Gao Yimin was a little surprised when Nalin Bulu and Bu Zhai visited him together, but when he learned their purpose of coming, he was even more shocked.
Although judging from the wife's background, the master does not think that he attaches great importance to family status, but although the wife comes from a family of child chieftains, looking up her family tree, it turns out that her ancestors were generals who followed Di Qing in the southern expedition in the Song Dynasty.
Although his descendants and children intermarried for hundreds of years after entering Guangxi, according to the Han custom of only asking about the paternal line of descent, Huang Zhiting is actually still Han.
Menggu Zhezhe is obviously different. The ancestors of the current Yehe leader migrated eastward from the Tumut area. "In the second year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, they moved to the edge of the Yeheli River to build a city, so it was called Yehe Kingdom. It belongs to There are fifteen tribes, and many of them are brave and good at riding and shooting."
Whether looking at their ancestral place or characteristics, it is very likely that the ancestors of this Yehe family are Mongolians. Of course, after they occupied Beiguan for so many years, through continuous marriages with local Jurchens, the complexity of the bloodline has become very high. It is probably a case of "national fusion". From its own perspective, it must have regarded itself as a female. Real person.
But whether they are Mongols or Jurchens, they are all barbarians in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty. Even though Meng Guzhezhe is a noble person in Yehe, this status is basically meaningless in the Ming Dynasty.
In other words, in Gao Yimin's eyes, Meng Guzhezhe's family status is obviously not comparable to his own. The master's status and family status can be said to be at odds with Meng Guzhezhe's, and they are not even comparable.
but……
Gao Yimin pondered for a moment, and felt that this point was not important, because even if Meng Guzhezhe was taken over by the master, he would only be a concubine. The Han people had high requirements for the status of a head wife, but they did not care about concubines.
After all, marrying a wife with virtue is better than keeping concubines and having sex. Since it's just about enjoying the color, the other things don't matter.
The problem is that the master doesn't seem to be very interested in women. According to Gao Yimin, no matter how beautiful Meng Guzhezhe is, the master probably won't be tempted by it.
But at the same time, the master is also a person who is very concerned about the ebb and flow of the strength of various Jurchen tribes. Although Gao Yimin does not know why the master pays so much attention to these barbarians, he can see from the various arrangements of the master in Liaodong. Attention. If nothing else, the fact that Jinghua deliberately built iron works and other industries near Liaoyang speaks volumes.
So far, Jinghua has only built three steel production bases, the core of which is of course always in Kaiping. Apart from Kaiping, the only ones that can be considered large-scale are Hejing, Annan and Liaoyang, Liaodong. - Taiping Prefecture (later Ma'anshan) in the upper reaches of Nanjing also has plans to build a large iron factory, but due to well-known reasons, it has not been fully negotiated until now, so it is still a paper plan.
In addition to steel and military industries, the large-scale development plan that has been expanded from the Liaonan Plan to the Liaodong Plan is also a clear manifestation of the high pragmatic importance attached to Liaodong. What about the tussah industry, Liaonan salt fields, cotton bases, and corn cultivation; what about Liaohe river transportation, Liaodong shipping, Yingkou New Port, Lushun New Port; what about Annan rice trade, Guangxi sugar trade, Beijing soap trade, Mongolian horse trade...
In short, industry, agriculture, and commerce are all-encompassing, each with its own focus. If it weren't for the huge Dingnancheng construction plan in southern Xinjiang, Gao Pragmatic's overall emphasis on Liaodong might even be higher than that in southern Xinjiang.
As for the use of talents trained by the Craftsman School, Gao Pragmatic also has a clear focus on Liaodong. The simplest example of this is Gao Yimin himself. Originally, he thought that after completing his studies, he would be sent to southern Xinjiang. After all, he was "connected to both land and sea", but instead he was sent to Liaodong, and Gao pragmatically met him in person and gave him instructions.
Therefore, Gao Yimin felt that the master was very concerned about every move in Liaodong and its surrounding areas. In this case, if accepting Meng Gu Zhezhe would be beneficial to controlling the Jurchens or balancing the Jurchens' power, the master might really agree.
In this case, Gao Yimin would not be able to refuse directly. But this matter is the master's "private matter" after all. As a servant, he has not been authorized in advance in this regard, so he certainly can't decide anything, which makes it a bit difficult to handle.
