Cui Jingrong raised his right arm, put the sleeve of his wide official robe on the official case, and leaned forward slightly.

Zheng Haizhu could even see that the edge of the table case revealed the peacock tail near the upper right corner on the chest of the third-grade civil official.

This feudal official, who was straight to the point and showed his dislike of Western learning, slightly changed his sitting posture, which eased the atmosphere in the hall a little.

But Zheng Haizhu moderately stopped the business blowing of his Nanzhili industry, not to mention the qualifications accumulated in Beijing.

In front of the powerful ministers who have no friendship, don't look like you're better than the other party.

"Brushing a sense of achievement" is the most important thing to abandon when dealing with the group of civil officials in the late Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Haizhu just lowered his head, like a student entering the seat to meet the master, and after answering a round, he humbly waited for the superior to speak.

Cui Jingrong is actually a little curious about this woman.

She is not a eunuch, and she rushed to the bitter cold land to be a supervisor in ten winters. But it's not a mutual market merchant who is purely engaged in trading, otherwise what would he do if he came to see himself through Ye Xianggao's letter of recommendation?

Ye Gong is lonely and honest, even if this woman is a celebrity in front of the emperor, it is impossible for Ye Gong to ask for the privilege of housing tax for her to open a branch at the border gate.

The governor's official time is very valuable, so Cui Jingrong opened his mouth and asked: "Just say it, what is the matter with coming here today?" ”

"Please Cui Dutai give an official document and order the junior to be an envoy and return to the royal city of Lin Dan Khan with Anger and his party."

"Oh?" Cui Jingrong squinted his eyes and said, "You want to be Zhang Qian?" The imperial court has been on good terms with Lin Dan Khan, and there is no need for Zhang Qian. ”

Zheng Haizhu didn't mean to shrink down: "Dutai, the younger generation is foolish, now my Ming Dynasty and Lin Dan Khan are more promising than when the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions." Can the younger generation borrow the pen and ink of the governor? ”

Cui Jingrong motioned to the servants on the left and right, moved the chair to the opposite side of the public case, and spread paper on the case, feeding water and grinding ink.

Zheng Haizhu took the pen, first determined the location of the Beijing division, and then went north to draw the general areas of Houjin in Liaodong, Horqin in Mongolia, Khalkha in Mongolia, Datong in Xuanfu, and Chahar ruled by Lin Dan Khan.

Finally, Zheng Haizhu drew an animal in the northwest direction of these figures.

Cui Jingrong was surprised: "This is, bear?" ”

"Yes, it represents a state called Rakshasa, and the Westerners call it Russia. Dutai, since the time of Jiajingye, the Franky people have traveled far and wide to invade our Guangdong. Later, the Dutch red hair pounced on our Fujian Sea. Although the younger generation is committed to learning the firearms techniques of the Westerners and hiring the artillery technicians of the Westerners, the younger generations never think that in today's world, the Westerners are the Bodhisattvas who embroider the Buddha's heart. When some of them have guns, boats, and horses, they will definitely expand their territory. This Russia too. Its Grand Duchy of Moscow, having unified the smaller states a hundred years earlier, began to invade the east, fighting the Mongols and occupying the fertile land of fur and timber in the north. ”

Speaking of this, Zheng Haizhu picked up his pen again, drew a big circle in the northeast direction of the Jurchens in Jianzhou, Liaodong, and explained: "Cui Dutai, I believe that this Russian bear is actually a group of bloodthirsty and murderous wolves, and they will go all the way to the east, kill to the territory of the Jurchens, until they reach the mouth of the sea." ”

"Like the Mongols and Jurchens, do they have skilled cavalry with bows and horses?" Cui Jingrong asked with a calm face.

Zheng Haizhu said: "Their cavalry is called Cossacks, and they are not only skilled in archers and horses, but also have muskets. ”

Cui Jingrong raised his eyes and stared at this little woman who could almost be his granddaughter: "Do you want the Khalkha and Jurchens to turn their horses' heads and face this, this Russia?" ”

"Just thinking about this," Zheng Haizhu said, "since the younger generation entered Xuanzhen, they have inquired from Mongolian traders that the place where leather goods are produced in Trans-Khalkha has not yet been occupied by Russian Maozi. The plan of the younger generation is to increase the number of mutual market locations outside the customs. For example, the Naturalization City between Zhangjiakou and Lin Dan Khan's King City, for example, I heard those Jin merchants who went outside the pass say that there was a place where Ming and Mongolian caravans gathered in the place where Chahar went north for hundreds of miles, which was called the trading city. At present, the Fushun mutual market in Liaodong has stopped, and the Jurchens have many caravans that have passed through Horqin to Zhangjiakou. Since they can't collect a few taels of tax silver from them, and they are afraid that spies will infiltrate the border gates, why didn't the imperial court simply guide them to the Naturalization City and the Trading City? Anyway, even my Ming Jin merchants have always had the habit of going out to do business, going to the west exit, going to the east exit, and even to the North Sea, but they are used to the ice and snow Tartar, but they can't go to those realms? Outside the pass, which is hundreds of miles away from our border wall, the Mongols and Jurchens gradually relied on the mutual market of tea, horses, sugar, salt, and fur and wood, and even gradually changed from merchants to residential merchants, and cities were built one by one. The governor asked to think, when the Cossacks came in, did the Mongols and Jurchens have to fight with them? ”

Cui Jingrong tensed the corners of his mouth and listened quietly, but his heart was turbulent.

