The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 216 Opening up trade routes and dealing with the Xue family
As the saying goes, if you feel that life is peaceful and serene, it is because someone is bearing the burden for you.

At this very moment, those who were bearing the burden for Jiang Han were Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and others who were fighting a bloody battle with the government troops in the Xunyang area.

Compared to the disheveled state of Gao Yingxiang and his men, Long'an Prefecture was in a much easier situation.

Before the Lunar New Year, Liu Hanru, the governor of Sichuan, led his troops to attempt an attack on Jiang Han's base from Jiangyou County in the south.

However, they were driven back by Shao Yong, who was stationed in Jiangyou County.

Afterwards, Shao Yong personally led 3,000 elite troops to pursue and kill the government troops all the way from Zhangming County, driving Liu Hanru's troops back into An County and beheading more than 300.

Seeing the enemy soldiers were exceptionally fierce, Liu Hanru, who had suffered a great loss, dared not make any further rash moves.

He could only hold the city and wait anxiously for Governor-General Zhu Xieyuan, who was suppressing the rebellion in Yunnan, and General Hou Liangzhu to lead troops back to reinforce the city.

And so, Jiang Han and his troops spent a peaceful and happy New Year in Long'an Prefecture.

Of course, the traditional New Year's gifts are indispensable.

However, the thought of awarding the prize still made Jiang Han feel a little reluctant.

Back in Shanzhou City, he only had a little over three thousand men under his command, which is why Jiang Han dared to generously reward each man with thirty taels of silver as a reward for the army.

But now, his main force has swelled to more than 8,000 men.

If the funds were distributed according to the previous standards, the treasury would probably be emptied by half.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Han could only distribute rewards according to the length of time the soldiers had served in the army.

Those old brothers who had followed him before Shanzhou received the same red envelope containing thirty taels of silver each, just like before.

Later, in Ningxia, Gansu and other places, Jiang Han reduced the payment of newly joined soldiers by half, giving each of them only fifteen taels of silver.

Although the rewards were half that of the veterans, the newly recruited soldiers had no complaints.

Instead, they were all beaming with joy as they held the heavy silver coins.

I don't need to elaborate on what kind of life we ​​lived in the old Dunbaoli border area.

Let alone fifteen taels of silver, sometimes you wouldn't even see a few copper coins all year round. Everyone used the most primitive method of bartering.

Now, not only do they receive a monthly salary, but they also get such a large bonus during the Lunar New Year. These new recruits are incredibly happy.

Furthermore, the commander-in-chief promised that once they had served in the army for a certain number of years, they would also receive a reward of thirty taels of silver.

After receiving the silver, the soldiers took turns on leave as usual, and the entire Long'an Prefecture was filled with a joyous festive atmosphere. Everyone had a very prosperous New Year.

Jiang Han was happy to distribute the money, but Zhao Sheng, who was in charge of the accounts, looked dejected.

This reward money, amounting to nearly 170,000 taels, would be a painful expense for anyone.

"General, this is unbearable!"

"The treasury didn't have much silver to begin with, and now it's almost a third empty."

Inside the government office, Zhao Sheng, holding an account book, poured out his grievances to Jiang Han.

"How will we recruit soldiers next year? How will we manufacture weapons and armor?"

Jiang Han, however, was in no hurry. He smiled and personally poured Zhao Sheng a cup of hot tea, indicating that he should be patient.

"Oh dear, Zhao Zanhua, look at you, you're in such a hurry again."

"If the money is gone, we can find a way to earn it back."

"Besides, there are also a lot of jewelry, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings."

Ignoring the scalding heat, Zhao Sheng gulped down a mouthful of hot tea, his temper flaring as he spoke:

"These things have nowhere to be converted into cash; they're not as practical as grain if they're just sitting in the granary."

"Besides, how are we going to earn money?"

“Long’an Prefecture is a poor and remote place. It doesn’t produce tea, it doesn’t have salt, let alone iron smelting.”

"Even if we wanted to make money, there's nowhere to do it!"

He sighed and suggested:
"In my opinion, why don't we raise the commercial tax rate first?"

“The brothers spent a lot of money during the New Year’s celebrations recently. Now that we’ve raised the commercial tax, every little bit helps.”

Jiang Han nodded after hearing this:

"Okay, that's fine. Let's set it at one-tenth of the tax for now."

"But this only applies to large businesses in the city. Don't accept from small vendors on the street, like those who drive carts or sell drinks. Let them keep more of their own."

