Aspirations for Nation and Beauty: Chapter 44: Coming from the East

"So what if it's not easy? Conservative forces in the Five Lakes area are quite strong. These people never forget the Situ Dynasty. We don't need to accommodate them too much. Even if we accommodate them, it will be difficult to win their support. Instead, it provides a show for them to oppose us. stage, we might as well use more violent means against these people, which can stir up the hatred of the lower class of landless tenants and farm laborers, and incite them to take revenge on these big landlords and nobles. We will let them go and drive those big landlords away. , those lower-class people who have been exploited by these big landlords and nobles will think of various ways to retaliate wildly once they are left alone, and then we only need to come forward to clean up the mess."

The thin scribe slowly stroked the beard under his chin, and seemed to have considered it carefully before he continued: "Of course, this needs to be mastered to a certain degree, but at least for now we can use the people we have arranged , to instigate and incite those peasants who don't have much sense, isn't there already some peasants who have spontaneously acted to seize land and property? Very well, we are fueling them and making them riot more violently. We only need to protect the loyal Those who join us are enough, and when things get into trouble, whether those common landlords or industrial and commercial forces who stay in the local area, they will naturally panic when they see that the fire is starting to burn to themselves, or they will follow suit. For Ashes, or join us, I believe these people are smart people and will make wise choices, and at that time, it's time for us to make our debut."

Bi Xiao was so impressed by his teacher's methods that he lifted the weight lightly and came up with a way to deal with the current unfavorable situation in a few words. Xiao couldn't help but nodded in agreement.

After pondering for a while, the thin scholar said again: "However, because the threat of the imperial navy fleet has not been eliminated, it is not appropriate to go deep into the north. Weak, the waterways in the north of Baling are criss-crossed, and it is connected with Yueyang Mansion, the capital of Wuhu County. Although there is no danger to defend, the navy can use this convenient river to enter and exit at will. Can't fight against the imperial navy, right now they can only rely on Baling City as a defensive base, and gradually penetrate northward, thinking that the imperial army can only rely on the dangerous position of Yueyang Mansion at this time, and take a defensive position, it's not too dangerous, just need to strengthen scouts Patrol and search to prevent small groups of enemy troops from taking the opportunity to attack."

"Teacher, don't worry, Bi Xiao understands this and has already arranged it." Hearing the arrangement of the thin scribe, Bi Xiao felt more at ease, and asked again: "How is the progress of the general?"

"It's going very well. The Imperial Army's troops on the Wuhu Lake Front are too weak to resist our attack. Everything is as we expected. The situation over there is roughly the same as here. What we need to do now is to stabilize Take control of the situation, try to calm down the situation so that Wen Ning and Baling can accept the reality, this is the time for the people we have cultivated and developed in the past ten years to show their talents. With their presence, many things can be easily solved, and the effect is better than ours. One is in the sky and the other is in the ground. Although the local Tang people dare not make trouble due to the current situation, the people's hearts will not be stabilized for a long time. Therefore, we must form an autonomous government with our local forces in the shortest possible time. Of course, this still needs to wait Only those who still harbor illusions will be driven to a dead end, so they will give in, so what I just arranged needs to be implemented immediately, the sooner the better, and the more noisy the better." The thin scribe showed a cold smile, in order to achieve the necessary The purpose, even if the means are not so bright, is nothing to say.

Looking at the bustling city gate in front of him, although he had been mentally prepared, Kalong was still greatly shocked. Ordinary single business travelers enter and exit through the secondary gates on both sides of the main city gate, while the main city gate is the main passage for large caravans and carriages to enter and exit.

The inspectors are seriously checking whether the goods carried by the caravan merchants in the past have paid the tax. The small building next to the city gate is probably the inspection agency of the tax department. Although the inspectors are serious, they are still polite. , as long as you don’t carry prohibited items, even if you don’t pay taxes, you will just pay on the sidelines. Of course, if the amount is large, you need to pay a fine. The horse-drawn carriages entering and leaving the city gate were divided into two rows, and a long queue was formed, waiting for the spot check by the inspectors. Everything seemed so harmonious and lively.

Even outside the city gate is bustling with food stalls and grocery stores of various flavors all over the city gate. There are puddles of oil stars floating on the steaming mutton soup. In the tumbling cauldron, the haggis, mutton and a few big bones are boiling with the soup. It was so itchy that even Kalong couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

"Sir, would you like something to eat?" Kalong nodded, and took a seat with his partner, and the enthusiastic staff immediately greeted him, "Guest officer, what do you want?"

