Chapter 748 The Tartars retreated and the pursuit began!

In fact, the tea production in the Ming Dynasty was still very developed and the sowing area was very wide. Almost every province had its own famous tea. As for those that were not famous tea, there were more. The annual tea production was more than hundreds of millions of jin. Among them, Sichuan's annual tea production exceeded 30 million jin. In addition to the consumption of the Ming Dynasty, tea with such a huge output was sold to the outside world and turned into white silver coins.

I don’t know when tea has become an important material for China’s foreign trade. Almost every dynasty, there were a large amount of tea exported. North Korea, Japan, Annan and other places imported a large amount of tea from China every year. After the Age of Discovery, the demand for tea in the world was even greater. Western powers consumed a large amount of tea every year. It seemed that Britain in Saiviara formed the traditional custom of afternoon tea.

Selling tea has become an important part of commercial trade. It seems that large merchants in Jiangnan basically have involved in tea business. Just like the Shen family where Chen Lingfei is located, there were also those who were engaged in tea trade before. The profits obtained by the Shen family from tea every year basically account for about 20% to 30% of the total profit. Tea, porcelain, and silk have become three veritable items.

However, what is weird is that the tea tax in the Ming Dynasty was very small, and it could even be ignored. For example, the tea tax in Fujian Province, a large tea production province, was only more than 30 taels a year, which made people mistakenly think that the word "10,000" was written later. Sichuan's tea tax seemed to be slightly more, but in fact it was only two or three thousand taels of silver. This was the most.

Some people estimate that the annual tea transaction volume of Ming Dynasty was more than millions of taels of silver, but the treasury received less than ten thousand taels of tax silver. It seemed extremely absurd and sounded incredible, but that was the case. Otherwise, Taicang, which Hou Xun was in charge, would not be so empty, and Chongzhen would not have to worry about money and food all day long.

Of course, what Zhang Zhun and the others are concerned about at present is not the issue of tea tax, but tea-horse trading. Tea-horse trading is a very important part of the Ming Dynasty and an important means for the Central Plains dynasty to control nomadic peoples. And the frictions and even wars caused by the issue of tea-horse trading are also emerging one after another. Every time a large war breaks out, almost the shadow of tea leaves appears and disappears.

Due to their own dietary characteristics, nomadic peoples have determined that tea is an indispensable necessity for life. If there is not enough tea, their lives will not be sustainable. However, in the huge grassland, no tea is produced and must be traded with the Central Plains dynasty to obtain it. What the Central Plains dynasty most needs is war horses, so it is natural to exchange tea for war horses.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, a war horse from the Mongols could be exchanged for 120 kilograms of tea. By the Wanli period, a high-quality war horse could be exchanged for less than 30 kilograms of tea. If it was a bad war horse, it could even be exchanged for 15 kilograms of tea. Such an exchange ratio was indeed far from enough for nomadic people. The Ming Dynasty was obviously bullying. In order to survive, nomadic peoples repeatedly went south and looted for a large number of reasons.

Why is the eunuch in Taipu Temple so popular? It's really because this is a huge disadvantage. As long as you operate well, you can accumulate a net worth of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in just one or two years, which is not a problem. Buying a large amount of tea at a low price and then selling a war horse from the Gao family is the only way for them to make a fortune.

Well, I'm not wrong. After the war horses arrived at Taipu Temple, the army would have to pay additional money before they could be used. If calculated in silver, each war horse would cost 15 taels of silver. The war horses Zhu Dadian bought from Taipu Temple were basically the price. Tian Hongyu sold them to Zhang Zhun through illegal channels, and the same price was the same.

But if you count tea, you don’t have 15 kilograms of ordinary tea, and you can get it at most a few taels of silver. Even in the Fujian tea production area, you only need about 1 tael of ordinary tea to buy 15 kilograms of tea. You can buy 15 kilograms of tea for 1 tael of silver, and then exchange a war horse with the Mongolians, and then sell it at the price of 15 taels of silver. Do you think the profit margin is big?

