Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 140 Zhang Zhao's Way to Heaven (Two in One, One Update Today)
Zhang Zhao knew why Li Shengtian would ask such a question, because even the people of later generations would not know that those great empires that appeared at the same time and declined almost at the same time in history had seemingly unrelated but thousands of connections. Inextricably linked.

Thinking of this, I, Zhang Dajun, took a brush from the table.

From the northern tip of the Apennine Peninsula controlled by the Charlemagne Empire, to Constantinople in Eastern Rome, then to Baghdad, where the black clothes are full of food, then to Persia, then to the Western Regions, then through the Hexi Corridor, and finally to Chang'an.

Zhang Zhao drew a line with a brush to connect these places.

"This is? This is the way of business? Is it the Silk Road starting from the Tang Dynasty?" Li Shengtian pondered for a while, and he knew what Zhang Zhao was painting.

This is the business path connecting east and west trade!It is also one of the foundations of Khotan.

"That's right! Please look, Uncle, here is the Charlemagne Empire controlling Genoa. The western end of the Silk Road is here. Here, people can already buy silk and porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, but by the time they get here, the silk and satin have already been sold." It is sky-high.

Therefore, many merchants only regard Datang's silk and porcelain as signs, and sell more products from the black clothes.

After they sell their products, they will buy some local products and ship them back to Dashi.

But Dashi's land is barren, and they can't eat so many commodities at all, so they can only continue to transport them eastward.

After changing hands several times, these commodities were aggregated into glassware, fragrant leaves, pepper, nutmeg, olive oil, salamander, blankets and even swords and armored horses that appeared in Khotan.

When they arrive in Khotan, some of them will be digested by Khotan, and then some jade, wine, etc. will be added and transported eastward. In the end, all the goods will arrive in Chang'an.

In Chang'an, these mountains of goods will be completely digested by Chang'an, which has a population of 2 million. Even if Chang'an can't digest it, there are Luoyang, Longyou, Shannan, Jiangnan, Jiannan, Lingnan and even the entire Tang Dynasty.

After the Tang Dynasty headed by Chang'an digested these commodities, the porcelain, pottery, silk and other commodities of the Tang Dynasty would be transported away by merchants, and then set foot on the road to the west again. "

Zhang Zhao said a lot in one breath, and Li Shengtian nodded accordingly.

"That's right! That's how the Silk Road works. When the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, there were hundreds of thousands of merchants passing by in a year. At that time, it was really prosperous!"

The Silk Road, the trade route named by German scholars in the [-]th century, is far from being so light and fluffy as it sounds to later generations.

It was the largest, most important, and even the only large-scale commercial route in the world before the prosperity of maritime trade.

Moreover, this commercial road spans [-] miles, and it is not a group of merchants who go to the end, but one stop after another, with businessmen of different nationalities and cultures relaying it.

So with this commercial road, everyone along the way can benefit. The merchants make money, the people sell the goods they don’t need, and buy the goods they need, and the ruler receives a lot of business taxes.

With the blessing of the Silk Road, the Hexi Corridor is not a place where later generations eat sand in the northwest, but a first-class golden passage. The population of Dunhuang in the Tang Dynasty was even several times that of Dunhuang in later generations.

The land of Hexi, dominated by the Republic of Gansu, had the same status in the Tang Dynasty as the Guangdong region of the later Republic.

This Silk Road sounds like an ordinary business road, but it is actually a golden road.

"It's a pity! The Silk Road has long since lost its former glory. Since Tianbao 14 years ago, the two thieves, Anshi and Shi, started to wreak havoc on the world. This Silk Road has been getting worse day by day. I wish I could eat the flesh and blood of these two thieves in Tianbao years!"

Even though it was nearly 200 years ago, Li Shengtian still gritted his teeth when he mentioned the Anshi Rebellion.

"Uncle, after the two thieves Anshi brought chaos to the world, it wasn't just the Silk Road that was destroyed! Uncle, please see, after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty is almost in decline.

But at the same time as the Tang Dynasty was declining, the great empires that flourished at the same time as the Tang Dynasty in the past, such as Tubo, Heiyi Dashi, Daqin, and the Charlemagne Empire, all began to decline almost at the same time. It did not exceed 100 years before and after, and Tubo did not even exist. Don't uncle think this is a bit too coincidental? "

A flash of lightning flashed in Li Shengtian's mind. He dropped the leg of lamb with a bang, squinted his eyes and threw himself in front of Zhang Zhao's map, sliding his fingers along the Silk Road drawn by Zhang Zhao bit by bit.

