Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 295 Support
Jiang Lin stood up straight with his hands hanging down. Chang Pingqing, a young man, didn't understand, but he was a veteran who had served in the border army for more than ten years. When he saluted the adult just now, Jiang Lin had already seen the other person's clothes clearly.

To be honest, when Jiang Lin saw the color of the clothes and the intricate patterns on them, he was really shocked. The rank of this gentleman was not low, at least he was a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was only a fifth-rank official in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, there were differences between officials, especially the rank of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could not be compared with that of ordinary officials. Generally speaking, although the rank of a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not as high as that of a provincial commander-in-chief, his actual power could not be underestimated, and ordinary border generals generally did not dare to offend him.

A Jinyiwei Qianhu suddenly came to Sanshandun, and brought his men quietly. What does this mean? Jiang Lin didn't dare to think deeply for a while, and stood aside without daring to breathe.

Zhou Anmin had a good first impression of Jiang Lin. He brought people to Sanshandun today on a whim, and he also wanted to secretly inspect Sanshandun.

Now, the border trade between the Ming Dynasty and the Tengger tribe has been handed over to the East Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In name, the East Depot is in the lead and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is assisting, but in fact, Zhou Anmin took on this task because of Tian Ergeng's recommendation.

After meeting with Zhu Shenzui in Pingyang and having a detailed discussion with the two brothers, Zhou Anmin brought his people to Weiyuanwei and began to prepare for border trade.

The reason why Sanshandun was chosen was also carefully considered. First, Sanshandun is located in the northwest of Shanxi and belongs to the border area. Second, although Sanshandun is a border, it is not as troubled as the area near Xuanfu. From a geographical point of view, whether the Mongols invaded the Ming Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty sent troops to the grassland, they would basically choose the area around Xuanda as the first choice.

As for the third point, after Ligdan Khan and the Ming Dynasty shook hands and made peace, the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia already had mutual trade, but the location of the mutual trade was also close to Xuanda, especially Zhangjiakou and Yanghewei as the first choice. Even the Ming Dynasty merchants traveling on the grassland usually left the country from these places.

The border trade between the Ming Dynasty and the Tengger tribe was not directly handled by the court, nor did it have much to do with the local areas. It was done privately by Wei Zhongxian at the request of Emperor Tianqi. To put it bluntly, it was similar to the situation when Emperor Wanli sent mining supervisors and tax supervisors to local areas, and the income was equal to the emperor's small treasury.

The intention of doing this was to bypass the court and let the East Factory and Jinyiwei take the lead directly. So in order to avoid attracting the attention of the court and not to make a big fuss, Zhou Anmin chose this place after a long time.

Not far from the Great Wall of Sanshandun is the Qingshui River. Going north along the Qingshui River, you can reach the grassland directly. Beyond that is Tumed Right Banner, where the Tengger tribe is located.

Therefore, it is very convenient for both sides to conduct trade by leaving the country from Sanshandun, and it can also avoid the attention of Xuanda. The geographical location is perfect.

Time is a bit tight as the Chinese New Year is not long away. Once the New Year is over, the weather will get warmer day by day and spring will be here.

Border trade between the two sides will begin in the spring of next year, and time is running out. The supply of goods and materials on the Ming side is being prepared. Kang Youfu has now become Zhou Anmin's chief steward from the head shopkeeper of Hengtong Trading Company, and is mainly responsible for the supply and shipment of goods. When the news spread in the Shanxi business community, there was no need for Kang Youfu to visit in person, as businessmen of all sizes came to him like cats smelling blood.

Not to mention the grassland. Zhu Shencui had already made arrangements when he returned to the Ming Dynasty. This trade cooperation would be the best opportunity for the Tengger tribe. As long as they seized this opportunity, the rise of the tribe was inevitable. Similarly, the benefits Zhu Shencui would gain from it would also be enormous.

In addition, the tribe had previously been in civil strife. Although it has been stabilized through means, Mongolia is still not at peace recently. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Tenger tribe can also win over several other tribes in the Tumed grassland and secretly form an alliance with these tribes to fight against possible crises in the future.

Zhu Shenzui is not a brainless reckless man like Lindan Khan. As the Great Khan of Mongolia, Lindan Khan had a good hand at the beginning, but these cards have been getting worse and worse over the years. Although he still has the title of the Great Khan of Mongolia, in fact, the Mongolian headquarters has been shaky. In the past two years, he has been betrayed by his friends and relatives and suffered successive defeats, which made Lindan Khan even more anxious. But even so, Lindan Khan has not realized where he made a mistake.

It was true that Lindan Khan intended to unify the grasslands, but the means he used were really unacceptable. Lindan Khan lacked political acumen and did not know how to use political means. He was just tough and tried to use absolute force to suppress and achieve his goals. In addition, Lindan Khan was short-sighted and often went back on his word. In the alliance with the Ming Dynasty, he only wanted to gain benefits but was unwilling to pay. After several times, even the Ming Dynasty was extremely dissatisfied with Lindan Khan, not to mention the Mongolian tribes.

This is a bit off topic, let’s get back to the present.

Zhou Anmin's sudden decision to come to Sanshandun for inspection gave him a surprise. He originally thought that the border troops were lax and unprepared, but who would have thought that he would be discovered by Jiang Lin before he reached the city wall. If he had not revealed his identity in time, his men would have almost been killed at the Great Wall.

