Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 359 Free Trade

"Wow—"

The vast grassland in May is vast and vast. Goshawks are circling in the sky, overlooking the fiery red "long dragon" on the land, which dare not fall down for a long time.

On the ground, thousands of flags were fluttering, and a team of hundreds of thousands of people slowly moved northward.

The two sides and front of the team were composed of Ming soldiers wearing fiery red mandarin duck war coats. They held horse reins in one hand and spears in the other, walking forward step by step.

Some of them were leading two horses, and some were leading three horses.

Different numbers of horses have similar treatment.

The more honest horses had heavy armor hung on their backs, two buckets of emergency rations and rainproof raincoats.

The bright armor almost reflected the light of the blue sky and white clouds.

These soldiers are thick and strong, and even without armor, their powerful combat power can be felt.

In the middle of the team, tens of thousands of baggage vehicles stretched for more than ten miles, and nearly 100,000 civilians drove draft horses, pulled artillery and baggage materials, and laboriously followed the footsteps of the soldiers.

The difference is that this valley was once undeveloped and was only used by Wu Liangha as a hiding place to avoid the Ming army.

At the intersection of the Ruanli River dirt road and the cement road, Meng Zhang and Wang Yi had been waiting here with their generals.

"The Ruanli River Qianhu Station has currently stockpiled 300,000 shi of grain. However, if we want to transport all of it to the west, we will still need to lose at least 10% to 20%, which will take half a month."

Whoever becomes stronger among these three factions will be dealt with by myself. Anyway, we cannot let the Tatar tribe rise up.

He wants to suppress the reputation of the Golden Family to the lowest level, so that the Golden Family can only walk far away across the river and cannot participate in the affairs of Mobei.

"Yes!" Xu Zengshou agreed, and then ran forward.

The earth trembled with the sound of the horses' hooves, and the wheels left deep marks in the grass.

The grassland is boundless, and the persistent wind seems to be shouting arrogantly, bending or overturning the land with laughter, as if it indicates that a bigger storm is brewing in the near future.

Yes, he never thought this was a difficult battle, but felt that Arutai would flee westward after being frustrated in the first confrontation.

"After that, we only need to turn the more than 200,000 shi of grain that will be delivered to the camp into military rations, and then arrange for 3,000 horse infantry to escort 100,000 civilians south. Then we can go all the way west along the Onan River, each person and one horse The horse carries six bushels of dried beans and two bushels of military rations, which is enough for us to go out for a month."

Nowadays, flood control embankments have been built with cement on both sides of the river valley. Outside the city walls built along the river are large tracts of cultivated land. At a glance, there are probably no less than 100,000 acres of cultivated land.

"Xu..."

Thinking of this, Zhu Di felt that time passed a little slowly.

Zhu Neng asked Zhu Di for his opinion. After hearing this, Zhu Di chose to compromise: "I am going to let Wang Yi and Qiu Fu take 20,000 cavalry and 50,000 civilians to the western foothills first, and then choose a place upstream of the river to camp and start making military rations."

He has sent an envoy to Mahamu in Oala, hoping that Mahamu will help him intercept Arutai.

"Your Majesty, Meng Zhang (Wang Yi), please see your Majesty. Long live your Majesty, long live your Majesty..."

"This batch of military rations is enough for more than 30,000 cavalry under our command for half a year."

Of course, Zhu Di also knew that if Arutai was destroyed, Mahamu's family would be the only one in power, so he sent letters to Taiping in Oala, Tupolo and others, and promised to help him after defeating Arutai. They made kings.

"We have to be on guard. Let Qiu Fu lead 3,000 cavalry out of the post road first, and then send the message. We will then cross the post road in Halawen Mountain."

Almost every household of Daisui military households working in the fields drives two to three cows, and the plows they use are also extended versions.

Under this kind of torture, Zhu Di, who had been marching for a day, finally entered the range of the Harawen Mountains and successfully entered the original valley.

The army gradually disappeared into the distance, and the grassland returned to peace and tranquility. Only those deep traces remained on the land, leaving behind the footsteps of the brave and fearless march of the three armies.

The difference is that last time Zhu Di left a thousand-household residence here, coupled with the establishment of Hecheng Guards and the distribution of prisoners to the army, the mountain road that Tuolu Huchaer and the others could not comb has now been widened by the Ming army. Post Road.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di also began to recharge his batteries, waiting for the pursuit battle in the next few months.

If it weren't for the lack of cement, Zhu Di might have wanted to build a post road from Ruanlihe Qianhusuo to Mobei.

The first person to speak was undoubtedly Zhu Neng, who was relied upon by Zhu Di.

As he left, the generals beside Zhu Di also began to speak one after another.

When Xu Zengshou's words came, Zhu Di stroked his beard. He glanced at his team before speaking:

"Zhang Yu told me that Arutai was known for its caution back then. The biggest obstacle to our army's western expedition was the Halawen Mountains. Transporting grain and grass to the western foot of the Halawen Mountains, five hundred miles away, was the biggest obstacle."

The valley plain of Qianhusuo on the Ruanli River is very large. Although a lot of farmland has been reclaimed, much of the land is still open space, enough for tens of thousands of Ming troops and nearly 100,000 civilians to camp.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at the Harawen Mountains in the distance.

Seeing Zhu Di's arrival, the two led the generals to salute. When Zhu Di saw this, he also got off his horse. While helping the two men, he turned back to Xu Zengshou and Zhu Neng and smiled heartily: "You guys can camp here, I'll go to the Ruanli River to have a look. Look how well they’re doing.”

The sound of reining in horses was heard, and Xu Zengshou, who was in the middle of the team, came from the front and bowed to Zhu Di on the horseback:

Under the boundless sky, people on this irresistible grassland seem extremely small and insignificant.

If Mahamu can do it, then Ming Dynasty can make him king.

There are a few wisps of white clouds floating in the sky, the sun shines on the grassland dazzlingly, and the wind blows over, carrying a faint scent of green grass, lingering on people's noses.

"Brother-in-law, we have checked it out. There are no traces of Hu Qi along the post roads built by Qianhu in the Ruanli River. You can march with confidence."

In this way, there are three kings in Wala, and Mahamu will naturally be restrained by Taiping and Baotupolo.

This time they took the valley and mountain road where Wu Liangha was wiped out.

"In this way, by the time we get there, they will have made at least 16,000 to 7,000 stones of military rations."

"Should our army directly take the rations to attack Arutai, or should we wait until the 300,000 stone arrives at the west foot before attacking?"

Under Zhu Di's instructions, Zhu Neng and Xu Zengshou began to arrange for the army to camp, and he took Wang Yan and other entourage to remount their horses. Under the leadership of Wang Yi and Meng Zhang, they walked on the concrete road and headed towards Ruanli River City.

"Tell me about the situation of Ruanli River."

Zhu Di stroked his beard and spoke with a smile. As the commander of the Daning Capital Division, Wang Yi naturally had no shirk in his duties.

He bowed to Zhu Di and said: "This city was built by me and His Highness Prince Ning. The cement road outside the city is three feet wide, six miles long in the south and five miles long in the north."

"The city was built in the west of Hexi. The city has a circumference of twelve miles and can accommodate 50,000 people."

"Currently, there are more than 6,000 members of the 1,000 households in Ruanli River who have committed crimes as well as their relatives, 1,000 soldiers are stationed there, and more than 4,000 relatives, totaling nearly 12,000 people."

"More than 96,000 acres of farmland have been reclaimed outside the city. There is no shortage of horses and oxen in the city. This year's grain production may not be less than 50,000 dan, and beans can be produced at 20,000 dan."

The situation at Qianhu Station in Ruanlihe was much better than Zhu Di had expected. The local annual output of 70,000 dan of grain alone made him extremely happy, not to mention that 20,000 of them were beans needed for war horses.

If these 50,000 shi of grain and 20,000 shi of beans were to be transported from the Bohai Sea, at least 80,000 shi of grain and 30,000 shi of beans would have to be transported.

