Man Gui entered the duty room without calling for any soldiers. He went to the back room and took out two pottery jars, then took off the cloth hijab tied loosely with hemp rope.
Zheng Haizhu came closer and smelled it, and his expression became more relaxed.
Mangui, in fact, it is impossible to be indifferent to this mellow fragrance.
He had been a soldier at the Datong border for so many years, and he could tell by the smell of good wine and vinegar.
Mangui went to the table to find a clean tea cup and handed it to Zheng Haizhu.
The lady took two sips, and her words became more and more admiring: "It has been left like this, unsealed, for several months, and it is still so sour. Not only is it not astringent, but the sweetness of the aftertaste is not weak either. Zhu Tinghua knows how to compose music."
"Yes, these princes and grandsons have seen a lot since they were young, and they don't understand anything."
"Come on, Mangui, stop being so weird," Zheng Haizhu said gently, "Now for the more important things, in addition to sweet potatoes, sorghum can also be grown well in this land outside the Great Wall. Captain Zhu knows how to make music and brew wine.
Vinegar is fine, and I should be a good winemaker. Outer Mongolia and Rakshasa are hard-boiled meats and are cold all year round, so they must be craving for spirits and vinegar."
When Mangui heard his wife mentioning Daning's future livelihood, he changed his tone and asked: "Rakshasa, is that what the lady said, the Maozi Kingdom that hires Cossack cavalry?"
"Yes. Mangui, I can finally exert some official authority this year. I stared at Honglu Temple to deal with old affairs, and then I realized that in the year of our Fushun defense battle, Mao Ziguo sent Cossacks to Beijing to face them.
To see Master Wanli, it is necessary to open and close the mutual market. However, Maoziguo is not as familiar with the credentials of the envoys as Frankie and the Hongyi people. There are not even any nobles from the country in the envoys. I, the Ming Dynasty, paid little attention to them and rewarded them.
Get some silver and silk and send them away."
Mangui rolled his eyes and said: "The Mongols, in the exchange market, trade horses with us for things. What can we exchange for these hairs?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "Fur and food. The fact that Maozi's Cossack envoys were able to translate from Transkarkha and Junggar to Beijing shows that their power has crossed the Ural Mountains. And there are a large number of foxes in the Yuerhai area.
After mink, otter, lynx and furry took over the place, mountains of furs piled up and they needed to find sellers."
Another replacement product coveted by the Russians, Zheng Haizhu did not need to talk to Man Guido, who was not in charge of economic work.
Old documents from Honglu Temple show that when they met Emperor Wanli a few years ago, the Russians wanted to exchange from the Ming Dynasty not only tea, porcelain, textiles, but also silver.
When Zheng Haizhu first saw this record, he immediately grabbed hold of this old matter, dragged Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and ran to the imperial court to "beat" the emperor, saying that fortunately the envoys who came to negotiate were not high enough, so the matter was settled.
In the future foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty, we must not easily agree to barter with silver.
When Zhu Changluo was confused, Bi Shangshu explained from the perspective of the "Minister of Finance" that after the reform of Zhang Juzheng's one-whip law, all taxes and salaries in the Ming Dynasty were paid in silver, and the value of private copper plates also formed a discount relationship with silver. But in the Ming Dynasty, apart from
There were very few silver-producing places in Yunnan. After Longqing's reign, the silver gap was mainly solved by Yuegang, Haojing, Ningbo and other places or official or smuggling ports, where the French and Japanese imported silver.
The Frankians mined silver from America in the New World, and Japan had its own silver mines.
Zheng Haizhu continued Bi Ziyan's words and warned Zhu Changluo that in the next few years, if the Dutch cut off the sea routes of the Francois, and if the Japanese closed the country and banned sea trade, the Ming Dynasty would be cut off from the source of silver imports.
If there is less money within the country, the people will be unable to pay taxes and the government will be unable to pay salaries. The ratio of copper plates to silver will also depreciate, which will inevitably cause the prices of grain, rice, and cloth to skyrocket.
There is no need to throw out the concept of "financial crisis" in later generations. The emperor also understood that Zheng Siqing's worries were very reasonable.
If a country has no long-term worries, it must have immediate worries.
