Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 71 Proton
"That damned traitor!"

Shen Lian also felt a chill run down his spine, gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath.

In this era, coal was not only an indispensable daily necessity for the people of the Ming Dynasty, but also an essential strategic resource for industries such as iron smelting and copper refining.

Although the Ming Dynasty was a vast and resource-rich land and not lacking in coal, it had been able to be self-sufficient before this.

However, as Yan Maoqing said, most of the coal mines in the Ming Dynasty were located underground, where mining was relatively difficult.

If the Tartars found such an open-pit coal mine and were able to establish a tribute relationship with the Ming Dynasty, they would have an unimaginable advantage in mining costs, and the profits would be astronomical and immeasurable!

Compared to such astonishing profits, the two hundred thousand taels that Yan Maoqing demanded were indeed nothing.

But did he ever consider what price the Ming Dynasty would have to pay for this, and in what direction things would ultimately develop?

The limitations of the times and his understanding made it difficult for Shen Lian to fully grasp the future.

But he was absolutely certain that once the Ming Dynasty and the Tartars began paying tribute to each other, especially under these circumstances, the Tartars would be able to amass enormous wealth in a short period of time, making them completely different from what they used to be!

this moment.

A strong killing intent surged within Shen Lian.

He wanted to kill Yan Maoqing before he revealed the location of the coal mine to the Tartars, to stop things from escalating further, even if it meant he would be buried far from home afterward...

"Brother Chunfu..."

Gao Gong suddenly reached out and pressed down on Shen Lian's hand, which was quietly gripping the long-handled wine bottle. It seemed that he had a thousand words to say but could not say them. He could only look at him with pleading eyes and shake his head slightly.

"Brother Suqing..."

Although Shen Lian also suspected that Gao Gong was colluding with Yan Maoqing, a small incident that occurred after arriving at Fengzhou Beach made him change his opinion of Gao Gong slightly.

After all, not everyone who comes to the Tartar territory has the courage to step forward and stop them when they see the Tartars beating and capturing Han Chinese civilians.

As a result, Gao Gong's hands bear whip marks that are still bleeding today.

If he hadn't been the envoy on this trip, he would probably be a mangled corpse by now.

Even if such a person is bad, how bad can they be?
So what exactly is he doing? What does that look mean? And what is he trying to say but can't bring himself to say?

Could there be another hidden story behind this?
Shen Lian finally hesitated for a moment and temporarily put down the wine bottle, which earned him Gao Gong's gaze change from pleading to gratitude.

……

at the same time.

Anda and the other Tatar leaders were already beaming with ecstasy, their eyes gleaming with an irrepressible greed, as if they were looking at Gollum from The Ring.

They exchanged a quick glance, and Anda immediately forced himself to remain outwardly calm, then said with a stern face:
"If what you say is true, then 200,000 taels of silver is indeed not much... Now you can tell me about this coal mine. After I verify it, I will not shortchange you a single tael of silver."

"Not urgent."

Yan Maoqing laughed, and said unhurriedly,
“The coal mine is right there, and Altan Khan can order people to mine it at any time. The key to turning the mined coal into wealth is finding a market for it. I think Altan Khan should finalize this issue first.”

"what for?"

Influenced by his childhood environment, Anda's era and cognitive limitations were even greater than Shen Lian's, and he didn't understand what was being said for a moment.

"Let me be frank. To the north of the Tatars is a desolate wasteland, to the west is the sparsely populated Western Regions, and to the east is the Jurchens who live in dense forests. The Tatars themselves have enough cow dung for their own use, so once the coal is mined, the Ming Dynasty will be the only market for it."

Yan Maoqing went straight to the map, gestured on it for a while, and then turned to me and answered,

“The key to this plan is to establish a tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty, and only I and the important figures behind me can facilitate this.”

"So... as I just said, I'm not afraid of you defaulting on your debts. All I need is for you to cooperate with us, both internally and externally, so that we can successfully establish a tribute system."

"Cooperation? How do we cooperate?"

One of the leaders couldn't help but stand up and ask.

