On the fourth day after Nurhaci returned to Hetuala, a not-so-fierce confrontation took place in the Fuyuan Yamen in Liaoyang.
The conflict was about opinions: Li Song, the governor of the Liao Dynasty, believed that Nurhaci's war within the Jianzhou Zuowei was of the nature of "crusade against unsubordinates" because the latter was originally the commander of the Jianzhou Zuowei appointed by the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Ming Dynasty had neither the need nor the position to oppose Nurhaci's troop dispatch this time, and could only "wait for it to change".
Cao Yan, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaoyang, expressed his disapproval of this. He believed that although Nurhaci was the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard, the relationship between Dong'e's Ministry and the Ming Dynasty was not bad, and he was usually "respected to be deferential". The Ming Dynasty should ensure his existence.
Moreover, Cao Yan believes that the most critical issue is not just the "submission" of Dong E's tribe, but the geographical location of its tribe is very important - Dong'E's tribe is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yalu River (further south is near Dandong in later generations).
Nurhachi's Suksu Huhe headquarters and its expanded territory are located to the north of Dong'e tribe - in other words, once Nurhaci completely controls Dong'e tribe, his territory will directly border North Korea.
Li Song believed that the border between Nurhachi and North Korea was completely indifferent, but Cao Yu firmly opposed it. He had received pragmatic guidance from Gao, and knew that Nurhachi was obsessed with revitalizing Fushun Pass trade and bringing him greater financial resources. But now Dong E's department stands between him and North Korea, so the trade price difference of some North Korean goods will be taken away by Dong E's department, and Nurhaci will have nothing to do without him.
What goods can North Korea trade with the Ming Dynasty, and how does it trade with the Ming Dynasty?
In fact, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty were engaged in a kind of "envoy trade", but I will not discuss this issue for now (I will talk about it during the war to aid Korea, because it will be related to the logistics system of the Ming army). It only describes the types of trade between the two parties and some of the main goods.
The envoy trade between the Ming Dynasty and North Korea was roughly divided into two categories, one was free trade and the other was expropriation trade. Among them, free trade generally includes public trade, private trade and prohibited trade.
Public trade refers to the fact that North Korean envoys, under the instructions of the state, purchase items that are in short supply in North Korea on behalf of the country or the king. Most of the trade items are books, silk, etc.
Books are in short supply in North Korea and play a role in maintaining rule, which makes North Korea attach great importance to the purchase of books. Many books in North Korea were obtained through trade between North Korean envoys and Liaodong, and Liaodong was an important channel for Ming Dynasty books to flow into North Korea.
For example, the envoy from North Korea saw the "Collection of Rites of the Ming Dynasty" in the Ministry of Rites. The King of North Korea attached great importance to this book and personally instructed Qian Zhenglang Jin He to get it in Liaodong. "I will send you ten pieces of linen today. Listen to Jin Xin's words and buy it." Since the Great Ming Dynasty."
The Joseon Dynasty attached great importance to books, which made Korean envoys keen on trading books in the Liaodong region. In the trade between Korean envoys and Liaodong, trade books were also very fruitful.
For example, Shi Chen Zhao Xian used one inkstone and nine fans to obtain one missing volume from the 19th volume of "The Complete Collection of Xingli" and the "Supplement to the Extensions of the Great Learning". Someone in Liaodong had a copy of "Hu San Province's Record of Insects" and wanted to sell it. After learning about it, the North Korean general made a purchase contract with the people of Liaodong, and finally bought it for fifteen pieces of linen.
In addition to books, horses, donkeys, and mules are also important items in North Korea's public trade. But there is something interesting here. Originally, North Korea was a country with many horses, but later North Korea often came to Liaodong to buy horses and livestock.
This seems to be the case: since in the early Ming Dynasty, a large number of horses were needed to recover the remnant Yuan forces and restore production in Liaodong, so the Ming Dynasty conscripted and purchased horses from North Korea many times. The Hongwu, Jianwen and Yongle dynasties all had transactions in buying horses from North Korea. In addition, horses were constantly exported to the Ming Dynasty as tribute items and trade-ins.
As a result, the purchasing power of the Ming Dynasty was too strong, so a large number of horses from North Korea were imported to the Ming Dynasty through purchase and tribute. On the one hand, it caused a sharp decline in the number of horses in North Korea. On the other hand, it caused a serious decline in the quality of horses in North Korea. Old, weak, and Most of them are horses. Over time, Liaodong horses were mostly used for border defense, so there were more good horses. However, North Korea urgently needed to trade Liaodong horses to improve the current situation of its domestic horses.
