Chapter 131: A Nation in Poverty and Distress

After careful consideration, the commercial department concluded that, apart from the highly coveted Hongyi cannons, perhaps only armor could truly move Huang Taiji to sell his kidneys.

Ming dynasty notes mention that the blacksmith shops outside Shenyang stretched for several li, all dedicated to manufacturing armor and weapons for the army. The armor had to undergo arrow tests, and if it was penetrated, the artisan who made it would be killed. Although the Yuanlao were skeptical about the universality of this practice, it was a fact that the Later Jin had strict quality requirements for their weapons.

Obviously, although the industrial system under the control of the Yuanlao Senate was primitive by modern or even early modern standards, it had an incomparable advantage in quality and cost in the 17th century. It was no problem to produce armor that was more protective, lighter, and cheaper than that of the Manchu Qing.

Broadly speaking, the armor the Yuanlao Senate prepared to export was a type of plate armor made by a stamping process, with movable joints. This type of armor could be manufactured in ancient society, but due to limitations in material performance and processing methods, it required skilled craftsmen to spend a large amount of man-hours to manufacture, resulting in high costs and limited equipment range.

The Yuanlao Senate’s industrial system had advantages in both materials and production. Continuous stamping technology could mass-produce standardized armor plates, which could then be mass-produced into finished products with simple manual assembly. Moreover, the improvement in steel quality meant that the armor plates themselves did not need to be too thick, making the armor lighter. And its protective performance was better than all the various types of armor currently equipped by both the Ming and Qing sides.

The arms trade has been a black-hearted business with huge profits since ancient times. The Yuanlao Senate had always wanted to be the arms dealer of the 17th century. At first, they considered exporting a cannon factory to Li Luoyou, but this was killed off by some in the Yuanlao Senate who questioned the “export of productivity and technology.” Thus, arms exports were limited to finished products, and they had to be products with a generational difference.

The standard long spear, cutlass, half-plate armor, and Nanyang-style caplock smoothbore rifle were all products of this guiding ideology. As for smoothbore cannons, there was currently a lot of controversy, and they had not yet been listed in the export catalog.

Originally, the Yuanlao Senate intended to use Li Luoyou as a white glove, but long-term observation led the Foreign Intelligence Bureau to the conclusion that although this person smuggled goods with the Manchu Qing and made a lot of ill-gotten gains, he would never do something like selling arms.

Everyone has their own feelings and bottom line. Li Luoyou was probably that kind of person. Although his smuggling of goods for the Manchu Qing was essentially aiding the enemy, he had to have something to console himself with, otherwise it would be difficult to face his own “conscience.”

Li Luoyou’s non-cooperation forced the Yuanlao Senate to send Huang Hua to the front line himself.

Huang Hua’s mission was very dangerous, so dangerous that many Yuanlao questioned whether he could return if he went, and whether it was necessary to send a Yuanlao to take such a big risk for trade with the Later Jin. But Huang Hua himself repeatedly stated at the hearing that this was his personal wish, that he was willing to take this risk, and that he would not hesitate even if it cost him his life.

“Besides, even in war, envoys are not killed. I am a merchant bringing them urgently needed goods. Why would they kill me?” Huang Hua was full of confidence.

Even so, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau was still very worried about his first mission. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau had considered him going to Shenyang on his own with a merchant group purely as a “merchant.” But considering that most of the Manchu officials in the Later Jin were from humble origins, proud of their ferocity and barbarism, and because they had lived too hard in the past, they were all very greedy. Historically, when the Korean crown prince was a hostage in Shenyang, he was constantly extorted by Manchu officials and their bondservants, which made the Li Dynasty miserable. Every time the Manchu Qing mission and merchant group went to Korea for mutual trade, their actions on the way were no different from bandits, so much so that the Li Dynasty had to exempt the five cities along the way from taxes as compensation for the local officials and people. If not for the somewhat visionary ruler Huang Taiji, who had some constraints, they would have done anything without a bottom line.

Even if Huang Taiji and other high-level officials of the Manchu Qing could realize the importance of Huang Hua, the possibility of crude middle and lower-level officials and nobles killing and robbing the merchant group for their wealth still existed. Therefore, the final decision was to adopt a “government-to-government” model for trade, rather than directly sending a merchant group.

Since the new spring, Huang Taiji had been staying in Shengjing to handle political affairs, instead of going on hunting expeditions. For the Manchu Qing regime, hunting was not only a pastime for the upper class, or a more glorious “training of soldiers,” but also an important source of national economic income. The large amount of meat and fur obtained from hunting was indispensable for the Later Jin.

He was born in 1592 and was in his middle age at this time. Although he had begun to gain weight, he was strong and energetic, with a ruddy complexion and bright eyes. His career was entering a prosperous stage.

When Huang Taiji inherited the throne, the Later Jin regime was actually already in decline. Its economy relied mainly on plunder, and the large-scale historical regression to a slave-owning manor system, coupled with the severe cold of the Little Ice Age, had caused agricultural production to plummet. The upper class was engaged in serious infighting, and the middle and lower classes were dissatisfied because they could not get a satisfactory distribution of spoils of war. Even the armored men who died in battle only received a few blood-stained clothes stripped from the dead as compensation. Their morale and combat effectiveness had begun to decline. Not to mention that the internal conflict between the Manchus and the Han had become unprecedentedly acute under the rule of the old wild boar skin. Even the early Han Chinese traitors who had surrendered to the Qing, such as Li Yongfang and Fan Wencheng, were almost executed, and all Han officials were in a state of panic.

