Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 102 Is the Emperor up to something again?

I have been talking to Xu Da about this matter for several months.

But because of the Li Shanchang incident, the subsequent empty seal case, and the solar eclipse a few days ago, it has been delayed.

It has not really started to be implemented.

I'm afraid my old brother Xu Da can't wait any longer.

Now everything has been concluded. The key is to recover the stolen money through means such as house searches. Now we have more than three million strings of cash in our hands.

Moreover, as time went on, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that the final amount would definitely exceed four million strings of cash.

For Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been living in poverty for years, such a windfall was really a relief.

There are many things you can do.

In addition to the 150,000 strings of cash given out as bonuses, there were also 50,000 strings of cash allocated to the Imperial College, 50,000 strings of cash to the Firearms Bureau, and 500,000 strings of cash to the Ministry of Works for the management of the Yellow River.

Now there are still about 2.6 million strings of cash in hand.

Now I can still spare some money to use for this matter.

"We are going to conduct trade with the tribes on the northern grasslands."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at all the officials and said this.

Most of the officials present seemed surprised after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

They looked at each other and made some subtle comments.

It is well known how much the current emperor hates the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

After the Northern Yuan court fled to the grassland, the emperor initially waged wars year after year.

I wish I could completely destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty immediately.

After suffering a defeat in the fifth year of Hongwu, things seemed relatively quiet.

But in the eyes of many people who knew the emperor's temper well, these were just appearances. Secretly, whether it was General Xu Da and other people in the army, or the emperor, they were all thinking about avenging the previous humiliation and destroying the Yuan court.

The defeat in the fifth year of Hongwu only made the emperor more determined to overthrow the Yuan court.

Ever since the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court fled to Mobei in the third year of Hongwu, the emperor issued a ban.

It is strictly forbidden to trade with the tribes on the grassland.

Such an order not only reflected the emperor's deep hatred for the Northern Yuan Dynasty, but also had a very practical purpose.

That is, through this method, a shortage of supplies was caused on the grassland, which put the Northern Yuan court in trouble.

It would be best to trap them to death.

Many of them can understand this.

But now, the emperor suddenly made such a decision.

Are they going to give up on the pursuit and interception of the grassland?

This... doesn't look like it at all.

“The grasslands are still quite rich, especially in terms of livestock.

Cows, horses, sheep, etc. are all good things.

Not only is the meat delicious, but the hide and tendons can also be used to make armor and weapons.

Some cows can also be fitted with nose rings and domesticated to be used as draft cattle.

Sheepskin can be made into coats, which are very warm to wear.

Horses can be trained as war horses, or they can be used to plow fields and pull carts.

These are all what our Ming Dynasty needs.

The grasslands have a huge output. Trading with them and bringing these to the Ming Dynasty will bring many benefits to our Ming Dynasty.

It’s more cost-effective than raising them ourselves in the Ming Dynasty.

We need cattle, horses, sheep, cowhides, sheepskins, horsehides and other things from the grasslands, but there are even more things on the grasslands that need our Ming Dynasty.

Pots, pans, and all kinds of utensils, there is nothing they don't need.

We can definitely make a lot of money by transporting ordinary things from our Ming Dynasty there.

It would be a waste not to make this money.

So we're going to set up some markets in the border areas, trade with the tribes on the grasslands, and make a killing!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was telling the truth. He was indeed planning to make a lot of money through trade with the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

But his purpose in doing this is not just to make money.

In addition to making money, the most important thing is to use this method to find the Northern Yuan Dynasty court and destroy it in one fell swoop.

Why has the Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal court not been destroyed until now?

It's not about how good they are at fighting.

If he was really good at fighting, he wouldn't be beaten like a stray dog ​​by himself, hiding in the depths of the grassland and not daring to show his head.

The most important reason was that after the battle in the fifth year of Hongwu, the Northern Yuan Dynasty court made strategic adjustments.

Not only did he go deeper into the grassland, but he also tried his best to avoid major conflicts with the Ming Dynasty.

The location of the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court became their top secret.

It does not leak to the outside and changes its location from time to time.

