My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 209 Ten Thousand Cavalrymen Attack the Border!

After listening to Fan Kuan's words, Fan Baoxian tapped the table with his finger and asked, "Sugarcane wine?"

Fan Kuan took a wine gourd from his waist and handed it to Fan Baoxian.

Fan Baoxian opened the wine gourd, and a sweet aroma of wine wafted out.

Fan Baoxian had drunk fine wine before, but he had never smelled such a sweet wine.

Fan Baoxian tilted his head back and took a sip, his face showing surprise.

As a successful businessman, Fan Baoxian knew that the sugarcane wine was of poor quality.

However, Fan Baoxian found it incredible that the sweet taste and strong aroma could be perfectly combined in one wine.

Almost instantly, Fan Baoxian blurted out:

"grassland!"

Fan Kuan nodded and said:
“Last month, I bought sugarcane wine in the capital and hired a caravan to deliver it to the grasslands. Chieftain, guess how many times the profit was made from this sugarcane wine?”

Fan Baoxian used all his imagination to say:
"three times?"

Fan Kuan shook his head and said:

"ten times!"

Upon hearing the word "ten times," Fan Baoxian, a businessman, became breathless.

Fan Baoxian stood up and asked:

"Was this sugarcane wine bought at the Crown Prince's bulk grain trading market? The market operates on an auction system, with the highest bidder winning?"

Fan Baoxian picked up the abacus and began calculating the accounts with a clanging sound:
“You got a bargain this time. Once other merchants find that sugarcane wine sells well, the price won’t be this low.”

"The trade route to the grasslands is dangerous, and there is a possibility of being robbed by bandits. It also requires additional guard expenses. You were lucky this time."

"It's summer now, and horses are cheap on the grasslands, so we made more money selling them back home."

After eliminating these interfering factors, Fan Baoxian put down his abacus and said:
"Five times the profit."

Fan Kuan looked at the clan leader, Fan Baoxian, who stood up. As a merchant, he certainly knew what a fivefold profit meant.

A fivefold profit would be enough for a merchant to sell the ancestral hall!

Fan Baoxian also knew that such profits were unsustainable. If a large amount of sugarcane wine were to flow into the grasslands, the prices on both sides would inevitably balance out.

However, sugarcane wine is definitely a stable way to make money.

No one knew better than Fan, who frequently traveled to and from the grasslands, how much the grasslands needed strong liquor.

In the bitter cold of winter, the sweet and strong liquor can dispel the chill and also relieve the burdens accumulated in the hearts of the men of the grasslands.

Although it's just a drunken fantasy, there are plenty of people willing to spend their entire fortune for such a fantasy.

Sugarcane wine will sell even better in winter!
Fan Baoxian put down his abacus and looked at Fan Kuan opposite him.

Fan Kuan said:

"After returning to the capital, I placed ten orders for sugarcane wine at the bulk grain market."

Fan Baoxian looked at Fan Kuan and asked, "What do you want?"

Fan Kuan said, "I can sell this batch of wine to the clan at the original price, but clan chief, I want to start a newspaper."

"File a report?"

Fan Kuan said:

“Chief, you know I’m not cut out for business.”

"But during my time in the capital, I discovered that people like us can also make money."

"Of the three major newspapers in the capital, the New Gentleman's Daily and the New Yuefu Daily are estimated to generate several hundred taels of pure profit per year, leaving aside the New Yuefu Daily, which is an official newspaper."

Fan Baoxian frowned and said, "Only a few hundred taels of silver."

Fan Kuan said:

“Clan leader, a few hundred taels of silver is not much, but it is a stable net profit, after deducting the newspaper’s operating expenses.”

Fan Kuan counted on his fingers: "The newspaper needs woodblock printing, it needs to hire newsboys for distribution, it needs editors to run the newspaper, and it also needs to pay royalties."

"After deducting these expenses, there will still be a net profit of several hundred taels of silver."

Fan Kuan then said:
"But the net profit of those few hundred taels of silver was exchanged for a newspaper with a huge impact."

Upon hearing this, Fan Baoxian immediately understood Fan Kuan's meaning.

"Do it! The clan will buy your sugarcane wine at twice the price in the capital, and the public funds will also support you in starting a newspaper in the capital!"

Fan Kuan finally got his wish, and he said:
"Clan leader, but this newspaper is not published in the capital."

"Not in the capital?"

Fan Kuan nodded and said:

"The three major newspapers in the capital have already dominated the market, and many tabloids that followed suit have gone out of business this month."

"Moreover, the capital city has censors to crack down on piracy, and the cost of running a newspaper is also high."

"Most scholars in the capital have already subscribed to newspapers, so it's difficult to publish a major newspaper now."

Fan Baoxian asked:
"So where are you planning to start your newspaper?"

"Zhigu".

"Zhigu?"

Fan Kuan said:

"Since the opening of Zhigu Port, a large number of merchants have gathered here."

"According to the latest tribute regulations, apart from merchants from Korea and Ryukyu who can enter the Ming Dynasty, all other foreign merchants can only operate in the ports."

"Therefore, Zhigu quickly attracted a large number of merchants."

