Chapter 200: The Scholar with the Strength to Bind Two Chickens

The Confucian scholars of the Great Ming Imperial Academy made many jokes while learning mathematics.

For example, the axiom that the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180°, but often people calculate it wrong, and then they will say, this is just a theorem, it doesn't mean it is true, sometimes it can be 183°; for example, calculating recruiting soldiers and labor, calculating the number of people, some people calculate it wrong, and then they will say, people can be incomplete, such as deformed households; for example, calculating age, can be calculated as a person's mother's age is 9, giving birth to an 18-year-old son. At this time, Confucian students will say, this is also very normal, such as a second wife.

Finding all kinds of strange reasons to attach themselves to the mathematics they can't learn, which conforms to Zhu Yijun's stereotype of base scholars: I think, therefore I am, my thinking is completely correct, the world is wrong.

In non-Euclidean geometry, the sum of the interior angles of a triangle may indeed not be 180 degrees, but non-Euclidean geometry will take another 00 years in the fertile soil of Western geometry, waiting for the mathematical prince Gauss to study it.

Great Ming's miscellaneous reports are in full swing. At this time, Wang Rulong of Ningwei received the edict of the Great Ming Emperor, allowing one open market, only collecting wool.

This is the result after the court discussion. Wang Chonggu's woolen official factory has been continuously expanding, even borrowing silver from the national treasury and the inner treasury to expand, but his expansion is not disorderly and unconstrained, but expanding little by little, according to production capacity, raw materials, demand, etc.

For Great Ming's wool, Antonio and Li Yashi have both expressed their strong interest, always hoping that Great Ming's wool can be exported. In terms of textiles, Great Ming claims to have no opponents.

But the problem now is that Great Ming's internal consumption is not enough, and export is a false proposition.

Expansion has caused some trouble, such as the shortage of raw material supply. The woolen official factory reserved three months of raw materials, but after the three months of winter passed, it was directly cut off. After autumn, you can't collect wool anymore, because if you dare to shear wool in late autumn, the sheep will die for you to see.

This tribute market was set in November, and Tuman Tian Kehan can sell some wool.

The grassland also uses wool, so don't worry about no goods. However, grassland people use fleas and dirty felt, so Great Ming can collect wool.

Zhou Liangyin was exiled to Ningwei to serve as a military advisor, and this time, Zhou Liangyin will go to Tuman Tian Kehan's golden tent as an envoy. He needs to make contributions to be promoted, so he is really doing things with all his strength.

Zhou Liangyin was a Confucian scholar by background. He didn't know how to do things, but he was willing to learn. He ran to Zhangwu and exchanged experience with Hou Yuzhao, and secretly started farming in Ningwei.

Secretly, not hiding from the imperial court, not hiding from the Emperor, but not making a big splash. Anyway, with Hou Yuzhao in front, the first to be scolded is Hou Yuzhao, then Liaodong Governor Zhang Xueyan, and finally Zhou Liangyin.

When someone is charging in front, Zhou Liangyin is still willing to work quietly in the back to strengthen the momentum.

His quiet work did indeed hide from the court officials, because Hou Yuzhao attracted most of the firepower.

Zhou Liangyin secretly made contributions, but was still discovered by the Emperor. He even specially mentioned Zhou Liangyin in the imperial edict to Wang Rulong, saying that he was still usable, and it was not in vain for the Emperor to forgive him.

"The Emperor only gives silver and not iron pots, cloth, salt, etc.?" Zhou Liangyin was directly stunned.

Surprised by the generosity of the imperial court, silver, Great Ming is not enough to use, but in this tribute market, it directly uses silver to settle trade. Even in the tribute market in the northwest, silver is only an intermediate pricing currency, and most of them use silver to calculate the price of goods.

"Wool is also a winter-warming item on the grassland. This time the imperial court took the winter-warming item and only gave silver. Our Ningwei must be prepared to receive raw and cooked barbarians." The face of the Ningwei military commander Wang Rulong could be described as mixed.

Only giving silver and not giving what is needed for life, if Tuman Tian Kehan agrees, it is simply digging his own grave. On the grassland, wool is also for winter warming.

When one is about to freeze to death, who still cares about fleas and the smell of mutton?