If not for the almost BUG-like Huang Taiji inheriting the Khan’s throne, the future of the Manchu Qing in the history books would most likely have been just a short-lived local regime.

After several years of diligent governance, he had saved the Later Jin regime from the brink of collapse. Although the situation of a poor country and impoverished people had not been fundamentally improved, it was much better than the situation where they had to kill people to reduce the population to maintain the food supply.

His first military expedition into the pass a few years ago had yielded rich returns. Not only had he obtained countless spoils of war and population, which eased the shortage of national resources and the complaints of the Eight Banners soldiers, but he had also figured out the details of the Southern Dynasty. The Great Ming was nothing special! The idea of “restoring the Great Jin and watering the horses at the Yellow River” entered his thoughts for the first time.

In the political infighting of the upper class of the Later Jin, he successfully eliminated the forces of major opponents such as Amin and Manggūltai. Last year, in the first month, he finally changed the old system of sitting on par with the three great Beile to sitting alone facing south, with the other three Beile sitting on the side, truly becoming the supreme ruler.

At this moment, Huang Taiji was at a stage where his life was beginning to enter a glorious phase. Therefore, whether in his actions or in his speech, he showed full confidence and ambition.

However, he still had many problems to face. Externally, although he had seen through the essence of the Southern Dynasty’s outward strength and internal weakness, a centipede dies but never falls down. It would still take time to water the horses at the Yellow River. To the east, although the Dongjiang army was weak after its internal strife, it was still a threat at his side. Korea was also secretly colluding with the Southern Dynasty. To the west, the Chahar Mongols had not yet completely surrendered.

Internally, the shortage of national resources was a lingering shadow that he could not shake off. Although the large-scale manor system was no longer in place and the food production situation had improved somewhat, it was still difficult to produce more grain in the cold and bitter land. The price of grain had always been very high. As the Tianming Khan, he could eat a high-quality dry rice called Liaoyang Green, grown in the various tuokesuo (imperial manors) outside Shengjing City, for every meal. As for the ordinary princes and nobles, they could only enjoy it during festivals. As for the common people of lower status, they not only ate miscellaneous grains, but also ate barnyard grass as food. For this reason, he had to spend a large amount of silver to buy grain from the Shanxi merchants, at a price more than ten times that of the pass. The gold, silver, and treasures plundered from within the pass flowed into the hands of the Shanxi merchants at a rapid speed.

Besides grain, there was a shortage of almost all daily necessities in the country, and prices were soaring. Even the supply of the most basic food items like salt and soy sauce could not be guaranteed. The Jurchens did not know how to make salt. After the supply from within the pass was cut off, they relied entirely on Korean merchants for transportation and sales. The price was not only ridiculously high, but there were also frequent shortages. As a result, being able to eat salt and soy sauce was a sign of being a member of the upper class.

If the national resources could not be solved and the people’s livelihood was difficult, his grand ambitions would be nothing but a mirage in the water. Huang Taiji had been troubled by this recently.

Another plundering expedition into the pass was not a bad idea, but the current situation was still unstable. In addition to external troubles, although Manggūltai had been stripped of the title of “Great Beile” and demoted to the ranks of the various Beile, his family’s power was very strong, and there was always the danger of a comeback…

As he was deep in thought, a memorial from the Ministry of Revenue was delivered.

He opened it and saw that it was a report on the various situations during the recent mutual trade with Korea in Uiju. The mutual trade with Korea was one of the most important economic sources for the Later Jin regime. Not only did the Later Jin rely on Korea for the supply of many goods, but they also needed to obtain good horses from the Mongols through re-exporting Korean goods and trading with them. Therefore, Huang Taiji paid close attention to every mutual trade with Korea and personally inquired about it.

However, Korea was very cold towards mutual trade with the Later Jin. On the one hand, the Li Dynasty always regarded the Great Ming as the legitimate ruler, insisted on the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, and was unwilling to form an alliance with the Later Jin. On the other hand, the Later Jin often acted as the victor in the mutual trade, bullying the weak, forcing sales, selling at high prices and buying at low prices, and even “buying on credit.” In 1629, during the first trade with Korea, a Korean merchant transported three thousand shi of grain to sell, but two thousand shi were “gifted,” and only one thousand shi were sold. Therefore, Korean merchants were not willing to trade with them.

Of course, Huang Taiji knew about the various “actions” of his officials, but he turned a blind eye to them. The small court of the Later Jin was really too poor and could only rely on its fists to bully Korea, this soft persimmon.

A few days ago, the merchant team he sent to Korea had just returned from Uiju. They brought 1600 jin of ginseng, asking for 16 taels per jin, but Korea only gave 9 taels, a difference of 11,200 taels. This price was too far from his psychological expectation. He was still counting on this silver to buy more goods back.

What made him even more unhappy was that the goods bought from Korea were often shoddy and short in weight. A bolt of cotton cloth was cut into two or three pieces to be sold, and six or seven sheets were removed from a roll of paper, which was difficult to detect without careful inspection.