Wei Ting put down the book in his hand, bowed slightly and said, "I don't understand why Your Highness didn't take the Silk Road... but took the Wool Road."
"Wool Road!" Li Yuanxing laughed when he heard the name: "I like this name!"
Yan Shigu, who was sitting aside, heard the two talking, but pretended not to hear them at all. He also hinted that Li Yuanchang would pretend not to hear them, unless King Qin took the initiative to talk to them. Li Yuanchang was smart and immediately lowered his head to read.
The main cart alone is eight meters long. With the sixteen horses pulling the cart, the length of the cart reaches thirty meters.
The carriage has a layout of front and back rooms. It can be said that Li Yuanxing’s bedroom and living room are all there.
Everyone sitting in the front hall had a separate carriage, but Li Yuanxing invited them to sit in his own carriage so that they could chat and not be bored on the road.
Behind this car, there are two eight-horse carriages. Cui Yingying, Cui Yanyan, Yuan Chun and others are playing mahjong, and two tables have been set up.
"Your Highness has not yet answered your Majesty, why did you take this path?"
"Is it official business or just out of curiosity?" Li Yuanxing asked back.
"It's out of curiosity. There must be a reason for your highness to do what you do. Or maybe it's for General Liu of Shuozhou! But your highness will definitely not go to Shuozhou. He should go to Xiazhou." Wei Ting was straightforward and did not shy away from anything.
Li Yuanxing laughed: "It's really clever, then guess again, why do I want to go to Xiazhou?"
"Is it comfort or coercion? I believe that General Shuofang Liu has a very deep friendship with Li Xiaochang who is now in prison. Shuozhou, Pingzhou, Liangzhou, and Yunzhou are like four pillars, supporting the northern part of the Tang Dynasty.
An Ning, so Your Highness is going to Xiazhou because General Changsun Shunde is in Xiazhou. Once Your Highness goes, the hearts of General Liu and General Changsun Shunde will be at peace, and the sergeants in Shuozhou will be very reliable."
Li Yuanxing clapped his hands gently: "Ninety percent of it is correct."
"Please teach me, Your Highness!" Wei Ting was not unconvinced. One could guess that he was already very proud.
"Actually, it's nothing. Even if I don't say it, you will fully understand it if you think about it for two days. Xiazhou was originally a frontier, and wars could happen at any time. But now it is five or six hundred miles away from the Turks. Xiazhou should consider farming more.
If you can do some finishing work and so on, you can have money and food, and you can avoid the problem of always transporting food from different places!"
"Your Highness is wise!"
There is no need for Wei Ting to say where the wisdom lies.
Li Yuanchang didn't understand, and he was too embarrassed to ask. He should go back and ask his own palace chief.
In terms of peace of mind, Li Yuanxing has nothing to worry about. He does not believe that Liu Hongji will rebel. Moreover, Shuozhou City is a strategically important place. Since he has chosen Liu Hongji, he must trust him.
Li Yuanxing did not go out to enjoy the mountains and rivers. He only stopped at Guhukou for a day and then continued on his way. He also ordered that the local area should not be disturbed, and there was no need to delay the road. Officials from the prefecture and county were not required to greet him.
When he was a county town, Li Yuanxing also strictly ordered not to disturb the people.
Even if they didn't travel around, Li Yuanxing's two princesses and the high-ranking maids, a group of little girls, would naturally be very excited after going out so far.
There are only 900 miles from Chang'an to Xiazhou (now Jingbian County, Shaanxi). Li Yuanxing's team traveled about 60 miles every day. They arrived at Xiazhou seventeen days after leaving Chang'an.
Liu Hongji had already rushed over from Shuozhou City, taking only his personal guards with him.
"Your Highness, you have worked hard all the way!" Changsun Shunde, as the guarding general, went out of the city twenty miles to greet him.
, but he was somewhat capable, so he was transferred here as the governor in the sixth year of Wude.
"It's not hard work, but there are those who are more hardworking than me. I have a car to ride in, and the sergeants are on foot, so it's even harder. Since we have come to the territory of General Changsun and Ma Fuyin, prepare a hot meal for the sergeants."
Changsun Shunde hurriedly sent someone to make arrangements.
"Come with me in the car!" Li Yuanxing invited his eldest grandson Shunde and Ma Fuyin to get on the car.
In the car, Li Yuanxing said: "Even if you are demoted, you have the right to complain. You are the uncle of my royal sister-in-law, and we are also a family member. I have a few words. Although there are outsiders here, they will hurt you a little."
It’s just about face. I just want to say, do you know about the donation collection by Mr. Hou?"
Changsun Shunde understood.
He had lived in the Tang Dynasty since the Sui Dynasty and had experienced four emperors. If he didn't understand this sentence, his life would be in vain.
Li Yuanxing was warning him not to be too greedy.
"Let's not talk about the court, let's take the market as an example. There is a gangster in Dongshi, and some of his people are willing to work for him. Why?"
"Please enlighten me, Your Highness!"
"This man is benevolent. He will help all the gangsters who have difficulties at home. This man is righteous. Every time he competes with other gangsters for territory, he rushes to the front and stays behind when retreating. This man knows etiquette and rewards and punishment.
It’s clear that even his own brother doesn’t take special care of him. This man is very wise, he knows when to fight and when to give in. This man has faith, and what he says will be done even if it means working hard!”
