Hearing that there was a mine, Liu Tingjie came over in a hurry.
After the capture of Suiyuan, Liu Tingjie served as the commander-in-chief of Suiyuan and stayed here. Although he had always longed to be in the position of commander, he knew that it was no longer possible.
Relying on the favorable geographical location and the gains on the battlefield, Liu Tingjie made a lot of money for himself and suppressed his desire for official position.
He was quite tolerant. You Shiwei had been his superior for decades, and it didn't matter if he stayed for a few more years.
"You have a good nose."
Zhang Guowei smiled and drank a cup of tea, his face full of joy.
"There's nothing we can do about it, this is a copper mine!" Liu Tingjie expressed his joy eagerly: "This is about our hats."
Although the imperial court allowed private mining operations, copper mines were definitely not among them. China's barren mining resources were mostly supported by Yunnan and Japan.
Although the birth of silver yuan and copper yuan has alleviated the problem of money shortage, the largest circulation among the people is still copper coins.
Even if one copper round is worth five copper coins, there still needs to be copper, right?
The basis for issuing currency was copper mines, so for hundreds of years, the imperial court believed that Yunnan's greatest value lay in its supply of red copper and logs.
Without Yunnan, the Ming Dynasty would have fallen into the embarrassing situation of having no standardized new money.
Once the copper mine was discovered in Suiyuan, its significance was met with different reactions, and the importance of Suiyuan increased rapidly.
Not to mention anything else, Zhang Guowei didn't ask for much, as long as it was similar to Yunnan, he should be promoted and leave here as soon as possible.
After staying in Suiyuan for a long time, he felt that every breath he took smelled of grass and cow dung.
"It seems we have to recruit troops again." Liu Tingjie asked casually: "Where did you find the mine?"
"The north of Yinshan Mountain and the corners of the mountains."
Zhang Guowei touched his long beard and said with a smile: "This is our blessing. We must recruit troops to guard it. Don't let others steal it."
The huge Suiyuan Province has only four cities, one prefecture and one city, and the rest are all grasslands.
In a sense, the Ming Dynasty only had four prefectures under its control, and the rest were under the autonomy of the Mongolian aristocrats, organized in the form of hundreds of households, vice-thousands of households, and thousands of households.
Due to the low output, there were only 20,000 men stationed there. The other half, the Mongolians, received the same food and pay, and were also officers and soldiers eating royal food. They were natural supporters of the imperial court.
If you have milk, you are a mother, which is vividly reflected in the herdsmen.
Of course, there is nothing we can do about it. The grassland is too barren and cannot support too many people.
The vast plains that stretch as far as the eye can see add fuel to the disaster. Even a land like Shanxi is the best land for herdsmen.
According to statistics in the past few years, Suiyuan Province includes the Hetao area, which is vast and larger than Gansu. However, the Han and Mongolian provinces combined only account for 250,000 tents and 600,000 people.
Therefore, the output of the copper mine is a great thing for Suiyuan, which is enough to recruit thousands more people and solidify its foundation.
Soon, the news of the mine in Suiyuan reached Beijing, and the cabinet was jubilant, adding another source of wealth.
It is not profitable to cast copper coins, but you can make a lot of money by casting copper rounds.
The Ministry of Household Affairs earns over one million yuan from copper coins every year.
As Zhang Guowei thought, even if it was a copper mine with modest reserves, the court was still interested in it.
After all, if there is one, there are two, so it is worth investing in.
The Ministry of Industry immediately dispatched hundreds of craftsmen to transport it all the way.
Subsequently, iron ore, tin ore, lime ore and other minerals were discovered in Yinshan, as well as rare gold and silver associated ores.
Suiyuan really has mines.
"Very good."
Compared with the joy of Zhang Guowei's promotion, Liu Tingjie was most delighted with the construction of the city.
Once upon a time, the bastion showed great power and was able to withstand the Qing Dynasty. Under its illustrious name, the cement made of rubble mixed with lime is extremely inconspicuous.
But Liu Tingjie knew that today's cement has been greatly improved, and iron-making slag has been mixed with lime and clay to form new cement.
The effect is even better.
Now if the iron furnace is erected, there will be no shortage of slag, and with the mining of lime, new cement will come immediately.
"Futai, this Jiuyuan City will be indestructible."
Liu Tingjie laughed heartily.
When the Ming Dynasty's rule on the grasslands became more and more stable, the Yarkand Khanate in the northwest region took advantage of the opportunity and paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
The Yarkand Khanate, a country established by the descendants of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, once reached the Balkhash Lake area in Central Asia and once called itself the Kyrgyz Khan.
Now the two divided parts of the country have been reunited, but their vitality has been severely damaged.
Since its capital is Yarkand in the Kashgar region, it can be said to be surrounded by crises.
To the west, the Kyrgyz Khanate has recovered its strength and is obsessed with revenge; while relying on the fertile land in the northern Tianshan Mountains, the Junggar tribe is extremely powerful and is showing signs of overthrowing the Yarkand Khanate.
At this time, the leader of the Heshuote tribe, which was parallel to Junggar, was Oqiltu Khan, who was the eldest nephew of Gushi Khan.
After Gushi Khan went to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Oqiltu Khan took over the remaining tribes and grasslands and became the leader of the Mongolian alliance in the desert.
Although they are just picking up some leftovers, the Heshuo Special Department is still very powerful.
Both Heshuote and Junggar are tribes that believe in Buddhism, and they are also Zang Buddhism. They are naturally tit for tat against the Green Sect Mongol Khanate like Yarkant.
At this time, the Yarkand Khanate, which was sitting on the corridor trend, was naturally loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Abdullah Khan said bluntly: "The Holy Religion was invaded by the Heshuote tribe and the Junggar tribe in Ili. The west has reached a critical moment. We need the Ming Dynasty."
"Dear Khan, the Ming Dynasty is in the east and Heshuote is in the west. They are thousands of miles apart. How can the Ming Dynasty help?"
Turpan Aqimu and his younger brother Suli Tang asked about their doubts.
"According to information from Hami, last year, all the Mongolian tribes in Oirat jointly paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty and presented tributes. They have become vassals like us."
Abdullah Khan said frankly: "The suzerain countries are all Ming Dynasties, and the vassal countries are competing with each other. In name, Ming Dynasty can coordinate one and two."
"Besides, I heard that there are tens of thousands of Ming troops stationed in Gansu. As long as they form an alliance with them, Heshuote and Junggar will definitely be afraid."
Soon, an alliance with the Ming Dynasty was put on the agenda.
For the Yarkand Khanate in the Western Regions, the tens of thousands of Ming troops near Jiayuguan directly threatened the core area of Turpan.
Paying tribute is necessary and unavoidable. After forming an alliance, no war in the east is the best result.
So far, the Oirat Mongolian tribes (Mosel Mongolia), Monan Mongolian tribes, and Khalkha Mongolian tribes (Mobei), the three major Mongolian tribes have expressed their submission to the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, Monan is directly governed by Hua Province, while Mobei is autonomous, while Mongolian Mongolia is separated from the Yarkand Khanate and beyond reach.
However, the nominal unification of Mongolia was also unification, and it was natural for Emperor Shaowu to proclaim himself Khan.
Gao Yigong, who was stationed in Suzhou, was instantly moved when he heard that there were lime and iron mines in Suiyuan.
It happened that the Yarkand Khanate sent news from the Western Regions.
"Hami (Gu Yizhou) is rich in products and is the hometown of the Ming Dynasty——"