Just when Xifu felt that the negotiations were untenable, an order from Shenyang surprised him. He couldn't help but ask the messenger who came to deliver the letter, the guard Sonny beside Huang Taiji, "The Khan King allowed me to act cheaply, do you really plan to give in to the Ming people?" ”

Sonny looked left and right to make sure that there was no one else in the room, and then lowered his voice and said to Xifu, "Since Yue Tobel died, the situation in Shenyang has changed somewhat. Now there are rumors outside that Yue Tobel died after taking the medicine given by the palace, and although the Khan King has spread rumors, the people's hearts are still not very stable.

Moreover, when the Shenyang banknotes were greatly depreciated last year, the Liaodong Mongolian ministries had not yet reacted, and the number of Qing Yuan banknotes in their hands was really quite a lot. After the beginning of spring, these tribes came to purchase materials with the Great Qing Yuan, only to find that the money in their hands had become unspent, and they felt that they had been deceived, so they first made trouble with the household department, and finally made trouble in front of the Khan King, wanting to buy all kinds of materials according to the past prices.

These Mongol Tatars didn't care whether the Qing Yuan was worth anything or not, they just cared about it as a proof of the cattle, horses, leathers, and medicinal herbs sold by their tribe. Therefore, the king was asked to either give them goods of equal value, or to return to them the goods they had sold, such as cattle, horses, leather, and medicinal herbs.

Some of the Tartars, who did not know whether they were alive or dead, openly claimed that if the Khan did not settle the matter, they would rather take their tribes to the Ming than form an alliance with those who deceived the Mongols. Although the king of Khan ordered the disposal of a few unscrupulous Tartars, it was not good to drive these Mongol Tartars out of Shenyang, otherwise it would be cheaper for the Ming people.

But if you want to appease these Tartars, you have to come up with supplies. Now the supplies in Shenyang City are not enough for us Manchurians, how can we still meet these Mongolian Tatars? If it was in the past, at this time, when the troops gathered to the south to plunder, but now everyone knows that the defense line of the Ming people is very strong, and it will be penetrated for a while and a half, and then it will be in vain to lose the lives of the bannermen.

Therefore, in such a situation, the resumption of trade with the Ming people has become the opinion of most people in Shenyang. As you know, since the trade with the Ming Kingdom was cut off last year, the trees cut down by the flags and the various mountain goods, leathers and other items accumulated have been piled up in the warehouse.

And the soybeans we grow, if they are not sold to the Ming people, they can only be used to feed horses and cows, and we can't process them ourselves except for the Ming people, who have so many oil mills that can process them. If this thing is not stored well, it can only be thrown into the field as fertilizer, which is too wasteful.

Soon spring sowing is about to start again, everyone is very anxious, if we continue to cut off trade with the Ming Kingdom this year, we will reduce the fields for planting soybeans, but if the trade is resumed, it will be equivalent to missing this year's deal. Therefore, everyone is urging, wanting your side to reach an agreement as soon as possible, so as not to affect the domestic sowing date.

In the face of such a loud voice, the Khan King naturally could not continue to turn a blind eye, and it was logical to make certain concessions. King Khan just asked me to tell you that even if he retreated this step and resumed economic exchanges first, he would never agree to let the Ming people send any officials to guide our country in carrying out the reform of the economic system..."

Regarding the conditions proposed by Xifu, Wang Chunyun did not take it to heart. In his opinion, since the other side has made concessions and agreed to put the economy first and politics first, then this negotiation has begun to favor the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking for a moment, he said to Xifu: "Since the Khan of your country has these concerns, then I can also take a step back on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Xifu immediately asked with great joy: "So your envoy has agreed and no longer insists on sending officials to guide the reform of China's economic system?" ”

Wang Chunyun nodded, but shook his head again, which made Xifu a little unable to come back to his senses, and when he wanted to ask what he meant, Wang Chunyun suddenly said: "China can not send officials to guide your country's economic system reform, but what guarantee does your country have to ensure that there will be no financial crisis like last year?"

You must know that because of this crisis in your country, the value of a large number of Qing Yuan banknotes in my country's hands is now less than one-tenth of the face value. If you want to maintain the old way of trading, unless your country can settle the old accounts according to the denominations of these Qing yuan.

Moreover, since the beginning of trade with your country, we have always been very respectful of the agreement, but your country does not seem to be like this. Our businessmen were arrested and their goods seized under unjustified circumstances. After such an incident, your country should always come up with some guarantees, otherwise how dare our businessmen continue to do business with you..."

Although he was knowledgeable, he was often able to use the situation to persuade the other party to accept his proposals. But when it comes to economic negotiations, he always has a sense of powerlessness. When he talked about the economy with businessmen like Wang Chunyun, who had been dealing with numbers since childhood, it was basically what Wang Chunyun said, and he just listened.

A negotiator who lacks his own assertiveness will naturally have to follow the other party's train of thought in the end. After some debate, Xifu finally agreed to Wang's suggestion that Beijing and Shenyang each set up a department to negotiate the trade dispute between the two sides.

