All civil and military officials in the capital, regardless of their rank, are required to participate in the Winter Solstice North Korea Meeting.
At the same time, all relatives and vassals, such as the ministers stationed in Beijing from Qin, Yue, Wei, Liao, Zhao and other countries, also had to participate in this great meeting.
It was an internal vassal, and its relationship was very different from that of Korea and Japan.
And for such a court meeting, the leaders of the major tribes in the grassland must also attend diligently.
The princes of Chahar, Beihai, Horqin, Mobei, and other nobles all came to Beijing one after another.
Although traveling in the middle of winter was tiring, this group of Mongolian nobles had no choice but to succumb.
The team of Beihai Commandery King Budali has more than 500 people and thousands of chariots and horses. It can be said that it is huge and ranks first among all Mongolian tribes.
Second only to him was Abul, the king of Chahar, whose thousands of mules and horses and luxurious carriages were extremely enviable by all the nobles.
The two princes of Chahar controlled thousands of herdsmen and were important assistants to the imperial court in ruling Chahar. They were treated extremely favorably.
The soldiers along the road did not dare to show any signs of neglect and could only wear cotton-padded clothes to protect them in the cold winter.
At this time, the king of Beihai County drove into the car, and Abul, the king of Chahar County, was inside as a guest.
The carriage was pulled by five horses, and it was spacious enough to accommodate two beds. Two graceful girls were waiting on the side, and all kinds of snacks and snacks were available.
Underfoot was a wool blanket, embroidered with exquisite patterns, so soft that it felt like stepping on clouds.
A candlestick was placed at each of the four corners of the carriage. The thick-armed whale candle was blended with spices, and when lit, it exuded a refreshing fragrance.
In order to prevent fire, it was covered with glass.
Everything is so luxurious.
Abel is used to it.
As the king of Chahar, the tribes and herdsmen below him would pay taxes, and the slaves would work in vain. As the king of the county conferred by the imperial court, he would also have a salary of three thousand silver coins every year.
It can be said that with the development of the grassland, a large amount of sheepskin, wool, war horses and other resources were imported to Beijing. The herdsmen had a chance to breathe, and he, a great nobleman, naturally became rich.
It is easy to make two to thirty thousand silver dollars a year.
Without fighting or receiving rewards, the money is simply enjoyable.
Not to mention that the two daughters of the Prince of Beihai married the King of Qin and his younger sister married the Emperor. It can be said that they have continuous wealth.
"What?" Budali was very gentle towards his nephew, without any intention of tit-for-tat.
Even though most of the herdsmen under him were drawn from under his command.
“Chahar’s reform and return to exile has become even more powerful.”
Abel raised his head with a sad look on his face: "What should I do?"
For small and medium-sized nobles, hundreds of herdsmen are nothing, and they are not as satisfying as iron sheep money.
But for a great aristocrat like him, thousands of herdsmen, and tens of thousands of hectares of grassland, the output is extremely huge. How could he give it up?
"The imperial court gives one silver yuan per account, and four thousand accounts only have four thousand yuan. We have more than four thousand yuan a year?"
"Don't worry!" Budali raised his hand and said comfortingly: "Even if you change your land and return to your hometown, you are just a herdsman under your command. Our own land and slaves have not changed."
"Losing thousands of dollars is nothing."
Due to his deep bond with the Ming Dynasty, Budali had to lean towards the Ming Dynasty in front of outsiders no matter how dissatisfied he felt in his heart.
Abel's face softened: "But in the final analysis, I still lost a lot of money."
"My uncle is on good terms with the emperor, so why don't we try to persuade him. I won't be afraid of Gaitu. After all, we usually live in Chifeng City and can't go back more than once a year."
"So, can this iron sheep money be increased a little? After all, we are sweating!"
After Emperor Shaowu's alliance, the aristocratic system of the grassland was determined.
The lowest level is Tabu Nang, which is basically one hundred households or one thousand households.
The one in the middle is Taiji, which is divided into three levels: deputy thousand households and thousand households.
The highest one is the Khan, that is, the county king. Today there are only three in the Ming Dynasty, namely Beihai Khan, Chahar Khan, and Natu Shetu Khan.
The Chechen Khans and Zasaktu Khans of the past have disappeared.
After hearing this, Budali agreed: "What you said makes sense. Khans like ours are different from ordinary tabunangs."
After entering the inner city of Beijing, they each have their own mansion.
This is also the preferential treatment given to them by the imperial court.
In this way, as soon as he entered the palace, Budali entered the palace in a dusty atmosphere.
The emperor knew his character and summoned him immediately to show his close relationship.
