[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-813":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1206102,1561,"Chapter 813: Development","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-813",813,"\u003Cp>From the fifth month to the eighth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen was a period of great development for the Anbei Protectorate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wasteland reclaimed by military farms had already reached over 1.4 million mu, and at the same time many water conservancy projects were built, especially since there were originally farmlands and irrigation ditches reclaimed beyond the frontier. According to such estimates, by the spring and summer of next year, the reclaimed wasteland and repaired farmland could reach over 2 million mu, and this does not even count civilian farms and merchant farms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adding Xuanfu Garrison, Mantaoer, and other places, by next year the farmland under Wang Dou's name would also reach over 4 million mu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The population migrating into Anbei from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and other places had already surpassed five hundred thousand. These places originally had many people and little land, and in recent years suffered drought just the same. Perhaps the surface of Monan seemed far more arid than Shanxi and other places, yet here the groundwater was abundant — digging a well less than one zhang deep would yield water, far better than in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and other places where wells often had to be several dozen zhang deep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Wang Dou's domain was famously stable, and many people with family assets were willing to migrate over. Even great households were willing to send their sons and younger kin to come reside here. They bought fields and land, established merchant farms, and brought Wang Dou a large income. No wonder later governments were so keen on real estate — it turned out the income from selling land was truly considerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou estimated that by next year, the number of migrants could exceed one million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Anbei Bank also developed very quickly. They gathered up large amounts of idle capital, continuously turning the hoarded silver ingots buried in landlords' cellars into the bank's silver dollars, and opened a large number of branches in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and other places.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou's goal was to establish a branch in every great fort of Anbei and every county of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Ningxia. The bank would certainly hold a monopoly, and private money houses would not be allowed to exist in the future, though they could exist in the form of joint shares or as branches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, depositing money in a money house not only earned no interest but also required custodial fees. Wang Dou was brewing the introduction of an interest system to attract more people to deposit money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was also brewing the implementation of a passbook system for officials and clerks, with each person's monthly salary directly deposited into their personal account. In this way, bypassing the upper departments could reduce the malpractice of deductions. At the same time, the money on the books could also be used for investment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using a point to drive an area, after officials and clerks grew accustomed to passbooks, the common people would also follow suit in depositing money. Handling passbooks would greatly reduce the tragic fate of gold, silver, and copper coins being buried underground and accelerate the circulation of money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With large amounts of capital, the bank could encourage private investment and provide loans at appropriate interest rates. While prospering industry and commerce, it could also deliver effective blows to the predatory usury industries in various places, reducing the tragedies brought by blood-sucking loans with compounding interest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fifth month, Wang Dou simultaneously began constructing three post roads: one connecting the three garrisons of Monan, one road from Guihua City to the garrison city of Xuanfu, and one road from Guihua City to the garrison city of Datong. With the support of the bank, building the roads was not strenuous — this was the power of modern finance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After these three roads were built, the road from Guihua City to Ningwu Pass in Shanxi Garrison and the road to the garrison city of Ningxia would likewise be constructed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the sixth month, a Normal University was established in Guihua City, with Wang Dou personally serving as its president. At the same time, a Medical and Health University was also established, with Wang Dou likewise serving as its president and Wu Youxing serving as vice president, specifically in charge of the plague department and responsible for teaching epidemiology, which caused a great sensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Central Garrison of Monan, especially near Guihua City, many horse farms had already been established. Under the meticulous care of Emubu and others, Wang Dou estimated that by next year the goal of every man in the Jingbian Army possessing a horse, most of them warhorses, could be smoothly realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emubu was full of drive. After being rescued, not only was he enfeoffed as the Shunyi Prince of the Great Ming, but Wang Dou also allocated him five thousand