Still as before, Gao pragmatic learned about the victory in northern Liaoning half a day earlier than the imperial court's official channels. He learned the news in the evening of that day, and the official post sent the news to the capital at midnight. However, since the news of victory was not as important as the urgent military situation, the report of victory was left in the Yamen of the Ministry of War and lay there for half a night. It was not until the officials of the Ministry of War opened the seal the next day that it became known to the court.
Perhaps it was because the imperial court had reported many victories in recent years. Even though more than 1,600 cavalry were beheaded in the Battle of Northern Liaoning, it did not cause much sensation. On the contrary, the accompanying news was more eye-catching than the victories.
There were two and a half messages sent along with the victory report. One was that Nurhaci had an agreement with the Mongols to invade the Hada tribe in Nanguan, and had planned to join forces with Tumen; the other was that the Yehe tribe deeply felt the kindness of the Ming Dynasty and formally An envoy to pay tribute was sent and was heading to the capital.
The first piece of news, while infuriating, is honestly not surprising. In fact, when the court heard that Nurhaci was going north to welcome his bride, everyone had already guessed the reason. Now that the evidence is conclusive, it is nothing more than nailing the coffin board, so there is no need to be shocked.
The second piece of news is also foreboding. A few days ago, Cao Yun had Shangshu talk about this matter, and the court also agreed. Now Ye He's tribute envoy "officially" sets off, which fully complies with the court regulations. As for Ye He's wish to board a ship in Yingkou and take the sea route to Beijing, the imperial court also "specially approved" permission.
The really shocking news was the remaining "half piece". Cao Yun mentioned a few words in his victory book, saying that after recapturing Yehexi City, he found Tumen's missing body in the mansion of the city lord of Xicheng where Tumen had temporarily lived. Some clues were found from the letter, which may involve someone providing gunpowder to the Mongols in large quantities.
Cao Yu said that because he considered that Tumen might have deliberately framed Zhongliang, he would not submit clues or evidence for the time being. After an investigation, he would make a detailed report.
This half of the news is far more exciting than the first two for the princes of the imperial court.
First of all, since Cao Yu dared to bring up this matter, it means that he must have "clues" in his hand; secondly, since Cao Yu did not hide anything, it is obvious that the person involved in this matter is neither himself nor the Shi School of thought. A line of officials or generals; in the end, Cao Yun's half-spoken "eye-catching" was more unsettling than directly revealing it. Because even if he didn’t do it himself, what if it was done by his allies or even the officials he recommended?
If it is done by an ally, out of "morality", one must always lend a helping hand and try to rescue him; if it is done by an official recommended by oneself, it would be even worse. In the early years when Gao Gong was reforming the bureaucracy, he repeatedly emphasized a principle. Even if the person being promoted is punished for something, the recommender also needs to bear joint and several liability.
For this reason, many officials, especially those with higher status, began secretly "self-examination and self-correction" to recall who they had recommended to go to Liaodong.
Of course, there are still some people who hope that this incident was not done by local officials or generals. It would be better if a local powerful man chose to take the risk because of his financial obsession or other reasons, and then everything would be fine. It is said that if a Taoist friend dies, a poor Taoist will not die. However, due to various reasons among officials in the Ming Dynasty, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between a Taoist friend and a poor Taoist, so it is best to kill an unrelated person.
But there are also some smart people who know at a glance that something is not good, so they start to think of other solutions.
Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue are obviously smart people. Judging from their test scores that year, these two people are extremely smart: they are the top and second place winners in the same ranking.
As soon as the two of them read the news, they knew that the matter was probably related to Li Chengliang. This was also the reason why Cao Yu wanted to give up.
Involving Li Chengliang is now equivalent to involving the Xin School, and Li Chengliang's situation is very special. As long as the Xin School still wants to get a share of the war to destroy the Yuan Dynasty three or four years later, and does not let the Shi School be the best, then Li Chengliang will almost He is an indispensable figure.
