Chapter 1473: Pull a Line, a Big Shot From Liaodong!

"Oh? Is this the reaction of the Ming border troops? A hungry hunting dog with its neck strangled will never let go of the fat meat that is delivered to its mouth? This metaphor is quite appropriate..."

"Yes, Zu Shaman! The Liaodong border troops are hunting dogs, and the "barbarians" outside the border wall are the meat in their eyes! The Holy Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is far away in the Forbidden City. He generously rewards us Jurchen tribes. Perhaps he really treats us equally and regards us as the people of the Ming Dynasty... But those Ming officials who are really in charge will have a clear measure in their hearts, and regard our Jurchen tribes as "barbarians" outside the civilization, and will clearly express it!"

"No matter how familiar we are with the Jurchen tribes, no matter how respectful we are, Even if they pay tribute and can speak Chinese, they still cannot transcend their innate identity of "barbarians" and cannot even take a step forward in the Ming Dynasty. Even the deputy commander we have appointed, even if it is the same official position as the Han people in Liaodong, is worthless in the Han Dynasty as long as they are called "barbarians"! …”

“In fact, the officials in Liaodong have never regarded the area outside the border wall as the "king's land" of the Ming Dynasty. They do not want to accept our Jurchen tribes and accept this unproductive land of white mountains and black waters. They are even more unwilling to pay a huge price to maintain order outside the border wall…”

In Yongning Temple, the chieftain of the Harman tribe, Ali, sighed and told the words that had been hidden in his heart for a long time. The Harman tribe has always been loyal, but was eventually abandoned by the Ming Dynasty. As a Jurchen chieftain who has been paying tribute for generations, he believes in the distant "Emperor of the Ming Dynasty" who is worshipped by various tribes and is like a wooden sculpture of a god. But he had no illusions about the Liaodong frontier troops and officials he came into contact with on a daily basis, only full of vigilance and fear!

Perhaps, only during the Yongle period, those Jurchen eunuchs who were in power in the court and established the Nurgandusi, really thought about bringing a peaceful order to the vast inner and outer northeast... And at this moment during the Hongzhi period, the purpose of the Ming Dynasty to enfeoff the Jurchen tribes was only one, that is, "not to invade the south and guard against collusion with Mongolia"!

"The Lord God is witness! Since we are unprotected "barbarians", no matter what the Ming frontier troops do, it can be easily wiped out and easily explained to the court. Because our Jurchen tribes have no background and no people in the court..."

"Every three years, the tribute, our Hunhejiang tribes, all carry skins and travel thousands of miles south. On the surface, this is to pay tribute and trade. In fact, this is to ask for rewards from the court. For poor tribes like us, the Liaodong frontier troops have no interest in us, and the chief eunuch They are also happy to give out some rewards and get a kickback from it..."

"For poor and capable tribes, it is acceptable for the court to give some rewards to keep them from making trouble or to maintain the dignity of the court. But once the poor tribes show off their wealth and take out a lot of shining gold...the sleepy border troops will suddenly open their greedy eyes, touch their hungry stomachs, and look for opportunities to pounce! ..."

"Zu Shaman, listen to me! Before we have enough strength, we must be cautious and must not show too much in front of the Ming army. Shining gold! Otherwise, what awaits us is the hounds’ pursuit and the thundering attack! The fierce and greedy bites will eat us up and leave no one alive! …”

“Lord God, that’s how it is! The Ming Dynasty accepts your tribute, confers official positions, and gives gifts in return… But the conferred tribal official positions do not count within the Ming Dynasty? Even if you have paid tribute for several generations, even if you have learned the language of the Ming tribe, you will not be accepted and regarded as ‘brothers of the Jiao people’, but as ‘barbarians’? …Chief Harman, if you are ‘ "The deputy commanders and deputy commanders" are all "barbarians" in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty. What about the Maha tribe? What about me? ..."

". Zu Shaman, if you don't have the copper seal of Manjingwei, or the border troops of Liaodong don't recognize this copper seal... then you should be a "savage", a savage who can be killed and looted by the Ming army at will. As for the Maha tribe that went south, there is no doubt that they are also "savages"! "

"...! Savages? Savages who are more Chichimec than Chichimec? ... Then the Ming Dynasty will not recognize the credential of the savages? ..."

Zuwaro's eyes flashed, thinking. If a dog-like chieftain in the Sakaxcat Desert suddenly appeared with a heritage map and said that he was a brother of the "Mexico Alliance" and a "family lost a thousand years ago", it must be the result of offering sacrifices to the pyramid. And according to Ali's description, the mentality of the Ming Dynasty towards the various Jurchen tribes may not be as good as that of the alliance and the kingdom towards the dog-like descendants with similar ancestry!

