Daming Yinghua

Chapter 424: Taking He Zhuo on a business trip

Man Gui entered the duty room and went to the back room without calling any soldiers. He took out two pottery jars and took off the cloth hijab tied loosely with hemp rope.

Zheng Haizhu came closer and smelled it, and his expression became more relaxed.

Mangui, in fact, it is impossible to be indifferent to this mellow fragrance.

He had been a soldier at Datong Border for so many years, and he could tell by the smell of good wine and vinegar.

Mangui went to the table to find a clean tea cup and handed it to Zheng Haizhu.

The lady took two sips, and her words became more and more admiring: "It has been left like this, unsealed, for several months, and it is still so sour. Not only is it not astringent, but the sweetness of the aftertaste is not weak either. Zhu Tinghua knows how to compose music."

"Yes, their prince and grandson have seen a lot since they were young. They don't understand anything."

"Come on, Mangui, stop being so weird," Zheng Haizhu said gently, "Now for the more important things, in addition to sweet potatoes, sorghum can also be grown well in this land outside the Great Wall. Captain Zhu knows how to make music and brew wine. Vinegar is fine, and you should be good at making wine. In Outer Mongolia and Rakshasa, it is difficult to eat meat and it is cold all year round, so they must be very happy with spirits and vinegar. "

When Mangui heard his wife mentioning Daning's future livelihood, he changed his tone and asked: "Rakshasa, is that what the lady said, the Maozi Kingdom that hires Cossack cavalry?"

"Yes. Man Gui, I can finally exert some official authority this year. I stared at Honglu Temple to deal with old affairs, and then I realized that in the year of our Fushun defense battle, Mao Ziguo sent Cossacks to Beijing to face To see Master Wanli, it is necessary to open and close the mutual market. However, Maoziguo is not as familiar with the credentials and the rank of envoys as Frankie and the Hongyi people. There are not even any nobles from the country in the envoy. I, the Ming Dynasty, paid little attention to them and rewarded them. Get some silver and silk and send them away."

Mangui rolled his eyes and said: "The Mongols, in the exchange market, trade horses with us. What can we exchange for these hairs?"

Zheng Haizhu said: "Fur and food. The fact that Maozi's Cossack envoys were able to translate from Transkarkha and Junggar to Beijing shows that their power has crossed the Ural Mountains. And in the Yuerhai area, there are a large number of foxes, Minks, otters, lynxes, after Maozi took over that place, there were mountains of furs and they needed to find sellers.”

Another replacement product coveted by the Russians, Zheng Haizhu did not need to talk to Man Guido, who was not in charge of economic work.

Old documents from Honglu Temple show that when they met Emperor Wanli a few years ago, the Russians wanted to exchange from the Ming Dynasty not only tea, porcelain, textiles, but also silver.

When Zheng Haizhu first saw this record, he immediately grabbed hold of this old matter, dragged Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and ran to the emperor to "beat" the emperor, saying that fortunately the envoys who came to negotiate were not of high enough rank, so the matter was settled. From now on, foreign trade in the Ming Dynasty must not be easily allowed to use silver barter.

When Zhu Changluo was confused, Bi Shangshu explained from the perspective of "Minister of Finance" that after the reform of Zhang Juzheng's one-whip law, all taxes and salaries in the Ming Dynasty were paid in silver, and the value of private copper plates also formed a discount relationship with silver. However, apart from Yunnan, there were very few silver-producing places in the Ming Dynasty. After Emperor Longqing, the silver gap was mainly solved by relying on places such as Yuegang, Haojing, Ningbo or official or smuggling ports, where the French and Japanese imported silver.

The Frankians dug silver from America in the New World, and Japan had its own silver mines.

Zheng Haizhu continued Bi Ziyan's words and warned Zhu Changluo that in the next few years, if the Dutch cut off the sea routes of the Francois, and if the Japanese closed the country and banned sea trade, Ming Dynasty would cut off the source of silver imports.

If there is less silver within the country, the people will be unable to pay taxes and the government will be unable to pay salaries. The ratio of copper plates to silver will also depreciate, which will inevitably cause the prices of grain, rice, and cloth to skyrocket.

There is no need to throw out the concept of "financial crisis" in later generations. The emperor also understood that Zheng Siqing's worries were very reasonable.

A country without long-term worries must have immediate worries.

