On the tenth day of the seventh month in the first year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Zhangjiakou, Xuanfu Town.
This commercial center that connects the northern part of the Great Wall to the Central Plains is now in a state of depression. There are two reasons why this important trading town fell into depression. First, the "eight profiteers" headed by Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku were raided and killed. Except for Wang Dengku, the other seven people who were killed were all operating with Zhangjiakou as the center. In addition to their family, there were also a lot of people involved!
Second, the Ming Dynasty significantly relaxed trade controls along the Great Wall, which dealt a fatal blow to the Zhangjiakou commercial market!
Because the reason why Zhangjiakou's commercial market was able to develop was not because of the need for trade inside and outside the mouth, but because the Ming Dynasty wanted to control trade inside and outside the mouth to prevent iron, gunpowder, sinew and other materials that could be used to make weapons from being exported to the grasslands.
Concentrating all the commercial trade originally distributed along the Great Wall into a few ports will be more conducive to control!
Excessive control and low enforcement have opened up opportunities for smugglers to make a fortune. Several commercial markets that were originally set up to facilitate control have now become centers for smuggling.
Therefore, the territory outside the mouth became the Ming Emperor's Ten Thousand Households Orduo and the alliance between the Ming Dynasty and the Beiyuan Dynasty. The blow to the border commercial city of Zhangjiakou was even greater than the "eight profiteers" who were raided and killed!
Because the Ming court had no reason to control Zhu Youjian's thousands of households in Orduo!
Moreover, these two Ordos of ten thousand households do not need to purchase weapons and equipment - they are the private armed forces of the Ming Emperor, the Mongolian version of the front army. Of course, Zhu Youjian is responsible for purchasing their weapons and equipment.
As for the Han tribe who settled in Tumote River, they traded with the Ming Dynasty in the commercial market outside Daigentala Palace (belonging to Princess Wu Liangha) and did not need to come to Zhangjiakou at all.
Under such circumstances, Zhangjiakou's status as a commercial center inside and outside the mouth has of course plummeted!
But today, this border commercial port, which had been depressed for some days, suddenly became lively. On the official road leading to the entrance, a large group of carriages, horses, camels, and carts pulled by mules arrived at some point, with goods bundled to the brim. There are also thousands of camels lying on the ground behind the convoy. These camels are in teams of ten or eight, and they are all tied together with ropes. There are two special large wooden boxes tied to the backs of the camels. You can tell at a glance that they are very sturdy. I wonder what good things are inside?
Surrounding these mules, horses, carts and camels, there were many soldiers wearing foam nailed cotton armor, carrying long spears, carrying lancet waist knives, carrying long bows and bags full of arrows. Most of them were leading at least one rather fat Mongolian horse. The businessmen who were working around Zhangjiakou took a look at it from a distance and took a breath - these soldiers are Mongolian Yiding!
I don’t know which Bian Shuai’s servants they are? Looking at the strength and number of these Yiding, this frontier commander is still very capable.
But what do they want to do when they leave seclusion at this time?
I heard that Hutu Dun Khan of the Han Dynasty who occupied the Tumote River last year was defeated when he sent troops to the east of the pine forest thousands of miles away, and was killed by the Jianzhou slave thieves... These Mongolian Yiding people are now showing up. I don't know if I want to help the Han tribe, or if I want to take advantage of the situation and seize the Tumote River?
I wonder if Zhangjiakou will prosper again after this battle?
At this time, in the ravines outside Zhangjiakou Pass, large groups of cavalry were assembled. They were all fine cavalry with one person and two horses. They were standing next to each other on the official road, waiting for the order to set off. The number of these cavalrymen is quite large. From the small north gate of Zhangjiakou Guancheng all the way to the north for a full seventeen or eighty miles, the number of troops and horses exceeds 10,000.
Outside Zhangjiakou Pass, on a hilltop called Erlang Mountain, the master of this army, the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian, was holding his Mongolian wife Wu Liangha in front of him to give instructions.
"Princess, I will leave these 10,000 troops to you... I was supposed to personally lead the troops to the Tumote River, but the chaos in Shaanxi was getting worse and worse, so I had to personally conquer the chaos. Shaanxi's Of course, those bandits cannot be compared with the Donglu. If I lead my elite troops there, I can of course defeat them with one blow. But the root of the chaos in Shaanxi cannot be eliminated. Once I leave, the chaos will definitely start again. Do you know where the root of the chaos in Shaanxi is? ?”
"I don't know." Wu Liangha shook her head. She didn't know anything about Shaanxi, and she wasn't interested in knowing about it. Her mind had already flown to the Tumut River. Taking down Tumotechuan for Zhu Youjian and herself is what she really cares about now.
Zhu Youjian frowned slightly: "The root of the chaos in Shaanxi is in the Tumut River and the Dongtao Grassland!"
