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Chapter 801 Open and Closed
Not long after the Battle of Fuyu City ended, in early July, Chaohua, the leader of the five Khalkha tribes, personally led envoys, drove a team of horses, loaded with furs, jewels, and gold, and detoured through Shanhaiguan to beg for permission to pay homage, which was granted.

What did he come for? Two things. One was to ask the Ming Emperor for forgiveness. The five Khalkha tribes had believed in the sweet words of Lin Danhan and participated in the siege of Fuyu City. As a result, they suffered heavy losses and most of the young and strong people in the tribe were gone.

However, not only did Lin Danhan not provide relief afterwards, he also planned to take the opportunity to annex the five Khalkha tribes. So Lao Chaohua recognized the reality and resolutely turned to the magnanimous Ming Dynasty, leaving the Mongolian left wing and no longer recognized the enemy as his father.

Secondly, I would like to ask the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to show mercy and reopen the Jinzhou trade so that the herdsmen of the five Khalkha tribes can obtain cloth, grain, medicine, farm tools, sugar, sugarcane wine and other goods to survive the harsh winter.

In return, the five Khalkha tribes will guard the border wall for the Ming Dynasty, from Xifengkou to Shanhaiguan. As long as the five Khalkha tribes exist, they will not allow outsiders to approach the Great Wall easily.

"I think this person is untrustworthy. The five Khalkha tribes originally came from the northern desert. After migrating south, they had conflicts with several Mongolian tribes and firmly opposed the Jin Dynasty. The reason why they were able to survive in the end was not because of their proficiency in archery and horsemanship, but because they were able to adapt to the situation.

When the Oirat Mongols were strong, they were their vassal; later when the Eastern Mongols gained the upper hand, they pledged allegiance to Ligdan Khan. Seeing the rise of the Jin Dynasty, they were the first Mongolian tribe to flirt with it. Now they come to beg the Ming Dynasty to take them in, they must have bad intentions! "

A mere tribal leader, or one of his defeated generals, came to pay homage to him, so Hong Tao had to put on airs and did not meet him at all. Instead, he sent the Minister of Personnel Yuan Yingtai and the Army Commander Li Ruzhang to entertain him.

After three contacts, the topic was finally discussed. When reporting to the emperor, Yuan Yingtai and Li Ruzhang agreed that such a person was not worthy of sympathy, let alone association. When the five Khalkha tribes have recovered, they will most likely turn against them.

"I think we can agree to it... Don't be impatient, listen to my reasons!" After listening to the opinions of the two ministers, Hong Tao agreed without even thinking about it, which made Yuan Yingtai and Li Ruzhang show anxious expressions.

"I did not get carried away because of a few small victories and think that the border troubles have been eliminated. On the contrary, the border troubles are now more serious than before. It's just that the enemy has retreated to lick its wounds on the surface and dares not to easily attack the border again. Secretly, they still regard the Ming Dynasty as the biggest threat and must be eliminated as soon as possible!
They need to take a breath, and so do we. The Ming Dynasty has the advantage of a vast territory and a large population, but there are also many internal problems. If we are always hindered by border troubles, even if I and the other ministers have three heads and six arms, I am afraid it will be difficult to improve both inside and outside.

Now they want a truce, so we will meet this demand and give them the illusion that the Ming Dynasty is still weak, still dislikes war, and is content with getting by. Then we will use this time to further roll out the new policy and train more new troops.

First, we need to improve our internal strength and store more money and food. Even if they don’t cause trouble in the future, we will have to find excuses and opportunities to eliminate the hidden dangers in one fell swoop.”

Facing the expressions of the two ministers, Hong Tao did not let them express their objections, but first explained why he agreed to the other party's request. At the same time, he also made clear his own position: what's mine is mine, and what's yours is still mine. I will never compromise before I get everything!
"Your Majesty's words are reasonable, far-sighted, and you handle things with ease. I agree with you... However, once the trade is opened, our country's abundant products will inevitably flow out in large quantities. Smuggling of artillery will inevitably occur again, which may only increase the strength of others and be disadvantageous to us!"

Yuan Yingtai was a civil servant who had no preference for fighting. When he heard the emperor say that he would continue to expand the scope of the new policy, he immediately agreed. However, he was not a pedantic scholar who read the books of sages. He knew how important a country's military strength was and was afraid of letting outsiders take advantage of it. "What Minister Yuan said is very true. As long as the merchants see the benefits, they will not hesitate to be beheaded. Apart from some furs and horses, our dynasty has not gained much from interacting with them. I hope Your Majesty will think twice!"

Li Ruzhang was the opposite of Yuan Yingtai. He was not concerned about how to promote the new policy, but was more worried about the possible outflow of weapons and technology. If the Mongolian and Jurchen armies also had field artillery, the Ming army would lose many advantages and even be at a disadvantage in some battles.

"Closing the door out of fear is the stupidest thing to do! If the maritime ban is not lifted, how can the customs collect millions of taels of silver from the annual maritime trade? Most of this silver is used to update the equipment of the navy and the army.

A leader should have the bearing of a leader. As long as there is nothing wrong with themselves and they keep working hard, they will always be in the lead. The ones who should be worried are the followers, who have spent a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources only to copy others.

In addition, have you ever thought about who is more affected by the interaction between the leaders and the laggards? The answer is definitely the laggards. This is like the interaction between the rich and the poor. On the surface, the rich spend more money, but in fact, the poor are unconsciously learning the lifestyle and even ideas of the rich.

The same is true between countries. If our country can influence the lifestyle and thinking patterns of other countries and ethnic groups with a little bit of goods, wouldn’t it be a good thing? This will be of great help to future governance.

You don't think I just want to eliminate border troubles, do you? If you think so, then it's not too late to change. Not only do I want to eliminate border troubles, I also want to turn all those who don't belong to the Ming Dynasty into citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

Mutual trade is only the first step in this process. There will be deeper exchanges in the future, such as the construction of Taoist temples, schools, etc. All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects.

I am the Son of Heaven, and all the people in the world are my subjects. If anyone disagrees, you need to use various methods to persuade them, or silence them! "

Hong Tao's attitude towards the issue of confidentiality and technology leakage has always been consistent. He must keep it strictly confidential while facing it calmly. History has proven countless times that the truth cannot be hidden, no matter how hard you try.

Moreover, as technology flows out, there will be a companion product, that is, cultural identity. It is impossible to accept only technology without accepting culture, which has been proven many times in history. Therefore, the outflow of technology is not a bad thing, and it can even be an effective carrier of ideology and culture.

Of course, nothing should be excessive, and what should be kept secret should still be kept secret. But this work does not require the Ministry of Personnel and the Army to pay special attention to it. The staff departments at all levels will handle it properly, and the Jinyiwei, Dongchang and the Statistics Department will closely monitor it.

(End of this chapter)