis thought about it. After all, his status was higher than that of the Earl, and his fief was indeed much larger than that of the old Earl, so it was fair. As for the introduction of alfalfa, this was good news. I just didn't know if the conqueror would be easy to talk to...

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Grand Duke. I will definitely fulfill my promise and strive to reach an alfalfa introduction contract with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." The Marquis thought about it and finally agreed without changing a word.

The terms of other nobles were different: Count Vologda's fiefdom was located in the humid northwestern forest, which was rich in sables, so he had to pay 500 sable skins as tribute every year, but in exchange he received a Ming-style loom produced in the early days of Beijing (an old model, not a spinning jenny, but water-powered); Duke Ryazan was given a relatively advanced iron smelting technology in exchange for delivering 500 tons of iron ore to the Western Court Governorate of the Ming Dynasty every year. His territory was rich in iron ore and close to the Oka River, making iron ore mining and transportation very convenient.

For all these reasons, Alexei deliberately made the terms fit the specialties of the fiefdom, which made it appear "fair" while forcing the nobles to rely on the technology or trade routes of the Ming Dynasty.

There is no doubt that this is a deliberate bundling of interests - Alexei Stroganov's interests have long been tied to the Ming Dynasty, so naturally his subordinates must do the same. Therefore, only in this way can he and them form an alliance of interests, and the core element of the alliance is the word "Ming Dynasty".

"From now on, the Special Army will have a strength of 30,000," Alexei changed the subject, pressing the badge of "Commander-in-Chief of the Special Army", "The basic military expenditure will be allocated from the remaining taxes of the Tsar's Special District, which is enough to guarantee the brothers' houses, armor and bread." He suddenly picked up the blue and white porcelain wine glass, and the amber honey wine flowed under the candlelight, which made him feel relaxed and happy. "But the additional expenses - such as replacing better muskets for the brothers, feeding the war horses with fine feed, etc. - these have to be raised by ourselves. Therefore, His Majesty the Tsar has already issued an edict..."

There were knowing chuckles in the hall, but the Shuisky nobles, who ran the brewery and monopolized more than 40% of the country's vodka production, were the only ones with grim expressions - yes, although Alexei had not yet announced it, they had already learned in advance what the Tsar's charter was.

Seeing this, Alexei drank the small glass of wine in one gulp and slammed his fist on the oak table: "His Majesty the Tsar has granted a special authorization that the liquor franchise in all of Russia belongs to the Special Administrative Army."

He pulled out an imperial decree with two seals on it. "From Ryazan mead to Nizhny Novgorod vodka, a 10% tax will be collected for each charter. This is the wine money that the Tsar gives to the brothers of the Special Commission. I believe that no one wants to make things difficult for our Special Commission. By the way, the 10% tax I mentioned refers to 10% of the price or turnover, not 10% of the profit. Please don't deliberately confuse me, my lords."

A nobleman with a big beard suddenly stood up and said, "Your Excellency, we are running a small business..." "Small business?" Alexey's eyes swept over the other's armband embroidered with a wine barrel and interrupted, "Everyone, don't forget what our Stroganov family started out with. Last year, you made 3,000 rubles just by selling bootleg liquor to the Poles. Until now, His Majesty the Tsar and I have not pursued it... and we won't pursue it in the future!
Moreover, you only need to pay 300 rubles, and these goods will be hung with the bronze plaque of the Special Command Army in the future - if the Polish army comes again in the future, the brothers of the Special Command Army will even help you protect the wine cellar."

The bearded nobleman's Adam's apple rolled, but after a moment he could only bow his head and accept the order.

The most important clause was left for last. Alexei unfolded a bright yellow silk cloth, on which was written in Chinese and Russian: "Ming Dynasty has obtained the 'most-favored-nation treatment' of the Russian Tsarist Empire, and its merchants can trade any goods in our country at the lowest tax rate - the lowest tax rate means that if other countries or any nobles obtain low taxes, Ming Dynasty will automatically obtain the same low taxes. Of course, the tax exemptions obtained by the adults by providing tribute to Ming Dynasty will not be obtained by Ming Dynasty in return."