The profit in exchange for war horses with the Mongols was too great, and the Ming Dynasty had taken advantage of it. However, the Ming Dynasty had taken advantage of it. To put it another way, the nomadic people suffered all the losses. No matter who suffered too much, they would be dissatisfied in their hearts. If this dissatisfaction accumulates to a certain level, it will explode. This is not controlled by human will.

Liu Hang said casually: "If we were fairer and each war horse could be exchanged for 100 kilograms of tea, the Mongols would not give up their alliance with the Ming Kingdom and turn to join the arms of Jianlu. I heard that the Mongols had fallen and were unwilling to shed blood and sacrifice until the last moment. Alas, the people in Taipu Temple are indeed too greedy."

Liu Baoyu smiled and said, "I think it's almost the same. If a war horse could be exchanged for 100 kilograms of tea, Hadanbatel and Arislan might not be willing to follow Huang Taiji to cause trouble. If they had some conflict with Zaisanbu, that would be even better. Once the Mongolians were in civil turmoil, Huang Taiji would have greater trouble."

Zhang Zhun roughly calculated that the value of 100 kilograms of crude tea is actually about 10 taels of silver, which is only about 60% to 70% of the normal price. This is still a "very fair" price. If tea leaves are used as bait, it can be changed to change the course of Hardanbatel and Arislan, it will definitely be better.

After the battle in Dongjiabao ended, information showed that Arislan and Hardanbatel had had contacted each other privately and exchanged views on certain issues. Although the two did not move other times later, it seemed to be completely different from before, Zhang Zhun believed that the two were basically counting loyalty to Huang Taiji.

The three major Mongolian tribes, Korqin, Halashen, and Tumote, are the closest relationships between Korqin and Huang Taiji. Whether it is a connection in interests or in-laws, they cannot easily be separated from the Hu Ben Army. Therefore, to provoke the internal struggles of the Mongolian tribe, one can only start from the other two tribes, especially the Tumote tribe in Arislan.

There is no doubt that Arislan, who was once the iron spear general under Lin Danhan, would not easily surrender to Huang Taiji's power, but because of the strong strength of the Jin army, he had to surrender temporarily. Once he had the opportunity to leave, he would definitely escape from Huang Taiji's pressure and would not continue to work hard for the Jin army. The Hu Ben Army wanted to create a suitable environment for Arislan's separation.

Last time, the Hu Ben Army attacked Huang Taiji's base camp, which made Huang Taiji's face suffer a huge blow again. The majesty of the Great Jin army almost fell to the bottom. Zhang Zhun's surprise attack allowed more interested people to see the decline of the Great Jin army and the sad future of the Great Jin army. Even elite troops like the Forward Battalion could not stop the fierce attack of the Tiger Ben army. What force does the Great Jin army have to stop the attack of the Tiger Ben army?

This is a good opportunity for Arislan to leave. If Arislan is really unwilling to succumb to Huang Taiji's tyranny, then he should find another way out after returning to the prairie. If he is more brave, he should give Zhang Zhun some useful information before leaving Northern Zhili and returning to the prairie, laying a solid foundation for the good relationship between the two sides in the future.

As long as the Hu Ben Army separates the Tumote tribe, it is equivalent to finding a spokesperson in the Mongolian prairie. Whether it is the source of the war horses, the battles of cavalry, or even expanding in all directions, there are great benefits. As mentioned earlier, the current Mongolians are just a knife, and where the knife will cut to, it depends entirely on the person holding the knife.

In fact, Zhang Zhun also had an idea, which was to ask the Mongolians to exchange wool for tea. Why not fight horses, but wool? This is related to the long-term strategy of the Hu Ben Army. Zhang Zhun was interesting to turn the huge Mongolian grassland into a pasture for sheep, rather than producing war horses. When looking around, when all she saw were all furry sheep, the threat from the nomadic peoples to the Central Plains dynasty would completely disappear.

"Governor, we need to make a move in the tea business."

Liu Hang suddenly said eagerly.

