Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 181 Be My Subject (Extra Update for Alliance Leader Yuanfang Shan!)
Zhu Houzhao was also sizing up this Grand Tutor Yibula. As a Grand Tutor, he was a first-rank official. In the Ming Dynasty, only important officials of the empire could receive this honor after their death. The only person who was granted the title of Grand Tutor during his lifetime was Ma Wensheng, and that was also imposed by Zhu Houzhao using the imperial power.

But Zhu Houzhao did not expect that the Mongolian Grand Master would be dressed so poorly, without even brocade, and with a slight smell of sheep on his body.

Seeing the action of the cabinet chief Jiao Fang pinching his nose, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help pinching his nose and asked, "Are you the Grand Tutor Yibula of the Yongxie Department?"

"That's right. Yibula greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

Yibula saluted Zhu Houzhao. Although the Ming emperor in front of him looked very young, he did not dare to directly express his contempt for him.

"No need to be polite. The Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming Dynasty a long time ago. Why do you still retain your official positions in the previous dynasty?"

Zhu Houzhao changed the subject at this time and asked directly in a cold and stern tone!

After hearing this, Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet, couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. He wondered what His Majesty was trying to do. Wasn't he trying to form an alliance with others? Why did his words sound like a question?
Liu Jin, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, was also very surprised, wondering what his emperor was trying to do.

Zhu Houzhao naturally had a purpose in asking this. In order to make these Tatars completely lose their ambition to restore the Yuan Dynasty, the first thing to do was to completely remove all symbols of the Yuan Dynasty from them, including official positions.

Yibula was also surprised. He had just thought that the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty would not be very majestic, but he would directly question why he wanted to keep the official position of the previous dynasty. How could he explain this? If he explained that he still missed the previous dynasty and intended to restore the Yuan Dynasty, wouldn't it directly make the Yongxie tribe the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and he might even be hacked to death on the spot.

"Your Majesty, this is understandable. Since the new dynasty has not granted them the title, they can only temporarily hold the positions of the previous dynasty. Your Majesty, why don't you follow the example of Emperor Taizong conferring the title of Arutai and grant Yibula the title?"

At this time, the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, replied.

Zhu Houzhao was waiting for Jiao Fang to say this, but he did not say it directly. He wanted to wait for Yibula to take the initiative to ask for an official position.

Yibuladao also realized that the Ming emperor in front of him wanted him to submit to the Ming and become a minister of the Ming. However, as a tribal leader, he was a local emperor. He did not even recognize the little prince as the Great Khan. Now he had to rashly submit to the Ming, and to a young emperor who looked like he had not even grown all his hair. So he hesitated.

Zhu Houzhao also saw what Yibula was thinking, so he asked the cabinet chief Jiao Fang: "My dear Jiao, who do you think is more worthy of being the leader of Yongxie tribe, Jia Silan, Yisima or Yibula?"

When Zhu Houzhao asked this question, his implication was that there was more than one lord of the Yongxie tribe, Yibula. If Yibula was unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty could choose one of the other lords of the Yongxie tribe and offer him a high position, and then help him unify the Yongxie tribe.

Being neither clever nor stupid, he naturally understood what Zhu Houzhao meant when he asked the civil servant in front of him.

Yi Bula thought that no matter what the young Ming emperor in front of him wanted to do, he must not let the other lords of the Yongxie tribe get the opportunity to submit to the Ming. If they did that, they would get support from the Ming and drive him out of the position of Grand Tutor. He had to seize the opportunity to submit to the Ming while he knew Chinese and was the first to see the Ming emperor.

Therefore, Yibula suddenly knelt down and said: "As the Grand Master said, I, Yibula, had no choice but to succeed the previous dynasty because I was not conferred an official title by the Ming Dynasty. Now the Ming Dynasty is the dynasty chosen by the will of heaven. I, Yibula, am loyal to the Ming Dynasty and have long been willing to submit to Your Majesty. Now I ask Your Majesty to accept me as your servant!"

At that time, Mongolian nobles often called high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty "Taishi", just like Altan called Wang Chonggu Taishi during the Jiajing period.

Zhu Houzhao smiled. He had to admit that Yibula was very smart and knew how to adapt to changing circumstances.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly helped Yibula up: "Why do you have to do this? Please stand up quickly. I have always treated the ministers of the previous dynasty with favor, especially those like you who are willing to learn the words of the Ming Dynasty. This shows that you really have a heart for the Celestial Empire!"

Zhu Houzhao turned around and ordered in a serious tone, "Pass the decree! Confer the title of Yibula Shunzhong Wang! Order him to lead the Yongxie tribe, and give him 100 pieces of brocade and 100 short crossbows!"

Short crossbow?

Cabinet Chief Minister Jiao Fang's expression became serious.

Crossbows are different from bows. Crossbows emphasize mechanics, while bows focus on materials. However, the former has always been more valued because it involves technical aspects. After all, a crossbow allows an ordinary person to shoot an arrow through the willow tree from a hundred paces away, while a bow that shoots an arrow through the willow tree from a hundred paces away requires a good bow and the person pulling the bow must have good arm strength.

Therefore, the manufacturing technology of crossbows is often kept top secret.

Especially the newly manufactured short crossbows of the Ming Dynasty, which are powerful weapons for cavalry combat. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang has also seen the shocking scenes of the cavalry guards using short crossbows in military exercises, but now he does not understand why His Majesty wants to give the most advanced weapons of the Ming Dynasty to Yibula.