The eldest grandson, Shunde, was already quite old. Although Li Yuanxing's words meant a lesson, he understood the meaning.
"Drinking the blood of soldiers is not allowed in the Tang Dynasty. If you deduct a small amount from the soldiers' meals, can you make a fortune? If I kill you, even if the subordinates who have been following you for half their lives are not implicated, I am afraid that in the future
It will be difficult to get promoted again, can you bear it? Your subordinates will fight to the death for you, do you deserve this loyalty?"
As Li Yuanxing spoke, Changsun Shunde changed his position from kneeling to kneeling.
"This king is not here to embarrass you, I am just here to tell you. If Xiazhou becomes rich, you will become rich. With your subordinates, your soldiers will become rich, and the people of Xiazhou will also become rich. By the way, Shuozhou will also become rich.
, Shengzhou, Fengzhou, and Lingzhou also followed Xiazhou and had a better life, but it was not easy for the soldiers at the border."
"I know my crime!"
Li Yuanxing lent his hand to support him: "I said before that I am not here to ask for guilt."
"Old minister, I know my guilt!" Changsun Shunde shouted again.
"Your Highness, I know that correcting mistakes is a good thing, but sins are sins. According to your words, General Changsun should go to the Holy One to discuss his sins and make it clear that he will repent for what he did in the future. If the Holy One forgives him,
That's the right way!" Wei Ting jumped out at this moment, and what he said was recognized not only by Changsun Shunde, but also by Yan Shigu.
Li Yuanxing had no choice but to agree.
"You and General Liu are the left and right generals of Xiaowei respectively. Although you are older than General Liu, your duties are the same. I just suggest that in the past two years, you should discuss with General Liu more when doing things in the past two years. One of you is on the border and the other is on border defense.
Important towns must naturally look after each other. Defend the northern frontier well and train more sergeants when there is no war."
Changsun Shunde just bent down deeply.
In fact, Changsun Shunde was very grateful to Liu Hongji this time. If Liu Hongji hadn't persuaded him, he might have done something stupid.
Even if he didn't rebel, if Liu Hongji hadn't suggested it and explained it earlier, he might have been demoted this time. You know, since he wrote to Chang'an, he didn't sleep well and was in shock every night.
He was very afraid that on that day there would be an imperial edict to take him back to Chang'an.
He didn't dare to rebel.
First, there was no reason or excuse to rebel. Second, the soldiers of Xiazhou would not follow him in rebellion. Third, he was afraid of the King of Qin there.
In Xiazhou City, guard the General's Mansion.
Liu Hongji did not wear his general's armor, but only wore the most ordinary sergeant's uniform, kneeling in the main hall.
"The guilty minister Liu Hongji wishes to greet His Highness the King of Qin!"
"What's the crime?" Li Yuanxing went over to help him and said, "If you're guilty, it's because you made the soldiers on the border so poor. I heard that ordinary soldiers can only eat meat once a month, but you are guarding the grassland, where
There are countless sheep, but you have no meat to eat."
Liu Hongji was stunned when Li Yuanxing changed his words.
At this time, Qiuxiang handed a lacquer-sealed box to Liu Hongji with both hands.
"Your Highness, what is this?"
"On my way here, Wei Yushi said that the original Qin Zhidao was called the Wool Road. In fact, this road can really make us rich. The wool and sheepskins are transported back to Chang'an in their most primitive state, and the freight is too high.
.I thought that it would be processed once in Xiazhou first, and the goods shipped back would be fine goods, but at least 30% of the weight would be lost. The coarse wool and broken hair left after the treatment can be pressed into felt here. There is no need to
Processed in Chang'an."
"Your Highness, this wool is only worth a penny per sheep."
Liu Hongji wanted to say, how much wool does it take to make money?
But then I thought about it, and it seemed wrong. Because the aristocratic families had a huge desire for wool. The tribes on the grassland were competing to sell wool to the Tang Dynasty, while the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty were secretly earning a share of the wool.
Li Yuanxing nodded slightly towards Qiuxiang.
Qiuxiang said softly: "General Liu, the wool here will be processed according to His Highness's request. Two pounds is one penny. Your Highness will receive as many as you want. If you can also sort out the coarse cashmere, one pound of coarse cashmere is thirty penny. How much do you want?"
!”
"A sheep can only carry at most four taels of coarse cashmere!" Li Yuanxing said with a smile.
Qiuxiang also said: "Your Highness, the finest cashmere is only found on the neck of the sheep during the winter, and each sheep only has one or two. If it is all like this, the Cui family will offer a price of one hundred Wen per catty!"
Liu Hongji was stunned for a moment and then smiled: "Your Highness is really smart. Wool is not expensive, but this craft is expensive."
"Don't let anyone steal it. I happen to have gifts for you, as well as for several other generals."
After Li Yuanxing finished speaking, Qiu Xiang clapped her hands, and several low-level maids lined up with boxes and stood in the door.
Qiuxiang went to open the box and shook out a Tang-style military uniform. This military uniform had been finalized by the Ministry of Rites. It was made of burlap and distributed to every soldier. This uniform was worn when not wearing armor and not in wartime.
Formal wear.
The suit Qiuxiang came up with was already very close to the fabric of later generations of pure wool suits.