If it were to be shipped from Shandong within the Pass, it would probably cost 120,000 shi of grain and 50,000 shi of beans.

Because of this, Zhu Di felt that the thousands of households in the Ruanli River that could produce grain were valuable.

"This place needs to be developed vigorously. It can be promoted as a guard to suppress the captives, and thousands of local officials can be promoted to be commanders of the guards!"

"Thank you for your grace!"

As soon as Zhu Di opened his mouth, a military attaché took the initiative to bow. He was obviously the local Qianhu official.

"You work hard for me. If the court does not need to provide additional food from other places in the future, then you have done a great job!"

"I accept the order!" Qianhu official responded, and Zhu Di also smiled and stroked his beard, thinking of his seventeenth brother.

"By the way, where is the seventeenth brother?"

Zhu Di looked around. This time he specially assigned Zhu Quan as the forward, just to make up for the fact that Zhu Quan was dedicated to logistics last time, but now he couldn't see anyone.

"His Royal Highness Prince Ning led five hundred cavalry guards and followed Duke Qi as the vanguard to cross the post road."

Wang Yi explained, but Zhu Di didn't say anything after hearing this. After all, Zhu Quan's 500 cavalry guards were his own.

"Have you calculated how much arable land there would be if all this area was cultivated?"

Zhu Di looked at the fertile river valley area and couldn't help but ask Wang Yi and others. Wang Yi replied: "There are many valleys along the Ruanli River north of Zhenluwei. I have discussed with His Highness Prince Ning, if the army in the future If there are more households, we can set up 100-household stations and 1000-household stations all the way to the northwest along the Ruanli River, and the cultivated land that can be cultivated may not be less than one million acres."

"Is there so much?" Zhu Di had never gone deep into the Ruanli River, but when he knew that there was so much cultivated land in the valley plain of the Ruanli River, he immediately became happy.

The more arable land the Ruanli River can cultivate, the more food it will produce.

As long as there are enough cattle and draft horses, and enough people are relocated, the local output will be enough for the northern expedition.

"This river is really a good thing..."

Zhu Di rubbed his hands and felt that the second child was really developed right.

If the Bohai Sea is not developed, then the imperial court will naturally not be able to develop Modong, let alone the Ruanli River.

In only about fourteen years, his second son and his group of people have managed Guanwai to this extent. If he was given twenty or thirty years...

Zhu Di suddenly felt a sense of relief, glad that he had a good son who was "similar to himself". This was something that many kings could only dream of.

"Okay, find me a place to rest."

After hearing what Wang Yi and the others said, Zhu Di happily prepared to find a place to rest. Wang Yi quickly led the way after hearing this. Before Zhu Di went north, he and Zhu Quan had already begun preparing for the palace.

Zhu Di's palace in Zhenluwei occupies an area of ​​four acres, which is neither too big nor too shabby.

Not long after moving in, Zhu Di began to snore.

If nothing unexpected happens, he needs to wait here for Zhu Quan and Qiu Fu to explore the road, and only set off after getting the exact news.

These days are considered to be the few days he can rest peacefully in the next few months.

However, when he fell into a deep sleep, Zheng He in the south also ushered in his own expedition.

"Dang...dang...dang..."

In the early morning, when the morning bells of Palembang City began to clang, Zheng He and the others, who had prepared early, also decided to set sail after three months of rest.

Zheng He, Chen Xuan, and Cui Jun walked out of the office of the Xuan Comfort Envoy in Jiugang and stood in front of the carriage. Cui Jun bowed to the two of them: "I won't see you off. Anyway, we are tired of being together every day."

"Okay!" Chen Xuan said with a hearty smile: "You should take a good look at Nanyang. When we come back, we should take a good look at how big the changes in Palembang have been."

"There is no room for change..." Cui Jun couldn't laugh or cry, but behind his dumbfounding was a completely new old port city.

Due to the large amount of limestone on Sumatra, cement factories had been built here before Zheng He's last return trip.