"The commerce in our Long'an Prefecture is not very developed, and this amount of commercial tax cannot solve the problem."

"In my opinion, we should still carve out our own business route."

In fact, Jiang Han had been carefully considering the matter of opening up trade routes.

The Xue family of Long'an Prefecture controlled a supply route to Songpan.

Jiang Han originally intended to follow suit and enter Songpan Guard through the Songpan supply route to do business with the surrounding tribal chiefs.

However, due to altitude sickness and being unfamiliar with the area, they had to give up.

Jiang Han had no choice but to proceed with the matter of allowing trade with Tibet.

The profits involved are incredibly high.

Songpan is located in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River and is an important hub connecting Sichuan, Tibet, Qinghai and Xining.

Long'an Prefecture is an important node on the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

According to what Jiang Han had learned in recent days, in the Qiang tribes of Songpan, 120 catties of tea bricks could be exchanged for a top-quality Sichuan warhorse; 80 catties of tea bricks could be exchanged for a medium-quality horse; and 60 catties could be exchanged for a low-quality packhorse.

Songpan grasslands were not typically a breeding ground for warhorses.

But once you cross the Minshan Mountains, to the north lies the lush and fertile Qinghai and Xining.

That place is an excellent horse breeding ground, where top-quality Hequ horses are raised.

The Mongol tribes stationed in Qinghai and Xining were in a state of extreme iron shortage due to the long-term economic blockade imposed by the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the ruler of Ü-Tsang was Tsangpa Khan Tenzin Wangpo, who followed the Karma Kagyu school (White Sect) of Tibetan Buddhism.

However, the Mongolian tribes on the grasslands follow the Gelug school (Yellow Sect).

Therefore, the two sides have been fighting endlessly over beliefs and territory.

The Mongol tribes in Qinghai and Xining have long wanted to enter Tibet to "protect Buddhism," but they have been unable to achieve decisive results due to a lack of armor and weapons.

Jiang Han had heard that in the Xining area of ​​Qinghai, ten sets of cloth armor could be exchanged for twenty-five Hequ horses, including three top-quality breeding horses.

A finely forged wrought iron longsword can be exchanged for two medium-sized Hequ horses.

Even the most ordinary iron pot can be traded for a whole fat sheep.

It would be impossible for Jiang Han not to be tempted by such a highly profitable deal.

The military value of warhorses in ancient times is self-evident and needs no further explanation.

However, by the late Ming Dynasty, due to financial collapse, the number of horses in the Ming army was terribly low.

The imperial court couldn't even support its own people, so naturally it couldn't maintain a large army of warhorses.

Only in a few places like Liaodong, where military funding was sufficient, could a cavalry force of over ten thousand men be maintained.

However, the Guan Ning Army in Liaodong faced tens of thousands of Later Jin cavalrymen.

The Later Jin adopted a policy of using people to raise horses, and could concentrate superior forces to deal with the Guan Ning Army at any time.

Jiang Han will definitely have to face the Later Jin in the future, and if he wants to conquer the north, the number of cavalry is absolutely essential.

The training of chariot battalions is a positional warfare tactic, and only cavalry can accomplish the mission of pursuing the fleeing enemy and annihilating them decisively.

The problem now is that Jiang Han's forces have no way to cross the Songpan grasslands and head north to Qinghai.

Moreover, the power of various chieftains and temples in Tibet is deeply entrenched, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to do business there.

While the Qiang people and Baicao Fan tribes in Songpanwei also had many horses, these tribes preferred tea.

Long'an Prefecture, where Jiang Han lives, is located in northern Sichuan at a high altitude, so the climate is cold and the frost period is long.

The frost-free period lasts only about five months throughout the year, far shorter than that of tea-producing areas in southern or eastern Sichuan, making it not a major tea-producing region.

Long'an Prefecture was merely a transit hub.

Therefore, Jiang Han's plan is to open up a trade route that spans Songpanwei, Long'an Prefecture, Baoning Prefecture, and Chengdu Prefecture.

He could purchase tea bricks, refined iron, and other materials from places like Chengdu or Baoning; then he could process the refined iron into swords, armor, and iron pots, and finally transport the finished products to Songpan Guard.

As for start-up capital, there are still some jewelry, antiques and paintings in the treasury. Although these things are slow to turn into cash, they are still a considerable fortune.

If all else fails, then just bring out the usual things time travelers use: sugar, glass, soap, perfume—get them all.

While white sugar can't be made using the mud-water leaching method, it can be produced using activated carbon adsorption. Glass is even simpler. These things may be old-fashioned, but they are undeniably easy to make and quite profitable.

