"Sir, in Qin, besides wheat and cotton, tobacco is most grown." The man raised his head and looked at Zhong Jinwei and replied.
"What, what did you say, tobacco?" When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he suspected that his ears had heard it wrong, and quickly confirmed again.
Before the emergence of opium and other drugs, tobacco was the most poisonous thing to mankind. But although this thing is harmful to people, a large number of people are still smoking it, including many big shots. They also know that this thing is not good for the body, so they can still smoke it. .
Among people of this era, Zhong Jinwei is probably the one who knows the magic of tobacco best. He did not expect that tobacco cultivation would also occur in the Ming Dynasty at this time, and the fertile land that was used to grow food was used to grow tobacco, which really surprised him.
"Yes, sir, at your speed, if you go one day further, you will probably see someone growing tobacco. If you go to the Hanzhong area, all the people growing tobacco will be there, and there will be no wheat growing at all. "
This man's answer left Zhong Jinwei speechless. He didn't expect that tobacco cultivation had begun on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty.
What Zhong Jinwei didn't know was that tobacco was introduced from Luzon to the Ming Dynasty around the third year of Wanli. The famous missionary Matteo Ricci brought snuff into the Ming Dynasty, causing an explosion in the number of smokers. At this time, the Hanzhong Plain was already It is one of the largest tobacco-producing areas in Ming Dynasty.
"Are you serious?" Zhong Jinwei's question seemed feeble. He knew in his heart that this man would definitely not lie to him.
"Common people don't dare to deceive your lord." As he said that, the man wanted to kneel down, thinking that the Marquis thought he was a liar.
"Forget it, I'll bother you." After Zhong Jinwei said that, he stopped staying, took the reins and continued on his way.
This man said that there will be tobacco planting ahead, so you will know for yourself if you go there and take a look.
Ma Xianglin was very surprised when he saw that Zhong Jinwei's mood had changed a lot before and after the questioning. After catching up with Zhong Jinwei, he asked: "Master Marquis, what is this tobacco? I have never heard of it before."
He knew that it must be the tobacco that caused Marquis Zhongxing's mood changes, so he asked directly about the tobacco.
"That's right, my subordinates haven't heard of it. Lord Marquis, can you tell us about it?" Seeing that Zhong Jinwei was in a bad mood, Gu Baichuan came over to join in the fun, hoping to get Zhong Jinwei to talk and get him to talk and his mood would improve.
Seeing them asking, Zhong Jinwei said to them: "Tobacco may have some medicinal value, but more importantly it has a boosting effect, but it can be addictive and has strong side effects. It is not like tea. , as long as you don’t drink it excessively, it’s not harmful to the human body, but actually beneficial.”
As soon as Gu Baichuan heard this, he asked again: "Master Hou..."
Zhong Jinwei shook his head at him and said, "Let's go on our way first. I'm going to check out the situation. I'll talk to you slowly later."
Since Zhong Jinwei said so, they had no choice but to follow Zhong Jinwei and speed up.
As expected, that man did not deceive Zhong Jinwei. After about a day's journey, tobacco plants began to be seen in the farmland on both sides of the official road. And the further south you go, the higher the density of tobacco planting.
By the time Zhong Jinwei turned eastward and entered Henan through Tongguan according to his planned plan, he had already seen that tobacco occupied about one-third of the farmland area.
Zhong Jinwei thought for a moment and said to Gu Baichuan: "Tobacco cultivation will seriously affect the government. I don't trust others. Please go to Hanzhong in person to see the tobacco cultivation situation there, and then rush back to the capital as soon as possible to report to me." "
Along the way, Gu Baichuan had basically understood tobacco from Zhong Jinwei. Knowing that what Zhong Jinwei said was reasonable, he did not insist on guarding Zhong Jinwei. He nodded and replied to Zhong Jinwei: "Don't worry, Mr. Hou, I will definitely
I’ll tell you what I saw with my own eyes.”
