Meng Qingbiao and others led the convoy and continued heading north.
Their group will pass through the Badaling Great Wall, pass through Yanqing, Huailai, Baoan, Xuanfu, and then arrive at Zhangjiakou Fort on the Outer Great Wall.
Along with the peace in Suiyuan, Xuanfu Town, which had been prosperous on nine sides for more than two hundred years and was known as the first line of the Great Wall, gradually lost its military function.
Sun Changzhou was the last governor-general of Xuanda.
When he became the governor of Chahar, he established a government instead of a military town in the Xuanda area.
That is, they belong to Datong Prefecture in Shanxi and Xuanfu in Hebei.
The former health centers gradually became counties, towns, and people's offices.
However, although there are no more military households, there are still two to three thousand border troops stationed in Datong and Xuanfu due to their proximity to the capital.
They still guard the Great Wall, but instead of defending against the Tatars, they are collecting taxes.
This is also a characteristic of Ming Dynasty.
During the Shaowu Dynasty, all the former guard posts in the border towns were abolished, and the guard posts were divided into counties, thousand-household posts, and hundred-household posts into towns.
As for the land, it was all distributed to the people who cultivated it, and the emperor did not bother to pursue it.
To be honest, these lands are extremely barren compared to those in the Central Plains and the South, with a maximum yield of 200 kilograms per mu.
Therefore, the emperor did not feel distressed.
The situation is different for the guards in the mainland, especially in the south. All registered land must be vacated and returned to the court.
If you really don’t want to vacate it, or if it has long been allocated to the common people and has been transferred for decades or hundreds of years, then there is no problem and you can just pay the land fee according to the market price.
With the expansion of the territory, the northwest and northeast were the main reclamation areas for the imperial court, and land was no longer a scarce resource.
In other words, Zhu Yixi also has an open mind. In an agricultural society, land is the most valuable and stable industry. Just like in later generations, ordinary people will buy houses if they have money. There is no way to stop it.
Therefore, as long as you pay taxes on time and register, there are no restrictions.
Suiyuan and Chahar are stable, and the Great Wall is also at peace. The invasion of invaders in the past years of famine has no longer appeared now.
The people naturally settled down and stopped fleeing.
At the same time, grassland trade formed two trade routes, one east and one west. Merchants were constantly coming and going, bringing a series of bustling markets.
The Longmen Escorts marched all the way, picking up fodder when they were short, and calling in veterinarians when their animals were sick, which was considered thoughtful.
When they arrived in Zhangjiakou, they were instantly shocked by the lively scene.
The huge market is at the foot of the Great Wall.
There are hundreds of merchants coming and going, speaking dialects from all over the world, which makes people's ears hard to calm down.
Beef and sheep are the main products here, and the smell of sheep can almost wash away one's nose.
Many people sat directly on the ground, holding two or three sheep in their hands, and then wrote a sign with the number on it.
Many Mongolians wore distinctive Mongolian robes, spoke awkward Chinese, and bargained without fear in the cold wind. It was very lively.
Once someone asks for a price, they will pinch each other's hands in their robes, and then they will take the person away after the agreement is reached, and the time and place will be fixed before the transaction is carried out.
"Aren't you afraid of running away?"
The second child, Zhu Baisong, cooed.
Meng Qingbiao sent the merchants in and while strolling around, he explained:
"Have you seen that majestic Yamen?"
"That's the Commercial Tax Department. After the two of them completed the transaction, they sent it directly to the Commercial Tax Department, and the Commercial Tax Department signed the bill of sale."
"At that time, merchants can give silver yuan directly, or they can give bank notes directly. Regardless of whether the merchant or the Mongolians default, they will no longer be allowed to do business in Zhangjiakou."
"The Mongols can't run away. They have pastures and the governor of Suihua can control them. The businessmen can't run away either. Their money and property are all in the interior."
"That's it!" Zhu Baisong suddenly realized.
This was not the first time Meng Qingbiao came here. He walked in the market and said with emotion: "I was guarding the city wall in Zhangjiakou back then, not to mention how cold it was."
"During the holidays, I go to the market and I can always buy a few kilograms of mutton for a satisfying meal."
"If I could be promoted to team leader back then, I would probably be the township head in a certain county, or Zhangjiakou County!"
Zhu Baihuyuan's face also showed admiration: "Yeah, I'm worse than you. I didn't even touch the deputy captain, and I retreated at the height of my career."
"It's better to be an official!"
In the early days of Shaowu, any injured soldier or officer in the army could find an official position in the local area.
