When the Jin Dynasty was strong, the boundary trench defense line set up in northern Xinjiang reached as far as 1,500 miles north of Huining Mansion in Shangjing. It consisted of 422 passes, barriers and forts, and more than 2,700 It consists of side walls.
If we think of it as a giant holding a chain and covering the grassland; then, on the east side of the grassland, the boundary trench defense line starts from Taizhou, where the Northeast Road Zhaozhao Division is based, and extends westward to three branches across the high mountains. It is the right side of the giant. arm.
Directly south of the grassland, the continuous border wall forts extend thousands of miles northeast from Fengzhou and Jingzhou, which belong to the Southwest Road Zhaotou Division, passing through Jiujiuquan Grassland and reaching the volcano named "Zhaoto Lehan" deep in the grassland. This is the giant's left arm.
The area from Jinshan and Xuande to Angjilu is the head of the giant.
Around this huge border military defense system, the Jin Kingdom invested astronomical amounts of manpower and material resources, and fought wars with the Mongols for decades. Wanyan Zongpan and Wanyan Zongbi, important ministers in the early days of the Jin Kingdom, and famous ministers from the Zhang Zong Dynasty such as Jiagu Qingchen, Wanyan Xiang, and Wanyan Zonghao, all fell into a quagmire of fighting in northern Xinjiang.
Changes in the military and political strength of human governments are almost worthless in the face of the distribution of ethnic groups over thousands of years and the differences in natural environments formed over hundreds of millions of years. The more the Central Plains court invests in the grassland, the more it will constrain their own power to the point where they cannot move, and the more they will arouse the common hatred of countless tribes on the grassland. Therefore, when Genghis Khan launched his Western Expedition, he was not at all worried that his home base, the Mongolian Plateau, would change hands.
But he really didn't expect that after the establishment of the Great Zhou Kingdom, there was no intention to restore this defense system. Han'er's army controlled the area from Jinshan to Angjiluo, but they did not continue to penetrate deeper, nor did they restore and rebuild the old frontier fortresses on a large scale. Instead, they strictly started doing business with the thousands of Mongolian households who stayed behind in the grasslands.
For thousands of Mongolian households like Yeligasi, business is indispensable and is the foundation of his life.
After all, the Mongols themselves are not a unified entity. The original Mongolia actually refers specifically to tribes such as Qiyan, Zhadalan, Taichiwu, etc., which are the so-called Nylon Mongolia. With the rise of Genghis Khan, the Ulliangheti, Hongjila, and Yiqilesi tribes also successively called themselves Mongolia, forming the so-called Dieerleqin Mongolia.
These two parts are the core of the grassland people at present, which is what the Central Plains court calls the Black Tartars. But the number of Black Tartars does not account for the majority on the grassland. In addition to the Black Tartars, there are also the White Tartars such as the Zhala Yier Tribe, the Merqi Tribe, and the Tataer Tribe; besides the White Tartars, there are forest people who make a living by fishing and hunting; in addition, there are the Naiman Tribe, Ke Tribes such as the Liebe and Wanggu tribes have more Turkic customs and have more frequent communication with people outside the grasslands.
These tribes themselves are not a tight whole, but there are countless small tribes underneath them, which can be subdivided into three or five tents.
After Genghis Khan established the Great Mongolian Kingdom, he forcibly broke up countless tribes and kneaded them back into a single piece. Relying on the huge wealth obtained from plunder, he shaped thousands of Nayan people who obeyed the Khan's orders into the new ruling class on the grassland. .
But as Genghis Khan launched the Western Expedition, the thousands of families who stayed on the grasslands all faced counterattacks from the old tribal leaders. Thousand households used to rely on Genghis Khan, but now they have to rely on their own strength to stabilize their status, which requires both hard and soft tactics.
The hard methods are nothing more than various murders and raids. This is a story that has been happening on the grassland for thousands of years, and everyone is tired of watching it. Soft means, such as rewards and bribes, require real supplies. In order to obtain the supplies, they have to exchange with southern Han'er.
