This is a war that is fought against the army with the aim of increasing its strength.

This is a war in which Emperor Chongzhen is bent on strangling the rebels to death in Henan.

This is a war that both sides expected but did not anticipate well enough.

This is a war in which Tang Xidong is concerned, and I will settle down for a while if you fight you.

April.

The rebel army and the Ming army fought at the border of Beijing.

The rebels won less and lost more, and on the whole, they achieved their goal, looted their property, and attracted the attention of Emperor Chongzhen.

April.

Tang Xidong is in full swing to increase its control over the entire territory of Shanxi.

Officials were constantly dispatched to encourage commerce, support the people in clearing wasteland, and teach greenhouse planting.

The official roads between the cities were built, and schools were built in various places.

Drill the new army and wait for the selection.

After suspending the free food supply to the people in various places, Tang Xidong began to implement the policy of income according to work.

Reclamation of wasteland, construction of official roads, and water conservancy all require a lot of labor.

Mining minerals and building schools also require a lot of labour.

Each city opens up commercial streets, plans urban regional functions, and divides office areas, commercial areas, and residential areas.

At the same time, after occupying Lu'an, after learning that Lu'an has been a thriving textile area since ancient times, Tang Xidong integrated human and mechanical resources in Lu'an and opened a large-scale textile workshop, which solved the problem of labor surplus and expanded the commercial resources in his hands.

But tightening all this is not enough.

Tang Xidong hopes to see prosperity and prosperity in Shanxi.

So Tang Xidong set his sights on the north.

According to reason, Tang Xidong should have put the idea of expanding commerce in the affluent south, attracting a large number of caravans from the south to do business in Binh Duong.

But Tang Xidong was well aware of the business situation at this time.

In addition to a few strange things in Tang Xidong's hands, the only thing he could take out was coal.

But in the South, there was little demand for burning coal.

On the contrary, while a large number of caravans from the south poured into Shanxi, they also took away a large number of people's hard-earned savings.

The consequence of this trade deficit is that Shanxi's economy will one day be hollowed out.

Tang Xidong needs to change that.

He couldn't restrict the caravans coming from the south, otherwise it would be difficult to sell even if he had a large amount of goods in his hands.

Therefore, what Tang Xidong has to do is to expand the commercial resources in his hands.

And the goods with tight demand are the goal of Tang Xidong.

So Tang Xidong set his sights on the Northland.

Fell on the steppe of the same hardship and poverty at this time.

At this time, the grassland is suffering both internally and externally.

The weather is changeable, the climate is devastating, the summer is dry, and the winter is cold with little snow.

In addition, under the continuous oppression of the Later Jin, even the overlord of the steppe, Lin Dan Khan, was defeated again and again, and in the Chahar War in the middle of last year, the strength of Lin Dan Khan was greatly reduced by the Later Jin army.

Lin Dan Khan abandoned the steppe and moved to the Qinghai region with half of his army.

And the grassland, at this time, only his son was left with a forehead.

He was still a young man, ambitious but not sophisticated.

After the Houjin retreated, they could only struggle to maintain peace among the various tribes on the grassland and try their best to let the people escape the cold and harsh winter.

The harsh winter has passed, but many cattle and sheep have been killed and injured.

No salt, no cotton, no coal, no grain.

There are only cows, sheep, horses, and Mongolian men in his hands.

And all this is exactly what Tang Xidong needs.

He has the craft of making canned food in his hands, he needs a lot of cattle and sheep, he has cavalry in his hands, he needs a lot of war horses, and the combat effectiveness of the cavalry in his hands is still inferior to that of Houjin, so he needs the Mongols to be able to work for him.

At this moment, Houjin is the common enemy of both sides, and has the same blood feud.

The same enemy promotes the same strategic allies.

Tang Xidong hoped to be able to rely on the salt, coal, cloth, and grain in his hands in exchange for a large number of cattle, sheep, horses, and cavalry soldiers.

