Daming Yinghua

Chapter 425 Walking on Several Legs

At the roast lamb feast that night, Zheng Haizhu only introduced He Zhuo to Zhu Youjian, but did not take Man Gui to kneel down to thank the emperor for the reward.

Zhu Youjian is a young boy who has not yet reached the age to pay attention to adult marriage. He comes to the border to meet this and that. It is entirely up to Master Zheng to decide what to do with He Zhuo, a naturalized foreigner wearing Ming cloth armor. It can be said that she is the wife of a Manchu general, but rather a military leader in charge of firearms.

Zhu Youjian then took the initiative to mention the camel gun mount.

That was the fruit of his and his brother's labor, and it was also something he brought out to meet people with the encouragement of Master Zheng during this trip.

The prince was in high spirits, and of course his ministers wanted to cheer him up.

After a few Jinyi guards brought the camels, He Zhuo, the female students and firearms masters from Songjiang who were stationed here, and Zhu Tinghua, whose arithmetic knowledge was slightly related to ballistics, all gathered around to participate in the research at Zheng Haizhu's invitation.

In front of another bonfire not far away, Mangui gnawed on a lamb bone stick and muttered: "Can't you have a good meal of Ansheng meat?"

Zheng Haizhu said: "Stop complaining, this is to make your life in Daning easier in the future. If King Xin does not advocate martial arts and the army, but is like those Xiaoyao princes in the pass who play with dogs and birds, play with jade and appreciate paintings, he will be If the title is transferred to Daning, can Zonglu be used to subsidize the frontier troops in Jingsai? "

Mangui shrugged and said that everything you said was right, ancestor.

He swallowed a mouthful of mutton, touched the mutton fat on his beard, wiped his palms on his waist, went to the stove and fetched the copper pot himself, poured a large bowl of black tea, and gave it to Zheng Haizhu.

"Madam, warm your hands. It's October outside the Great Wall. Once the sun goes down, the wilderness is no different from an ice cave. What, Madam, just now, did you say a few warm words to He Zhuo for us?"

"I didn't say it," Zheng Haizhu took the teapot and said bluntly, "I am willing to play matchmaker, but I don't care about trying to break up the fight. The fox coat you worked so hard to save is hanging in her tent, and her every move is also... In your eyes, you two don't need us outsiders to intervene. You just have to think about whether you want to live together."

After Man Gui thought about Zheng Haizhu's words, he felt that they made some sense. He sighed, said "Okay" and stopped talking.

Zheng Haizhu took a sip of hot black tea and said, "I have a few other things to tell you. First, in a few days, Mr. Song Yingxing, Song Yingxing, will come to your place to trial-produce new firearms. He has been supported by me. I don’t know how many times better than those arrogant gentlemen in the capital. You have to take good care of me.”

Mangui patted her chest: "Madam, don't worry, I will taste the food myself while Mr. Song eats, and I will stay up late at night while Mr. Song sleeps. By the way, madam, Mr. Song, what new thing are you here to do?"

"A new kind of grenade," Zheng Haizhu said. "It is more lethal than the kerosene bullets or the ten thousand poisonous porcelain mines, and it is more flexible than matchlock guns and artillery. So it's just a waste of time for you guys." If you do it locally, if you let Shenji camp do it in the capital, who knows if there will be more Tatars sneaking in to study."

Mangui nodded: "Okay, He Zhuo and I will keep an eye on the firearms field more closely."

"I'm about to talk about the second thing. He Zhuo has to leave Daning for a while. She can speak Mongolian and is from Yehe. She has to go to Haraqin with me. She might not be able to come back during the New Year."

"Oh," Mangui squinted, looked at the flames that were rising and falling, and said after a moment, "Half of the Mongolians in Karaqin are from the same golden family bloodline as Lin Dan Khan, and the other half are... When the Ming Dynasty was founded, the Duoyan Sanwei was bought with money. So, will Madam take He Zhuo to contact the Kalaqin tribe this time and join Chahar or join the Ming Dynasty? "

After all, Man Gui is a figure who is famous in history. How could he only have a love mind for children? After hearing what Zheng Haizhu said, his focus was not on He Zhuo leaving for a while, but on the diplomatic intentions of the Ming Empire.

During the Jiajing period, the Haraqin tribe moved their grazing areas south to the Kaiping area, the old land of the Ming Dynasty. Geographically, they were located between the Ming Dynasty, Hou Jin Dynasty, and Mongolian Chahar Lindan Khan, and their own military strength should not be underestimated.

Therefore, at present, this Mongolian tribe does not accept anyone, but it does not dare to form a tense and hostile relationship with anyone.

