Fei Ruhe returned to Beijing to report on his duties, accompanied by three hundred soldiers.
After several years, Fei Ruhe felt quite emotional when he once again experienced the wealth and prosperity of the south.
He had been stationed in Datong before. Although people's livelihood recovered rapidly, compared with the areas south of the Yellow River, the population was still too sparse. After all, Shanxi had been in drought for ten years and was repeatedly ravaged by northwest bandits, Ming officers and soldiers, and Manchu Tatars.
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Hearing that Xu Ying was in charge of Jiangsu, Fei Ruhe stopped in Yangzhou.
The escort troops were not allowed to enter the city at will, and the soldiers were left stationed outside the city. Fei Ruhe entered the city with only a few personal guards.
Xu Ying heard that Fei Ruhe was coming and hurriedly went to greet him. The two met on the street.
"Haha, Lao Xu, you have become a feudal official." Fei Ruhe laughed before he even got close.
Xu Ying smiled and said jokingly: "You are a general who leads troops. On the way to report on your duties, you have a secret meeting with a provincial chief official. If you put it in front of me, you will be impeached."
"Whoever wants to impeach can be impeached. I can't even come to see my old friend?" Fei Ruhe didn't care about this.
This guy has been in Shanxi for several years. He is an absolute local emperor. Local officials treat him as an ancestor. He must have a good temper. He is not afraid of anything. He even wrote a letter asking one of his clan brothers to go to the border of Shanxi to start a fur business.
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Illegal, but not illegal.
He did not use his soldiers to do business and paid taxes normally. However, his clan brother's business was prosperous because of Fei Ruhe's power.
This is very similar to Gan Tangshu letting her in-laws do business, but the difference is that Gan Tangshu also did illegal operations.
For example, he colluded with the Jiangsu Salt Affairs Department to bankrupt a Shanxi salt merchant, and then transferred the Shanxi salt merchant's salt selling license to his in-laws at a super low price (there are quotas for salt industry licenses in each province, and additional licenses require approval from the Ministry of Commerce.
Cabinet signature). Moreover, his in-laws did not have a transportation fleet, so it was impossible to meet the salt transportation qualifications. In the beginning, they had to hire external transportation teams.
Fei Ruhe was much smarter. He didn't touch the salt administration or the land administration. He just let his clan brothers traffic in fur goods.
Don’t underestimate the leather goods trade, it’s very profitable!
In the Ming Dynasty, high-end furs were considered luxury goods. In particular, commoners were prohibited from enjoying sable, sea otter, lynx and other furs. The Ming Dynasty reiterated the ban four times. Until the Longqing period, due to the tribute paid by I, the furs from the grassland
As the number of leather goods increased, prices dropped slightly, but the Tatar rebellion caused leather prices to skyrocket.
Even now that Mongolia and the Northeast trade routes have been opened, and the price of fur goods continues to drop, if you want to buy a piece of sable skin in Nanjing, the price is at least 300 taels. A sable skin in excellent quality can easily cost up to 500 taels.
It is possible to sell for thousands of taels of silver, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it.
The bulk of the fur trade is still dominated by sheepskins, and the capture of precious furs is too small.
In order to fill the market gap for high-end goods, many Mongolian tribes racked their brains and focused on the most ferocious cat in the world - the rabbit cat.
In recent years, the price of rabbit fur has also been skyrocketed, with prices starting at at least 200 taels of silver when shipped to Nanjing.
In addition, the fur trade is also very prosperous in Taiwan Island and Hainan Island. Taiwan's sika deer and Qiongzhou Eld's deer were hunted in large numbers. In later generations, this was an act of ecological destruction, but today it is conducive to the development of frontiers.
For example, the Heilongjiang Dusi has not really been established yet, and the first people to respond are merchants. Because the most precious furs can be obtained in Heilongjiang and the Songhua River Basin, sable and sea otter skins come from there. Well-informed merchants are already there
Liaoning gathered, just waiting to follow the army to Harbin to open a trading post.
All the way to the back house of the Chief Secretary's Yamen, Fei Ruhe asked someone to get a gift: "This is an agate (rabbit) fur, for my younger siblings."
Xu Ying glanced at it. This fur was extremely exquisite. It required at least three pieces of rabbit skin to make it. The labor cost was not cheap. The price in the south must have exceeded one thousand taels. He quickly waved his hand and said, "The gift is too expensive.
I can't accept it."
Fei Ruhe said with a smile: "Before I arrived in Yangzhou, I heard that you had become a Jiangsu official butcher. What are you afraid of? When I return to Nanjing, I will give His Majesty a gift list, and give him the gifts and gifts.
Let His Majesty personally see whichever one you get. Don’t worry, I won’t cause you any trouble. You can’t give gifts to old friends when you meet them?”
Xu Ying still shook her head: "I accept the kindness, but I cannot accept the gift."
"You people are so boring!"
Fei Ruhe muttered, not treating himself as an outsider, and walked into the living room and sat down.
Xu Ying personally made tea for Fei Ruhe and asked, "Is the situation outside the Great Wall unstable?"
Fei Ruhe said: "There is nothing here in Shanxi. Li Zicheng is fighting with various tribes. Across the Gobi Desert, the Khalkha Mongolia in Mobei cannot fight. The northern grasslands in Hebei and Liaoning are tentatively called Modong Mongolia. Today
But it was very lively, the Khalkha Mongols came over."
"The Mobei Mongols actually had the strength to move south?" Xu Ying was quite surprised.
