In Zhang Qian's memory, every emancipation of slaves in another time and space was inevitably accompanied by killing and war. The old slave owners were unwilling to give up their high position and the pleasure of enslaving humanity, and even if there were better ways of production and means of making money, they would certainly do whatever it took to preserve the continuation of slavery. And some so-called cultural people who are blind and blind will blow the conch for the slave owners. Thus, the conflict between the slave owners and the liberators was bound to intensify until the blood of one of them was drained......

For this reason, Zhang Qian had already prepared for the worst, and was even ready to meet the bad news that the ten surnamed Tuqi Shi would rebel again. Anyway, Suo Ge is dead, whether it is a big cannibal with ill intentions or a Turkic who is unwilling to be lonely, they can't find a new target for the time being. And the ten surnamed Tuqi Shi are also difficult to work together. When the spring flowers bloom next year, he will successfully integrate all the soldiers under his command into one, and just happen to find the tribe next to him, and fight with him.

However, the survival wisdom of the elders surnamed Huang Tuqi Shi impressed him. Less than ten days after his return, he and Wan Qian came again, along with more than 4,000 slaves, another elder called Cha Ge, and the head of Elder Morey.

"Qi Qi Zhang Dashuai, Morey tried to disadvantage the Wang Zhenshou you assigned, so I will kill him." After meeting the same person, without waiting for Zhang Qian to ask, he lay on the ground, raised a wooden box with both hands, and reported loudly. "His head is in the box, please take a look."

"Take it down and hang it on the wall!" Zhang Qian got an urgent secret report sent by the temporary Yezhi Town Guardian Wang Zhilian three days in advance, so he didn't feel shocked, smiled, and waved his hand gently.

"In Yezhi City, those who were only arrested as slaves this year, and those who may have Han blood within three generations, a total of 4,382 people, all of them have been sent to you. Because of the cold on the road, ten froze to death. After his subordinates returned, they selected twenty of the children of their own clan and compensated the marshal. "It is worthy of Ye Hu, who has followed Suo Ge for many years, and he is very clumsy and does things very simply. Either you don't surrender, and if you surrender, you will carry out the orders of your new boss to the extreme.

"Later, I will send it to the school field first, count and hand it over to Guo Duwei, and as for your compensation, forget it." Since the other party has such a positive attitude, