The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

Yijinai, Ejina Banner 500 years later.It used to be glorious here. When the Dangxiang clan in the north founded Xixia, it was their capital.In the Yuan Dynasty, this place was called "Yiji Nai Road", and the Juyan Fortress was established here, which was the "Yiji Nai Road General Manager's Mansion" to lead military and political affairs.In the early Ming Dynasty, Yiji Nailu and Heicheng were destroyed and abandoned.For the Tatars, this place is close to the river, with abundant water and abundant vegetation around it. It is a good place for grazing. Now it has become the grazing land of the Tatar lords in Mobei.

It's not random for me to choose this place to discuss the mutual market. I'm afraid the lords here are more or less related to me, and this place is very close to the northern border of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the envoy of the Ming Dynasty is here, if something happens...

Of course, these are just the conjectures of Zhang Fan and others. Although they are a bit alarmist, they are related to their own wealth and life, so they have to make plans early.

The lord of this place is named Meng Gendulak, which means blessing the house with children.The lord did not regret his name at all. There are more than a dozen concubines and more than 20 children.Menggendulak is very famous in Yiji Nai. Many people respect him very much in this natural pasture where only a thousand people live.

Zhang Fan and others followed the Tatar envoys into Yiji Nai. In addition to the 1000 guards stationed outside the city, merchants also entered the city.The envoys rushed to the lord's mansion non-stop, and heard that the people sent by Alda were already waiting there.

Along the way, Zhang Fan really saw the exotic customs.There are not many permanent residents in Yiji Nai, but this place is the largest market in a hundred miles, and many herdsmen will come here to go to the market.The Daming caravan that arrived with Zhang Fan and others was warmly welcomed by the herdsmen as soon as they entered the city.The arrival of the caravans in the Ming Dynasty meant that the herdsmen could exchange some necessities for life at a low price, and they traded face-to-face, avoiding a lot of exploitation by those gentlemen.In fact, the previous mutual market will be broken by the Tatars, which is also a large reason. The herdsmen can exchange things directly, and the luxuries that those nobles can get are much less.

The Tatars had a great demand for many things from the Ming Dynasty, especially tea bricks and table salt.Tatars mainly graze and eat beef and mutton most of the year. However, eating this kind of food all the year round is definitely a huge burden on the human stomach. To put it bluntly, it means high cholesterol and fat deposition on the inner wall of blood vessels.Drinking tea can speed up the metabolism of fat, of course not only this, but also many benefits.So even the poorest people here will spend a lot of money in exchange for some tea bricks.Not to mention the demand for salt, this is inland, there is a lot of fresh water, but salt is very difficult to find.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Fan suddenly felt much less hatred for the Tatars in his heart.Yes, no matter how bad the two countries are, it is not the will of the people, and the people will always be hurt!

Several people came to the lord's mansion, because Meng Gendulak was the lord who lived here, he didn't live in a tent, but built a house.The courtyard is very large, unlike the houses of the Ming Dynasty, the houses here are somewhat low and have flat roofs.There are various fruit trees and flowers and plants in the courtyard, but because it is early spring, they are not open.Zhang Fan and the others could imagine how the courtyard was full of flowers.The environment is very quiet, like a small garden.

As soon as a few people came in, a few people came out of the room.The first one was wearing the unique clothes of a Tatar lord, with complicated patterns and bright colors.This man is very rich, if not for his clothes, everyone would think that the man in front of them is a wealthy businessman of the Ming Dynasty.

"My humble man Gendulak, the nobleman is here, and the humble house is full of splendor." He spoke Chinese with a thick accent.

"Thank you, Lord, for your hospitality." Wang Xilie, as the representative of this mission, took the initiative to greet him.

The house is spotlessly clean, very clean, and the layout is very exotic.Everyone entered the house and sat down, and their own servants offered the unique kumiss here.

"This is the best wine I have here. I don't dare to make a fool of myself with tea." Meng Gendulak said.

Where did the officials of the Ministry of Rites who went on a mission drink these? As soon as they took a mouthful, there was a fishy smell.Fortunately, these people are usually good at socializing, and they swallowed it forcefully, but they never touched the drink in front of them again.

"This time I'm here to discuss trade with your country, where is Tuhan's envoy?" Wang Xilie hurriedly said in order to change the subject.

"The special envoy of the Great Khan is coming," said Menggendulak.

Just as he was talking, someone outside reported that the person I answered had arrived, and Meng Gen hurried out to greet him.Two people came, one was dressed as a person of status at a glance, and the other was dressed as a bodyguard, but he was quite old.

Meng Gen hurriedly introduced: "This is Tuhan's son Huang Taiji. Tuhan asked His Highness to come down to discuss this time, which shows his sincerity."

"Won't Tuhan himself come?" Wang Xilie asked, "After all, trading is a big deal, and we should discuss it with Tuhan face to face."

"Some things in Father Khan's big tent have been delayed, and now he is on his way, and he will be here soon." Huang Taiji said, speaking Chinese fluently.

Seeing that they were going to talk about something, Meng Gen ordered his servants to retreat.

"We traded with Tatar before, but you broke the contract first, why do you want to reopen now?" Wang Xilie started the conversation.

"At that time, it was not my father Khan who made the decision, but those nobles who were self-styled and insisted on provoking trouble." Huang Taiji said.

"However, after Tu Khan came to power, the invasion of the borderlands of our Ming Dynasty continued, and Fan'er became more and more serious. How can this be explained?" Wang Xilie asked pressingly.

"Although my father Khan is in power, it is not stable. There are always some people who are not used to it and want to destroy it. Father Khan has no choice!" Huang Taiji said pretending to be helpless.

"Then why do you want to reopen now?" Wang Xilie continued.

"Father Khan also wants the people to live better." Huang Taiji said, "Seeing the people working all day long with little return, how can you not feel sad! Now that Father Khan has pacified the region, he can make this request to your country .”

Everyone in the Ministry of Rites present is not a good person, even Zhang Fan can see that this Huang Taiji must have nothing to say, but Zhang Fan is always looking at the old guard next to Huang Taiji. As a Jinyi guard, he has learned a lot. Don't look at people's abilities, and my intuition tells him that this is not easy.

Wang Xilie also knew that it was impossible for him to explain everything, so he didn't go too deep into it, and said, "I, the Son of Heaven, and the court really hope to trade with your country, but if we can't guarantee safety, we don't need to talk about everything below. .”

"Please rest assured that my father Khan made this request, and he was prepared." Huang Taiji said, "To put it bluntly, my Tatars have only relied on plunder for so many years. Not only is the risk extremely high, but the profit is huge." Very little. As long as the mutual market can be reopened, it will be beneficial to both parties.”

His words did not arouse any resentment, at least being able to speak out was much better than being a hypocrite.

"These rumors are groundless, please come up with a solution and let us see." Wang Xilie said.

After hearing what he said, Huang Taiji looked at the guard around him without leaving a trace, and the guard secretly made a gesture.Everyone didn't pay attention, but Zhang Fan and Wang Meng saw it.Zhang Fan kept staring at him, but Wang Meng was an old man from Jin Yiwei, so he paid close attention.

"In this case, we can discuss specific matters first." Wang Xilie said.

The two parties began to discuss, Zhang Fan really couldn't get in the mouth, and was feeling bored, Meng Gen's servants came in and announced that someone wanted to see Zhang Fan.Zhang Fan was very surprised, got up to leave, and left with Wang Meng.Everyone didn't care, but they just looked at Zhang Fan a few times.

When the two went out, they saw a rich family in brocade clothes pretending to be a merchant. Zhang Fan hurriedly asked, "We are discussing some important matters here, why should we bother you at this moment?"

The man was also very on the road, and said: "My lord, there is some disagreement with those merchants, and I specially asked the villain to find someone who can talk to me to adjust it. No, I will find you, my lord."

"Profit-seeking merchants, it must be a matter of money, it really embarrasses me." Zhang Fan pretended to be angry and said, "You lead the way."

Zhang Fan followed the man and said to Wang Meng, "What do you think of that man?"

"My lord, that man is very powerful, but he is not a person who often goes to the battlefield. It would be good to be a sergeant, but it would be a bit worse to be a guard." Wang Meng said.

"That's right, Huang Taiji's status depends on his eyes." Zhang Fan said, "It seems that Tuhan is also very impatient!"

The two of them didn't speak any more on the way, and followed the disguised Baihu to a secluded tent. There were already two people waiting inside, one of them was Zhao Ming, who had dealt with Zhang Fan, and the other had been through a lot of hardships all his life. , as if just arrived here, warming up by the fire.

"My lord." Seeing Zhang Fan coming, Zhao Ming clasped his fists and said, "This brother came from Ningxia Wei overnight, saying that he has something important to report to your lord."

"The villain Hu Liang has met the adults." The man saluted Zhang Fan respectfully.

"You don't need to be too polite. You came here in a hurry from Ningxia. Lord Wang must have something important to do." Zhang Fan looked at his surroundings and said, "Just speak up if you have something to say, people here will definitely keep their mouths shut."

After hearing what Zhang Fan said, Hu Liang didn't make any detours, and said, "The villain came here to inform you at the order of the governor. The day before yesterday, the grandson of I Da brought Han Naji to Datong with his family and guards. Na surrender!"

There were not many words in this sentence, but it stunned the few people present.Zhao Ming and Wang Meng just thought it was strange, but Zhang Fan couldn't help thinking about it, and immediately asked, "Do you know why?"

"I heard that we had a falling out with I Da." Hu Liang said, "I Da took a fancy to Han Naji's wife 'Third Lady' and wanted to take her away. But Han Naji had no choice but to come to me. Ming dynasty."

"When did this happen?" Zhang Fan asked.

"I heard that Han Naji has been in Datong for about a month, avoiding my pursuers everywhere on the grassland." Hu Liang replied.

After hearing this, Zhang Fan sorted out the matter.He has always had doubts about Alda's sudden desire to reopen the exchange market, and now the truth has come to light.I answered that the invasion of the south last year lost a lot of troops, and it is estimated that the tamed nobles in the Tatars rebelled again.Now that An Da's grandson has fled to Daming, if the court accepts his surrender and confers him some kind of official position, I Da's position will be very embarrassing.

"This is an old man with a good abacus." Zhang Fan said to himself, "Although he prepared a backhand, he was still too confident, and he didn't expect that Hannaji to stand out from the encirclement! "

The other two didn't say much, but Zhang Fan had a plan in mind, and said, "Our business cannot be delayed, and this time the mutual market must be successful. Of course, there will be a lot of blood. I will continue to do mine. You also have to be careful, don't show your feet."

"My lord, don't worry." Zhao Ming said, "We Jinyiwei are very familiar with this matter. On the contrary, my lord, I am worried that my lord will attract the attention of the Tartars."

"I'm sure the Tartars are paying attention, but don't worry, they don't dare to mess around." Zhang Fan said, "Now the situation is beneficial to us, so we have to make good use of it."