Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 949 The Messenger of Tianzhu King

This is a Qiang tribe who call themselves the Liuhe tribe. They live on the edge of a tributary of the Tao River. They are nomadic tribes, mainly herding sheep and cattle. It is slash-and-burn farming, sow some seeds and wait for the harvest.

Xiao Wang silently explored the tribe.

This should be a small tribe, with about 500 people, and the young and strong are about one-third.

Only a few people in the tribe can speak Chinese, and they speak the local dialect of Guanlong area, but Lao Wang communicates with them very naturally, because Lao Wang can speak Qiang dialect fluently.

He seemed to be very familiar with everyone in this tribe, and he smiled and hugged and greeted everyone when they met. Even the Qiang women liked this old guy very much and came to greet him from afar.

Whenever Lao Wang saw someone, he always hugged them first, then greeted each other a few words, and then took out the gift he had prepared earlier from the horse.

The women are often given some wooden hairpins, the elderly may be a wooden bowl, the children may be a small rattle drum, and the men may be other things. In short, the purchase price is not high, but And a thoughtful little thing.

The Qiang people would also give him some things such as gorgeous pheasant feathers, sharp wolf teeth and so on.

They were not in a hurry to make a deal, but asked Lao Wang to ask questions, and then invited him into the tent of the chief of the tribe to chat.

The Liuhe tribe is also nomadic. They live and graze in one place in summer and autumn, and spend the winter in another place in winter and spring. They usually live in tents.

Xiao Wang discovered that the old patriarch's tent actually had iron pots, iron pots, porcelain cups and plates, and the patriarch's wives, concubines and daughters even wore very gorgeous silk skirts.

Although only the patriarch's family has this condition, it still surprised Xiao Wang, no wonder these Qiang people welcomed Lao Wang very much, because of Lao Wang, their life has been greatly improved.

When eating roast mutton, they hold a beautiful and sharp hand-removing knife in their hands, and the pots and pots for stewing soup and tea are also made of iron.

After a welcome banquet, the transaction officially began.

Lao Wang unloaded a load of goods from his horse, which mainly contained tea, salt and wine, some iron products, silk cloth, and some gold and silver jewelry.

The goods were laid out one by one, which looked extraordinarily dazzling in front of the tent.

Groups of Qiang people, men, women and children, crowded together, came to watch one by one, amazed again and again.

For those who only know how to shepherd and hunt, they simply cannot produce such exquisite items.

The patriarch was the first to trade, and what he brought out were such good things as deer skin, tiger skin, bear skin, wolf skin, and leopard skin.

The old patriarch said proudly, "You haven't come here for a long time. I have been saving for a long time. These are the best leathers. I want to exchange for tea, salt, wine, silk cloth, and a few horizontal knives."

Lao Wang went deep into Qiang Luo, and he was also very picky about things. He didn’t collect all kinds of sheepskin and wool. Normally, Lao Wang didn’t buy live cattle, sheep and horses, nor did he want cattle and sheep fur. These things are too common to buy. It is not easy to take it out afterwards.

Lao Wang mainly buys some relatively rare things, such as leather. He mainly buys the skins of tigers, leopards, bears and wolves. In addition, he also wants mink skins, deer skins, and pheasant feathers.

In addition, he will also buy some medicinal materials, such as musk, cordyceps, ghee, and Codonopsis pilosula, which are all good things.

As for cattle and sheep, cattle and sheep skins, cattle wool, etc., he usually just acts as an intermediary, introducing them to other merchants who specialize in buying them, and earning an intermediary fee from the middle.

The patriarch's family has several strong sons, and he was surprised to be able to hunt tiger skins.

"The bear and wolf skins were hunted by my sons, but the tiger skins were actually bought by us. They were hunted by a small tribe on Xiqing Mountain."

Liu Hebu has been doing business with Pharaoh for many years, and gradually understands the benefits of trade. He also often organizes people from his own tribe to go to more remote tribes to buy their precious furs, etc., and sell them to Pharaoh. a sum.

Lao Wang believes that in a few years, when the reputation of the acquisition point over there gradually increases, these Qiang people will probably go over and directly trade with the firm. Trade sporadically.

"I can only give you two horizontal knives."

Lao Wang told the patriarch that Hengdao is a franchise product, and the quantity he can purchase each time is strictly limited.

Xiao Wang listened to their bargaining, looked at Lao Wang's smooth manner, and saw those Qiang people's transactions in a very orderly manner, and felt that it was a big surprise to him.

Before I came here, I thought this would be an extremely barbaric and backward place, and thought that these Qiang people would be brutal and barbaric, but now I have seen it with my own eyes, and I feel that although their hairstyles and clothing are different from those of the Han people in the Central Plains, and their lifestyles are different, but in fact It is no different from the Han people.

Xiao Wang helped to get the goods, and asked casually, "I heard that the Tuyuhun people on the other side of the mountain are in civil turmoil. King Tianzhu invited the Tubo people to beat me, Daqin?"

The patriarch was all about the three new horizontal knives he bought. Lao Wang said he could only sell him two, but he insisted on three. These three knives are no more than the Qin army's standard horizontal knives, and they belong to civilian use made by the Shaofu supervisor. The horizontal knife, whether it is material or craftsmanship, is worse.

But such knives are also strictly controlled and monopolized. Blacksmiths must first obtain a license from the imperial court before they can cast knives.The cast knives cannot be sold directly to customers, let alone be ordered directly by customers.

They can only accept orders from the imperial government. After the knives are made, they are sold to the government, and then the government sells them to merchants for sale.

Knives are franchised and monopolized, and the tax is even heavier. Salt and tea are 20.00% taxed, while knives are taxed at 50.00%.

The horizontal knives procured in bulk by the imperial court cost only a few hundred renminbi each, but Lao Wang bought one from the Dachang for two.

And when Lao Wang sold it to the Qiang people, it was actually worth a lot of money.

But the old patriarch felt that it was a good deal. He had long been envious of this horizontal knife, which was much better than the iron knife they bought from other tribes before.

It is sharp and the handle of the scabbard is also beautiful.

Such a knife is a status symbol.

"That thing you said, it did happen. Someone came from Xiqing Mountain earlier, who claimed to be the King of Tianzhu, and said that we should go there to help them fight, and that there will be many rewards at that time. Everything belongs to us.”

Xiao Wang's heart moved, "Didn't the old patriarch agree, such a good condition?"

The old patriarch laughed, "I will only agree when I am in a daze. We live a good life now and are free, so why bother to go to their muddy water. If there is a war, people will die, and the population of the tribe will decrease. We will not go." .”

In the past, the Qiang people liked to fight. It was because of the lack of trading opportunities in the past. They were extremely short of supplies, but the Han people did not sell them to them. Sometimes they were oppressed by border officials, so they simply rebelled and vented their anger. Angry in my heart, secondly, I can grab many supplies that I don't have and can't buy.

But now, life is still stable, and there are stable trading channels. Everyone can live well, so why take risks to fight and rob?

"Does the patriarch know which tribes have agreed to send troops to the envoy of the Pillar King that day?"

"Well, yes, but specifically, you have to ask my eldest son, he knows better."

(End of this chapter)