This is the most magnificent palace in the Ming Dynasty, where the emperor lived. Ministers from the six cabinet ministries and the British Duke Zhang Weixian gathered here again.
"During my expedition, thanks to the hard work of all your ministers, the capital was as stable as usual. You are all indispensable!"
All the ministers shouted in unison:
"It all depends on His Majesty's great blessings. I don't dare to take the credit!"
Zhu Youxiao, who was sitting on the dragon throne of the Imperial Palace, spoke again:
"In this northern expedition, our Ming Dynasty severely damaged the Monan Mongolian tribe. After this battle, Monan Mongolia will inevitably usher in a great split again. There will be no major wars in the northern border towns within five years!"
"The split of Monan Mongolia is good news for us, the Mobei tribe, and even the slaves. They will not let go of this best opportunity to take advantage of the fire, and every split will inevitably usher in A new unity and integration.”
"We cannot be complacent just because of this victory. Although Northern Xinjiang has been tentatively decided, we still need to take action in order to prevent other tribes or Jiannu from taking advantage of the opportunity to become bigger!"
"Uncle Da Zong!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ruitu, the Minister of Rites, immediately came out of the queue and bowed:
"I'm here!"
Zhu Youxiao looked at him and said:
"The Ministry of Rites immediately prepares envoys and edicts to go to Monan, Mobei tribes, as well as Tumut and Tatar in the northwest. These people must be eloquent, bold and careful!"
"The envoys sent to Monan Mongolia are particularly important. The candidates must be carefully selected, and more documents should be prepared to persuade the leaders to lead their troops to join the Ming Dynasty!"
"Tell them, as long as they are willing to lead their troops to join my Ming Dynasty, and if they make military exploits in the future, I can grant them the title of king and guard them outside the pass. If there are still those who are stubborn and want to fight against my Ming Dynasty soldiers, let them clean their necks and so on. With my cavalry and saber!"
"May I ask, Your Majesty, how should we send envoys from other tribes?"
They all understand the idea of sending envoys to Monan Mongolia. Their strength is greatly reduced now, and the Ming Dynasty is threatening a great victory. It is indeed a good time to win over them. I believe no one dares to openly refuse at this time!
"Our goal this time is to divide and win over Monan Mongolia. Naturally, others will not let go of such a good thing and will be jealous of it. Therefore, the mission of the envoys sent to Mobei and Tatar, Tumut, is to warn them. , calm their eager hearts!"
Wang Xiangqian frowned, stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, the two Mongolian tribes in the northwest may not dare to move due to the power of our Ming Dynasty, but the Khalkha and Oara tribe in Mobei are not sure. They are thousands of miles away from our Ming Dynasty. I am afraid they will not Because in just one or two words, you should be honest and do your duty!”
Wang Xiangqian's thinking was indeed correct. Although the Ming Dynasty won a great victory in this battle, it was far from reaching the point where others would be frightened by the news.
"I also know what Yuan Fu is worried about, but if we don't express our position, they will have no scruples. Our purpose is not to make them surrender, but to make them put their hands and feet on guard before they act!"
Wang Xiangqian thought it made sense, so he bowed and replied:
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
After Wang Xiangqian retreated, Zhu Youxiao said again:
"Uncle Zong, do you understand everything I said?"
"I understand that I will not disappoint Your Majesty!"
For Zhang Ruitu, this is a good opportunity for him to stand out and make contributions. As long as this is done well, his career will be smooth in the future. Although he already holds a high position, the position of minister cannot satisfy him now.
"My harvest this time was also quite fruitful, and I brought back a lot of war horses and cows!"
When he was in Miyun, Zhu Youxiao did a simple calculation and found that there were probably more than 8,000 heads.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Cheng Guoxiang with a smile and said:
"Da Si Nong!"
Cheng Guoxiang immediately stepped forward and bowed to wait for the emperor's order.
"Choose a place around the capital that is suitable for breeding and breeding, and build a factory to raise cows. The bigger the factory, the better. All these cows will be placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and no one else has the right to interfere!"
"Your Majesty, are these cows raised by the imperial court?"
Zhu Youxiao understood Cheng Guoxiang's doubts, because the matter of raising cattle had always been done by the people, and the court basically would not ask about it.
"Yes, these are fine cows. They are in their prime. They must be able to produce many calves."
"According to my understanding, there has always been a serious shortage of cattle for farming among the people, which has also made it difficult for people to farm. There are even cases where dozens of households have to raise one cow."
"This situation must be changed. At least the people must have cattle available for farming!"
Cheng Guoxiang immediately replied:
"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to benefit the people. It's actually that raising cattle is very expensive, and ordinary people don't have the money to buy cattle. The families of the wealthy gentry are not short of cattle. When the time comes, this Aren’t cows a hot potato?”
"Da Sinong is right, but this matter is not unsolvable. People don't have extra money to buy it, so why can't the imperial court find another way? How about leasing it to them?"
"Your Majesty, is it absolutely impossible?"
As soon as Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, Cheng Guoxiang said nervously.
"Why not?"
"Your Majesty, this method of leasing has not been used before, but in the end it always ended in failure and the court ended up losing money. Does your Majesty know why?"
"It is true that the imperial court rented cattle to benefit the people. But because of this, the common people did not cherish the rented cattle at all. In their eyes, the cattle did not belong to them, but to the court. So whether the cattle died or not No matter what happens, it has nothing to do with them."
Yes, the common people nowadays are immature and have no concept of nation or country at all. For them, as long as they live well, it has nothing to do with whether the court is good or bad. But if they live badly, it will Put all the blame on the government.
In this era of family rule, as long as the interests of others are violated, they will immediately rise up to resist. Whether it is the cannibal gentry or the cannibalized peasants, they are all the same.
These peasants were not any more noble than the gentry, but the gentry were well-read in poetry and books, and their methods were much smarter and more cunning than them.
One of the biggest problems in the late Ming Dynasty was tax evasion, but this tax evasion was not limited to the landlords and gentry. Farmers also escaped. They could legally evade taxes by listing their land in the names of famous literati.
And this is also the origin of interest groups. Over time, these forces have become intertwined. You lead me and I lead you, and naturally they are tied together because of their interests.
It is also one of the reasons for land annexation. Everyone thinks that the gentry and landlords took it from the people. Although this is also true, it is more likely that these illiterate farmers came to their doorsteps.
They put the land in the names of those literati, so they did not need to pay taxes to the court, but they became tenant slaves of those people for generations to come!
If ordinary people rented cattle, they would probably drive the cattle to farm day and night, and in the end they would have to tire the cattle to death.