Shen Shixing took the initiative to invite Wang Xijue to his room, and the two began to discuss countermeasures.
Before Gao Jingshi got involved in Liaodong, Li Chengliang controlled most of the private markets in Liaodong. Even those who were not directly involved had to lose money to him, which was roughly equivalent to paying protection fees.
After Gao Pragmatic's forces entered Liaodong, the situation was slightly reversed. With its strong economic power and trading capabilities, Jinghua developed in the short time that Gao Pragmatic was in charge of Liaodong and controlled four large-scale private markets and Nine private markets of average size but relatively important.
Although in terms of the number of private markets, Jinghua is only about half of Li Chengliang, but in terms of trade volume, the two sides are almost evenly divided.
Li Chengliang went from dominating the private market in Liaodong to having a 50-50 split with Jinghua, and the pressure in his heart was obviously huge. Although the entry of Jinghua actually adheres to the consistent purpose of "making the cake bigger" and increases the trade volume of the entire Liaodong, it has little impact on Li Chengliang's "absolute income", but after all, Li Chengliang is used to being a local snake, and now he suddenly has an order. When Qianglong comes over, it's hard to tell how he will react.
It would not be cost-effective to confront Jinghua head-on. As a military general, Li Chengliang was not very courageous. Although his backstage backer Shen Shixing is the first assistant, he has shown a lack of suppression over Gao Pragmatic in recent years. A smart man like Li Chengliang will certainly not use eggs to beat stones.
In this case, it is completely understandable to "develop" some new ways to make money.
Wang Xijue said to Shen Shixing: "The imperial court has not been trading with Chahar for a long time, but there is no Ming Dynasty goods in Chahar? No, Chahar has always been able to get all kinds of goods, doesn't Yuan Fu know?"
Shen Shixing could only smile bitterly in return. Of course he knew this situation.
In the fourth year of Longqing's reign, Wang Chonggu was appointed governor of Shanxi Xuanda Military Affairs, and he advocated negotiation and mutual trade with me. Under the support of Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and other important officials of the imperial court, in the fifth year of Longqing, the Ming Dynasty conferred Mongolian Ada Khan as the "King of Shunyi". In the same year, the tribute and mutual trade was opened, and Zhangjiakou became the earliest frontier trade port to Mongolia.
In addition to the official market, Wang Chonggu also promoted private Ming-Mongolian trade. As a result, under the situation of peace negotiations between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, the scale of trade between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia became increasingly large. "Rest on the border, starting from Yanyong in the east and arriving at Qizhen in Jiayu in the west. The soldiers and civilians of thousands of miles are enjoying their work without the need for military reform, and the annual savings is seven."
The resulting social effect not only provided a long-term peaceful environment for Xuanhua and Datong areas, but also led to a continuous return of population. In the past, Mongolian soldiers often went south to attack, and the locals fled to other places. Now that Ming and Mongolia have negotiated peace, there is no need to There was a fear of war, and the opening of the border horse market also provided opportunities for doing business, so everyone rushed here.
But this brought about another problem, that is, Tumut had the power to conduct any trade with the Ming Dynasty, including exchanging horses, cattle, sheep, etc. for any type of goods they wanted.
Tumut is now almost a die-hard brother of Ming Dynasty. They can buy and sell Ming Dynasty products. This is no problem, and this is what Gao Pragmatic has always insisted on before. However, although the relationship between Tumut and Chahar is tense, they have the same origin after all, and the "Great Khans" of both sides are descendants of Genghis Khan. Therefore, the confrontation is a confrontation, and it is actually impossible to sever the connection.
Especially business ties cannot be broken off easily. Even if Han Naji is given an order, there must be policies and countermeasures from above. What's more, it is easier for the Mongols to communicate with each other than in the Ming Dynasty, and there are not many clear boundaries between them. Some tribes and generals trade secretly among themselves, and it is impossible to find out Han Naji at all.
This kind of thing not only happens now, but even in the original history it led to the so-called "Shanxi merchants and traitors".
