As winter approaches, countless herdsmen drive their cattle and sheep to their winter dens to spend the winter.

Herdsmen will leave a piece of leeward pasture for grazing every year. When winter comes, herdsmen will drive their cattle and sheep here. The leeward here is slightly warmer than other places, and the grassland under the snow is also

It can keep the animals full. This is a secret passed down from Mongolian ancestors to deal with the cold climate of the Mongolian plateau.

This is how generations of Mongolians have survived one cold winter after another.

Khalkha Mongolia has gradually become prosperous since it was unified by Geritu Khan of the Qiyan tribe. Countless herdsmen continue to traffic illicit salt to the west, as well as various good things produced in the Ming Dynasty.

Today's Khalkha Mongolia is far less poor than it was ten years ago. Every household has enough food, cattle and sheep for the winter, and every felt bag in the winter nest is filled with laughter and laughter.

When life is better, no one cares about robbery. In the past, when there was a white-haired storm on the grassland, or when the year was bad, the leaders of the tribe would always bring the most fierce warriors to go there.

The Han people came back to steal grain and livestock from their territory, and even many Han women came back.

On the grassland, women belong to the owner's property just like cattle and sheep.

Now there is no need to fight anymore. If you have food, drink and wine, who the hell is willing to fight? Although the Han army is not good, people will always die in war. Every year, there are warriors who cross the Great Wall and never come back.

To the grassland where he was born and raised.

When the Khalkha herdsmen were hiding in felt bags to avoid the severe cold, they did not know that a disaster was quietly approaching them.

In the first month, when the ice and snow on the grasslands were frozen the hardest, hundreds of thousands of Jungar Mongolian cavalry suddenly crossed the Hangai Mountains on the border of Chuanting and launched an attack on the Khalkha tribe.

Baturhun's surprise attack caused Gritu heavy losses. The Khalkha army that hurriedly assembled fought fiercely with Baturhun three times in a month. As a result, Gritu was defeated in all three battles. The helpless Gritu could only

He was able to retreat to Liaodong with his remaining troops. At the same time, he went to the capital in person to request Li Xiao's assistance.

The Jungar Mongolian army followed them to Liaodong, but ended up running into Ao Ye's open pocket at Zhangwu. The 3,000 forwards pursuing Khalkha were shot and shelled by Ao Ye, leaving only more than 500 people.

The people fled back. As a result, the Jungar Mongolian tribes no longer dared to attack the Ming Dynasty territory. They only stationed troops in the Khalkha grassland to confront the remnants of Geritu and the Ming army.

"Where is my brother?" Geritu came to the capital for three days before meeting Zhang Huangyan. He immediately asked Li Xiao's whereabouts urgently. He knew that only Li Xiao could help him with this matter.

"The Marshal went to Guangzhou, and it is estimated that it will take half a year to come back. Maybe the leader of Geritu has also heard that the people in Java have killed tens of thousands of our people in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty will definitely not let go of this hatred, and now in Guangzhou

The navy is preparing for an expedition. You know the commander's temper. He will do everything before the expedition.

Once the police warning comes from Nanyang again, I estimate that my commander-in-chief will personally sail the boat and kill those courageous bandits. If this is the case, I probably won’t be able to come back for a year and a half." Zhang Huangyan looked at Geritu with a smile.

.

Geritu felt sweat oozing from his forehead. Li Xiao was the only one who could speak in the capital. The remaining figures like Ao Canghai and Man Gui would only send troops when Zhungeer invaded the Ming Dynasty.

.After all, these two are just generals leading troops, not the core figures of the Ming Dynasty's decision-making.

"Mr. Zhang, can you recommend Mr. Sun?" Helpless Geritu could only choose Sun Chengzong, because he knew that when Li Xiao was absent, Sun Chengzong usually made the decision. Visiting Mr. Sun was far more like visiting the memorial tablet.

The emperor Zhu Yihai is meaningful.

