The commercial department thought over and over again. Apart from the Hongyi cannon, which they most desired, armor was probably the only one that could really impress Huang Taiji into selling his kidneys. 【Read full text】
Ming Dynasty notes state that Houjin's blacksmith shops outside Shenyang City stretched for several miles, and they were all used to manufacture armor weapons for the army. The armors had to be tested by arrows, and the craftsmen who made them would be killed if they penetrated. Although the elders are skeptical about whether this matter has universal significance, it is true that Hou Jin has strict requirements on the quality of weapon manufacturing.
Obviously, the industrial system under the control of the Senate, although primitive by modern or even modern standards, had unparalleled quality and cost advantages in the 17th century. It would not be a problem to create armor that was more protective, lighter, and less expensive than the Manchu armor.
Roughly speaking, the armor that the Senate is preparing to export is a plate armor made by stamping technology and has movable joints. This kind of armor could be manufactured in ancient society, but it was limited by material properties and processing methods. It required skilled craftsmen to spend a lot of man-hours to make it, so the cost was high and the range of equipment was limited.
The Senate's industrial system had advantages in both materials and production. Continuous stamping technology can batch and standardize the manufacturing of each part of the nail plate, and then combined with simple manual assembly, the finished product can be manufactured in large quantities. Moreover, the improvement in the quality of steel means that the armor pieces themselves do not need to be too heavy, making the armor lighter. The protective performance is better than all the various armors currently equipped by the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The arms trade has been a profitable and shady business since ancient times. The Senate had always wanted to be an arms dealer in the 17th century, and had considered exporting the artillery factory to Li Luoyou. Later, it was strangled under the questioning of some people in the Senate for "improper export of productivity and technology", so the export of weapons was limited to finished products, and they must be finished products with generation differences.
Standard spears, machetes, and half-plate armored Nanyang-style flash cap muskets are all products under this guiding ideology. As for the smoothbore cannon. There is a lot of controversy at present, and it has not yet been included in the exportable list.
Originally, the Senate tried to take advantage of Li Luoyou's white glove, but long-term observation led the Foreign Intelligence Service to come to the conclusion: Although this person did smuggling business with the Manchus and made a lot of illicit money, there was no such thing as selling arms. He was determined not to do it.
Everyone has their own feelings and bottom line. Li Luoyou is probably that kind of person. Although he was essentially smuggling goods for the Qing Dynasty to support the enemy, he had to have something to comfort himself with, otherwise it would be difficult to live up to his "conscience."
Luo Youli was uncooperative. As a result, the Senate had no choice but to send Huang Hua to fight in person.
Huang Hua's mission was very dangerous, so dangerous that many elders questioned whether he could come back and whether it was necessary to send a elder to take such a big risk in the trade with Houjin. But Huang Hua himself stated repeatedly at the hearing. This was his personal wish, and he was willing to take the risk, even if it cost him his life.
"Moreover, even if the two countries are at war, they will not kill the envoys. I am a businessman who brings them urgently needed goods. Why do they want to kill me?" Huang Hua was full of confidence.
Even so, the Foreign Intelligence Service was still very uneasy about his first mission. The Foreign Intelligence Service once considered that he would simply lead a business group to Shenyang on his own as a "businessman." However, considering that most of the Manchu officials in the Later Jin Dynasty came from vulgar backgrounds and were proud of their brutality and tyranny, and because they had lived too hard in the past, they were all very greedy. Historically, when the crown prince of Joseon was a hostage in Shenyang, he was constantly blackmailed by Manchu officials and his subordinates, which made Li Chao miserable. Every time the Manchu and Qing envoys and business groups came to Korea to trade, their behavior was no different from that of bandits. So much so that the Li Dynasty had to exempt the five Anzhou cities passing along the road from taxes as compensation to the local officials and people - if it weren't for Huang Taiji, a far-sighted ruler who was somewhat restrained, it would really be a bottomless thing. Can do it all.
Even if Huang Taiji and other high-level Manchu officials were aware of Huang Hua's importance. There is always the possibility that vulgar middle- and lower-class officials and nobles, greedy for wealth, will kill and rob business groups rashly. Therefore, the final decision was to adopt a "public-to-public" model for trade instead of sending a business group directly there.
Since the New Year, Huang Taiji has been staying in Shengjing to handle government affairs. Didn't go on a siege - for the Manchu Qing regime, hunting was not only a pastime for the upper class, or a more honorable "training sergeant", but also an important national economic income. The large amounts of meat and fur obtained during hunting were indispensable to Houjin.
He was born in 1592, and was in middle age at this time. Although he had begun to gain weight, he was strong and energetic, with a rosy face and bright eyes. His career is entering a prosperous stage.
When Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, the Hou Jin regime had actually fallen into recession. The economy mainly relied on plunder, large-scale reversal of history and the establishment of slave manors. Coupled with the severe cold of the Little Ice Age, agricultural production plummeted. There was serious strife among the upper classes, and the middle and lower classes were unable to obtain a satisfactory distribution of spoils. Even the armored men who died in the battle only received a few pieces of blood-stained clothing as compensation. They were dissatisfied and their combat effectiveness began to decline. Not to mention the internal conflicts between Manchus and Hans. Under the rule of Lao Boarpi, the situation has become unprecedentedly intensified. Even the die-hard traitors Li Yongfang and Fan Wencheng who surrendered early were almost executed, and everyone in the Han officials was in danger.
