Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 498 Little Khan meets his father-in-law!

As teams of carriages loaded with goods drove in, the deserted Guihua City suddenly became lively.

Not only the Ming soldiers stationed in Guihua City were happy, but even the surrounding herdsmen who surrendered became extremely excited.

They galloped on the grassland on fast horses and shared the good news with every grassland herdsman they saw.

Within three or two days, the herdsmen who heard the news from far and near surrounded Guihua City tightly.

Some of them drove sheep, some led a few high-quality horses, and some used camels to carry bundled lamb skins to trade with merchants in Daming.

Enkehan wore a shabby robe, mixed among the nomads and merchants of Ming Dynasty, acted as an interpreter for the nomads from time to time, and helped them do some simple arithmetic problems.

Whenever he helps the herdsmen to close a business, the herdsmen will warmly send a pot of kumiss.In a short while, five or six skin bags filled with kumiss were hanging on him.

Herdsmen like Enkehan, but it doesn't mean merchants like him.

If Enkehan hadn't intervened, merchants like them could exchange three catties of salt or a tea brick for a sheep from the herdsmen!
Because of the existence of Enkehan, who can speak both Beiyuan dialect and Daming official dialect, the number of sheep in the grassland has increased to four catties of salt.

Fortunately, the tea bricks are still strong, and the price of one tea brick for one sheep has always been maintained, otherwise they will cry to death.

Although the selling price of the merchants in the Ming Dynasty was very high, and they were out-and-out black-hearted merchants, the grassland herdsmen still welcomed them very much, and were even happy to let them earn black-hearted money.

Because for the herdsmen on the prairie, without these unscrupulous merchants, no matter how many cattle and sheep they have, they would not be able to exchange tea bricks, iron pots, wooden spoons, salt, etc.

Therefore, for them, it would be nice to have something to exchange, but how dare you think it is expensive?

Enkehan also understands this truth, but he prefers the adoring eyes of the herdsmen after bargaining.

This made him feel that he is still a qualified descendant of Genghis Khan, at least he is still safeguarding the interests of grassland herdsmen.

"Enkehan, you can't always help the herdsmen bargain, you have to leave some profit for us!"

A merchant from Jincheng, Shanxi, handed Enkehan a piece of oil pancake, and teased him with a smile.

Enkehan took the pancake and chewed it, then took a leather bag of kumiss from his waist and threw it over.The merchants were not too polite, they took the kumiss and drank it in big gulps.

"Old Wang, don't cry poor in front of me, you really think I don't know, in your Daming, let alone three catties of salt, even thirty catties can't be exchanged for a fat sheep!"

"If you change hands, you will get ten times the profit. It's enough to be unscrupulous. If you are unscrupulous, be careful that Changshengtian will take you in!"

Wang Laolan retorted with a smile when he heard the words.

"Enkehan, this is not right, we also need to transport back and forth costs."

"Furthermore, the sheep will have to eat grass on the way back to Daming. This is all cost..."

Enkehan nodded and said.

"What you said makes sense, but your costs will soon come down. At that time, I hope you can treat the herdsmen on the grassland kindly and give them more goods in exchange."

When Enkehan said this, he looked at the endless withered grassland in the distance, and his eyes showed unconcealable pain and sourness.

"They are too bitter..."

"For thousands of years, whether it was the time of their ancestor Genghis Khan or now, they have never lived a good life..."

Wang Laoji doesn't understand these things, he only knows how to make money by selling goods.

But when he heard Enkehan say that Beiyuan herdsmen were suffering, he was not convinced.

"Enkehan, you are wrong."

"In terms of suffering, who can compare to us Shanxi people?"

"If it wasn't for the grandson of the emperor to open the side, so that we can do business with your grassland herdsmen, I'm still digging food in the fields!"

"You prairie people have never planted land, have you?"

"Let me tell you, farming is not at all easier than grazing, and even harder than your grazing!"

"Sometimes I have been busy for a year, and when there is a severe drought, there is no harvest, and I have to go to the landlord's house to borrow food to survive..."

When Enkehan heard Wang Laoji say this, combined with what he saw and heard in Daming, he couldn't help but feel emotional.

Whether it's Daming or Beiyuan, the people at the bottom are living a miserable life!
But it is different now. Daming has a wise grandson of the emperor. The grandson of the emperor has introduced many new policies in the past few years, making the life of the people at the bottom much easier.

In contrast, Bei Yuan is still lifeless, without any improvement.

Ordinary herdsmen in Beiyuan not only had to guard against the looting of the Ming border army, but also the oppression of the Beiyuan Han court, which can be described as miserable.

"Ugh!"

"You Ming people are lucky after all."

Wang Laolan agreed happily when he heard the words.

"That's natural!"

"Blind Li in our village has said that the emperor's grandson is a saint born every 500 years. As long as we follow the emperor's grandson, we will surely live a good life in the future!"

"I've only been doing business with the emperor's grandson for two years, and I've already bought hundreds of acres of land at home, and hired several tenants to help us cultivate the land!"

Enkehan asked puzzledly.