"Erlang, you are saying that the reason why these great empires were able to maintain their prosperity in the past is all because they participated in this ancient Silk Road, and after the decline of the Silk Road, they inevitably fell into decline collectively."

"Yes! The biggest reason for the decline of the Silk Road is the decline of Datang. Uncle, in our world, there were about 80 million people in the past, and Datang, including black households and hidden households, had about [-] million.

That's such a great number!Before Anshi, it was difficult to calculate the goods that had to be digested by 80 million mouths a year, so no matter how many goods came from the West, we could digest them.

And after we digest these commodities, we will produce a huge amount of goods for merchants to sell to the west, thus supporting the prosperity of several great empires in the west.

Haven't you been surprised?It was snowing in June on the Qiangtang Snowfield, and it was extremely cold, but how did Tubo Zanpu maintain two hundred thousand soldiers?

And where did the cloth, money, grain, salt and iron come from to support the Tubo generals to contend with the era of Taizong and Gaozong, when there were so many famous generals? "

"That's right! Those Tubo people in the daycare, if it weren't for someone who helped them all the time, they would have been unable to survive.

It is a noble person among them, it is a good day to have a bowl of honey rice and a glass of purple wine.

How did they support those hundreds of thousands of soldiers back then?Is it because of the prosperity of the Silk Road? "

Li Shengtian was stunned for a while, and a question that he had never thought about before came to his mind.

"My uncle is right. The reason why Tubo can prosper is because of the prosperity of the Silk Road, and the reason why Tubo is rapidly declining is also because of the decline of the Silk Road.

In fact, after Anshi, the Silk Road can still be maintained, but the Tibetans have done something that digs their own grave.

They planned the Pingliang robbery event in the third year of Zhenyuan, Emperor Dezong. Although this shameless plan eliminated the three generals in the Northwest of the Tang Dynasty and killed hundreds of elite soldiers in the Tang Dynasty, the serious consequences were worse than those obtained by Tubo. Much bigger.

After Pingliang robbed the alliance, Datang completely abandoned the alliance with Tubo. The bigger impact was that the Tubo people exposed their infidelity. They even dared to rob Datang.
Since then, merchants preferred to detour through the grasslands controlled by the Uyghurs rather than go to Hexi.

After realizing that there are fewer merchants in Hexi, what the Tubo people did was not to show their willingness to maintain the trade as soon as possible. Grab some. "

"This is really looking for death! I should take this as a warning!" Li Shengtian's eyes widened when he heard the anti-intellectual operation of the Tubo people, and couldn't help complaining.

"That's right! Since then, the Silk Road has been cut off. Even though Tubo has captured Hexi and most of Longyou, the output cannot sustain an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

A large number of soldiers had no food and clothing, and middle and lower-level officers also lived in hardship. In order to compete for more survival resources, they launched a tragic internal massacre. "

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhao smiled, "One of the biggest reasons why Pan Han responded when the Taibao Gong raised his arms was actually because the Silk Road was cut off.

Hexi is not a rich town at all, the Silk Road is cut off, the source of wealth is exhausted, and the city is poor and sad.

So back then when the Taibao government raised righteousness, not only the Han children responded, but the Sogdian, Longjia, Dadan, Uighurs, and even the Tubo people themselves followed suit.

It is true that the land of Hexi is about to die, and after the goal of opening up Ganliang and returning to the motherland, the reopening of the Silk Road is actually added! "

Zhang Zhao said with a smile, but Li Shengtian seemed to have suddenly realized it. He looked at Zhang Zhao with burning eyes. Obviously, he no longer regarded Zhang Zhao as a brave general, but as a soldier!
"When Erlang said this, I also remembered. In the past, my grandfather once said that the reason why our Yuchi family was determined to drive out the Tibetans was because Khotan's life was dead. I thought my grandfather meant that the Tibetans were oppressed too much. So it was because the Silk Road was cut off!"

