In fact, the territory under the effective direct management of the Ming Dynasty was not large.

The Ming Dynasty's rule over the Northeast region was symbolic. It issued a letter of appointment to the local indigenous chief, but whether he accepted it or not, the initiative was not entirely in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, for the Ming Dynasty, the current Northeast is the same as its vassal states such as Korea, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

The Ming Dynasty's rule was limited to the entire Central Plains region, which was slightly stronger than the Northern Song Dynasty, and included Western Xia, Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, Dali and other places.

There were no grasslands, no Western Regions, and no snowy areas in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

"If we really want to take down Mongolia, it seems that we have to resort to some ruthless means."

Zhu Ying sighed slightly. In fact, he would rather simply conquer the grassland, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the three major forces of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Oirat, and the Eastern Chagatai Khanate occupied the grassland.

The three major forces combined have more than one million grassland cavalry.

To the northwest, there is the Golden Horde, which is fighting against Timur and has a large number of cavalry.

It is impossible to conquer the grassland in a short period of time, or within ten, twenty, or even thirty years, under the current circumstances.

Even if the flintlock, a modified version of the matchlock musket, appeared, it would not be able to pose a strong threat to the grassland cavalry without enough war horses.

Because it is humans who are mobile, even if there is an advantage in range, it would be a very difficult problem to bring all the grassland areas under the direct rule of the Ming Dynasty given the huge gap in numbers.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ying no longer hesitated.

As a man, you have to be ruthless when it is necessary.

After the morning court the next day, Zhu Ying took his memorial and handed it to the old man in the Huagai Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the contents of the memorial and did not say anything else. Instead, he nodded in approval and said, "Since the eldest grandson has made up his mind, we must support him."

Zhu Yuanzhang must be a ruthless person.

Not only did they not feel disgusted with Dasun's strategy, but they were actually very supportive of it.

The main reason for this is Zhu Ying’s own psychological barrier.

After all, some of the truth, goodness and beauty from the previous life still have some influence.

Zhu Ying's strategy was to implement a comprehensive embargo policy on the grassland.

That is to say, when the decree is issued, the Ming Dynasty will implement a strict embargo system on the grassland.

Among them, all merchants in the Ming Dynasty were prohibited from transporting steel, grain, salt, tea, medicinal materials, cloth, and women to the grassland.

Once any violation is discovered, the violator will be executed immediately and all property will be confiscated.

Those who jointly operate the business and all those with an interest in the business shall be guilty of a serious crime, and all their property shall be confiscated and they shall be sentenced to hard labor.

Hard labor and forced labor are two different things.

Nowadays, labor is equivalent to doing the work of a craftsman, such as building roads and bridges under the arrangement of the prison, working in a factory, and so on.

Hard labor is different. It means going to the most remote and cold places to carry out construction, including repairing border cities and other extremely intense work where people can easily die.

Once sentenced to hard labor, it means that your life is over, because there is no concept of a time limit for hard labor. Unless you are pardoned, you will work until you die.

The people on the grassland need a lot of food to survive the winter.

Given the current population size on the grasslands, there simply would not be enough food without the support of the Central Plains dynasty.

It is winter now. If an embargo is issued at this time, it will definitely lead to famine on the grassland.

The Mongolians only eat meat, without medicinal herbs and tea. It doesn't take too long, even within just a few months, a large number of Mongolians will suffer from indigestion, constipation, abdominal distension, and horrible pain.

Steel actually refers to weapons and all iron products.

For example, knives and guns, arrowheads for bows and arrows, needles for women, iron pots for cooking meat and a series of other items.

These are inevitable consumables, and in the absence of craftsmen, they must be constantly replenished.

Not to mention salt. You can barbecue without an iron pan, but without salt, it will taste the same as barbecue.

The ban on women actually has a huge impact on the Mongolians.

You should know that there are not many women on the grassland. Many times, the Mongolians would buy women from the Ming Dynasty to get married.

Whether it is human traffickers or brokers, a large number of women are sold to the grassland every year.

