Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 294 Winter Project
At this time, the total population of the Jurchen tribes and other small tribes living outside the Liaodong border of the Ming Dynasty was nearly two million.

The direct result of the Jurchen upheaval in the seventh year of Taichang was the division of these nearly two million people into three groups.

The largest number came from the Jianzhou Jurchens and most of the original Hada tribe. In addition, there were more than 100,000 young and strong people who were conquered and taken away from Huifa and Ula this time. The total number was close to one million.

Next was the Yehe tribe. Together with the leftovers they received from the Hada, Huifa and Ula tribes, their total number was close to 500,000.

The remaining 300,000 or so people are truly the elderly, the weak, women and children.

"Governor, there are more and more people!" The commander of Guangshun Pass is Ma Gui's nephew Ma Chengxun, "Jianzhou and Yehe have no good intentions, how can we afford them?"

He looked at the endless refugees outside the border and felt his scalp tingling.

Fortunately, they were all the elderly, the weak, women and children, otherwise if tens of thousands of Jurchens came outside Guangshun Pass, he would have to report to his uncle and ask for reinforcements.

It had snowed several times. After thinking for a while, Xiong Tingbi said, "Prepare the food supplies and use them first."

Ma Chengxun was shocked: "Transportation? How can that be possible?"

"Then prepare it first." Xiong Tingbi glanced at him, "I will submit the report myself, and I believe that Ning Lubo and Governor Yuan will also issue military orders soon."

There were fragile and dilapidated tents in the snow. The tents would collapse if people moved a little. Some people could only make a nest in the snow, leaning against branches or dirt.

Without organization, there is no security.

Every time I serve porridge, I feel very nervous. What will happen to people who are extremely hungry?
There are tens of thousands of people, and the number is still increasing. How much food do so many people consume in a day?
Yuan Keli was in the south, and as the right commander of the left army, he met He Heli again.

"The price of grain is the same as in the interior of the country, so I can only give you this much. I haven't lowered the price of ginseng and furs, but it can't be less. If it's not enough, I will exchange it for wood, but this governor has a request."

"… Governor, please speak."

He Heli came to purchase the third batch of grain, and he felt quite heavy in his heart.

The Jianzhou tribe also lacked timber.

There are more than 100,000 more people. These are the young and strong people that Nurhaci wants to recruit as future soldiers. He must give them a place to live and spend the winter, right?

There is a shortage of supplies, and even more so of food.

"The timber has been transported to the outside of Fushun Pass." Yuan Keli said without question, "Your Majesty ordered the leaders of all tribes to come to the court. I originally thought that you would value peace, but you turned out to be even more aggressive! Now that people have suffered, how many people have gone to the Ming Dynasty's border wall to seek food? How much food can I sell to you? It depends on whether you will stop playing this trick of forcing people to seek food!"

He Heli was very angry that Gong Zhenglu didn't come this time.

What is the most precious thing about peace? Isn't this what the Ming Dynasty wants?
Of course, the two departments also played a trick and quickly ended the battle before winter, leaving behind a large number of the elderly, the weak, women and children.

Such a war of annihilation would never be conducted like this in the past, but this time Jianzhou and Yehe had a tacit understanding and each had their own goals.

Jianzhou knew that Yehe would not come to the rescue, and Yehe knew that Jianzhou would evacuate the elite and powerful people of the Hada tribe in advance.

Winter is not a suitable season for Ming Dynasty to send troops. Ming Dynasty has to face the pressure of the elderly, the weak, women and children throughout the winter. Ming Dynasty still has to deal with the conquest of those three areas. There are so many elderly, the weak, women and children to bear the burden now and in the future.

This is good news for both Jianzhou and Yehe.

"The governor is wise. Our tribe is poor and weak. How dare we drive out the people to seek food? We are really short of food. I hope the governor will have mercy on us."