He believed this woman's statement about "rakshasas" and "Cossacks", because the Ming Jin merchants who went outside the customs also began to bring back some news about Transkhalkha in the past two years. According to the caravan, in the Transkhalkha and Dzungar regions, there were knights who were more fierce and cruel than the Turks in the past, and at the same time used long knives and spears, they could charge on horseback and use fire canisters, calling themselves "Kasak".

Cui Jingrong estimated that this was the "Cossack" that Zheng Haizhu said.

The white-haired governor stared at the badly drawn bear on the paper, and said meaningfully: "Or, these Rakshasas you mentioned, because of those mutual markets and caravans, it is easier to understand that there is a vast ocean in the northeast, and they will find their way to the Jurchens faster......"

Zheng Haizhu: "That's better, I'm also curious, is it the Tartar's foot bow that is powerful, or the Cossack musket is powerful." ”

Cui Jingrong is not a stunned young man with no flesh after all, listening to the wind is rain, and thinking about the future is bright.

He still said with a sinking face: "Lin Danhan has our border market in Zhangjiakou, and he comes to ask for rewards every year, but I am afraid that he is comfortable and does not like to toss." ”

Zheng Haizhu said: "So, the juniors want to go on a trip in person to see the situation in Chahar." ”

"I can give you a paperwork to investigate, it's cheaper to get out of the customs and enter the customs, but won't the Mongols find it strange?"

Zheng Haizhu then talked about how he first got close to Lin Dan Khan's reward envoy and promoted some black tea, and said it 1510.

Cui Jingrong snorted lightly: "You have a big idea, and your actions are fast, which is more urgent than the soldiers attacking the city." Listening to Xuanzhen's stay, Long live the general Ma who asked you to accompany him has already gone to Shangshan Castle? ”

Before Zheng Haizhu left Beijing, he naturally inquired about it, and Cui Jingrong, the governor of Xuanda, had a good relationship with Zhao Menglin, the chief soldier of Xuanfu at the time, but he also knew that Cui Jingrong would have asked this question today, so he said frankly: "General Zhang and Ma Xianglin should have seen Dutai first, but because they heard that the Tartars had two flags to grab the west and General Master Zhao went north to defend the fortress, so the two of them did not dare to stop, and hurriedly went to Yehuling. General Zhang and the god boy assigned to him by the Lord of the Divine Machine, with a combined gun, but the arquebus and a few cannons are still left in Xuanzhen, please check them. ”

Cui Jingrong pouted: "Is it the cannon from your firearms factory, or is it the cannon that some of Xu Hanlin's parishioners got from the Franky people?" If it's the latter, don't use it. ”

Zheng Haizhu didn't care too much about how this third-grade important minister was so prejudiced against Xu Guangqi, so other diodes who were "only in China" were just mouth cannons, and Cui Jingrong was at least the age of the sixtieth birthday to the Ming Dynasty to guard the country.

What is even more worth making a mark in my heart is that Cui Jingrong seems to have a very upright temper, and maybe in the future, it will be easier to deal with. After all, it is difficult for people to guess his thoughts when the officials of the city government are deep and unrelenting, and it is difficult to make friends and guide.

On the other hand, Cui Jingrong saw that the woman was choked by himself, and his face was panicked, and he felt relieved, and immediately waved his hand and said: "Don't worry too much, the old man asked about General Ma, I don't blame you juniors for not knowing the meaning of etiquette, but I have heard his brave name for a long time and want to meet him soon." General Ma, you can't bring many people with you this time, right? ”

"If you go back to the governor, there are only ten people from the Shi Yan family."

Cui Jingrong didn't say anything on his face, but secretly thought about it.

A month ago, when he heard that Ma Xianglin was going to be punished to Xuanfu, Cui Jingrong, a veteran border minister, immediately realized that Ye Xianggao had given him a big gift.

The top priority at the moment is how to get the Sichuan army team that is so capable of fighting from Shanhaiguan.