"Two bowls of mutton soup, five steamed buns, and a plate of beef." Kalong didn't say much. Don't know what's going on in the city? This Li Wufeng really has the ability to go to heaven and earth, to make this desolate and barren Qingyang mansion so prosperous in just a few years?

Thinking about these problems, even the delicious beef and steamed buns in soup seemed to become less fragrant, and the hunger just now disappeared with the mutton soup.

In fact, from the moment I set foot on the northern commercial road Kalong across the entire Tengger Grassland, I felt a little different from the past. Most of the caravans came from the Tang River. It is still the largest export material, but it can be seen that the amount of ironware, grain, cotton cloth, woolen cloth, glass, and medicinal materials sold to the Tengger Grassland is gradually increasing. From west to east, the journey takes 25 days. Kalong made a statistic and found a total of 338 large and small caravans on the road. Among them, 252 caravans were transported from the Tanghe Empire to the Tengger Grassland and the western mainland, and returned east through the Tengger Grassland. Eighty-six caravans were overtaken by my party, with an average of more than 13 caravans encountered every day. This is only the caravan passing through the northern commercial road. With the cancellation of internal tariffs of the countries in the Western Regions, the reduction of external tariffs , the caravans passing through the countries of the Western Regions have gradually replaced the mainstream role of the Northern Commercial Road, and the Northern Luzon Commercial Road further south is also developing rapidly. intelligence.

How much transit tariffs such a huge transaction volume will bring to the Luobei people? Food and grain can also be continuously imported along this important commercial road. But what makes Kalong puzzled is that since the Luobei people and the Tanghe people already have such close economic ties and are said to have formed an alliance, why the information obtained by his own side is that the Luobei people have not long ago. Li Wufeng, the Northwest King of the Tanghe people, fought because of the Mote people, and caused a lot of resentment? Are the Luobei people really strong enough to ignore the fact that the Northwest people can cut off their sources of supplies? Caron does not believe this speculation.

The half-day stay in Mangye Town made Kalong feel the prosperity of Qingyang once again. Although it is only a market town, its lively level is far better than any place along the way. The livestock trading market, leather and fur trading The thriving vitality shown in the market and the newly opened wool trading market made Kalong, who always thought he had seen the market, have to admit that the abundance of goods here far exceeds that of any place on the Tengger Grassland, and here is only It is a market town in Qingyang Prefecture. Of course, the geographical location of this market town is somewhat special. Businessmen from all over the world are bargaining here. It can be seen that most of the merchants who have a lot of money are Tang people and ~IndoMTL.com~, but there are still a few clever Indians, Motts, Ulis and even Merchants from countries in the Western Regions joined the ranks, while merchants from all over the grassland belonged to various ethnic groups. They mastered the first link of the acquisition by virtue of their familiarity with their own ethnic groups and tribal areas. Here, no matter Be it the Tang people, the Mote people, the Luobei people or the businessmen from the Western Regions, they all forget their ethnicity and origin. They only negotiate, trade and pay. Businessmen are their only identities, and making money comes first.

After coming out of Mangye Town, Kalong was thinking about what kind of changes this Qingyang City would have. After more than an hour of rushing, he finally saw the elegance of Qingyang City, the capital of the Northwest.

While drinking the mutton soup, thinking about it, Kalong made a casual move, and the shopkeeper next to him probably also saw that the two guests were unusual. People who have lived in the Northwest for a long time know more or less about horses. Needless to say, this guest who looks like a master, even the servant's mount is a first-class horse worth at least 80 gold coins. People can afford it.

After waving to signal the clerk to take care of him, the shop owner came over with a bent waist: "Guest officer, what else do you need?"

Shaking his head, Kalong pointed to the long queue of convoys and pack teams and asked, "Boss, what's going on? Are there so many convoys waiting to enter the city every day?"

"Guest officer, it's morning, and it's the time when caravans from all walks of life come in and out. The caravans in the city are waiting to leave the city on the road, and the caravans that arrived last night are waiting to enter the city to unload their goods. It's like this every day. , there are only so many people in the inspection department, but fortunately, it's just busy in the morning, and it will be much better at noon." The boss explained with a smile.