After much thought, Gao Yimin had no choice but to say that he would report the matter to his master, but he could not guarantee how the master would respond.
Nalin Bulu and Bu Zhai were relieved when they heard this. It is said that the king of hell is easy to hide but the kid is difficult to deal with. They are afraid that Gao Yimin will interfere with it. Now that Gao Yimin agrees to convey it, the chance of success of this matter will be greatly increased.
However, Nalinbulu and Buzhai also planned to make further efforts, saying that it was really difficult to convey the message to let Master Gao know about the good deeds of Menggu Gege, so they "would like to send envoys to Beijing to pay tribute as a thank you for the reinforcements from the Celestial Empire." Also go see the Grand Master."
It's understandable that you want to get married, but there's something wrong with thinking about it so urgently. Gao Yimin immediately understood that these two Yehebels may have figured out that Cao Yun's dispatch of troops must be controlled by his master behind the scenes. They were so eager to regain the west city that they did not hesitate to use their sister as a thank you gift.
But after all, Gao Yimin's level was much higher than the two Yehebel who didn't study. Then he immediately thought of their deep meaning.
Perhaps it is not just for the urgent need to send troops this time, but they also have further considerations. Let’s not talk about other aspects such as changes in government affairs for the time being. Let’s just talk about trade. If Gao Pragmatic is willing, Ye He’s strength may be It expanded rapidly in a short period of time.
As mentioned before, in the early years, the Haixi Jurchen Hada tribe and Ye Hebu built strongholds outside Guangshun Pass and Zhenbeiguan respectively, specializing in the intermediate trade in Kaiyuanma City, marking the formation of the North and South Passes.
There is a record saying: "... and the benefits of sable and horse tail are all produced by Dongyi. Some Dongyi people come from as far away as the Huntong River, and some come from as far away as the Heilongjiang River, maybe more than a thousand miles, or two or three thousand miles away. There are no The nearby Yi people are the masters of residence, so why should they be re-translated? In the past, the Yi chiefs of the Southern Pass built a stronghold outside Jing'an Pass to benefit from their settlement. The Northern Pass followed suit and also built a stronghold here to compete for their benefits."
The advantage of staying here is to act as a trade middleman and engage in resale trade. This kind of change-of-hand trade means that the South and North Passes traffic the tribute rewards received from the Ming Dynasty and the cloth, handicrafts, and agricultural tools traded in Kaiyuan Horse Market to the Jurchen in the depths, in exchange for a large amount of leather goods and mountain goods.
At the same time, the Jurchen tribes in the depths were guided to come to Kaiyuan Horse Market for trading activities. The prosperity of the Kaiyuan horse market trade, especially the mink trade, eventually formed a pattern of interests shared by powerful chiefs of the Haixi Jurchen North and South Passes and Kaiyuan generals and powerful families. "Kaiyuan and Fushun were divided into garrison and garrison officials, and they merged with powerful families. They often became relatives with the Hu people in Haixi and Jianzhou, and settled their reputations."
Kaiyuan horse market trade was monopolized by Jurchen chiefs and Kaiyuan generals and powerful families. The two parties even became relatives and shared huge trade benefits.
In fact, Ye He's desire to marry Gao Pragmatic was based on this, and it was not a sudden thought. It's just that this step is a big jump. He is no longer satisfied with the level of "border general", but "reaches the sky in one step" and wants to marry Gao Pangshi, a very influential court official in Liaodong.
As for the Ming court's control over the horse trade, it used the issuance of imperial edicts and the binding of trade privileges to control the frontiers. Nanguan controlled the Kaiyuan horse market trade, the foundation of which was laid by Wang Zhong. When Wang Zhong was at his peak, he learned about all the imperial edicts issued by the Ming Dynasty to Jurchen.
"All the 182 guards, 25 stations, and 56 stations such as Jianzhou, Haixi, and Maolian were all afraid of their military power, so they learned that Dongyi was given 1,498 soldiers at the beginning of the country. Edict." The edicts he controlled at that time included not only all the edicts of the Haixi Jurchens, but also some of the edicts of the Jianzhou Jurchens.