Fei Ruhe said: "The various Mongolian tribes in Monan and Modong were divided and ruled by the Manchu Tatars. Now they have been fighting against each other for many years, and they have long been depleted and exhausted. The Khalkha Mongols in Mobei have never been affected by it.
The Tatars controlled the seven Khalkha tribes, originally headed by the Tushetu tribe, and the Chechen tribe suffered heavy losses from the Tatars. The Tushetu Khan Gonbu took the opportunity to annex the Chechen tribe, and surrendered the other six tribes by force, unifying Mobei.
After that, Gonbu expanded toward the east and south."
"To the east, Gunbu annexed Alhorqin (Hulunbuir area)."
"To the south, the Bahrain tribe has been annexed, and the Zalut tribe is also under attack. The Zalut Mongols have been fighting with Horqin. Under the attack from both sides, they simply surrendered to Gunbu."
Mobei Mongolia can be roughly understood as the Outer Mongolia region.
During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the left wing of the Khalkha Mongolia moved south to the Xilamulun River Basin in the Greater Khingan Mountains and was known as the "Five Inner Khalkha Tribes". After years of melee, only two tribes, Bahrain and Jarut, are left.
, the Bahrain tribe’s territory reaches as far south as Chifeng, and is bordering Datong China. The southernmost territory of the Zharut Mongolia is adjacent to Tongliao, and borders Horqin Mongolia.
During the Jiajing period, the right wing of the Khalkha who stayed in Mobei gradually unified the entire Outer Mongolia region. They were divided into seven sons to govern, called the "Seven Outer Khalkha Tribes".
Now, the leader of the seven Outer Khalkha tribes, Tushetu Khan Gunbu, has taken advantage of the gap between the Qing Dynasty and the Datong Army to move north, and has begun crazy expansion. Only two Inner Khalkha Mongols are left.
, was already besieged by other tribes, so they simply turned around and took refuge under Gunbu's command. Anyway, they were one family a hundred years ago.
Fei Ruhe continued: "Gun Bu was still a little afraid of trouble, so he took the initiative to send the envoy south and asked for the canonization of Emperor Datong. But halfway through the envoy, Gun Bu fell ill and died on the way to conquer Nenhorqin. His son Chahunduo
Erji succeeded to the throne and proclaimed himself 'Waqi Laitu Shetu Khan with both faith and strength'. He threatened to avenge his father and said that he would be the Great Khan of all Mongolia."
"Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers." Xu Ying commented.
Although the old Khan of Khalkha Mongolia, Gunbu, was expanding aggressively, he was still afraid in his heart. When he was about to border China's territory, he immediately sent an envoy to request canonization.
But this new Khan, Chakhundolji, is just a fool. He doesn’t take China seriously at all, and directly shouts that he will be the Great Khan of all Mongolia. Just based on this slogan, China must send troops.
beat!
But then again, the new Khan of Khalkha, Chahu Dorji, is indeed very capable in terms of military capabilities.
Historically, among the many sons of Kangxi, only one had a Mongolian name. It was the name given by Dayu'er himself, called Aixinjueluo Saiyin Chahun. Saiin was the religious name of Chahun Dorji, Chahun.
Hun comes directly from the name of Chahun Dorji. Dayu'er did this for two reasons. One is to hope that his grandson can be as strong as Chahun Dorji, and the other is to remind Kangxi to be wary of the expansion of Chahun Dorji.
Fei Ruhe said: "The purpose of my return to Beijing to report on my duties is to discuss the use of troops on the grassland. Not only do we have to fight, we also have to recruit various ministries, and we need to send many envoys north."
The expansion of the Khalkha Mongolia was stuck at the line of Yinshan Mountain in the west, and it was approaching Chifeng and Tongliao in the east. No matter what, the imperial court could not sit idly by.
Fei Ruhe added: "This Khalkha Mongolia is also colluding with the Rakshasa ghosts, and Tuxie Tuhan has a dragoon bodyguard beside him!"
"This deserves a heavy blow!" Xu Ying said.
Actually, it's not that serious.
Khalkha Mongolia and Russia have been in contact more than 20 years ago. The relationship between the two parties is very complicated. On the one hand, commercial exchanges continue to deepen, and on the other hand, territorial disputes become increasingly serious. Buryat Mongolia, whose land was occupied by Cossacks,
, which is the affiliated force of Khalkha Mongolia.
The Russians, who are expanding eastward, have purchased a large amount of furs and war horses from the Khalkha Mongols, and have become the largest foreign trade partner of the Khalkha Mongols. At the same time, they also sold muskets and gunpowder to the Khalkha Mongols. They even sold a few
It was a small cannon, the kind mounted on a Cossack ship. The barrel was only as thick as a calf.
After chatting about military affairs for a while, Fei Ruhe added: "Both my two sons were eliminated by the Imperial City School. Where are yours?"
Xu Ying said: "One son and one daughter, both studying at the Imperial City School."
"Damn it, comparing people to each other is so annoying!" Fei Ruhe said angrily.
Xu Ying advised: "Don't worry, my daughter is about to be eliminated. The Imperial City School is full of prodigies, so it's normal to not be able to compete."
Fei Ruhe suddenly laughed again: "Hey, Zhang Tieniu's children are worse than mine. It's not a shame for me to have him at the bottom. I can still tease him next time we meet."
Xu Ying suddenly came to her senses: "If we recruit all the grassland tribes and attack the Khalkha Mongolia together, do we need to recruit Li Zicheng as well?"
"It depends on what Your Majesty wants," Fei Ruhe said. "It has been many years and everything has faded away. It is not easy to have a Han force in Hetao. In my opinion, it is better to appease them."