Datang first village

Wei Ting put down the book in his hand, bowed and said, "I don't understand why Your Highness doesn't take the Silk Road, but the wool road."

"The Road of Wool!" Li Yuanxing laughed when he heard the name: "This king likes this name!"

Yan Shigu, who was sitting by the side, heard the two talking, but pretended not to hear them at all.It also implied that Li Yuanchang also pretended not to hear, unless King Qin took the initiative to talk to them.Li Yuanchang was smart, and immediately lowered his head to read the book.

The main car, the car alone is eight meters long.With the sixteen horses pulling the cart, the length of the cart reached 30 meters.

Inside the carriage is the layout of the front hall and the back room. It can be said that Li Yuanxing's bedroom and living room are all there.

Everyone sitting in this front hall has a separate carriage, but Li Yuanxing invited them to sit in his own cart, chatting without fear of being bored on the road.

Behind this carriage, there were two carriages with eight horses. Cui Yingying, Cui Yanyan, and Yuan Chun and others were playing mahjong, and two tables were set up.

"His Royal Highness hasn't answered the minister yet, why did he go this way?"

"Is it business, or curiosity?" Li Yuanxing asked back.

"It's out of curiosity. Your Highness must have a reason for doing things. Maybe it's for Shuozhou General Liu! But His Highness will definitely not go to Shuozhou, it should be Xiazhou." Wei Ting was straightforward, without any shyness.

Li Yuanxing laughed loudly: "Sure enough, then guess again, why did this king go to Xiazhou?"

"Is it appeasement or coercion! The servants think that General Liu Shuofang and Li Xiaochang who is now in prison have a very deep friendship. Shuozhou, Pingzhou, Liangzhou, and Yunzhou are like four pillars, supporting the north of the Tang Dynasty. An Ning, so Your Highness is going to Xiazhou, because General Changsun Shunde is in Xiazhou. With His Highness going, the hearts of General Liu and General Changsun Shunde will be at ease, and the soldiers in Shuozhou will be very reliable."

Li Yuanxing clapped his hands lightly a few times: "Ninety percent of the time I'm right."

"Your Highness, please teach me!" Wei Ting was not unconvinced, he was already very proud of being able to guess [-]%.

"Actually, it's nothing. Even if the king doesn't say it, you will fully understand after thinking about it for two days. Xiazhou was originally a frontier, and wars could be fought at any time. Now it is five or six hundred miles away from the Turkic people. Xiazhou should consider farming more. By the way, if you do some fine processing, you will have money and food, and you will avoid the problem of always transporting food everywhere!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

There is no need for Wei Ting to say where the wise man is.

Li Yuanchang didn't understand, and he was too embarrassed to ask, so let's ask his own history of the palace chief.

To say rest assured, Li Yuanxing has nothing to worry about. He does not believe that Liu Hongji will rebel.Moreover, Shuozhou City is a strategically important location, since Liu Hongji was chosen, he had to trust him.

Li Yuanxing didn't come out to visit the mountains and rivers, he just stopped at Guhukou for a day and continued on his way.He also issued an order not to harass the place, and there was no need for officials from the prefecture and county of Yanlu to greet him. When he had to pass through several counties, Li Yuanxing also strictly ordered not to harass the people.

Even if there is no sightseeing, Li Yuanxing's two concubines and the group of high-ranking maids are naturally very excited after they have traveled so far.

It is only [-] miles from Chang'an to Xiazhou (now Jingbian County, Shaanxi). Li Yuanxing's team traveled about [-] miles a day, and the team arrived in Xiazhou after leaving Chang'an for [-] days.

Liu Hongji had already rushed over from Shuozhou City with only his personal guards.

"Your Highness has worked hard all the way!" Changsun Shunde, as the guarding general, went out of the city twenty miles to greet him.The magistrate of Xiazhou, surnamed Ma, was the county magistrate here in the former Sui Dynasty. He was considered a humble scholar. He didn't have much family support behind him, but he had some ability, so he was transferred here as the mansion in the sixth year of Wude Yin.

"It's not hard work, but there are others who are harder than this king. This king has a car, and the soldiers walk on foot. It's even more hard work. Since we have come to the territory of General Changsun and Mafu Yin, prepare a hot meal for the soldiers."

Changsun Shunde hurriedly sent someone to arrange.

"Same car with me!" Li Yuanxing invited his eldest grandson Shunde and Ma Fuyin to get on the car.

In the car, Li Yuanxing said: "If you demote your official position, you are also qualified to complain. You are the uncle of my sister-in-law, and you are also a family. This king has a few words, although there are outsiders here, it will hurt you a little bit. It’s all about face. This king just said a word, do you know about Hou Jun’s collection of donations?”

Changsun Shunde understood.

He went from the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, and experienced four emperors. If he didn't understand this sentence, his life would be in vain.

Li Yuanxing was telling him not to be too greedy.

"Let's not talk about the court, let's take the market as an example. There is a gangster in Dongshi, and some of his subordinates are willing to work for him. Why?"

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness!"

"This man is benevolent. He will help all the gangsters when they have difficulties in their families. This man is righteous. Every time he competes with other gangsters for territory, he will rush to the front and stand behind when he retreats. This man is polite, and he rewards and punishes. Obviously, he didn't even take special care of his own brother. This person is very wise, he knows when to fight and when to learn to give in. This person has faith, and what he says, he will do it even if he works hard!"