"Oh? Do you have any good suggestions?"

Zhang Zhun said calmly.

"We should vigorously develop tea cultivation!"

Liu Hang said without hesitation.

He briefly introduced that the tea production areas in Shandong are mainly in coastal areas such as Laoshan and Rizhao. The climatic conditions here are very suitable for growing various green teas, and local people also have a long tradition of growing tea. However, compared with the tea hills that are constantly stretching in the south of the Yangtze River and cannot see at a glance, the tea production here is indeed relatively primitive. The tea production is not very large. Last year, the total tea production may be less than 100,000 kilograms.

However, this is a problem guided by consciousness. Because Shandong's tea sales are underdeveloped and they have not participated in maritime trade, they can only produce and sell locally. The profit is not large, and the enthusiasm of the people to grow tea is naturally not high. However, as long as the Hu Benjun is determined to increase tea production, increase capital investment, and actively explore the market so that the people who grow tea can get more profits, more people will naturally join the ranks of tea planting. In one or two years, it is not impossible to increase the tea production to more than one million kilograms.

Nomads actually did not study the quality of tea. They did not want to taste tea, but used tea to dilute some of the disadvantages of meat. Therefore, as long as it is tea, they could accept it. In fact, the Ming Dynasty exchanged it to the nomads every year was all the old tea with big cakes, and the real good tea almost did not exist. This was also an excuse for Altan Khan to criticize the Ming Dynasty, believing that the tea he got was moldy.

The key is, how can we exchange tea for war horses?

At present, there is only Datong in the tea and horse exchange market on the Mongolian grassland. Other borders are closed. In fact, even if all the checkpoints are open, it has nothing to do with the Hu Ben Army. Because these checkpoints are in the hands of the Ming Army. It is impossible for them to let the Ming Army participate in the tea and horse trading.

Of course, if the Hu Ben Army borders the Mongolian grasslands in any place, tea and horse trading can be carried out. The restrictions at this pass were completely set by the Ming army itself. The nomadic people hope to exchange tea and horses at all passes. The problem is that in the short term, the Hu Ben Army basically cannot border the Mongolian grasslands! Where can I find such a pass?

"Or what if we can do is to force a hole?"

Liu Hang suddenly said eagerly.

"Take a hole? Where to pull it out?"

Liu Baoyu frowned and said.

"Let's go north from Tianjin Wei, along the Liangcheng Institute, Yutian, and Zunhua line to open a barrier! Look at it, it's just a straight line!"

Liu Hang's thinking was very jumping and he said agilely.

He stood up, drew a straight line on the map with his fingers, and went all the way to the Halahetao in the West. This is the location of Chengde City in the future, the famous Chengde Summer Resort. At present, this is the jurisdiction of the Halashen tribe. In fact, there are many horses in the Halashen tribe. If there is a horse market pass, it is entirely possible for the Hu Ben Army to exchange horses from here.

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said, "Are you going to split the relationship between the court and Liaodong?"

Liu Baoyu also shook his head and denied Liu Hang's suggestions.

Let’s not talk about whether this plan is feasible. Even if it is really implemented, the pressure on the Hu Ben Army will be very high, and no one can predict the possible consequences. Liu Hang’s straight line is simple to draw on the map, but it is very stressful to actually implement it. This area is under the jurisdiction of Ji Town. Ji Town is also under the Liaodong Army, which is the court army. The Ming army stationed at least 30,000 to 40,000 people in the above-mentioned areas.

To be precise, it is not a big problem for the Hu Ben Army to capture the above-mentioned areas. The Hu Ben Army has sufficient attack capabilities, and it is no problem to conquer towns like Zunhua. The most critical problem is that the chain reactions that may be triggered after capturing the above-mentioned areas. Zhang Zhun is difficult to guess all the chain consequences that the Hu Ben Army may cause to capture the above-mentioned areas. There are too many variables here.

