Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1532 Jozhou and Fugu

At the end of February, the Daibei Grassland has not yet turned green.

Occasionally, a little bit of green grass sprouted in some places, but the whole was still a monotonous withered yellow.

Jining County is the logical location of Rouzhou. The area near the city wall is filled with a mixed population of Han and Han. There are thousands of people, most of whom are families of the Yinshan Town Army.

The Yinshan town army has the first and second towns. The original source is the Xinquan army who stayed behind in Guanbei, as well as the surrendered Zhongwu and Huaining Second Fanzhen soldiers.Later, a thousand recruits from the Lingzhou Academy and a thousand Qingtang Tubo elites were selected and sent.

After becoming an army, the former has 8000 paces and is stationed in Fengzhou and Shengzhou; the latter has [-] people and is stationed in Rouzhou.

Because the area to be defended was too vast, upon hearing that the Privy Council intended to form another town army in the Yinshan area, the personnel were selected from the miscellaneous troops.

It is still the old rule that the best able to fight will be added to the imperial army, adding a little fresh blood to the imperial army, so as not to solidify it.

Those who were able to fight the next time were organized into Fubing, and they were divided into various places in Liaodong, even the Western Regions and Yunnan.

The rest of the ordinary soldiers were not very strong in combat, and their spirits were not as good as others. If they were coaxed and threatened, they would basically be eaten.

The second town of Yinshan is located in Rouzhou, but it is impossible to gather all of them in one place. In fact, they are scattered in various fortresses.Jining County is the largest resident, but there are only more than 2000 people.

The family of the Zhenjun, the herdsmen of the Qibi family, the householders of the Han people, and the merchants who came and went constituted the small society in Johor State. If you look carefully, it is still full of vitality.

Early in the morning, Qibi Yunnian rode a horse and came to the market.

"Buy by order, hurry up." He said, waving his horsewhip.

The clerks of the Hanyin County Government responded in a loud voice, took the gift list, and walked into each shop one by one to buy goods.There were those who hadn't opened the door yet, and were directly beaten loudly, and after opening the door sleepily, they were startled.

Rouzhou is the main state of the imperial court, but everyone knows that there is still a local force that cannot be ignored, and that is the Qibi family.

As the Duke of Daxia and relatives of the emperor, the energy of the Qibi family is so great that even the governor has to be courteous.Gein and his family are in the vast surrounding grasslands, controlling nearly [-] herdsmen, and it is not a problem to draw [-] horsemen with the limit conscription.Moreover, among the grassland tribes, their family is relatively capable of fighting, and has been commended by saints more than once.

But after all, it is not the end of the former Tang Dynasty when the rules and regulations were slack.The new dynasty was established, and the rules are still relatively strict. It is true that the Qibi family is a local snake, but the Jouzhou camp has not yet been cancelled. Arrive in Yunzhou.

It would be very troublesome if someone sued him. If the saint was in a bad mood, he might be punished in addition to the normal punishment.Even if only one hundred households are fined, it will be more painful.

Therefore, when the shopkeepers saw people from the county government rushing in to carry the goods, they were not in a hurry. They only asked their sons and nephews to check the quantity with the clerks and negotiate prices, while they themselves chatted with the county government officials who led the team.

"Cao Lushi, so mobilizing teachers and mobilizing people, are the rumors true?" asked the shopkeeper.

"You're pretty well informed." Cao Lu was surprised.

"As a businessman, how can you not see and listen to all directions?" The shopkeeper smiled modestly and said, "My brother-in-law is doing business in Canzhou, and there is more movement there."

"I see." Cao Lushi nodded and asked casually, "What business does your brother-in-law do?"

"Trafficking lime."

"Good deal!" Cao Lushi praised.

Lithium alkali is also called halogen alkali, which is natural sodium carbonate.

Chinese people have a long history of using halogen-alkali. Some people collected it to wash clothes in the Han Dynasty, but the amount of use has been small and relatively stable.

In Daxia, the situation changed dramatically.

Because of the demand for wool degreasing, the use of soda ash has increased year after year, which has suddenly created a huge market.Merchants from all walks of life went to the northern grassland one after another, because the brine and alkali resources here are the most abundant, and they hired herdsmen to collect them and transport them to various places for sale.

Of course, some people in the north are unwilling to spend money to buy halogen alkali.

"The author of Brine Zhining, and the one with the lowest taste of scraping salt and decocting at the end of Bingzhou."