"Lord God! The so-called 'Taixia' and 'brotherly country' in the letter Your Majesty gave me are probably not recognized by the Ming Dynasty!... In this case, it is better to put on the skin of a Jurchen garrison, blend in with the tribute Jurchen team, and try to deal with the Liaodong vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. See if you can find a way to get some craftsmen over. If not, there is still the stable way of the country..."

"Well, through the trial inquiry of the gold tribute to the Ming Dynasty... It seems that this Harman chieftain Ali has turned to the Lord God and is a fairly reliable leader!..."

Obviously, between the "good god of Confucianism" who was acclimated to the local environment, and the "evil god" who was compatible with the Jurchen, the priest apprentice Ali chose the latter from the bottom of his heart. Even though the distant Ming sect master spent six generations spreading "enlightenment" to the Jurchen tribes who had surrendered. However, this kind of "enlightenment" is always aloof and superficial. It cannot guide the fishing, hunting and semi-farming life of the Jurchen tribes, and it cannot be imprinted in the hearts of each tribe. Just like fallen leaves falling on the river, they were swept away by the turbulent Heilongjiang River and scattered without a trace. After confirming this, Zuwaro could finally let go of his inner guard and regard the Harman chief Ali as a "glue brother" who could develop.

"Okay! Ali, since you believe in the Lord God, the Lord God will reward you generously! And our tribes are all brothers of Jiaoren, and we will marry each other and become a real family!..."

Zuwaro smiled and nodded to Ali, the Harman chief. After coming to the Xihai Continent where tribes are fighting and full of dangers, he has always been very obedient and good at following the advice of local guides. And such a Harman chief, who was familiar with Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, was his most important guide as he continued his journey south to the Ming Dynasty, and was his biggest gain from this trip south!

Then, Alilian and the tribe's women and children must be brought back to Shenhua Taigang to intermarry with the kingdom's headquarters. Make great efforts to spread the faith and win over people...

"His Majesty the Divine Enlightenment has taught you! The prerequisite for trade is indeed that strength and wealth are equal, and cannot be easily robbed...Ali, what do you think, if we go south to pay tribute, these bags of gold given by the Lord God...we are the most capable, How much do you need to bring safely to go to Kaiyuan Market in Daming Dynasty to trade? "

"Ah, let me think about it... If a tribute team of two hundred horses goes south, it can probably bring twenty gold talismans and two thousand taels of silver?... No, that's not right! Two thousand taels is still too much!"

Speaking of this, Harman Chief Ali's right eye twitched, still feeling that this number was too much. You know, two thousand taels of silver is enough for a thousand Ming Dynasty frontier troops, and one person can divide it into two taels! Compared with the low salary of the Ming army, this amount of money was still too large, enough to allow two battalions of border troops to send out ruthless actions. It needs to be folded in half, ten yuan, no, eight gold talismans are enough!

"Zu Shaman, a tribute team of two hundred riders, carrying eight pounds of gold and eight hundred taels of silver, can probably guarantee safety. Even if they are exposed, they will not be brutally attacked by the border troops. Moreover, gold cannot be like this The shape of the gold charm would otherwise be too eye-catching! It must be broken into pieces and crushed into rough dust gold, which can be used as gold collected in the dense forest. Then, when you meet the Kaiyuan garrison official, you can secretly stuff it into one bag! The remaining tributes and rewards, including iron weapons and even armor, will be easy to handle! Then go to the big market and find a fur trader I know well! Don’t let others know about it, be sure to keep it secret..."

"What? You are so careful that you can only bring eight pieces of gold charms to trade? This is really... pulling out a hair from the tail of a marten and selling it..."

Hearing this, Zuvalo looked shocked and shook his head with a wry smile. There are still 1,500 kilograms of gold stored in the Kingdom's Shenhuatai Port. Even the fleet for this trial has a hundred kilograms of gold in ballast as backup. His trade with those from the Ezo land and people was measured in terms of ten catties and hundred catties every time. It was a direct "power makes gold fly, and strength can convince people." But when he arrived at the gate of Daming, which was far more powerful and wealthy than Kazuto, he could only take out less than ten kilograms at a time, and he only dared to take out so much...

"The Lord God witnesses! Ali, for trade with the south, apart from gold, there is nothing else we can offer. But the Lord God really needs to obtain Ming craftsmen from the South as much as possible, especially shipwrights and blacksmiths... You Think about it carefully, is there any way? Or, how can we find reliable people in the Minghan Tribe Alliance and spend the gold in our hands?..."

