The sky is blue, the fields are vast, and the grass is blown by the wind, and cattle and sheep can be seen low.
After the heavy snow melted, the grassland was moistened by water, a large number of grass seeds sprouted, and various animals became active. For the herdsmen, this was the happiest moment after surviving the White Disaster.
Batu rides a horse and herds the lord's family and his own cattle and sheep.
Several hounds were fat and strong, jumping to the side, with sharp canine teeth, and stared at the distance, as if the animals drinking water in the distance were hiding wolves.
Batu didn't take it seriously. In this spring, there were many wild animals, and the wolves would live a comfortable life for a few months, so they would naturally not risk their lives to offend humans.
His eyes were dull, thinking about the current situation.
Last winter, his wife Aruna gave birth to a baby boy. He survived the winter and came to summer, but the family in the future was very difficult.
His family only has one hundred sheep, and apart from paying taxes, it can only feed two or three people. Now that there are five people in the family, it is very difficult to feed them.
At this time, he was looking forward to fighting.
Because only in war can there be plundering and seizure, so that we can have more cattle and sheep and feed our families.
When the sun sets, the cattle and sheep are driven back to the other people's sheep pens, and then their own sheep are driven back. It's already dark.
The children had long been sitting around the fire eagerly, watching the hanging clay pots bubbling, and their saliva was almost drooling.
The wife threw the dried cow dung into the fire, then picked up the stick, stirred it in the clay pot, and threw in a little salt in anticipation of the children.
Seeing this, Batu took out a few thumb-sized pieces of dried meat and threw them into the clay pot. There was thin rice mixed with wild vegetables. Now a few pieces of meat were added, and there was a trace of oil.
The children were all crying.
In Mongolian society, society is divided into four levels: secular feudal lords, monastic feudal lords, Albatans, and slaves, which are almost imprisoned.
And Albatu means civilians, free people, who are responsible for military service and taxes.
Common people eat two meals a day, one in the morning before grazing, and another after returning from grazing. They are basically based on dairy products and can only be eaten during the New Year and holidays.
"The Noyan family's sheep will definitely grow fatter this year."
Batu sat down and held his three-year-old daughter in his arms, warming himself by the fire. The daughter with red cheeks was as soft as clay.
"Our sheep are not bad either." He smiled at his wife and said, "It looks like we can give birth to a few more babies."
Noyan means lord.
The whole of Mongolia, before the Manchu Qing Dynasty changed to the alliance flag system, basically had the Nuoyan and Jinong (deputy khan) systems, with only two levels of lords, and the top was the great khan.
"There is no Albatu without Noyan, and there is no Noyan without Albatu..."
This is a saying that has been circulated among Mongolian tribes for many years.
"It's a pity that we can't fight anymore." Batu helplessly watched his wife serving porridge.
"Abba, why?" The eldest son, who was seven years old and kept waving a wooden machete, asked with curiosity on his face.
"Because Dahan is too young and has just learned how to ride a sheep!"
"Ah! I really want to fill my stomach and grab some cattle and sheep to eat meat!" the eldest son said regretfully.
"It's okay if you don't beat me." The wife sat down and said, "My son hasn't grown up yet. If you die, I won't be able to support him——"
The next day, Batu continued grazing as usual, but was pulled by Anda, who whispered into his ear:
"Have you heard that the great emperor is planning to select people from various ministries to join the sweat tent?"
"Sweat tent? What good can it do?"
"There are great benefits, but there is only one, there is a war to fight——"
An Da puffed up his chest and said, "I'll grab some gold and silver and maybe buy a lot of sheep..."
Batu was tempted: "Can we be chosen?"
"Your archery skills are also among the best, so you will definitely be chosen."
Sure enough, within two days, Batu received a notice to go to a certain boundary.
Almost all the strong men of the entire Chahar tribe, about 30,000 people, gathered here to accept Zhu Jing's selection, just like the Naadam Conference.
The Nuoyan lords shook their heads with reluctance on their faces.
"I only believe what I see."
Zhu Jing sat high and ordered: "Anyone selected into the sweat tent will be rewarded with a piece of cloth."
At this time, everyone was excited.
Archery and horseback riding, these two competitions are particularly lively.
The competition lasted for five days from morning to night, and then the best of the best were selected, and 2,000 people were selected.
Together with their families, they gathered together in the sweat tent and were no longer the subjects of other Noyan.
Two thousand bolts of linen were distributed in the blink of an eye, causing a sensation throughout the grassland.
Batu was overjoyed and returned home happily.
One piece of cloth is enough to make clothes for their family of five.
After carefully selecting two thousand soldiers and horses, the number of troops under Zhu Jing's command exceeded six thousand. At this time, he finally showed his fangs.
According to the regulations of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Mongolian princes and Taiji levied taxes on their subjects: those who had more than five cattle and twenty sheep were given one sheep. Those who had forty sheep were allowed to take two sheep. Those who had two cattle were given six meters.
There are pots. If there is one cow, take three pots of rice. Even if there are surplus animals, no more can be taken.
Compared with the Central Plains, this kind of tax standard is almost 1 in 10 taxes. Coupled with military service and corvee, this can be regarded as a heavy tax in the grasslands with a weak economic foundation.
Once there is a disaster, countless people will go bankrupt, and they will have to be encouraged by their lords to raise troops. This is the reason why the grassland herdsmen have to go south.
However, there are often many princes and nobles who exceed the standards and increase temporary apportionments. These temporary apportionments basically have no quota and have extremely many names, which leads to civilians going bankrupt and becoming slaves.
To some extent, this enhances their strength.
As for the Chahar Department, because it is close to Beijing and its conditions are much better than those in Suiyuan, Zhu Jing naturally had to carry out drastic reforms.
Nuoyan is divided into three parts: one hundred households, one thousand households, and one thousand households.
The tax standard will be directly reduced by half:
Forty sheep, harvest one sheep.
One cow takes one pot of rice, two cows takes two pots.
As a result, the taxes of these feudal lords will definitely be greatly reduced, and their strength will have to be reduced.
There are restrictions on taxation, and military service is no exception.
However, Zhu Jing knew that this kind of thing was too much, and the restrictions were too harsh, and the effect would not be achieved.
After all, military service is equivalent to strength, which is one's prerogative.
Therefore, in his plan, the lord can of course initiate military service, all year round.
However, the lord must reward each family that sends troops with three sheep as saddle gold, which is equivalent to the Han people's departure fee.
In this case, the cost of military service was directly increased significantly, thereby attracting most of the herdsmen to their side.
With benefits, this system can naturally last for a long time. After all, the lords cannot force the herdsmen to serve as soldiers. A mutiny will not be far away by then.
Tax cuts and military service actually increased the cost of rebellion for the Mongolian nobles and stabilized the Chahar tribe.