This used to be the old camp of the Oara people, but it was reduced to ruins during the First World War.
Now five years have passed, and with the continuous support of the imperial court, a prosperous city has appeared in the desert.
A year ago, Chi Chike went to Beijing to petition and requested the construction of a railway from the capital to Orkhon City.
In the original plan, Orkhon City was not the end point. If you extend further north, you can reach Beihaiwei.
Currently, the section from Orkhon City to Beihaiwei is still under planning and is expected to be opened to traffic in one year.
Food has to be eaten one bite at a time, roads have to be built section by section, and infrastructure construction has to involve all aspects, so it cannot be rushed.
Zhu Qizhen is not worried, because Beihaiwei is rich in products, can grow rye, and has rich fisheries. It has the style of a small Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall, and there is no need to exchange supplies with the Central Plains for the time being.
Mobeiwei is different. Materials are scarce here. Although a large amount of farmland has been reclaimed and workshops have been built, the food is still not self-sufficient, especially the lack of tea, salt, sugar, iron pots, dishes and other daily necessities.
People here are in urgent need of exchanging cattle and sheep for daily necessities. Qiqi Ke went to Beijing to petition because this railway is crucial.
The speed of steam trains is very limited, but it is more stable and has a large load capacity. Whether it is passenger or freight transportation, it is far more efficient than people pulling horses.
Moreover, people of this era have never seen high-speed trains and do not feel that the speed of the train is slow. They may even think that it is... too fast.
Zhu Qizhen sat boredly by the bed window, looking at the wheat fields covered with white snow.
This winter has been extremely cold. The wheat seedlings in the fields had just grown two or three inches when they were hit by the freezing ice and snow. From a distance, they looked as if they were frozen to death. However, when spring comes, these humble wheat seedlings will immediately thrive.
stand up.
However, he did not want to see the Tatars in the far north ushering in spring like wheat seedlings.
How can you allow others to sleep soundly on the couch beside you!
This time, no matter what conspiracy Tuotuo Buhua played, he would never come back.
Yuan Bin looked out the window, then looked at the map, and said: "Your Majesty, the city of Orkhon is ahead."
Zhu Qizhen nodded slowly and said, "Are you all ready?"
Yuan Bin quickly replied: "In accordance with the emperor's instructions, I arranged for five hundred elites to enter Orkhon City in advance. Even if the emperor wants to find a mosquito in Orkhon City, I can catch it!"
“Remember, you must act with caution and don’t alert the enemy!”
"I have already taken care of it, but..."
At this point, Yuan Bin suddenly became hesitant, as if he didn't feel comfortable saying something.
Zhu Qizhen asked: "There are no other people here. If you have anything to say, just say it."
"yes!"
Yuan Bin nodded and saluted, and then asked cautiously: "I don't understand, the emperor went out of the palace to inspect Mobei, and he could have been upright, so why did he do it secretly..."
This question has been bothering him since he left Beijing, and he couldn't help but ask it before getting off the car.
Zhu Qizhen said: "If it goes through the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites, I don't know how much trouble it will take."
Yuan Bin was still puzzled and said: "The emperor's departure from the palace is a major event, and the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites should treat it with caution."
"I don't think they are slow, but the imperial court has made a decision, and it will be carried out with great fanfare, and there will inevitably be military guards. If you are naked, will you show up when you see such a battle?"
Yuan Bin frowned and said: "What I am worried about is... if Tuotuo Buhua really makes a comprehensive plan, the number of troops that can be mobilized by the emperor is limited..."
"no need to worry!"
Zhu Qizhen smiled confidently and said: "I have arranged for three thousand battalions to be stationed in Mobei, which is enough to deal with the remaining Tatar formations!"
Yuan Bin knew that the combat effectiveness of the Three Thousand Battalion was naturally unparalleled, so he was just afraid...
"Your Majesty, this is not the capital, 80%... no, at least 90% are Mongolians. I am worried, worried..."
Zhu Qizhen took over the conversation: "Are you worried that I have fallen into the tiger's mouth?"
Yuan Bin said nothing and just nodded, with a very troubled expression on his face.
It would not be appropriate to say that the Mongolian tribes in Mobei had rebellious intentions.
As the strongest intelligence department in the Ming Dynasty, Jin Yiwei has conducted overt and covert investigations for many years, but has never heard of any rebels there.
However, if you say that Mobeiwei is fine and safe, I'm afraid I don't believe it.
