June 25, the fourth year of Zhonghe, Yuzhou City.
Youzhou City is the seat of Changze County, which belongs to Xiazhou. There is Huluo Salt Pond outside the city, which produces green salt and white salt. A dou of salt in the four states of Xia Sui is worth less than 100 yuan, and in Guanzhong it may be 120 or 30 yuan.
But this has nothing to do with them, because most areas in Guanzhong eat salt produced in the two salt ponds in the river, with an annual output of 400,000 to 500,000 shi. In other words, Wang Chongrong can earn about 700,000 shi a year by selling salt.
With money, he is really rich.
The output of the Youzhou Salt Pond is only 100,000 dan per year. It can bring an income of more than 100,000 dan to the Tuoba family, which is actually not much. Their location is too bad, and there is not a densely populated place nearby.
In the Guanzhong market, it is not only difficult to compete with Hezhong Salt, but also with Sichuan Salt, whose annual sales are nearly 600,000 yuan.
These days, you can’t just sell salt and turn it into money. Fengzhou Tiande Army also has salt ponds, and the quality is good. It was still a tribute during the Kaiyuan period. What is the result? It is far away from the main market and few people care about it, so it only satisfies the local and local development needs.
It’s just Wujun, whose market share is pitifully small.
Yanzhou under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Army was the largest salt-producing area in Xixia in later generations. Their commercial operations were even worse, and their market share was slightly larger than that of Fengzhou salt, but far inferior to that of Youzhou salt.
Therefore, the Tuoba family's main income actually comes from selling livestock, leather, and medicinal materials, rather than selling salt. Unless they can have a "good neighbor" like the Northern Song Dynasty, through government actions, the price of salt will be greatly increased.
Selling for a few hundred dollars, Xixia salt, which only cost more than a hundred dollars a bucket, was smuggled into the country and expanded its market share in disguise.
But these days, the price of salt in Datang is very low. If you want to sell it, will anyone buy it?
But then again, more than 100,000 yuan a year is not a small help to the Tuoba family. It allows them to purchase a lot of things from outside, such as ordnance. The iron smelting industry in Youzhou is not as good as that in Xia
Where is the state!
But starting from the end of last year, Shao Shude, the governor of the Dingnan Army, secretly interviewed salt merchants in Xia, Sui, and Yin Prefectures and ordered them to purchase Fengzhou salt as much as possible. The Tiande Army also cooperated very well and kept the price very low.
, which suddenly caused Yuzhou Yanshao to lose a large part of the market, and its income dropped sharply.
After Shao Shude led his army north to the grassland in April this year, all the Zalu tribes surrendered one after another. They also began to use Fengzhou salt. The Tuoba family's income further decreased and financial problems began to arise.
Tuoba Sijian has been troubled by these things recently. The family has a big business, and his brother has raised so many soldiers, and the daily expenses are very huge. Now there is a problem with the sales of salt, and the miscellaneous captives on the northern grasslands have stopped contributing.
Cattle and sheep, leather, medicinal materials, honey, wax and other items, if this continues, this family will no longer be able to survive.
"Brother, today the Luo Shu tribe sent people to ask for equipment. They want to go north to the grassland, kill Wei Cai Sudu, and take back their pasture." Tuoba Sijian walked into the room and said anxiously: "How to respond?"
"Give them some salt." Tuoba Sigong looked out the window solemnly and said.
"This..." Tuoba Sijian was choked and could only say something else: "Wei Mu sent people to ask for 10,000 bolts of silk, saying that the ministry is short of funds."
"Give them some salt." Tuoba Sigong said without moving.
Tuoba Sijian was speechless, and after a long time he sat down speechlessly, looking a little angry.
"Are you angry?" Tuoba Sigong finally turned his head, glanced at his younger brother, and said, "Shao Shude went north to the grassland. It was a wonderful move. I didn't expect him to move so fast. It took more than a month. , it has completely disrupted our business that has been run for three generations."
"How could it be so easy without the help of the Linzhou Zheju clan?" Tuoba Sijian couldn't help but say.
"How can I not help when the daughter of the Zheju clan is married to Shao Shude?" Tuoba Sigong shook his head and said, "I didn't quite believe it at first. I didn't believe that Shao Shude wanted to take action on our Tuoba clan so quickly. But now The facts are there, it’s someone’s fault, it’s a big mistake!”
"Brother, why are you so discouraged? There are still more than ten thousand soldiers in the state, and the city of Youzhou is high and the pond is deep. What are you afraid of what he will do!" Tuoba Si admonished.
"It was a big mistake not to follow the imperial decree and go south to hunt down the thieves. Now I sit back and hesitate, without the help of the grassland, and I make more mistakes." Tuoba Sigong couldn't help but sighed and said: "Shao Shude took Xia The three states of Sui and Yin have been organized well in recent years, but the disparity in strength makes it even more difficult."
"Brother, why don't you go find Yang Yue, the commander of the army? He has five thousand soldiers and horses, and he is also a powerful force. How can he just watch Shao Shude cut off the vassal? Today, he will cut off Youzhou, and tomorrow he will cut the army. It's a shame. Yang Yue should understand the truth." Tuoba Sijian stood up and said.
"You can give it a try, but don't have too much hope. I can't see through Yang Yue." Tuoba Sigong said: "Our hope is still in Hengshan."
"Brother, what do you mean?"