If you really only give silver, Tuman Tian Kehan's subordinates will be fleeing to Ningwei.

Great Ming and the Northern Barbarians have personnel flow. For example, in June of the 4th year of Wanli, Shaanxi Governor Shi Maohua and Shaanxi Governor Dong Shiyan jointly reported that they had pacified 71 tribes of raw and cooked barbarians outside Taozhou, and Gu Lu'erda moved far away because of his crimes, repeatedly returning to submission, offering four heads of barbarian thieves such as Ni Bu Ta. And captured two people, Qie Rong Bu and Ban Bu Ya, and paid a total of 267 horses, cattle, and sheep to plead guilty. The imperial court issued an edict to behead the rebellious chieftains and settle the raw and cooked barbarians outside the border.

After settlement, when they are all assimilated, they are all treated as Han people.

Similarly, Great Ming also has people fleeing to the Northern Barbarians. These people are called: Han rebels.

The reason why Great Ming did not agree to Altan Tian Kehan's request for tribute has something to do with Altan Tian Kehan recruiting Han rebels.

Until the 5th year of Longqing, Altan Tian Kehan handed over the leaders of the Han rebels, Zhao Quan, Li Zixin, Wang Tingfu, Zhang Yanwen, Liu Si, and nine others, plus Zhou Yuan's head, a total of ten people, to the imperial court, and the peace talks were successful.

These few were all leaders of the White Lotus Sect, active in the poor areas of the Shaanxi and Shanxi borders. In the 33rd year of Jiajing, seeing that Altan Tian Kehan could invade the capital area, they chose to flee to Altan Tian Kehan's account. In just over ten years, they established a Han rebel army composed of about 50,000 Han rebels in the Fengzhou Bansheng (Hohhot) area.

These people disguised themselves as monks and beggars, migrated to the borders, and even entered the capital area to investigate and spy on intelligence, causing great trouble to Great Ming.

This is also one of the factors for Great Ming's repeated defeats in the northwest.

Since Altan Tian Kehan handed over Zhao Quan and others, the Han rebels working for Altan Tian Kehan have gradually decreased to a scale of more than 10,000.

This batch of Han rebels is still Altan Tian Kehan's firm supporter to this day.

Wang Rulong has been on the border for a long time. If Tuman Tian Kehan really agrees to silver settlement, refugees will flood into Ningwei. How to do a good job in the settlement of these people and the screening of spies is something that has been done for two hundred years, and naturally there are various ways.

"The imperial court still wants to fight." Zhou Liangyin keenly sensed the situation. The imperial court still wants to continue to use force against Tuman Tian Kehan, and will not stop until Tuman Tian Kehan is completely driven out of Liaodong. If they don't fight, they shouldn't just give silver.

Giving what is needed for life and letting them live in peace is the truth.

"Fighting is definitely going to fight, but our border army is enough to guard the city. If you want to fight, the Beijing camp will come." Wang Rulong let Zhou Liangyin relax. The work of charging and making contributions will not let Zhou Liangyin go. He is a scholar with the strength to bind two chickens. If he goes to the battlefield, he is also sending his head.

Zhou Liangyin has evolved from a scholar with no strength to bind a chicken and useless to the level of being able to copy two chickens with both hands.

"Whose idea is this, so damaging!" Zhou Liangyin thought about it and felt that something was wrong. This kind of idea doesn't look like something that the court officials who talk about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith all day can do!

"Censor Zhou, be careful with your words, be careful with your words." Wang Rulong reminded Zhou Liangyin slightly awkwardly, not to talk nonsense.

Wang Rulong was so cautious, Zhou Liangyin instantly realized that this damaging idea was His Majesty's.

Bai Yin cannot be eaten or drunk, and even less can it keep warm. And now the existence of Ningwei and the cleaning of the clan party in the northwest have cut off all smuggling lines, and there are very few goods that can be exchanged for silver.

"Cough, cough." Zhou Liangyin coughed slightly awkwardly and asked in confusion: "Tuman Tian Kehan is not stupid, can he agree?"

"Look what this is?" Wang Rulong flicked three coins from his money bag, exquisitely made silver coins, rolled a circle on the ground, and lay steadily on the table, shining with silver light.

Not silver, but silver coins.

