"Horses have no role among the Mongolian people? How is this possible?" Zhu Biao exclaimed.
Yes, how is this possible? Old Zhu lowered his head and said in a deep voice. What the Meng Yuan people were most proud of was the grand occasion of "Shuofang's cavalry is as numerous as ants" and "There is no city in the vast northwest, and millions of strings are controlled and run rampant". These are all
It is inseparable from war horses.
Han Du now actually said that horses did not play as big a role as cattle and sheep in the lives of the Mongolian people. Are you sure he is not talking nonsense?
Seeing that Han Du didn't look confused, Lao Zhu lowered his face and said, "Continue, why do you think horses are not important to the Mongolian people?"
"The Mongolian people rode horses mainly for the convenience of grazing. Even in their minds, horses can't even keep up with cattle. At least cattle can not only produce milk, but they can also carry heavy loads when being relocated."
"Can't horses also produce milk?" Zhu Biao was a little confused after hearing this.
Han Du smiled and said: "Horses can also produce milk, which is good, but they produce so little milk that they are nothing compared to cattle and sheep."
Later, Han Du continued: "The Mongolian people mainly live on the milk of cows and goats, and they almost have enough for horses. As long as we don't buy their horses, they will hardly choose to take the initiative to feed the horses.
Because they did not feed one more horse, it meant that they had to reduce the number of cattle and sheep, which was very uneconomical for the Mongolian people." ??
"If we don't buy horses, they won't feed them." Zhu Biao smacked Han Du's words twice and suddenly said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean that if we bought their horses in large quantities in the past, they would feed them in large quantities?"
"It's exactly what the prince said!" Han Du smiled and nodded.
Lao Zhu's face turned completely dark. He used to think that the Ming Dynasty secretly purchased horses from the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Firstly, it could weaken the number of the Mongolian Yuan cavalry. Secondly, it could train the Ming Dynasty's cavalry. It could be described as killing two birds with one stone.
But now it seems that when he was laughing at the Meng Yuan people for being stupid, I am afraid that the Meng Yuan people were also laughing at him for being stupid. The more Ming Dynasty bought, the more Meng Yuan raised them.
You must know that the price of horses is not low. One horse costs dozens of coins, and war horses are even more expensive.
I am afraid that the horses bought by the Ming Dynasty are not as many as the ones raised by the Meng Yuan. This is equivalent to the Meng Yuan using the money of the Ming Dynasty to increase the number of their own war horses.
No wonder the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry attacked more and more, just like the spring breeze blowing again.
Han Du continued: "When we are trading with Meng Yuan, it is best to mention the prices of their cattle and sheep."
Lao Zhu raised his eyes and looked at Han Du. If he hadn't known that Han Du was his son-in-law, he would have doubted whether Han Du was a lobbyist sent by Meng Yuan. Of course, Ming Dynasty would make a lot of money by opening the mutual market and doing transactions.
, how can you take the initiative to raise prices for Meng Yuan? Isn't this just turning your elbows outward?
Zhu Biao was also very puzzled, "The goods of the Ming Dynasty are in short supply for the Mongolian Yuan. It is enough to open a mutual market. There is no need to raise the price."
Han Du shook his head and objected: "No, if His Royal Highness wants to solve the grassland tribes once and for all, he must raise the price for them."
Lao Zhu frowned and cursed dissatisfiedly: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Han Du was not worried about being scolded by Lao Zhu at all, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please listen to me first."
Lao Zhu restrained his anger and said something through his teeth: "Tell me, I want to hear your fallacy today."
"Everything in the world is for profit, and everything in the world is for profit." After Han Du said something, he continued: "Everyone is seeking profit, and the Mongolian people are no exception. As long as we raise the prices of cattle and sheep
, the benefits of raising a cow are equal to, or even exceed, that of a horse. Then who else would raise a horse? Aren’t they all raising cattle and sheep?”
Raising cattle and sheep is much easier than raising horses. Since the values are the same, it is better to raise cattle and sheep than to raise horses.
"As long as the Mongolian people can exchange cattle and sheep for enough food, within twenty years, no one will raise horses on the grassland. The grassland tribes on horseback can control millions of people and intimidate them.
The world. But what threat does a grassland tribe that only raises cattle and sheep have?"
A grassland tribe that only raises cattle and sheep is nothing, not even a fart. Lao Zhu's face turned red with excitement, and he felt that his chest was blocked by a suffocation, and he could not speak.