If it weren't for the almost buggy Huang Taiji who succeeded to the throne, the Manchu Qing's future in the history books would probably be just a short-lived local regime.
After several years of hard work, he had saved the Hou Jin regime from the brink of collapse. Although the poverty of the country and the people had not been fundamentally improved, it was much better than relying on killing people to maintain food supply. .
A few years ago, he sent troops into the customs for the first time and received rich rewards. Not only did he obtain loot and countless people, he alleviated the lack of state supplies and the complaints of the Eight Banners soldiers, he also found out the details of the Southern Dynasties. The Ming Dynasty is nothing more than that! The idea of "restoring the great gold and drinking from the Yellow River" entered his thoughts for the first time.
In the political strife among the upper echelons of Houjin, he successfully eliminated the power of heavyweight opponents such as Amin and Mang Gurtai. Finally, in the first month of last year, he changed the old system of sitting alongside the three major Baylors to one in the south, with the other three majors sitting alone. Baylor sits sideways. He truly became the Nine-Five Master.
At this moment, Huang Taiji was at the stage where he was beginning to buy into glory, so he showed confidence and smugness in both actions and conversations.
However, there are still many problems he has to face now. Externally, although he has seen through the nature of the Southern Dynasties, which is strong on the outside and cadre on the inside, it will take time for the centipede to die but not to drink from the Yellow River. To the east, although the Dongjiang Army was weak after fighting among themselves, it was still on the sidelines; North Korea was secretly colluding with the Southern Dynasties; to the west, the Chahar Mongols had not yet completely surrendered.
Internally, the lack of state supplies has always been a lingering shadow for him. Although the village land system is no longer practiced and the grain production situation has improved to some extent, it is still difficult to get more grain in the bitter cold land. The price of food has always been very expensive. He is so expensive that he can eat Tukesuo (Liaoyang Qing, a high-quality upland rice grown in Huangzhuang) for every meal outside Shengjing City. Only when the time comes can you enjoy it. As for the ordinary people who are waiting, they don’t just eat miscellaneous grains, but also use tares for food. For this reason, they have to spend a lot of money to buy grain from Shanxi merchants, and the price is more than ten times that in the pass. From The gold and silver treasures gained from robbery in the pass were lost to Shanxi merchants at a very fast speed.
Apart from food, there is almost no shortage of daily necessities in the country, and everything is expensive. Even the most basic folk food such as salt sauce is difficult to ensure supply: Jurchens cannot make salt, and after the supply within the customs is cut off, they rely entirely on North Korean merchants to transport and sell it. Not only is the price extremely expensive, but it is often out of stock. So much so that if you can eat salty sauce, you are considered a superior person.
The state cannot solve the problem, people's livelihood is in dire straits, and one's own grand plans and great achievements are just phantoms in the water. Huang Taiji has been troubled by this recently.
It would be a good idea to enter the pass again to plunder, but the current situation is still unstable. In addition to external troubles, although Mang Gurtai has removed the title of "Big Baylor" and demoted him to the other Baylors, his family's power is very strong. , there is always the danger of a comeback...
While he was deep in thought, a memorial from Hu Bu came. When he opened it, he reported all the situations during his trip to Yizhou and North Korea. Mutual trade with North Korea was one of the most important economic sources for the Houjin regime. Not only did Houjin rely on North Korea for supply of many commodities, but it also needed to obtain Mongolian horses by re-exporting North Korean goods and trading with Mongolia. Therefore, Huang Taiji was very concerned about every trade with North Korea and inquired personally.
However, North Korea was very cold towards mutual trade with Hou Jin. On the one hand, the Li Dynasty always regarded the Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo, insisted on the distinction between Hua and Yi, and was unwilling to form an alliance with Hou Jin; on the other hand, Hou Jin often regarded himself as the winner in the mutual trade, and everywhere The strong bullies the weak, the strong buys and sells. Sell at a high price and buy at a low price, or even "on credit". During the first trade with North Korea in 1629, North Korean merchants transported three thousand koku of grain to sell. As a result, two thousand koku were "gifted" and only one thousand koku was sold, so North Korean merchants were not willing to trade with them.
Of course Huang Taiji knew all the "actions" of his officials, but he turned a blind eye to it - the small court of Hou Jin was really embarrassed and could only rely on his fists to squeeze the soft persimmon of North Korea.
A few days ago, the caravan he sent to North Korea just returned from Yiju. I brought 1,600 kilograms of ginseng. The asking price was 16 taels per kilogram, but North Korea only gave me 9 taels. The price difference was 11,200 taels. This price was too different from what he expected. He also hoped that the money could be used to buy more goods.
What makes him even more unhappy is that the goods purchased from North Korea are often shoddy and are often inferior to good ones. A piece of cotton cloth is sold in two or three short pieces, and six or seven pieces of paper are removed from a roll. It is difficult to find without careful inspection. (To be continued...)