This is the currency used by Great Ming this time, and its production is very exquisite, which is a rare good thing.

"The imperial court is casting money and making currency, but the current production and scale are very limited. Things are expensive because they are rare, so Tuman Tian Kehan has to agree." Wang Rulong looked at the silver coins, his expression complex. He suspected that even without a strong army, the Emperor could play Tuman Tian Kehan to death alive.

Wang Rulong's judgment is correct, he only knows one thing, not the other.

The biggest anti-counterfeiting of silver coins is blowing, but in fact, adding lead and tin inside, even if it is an inch in diameter, can still blow. When the little Emperor demonstrated fake silver coins in the Wenhua Hall, he almost scared Zhang Juzheng to death.

Great Ming's imperial silver coins have already added 11% copper, because silver is very soft, and adding copper ensures its hardness. But the little Emperor took out fake silver coins that were difficult to distinguish between true and false!

Zhang Juzheng firmly opposed it. The silver content of silver coins involves His Majesty's credibility, and it must not be sloppy.

Finally, it could not be done.

Zhou Liangyin set off with twenty silver coins. He was going to persuade Tuman Tian Kehan to exchange wool for silver coins. This business was definitely not a loss.

When he passed Taotu Mountain, looking at the captives of the Northern Barbarian official factory who were working hard before the winter came, he inexplicably had a misconception that people could be tamed.

There were more than 7,000 Northern Barbarian captives in Taotu Mountain, and only seventy people were watching these captives. If someone made trouble in the middle and played the strategic tactic of opening flowers in the center for Ningwei, Ningwei really couldn't hold it.

But it was these seventy people who watched these 7,000 people steadily. It was just a low fence wall that watched these captives steadily, and there had been no chaos.

The rules set by Marquis Qi for the prisoner-of-war camp were: as long as one person is reported for rebellion, one can obtain freedom, and reporting three people for escaping can also obtain freedom.

Just these two simple regulations directly made the captives in the Taotu Mountain prisoner-of-war camp feel insecure, and they were all indicators in each other's

Just these two simple rules made everyone in the Taotu Mountain prisoner camp feel endangered, seeing each other as targets.

It was also difficult for seventy people to manage these seven thousand, so they directly let the "Latrine General," the ten-thousand-household commander under the Tu Manhan, Nao Mao Da, manage these prisoners of war.

The reason Zhou Liangyin felt that people could be domesticated also had to do with this aspect. Where could these prisoners of war run to? If they ran back to find Tu Manhan, Tu Manhan would worry they were traitors or spies; if they ran toward the Great Ming, the Great Ming would treat them as escaped prisoners, and being caught meant death. Jianzhou was a good place to go, but one had to cross the Great Wall.

Being alive and having something to look forward to was already not bad.

At least the Great Ming promised that after five years of work, they could be released, or continue to dig for white clay in Taotu Mountain to make a living, earning six or seven taels of silver a year; if they were lucky, they could even find a wife.

Whether it could be fulfilled depended on the Great Ming army's war pressure; if the pressure was relatively high, these people would all be sent to the front line as cannon fodder.

Zhou Liangyin looked at the houses where the prisoners lived and was also moved; this group of people would absolutely not run away. At least they wouldn't freeze to death working in Taotu Mountain, and at least they didn't have to face the "white-hair wind" that made it impossible to distinguish up, down, left, or right, and could completely cover a tent.

In the process of heading to the Tu Manhan's golden-topped tent in Quanning Guard, Zhou Liangyin couldn't help but think about what war was. Once he fell into this line of thought, Zhou Liangyin began to associate things groundlessly. War seemed to be emperors and khans sending commoners thousands of miles to the battlefield to kill another commoner in order to realize their own ambitions.

A farmer's son killing a herdsman's son, or a herdsman's son killing a farmer's son.

Once this thought came out, Zhou Liangyin was directly terrified, sweating all over. This thought of his was a crime of lèse-majesté, but he was immersed in this line of thought, and the more he thought, the more confused he became.

After leaving Qinglong Fort, Zhou Liangyin immediately felt the enthusiasm of the frontier.

Even though they were flying the banner of discussing matters and sending envoys, there were still many tribes that had not received the news and came up to plunder, thinking Zhou Liangyin's motorcade was a fat sheep, but they were all repelled by the accompanying Danning Guard army.