They did this because they were afraid that someone in the Ming Dynasty would find an opportunity to destroy their royal court.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty itself originated from the grassland.

The grassland is their base.

Their rule and influence on the grassland are deeply rooted.

The Ming Dynasty itself has always regarded the grasslands and the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty as one.

Under such circumstances, many tribes on the grassland would naturally choose the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court, follow the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court, and accept the rule of the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court.

The grassland is endless, and the people from each tribe are all spies of the Northern Yuan Dynasty court.

Without mentioning the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to know the exact location of the Northern Yuan Dynasty’s royal court.

Even if they knew about it, it would be basically difficult to march such a long distance with a large number of troops without leaking the news and launch a surprise attack.

Otherwise, in the previous life, they would not have had to wait until the 23rd year of Hongwu to get the opportunity, and Lan Yu would have led the troops to destroy it in one fell swoop.

So, Zhu Yuanzhang now changed his strategy.

The various tribes on the grassland and the Northern Yuan royal court are no longer regarded as a whole.

Instead, they were prepared to divide and disintegrate it and solve the problems of the Northern Yuan Dynasty court from the root.

First, destroy the foundation of their rule.

Having lost their ruling foundation, many grassland tribes turned their attention to the Ming Dynasty. Even if they were not loyal to the Ming Dynasty, they could at least avoid being loyal to the Northern Yuan Dynasty court.

Then it will be easy to destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty court.

The Shanxi merchants, who had the support of the Ming Dynasty, made a fortune through the Ming Dynasty and lived a fat and bloated life, still had so many guides and traitors.

He just didn't believe that now that he was conducting trade with the grassland, he couldn't cultivate a large number of people on the grassland who were willing to be guides for the Ming Dynasty.

If we manage it well for three to five years, the location of the Northern Yuan Dynasty's royal court will no longer be a secret to the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty could take action against the Northern Yuan Dynasty whenever it wanted.

The initiative is entirely on your side.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court will completely become a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of me.

There will be no chance to resist.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not worried about himself. After the mutual trade began, the tribes on the grassland stopped doing business with the Ming Dynasty.

The goods of the Ming Dynasty were of good quality and low price. Even if they were sold to them at a higher price, they would still be cheaper than the defective products from the Northern Yuan Dynasty court.

When the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court fled, they took a group of craftsmen with them.

We can produce some tools.

However, conditions on the grassland are limited, and the quality of the tools produced is questionable.

In addition, there were many tribes on the grassland, and various utensils were supplied to the royal court first, resulting in a serious shortage of utensils.

The larger and more powerful tribes are better off; they can pay a high price to obtain some decent equipment.

It would be difficult to deal with so many small tribes.

You have to pay high prices and use connections to buy inferior products that are crooked and cracked.

Even this may not be available.

Through these inferior goods, the Northern Yuan Dynasty royal court could legitimately reap wealth on the grassland.

And establish an economic order that is relatively fragile but real.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to lift the ban on trade and conduct mutual trade.

According to the size of the Ming Dynasty, the exquisite craftsmanship and low prices of its products.

It will definitely attract many grassland tribes to come and trade.

Many things, in the final analysis, are about interests and stomach problems.

There is no reason to give up high-quality and low-priced goods, but instead beg and plead, and spend a higher price to buy inferior goods.

Except for a very few tribes, most people are normal.

As a result, the economic order on the grassland will inevitably suffer a huge impact.

As long as we manage well, it won't take too long, at most three to five years, for the fragile economy on the grassland to be shattered.

Let these people see the tremendous power of the combination of the visible hand and the invisible hand.

In the past, wars with the Northern Yuan Dynasty always resulted in losses.

The economic benefits of any war are far lower than the investment in launching a military operation.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to change his tactics.

Fighting a war doesn't just mean losing money, it also means making money.

He wanted to use the money he earned from the Northern Yuan Dynasty as military expenses to fight against it.

"If you do this, I'm afraid the Northern Yuan Dynasty court won't just sit back and watch.

We will use some means to prevent those tribes on the grassland from trading with us."