So in the 13th year of Yingzong's orthodoxy, the Korean parliamentary government issued a proposal to order Korean envoys to trade Liaodong horses, donkeys and mules. "Liaodong female horses can be used as stallions and donkeys and mules. Every year, envoys will travel during the main pilgrimage and holy festivals. He ordered the two generals to trade horses and cloth in the Yellow Sea and Ping'an Ranch. The method of raising donkeys and mules and praying for it will make them happy." The king of Joseon followed the advice of the Uijeongbu government.
During the Munjong Dynasty of Joseon, the trade of horses from Liaodong was once again proposed. The king of Joseon convened the government to discuss the matter of trading horses from Liaodong. The king of Joseon said: "The horses of Liaodong have strong trunks. I heard that many border residents of Yizhou were trading secretly. The country also went to trade. How about giving a good horse to Yi Yi and planting it in my land?"
At that time, North Korean officials firmly opposed the horse trade with Liaodong and believed that the country was not suitable for private trade. The horse and the staff are eighty, and they are sent to the army. This is a good example."
This North Korean official named Qian also pointed out that the private trade of Liaodong horses may result in the consequences of being condemned by the Ming Emperor for illicit border crossing: "Moreover, the horses of the Chinese soldiers are all official horses. If there are profit-seekers who sell them, they will be sold to the market." If this is revealed, the emperor will definitely accuse me of having an affair with the border. How will he respond?"
However, the King of Joseon did not give up trading horses because of the penalty imposed by Lianshan Pass for intercepting the horses and the serious consequences that trading Liaodong horses might bring. He still insisted on trading horses with Liaodong.
It turns out that the Ming Dynasty was very concerned about this. Not only was it strict about the trade of war horses, it even imposed strict limits on the trade of cattle, mules and other livestock.
However, after Jinghua worked hard to promote corn cultivation in Liaodong in the past two years, although the Ming Dynasty still controlled the war horse trade, it opened the door to facilitate the cattle and mule trade.
As Gao Pragmatic predicted at the beginning, with the introduction of high-yielding corn, although it is not yet fast enough to become the main food due to problems such as taste, folk planting habits, and eating habits, corn, as an excellent feed raw material, has It soon brought qualitative changes to the livestock industry in Liaodong.
In just two years, the output of cattle, donkeys, mules and other livestock in Liaodong increased by 30%, and the original barely self-sufficient situation quickly became a sufficient source of export goods.
Due to the sudden increase in civilian livestock, the military and civilians in Liaodong, in addition to quickly continuing to open up wasteland, had to export some.
The above public trade is a national task for North Korea. In addition, North Korean envoys will also trade some of the items they need. This behavior is called private trade. Private trade emerged along with public trade, and because private trade had huge profits, it accounted for an increasing proportion of envoy trade.
The private trade of North Korean envoys in Liaodong was quite serious. When Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty received a favor, he wrote to the court about the fact that the Korean envoys in Liaodong asked for too many carriages and horses to transport private trade and stayed in Liaodong for a long time: "In addition, the Yi people from Jianzhou and the accompanying ministers of Korea came out of Liaodong to pay tribute, and they often asked for too many carriages and horses. Carrying private goods, pretending to be transporting and staying in a mansion for a long time, his ambition is untamable."
At this time, the silk and colored satin of the Ming Dynasty were extremely popular in North Korea, and there was no distinction between upper and lower classes. Clothes were made of silk and colored satin, and marriages and homes were extravagant, even among poor families.
The pursuit of silk and colored satin in North Korea made silk and colored satin the main items for private trade by North Korean envoys in Liaodong. "When it comes to Liaodong, silk, colored satin and other items are traded wantonly, which is extremely obscene." "Tong When traveling to and from Liaodong, I often trade colorful silks."
The North Korean envoys' private trade in Liaodong became more and more serious, and there was even a situation where merchants went to Liaodong to do business under false names. "In addition, merchants from Beijing sneaked to the Yalu River, lured the escort troops, pretended to be agents, and went to Liaodong to do business, which made China laugh. .”
For this reason, the North Korean parliament suggested that "from now on, envoys' trips will be strictly inspected and no more than before. Their gifts and carry-on baggage should be carried according to the prescribed weight, and no more should be left over."