Of course, making money is never as fast as robbing money.

Therefore, Jiang Han also planned to plant some spies in the caravan, using the guise of doing business to secretly place people in various prefectures and counties of Baoning Prefecture and Chengdu Prefecture.

During peacetime, they are responsible for gathering intelligence; during wartime, they act as inside agents, working together from within and without to help breach the city.

The idea was good, but the problem was that there was no one to carry it out.

These roughnecks under his command are good at murder and arson, but if they go out to do business, they might argue with customers during the day and then go out to kill their whole family to vent their anger at night.

After much deliberation, Jiang Han decided to start by targeting the local chieftains.

He turned to look at Zhao Sheng beside him and asked:

"Has that Tiger Fang Xue family made any unusual moves lately?"

Zhao Sheng pondered for a moment and replied:

“We have been in charge of Long’an Prefecture for several months now. Apart from sending someone to visit once at the beginning to offer some furs and herbs as a gesture of goodwill, we have not heard from him since.”

“I sent people to the Xue family several times to inquire about the Songpan supply route, but they turned me away each time.”

"Judging from their expression, they clearly don't want us to get involved and are trying to cut off the Xue family's source of income."

"General, are you... planning to take action against the Xue family?"

Jiang Han nodded heavily, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes:
"No matter what, this trade route must be kept in the hands of our own people."

"The Xue family has no choice but to pay, whether they want to or not. There's no room for negotiation!"

Hearing this, Zhao Sheng was somewhat troubled:

"General, what are your plans?"

"It's really not a good time to mess with the Xue family right now."

"As mentioned before, our people don't have the resources to go to the plateau, nor do they have the connections that the Xue family has cultivated over the years. If we rashly enter Tibet, the risks will be considerable."

Jiang Han did not answer immediately, but instead asked about the other two chieftains:

"How are the Wang family in Pingwu and the Li family in Jiangyou doing lately?"

"Are you up to any more tricks?"

Zhao Sheng shook his head:
“They did a good job with the previous acreage survey. Now that the registration and record-keeping are complete, there’s basically nothing left to do.”

"However, I heard that Wang Chengbi, the head of the Wang family, and Li Xi, the head of the Li family, don't like to stay in the government office. They just go back to their own houses when they have nothing to do."

"General, you intend to use them?"

Jiang Han grinned mischievously.

"Didn't you say before that the three chieftains of Long'an Prefecture had a blood feud?"

"Later, take my warrant and go to the Wang family. Have Wang Chengbi take action and give the Xue family a hard time."

"Let the chieftain investigate the chieftain, and drive the Xue family to the brink of ruin, until they can't take it anymore and come to my government office to negotiate in person."

"So that if we get involved, we won't be taken advantage of."

Jiang Han then added,
"In addition, let Li Zicheng, who is stationed in Shiquan County, and Li Laowai, who is stationed in Huangyangguan, take turns guarding the area."

"The matter of entering Tibet will be left to Li Zicheng to handle."

"Let him go and familiarize himself with the plateau environment first. If the Xue family can't be relied on, let Li Zicheng lead the team to open up trade routes."

"I refuse to believe it! Does it mean we can't eat hairy pork without Zhang the butcher?!"

Zhao Sheng nodded and then prepared to handle the matter, but he still had some doubts:

"General, why did you think of sending General Chuang to handle this matter of entering Tibet?"

"This involves crossing grasslands and snow-capped mountains. Can he manage it?"

Jiang Han waved his hand and smiled confidently:
“It’s okay, this is called a perfect match for his major, he’s the one.”

Entering Tibet might be impossible for others, but Li Zicheng certainly could. He had done it before, crossing the grasslands of Songpan and traversing the snow-capped peaks of the Min Mountains.

Seeing this, Zhao Sheng didn't ask any more questions. He then accepted the order and led his men to the Wang family mansion in the county town.

Ever since the Wang family "happily" accepted Jiang Han's offer of amnesty and moved to Pingwu County, the Wang family members have been behaving themselves.

Apart from completing the tasks assigned by Jiang Han, the Wang family members stayed in the house every day, reading classic texts and ignoring everything else.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Sheng personally came to visit.

I thought this was just another trivial matter of handling civil affairs, but I never expected that he would be representing the government to deal with the Xue family.

After hearing this, Wang Chengbi was stunned for a long time, and then his face showed a look of ecstasy.