"In the plains of the Shanxi provinces, and in the high-pitched places of Yuci, Taigu, brine grows in autumn. It looks like water, and it looks like snow when you look at it. The natives scrape it and refine it into salt. If it has a pale yellow color, it is brine."

At least many places in Hedong will naturally precipitate sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate in autumn. Whether there are other places depends on your local environment.

In short, this is a business, and it's still a big business—daily consumables that are needed by thousands of households are big business.

"It's okay." The shopkeeper smiled reservedly, and said: "My brother-in-law knows a thousand households in Woyang Palace, and he can take care of him, so he can make a living."

Cao Lushi smiled accompaniment, inadvertently put away a little arrogance, and looked a little kinder.

In fact, there is also a halogen-alkali business here in Johor State.Because the salt ponds are mostly distributed on the grasslands, most of them are run by the Qibi family, and a small part are distributed on the land under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

Alkali brine trading has now become an important income for the Qibi family, which was unimaginable ten years ago.However, it is heard that starting from next year, the imperial court will levy a tax on halogen alkali, and the tax rate is estimated to be not low.

Saints like that.Let you develop first, and when more and more people participate in a certain business, become more and more prosperous, and the people who use it become more and more inseparable, the imperial court will come to collect taxes.The tax rate may be very low at the beginning, but every few years the situation will be observed and the tax rate will be readjusted - usually higher.

But even so, no one would give up the business of brine and alkali.Especially the chieftains of the grassland tribes, the originally useless halogen alkali can be sold to the Central Plains for money?Wouldn't that be a desperate sell?It doesn't matter if the price is lower, the cost is very low anyway.

The chieftains made money, and the herdsmen were able to share some soup and water by selling coolies.And when the herdsmen have money, merchants will flock to bring cheap goods, so that everyone's life can be improved.

Cao Lushi is a down-and-out literati who Qi Bizhang took refuge in when he was fighting in Henan. He has been in the county government for a long time, and he has a clear understanding of the changes in the grassland in the past 20 years.

There used to be a fool who talked nonsense, saying that the Great Xia sages kept drawing men from them to fight wars and collect cattle and sheep, so it should be against him.Well, the last whereabouts of this person should be in a brick kiln in Jining County, carrying bricks in shackles.

Everyone is not stupid.The economic ties between the grassland and the Central Plains are getting closer and closer. How many benefits has this brought?
In fact, it is not only brine and alkali, live animals, fur, dairy products, ox horns, tendons, and brown sugar, honey, etc. that have emerged in recent years, are not only purchased by ordinary merchants, but also by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Tools, porcelain pottery, pots and pans, tea spirits and even silk, books, musical instruments and other once-luxury goods.

Both sides of the trade benefit greatly and improve their lives.

What rebellion?Make life worse?Sorry, ordinary herdsmen don't agree.

What rebellion?My family is a royal relative!I'm sorry, but the Qibi family didn't agree either.

This time the sage summoned all the tribes to go north for a meeting, and Qibi Rang assembled tens of thousands of soldiers and horses early in the morning, brought enough food and grass needed for the journey, and hurried north.It is not without reason that orders are carried out so resolutely.

Da Xiazi, if he really treats them as his own people, he has done better than the former Tang Dynasty, so he will return the loyalty of his own people, that's all.

******
"Where is Heichengzi?"

"Will I starve to death?"

"Is it really possible to farm in that place?"

"Will it be dangerous? Have all the people who went last year returned?"

Outside Fugu Town in the northeast of Linzhou, [-] Tutuan villagers recruited from the three prefectures of Sui, Yin, and Linzhou were on their way.

They had just finished the spring sowing at home, and they didn't expect to drive the carriage to the Qibei Grassland for spring sowing. They were really busy.

Fugu was originally a military town, but it has been abolished and gradually turned into a commercial market.

Going north from Guanzhong via Fufang, going south from Nuozhenshui, Ketuncheng, Shengzhou, and Canzhou, and the east-west commercial roads between Guanbei and Hedong via the Yellow River all meet here. After 30 years of development, the household registration has gradually increased, and the business has prospered, not even worse than Xinqin, the state city.

When the village soldiers passed by here, another group of people followed. They were officials from the Si Nong Temple. They bought a lot of farm tools here, and hired some veterinarians, grooms, etc., and followed them to the north.

