From Haizhou to Luoyang, it takes a total of more than 1,600 miles, first heading west to Xuzhou, then either by land or by boat to Bianzhou, and then west to Luoyang.
On April 16, a group of more than 800 people arrived in Xuzhou. After staying for two days, they waited for a batch of ships and dispersed on board to Bianzhou.
"General Wang, how much use does Bianshui have now?" Liu Yin and Wang Shilu were riding in the same boat, and they had nothing to do, so they asked.
"Why not more?" Wang Shilu glanced at him and said: "Not only Bianshui, Wo River, Ru River, Ying River, Caishui, Huan River, etc. were all used. In the past, the saint and Zhu Quanzhong competed for Henan, and the rivers extending in all directions were used.
The river network is very impressive. Now that Henan is a royal territory, it is natural to make full use of it."
Liu Yin nodded.
He was once a powerful leader, and he still had good vision. Is it possible that the saint suffered a lot from the dense water network in Henan when he fought with Liang Jun?
Henan is the land of the Four Battles and is also a place with connections in all directions. No matter which direction the troops are deployed, it is very fast and convenient. The dense water network can also provide cheap and fast transportation channels. If a powerful lord takes over Henan, these canals can become
His weapon of war.
Of course, if there is no hero, then Henan will be a dead place.
There are no absolutes in the world, it all depends on the person.
There were still a lot of ships on the canal. Liu Yin couldn't get enough of them, so he stood up and looked out.
One ship after another passed by.
Liu Yin's sharp eyes saw a corner of woolen cloth exposed in the cabin. This kind of thing appeared even in Lingnan, but the sales volume was not large. After all, the winter is not very cold, and the time when you need to wear a sweater is not long, so it is only for those with well-off families.
People will buy it.
In addition to the woolen cloth, there are many other products, but they are covered tightly and cannot be seen clearly.
However, Liu Yin could guess that it was probably leather goods, medicinal materials and the like.
Besides the goods, he also found some unusual things.
"General Wang, why are there so few trackers? Six or seven of the ten ships rely on drafts to pull the strings?" Liu Yin turned around and asked humbly.
"First, it is not good to treat humans as animals." Wang Shilu said solemnly.
Liu Yin looked like he suddenly realized it, but he didn't believe it in his heart: Are you talking nonsense?
"Both, there are many livestock in the country, so there is no need to use people. Human strength is not as strong as livestock." Wang Shilu said.
Liu Yin was silent this time.
Using livestock to pull fibers has been around since ancient times, but why has it never been mainstream? Because there is a shortage.
Do you think you can really get oxen, draft horses, mules and other livestock that are suitable for fiber drawing?
The former Tang Dynasty still had a lot of livestock. Liu Yin did not know that some dynasties in the future would not have as many livestock as those in the former Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, officials rode horses to go to court and also rode horses when going out.
Kou Zhun in the Northern Song Dynasty had no choice but to ride a donkey when he returned home.
Forget it, the key is that the number of donkeys is not enough. Song Renzong went to Xixia and mobilized 50,000 donkeys from all over the country to transport military supplies, which is simply unbelievable.
The famous Huaixi Mule Army in the Tang Dynasty had five or eight thousand cavalry at every turn. And Wei Bo's army, which was ordered by the imperial court to conquer them, also had tens of thousands of cavalry.
The battle between Wang Rong and Li Keyong led to "one hundred thousand horses". Although it is a bit exaggerated, there are still one hundred thousand horses.
A highly developed agricultural society does not have enough livestock for one reason: the people are poor.
And the taxes in the Northern Song Dynasty were heavier than those in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, which was exactly the same. The people were so poor that they couldn't get any livestock.
"Thirty years ago, the saint was still in Lingzhou. In order to raise military rewards, he sold horses on a large scale." Wang Shilu said again: "One horse has more than thirty pieces of silk. Thirty years have passed, and now one horse only has twenty
A piece of silk, when it's cheap, it only costs twenty pieces. How much does a horse cost in Guangzhou?"
"If it's a healthy horse from the North, it will cost sixty or seventy thousand yuan at least." Liu Yin said.
Wang Shilu calculated that if it were ordinary silk, it would be equivalent to almost 200 pieces, almost ten times that of Beidi.
"It's too expensive to buy a horse for dozens of dollars." Wang Shilu said in surprise: "Who can afford it? You can buy one of these."
It’s a nice farmhouse.”
"How can the common people use horses?" Liu Yin said with a smile.
"This is the problem." Wang Shilu said: "If you want people to be able to afford livestock, you have to lower the price. What can't be done with tens of thousands of dollars, but you have to buy horses? In the early Tang Dynasty, horses were most lacking.
Time, extorted by the Uighurs, is only worth forty bolts of silk."
After the Anshi Rebellion, the horse breeding system of the Tang Dynasty collapsed for a time, and they had to purchase horses from the Uighurs.
The Uighurs are not fools. Seeing that you are short of horses, of course they will demand a high price. "In the middle of the Qianyuan period (the Uighurs) came to the market and traded one horse for 40 horses, which turned out to be tens of thousands of horses."
Not only did the Uighurs sell horses at high prices, but they also sold tens of thousands of horses at a time. Forty pieces of silk per horse were comparable to robbery - converted into money, it would cost 20 pieces of silk no matter what.
But the Tang court slowly took time to adjust and began to reestablish pastoral supervision in various places. They even raised horses and donkeys in Fujian, and Quanzhou had 7,000 horses at that time.
Zhaoyi Jiedushi raised horses near Jinliang Temple in Luzhou. "The horses are as strong as ducks. Those who breed from Jinliang are called in the world, and their annual income can be worth millions."