"In addition to merchant ships engaged in direct maritime trade, many supplies from the southeast are now transported by sea, as well as goods from Dengzhou and Laizhou being sent to the capital."

"Zhigu is home to a large number of merchants, so I plan to start a business newspaper there."

"The newspapers from Zhigu can also be transported to Dengzhou, Laizhou and Southeast Asia for sale, which is definitely easier than running a newspaper in the capital."

After listening to Fan Kuan's plan, Fan Baoxian said with satisfaction:
“In the past, the clan said you weren’t good at business, but now it seems they were all wrong. You are the real business genius.”

"How about this, the public will take four-tenths of the share of this newspaper, the remaining five-tenths will be yours, and I will personally contribute another thousand taels of silver for one-tenth of the share, how about that?"

The reason why the Fan family of Datong was able to grow so powerful was because they were generous with the shares they gave out.

The concept of investing in a business existed as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, with very complex equity contracts existing in the Song dynasty.

The Fan family of Datong is a merchant family that understands the importance of incentives and is very generous in giving shares to talented members of the family.

Some of the shop managers received more in year-end bonuses than even the clan head, Fan Baoxian.

It was Fan Kuan's idea to start a newspaper, and he was the only one in the clan who knew how to do so.

Fan Kuan even had enough money to start a newspaper, but he was too ambitious and wanted to make it as big as the three major newspapers, so he returned to his clan to seek help.

Fan Kuan expressed his gratitude to Fan Baoxian, and then said:

"Chieftain, this large-scale grain market was also Su Ze's idea. Can the clan fight against him?"

Fan Baoxian immediately said:
"No more fighting! Anyone who refuses to vacate the horse ranch land will be expelled from the clan!"

Fan Baoxian patted Fan Kuan on the shoulder again and said:

"Do a good job with the newspaper. When we hold the ancestral worship ceremony at the end of the year, you'll stand behind me in the first row." Fan Kuan, who had been pretending to be calm, immediately became excited. His face flushed, and he exhaled a breath as if releasing all the grievances he had suffered in the family over the years. He said loudly, "Clan leader! Fan Kuan will definitely do a good job with the newspaper!"
-
[Using 200 prestige points, the memorial was forcibly approved.]

According to a rough draft of the Shanxi accounting records, Wang Yongji, the governor of Datong, was appointed as the land surveying commissioner, responsible for surveying the land at Xiurong Horse Ranch.

The Prince of Jin dispatched a royal envoy to Xiurong to return the land that had been seized by members of the Prince of Jin's royal family.

The Fan family of Datong voluntarily surrendered illegally acquired land.

Seeing that the Prince of Jin's mansion and the Fan family of Datong had yielded, other powerful families also voluntarily returned their land.

Ten years later, under the leadership of Wang San, the head of the horse breeding bureau, Xiurong Horse Ranch became the largest military horse ranch in northern China, raising tens of thousands of horses.

[Ming Dynasty +2]

They actually added two points to the dynasty's fortune.

That's right. Horse breeding is a major national issue. These days, horses are like tanks. If Xiurong Horse Farm grows from 500 horses to 10,000, wouldn't that be adding to the national fortune?

Wait, is this Wang San, the herdsman?

Su Ze remembered Wang San, wasn't he the Imperial Guard from the elephant pens outside the city?
Su Ze recalled the scene at the elephant stable that day, where Wang San was training horses. He seemed to have mentioned that his family had been raising horses for generations.
Since that was the case, Su Ze thought for a moment and wrote a letter of recommendation for Duke Xu Wenbi.

Now that Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi is a high-ranking official among the nobility, it would be perfect for him to recommend Wang San to Xiu Rong to raise horses.
-
September 9th arrived in the blink of an eye.

This year, the imperial court was busy with many affairs, and the Ministry of Rites only had some free time at the end of August. The autumn imperial examination was scheduled for September 25.

Shen Shixing was appointed as the chief examiner of Shuntian Prefecture, and his friend Wang Xijue served as the proctor.

On the Double Ninth Festival, the imperial court granted an extra day off, and Su Ze and his friends went out of the city to enjoy the autumn scenery.

Upon reaching the small hill outside the city, Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue both wore slightly worried expressions, but neither of them mentioned the autumn examination, and Su Ze also refrained from asking.

Su Ze looked around again. As everyone spent more time in officialdom, the opportunities for them to get together became fewer and fewer.

The Korean envoys have returned home, and Shen Yiguan, as the Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, is to see them off at Shanhaiguan Pass. They had already left the capital at the beginning of the month.

Wang Jiaping asked for leave to visit his family in Shanxi. Life during his time as a probationary official was quite leisurely. Zhang Juzheng, when he was in the Hanlin Academy, also frequently asked for leave.

The group planted dogwood on the mountain, composed several poems in response, and then returned home.

Without Shen Yiguan to inquire about information, the newspaper office became much quieter.

However, this quiet period did not last long. On September 12th, just two days after the first ten days of the month's holiday, Liu Jun, a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat, came to the newspaper office.

"Chief Minister Li wants me to go to the Ministry of War?"