The Ming Dynasty, which spends money like water, firstly, must keep the money in its pockets tight; secondly, it must take advantage of the stable maritime order in the past few years to open more ports to make money; thirdly, it must use force and diplomacy to External radiation control capabilities, new resource areas such as silver mines.

At this moment, Zheng Haizhu put the vinegar bowl on the table, sat down and said to Man Gui: "So, I came to the outside of the Great Wall this time, and I have another sacred mission. I cannot let the old-fashioned civil servants in the capital know about it, but I must communicate with him. The border ministers guarding Daning made it clear that in the future, not only the Mongols but also the Rakshasa people would be on the trade routes in this area. We would exchange them for furs and wheat with tea, wine and vinegar. The silver obtained there can also be exchanged for us in the mutual market. Finally, once the Maozi are inseparable from our Ming Dynasty's various products, we can use business and military skills to let them go east to suppress Nurhachi's Eight Banners."

As Mangui listened, he suddenly thought of something.

"Madam, that's just right. You can bring Mr. Zhu to Mr. Huang's place. Ah, this is a government-run vinegar workshop in the majestic city of Daning. It will make a lot of vinegar. Oh, by the way, it will also make wine. , pick up the Mongols and Rakshasa people."

Zheng Haizhu grinned and teased him: "That's right, if he becomes the Jealous King, you don't have to be the Jealous King." ...

Before the roast lamb feast in the evening, Zheng Haizhu met He Zhuo who had rushed back from the farm.

In the past two years, from the trusted maid of the Mongolian Khan's concubine to the female general of the Han family's frontier, He Zhuo's original aloof and stern aristocratic demeanor was replaced by a return to simplicity but a brighter military temperament.

In her almost simple felt tent, at a glance, the only things that could be related to the word "bright" were two robes hanging on a birch frame.

One was a squirrel-colored Songjiang cloth robe lined with chinchilla skin that Zheng Haizhu had sewn for her. The other looked even more beautiful, an orange-red fox fur cloak.

He Zhuo saw Zheng Haizhu's eyes falling on the fox fur goods and said bluntly: "Mangui saved it one after another while hunting. I sewed it according to the stitching method taught by my wife."

Zheng Haizhu's mouth showed a few hints of her aunt's smile.

The word "continuously" is used accurately.

The red foxes on the grassland are not very big, so it would take seven or eight foxes to sew together such a large cloak to keep out the cold.

There is no color difference at all.

Then you have to put a lot of thought into hunting the fox.

It’s hard for Man Gui, a fighter among straight men.

"He Zhuo, you've already put on your big cloak, so when are you going to put on your wedding clothes? I've brought all the emperor's congratulatory gifts from the capital."

He Zhuo brought the brewed milk tea to Zheng Haizhu to warm her hands, but her expression was a bit colder.

"Madam, you are a sensible person. I don't want to trick you, but I can't. Man Gui is good to me, but if he wants to show off to me by even saying a few words to the man next to me, I don't want to really do it. Become a couple with him.”

He Zhuo said very firmly.

Looking up, he saw Zheng Haizhu looking at him with some determination. He Zhuo thought that Madam thought she was ungrateful and was trying to burn bridges, so he quickly added: "Madam, don't worry, I, He Zhuo, will hold grudges and be grateful. Madam, I won't become a fool." Concubine, I will definitely repay Madam. Some of our old generals in the Yehe tribe did not want to be slaves to the Jianzhou tribe. When Nurhachi captured Shuangcheng, they fled westward and scattered among the small tribes in Mongolia. Willing to contact you.”

Zheng Haizhu said warmly: "Yes, I hope that you and Man Gui will become husband and wife. It is true that I am interested in your status as Ye He's noble daughter. But if you don't want to marry General Man Gui, I will not force you to marry him." You, otherwise, what is the difference between me and the scumbag little prince who designed you to practice dual cultivation?"

He Zhuo bit his lip gently.

The lady spoke openly and soothed her previous anxiety.

Understanding that no new shackles were imposed on him, He Zhuo suddenly felt a little regretful.

When she was hesitant to speak, she heard the lady's tone become softer and softer: "He Zhuo, let me ask one more question, are you attracted to the man next to you?"

"No," He Zhuo blurted out, and then sighed softly, "I know that I am not attracted to the man next to me. But I don't know whether I am attracted to General Man."

"Don't think about it in a hurry. Just follow me and go east to Haraqin. I need a Yehe tribesman like you who can speak Mongolian."