I

Fei Ruhe returned to Beijing to report on his duties, accompanied by three hundred soldiers.

After several years, Fei Ruhe felt quite moved when he once again experienced the wealth and prosperity of the south.

He had been stationed in Datong before. Although people's livelihood was rapidly recovering, the population was still too sparse compared with the areas south of the Yellow River. After all, Shanxi experienced a ten-year drought and was repeatedly ravaged by northwest bandits, Ming officers and soldiers, and Manchu Tatars.

Hearing that Xu Ying was in charge of Jiangsu, Fei Ruhe stopped in Yangzhou.

The escort troops were not allowed to enter the city at will, and the soldiers were left stationed outside the city. Fei Ruhe only entered the city with a few personal guards.

Xu Ying heard that Fei Ruhe was coming and quickly went to greet him. The two met on the street.

"Haha, Lao Xu, you have become a feudal official." Fei Ruhe laughed before he even got closer.

Xu Ying smiled and said jokingly: "You are a general who leads troops. On the way to report on your duties, you have a private meeting with a provincial chief official. You will be impeached if you tell me beforehand."

"If you want to impeach, go ahead and impeach me. I can't even come to see my old friend?" Fei Ruhe didn't care about this.

This guy has been in Shanxi for several years. He is an absolute local emperor, and local officials treat him as an ancestor. His temper must have grown, and he was not afraid of anything. He even wrote a letter asking one of his clan brothers to go to the Shanxi border to do fur business.

A violation, but not illegal.

He did not use his soldiers to do business and paid taxes normally. But his clan brother's business could prosper largely because of Fei Ruhe's power.

This is very similar to Gan Tangshu letting his in-laws do business. The difference is that Gan Tangshu also had illegal operations.

For example, he colluded with the Jiangsu Salt Affairs Department to bankrupt a Shanxi salt merchant, and then transferred the Shanxi salt merchant's salt selling license to his in-laws at a super low price (there are quotas for salt industry licenses in each province, and additional licenses require approval from the Ministry of Commerce, Cabinet signature). Moreover, his in-laws did not have a transportation fleet, so it was impossible to meet the salt transportation qualifications. In the beginning, they had to hire external transportation teams.

Fei Ruhe was much smarter. He didn't touch the salt administration or the land administration. He just let his clan brothers traffic in fur goods.

Don’t underestimate the leather goods trade, it’s very profitable!

In the future, high-end furs will be considered luxury goods. In particular, commoners were prohibited from enjoying sable, sea otter, lynx and other furs, and the Ming court reiterated the ban four times. It was not until the Longqing period that due to the tribute paid by Anda, the number of leather goods from the grasslands increased and the price dropped slightly. However, the Tatar rebellion caused the price of leather to skyrocket.

Even though the trade routes between Mongolia and Northeast China are now open and the price of fur goods continues to drop, if you want to buy a piece of sable skin in Nanjing, the price will be at least three hundred taels. A sable fur in excellent condition can easily cost upwards of 500 taels, and it is possible to sell it for thousands of taels of silver, and even if you have the money, you may not be able to buy it.

The bulk of the fur trade is still dominated by sheepskins, and the catch of precious furs is too small.

In order to fill the market gap for high-end goods, many Mongolian tribes racked their brains and focused on the most ferocious cat in the world - the rabbit cat.

In recent years, the price of rabbit fur has also been skyrocketed, with prices starting at at least two hundred taels of silver when shipped to Nanjing.

In addition, the fur trade is also very prosperous in Taiwan Island and Hainan Island. Taiwan’s sika deer and Qiongzhou Eld’s deer are hunted in large numbers. In later generations, this was an act of ecological destruction, but today it is conducive to border development.

For example, before the Heilongjiang Dusi was actually established, the first people to respond were merchants. Because the most precious furs can be obtained in the Heilongjiang and Songhua River basins, and both sable and sea otter skins come from there. Well-informed businessmen have already gathered in Liaoning, just waiting to follow the army to Harbin to open a trading post.

All the way to the back house of the Chief Secretary's Yamen, Fei Ruhe asked someone to get a gift: "This is an agate (rabbit) fur, for my younger siblings."

Xu Ying glanced at it. This fur was extremely exquisite. It required at least three pieces of rabbit skin to make it. The labor cost was not cheap. The price in the south must have exceeded one thousand taels. He quickly waved his hand and said, "The gift is too expensive, I can't accept it."

Fei Ruhe said with a smile: "Before I arrived in Yangzhou, I heard that you had become a Jiangsu official butcher. Are you afraid? When I return to Nanjing, I will give His Majesty a gift list, including the gifts and the Let His Majesty see all of them in person. Don’t worry, I won’t cause you any trouble. Can’t we give gifts to old friends when we meet?”

Xu Ying still shook her head: "I accept the kindness, but I cannot accept the gift."

"You people are so boring!"

Fei Ruhe muttered, not treating himself as an outsider, and walked into the living room and sat down.

Xu Ying personally made tea for Fei Ruhe and asked, "Is the situation outside the Great Wall unstable?"

Fei Ruhe said: "There is nothing here in Shanxi. Li Zicheng is fighting with various tribes. Across the Gobi Desert, the Khalkha Mongols in Mobei cannot fight. The northern grasslands of Hebei and Liaoning are tentatively called Modong Mongolia. Today But it’s very lively, the Khalkha Mongols are coming.”

"The Mobei Mongols actually have the strength to move south?" Xu Ying was quite surprised.

