The location of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

In just two months, unimaginable changes took place in the entire Northern Yuan region.

This can be said to be a world of difference.

In the previous Northern Yuan Dynasty, under the strong suppression of the Ming Dynasty, supplies were scarce on all sides. Some lowly slaves were thankful if they could drink half a bowl of porridge every day.

Ordinary people didn't have a good life either. After a winter, the medicinal herbs and tea in their homes had long been consumed.

In the absence of food, they can only survive on cow's milk and goat's milk, and can only eat meat occasionally.

Without even salt, cooked meat is difficult to swallow, and long-term consumption of greasy meat will bring with it various kinds of illnesses.

It's okay for adults, but especially for children, the most common problem is a bloated abdomen.

This situation developed in the homes of all the grassland people, and even some Mongolian nobles were not much better off.

The most important thing is the fear of future life.

During that period, whether it was the imperial court or the various tribes in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, everyone was in a gloomy mood and no one was smiling.

But now it's different.

Zhu Ying set up the trade market at the fastest speed, and as he already had a large amount of supplies, after only three days, a large amount of supplies urgently needed for the grassland had begun to be delivered.

The cavalry from various routes of the Northern Yuan Dynasty provided close escort and quickly arrived at the seven trading points.

The arrival of the Ming caravan was like the sun appearing after the clouds had parted, and everyone's face was filled with happy smiles.

Especially the rise in prices has brought great surprise to all the herdsmen on the grassland.

That night, there was a bonfire party with singing and dancing to welcome the arrival of the Ming Dynasty caravan.

Invisibly, all the herdsmen found that they could no longer live without the Ming Dynasty.

Some tribal elders looked at this scene and sighed slightly in their hearts.

In the future, there may be no way to go to the Central Plains to beg for money.

Firstly, the Ming Dynasty was becoming increasingly powerful, and secondly, a decree was announced after the arrival of the Ming Dynasty caravan.

From now on, any tribe found to have committed acts of violence and plunder against the Ming Dynasty will be permanently added to the unwelcome list.

This means that the Ming Chamber of Commerce will refuse to trade with them and impose inter-tribal sanctions.

Such laws may seem to have little effect, but in fact they make many people more fearful.

Through the embargo, we can see that the current Ming Dynasty will really implement the laws thoroughly.

It would be difficult to feed the tribe solely by relying on the development of the grassland itself, whether it is fur or livestock.

Where will the future lead us?

The Northern Yuan Dynasty court, the imperial palace.

Elbek sat on the dragon throne, and below him were the civil and military officials of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

"Minister Haba, you have made an invaluable contribution to the capture of Prince of Yan Zhu Di, which has prompted the Ming Dynasty and our Northern Yuan Dynasty to reach a peace treaty, lift the embargo, and trade at a discount."

"Tell me what reward you want. As long as you tell me, I can agree to it."

Elbek said with a smile, in a good mood.

In the negotiations, although no other material compensation was obtained except for the lifting of the Ming Dynasty's embargo, the development of trade made Elbek Khan's reputation begin to spread throughout the grassland.

All the Mongolian tribes, nobles, and herdsmen were thinking well of Elbek.

Elbek's own reputation in the Northern Yuan court and the army also reached a peak.

Now I have to speak more firmly.

The Minister of War, Haba, was speechless when he heard His Majesty say this.

Although the situation of the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been improving, the Ministry of Revenue has actually been in deficit for a long time, so there is no reward to be given out.

How could he not understand what His Majesty meant? It was just to save face.

But this is also a good opportunity for Haba.

He is now the Minister of War. With the position of Prime Minister vacant, he is already the highest-ranking official in the country. If he moves up any further, he will be considered too successful to be a threat to the emperor.

Being able to maintain the current position of Minister of War is already a very good situation.

When Haba captured Prince of Yan Zhu Di and brought him back to the Northern Yuan court, the first thing he did was to hand over his tiger talisman overnight, for fear that the emperor would have other ideas.

But if you have made contributions and then refuse to accept any reward, that won’t work.

After thinking for a while, Haba said, "This is all my duty, but to be honest, I do want something, and I beg Your Majesty to give it to me."

