"Horses have no role among the Mongolian people? How is this possible?" Zhu Biao exclaimed.
Yes, how is this possible... Lao Zhu lowered his head and said quietly. What the Mongolian people are most proud of is the grand occasion of "Shuofang's cavalry is as numerous as ants" and "There is no city in the northwest, and millions of strings are controlled and run rampant". These are all inseparable from war horses.
Han Du now actually said that horses were not as important as cattle and sheep in the lives of the Mongolian people. Are you sure he is not talking nonsense?
Seeing that Han Du didn't look confused, Lao Zhu lowered his face and said, "Continue, why do you think horses are not important to the Mongolian people?"
"The Mongolian people rode horses mainly for the convenience of grazing. Even in their minds, horses cannot even catch up with cattle. At least cattle can not only produce milk, but they can also carry heavy loads when being relocated."
"Can't horses also produce milk?" Zhu Biao was a little confused when he heard this.
Han Du smiled and said: "Horses can also produce milk, which is good, but they produce too little milk, which is nothing compared to cattle and sheep."
Later, Han Du continued: "The Mongolian people mainly live on the milk of cows and goats, and they almost have enough for horses. As long as we don't buy their horses, they will hardly choose to take the initiative to feed the horses.
Because they did not feed one more horse, it meant that they had to reduce the number of cattle and sheep, which was very uneconomical for the Mongolian people. "
"If we don't buy horses, they won't feed them..." Zhu Biao smacked Han Du's words twice and suddenly said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean that if we bought their horses in large quantities in the past, they would not feed them..." A lot of feeding?”
"It's exactly what the prince said!" Han Du smiled and nodded.
Lao Zhu's face turned completely dark. He used to think that the Ming Dynasty secretly purchased horses from the Meng Yuan Dynasty, which could weaken the number of the Mongolian Yuan cavalry and train the Ming Dynasty's cavalry.
But now it seems that when he was laughing at the Meng Yuan people for being stupid, I am afraid that the Meng Yuan people were also laughing at him for being stupid. The more Daming bought, the more Meng Yuan raised.
You must know that the price of horses is not low. One horse costs dozens of coins, and war horses are even more expensive.
I am afraid that the horses bought by Ming Dynasty are not as many as those raised by Meng Yuan. This is equivalent to Meng Yuan taking Ming Dynasty's money to increase the number of their own war horses.
No wonder the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry fought more and more, just like the spring breeze blowing again.
Han Du continued: "When we are trading with Meng Yuan, it is best to mention the prices of their cattle and sheep."
Lao Zhu raised his eyes and looked at Han Du. If he hadn't known that Han Du was his son-in-law, he would have doubted whether Han Du was a lobbyist sent by Meng Yuan. Of course, Ming Dynasty must make a lot of money by opening a mutual market to do transactions. How can it take the initiative to raise prices for the Mongolian Yuan? Isn't this just turning the elbow outward?
Zhu Biao was also very puzzled, "The goods of Ming Dynasty are in short supply for Meng Yuan. It is enough to open a mutual market. There is no need to raise prices."
Han Du shook his head and objected: "No, if His Royal Highness wants to solve the grassland tribe once and for all, he must raise the price for them."
Lao Zhu frowned and cursed dissatisfiedly: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Han Du was not worried about being scolded by Lao Zhu at all, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please listen to me first."
Lao Zhu restrained his anger and said something between his teeth: "Tell me, I want to hear your fallacy today."
"Everything in the world is for profit, and everything in the world is for profit." After Han Du said something, he continued: "Everyone is seeking profit, and the Mongolian people are no exception. As long as we raise the prices of cattle and sheep , the reward of raising a cow is equivalent to, or even exceeds that of a horse. Then who else will raise horses? Aren’t they all raising cattle and sheep?”
Raising cattle and sheep is much easier than raising horses. Since the values are the same, it is better to raise cattle and sheep than to raise horses.
"As long as the Mongolian people can exchange cattle and sheep for enough food, in less than twenty years, no one will raise horses on the grassland. The grassland tribes on horseback can control millions of people and intimidate them." The world. But what threat does a grassland tribe that only raises cattle and sheep pose?"
A grassland tribe that only raises cattle and sheep...that's nothing, not even fart. Lao Zhu's face turned red with excitement, and he felt that his chest was blocked by depression, and he was speechless.
He raised his finger and pointed at Han Du, and after clicking again and again, he said: "Your plan is really vicious!"