Zhu Qizhen seemed to understand what he was thinking, and said: "Times have changed. Now this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the people here are the people of the Ming Dynasty. If I can't even go to my own territory, even my own people can't go there."
Believe me, what else can I do as an emperor?"
Yuan Bin hurriedly said: "Your Majesty's words are serious, I just think that... no matter what time, it is never a bad thing to be prepared."
At this time, the speed of the car slowly slowed down and then stopped at the platform.
Zhu Qizhen stood up and said: "Under the sky, is it the king's land? On the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers? I want to see if the people living in this desert are the people of the Ming Dynasty!"
"
Yuan Bin knew that the emperor had already made up his mind and there was no point in trying to persuade him.
Now we can only take one step at a time, do our job well, and not give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of us.
"Your Majesty, I will inform Mobei Guards..."
"Don't!"
Zhu Qizhen stopped him quickly and asked, "When was the agreement with Qiqi Ke?"
Yuan Bin thought for a while and replied: "In three days."
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "That means we only have three days to understand the public sentiment. Let's go, hurry up!"
He didn't want to alert the officials of Mobei Guard immediately. Firstly, he was worried that the news would be leaked. The imperial soldiers and horses arrived too quickly, and they didn't dare to show their heads. Furthermore, if you want to truly understand a place, you don't look at the things on the report.
Figures, just walk into an ordinary person's home, everything will be clear.
Those officials are smart, and they are all masters of fraud.
They have ten thousand ways to package themselves, black can be written as white, dead can be written as alive.
However, the stoves in people's homes are not fake.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! See what the people at the bottom eat every day and whether they can eat enough. It is definitely more real than the memorials of those officials.
The two of them were disguised as merchants, and there were twenty other guards dressed in different costumes to protect them in front and behind.
The platform is on a high ground and the wind is biting, but from here you can have a very wide view into the distance.
"Emperor... Mr. Huang, are you going to the city?"
Zhu Qizhen stood in the cold wind and said: "Don't worry, look over there!"
As he spoke, he pointed to the east.
Yuan Bin raised his eyes and saw that there were many tents more than ten miles ahead, which seemed to be a market town.
Zhu Qizhen asked: "Where is that?"
Yuan Bin took out the map, which contained all the information collected by Jin Yiwei, and said: "This place is called Helin. It is a market town. It mainly deals in cattle and sheep business. The vast majority of people living there are Oara people."
"It's a Wala people..."
When Zhu Qizhen heard the word Wala people, his eyes became extremely complicated.
For hundreds of years, wars between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia continued.
Throughout history, the Central Plains dynasties and the nomadic peoples have always been at war with each other.
In that battle five years ago, the Ming army completely defeated the Oara and Tatars, and took advantage of the situation to regain Mobei.
But now, once again we are so close to the gathering place of the Walas people, and I suddenly have mixed feelings in my heart.
This feeling is both proud and worried.
They are proud that this place has become the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The remaining Tatars are afraid of the Ming Dynasty's cavalry and fled far to the far north, but...
What about ten years from now or a hundred years from now?
If you were no longer here, would this situation be broken?
The nomads' conquest of the Central Plains dynasty never stopped, and the Central Plains dynasty's attack on the nomads never stopped. After massacres, they were resurrected again and again, without end.
Today we have driven away the Oara and Tatars, and we have driven away the Jurchens. Who knows whether a new nation will be born in the future...
"You said...will they call themselves Oara people, Mongolians, or Ming people?"
Yuan Bin said: "It should be done by wise people."
Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "It will be clear if you go and take a look."
Yuan Bin's expression changed, and he hurriedly said: "I have arranged all the spies in the city, but there are none over there... Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand: "I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid, I'm... worried!"
"worry about what?"
"Worry, worry..."
"Okay, I won't make it difficult for you anymore, let's go!"
After speaking, Zhu Qizhen walked forward without waiting for his reply.
Yuan Bin had no choice but to follow, but he was uneasy and worried that something would go wrong.
"Your Majesty, judging from the map, it's quite far away. Would you mind renting a carriage?"
"Can!"
Not long after, Yuan Bin came back with two horses.
"Your Majesty, there are no carriages nearby, only horses..."
"Then ride a horse!"
Zhu Qizhen was no stranger to horseback riding. He immediately took the reins, stepped on the stirrups, and got on the horse.