After a low buzzing sound, Prime Minister Hu Weiyong stepped forward first and expressed his thoughts on the matter.

As Hu Weiyong spoke, the Huagai Hall became quiet.

"That's good, what we want is for him to not sit idly by!
He doesn't just care about action, the more action the better.

Let’s see if we can control all the tribes on the grasslands and prevent them from buying our high-quality and low-priced goods and instead buying their inferior goods.”

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care at all.

He even had a smile on his face when he said this.

He really hoped that the Northern Yuan Dynasty's exiled court would do so.

Doing so will inevitably intensify the conflicts with the grassland tribes.

Accelerate the tearing of the grassland.

There was disunity between the tribes on the grassland.

If the Northern Yuan Dynasty's exiled court could really sit back and do nothing, that would be fine.

I will proceed step by step and successfully destroy the grassland economy.

The exiled court of the Northern Yuan Dynasty was like a fish that had been exposed after the water was drained out.

This is an unsolvable conspiracy. No matter what the Northern Yuan court does, it will be of no avail.

You can't change the fate that is controlled by yourself.

This is also the reason why Xu Da had great expectations for Zhu Yuanzhang's plan after hearing about it, and always wanted to implement it as soon as possible.

Fighting a war is not just about fighting with real swords and guns. It is also a good idea to use economic advantages and crush the enemy with the momentum before resorting to swords.

It is safer and more profitable than simple military action.

"If so, I think it is appropriate and this matter can be implemented.

The cattle, horses, sheep, and other things from the Northern Yuan Dynasty are indeed useful to our Great Ming. It would be best if we could make them all ours."

At this time, Hu Weiyong had completely understood the emperor's intention behind this action.

Doing business with the tribes on the grassland is secondary.

The most important thing is to use such means to divide the grassland and provoke confrontation on the grassland.

This would allow them to find an opportunity to destroy the exiled Northern Yuan court and completely end the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Just tell me, how could Zhu Yuanzhang reconcile with the Northern Yuan Dynasty?
It is impossible to do such a thing just to make more money.

"Sir, if you think this through, you should have done this a long time ago.

Good things like cattle, sheep and horses were left to be destroyed by the Tartars.

It’s better to get it to our Ming Dynasty.”

Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an, clapped his hands and cheered in a hoarse voice.

"Your Majesty is wise! Now many people in our Ming Dynasty are blessed. They can eat more mutton and wear more sheepskin coats!"

Pingliang Hou Fei Ju also spoke.

"Yes, yes, it's best for us to get such good things into the hands of the Ming Dynasty."

Tang Shengzong, as well as Wu Liang, the Marquis of Jiangyin, and others also cheered and gave their full support to Zhu Yuanzhang's decision.

There is a reason why they are so supportive.

Of course, it was not because a few people like Hu Weiyong had seen through the military purpose hidden behind the emperor's action in a short period of time.

It’s because there are a lot of businesses in the north, and these Huaixi nobles are basically involved in them to some extent.

Why was there such a deep gap between Liao Yongzhong and the Huaixi nobles?
Why did he later return to his old ways, leading people to smuggle salt and undermine the Sino-Japanese War?

This involved a struggle between the Huaixi nobles and the Chaohu navy.

There are many interests involved.

The most important of these is the business in the north.

The Kaizhong Method was proposed by Yang Xian and implemented with the help of Liao Yongzhong.

The so-called Kaizhong method, to put it simply, means that transporting grain to the border areas is too costly.

In order to reduce the burden on the imperial court, merchants from Shanxi and other places were asked to transport grain to the border areas on behalf of the government.

Then the amount of grain transported was exchanged for salt permits, which were then used to buy salt at the salt fields and sell to make money.

The Kaizhong method proposed by Yang Xian was indeed very useful and greatly reduced the burden of the court in transporting grain to the border areas.

However, in the early stages of implementation, it was not easy to get things rolling quickly.

Therefore, the Chaohu Navy, which had a large number of warships and sailors, came in handy.

Help transport grain and salt.

Of course, they were not busy for nothing. The Chaohu Navy took the opportunity to get involved in these businesses and took up a large share.

