When winter comes, countless herdsmen drive their cattle and sheep to their winter nests for the winter.

Every year, the herders graze their herds, leaving a leeward pasture for grazing. When winter comes, herders bring their cattle and sheep here. The leeward here is slightly warmer than elsewhere, and the pastures beneath the snow cover also feed the livestock. This is a trick passed down by Mongolian ancestors to deal with the cold climate of the Mongolian plateau.

This is how the Mongolians have survived one cold winter day after another.

Since the unification of the Khalkha Mongols by the Qiyan tribe Geritu Khan, they have gradually become rich, and countless herdsmen have continued to sell illicit salt to the west, as well as all kinds of good things from the Ming Kingdom.

Khalkha Mongolia today is far from being as poor as it was ten years ago. Every household has enough grain, cattle and sheep to survive the winter, and every felt bag in the winter nest is filled with laughter.

Life is good, and naturally no one cares about robbery. In the past, I encountered a white-haired wind on the grassland, or when the year was bad. The leaders of the tribe would always bring the fiercest warriors to the territory of the Han people to grab grain and livestock, and even many Han women came back.

On the grassland, women are also the property of the lord's family, just like cattle and sheep.

Now there is no need to fight anymore, there is food, drink and drink, who the fuck wants to fight. Although the army of the Han people is not good, there will always be deaths in battle. Every year, after crossing the Great Wall, a warrior will never return to the grassland where he was born.

When the Khalkha herders hid in felt bags and sheltered from the bitter cold, they did not know that a catastrophe was quietly approaching them.

In the first month, the ice and snow on the grassland are frozen hardest. More than 100,000 iron horsemen of the Jungar Mongols suddenly crossed the border of Chuanting, Hangai Mountain, and launched an attack on the Khalkha Department.

Baturhun's surprise attack caused Geritu heavy losses, and the hastily assembled Khalkha army fought three battles with Baturhun in one month. As a result, all three battles were lost, and the helpless Ge Ritu could only retreat to Liaodong with his remnants. At the same time, he personally went to Beijing to ask for Li Xiao's assistance.

The Mongol army of Jungar followed to Liaodong, only to crash headlong into Ao Ye's open pocket in Zhangwu. The 3,000 men who pursued the Khalkha were shot and shelled by Ao Ye, and only more than 500 people fled back. As a result, the Mongol tribes of Jungar no longer dared to continue to attack the territory of the Ming Dynasty. It's just that the troops are stationed in the Khalkha steppe, confronting the remnants of Geritu and the Ming army.

"Where is my brother?" Ge Ritu came to the capital for three days before he saw Zhang Huangyan. immediately eagerly inquired about Li Xiao's whereabouts, and he knew that only Li Xiao could help him in this matter.

"Dashuai went to Guangzhou, and it is estimated that it will take half a year to come back. Maybe the leader of Geritu has also heard about it, and Java has killed tens of thousands of my Ming people. This enemy of the Ming Dynasty will definitely not give up, and now the sailors over there in Guangzhou are preparing for an expedition. You know the temper of the handsome, and he will do everything before the expedition.

Once the police training comes from Nanyang again, it is estimated that my marshal will personally drive the boat and kill those gutless bandits. If that's the case, it's estimated that it won't be able to come back for a year and a half. Zhang Huangyan looked at Ge Ritu with a smile.

Ge Ritu felt that there was sweat oozing out of his brain, and only Li Xiao could speak in the capital. The remaining characters such as Ao Canghai and Man Gui can only send troops when Jungger invades the Ming Dynasty. After all, these two are just generals with troops, not the core figures of the decision-making level of the Ming Dynasty.

"Mr. Zhang, can you introduce Mr. Sun?" The helpless Ge Ritu could only choose Sun Chengzong, because he knew that in Li Xiao's absence, Sun Chengzong was usually in charge. Visiting this Mr. Sun is far more meaningful than visiting Zhu Yihai, the emperor with the same tablet.