Therefore, unlike the Horqin Tribe who knelt down and licked Nurhaci, the Harqin Tribe also accepted some Yehe Jurchens from the northeast, and when the Jianzhou Jurchens robbed the west, they refused to pass through their pastures and come to the territory of the Ming Dynasty. . Obviously, a general like Mangui who has rich experience in frontier fortresses knows very well that it is the right time for the Ming Dynasty to win over the Karaqin tribe, just like the Chahar tribe.

Zheng Haizhu has a God's perspective and knows the course of events on the timeline better than Man Gui.

That's right, the original Ming Dynasty only had diplomacy with Lin Dan Khan during the Tianqi years, and gave up Haraqin, which was closer to the Beiguan defense line. As a result, Haraqin fell to the Later Jin Dynasty four or five years later, and the Later Jin Dynasty had With this grassland ally as a supply depot and coalition force provider, he was able to expedition to Chahar and drive away Lin Dan Khan. He became the leader of the Mongolian tribes in the grassland and obtained a large number of horses and Mongolian cavalry and archery soldiers. Later, the Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty In the military confrontation, it has more and more advantages.

So, now that Daning Town has been established, and since the Ming army's defense force has begun to penetrate into the old grassland, a farming regime with mature diplomatic thinking should proactively contact the nomadic regime nearby, apply both kindness and power, and establish diplomatic relations. Use Haraqin as a barrier against the Jin, rather than letting him become the right-hand man of Nurhachi or his successor Huang Taiji.

This kind of thinking is not enough for those Donglin nerds in the capital who don't even understand that trading with Japan is to obtain more silver and stabilize the financial order.

But there is another purpose for contacting Karaqin, which cannot be announced to the court, and that is: there may be a silver mine in the Duoyanbu Ranch east of Karaqin.

Although I don’t know where exactly it is, Zheng Haizhu, a later generation who has always paid attention to social and economic news for professional reasons, will remember correctly that there are silver mines in Inner Mongolia near Hebei, and in Yunnan and Guizhou, where silver jewelry is produced in large quantities.

This area covers Daning Town and Duoyan Department.

When Zheng Haizhu started to play Zhu Changluo in front of the emperor, only Cao Huachun, who had just been promoted to the post of chief minister of rites, was present.

Zheng Haizhu brought up old trade events between the Liao and Song dynasties and told Zhu Changluo that the Liao Kingdom used a lot of silverware in exchange for tea leaves with the Song people. This shows that the silver produced by the Liao Kingdom was only due to the ignorance and chaos of the Mongolian tribes that followed, and was not as high as the cultural level of the Liao and Jin Dynasties. , I only know how to herd, but I don’t know how to mine.

In the Ming Dynasty, among the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom, Liaoyang Prefecture, Datong Prefecture, and Beijing City did not produce silver mines. It can be inferred that the silver mines should be in the area from Shangjing to Zhongjing in the Liao State, which is the grassland to the east of Monan Mongolia. .

Zhu Changluo was deceived by Zheng Haizhu and felt that it seemed like that, so he agreed with Zheng Haizhu's idea of ​​contacting the Kalaqin tribe just as he agreed to contact the Rakshasa people.

The first memorial from the State Affairs Temple, when it came to the process of the cabinet and the ceremonial supervisor to prepare for the red ceremony, what Ye Xianggao and others saw was only a general meaning: to patrol Daning Town, unite the northern barbarians, and control the eastern barbarians.

As for Beilu not only referring to Lin Dan Khan, but also Karaqin, and even the Cossacks, the precursors of Rakshasa, and how to "connect" Beilu, the elders do not need to know in such detail.

The first assistant Ye Xianggao and the second assistant Zhou Jiamo didn't ask any questions, which made Zhu Changluo very happy.

If you send eunuchs and royal guards to keep an eye on things like mining, it will easily remind people of the mining tax eunuchs of the Wanli period. Maybe even before people reach the grassland, the impeachment of the officials will fly all over the General Administration Department like snow flakes.

Looking at it this way, it turns out that it is really useful to have a new civil service organization like the State Council Temple that can partially perform the duties of a chamberlain and imperial envoy.

Zhu Changluo then asked Cao Huachun to keep quiet, and went to Luo Sigong to transfer the Jin Yiwei. He went to Yunnan, took native people familiar with the silver mines north to the fortress, and handed them over to Zheng Haizhu.

Seven or eight days after King Xin inspected Mangui's headquarters, Ma Xianglin's personal soldiers came to report that some specially appointed craftsmen from the south had arrived at Daning City Gate and were waiting for his wife to dispatch them.

At the same time, the soldiers also escorted Song Yingxing and loads of wood, iron, and whale oil.

Zheng Haizhu said to the soldiers: "You go back and report to your young master, young lady and young lady. The day after tomorrow, you will follow King Xin's honor guard back to Chengguan. I want to go north first, to the southern town of Chahar to see Luo Has the messenger arrived successfully? Let’s go back to Daning City.”

"Yes, the young one will go back and resume his life."