CH 178

Posted by NYXBIRD on MARCH 21, 2022

The Mongolian tribes have never lived such a luxurious life.

They could use the gold and silverware of the Han people, and the livestock that used to be worthless could now be sold for high prices, not only livestock, but also slaves.

Every winter, many slaves just froze to death. After the merchants came, the slaves could now bring them a lot of income.

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Whether it was sugar or salt, they could now afford it all.

But Dalintai felt that slaves were getting more and more expensive, and he was almost unable to buy more slaves.

Merchants had upped the prices for slaves, cattle and sheep.

More and more nobles chose not to sell cattle and sheep, but slaves instead.

After all, a few slaves could drive a herd of cattle and sheep.

It was useless to have more slaves.

Besides, there was no war now, and even if there was a war, these slaves couldn’t be soldiers.

Slave owners also disliked too many slaves, which cost them too much food. They were just slaves, so long as they could drive and herd cattle, and be able to do some heavy work then that was enough, too much of them could also be troublesome.

So most of the slaves were taken away, and only a small number of slaves remained.

But slaves were still being produced, and new civilians became slaves every day.

There were even nobles who used trumped-up charges to make commoners into slaves, and then sell the slaves to merchants.

The huge profits made people flock over like vultures, and everyone was blinded by the benefits at their fingertips. Some of the nobles still kept their senses about them and warned everyone that it was a conspiracy of the Ming people.

Bayaer was a Mongolian noble who was not blinded by short term benefits.

He also summoned his companions who had the same idea as him, and ran around, trying to persuade the nobles.

But every time they returned without success.

He said: “Without slaves, our cattle and sheep, our palaces and houses, who will build them?”

But the nobles said: “Slaves will have children, they are always giving birth, and there are common people who make mistakes. Even if we sell all the slaves now, there will be more and more slaves soon.”

Bayaer then said: “The Ming people sold us sugar and salt at a low price, and bought our cattle and sheep at a high price. Their intentions are sinister! Once they don’t sell us sugar and salt, and will no longer buy our cattle and sheep, what should we do?”

The nobles replied: “Did we starve to death before they appeared? Now they are paying to buy our cattle and sheep, and they are the ones who are sending good things over to us, how can we not even take advantage of something this easy, are you stupid?”

No matter what Bayaer said, the nobles had something to refute him.

Even Bayaer’s father sold his slaves.

Bayaer asked his father: “You know me! How could you sell the slaves!”

Standing in front of his father, he was already taller than his father. He was so angry that he clenched his hands into fists.

Bayaer’s father was startled by his son’s appearance, and then roared: “What do you want! You run around all day, do you know how much cloth and sugar a slave is worth now?”

“Everyone else is selling, why can’t I sell them!” Bayaer’s father slapped his son.

That slap hit Bayaer in the face, but the pain was greater in Bayaer’s heart. He fell to the ground and looked up at his father.

Was this old and mean man really the indestructible Mongolian warrior he looked up to?

Bayaer’s father also regretted a little after slapping his son, but the father couldn’t apologize to the son. He stared at him and said dryly, “Bayaer, look at our house and outside, everyone else is living a good life, could it be that you want me to eat chaff?”

At this time, Bayaer finally realized that he couldn’t stop it.

No matter how hard he tried to stop it, no one would listen to him.

No matter how reasonable his words were, no matter whether those people knew that this matter was not beneficial to the tribe, they would not stop, the meat was next to their mouths, and no one would give it up.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Bayaer laughed, looking like a madman.

Compared with Bayaer, Toqto’a and Hala Zhang have now become honorable guests of the tribes. After all, they were Mongolians, and they were closer to each other based on that. Toqto’a was a Mongolian after all, and it was not that his heart was not without struggle, but he also saw what kind of life the Mongolians lived in the Central Plains, their children could go to school with the children of the Han people, and they could also live the life of the Han people.

There was no need to worry about going hungry.

But he felt guilty all the same.

This sense of guilt made him feel unbearable pain even with a smile on his face.

Compared with Toqto’a, Hala Zhang didn’t have such a big inner struggle.

Hala Zhang had lived in Dadu since he was a child, which was now Beijing. Although he also received the education of Mongolian nobles, he had become accustomed to life in the Central Plains.

He used to yearn for a life on the grassland, yearning for the feeling of freedom and being able to ride a horse.

But when he really came to the grassland, he realized that this kind of life was not what he longed for.

The Mongolians on the grasslands, only the nobles could live the life he imagined, and the commoners, even the slave owners, couldn’t live a good life.

There were also wolves. For ordinary Mongolians, life seemed to drag on day by day. This year had passed, but who knew what next year would hold for them.

Before the Yuan Dynasty, they might not even be able to buy salt.

Now nobles wore silk and cotton-padded clothes sold by the Ming people, and drank fine wine sold by the Ming people.

