The sixth year of the Republic of China, the 4344th year of the lunar calendar, and the year 1647 AD.
As soon as the North Korean envoys left in the spring, the envoys from the Yeerqiang Khanate arrived. These guys from Xinjiang set out in May last year and traveled for more than half a year before arriving in Nanjing.
They come not only to pay tribute, but also to do business.
The tea and horse trade with China has always been regarded as the "golden road" by the Yeerqiang Khanate. Anyone who dares to block this golden road will be attacked by the khanate, and they must bite the bullet even if they cannot win.
beat.
Since the Ming Dynasty has died, then we should establish diplomatic relations with Datong.
Follow the new dynasty of Datong as the suzerain state, pay tribute once every two or three years, and get some rewards such as silk by the way... The tribute trade is still secondary, the really important thing is the tea and horse trade, using Xinjiang horses in exchange for tea in the pass!
Ma Hemu was a diplomat from Shihaul, the Yeerqiang Kingdom.
He escorted hundreds of camels and many Xinjiang specialties. Half of the camels were tributes, and the remaining half were transportation vehicles, carrying back the goods rewarded by the Chinese emperor.
As early as the Wanli period, the Yeerqiang Khanate stopped paying tribute and did business directly with the border troops and merchants in Gansu.
The reason for the restoration of tribute this time was because the tea-horse trade was cut off. The Datong Army no longer purchased horses from Xinjiang, and Han merchants also did not buy horses of qualified size. They would be forcibly purchased by the court. In addition, the journey was long, so they could not make much money at all.
money.
In northern China, people's livelihood was in decline, and Ma Hemu thought it was nothing more than that.
When he arrived in Henan, he gradually became prosperous. When he entered Anhui and Jiangsu, Ma Hemu was even more shocked. When he arrived in Yangzhou, Ma Hemu was so frightened by the bustling city that he was speechless.
Nanjing is like a paradise.
When Ma Hemu walked in the Forbidden City, he thought of the Khan's palace and felt like a little lord in the countryside.
"Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor!"
Ma Hemu knelt down. This was of his own free will. Originally he only had to bend down to salute. Not only did he kneel down, but he also bowed to the ground, in order to show his surrender.
"No gifts, only a seat." Zhao Han enjoyed the feeling of having thousands of nations come to court.
Ma Hemu thanked him and sat down.
Zhao Han said softly: "You speak Chinese well."
Ma Hemu said: "Han merchants often come to Ye'erqiang to do business. I used to be a businessman, and he was born in a poor family. Because he did well in business and could speak Chinese, he was awarded the title of Shihaul Shi by the Sultan of our country.
The official position of Haul is specifically responsible for dealing with other countries."
Zhao Han immediately sensed something was wrong: "In this Yeerqiang country, a businessman with a low background can also be an official?"
Ma Hemu replied: "The Sultan was a wise monarch. He appointed civil servants instead of local lords. Officials of the Khan's court, regardless of their origins, whoever has the ability can be an official."
Another powerful king!
Zhao Han inquired carefully, and Ma Hemu answered patiently, and finally asked about the situation: the Yeerqiang Khanate was in its heyday.
When the Yeerqiang Kingdom was first established, it was a nomadic country, and everything was Mongolian. Gradually, it began to station pastoralists, and then developed into agriculture and animal husbandry. The manor economy and commercial trade became the country's leading. Local power was controlled by Burke (similar to Burke)
Governor), the Sudan even lacked soldiers to recruit soldiers because the population was also controlled by Burke.
Now Abdullah Khan subdued local forces through force and replaced local lords with civilian officials. Those who disobeyed were sent to Mecca for pilgrimage. Many people died on the way, and those who could return also died of illness.
Even his own son was squeezed out of the center of power and sent to Kashgar to be the governor.
Of course, it is this operation that will capsize Abdullah Khan's boat in the gutter.
In the near future, his son will fight back from Kashgar and force his old father to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He will die of illness in the capital of India on the way back. And the Yeerqiang country will fall into division, with the Black Mountain sect and the White Mountain sect going their own way.
The Black Mountain Sect and the White Mountain Sect both belong to the Sufi sect of Christianity.
Sufism was violently suppressed by the rulers in both the Ottoman and Persian countries. Most of the Persian female slaves sold to China were Sufi believers.
But in the Mughal Empire of India, Sufism was the state religion.
The second Mughal emperor was killed by an Afghan general and fled to Persia. It was with the support of the Sufis that he recovered his country.
The Yeerqiang Khanate in Xinjiang also has Sufism as its state religion.
However, the Sufi sect in Xinjiang split into two sects, the Black Mountain and the White Mountain. At this time, the Yeerqiang Kingdom belonged to the Black Mountain Dynasty.
Abdullah Khan drove his son to Kashgar, and his son took the opportunity to support the local Baishan sect. Then he united with the losing nobles, raised troops under the banner of religion, and successfully drove his old father to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and then established the Baishan Dynasty.
Religion succeeds and religion fails.
After using religious power to expel the old father, all the old father's reforms were completed and the nobles failed to regain power. Instead, the sect leaders became the local power holders. Therefore, the Baishan Dynasty was also called the era of Hezhuo (Prophet) rule.
The large and small Hezhuo rebellions suppressed by the Qing Dynasty were all Hezhuo from the Baishan faction.
Historically, Zhungar was able to destroy the Yeerqiang Khanate because of the religious schism within the Yeerqiang. Zhungar first supported the Black Mountain Faction and raised troops to attack the Baishan Faction. After the victory, he killed the Yeerqiang Sultan and allowed
The White Mountain Faction and the Black Mountain Faction continue to fight among themselves.
"Your Majesty, please resume the tea-horse trade!" Ma Hemu said.