Yeli Yasi is such a thousand households. His own military strength has been completely destroyed in Zhongdu City, and he relies on gathering a group of scattered herdsmen who are surviving after being massacred by Genghis Khan in the past few years to maintain his status of thousands of households.
If he wants to reward his men, he has to constantly bring out tea, cloth, medicinal materials and even various luxury accessories. Where do these things come from?
If he wants to continue to maintain military deterrence, he must have swords, bows, arrows, and armor. These are all consumables. Where can they be supplied?
In the early years, the Mongols went south and plundered tens of thousands of craftsmen from the Central Plains court. These craftsmen were able to produce some makeshift gadgets. However, during the Great Khan's Western Expedition, he took away most of the craftsmen, leaving only a handful of craftsmen. Batch, all in the possession of Belgutai, the brother of the Great Khan, and Alahaibeji, the princess of the prison state.
How can I get an ordinary Qianhu Nafenrun in my hands?
It is known that Yeligasi is a poor man who is in urgent need of money everywhere. It is also known that Yeligasi controls a huge salt field. Officials from the Central Plains court stationed in northern Xinjiang came forward to propose to him that he restore the salt field and sell salt... …
There is no need to think about the outcome at all.
No matter how much Yeli Yasi upheld the pride of the Mongolians with their sharp swords and horses, he had to transform into a profit-making businessman. And because he was quick with his horses and sharp swords, he would often drive all the disobedient Mongolian tribesmen to the salt field and perform hard labor day and night. Therefore, the output of his salt field was really quite large, and the quality of the salt bricks he produced was widely praised.
Since the restart of the salt farm, Yeligasi has successively started business in tea and felt fabrics. He can even get some weapons that are strictly prohibited from being sold to the grassland from special channels. As compensation, Yeli Yasi also occasionally conveyed some news, such as which thousand households belonged to the Mongolians who plundered the Han people not long ago and where the camp was.
Soon after this kind of news is passed on, the corresponding Mongols will be dispatched by the Ding Navy to dispatch light cavalry and drive them to death. Afterwards, in order to show their gratitude, the navy promised to give Yeligasi slightly more goods.
The more business you do, the more benefits you get. Things become more and more complicated, and there are more and more transactions that cannot be seen in the light. Mongolian people are generally rough-tempered, and many specific arrangements are full of loopholes.
According to common sense, Yeli Yasi should promote a Han slave to be in charge of this business.
No matter how much the Mongols despise the Han people, they generally know that the people in the Central Plains are smarter than the people on the grasslands, and the tribes cannot live without the Han people if they want to be comfortable.
But these businesses are not suitable for publicity, especially the extremely confidential exchange of interests between the two parties. No matter what the considerations are, they must not be left to ordinary Han slaves.
So Yeli Yasi followed the customs on the grassland and found himself a wife who was good at dealing with business affairs. It was Li Zuoming who came from Dading Mansion in Beijing, and asked this woman to manage the business affairs on his behalf. .
Of course, he didn't expect that the business would continue to grow in the next two years, so much so that Mrs. Li became a little arrogant and dared to force Yeli Yasi to deceive the Khan's agent who stayed in the grassland.
This is so ignorant.
Yeli Yasi promised not to tell the messenger from Belgutai, but he was very confused in his heart.
He had always felt that he was absolutely loyal to the Great Khan.
One day, the Great Khan returned from thousands of miles away and announced that he would launch another war against the Central Plains. Yeli Yasi responded immediately and without hesitation slashed the scimitar to the heads and necks of his business partners and drank the blood of those Han'ers. .
Now, although the Great Khan has not returned yet, Nayan of Belgutai and Princess Jianguo represent the Great Khan, right? They should know everything, how could I hide it? Even if they want to take this piece of fat away from my hands, how can I stop them?
Yeli Yasi was born in the Red Army of Mu Huali's Wu Tou Xia Tan Ma. Before that, he was a soldier of the Hongji La tribe and had met Bor Tie Ke Dun. Therefore, he is very familiar with the situation on the grassland in the past few years, and will never overestimate the integrity of those noble people.