"Don't say these things." Yuan Keli said coldly, "The victims of the Hada tribe have all gone to Guangshun Pass, where there are already 40,000 people. The porridge factories outside Kuandian Liubao, Yagu Pass, and Fushun Pass are all for the old and weak of the Jianzhou tribe to eat. The Jianzhou tribe itself has not suffered from the war! How come there are so many victims in Jianzhou?"

He Heli would certainly make some excuses, but Yuan Keli would not listen: "Go back and tell Nurhaci that these three porridge factories will be moved inside the border and only provide relief to women and children. They will also have to learn needlework to sew tents and clothes. It is the most benevolent thing that the Ming Dynasty can help to provide relief to some women and children. It is his responsibility to support the elders! In addition, this governor will go to Guangshun Pass soon. Since the troops have been withdrawn, go to Guangshun Pass to negotiate peace with the Yehe tribe before December 20th!"

"Change to the interior?" He Heli was stunned.

"Either you abandon them or keep them all." Yuan Keli did not try to be polite with him, "Let Nurhaci make the decision himself!"

The Ming Dynasty does not want the old and young people of the Jianzhou tribe, but now it is clear that it only wants the women and children of the Jianzhou tribe.

He Heli looked at the Right Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army of the Ming Dynasty and the former Inspector of Liaodong.

He was promoted very quickly and with great drive.

First, they lured people in with the porridge factory, and then erected a memorial archway of Ming Dynasty benevolence and righteousness. As the number of disaster victims increased, it was immediately necessary to increase the number of troops at several border checkpoints.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty is preparing to prevent the disaster victims from causing chaos, but how do we know that the Ming Dynasty has no other plans?
Nurhaci told him that the leaders of the Doyan tribes were suddenly brought back to the Ming Dynasty for execution, which was unpredictable.

The Ming Dynasty was always the number one shadow of the Jurchen tribes. Whether it was the Yehe tribe gathering nine coalition forces to attack Jianzhou, or Jianzhou starting to unify the tribes, they were all taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty's efforts to aid Korea and fight against the Japanese.

It turns out that setting up the porridge factory was also a plan.

After Jianzhou helped spread the news so that more people would come here to eat and relieve the pressure, Daming put forward new conditions.

He Heli had no choice but to take the food he got in exchange for the goods and go back first.

The price was indeed fair, the same as usual, but the amount of goods he brought was limited, and the amount he could get was also limited. After he left, Yuan Keli called Cheng Qinan and Zhang Zhizheng over.

"That's what I said. If you need workers, you can set up conditions. Marry them and bring them over one by one. First settle them in the Liubao area of ​​Kuandian." Yuan Keli told Zhang Zhizheng the suggestion he had made to Jianzhou before. "The furs you get can be sewn into clothes and quilts on the spot. It doesn't matter if the workmanship is not good enough. Once they are finished, they can be shipped to Kaiyuan. If food is tight here, use some of the military rations reserved for travel. I have already sent orders to all provinces."

"I understand," Zhang Zhizheng asked, "Does the governor want to provide relief through work?"

"That's right. Although they are just the elderly, the weak, women and children, they are still useful. But distributing porridge to the poor will cause chaos sooner or later." Yuan Keli said to Cheng Qinan, "Cheng Antai, you should take charge of the situation here first. I will talk to Xiong Futai about that."

"Yes."

Yuan Keli rushed to Guangshun Pass without stopping.

The Ming Dynasty was determined to acquire the three regions and would not be hindered by the pressure of the elderly, the weak, women and children to survive the winter.

Not all of the abandoned Jurchens came over, only a small part. But since this small part came over, it was convenient for the Ming Dynasty to digest them and use them as propagandists to recruit others in the future.

Of course there are difficulties and the cost is not low, but this is the time for senior officials like Yuan Keli to demonstrate their talents.

In Yuan Keli's mind, if he wants to firmly control the three areas in the future, the first thing he should do is build roads.

It is true that the elderly, the weak, women and children are unable to perform heavy physical work such as road construction, but that does not mean they cannot help clear the roadbed and prepare some materials.

If you can do something, you will have less work to do in the future.