The Ming Dynasty, which spends money like water, firstly, must keep the money in its pockets tight; secondly, it must take advantage of the stable maritime order in the past few years to open more ports to make money; thirdly, it must use force and diplomacy to
External radiation control, newly occupied silver mines and other resource producing areas.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu put the vinegar bowl on the table, sat down and said to Man Gui: "So, I came to the outside of the Great Wall this time, and I have another sacred mission. I can't let the old-fashioned civil servants in the capital know about it, but I must communicate with him.
The border ministers guarding Daning made it clear that in the future, not only the Mongols but also the Rakshasa people would be used on the trade routes in this area. We would exchange tea, wine and vinegar with them for furs and wheat. If they were removed from the Franchis
The silver obtained there can also be exchanged for us in the mutual market. Finally, once the Maozi are inseparable from our Ming Dynasty's various products, we can use business channels and martial arts to let them go east to suppress Nurhachi's Eight Banners."
As Mangui listened, something suddenly occurred to him.
"Madam, that's just right. You can bring Mr. Zhu to Mr. Huang's place. Ah, this is a government-run vinegar workshop in the majestic city of Daning. They can make a lot of vinegar. Oh, and they can also make wine.
, pick up the Mongols and Rakshasa people."
Zheng Haizhu grinned and joked: "That's right, if he wants to be the Jealous King, you don't have to be the Jealous King."
…
Before the roast lamb feast in the evening, Zheng Haizhu met He Zhuo who was rushing back from the farm.
In the past two years, from being a trusted maid of the Mongolian Khan's concubine to a female general at the Han border, He Zhuo's original aloof and stern aristocratic demeanor was replaced by a return to simplicity but a brighter military temperament.
In her almost simple felt tent, at a glance, the only things that could be related to the word "bright" were two robes hanging on a birch frame.
One was a yellow-hued Songjiang cloth robe lined with chinchilla skin that Zheng Haizhu had sewn for her. The other looked even more beautiful, an orange-red fox fur cloak.
When He Zhuo saw Zheng Haizhu's eyes falling on the fox fur, he said bluntly: "I saved it from hunting in Mangui. I sewed it according to the stitching method taught by my wife."
Zheng Haizhu's mouth showed a few hints of her aunt's smile.
The word "continuously" is used accurately.
The red foxes on the grassland are not very big. To sew such a large cloak to keep out the cold, it would take seven or eight foxes to sew it together.
There is no color difference at all.
Then you have to put a lot of thought into hunting foxes.
It’s hard for Man Gui, a fighter among straight men.
"He Zhuo, you've already put on your big cloak, so when are you going to put on your wedding clothes? I've brought all the emperor's congratulatory gifts from the capital."
He Zhuo brought the brewed milk tea to Zheng Haizhu to warm her hands, but her expression was a bit colder.
"Madam, you are a sensible person. I don't want to trick you, but I can't. Man Gui is good to me, but if he even says a few words to me and the man next to me to show off my face, I don't want to really do it.
to be husband and wife with him."
He Zhuo said very firmly.
He looked up and saw Zheng Haizhu looking at him with some determination. He Zhuo thought that Madam thought she was ungrateful and had crossed the river and burned the bridge. He Zhuo quickly added: "Madam, don't worry, I, He Zhuo, will hold grudges and be grateful. Madam, I will not become a fool."
Concubine, I will definitely repay Madam. There are some old generals in our Yehe tribe who do not want to be slaves for the Jianzhou tribe. When Nurhachi captured Shuangcheng, they fled westward and scattered among the small tribes in Mongolia. I
Willing to contact you."
Zheng Haizhu said warmly: "Yes, I hope that you and Man Gui will become husband and wife. It is true that I am interested in your status as Ye He's noble daughter. But if you don't want to marry General Man Gui, I will not force you to marry him."
You, otherwise, what's the difference between me and that scumbag little prince who designed you to practice dual cultivation?"
He Zhuo bit his lip gently.
The lady spoke openly and soothed her previous anxiety.
Understanding that no new shackles were imposed on him, He Zhuo suddenly felt a little regretful.
When she was hesitating about how to speak, she heard the lady's tone become softer and softer: "He Zhuo, let me ask one more question, are you attracted to the man next to you?"
"No," He Zhuo blurted out, and then sighed softly, "I know that I am not attracted to the man next to me. But I don't know whether I am attracted to General Man."
"Don't think about it in a hurry. Just follow me and go east to Haraqin. I need Yehe people like you who can speak Mongolian."