Thereupon.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, when the rebels were busy fighting with the Ming Dynasty, Tang Xidong sent envoys to the grasslands to contact Lin Dan Khan's son Ezhe, and opened the door to trade under the gimmick of being willing to provide them with supplies.

The envoy sent this time is the result of Tang Xi's plan to recruit wise men from the east of the country.

The western school from Huguang lifted the road and the fish was white.

This person can speak well, his mind is open, and he agrees with everything Tang Xidong planned in Shanxi, and more prominently, this person has a great understanding and recognition of the world outside the Ming Dynasty in terms of geography, politics, astronomy, and mathematics.

This is an advanced Confucian student who is deeply influenced by Western studies, not old-fashioned and pedantic, and has a spirit of reform.

This is the talent that Tang Xidong needs.

Lu Yubai went north with the army in April, and arrived at the grassland in May.

In the middle of the year, he finally found the forehead in Salchel who was leading his troops to move south.

Lin Dan Khan was extremely jealous of Hou Jin, so he regarded Da Ming as his ally, so he kept stabbing Hou Jin's knife in the war between Hou Jin and Da Ming.

But the forehead did not have a good impression of Da Ming, because if it weren't for his father's involvement in the war between Da Ming and Hou Jin, the grassland overlord would not have been driven to the Duogan Division.

Although there was no military confrontation in the initial meeting, the atmosphere was not harmonious.

From the attitude of the forehead, Lu Yubai saw the stubbornness of this young man, so Lu Yubai began to transfer the object.

Although he is the son of Lin Dan Khan, he is not yet the Great Khan of the steppe, although he nominally rules various tribes, but in fact, everyone is mainly based on their own tribes, and they do not listen to their names.

Lu Yubai set his eyes on the largest tribe in the hands of the forehead.

The Han Department was originally a member of the Forehead Fold's own tribe, but after the Forehead Fold's father hid away, the Forehead Fold's control over the tribe was almost lost.

The Han tribe is the tribe closest to the Ming Dynasty among the Mongolian tribes, and there is no one.

Lu Yubai did not propose the so-called trade, but stated that Tang Xidong, the governor of Shanxi, was willing to help the Han Department tide over the difficulties.

The people of the grassland are rich in cattle, sheep and war horses and have nowhere to sell them, and Shanxi is willing to help the Han tribe find a way out of trade, but as a thank you, it is hoped that the Han tribe can send war horses and warriors into Shanxi to hire an army.

Of course, everything is voluntary.

Of course, the army will give various rewards, such as coal and salt in winter, cloth and so on.

This statement is very wonderful.

If the opening is that we will trade, I will sell you grain, coal, salt, and you will sell me cattle and sheep.

Then the Mongolians are not stupid, how can they let you get your wish, so it seems that Tang Xidong is begging others.

And to put it bluntly, Tang Xidong is benevolent, generous, and benevolent, and is willing to help the Han.

Find a way out for you to sell, and you won't be controlled by the Mongols, because we don't need your cattle and sheep, we just find a way out for you.

And as your thanks, I hope you can provide war horses and warriors, but I don't force it, it's all up to you.

Anyway, in the end, the Han naturally agreed with Lu Yubai's statement.

So the two sides began to discuss.

While moving south, the Han Department tried to get closer to the Biaotou Pass as much as possible.

Shanxi will send caravans from all over the country to the north to collect cattle and sheep, and at the same time provide various daily necessities.

In this way, trade with Mongolia was successful.

Although he was reluctant to do so, he was helpless.

And the Mongolian war horses and warriors, Tang Xidong is not in a hurry, as long as there is a beginning, the next thing is to go.

At the beginning of June, the two sides began to do business for the first time outside the Biaotou Pass.

The Shanxi caravan went out of the customs and traded with the Han Department under the escort of the small army with various supplies.

It's a good start.

It is the first step in the whole plan of Tang Xidong.

At least the initial trust that was established on both sides.