They could buy everything except the beauties and weapons of the Great Ming Dynasty.

There were no such days even during the Yuan Dynasty.

Hala Zhang watched the absurd lives of those Mongolian nobles day after day.

They didn’t care what kind of life the commoners lived, they only cared if they lived well.

Even Hala Zhang knew that many civilians could not make ends meet, so they had merchants buy them and let them work like the slaves.

Because so long as the money was repaid, they could enter the city and become the common people of Great Ming.

Their children could go to school, they could also earn money to buy a house, and they no longer needed to rely on the mercy of the heavens to eat on the grassland.

But merchants were reluctant to buy civilians.

So the most absurd thing happened, that was, the common people purposely made mistakes in order to become slaves.

Of course, the nobles would not look closely into the reasons for it. They were only worried that there were fewer slaves, so this was an opportunity to fill in another batch.

The commoners became slaves, and the slaves were bought by the merchants, and these slaves would eventually become the commoners of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Hala Zhang said to Toqto’a, “Dad, I think they are no better than pigs.”

Toqto’a took off his shoes and soaked his feet, bitterness in his mouth, he said, “It is just the circumstances forcing them into this.”

So what if he could see through it?

All the nobles had gone crazy, if he told them now that they must draw a clear line with the merchants and could no longer enjoy luxury, would the nobles agree?

The clearer one saw, the more painful it was.

Hala Zhang handed the towel to Toqto’a: “Dad, we’ll go back after finishing the work, so why be anxious on their behalf?”

Toqto’a: “It wasn’t like this before…..”

The Mongolians in the past were simple and honest. Although there were always battles between tribes, the backbone of the Mongolian warriors never bent.

But now, the nobles spent their days in decadence, and the commoners wanted to be slaves.

Everything was messed up, and it would continue to be messed up until the end…..

Toqto’a sighed: “It’s time for us to go back.”

The longer he stayed, the more miserable he became.

He watched helplessly as his fellow Mongolians walked into the abyss step by step, but he couldn’t say a word.

On the day that Toqto’a and Hala Zhang returned to Beijing, many people came to see them off. The nobles wanted to kill them when they first came, but now they sent them away with ardent expressions. They believed the benefits were brought to them by Toqto’a and Hala Zhang.

With Toqto’a and Hala Zhang there, they could also find excuses for themselves.

They also knew that it was impossible for the Ming people to treat them so well all of a sudden, but they didn’t want to give up the benefits they got, so they found a reasonable excuse.

The benefits were not given to them by the Ming people, but by Toqto’a.

Toqto’a was a Mongolian, and the Mongolians would not harm fellow Mongolians.

Toqto’a also saw their self-deception, but with everyone deceiving themselves, no one cared what the truth was.

Hala Zhang had already been waiting to return to Beijing. The days in Mongolia could not be compared with those in the capital. What was more, he wanted to go back to see Chu Lin earlier, and he wondered if Chu Lin missed him during these days he had been gone? They had made an appointment to go have a bath and drink together.

There were many bathhouses in the capital now, and each one was better than the other. He had wanted to try it for a long time, but unfortunately he had never had the chance.

Going back this time, he must convince Chu Lin to go with him no matter what. What was the fun in staying at home all the time?

When they left, they took a lot of Mongolian food with them, which was a taste of their hometown, although Hala Zhang had never grown up here.

Although the merchants would buy Mongolian cattle and sheep, as well as slaves, they never bought Mongolian food.

The price of cattle and sheep quickly soared, and nobles would rather sell cattle and sheep to merchants than let commoners buy them.

There was no meat to eat, and there was originally not much food in the grasslands. The merchants only sold gold, silver, jewelry and silk brocades, but they never sold food.

The nobles asked the merchants, and the merchants said that the people of Great Ming were in short supply of food right now. If they bought food to sell, the price would not be enough to make a profit.

But the nobles were not short of food. The merchants would not sell them food, but gift them food.

It was not much each time, but it was enough.

The nobles didn’t care how the commoners took care of their bellies.

They have their own food, meat, and countless gold and silver jewelry. Those things that were only available to people in the Central Plains, they now also have them.

With a beauty in their arms, there were countless enjoyments.

Wasn’t life better than before?

Before, they might be called nobles, but they were not much better than the commoners. At most, they just ate better and kept warriors under their command, but the warriors also have to eat, and the warriors also have to enjoy.

The warriors also felt that life was better now.

They ate, drank, and played with women, and occasionally when they hunted they would not encounter any danger.

Hala Zhang made a few friends in the grassland, all of them young people.

When he left, the group of young people saw him off on horseback, and they also agreed to drink and eat meat together next time Hala Zhang came over.

Looking at the smiling faces of these young people, Hala Zhang couldn’t smile.

If…..if His Majesty’s fist was not as iron-like as before, maybe they would have a chance to meet again.