He pointed to the Beijing caravan unloading goods outside the Kremlin. The carriages carrying iron plows came from the newly established military farms in the Ming Dynasty east of the Ural Mountains (almost all of them were Tatars, with a very small number of imprisoned officials and their families and other Han prisoners responsible for providing "education" and various technical guidance. These military farms were urgently set up by Gao Youshi to facilitate the supervision of local people). "I roughly calculated that, in general, the tariffs for these goods will only be one-third of those for caravans from Poland, Sweden and other countries in the future."

Amid the nobles' whispers, Alexei threw out the last bait: "One more thing -" He held up a sign with the word "Recruitment" engraved on it, "The Ming court, the army, and merchants can recruit soldiers and civilians throughout Russia. If the serfs in your fiefdoms 'voluntarily' apply, the price can be determined by you. However, if the transaction amount is too large and requires a guarantee from the Tsar, you will need to pay an additional 5% handling fee to the Tsar -"

He glanced at the boyars with different expressions. "For example, I heard that Count Bulgar's fiefdom has 300 more captives this year, but there is no clear mission to assign them. So it would be more cost-effective to sell them to the Ming army or the Jinghua Trading Company than to rent them to the landlord."

After the meeting, Count Kuznetsk pulled Alexei's sleeve and whispered, "Grand Duke, the coal in my fiefdom needs to be transported to the port of October City on the Volga River first. Considering the transportation efficiency, it is best to use a Ming-style spring carriage. Do you think it is possible..."

"Contact Jinghua Commercial Bank," Alexei handed him a piece of delicate thick paper with the personal seal of Chen Yongji, the head of the Moscow branch of Jinghua Commercial Bank. "Mention my name and the rent will be reduced by half... Remember, this is a discount that Jinghua Commercial Bank gives to my Stroganov family. You must not reveal the truth."

The old count patted his chest and promised to keep the secret, then left with many thanks. Grand Duke Alexey Stroganov was in a very good mood and left the Kremlin humming a little tune.

At this moment in the twilight, craftsmen were busy erecting boundary markers on the border of the vast special district outside Moscow. The double-headed eagle on the top of the monument was surrounded by two coiled dragons, and different words such as "Tsar's Special District/XX Dukedom" were clearly engraved on both sides of the monument.

Alexei left the Kremlin and watched the coal transport convoy rolling over the cobblestones on the road. Suddenly, he heard the sound of iron colliding behind him. It was the special forces testing the newly arrived Ming-style muskets. The gunshots startled the crows and flew over the spires of the Kremlin.

He touched the franchise token on his waist. The cloud pattern and double-headed eagle on it glowed coldly in the moonlight.

The reduction of the size of the special administrative region naturally weakened the authority of the Tsar, which was intentional by Gao Youshi. But in addition to this, Gao Youshi had other intentions - to twist some of the important financial and human resources of Tsarist Russia into the gears of the Ming Dynasty: minerals for firearms, war horses for alfalfa, alcohol taxes to support the vassal army, and selling or renting out serfs to let the nobles taste the sweetness...

The boyars who were calculating tributes and profits in their fiefdoms had no idea that every transaction was weaving a tighter web of control for the Ming Dynasty. The smoke from the military farms and garrisons east of the Urals had nothing to do with their fiefdoms, but like an invisible hand, it strangled the resource throat of eastern Russia.

In the future, as Han people gradually migrate to the Western Court Governorate, Siberia, or Western Court, will form close economic and even military ties with the Russian Tsarist Empire. As long as the Poles and Ottomans do not decline too quickly, the Tsarist Russia will not be able to form a truly unified and centralized power, and will always need to rely on the help of the Ming Dynasty from Western Court.

As for Poland's terrible monarchy and aristocratic veto power, which would eventually devour the Commonwealth, and the degeneration of the Ottoman Guards was also a historical inevitability... so what? By that time, Gao Youshi would probably have passed away and would not have cared much.

Talented people emerge in every generation, and each of them leads the trend for hundreds of years. At that time, the Ming Dynasty might have politicians and military strategists who could cope with the test of the current situation...

Hope so.
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PS: I am too lazy to make up for the 200 words and 4K text. You should be able to save 1 cent...

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