Winning over the big nobles and dividing and assimilating the small nobles was the policy of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, low cost accounted for a large part of it.
According to calculations by the Ministry of Household Affairs, the amount of money allocated to the Mongolian nobles this year exceeded 100,000 yuan, reaching as much as 180,000 yuan.
This is almost half of the clan.
This is equivalent to raising some nobles.
If you include Iron Sheep Money, it would be even more impressive. A conservative estimate would be 200,000 yuan a year.
The money seems like a lot, but compared with the war, it seems small.
A small surprise battle involving a thousand people would cost more than one hundred thousand. If there were more than ten thousand people, the base would be one million.
Compared with the cold weapon era, the cost of hot weapons is more expensive, with gunpowder accounting for the bulk of the cost.
"Chahar is calm, and the guys don't think about rebelling anymore. They mostly enjoy listening to books, music, horse racing, and wrestling. It's a lot of fun..."
"That's good!" Zhu Yixi smiled and said: "Although Chahar is a bit colder now, you can also enjoy the wealth of the Central Plains. Isn't this better than the things you worked so hard to grab before?"
"It's so comfortable to sit on the kang in winter."
Budali also laughed along, and he was somewhat certain of the emperor's words.
Although he was not as good as the emperor, as a great khan, his enjoyment was almost the same as that of the great nobles.
Even in Guannai and Liaodong, he has farms. Who can't make money and buy land?
Tea, silk, women, wine, everything is available.
This was unimaginable in the past.
He would rather continue to indulge in such a happy life.
After chatting about some miscellaneous things, Budali talked about Iron Sheep Money: "I fully approve of Iron Sheep Money. After all, it is the national policy of the imperial court, but that money is too little..."
Budali said seriously: "For ordinary nobles, one yuan per household is not bad, and it is not bad for good and bad ministers. For three thousand households of herdsmen, even if they get three thousand sheepskins a year, it is more than three thousand yuan. This is too much
It’s too low…”
Hearing this, Zhu Yixi laughed. It turned out that he disliked Qian Shao.
He was not annoyed at all and said with a smile: "How many accounts does Erhan have under his command?"
"Originally, there were three thousand tents. Now, after thirteen years, there are already 4,600 tents."
Budali immediately said honestly: "The king of Chahar County has about 4,000 tents, which is only slightly less than the minister."
Four thousand herdsmen, if they don't care about gains and losses, can instantly mobilize eight thousand cavalry. This is not a small number.
But Zhu Yixi did not panic, because in Chahar, there were only 20,000 troops stationed and nearly 10,000 Khan tribes. The combined strength of the two could not be withdrawn even if the nobles were sucked dry.
Not to mention the herdsmen under the imperial government.
"Khan is different from Tabu Nang after all."
Zhu Yixi nodded in agreement: "In this way, to the outside world, you still have one account per account, but in reality, it is three yuan per account, 4,600 accounts, and it will never change."
"The prince of Chahar County pays two yuan for one account."
Zhu Yixi spent the extra 18,000 yuan for the sake of the overall situation and didn't care at all. But there is a difference between closeness and distance. Otherwise, how could it highlight the closeness and win people's hearts?
Sure enough, Budali was ecstatic and hurriedly bowed down.
Compared to his actual income, this is thousands of dollars more, so it's worth it.
Entering the palace in a happy mood, he was about to meet his sister Qiqige.
A winter solstice morning party came to a successful conclusion.
At this point, the imperial court began to seal the government office. No matter how many things happened, we could only wait until next year to deal with it. This period of time is a vacation.
The entire Ming Dynasty also entered the 22nd year of Shaowu, which was 1668.
The emperor has also entered the age of forty-five, and he still looks energetic, which is the golden age of politics.
However, not long after the Spring Festival, the Mongolian nobles spent the winter in Beijing and enjoyed the comfort, but chaos broke out in various parts of the grassland.
The rebels in Suiyuan were raging, and the border troops continued to attack. The governor of Suiyuan even summoned nobles from various ministries and herdsmen under his command, and recruited 20,000 herdsmen as an army to clear the border together.
In Mobei, Chahar, Horqin and other places, white disasters are waiting for them.
The so-called white disaster is a blizzard disaster caused by large-scale snowfall.
On the grasslands, a large-scale white disaster occurs almost every three to five years, which can be described as uncomfortable.
These disasters will drive large tribes to devour small tribes, thereby growing stronger and throwing the entire grassland into turmoil.
Not to mention the harm caused by blizzards to humans, it is even more harmful to livestock.