This was a golden opportunity. Wang Chengbi knew very well that Jiang Han wanted to use him as a tool, but he still accepted the task without hesitation.

The Wang family and the Xue family have a blood feud. Back then, the Xue family's ancestor rebelled and almost wiped out the entire Wang family.

Now that fortunes have turned, Wang Chengbi certainly won't let this opportunity slip by.

He immediately patted his chest and assured Zhao Sheng that he would handle the matter perfectly!
Early the next morning, Wang Chengbi, in his capacity as the magistrate of Pingwu County, led more than a thousand "yamen runners" to Longxi Fort, where the Xue family was located.

He was certainly not foolish enough to lead his troops directly to attack the Xue family's fortified tower. On the contrary, Wang Chengbi's prepared methods were all respectable and official.

Wang Chengbi's first move was to investigate taxes.

Under the pretext of "the new government being established and old accounts being investigated," he demanded that the Xue family provide all records of land taxes and commercial taxes since the early years of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

The Xue family was dumbfounded. Land tax?! Are you kidding me?!

Since the Xue family took office as the prefect of Longzhou in the third year of the Jingding reign of Emperor Lizong of Song, they had never heard of the words "land tax"!
Each year, only eighty taels of silver in commercial tax were handed over to the imperial court.

Of course, even if the Xue family honestly paid their taxes, Wang Chengbi would not let them off easily.

The night before, he had already instructed the minor officials in charge of the household registration to falsify all the commercial taxes that the Xue family had paid in the past five years as "underreporting".

Meanwhile, Jiang Han also introduced a new law overnight, which not only increased the commercial tax rate but also set extremely heavy fines.

After five years of compound interest, the Xue family now owes Jiang Han 320,000 taels of silver.

That wasn't the end of it; Wang Chengbi then ordered the land to be measured.

Under the pretext of "revising the fish-scale register and clarifying the ownership of the land," he ordered his men to remeasure all the land under the Xue family's name.

When measuring the land, the standards were naturally set as loosely as possible, resulting in the Xue family having an extra 3,000 mu of high-quality farmland added to their accounts.

These fertile fields, of course, are also subject to taxes.

As for the actual farmland, it was considered as unclaimed wasteland and was immediately confiscated by the government.

This infuriated Xue Zhiheng, the head of the Xue family. His clansmen even rushed to summon their barbarian soldiers, intending to kill Wang Chengbi, this corrupt official.

But Wang Chengbi was surrounded by guards. Qianzong Cao Ershou led more than a thousand "yamen runners" and were just waiting for the Xue family to make their move.

Seeing this, Xue Zhiheng hurriedly tried to call back the barbarian soldiers below.

But these people were unruly barbarians who usually bullied others in Longxi Fort. How could they let others ride roughshod over them?
In less than an hour, Cao Er had wiped out all five hundred enemy soldiers, and their heads were even piled up into a mound, neatly arranged at the entrance of Long'an Fort.

After eliminating the Xue family's armed forces, Wang Chengbi naturally took over the task of "security" for the Xue family.

He demanded a full search, citing the reason that "Long'an Fort is located in a strategic location and there may be remnants of bandits hiding there." He then led Cao Er and others to openly occupy various key locations guarded by the Xue family, ostensibly for defense, but in reality for surveillance.

Of course, the government would charge a fee for sending people to assist in defense.

The blame for the food and drink of all these people should be placed on the Xue family.

This series of combined attacks, in just half a month, turned the Xue family into a chaotic mess, leaving them with no peace.

With Wang Chengbi and his men causing such a disturbance, the Xue family's business naturally plummeted, and government officials were frequently "visiting" their shops in various cities.

Xue Zhiheng was so angry he almost vomited blood. Of course he knew that Jiang Han was behind this.

Xue Zhiheng tried several times to apologize to Jiang Han, but now he was just a commoner who couldn't even leave the gate of Long'an Fort, let alone go to the prefectural city.

Wang Chengbi, on the other hand, refused to budge, wielding various "laws" and determined to destroy the Xue family.

Wang Chengbi was stationed at Long'an Fort. He would extort money from the Xue family from time to time under the pretext of "keeping slaves" and "possessing knives and bows", trying to take the opportunity to crush the Xue family.

Finally, Xue Zhiheng couldn't take it anymore.

If this continues, the Xue clan members will either be scared to death or slowly worn down to death.

People have to bow their heads under the roof.

So Xue Zhiheng, along with his trusted confidants, prepared two cartloads of generous gifts and personally went to Pingwu County to pay his respects to Jiang Han.

(End of this chapter)