This was the first time Zhou Liangyin had experienced such a thing, and he was completely terrified. The arrows circling overhead and the thumping sound of them nailing into the carriage became his nightmare. He had never experienced these things before, and when he dreamed, he often dreamed of that sound, and then being pierced by ten thousand arrows.

After experiencing more than a dozen confrontations, large and small, Zhou Liangyin finally arrived at Quanning Guard and saw the golden-topped tent and the sprawling camps.

Zhou Liangyin opened the carriage window and saw children one by one. It was already late autumn, and these children had no shoes, were wearing ill-fitting thin robes, and were disheveled around the camp. The children were piling up cow dung to get through the winter; a foul smell was permeating, a smell mixed with a rich bloody stench and the smell of mutton.

To get through the winter, some sheep were killed, their skins were peeled off and smoked, and the leather was tanned—which meant soaking the skin in fermented "golden soup" added with salt. Once the skin was thoroughly tanned, it was dried in the sun and tanned with a crescent-shaped blunt wooden knife. These furs could only be worn by adults; children had no such qualifications at all.

Especially shoes; women and children basically didn't wear shoes. This kind of shoe was called a "Baoligari." Zhou Liangyin had bought a pair; they were made of sheepskin and were very warm.

After meeting Tu Manhan, Zhou Liangyin was gifted a lambskin hat, made of short-haired lambskin, and Tu Manhan also took out a golden-topped black leather hat, made of bear skin, as a gift for the Great Ming Emperor.

"Whenever the cold wind strikes, it makes one think of warm long-haired sheepskin robes; whenever friends from afar come, one can hear the joyful singing of spirit birds. Thank you for the arrival of the angel." Tumen received Zhou Liangyin with very sincere greetings.

"This is..." Zhou Liangyin saw a woman. Looking at these clothes, he couldn't help but suspect that this woman was the legendary San Niangzi.

Tumen said full of smiles, "Lady Zhongshun, Princess of the Shunyi Prince, isn't this a coincidence? San Niangzi has come from afar, also to discuss the wool business with us."

"San Niangzi came with enough sincerity, but Andahan was too greedy."

After Zhou Liangyin chatted a few words with the deputy envoy and another military advisor, he asked directly, "What price did Lady Zhongshun give Tu Manhan? The price given by the Great Ming is six mace of silver per bag of wool. How much did Lady Zhongshun give?"

Actually, Zhou Liangyin's bottom line was eight mace of silver, not six. He just reported a price to test their reaction.

Even while in the capital, General Qi could already make judgments about the situation on the grasslands. Sure enough, the left and right wings of the Tatars were not completely cut off from each other, but had always been communicating.

"Damn Great Ming people and Andahan, your purchase price was clearly one tael and two mace of silver per bag of wool, how come when it gets to us, you only give six mace! It's half as much, what is the reason for this!" The Khalkha ten-thousand-household commander Subahai, who had broken his arm, said with extreme anger.

Zhou Liangyin's expression remained normal, but he also understood San Niangzi's quoted price, which was also six mace of silver.

"San Niangzi does this business extremely well; this resale is a hundred percent profit." Zhou Liangyin immediately began to fan the flames. This was his main purpose; whether to buy wool or not was secondary. Andahan had no ability to turn wool into cloth; he would only lose money holding onto wool.

San Niangzi held her forehead. This Subahai should just rest quietly after breaking his arm; why was he causing trouble!

"Didn't the Great Ming also give that price? Danning Guard also does this business quite well." San Niangzi's words deliberately separated Danning Guard from the Great Ming, as if this business was being done by Danning Guard, not the Great Ming.

There was a difference, and a big one at that.

Zhou Liangyin shook his head and said, "That is incorrect. This is the imperial court's business; whether it succeeds or not is the court's affair. If Danning Guard were doing business with Tu Manhan, tomorrow all the officials of Danning Guard would be taken to the Tonghui River and beheaded to show the public for secretly colluding with the barbarians—seven hundred people were just beheaded for that."