Zhao Han nodded and said: "Since we, the Datong Imperial Court, are the suzerains, trade between the two countries should be restored."
Ma Hemu was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Zhao Han picked up the jade seeds on the desk and played with them: "Kunshan jade is good. I can send more as tribute in the future."
"I obey!" Ma Hemu was even more happy.
Kunshan jade is Hotan jade, which has been famous throughout the world as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties. But at that time, Kunshan jade was produced in the Qilian Mountains and had nothing to do with Hotan in Xinjiang.
Hotan jade material was developed in the Ming Dynasty and sold as Qilian Mountain Kunshan jade.
Gold comes from Lishui, and jade comes from Kungang.
Kunshan jade is sought after by literati, not only for its quality, but also for its rich cultural connotations.
Emperor Zhao praised the quality of Hotan jade, which was equivalent to rectifying the name of Hotan jade, so that in the future there would be no need to pretend to be Qilian jade. That is to say: Hotan jade from Xinjiang is also serious Kunshan jade, and it is also something that gentlemen wear.
Ma Hemu probably read a lot of Han classics and was understood by Emperor Zhao.
This guy is a businessman himself. He plans to take out all his property immediately after returning to Xinjiang, buy as much as he can, and sell it to Datong for a huge profit.
Ma Hemu thanked him and left the palace, waiting for the court to give him gifts in return.
The New Dynasty of Datong will definitely not be taken advantage of. They will basically give back whatever tribute the vassal states pay, and they will also keep some profits.
There were two boxes of Hetian jade, one box was intercepted by the royal family, and the other box was thrown to the court department for auction.
Government auctions are certainly prone to corruption, with private businessmen profiting from connections.
But it’s not possible without an auction. For example, this time the Yeerqiang Kingdom paid tribute to Hetian jade and other special products, and also paid tribute to dozens of camels.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a royal zoo where camels were raised. The giraffes, elephants, tigers, leopards...most of them were tribute from the vassal states. Some animals were even kept from Zhu Di's time until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The children and grandchildren will have no worries about food and clothing.
This kind of raising method costs a lot of money and food, not only to raise the animals, but also to support the breeders.
Sometimes there are more keepers than animals!
Outside Nanjing, the commercial, financial and diplomatic departments jointly held a tribute auction.
"The starting price for camels from the Western Regions is twelve taels each, and the first batch will be auctioned with ten. This material is powerful and can travel, and it can withstand heat and thirst when on the road..."
"I'll pay eleven taels!"
"I'll pay eleven and a half yuan!"
"I'm out..."
Ma Hemu looked at the auction site dumbfounded. The tributes were actually sold like this. This was different from what he had read in the book. The book said that the Chinese emperors were very generous, and the tribute trade would definitely make a lot of money, and the tribute products would also be sold.
It will be charged into the inner treasury by the emperor.
"This is Kunshan jade produced in the hot fields of the Western Regions. Regardless of whether it is beautiful or not, your majesty likes it very much. Your majesty does not want anything else from the tribute treasures, except a box of Kunshan jade..."
Does the emperor like it?
The businessmen immediately laughed. This could be used as a publicity stunt. Some guys had already made plans to go to Xinjiang to purchase goods.
With the favor of Emperor Zhao and the cultural connotation of jade coming from Kungang, the price of Hetian jade in Xinjiang will definitely rise. This is what Zhao Han hopes to see. After all, Xinjiang is too remote and there is not much land that can grow food. There must be some treasures.
It's worth sending troops.
If you want to visit Myanmar in the future, you can also fry jade first.
The jade these days is just broken stone. It was only introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty and is now only accepted by a few people.
Of course, Myanmar is not easy to fight.
It is easy to win a few battles, but to occupy the entire territory of Myanmar is probably no easier than to completely wipe out the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
It is not just a matter of terrain and climate. At this time, Myanmar was called Toungoo Kingdom, which belonged to the hegemony level in Southeast Asia and was the strongest feudal dynasty in the history of Myanmar. Moreover, like the Yeerqiang Kingdom, it is now ruled by a wise monarch and belongs to the strongest dynasty.
’s heyday.
The king of Myanmar called him Long, similar to Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty.
His father Anabilon was responsible for war and expansion, a bit like Kangxi's situation. Not only did he recover all the lost land, he also recovered the Portuguese colonies and greatly increased the land area.
After Talong succeeded to the throne, he immediately stopped the war, conducted a census, compiled households, reformed the tax system, and distributed idle land to farmers.
Of course, everything that flourishes must decline, and the next successor will soon be addicted to pleasure and become incompetent.
"I'll pay eighty taels!"
"Eighty-five taels!"
"..."
The auction of Hotan jade is still in progress, and this thing will go crazy next time.
When the merchants are in a frenzy, the people should do whatever they want.
In and outside Nanjing, tens of thousands of urban residents have immigrated in recent years. As long as beggars dare to take to the streets and are not severely disabled, they will definitely be classified as immigrants and thrown to the north to slowly farm the land. Many lower-class citizens have also been immigrated, almost
The unemployed groups have been eliminated.
Ma Hemu was walking on the streets of Nanjing. He would go back and report to the Sudan that there were no poor people in China's capital. Even dock coolies could afford noodles, which was unimaginable to Yeerqiang.
This country cannot be messed with. From now on, let’s just engage in trade in a peaceful manner.
(Allow me to add another chapter to sort out my thoughts. Today, I ran to read a novel, Xiaobai, and I was fascinated by it. The title is "I have been cultivating immortals for three hundred years and suddenly discovered that I am a martial arts".) To provide you with the best
I will update quickly, 604 [Jade out of Kungang] is free to read.