"That's not right. Didn't your Ming Dynasty have a new policy? Taxation is based on the amount of land. Can you earn money by consolidating so much land?"

Wang Laolan gave Enkehan a thumbs up when he heard the words.

"As expected of a master of the Ming Dynasty, we even know about the New Deal of the Ming Dynasty!"

"You're right. Daming does levy taxes according to the amount of land, but our Shanxi is located in a remote area, and the management is not so strict now."

"Furthermore, even if the tax is based on the land, my family's [-] mu of land doesn't have much money. I can just pull a few loads of goods from Daming to pay for it!"

"Actually, farming is not very cost-effective. It is far less profitable than doing business. It's just that I have been farming for half my life, and I don't feel at ease if my family doesn't have a hundred acres of land..."

While the two were chatting, there was a sound of people neighing in the distance.

"ah!"

"Look, General Chang is back!"

When Enkehan heard this, he hurriedly followed the voice and looked over.

To put it bluntly, the reason why he was free to bargain for the herdsmen was because General Chang was not around.

Now seeing General Chang leading his troops back, Enkehan immediately cheered up, straightened his robes and went up to meet him.

Chang Sheng led [-] cavalry back in a mighty manner. Behind the large army were herds of cattle and sheep and tens of thousands of Beiyuan captives.

Since he was demoted to the frontier to lead the army, he has been working hard to fight Bei Yuan.

After two years of unremitting efforts, there are no wild herdsmen in Guihua City.Even if there are, they are herdsmen who have naturalized in Ming Dynasty and are under the rule of Ming Dynasty.

Chang Sheng rode a fiery red BMW through the market. Whether it was herdsmen from afar or merchants from Ming Dynasty, they all cheered and shouted the slogan of General Chang Wansheng.

Whenever this happens, Chang Sheng will try his best to keep a straight face, pretending to be as it should be.But in fact, he was already happy in his heart, and wished he could send someone to the capital to bring his mother-in-law and son over, so that they could see how majestic his husband and father are.

It would be even better if the eldest nephew could come and have a look, but this idea is too unrealistic.

After all, the eldest nephew is the grandson of the emperor, and he has to help His Majesty handle state affairs every day, so how can he have time to go to Guihua City to play?
Chang Sheng was able to pretend to be reserved, but the group of Ming soldiers behind him couldn't pretend anymore, their nostrils were upturned, and they almost had the word "beautiful" engraved on their foreheads.

Now they are an invincible existence on the grassland, and the main force of Bei Yuan has been defeated in several battles and fled.

But it was the bazaar that pleased them most.

Because the appearance of the bazaar means that the emperor's grandson's supplies are coming again.

Some soldiers couldn't help drooling at the thought of the miraculous supplies of the emperor's grandson.

Several generals who had a good relationship with Chang Sheng led their horses to chase after him, and followed him to ask in a low voice.

"General Chang, what do you think the grandson of the emperor will give us this time?"

"Can I have the canned yellow peach from last time?"

Chang Sheng glared at Lan Yi coldly when he heard the words.

"Are you hungry, kid?"

"You don't even look at what season it is, and if you return the canned peaches, I'll hit you with peach blossoms all over your face!"

Lan Yi is one of Lan Yu's thousands of adoptive sons, and he is relatively close to Lan Yu.

Originally, Lan Yu should have been executed in the case of treason last time, but in the end, because of the intervention of the emperor's grandson, he was demoted to the Northland to perform his crimes and meritorious service.

Now that he has accumulated almost all his military merits, he will be able to return to his post when the old emperor is in a good mood.

When Lan Yi heard that there were no canned peaches, his face showed disappointment.

They were a group of people who wandered around on the grassland all day, and they ate enough meat, so they wanted to have a bite of vegetables and fruits from the south of the Yangtze River.

"Hey, if you don't have it, you don't have it. I hope I can send more pickled vegetables this time. At least I can see some green leafy vegetables in the pot..."

The others hurriedly agreed upon hearing this.

“Green leafy vegetables are good!”

"Now when I see grass roots, I want to gnaw a couple of bites. I'm too greedy for that green vegetable..."

Chang Sheng listened to their discussion, feeling a burst of anticipation in his heart.

However, just as they were full of expectations, a young man in a shabby robe stopped them.

"Little Khan has met General Chang!"

"Oh?"

Chang Sheng is very familiar with Enkehan, and he has often dealt with Enkehan in the past few years in Beidi.

First, the emperor's grandson secretly asked him to cooperate with Enkehan and Zhao Mian in building the railway.Secondly, Enkehan is very easy-going and often helps escort supplies.

"Brother Enke, are you personally escorting again this time?"

Enkehan smiled slightly when he heard this.

"Although the border has been governed by General Chang so that he does not pick up lost items on the road and does not close his house at night, but there will inevitably be fish that slip through the net. Ben Khan should go with him to be safe."

Hearing this, Chang Sheng got off his horse, threw the reins to the lieutenant, ordered the lieutenant to lead the team back to the camp, and followed Enkehan to drink.