Those guys who were hung at the Tonghui River for secretly colluding with the barbarians were all reselling firearms, gunpowder, and armor, not just selling iron pots, salt, cloth, and tea. Selling those was fine; after Andahan's tribute and trade, selling those in the northwest was also legal.

Selling firearms, gunpowder, and armor was the behavior of a Han traitor.

Zhou Liangyin wouldn't fall for San Niangzi's trick. Some things absolutely had to be made clear; Tu Manhan shouldn't think about heavy bribes to smooth things over, it was absolutely not going to happen.

"Whoever offers more, I will sell to," Tumen said happily. San Niangzi couldn't make a hundred percent profit, and there were still travel expenses.

Zhou Liangyin looked at Tumen and said calmly, "We only have this price, six mace. Take it or leave it."

San Niangzi felt a familiar feeling. Looking at Zhou Liangyin's tone, actions, and style of doing things, she trance-like saw someone: Wang Chonggu.

That's right, it was Wang Chonggu.

When San Niangzi negotiated with Wang Chonggu and Wan Shihe twice, she had this feeling. Great Ming people were always so arrogant, as if buying your things was a favor.

"Tu Manhan, you must think clearly. If you sell to San Niangzi, she will turn around and sell you other things, adding a little money, and this silver will eventually fall back into her pocket. The Great Ming side gives silver." Zhou Liangyin took out a silver coin and kept playing with it in his hand.

Zhou Liangyin held a boomerang and hit San Niangzi with it.

These words were said by San Niangzi when she had an audience with the Emperor. San Niangzi didn't ask for the price of wool to rise, because she knew that however much wool rose, Great Ming goods would rise by the same amount. Now Zhou Liangyin was returning those words to San Niangzi.

"You!" San Niangzi stood up abruptly, pointed at Zhou Liangyin, and stomped her feet in anger!

How good the Great Ming used to be, full of lowly Confucian scholars who were ashamed to speak of profit, acting sanctimonious all day long. They wouldn't even talk about business; it was just that if the sentiment was there, they would bestow the business upon you, not caring whether it made money or not.

Now there were fewer lowly Confucian scholars in the Great Ming, and they were all pragmatic officials, each one sharp-tongued, each one silver-tongued, and each one accumulating wealth and seeking profit.

"Am I not telling the truth?" Zhou Liangyin looked at San Niangzi and said quite surprisingly, "Did I hit the nail on the head, and now you're angry from embarrassment?"

"What kind of skill is it to argue with a woman!" San Niangzi sat down again and looked at Zhou Liangyin angrily.

Zhou Liangyin said happily, "San Niangzi's speech is becoming more and more like the literati in the imperial court, speaking in a convoluted and unreasonable way."

"First of all, you are representing Andahan, and I am representing the Great Ming. Secondly, I am a scholar and cannot beat a woman who is skilled in archery and horsemanship like you. Let's talk business; spare me this act."

Whether doing business or negotiating peace, if one were like Wu Dui, thinking that the other party was a woman and thus underestimating them, one would suffer a great loss.

San Niangzi forced Andahan to hand over his life-saving benefactor Zhao Quan, which facilitated the peace talks; that was not a simple matter.

Zhao Quan betrayed the Great Ming and entered the grasslands, and had saved Andahan's life once. Andahan and Zhao Quan were "Anda," which meant sworn brothers. In the end, Zhao Quan was still sent to the capital to be beheaded to show the public.

Andahan gave his brother from a different father and mother a knife and sent Zhao Quan directly to the guillotine.

"The Great Ming will not raise the price by another cent, but the Great Ming can pay in silver. This is the Great Ming's condition." Zhou Liangyin tossed the silver coin to Tumen, stood up, and left. When he walked to the door of the large tent, Zhou Liangyin said with a smile, "Tu Manhan, think it over and send someone to find me. We will discuss the time, place, and regulations for the tribute and trade."

"If you are unwilling, then forget it."

Zhou Liangyin left the golden-topped tent. He held a coin, tossing it back and forth, looking outside the tent where he was staying, waiting for Tu Manhan's choice. He actually didn't care whether the wool business could be negotiated; the imperial court's main task for the subcontract was to sow discord.

Using a silver coin to completely break the trend of the left and right wings merging was the best deal ever.

