prosperous age

Wei Guangde returned to the cabinet and sat down. Not long after, Lu Bu led in an assistant minister from the Ministry of War, saying that the Ministry of War had received an urgent memorial from Zheng Luo, the governor-general of Xuanfu and Datong.

"Xuan Da?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde immediately stood up from his armchair.

At this time, what the Ming Dynasty feared most was something happening to the Mongols.

Yes, the main force of the border army was transferred eastward, from Liaodong to Jizhou. Apart from the garrison troops stationed in the fortresses, the Ming army no longer had new military camps for mobile defense.

If the Mongols were to launch a surprise invasion at this time, the hundreds of miles of defense line in Jizhou would be practically undefended.

But the most critical thing is that if such a major event really happens, his term as prime minister will be over.

After driving the Mongols out of the Great Wall, it's time to settle accounts with them.

As for the achievements of the eastern expedition, they were insignificant compared to the safety of the capital.

Wei Guangde snatched the memorial from the official's hand and immediately began to read it.

At that moment, his heart was pounding in his chest, fearing the reports of unrest in Mongolia.

Fortunately, although the contents of the memorial were somewhat unpleasant, the situation was not yet at its most dangerous.

This winter, the grasslands suffered from snow disasters, and a large number of cattle and sheep froze to death. The Mongol tribes continued to migrate south, and most of them have already moved to camp about 30 miles north of the Great Wall.

However, that's not what Zheng Luo wanted to talk about. Winter is not the time to start border conflicts. Instead, it was because Prince Shunyi and Lady Zhongshun wrote to him, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could provide the Mongols with a batch of grain.

In previous years, Mongolia suffered from ice storms every winter, resulting in heavy losses not only of livestock such as cattle and sheep, but also significant population losses.

This winter, the temperature dropped earlier than in previous years, with the grasslands already covered in snow in October. Based on past experience, the Mongol tribes chose to migrate south on a large scale.

Even so, due to the sharp drop in temperature, the tribes in northern Mongolia lost countless livestock during their migration, and because they were unable to deal with them while on the road, nearly half of the Mongolian tribes now lack food for the winter.

Other tribes, already struggling to survive, naturally couldn't afford to contribute much to their own survival.

Therefore, in the royal tent, Shunyi King Huang Taiji and Third Sister discussed the matter and decided that they had no choice but to ask the Ming Dynasty for help.

In fact, when faced with similar disasters, decades ago the Mongols would often choose to cross the border wall directly and set up camp inside the Great Wall to spend the cold winter.

At that time, the Ming army was also cowering in the border fortresses and could not possibly send troops to drive them away.

Yes, winter prevented the Mongols from starting a war, and it also prevented the Ming army from doing so.

The Mongols simply hid behind the Great Wall, and there was nothing that could be done but let them be.

"Lu Bu, immediately send someone to find Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan and Minister of War Zhang Ke. Also, go and inform Grand Secretary Zhang and Grand Secretary Shen that they will come to my office for a cabinet meeting in a little while."

After reading the memorial, Wei Guangde immediately gave the order.

The Mongols suffered a disaster, and in previous years the Ming Dynasty should have held a small celebration.

But this year is different. The Ming Dynasty cannot remain uninvolved; it must find a way to appease them.

At this sensitive time at the end of the year, if the Ming Dynasty cannot provide support to the Mongol tribes, things will likely become very difficult.

Lady Zhongshun arrived in Datong with the memorial from Prince Shunyi requesting aid. She met directly with Zheng Luo to ask the court for support. The Ming court still had to give Lady Zhongshun face.

It all depends on how much grain Zhang Xueyan can squeeze out and how much Shanxi's reserves can be used.

After everyone had left, Wei Guangde sat alone in his seat, head down in thought.

If the eastern expedition is postponed, the imperial court will likely be unable to ignore the Mongols' pleas for help.

It can only be said that Liu Shouyou reported the situation on the grassland last month, and he underestimated the harm caused by this snow disaster.

Yes, Da Ming knew that the grasslands were suffering from snow disasters, but because this had happened every year in recent years, he naturally didn't take it seriously.

Wei Guangde was even considering that after the spring, the caravan might be able to drive down prices even further in the trade markets.

After all, Mongolia urgently needed supplies, and at that time they would probably be willing to exchange for Ming Dynasty supplies at extremely low prices, whether it was cattle, sheep, horses, or wool.

Clearly, this idea failed.

This time, not only will the Ming Dynasty provide a batch of grain to the Mongol tribes, but they will also have to be taken care of in the subsequent trade markets by offering them preferential prices.

If you don't want this to worsen relations between the two sides and cause trouble.

However, since Wei Guangde had long considered governing the country with a business mindset, providing the Mongols with provisions was not a problem.

But what can the Ming Dynasty gain from this?
At this time, he was considering how to strengthen the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol tribes.

In later generations, Mongolia was incorporated into the Chinese territory. In other words, although supporting Mongolia now may seem like supporting a foreign vassal state, it is actually supporting one's own people.