At the same time, this department will also manage the Ming Dynasty's aid funds to Shenyang to help restore economic stability in Shenyang. At Wang Chunyun's suggestion, Shenyang will issue a new Great Qing Yuan to replace the old Great Qing Yuan, and the new Great Qing Yuan will be produced and printed in Beijing, and after Shenyang's economy recovers stability, the production and printing of the new Great Qing Yuan will be returned to Shenyang.

Xifu also agreed, restored the circulation of the Ming Yuan in the Shenyang market, and agreed that the Ming merchants could inject capital into Shenyang's industry to restore the production capacity of the handicraft workshops in Shenyang as soon as possible. So in mid-April, the trade between the Ming and Qing dynasties, which had been suspended for more than a year, was finally opened again.

At the same time, the drought from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River finally began to become clear. This year's drought is obviously much wider than predicted, and the land of Sanwu in the Taihu Lake region has also fallen into a situation of spring drought and no rain, which has never happened.

On the edge of a village on the edge of Yishui in Henan Province, Cai Shuitou, a farmer in his early forties, was frowning in his wheat field. Although it is close to Yishui, it has been sunny and rainy from last year to this year, which has caused the original rippling waters of Yishui to dry up.

The wide channel has now been turned into a silt field, with only a few places where there is still a little water, and it does not look like a river, but a swamp of large and small ponds. Because there is no moisture in the water, the wheat in Cai Shuitou is burnt and burnt, and even the leaves are curled into needles.

Cai Shuitou casually grabbed a handful of wheat ears and gently rubbed them in his hand, but there was nothing in the husk. He thought to himself that if it didn't rain again, he might not even be able to harvest the seeds for this summer's harvest.

He looked up at the sky and saw that there was not a single cloud in sight except the dizzying sunlight. Cai Shuitou squatted down, looked at the wheat in front of him, and felt bitter in his mouth. In the current situation, I am afraid that I can only sell these few acres of land, and then the family will go out and flee the famine.

But in this year of great famine, what price can the fields be sold? Can they go to a place where there is a way to live? He didn't even know where to run to survive. Either go to Funiu Mountain in the west, or go north across the Yellow River to Shanxi, and he has no idea how far he goes.

Cai Shuitou was envious of the village near Luoyang in the east, which is said to be close to the village on the edge of Luoyang, because the government has placed a machine that can burn coal and pump water, and pump water from the ground to irrigate the nearby fields, so the village on the edge of Luoyang has escaped this year's drought.

But that kind of machine is extremely valuable, and it burns a lot of coal, which is not something that the government or the lord with a large area of land cannot afford to use, and these poor people can only envy and envy.

Cai Shuitou looked up at the sky again, and still hoped that it would be good if there was a heavy rain, as long as it rained, his wheat would be saved, and his family would have a way to live.

Just when he was thinking nonsense, he suddenly heard a villager behind him calling his name: "Cai Yong, father, can you go back and have a look?" An official family has come to your house, isn't something wrong? ”

Cai Shuitou looked back at the other party for a moment, and then Huo Ran got up and ran towards the village, because he was in a hurry, he also dropped his shoes several times along the way, so he had to stop. In the end, he simply clamped the two broken shoes under his armpits and ran barefoot.

Someone from the government came to the door, which was not good news for them as farmers. Cai Shuitou, who was already uneasy because of the drought, was even more distraught after hearing the news, and he didn't know whether the government would come to collect the rent or send him to serve this time, this was really impossible to live...

When Cai Shuitou ran back to the door, he didn't hear the cries of his family and the scolding of the officials from inside the door, which was considered to be calm.

He pushed aside the neighbors who were watching the excitement at the door of his house, and couldn't stop saying: "Folks, let me go home and see what happened." ”

Aunt Li, who had been looking inside the door on the side, heard his voice, and immediately said busily: "It's a good thing, it's a good thing, your Cai Yong joined the army, and the government sent him back, and brought a few bags of grain..."

"Huh?" Cai Shuitou was suddenly shocked in his heart, Cai Yong is his eldest son, eighteen years old this year. If it weren't for this damn drought, he would have been ready to marry him this year. This is his eldest son, how can he join the army?

However, what Aunt Li said was not bad, when he squeezed into his small courtyard, he saw his son with a flower made of red satin hanging on his chest, saying goodbye to his mother and younger siblings.

Seeing his father come back, Cai Yong just grinned and said, "Daddy, I signed up to join the army, and I have already explained the matter to my mother and eldest brother."

Next, we have to rush to the county before dark, so I won't tell you more. When I get to the army, I'll ask someone to send a letter back..."

Cai Shuitou watched the two officials leave with their son, and he didn't say a word there. It wasn't until dinnertime that he saw the cornmeal nest and gruel brought out by his wife that he asked, "Where did you get the cornmeal at home?" ”

His wife glanced at him and said softly: "It was brought back by Ah Yong, and the imperial court issued one and a half stone of wheat flour or three stone of cornmeal to the new recruits, as well as a settlement fee of 5 yuan..."

Cai Shuitou silently took the nest head, and his wife was still very dissatisfied with his attitude. God knows if the eldest son who went to the army will not be able to come back, but her husband didn't even say a word of goodbye to his son, which made her feel that her husband was too ruthless.

But when she woke up in the middle of the night, she heard a low sobbing sound in the bed, and she silently closed her eyes, and did not disturb her crying husband.

(. = )