The horses from Jinliang Temple in Luzhou have even formed a brand, and about 500 horses are steadily sold to the market every year.
In the seventh year of Taihe, Liu Yuan, the governor of Yinzhou, reported that Yinzhou already had more than 7,000 horses.
In this year, the price of horses in the Tang Dynasty dropped to 15-20 pieces of silk, which cost about 8-10 yuan.
Compared with the Northern Song Dynasty, a horse cost dozens of guan, which was still the price for military purchases, while civilian purchases cost nearly 100 guan. The prices of donkeys, mules, and cattle even far exceeded those of the Five Dynasties Dynasty with frequent wars. This was the price of livestock in the peaceful and prosperous times.
It’s hard to understand how someone could be so incompetent?
After thirty years of painstaking horse administration in the Xia Dynasty, and the exchange of supplies with the grasslands, the price of horses fell year by year. Moreover, the overall quality of the horses flooding the market was good, and the price should have been higher than that of Tang horses, but the result was basically maintained.
From the original price, it can be seen that the number of livestock in society is already quite high.
The role of livestock in agricultural society cannot be overstated.
"How many horses are there in Daxia now?" Liu Yin just saw a very tall and strong horse, and was a little surprised, so he asked.
"I don't know very well about this. There should still be hundreds of thousands of official horses." Wang Shilu thought for a moment and said, "The horses raised by the common people may not be less than 200,000, maybe 300,000?"
Or even more? No one has counted, but there are athletes riding horses everywhere in Guanbei, Guannai, Helong, and Zhili. This is also a fact. The horse price next year will definitely be lower than this year, that’s for sure.”
"Why?" Liu Yin asked.
"Khitan horses, Heishui Fan horses, and Bohai rate guest horses are all waiting to enter the Central Plains." Wang Shilu said: "Each official and animal husbandry should also release a group of horses, 30,000 to 50,000 horses will not be a problem."
Liu Yin took a long breath.
Fortunately, I didn't insist on it. What's going on with the two or three hundred thousand horses raised by the people? The towns in Lingnan can have five hundred or one thousand cavalry, and they can show off their power. Compared with others, it's really annoying.
"With the price of horses low, the trackers on the canal will gradually disappear." Wang Shilu pointed to a group of men walking slowly by, shouting neat slogans, as if talking about the sunset industry: "They have to make a living on their own."
"In fact, not only the price of horses, but also the price of cattle has fallen sharply in recent years." Wang Shilu added: "I heard that Yingzhou and Shenzhou selected tens of thousands of calves from the trophies and trained them to get used to farming. But this is just
As an emergency measure, Sinong Temple has been breeding cattle with strong strength and good endurance. The common people have also selected some relatively docile cattle, made them mate, and trained them after giving birth to calves. Beef cattle are not valuable, dairy cattle are more valuable, and cattle are the most valuable.
, Farm cattle are cheap and the common people can afford them, so they can harvest more grain and save themselves effort. When they are recruited for training, there won’t be so many weird things.”
When Liu Yin heard this, he opened his mouth wide. After a long time, he bowed his head humbly again.
He is convinced by what he has done today, even more convinced than when he was defeated on the battlefield.
They are not on the same level.
"Actually, I know some Tibetan merchants..." Liu Yin said.
"Didn't you kill me?" Wang Shilu said with a smile.
Liu Yin sat down awkwardly and said: "He didn't come this year, but in previous years he sold more than ten big food horses to Guangzhou, known as BMWs. I had people buy them and keep them in the garden and forest, but they were all raised
died."
"+!" Wang Shilu was startled and scolded: "What a waste of natural resources! The saint begged for a BMW but couldn't get it, so you are going to die!"
"But -" Wang Shilu calmed down and said, "Don't say I won't help you, I will show you a clear path today."
"General, please speak." Liu Yin also felt that he had messed up and was a little panicked.
"If you can contact that merchant, you can get him to sell horses again, and the court will spend a lot of money to buy them, and you can even be awarded an official position." Wang Shilu said, "If you can accomplish this, it will definitely be a great achievement."
"Thanks for the advice." Liu Yin felt happy that he had found a way to make a contribution.
On the 25th, the group arrived in Bianzhou.
Stayed for a day, then continued north, passing Wansheng Town, Putian Town, Yingze, Heyin, Gongxian, Yanshi, and finally drove along the Cao Canal.
Xintan in Luoyang City.
After the ship anchored, they also went ashore.
Weiwei Temple took over Liu Yin and others and temporarily detained them in Shendu Garden - there were too many people, more than three hundred people. Those who went to Shendu Garden first
It’s also good to have a garden circle to help with the work.
Wang Shilu gave his soldiers two days' leave and agreed to board a ship outside the Xiecheng Canal in the east of the city and return to Haizhou in three days.
This is not the first time for him to come to Luoyang, but it is the first time for him to arrive in Luoyang by boat.
The convenience of river transportation left a deep impression on him.
He walked around Xintan.
This is almost a large-scale commodity distribution center, where merchants from all states and even countries gather. You can see all kinds of products and everyone.
The people looked proud.
The tax collector was beaming.
Scholars are happy but do not miss Shu.
The saint has been stationed in Beijing for several years, and the prosperity of Tokyo has even reached a higher level without being affected at all.
Luoyang's location is truly unique.
If the waterway to Xiangyang can be opened, then the goods from the Jianghan area can also be transported in at an extremely low price.
Judging from the current situation of vigorous development of Xiangying, Eyue and other states, once these places mature, it will not matter to Luoyang whether there is Jiangnan or not. Jianghan can become the granary of Daxia and even provide a large amount of silk.
Silk, tea.
It’s a great place, so I need to buy a house in Luoyang quickly.
Besides, it’s almost time for the saint to leave and come back, right?