"Need a shipwright and a blacksmith? Find a big shot and use gold to open the door?..."

Chief Harman pursed his lips and thought seriously about Zu Shaman's request for a long time. He had no doubts about Zu Shaman's intention of needing Ming craftsmen. Because the craftsmen of Ming Dynasty are good and very popular!

Every time the Mongolian tribes went south to plunder and encountered craftsmen in the villages, they would leave their lives and take them alive to the grasslands. The various tribes of Mature Women are also trying their best to accept some skilled escapees from the Ming Dynasty to improve the lives of some tribes. And many poor people in the border areas cannot survive without fields, and they will risk their lives trying to escape from the border walls in order to survive.

In the past few years, the newly emerging Dayan Khan in Mongolia has continuously sent out rangers and spread a lot of news, hoping to recruit Han people and reclaim Mongolian land. It is said that the Mongolian ministries did recruit many Han refugees. This caused the Liaodong capital to issue a strict order prohibiting all health posts from contacting the Mongols. Even the Jurchen ministries were notified...

"Blessed by our ancestors! Ancestor Shaman, the Ming Dynasty's craftsman household system is extremely strict with craftsmen! Even if these craftsmen are allowed to starve to death where they are, they will not be allowed to move to seek a living, let alone move out of the border wall. And the blacksmiths among them are the top priority of the Ming Dynasty's defense! Liaodong strictly prohibited iron smelting in the border guards and concentrated all the blacksmiths in the southern area of ​​Liaoyang to prevent the outflow of blacksmiths and ironware..."

"Therefore, it is extremely difficult to get blacksmiths from Liaodong Town! Even if you bribe the guarding eunuch, it may be difficult to do so at such a high risk! However, the Jilin Shipyard was abolished and a large number of shipwrights were moved south and scattered. After entering the border fortress...if you think of a way, the shipwright can still get it!"

"Oh?! The shipwrights from Jilin Shipyard? How are their skills? Can they build the big boat we row?..."

"Uh... Zu Shaman, the long-headed ship you are sitting on is indeed a big ship for the Jurchen tribes! But decades ago, when my grandfather was a child, he saw with his own eyes the Ming Dynasty Hunhe River Navy departing from the Jilin Shipyard to the Nurgan Dusi... There were six large ships, each of which was probably two or three times the size of a long ship and could carry two hundred people!..."

Herman Chieftain Ali shook his head and his face was very complicated when he talked about the glorious past of the Ming Dynasty Navy patrolling in Nurgan. His Harman tribe had been paying tribute for generations, from Yongle to Hongzhi, and had been canonized by six generations of emperors. They were never the ignorant "northern mountain savages", but the model of the tribes in the lower reaches of the Hunhe River, and the "mature Jurchen" who were deeply sinicized!

Even the Jurchen eunuch Yishiha, who established the Nurgan Dusi, had come to the Harman Guard during the Yongle-Xuande period and selected some young Jurchen children to enter the palace. And Ali himself, in the 14th year of Chenghua, when he first paid tribute and was awarded, he personally wrote a letter of gratitude in Chinese to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. But after 50 or 60 years, the era when the empire was like the rising sun at noon was no longer seen. And the influence of the Jurchen eunuchs on the Ming Dynasty court was almost dissipated, leaving only the last few ashes.

"Zu Shaman, there are two old sayings in the Han area, one is called 'a steady stream of water', and the other is called 'getting rich in silence'! What? You ask why you have to keep quiet to get rich? Well... because in the Ming Dynasty, there is a set of rules on the surface, and there are countless ways in secret. And there are too many ways to operate these ways, but they can't be brought to the table, that is, they can't be spoken..."

"So, if you really want, spend the gold and get some shipbuilders or craftsmen other than blacksmiths from Liaodong Town... I ha The Erman tribe does have some ancestral friendships with some big shots in Liaodong Town. Although these friendships are far away and useless on weekdays. But as long as there is gold, these friendships are the way, and we can use this gold to connect! And as long as we connect with the way, we can spend the gold safely! However, we can't give too much at a time, we have to do it slowly. 'Spend a fortune in silence'..." Speaking of this, the Harman chieftain Ali paused, stared at Zuwaro's beardless chin, and suddenly showed an inexplicable smile on his face. "The Lord God is a witness! When the big shot in Liaodong sees you, he will definitely be very friendly! Very friendly! ..."