In the 15th year of Yongle reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the King of Korea specifically stipulated the number of items smuggled by envoys sent to Liaodong: "The number of items smuggled by envoys sent to Liaodong shall be in accordance with the regulations for the envoys to Beijing."
However, the introduction of restrictive measures has little effect on restricting North Korean envoys from conducting private trade in Liaodong. The private trade of North Korean envoys in Liaodong is still very popular: "Officials from the Translation Institute who serve as envoys to Liaodong will take merchants as their companions, carry a lot of cloth, and sell it wherever they want."
The official slaves, soldiers and civilians of Yizhou were also entrusted by wealthy businessmen in Beijing and Kaesong Prefecture, and they also sneaked into Liaodong secretly outside of their missions: "Moreover, the official slaves, soldiers and civilians of Yizhou were mostly entrusted by wealthy businessmen in Beijing and Kaesong Prefecture, and every day After a few trips to Beijing, he was implicated in sneaking to Liaodong, where he exchanged items for Tang Dynasty."
The Korean court was deeply worried about this. "If this continues, profit-seeking people will come and go one after another, and there will definitely be people who cheat and fight to cause trouble to the country above. It's not a small matter."
All in all, North Korea's domestic pursuit of Ming Dynasty goods ensured that North Korean envoys always had a market for private trade in Liaodong.
In recent years, Gao Jinggong has started the tussah silk industry in Liaodong. The tussah silk, which is slightly less colorful than silk but relatively cheap but more durable, is also extremely popular in North Korea and has become a favorite of the North Korean middle class.
According to Jinghua’s statistics this year, the total price of tussah silk “exported” from Jinghua to North Korea alone will soon reach as high as 130,000 taels. The absolute value of this amount may not be high in the Ming Dynasty, but considering the size of North Korea , that would be quite astonishing.
The third category is prohibited trade. In order to maintain military security, the Ming Dynasty strictly prohibited foreigners from privately trading military supplies in the Ming Dynasty. However, North Korean envoys ignored the Ming Dynasty's prohibition and conducted trade secretly. North Korean officials called this trade "hidden trade", while the Ming Dynasty called it "prohibited trade."
Hidden trade mainly focuses on military supplies such as bows, horns, and gunpowder. North Korea does not produce bow horns, smoke gunpowder, etc., and relies entirely on the Ming Dynasty. "The horns required for bow materials are not produced in the country, but rely on the superior country." When Liaodong asked about the source of North Korea's gunpowder, the North Korean envoy also said Frankly replied that Shangguo was the only source of gunpowder for North Korea.
The trade of bows and horns was relatively free for a time. Later, due to the Mongolian and Jurchen invasions, the Ming court banned the trade of ironware, bows and horns.
The Ming court resolutely cracked down on prohibited trade and formulated severe measures to punish lawbreakers. For example, Ma Wensheng, the right minister of the Ministry of War of Xianzong Dynasty, suggested that pedestrians should escort the barbarians from the northeast who paid tribute out of the country, and ban their weapons from the city, and those who violated the rules would be sent to the frontier. Xianzong followed Ma Wensheng's suggestion and increased the penalties for trading prohibited items.
However, the Ming court's severe punitive measures did not prevent the occurrence of prohibited trade. The Liaodong region has never been a pure land. There are also a large number of prohibited trades by North Korean envoys in the Liaodong region. "... all the prohibited goods are easily exchanged."
Moreover, under the high pressure of strictly prohibiting prohibited trade, prohibited trade is carried out in a more covert manner in Liaodong. For example, in the 23rd year of Chenghua, Liu Xun, the North Korean envoy to celebrate the Qianqiu Festival of the Ming Dynasty Crown Prince, and his party privately bought bow horns in Liaodong.
And when the Ming Dynasty ushered in a new era of "private military industry", this kind of prohibited trade became even more difficult to ban. The key here is that although the private military enterprises after the private military industry have to accept the supervision of the Ministry of War and other yamen, they can directly "freely supply weapons to the yamen, guards, etc." at all levels in the Ming Dynasty.
This is troublesome. As we all know, the Ming Dynasty's army is not entirely an "economic army". There are also a large number of servant troops allowed by the imperial court. There are especially many servants in Liaodong. After these servants purchased weapons and equipment from Jinghua and other private military companies, they then quietly sold them to North Korea. It was really no psychological burden at all.