people from the captives, a batch of goods and wealth, and he could also possess a guard force not exceeding a thousand men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, under the Jingbian Army's rule, if one harbored disloyalty, not to mention a thousand men, even five thousand would be useless. Moreover, this place was so peaceful and happy — what need was there for so many guards? To demonstrate his loyalty, he only maintained a single troop of fifty guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had essentially become the full-time horse-raising official of the Protectorate. In order to gain Wang Dou's regard and appreciation, he could be said to have exerted himself to the utmost, pouring all his thought into horse-raising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those five thousand people allocated to him likewise felt fortunate in their hearts. According to the Protectorate's regulations, originally these captives held the status of convicts and had to accumulate a certain amount of merit value or atonement silver before they could exchange for freedom for themselves and their families. Yet now they directly held foreign registration, existing as free citizens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching those clansmen of their original tribe still toiling to accumulate merit, a sense of superiority welled up within them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emubu also had quite an economic mind. While wholeheartedly caring for the horses, he also saw business opportunities and further requested Wang Dou to inscribe a name for him, receiving the four characters \"Qingcheng Dairy.\" He soon opened a dairy factory, followed by a leather factory and a felt rug factory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leather, dairy, and felt rug products from the grasslands were already very popular. Now that the population of Guihua City was growing, their products were even more in short supply, and money rolled in continuously. Now, aside from raising horses and making money, Emubu had no other thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For ordinary captive herdsmen, life on the grasslands had not been easy originally. Not to mention the various black disasters and white disasters of the grasslands, the tribes were originally under a serfdom system, where various nobles and headmen subjected them to cruel oppression and exploitation, each living in hardship. Only the path of raiding the Central Plains could provide a little supplement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now they were assigned to work in various horse farms, livestock farms, and felt rug factories. Their status was simple, and there were no former headmen or nobles to oppress them. They only needed to honestly accumulate merit to eat their fill, far better than their original lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they had spare time, they could also engage in some wool spinning as a side business, selling a little to supplement the household. If they wanted to establish merit and quickly obtain foreign registration, they could also join the New Auxiliary Army. Life had far more prospects than in the past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, they now had their own spiritual sustenance. That was in late fifth month, when Guihua City welcomed the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, who had been rescued by the Jingbian Army. At that time, the grasslands were stirred, and countless Mongols from Monan and Mobei went to the Dazhao Temple to pay homage, an unprecedented grand occasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou treated Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso with considerable courtesy. To show his respect, after solemnly receiving Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, he specially decreed that, aside from the Han people, in the future, regardless of ethnicity under his rule — whether Mongol, Hui, Uighur, or Tibetan — every household must have one male ordained as a lama.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such gracious treatment moved Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso to tears of gratitude. In Tibet, he had suffered persecution from various sects, hiding and fleeing everywhere. The Grand Protector Wang Dou had not only saved his life but also treated him with such courtesy — how could he not repay this kindness?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the persuasion of his personally written letters, many tribes of the Hetao Mongols, Qinghai Mongols, Ningxia Mongols, and even places like Turpan expressed their willingness to surrender, or sent envoys to offer tribute and declare themselves subjects. Even the Mongol tribes within the Qing state grew restless in their hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also because of this relationship, the ties between the various tribes of Mobei and Guihua City grew even closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After last year's battle, the Khalkha tribes of Mobei no longer had any intention of being enemies with Wang Dou. The various tribal headmen who had been captured, after paying their ransoms, all returned to their tribes and strongly advocated friendly relations with the Protectorate, especially the Assistant Taiji of the Tüsheet Khanate, whose attitude was even more resolute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The brutal battle had long since terrified the khans of the Khalkha tribes out of their wits. When they further heard that the Marquis Yongning of the Ming was willing to let bygones be bygones and also willing to trade and conduct commerce with the various tribes, each man's great alarm turned to great joy. Bilateral trade! What did mere submission and tribute count for?