Good things and bad things in the world are always staggered, and when Chongzhen was worried about the impact of imminent inflation on the economy of the north, he heard an unexpected good news.

Sasang Chechen, who stayed in the capital of the Ordos Ministry, entered the palace on this day to ask to see Chongzhen, and brought a news to Zhu Youzhen that the young Jinong Ephochen of the Ordos Department was heading to the capital with an envoy composed of the leaders of the Ordos tribes, preparing to come to see the emperor.

For Daming, this is of course good news. As the Ordos Ministry with a transcendent position among the Mongolian tribes, it has always only adhered to its own duties, presided over the sacrificial activities of Genghis Khan's Eight White Chambers, and rarely participated in the political struggle within Mongolia.

Previously, Lin Dan Khan moved westward and led the army to attack the Mongolian tribes on the right flank, although Jinong Ephochen asked Saang Chechen to bring a part of his troops to assist the king of Shunyi, but there were still people in Ordos who felt that they should not intervene in the struggle between the left and right wings of Mongolia, after all, Lin Dan Khan was a legitimate Mongolian Great Khan.

After that, the Ming sent troops to help the right-wing Mongolian tribes maintain their independent status, and the Mongolian right-wing tribes naturally depended on the Ming Dynasty. However, because the Ordos tribe was far away from the Ming Dynasty and was located on the plateau west of the Yellow River, and was closer to the Chahar tribe, which occupied the Tumut River, most of the tribal leaders thought it would be more advantageous to maintain their current independent status.

In the view of these leaders of the Ordos tribe, maintaining the independent status of the Ordos tribe would not only benefit from trade from the Ming state, but also continue to collect sacrifices from the Mongol tribes, including the Chahar tribe, which would better protect the interests of their own tribe than simply turning to the other side.

However, these leaders obviously diverged, they thought that the Ordos tribe, which was in charge of the sacrificial Eight White Chambers, had a transcendent status, so even if the Chahar tribe occupied the Tumut River, they would provide them with sacrifices every year, just like the previous Tumut tribe, and would not interfere in the sacrifice.

However, under the auspices of the Ming Kingdom, Lin Dan Khan, who separated the Inner Mongolian steppe from the right-wing Mongols, although he did not achieve the goal of annexing the right-wing Mongol tribes, stabilized his rule over the Tumut River faster than expected.

Lin Dan Khan moved the Chahar tribe westward, not just to fight with the right-wing Mongol tribes, and to seize the Tumut River to complete the task. He was able to mobilize the left-wing Mongol tribes to move westward, partly because of the threat of force from the Later Jin, and partly because of his own banner to rebuild a unified Mongol empire.

Now, because of the intervention of the Ming State, the Chahar Department was temporarily unable to unify the right-wing Mongolian tribes by force, and Lin Dan Khan planned to start with the religious beliefs of the Mongols and the respect for Genghis Khan, and first unify the Mongols in all tribes ideologically.

The Ordos tribe's duty to guard Genghis Khan's mausoleum and worship the Eight White Chambers for generations gave this tribe a special place among the Mongol tribes. Lin Dan Khan naturally wanted to meddle in the internal affairs of the Ordos tribe and make the tribe completely subordinate to him, so that the Chahar tribe could establish the leadership of the Mongol tribes by mastering the Eight White Rooms.

For this reason, Lin Dan Khan transferred the Mongolian holy relics enshrined by the Chahar Department to the Ordos Ministry for worship, in addition to leaving the Jiuyou White Flag representing the Great Mongolia. Because of the transfer of these sacred relics offered by the Chahar Ministry, Lin Dan Khan began to meddle in the affairs of the Ordos Ministry's sacrificial Babai Chamber, and incorporated the power to collect the sacrifices of the Mongol tribes into his own name.

Lin Dan Khan's approach disappointed the tribal leaders who were most supportive of him within the Ordos Ministry. Originally, they wanted to use the name of supporting Lin Dan Khan to pressure the young Ordos Jinong Ephochen to make concessions to them and protect their rights and interests in various tribal affairs.

But now Lin Dan Khan even wants to take away the whole pot of mutton, and he doesn't even want to leave them with a mouthful of soup. These tribal leaders compared the days of the right-wing tribes that took refuge in the Ming Kingdom, and immediately felt that if the Ordos Department had to choose a side to take refuge in, then it would be more suitable for them to take refuge in the Ming Kingdom.

At least after the Ming Kingdom took away some of their power, there were still enough economic benefits to compensate them. In particular, the daily necessities such as bricks, tea, cotton cloth, porcelain, and silk transported from the customs were not provided by the Chahar Ministry.

In addition, Lin Dan Khan took advantage of the war between the Later Jin and the Ming Kingdom in this winter and no one hindered him, so he vigorously promoted the conversion of Yellow Sect believers among the Mongolian tribes. Although the herdsmen of the Chahar Department were greatly resisted, the herdsmen of the Ordos Department were even more complaining, and they complained to Jinong Ephochen one after another.

The young Jinong, who was already dissatisfied with Lin Dan Khan's use of force to attack the right-wing Mongol tribes, was repeatedly interfered with by Lin Dan Khan's internal affairs, and he was even more disgusted, so under the persuasion of these leaders and clansmen, he finally decided to move closer to the Ming Kingdom.

Therefore, under the pretext of going to Wutai Mountain for pilgrimage, he brought a group of leaders of the Ordos tribe into Guannai, and wrote a letter to Sanang Chechen, who remained in Beijing, saying that he wanted to enter Beijing to meet His Majesty Chongzhen, hoping to get the same treatment as the right-wing Mongolian tribes.