Seeing Liu Jun's serious expression, Su Ze knew something serious had happened. He quickly stood up and followed Liu Jun to the Ministry of War.

As expected, the area in front of the Ministry of War was filled with soldiers on duty, and officials and generals were coming and going.

"This is the Ministry of War's waist token. Take it; you'll probably be coming here frequently these days."

Su Ze took the waist token and hung it in the cloth bag around his waist. Now he had four waist tokens.

Although Su Ze was brought by Liu Jun, the Imperial Secretary, the guards of the Ministry of War still thoroughly checked his identity before letting him into the Ministry.

Su Ze then looked at Liu Jun's waist tag. This official, who frequently visited the offices of the Six Ministries, had a bulging cloth bag.

It seems I still need to work harder.

From the atmosphere in the Ministry of War, Su Ze had already guessed the general situation.

As expected, upon entering the Ministry of War's main hall, Su Ze met the four Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Minister of War and the Vice Minister of War, as well as a group of nobles and high-ranking officials dressed in military robes.

The high-ranking officials continued their discussion, while Cao Bangfu, the Vice Minister of War, led Su Ze to a corner and said:

"Military intelligence of Dongshengwei".

as predicted.

Su Ze, not daring to disturb the leaders' meeting, asked in a low voice:

"Which tribe of Anda invaded? Huang Taiji's tribe? Or the various tribes of the Eastern Mongols?"

Cao Bangfu said:
"Neither, it's the Taurus Wushen tribe."

Su Ze thought about it and realized that this result was not unexpected.

The Wushen tribe was originally a Mongol tribe that occupied the Hetao region and was considered a vassal of the Anda tribe.

During the lambing season, Qi Jiguang decisively defeated the Wushen tribe, who retreated north of the Hetao region.

Land on the grasslands is already scarce; otherwise, the Wushen tribe would not have risked invading the Hetao region to graze their livestock. These Tuo tribesmen were themselves "squeezed" into the Hetao region by the harsh grasslands.

Although Altan Khan accepted them, the brutal competition on the grasslands made life difficult for the Wushen tribe.

Of course, what's even harder to get through is that winter is just around the corner.

Winter on the grasslands is extremely harsh. Without supplies to survive the winter, the Wushen tribe would have suffered even more casualties than when they were attacked by Qi Jiguang.

Therefore, under the explicit and implicit hints from Anda's superiors, Wushen made a choice he had no choice but to make.

The Wushen tribe was used as cannon fodder to test the military strength of the Ming Dynasty and was pushed to the front of Dongshengwei before winter.

What a good plan!

Su Ze also admitted that although Anda Khan was old, his political skills had reached the pinnacle.

The good news is that Khan is getting old.

His successor, Huang Taiji, clearly lacked his father Khan's abilities; he couldn't even see through Anda Khan's plans.

Perhaps the only one who could understand Anda Khan was that Third Sister.

It would be good if the Wushen tribe could win, but the Anda tribe would then break its peace agreement with the Ming Dynasty, destroy the Dongshengwei fortress, and remove this nail driven into the grasslands.

If they lose, Anda Khan will pin the blame on the Wushen tribe, who have a grudge against Qi Jiguang, and Anda Khan can't control them.

"Young Commander, what's the situation at the front?"

Cao Bangfu said:
"The Wushen tribe gathered 50,000 enemy troops. Of course, this number is inflated, but there were definitely 10,000 cavalry."

With ten thousand cavalry, it's no wonder the Ming Dynasty is so nervous.

The Ming Dynasty estimated that the Anda tribe had "180,000 archers".

This cannot be compared to the peak period of the grasslands, nor even to the Oirat period.

During the Jiajing era, the climate in the north changed drastically, and the grasslands suffered from white disasters for many consecutive years. The natural environment north of the Yinshan Mountains had deteriorated to the point that even nomadic peoples could not survive there.

Su Ze also understood that the Anda tribe needed the Ming Dynasty more, which was why Anda Khan had always sought to be granted tribute.

The grasslands can no longer support so many people. Only by forming an economic complementarity with the Central Plains can the grassland population survive.

And Khan understood this principle, as did the Grand Secretaries of the Ming Dynasty.

The current dispute between the two sides concerns the initiative in this relationship.

The difference between the Ming Dynasty's tributary control over the grasslands and the grasslands' use of force to threaten the Ming Dynasty into paying tribute is significant.

War is unavoidable.

Suze also gave up his illusions. There was no way to admit defeat on the grasslands without bloodshed. No matter how politically shrewd Anda Khan was, he could not resist tradition.

Therefore, Anda Khan chose to send the Wushen tribe to their deaths.

At this moment, a messenger soldier carried an urgent military report into the hall.

Zhao Zhenji, the Fourth Minister, personally read out the military intelligence:

Qi Jiguang's cavalry had already spotted Mongol cavalry near Tu Mao Chuan. Qi Jiguang personally led the chariot battalion to garrison Datong Right Guard, and the five Dongsheng Bastions were also ready to be in place.

Su Ze glanced around. Datong had been preparing for the battle for over a year, and the four elders looked relaxed.

Now it's time to see the bastions prove their worth!
(End of this chapter)