In particular, the muskets and gunpowder produced by Jinghua are hard currencies in private trade with North Korea, and their prices usually more than double, making them extremely popular.
In fact, North Korea still wants to buy Jinghua's artillery. Unfortunately, this is different from muskets. The Ministry of War inspects them very strictly, and each artillery piece has a serial number. Therefore, North Korea can only quietly obtain a very small number of second-hand cannons, which are from some servant troops. Reported "battle damage".
As for the expropriation trade...it's a bit difficult to call it trade.
The local specialties brought by Korean envoys to the Ming Dynasty usually included ginseng, oil jellyfish, fans, white tissue paper, pen and ink, white rice, bows and other items. Among them, ginseng, white rice and other items are of high quality, and oily beans, fans, bows and other items are also very finely made.
Excellent quality and good craftsmanship make North Korea's local products deeply loved by the people of Liaodong. Even local officials in Liaodong have a soft spot for some North Korea's local products: "I heard that your country's copper bowls and white porcelain bowls are exquisitely made." , the body is pure and clean, if I want to see it, I must give it to you as the prime minister."
The word "send" is very accurate. The "trade" between Liaodong officials and North Korean envoys is obviously an unequal exchange. The result of this "expropriation trade" is usually that local officials in Liaodong get the items requested for trade, while The North Korean envoys on the other side of the trade did not receive due compensation.
This is of course not that the North Korean envoys took the initiative to ignore trade remuneration, but that the local officials in Liaodong on the other side of the trade were the holders of power and had the power to send vehicles, appoint companions and deliver food to the North Korean envoys. Therefore, this kind of "exquisition for trade" was just The helplessness of the North Korean envoys under the heavy pressure of the power of local officials in the Ming Dynasty was not so much trade as extortion of bribes. (I won’t elaborate on this without giving examples. I will write about it during the war to aid Korea.)
In short, under these trades, Ming Dynasty had a large trade surplus with North Korea. North Korea's goods had to trade quantity for quality because of insufficient trade added value, providing Ming Dynasty, especially Liaodong, with a large amount of raw materials, medicinal materials, etc.
Judging from the current situation, most of these things went directly to Yizhou and into the southeast of Liaodong, while the other part went to Dong'e's tribe and entered Fushun Pass into eastern Liaodong. Therefore, Dong'e's tribe had enough financial resources to maintain resistance against Nurhachi.
Cao Yan followed the pragmatic approach of suppressing Nurhachi's Suksu River Guard Department and believed that once Nurhaci captured the Dong'e Department, he could basically dominate the Fushun Pass trade and officially become one of the three Jurchen powers alongside Yehe and Hada. One of the chiefs.
Of course, this was something Gao Pragmatic could not agree to, so Cao Yan could not accept it either. He insisted that Nurhachi must be allowed to withdraw from Wengguo Luocheng and the territory of Dong E's tribe, and vowed not to invade Dong E again without the permission of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Li Song was the governor of Liaodong, and Cao Yu, the deputy general, was just a general. He was quickly criticized by Li Futai, "It's winter, there was a bloody battle at Beiguan, and the military supplies and food supplies are insufficient, how can we have Jianzhou with prestige?" And refuse.
Cao Yu expressed his dissatisfaction, believing that after the Battle of Northern Liaoning, the Ming army was threatening a great victory, and Nurhaci would not dare to confront it rashly. All it took for Liaoyang to make a gesture on this matter was to force Nurhaci to retreat. As for military supplies and food supplies, how did Nurhachi know whether they were sufficient or insufficient?
However, Li Song refused to listen and only said, "In military and national affairs, the best thing is to be cautious." It just so happened that Li Chengliang's letter also arrived, stating that he was aware of the dispute between the Sukesu Huhe Tribe and the Dong'e Tribe. However, he found that there had been a lot of Chahar and Horqin Tribe horse patrols in the Liaohe Hetao area recently. Considering the border wall in the Liaohe Hetao area, The project has not yet started, and the defense of the area is very tight. He plans to personally lead troops to expel and suppress them, so east of the Liao River cannot act rashly to avoid being attacked from both sides.
Cao Yan was furious when he heard this. Although he did not dare to direct his anger to Li Futai, he immediately wrote a memorial after returning, asking the Ministry of War to make a decision and the emperor to make a decision.
Therefore, Gao Yingshi, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, received the summons again, and together with a group of cabinet ministers and Liang Menglong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, went to the Wenhua Hall to meet the saint.
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