As for the special purpose of competing for the imperial edict, it was to obtain the power to pay tribute and trade with each other, as well as to obtain the authority and legitimacy of rule.
"Nang heard that all the barbarians were attacking each other, and they all regarded this imperial edict as a strange thing. The South Pass was destroyed, the North Pass was killed, and the Western captives were not angry with the chiefs, and they did not do anything right."
This has been mentioned before. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Liaodong border established the practice of paying tribute to market, and the Jurchen tribes competed fiercely for the imperial edict. The imperial edict is not only a symbol of the Jurchen's internal status and power, but also a way to gain trading rights in the horse market. Therefore, the essence of the edict is a trade license, that is, the privilege of obtaining horse trading.
The border guards, especially the local officials in Kaiyuan, controlled the Jurchen tribe's power to pay tribute and trade. This laid the foundation for the union between the Kaiyuan border generals and the Jurchen tribe leaders.
The prosperity of the mink trade in Kaiyuan Ma City, the disintegration of the Jisi Guards, and the rise of the South and North Passes formed a frontier system in Liaodong centered on the trade alliance between Kaiyuan and the South and North Passes: By supporting the Jurchen chiefs of the South and North Passes, the Ming Dynasty formed Tribes such as Kaiyuan, Shanzhaiyi (Nanbeiguan), Jiangyi, Yeren Jurchen, Ezo and Qilimi formed a progressive and interdependent inland Asian economic circle to maintain the border order in Liaodong.
At this time, the real core of the Liaodong border system was also centered on Kaiyuan rather than Liaoyang, and its basis was the trade alliance between Kaiyuan and the South and North Passes.
At this time, Kaiyuan has become the intersection of the three economic forms of farming, nomadism, and forestry. If the Kaiyuan horse market is cut off, Mongolia and Jurchen will be unable to sell their cattle, horses, and mink ginseng products, and they will not be able to obtain cloth, handicrafts, and agricultural tools. This will naturally affect their lives and production activities, or even make them unsustainable.
"I don't know that although there are many dogs and sheep, they are separate and not unified, and they all benefit from our market reward, which makes our market easy. If I retreat and cannot communicate with each other, my cloth, silk, pot, field utensils and other items are all needed by the barbarians for daily use. Where to get it? How can they sell the cattle, horses, sheep, ginseng, mink, hazelnuts, pine and other goods? From this point of view, the projectiles are used to make a living by the captives. Dare to deal with Kaiyuan Jue lightly. This is an opportunity."
Therefore, it was on the basis of the intersection of interests of Liaodong, Jurchens, and eastern Mongolian tribes that Kaiyuan became the economic center of the Liaodong frontier. Kaiyuan horse market trade is not a one-way dependence of Mongolia and Jurchen on Liaodong, but an economic interest relationship in which the three parties are interdependent and share weal and woe.
Why did Gao Jingshi insist on taking Kaiyuan, Li Chengliang's hometown (Tieling returned to Kaiyuan) in his hands in such a short period of time when he took office as Liao Fu, and let Ma Cheng'en and Ma Chengxun serve as Kaiyuan generals one after another? The reason lies in the importance of Kaiyuan.
Although taking the post of Kaiyuan Counselor General does not mean that Li Chengliang's power is driven away - after all, he is based in Tieling, it is enough to mean that Gao pragmatism has obtained the power of Kaiyuan trade, giving Jinghua the power to commercially suppress all parties inside and outside Liaodong. The ability of power.
Now Ye He and Baylor may have seen this, but they saw it more deeply this time. They knew that when Gao Jingshi got involved, it was not enough for them to win over General Kaiyuan or Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Liaoyang to ensure Ye He's status in this trading system. Only by gaining Gao Jingshi's recognition could Ye He win. Only in this way can He's position be stabilized and his strength restored.
Of course, being recognized by Gao Jingshi also means that Nurhaci will no longer dare to covet Ye He easily - unless he dares to challenge Gao Jingshi.
Nurhachi dares to challenge Gao Pragmatic now? Let alone Ye He, the two Baylors would not believe it. Even Gao Yimin thought it was impossible: Nurhachi had no more than 7,000 troops in total, and his economic foundation was almost entirely based on the ginseng trade. In this situation, how could he? Are you brave enough to challenge high pragmatism?