"Mr. Sun was sick and did not attend the New Year's gathering. Now Mr. Sun is no longer on the council, and all things are in charge of the officials of various ministries. The medical officer meant that Mr. Sun should not be allowed to visit him, let alone the head of Geritu, and even the old man would rarely see him. Zhang Huangyan rejected Ge Ritu with a smile, and didn't even leave him a crack in the door.

"In any case, please Mr. Zhang, for the sake of my friendship with Dashuai, help me in the Khalkha Department. My men and my people have been taken by Dzungar, and now only 20,000 remnants are hiding at the foot of the Great Wall. If I am wiped out, the Jungars will definitely attack the Ming below. For them, the Ming Dynasty is far richer than my Khalkha Ministry. Ge Ritu knew that it was a waste of spittle to talk about friendship with an old fox of Zhang Huangyan's level.

This kind of character who has become a fine person, can only talk about interests, and it is absolutely impossible to talk about friendship with you. What's more, there is no friendship between the two.

"The old man understands the words of the leader of Geritu, but the old man can't help it. After all, this is a matter between countries, and if the old man helps the leader too much, he will be poked in the back. But after all, you and my handsome family are old acquaintances, and the old man in this field will definitely help.

These are several agreements, indicating the materials that your grassland wants to provide to our Daming. In exchange for our Ming troops, we must provide sufficient supplies in accordance with the treaty. After all, our labor expedition is also expensive.

Leader, please understand the old man, it is not easy for the old man to sit in this position. Zhang Huangyan specially asked for a Mongolian translator, and the translated documents were placed in front of Ge Ritu's desk.

Every year, 20,000 war horses are supplied to the imperial court at a low price!

This one is no problem, the last thing the Mongols lack is horses. In the Mongolian steppe, catching a foal at random is a good horse for the Han people.

The grassland is sold to the imperial court every year for 150,000 catties of wool!

Ge Ritu was a little surprised, what do the Han people want wool for? And take the money to buy! Are these Han people crazy?

This article is also agreed, it is a matter of wool picking, and it is not a big deal. Every family shepherds sheep, and every year the wool does not know how much will be blown away by the wind, since the Han people want to buy it, they will sell it openly. There is still some income to be brought in, which should be a good deal.

This time, he was raided by Batur Hun of Jungar and lost countless wealth and subordinates. I don't know how much wool has been taken away!

Coal and other mineral deposits can be explored and mined in the Mongolian steppes for free.

Coal mines in the steppe? Ge Ritu only knows a few small coal mines, and has not heard of the big coal mines like the Ming people's mouths. But since the Han people want coal, it's better to give them coal. Cow dung is burned on the grasslands, and few can afford to burn wood and coal.

"Leader Geritu, this mining article, Daming will privately give you 20% of the shares. It's for you personal, not for the Khalkha tribes. Zhang Huangyan looked at Ge Ritu with a smile.

"Oh! These conditions are all right, and I agree to them all. Ge Ritu was a little dizzy, Zhang Huangyan's conditions were not conditions in his opinion, they were simply preferential policies.

What's more, Da Ming also gave himself two components intimately. Good guys! You have to agree to everything on this condition, and if you don't agree, you're a fool.

"Okay, if there is a leader of Gritu, the old man will be easy to operate. The chief is asked to sign these agreements, and after the old man and the other cabinet members have discussed them, they will give the chief a further reply. Other old men don't dare to say that it's okay to support the leader with some guns. Zhang Huangyan smiled, flickering poor Geritu like a wolf grandmother.

Geritu didn't know that the first two of these three conditions were fair trade. The third one is simply scraping the bones of the Mongols!

When the prospecting team and mining team of the Ming Dynasty went to Mongolia one after another to exploit Mongolia's underground resources. The Mongolian people will get nothing, only the Gezhitu family will get 20% of the dividends.

Of course, dividends are not given for free. The Gritu family must ensure the safety of these prospecting and mining teams, and there is no such thing as a free lunch. The Mongols did not understand the trade principle of equal exchange, but Ge Ritu did. He knew that the price of tearing up the treaty was something he could never afford.

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