Upon hearing this, Elbek's expression changed slightly, and he asked calmly, "You can tell me what you want to say."

Haba saw this and said quickly, "I like snowflake salt the most, but the Ming Dynasty Chamber of Commerce has a limit on the amount of snowflake salt. The amount I have seems to be quite a lot, but it's not enough to eat."

"And those exquisite condiments can only last for a few meals."

"Your Majesty knows that I like this, so I dare to ask Your Majesty to give me some."

After hearing this, Elbek felt relieved.

Sure enough, this Haba is quite sensible.

I just need snowflake salt and seasoning.

If it were anything else, Elbek might not be able to take it out, but he had sufficient stock of the marbling salt and seasonings.

When the Ming Dynasty caravan arrived, the Ming Dynasty Crown Prince specially sent a lot of things over.

Nowadays, snowflake salt is secondary. The barbecue seasoning is really popular in the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

After sprinkling it on the barbecue, it feels like a completely different thing to eat. The taste is so good that you can swallow your tongue.

"Since Minister Haba has spoken, I cannot be stingy."

"Reward: thirty kilograms of snowflake salt and ten kilograms of seasoning."

Elbek said with a smile.

Ten kilograms of seasoning is not a small amount. Only a little bit is enough for barbecue. In the current Northern Yuan Dynasty, these ten kilograms of seasoning would cost at least dozens of kilograms of gold.

It’s not that Elbek didn’t know the prices, it’s just that these things were given by the Ming Crown Prince. They were given for free, so he didn’t feel bad about giving them away.

Besides, the head of the Chamber of Commerce who came to the Northern Yuan Dynasty court said that if he needed things like snowflake salt and seasonings, he could just ask and they would be delivered.

It was specially instructed by the Ming Crown Prince.

At this time, Elbek's favorable impression of the Ming Crown Prince was already very high.

Not only the snowflake salt seasoning, but also the most famous Beijing Gazette of the Ming Dynasty will be delivered as soon as it arrives at the border.

Including some precious teas, porcelain, and even rouge and powder that were famous in the capital for the concubines in Elbek's harem.

Almost every month, a batch of luxury goods from the capital is delivered.

Whatever is available in the capital, it will naturally be available in Elbek as well.

For famous snacks, the Ming Dynasty's Grandson would directly send chefs to prepare them for Elbek on the spot.

That's so thoughtful.

As the saying goes, one should be grateful to those who have eaten one's food and one should be grateful to those who have received one's gifts.

Originally, Elbek was still a little hesitant about what he had said before about the Han ministers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, but now, he simply stopped thinking about it.

In Elbek's heart, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty really treats him as his own uncle, and this must be the intention of His Majesty.

As expected, Your Majesty has not forgotten me.

This further strengthened Elbek's determination to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty. As for those Han ministers, they were of no concern to him.

If he let them stay in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they would support his younger brother. It would be better if they returned to the Ming Dynasty.

After the early morning court of the Northern Yuan Dynasty ended.

Ou Anmin then went back to his own tent.

Everything is good about the grassland, except that there are no cities, which is a bit inconvenient.

Nomadic people lived wherever there was water and grass, and the earliest function of cities was to store supplies and serve as a place for trade.

There was not much trading or stockpiling of supplies in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and even the royal court was a large tent.

In order to take care of the Han subjects, the big tent has the characteristics of the Central Plains.

"Imperial Censor Ou, I heard that His Majesty has been considering building a city recently. I don't know if it will be implemented."

"If we can really build a city, then we won't have to wander around all the time, and we can finally live a stable life."

A familiar Han minister stood beside Ou Anmin and said with a smile.

This matter was only recently mentioned in the court.

The key lies in the corn feed provided by the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, cattle, sheep and horses were kept in captivity and had to chase water and grass all the time in order to be kept alive.

Now that Daming has provided corn feed, the situation is completely different. It is richer than grass and the price is not too high, so it can be raised in a fixed area.

Under such circumstances, it seemed that the Northern Yuan Dynasty court could also stabilize and no longer have to run around.

Correspondingly, someone came up with the idea of ​​building a city.

Elbek Khan also supported this idea.

However, building a city is not a matter of a day or a night. It is easier said than done.