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without prior agreement, the Tüsheet Khanate, the Setsen Khanate, and the Jasaghtu Khanate all sent envoys to Guihua City, expressing their willingness to abandon darkness for light, forsake the Qing state, and turn to pledge loyalty to the Great Ming, and further hoped that both sides could quickly begin trade and intercourse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they wished, Wang Dou conferred official posts upon the khans of the three tribes, simultaneously bestowing official robes and insignia. He also ordered officials of the Guihua Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to follow them back to their grazing lands to handle permit and license matters. Regarding attire and such, all Manchu-style queues and clothing had to be completely changed back to the original Mongol attire, with right-lapelled robes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, Wang Dou also opened many frontier trade markets in the three garrisons of Monan. Unlike the old tribute-bestowal type of frontier markets, these were free trade in goods, with all kinds of commercial goods available, even iron pots and ironware that had been absolutely forbidden in the old days were sold, much to the delighted surprise of the Mobei tribes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou did not mind some ironware flowing into the grasslands. To him, his domain had already entered the modern industrial age — why would he fear the barbarians having a few more paltry knives, arrows, and iron implements?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Opening more frontier trade markets and forming fixed trade relations could also attract various tribes to settle down. And once nomadic peoples settled, they no longer posed any threat, and could further become a source of raw materials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus both sides grew closely intertwined, with various trades constantly deepening. After the former Assistant Taiji of the Tüsheet Khanate traveled back and forth to Guihua City many times as an envoy, he quickly became familiar with Emubu. Seeing Emubu open a dairy factory, a leather factory, and a felt rug factory, his purse bulging, he could not help but feel very envious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emubu also intended to open up trade routes for goods from Mobei. He immediately hit it off with this former Assistant Taiji of the Tüsheet Khanate and let him buy shares in one of his felt rug factories. The two cooperated fully, and the factory quickly prospered greatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing such good fortune, how could the headmen and nobles of the Mobei tribes sit still? They came one after another to Guihua City seeking opportunities. For a time, the Mongols of Monan and Mobei were enveloped in an atmosphere of doing business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, the khans of the various Mobei tribes still harbored wariness and fear in their hearts, worrying whether this Grand Protector of the Ming would harbor intentions of annexing them after they submitted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet a long, long time passed, and Wang Dou paid them no attention whatsoever. Were it not for the Protectorate's official robes and insignia beside them, and those few Guihua Department officials stationed in their lands handling permits, they would have thought they had never made contact with the Protectorate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They could not help but mock themselves a little — they had thought too highly of themselves. Indeed, throughout history, the Han had rarely been interested in Mobei. What use did they have for such barren land? Even occupying Monan was more out of military considerations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such a mindset, and also because of the matter of Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, many devoutly Buddhist headmen and nobles came to Guihua City so often that they were unwilling to return to their own lands. In the end, they bought houses and land in Guihua City one after another and settled there long-term.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the khans of the three tribes were like this. Especially Gombodorji, the Khan of the Tüsheet, came more and more frequently, probably spending the greater part of the year living in Guihua City. Compared to his original godforsaken place, this bustling land could be called paradise. The more he lived there, the less he wanted to return to that crude and rough place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fame of Guihua City grew ever louder. Now not only Monan and Mobei, but even Ningxia, Qinghai, the Western Regions, and other places knew its far-reaching renown. Every day, people of various ethnicities came continuously to trade, visit, and pay homage to Buddha. The city bustled with a hubbub of various accents, and the title \"Heavenly City\" had already spread far and wide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Various merchant caravans of the Protectorate also penetrated deep into the Mobei tribes. They often included some physicians among them, and so were warmly welcomed. In particular, Lai Mancheng's caravan, under the protection of an escort agency, made contact with the Buryats by Lake Baikal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ironware their caravan sold was extremely popular, and the profits were astonishing. A single rusty iron nail could be traded for a fine piece of fur, and the furs obtained for one jin of iron were counted by the pile. After one trading trip, everyone in the caravan, from top to bottom, made a great fortune, and Lai Mancheng was even more overjoyed at this venture.\u003C\u002Fp>",2465,"2026-06-03T14:06:27.906Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","777a8650c835e9ee94c7a7541d2231ac88be99e482c475b85acb50d09ca69734","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-814","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-812",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]