It wasn't that he was reluctant to part with them, but rather that Wei Guangde had to consider making them grateful to the Ming Dynasty, rather than to their tribal leaders, for being able to "extort" food from the Ming Dynasty to sustain their lives.

"Your Excellency, what has happened?"

As Wei Guangde was pondering, Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing entered together from outside.

The two men bowed to Wei Guangde, who hurriedly stood up to return the greeting. He then took out Zheng Luo's memorial, led them to sit down, and handed the memorial to them.

“Look at this, the snow disaster on the grasslands this winter is bigger than we imagined. All the Mongol tribes have migrated south and are now thirty miles away from the Great Wall.”

Wei Guangde spoke up and handed the memorial in his hand to Zhang Siwei.

"Do they intend to spend the winter inside the border wall?"

Zhang Siwei reached out and took it, asking a question.

"Not yet, but Lady Zhongshun brought the memorial from Prince Shunyi to Datong, requesting the court to provide the Mongols with a batch of grain to help them get through the winter."

Wei Guangde then briefly explained the whole story.

“The imperial court has no surplus grain to help them. Most of the grain accumulated in the past two years has been transferred to Shandong and Songjiang Prefecture.”

Shen Shixing also said.

This Ming army operation was massive in scale, with supplies being transported from all the provinces in the north and south to provide support.

Even if there is stored grain, there won't be much in the north, perhaps some in the south.

"I have an idea, but I need to hear the Ministry of Revenue's opinion first."

Wei Guangde did not refute Shen Shixing's words because he was right: the grain supplies that the northern provinces of the Ming Dynasty could squeeze out were extremely limited, or even nonexistent.

How to refute this in this situation?

However, Wei Guangde had already thought of a way to obtain food. Wasn't this exactly what the Ming Dynasty had been using to develop Southeast Asia in recent years?

"Lubu, find all the reports from Burma, Palembang, and Southeast Asia."

As soon as Wei Guangde spoke, Zhang Siwei, who was reading the memorial, suddenly looked up, stopped reading the memorial, and stared at Wei Guangde with wide eyes.

Shen Shixing had the same expression, looking at him in surprise.

"You may recall that Governor Li of Myanmar reported long ago that Myanmar's land is fertile and rice can be harvested three times a year."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty is currently experiencing a temporary food shortage, which can be easily requisitioned from Burma and the countries of Southeast Asia."

Wei Guangde met their gazes and spoke.

"Because of the grain requisition, people from North Korea have been going to the Ministry of Rites every day to complain."

Shen Shixing hurriedly said, but before he could finish, Wei Guangde waved his hand to interrupt him, saying, "We don't need them to levy taxes on the vassal states of the South Seas. Instead, we will trade with them using the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, but the price must be fair."

In recent years, the climate in the north has become colder, and winters have become longer each year.

I remember at the beginning of the year, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau reported that last winter last year was thirteen days longer than the year before, which affected spring plowing in the north.

I was thinking about this at the time: if the weather continues like this, how will the millions of people in the north solve their food problem?

Finally, I thought of Myanmar. Since they could achieve three harvests a year, the Southeast Asian countries should be able to as well. In the early years, the imperial court's "Open Trade Law" allowed salt merchants to cultivate land in border towns for the emperor, providing provisions for the border troops in exchange for travel permits.

We can use a similar approach today, having domestic merchants, or even meritorious officials, send their family members to Southeast Asian countries to buy land for cultivation and then transport the grain back.

Many people now want ship licenses to engage in maritime trade. Future ship licenses will be issued based on the amount of grain they transport back.

Wei Guangde's words were quite shocking. Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing could never have imagined sending Chinese people to Hainan on a large scale to develop the land resources there and then transporting the land's output back to China.

"Will this work?"

Zhang Siwei stammered.

"Why not? Didn't you see the reports from the South China Sea Navy in the past, as well as the intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard? The land in the Southeast Asian countries is fertile, but their people are lazy and just plant whatever they want. But even so, it's enough for them to eat."

If we buy the land and cultivate it, the output will only be greater.

By bringing this grain back and filling the treasury, the court can be confident in whatever it does.

All they had to pay was some ship permits, and they could collect more taxes.

Wei Guangde's gaze shifted back and forth between the two men as he spoke, and he finally said, "Gentlemen should know why the people are struggling to make a living these days. It's because the land has been seized by the imperial family, nobles, gentry, and powerful clans."

Furthermore, some local authorities condoned this, allowing them to seize and annex land on a large scale, leaving the people with insufficient income to feed themselves after a year of hard work.

What's the point of just annexing land domestically? With only one harvest a year, it's better to take the silver from the cellars, buy land in Southeast Asia, harvest three times a year, and then transport the produce back to the Ming Dynasty by sea.

"Let the Ministry of Revenue recalculate. If they bring back grain, we can offer them appropriate tariff preferences when they go out to trade overseas. I think they shouldn't object to that."

Wei Guangde hadn't considered large-scale immigration yet, as it would require a large amount of money and grain from the imperial court.

According to the regulations for immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was responsible for covering the expenses incurred by immigrants along their journey.

