Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 293 Food in Ming Dynasty

Because the Ming army was eyeing them covetously, the Jurchen tribes set off wars everywhere, accelerating their annexation and destruction.

Xiong Tingbi is the governor of Liaodong, and what he is doing now is to welcome the refugees.

No one from the more distant Huifa and Ula tribes would escape to the Ming border wall. Those who escaped were mainly from the Hada tribe's territory.

But not much.

Inside Guangshun Pass, Xiong Tingbi stood on the gate tower and looked at the Xiaoqing River outside the pass.

"It seems that the Jianzhou tribe has moved most of its people to Hetuala." Xiong Tingbi thought for a moment and then turned to order, "Tell Inspector Cheng to set up more porridge factories in Fushun Pass, Yagu Pass and Kuandian Liubao to provide relief to the Jurchen people who have no means of living due to the war."

This year, the wars among the Jurchen tribes lasted from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and the scope became increasingly larger. Naturally, the ordinary Jurchen people suffered.

The Ming Dynasty wanted the lands of the three tribes, and Nurhaci focused on plundering the people of each tribe.

But with so many people pouring into the current Jianzhou Jurchen territory, can they afford to support them?
In any case, if the Ming Dynasty set up porridge factories for disaster relief outside the three passes of Guangshun Pass, Fushun Pass and Yagu Pass, and in the six forts of Kuandian outside the border wall, and could also transport large amounts of grain over for trade, it would be a win-win situation.

No one could take all this manpower for themselves. The Ming Dynasty could not take the initiative to attack directly, but had to play the role of a mediator; letting them divide up and take away most of the people of the three tribes was also a compensation for their willingness to give up the land of the three tribes; ensuring food trade so that they could smoothly feed these captured people through the winter was the basis for them to follow the will of the Ming Dynasty and take the next step.

But as long as the porridge factory for disaster relief exists, more Jurchens will come to eat.

Whether the Ming Dynasty can keep these people depends on the arrangements of the officials in the court.

The current provincial governor of Liaodong is Cheng Qinan.

In the first year of Taichang, he was appointed as the director of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, and then served as the censor of the military department. Later, he took over Yuan Keli's position and inspected Liaodong.

After seeing the official document from the governor's office, he naturally had to contact Changminghao for this matter.

Fortunately, his good brother Meng Xikong is the son-in-law of Chang Qing'an, the head of Changminghao Zhayanghang.

Cheng Qinan had no idea about the court's plan.

But when he found the owner of Changminghao at Niuzhuang Posthouse, Chang Qingan was actually there.

"Always the leader."

The person opposite was also an official, and Cheng Qinan met him with courtesy.

"Tai Cheng," Chang Qing'an smiled and returned the greeting. "It's been years. What's the big deal that has you come to Niuzhuang Posthouse?"

Niuzhuang Posthouse is located where the tributaries of the Liaohe River converge, and further south is a main stream that flows into the sea.

It is not far from the Liaodong border wall and is the only way to get to the hinterland of Liaodong by land. And because it is on the bank of the Liaohe River, it is also accessible by water.

The Zhayang Company transported grain from Dagu to Liaodong, and there were mainly three routes: one to Niuzhuangyi, one to Guangningzhong and Zuotunwei, and one to Jiuliancheng on the Yalu River and to Korea.

Chang Qing'an came here in person instead of staying in Jiangnan. Cheng Qinan had already realized something: "Is it the order of His Majesty? The governor asked me to prepare more food..."

He explained his purpose, and Chang Qing'an smiled and nodded: "The governor is worried about border affairs, so he probably doesn't know yet. Not only am I in Liaodong, but Zhang Xingtou of the grain shop is also in Liaodong, he is in Liaoyang. According to the imperial order, Changming has recruited many hired workers from various provinces to come to Liaodong. Many of our families will also move here in the future. The governor and the governor can rest assured about what they are going to do. The new grain purchased last year and this year, in addition to supplying the border and the capital, will all be shipped to Liaodong."