Of course, Wang Chonggu also specially wrote a letter, asking Zhou Liangyin to be sure to negotiate it. After all, having one more source of wool was conducive to supply and demand adjustment and also conducive to the expansion of the Great Ming wool official factories.

Zhou Liangyin tossed the silver coin high into the air again, then caught it with his hand, opened it to look, and revealed a smile—it was heads.

A Khitan warrior walked into the tent and said muffledly, "The Tian Kehan invites you!"

Zhou Liangyin walked into the golden-topped tent with a dragon-like stride. San Niangzi had already left, and only Tu Manhan's people remained in the tent. It seemed the negotiation had not been pleasant.

Zhou Liangyin said with a sunny face, "Tu Manhan has made a wise choice."

"Compared to the fickle Andahan, I trust the imperial court's credibility more," Tu Manhan said after a moment of silence.

Andahan's reputation on the grasslands was very poor, especially in business; he would raise the price after just one hand. The problem Zhou Liangyin talked about was not whether it was possible, but how much to add. Perhaps doing business with Andahan would even lead to losses.

"Actually, I would prefer to trade with iron pots, salt, tea, and cloth." Tu Manhan wanted goods more. As for silver, as a Tian Kehan, he still knew that silver could neither be eaten nor worn. For the impoverished Tu Man tribes, the most urgent thing was pots.

Yes, there were no pots on the grasslands.

It took one hundred and twenty catties of wool to exchange for a three-to-four-catty iron pot. Even so, Tu Manhan still wanted to exchange for iron pots.

Zhou Liangyin frowned. As soon as Tu Manhan said this, the expressions of the ten-thousand-household commanders in the tent changed immediately. It was obvious that this was Tu Manhan's decision, not the commanders' thoughts.

"This is not what we agreed upon," Zhou Liangyin shook his head and said, "San Niangzi hasn't gone far yet; you can chase her back. We only have silver."

Tu Manhan shook his head and said, "But if this silver is distributed to the tribal leaders, they will only hide the silver instead of exchanging it for goods."

"The problems faced by the Great Ming and the grasslands seem to have some similarities," Zhou Liangyin looked at the several commanders in the tent and said with great emotion. Sure enough, just as he had guessed, Tu Manhan still wanted goods, but the commanders didn't think so; they were more interested in the shiny silver coins.

"Those who eat meat are despicable and cannot plan far ahead."

Sure enough, it's the same everywhere.

"Then silver it is. The Great Ming's official roads and post roads haven't been repaired well. It's fine to transport silver over, but transporting goods over, that road isn't easy to walk, is it?" Subahai heard Zhou Liangyin's insistence and immediately spoke up.

"That's right, with silver in hand, isn't it up to us what we buy? Tian Kehan, let's just take the silver."

"The Great Ming also has its own difficulties. Danning Guard isn't enough to use. If we sell it, how would the soldiers of Danning Guard feel? The Emperor of the Great Ming can't do that either."

"Let's take silver this year, and when we have the tribute and trade next year, we can exchange for some goods. It's all just useless wool anyway."

The commanders persuaded Tumen in a jumble of voices. Tumen waved his hand slightly dejectedly and said, "Angel, let's set the time and place. When the time comes, the money and goods will be settled."

Tu Manhan finally chose to compromise.

Zhou Liangyin stayed in Quanning Guard for three days and met with several commanders, indicating openly and secretly that if the commanders wanted to bypass Tu Manhan and do business with the Great Ming, they could just send envoys to Qinglong Fort.

Regarding sowing discord and inciting trouble, Zhou Liangyin had no burden on his conscience; he was here to do this job. If he could divide them, he would divide them!

When Zhou Liangyin returned to Danning Guard, the Danning Guard Regional Commander Wang Rulong listened to the details of Zhou Liangyin's mission, looked him up and down, and couldn't help but say, "You really should have your hearts and intestines dug out to see if they are black!"

"Consultant Zhou, have you been secretly reading *The Contradiction*?"

Zhou Liangyin replied unhappily, "I've already been exiled to the border; if I don't read *The Contradiction*, am I waiting for His Majesty to take my head off and read *The Contradiction* in the underworld?"

How did this scholar Wang Rulong's evaluation sound like he was scolding someone?

Begging for monthly votes, awoo!!

End of this chapter