Then he turned to Wang Peng and said, "I'm leaving. You must protect the Marquis without making any mistakes."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," Wang Peng assured with a pat of his chest.
Gu Baichuan was actually not very reassured about Wang Peng because he was not very meticulous. But considering that Ma Xianglin's three hundred cavalry with white poles were accompanying him, he felt relieved.
So he said goodbye to Zhong Jinwei, then took a Dongchang fan servant and parted ways with Zhong Jinwei, heading west to Hanzhong.
Zhong Jinwei and others naturally went to Henan as planned to check the agricultural situation there.
Unlike Zhong Jinwei who rushed with a purpose, after Dai Shan led the army into Mongolia, he sent out scouting horses to search for traces of the Ming army, but he could not get accurate information for a long time.
There are all kinds of things on the grassland. Today, someone showed up there and wiped out many tribes. Tomorrow, someone said that the Ming army actually massacred several tribes in another place. Even the process of the Ming army's massacre was revealed.
Speak clearly and clearly.
In addition, no one has an accurate estimate of the number of Ming troops leaving the fortress, except Fan Wencheng. In other words, on the grasslands now, except for Dai Shan, who knows how many Ming troops there are, everyone else is making wild guesses.
As Huang Taiji said, those small tribes could not bear the risk of annihilation in the end. After Daishan sent people to lobby, they allied themselves with Jianlu, and the whole clan moved into Jianlu's sphere of influence in the northeast.
As for those medium-sized tribes, under the intensifying rumor attack, after several arguments, most of them finally surrendered to Jianlu.
These situations have put Daishan in a very good mood these days. He has made statistics. The combined number of people in these small and medium-sized tribes should be able to compile several flags. In other words, Daishan's own Zhenghuang flag will definitely be able to have one more.
Come out with fighting force.
He was the leader of Jianlu, and he surrendered to Huang Taiji. Therefore, he was happy to see many Mongolians surrendering, and he was still working hard.
At present, there are almost all the big tribes left on the grassland, such as the Horqin tribe. Daishan covets their population, but there is nothing he can do at the moment. He doesn't even send lobbyists there. Because they originally concluded an agreement with Daijin
Covenant, who still wanted to be the boss, how could he be forced to submit to Daijin immediately by the Ming army of about 5,000 people.
Daishan was in his big tent at the camp, looking at the power distribution map of the Mongolian grassland in a daze.
Where did the Ming army go? If they knew where they were, they could be driven to Horqin, and it would be better if they could hit Horqin hard.
Daishan lay on the map and calculated over and over again based on the previously confirmed traces of the Ming army. He found that there were horse exploration reports in all possible areas, but no Ming army was found.
He thought for a long time but still had no idea. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became, so he went out of the tent to get some air.
If these large tribes can be annexed, then based on this population statistics, we should be able to almost build the Eight Mongolian Banners.
Huang Taiji mentioned this idea to him before leaving. If there were enough people, he could imitate the Jurchen Eight Banners and establish the Mongolian Eight Banners, and serve as pawns for Da Jin on the battlefield.
Daishan admired Huang Taiji's analysis of the problem in the last meeting and agreed with his countermeasures. Therefore, he felt that the responsibility on his shoulders was extremely heavy.
He was still thinking about this while patrolling the camp, and unknowingly came to the side of the Huotou Army.
The pitiful screams of a group of sheep woke Daishan out of his thoughts. He followed the sound and found that the Huotou Army was catching the sheep and slaughtering them.
I saw a fire-headed soldier catching a lamb in the sheep pen, and the ewe was tied to the fence. The lamb was frightened by the fire-headed soldier and ran away. The fire-headed soldier did not chase the lamb, but just guarded the ewe.
After a while, the lambs returned to the ewe on their own, and the Huotou Army grabbed them easily and captured the lambs.
Seeing this situation, an idea suddenly flashed in Daishan's mind, and he came up with a solution.
Although I don't know where the Ming army is, I can also make you Horqin surrender to Dajin, Daishan thought to himself. Then he immediately turned back to the big tent to issue the order.