"Come on, Brother Enke, if you don't come this time, I will send someone to find you."

"I captured another [-] captives in this expedition, and I just handed them over to you to lead them to build roads."

In the past few years, Chang Sheng has successively captured at least 10,000+ Beiyuan people, and he threw them to Enke to build roads.

Enke was also very loyal to the Ming court. While calming the captives, he led them to build roads in the wind and rain.

However, the reason why these captives were able to stay in Daming so peacefully was due to the policy of preferential treatment of captives formulated by the emperor's grandson.

According to Zhu Yunxi's regulations, anyone who performed well during the road construction period can not only be exempted from road construction, but can even join the Ming army and become an honorable military household.

Military households in the hinterland of Ming Dynasty are not a fun thing to do, and many military households even fled secretly, but for the herdsmen on the grassland, military households are still very happy.

Once selected by Daming as a military household, their family will not only be allocated hundreds of acres of pasture, but also enjoy the privilege of exchanging cattle and sheep with Daming for supplies at any time.

Moreover, the Ming court did not have high demands on them. As long as they worked on the construction site for one year without fighting, brawling, fleeing or making mistakes, they could participate in the selection of the Ming frontier army.

Now more than [-] Mongolian Yuan people have been selected as the Daming Frontier Army. They are not only loyal to Ming Dynasty, but also very brave in fighting against other Mongolian Yuan tribes.

The reason why Chang Sheng was able to achieve such a great victory this time was because he brought [-] naturalized Mongolian soldiers with him.

These soldiers not only fought bravely, but also played a huge role in capturing the people of other tribes in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.

Because of their existence, the grassland tribes knew that not only would they not be killed if they were captured by Daming, but they would live a better life than before.

Therefore, the will to resist is very weak, and most of the time those who can run away don't run away, just waiting for the Ming frontier army to capture them as prisoners.

"General Chang is mighty!"

"With these 3 people, it is estimated that within three to two months, the Beijing-Tongtong Railway ordered by the emperor's grandson will be completed."

Chang Sheng has been in the Northland for many years, and he has long known the importance of the railway to Daming.

Hearing what Enkehan said now, he suddenly showed a surprised expression.

"Is this true?"

"As long as the Beijing-Tongtong Railway is completed, I can go straight in and directly fight the Beiyuan Khan Court!"

The biggest problem in the Ming Dynasty's battle against Beiyuan was the logistical supply.

Because most of the Ming taxation areas were in the south of the Yangtze River, the food produced in the north was barely supplied to the local area, and there was no surplus food to feed the army.

Therefore, every time the Ming Dynasty fought against Beiyuan, it had to go to the border to store grain half a year or even a year in advance.

However, Jiangnan is too far away from the north, and it takes several months to transport the grain to it, and seven or eight out of ten of it will be consumed on the way.

With such wear and tear, not to mention Lao Zhu couldn't bear it, neither could Little Zhu, who is a small money-making expert.

Therefore, Zhu Yunxi has been tightening his belt and saving money to build the railway, just to build the railway, which can solve the threat of the nomads in the north once and for all.

Once the railway is completed, whether it is food from the south of the Yangtze River, firearms, or gunpowder, they can be transported to the north at a very fast speed and at a very low cost to support the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in fighting against the Yuan Dynasty.

If necessary, Zhu Yunxi could even build the railway directly to Beiyuan Khan Court.

Compared with building roads in the hinterland of Ming Dynasty, it is much easier to build roads on the endless grassland.

Enkehan forced a smile.

"Of course it is true. How dare Xiao Khan deceive the general with this matter?"

"It's just that Xiaohan has a small worry. He is afraid that after the railway is built, the emperor's grandson will not allow Xiaohan to live in the world..."

When Chang Sheng heard this, his face suddenly sank.

"Enkehan, what do you mean by that?"

"What kind of benevolent and righteous person is my grandson of the Ming emperor, how can I break my promise to you?"

Enkehan hurriedly explained upon hearing this.

"No no no..."

"General Chang misunderstood. Xiao Khan is not worried about His Highness the Emperor Taisun, but really worried about other courtiers in the court. His Highness the Emperor Taisun cannot hold back the public opinion of the officials..."

Seeing Enkehan say this, Chang Sheng's expression softened.

"Is that so..."

"Did the Enke brothers ever get married?"

Enkehan sighed secretly when he heard the words.

"Xiao Khan originally had several concubines in Khan Court, but since Xiao Khan came to Daming with the grandson of the emperor, he lost contact with them."

Chang Sheng heard that his eyeballs rolled around for a while.

"In this case, is Brother Enke willing to marry me?"

"in law?"

"Yes!"

"Once you become my in-laws, you will naturally be from the Ming Dynasty. Presumably people in the court will not criticize you, right?"

"My family has a maidservant who has served my wife for many years. I can write to my wife to accept her as a righteous daughter."

"It's just that I have wronged Brother Enke a bit. According to the etiquette of our Han people, you will call my father-in-law in the future..."

Enkehan was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately fell to his knees.

"Xiao Khan pays respects to his father-in-law!"

(End of this chapter)