For this kind of good thing, Zhu Youzhen naturally will not object. With the annexation of the Ordos Department, it is equivalent to not moving a single soldier, and most of the Hetao area has returned to the Ming Dynasty. This not only further shook the centripetal force of the Mongol tribes towards the Chahar department, but also greatly improved the strategic situation in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty.

In the area of the Outer Great Wall from western Liaoning to Lanzhou, there was a residential area of Mongolian tribes, which not only set up a warning area for the Great Wall defense line in the northwest and north of the Ming Dynasty, but also provided a stable source of horses for the Ming Dynasty, which lacked pastures.

If Lin Dan Khan wants to fight with Daming now, he must worry about being caught between Daming and being copied by Houjin. If he wants to go south into Qinghai and Tibet and occupy the spiritual source of the Mongolian people, he also needs to ask the Ming Dynasty first.

In this situation, as long as Lin Dan Khan wants to survive, he must abide by the alliance with the Ming Dynasty and maintain the alliance between the two. After Zhu Youzhen heard the intention of Sasang Chechen, he suddenly jumped up with joy, walked to Saang Chechen's side and asked, "Then when did Ephochen set off?" Where has he arrived now? I sent messengers to meet him, so that no accident would happen on the way. ”

Although it was a sunny day outside the house today, the location of the study could not get direct sunlight, so the light in the study was a little dim, but when Chongzhen walked towards Sanang Chechen, the Ming Emperor of his age made him feel that the light in this house was quite suitable in an approachable manner.

Sasang Chechen, who was very moved by Chongzhen's attention, immediately replied: "According to the minister's estimate, Jinong is still in Fengzhen at this moment, if Your Majesty can allow Jinong to go to Beijing, the minister is willing to go to meet Jinong and the others." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "It's not enough for you to go, isn't that too much of a snub guest." Wang Banban, you write an edict for me, and let the prince of King Fu go to meet the Jinong Ephochen of the Ordos Department on my behalf, and Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying and Chechen will serve as deputies to assist the prince in this matter. The expenses required to meet the envoys were paid from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so there was no need to stretch out their hands with the foreign court. ”

Sanang Chechen immediately bowed to Chongzhen and thanked Jinong, and after appeasing Saang Chechen for a few words, Zhu Youzhen asked Lu Qi to send him out of the palace first.

After hearing the footsteps outside the door and walking away, Zhu Youzhen suddenly turned to Wang Chengen and ordered: "Write another edict for me, and order Cao Wenzhao through the general staff to send a battalion of cavalry to protect Ordos Jinong and his party to Beijing, I don't want them to have any accidents on the road..."

In the official office of the household department, Guo Yunhou, who had received an order from the emperor, summoned Bi Ziyan on this day, explained to him that the household department wanted to set up a new department to implement the rationing system in the north, and wanted him to be the head of this new department.

Although Guo Yunhou is not a member of the eunuch party, he does not have a good impression of the Donglin party, and thinks that although the Donglin party members are good at talking, they often do things out of touch with reality, and in addition to intensifying the party struggle between the DPRK and China, it is not helpful for the current situation.

It is precisely because of Guo Yunhou's view of the Donglin Party that he has become a rare neutral official in the DPRK, and because of the special status of the household department, the officials on both sides of the struggle between the DPRK and China are happy to see Guo Yunhou maintain a neutral position, so no one will trouble him.

Although Bi Ziyan also disliked party struggle, he still agreed with the view that the ruling power of the DPRK and China could not be held by a group of bureaucrats with no limits for a long time. Therefore, there was no friendship between the two, but now he heard that Guo Yunhou invited him to preside over the newly established department of the household department, which couldn't help but make him a little stunned.

Seeing that Bi Ziyan was guessing his intentions, Guo Yunhou couldn't help but smile and said, "Jinghui doesn't have to worry too much, I don't mean anything else."

However, this rationing system is related to the livelihood of the people of the northern provinces in the next few years, and if it is entrusted to an unsuitable candidate, it is a small matter for Your Majesty to be disappointed, and I fear that if the small people cannot make a living, I am afraid that all parts of the north will be in ruins.

That's why I thought twice before I recommended you in front of Your Majesty. Because I think this thing can only be done by you, that's all. ”

Bi Ziyan thought about it for a while, and replied to Guo Yunhou: "Before I agree, I wonder if Master Shangshu can help me solve a few questions?" ”

Guo Yunhou nodded slightly and said, "As long as I can answer, I naturally won't have any reservations." ”

Bi Ziyan thought for a while and said, "Then I want to know, how sure are you and Your Majesty that this so-called inflation will definitely happen?" ”

Guo Yunhou did not answer directly, but took out a stack of documents from the table in front of him and handed them to Bi Ziyan, before he said: "After talking to Your Majesty, I asked people to collect the price information of various places, you can take a look at it first." ”

Bi Ziyan looked at it for a long time, and finally frowned and said, "If your Majesty and your Majesty are right, then how do you plan to gradually delay the process of this inflation during the implementation of the rationing system?" ”

Guo Yunhou thought for a moment and said: "As long as there is no large-scale famine in the north, then Your Majesty and I both believe that the annual increase in the prices of grain, cotton, cloth and coal should be controlled between 5 and 8 percent.

Referring to the changes in prices in the price revolutions in various European countries, Your Majesty and I believe that doubling the price increase should be regarded as the most optimistic estimate. Your Majesty and I both believe that if prices can be adjusted within 10 years, it should have the least impact on people's livelihoods..."