"Huh..." Han Du looked at Lao Zhu with an innocent face, fearing that Lao Zhu would misunderstand him, so he quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is not my idea, I am just relying on the advice of my predecessors. Therefore, wisdom is just picking up wisdom from other people’s teeth.”
Han Du finally managed to leave an honest and responsible impression in front of Lao Zhu. No matter what, Lao Zhu must not be made to think that he is cunning and cunning.
However, now that Lao Zhu has seen Han Du's vicious tricks, how can he still believe his words as easily as before?
I saw Lao Zhu looking at Han Du meaningfully, with a sneer at the corner of his mouth: "The old wisdom of the predecessors? How come I didn't know that the predecessors had such a strategy? If the predecessors had used it, I'm afraid I wouldn't be worried about the grassland tribes now. .”
Han Du cried out in his heart that he was wronged, and eager to prove to Lao Zhu that he was still the innocent young boy, he quickly said: "Who said it wasn't? Guan Zhong has used it, and I also learned it from Guan Zhong."
"Guan Zhong?" Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao looked at Han Du in confusion.
Of course they knew that Guan Zhong was a respected name and prime minister, but they really didn't know that Guan Zhong had ever used such a trick.
In order to wash away the image of himself being too ruthless with his tactics, Han Du had to patiently explain: "At that time, Chu was strong and both were weak. It was not easy for Guan Zhong to destroy Chu, at least from the front. But Guan Zhong merged with Chu from the state of Chu. The underdeveloped economy started to weaken its power. The Chu State was mostly mountainous, and many civilians were hunters. It was rich in wild deer, so Guan Zhong sent people to purchase large quantities of Chu State's deer at high prices, thus triggering a wave of deer hunting in the Chu State. The wind. As a result, the people of Chu State went to the mountains and fields to hunt one after another and gave up cultivating the fields, resulting in a significant reduction in food production.
At this time, Guan Zhong purchased a large amount of grain from surrounding countries, cutting off Chu's retreat. A year later, the Chu State was indeed in trouble with food and clothing. A large number of hungry people emerged, causing considerable domestic turmoil.
Seeing that the time had come, Guan Zhong asked Duke Huan of Qi to send troops to attack, and the result was a great victory. From then on, the state of Chu was in ruins and could no longer pose a threat to the state of Qi. "
This incident has been recorded in history books, and both Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao have read it. But when they first saw it, they were amazed by Guan Zhong's plan.
Then, there is no more. Put it aside and it is difficult to think of it.
After all, the concept of "trade dispute" was too advanced, and it was difficult for both Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao to understand. They only thought that Guan Zhong's plan was a coincidence.
Now he heard Han Du mention it, and combined with the strategy Han Du just proposed... Lao Zhu suddenly realized it, stood up, and pointed at Han Du with a shocked look on his face: "You, you... "
Han Du nodded helplessly and said: "I was inspired by Guan Zhong's strategy and did the opposite. Guan Zhong wasted the fertile fields of Chu State, collected the grain at a high price, and then depleted it. And I It is to waste the most important combat power of Meng Yuan to support the war horses, and then encourage them to raise cattle and sheep, and to appease them with food. In fact, it is the same, they are all taking advantage of people's desire for profit and wasting their important combat power."
Lao Zhu stared at Han Du for a while, then couldn't help but raise his hands to applaud and praised: "Good, good strategy, good strategy. If you can integrate the wisdom of the ancients and do the opposite, you can also achieve your goal. Han Du, just based on this, you are enough to help the country!"
When Zhu Biao heard this, he looked at his father in shock and saw that his father was full of joy and did not look like he was joking at all. The weight of these two words, "auxiliary to the country," can be said to be as heavy as a thousand pieces. Both his father and the emperor believed that Han Du was enough to assist the country, that is to say, if the Zhongshu Province was still there, Han Du could be the prime minister.
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao's heart was filled with ups and downs. After all, his father is already old. Even if Han Du has talents to assist the country, his father will not be able to use them and can only keep them to himself.
In fact, Zhu Biao had already seen his father's purpose. In these years, Han Du's achievements are no less than before he was granted the title of Marquis, and even more than before he was granted the title of Marquis.
It stands to reason that with Han Du's merits, he would have been granted the title of Duke.
But the father insisted on suppressing Han Du and refused to grant him the title of Duke again and again. He just wanted to keep Han Du to himself and let him make Han Du a duke himself.
"The emperor has given you too much praise, and I will never accept it." Han Du was flattered and bowed down. Han Du doesn't care about whether he helps the country or not.