Cheng Qinan was quite shocked: "...Move to Liaodong?"

Chang Qingan looked at him deeply and said, "Your Excellency is here by chance. Now that you are in office in Liaodong, you might as well pay attention to this matter. You are a man of great talent in both civil and military affairs. You will definitely be in the imperial court in the future. You love the people like your own children. Since I came to Liaodong, I have heard the people praise your kindness several times. Liaodong will have a lot of room for you to use your talents in the future. You will be in charge of the military and civilians in Liaodong. You will definitely be an important official on the border in the future. Many families in Shanxi will move here to defend the border, and they need your care."

"The real edge..."

The governor and the inspector-general each have their own duties. The governor is also in charge of military affairs, while the inspector-general of Liaodong is now only responsible for supervising all officials and being in charge of civil affairs.

Cheng Qinan didn't know about the arrangements of the Privy Council. At present, the Ming army had not officially set out, and the Censorate had not given him any new orders.

However, there is no need to strengthen the border within the Liaodong border wall at present. There are even tens of thousands of people living outside the border wall in places such as Kuandian Liubao.

If we want to solidify the border, then it can only be the new border.

He looked at Chang Qing'an: "Move outside the border wall?"

Chang Qingan did not explain it clearly, but only replied: "I am afraid that Changminghao, Zongminghao and Shanxi families alone will eventually move 20,000 to 30,000 people. Among them, there are many bachelors. The official is in Liaodong. I hope they can help to be matchmakers, regardless of Han or foreign nationality."

Cheng Qinan stared at him blankly and asked, "Porridge factory?"

Chang Qingan just smiled and said, "I and Chief Zhang will take care of the food. As for the rest, you will have to worry about it."

Cheng Qinan saw a corner of the plan.

But where is the new border to be opened up?
Thinking about the location of the porridge factory and that the Jurchen chieftain had gone to Jizhou Town not long ago, he nodded silently.

It seems that they are hoping that the Jurchens will bring more female relatives to eat.

War is not an end, but a means.

Nurhaci also considered the issues that Xiong Tingbi and the Ming Dynasty could consider. In Hetuala City, He Heli looked at Gong Zhenglu with complicated but serious eyes: "Mr. Gong, the king asked us to prepare food, how can we prepare it? The three tribes together have more than 100,000 people, and they are all young and strong..."

After Nurhaci returned, he was of course conflicted about this person who was mentioned personally by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

On the one hand, this guy should be eliminated. Can the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty know whether he has any contact with the Ming Dynasty?

But since the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty knew about him, wouldn't it seem that Jianzhou had evil intentions if he was eliminated?

Since he had no choice but to trust the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci promoted Gong Zhenglu instead. Now he is a formal clerk and has resumed his old job.

He Heli knew even more that Nurhaci was planning to set up a new flag of Han and Korean people after he conquered the eastern part of Korea in the future, and let this guy and his descendants be the leaders of the flag.

So now He Heli can no longer treat him with the same attitude as before.

After all, the pressure from the Ming Dynasty has come, and since the situation cannot be reversed, everyone can only work together to overcome the difficulties.

The future promised by the emperor is still not in sight, but the dignitaries and young and strong men from the three departments will all come here. How the extra 100,000 people will survive the winter is an obvious problem.

"Prince, first we need to prepare firewood. This needs to be arranged. The people of the three tribes may not be able to bring enough tents, so we need to prepare these as well. Food is of course the most difficult. We need to keep lambs and horses for breeding, so the best way is to buy them."

"How can we afford the food for so many people?" He Heli also knew. "Besides, the Han merchants in Kuandian Border Market and Fushun Pass will definitely raise the price."

Gong Zhenglu said solemnly: "This is related to the safety of the tribe. If you trust me, then go with me to Fushun Pass to talk to the Ming border officials. His Majesty has promised grace and has important matters for the Jurchens to handle. It is not good to treat the Jurchens unfairly and let the tribes bear resentment."