"What?" Princess Wuliangha was stunned, "Long live my lord, do you think that the slave's brother is supporting the Shaanxi civil uprising?"
"Of course not," Zhu Youjian waved his hand, "The apparent reason for the Shaanxi Incident is that the burden on the military and civilians is too heavy... With a mere poor province carrying Yulin, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, and Lintao, etc. Bian Town! There are 13 towns in the Ming Dynasty, and Shaanxi Province only supports five of them! One million and hundreds of thousands of shi of food for the people's movement a year are indispensable. In the past, it was okay when the weather was good, but now Shaanxi has been suffering from drought for many years. The local area was so drought that there was no harvest. Where could we deliver so much grain? When Shaanxi Province was hit by the disaster, the military villages in the five towns of Yulin, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, and Lintao were also affected by the disaster, and the military villages could not harvest food. The people's movement of food and the army's food storage are the fate of the five towns in Shaanxi! And after successive years of drought, the people of Shaanxi can no longer hand over the more than one million stones. But if they don't hand over, the border troops of the five towns will starve to death, and the soldiers will have no food. You are in chaos!
And if they surrender, many people in Shaanxi will starve to death... If the people are unwilling to starve to death, they will rise up again. It is true that both the left and the right must be opposed!
But why did Ming Dynasty set up five important border towns on the edge of this poor province of Shaanxi? "
Yes, why did the Ming Dynasty set up five border towns in Shaanxi?
According to the algorithm of nine sides and thirteen towns, there are five towns around Beijing, including Xuanfu, Jizhen, Shanhai, Changping, and Baozhen. But the five towns in Beijing do not need to be contracted by Beizhili. They have their own Grand Canal that continuously transports grain, so eating is no problem.
The five towns in Shaanxi cannot transport grain supplies from the southeast, so they all have to eat from Shaanxi. Shaanxi will definitely be poor... In previous years, the total annual grain tax paid by Shaanxi was as high as more than 1.73 million shi. However, Sichuan, the land of abundance, only has more than 1.08 million shi, and Guangdong is just a few dozen shi short of 1 million shi. Considering the quality of the land in Shaanxi, one can imagine the heavy burden placed on the people of Shaanxi.
In addition, Shaanxi’s burden is very rigid! If there is a disaster in other places, they can reduce or reduce the amount a little. If that doesn't work, they can also provide food relief from other places.
But Shaanxi cannot exempt food because of disasters... If you exempt food, the border troops in the five towns will not starve to rebel! Moreover, Shaanxi suffered a disaster, and the five military towns suffered even more disasters. We can't starve the frontier troops to death, right? Their rebellion skills are better than those of hungry people!
"Ah," Princess Wuliangha was not stupid. After hearing what Zhu Youjian said, she immediately understood, "Long Live Master is saying that the Mongols who occupy the Tumut River and Dongtao Grassland are the ones responsible for the chaos in Shaanxi. root?"
Zhu Youjian smiled and said, "You can say that...but the cause of this disaster was actually planted by the Ming Dynasty himself! Chengmiao abolished Dongsheng's two guards and four guards, so that you Mongolians can return to the soil." The reason for Motechuan and Tungtao grassland!
Chengmiao eliminated a town in Dongsheng, so future generations would have to set up five border towns in Shaanxi! Haha, how much can you save by cutting Dongsheng's two guards and four defenders? How much will it cost to build five towns in Shaanxi? What a loss!
Moreover, Dongshengwei is only 500 miles away from Xuanfu. If you place 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry in Xuanfu, you can reach Dongshengwei within 5 days. It is very convenient to support... even if you are from Xuanfu to Dongsheng The bathroom side wall will only be built for a few hundred miles. More than 10,000 miles have been built, and there are still a few hundred miles left? Although Grandpa Chengmiao was a hero, he did many things to deceive his descendants.
I have to fill the hole for him now... Princess, I will tell you the truth now! I support Erkongoro Ezhe (son of Lin Dan Khan) to become the Great Khan of Mongolia, but I must take back the land of Dongsheng Erwei. If we don't take it back, the five towns in Shaanxi cannot be evacuated. If we don't withdraw the five towns, the people of Shaanxi will have no way to survive. The people of Shaanxi will have no way to survive. The world will be in chaos in the Ming Dynasty!
If you can do this for me, Tumut River will be your and King Xin's fiefdom...Wuliangha Wanhu and Duoyan Wanhu can become real Wanhu, and they will be given to you and King Xin. Commander! "
Princess Wuliangha heard this and quickly knelt down to Zhu Youjian: "I know what to do, and I will live up to your majesty's trust!"
Zhu Youjian nodded and said: "Next spring, I will lead the 30,000 Zhangqian horse infantry out of Yulin and join you at Dongshengwei!"