Fei Ruhe said: "The Mongolian tribes in Monan and Modong were divided and ruled by the Manchu Tatars. Now they have been fighting against each other for many years. They have long been sparsely populated and exhausted. However, the Khalkha Mongolia in Mobei have never been affected by it. Tatar control. The seven Khalkha tribes were originally headed by the Tuxietu tribe, and the Chechen tribe suffered heavy losses from the Tatars. Tuxietu Khan Gonbu took the opportunity to annex the Chechen tribe and surrendered the other six tribes by force. Unify Mobei. After that, Gonbu expanded toward the east and south."

"To the east, Gunbu annexed Alhorqin (Hulunbuir area)."

"To the south, the Bahrain tribe has been annexed, and the Zalut tribe is also under attack. The Zalut Mongolia have been fighting with Horqin. Under the attack from both sides, they simply surrendered to Gunbu."

Mobei Mongolia can be roughly understood as the Outer Mongolia region.

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the left wing of the Khalkha Mongolia moved south to the Xilamulun River Basin in the Greater Khingan Mountains, and was known as the "Five Inner Khalkha Tribes". After years of fighting, only Bahrain and Zarut are left. Among them, Bahrain’s territory reaches as far south as Chifeng, already bordering Datong China. As for the territory of Zharut Mongolia, the southernmost part is adjacent to Tongliao and borders Horqin Mongolia.

During the Jiajing period, the Khalkha right wing that stayed in Mobei gradually unified the entire Outer Mongolia region. And divided it among the seven sons to govern, called the "Seven Tribes of Outer Khalkha".

Now, the leader of the seven tribes of Outer Khalkha, Tushetu Khan Gonbu, took advantage of the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the Datong army had not yet moved north, and began to expand crazily. With only two tribes left, the Inner Kalkha Mongols were already besieged by other tribes, so they simply turned around and took refuge under Gunbu's command. Anyway, they were one family a hundred years ago.

Fei Ruhe continued: "Gun Bu was still a little afraid of trouble, so he took the initiative to send the envoy south and asked for the canonization of Emperor Datong. But halfway through the envoy, Gun Bu fell ill and died on the way to conquer Nenhorqin. His son Chahunduo Erji succeeded to the throne and proclaimed himself 'Waqi Laitu Shetu Khan with both faith and strength'. He threatened to avenge his father and said that he would be the Great Khan of all Mongolia."

"Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers." Xu Ying commented.

Although the old Khan of Khalkha Mongolia, Gunbu, was expanding aggressively, he still knew fear in his heart. When he was about to border China, he immediately sent an envoy to request canonization.

But this new Khan, Chahun Dorji, is just a fool. He doesn't take China seriously at all, and even directly shouted that he would be the Great Khan of all Mongolia. Just based on this slogan, China must send troops to fight!

But then again, the new Khan of Khalkha, Chahu Dorji, is indeed very capable in terms of military capabilities.

Historically, among Kangxi's many sons, only one had a Mongolian name. The name was chosen by Da Yu'er himself, Aixinjueluo Saiyinchahun. Saiyin is the religious name of Chahu Dorji, and Chahun comes directly from the name of Chahu Dorji. Dayu'er did this for two reasons. One was to hope that his grandson could be as strong as Chahun Dorji, and the other was to remind Kangxi to be wary of Chahun Dorji's expansion.

Fei Ruhe said: "The purpose of my return to Beijing to report on my duties is to discuss the use of troops on the grassland. Not only do we have to fight, but we also have to recruit various ministries, and we need to send many envoys north."

The expansion of the Khalkha Mongolia was stuck at the line of Yinshan Mountain in the west, and it was almost reaching Chifeng and Tongliao in the east. No matter what, the court cannot sit idly by.

Fei Ruhe added: "This Khalkha Mongolia is also colluding with the Rakshasa ghost, and Tuxie Tuhan has a dragoon bodyguard beside him!"

"This deserves a heavy blow!" Xu Ying said.

Actually, it's not that serious.

Khalkha Mongolia and Russia had been in contact more than 20 years ago. The relationship between the two parties is very complicated. On the one hand, business exchanges continue to deepen, and on the other hand, territorial disputes become increasingly serious. Buryat Mongolia, whose land was occupied by the Cossacks, was a subsidiary force of Khalkha Mongolia.

The Russians, who are expanding eastward, have purchased a large number of furs and war horses from Khalkha Mongolia, and have become the largest foreign trade partner of Khalkha Mongolia. At the same time, muskets and gunpowder were sold to the Khalkha Mongols. They even sold a few small cannons, the kind mounted on Cossack ships, with barrels as thick as calves.

After chatting about military affairs for a while, Fei Ruhe added, "My two boys were all eliminated by the Imperial City School. Where are yours?"

Xu Ying said: "A son and a daughter, both studying at the Imperial City School."

"Damn it, comparing people to each other is so annoying!" Fei Ruhe said angrily.

Xu Ying advised: "Don't worry, my daughter is about to be eliminated. The Imperial City School is full of prodigies, so it's normal to not be able to compete."

Fei Ruhe suddenly laughed again: "Hey, Zhang Tieniu's children are worse than mine. It's not a shame for me to have him at the bottom. I can still tease him next time we meet."

Xu Ying suddenly came to her senses: "If we recruit all the grassland tribes and attack the Khalkha Mongolia together, do we need to recruit Li Zicheng as well?"

"That depends on what Your Majesty wants," Fei Ruhe said. "It has been many years and everything has faded away. It is not easy to have a Han force in the Hetao. In my opinion, it is better to appease them."