Speaking of this, Li Shengtian seemed to have caught a little bit of Zhang Zhao's thinking, but he almost couldn't figure it out. What does the Queen of Karakhan have to do with what Zhang Zhao said?
"Nephew, may I ask Uncle, is the commercial tax that Khotan has received from the Silk Road these years, increasing year by year or decreasing?"

Li Shengtian's face darkened, "Where did the increase come from? The commercial tax received last year is only [-]% of what it was five years ago!"

"Then uncle must have thought that the decrease in business tax was because the merchants on the Silk Road were attracted by the Gaochang Uighurs, and a large number of them went to the North Road, so the number of merchants on the South Road decreased?"

"Isn't it?" Li Shengtian asked suspiciously, that's why he thought so, and that's why he discussed with Cao Yijin, preparing for the two to jointly attract the merchants to the south road as much as possible.

Zhang Zhao took the mission to the ancient city of Loulan and was looted by Gaochang Diluoda Ganpu Gucheng. In fact, it was Gaochang Wumu Lord Khan's warning to the two families.

"No!" Zhang Zhao shook his head affirmatively, "My nephew obtained from Wu Da'er the statistics of merchants passing through Dunhuang and the tax records of Shazhou in recent years. Compared with five years ago, the commercial tax in Shazhou has dropped by a lot. Thirty percent!"

"How did this happen? How did this happen? Could it be that the Uighurs in Ganzhou have changed? Or is there another disturbance in Gamo, Hexi?"

Li Shengtian was suddenly in chaos. Whether he was going north to Gaochang Uighur or south to Khotan, the merchants all came from Dunhuang, Shazhou.

The decline in the number of merchants and merchant taxes in Dunhuang shows that the reduction in merchant taxes in Khotan was not due to the fact that they all took the North Road of Gaochang Uighur, but that the merchants from the east were decreasing sharply.

"Not at all!" Zhang Zhao took a deep breath, he couldn't bear to tell Li Shengtian this cruel reality.

"The real reason is that the population of Guanzhong is withered, which is less than one-twelfth of that of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. The Central Plains has gone through several wars, and Dingkou is not as good as before. The entire Central Plains, a land of prosperity, has begun to turn to Yang Wu and Qian. beyond the land.

Guanzhong was dilapidated, and Hedong, Henan, and Hebei were also in constant turmoil due to the war. At that time, there were hundreds of thousands of wealthy households in Guanzhong, and none of them survived. .

Because these have nothing to do with people's livelihood, they are used by officials and nobles. When the Tang Dynasty can't digest the goods from the west, the merchants can only use money to come to the Tang Dynasty to buy the output of the Tang Dynasty.

This not only increased the cost, but also reduced the profits along the way, which would inevitably lead to a skyrocketing price of silk and porcelain in Datang.

And the skyrocketing price has caused the big cannibals, the Qin people and the Franks in the west to gradually be unable to consume the products of the Tang Dynasty, and the Silk Road gradually withered, which is reasonable.

What is even more frightening are Qian Yue, Wang Min, and Nanhan, because they have already started to build ships to go to sea, trying to reach Dashi directly from the sea. In the future, I am afraid that the Maritime Silk Road will replace the Silk Road on the Road. "

This is the great horror. Li Shengtian, who was a little smoky under the influence of alcohol, was sweating like rain, and immediately became sober.

If Huainan, Jiangnan, and Lingnan built large ships to go to sea, and the Silk Road would all belong to the sea, then Khotan would be finished. Without the Silk Road, how would the Kingdom of Jin survive?
"Since Erlang knows this, there must be a solution, right? Come and tell uncle!" Li Shengtian grabbed Zhang Zhao's hand, his eyes were full of tension.

Zhang Zhao sighed. It was like this in history. After fighting with Kara Khan for many years, Khotan was consumed to death at the foot of Kunlun Mountain because of the interruption of the land Silk Road.

"Uncle, this is a general trend, and it cannot be saved by humans! But we can try to delay it. Anxi and Hezhong cannot be saved, but Khotan and Jin Kingdom still have a chance!"

Li Shengtian began to hear Zhang Zhao say that it is not human power that can save him, and his face was already pale, but then he heard Yu Tian's words that he could save him, and within a few breaths, he seemed to be walking on the edge of life and death. Looking at Zhang Zhao.

"Please Erlang teach me!"

"Willing to share my uncle's worries!" Zhang Zhao also sat back and saluted.