However, as time goes by, the number of official positions is decreasing day by day, and the Fifth Army Governor's Office and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will only assign village elders to those with military ranks.
Officers above the rank of sergeant can be arranged to patrol in local areas to support themselves in old age.
Moreover, apart from being injured, the only way to arrange an official position is to retire.
Soldiers in the Beijing camp have served for up to twenty years, and they cannot have official positions until they retire.
The frontier troops worked harder and received the same salary, but endured the wind and rain on the frontier and suffered from poor supplies, so their service life was generally about fifteen years.
This is the result of careful calculation by the officials.
The Beijing camp was well fed and clothed near the city of Beijing. Although the training was a bit hard, it was much more pampered than the frontier troops.
Therefore, his body can support him until he is forty years old and he is still a good man.
However, the frontier troops were exposed to the sun and rain, and their supplies were scarce. At the age of thirty-five or six, their health was not in good shape and they were not as good as those young people.
It is normal to have a younger man replace you.
Officers above the rank of captain will have arrangements, while ordinary soldiers basically go back to where they come from, and go to their hometowns to serve as veterans of the patrol camp and patrol department.
If you have connections, you can even get a job as an official.
This can be considered as a way to retire with peace of mind.
"My deputy is retiring from the army, and the Ministry of War directly promoted him to a senior officer, and he is still in Hunan."
Meng Qingbiao said with an angry face: "Ten silver coins a year, what a waste?"
"It's more comfortable to work in an escort agency." Zhu Baisong agreed: "An escort can earn at least one hundred and eighty yuan a year. An ordinary escort can also earn twenty or thirty yuan, and he can also be happy in Beijing."
"My boss has good vision." Meng Qingbiao sighed: "Longmen Escort Bureau has made a lot of money in the past few years, and our brothers have also benefited from it. We have bought houses in Beijing. This is something we would never have imagined in the past."
After calming down, Meng Qingbiao pointed to the three fences in the distance:
"Zhangjiakou is mainly engaged in the trading of cattle, horses and sheep, so there are paddocks in the east, west and south to house the cattle and sheep respectively."
"We are the sheep market. People in the capital love hot pot and mutton the most in winter. Even if there is heavy snow on the ground, the merchants dare not stop it."
"The horses have insufficient fodder and are very thin. There are not many people nowadays, and the same is true for the cattle."
Zhu Baisong opened his mouth wide: "I'm sorry, this is only one of the three major markets. It would be so lively in summer and autumn."
"Humph!" Meng Qingbiao said with a hint of pride, "Let me tell you, three or four years ago, Zhangjiakou sold nearly one million sheep in just one year."
"There are tens of thousands of even more valuable yellow sheep."
"Tsk, tsk!" Zhu Baisong said with emotion: "In other words, each of the millions of people in the capital must eat a sheep every year!"
“Most of them are from middle-class families.”
Meng Qingbiao said softly: "One catty of mutton costs ten renminbi, and pork only costs 67 renminbi. If we buy two jins of pork together, ordinary people would be reluctant to part with it!"
The entire caravan wandered around Zhangjiakou for nearly three days, replenishing a large amount of supplies, enough to support a month's supply.
Sometimes they couldn't hold it anymore, and the merchants even drove nearly a thousand sheep, preparing to eat them while walking.
Calculating based on three to four hundred people, it can be solved in about ten days, which can save a lot of transportation capacity.
When passing the customs, the Commercial and Taxation Department was not panicked at all when faced with such a huge team. He had about ten people come, and in less than an hour, everything was settled and priced.
Then pay tax according to the goods.
This is a tariff.
The Great Wall is stuck there. If you want to go north, you will have to pay taxes.
Of course, after serving as a soldier here for several years, Meng Qingbiao certainly knew some of the trails and could save a lot of money by taking the caravan there.
But this cannot be discovered. Once discovered, you will be fined ten times.
Besides, there are so many people with mixed eyes, who can guarantee that there won’t be a few cunning people going to report it?
For the escort agency, which is friendly and makes money, it is better to provoke bandits than to provoke the yamen.
Meng Qingbiao would not do anything to save money for others and cause trouble for himself.
After passing the Great Wall, it was the end of January.
The entire grassland was still covered in heavy snow, with only the dead grass on the ground vaguely exposed.
The roads that used to be easy to walk are now muddy and difficult to walk.
Meng Qingbiao had already planned this.
He asked the big-footed camel to go at the front to clear the way.
After they made a path, the draft horses walked.
The draft horses are all Mongolian horses, which are extremely adaptable to the grassland environment. They can even dig out dead grass under the snow with their hooves while walking slowly.
