Chapter 206 Zhu Di’s Reassurance

Zhu Di heard Xu Qin say that he wanted to solve the problem completely. Although he only said that he wanted to find a way to solve it completely, Zhu Di heard hope. Zhu Di knew Xu Qin, so if he said it could be solved, then it could be solved.

Yao Guangxiao, who had just come in, was also staring at Xu Qin, and did not dare to speak to disturb him.

Zhu Di immediately stared at Xu Qin and said, “Apart from fighting, how else can we solve this problem?”

“There are many ways. They only raise cattle, sheep and horses on the grassland. Their economy is single. It’s very easy to deal with them.” Xu Qin said nonchalantly while standing in front of the sand table.

Zhu Di was very excited when he heard this. He immediately stared at Xu Qin and said, “Then tell me, how do we deal with them?”

“As I said just now, their economy is very single-minded. We just need to destroy them. We can even make sure that the cattle, sheep and horses they raise cannot keep up with the consumption.

For example, when we sell goods to them, we should not sell them iron and copper, but we must sell them salt and tea at high prices. Also, daily consumables, such as porcelain, glass, and other things we consume in our daily lives, should be sold to them at high prices.

Moreover, when doing business with the grassland, you can only sell at high prices, not low prices. For example, a mirror costs ten taels of silver. Just imagine, that would require several sheep.

All we need to make a mirror is stone, but it takes a year to raise sheep. If people on the grassland all use our mirrors, how many sheep will we need to exchange for them? Salt, tea, porcelain, etc. are all expensive.

First, a tax collection department is set up at the checkpoint, so all goods sold to the grassland are taxed at double the price. For example, if a mirror costs ten taels of silver and you want to sell it to the grassland, you will first collect ten taels of silver. If the merchant sends it to the grassland, the cost is twenty taels of silver, plus the risk is high on the grassland, so if it is not sold at thirty taels, you will lose money.

As for salt, we charge a certain amount of money per pound in China, but we have to pay taxes before exporting it. Our salt and tea are necessities for them, but our sheep and cattle are not necessities for them.
Therefore, we can use this method to slowly consume the resources of the grassland, leaving them with no money to fight.

Also, if we want to defeat them, we need to take away their houses and everything we can every time we go out to fight. We must burn down anything we can’t take away and leave nothing for them. As for the cattle, sheep, and horses, if we can’t take them away, we also need to kill them.

Only in this way can we defeat them completely.

Of course, there are other ways. For example, organizing a small group of troops to launch surprise attacks every year, carrying three months’ worth of food, and letting them fight on the grassland for a year, robbing whatever they see and killing any living creatures they see. They would set out in the spring and return before winter. As long as anyone could come back alive, they would be promoted two levels.

In this way, the generals of our Ming Dynasty will become more and more familiar with the terrain of the grassland, and they have been through many battles, so they will have an advantage when they want to attack his cavalry in the future.

In a word, we will suppress the nomadic peoples on the grassland from all aspects. In the future, they will not come to invade our borders, but we will attack them from time to time. Each time, we will send out ten thousand households to attack, and we will not fight a decisive battle with the people of the grassland.

Fight if you can win, run if you can’t win, never fight to the end! “Xu Qin stood there, staring at the sand table and said with a smile, to deal with those cavalry on the grassland, you need to be prepared for a long-term battle and execute it for a long time. In this way, the grassland will be harassed every day, and they will not be able to produce steadily.

“Good idea!” Zhu Di stared at Xu Qin and said excitedly.

Yao Guangxiao stroked his beard and nodded, saying, “First, make sure they have no money to fight, and then find a way to force them into a decisive battle.”

“I won’t fight a decisive battle with them. What about a decisive battle? I will kill them, and then they will come to fight us. I dare say that if we send out ten troops to harass them every year, the herdsmen who are 600 miles away from our defense line will not even dare to come here to graze. In this way, we can establish our intelligence network within this 600 miles and keep an eye on the movements of the grassland cavalry.” Xu Qin said proudly while standing there.

“That’s right. If they can’t win, they can come back at any time. Besides, six hundred miles is enough for them to reach the destination in three days if they run fast. Each of them can take two horses and attack quickly, and run away after the battle.” Zhu Di nodded and said in agreement.

“Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore, and let’s do the deduction. This battle will not be easy. It will be difficult to completely annihilate them, but it is probably possible to severely injure them. However, the casualties of our Ming army are estimated to be very heavy.” Xu Qin said worriedly.

The Ming army was mainly composed of infantry, with very few cavalry. The actual number of cavalry that could be mobilized was estimated to be around 80,000. It was impossible to mobilize all of them to the grassland to fight, so it would be good if 30,000 cavalry could be mobilized.

“Well, you try it. I also want to see how capable you are.” Zhu Di looked at Xu Qin expectantly. He now knew more and more about Xu Qin’s abilities and hoped to see more of them.

Next, Xu Qin began to give orders. Since 500,000 troops were mobilized for Xu Qin, including 30,000 cavalry, 170,000 infantry, and the rest were civilian laborers, after all, it would not be enough to transport food and grass for so many troops without so many civilian laborers.

