Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 21: Ming Dynasty Has No Scum Like You!

Chou Yue hadn't expected that this Tatar Little Prince would openly provoke the authority of the Ming Dynasty upon their first meeting.

His face was also a bit strained at the moment, but since he still needed to ask for something important next, he could only force an awkward smile.

Zhang Qi was furious, but he didn't dare to speak out.

Tatar Little Prince was the Ming Dynasty's general term for the Khan of the Eastern Mongol Khanate, not referring to a specific person.

The current Tatar Little Prince was already the second generation Little Prince, named Borjigin Batu Mongke, also known as Dayan Khan.

Now, at only fourteen or fifteen years old, he dared to call himself the Great Khan of the Eastern Mongols in front of a Ming Dynasty general.

The Ming Dynasty's prestige had been swept away!

After laughing enough, the Tatar Little Prince got down to business.

"Um... I remember your name is... Chou Yue, right?"

"You said in your letter that you would offer me 260,000 taels of silver to keep me from attacking Datong Prefecture, is that true?"

Chou Yue corrected: "Of course it's true, but this is not an offering, but a transaction."

"In addition to silver, this general has also prepared tea, vegetables, grain, silk, and salt and iron that you urgently need."

"To show my sincerity, this general has already brought a portion of it. When you leave Datong Prefecture, you can take the other portion with you."

It turned out that Chou Yue's so-called strategy to repel the enemy was actually to bribe the Tatar Little Prince with silver and supplies.

And he offered a whopping 260,000 taels of silver.

What a generous gesture!

Zhang Qi was shocked and angry: "Chou Yue! You actually want to bribe the Tartars!"

"The Ming Dynasty has no scum like you!"

Zhang Qi wanted to draw his sword and kill Chou Yue, but the Tartars had already taken his sword.

The Tatar Little Prince reacted quickly, immediately grabbed the small knife used to cut meat on the table, pounced on Zhang Qi, and skillfully slit Zhang Qi's throat.

Before Zhang Qi died, he covered his bleeding neck with one hand, pointed at Chou Yue with the other, glared angrily, and still cursed.

Chou Yue had long been prepared for Zhang Qi's rage, and at this moment he had already dodged ten steps away.

This time, he deliberately brought Zhang Qi with him because he wanted to find an opportunity to kill Zhang Qi.

Only after Zhang Qi's death could he completely control all the military affairs in Datong Prefecture.

Don't forget that Zhang Qi is the Deputy Regional Military Commissioner of Xuanfu.

And in Datong Prefecture, there are still 30,000 soldiers from Xuanfu.

Seeing that Zhang Qi was completely motionless, Chou Yue smiled and cupped his fist at the Tatar Little Prince.

"Thank you, Little Prince, for your help."

"Hahaha!" The Tatar Little Prince laughed heartily: "You're welcome, you're welcome, where are the things? Take me to see them quickly!"

"This way, please."

Chou Yue led the excited Tatar Little Prince towards the ten carriages he had just driven over.

Lifting the cloth covering the carriages, the Tatar Little Prince saw the small mountain-like, shining silver.

Although the Tatar Little Prince was the Great Khan of the Eastern Mongols, he was still a child in his teens, and he had never seen so much silver in his life.

For a moment, the Tatar Little Prince was stunned.

"Haha, mine, mine, it's all my silver, hahaha!"

The Tatar Little Prince was still young after all, and seeing so much silver, he was so excited that he danced and gesticulated, beside himself with joy.

Chou Yue was also smiling: "This carriage contains 20,000 taels of silver."

"This general brought ten carriages here, five of which are loaded with silver, which is 100,000 taels of silver."

"The remaining five carriages are loaded with tea and salt and iron. I think you need these things very much, right?"

As Chou Yue spoke, he tore off the covers of the other carriages.

Suddenly, five carriages full of tea and salt and iron were exposed in front of the many Tartars.

Looking at these precious supplies, all the Tartars present took a deep breath and widened their eyes.

The Tatar's production structure was very weak. Apart from cattle and sheep, they lacked everything.

Especially salt and iron, which are necessities of life, and the most important tea.

Tea can be said to be the lifeline of the Tatar people.

Simply put, it is because the Tartars eat beef and mutton for a long time, and their diet is monotonous, which causes many problems in their bodies.

Tea has the functions of promoting digestion, lowering blood lipids, refreshing the mind, and removing fishy odors.

It can also help them solve problems such as muscle weakness, loss of appetite, and listlessness.

The nomadic people do not produce tea, so the Tartars can only try to get some back from the Ming Dynasty.

However, since the founding of the country by Emperor Taizu Gao, he ordered the border towns not to trade with these nomadic peoples.

Although occasionally there will be Ming Dynasty merchants who secretly come to the grasslands to sell salt, iron, and tea, the quantity is too small.

They often take a simpler method, which is to rob.

Therefore, from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty until now, the harassment of the Ming Dynasty border towns by nomadic peoples has never stopped.

During this period, the Khans of various tribes in the grassland have been requesting mutual trade from the Ming Dynasty emperors.

The Ming Dynasty's attitude towards mutual trade was also very ambiguous, sometimes open and sometimes closed, which made the nomadic people suffer unspeakably.

During the Chenghua period, the imperial court strictly prohibited mutual trade with the nomadic peoples of the grassland, and materials such as tea and salt and iron on the grassland were in serious shortage.

Seeing so many supplies at this time, it is no wonder that they showed this expression.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Chou Yue lightly dropped a bombshell.

"Little Prince, if you immediately withdraw your troops, from now on for ten years, Datong Prefecture will open a market and trade with the Tartars."

The Tatar Little Prince was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed: "This! This!"

"General Chou, you are giving me a surprise!"

"Withdraw troops! I will announce the withdrawal of troops tomorrow morning!"

Originally, the Tatar Little Prince wanted to come to the Ming Dynasty border towns to rob some supplies because of the shortage of supplies in the tribe, so as to cope with the upcoming winter in the grassland.

Now that the generals of the Ming Dynasty have taken the initiative to send out the supplies, he no longer needs to continue fighting.

They are all out here to make a living. Now that they have food to eat, why risk their lives?

And the most important point is that the Ming Dynasty has finally agreed to open a market!

So without any hesitation, the Tatar Little Prince immediately agreed to Chou Yue's request to withdraw his troops.

Seeing that the general situation was set, Chou Yue finally showed a relaxed smile.

Just at this happy moment when the host and guests were enjoying themselves, the Han Chinese military advisor Liu Chen stood up.

"Great Khan, I have something important to discuss, please come with me."

"What's the matter with you? Can't you just say it here?"

While saying this, the Tatar Little Prince still got up and followed Liu Chen a few steps away.

Liu Chen led the Tatar Little Prince to a distance and whispered his advice.

"Great Khan, withdrawing troops is possible, but we must never return to the grassland just like that."

"If we can borrow the road from Datong, we can go straight into eight hundred miles and reach the capital of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Huh?!" The Tatar Little Prince was taken aback: "I didn't want to attack the capital."

"Great Khan, you see, we are only approaching Datong Prefecture, and the Ming Dynasty has sent so many things out."

"Then when we approach the capital of the Ming Dynasty, won't the things sent be even more..."

The Tatar Little Prince understood what he meant and clapped his hands and cheered: "Good! Very good! Let's do it this way!"