"Mr. Sun is ill and did not attend the New Year's group gatherings. Now that Mr. Sun is no longer in charge, all matters are handled by the officials of various ministries. The medical officer means that Mr. Sun should rest and not be visited, let alone the leader of Geritu.

Even I rarely see him once." Zhang Huangyan rejected Geritu with a smile, not even leaving a crack in the door for him.

"No matter what, please Mr. Zhang, for the sake of my friendship with the commander, help me in the Khalkha tribe. My tribe and people were all taken away by Zhungar, and now there are only 20,000 remnants hiding at the foot of the Great Wall.

If I am eliminated, the Jungar people will definitely attack the Ming Dynasty. To them, the Ming Dynasty is far richer than my Khalkha tribe." Geritu knew that talking about friendship with an old fox of Zhang Huangyan's level,

What a waste of spit.

This kind of sophisticated person can only talk about interests and will never talk about friendship with you. What's more, there is no friendship between the two.

"I understand what Chief Geritu said, but I can't help it. After all, this is a matter between countries. If I help the leader too much, I will be stabbed in the back. But after all, you and my commander are old acquaintances.

I will definitely help you in this situation.

These are several agreements that indicate the supplies that your grassland will provide to our Ming Dynasty. If you want to exchange for our Ming Dynasty to send troops, you must provide sufficient supplies in accordance with the treaty. After all, our expedition is also wasteful.

Chief, please understand me, it is not easy for me to sit in this position." Zhang Huangyan put the documents translated by a Mongolian translator in front of Geritu's desk.

Every year, the grassland supplies 20,000 war horses to the imperial court at low prices!

There is no problem with this. The most important thing for Mongolians is horses. Any foal caught on the Mongolian grassland is a good horse to the Han people.

The grassland is sold to the imperial court every year, with 150,000 kilograms of wool!

Geritu was a little surprised. Why do the Han people want wool? Why do they need money to buy it! Are these Han people crazy?

I agreed to this one, that is, the matter of gathering wool is not a big deal. Every family herds sheep, and I don’t know how much wool will be blown away by the wind every year. Since the Han people want to buy it, they can sell it. It can still bring some profit.

This should be a good deal.

This time, they were raided by Baturhun of Jungar and lost countless wealth and people. I don’t know how much wool was stolen!

Coal mines and other mineral deposits can be explored in the Mongolian grasslands and mined for free.

Are there coal mines on the grassland? Geritu only knows a few small coal mines, but has never heard of large coal mines like the ones mentioned by the Ming Dynasty. But since the Han people want coal, then give them coal. What is burned on the grassland is cow dung.

, few can afford to burn wood and coal.

"Chief Geritu, the Ming Dynasty will give you a 20% share of this mining project. It's for you personally, not for the Khalkha tribe." Zhang Huangyan looked at Geritu with a smile.

"Oh! There is no problem with these conditions. I agree to them all." Geritu was a little dizzy. In his opinion, Zhang Huangyan's conditions were not conditions, but simply preferential policies.

What's more, Daming also thoughtfully gave himself two percent of the money. What a good man! You have to agree to whatever this condition says. If you don't agree, you will be a fool.

"Okay, if there is a leader of Geritu, it will be easier for me to operate. Please ask the leader to sign these agreements. After I discuss it with other cabinet ministers, I will give a further reply to the leader. Others dare not say anything, so support the leader.

There is still no problem with the guns." Zhang Huangyan smiled, fooling poor Geritu like a wolf grandma.

Geritu didn't know that among these three conditions, the first two were considered a fair deal. The third one was simply scraping the bones of the Mongols!

When the Ming Dynasty's prospecting and mining teams rushed to Mongolia to exploit Mongolia's underground resources, the Mongolian people received nothing, and only the Geritu family received 20% of the dividends.

Of course, the dividends are not given in vain. The Geritu family must ensure the safety of these prospecting and mining teams. There is never a free lunch in this world. The Mongolians do not understand the trade principle of equal exchange, but the Geritu family
Chapter completed!