The Liaodong Legion was the largest military group of the imperial court. Chongzhen could not sit idly by and watch the Liaodong Legion be separated from him. He would definitely have corresponding orders. Either the two sides immediately fought and the Hu Ben Army and the imperial army fought a mess. Or Chongzhen immediately withdrew the Liaodong Legion, gave up Liaodong, and focused on defending the capital.

If it was the former, Huang Taiji would definitely die of laughter. Because when the imperial court fought with the Hu Ben Army, the Tartars could just sit on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, just lick the wounds, accumulate strength, and wait for the opportunity to come again. If it was the latter, Huang Taiji would also die of laughter. Because, when Chongzhen withdrew the Liaodong Legion, the Jin army could completely control the Jinzhou front line. The Hu Ben Army had limited military strength. At this time, it was unlikely to control Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou. Once the Ming army withdrew, these areas would definitely fall into the hands of the Jin army.

No matter how you look at this move, the one who gets the greatest benefit is Huang Taiji. Especially at this moment, Huang Taiji is severely injured by the Hu Ben Army and is at the lowest point in history. What he fears most is that the Hu Ben Army and the imperial army join forces to chase him relentlessly. He is waiting for a great opportunity to make a comeback.

Liu Baoyu said cautiously: "Let's find a way to keep the Tartars' war horses as much as possible. Didn't the information before? The Tartars went south with 100,000 troops and more than 200,000 war horses. Even if we only get 20%, there are 40,000! Even if it's only 10%, there are 20,000!"

"This is the right way! I agree!"

Wang Shide's voice came.

Since it was time to drink tea and chat, Wang Shide didn't mind joining. Anyway, the discussion atmosphere within the Hu Ben Army was very relaxed, and Zhang Zhun often encouraged everyone to discuss more and develop his own thinking. Perhaps between inadvertent discussions or arguments, new ideas were unintentionally burst out.

The current number of war horses in the Hu Ben Army is almost 10,000. If we get another 20,000, the number will be quite considerable. With 30,000 elite cavalry in our hands, we can basically sweep across the northern country. Therefore, even if we only grab 20,000 war horses, the Hu Ben Army cavalry will form a terrible force that no one dares to ignore.

To seize the Tartars' war horses, the key is to eliminate the Tartars' vital power. When the Tartars die, the war horses will naturally fall into the hands of the Tiger Army. Simply put, it is to continue to attack the Tartars and win several major victories. However, this involves military affairs issues, and Liu Hang and Liu Baoyu are not good at it.

Liu Hang said unwillingly: "My plan really doesn't work?"

Zhang Zhun said thoughtfully: "It's not that it's completely impossible, it's a bit difficult."

Liu Hang asked curiously: "How old is it?"

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "It is unlikely that we can go north by ourselves. Our strength cannot control so many territories and cannot cope with the complex and changeable consequences that may be brought about. However, if Wu Sangui is stationed in Jizhen, it is not impossible to adapt."

For some reason, when Liu Hang mentioned this suggestion, Zhang Zhun immediately thought of Wu Sangui. The Hu Ben Army was stationed in Dagukou, and Wu Sangui was under great pressure. He was very likely to evacuate from Tianjin and then choose another place to garrison. If Wu Sangui was stationed in Jizhen, Liu Hang's suggestions were not completely unconsidered.

"Sir, emergency information!"

Zhang Zhun was about to give a detailed explanation, but Huang Xian suddenly rushed over and handed Zhang Zhun an emergency information with a red mark. The red mark, inside the Hu Ben Army, meant that it was 100,000 urgent. Therefore, everyone's eyes instantly fell on Zhang Zhun.

"Huang Taiji is leaving!"

"We have work to do!"

Zhang Zhun stood up and said excitedly.

The information was sent from Northern Zhili, and the content was very simple: The Tartars began to transfer population and supplies from Hejian Prefecture to the outside of the Great Wall in batches. The Tartars, who entered Northern Zhili in December last year, were finally willing to withdraw their troops in April this year.

Since the Tartars have started to move, the Hu Ben Army should also start to move.
Chapter completed!