Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 156
A group of four from the Dongxing Group finally lined up to enter Jiuquan City. They hadn't entered the city to rest for a long time on the way, and Yu Xiaoxiao was so excited when they entered the city.

Jiuquan also has its own style. This place has long been the front line of the Han-Hu struggle, and is now controlled by the Tang Dynasty. However, there are many gaps between the mountains in the north of Jiuquan, and nomads from the north often go south into Jiuquan.

This also allows the city of Jiuquan to take into account the style and aesthetics of both the Hu people and the Han people.

Li Daoyuan could also see a large number of Hu people in the left lap, leading horses to do business in Jiuquan City.

Now the relationship between Datang and Uighur is good, and there are still quite a few Hu people doing business in Jiuquan.

Li Daoyuan stayed in a hotel, and Yu Xiaoxiao, who was finally able to wash up, soaked in the barrel excitedly.

Zhang Duanyang simply cleaned up and took his student Zhou Shi to the street for investigation.

Jiuquan City is a square ancient city. The earliest Jiuquan City was built in the Western Han Dynasty.

But walking on the street, you can no longer see the appearance of the Han Dynasty city.

Zhang Duanyang said: "Jiuquan City was first built by Huo Qubing in the Han Dynasty. However, after many wars, it was demolished and rebuilt many times. Now there is not a single city wall that still belongs to the Han Dynasty."

Zhou Shi also looked at the streets of Jiuquan curiously. He really didn't expect that the Hexi Corridor would be so prosperous.

Zhang Duanyang said: "When I went to Dunhuang in the early years, I always stopped in Jiuquan. Jiuquan was an important big city in the Tang Dynasty. Come on, let's go and eat a mutton soup."

The two were on the side of the street, and saw an old man carrying a load, with a stove on one end and a bench on the other, and he had just set up a stall in an open space at the corner of the street.

Zhang Duanyang and Zhou Shi went up immediately, watching the old man unload the stove bench little by little, then put a big pot on the stove, and poured the prepared mutton soup into it.

The aroma of the snow-white mutton soup quickly aroused the gluttons in the whole street. Zhou Shi lamented that he came early, and now the stalls had already started to line up.

The old man wiped the sweat from his head, then took out a stack of mustard biscuits, put them on the edge of the stove to warm up, and then handed them to Zhang Duanyang and Zhou Shi.

Zhou Shi took the cake and said, "Isn't this just a pouch?"

Zhang Duanyang nodded and said: "This is the sac, but it is freshly baked and very fragrant. It tastes better when you tear the cake open and eat it in mutton soup."

Sure enough, according to what Zhang Duanyang said, Zhou Shi tore open the hummus and put it into the mutton soup. The delicious mutton soup was filled with hummus that was full of soup, and Zhou Shi was about to hum out of satisfaction.

"Teacher, I didn't expect Jiuquan City to be so lively."

"Let you study hard, the four towns in the Hexi Corridor, Dunhuang, that is, there is a desert between Shazhou and Jiuquan, but from Jiuquan to Zhangye to Wuwei, there are rich pastures between these three towns, so Shazhou It is also called outside the Great Wall, and the three inner towns are more closely connected."

"Compared to Shazhou, Jiuquan is the node of trade. This is not only a place where the Western Regions gather, but also merchants who go north to Uighur to do business will also gather here."

It turns out that this is the case, no wonder Jiuquan is so prosperous.

Zhang Duanyang sighed: "But the Silk Road is still there. After the decline of the Silk Road in the future, Jiuquan will gradually be abandoned. Coupled with climate change, the desertification of the land is serious, and the four towns in Hexi gradually lose their former glory. "

Zhou Shi also went to Dunhuang with his mentor. The once prosperous city has become a pearl on the desert, but it still cannot conceal the fact that the entire Hexi region is seriously deserted.

After finishing the mutton soup, Zhang Duanyang chatted with the old man selling soup while paying.

"Old man, we are travelers outside the pass, so I don't know what's interesting about this Jiuquan?"

The old man took the money and said with a smile: "What's so interesting about Jiuquan City? The little old man has lived here for decades, but he hasn't lived a stable life for a few years."

Zhang Duanyang asked suspiciously: "I think Jiuquan is much more prosperous than outside the pass."

The old man said with a smile: "That's not because of King Jianning's blessing. Jiuquan can only prosper when there is peace outside the pass. His Highness defeated Huihui again. Only Huihui can sit down and do business properly."

Unexpectedly, King Jianning's reputation had spread to Jiuquan, which surprised Zhang Duanyang and Zhou Shi.

The old man asked again: "May I ask how the situation outside the pass is? Can I live in peace?"

Zhang Duanyang nodded and said: "Nowadays, Guazhou and Shazhou outside the customs are re-granting land, and Xizhou is becoming more and more prosperous under the rule of King Jianning. If the old man's craftsmanship goes outside the customs, he will definitely be able to live in peace."

Zhang Duanyang asked suspiciously: "Seeing that the old man's business is so prosperous, why do you want to go outside the customs?"

Zhang Duanyang couldn't figure it out. The climate in Jiuquan is much better than that in Shazhou and Guazhou, and the population here is also thriving, and it seems to be more stable than outside the customs.

The old man sighed and said: "If you can survive in Jiuquan City, no one is willing to leave your hometown. To tell you the truth, my small stall looks prosperous, but in fact I can't make much money. I work hard every day. But enough food."

"The old lady in the family is sick, and it's not enough to spend on soup and medicine."

Looking at the people queuing up, Zhang Duanyang was even more puzzled. He asked, "This shop is so prosperous, old man, can't you make ends meet?"

At this moment, two men dressed as yamen servants walked over arrogantly. The old man immediately stopped talking with Zhang Duanyang, counted the money bags, and handed them to the two yamen servants.

The two yamen servants weighed the weight of the purse before leaving in satisfaction.

The old man sighed and said: "This is the tax collector who came to collect horse donations from the government. If I can't pay the full amount, then my small stall will be deducted by them. At that time, I will have to spend more money to clear up the relationship before I can get it back." .”

"Almost all the money I earned from selling mutton soup and biscuits was given to the government."

Zhang Duanyang asked suspiciously: "What is a horse donation? Why have I never heard of such a donation in Tang Lvzhong?"

Donations are miscellaneous taxes collected by the government.

Datang clearly stipulated the donations that the government can levy in the "Tang Law Shuyi". If it is not a listed donation, it is the so-called exorbitant miscellaneous taxes.

"The guest officer knows that you are a knowledgeable person. This horse donation is unique to us in Jiuquan."

"What is this donation for?"

The old man said while working: "Jiuquan used to have a racecourse, and every year it needs to pay tribute to warhorses. Buy from Uyghur merchants."

"This horse donation is a miscellaneous tax levied for buying horses from Uyghur merchants. Our good horse farm in Jiuquan is abandoned, but we have to buy horses from Uyghurs. I don't know why this is!"

(End of this chapter)