I'm a big dick

Chapter 362
There was a crowd of people ahead, surrounded by a group of Mongols, who made exclamations from time to time.

Darhan walked over with the two sisters, not wanting to watch the excitement.It happened that a Mongolian Taiji came over with his entourage, and the Mongolian consciously moved away, and the three of them also saw the goods that were onlookers.

A large mirror, one size smaller than the fitting mirrors of later generations, but in the world at that time, it was already a unique and amazing existence.

Of course, this was not the biggest in the Ming Dynasty.In the capital, in the south of the Yangtze River, and in the country of Wa, there are one size bigger than this for sale, and the price is of course ridiculously high.

And this large mirror was shipped by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and displayed as a sample.

I didn't think the Mongols could afford it at first, it was purely for showing off, and opened the eyes of the Mongols to know the great Ming Wuhua Tianbao, and the market where Longguang shot the bullfight!

Mengmeng Taiji's eyes widened, his face was full of amazement, he approached cautiously, shaking his head from side to side, and stretched out his hand to touch his face, only then did he believe that the detailed portrait in the mirror was himself.

The guy next to the mirror curled his lips, secretly mocking that this is another bumpkin.

In fact, mirrors are still high-end products, and the common people in Ming Dynasty cannot afford them, so maybe not many have seen them.

"This, this is—" Mongolia Taiji looked left and right, amazed again and again.

"This is a precious glass mirror." The man smiled, but he still had a bit of arrogance. "It is also priceless in Daming. This time, we will open the horse market and display it as the treasure of the store."

As he said that, the clerk pointed to the shelves again, and said, "These precious mirrors are a little smaller, and they are sold outside, with clearly marked prices, so no one can deceive you."

There are more than a dozen palm-sized round mirrors on the shelves, which reflect the sunlight, appearing to fluctuate and dazzle people.

Mongolian Taiji only glanced at the small mirror, then moved his eyes to the big mirror, staring at it.After a long while, he stretched out his hand and asked in blunt Chinese, "How much is this precious mirror?"

"This—" the guy was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied: "This is a display item of the town store, and it is not for sale."

"Since it's on display, why don't you sell it?" The interpreter stepped forward and said, "Whether it's a store or a display, there is always a price, right? Don't you bully us Mongolians, thinking that we are poor and can't afford it?"

Mongolian Taiji puffed up his chest and looked left and right. The attendants were holding bundles of silk and cotton cloth, showing a wealthy appearance.

The guy scratched his head, not knowing what to do.Coupled with the booing of other Mongols, it was not easy for him to deal with it for a while.

"What's going on?" Several Ming soldiers came over, and the noisy Mongols immediately fell silent.

The noisy sound had already alarmed the steward behind him, he walked out frowning, and the man hurried forward to explain the whole story.

The steward nodded, explained a few words to the soldiers of the Ming army with a smiling face, sent them away, and then turned to look at the frustrated Mongolian Taiji.

"Although this treasure mirror is for the town store, if you really want to buy it, it's not impossible." The manager thought for a while, then relaxed, and said, "The price of those small treasure mirrors is 22 silver dollars ([-] taels of silver). .”

After a pause, he pointed to the big mirror and said, "You must know that the bigger the mirror, the more difficult it is to make it. Therefore, the price of this mirror is five hundred silver dollars (360 taels of silver). "

expensive? !According to the price of silver in the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver is roughly equivalent to 700 yuan in later generations. If you round it up, it is 360 yuan, which is 21 taels, or at least [-] yuan.

The small mirror is 3000 yuan, 22 taels of silver, which is almost the price of a cow or a pretty good war horse at that time.

Trading in the horse market is really not a big deal, and the price is set more reasonably. After all, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce is looking for long-term trading.

Even so, their profits are extremely lucrative.Especially for luxury goods such as mirrors, they get goods from the royal family, and after deducting the shipping fee, they can still make almost one-third of the huge profits.

As for the royal family, it can only be called huge profits.The cost and wages, not even a fraction of the price of the mirror, are simply black-hearted.

360 taels of silver, five hundred silver dollars? !For ordinary people, this is a huge sum that is unimaginable.

But for Mongolian Taiji, although it is not a small sum of money, it is not impossible to get it out.

Just like the society of the Ming Dynasty, the poor are ordinary herdsmen, and the rich are Taiji and Baylor. Who doesn't have a net worth of millions?

Of course, wealth is embodied in another form, that is, herds of cattle, sheep and horses.

A cow is about 1 yuan, and a large mirror is only more than 20 cows; if it is a good horse, it will be even more valuable.