The Northern Yuan Dynasty has just begun to recover, and it still needs to be stabilized.

Ou Anmin snorted coldly when he heard this.

He said: "Don't just focus on the present, you should know why everything in Beiyuan is here."

"The Ming caravans are strangling us. If we have a conflict with the Ming, do you think these caravans will still come?"

"Just like the previous embargo, the entire Northern Yuan Dynasty will be in decline again."

"At that time, it might be even more serious than before. When all the nobles, soldiers, and herdsmen are particularly dependent on us, we can only be led by the nose by the Ming Dynasty."

"Even His Majesty would not dare to argue with the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the people of the Northern Yuan Dynasty would be overthrown and the throne would be unstable."

"You said that by then, Bei Yuan would still be Bei Yuan of Bei Yuan?"

The Han minister who had spoken earlier was speechless for a long time after hearing what Ou Anmin said.

After a long time, he said, "Ou Yushi, what you said can actually be seen and thought by everyone."

"But what can we do?"

"This grassland is not like the Central Plains. There is nothing but the boundless expanse."

"The current situation of the Ming Dynasty has far surpassed that of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Who else in the entire grassland can be compared with the Ming Dynasty?"

"There is no other way to rely on the Ming Dynasty. At least for now, no one can do anything to the Ming Dynasty."

"You saw the Ming Dynasty's grandson, how young he is. He is barely old enough to come of age."

"If there are no other accidents, in the next few decades, we should not have any ideas that we cannot resist."

"Since we can't fight, why not just follow us? Look, our lives are much better now. Not to mention the herdsmen, even the slaves can have a bite of dry rice. What a good thing."

"We are all old, how can we compare with these things? Let's just live like this."

"Being a monk for a day and ringing the bell for a day is not bad, I think."

After listening to this, Ou Anmin suddenly felt sad for some reason.

It seemed as if everything I had insisted on disappeared in an instant.

People tend to seek benefits and avoid harm. When he came to this grassland and served as a minister in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, he refused the Ming Dynasty's recruitment and naturally looked down on Zhu Yuanzhang.

In fact, many people look down on Zhu Yuanzhang.

This is especially true in the circle of scholars, such as Ou Anmin's generation.

Who is Zhu Yuanzhang? He is just a commoner.

Since ancient times, every emperor was a descendant of a noble family. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was a descendant of farmers for generations and had no background at all.

Even if he could temporarily conquer the world, it would be like a monkey in human form.

He is just a rebel who has experienced successive dynasties. He can only sit on the throne of emperor for a few years.

With this idea in mind, Ou Anmin resolutely refused to be recruited by the Ming Dynasty and followed the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

From a strategic point of view, it can be regarded as avoiding the chaos in the Central Plains first, and then gathering strength before re-entering the Central Plains to fight for the throne.

This idea actually had no problem given the situation at the time.

However, what was unexpected was that after Ou Anmin left, the entire Central Plains suddenly became stable.

In front of Zhu Yuanzhang's army, all forces were like paper and had no resistance at all.

The situation changed so quickly that before anyone could react, the Ming dynasty seemed to have suddenly become stable.

This speed is simply unbelievable.

In fact, Ou Anmin also regretted it, but unfortunately, it was too late.

He sighed slightly and said no more.

When I think about the fact that I am already in my early sixties, I am probably half dead.

Fortunately, they still have their descendants in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ou family in Xinzheng is also developing well.

Even if this one fails, it doesn’t matter much.

Ou Anmin was very clear that not only himself, but all the Han officials currently in the Northern Yuan Dynasty had a way out.

In the Northern Yuan Dynasty, many things were transferred to one's own family through Shanxi merchants at the border.

After a few years, when he can no longer work, he will return to his family to enjoy his old age.

Thinking of this, Ou Anmin’s mentality no longer mattered.

As soon as he arrived at the big tent, Ou Anmin saw his servants waiting anxiously.

After seeing me, he ran over immediately.

"Master, you are finally back. The Ming caravan has sent a letter from you."

"I didn't think much of it at first, but I just heard that other masters seemed to have encountered something, so I became a little anxious. You..."

Ou Anmin immediately snatched the letter from the servant and began to read it.