What Han Du cares about is not to let Lao Zhu misunderstand him.
Han Du knew that Lao Zhu also had the idea in his heart that the greater his ability, the greater the harm he would do if he could not use it to his advantage. If Lao Zhu thinks that he is a scheming person, then he doesn't think that his usual law-abiding behavior is just an act?
Lao Zhu was so excited that he couldn't control himself. He walked down quickly, pulled Han Du and said, "Come, make a good plan for me, how to open this mutual market, and what to trade..."
Han Du nodded and started discussing it with Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao without delaying.
...
"...What? You want to sell a lot of iron pots to the grassland?" Lao Zhu stared at Han Du with wide eyes, a little unhappy.
In the trade with the grasslands, iron tools are undoubtedly the most sensitive items. The Central Plains Dynasty has always strictly prohibited the flow of iron tools into the grasslands. Although such a ban would not prevent some people from secretly trading with the grassland, it was at least explicitly prohibited.
Han Du smiled and said: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty and the grassland have been fighting for so many years, and we have a bloody feud with each other. Now we don't want to fight, and if we want to open trade with them, we must first show some sincerity. Iron Pot It is the most lacking thing in the grassland. Only by providing this can the grassland tribes believe that we are really going to open a mutual market."
Lao Zhu hesitated and said reluctantly: "The salt is also something that the grassland tribes lack. I agree to sell salt to them. Isn't that enough to show my sincerity? The iron pot... If they take the iron pot and cast it What to do with weapons?”
The grassland is short of iron, and it also lacks iron-making craftsmanship and craftsmen.
This directly led to the fact that although the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry were extremely ferocious, most of the arrows they used were not made of iron, but mostly wolf fangs and the like. Only the former Beiyuan Jingqi used steel swords and iron arrows.
Han Du smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if mutual trade can be opened, there will be no war at the border for at least ten years. And with the speed at which the Ming Ordnance Bureau manufactures firearms, ten years will be enough for the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops to replace them with firearms. With revolvers With the ferocity of the divine thunderbolts, even if the Meng Yuan people forged iron pots into weapons, what would happen?"
Lao Zhu thought about it carefully, and it was the same. When everyone in the Ming Dynasty was equipped with divine thunder blunderbuss, why should they be afraid of bows and arrows? Kill as many as you come.
"Okay, I agree, what else? You continue..."
"...I think there are two more things that must be traded to the grassland tribes." Han Du said seriously.
With the experience of the iron pot, Lao Zhu would not be shocked at all if any shocking words come out of Han Du's mouth. He nodded and said, "Just tell me what it is."
"Liquor and sugar." Han Du said seriously.
These two things were completely beyond Lao Zhu's expectation, and he asked doubtfully: "What are these two things for?"
Han Du chuckled and said: "Strong alcohol can corrode people's minds. The grassland is bitter and cold. In such an environment, people's dependence on strong alcohol will become more serious. As long as the senior leaders of the grassland tribe are immersed in the strong alcohol that brings them every day, In the warmth of the world, can they still think of invading the Ming Dynasty?"
"As for sugar, your Majesty, don't think it's inconspicuous. But its corrosive effect on people's minds is even greater than that of spirits."
"As long as we let the people of the grassland tribes raise more cattle and sheep and no longer raise horses. Let the senior leaders of the grassland tribes immerse themselves in enjoyment, then the grassland will no longer pose any threat to the Ming Dynasty."
"When the time comes, we can also send teachers to set up county schools so that the descendants of the grassland tribes can learn Chinese characters and speak Chinese. When they grow up, even if someone says that they are not from the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid they will not agree."
"Even then, we can treat the grassland people as the common people of the Ming Dynasty, promote officials from among them, recruit soldiers, and let them fight for the Ming Dynasty and expand the territory!"
The more Lao Zhu listened, the more he smiled and couldn't help but applaud. From the opening of mutual markets and purposeful transactions to weaken the power of the grassland tribes, until through step-by-step cannibalization and assimilation, the entire grassland was included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Even the people on the grassland speak Chinese and write Chinese characters, and have become Ming people. So what threat does the grassland still pose to the Ming Dynasty?
Not only did it completely eradicate the threat to Ming Dynasty from the grassland, but it also gave Ming Dynasty a powerful force in one fell swoop. Based on the once fierce Mongolian Yuan people and the superb military equipment of the Ming Dynasty, such an army is enough to sweep across all directions.
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