He raised his finger and pointed at Han Du, and after clicking again and again, he said: "Your plan is really vicious!"
"Huh!" Han Du looked at Lao Zhu with an innocent face, fearing that Lao Zhu would misunderstand him, so he quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is not my idea. I am just borrowing the wisdom of my predecessors and copying others' wisdom."
It took a lot of effort for Han Du to leave an honest and responsible impression in front of Lao Zhu. No matter what, he could never make Lao Zhu think that he was scheming and treacherous.
However, now that Lao Zhu has seen Han Du's vicious tricks, how can he still believe his words as easily as before?
I saw Lao Zhu looking at Han Du meaningfully, with a sneer at the corner of his mouth: "The old wisdom of the predecessors? How come I didn't know that the predecessors had such a strategy? If the predecessors had used it, I'm afraid I wouldn't be worried about the grassland tribes now.
."
Han Du cried out in his heart that he was wronged, and eager to prove to Lao Zhu that he was still the innocent young boy, he quickly said: "Who said it wasn't? Guan Zhong has used it, and I also learned it from Guan Zhong."
"Guan Zhong?" Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao looked at Han Du in confusion.
Of course they knew that Guan Zhong was a respected name and prime minister, but they really didn't know that Guan Zhong had ever used such a trick.
In order to wash away the image of himself being too ruthless, Han Du had to explain patiently: "At that time, Chu was strong and both were weak. It was not easy for Guan Zhong to destroy Chu, at least from the front. But Guan Zhong was able to annex Chu from the state of Chu.
The underdeveloped economy started to weaken its power. The Chu State was mostly mountainous, and many civilians were hunters. It was rich in wild deer, so Guan Zhong sent people to purchase Chu State’s deer in large quantities at high prices, thus triggering a wave of deer hunting in the Chu State.
As a result, the people of Chu State went to the mountains and fields to hunt and gave up cultivating the fields, resulting in a significant reduction in food production.
At this time, Guan Zhong purchased a large amount of grain from surrounding countries, cutting off Chu's retreat. A year later, Chu fell into a problem of food and clothing, and hungry people emerged in large numbers, causing considerable domestic turmoil.
Seeing that the time had come, Guan Zhong asked Duke Huan of Qi to send troops to attack, and the result was a great victory. From then on, the state of Chu was in ruins and could no longer pose a threat to Qi."
This incident was recorded in the history books, and both Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao had seen it. But when they saw it at first, they were amazed by Guan Zhong's plan.
Then, there is no more. Put it aside and it is difficult to think of it.
After all, the concept of "trade dispute" was too advanced, and it was difficult for both Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao to understand. They only thought that Guan Zhong's plan was a coincidence.
Now when he heard Han Du mention it, and combined with the strategy Han Du had just proposed, Lao Zhu suddenly realized it. He stood up and pointed at Han Du with a look of shock: "You, you"
Han Du nodded helplessly and said: "I was inspired by Guan Zhong's strategy and did the opposite. Guan Zhong wasted the fertile fields of Chu State, collected the grain at a high price, and then depleted it. And I
It is to waste the most important combat power of the Meng Yuan to support the war horses, and then encourage them to raise cattle and sheep, and to appease them with food. In fact, it is the same, they are all taking advantage of people's desire for profit and wasting their important combat power."
Lao Zhu stared at Han Du blankly for a while, then couldn't help but raise his hands and applaud, praising: "Good, good strategy, good strategy. If you can integrate the wisdom of the ancients and do the opposite, you can also achieve your goal. Han Du
, based on this alone, you are enough to assist the country!"
When Zhu Biao heard this, he looked at his father in shock and saw that his father was full of joy and didn't look like he was joking at all. The words "auxiliary to the country" can be said to be as important as a thousand pieces. His father believed that Han Du was enough to help the country, that is to say.
, if the Ministry of Education is still there, Han Du can be the prime minister.
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao's heart was filled with ups and downs. After all, his father was old. Even if Han Du had talents to assist the country, his father could not use them and could only leave them to himself.
In fact, Zhu Biao had already seen his father's purpose. In these years, Han Du's achievements were no less than before he was granted the title of marquis, and even more than before he was granted the title of marquis.
Logically speaking, Han Du's merits would have been enough to make him a Duke.
However, the father insisted on suppressing Han Du and refused to make him a duke again and again. He just wanted to leave Han Du to himself and let him personally make Han Du a duke.
"Your Majesty has given you too much praise, and I will never be worthy of it." Han Du was flattered and bowed down. Han Du didn't care about those who helped the country or not.
