Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen raised his head and said to Wang Chengen, who was kneeling, "Okay, hurry up, I will tell you how to financially assist Lin Dan Khan of the Chahar Department." ”

Wang Chengen was shocked, "Your Majesty, although our internal funds are very rich now, you can't take out the silver at every turn, there are many places where the Ming Dynasty needs to use the silver." ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen Great Khan, "Who told you that I want to give them silver?" Don't speculate about what I mean! ”

Wang Chengen was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down again, "The old slave should die, the old slave should die." ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen sighed, "Companion, haven't I told me how many times, when you should die, I will let you die, don't talk about death at every turn!" In a little while, it will be the first day of the new year! Can you please be lucky? ”

Wang Chengen was shocked, "The old slave should ......"

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen's eyes glared at him, Wang Chengen was so frightened that his tongue came out, and his tongue seemed to be half short, "The old slave didn't dare to say it, the old slave remembered." ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly, "You, you are too serious about me, can you relax a little?" If I kill you, who will do my errand? I'd like to tell you about the tea and horse trade! I want to reform the Tea and Horse Law! Do you still remember that I said that I would set up a Daming Salt Tobacco Tea Horse Head Office and let you be the general manager? ”

The emperor didn't say it, Wang Chengen was about to forget about it, and the emperor was busy with Zheng Zhilong's affairs a few days ago! "Weren't you all busy with Zheng Zhilong's affairs a while ago? The old slave also has a lot of things, and the old slave didn't tell the old slave specifically what to do with this company? So, after a while, the old slave hasn't taken care of it yet. ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly. "I remember. Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty has just ascended the throne. The first assistant, Zhang Juzheng, issued an edict in the name of the Wanli Emperor ordering the closure of border trade. At that time, the tea trade was an official monopoly, and the transaction price set by the government was too high, so private tea and black tea arose. Private tea and dark tea have more production and better quality. This had a great impact on the official tea trade, and the first assistant Zhang Juzheng was determined to crack down on private smuggling after taking office, so he issued an edict suspending the border trade of tea. The original intention of the Ming Dynasty was to close the border trade tea market and at the same time strictly investigate the private tea dealers and punish the officials who violated the law. However, these draconian measures have led to a complete cut off of the supply of tea in the border trade.

The Mongol and Jurchen tribes in the north were suddenly plunged into chaos. Letters were written to the Ming Dynasty to immediately reopen the border tea trade. The tribes have not been without efforts for a peaceful settlement. Wang Wutang, the leader of the Jurchens in Jianzhou, even proposed to Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty: as long as the Qinghe tea and horse market can be opened, he is willing to "ask Dena as a proton". That is, to hold yourself hostage to the opening of the tea market. Even this request was categorically refused, not to mention that other tribal leaders had asked the Ming Dynasty for mutual trade. ”

Wang Chengen immediately followed the emperor's words and said, "The old slave also remembers this, because of Zhang Juzheng's iron-blooded policy, a war caused by tea finally broke out, and the three-year bloody war brought the tea trade back to its original point." With the announcement of the reopening of the tea market by the Ming Dynasty, the fighting spirit of the Mongol and Jurchen tribes was completely shattered. After the smoke cleared, Qinghebao once again became an important town for tea and horse border trade. Such wars provoked by the disruption of the tea trade are not uncommon in history.

It is different from the tea drinking habits of other regions. Drinking tea in the northern ethnic groups is a physiological need. The diet of northern nomadic peoples such as Mongolians is mostly hot, greasy and indigestible things such as beef and mutton and milk. Tea is rich in vitamins, tannins, theophylline, etc., and the nutrients of fruits and vegetables that nomads lack can be supplemented. The large amount of aromatic oil in tea can also dissolve animal fat, reduce cholesterol, and strengthen the toughness of blood vessel walls. The function of tea is just to make up for the missing link in the diet of nomads.

Another benefit of drinking tea for nomads is in terms of hygiene. Drinking boiled hot tea kills bacteria, which reduces the chance of intestinal and blood parasitic infections. Drinking tea changed their habit of drinking cold water.

Therefore, the tea of the Central Plains ethnic groups, as a daily spice, has become a necessity for the ethnic minorities in the north, just like grain and salt. You can't live without a day. The supply of tea has been cut off, and the lives of ethnic minorities have been almost cut off. ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly, "So, if we can't fight these ethnic minorities, it means that the Han people are useless, or that the emperor is useless!" They demand us, and we don't have anything to ask them for! The tea and horse market between the interior of the Central Plains of the Ming Dynasty and the Tibetan area reached its peak. At this time, there were roughly three forms of tea and horse trade: one was the commercial trade dominated by tea and horse trading under the auspices of the government; the second is the form of barter for monks' tribute horses; The third is the commercial exchange of private merchants. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly government-run, and after the middle period, private trade developed rapidly.

The Ming Dynasty established a series of systems for the tea and horse market, the most important of which was to set up a government-run tea and horse market agency, set up a tea department in the tea-producing area, set up a warehouse to collect and store, and specialize in the market horse. In the neighboring Tibetan areas, tea and horses were set up, tea was exchanged for horses, and tea was monopolized, and horses were purchased uniformly. The unprecedented prosperity of the Daming tea and horse market is inseparable from the Ming court's emphasis on horse politics and the improvement of the tea law. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a gold medal letter system was also set up as a certificate for the requisition and distribution of horses in ethnic minority areas.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a tea law was enacted, strictly prohibiting private tea, and trying to maintain the dominance of the tea and horse trade hosted by the government. However, the disadvantages of the government-run tea and horse market are increasing, mainly due to the low price of official horses. With the development of economic exchanges between the interior of the Central Plains and the border ethnic minority areas, the people often broke through the ban of the Ming Dynasty government to trade. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the government relaxed the ban slightly, and left it to the merchants and ethnic minorities. But it was not long before the ban was strictly enforced.

During the Chenghua period, the folk tea and horse trade became more and more frequent, so the Hongzhi period was forced to open up commercial trade. Because the price comparison of tea and horses is difficult to reflect the laws of the market, the prohibition of private tea is not stopped, and it is expanding day by day, and the government-run tea and horse market can no longer meet the growing needs of the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups and other ethnic minorities for tea, horses, and other materials.

The central government of the Ming Dynasty allowed Tibetan officials and civilians to trade tea and horses directly with Han merchants, and also allowed Tibetan envoys to take the opportunity to trade illicit tea back to their localities. The increasing prosperity of the tea and horse markets in the Ming Dynasty not only brought the economic relations between the Tibetan and Han ethnic groups and between Tibet and other fraternal ethnic groups closer, but also further strengthened the political status of the central government of the Ming Dynasty in governing Tibet. (To be continued......)