"You should take a trip to the southeast." Tuoba Sigong said: "The Hunzhou Chuanmeizang clan is respectful to our clan, and it should be able to help. The Nanshan Yeli clan, alas, let's give it a try. If these two can If we move closer, the Nanshan tribes will be able to move closer to at least half of them, providing more than 10,000 troops. In this way, we will have an army of more than 20,000, which is no worse than that of Shao Shude."
Nanshan Dangxiang's 10,000 soldiers were useless, with only a few pieces of clothing and armor! Tuoba Sijian originally wanted to say this, but when he saw his brother's face, he couldn't continue.
Let's treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor, that's all.
****
"General Feng, just wait here. The Yeli clan doesn't dare to do anything to you." Li Hang cupped his hands and said.
"Okay, I'll wait here." Feng Yin returned the greeting.
He will soon leave the Tielin Army system and be promoted to Shao Shude's deputy general, because the size of the personal army will soon be expanded to 200 people.
Everyone in the army was very respectful to him, but there was really no respect, which made Feng Yin very depressed.
He wanted to climb up with solid military exploits, even if only two or three of these people could survive.
The three brothers of the Liu family are now transferred to the Wuwei Army as a team leader, one is in the Tielin Army as a team deputy, and the other is transferred to the Marshal's personal soldier. They are all developing well, and they have climbed up the ranks based on their solid military exploits.
As for me, I took advantage of the two younger sisters! Alas!
Li Hang held his head high and entered the main hall under the guidance of two Yeli clan members.
It's said to be the main hall, but it's actually similar to a cottage. It's made of rough wood, unpainted, and uncarved. The place is not small, and there are a lot of torches lit. There are more than ten people standing in the hall, and the one sitting at the top should be Ye.
It’s a benefit to the minister.
Ye Li Jingchen looked to be almost forty years old, but Li Hang estimated that he was probably in his early thirties. He was very brave. When he was young, he went to Yanzhou many times to do business, selling cattle and horses, and purchasing utensils.
The Yeli tribe lives in the eastern section of Hengshan, south of Suizhou and north of Dan and Yanzhou. It has a large territory and is one of the larger tribes in Hengshan Dangxiang. In later generations, this place has always been the key to the competition between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Western Xia.
Because "the Hengshan Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, there are many horses and crops, and the people are strong and good at fighting... Its fortresses are all dangerous and can be defended."
"The ancestors (Yuan Hao) often suffered from border diseases, because in the south of the curtain there were millet from the mountain border to eat, the people in the mountain border to use it, and the water and grass in the mountain border to be defended."
"Golden Tang and White Leopard occupy the foothills of Hengshan Mountain, surrounded by thousands of hectares of fertile farmland. They all occupy tens of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland in Hengshan Mountain."
In short, by gaining Hengshan, Xixia could control many dangerous passes, and then requisition local grain, cattle, horses, and soldiers to attack the Song Dynasty from the south, which gave it a great strategic advantage.
Shao Shude also had to pay attention to this large clan with a population of tens of thousands, and it could even be said that he deliberately tried to win over them, so as not to let them be dragged over by the Tuoba clan.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" Nori Sussex, who was sitting at the top, asked the old god.
"I came here to swear an oath between the two families." Li Hang said directly.
Nori Nobuomi was slightly moved. Everyone present has been a fox for thousands of years. Who doesn't know your purpose? If you say it so bluntly now, you either have sufficient confidence or you are a fool.
"Hengshan Naiyan, under the rule of Dan Erzhou, the hand of Lingwu County King has stretched too far." Ye Lijingchen said.
"Li Xiaochang, the envoy of the Protectorate Army, has a good relationship with our king and is very respectful," Li Hang said.
This was actually a subtle statement that Li Xiaochang was afraid and even took refuge in Shao Shude, and everyone understood it clearly. It was also the first time that Ye Li Jingchen heard about this, and he was a little uneasy.
There are tens of thousands of people in the Yeli tribe. If something happens, it is not a problem to send out seven or eight thousand troops. With such strength, even the Youzhou Tuoba family can only adopt a soft policy towards them and deliberately make friends with them.
However, their strength was still not enough to resist the rule of the Bulgarian army. From time to time, they sent out soldiers, grain, cattle and horses. The soldiers of the Gein family were well-equipped and well-trained, and they were not comparable to the peasant soldiers in their own tribe.
Now that the Dingnan Army is included, it is indeed not difficult to deliberately suppress their Yelibe. As long as you are willing to spend time, you don't need to attack those fortresses with dangerous terrain. Blockade them from the north and south, and you can make the Yelibe
Worried.
Isn't this Li Xiaochang so shameless? He is so handsome and dignified, but he is so respectful to a junior who is twenty years younger than him. Is it ridiculous?
"Is what your envoy said true?" Nori Susukaomi did not ask any questions, but someone below helped him to ask.
"Next month, my king will inspect Suizhou. At that time, Li Xiaochang, the military envoy to Sui De, will also come to Suide to deliver the war horses. If Chief Yeli has time, he might as well go down the mountain and take a look. My king will also give you a reward."
Ye Lijingchen was silent when he heard this, and all the big and small heads also looked at each other. As soon as Shao Shude shouted, Li Xiaochang ran over. If this is true, then their situation is embarrassing. The army of Dingnan,
If the Bulgarian troops unite, why don't they eat them to death?
Everyone has also heard about the current situation in the four states of Xia Sui. The original result of the discussion was that the two parties would not help each other and live behind closed doors. The Muzo clan is still hesitant and has sent people over to discuss it, but Noribe is serious
I have made up my mind not to wade into this muddy water.
But what if someone forces you to take sides? This is going to be difficult.