Mongolians were relatively poor, so it was common for fathers and sons, or brothers to share the same woman.

Even nobles cannot avoid it.

The Mongolians do not attach much importance to bloodline. As long as they raise their sons, no matter whose father he is, he belongs to their own race.

Therefore, when many Mongols were fighting outside and suddenly found that they had more sons when they came back, they did not feel cheated. This was because the vast grassland was originally green.

On the contrary, he would be very happy that he had a few more sons.

With many sons, the family will naturally grow larger.

This is the custom on the grassland. Whoever raises the child owns the child.

The third day's morning court session.

Zhu Yuanzhang then announced this decree in the court.

The ministers in the audience looked at each other in bewilderment. You have to know that this kind of thing is a rather harsh policy for the Ming Dynasty, especially for scholars.

Just listening to the tone of His Majesty and the gaze of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, no minister dared to stand up and oppose.

After a long while, a minister finally stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder if this ban applies to the entire grassland or only to those who disobey our Ming Dynasty."

This question is more critical.

Because on the grassland side, the Ming Dynasty still has many friendly tribes, including horse markets, exchanging tea for horses and a series of other commercial activities.

These are still quite common in the markets along the border.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer directly when he heard this, but turned his gaze to his eldest grandson.

Zhu Ying stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "The objects of this decree are all the territories that do not belong to our Great Ming. All the garrisons outside the grassland borders and without our Great Ming stationed are included in this ban."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar.

But for a long while, no minister dared to speak.

Those who can stand in the Fengtian Hall have basic political sense, and this proposal was obviously put forward by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

It might be okay to say a few tough words to His Majesty.

But for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, things are not so easy.

The ministers in the court are, at the very least, in their early thirties. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is currently less than twenty years old. If he can successfully retire from office, his retirement life will still depend on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

In the future, the Ming Dynasty will also be relied upon by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

What people worry about most is the unknown.

The current Crown Prince has not yet taken the throne. If there is a reckoning after he takes the throne, who can bear it?

This is also Zhu Ying's current advantage as the crown prince. Sometimes, for some things, ministers will be more afraid of the heir who has not yet become the emperor than they are of the emperor.

If Zhu Ying had already succeeded to the throne and become emperor at this time, the ministers would not have been so fearful.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Since you, my dear ministers, have no other objections, this matter can be settled."

"It was drafted today by the Six Ministries and sent to the frontiers by express post over 600 miles."

…

The court’s laws are one aspect.

In fact, even if such laws are promulgated in border areas, it is difficult to say that they can be effectively implemented.

After all, the interests involved are too huge. Many merchants at the border make a living by doing this business.

Among them, there are a large number of smugglers, and it is difficult to completely eliminate them no matter how hard we try.

Even under strict orders, smugglers' profits increased.

Zhu Ying, or the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, was once one of the biggest smugglers. They established their initial primitive accumulation by relying on the huge profits from snowflake salt and the sale of other goods.

In fact, for now, completely giving up this business would be a big loss for the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

Even now, there are still many fake chambers of commerce secretly running these businesses, but they do not use the name of Zhu Ying Qunying Chamber of Commerce.

Now that Zhu Ying has made up his mind, these fake chambers of commerce will naturally be forced to cease operations.

The responsibility of strictly enforcing this prohibition still lies with the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

Because the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce controls enough smuggling routes, and these smuggling routes will become a key blow to the grassland.

After the Six Ministries issued the notice, Zhu Ying's order was also conveyed to Zhang Bo.

Zhang Bo held the imperial edict sent from the palace and sighed softly.

Because he was not a Han Chinese, but a Jurchen, the Donghai Jurchen.

When this ban came into effect, it also included the place where Zhang Bo once lived.

He understood very well what would happen to his tribe if they were without food, medicine, cloth, ironware and other supplies.

One year.

No, it might only take half a year before a large number of the tribesmen would die from famine and plague.

The entire grassland will begin to wither.

It will become a living hell.

"Father, are we really going to do this?"