The craftsmen brought by Zheng He from the south this time made the technology of the cement factory more refined and the output higher.

Over the course of three months, Palembang's walls were cleared of greenery and covered with concrete.

The roads in the old port city were widened, the houses were rebuilt and the city was more than doubled, enough to accommodate more than 100,000 people.

In addition, three military camps and four markets were built outside the city. The dock was also renovated and could berth hundreds of large ships with five thousand tons.

Official schools have also emerged in Palembang, and the ten official schools are enough to meet the needs of local children.

Palembang is a weathervane. Seeing that the court invested so many resources in Palembang, other cities where overseas Chinese and Malay people gathered also began to work hard.

From the time when the Ming Dynasty established the Xuanwei Department in Old Port until now, the Malay population and overseas Chinese from various Southeast Asian countries have continued to gather in Old Port, because they all saw the Ming Dynasty's determination to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia.

The Nanyang countries were very sad, but they had to laugh with them. After all, Zheng He's fleet was not a decoration, so they had no choice but to accept this "father sent from heaven".

"Okay, let's get in the car and go."

Zheng He teased, and after saying hello to Cui Jun, he got in the car.

When Chen Xuan saw this, he also got on it, and soon the carriage drove away from Xuanwei Si Yamen in Jiugang.

What is different from three and a half months ago is that the originally crowded and narrow roads have become wider, and the buildings of various cultures on both sides have been bulldozed and replaced by small concrete Chinese-style courtyards with stone and wood structures.

"I didn't expect that things could change so much in three months. I wonder if this place will become more prosperous when we come back."

Chen Xuan on the carriage lamented the changes in Palembang, and couldn't help but feel proud in his heart.

Zheng He on the side was holding a thick booklet in his hand and two more on his lap. He couldn't help but smile on his face:

"I care more about this than this."

"Huh?" Chen Xuan turned around, looked at what Zheng He was holding, and immediately smiled: "You should really pay more attention to this."

"I thought this old port was a barbaric land, but I didn't expect that there are more than 400,000 people and more than one million acres of cultivated land in a barbaric land."

"The land in this place is fertile and there are many fruits. The output of two acres of land is enough to feed a person. It is such a good place..."

Chen Xuan told about the situation of the Xuanwei Department in the old port. Zheng He also happily picked up the booklet representing taxation and said:

"The population and farmland are great to see, but it's the local taxation that really blows my mind."

"Manlajia Qianhusuo and Palembang received more than 500 taels of gold, more than 6,000 taels of silver and 120,000 taels of money in the past year."

"In the Central Plains, this would probably be a great taxation palace, not to mention the tax revenue of 220,000 stone."

"Not to mention paying the salaries of Nanyang Guard and Old Port Guard, even Luzon's salary can be paid at the same time."

Malacca is not too busy at the moment, at least not compared to the situation after the great voyage, but even so, the annual tax revenue is still considerable.

You must know that this is still a situation where only one naval guard, Nanyang Guard, patrols to let merchants pay taxes. With only one guard, many merchant ships evaded taxes.

If the old port guards also form a fighting force, thus completely liberating the Nanyang guards from the land, it is estimated that the tax money that can be obtained here will be even more.

"After returning from this voyage to the West, I will have to inform His Majesty and His Highness to ask the imperial court to add two naval guards."

While Zheng He was sighing, their carriage also arrived at the brand-new Palembang Pier.

The two got off the bus one after another. Zheng He ordered people to send the "Yellow Book", "Fish Scale Book" and "Tax and Grain Book" from the old port back to Nanjing, and then began to organize the army to board the ship.

Business gangs from various countries at home and abroad stayed in the old port for three months following the Western Fleet. No one dared to take the lead in leaving the Strait of Malacca because there were not many pirates on the Little Western Sea. They were alone and went to the Little Western Sea. I'm afraid I'll be robbed.

They did not dare to rush Zheng He, for fear that Zheng He would turn his back on him.