"three things."

Yan Maoqing held up three fingers and said clearly and logically,
"First, release all the Ming civilians previously captured;" "Second, all officials and officers who previously betrayed the Ming and sided with the Tatars shall be beheaded, and their heads sent to the capital."

Thirdly, return the Hetao region to its former glory!

"Because you went south to plunder Shuozhou and Shizhou a few days ago, the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty intends to send troops to recover the Tao. I suppose you have heard about this. If you haven't heard about it, you can send someone to inquire immediately. The difficulty of paying tribute is not what it used to be."

"Only if you show sufficient sincerity first, and then we mediate and smooth things over, will we be able to move the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and make him waver in his determination to send troops to recover the Ordos region, thus facilitating the establishment of tributary relations in one fell swoop."

"Otherwise, once the Ming emperor truly sends troops to retake the Tao, the two countries will be at each other's throats."

"Whether it's you, us, or the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty, we will all be caught up in the escalating national and personal hatred within the court and among the people, making it even more difficult to facilitate the establishment of tributary relations!"

"???"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian finally realized that things were not going in the right direction.

The person who makes these three demands doesn't seem like someone who would betray their country for personal gain.

If Yan Maoqing is lucky enough to make these things happen... please give the Ming Dynasty more of these corrupt officials!
Two hundred thousand taels of silver—if he weren't short of money, he could easily pay that amount for the Tartars. The problem is, would the Tartars really agree to that?

really.

"impossible!"

A Tatar leader immediately shouted,
"The first two things are easy to handle, but returning the Hetao region is absolutely impossible. The Hetao region is not in our hands at all now, so how can we return it?"

Another Tatar leader rose and added:
“That’s right. The Right Wing 30,000 households are under the command of Ji Nang Khan. The Hetao region was given to the Yongshebu 10,000 households by Ji Nang Khan. It has nothing to do with our Tumed 10,000 households. How can we return what doesn’t belong to us?”

"Forgive my bluntness, but with this coal mine and the opening of the tribute route, the Tumed Ten Thousand Households will surely rise to prominence in a short time and quickly dominate the desert."

Yan Maoqing smiled and said,
"Therefore, the Hetao region will surely fall into Altan Khan's hands in the future."

"Therefore, all that is needed for this third matter is for Anda Khan to agree and send a hostage with a letter of state to appease the Ming emperor. We will handle the rest ourselves."

"???"

Shen Lian was stunned again, his mind buzzing.

Why did they change their tune and offer hostages to the Tatars after failing to secure land?

This guy is a business genius; everything he does is intricately linked.

He chose the imperial examination instead of going into business; otherwise, he probably would have become a very wealthy merchant anywhere.

But this is probably where his true intelligence lies!
Once you have official rank and title, wouldn't it be easier to make money in business? Just like this time, how could you so easily earn 200,000 taels of silver in one go?

"!!!"

Gao Gong felt as if a huge, constantly echoing bell was inside his heart, causing his scalp to tingle.

Even now, everything Yan Maoqing has done is largely consistent with the ingenious plan he was told about back then.

However, Yan Maoqing did not mention these details.

Therefore, Gao Gong felt inexplicably fortunate, fortunate that he had previously leaked this ingenious plan to the emperor, and fortunate that Yan Maoqing was forced to come and handle this matter personally.

If he were to handle it himself...

I'm afraid this ingenious plan will only proceed step by step, and it will never be able to achieve what Yan Maoqing is doing now, wanting both and doing every detail to the extreme.

At this moment, he finally realized it too late.

Yan Maoqing had already foreseen this day when he deliberately leaked the "Futao" matter to the Datong military officers!

He came empty-handed, yet he had everyone, including the current emperor, in his schemes, creating a trump card in the void that allowed him to demand an exorbitant amount.

What's most terrifying is that even this trump card created out of thin air is not just empty talk.

He was equally serious about the "double-set" strategy and was determined to succeed!
This is fucking art!

Art that is both pleasing to the eye and makes one feel ashamed of their own shortcomings!
(End of this chapter)