In the early Ming Dynasty, in order to obtain enough horses, the Ming Dynasty forced the people to raise horses for government requisition.

Later, because of the lack of horses, the Ming Dynasty had to buy them instead, that is, to spend money to buy horses from the people.

With the implementation of this policy, a large number of private horse farms have emerged in Hebei and Shandong, specializing in breeding horses for official sales.

Therefore, the price of buying a horse generally fluctuates between 10-15 taels.As a result, the private horse-drawn carriage industry flourished.

In the late Ming Dynasty, because of the opening of the trade channel to Mongolia, cheaper horses could be purchased in large quantities from Mongolia, so the purchase of horses from the private sector stopped, leading to the closure of private horse farms in Hebei and Shandong.

Although it was cheaper to buy horses from Mongolia, the price of horses purchased officially by the Ming Dynasty did not decrease.The price difference, you don't have to think about it to know where it went.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the large-scale closure of the Shandong horse farm in Hebei Province and the rebellion against the Ming Dynasty by the Later Jin Dynasty, the cost of buying horses from Mongolia increased sharply, reaching 50 taels of silver at the peak.

Now that the price of horses has not yet reached its peak, the imperial court has increased the number of horses purchased from right-wing Mongolia, and a number of corrupt officials have been severely punished, causing the price of horses to be suppressed below 15 taels.

With the recovery of Guangning, the border trade of the left-wing Mongolian tribes will resume, and the price of horses, cattle and sheep will be lowered again, which is also a good thing for the Ming Dynasty.

The best war horses are a little more expensive, and they are used by flying cavalry; dragoons are not demanding, and they can ride on the road; for heavy artillery carts, ordinary pack horses can also do it.

If you estimate the value of silk, cloth, iron pots, and even mirrors, and trade with cattle and horses, the Ming Dynasty can make a steady profit.

But the Mongols don't think they are at a disadvantage either. These are their daily necessities, and cattle, horses and sheep are not that valuable in their eyes.

Therefore, opening the horse market is a win-win situation, everyone gets what they need, and everyone feels good.Although the Ming Dynasty took the initiative, it often used it as an economic means to coerce the Mongolian tribes.But when the horse market is closed, the Mongols must be in a hurry with you.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce obviously has some prejudices against the situation of the Mongolian ministries, and believes that high-end luxury goods are not suitable for them, and daily necessities are the mainstream.

But they obviously underestimated the wealth of the Mongolian nobles. They brought hundreds of cattle and horses without hurting their bones. What's wrong with buying a big mirror?
Poverty limits people's imagination. This sentence is equally applicable in ancient times and modern times.

The ordinary people can earn 20 taels of silver a year, and they are already well-off families; but those rich and powerful who are happy and happy in the gold-selling caves spend a lot of money without changing their faces.

Dong Xiaoyuan’s redemption fee was 3000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than 180 million; Chen Yuanyuan’s song cost ten taels, which was 6000 yuan; in the end, he was bought out by the head of state for 5 taels of silver. discounted price!
The followers of Mongolian Taiwan Jiling went back and sold the cattle and horses according to the market price, and exchanged them for silver dollars. After buying the mirror, there were still two heavy bags of silver dollars left!

The manager's eyes are a little straight, I didn't expect, I didn't expect that Mongolians could buy such a tall thing.This has to be reported as soon as possible, and try to get a few more noodles before the market opens next time.

This mirror made at least one hundred fifty or sixty silver dollars, which is a bargain.Where is the profit difference from selling silk, cloth, iron pots, etc.?
"Our family can afford it too." Bumbutai leaned over quietly, looked in the mirror and then quickly backed away. After being surprised, he curled his lips and said angrily on purpose, "Look at that guy's arrogant look, like a Big fool."

Hai Lanzhu smiled, took the girl's hand and walked forward, not worrying about her acting alone again.

Darhan followed, sighed, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

The father of the two sisters, Bu Hegui, is Baylor of the Horqin Department, and also has the official position of Zaisang, which means prime minister.Such a status is naturally rich in wealth.

At that time, Taiji in the Mongolian tribe, that is, nobles, was equivalent to a lord.In addition to military service, herdsmen must also pay livestock and livestock products to them, and undertake various chores.

In addition to these incomes, Mongolian Taiji also has rewards from the Ming Dynasty.It is the consistent policy of the Ming court to control the chiefs and manage the Mongolian people by rewarding the chiefs, which is very attractive to the Mongolian nobles.