"Take me for a walk." Pointing at Jiang Lin, Zhou Anmin said.

Jiang Lin responded quickly and followed Zhou Anmin one step behind. The two of them walked towards the beacon tower while talking. The rest of the people lagged behind, only about four or five steps away from them. As for Chang Pingqing, he felt a little restrained, but Wang Gui happily called him to catch up with the team. Zhou Anmin did not walk fast. While walking, he asked Jiang Lin about the situation in Sanshandun. Jiang Lin answered Zhou Anmin's questions without reservation and answered fluently, which made Zhou Anmin quite satisfied.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Anmin pointed to several places where the Great Wall was in disrepair and asked what was going on. Jiang Lin smiled bitterly and told Zhou Anmin that the Great Wall had been in disrepair for a long time, and it was natural for it to be exposed to wind and rain. Since the 22nd year of Wanli, the border Great Wall has long been in poor repair due to insufficient funds. Xuanda is better, after all, the location there is more important, and it is the main defense area of ​​the Nine Frontiers. The overall repair of the Great Wall is still acceptable.

But Sanshandun is located in a remote area. Although it nominally belongs to one of the Nine Borders, in reality, neither my grandmother nor my uncle loves it. The funds allocated by the imperial court every year are not enough to cover repairs, let alone the materials.

The days of peace have lasted too long, and as long as the wall does not collapse and can still be used, it is impossible to really repair it. In fact, it is not just Sanshandun, but there are many places in the Great Wall from east to west that are in disrepair. They look okay from a distance, but they are just so-so when you look closely. As long as nothing goes wrong, everyone from top to bottom will turn a blind eye.

After listening to Jiang Lin's explanation, Zhou Anmin sighed inwardly. When did the Ming Dynasty become like this? The inland garrisons were corrupt, and even the border troops were like this. The Great Wall, which was an important line of defense for the nine frontiers, was also in such a bad state.

Fortunately, the Mongols have not made any moves in recent years, and the war between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia has not occurred for a long time. If the Mongols really form a unified and glorious dynasty, how can the current situation of the Great Wall defense line stop the wolf-like and tiger-like Mongol cavalry?
Shaking his head, Zhou Anmin felt a little heavy-hearted, but he could only think about this kind of thing in his mind, and it was impossible to change it. He was just a thousand households of Jinyiwei, let alone an official of his rank, even the cabinet elders and the emperor were powerless.

The financial situation of the Ming Dynasty was not good. Liaodong had suffered several defeats and the Ming Dynasty was already hurt. Under such circumstances, it was not easy for the Ming Dynasty to barely maintain the military expenses of Liaodong, not to mention the repair of the Great Wall in the nine borders. Where could the court get the money? Moreover, even if it could, given the corruption in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, how much would be left? Not to mention repairing the Great Wall.

By the time he reached the beacon tower, Zhou Anmin had a basic understanding of the situation of Jiang Lin and Sanshandun.

Zhou Anmin was quite satisfied with Jiang Lin. After all, he had a good first impression of Jiang Lin. In addition, the conversations along the way made Zhou Anmin realize that Jiang Lin, as the sergeant of Sanshandun, did abide by his duties and was a good leader.

When they arrived at the beacon tower, the brothers who heard the noise outside came out of the soldier hiding cave vigilantly. When they saw Jiang Lin coming with Zhou Anmin and others, they were stunned, and then hurried forward to salute.

Zhou Anmin looked at the clothes and equipment of these border troops and sighed in his heart. The condition of these border troops was much worse than he had expected. In such a cold day, most of the clothes they wore were tattered. Even the better ones, such as Sergeant Jiang Lin, had patched clothes that looked gray.

The weapons in his hands were not bad at all. It was obvious that they were regularly maintained. Zhou Anmin was slightly satisfied with this. After entering the cave, he took another look and saw that Zhou Anmin's brows were furrowed again. He turned around and asked Jiang Lin, "Is this how they usually live? Do they eat and drink here?"
"Your Excellency, this is pretty good. At least we have food and drink here and it's warm. We soldiers have gotten used to it over the years. Even if the weather is cold, we can just endure it and it will pass. Isn't that how we all get through it?"

Zhou Anmin nodded silently, not knowing what to say. These border troops were nominally border troops, but in reality they were probably worse than beggars. He didn't know whether the bigwigs in the court knew about the court's treatment of the border troops or not.

After walking around the cave, Zhou Anmin came out and saw the soldiers standing outside with blue faces due to the cold weather. Jiang Lin bowed and thanked him, and quickly asked his brothers to go back to the cave to continue roasting the fire, while he continued to follow Zhou Anmin and inspect the surroundings.

After walking for a while, Zhou Anmin had seen enough and turned back.

After returning to the beacon tower again, Zhou Anmin's eyes stayed on Jiang Lin. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Jiang Lin!"

"Little is here!"

"You are very good. Keep a good watch on him and don't let your guard down. I will give you another task in the spring."

Jiang Lin's eyes suddenly lit up. He didn't expect Zhou Anmin to say this to him. Thinking of the previous rumors, Jiang Lin became alert. He agreed and then hesitantly asked what to do with his brothers.

Hearing Jiang Lin's question, Zhou Anmin burst into laughter. While laughing, he said something to Jiang Lin, and then led his men down the Great Wall from the beacon tower. After Zhou Anmin left, Jiang Lin came back to his senses, and hurriedly bowed with a smile on his face.

(End of this chapter)