Zhang Bo's son, who was once Zhu Ying's bodyguard, asked hesitantly after reading the order.

Zhang Bo frowned and hesitated for a moment before reprimanding, "This is the boss's order, so it must be strictly followed."

"But……"

"No buts."

Zhang Bo's expression became solemn: "You should also know that it was because of the Dong family that we were able to survive, and it is also because of the Dong family that we are where we are today."

"From the moment the Dong family saved our tribe, we have sworn an oath to Changshengtian that we will serve the Dong family wholeheartedly for the rest of our lives."

"No matter what the order is, even if it tells us to die, we must strictly follow the orders of our boss."

Zhang Bo's son immediately lowered his head and said, "I understand, father."

After Zhang Bo finished speaking, he felt a little lonely again.

Because not all members of Zhang Bo's tribe followed Zhu Ying, they were just a separate group.

The relationships among tribes are also quite complicated, and friendly tribes are basically related.

Thinking of this, Zhang Bo said, "I will go to the palace to ask the master to see if he can give me a way out. Now the Ming Dynasty is in need of people everywhere. If there are grassland people who are willing to move to the Ming Dynasty, I hope the master can accept them."

"Even if we don't get paid much, at least we can survive in Ming Dynasty by doing labor."

"The Ming Dynasty is now rich, with plenty of food and many places to hire people. Even if tens or even millions of people come, they should be able to find a meal to eat."

"I have never asked my boss for anything in my life. I think if I ask him this time, he will probably agree."

…

Faced with Zhang Bo's request, after some thought, Zhu Ying chose to agree.

He also appointed Zhang Wen, the son of Zhang Bo, as the leader of this incident on the spot.

Zhang Wen is Zhang Bo's son and also the young patriarch of the tribe. In this regard, it is relatively easy for him to go to the grassland to recruit people, and he can also gain more trust from people on the grassland.

For the Ming Dynasty at present, the more population the better. There are actually quite a few Mongols in the Ming Dynasty, and even many of the ministers in the court are Mongols.

It's just that these Mongolians were born in the Central Plains since childhood because of the relationship with the Yuan Dynasty, so they have no concept of the Mongolian grasslands, and naturally they don't have any resistance to Zhu Ying's ban on the grasslands.

After agreeing to Zhang Bo's request, Zhu Ying summoned Lan Yu to Kunning Palace in the afternoon.

"Your Highness, Lan Yu, pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Now under Zhu Ying's command, Lan Yu no longer has any arrogant thoughts. All his edges have been smoothed out. He is even more obedient than when he was under Zhu Yuanzhang's command.

Lan Yu still had some merits to sell to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he had nothing to sell to Zhu Ying. On the contrary, he was somewhat taboo because of the issue of military power.

He hasn't made any significant contributions so far, so naturally he can't get cocky.

No matter what kind of contribution he made to the Ming Dynasty, Lan Yu knew that it would not work with Zhu Ying.

"Duke Liang, please stand up. Guo Zhong, show him a seat."

Following Zhu Ying's instructions, Guo Zhong immediately brought a chair.

After Lan Yu sat down, Zhu Ying did not exchange too many pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Regarding the ban on grasslands issued at this morning's court session, I think Duke Liang has already heard about it."

Lan Yu nodded and said, "I have heard of it. This method is good. As long as it can be truly implemented, it will definitely be a powerful blow to the grassland."

"Without food, ironware, tea, and medicinal herbs, the grassland will soon be seriously damaged."

At this point, Lan Yu paused for a moment and said, "But please be careful, Your Highness. Once this ban spreads to the grassland, it will inevitably cause a huge disturbance. The remnant Yuan will definitely unite with other tribes to invade our Ming Dynasty and force us to withdraw this ban."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "There are many knowledgeable people on the grassland, and they will see what will happen next."

"Therefore, the military defense at the border will be greatly strengthened, including the training and armaments of the garrisons. These are the most urgent matters at present. It is possible that there will be a major invasion on the grassland before the New Year."

"That's why I specially asked Duke Liang to come here today."