If we let the wealthy and powerful people in China go to Southeast Asia to develop farmland, or even become maritime merchants, they probably wouldn't object in order to reduce taxes. After all, it's land they're buying, and it's fertile land that can be harvested three times a year and passed down through generations.

Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing fell silent, heads bowed as they pondered Wei Guangde's suggestion.

However, Zhang Siwei soon handed the memorial in his hand to Shen Shixing, asking him to take a look as well.

Wei Guangde's proposal was astonishing and truly shocked Zhang Siwei, but the immediate issue still needed to be addressed: providing food to the Mongols.

Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

Regardless of whether Wei Guangde's proposal is feasible, let's first secure the aid the Mongols want before considering anything else.

Before long, Zhang Ke and Zhang Xueyan also rushed over. They had received a summons from the cabinet and had just learned about what had happened in Datong from officials of the Ministry of War.

At that time, Zhang Xueyan strongly opposed supporting the Mongols, as the imperial court had neither money nor grain to give them.

If we want to, we'll have to wait until after next autumn's harvest.

Then, cabinet officials arrived in a hurry, without even finalizing the temporary loan from Changying Treasury.

"Ziyu, Jinqing, you know about the Datong affair, right?"

After the two sat down, Wei Guangde finally spoke.

Both of them nodded, and Wei Guangde continued, "What are your thoughts on this?"

Before Zhang Ke could speak, Zhang Xueyan said, "Your Excellency, the Ministry of Revenue cannot allocate any grain, and the Shanxi treasury only has a small amount of military rations left for war preparation, which is simply insufficient to support the Mongols."

"Although there is grain in the border towns, it is all for the soldiers' rations. If it is given to the Mongols, what will they eat?"

Zhang Ke also spoke up.

"What if we just allocate the spring rations to the Mongols so they can get through the winter?"

Wei Guangde countered with a question.

"What should we eat in spring?"

Zhang Xueyan immediately pressed for an answer.

"Grain was allocated from Jiangnan and Southeast Asia, and grain was purchased from Burma and various vassal states in Southeast Asia. Three months was enough time to transport it to the north."

Then, crossing the Yellow River, they would distribute the grain to the northern provinces before the flood season.

Wei Guangde spoke up, but was immediately interrupted by Zhang Ke, who said, "Your Excellency, there is no time to do this."

At the beginning of the year, the Yellow River was frozen, making it impossible to transport anything across.

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde slapped his forehead, realizing that it was indeed true.

Zhang Ke had already understood Wei Guangde's meaning; he knew that the land in Myanmar and Southeast Asia could yield three harvests a year and that there was stored grain.

Much of the provisions for the Nanyang Fleet were collected from Nanyang because they were cheap, lower than the price of grain in the Ming Dynasty.

"Unless...but the risk is very high."

Zhang Ke seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn't seem to make up his mind.

"Unless what?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Your Excellency, has the cabinet decided to provide aid to Mongolia?"

Zhang Ke did not answer Wei Guangde, but instead asked a question in return.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, both of whom had shifty eyes, and could only say, "Helping Mongolia overcome this natural disaster is the help that the Celestial Empire should provide."

As for what to do next, I already have some ideas, which I will share with you all later. First, let me share your thoughts.

"Transferring grain from Tongzhou, passing through Shunyi and Miyun, and then out of the Great Wall."

As for transporting grain from the south to the north, it's simple: just send it directly to Tianjin and then by waterway to Tongzhou.

However, this meant the Mongol tribes would have to migrate eastward to the Great Wall at Jizhou.

Zhang Ke's words sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room. This time, the Prince of Shunyi was relatively well-behaved, leading his tribe to Datong, which was actually a gesture of goodwill towards the imperial court.

Zhang Ke meant that if the grain left the pass through Jizhou, there would be no need for provinces like Shanxi to provide grain, as it could be allocated from the capital's granaries.

"It is feasible. The main force of the Jizhou Garrison will move westward, and the Five Armies Battalion and part of the Firearms Battalion will be stationed in Miyun."

The court ordered the Mongol tribes lacking food to camp thirty li outside the Great Wall at Miyun Bohai, where the imperial court would supply them with provisions nearby.

Wei Guangde had already made the decision to provide support, and so he said.

The safety measure here was to allow the food-starved tribes to move eastward, rather than all of them, while the Ming army could then make slight adjustments to its deployment and strengthen border defenses.

"Then what will the court gain? Such a huge expense to support the Mongols? Not to mention that this method may threaten the safety of the capital region."

Zhang Siwei asked.

How many people live in Mongolia?

Wei Guangde suddenly said, "I'm afraid even Huang Taiji can't answer this question."

"Uh."

Zhang Siwei was taken aback; naturally, he couldn't answer either.

The Ming Dynasty could only estimate the Mongol population, because the Mongols themselves didn't actually keep statistics.

“The aid to the Mongol tribes will not be carried out this year, but will likely continue for a long time to come. Therefore, our Great Ming Dynasty must grasp the population situation of the Mongols, issue household allowances, and provide food according to the household allowances.”

Wei Guangde began to speak. (End of Chapter)