Smoking is harmful to health and is also a huge source of profits and taxes.
Even if the Tiger Character Banner does not grow tobacco, sooner or later, tobacco will be spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. Rather than doing this, Liu Heng feels that it is better to do this in the Tiger Character Banner.
Even if Zhao Yutu objects, he will not agree to ban smoking, and tobacco will never be banned.
Tobacco has been sold from the south to the north, but the quantity is sparse and only circulates in the hands of a few people, and most people are not aware of it.
He has his own plans for tobacco.
What Tiger Flag wants to do is to make most people get used to the taste of tobacco, completely open up the sales of tobacco, and become a way of making money for Tiger Flag.
In the future, tobacco from the Tiger Banner will not only be sold within the Ming Dynasty, but will also be sold to the Mongolians in the grasslands and to Liaodong.
Things such as grain and iron cannot be sold to the slaves in Liaodong, but tobacco is different. Not only can it be sold, but the more it can be sold, the better.
"Sir, Director Huang has also arrived. Why don't you let your subordinates discuss with Director Huang the relocation of several workshops of the Ordnance Bureau." Seeing that he could not dispel Liu Heng's idea of growing tobacco, Zhao Yutu gave up persuading him.
Liu Heng nodded, looked at Huang Zhong, and said: "The iron yard in Dayin Mountain has been completed. Your Ordnance Bureau and Logistics Bureau will hurry up and make a plan to relocate the workshop. Split the workshop and move it to the grassland as soon as possible. .”
"yes."
Before coming, Huang Zhong knew that it was for the relocation of the workshop, so he agreed happily.
"Okay, you two go back and discuss it. After the relocation plan is completed, it will be sent to the Military and Political Department." Liu Heng said to the two people in the pledge room.
Zhao Yutu stood up from his seat.
"My subordinates resign."
Huang Chong and Zhao Yutu bowed to Liu Heng respectively, and then exited the pledge room.
Liu Heng took a sip of boiled water in the teapot, picked up the pipe again, put in the tobacco, lit it and started smoking.
"Sir, can you give some of your tobacco to your subordinates?" Zhao Wu, standing aside, licked his face and whispered with an embarrassed look on his face.
Liu Heng took out his iron box, put it on the table, and said: "Take them all and save some to smoke. Currently, dry tobacco is still being cultivated on a trial basis, and I don't have much in my hand."
"No, I didn't ask for it for myself." Zhao Wu rubbed his hands in embarrassment and added, "They are from the escort team. They saw their subordinates smoking dry cigarettes and took a few puffs, then they fell in love with this thing. But there was no place to buy it, so I begged my subordinates."
Hearing that the guards wanted it, Liu Heng threw the iron box into Zhao Wu's arms.
At the same time, he said: "That's it. When tobacco cultivation becomes large-scale in the future, we in Huzi Banner will be able to produce dry tobacco ourselves, and we can smoke as much as we want."
He was not surprised at all that someone in his guard liked to smoke.
Although smoking is harmful to health, he will not object to people in the Tiger Flag smoking. In later generations, so many people smoked and nothing happened. Moreover, smoking cannot be controlled by force. It is better to let it develop on its own.
"My subordinates told them to save their time." Zhao Wu happily put the iron box into his arms.
Now only Liu Heng in the Tiger Flag has some shredded tobacco. If he wants to smoke, he can only ask Liu Heng for it.
………………
A few months have passed since Ermu Buhong of Qingcheng became the Great Khan of Tumed. Now he has sent people to the capital to ask for the title of King Shunyi.
Behind this, there is also the secret support of Tiger Character Flag.
Ombuhong succeeded King Shunyi, which could reassure the Ming courtiers about the Tumed tribe.
To the northeast of the Tumut tribe, on the Horqin grassland near Liaodong, Obataiji's yurt was hit, and there were several Taijis from the Horqin tribe gathered there.
"Jinong, Ming'an Ulji has been to the Tumut tribe for several months. He should have come back a long time ago. His family has come to my place to make trouble several times." The speaker was a round-faced Mongolian, not quite tall. It's too high.
Sitting in the front seat was Oba, an elderly Mongolian with meat strands on his beard. He said, "Isn't it that Minlegi has been arranged to take people to the Tumut Department to inquire about Minganwu?" There is no news about Leji, if we wait a little longer, maybe there is something that may delay Ming’an Ulji.”
"What's the delay? What I heard is that Ming'an Ulji has died in Tumut." The round-faced Mongolian said with a dark face.
Oba frowned, looked at the round-faced Mongolian in front of him, and asked: "Zhemuhe, who did you hear that Ming'an Ulji is dead? Ming'an Ulji is back?"
"I didn't see Minlegi." Zhemuhe, a round-faced Mongolian, said, "The news came from Chahar, indicating that Minlegi was dead. Not only him, but also the people who went to Qingcheng together. Those Jin people also died in Tumut."
Oba's frown deepened and he said: "It's not that after the war between the Tumut tribe and the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, their vitality has been severely damaged. How dare Ombuhong kill our Horqin tribe and Jin people? He is not afraid. Are you offending our Horqin and Tianming Khan? Could the news you heard be false?"
He couldn't understand the matter of the Tumote tribe killing Ming'an Ulji and the Jin people.
The Horqin tribe and the Tumut tribe did not have much contact, let alone any enmity. Moreover, Ming'an Ulji went to Qingcheng to participate in the Khan's throne ceremony of Omubuhong. After all, he was also the envoy of the Horqin tribe. Tumut People in the Ministry should not kill people even if they are unwise.
"The news should be true, and the murderers were not from the Tumote tribe, but from the Tiger Flag." Zhemuhe said.
Oba said with a puzzled look on his face: "Why did the people from the Tiger Banner kill Ming'an Ulji? You know, our Horqin and the Tiger Banner still have contacts, and their convoys will come to our Horqin to do business."
"I suspect it's because of the golden people and the people with the tiger character flag that they kill people." Zhemuhe expressed his suspicion.
"Jinren?" Auba frowned deeply and said, "Tiger Ziqi is just a business of the Ming Dynasty, so what grudges can there be with the Jinren?"
Zhemuhe said: "It is precisely because the Tiger Character Banner is a business name of the Ming Dynasty that it has enmity with the Jin people. Jinong, don't forget that the Tiger Character Banner is a Han people's business name, and the Jin people killed many Han people in Liaodong."
"What does the Jin people's killing of the Han people in Liaodong have to do with the Tiger Flag? I remember that there used to be a business called Fanji. Didn't they sell grain and iron to the Jin people? As long as there was money to be made, those merchants in the Ming Dynasty didn't care. How many Han people have the Jin killed?" Oba said disapprovingly.
After living for such a long time, he has heard and seen too much. Businessmen are all selfish. He does not think that if some Han people are killed, a business name like Tiger Flag will become the enemy of the Jin people.
"Jinong, the Tiger-Character Flag is different from that Fan Ji Trading Company. For so long, this Tiger-Character Flag can only be used for business by us Mongolians. As for the Jin people, we ignore it." Zhemuhe reminded.
