Bei Yuan's trade group arrived. There were more than 4,000 people arriving in front of Juyong Pass. These people drove a large number of horses, cattle and sheep. People who didn't know it must have thought that they were here to invade. But Wan Lei knew that Bei Yuan was here.

This is to transfer the pressure of the drought. Because the weather has been dry for a long time and there is not enough water and grass, instead of letting the cattle and sheep starve to death, it is better to come and sell them as soon as possible and exchange for some food to go back to cope with the disaster.

When it comes to conducting trade with the Mongols, Wan Lei is clear-headed. Although the trade is peaceful, it must be backed up by force. Otherwise, he will definitely change his career to a robber and start robbing directly, grabbing a series of IOUs.

In order for trade to proceed normally, Wan Lei personally took action and came to Juyongguan to preside over this first foreign trade work.

According to the prior agreement, the trade was not to be launched until the middle of next month, so Shuntian Prefecture was somewhat unprepared, and even the pre-arranged mutual trading point was not built. However, now that the Mongols are here, they cannot be dismissed easily.

Lei asked people to set up a tent in an open space outside Juyong Pass as a temporary trading point.

There are five thousand troops stationed in Juyong Pass, and there are more than 20,000 troops in Changping County, not far from Guancheng. With so many troops stationed nearby, even if the Mongols play tricks, they can still deal with it. Of course, Wan Lei is trying to make money with harmony.

After all, Shuntian Mansion is still struggling to survive in the cracks, so try to make as many friends as you can.

In addition to a group of civil and military officials, Wan Lei went to Juyong Pass with a transportation team. Various materials that had been agreed in advance were transported to the city. After the envoys from Beiyuan came to discuss the details of the transaction, the transaction began.

To be honest, although the Northern Yuan Dynasty occupied the Mongolian Plateau, there were very few tribesmen under its rule. Since being driven out of the Central Plains, the Mongol Khanate fell into divisions. The various tribes were either in line with the Ming Dynasty or were constantly attacking each other. Genghis Khan's gold

The family has long lost its former glory.

This is not the most terrible thing. The most terrible thing is that the Ming Dynasty had several consecutive Northern Expeditions. Although these Northern Expeditions could not destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they seriously reduced the vitality of the Mongolian tribe. Now there are only a few hundred thousand tribesmen in the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Even if all the people are soldiers, at most

There are only a few hundred thousand troops. It is impossible to re-enter the Central Plains with just these hundreds of thousands troops.

As the actual leader of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the current magistrate Guilichi also knew this, so he opposed all opinions and implemented a policy of recuperation and recuperation. He had no plans to invade the south on a large scale until the troops and horses were strong. However, there is a severe drought now, and many cattle and horses are starving to death.

In order to prevent his tribe from starving, he had to raise troops to invade the Hetao area.

However, the Ming army's lean camels were bigger than horses, and tens of thousands of troops defended the Great Wall, but they were still able to keep the enemy out of the country. Seeing that there was no hope of attacking the Ming Dynasty, Guilichi set his sights on Shuntian Mansion and used trade to conquer it.

While relieving the pressure of survival, I also wanted to spy on the true and false status of the Peiping Army.

Wan Lei didn't care about Bei Yuan's conspiracies. He only knew that it was necessary to guard against others. He had already agreed on several response plans with the Military Commission. The Peiping Army was also in a state of preparation for war and could deal with any accident.

Try to protect the city of Peiping.

On June 14, the Beiyuan side, which had been watching outside Guancheng for several days, finally sent an envoy to hold talks with Wan Lei and others at the temporary trade point. The leader was a man named Alutai, who was an official.

I don't know, but there are only a few hundred thousand people in Beiyuan. Just like Shuntian Mansion, there is only a grass-roots team. As long as they keep their word, no one cares about the level of the other party.

The general plan of the transaction was negotiated a few months ago. Ten thousand horses were exchanged for ten thousand pots, ten thousand kilograms of wool were exchanged for ten thousand kilograms of salt and one thousand kilograms of tea. There were also some scattered terms, including the exchange of cattle and horses, etc.

In exchange for items such as cloth, wine, needles, and thread, it can be called barter, and no one suffers any loss.

Of course, if you say it is one thing, it may actually be another thing. For example, the Mongols will use inferior horses to pass them off as good ones, or for example, Futianshun will use salt with sand added to trade, so it is said that

, make it clear in person and face to face that you should be a villain before being a gentleman, so as to avoid unnecessary disputes.

The envoys from the Northern Yuan Dynasty did not pay much attention to the supplementary clauses regarding the quality of horses and wool, but they temporarily added a supplementary clause: cattle and horses must be exchanged for grain. Shuntian Prefecture originally had insufficient grain reserves, so there was no

Although Bei Yuan insisted on buying takeout, the originally friendly atmosphere of the venue dropped.