Of course, if you want to get the reward, not only is there a quota limit, you must also abide by the agreement with the Ming court.Rewards are usually given in the form of silver taels, cloth and silk, rice grains, etc., and the objects include the chiefs, Taiji, Ruobulang, Bi prostitutes and other Mongolian nobles.

It can be seen that the political system of the Mongolian tribes is similar to that of the Tusi system. The lowest herdsmen, whether they are free people, subjects, or slaves, are forced to stay in designated pastures and are ruled by nobles at all levels. layers of exploitation and slavery.

For ordinary herdsmen, not to mention the mirror, it is an indispensable daily necessities, and they are also careful about their budgets, and they dare not waste their hard-working horses, cattle and sheep easily.

Iron pots are a must, cloth ranks second, tea and salt rank third; silk and porcelain are affordable for nobles and gentlemen; food is sold uniformly by tribe in the Ming Dynasty, the quantity is fixed, and individuals do not sell it. .

Despite all the regulations and restrictions, the Mongolians are quite satisfied with this horse market transaction.Without him, the price is more reasonable, much more affordable than the previous mutual market trade.

The Mongols felt that it was beneficial, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce also made money, and the imperial court benefited from it.All three are satisfied, and the only one who will resent is probably the Shanxi merchants who used to monopolize the border trade.

It was also because the imperial court was too relaxed about border trade and handed it over to Shanxi merchants for monopoly. Not only was the imperial court’s taxation not high, Shanxi merchants cheated the Mongols to make black-hearted money, and it also aroused the resentment and dissatisfaction of the Mongols.

Now it is still handed over to businessmen to operate, but the intensity of supervision and control is not the same.The Chinese Chamber of Commerce did not dare to evade taxes, and often responded to the call to contribute to the court.

At the same time, it also prevents officials from meddling in border trade for corruption.For example, the Gaohuai chaos in Liao Dynasty aroused ethnic conflicts in border trade and caused serious consequences.

But profiting through border trade and maintaining peace on the border are not the whole purpose.It is a longer-term plan to attract the poor Mongolian herdsmen to naturalize, and to unite and divide the Mongolian tribes.

While others take one step at a time, Zhu Youxiao takes one step at a time and sees three steps. He is already planning the political and military direction after Ping-Liao.

According to Da Ming's rules, if you do business well, then peace will naturally continue; if you are greedy, you can hit you all over the place if you want to.

After Ping Liao, the more severe the mad cow disease of Lin Danhan, the better. It happened to be the help of the Ming Dynasty to solve the nomadic people.

Of course, few people know the ambitions of His Majesty the Emperor, let alone know that the Little Ice Age was also a fatal blow to the northern nomads.

Darhan and his two sisters walked out of the market and headed for the designated meeting place.The three of them became silent, with different thoughts.

"Why did the Horqin tribe form an alliance with Houjin, which not only angered Lin Danbatur, but also offended the Ming Dynasty?" Hai Lanzhu asked strangely, frowning slightly when she saw no one around.

This is really a very complicated issue. Lin Danhan's strong hegemony, the rise of Houjin, the Ming army's consecutive defeats in Liaodong, and the blocked border trade with the Ming Dynasty are all one of the reasons.

And if the history does not change, it will prove the wisdom of the Horqin tribe to join Houjin.Not only resisted Lin Danhan's annexation, but also gained a lot of benefits from Houjin's continuous victories.

But now, the family is destroyed, and the cause is the alliance with Jin, which led to the crusade by the Ming and Mongolian allied forces.Hai Lanzhu only thought of this, so it's not surprising to ask this question.

Darhan smiled wryly, and said slowly: "Korqin is in the middle of the cracks, and Daming, Lindanbatur, and Houjin are not easy to mess with. At that time, the Ming army lost consecutive battles and abandoned Guangning; Lindanbatur also forced It is very tight, and it is a last resort to rely on Houjin."

Sighing heavily, Darhan continued: "Who would have thought that after successive defeats, the Ming army became stronger and stronger, and regained Guangning. This attack on Horqin, if there is no support from the Ming army, maybe it will not be the result now." .Houjin’s reinforcements—oh, I’m afraid it didn’t come in time.”

Bumbutai blinked, looked at Darhan, then at Ajie, and sighed heavily, "The world is unpredictable!"

Hai Lanzhu looked at the girl's expression and couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing.

Bumbutai was stunned by the laugh, he didn't know what he said wrong, but he didn't know that it was her inadvertent old-fashionedness that made Ajie laugh.

At this moment, thunderous hooves of horses came from behind, and the three of them hurried to the side of the road.Looking back, I saw smoke and dust rising, and a large group of cavalry was approaching at a gallop.

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(End of this chapter)