The eldest Sun Shunde is not young anymore. Although Li Yuanxing's words meant a lesson, he understood the meaning.

"Drinking soldiers' blood is not allowed in the Tang Dynasty. Can you make a fortune if you deduct a little from the soldiers' meals? If this king kills you, the subordinates who have followed you for half their lives will not be implicated. I am afraid that in the future It is also difficult to improve, do you have the heart? Your subordinates fight to the death for you, do you deserve this loyalty?"

As Li Yuanxing said, Changsun Shunde changed from kneeling to kneeling.

"This king is not here to embarrass you, but to tell you. If Xiazhou is to become rich, you will be rich. Lead your subordinates, your soldiers will become rich, and the people of Xiazhou will also be rich. And by the way, let Shuozhou , Shengzhou, Fengzhou, and Lingzhou also followed Xiazhou, and their lives were better, and it was not easy for the soldiers at the border."

"The old minister is guilty!"

Li Yuanxing borrowed his hand to help: "This king said that I didn't come to ask for crimes."

"The old minister is guilty!" Changsun Shunde shouted again.

"Your Highness, I know that it is good to correct mistakes, but a crime is a crime. According to my words, General Changsun should go to the Holy Majesty, discuss his sins, and say that he must have a heart of repentance for what he does in the future. To be pardoned by the Holy Majesty, That's the right way!" Wei Ting jumped out at this time, and what he said was approved by not only Chang Sun Shunde, but also Yan Shigu.

Li Yuanxing had no choice but to agree.

"You and General Liu are the left and right generals respectively. Although you are older than General Liu, you have the same duties. This king is just suggesting that you should discuss with General Liu more often when you act in the past two years. One of you is in the frontier, and the other is in frontier defense. Important towns naturally need to take care of each other. Guard the northern border well, and when there is no war, you must train more soldiers."

Changsun Shunde just bent down deeply.

In fact, Changsun Shunde was very grateful to Liu Hongji this time. If Liu Hongji hadn't persuaded him, he might have done some stupid things seriously.

Even if he didn't rebel, but if Liu Hongji's suggestion had not been made and he had made a statement earlier, he might have been demoted this time.You must know that since he wrote to Chang'an, he has not had a good night's sleep, and he has spent every night in shock. He is very afraid that there will be an imperial decree to arrest him back to Chang'an that day.

He dared not rebel.

One is that there is no reason or excuse for rebellion.Second, the soldiers in Xiazhou will not rebel with him.The third is that King Qin is there, so he himself is afraid.

In Xiazhou City, guarding the General's Mansion.

Liu Hongji didn't wear his own general's armor, but the most common sergeant's uniform, kneeling on the main hall.

"Criminal Minister Liu Hongji please greet His Royal Highness King Qin!"

"What's the crime?" Li Yuanxing went over to help and said, "If you're guilty, it's that you let the soldiers on the frontier live too poorly. I heard that ordinary soldiers can only eat meat once a month. You are guarding the grasslands. Where are you?" There are countless sheep, and you have no meat to eat."

Liu Hongji was stunned by Li Yuanxing's words.

At this time, Qiuxiang handed a lacquered box to Liu Hongji with both hands.

"Your Highness, is this?"

"On the way this king came, Wei Yushi said that the original Qin Zhidao was called the Wool Road. In fact, this road can really make us rich. The wool and sheepskin are transported back to Chang'an in their most primitive state, and the freight is too high. Ben Wang thought that after processing in Xiazhou first, the products shipped back were fine goods, but they lost at least [-]% of their weight. Those rough and broken hairs left after processing can be pressed into felt here, there is no need to Processing in Chang'an."

"Your Highness, the wool of a sheep is only a penny."

Liu Hongji wanted to say, how much wool does it take to make money.

But after thinking about it, it doesn't seem right.Because the aristocratic family's thirst for wool was huge, the tribes on the grassland competed to sell wool to Datang, but the aristocratic family in Datang was secretly earning a share of the wool.

Li Yuanxing nodded slightly at Qiuxiang.

Qiu Xiang said softly: "General Liu's wool is processed according to His Royal Highness's requirements, and it costs two catties and one penny. Your Highness will charge as much as you have. If you can also select the coarse cashmere, the coarse cashmere is thirty cents per catty. How much do you want?" !"

"A sheep only has four taels of thick cashmere at most!" Li Yuanxing said with a smile.

Qiuxiang also interjected: "Your Highness, the finest cashmere is only at the neck point when the sheep spend the winter, and a sheep only has one or two taels. If it is all like this, the Cui family will ask for a price of one hundred yuan a catty!"

Liu Hongji was stunned for a moment and then smiled: "His Royal Highness is really clever, wool is not expensive, it is expensive in this craft."

"Don't let anyone steal away. This king happens to have a gift for me, and some other generals."

After Li Yuanxing finished speaking, Qiuxiang clapped her hands, and several low-level maids lined up with boxes and stood inside the door.

Qiuxiang went to open the box and took out a Tang-style military uniform.This military uniform has been finalized by the Ministry of Rites, made of burlap, and distributed to each soldier.This is the non-wartime dress when not wearing armor.

The suit that Qiuxiang took out is already very close to the fabric of the pure wool suits of later generations.