Later, Yang Xian was convicted and executed, and Liao Yongzhong was particularly deeply involved with Yang Xian.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not punish Liao Yongzhong because of his great contributions.

But the Chaohu Navy's business here naturally came to an end.

Who occupied it? Whose hands did it fall into?

Naturally, it was in the hands of the Huaixi nobles who were at odds with Yang Xian.

From this point of view, Liao Yongzhong was taken advantage of by the Huaixi nobles.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang said that he wanted to conduct trade with the grassland, and these people were naturally very happy.

After all, if such things were actually done, they could gain huge benefits from it.

You can make a lot of money.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the reactions of Lu Zhongheng, Fei Ju and others. His expression did not change, but he could not help but snorted in his heart.

How could he not know what these people were planning?
How could he let these people get what they wanted?
……

While the emperor was attending the morning court, the head of the Firearms Bureau, Wanhu Tao Chengdao, was also busy.

Here we are preparing the gunpowder.

By the way, not all officials in Beijing have to attend the morning court.

Only those officials who work regularly and have sufficient status need to participate in this.

For officials like Tao Chengdao, they did not need to attend the morning court on weekdays unless the emperor had special instructions.

Generally, Tao Chengdao would only change into official uniform and attend the New Year's Day grand court assembly, or other occasions where officials of all ranks were needed to show up to the event.

However, not attending the morning court does not mean that Tao Chengdao gets up late.

On the contrary, Tao Chengdao often got up earlier than those officials who needed to attend the morning court.

Today, Tao Chengdao got up early again.

After washing up quickly, he went straight into the house and started working there.

When he entered the room where he worked daily, he brought with him, in addition to the usual supplies of the Firearms Bureau, such as saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, some eggs and icing sugar.

This made the two apprentices who worked with Tao Chengdao, who were also capable men in the Firearms Bureau, couldn't help but swallow their saliva secretly.

I secretly thought that I was in for a treat today.

The teacher, who has never been particular about clothing or eating, and is content with just a few bites, finally got the idea this time.

It's actually going to improve life.

Boiled eggs in sugar water are delicious.

It is most suitable as breakfast.

Especially when they saw the teacher enter the room, mix some gunpowder, and then pick up an egg to break it, Li Baiqiang and Han Dapao were drooling.

As a result, what happened next was completely beyond their expectations.

Because their teacher did not cook with eggs as they thought.

Instead, he put egg white into the gunpowder and used ten eggs in a row.

Looking at the teacher who was constantly stirring gunpowder with eggs, the two looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.

What is the teacher doing?
Are you going to make fried eggs with gunpowder for the two of you later?

What's this new dish?

Thinking of this, the two of them took a step back quietly at the same time.

It widened the distance between me and my teacher.

"Teacher, what are you doing?"

Han Dapao couldn't help but ask.

"Get some new gunpowder and see if adding eggs to it will make it more powerful."

Tao Chengdao answered while stirring.

Uh……

Upon hearing this, the two were stunned again, wondering if their teacher had gone crazy.

By adjusting the ratio of sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal, and using materials of different qualities, the resulting gunpowder has different power.

They know all of this and are familiar with all the proportions.

Why now, the teacher has set his sights on eggs again?
This practice is truly unheard of.

Are you sure this isn't for food?
"Let's give it a try. Anyway, it's already difficult to significantly increase the power of gunpowder now.

Let’s try something new.”

Tao Chengdao patted the mixture that had been mixed, stuck together, and wetted with gunpowder into thin pancakes and placed them on a rack for low-temperature baking.

He explained to his two disciples, appearing very serious.

In fact, he also felt quite unsure in his heart.

Because this method, which seemed obviously unreliable, was not his idea at all, but was something the emperor called him over and told him.

However, this method seemed too bizarre at first glance, and Tao Chengdao was afraid that it would fail during verification and damage the emperor's reputation.

That's why he didn't tell his two disciples directly and only did things in his own name.

After hearing Tao Chengdao's explanation, the two understood their teacher's thoughts.

I understand the teacher's feelings, but I don't agree with his approach.