In fact, the food problem has always been the number one problem restricting the development of the Mongolian population. It has to be said that eating and clothing are the top priority for all ethnic groups. Although the Mongolians can freely herd horses and sheep on the vast grasslands, they are not responsible for the number of horses, cattle and sheep.

The output is always limited. If the Mongolians eat meat all the time, no matter how many cattle and sheep they have, they will not be enough to slaughter.

Therefore, it has become necessary to import grain from the outside. If the grain market is opened, a cow can be exchanged for at least two stones of rice and noodles. These two stones of rice and noodles are enough for one person to eat for a year, but killing the cow is not enough.

One person can eat it for two months.

From this perspective, exchanging cattle and sheep for food is quite cost-effective for the Mongolians. After all, cattle are grazing, and grazing is the life of the Mongolians, so there is no need to calculate any production costs. Food must be planted in spring and harvested in autumn.

It is grown by farmers one by one, with hard work.

Wan Lei was also in a dilemma when the envoy temporarily imposed the provision of food exchange. Of course he knew that this was a disguised form of blackmail. If he agreed, the Beiyuan side would definitely think that the Peking Army was weak and could be bullied, and would definitely do so in the future.

Put forward more harsh terms, or directly ask for a higher price with inferior horses. But if you don't agree, it is inevitable that Beiyuan will not jump over the wall, tear up the peace agreement and invade with troops.

"The food exchange terms proposed by you are fair, but we are also short of food in Shuntian Mansion, so we are afraid that there will be no food to sell." As the main negotiator, Zhao Hongru saw that Wan Lei was silent and began to decline politely. But he knew

Yes, grain is an important strategic material. Shuntian Mansion's grain depot only has half a year's worth of reserves, which is obviously insufficient.

"There has been a long drought this year, there is not enough water and grass, and many cattle and sheep have starved to death. As allies, how can you just watch us starve?" said an envoy who was relatively proficient in Chinese.

Zhao Hongru and Wan Lei looked at each other, and when he nodded, they began to bargain: "It's not impossible to trade grain, but we have to make an agreement. We will only trade 10,000 shi, and you will use 2,000 pieces."

Good horses come in exchange."

Two thousand horses were exchanged for ten thousand stones of grain, one for five. A happy expression flashed across Lai's face, but he then said: "Ten thousand stones is too little. We have too many people. We need at least one hundred thousand stones to get through the difficult times."

."

"One hundred thousand stones!" Zhao Hongru was startled, shaking his head like a rattle, and said: "This can't be done. We in Shuntian Prefecture don't even have so much food. If we sell it to you, it will be our people's turn to go hungry in the future.

."

"It's almost the autumn harvest now. You will be able to harvest the autumn grain soon, so you won't be short of food. By saying this, are you trying to take the opportunity to raise food prices? This is so insincere. We need to report back to the Khan and reconsider.

Diplomatic relations with you." Lai Shi said angrily, and stood up together, making a move to leave.

"It's not impossible to exchange for 100,000 stones of grain." Seeing that the conversation was about to break down, Wan Lei frowned and said: "But we can't trade with cattle, sheep and horses. After all, our Shuntian Mansion doesn't need so many cattle and sheep."

Hearing Wan Lei say he was willing to give food, the messenger hummed a few times, and finally walked down the steps and said: "We only have cattle and horses, do you want us to exchange gold and silver? We don't have either.

"

"I know you don't have gold or silver to trade, but the Gobi Desert to your west is often rich in mineral deposits. As long as you mine them, we will exchange them with you in food."

"Mineral deposits? What are mineral deposits?" Laizhi naturally didn't understand. After all, the Mongolians were not only backward in handicraft industry, but also in low technological level.

"I will make a list, recording the characteristics and identification methods of several common mineral deposits. As long as you can find these mineral deposits, mine them and transport them, you will harvest as much as you can and pay for them all with food. Of course, you are short of food now.

The emergency is imminent. For the time being, you can exchange wool for food. One pound of wool and five pounds of grain can be exchanged for up to 20,000 shi, so that you can meet the urgent need."

"Okay, we are willing to exchange wool for food. As for the mineral deposits, let's send people to search for them first. If we find them, we can then negotiate a price." The envoy was also a shrewd man and agreed immediately.

After discussing some terms in detail, it soon became dark. As the host, Wan Lei asked his subordinates to prepare a banquet as usual and wanted to invite the envoy to dinner. However, the envoy refused, saying that he was in a hurry to report back.

The deputy envoy left overnight, leaving only a few minor envoys to socialize.
Chapter completed!