"Isn't it just military service?" The leader of the team was the deputy commander of the Yinzhou State Army, and he only heard him say: "In the past, when I was conscripted into battle, it was to really face the front. Worry? After returning, each person can still receive a piece of money, a piece of cloth, and a sheep, which is already very good."

After hearing this, the townspeople's morale was slightly boosted.

Indeed, isn't it just farming?It's better than going to war.What's more, there are rewards from the imperial court, which are much better than before.

The sound of horseshoes came from the grassland to the west of the post road, which attracted everyone to look around.

The military town was abolished, but changed into a warehouse.The most important material in the warehouse is hay, and a small amount of miscellaneous grains.The overwhelming cavalry stopped near the warehouse, the warehouse door was opened wide, and a cart of fodder was pulled out to feed the horses.

"It's the imperial horse soldiers!"

"I don't know which part. My brother is the deputy of the Golden Knife Army. He went back to his hometown last year, and he is quite impressive."

"The forbidden army is here, isn't the saint nearby?"

"Where is it? Where is the saint?"

As soon as the saint was mentioned, the village warriors who were still full of complaints suddenly cheered up.When I was young, I heard all kinds of legends about saints told by my ancestors. If I could meet a real person, wouldn't I be envied to death when I go back?

Ye Lishu, who was talking with the officials of Sinong Temple, also raised his head and looked around.

"The sage is still receiving elders in Yinzhou. This is just a vanguard team." An official from Sinong Temple said.

"I see." Nori smiled.

In fact, he also really wanted to see the saint.As the third generation of the distant branch of the Ye Li family, it is impossible for him to get much care from the family. The only way to climb up is to make military exploits with his outstanding martial arts.

Isn't Zhe Siyu also a branch of the Zhe family?Now his lineage is not much worse than the main line, this is a role model.

The arrival of a large group of cavalry also alarmed the people of Fugu Town.

Rumors of "the saint is coming" spread like wildfire, attracting people to look around.

"Long live my emperor!" After a while, someone saw a gorgeous carriage and shouted out immediately.

"Long live my emperor!" People followed the crowd, and one person shouted, which soon led the others, and the cheers resounded through the sky.

Yue Liduo lifted the curtain of the car and looked outside with a complicated expression.

Sometimes, she wished that the cheers were directed at her, but after all these years, she knew it was wishful thinking.

Look at the other women in the car.

There is Gao, Queen of Bohai, who was captured in Longquan Mansion in the eighth year of Jianji, Wang, the queen mother of Changhe, who was captured in Dali in the 12th year of Jianji, and Pugu, the Uighur princess who was captured in Heichengzi in the third year of Qianning (896). And she—Kedun, who is the Khitan Eight Division, was betrayed by her brothers in the North Building in the seventh year of Jianji and fell into the hands of the saint.

This time going north, the saint didn't bring any other women with him, but just a few of them, wasn't it for showing off?For men, this is an achievement, but for them, isn't it a humiliation?
Of course, Yue Liduo doesn't care much about this anymore, the grassland customs have always been like this.

What she cared about was, when the sage was applauded by the crowd, if she could stand by her side during the alliance, how much honor would it be?

Ke Dun, the lord of the grassland and the Supreme Khan, even if it is a fake, every time he thinks of this scene, Yue Liduo gets dizzy with excitement and can hardly hold himself.At this time, she is willing to do anything for the saint, even if she removes all her self-esteem, as long as no outsiders see it, she can accept it.

"Hey!" Dozens of horsemen flocked to Fugu Town.

Looking at that young face, I don't know which teenager slipped out.

"The sage takes me north!"

"Volunteer to serve before the army!"

"Fame can only be obtained on horseback. Sage, take a look at my martial arts. Pegasus archery, seven out of ten out of ten!"

"The sage take me away! I have beaten all the invincible hands in the whole town. I am willing to lead the horse and fall on the pedals, and serve before the army. I will not regret it even if I die!"

The people of Fugu looked at them and burst out laughing.

This is too urgent!

The imperial cavalry who was feeding the horses also laughed.

The sage gave an edict, and those who ordered came, and those who did not order also came to join in the fun.With the temper of a sage, if you are interested, you may really bring them along.

Among these people, as long as one of them achieves success and returns to his hometown, it will become an immortal legend in the local area, and then inspire more young men to practice martial arts hard and follow suit.

How nice!Daxia needs such a young man.

(End of this chapter)