Fortunately, the wait paid off, and after three months of docking, they finally set foot on the waterway to the Western Ocean.

"Uuuuuu——"

After a busy morning, when the noon horn sounded, hundreds of ships sailed out of Palembang Port and headed towards the Malacca Strait in the west.

In three days, they passed through the Manchurian Islands and the Manchurian Strait.

Here, they saw many forts and beacons on the islands and reefs, as well as many merchant ships from Arabia.

Most of the merchant ships of this group of Arabs cost around 500 yuan. Compared with the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, they can be described as 'mini'.

Facing the Pacific Fleet, they could only scramble to avoid it, while at the same time honestly accepting inspections and paying taxes from the Nanyang Guards Navy warships.

The Navy will issue them an iron plate, which is proof that they have entered the Straits of Malacca and paid taxes.

When the trade ends and leaves the Strait of Malacca, they need to hand over this iron plate in order to be released.

The place where the Ming army collected taxes was between the Manchu Islands and the Manchu Strait, a distance of more than 130 miles.

In the vast sea, it is difficult for dozens of warships to guard this place. After all, they are all sailboats. Even if they find someone evading taxes, they will be helpless once the other party escapes from the bombardment range.

Zheng He and others saw with their own eyes some Arab merchant ships trying to evade taxes and break into Southeast Asia.

Maybe they could evade taxes in this way in the past, but facing hundreds of warships and armed merchant ships sailing to the West, the result of trying to evade taxes is to be bombarded...

"Boom boom boom——"

The dull sound of cannons and smoke appeared at the same time, and hundreds of stone bullets were fired, completely covering the Arab merchant ship that was trying to evade taxes.

Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of officials and merchant gang owners, the Arab merchant ship was beaten to pieces in an instant.

Before the ship sank, two 3,000-ton cargo ships came forward to control it. Then, under the guidance of artillery and muskets, the Arab merchants on the ship wisely accepted the punishment, handed over all the goods on the ship, and wrote a letter at the same time.

"What's going on with these letters?"

Standing on the deck, Chen Xuan looked at the Arab businessman who was taking the letter and asked Zheng He curiously.

"The penalty for tax evasion is to confiscate all the goods and write a letter to the merchant to be sent to his hometown on other ships, and his family will come with a fine to ransom them."

"Can it still be like this?" Chen Xuan's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but touch his short beard, and asked at the same time: "How much is the fine for that person?"

"Ten strings, it's not too much. After all, the bulk is the goods."

Zheng He calmly explained to Chen Xuan, but Chen Xuan couldn't help but clicked his tongue a few times.

Ten guan may not sound like much, but in Nanjing city, it is a savings that can be saved by working hard for more than a year without eating or drinking.

There were at least thirty or forty people on the ship under his gaze, so that was three to four hundred people.

This does not include the confiscated goods. If the goods were included, the ship owner would probably lose no less than a thousand guan.

Chen Xuan was a little gloating, but he also had some insights into how the navy could help the court make money.

"We went to Xiaoxiyang, and an officialdom was established then. Will there be taxes on the coastal waterways?"

Chen Xuan had already set his sights on the vast Little Western Waterway, but Zheng He shook his head: "His Highness said, one place in Manla is enough. I'm afraid it will be difficult to recover the cost in other places."

"That's true..." Chen Xuan thought about the terrain of the Malacca Strait and other places on the map. He was about to admit it, but then he smiled and said, "I think Ceylon is quite suitable for collecting taxes."

"Yeah" Zheng He nodded, but said embarrassedly: "They have no conflict with us, so we can't just bombard them."

"I understand, I understand..." Chen Xuan smiled and nodded. Seeing this, Zheng He thought he really understood, so he nodded and said:

"I'm going back to the cabin first. If anything goes wrong, just call me."

"Okay, you go and have a rest." Chen Xuan waved his hand considerately.

Zheng He didn't think much, turned around and went to the boat room to rest.

But after he left, Chen Xuan touched his short beard and said:

"We have to find a way to get them to take action against us..."

(End of this chapter)