Besides, getting them to move instead of just sitting there waiting to get porridge every day is also a management method.

The method is not new, Zhang Zhizheng can see it.

After Yuan Keli arrived at Guangshun Pass, he immediately negotiated with Ma Gui in his capacity as the right commander of the left army, and the Ming army officially and openly left the border wall.

With the strong soldiers of the border army as the backbone and the elderly, weak, women and children of the Jurchens as the auxiliary, the road from Guangshun Pass to Ula City was the first to be repaired.

"The military order is clear. This is a war, and all merits will be recorded! It's just building roads, which is better than fighting. It's all sweat, no blood." Ma Chengxun grinned to cheer them up, and then said with a sly smile, "These are all the old, weak, women and children who were abandoned. I heard that they were all born as slaves in the Jurchen barbarians. In the future, these three lands will have to be guarded. If anyone likes a girl, he can't just snatch her away. Tell me, and I will help you get married, so that the military inspector will not report to the uncle."

"General Qian, can two be okay?"

"You idiot, you are so stubborn, right? You have to do your job! The governor said that we should work for three days and rest for one day, just to make sure you can have more babies!"

"Alas... there aren't many young ones. They are either too old or too young."

“… Stop talking nonsense and get to work!”

This was a strange operation. Normally, the military discipline was strict, and they were still in the army, so they didn't dare to make such a mistake and distract the soldiers.

But the situation at this moment is special.

The real purpose of the Ming Dynasty was to completely digest this part of the land outside the Great Wall. It was not easy to kill all the Jurchens who did not go to Jianzhou and Yehe.

So at this time, the border troops had more uses.

By the beginning of December, the vanguards of various Shanxi families also arrived at Guangshun Pass.

Li Hualong once summarized the route to Kaiyuan: It is isolated at the end of the sky, surrounded by barbarians on three sides, like a black dot on the face, and it is the most dangerous place among the nine borders.

But because of this, the horse market is the center of the circulation of foreign goods, and both the Hu and Han people rely on it. The gains from looting are not enough to make up for the profits from the market. The barbarians regard the market as a golden road and are afraid of losing it, and we also use it as a control.

Guangshun Pass, which was close to the Hada tribe, and Zhenbei Pass, which was close to the Yehe tribe, were originally the north and south markets of Kaiyuan Horse Market. Among them, the south market of Guangshun Pass was the most prosperous.

But after the Yehe tribe lured and killed the leader of the Hada tribe, Guangshun Pass declined for a while. Jianzhou rose, and Nurhaci controlled the imperial edict, and more goods from the south were transported through Fushun Pass. Although the Kuandian Liubao border market only targeted North Korea, Jianzhou would also go there for trade.

Now that the Shanxi families had arrived here, Chang Qing'an first went out of the border with Yuan Keli and Xiong Tingbi to take a look outside.

Beyond Guanmen Pass, there are valleys between mountains to the north and south.

"From here, go north and then turn west, and you will reach Zhenbeibao. Going south, you will reach Xiaoqing River Valley."

Chang Qing'an looked at the many elderly people and young children who were really unable to work. The north bank of the Xiaoqing River outside Guangshun Pass was very busy, with border troops and some Jurchens who were still able to work working there.

It is difficult to repair the road in winter, so now all we can do is clear the rough roadbed.

He asked directly: "Is this the place the governor is talking about?"

"Going further down the Xiaoqing River, you can enter the Liao River at Qingliao in the north of Kaiyuan. In the northeast of Kaiyuan, you can also go to Yehe tribe via Zhenbeibao waterway." Yuan Keli looked at him deeply, "Since Your Majesty has such grace, you might as well settle down in Xifeng in the future. Zhenbeibao and Guangshunguan, these two water and land stations will be connected to Xifeng in the future. There are many spotted deer there, and tussah silk is produced in abundance, I'm sure you know that."

Chang Qingan nodded: "It seems that we have no choice but to build a post town on the bank of Xiaoqing River outside Guangshun Pass."

(End of this chapter)