First Prince of Ming Dynasty

The so-called not being stupid or deaf, not being a family member, if you look into everything carefully, and you can't even tolerate the scene of the people below, then the scene will be too embarrassing.

Zhu Biao did not look at the Commander of the Tea Horse Division again, nor did he ask the tea farmers any more, but put down his teacup and said: "The trade between the Tea Horse Division and the northern Mongolia has been suspended for more than half a year, and it is time to reopen it. order to order the Tea Horse Division to immediately start preparations to transport the tea in stock to Shuntian Prefecture by river transport."

"The minister waits to listen to the holy order!"

After the Commander of the Tea Horse Division led a group of officials to kneel down and obey orders, he squinted his old eyes and looked at Sicheng Su Zhi, who was still kneeling on the ground without moving. Otherwise, when someone takes it down, there will be nothing left.

It's not that he can't understand the meaning of the prince's question just now, it's just that he has been in charge of the tea and horse department for too long, and he is too involved with the local area, so he can't do whatever he wants, not to mention he is at this age, even if he has a heart, I am afraid His Royal Highness will not look down on him , It's still safe and sound.

Su Zhi turned his head to look at the back of the Shangguan who had been suppressing him for three or four years, and smiled silently. Youth is his greatest asset. At the age of the crown prince, no matter whether he employs people or trains his confidantes, he will not aim at the old guy.

After everyone had gone out, Su Zhi said, "Your Highness, I don't know if the reopening of trade this time is to exchange tea for something. Is it still in accordance with the old rules?"

Zhu Biao said with a smile: "Tea Horse Division Tea Horse Division naturally wants to exchange tea for horses. Do you think there is anything else in Mongolia worthy of my Ming's covetousness?"

Su Zhi's Adam's apple rolled and said: "In the past few years, the imperial court has exchanged tea for a lot of horses, and the herdsmen are in charge of herding, and I heard that the horses in the Hetao Ranch are breeding quite smoothly. It's not urgent."

"Furthermore, when I talked with my colleagues from the Tea and Horse Division, I predicted that the Mongolian blockade would be lifted next year and the tea-horse trade would resume, so I thought that it should be the Holy Majesty or His Highness who has other requirements..."

Zhu Biao nodded when he heard the words. This person is bold, careful and assertive. Although it is difficult to see more in such a short period of time, it is enough to have these qualities. It is worth giving him a chance. As for whether this person can do it or not It doesn't matter, after all, it's just an official of the Tea Horse Department.

The chief officer of the Tea Horse Department is just a fifth-rank official position, and he is not even qualified to go to the court on weekdays. Moreover, many key parts of the trade with Mongolia are still dominated by the court, and there must be officials from the Ministry of Households accompanying him. .

The Tea Horse Department is only responsible for collection and transportation, but Zhu Biao intends to put the Tea Horse Department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the future, and separate business and administration for management. In this way, the Tea Horse Department still needs a more outstanding chief official.

"That's right. Previously, the imperial court required that Mongolia could only exchange horses for tea, but now horses are also required. However, the Mongolian ministries are allowed to exchange gold, silver and copper coins for tea, silk, salt, and even some iron utensils, such as iron pots."

Su Zhi looked up at Zhu Biao in astonishment, then lowered his head and said, "Then the Mongolian ministries are probably going to take out all their property, but whether ironware is not suitable for takeaway, I think it's better to replace it with food."

Zhu Biao pinched his brows and said, "Even though it's the beginning of the autumn harvest, when there is enough food, let alone some of it has to be saved and returned to the Jiangnan gentry."

The corner of Su Zhi's mouth twitched. He didn't expect His Highness the Crown Prince to really plan to repay the debt. When they discussed privately, they thought that this matter would be fooled in the end. Can Your Highness do the math?

Su Zhi reminded: "In the first year of Hongwu, the Holy Majesty ordered that no matter what kind of utensils, as long as they contain iron, they are not allowed to be sold into Mongolia, so as to prevent Mongolia from melting iron into soldiers, and those who violate the order will be punished..."

Zhu Biao pointed to the stool on the side and said: "Then only sell iron pots, and the rest of the iron wares remain the same. I heard that Mongolian herdsmen are proud to have iron pots, which can be used as bride price or dowry. Must be split in half?"

Su Zhi got up and saluted, then sat respectfully and slowly on the stool Zhu Biao pointed to, with his buttocks only half touching, looking like a frightened bird, maybe there was some deliberate element in it, to show the crown prince His Highness was in awe.

Su Zhi felt that the effect was good. He couldn't see through the prince's eyes, but the eyes of the eunuch behind His Highness clearly showed some satisfaction.

"Reporting to Your Highness, in recent years, Mongolia has invaded the northern border towns. The pictures are gold and silver treasures, women, swords and iron pots. When paying tribute to the court for peace, they will also ask for iron pots in return. Heat-resistant and drop-resistant, it is very convenient for herdsmen’s life.”

Zhu Biao naturally knew that the Mongolian tribes lived mainly as nomads. In order to find better grazing places, they needed to change their residences throughout the year. This determined that the belongings they carried had to be convenient and durable.

In terms of very important daily diet, Mongolians eat beef and mutton, and often need to cook food, and iron pots are a necessity of life. After all, clay utensils are not as durable as iron utensils.

He was just surprised that today's Mongolia can't even be self-sufficient in iron pots. After all, this is a nation that has ruled the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years. It is really unimaginable that their production technology has degraded so quickly.

But it's normal to think about it. The iron pot was a product that appeared after the Song Dynasty began to use coal for iron smelting. It was not something that anyone could easily make with wood and firewood.

The technical requirements for smelting iron pots are also relatively high. If there are no skilled blacksmiths and professional forging tools, it may not only be impossible to successfully smelt iron, but improper operation may also easily cause safety accidents.

Seeing that the prince was very interested, Su Zhi said, "I heard from my elder brother guarding northern Xinjiang that now the arrows of all the Mongolian tribes have started to use bone and wood arrows. It is to grab back the weapons first, which shows how iron-deficient they are."

Zhu Biao nodded and said: "The priority of getting back the weapons is that this palace also saw it during the Northern Expedition, but at that time their arrowheads were still made of iron. I didn't expect that even iron arrowheads are no longer used."

After the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, one of the most significant changes in Mobei's economic geography was the rapid decline of the cities built by the Mongolian Khanate and the Yuan Dynasty relying on the human and material resources of the Han and the nearby farmland agriculture.

Han craftsmen are retreating inland like a tide, including craftsmen of cast iron. They fled the city of Mobei because they were afraid of the endless persecution and exploitation of the Han people by the Mongols.

The result of this is that the Mongolian ministries who returned to the grassland experienced a dark age of great regression in productivity, and completely lost their iron smelting technology, and they could not even make iron pots.

What's more, iron smelting requires a lot of fuel. Before coal was used to make coke, the fuel for metallurgy was basically only wood, so it was difficult to smelt iron without forests.

………………

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