The north wind howls and the yellow sand sweeps across. Even though it is April and May, the weather in Monan has improved, but has become even worse.
"Bah, the weather in Monan is getting worse and worse."
Opening the curtain, Buzar walked into the yurt, feeling quite unhappy.
"Taiji, last year the Manchu rewards were reduced by half, and now everyone is dissatisfied!"
When I walked in, I saw a stove built with stones in the middle of the house. The charcoal fire inside was glowing with a bright yellow light. The iron pot hanging on the beam above was "cooing" and emitting white steam.
On the side, a big man with big shoulders and round waist said dissatisfiedly: "There are fewer and fewer iron pots, and there is no tea. How can we live like this?"
"Without tea, I can't even eat meat."
There were a lot of dissatisfaction, but Buzar seemed not to hear it. He directly picked up the pieces of meat in the pot, cut them with a knife, and ate happily.
The smell of meat overflowed, and several murmuring big men swallowed hard at the sight.
In the Monan Grassland, even nobles cannot eat meat every day. The daily diet of ordinary herdsmen is mainly goat milk and horse milk, mixed with a large amount of wool.
Buzhar's tribe was not large, with only more than 2,000 tents, but it was also a medium-sized tribe in the Chahar tribe, so he was named Beizi by the Manchus and was awarded the Eight Banners.
Because it is close to Datong, the tribe of Buzar prefers to exchange things with the Han people. Tea, silk, salt, and ironware are all their passions.
Tea, in particular, relieves greasiness and is an indispensable item for nobles and even ordinary herdsmen.
Seeing that the mutton was mature, Zarer sprinkled another layer of coarse salt, and then he cut the meat beautifully and tasted it carefully.
After a long time, he seemed to hear the swallowing sounds of his men, and then he said: "I understand what you mean."
"The Qing people can't provide us with what we want, so we can only get it from the Ming people and rob it."
"People from the Qing Dynasty are difficult to deal with, but people from the Ming Dynasty are also difficult to provoke!"
Zarbu was quite helpless.
Since being incorporated into the Eight Banners, he can only have a certain amount of troops. He only has seven or eight hundred soldiers and horses, but they are not fully equipped with weapons. It is difficult to build a beacon tower.
Especially last year, many soldiers and horses suffered heavy losses when they went south, which made the Monan tribe even more frightened. The Ming people seemed to be more difficult to deal with.
"But, Beizi, after the winter, the horses and sheep have lost a lot of weight, and there are not many tea bricks. If Mingshang doesn't come, I'm afraid it won't work this year."
After taking control of the pass, the Manchu Qing Dynasty strictly prohibited merchants from entering and leaving the grassland at will, and only the eight major families who were canonized as imperial merchants could do so.
After withdrawing from the customs last year, the Manchu ban became a joke, but without Shanxi merchants, Monan could not recover for a while.
At the beginning, Shanxi merchants violated the ban and shipped a large amount of firearms and food out of the customs. In theory, they could only be sold to the Mongols, but in fact it was the Manchus who benefited.
Because as early as the death of Lin Dan Khan, Monan Mongolia was controlled by the Manchus.
This is also the reason why Shanxi merchants can become imperial merchants only in Shanxi.
But now it is the new Ming Dynasty that controls Shanxi, and it has a deep understanding of Monan Mongolia, so the trade ban started last year.
As a result, the Mongolian tribes in Monan were disgusted. Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties could transport some supplies, it was a drop in the bucket and far less than the scale of the Shanxi merchants.
Zarbu gritted his teeth and said, "If this continues, we can always grab something if we go south."
And just when a group of nobles were reluctant to discuss important matters silently, a caravan came near their tribe.
This is a large-scale caravan, with a conservative estimate of more than a thousand people. There are also two to three hundred guards. They are equipped with leather armor, which can be said to be a strong force.
"Dad, can we make a deal this time?"
The young son was riding a horse, looking at the fierce patrolling guards, and then at the scholar holding a piece of paper, writing and drawing, and couldn't help but curled his lips and said in confusion.
In fact, not only nomadic people like to go south in autumn, but also Shanxi merchants like to do business in autumn.
First, when autumn is high, horses are fat, cattle and sheep are in a prosperous and fat state, and their value is better.
Secondly, of course, autumn and winter are coming, and the Mongolians will definitely want to hoard supplies. They are passive, so they will naturally take control and let them be at their mercy.
Spring and summer are the seasons for cattle and sheep to gain weight. After a winter, they are skinny, so naturally it is a good time.
“Business must be done at this time!”
The father looked at the grassland, and then glanced at the fierce guards and the scholars who were writing, drawing, and recording something.
That is a map, a map based on stories, legends, trade routes, etc., Monan Map.
"Remember, never provoke the imperial court again." The father said quickly, with a look of fear on his face.
But soon, greed appeared on his face.
On the grassland, Shanxi merchants could exchange a tea brick for a good sheepskin, and a piece of coarse cloth more than 20 feet long for a cow.
Shanxi businessmen buy iron pots from Taiyuan for 3 to 5 cents of silver each and sell them to Mongolians for 1 or 2 cents each. They buy wooden bowls from Taiyuan for 20 cents each and sell them to Mongolians for 6 or 7 cents of silver each.
The tribesmen along the way were overjoyed by the arrival of the Shanxi merchants, and the goods they had longed for soothed their heartache, but they did not expect that this would be the beginning of their future suffering.
At this time, Buzar received news that many Ming merchants from outside the tribe had arrived and brought a large amount of goods.
"Mingshang is here!" Buzar said excitedly.
In the blink of an eye, he left the yurt and came to the tribe.
Sure enough, the thousands of caravans brought a large amount of goods, and the indispensable salt, tea, etc. were also full, filled with the desire of the Mongolians.
Buzhar did not hesitate to exchange for hundreds of bricks of tea. Even if he could not drink it himself, he could not resell it to other tribes.
The nobles brought their cattle and horses in exchange for a large amount of daily necessities, such as cloth, porcelain and other luxury goods.
Due to scarcity, the prices of cattle, horses, sheep, etc. are naturally lowered. As long as they return to Taiyuan, Shanxi merchants will earn several times or even ten times the wealth.
However, a few Mingren in the team were looking around, constantly examining and inquiring, wanting to know more about the tribe's situation.
Buzhar became vigilant and said to the merchants: "Don't ask about the tribe's affairs. You are here to do business. Don't let our tribe drive people away."
The Shanxi merchants hurriedly explained, which relieved their tension.
Buzar was not idle either. He was exchanging things while inquiring about the situation: "Did you really drive the Qing people out of the customs?"
"Of course, the Holy Emperor is in court and Beijing has returned. Besides, there was a war last year. Many people from Monan were also involved!"
Buzar was speechless for a moment, feeling unhappy.
Mingren got up again, but he didn't know when he would completely overwhelm the Manchu people. When will this day come to an end?
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