What Han Du cares about is not to let Lao Zhu misunderstand him.
Han Du knew that Lao Zhu also had the idea in his heart that the greater his ability, the greater the harm if he could not use it. If Lao Zhu felt that he was a scheming person, then he would not think that he was usually law-abiding.
Is it all an act?
Lao Zhu was so excited that he couldn't control himself. He walked down quickly, pulled Han Du and said: "Come, make a good plan for me, how to open this mutual market, and what to trade."
Han Du nodded and started discussing it with Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao without delaying.
"What? You want to sell a lot of iron pots to the grassland?" Lao Zhu stared at Han Du with wide eyes, a little unhappy.
In the trade with the grasslands, ironware is undoubtedly the most sensitive thing. The Central Plains Dynasty has always strictly prohibited the flow of ironware into the grasslands. Although such a prohibition does not prevent some people from secretly trading with the grasslands, at least it is on the surface.
forbidden.
Han Du smiled and said: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty and the grassland have been fighting for so many years, and we have a bloody feud with each other. Now we don't want to fight. If we want to open trade with them, we have to do it."
First show some sincerity. Iron pots are the most lacking thing in the grassland. Only by showing this will the grassland tribes believe that we are really going to open a mutual market."
Lao Zhu hesitated and said reluctantly: "The salt is also something that the grassland tribes lack. I agree to sell salt to them. Isn't that enough to show my sincerity? What if they use the iron pot to cast weapons?"
The grassland is short of iron, and it also lacks iron-making craftsmanship and craftsmen.
This directly led to the fact that although the Meng Yuan cavalry were extremely ferocious, most of the arrows they used were not made of iron, but mostly made of wolf fangs and the like. Only the former Bei Yuan Jingqi used arrows made of iron.
It's a steel sword and an iron arrow.
Han Du smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if mutual trade can be opened, there will be no war at the border for at least ten years. And with the speed at which the Ming Ordnance Bureau manufactures firearms, ten years will be enough for the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops to be equipped with firearms. With revolvers
With the ferocity of the divine thunderbolts, even if the Meng Yuan people forged iron pots into weapons, what would they do?"
Lao Zhu thought about it carefully and realized that once everyone in the Ming Dynasty was equipped with divine thunder blunderbuss, what else would they be afraid of with bows and arrows? Kill as many as they come.
"Okay, I agree, what else? You continue."
"I think there are two more things that must be traded to the grassland tribes." Han Du said seriously.
Having had the experience of the iron pot, Lao Zhu would not be shocked at all if any shocking words came out of Han Du's mouth. He nodded and said, "Just tell me what it is."
"Liquor and sugar." Han Du said seriously.
These two things were completely beyond Lao Zhu's expectation, and he asked doubtfully: "What are these two things for?"
Han Du chuckled and said: "Strong alcohol can corrode people's minds. The grassland is bitter and cold. In such an environment, people's dependence on strong alcohol will become more serious. As long as the senior leaders of the grassland tribe are immersed in the strong alcohol that brings them every day,
In the warmth of the world, can they still think of invading the Ming Dynasty?"
"As for sugar, your Majesty may not think it is inconspicuous. But its corrosive effect on people's minds is even greater than that of strong alcohol."
"As long as we allow the people of the grassland tribes to raise more cattle and sheep, and no longer raise horses, and let the senior leaders of the grassland tribes immerse themselves in enjoyment, then from now on the grassland will no longer pose any threat to the Ming Dynasty."
"When the time comes, we can also send teachers to set up county schools so that the descendants of the grassland tribes can learn Chinese characters and speak Chinese. When they grow up, even if someone says that they are not from the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid they will not agree."
"Even then, we can treat the grassland people as the common people of the Ming Dynasty, promote officials from among them, recruit soldiers, and let them fight for the Ming Dynasty and expand the territory!"
The more Lao Zhu listened, the more he smiled and couldn't help but applaud. From opening mutual markets and weakening the power of the grassland tribes through purposeful transactions, until through step-by-step cannibalization and assimilation, the entire grassland was included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Even people on the grassland can speak Chinese and write Chinese characters, and they have become Ming people. So what threat does the grassland pose to the Ming Dynasty?
Not only did it completely eradicate the threat to the Ming Dynasty from the grasslands, but it also helped Ming Dynasty gain a powerful army with one stone. Based on the once fierce Mongolian Yuan people and the Ming Dynasty's superb military equipment, such an army was enough to sweep across all directions.