At that time, the Jianzhou Jurchens were rising in Liaodong. After Nurhachi raised troops to rebel against the Ming Dynasty in the 46th year of Wanli, he also attached great importance to contacting various tribes in Monan Mongolia. After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, he adopted a more active strategy against Mongolia through various hard and soft methods.
In order to suppress the Jianzhou Jurchens, the Ming Dynasty once attracted and supported the Haixi Jurchens such as Ye He. But in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, after experiencing a series of setbacks such as the defeat of Sarhu, the fall of Kaiyuan and Tieling, and the attack and destruction of Yehe, the Ming Dynasty began to support the Chahar tribe of Monan Mongolia.
Chahar was the Khan's tent headed by Emperor Yuan Dynasty and the Great Khan of Mongolia. In the early years, the Ming Dynasty reached a peace agreement with Tumut, but did not reach a similar tribute clause with Chahar. However, in the face of the aggressive Hou Jin at that time, in line with the principle of "the enemy of the enemy is an ally", the Ming Dynasty began to take the initiative to pay tribute. Chahar.
Chahar Lindan Khan was also quite ambitious and tried to re-establish his status as the Great Khan among the Monan Mongolian tribes. The Hou Jin Dynasty, which actively explored Monan Mongolia, naturally had a direct military conflict with Chahar Lindan Khan, who was trying to establish his position in Monan Mongolia.
In February and March of 1626, upon hearing the news that Nurhachi had just been defeated by Yuan Chonghuan at the gates of Ningyuan City, Chaharlin Dan Khan instigated the five forces from Inner Khalkha to invade Houjin.
However, although Nurhachi ran into Yuan Chonghuan's fault under Ningyuan City, the significance of this incident was mainly Yuan Chonghuan's boast. Nurhaci did not suffer much losses and his military strength was still strong. Therefore, he immediately launched a counterattack against Inner Khalkha and took various measures. means of differentiation and disintegration.
This war went very smoothly. The Nekarkhas were originally nomadic from western Liaoning to a point on the Xilamulun River in Chifeng. After they were defeated by Hou Jin and fled, there was no buffer zone between Hou Jin and Chahar, and they were directly adjacent.
In 1627, in order to win over the Aohan and Naiman tribes, Houjin and Chahar clashed again. In order to avoid the threat of the post-Jin Bingfeng, Lin Danhan, who was strong on the outside but capable on the inside, made a move this year - moved westward.
A chain effect like dominoes appeared at this time - the Hou Jin Dynasty rose in Liaodong, used civil and military strategies to conquer or win over Monan Mongolia to the southwest, and raised troops to fight against the Chahar tribe; Chahar was defeated, They had no choice but to move westward and oppress Haraqin and Tumut who were originally outside Xuanhua and the northern Shanxi border fortress.
From 1627 to early 1628, Chahar, who moved westward, fought many battles with the Tumed-Kalaqin coalition outside Zhangjiakou, Guihua City and other places. The originally powerful Tumut was obviously corrupted at this time, and the coalition forces were gradually losing ground. In February 1628, Kalaqintab Nang urgently sent an envoy to ask for help from Hou Jin, hoping to form an alliance against Chahar, and asked Tiancong Khan and Emperor Taiji to send troops. Hou Jin got the opportunity to launch another Western Expedition.
In September 1628, October 1629 and May 1632, Hou Jin launched three western expeditions against Chahar. Finally, in May 1632, we arrived at the Guihua City (Hohhot) of the Tumed Department.
When Hou Jin came to Guihua City, he also received an unexpected gain: he got the opportunity to use the name of the Tumote Department to start horse trading with the Ming Dynasty.
In mid-June and late June of that year, Huang Taiji went south from Guihua City and sent letters to the Ming Dynasty defenders of Datong Desheng Fort and Xuanhua Zhangjiakou respectively, requesting for the annual silver reward originally given to the Chahar tribe by the Ming Dynasty, and in accordance with the past and the Tu Merter's example of opening border markets to trade.
