The Secret History of the Tea Horse
by Licheng
About This Novel
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, in order to guard Taozhou, the border gateway, and ensure the smooth flow of the ancient tea-horse road in the northwest, the imperial court stationed Jianghuai soldiers who had quelled local wars here, and forcibly moved their wives, children, and family members westward. They fell wood, built houses, and forged swords into plows in the wilderness. They had to support themselves by their own efforts, and they also had to be loyal to their duties to maintain long-term peace and stability in the border areas and the normal progress of the tea-horse trade. Taozhou is a place of farming and nomadic flower arrangements. Willows cling to the east and rain and snow fall in the west. The left hand harvests highland barley and the right hand makes cheese for food. People from the land of plenty sing the sad "Tuen Tian Song" while devoting themselves to the arduous life of garrison without hesitation. , They eventually had to take root and become western farmers with dark faces and rough voices... The novel uses the fate of the Taozhou woman "Ma Niangniang" as a clue to reproduce the hidden history of the Ming Dynasty's immigration to farm fields in the western border and the implementation of the tea-horse gold medal system.
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