What if the Tatars mastered this technology? "Your Majesty! I think the Yuan people are always brave and their arm strength is amazing. Short crossbows and other weapons that rely on mechanical skills are only suitable for the Central Plains people and not for the Yuan people! Therefore, I think it is better to give them a hundred taels of gold!"

At this time, the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, hurriedly raised his objection. Of course, he could not directly say, "Your Majesty, you cannot give such advanced weapons to others," so he could only find other reasons.

Zhu Houzhao also understood what Jiao Fang meant, but he felt speechless about it. He had to admit that although the officials of this era were smarter than monkeys in officialdom, they were limited by their ignorance of future history, so they always appeared so narrow-sighted in this era.

But Zhu Houzhao himself knew that if he wanted to stay ahead of the enemy in military equipment, he could not rely on secrecy. The only reliable way was to stay ahead of the enemy faster than the enemy in technological updates and improvements. Moreover, selling some better advanced weapons to the enemy was not disadvantageous, but beneficial, because it would make the enemy dependent on his military supplies, as long as he could ensure that the enemy could not copy them and did not have the strength to improve such weapons.

Zhu Houzhao now has this confidence. He believes that even if the Yongxie tribe wants to imitate the short crossbow after obtaining it, they will not be able to succeed because they do not know how to make high-carbon steel, let alone springs. Even if they can get craftsmen to make it, the cost will be too high and the quality will not meet the standards.

As a traditional Mongolian tribe like the Yongxie tribe, which has absolutely no industrial technology, if they want to have more short crossbows they can only rely on the Ming Dynasty to provide them. Even if the Yongxie tribe learns to assemble them by themselves in the future, they will still rely on the Ming Dynasty for some important parts.

Moreover, once the Mongolian cavalry of the Yongxie tribe get used to using short crossbows, they will neglect archery training and will be completely dependent on short crossbows. They will naturally become more dependent on the Ming Dynasty, and it will be easier for the Ming Dynasty to control these tribes.

Zhu Houzhao was reluctant to reward others with gold and silver. Gold and silver were general equivalents and were essential for future financial reforms. Zhu Houzhao would not give them out casually, especially gold!
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not accept Jiao Fang's suggestion: "Gold is a precious metal. Shunzhong King is one of the lords of Yongxie tribe. How can he be short of gold? The short crossbow is what Shunzhong King lacks the most!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, the chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, had nothing to say. He could only draft the edict and have Liu Jin stamp it.

Yibula never expected that he would become the King Shunzhong of the Ming Dynasty so soon!

Influenced by sinicization, Yibula also knew what the title of king meant. It meant that his status was now higher than that of the Grand Master, and he could legitimately conquer the tribes of other Mongolian Grand Masters.

For short crossbows.

Yibula had no idea yet, but when he saw Zhu Houzhao letting the cavalry of the Imperial Guard Camp practice, he realized that the Ming Dynasty already had such a powerful weapon. He couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he agreed to submit to the Ming Dynasty and did not become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Because once such a short crossbow is available, it means that an ordinary cavalryman can become an elite soldier who can pull a strong bow on horseback!

This means that tens of thousands of elite cavalry can be added at once.

Yibula couldn't believe how powerful his tribe would become if he could get so many crossbows.

"These 100 short crossbows are given to you by me, but if you, Prince Shunzhong, want more short crossbows, you will have to pay for them! After all, these crossbows are very expensive! I can't afford to give them away for free!"

Zhu Houzhao's words surprised Yibula: "Your Majesty! What did you say? Can you sell this short crossbow?"

"Prince Shunzhong has misunderstood. This crossbow is extremely difficult to make! The Ming Dynasty only has a few thousand of them. Your Majesty is talking about buying them. If you want a few dozen, you can only buy them!"

The cabinet chief Jiao Fang explained for Zhu Houzhao, but he was screaming in his heart, "Your Majesty, how can you say you want to buy it? Can you sell this short crossbow? It is more confidential than the cannon! Even the cannon is forbidden to be sold to foreigners, let alone this short crossbow!"

"What I said is not what the Prime Minister meant. What I meant is that Prince Shunzhong can buy short crossbows from the Ming Dynasty, but the price is high. Each crossbow can only be exchanged for gold, Sanhe horses, or high-quality wool. I will let the people in the Armory discuss the price with you, but I have a condition! To be eligible to buy, you have to help me eliminate the little prince!"

Zhu Houzhao said directly.

He wanted to give the Ordnance Bureau an opportunity to make money from outside, otherwise the Ordnance Bureau would become an unprofitable organization and would continue to devour the savings of his own Royal Tax Bureau because of its responsibility for supplying weapons to the Ming army.

Only by allowing the Ordnance Bureau to make a profit by selling weapons to foreign countries through the central court can the goal be achieved of getting foreign enemies to provide the court with the financial resources to manufacture weapons.

In this way, one day in the future, the Ming Dynasty will be able to use the money of foreign enemies to eliminate them.

Yibula naturally didn't think that Zhu Houzhao was so far away. He only knew that if his tribe had this kind of short crossbow, he could have tens of thousands more elite cavalry! He wouldn't have to fear the threat of the little prince!
Although he was poorly dressed and smelled bad, that was because he did not like to take a bath and brocade was very expensive, especially on the grassland. But as a Yuan noble, he had no shortage of gold, horses and wool.

(End of this chapter)