"This official system is better than expected."
Meng Qingbiao laughed and said: "I thought it was just a small road, but I didn't expect it to be very compacted. We can go faster."
Zhu Baisong looked at the official road in front of him, which was less than two feet wide: "I heard that the imperial court had built this official road more than ten years ago, but there were so many weeds on the grassland that it didn't take much effort to cover the official road...
…”
The convoy traveled on the simple official road, maintaining a speed of thirty miles per day, dragging it for two miles, with more than a hundred bodyguards and guards patrolling back and forth.
After walking for three to five days, we did not encounter a single tribe.
The entire escort agency felt extremely strange.
You know, in order to maintain this official road, the imperial court arranged for a small tribe to be on duty every one or two hundred miles along the route, but now there is no one there.
The merchant in the convoy explained: "The tribes on the grassland have to move around every year, sometimes even three or four times. They graze here in spring and summer, but not necessarily in autumn and winter."
"They must have gone to a warmer place to spend the winter."
Walking all the way through the snow, the convoy did not get lost and covered nearly 2,600 miles, two routes.
When the heavy snow began to melt in Mobei, we arrived at Kulun City.
The person who greeted them was the Governor of Mobei, Zeng Ying.
"I haven't seen the caravan for half a year. It's great."
Zeng Ying was overjoyed.
It snows heavily in Mobei for three to four months, so caravans have to return south in August and September. By the time they come north, it's basically summer.
But now it is extremely rare to see a caravan at the beginning of spring.
However, when he realized that what was delivered was one hundred thousand kilograms of gunpowder, Jianshe showed a solemn expression.
A man in the caravan called himself Jinyiwei Qianhu and brought the emperor's edict.
The emperor asked the Mobei Governor's Mansion to find a land with abundant water and grass and build a military camp that could accommodate 50,000 people.
Concealed, safe, and unknown to others.
"Your Majesty is going north to Fengjing?"
Zeng Ying's heart was full of pride.
As he expected, in the following days, escort agencies and caravans from the capital came north in an endless stream.
Almost every three to five days, a large amount of supplies will be delivered.
Or cloth, or artillery, or salt.
What caught his attention the most was a group of iron cans.
"What is this?" Zeng Ying looked at the square iron box, which was piled up like a mountain.
"Military rations."
The officer explained: "There are two thousand miles from Mobei to Beihai. A long-distance attack will inevitably be restricted by military rations."
"Sometimes, there's even no wood for a fire."
"And these tin cans contain cooked grain, which is enough to be stored for a long time to sustain the army's attack."
"How long can it last?" Zeng Ying took apart the palm-sized iron can in front of her and looked at it, revealing compacted pieces of meat.
He couldn't help but take a bite. It was salty and fishy, but it was edible, but there was not only meat, but also some rice, and meat only accounted for less than 30%.
"At least three months."
The officer smiled and said: "Master Marquis, this military ration not only contains bacon, but also stir-fried noodles, and also adds a lot of salt, sugar, and even fish."
"It doesn't taste very good, but just one box can fill a soldier's stomach."
"There is no more fodder, and it can even be used as horse fodder."
"Good stuff." Zeng Ying spit it out directly and then rinsed her mouth with water.
But he had to admit that although this thing was unpalatable, it was still meat.
As long as it doesn't get maggots and is really inedible, it can be used as military rations.
"Are you sure it's three months?"
"Master Marquis, it's absolutely true. The colder the place, the longer it stays. It can even last up to a year."
"Okay -" Zeng Ying was overjoyed: "With this sharp weapon, why worry about the injustice of the Qing Dynasty?"
"How is this made?"
The officer explained in detail how to cook it and remove the air.
"In this case, why bother transporting it all the way from Beijing? Why not cook it directly in Mobei?"
Zeng Ying made a suggestion: "In recent years, I have reclaimed a lot of wasteland in Mobei and hoarded a lot of food, which can be used to make military rations, saving the time of operation."
Afterwards, Zeng Ying secretly summoned the tribes directly under the Governor's Mansion and asked them to select elite cavalry for other purposes.
The excitement of Kulum cannot be concealed from Jebtsundamba in the temple.
The temples scattered all over Mobei are his best informants.
Even the Mongols who worked for the Governor-General had to respect him.
"Lord Buddha——" the serving monk whispered: "It seems that Mobei is not peaceful anymore."
"Amitabha!" Jebtsundamba sighed softly: "The grassland has been peaceful for so long. It seems that the good days are over."