Ji Tang

Chapter 300 Human Heart
Musha is an ordinary herdsman. He is almost 26 this year and has a complete family with three children.

Just after the snow melted, he heard an incredible news - the Great Khan had been captured alive by the southern dynasty. This made him, like other herdsmen, a little at a loss!
The leader of the tribe said that from now on they would be under the control of the emperor of the Central Plains. Originally, this was nothing and had little to do with him. However, just some time ago, the leader said that the emperor of the south said that life was not easy for them and they did not need to offer cattle or sheep this year. .

This made him overjoyed. The annual tribute to those nobles already made him miserable. Now the emperor of the south was exempted from paying tribute this year. How could this not make him happy?
As for being controlled by it?What does this mean? Even if the Southern Emperor doesn't control them, there will be other people coming, and he doesn't care!
Those people in the tribe who clamored to kill the Central Plains always disappeared quickly. He knew where those people had gone, but he didn't care.

Now His Majesty the Emperor of the Central Plains is going to open a large market on the grassland. I heard that there are countless salt, tea, cloth, etc. in it!
These are all necessary things for them. Usually only those who go on expeditions with the Great Khan can obtain them for free, and they, the common people, can only exchange them for cattle and sheep.

It's fine now. I can get these things on the grassland. I thought I would be cheated by those merchants this time, but when I saw the snow-white salt, the same quantity was only the usual price.

Now he went crazy and immediately went outside to drag his goods over on horses.

"Snapped!"

The shopkeeper of the Cheng family looked at the pile of furs, his eyes jumped and he said, "What are you doing?"

"Salt!"

"Change!"

Musha first pointed to the salt, then pointed to his own goods, and spoke in jerky Chinese.

Shopkeeper Cheng suddenly realized this. He called a waiter and asked him to communicate with him in Turkic dialect.

"You go to the corresponding area and sell these furs first, and then trade them with the copper coins. This will be convenient for everyone." After some dancing exchanges, Musha finally understood.

After explaining to his mother-in-law, he dragged the goods to the fur trading market. Shopkeeper Cheng was worried that he didn't know the way, so he asked a waiter to follow him.

Musha's mother-in-law is a typical prairie woman, with a dark face and broad hands and feet, and she looks like she works a lot.

She held the two younger children tightly. The eldest son went with his father. There were so many things that one person could not carry.

When Shopkeeper Cheng saw Musha abandoning his wife and running away, he shook his head. Seeing that they seemed hungry for a long time, he ordered the waiter to bring them three bowls of mushy food.

The woman smelled the fragrance and took a sip without thinking. Then his eyes lit up and he drank it all in one breath. After waiting for a while, he felt full.

Only then did the two children, who had long been unable to bear it, start eating!

"thanks!"

She thanked her in a harsh tone.

Shopkeeper Cheng chuckled and said nothing. He didn't expect that a vulgar woman would have such thoughts.

I drank it myself first and waited for a while before letting my child drink it. I was worried that something was wrong!

These three bowls of food were actually military rations. During this period, in order to make some food that was not easy to store, Ji Song asked people to make all of them into military rations.

Then it was opened to everyone and anyone could buy it.

He is not worried about the leakage of the formula. Even if they know the formula, if they don't have the corresponding tools, even if you know it, it will be in vain. It will be useless at all.

Although it seems simple, compressing this step can make them flinch.

This step was guided by Ji Song, and it took several months to get the slightest clue. Once it came out, it was tightly blocked, and it was regarded as the top military secret by Li Shimin.Compressing military rations may seem like nothing, but only those who truly understand war understand how important this thing is.

Since you are not afraid of others imitating it and learning it, there is nothing to worry about. Whether it is caravans or working people, they are all very curious about compressed grain.

One piece can last half a day, as long as there is boiling water, it is so convenient.

With it, caravans can carry less food and more goods, which can free up a lot of space.

Another reason is that it is not expensive, you can buy one piece for only three pennies.

It doesn’t take up space and is cheap, so why should you hesitate?Anyway, once it was launched, demand exceeded supply, and it became a source of money and food for the military.

Shopkeeper Cheng didn't care about their mother and son, he was just busy with his own business.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Musha was carrying a heavy sack. His eldest son was still holding it behind him. It looked quite heavy.

When he saw his children and his mother-in-law, he yelled and screamed, and even secretly showed his mother-in-law the contents of the sack behind their backs.

Shopkeeper Cheng smiled. Of course he knew what it was. He had been dealing with it for half his life. How could he not know it?

After a while, Musha pointed to the salt with some embarrassment. After hesitating for a while, he pointed to some other necessities.

"Three coins!"

Mu Sha wanted a variety of things, and after he finished selecting what he needed, Shopkeeper Cheng calculated the prices.

After another round of gestures, Mu Sha understood how much the three guan coins were. After taking out the three guan coins, Mu Sha kept giggling as he looked at the sack with a lot of copper coins left.

After everything was handed over, shopkeeper Cheng watched Mu Sha leave with his family and his wife. He was a little absent-minded, thinking about the words of the Marquis: "Who among the ordinary people in this world wants to fight all day long? If they can't survive, who would?" Isn’t it good to live by doing things like losing your head?”

"You don't have to look down on these herdsmen. They will be my subjects of the Tang Dynasty from now on. You must be fair and impartial."

"Don't think this is a trivial matter. You can treat this transaction as a war to conquer the hearts of the grasslands. A war without gunpowder, but extremely important."

"Whether the grassland can have a hundred years of peace depends on you. If I find out who dares to bully the good, don't blame me for being ruthless. Even the people behind you will have to submit a book before His Majesty."

Looking at Mu Sha, who was happily thanking him, and their happy faces, Shopkeeper Cheng seemed to understand what the war without smoke was about.

"Go ahead, in order to give back to the grassland's new arrival under the Tang Dynasty, all products will be sold at a [-]% discount within three days, with no limit on quantity." Shopkeeper Cheng suddenly ordered.

The waiter was shocked: "Shopkeeper, this"

"I'll take the responsibility if anything happens, just do as you do." Shopkeeper Cheng waved his hand and said without hesitation.

This matter is not over yet. At the beginning of the next morning, all Central Plains merchants put up signs offering a [-]% discount.

Whether you like it or not, there might be someone who calls you a mother-in-law.

But Ji Song was overjoyed when he found out, and even promised to report the matter to the emperor. After saying that all losses would be covered by taxes, no one said anything else.

(End of this chapter)