If the snow is too thick and lasts for a long time, it will bury the pasture and prevent livestock from eating normally, leading to natural disasters such as fat loss and death of a large number of livestock in pastoral areas.
On the grassland in winter, livestock also have to come out to forage.
Even though the imperial court popularized silage on a large scale, the family strength of each tribe and herdsmen was different, so the silage was naturally different.
(Silage is the storage of fermented grass to survive the winter better)
Just like how well built ditches and embankments are, they cannot prevent drought.
Naturally, the imperial court has a long-standing practice in this regard: disaster relief.
As mentioned before, if you just sit back and watch, the order on the grassland will disappear. The big fish will eat the small fish, and the small fish will eat the shrimp. No matter which tribe grows stronger, the court does not want to see it.
Because this will destroy the order that Ming Dynasty has created over the years.
If a group of people who are not afraid of death go south, the harm caused will be even greater.
"How much food does Cullen have?"
"About two hundred thousand dan!"
Du Yinxi said casually.
As the chief assistant, he was once again in charge of the household, civil and financial departments, and he had a clear idea of the amount of money and food in each place.
"enough?"
Zhu Yixi asked.
"I don't know what the situation in Mobei is yet, but judging from Chahar, I think it's already serious."
Du Yinxi sighed: "There are about 40,000 tribes under the jurisdiction of General Mobei's Mansion. If they are just people, that's it. The key is to have livestock."
"Yes, the key is still livestock!"
Zhu Yixi had a headache: "We can only try our best to transfer food from northern Shanxi."
"Also, how is the situation in the North Sea? If you have spare capacity, you can also go south to provide support."
Compared with Mobei, the Beihai region has more arable land due to Lake Baikal, and naturally has more food reserves.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Du Yinxi responded: "Chahar is close to the capital and has a lot of cultivated land, so it should be fine. The Horqin area is connected to Jilin..."
The biggest function of building a city on the grassland is to prevent snow disasters and store food at the same time.
At such an important moment, it immediately showed its effect.
In the vast Mobei region, there is only one Kulun, while Chahar has seven or eight cities. It is very easy to provide relief to the herdsmen.
Therefore, it is necessary to build a city on the grassland.
…
"Get up!"
In Datong, a team of a thousand people was loaded with goods, and the shoulders of the animals began to tremble under the weight.
The snowflakes fell slowly, one after another, and the horse's hooves fell, reaching half an inch deep when they touched the ground.
"Head, where are we going?"
Everyone was wrapped in cotton-padded jackets and felt hats, walking under the wind and snow.
"Mobei, Culun!" The weathered man raised his head with deep eyes.
The man on the side sighed: "That far?"
He looked back and saw that the team could hardly see anyone in the wind and snow: "A lot of people will die on this trip!"
"I just don't understand why we need to help those Tatars. Our Datong Prefecture was also hit by the disaster this time."
"Tatars!" The man pulled open his felt hat and revealed his face: "I still have a scar here. This was caused by the Tatars. Did you say anything?"
"Shit!" At this time, a thin-faced man from behind came over and said, "You were injured by a stray arrow. Who knows, it was a Tatar or something."
"This is a fucking Tatar."
The man was serious and immediately sighed: "In our Ming Dynasty, Tatars and Han people are the same."
The thin-faced man said: "You know what the hell, we are sending food over there to fill the bellies of those big guys, otherwise they will have to go south again."
"How many years of peaceful life have passed, and you want to go to war?"
"It's better to give food than life!"
As he spoke, the thin-faced man whispered: "It's the food for the imperial court anyway..."
At this time, several people laughed softly.
As the team moved forward, instead of sleeping in the snow as expected, there was a house.
"This is a post station built by the imperial court to transport grain. Now it is a place where merchants stay..."
Everyone was overjoyed.
Now, at least you won't have to worry about being snatched away by wolves at night.
Eat and drink enough and continue on your way.
Almost every thirty miles, there will be a huge inn, and the former granaries have been turned into rooms, enough to accommodate thousands of people.
Therefore, although this kind of corvee was a bit hard, no one dared to complain.
At this time in Culun City, Xiong Yingjie was inspecting the granary.
For Cullen at this time, nothing was more important than food.
In addition to food, the most important thing is fodder.
On the grassland, fodder is food.
Silage fodder is comparable to grain in winter, but it is not in short supply on weekdays, so the cost and selling price have increased several times.
He didn't care about ordinary herdsmen, he would kill them if they rebelled, but the army needed a lot of pasture to supply their horses.
"Is there enough fodder?"
"Remember my words, be sure to keep enough fodder for the army for half a year, and then consider relief."