Moreover, the main thing to pay attention to when fighting a war is the consumption of food and grass, which is a huge amount. Xu Qin took steady steps at the beginning, but he still sent out small forces to launch sneak attacks and gather intelligence in various directions. The Tatars did not dare to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army!
Zhu Di tried several times to find Xu Qin’s weakness, but he couldn’t. Xu Qin just advanced towards those important grasslands, killing people all the way. Although he didn’t kill many enemies, he killed a large number of herdsmen and livestock. In short, he left no one alive wherever he went.

Although not many enemies were killed in this battle, only 30,000 people, it can be said that hundreds of thousands of grassland livestock were killed. It was a catastrophe for the herdsmen and a huge loss for the Tatars.

Soon, the operation was about to end, and Xu Qin began to command his troops to retreat. The Tatars still wanted to launch a surprise attack, but after being ambushed twice by Xu Qin, Zhu Di did not dare to act rashly. After two ambushes, more than 40,000 Tatar cavalrymen under Zhu Di’s command were killed, which surprised Zhu Di very much.

When Xu Qin led his troops back to the Ming defense line, Zhu Di sighed and said, “Boy, you are so steady in fighting. You didn’t reveal any flaws. Even I couldn’t find you. You even set an ambush when you retreated.”

Yao Guangxiao stroked his beard and smiled as he said, “Marquis of Haozhou, you are now just one step away from commanding the battle at the front. I guess if you follow His Majesty on one or two expeditions, you will be able to command independently.”

“I’m not going. What a joke. I’m going to fight? My family has so much money, why should I go to fight? I’ll wait until I have a few more sons. Besides, instead of fighting the Tatars, it’s better to make money from them first and then fight them. If we force an attack now, we won’t gain any advantage. If we are not careful, we will suffer.” Xu Qin said with great disdain when he heard it.

“I will give you three years. If you give birth to seven or eight sons, you can go to war with me.” Zhu Di said to Xu Qin with a smile.

“What the hell, giving birth to seven or eight sons in three years? Oh my god, do you want to tire me to death?” Xu Qin said to Zhu Di in shock.

“It’s settled.” Zhu Di waved his hand and said.

“Hehe!” Xu Qin didn’t care at all. It was up to him whether to have a baby or not. If he didn’t want to have one, what was the use of Zhu Di’s words? Besides, he hadn’t gotten married yet, and his wife hadn’t entered the house yet. If he dared to mess around with his concubine, he would be beaten to death by his wife.

Zhu Di didn’t care about Xu Qin’s behavior. Zhu Di just thought that he should keep this guy with him because he had ideas. With him around, he could always find him if he had any problems.

“Well, that’s enough. You go and write down later how to consume the materials on the grassland. For example, the export of materials to the grassland, all needs to be written clearly. Hand it to me when the time comes.” Zhu Di said to Xu Qin, and at the same time he walked to the table next to him. Immediately, a eunuch poured tea for Zhu Di.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di in shock and said, “I’ll write it. I’m going back now. I’ve packed all my things.”

“Can you go back? Okay, okay, stay here with me for a few days. As for the matters of your two uncles, well, someone come here!” Zhu Di didn’t want Xu Qin to go back. If he went back, he would definitely cause trouble for himself.

Moreover, by keeping Xu Qin here, he could chat with Xu Qin whenever he had time and discover more of Xu Qin’s abilities.

Soon, a eunuch came in and saluted Zhu Di.

“Notify the third brother and the Ministry of Personnel to release Xu Qin’s two uncles. Also, promote him to the position of Tongzhi of Yingtian Prefecture.” Zhu Di said to the eunuch.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The eunuch immediately bowed and went out.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Xu Qin felt much more relieved. As long as his two uncles were fine, he didn’t care if they wanted to drag him into the water. If he went back, he would definitely deal with them. But now Zhu Di wouldn’t let him, so he would just take a rest. Anyway, his two uncles were promoted.

“Well, write it clearly and think more about it. Help me clean up the grassland. I have two concerns. One is the grassland and the other is the Japanese pirates. I guess you will be able to deal with the Japanese pirates when the time comes. Don’t be in a hurry. Deal with the Tatars first. They are the biggest concern of my Ming Dynasty.” Zhu Di said with a smile.

In fact, he is not as worried as before because of Xu Qin. Xu Qin’s simulation and the sand table he made have given Zhu Di full confidence in future battles on the grassland. Even if he cannot conquer it in his lifetime, Xu Qin can help the prince conquer it.

“Shakyabao, after returning to Beijing, you have to make a sand table for me of the entire defense line of our Ming Dynasty, as well as a sand table where we can explore the grassland.” Zhu Di took a sip of tea and said to Xu Qin.

“What the hell? I’m going to help you play in the mud. I don’t want to do that. I’m busy.” Xu Qin objected immediately. You must be kidding. Who would like to do this? He might as well just lie at home.

(End of this chapter)