Chapter 29 Asking for Reward
His mother took the initiative to propose to edit a book and copy palace poems in the palace. This decision was indeed a bit beyond Zhu Yuhuan's expectations, but when Zhu Yuhuan thought about it carefully, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it, and swallowed back what he was going to say to his mother.
After all, the charity hall is outside the palace, and Hu Shanxiang does not need to handle every detail. She can find one thing to do, which shows that Hu Shanxiang is no longer confused. Zhu Yuhuan can only be happy for his mother.
Just after the New Year, the weather was getting warmer, and news came from the border that the leaders of the three Uriankhai guards were willing to send people to the court to apologize. It was obvious that they felt sympathetic after seeing Liu Yongcheng defeat Aluta and capture people and livestock.
Zhu Zhanji's main approach to dealing with the Mongols was to appease them. Liu Yongcheng's victory served as a deterrent, so it was naturally Zhu Zhanji's turn to appease the Uriankhai through tribute and trade.
The so-called mutual trade was divided into official and private markets. Official markets only took place once a year, while private markets were more sporadic, sometimes occurring as often as once a month. The imperial court naturally placed greater emphasis on official markets in order to secure horses. In comparison, private markets were largely undeveloped, as the state had clear restrictions on the commodities traded.
Commodities such as iron pots, which can be melted to cast weapons, are strictly prohibited from being sold privately by the public. Official sales also require Mongolians to exchange their old pots to prevent them from using them to cast weapons.
Zhu Yuhuan was naturally eager to participate in the trade, the only trouble was that she could not squeeze into the official market. As for the civilian market, there was not much profit in it. It was only the people in the border areas who participated in it to make a living, and what they exchanged were mostly furs, so Zhu Yuhuan would not interfere.
Zhu Yuhuan was a little worried at first, but soon someone solved the problem for her.
This person is naturally her father, the emperor Zhu Zhanji.
When Aluta paid tribute previously, he had sold inferior goods as good ones. Although Zhu Zhanji reprimanded Aluta, he still returned the goods in multiples afterwards.
However, now with the low-priced cotton cloth produced by Zhu Yuhuan's cloth shop, Zhu Zhanji, who was unwilling to give benefits to these Mongols, has a suitable alternative.
The exchange units for mutual trade were all treasure notes, but these things were not even used by their own people, and they were even more like waste paper to the Tartars far in the north, so in most cases they would be converted into silk cloth.
When the Tatar delegation came to Beijing, the local government was responsible for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the personnel, and they often disturbed the public. The expenses were already quite high, and Zhu Zhanji was not happy to give this group of people large rewards.
Now there are cheaper products that can replace the original cloth, so why not?
Zhu Zhanji's words were undeniable, and Zhu Yuhuan couldn't resist. The factory in the south had also been built. Unlike the north, which was very susceptible to climate change, silk reeling and weaving could be carried out year-round. There was still a lot of inventory left over from the sale, but the current production direction was beginning to develop into textile patterns and dark patterns. However, this inventory alone was sufficient to cope with the trade.
However, since Zhu Zhanji wanted to use Zhu Yuhuan's inventory, he naturally had to consider compensating Zhu Yuhuan. After all, the costs of raw materials, manpower, etc. were all borne by his daughter Zhu Yuhuan. The people under Zhu Yuhuan had to eat, and a dignified emperor naturally could not eat for free.
Taking this into consideration, Zhu Zhanji specially called his daughter to have lunch. After the father and daughter had lunch together, Zhu Zhanji brought up this matter.
Zhu Yuhuan immediately seized the opportunity and said, "If Daddy wants to reward his daughter, then please give Huanhuan a chance to go north."
Zhu Zhanji was slightly stunned when he heard this, and asked with some confusion: "Northward? Where are you going?"
Zhu Yuhuan said solemnly: "Huanhuan wants to go and see for himself what the mutual market is all about."
Zhu Zhanji then recalled that a few years ago, Zhu Yuhuan had asked him to personally see the situation of the mutual trade. He suddenly realized it, and was a little amused and asked, "Why are you still thinking about this?"
In addition to trade, the greater purpose of this market is to take this opportunity to use conciliatory tactics on the various Tatar tribes to avoid foreign invasion. Whether or not to make money is not the point, the point is to appease these Mongolian talents.
Zhu Yuhuan naturally understood this and said, "Mutual trade may sound like a small matter, but it holds other opportunities. Not only are civilian markets frequent, but the people who come and go are the Tatars. If we can obtain intelligence on the Tatars and Oirat through trade, it will also be beneficial to us."
Zhu Zhanji was reluctant to fight because fighting a war not only tests the quality of generals, but also the level of logistics, intelligence, and strategy. If any one of these fails to keep up, it may bring disaster to a team.
But apart from this, even in peacetime, the transmission of intelligence cannot be relaxed. If conciliatory tactics are used as a long-term policy, then everyone from top to bottom will gradually become paralyzed, and the final consequences will be no less severe than defeat in war.
The saying "Born in adversity, die in comfort" is exactly like this.
Zhu Zhanji frowned and said disapprovingly, "That was the case back then, and my father won't change his mind now. The purpose of the trade with the Tatars is to appease them. It's just a small matter. Why should the royal family care about it?"
What's more, Zhu Yuhuan was with him at the beginning. Now he went to the north just to watch the trade with the small tribes. How could that be?
Zhu Yuhuan just said obediently: "Didn't Daddy promise to reward his daughter? Now Huanhuan only has this one request, please grant it."
Seeing her determination, Zhu Zhanji had no choice but to emphasize, "There's no reason for a princess of the Ming Dynasty to travel freely. Not to mention that trade takes place at the border, which is extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, not only will it be a disgrace to our national prestige, but what will you do about it?"
When Zhu Yuhuan heard him raise the issue of safety, he had already drafted a plan. "Father has already assigned a hundred Jinyiwei to me as guards. If you're still worried about Huanhuan's safety, you can go and meet up with General Liu and ask him to dispatch troops to accompany you. If you want to visit the civilian market, I can also disguise myself as an ordinary citizen and join in. I'm sure the Tartars won't notice me."
Zhu Zhanji was still reluctant in his heart, but seeing Zhu Yuhuan's insistence, he had to slow down his tone and said, "Have you discussed this matter with your mother?"
Zhu Yuhuan shook his head, but his tone was very firm, "Mother has always supported Huanhuan's choices."
Zhu Zhanji could sense the trust she showed in Hu Shanxiang's tone, and he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. He finally said, "This matter concerns your safety after all. Let me consider it again."
Zhu Yuhuan also knew that he couldn't be too aggressive, otherwise, given Zhu Zhanji's personality, he would most likely directly oppose it. So he nodded and said, "Dad has always been far-sighted and wise. He must understand the priorities better than Huanhuan. Everything is up to Dad."
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