At the same time, he displayed his troops outside the border wall and declared his power, pretending that he was preparing for war and was about to attack the city, "either peace talks or war" to intimidate the Ming armies in these two places.
1632 was the fifth year of Chongzhen. The Ming Dynasty defenders in Datong and Zhangjiakou must have known about the perennial wars between the Ming and Qing armies in eastern Liaoning and western Liaoning, but they did not expect that the Qing army would arrive in Tumut Mongolia so quickly and appear. In the distant Shanxi and Zhangbei regions. In the severe lack of defensive countermeasures, the Ming armies in Datong and Zhangjiakou quickly chose to compromise with the Qing army.
"On June 14th, the Ming army from Victory Fort sent 16 envoys to the camp to contribute, including two oxen, eight sheep, four bolts of silk, 184 bags of tea, six bags of tobacco, 39 bags of white sugar, and rock sugar. "Nine bags...", and the Qing army "gifted a sheep to each visitor"; "On June 28, the general of Xuanfu sent envoys to discuss peace."
Therefore, after the Ming army defenders in Zhangjiakou reached a peace agreement with the Qing army in private, the Ming army defenders connived at the local merchants to conduct horse trading with the Qing army. Naturally, the local people and businessmen in Zhangjiakou are mainly Shanxi people. This is how the "Shanxi merchants" in the late Ming Dynasty came into contact with the Qing army.
Pretending to use the name of another tribe to carry out horse trade and tribute exchanges with the Ming Dynasty was always called "throwing tribute" or "throwing rewards." This phenomenon was very common among Mongolian and Jurchen tribes at that time. For example, when the relationship between the Chahar Ministry and the Ming Dynasty was tense, the Ming Dynasty closed the horse market to him. For a long time, Chahar used the names of Nekar Kabalin and Uziyet to go to Guangning to collect tribute and Kaiyuan Horse Market to collect rewards. The Ming court did not interfere too much in this.
Before the Tatars entered the customs, the Qing army and the merchants of the Eight Banners of the Qing army used the name of Tumote to go to Datong and Zhangjiakou to do business with Shanxi merchants. They took advantage of the favorable conditions for the opening of the border city of Saima after the Longqing Peace Conference. . Some local Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou, with the permission of local military and political officials of the Ming Dynasty, did business with the Qing army who pretended to be Tumote.
As for the Shanxi merchants going out of the Great Wall and operating outside the Great Wall or even within the territory of Hou Jin, including the so-called "providing information" to Hou Jin, there is no official historical basis and they are all groundless rumors.
In other words, trade existed, not only later, but actually already exists now. But to say that this is traitorous to the country, at least from the legal perspective of the Ming Dynasty, cannot be said to be true.
Chahar is also prohibited from trade now, but Chahar has several channels to obtain the output of the Ming Dynasty, including "smuggling" with some tribes not directly under the Tumote tribe, including the Inner Khalkha tribe. The name was in the legal private market in Guangning (Li Chengliang's residence), and was even obtained from Ye He before the eastward invasion of Ye He - as mentioned before, Ye He often acted as a second-hand dealer.
But Shen Shixing knew that Wang Xijue's statement was deliberately confusing the nature of trade: Chahar obtained Ming output from Tumote, Yehe and even Nekarka, and it was all resold, which was equivalent to an extra layer of "dealers". The price is definitely not that cost-effective.
The reason why Ming Dynasty didn't pursue the case much before was also the reason: since the ban was definitely unstoppable, it wouldn't be a big loss to let Chahar spend more unjust money, and it was okay to just turn a blind eye.
However, the situation mentioned by Cao Yun this time is different. Li Chengliang may have directly conducted the transaction with Chahar this time. Although the specific situation is not clear, it is conceivable that the original "dealer" The profits will definitely be shared between Li Chengliang and Chahar, and both parties can earn more.
And in this way, can the Ming court still be satisfied? Obviously not.
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