Today's Blackwood City has expanded by about half its area two months ago. According to Blackwood Han, the number of Mongolians living in Blackwood City now reaches more than 100,000, and more than a dozen have developed around Blackwood City.
small village.
These are big changes for the nomadic Mongolian people. Hei Muhan also said that their tribe's clan names have become accustomed to this current way of life.
Zhu Gui listened to Heimuhan's various introductions along the way and just nodded slightly without saying anything.
"Have any news returned from the cavalry sent out to explore in the past two months?"
As soon as the two of them reached the door of the City Lord's Mansion, they suddenly asked Hei Muhan.
Hei Muhan was stunned for a moment and then said in a slightly mysterious voice: "Your Highness, are you listening to what is said inside?"
Hei Muhan asked others to guard the gate of the City Lord's Mansion and then led Zhu Gui into the City Lord's Mansion.
At this time, the city lord's palace was already quite close to the Han style, and the decoration style was also very luxurious. It was not like the rough style of the Mongols, but it still used a lot of animal skins for decoration.
Hei Muhan led Zhu Gui to a secret room in the backyard of Chengzhong Mansion.
"Your Majesty, in fact, the cavalry team that went out to explore has sent back part of the news. Please take a look."
Hei Muhan said and took out an animal skin and handed it to Zhu Gui.
Zhu Gui took a look at the result but immediately gave it back to Hei Muhan, because it was written in Mongolian characters and Zhu Gui couldn't understand it at all.
Hei Muhan then realized what he was saying and apologized repeatedly: "That's right, this letter came from the northwest of the grassland. It said that they found a huge lake, but there were several tribes living there, and
Not Mongolian."
"Could the huge lake in the northwest be Lake Baikal?" Zhu Gui raised his eyebrows when he heard the news and thought to himself.
In the late fourteenth century, the Russians probably had not yet crossed the Picaucasus Mountains across Eurasia. In other words, as long as they could conquer those indigenous tribes during this period, they could completely incorporate the entire Siberian steppe into the Ming Dynasty.
within the territory.
This is much more convenient than directly fighting the Russians in the future, which is a rare piece of good news.
"Is it just this letter? Is there no news from the exploration teams in the other two directions?" Zhu Gui asked.
"Not yet. My subordinates have sent out a second wave of expedition teams to pick them up. It will take half a month. There should be news soon." Hei Muhan said.
Zhu Gui nodded and said: "You have done a good job in this matter. How is the situation on the grassland now?"
"Thanks to the prince's support, the number of tribes on this grassland has now increased from thirteen to twenty-seven. My subordinates have united all the tribes, and they are all willing to accept this model of cooperation with Datong Prefecture."
Hei Muhan's eyes showed excitement.
He deliberately emphasized Datong Palace instead of the Ming Dynasty, which was to express his loyalty to Zhu Gui instead of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Gui naturally heard this, but he did not express it.
"Okay, you did a good job in this matter. By the way, I have one more thing to inform you. You should also have received some news, right? The empress of Beiyuan, the Emperor Tianyuan, has agreed to have a meeting with me.
Cooperated.”
Zhu Gui said calmly.
"So it turns out to be true? Your Majesty is so brave, please accept your obeisance." Hei Muhan said and knelt down towards Zhu Gui.
Zhu Gui naturally accepted his kneeling ceremony, which also meant that the other party had completely surrendered to him.
"Recently, the Datou Chamber of Commerce will transport a batch of grain to Beiyuan. Well, you can also send a delegation and escort to meet those people in Beiyuan. I will ask Emperor Tianyuan to give you an official position."
Zhu Gui said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Hei Muhan kowtowed to Zhu Gui again.
Heimuhan was originally just the leader of a small tribe and had nothing to do with the formal centralized organization of Beiyuan. Now he got something he couldn't get before just because of this line with Zhu Gui. Naturally, he
I am very grateful to Zhu Gui.
In the following period, Heimuhan successively introduced to you the development of other aspects on the grassland.
Although there is still a certain distance from Zhu Gui's grassland development blueprint, a good foundation has been laid.
And more importantly, more and more Mongolians have accepted this settled life and begun to learn other crafts besides herding.
These are all essential to Zhu Gui's plan. After he actually gets the design drawings of the steam engine, he can gather a large number of workers as soon as possible to start building the railway, and then the entire grassland can be included in the railway.
In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, whether it is from south to north or from east to west, it can become a whole.
The two of them talked in the secret room of the city lord's palace for more than two hours before leaving the city again.
Zhu Gui rode his horse on the grassland for a while before leaving Blackwood City.
On the way back, he met the caravan that had surrendered to him. The leader of the caravan told him about the development of the caravan during this period. The caravan had provided thousands of horses to Datong Prefecture and eliminated many bandits and gangsters.
However, because their number was limited and the interests of the Datong Caravan were too great, bandits and ruthless bandits from surrounding provinces and cities continued to emerge one after another.
"Your Majesty, in fact, the best way to solve the bandit problem is to allow those areas to develop like Datong Prefecture." The leader of the caravan said to Zhu Gui sincerely.
Zhu Gui glanced at him in surprise, but still nodded.
"You are right, but the Ming Dynasty was founded not long ago and its national power is limited, so it is impossible for all regions to develop like Datong Prefecture."
"That's because they haven't met a wise master like the prince." The leader of the caravan said eagerly.
"Okay, don't say such words again." Zhu Gui interrupted the other party. If other people with ulterior motives heard such rebellious words, they would definitely impeach him.
"I will allocate another thousand people to you, and the bandits in the north will be handed over to you. If you encounter any problems, just contact the Dai Wangfu directly."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The caravan force is one of Zhu Gui's trump cards. Not many people know about it yet. Now is the time to develop them.
After doing this, Zhu Gui finally returned to Datong Mansion, but before he reached the royal residence, he was stopped by the county guard who was blocking his way.
"Your Highness, you are back. The Taiyuan County Sheriff came to see you and is now waiting for you at the County Sheriff's Mansion."
"I understand. I will go back and change my clothes. I will be there soon."
After Zhu Gui finished speaking, he galloped towards the palace.