Lianglang Pass closed the pass privately under the pretext of a plague, which naturally angered Zhang Xiaowu and the soldiers and civilians of Mucheng.
Most of the salt and spices needed by the soldiers and civilians of Mucheng were purchased from the Central Plains. Without the trade of the Central Plains, the people of Mucheng would have problems eating and drinking. However, the reasons given by the Wolf Guard are irrefutable. After all, the plague caused the Wolf Guard to be on guard.
Insufficient, Ju Lang Guard soldier said, 20,000 Wolf Guards were sick and 18,000 were sick, and only more than 2,000 people defended the city. They were overwhelmed every day and had to close the city gates.
Zhang Xiaowu knew that this was just an excuse. There was no need for Murong Yan to stop his caravan, but he refused to give him any face. This showed that Murong Yan had fallen out with him. Since the last time Murong Yan secretly picked up soldiers and participated in
After reading his book, the relationship was forged.
"Marquis Yingchuan, Marquis Yingchuan, this old dog!" Zhang Xiaowu couldn't help but cursed. However, Murong Yan's sealing the pass brought a benefit, that is, Xiao Kai and others could not enter the Central Plains for a while, and the imperial court
The generals sent could not come out of Mucheng.
Zhang Xiaowu was equivalent to raising several generals in his house. In order to prevent these few people from being bored, Zhang Xiaowu assigned them the position of generals respectively and helped Wen Ruyu in the army to train the soldiers so that they would not get sick in their spare time.
Xiao Kai took Bao Yin and Jia Si back to the army happily and began to think of ways to torture the soldiers.
News of Murong Yan, Marquis of Yingchuan, sealing the pass quickly reached the court, but at this time the plague gradually began to spread in the Central Plains. Taking advantage of the fear of the plague in Longdu at that time, some courtiers said that the source of the plague was outside the pass, and they should support Murong Yan in sealing the pass.
Guan. Another minister reported the plague.
The epidemic was brought by foreigners. Trade with foreigners should be stopped now to prevent foreigners from bringing the plague into the Holy Han Empire. After some debate among the courtiers, Emperor Dade also listened to the opinions of the courtiers and ordered the two wolves to close the pass and wait.
It was reopened after the plague was over.
After the imperial edict reached Lianglang Pass, Murong Yan became even more unscrupulous. He even used bows and arrows to drive away the Saibei ghost guards who wanted to enter the pass, warning: "We respect the imperial edict and seal the pass. If anyone comes close, they will be killed without mercy."
After hearing this, Zhang Xiaowu sneered several times and said: "The plague in the northern part of the country has stopped, but the plague in the Central Plains has begun. We have not banned the people from the Central Plains from visiting the northern part of the country. Instead, they have gone into seclusion. This is very good, this is very good, there will be time for them to cry someday."
Let’s just ignore it.”
Due to the closure of the customs, the soldiers and civilians of Mucheng began to lack salt and spices a few months later, and the leather boots produced by Mucheng could not be sold. Guan Xiang was so anxious that his hair turned gray for a while. He found Zhang Xiaowu and told Zhang Xiaowu about today's day
Difficulties
, Zhang Xiaowu also called everyone to discuss. Although Wusong was a salt merchant, he didn't know how to do business. When he encountered financial problems, he could only hold the book and shake his head and say: "Fight! Aren't they two wolves in Guan caught by the plague?"
?Just hit him."
"What kind of military advisor are you?" Guan Xiang couldn't laugh or cry, "You are trying to rebel."
Wu Song said: "I know how to march and form formations, and I also understand hundreds of schools of thought, but I don't know how to calculate people's minds. This problem must be solved by Lord Ruan."
Ruan Qingwen said: "This Marquis of Yingchuan is a bastard who is determined to fight against us. What can I do? It's better to do what you said and slap him in the mouth and scare him, so that he can understand the seriousness."
"
Guan Xiang said angrily: "I'm asking you to come up with ideas, it's better to think for yourself. General, how about we do business with Quanyi? We let the caravan go directly to the west to the Uzi Khanate and northwest to the Wuhuan Empire.
Or go north to the Northeast Yi Khanate, or go east to the Tarta Khanate. In short, since we can't continue trading with the Central Plains, we will trade with them."
Ruan Qingwen said: "It is indeed dangerous to trade with dog barbarians. We just had a battle with them before. I'm afraid..."
Zhang Xiaowu said: "How will you know if you don't try? So, Guan Xiang sent a caravan to the Tucheng of the Mohe people to ask what they need and what they can provide. I remember that they like to herd cattle and pick mushrooms in the mountains.
Dried vegetables, we are short of dried vegetables, but plentiful
Swords and weapons." Speaking of which, I have to say that because there were too many wars in Mucheng, many weapons, armors, leather armors, military uniforms, and even war horses were captured. Moreover, Guan Xiang also had people make wine, so that Mucheng's supplies
It's still quite rich, but the species is a bit more monotonous.
Wusong smiled and said: "I humbly support trading with dogs and barbarians."
Guan Xiang also said with a smile: "Last year we tried to trade with dogs and barbarians, and they did not conflict with us."
Zhang Xiaowu said: "Last year there was abundant rain, and this year the northern part of the country is full of greenery. We should imitate the Tatar herdsmen in grazing and breeding, and then look for some drought-tolerant crops to plant. Our land had no harvest last year. One reason is that the people in the Central Plains are used to planting Central Plains farmers."
do
crops, and many crops are drought-tolerant, so starting from this year, we must look for drought- and cold-resistant crops to plant. Saibei is so big, and our Mucheng only has a population of 40,000, so we will definitely not go hungry. As long as people are not hungry
, you will have the motivation to live on.”
Guan Xiang suggested expanding the city and building a city wall outside the wooden city to quadruple the current size of the wooden city. After consideration, Zhang Xiaowu and others rejected the suggestion of building a city wall. He allowed the people to build private houses outside the city, and opened handicraft workshops and markets.
The city established a "tithe tax" and collected 10% of income as a tax. It also banned tithes and any other taxes to encourage industry and commerce, which greatly inspired people.
As the Mucheng caravans looked around for trading possibilities, Mucheng became prosperous again, and everyone in Mucheng also tried their best to make Mucheng more resourceful. Soon, in the summer, many foreign caravans
People also came here one after another, bringing goods and even slaves from various places.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Wooden City's transactions with the surrounding nomads, fishermen and hunters were not rejected by the aliens. Instead, they attracted more merchants. Suddenly, Wooden City actually became a city of gold. In fact, many times the aliens
The desire for prosperity and wealth in the Central Plains does not require the use of force as the only means.
Foreigners are also human beings, they are not beasts, let alone idiots. When allowed to exchange for what they like through their own trade, they are naturally willing to use the simplest way to trade.
By doing business with the foreigners, Zhang Xiaowu also learned more about the foreigners, what they were thinking, doing, and what they longed for. In order to better trade with the foreigners, Zhang Xiaowu ordered people to ban the use of "dog barbarians".
Other discriminatory words are only allowed to be called "foreign race" or "foreign race", and propaganda slogans are written on the walls of Mucheng: "All people are born equal, and all races are sons of God."
In fact, this sentence is a translation of the Western Sajiao. The original text of Sajiao is "to teach people to be the sons of God." It means that as long as you believe in Sajiao, you are the child of God, and the children of God are equal. General Zhang Xiaowu said this
The sentence was changed to "All ethnic groups are sons of God", and he was supported and welcomed by the foreign ethnic groups. Some even said that he was one of the few Han officials who truly understood the foreign ethnic groups.