I only heard the woman on the other side of the table say in an inquiring tone: "The younger generation came to Xuanda this time, and looking at the border situation here, it should not be underestimated. The younger generation is willing to go out of the plug, but can you ask General Ma to escort you? ”

Cui Jingrong's thought moved, and he said: "Let him go together, Zhao Menglin's Shangshan Castle will not be able to prevent the Tartars without a horse general." General Ma just took a look at what the terrain was going to be like when he went to Lin Dan Khan's royal city. No matter how knowledgeable our Wenchen is, they are not as good as their martial arts experts. Let him write down the places outside the fortress where he can build fortifications and increase the garrison. ”

"Remember the Governor's entrustment."

Out of the Governor's Mansion, Jin merchant Chang Zhongxin greeted him diligently.

Entering the mule cart, Zheng Haizhu smiled and said, "Chang Gongzi, I have been supervised to see Lin Dan Khan, what do you think of my thoughts to explain to you that day?" ”

Chang Zhongxin said in a loud voice: "The mansion can be driven away by the lady, and I can't ask for it." ”

Zheng Haizhu asked Chang Zhongxin to go to Mongolia with him, because he wanted to use his vision as a Jin merchant to collect information on the circulation of silver money in commercial transactions along the way.

In the late Ming Dynasty, with Jiangnan, Lianghuai and Shanxi as models, the transformation of land capital into commercial capital was not only a concept, but also a practice.

Shanxi's land involution is on the verge of limit, and a large number of male surplus laborers, unlike Nanzhili, do not enter silk weaving workshops, but become small merchants, running docks inside and outside the gates.

It is simply inevitable that commercial capital will be further transformed into financial capital.

Zheng Haizhu came to this life, and he personally saw "money houses" and "counters" in Jiangnan, and also used silver tickets to give gifts or withdraw money, but those are more like silver banks that charge handling fees, and they are not financial enterprises in the sense of later generations.

Compared with Jiangnan, Shanxi's trade route ecology is more conducive to the generation of "ticket numbers".

Therefore, Zheng Haizhu's Chang family, who has the ability to escort, took him with him and began to grind, just to try to let the Chang family test the water of the Jin merchant ticket number business, which only began to develop greatly in the middle of the Qing Dynasty in history.

The Mongols and Russians, who did not yet have the concept of silver currency, exchanged horses for tea and silk, and even obtained furs by direct plunder, which were characteristic of the behavior of Mongolia and Russia.

In the upcoming international trade from Siberia to the Far East, if the Ming Empire could dominate the commercial rules in advance, the border trade cities such as Kyakhta and Manchuria in the vast steppe could open financial enterprises in which the Ming people were the proprietors - "ticket numbers" engaged in exchange and deposit lending business.

Zheng Haizhu talked to Chang Zhongxin all the way about the basic concept of the ticket number, and after arriving at the inn, he explained a few words to Chang Zhongxin about the preparations for leaving the customs, and ordered him to retreat.

Xu San closed the door and looked out through the crack in the window, before turning around to add hot tea to Zheng Haizhu, and lowered his voice to talk about another plan for this trip: "Madam, let our people let the whereabouts of the Mongols go out of the way, right?" ”

Zheng Haizhu could hear the excitement in his voice.

"Xu San, this must be done. But the hour or something, we have to calculate it accurately. Zheng Haizhu leaned back in the chair and slowly admonished while closing her eyes to recuperate.

"Madame, rest assured, Jizhen to Xuanfu, his brothers have already stepped on the point. The handwritten letter that Madame asked General Ma to write before was also sent to Jizhou in person, and General Ma's lieutenant burned it after reading it. ”

Zheng Haizhu sneered: "Juniper must have thought that the Tartars would grab the west, as long as they didn't attack the city, his own people wouldn't be able to do their best, let the Sichuan army go out of the pass, suffer or kill a few people in the enemy, he didn't care." ”

"General Ma's adjutant said the same thing, so they should have been swimming outside the border wall of Jizhen in the past few days, just waiting for us to give us news and pounce immediately."

"Well, it shouldn't be too long," Zheng Haizhu rubbed her temples, "The Mongols and Jurchens, taking and grabbing, are in a hurry to go home for the New Year." ”

She paused, and then said, "What about jujube flowers?" Is it outside the gate or in the city? ”

"She, in Zhangjiakou, when we and Unger go out, we will pass through Zhangjiakou, should I let her come to see Madame?"

"No," Zheng Haizhu said lightly, "Zhangjiakou is not the place where she and I should meet." ”

After all, he asked Xu San with a sense of longing: "She has been in Mongolia for half a year, has she suffered hardship?" ”

Xu San said with relief: "Madame, don't worry, our brothers will take care of it." Besides, her brute ability, when she was running a small business, occasionally the stinky man who didn't know what to do wanted to take advantage of her, and she beat her to the point that she almost cut off her children and grandchildren. ”

Zheng Haizhu smiled: "Okay, this time, she can go to the east with a brutal move." When the spring flowers bloom next year, the owner of the blue flag will be able to use the gifts we have prepared for him. ”

(End of chapter)