"…If we didn't have to give up the land of the three tribes, why would it come to this?" He Heli couldn't help but complain.

"How difficult is it to establish a country and become a king?" Gong Zhenglu shook his head and said solemnly, "What's more, if we can take over Hamgyong Province, Gyeongsang Province and Gangwon Province of Korea, it will be much warmer than the three tribes, and we can also expand the land of those small Jurchen tribes along the north of the sea. The difficulties are just in front of us. If the king cannot convince His Majesty the Emperor of his loyalty, how can he be crowned as a king?"

"Do you really believe what the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty says?" He Heli stared at him.

"It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not. The Jurchens have to believe it! Otherwise, we can only start a war and let the Ming Dynasty weigh the pros and cons and then choose peace." Gong Zhenglu looked at him calmly, "Which one do you choose, Prince Consort?"

Nurhaci has already made his choice, what else can He Heli choose?
As Gong Zhenglu said, it is not easy to establish a kingdom on the border of Ming Dynasty, especially when the emperor's attention is on the Jurchens.

He Heli sighed, "We don't have that much money. It's hard to accommodate more than 100,000 people. The Jianzhou people will complain, and it's not a good idea to set the price of Alban higher, which will make them more resentful. We don't have enough goods, and we can't raise enough money. Even if there are more goods, the Ming merchants will lower the price, and it will still not be enough!"

"So we have to negotiate with the border officials of the Ming Dynasty and beg for mercy from the great country." Gong Zhenglu said confidently, "The Ming Dynasty will hold its troops for now and let King Yun subdue the people. There is nothing we can do about it. The Ming Dynasty cannot move so many Han people to the border of the three tribes. The more Jurchens are left, the more difficult it will be for the Ming Dynasty to educate and govern them in the future. Since we need to subdue more Jurchen people and bear the burden of feeding them, if you want us to rely more on the Ming Dynasty by paying tribute to the border market, there must be a fair price!"

He Heli looked at him with mixed feelings.

It turns out that he sees things so clearly, but now he keeps saying "we".

"Okay! Let's set off as soon as possible!"

The three tribes were in chaos and Nurhaci was busy reorganizing the troops on the spot.

If you want to subdue Huifa and Wula, you must keep the powerful and the nobles. You can't lose any of the marriages you should have and the high positions you should be granted.

They each have their own relatives, dependents, and their own Aha.

A quick count shows that the number of people is enough to make people tremble.

These people cannot be abandoned, after all, the emperor has promised to fight in the east of Korea.

Only places with beautiful scenery such as mountains and rivers are trustworthy... The future Jurchen Kingdom will become a country bordered by mountains and the sea.

There will be casualties in war, so Nurhaci needs more young and strong men as soldiers.

The old, weak, and women...

He could only select some young women. After all, the Jianzhou tribe had no shortage of women, and North Korea would not lack women in the future.

As September gradually comes to an end, the Northeast has started to get cold in October and it has started to snow.

The three powerful officials all knew the will of the Ming Emperor and knew that after they surrendered, they would have to leave their familiar land.

But what can be done?
Nurhaci offered his daughter, and Nalinbulu offered Donggo. The two surrendered to the emperor, and in return the Ming Dynasty stopped its another sweeping campaign. In return, they got the chance to serve as the sharp blade of the Ming Dynasty and fight for the opportunity to be a loyal vassal state that would be forever enthroned.

Since the situation cannot be resisted, the imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty will only be distributed to Jianzhou and Yehe. In the future, there will be no chieftains and vassal guards in the three tribes, so they must take away the cattle, sheep, horses, and important supplies.

Only a large number of abandoned elderly, weak, women and children were left in the three lands.

Those precious materials on which they depended for survival did not belong to them, but to the powerful and wealthy of the various Jurchen tribes.

They are just abandoned Aha, or Zhushen who are unwilling to leave their homeland.

And winter has arrived.

At this time, news came from afar: There is food outside the border of the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)