The two of them rode horses one behind the other on the vast grassland, and soon arrived at Helin Town.
This is a gathering place for herders, so the main buildings are tents rather than brick and stone houses.
Looking up, it's very lively, and you can even see many Han people.
Countless cows and horses were tied to stakes, and the smell of horse manure was everywhere, but the people here looked very energetic. They talked to each other in different languages, gesticulating with their fingers.
There is a particularly eye-catching tent with the word "inn" written in Chinese on it.
Zhu Qizhen was surprised. He didn't expect that there was an inn in a place like this...
Inside the inn, a waiter had already greeted me enthusiastically. He seemed to be a Han Chinese.
"Objectively, should I eat or stay in a hotel?"
Zhu Qizhen found it very interesting and asked, "Does your inn have everything?"
"Of course there is!"
The clerk was very good at observing people's emotions. As soon as he heard the other party's invitation, he immediately said: "With so many merchants coming to go shopping, wouldn't it be extremely inconvenient if there were no inn? The tents we have here are all first-class, and the accommodation is comfortable. Guest...
"
As he spoke, he looked up and saw that Zhu Qizhen was followed only by a servant, and there was no female family member following him.
So, the young man lowered his voice: "We still have girls here to keep us company..."
Zhu Qizhen immediately became serious, and Yuan Bin on the side also had surprise in his eyes.
Development on the grassland...is it so fast?
The waiter continued: "It depends on what you like, Mongolian, Han, Semu... they are all available!"
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand impatiently: "Only stay in the hotel!"
Seeing that this was not a good thing, the waiter smiled awkwardly and said, "Okay, please!"
At this time, a Mongolian man came over.
"Friend, should you buy cattle, sheep, horses, or skins?"
His Chinese is a bit stiff, but simple and clear.
Zhu Qizhen turned around and asked, "How do you know we are doing business?"
"You Han people come here to do business, right? I have a lot of cattle, sheep and horses at home. Do you want to take a look?"
Seeing this person actively recruiting, Zhu Qizhen suddenly became interested.
"Okay, let's go take a look!"
Yuan Bin quickly and quietly grabbed Zhu Qizhen's sleeve and whispered: "Your Majesty, be careful of fraud!"
Zhu Qizhen squeezed his wrist, which meant that I knew what he was doing, and then followed him.
The store clerk hurriedly asked: "Sir, do you still want to stay in the hotel?"
Yuan Bin waved his hand at him and said, "We'll talk about it later!"
"Oh, don't say it again, we won't have a room later..."
Zhu Qizhen and Yuan Bin had followed the Mongolian man far away, twisting and turning, and arrived at a simple tent.
The smell of horse manure is stronger here, and you can see a large number of cattle and horses enclosed in the fence, hundreds of them.
"My name is Aturu, what do you call me?"
Yuan Bin stepped forward and said, "My father's surname is Huang."
"Master Huang, come and see..."
Atulu hurriedly introduced that his family's cattle, sheep and horses were all pretty good, and they would definitely make a small fortune if they were transported to the customs.
"How about it? The cows are strong, the horses are also good, and they are very cheap..."
"I have to take another look."
Zhu Qizhen's mind was not on these animals, but asked: "Where did you learn Chinese?"
Aturu said: "I'm here, learn by yourself!"
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Who...do I learn from?"
"Learn from you Han people."
“Why must we learn Chinese?”
"Oops, I didn't understand it at first, and I suffered a big loss..."
Atulu shook his head repeatedly and explained: "Some Han people are very cunning. They lie to people in person, but we don't even know it. Later, they learn Chinese and do business on their own."
Zhu Qizhen asked doubtfully: "If there are liars, will the government not care about them?"
"The government doesn't know. They deceived people and ran away. They can't be found. Where can they complain?"
"So, you don't like the Han people?"
When Zhu Qizhen asked this question, his face looked calm, but in fact he was very worried.
Atulu laughed and said: "It used to be there, but then it disappeared. Han Chinese and Mongolian people are all the same!"
Zhu Qizhen quickly asked: "Why?"
Atulu replied without thinking: "There is no difference between Mongols and Han people. We are also the people of the Ming Dynasty!"
After hearing these words, the stone hanging in Zhu Qizhen's heart finally fell to the ground.
It is not difficult to rule Mobei, it is rare to win the support of the people.
Only when the people recognize you as the emperor and the Ming Dynasty, will Mobei truly become the territory of the Ming Dynasty.