You definitely can’t hide it! Some things, if the noble people at the top really ask about them in person, it will be a big deal and it will be hard to deal with!
As soon as he made up his mind, a Nak'er hurried over and reported: "The envoy from Nayan in Belgutai is asking when he can see Qianhu... The envoy is accompanied by more than a hundred cavalry who are shouting, we are afraid that... Can't stop it!"
There are not many cavalry, more than a hundred, but if they are placed near Yeli Yasi's tent and suddenly cause trouble, it will be difficult to deal with it. Yeliya thought repeatedly: "What's the hurry? Tell him that I'm back and I'll see you soon!"
Saying this, Yali Yasi was a little nervous and his face turned pale. He turned around in the account a few times, and then said: "I won't tell you this, and I can't hide it. After all, I am a minister of the Great Khan, and everything in my hand was given by the Great Khan... I might as well say it. !」
"you dare!"
Mrs. Li immediately thought of her rouge, gouache, and hairpin. Thinking about not being able to use the high-end goods shipped from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, I would have to make do with what the Zhongdu merchants produced; thinking about marrying into such a barbaric place and having to endure using horse dung to light fires every day.
All the benefits gained from the dirty environment were gone, and she was so heartbroken that the sky was falling.
She said in a sharp voice: "That's mine! No one can steal it..."
The next moment, a slap hit Mrs. Li on the face, sending her spinning around several times. The teeth in her mouth flew high, and her person fell in the corner of the tent.
Yeli Yasi left the tent and hurried towards the area where the messenger rested.
This slap made Mrs. Li completely stunned.
She is a poor woman, otherwise she would not have fallen into prostitution. In the past few years, her life from going to Beijing to the grassland has been so ups and downs that it is unbearable. What's more, I had to pay so much tenderness and love to this black ***, but he got such a harsh slap in the face?
Pain, panic, anger, and grievance were constantly surging in her heart, making her almost unsure of what to do next. She fell to the ground motionless, her eyes blank. Because his face was swollen, saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, and he didn't bother to wipe it.
I don’t know how long it took, but the light and shadow in the tent shook, and it was Yeli Yasi who came back.
Mrs. Li still hasn't come to her senses, but her qualities are still there and she has started crying subconsciously.
Yeli Yasi walked to Mrs. Li and squatted down, sighing.
"Beelgutai Nayan has known about the salt pond for a long time. They all know it, but they didn't ask before. The Great Khan is indeed paying attention to the things on the grassland again. The nobles will cheer up and reorganize the manpower of various ministries. In preparation for the Great Khan's call. Therefore, everything in Yanchi will still be under my control in the future, but a large part of the income must be converted into weapons and armor!"
"I'm dreaming..."
Mrs. Li cried and said: "Weapons and armor are all from the official camp of the Zhou Dynasty. You took some privately and just returned them. How can you buy and sell in large quantities? Isn't this crazy? Those who met you in Yanchi are all Zhou Dynasty officials." Officials! Do you think they are ordinary businessmen?"
"I know they are officials from the Great Zhou Dynasty! But I can't tell the envoy from Belgutai!"
Yeli Yasi continued to sigh: "Once I say it, won't it prove that I have been in contact with officials of the Zhou Kingdom? I'm sure it will involve other things. For example, in order to get weapons and armor, I sold several people to go south. The small part of the plunder...if that thing is leaked, it will really be fatal!"
Seeing Mrs. Li's face full of fear, Yeli Ya wanted to drag her up and continued: "Anyway, you should be stricter these days and don't talk nonsense outside. There is a large group of cavalry under Nayan of Belgutai. I went to the salt pond to check. I guess they will always make a fuss and grab something... Don't worry about the loss in business, and think of a solution slowly. I don't know how long this business can last..."
At this point, he saw that Mrs. Li's face was extremely ugly, as if she had seen a ghost in the daytime, and he couldn't help feeling a little pity: "Does your face hurt? I was in a hurry just now, so don't blame me."
Mrs. Li cried loudly: "Have you forgotten? The officials from Dazhou in the south are in Yanchi right now. You have to see him tomorrow!"