Then he tore off a piece of jute paper, and drew a map of the South Asian subcontinent under Khotan with a brush.

"Uncle, this is the Tianzhu countries that Tang Xuanzang visited. The climate here is hot, but the products are rich. Rice can be grown three times a year, and all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and spices are everywhere.

A plant called cotton grows in the northwest, which can be used to make clothes and bedding, which is more than ten times warmer than linen and Gebu.

What's more, its people are dark and weak, and the Brahmans rule the people of Tianzhu in different levels, which is very easy to govern. This is simply the treasure house of the golden kingdom bestowed by God! "

As he said that, Zhang Zhao became completely excited. Going to India to be a lord is probably the favorite thing for many Chinese men who like history and maps to open up borders in later generations.

What a colonial!How did it fall into the hands of a bastard like Dai Ying?Why didn't our ancestors know about colonizing India!
Isn't this coming!

Zhang Zhao excitedly pointed at the Indian mainland, "Uncle, please see, if we can capture Maryinang (Fergana), we can find a passage from the Saman country in Persia to reach Tianzhu smoothly after we leave the Taniguchi .

In addition, we can also cross the snow-capped mountains from the hometown of Shouzhuo in Congling.

In this two-sided attack, only a few thousand soldiers are needed, and Tianzhu will surely submit. At that time, we can plunder a lot of treasures from Tianzhu, and at the same time, we can also plunder the people of Tianzhu, because they are extremely obedient and the best serfs.

We got the Tianzhu people to Maryinang to cultivate and cultivate, and then enfeoffed our own people to be lords. It is like the military system of the Tang Dynasty, but in fact it is the Ikta nobles of Kara Khan. Each person is given hundreds of acres of land to make them Yongzhen side.

If [-] soldiers and tens of thousands of self-cultivating peasants and auxiliary soldiers stationed in Maryi Nang and closed the mouth of the valley, no one can take it away, and there are serfs from Tianzhu farming for generations, our warriors only need to practice martial arts from generation to generation.

When the population multiplied, the descendants would be sent to Tianzhu to become lords, or to attack Saman Persia. When the serfs were gone, they would go to Tianzhu to plunder and come back.

At the same time, trade routes can also be opened up to transport sugarcane, cotton, and spices from Tianzhu back to Khotan, Hexi, and even Datang.

Then we can ship silk, porcelain, etc. from the Tang Dynasty, and we can teach them how to drink tea, and then sell the tea.

Repeating this cycle, constantly absorbing the blood of Tianzhu to strengthen ourselves, even if the big silk road is cut off, our small silk road from Tianzhu to Chang'an is enough to maintain! "

This is actually Zhang Zhao’s prescription for Hexi and Anxi. It is almost a foregone conclusion that the overland Silk Road will be cut off, but he can open up a small Silk Road, which may be called the Cotton Road in the future.

Because the main problem now is that after Guanzhong is broken, it is no longer able to digest luxury goods from the West.

Unable to digest these Western luxuries, the two-way trade of the Silk Road has become one-way.

So Zhang Zhao wants to grow cotton in India, which is intended for mass consumption and does not need to be digested by nobles, rich merchants and officials.

In addition to cotton, various Indian spices and raw cane sugar can also be sold to Anxi, Hexi and Guanzhong.

Guanzhong sold silk, porcelain, pottery, and decolorized sucrose to India.

Thus revitalizing the entire road, and in this way, with this commercial road, the decline of Anxi, Hexi, and especially Guanzhong can be delayed.

In all wars, logistics is finally fought. With this money, Zhang Zhao is qualified to go east and fight for the world, and has the confidence to rebuild China.

"I understand! It's a good plan! Erlang has a long-term vision, and my uncle is far behind!" Li Shengtian clapped his hands and laughed.

"I understand! I can't do this, I don't have enough brains, let alone your cousin Cong De! Only you, Zhang Erlang, can do this, and only you have this ability!

No wonder you want to accept the queen of Kara Khan, because she has the blood of the royal family of Dongcao at the entrance of the Mari Nang Valley and the Kizikurgan people in the hometown of Congling. You want to use this woman to pry these two clans for your own use. !Drive them to annex Maryi Nang as the pioneers and control Tianzhu. "

(End of this chapter)