This is an unreliable approach at first glance, there is no need to try it...

When it was light, the people who had eaten fried egg yolks with pancakes began to crush the dried gunpowder cakes.

I got two pounds of small granular gunpowder.

Walking out of the house, Tao Chengdao scooped a spoonful of gunpowder, poured it on the stone slab, and placed the lit incense on it.

The gunpowder soon began to burn violently.

Tao Chengdao and his two disciples were all cheered up and instantly became energetic.

This gunpowder burns faster and cleaner than the best gunpowder ever!

This means that gunpowder is more powerful!
"Quick, get the musket!"

Tao Chengdao gave orders in a hurried voice.

Han Dapao immediately rushed into the house in two steps and rushed out with a musket in his arms.

Without the teacher saying anything, he and Li Baiqiang skillfully loaded the gunpowder and fuse, and pressed in the bullet.

After doing all this, we came to the site where we usually test firearms.

Tao Chengdao rejected the opinion of his two disciples who wanted to replace him because they were worried that the new gunpowder was too powerful and might cause the musket to explode.

Light the ignition yourself, aim and fire.

A moment later, there was a bang, and as smoke rose, the bullet was shot out.

After measurement, the range was found to be more than 30% higher than before!
This surprised and delighted the three of them.

No one expected that after adding eggs, this method that sounds like a cooking method of making gunpowder would actually be so useful!
It can increase the power of gunpowder so much in an instant!

Tao Chengdao stared at the granular gunpowder with shining eyes for a while, and seemed to suddenly remember something.

Turned around and ran into the house.

He quickly ran out with the bag of candy.

Then he crushed the sugar and mixed it into the gunpowder.

With the previous example of adding eggs, Li Baiqiang and Han Dapao no longer felt that their teacher's behavior was unreliable.

Instead, I am full of expectations.

I want to see how much of a surprise this will bring after adding sugar.

"boom!"

A moment later, there was a louder gunshot than before, and bullets whizzed out.

Several people were busy looking for the trace of the bullet and measuring the distance.

Seeing that the shooting range had increased by nearly half, several people fell into a daze.

After a moment, there was a burst of cheers.

"Teacher, you are amazing! You can even think of such a method!"

Li Baiqiang and Han Dapao looked at their teacher with admiration beyond words.

"That's not what I thought of."

Tao Chengdao, who was also very excited, shook his head vigorously.

Wasn’t it your teacher who came up with this idea?
The two were stunned for a moment.

Now, the person with the most profound attainments in gunpowder and firearms in the Ming Dynasty is his teacher.

Who else except my teacher could have come up with such a brilliant idea?
"Yes, Your Majesty! Your Majesty told me all this!"

What? !

Li Baiqiang and Han Dapao were even more confused.

The emperor also knows these?!
"Hahaha, Your Majesty not only told me these, but also shared some other ideas!"

Tao Chengdao threw his head back and laughed heartily, feeling extremely happy.

I was so excited that my hands couldn't stop shaking.

After a moment, he stopped laughing, went into the room, and started writing and drawing.

The whole person's state looks quite crazy...

Li Baiqiang and Han Dapao both hurriedly followed their teacher into the room.

They were all very curious about what else the emperor said to his teacher...

……

“…Trade with the tribes on the grasslands must be conducted in specialized markets.

And commercial taxes need to be collected.”

In the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice continued to ring out.

"It should, it should."

"Paying taxes when earning money is only natural."

Fei Ju, Lawrence Lu and others nodded repeatedly.

The commercial tax of 1% of thirty is like a drizzle to them.

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear that. You really didn't let me down. You are all loyal and patriotic people."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them and praised them generously.

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, the Huaixi nobles present couldn't help but smile.

My heart was filled with joy.

The one in power still takes good care of his old brothers.

There is no clear understanding of how much money can be made from trade.

One-thirty tax is the same as confiscation.

At that moment, everyone patted their chests and expressed their opinions, saying that as loyal people, they would naturally support the person in power and serve the country.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's smile grew even brighter.

"In that case, the commercial tax will be collected at a rate of 60%."

(End of this chapter)