Gao Pragmatic's strength, even if we don't talk about the huge energy he possesses in the court, even just talking about his arrangements in Liaodong, Nurhaci cannot be overthrown at all.
Jinghua has a large number of industries in Liaodong such as Yingkou Saltworks, Liaoyang Iron Works, Liaoyang Coal Mine, Liaoyang Musket Factory, Gaizhou Clothing Factory, and Haizhou Feed Factory (producing corn-based horse feed).
Among them, the Yingkou Salt Works, Liaoyang Iron Works, Liaoyang Coal Mine, and Liaoyang Musket Factory have the largest plant protection teams and mine protection teams, with a total of nearly 30,000 mine protection teams. The daily production work of these 30,000 people is not heavy (but still there). Their main tasks are training and patrolling, and even including cooperating with the local garrison to suppress bandits.
The Yingkou Saltworks is even more impressive. They not only have a factory protection team, but also an anti-smuggling fleet. Jinghua's various artillery-equipped river vessels in Liaodong and some offshore armed transport ships are all organized into this anti-smuggling fleet.
You have to ask why private companies can actually "anti-smuggling"? Because nearly half of the shares in Yingkou Salt Farm are owned by the emperor.
The salt farm was originally a military property, and the military property was actually an imperial property, assigned to them by the emperor. After Gao pragmatically solved the original problem of "buying out" the salt mines of military households, the emperor was equivalent to using the salt field land to invest in shares, and this land was very large - the military industry was huge in the past, and Zhu Yijun didn't know how to make money by speculating on land. Dalilie packed up a piece of land equivalent to the size of two inland counties and gave it to Gao Pragmatic.
Although the emperor did not care about the specific operation of the salt farm, he certainly could not tolerate someone smuggling salt to steal business from him, so he directly issued an imperial edict giving the Yingkou Salt Farm the right to detect smuggling on its own.
Thanks to the special nature of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty (the nature of military control), no one in the court cared about this. If it were left in modern times, the court would have to explode.
So based on this calculation, Gao Jingshi can pull out 30,000 and a half full-time professional troops anytime and anywhere in Liaodong. He has an armed fleet that is enough to completely control the navigable rivers in Liaodong. He can be completely self-sufficient in food, clothing, feed, and weapons, and his horses are self-sufficient. Special supplies and armor are provided or exchanged by Wang's Arsenal (Jinghua Steel Products is his main raw material)...
This is an army whose strength can overwhelm Jianzhou and can be drawn out to fight at the earliest opportunity. Why should Nurhachi resist?
Not to mention that a large number of generals east of the Liao River are highly pragmatic cronies. How could Nurhaci make a mistake? Therefore, as long as Ye He gets Gao Pragmatic's favor, he will transform into the second Wan Khan in minutes.
After sorting this out, Gao Yimin laughed. He knew that Gao Wushi was not too worried about Ye He. During the "face-to-face instruction", Gao Wushi asked him to pay attention to Nurhachi.
It can be seen that what the master is really guarding against is Nurhaci, and any force that can restrain Nurhachi should probably be roped in. In this case, it’s not a bad idea to be a middle-aged person.
"It's rare for the two Baylors to be so understanding of justice and repay their kindness. Since you two want to pay tribute, I see nothing wrong with it. However, you two also know that you cannot take the initiative to enter the capital without receiving a reply from the court, so I must Let’s go and talk to Mr. Cao first and ask him to go to Shu and ask for a passage for you two. What do you think?”
Of course Nalinbulu and Buzhai agreed wholeheartedly and were extremely excited.
Gao Yimin then stood up and planned to see off the guests. Nalin Bulu and Bu Zhai also stood up quickly. When he got to the door, Bu Zhai couldn't help it any longer. He coughed slightly and asked a little nervously: "Now that the matter has been settled, I wonder... I wonder if Mr. Gao can persuade Marshal Cao. Right now, Xicheng is still being controlled by Tumen." Trampling, as a Baylor, it’s really hard for me to explain to the following..."
Gao Yimin had already guessed that he would not be able to help talking about this matter, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry Buzhaibeile, I will mention this matter to General Rong."
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "o Shangshu Ling", "Old Disrepair nn", "ASolaF", and "Sheng Ru Xia Hua 980705" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
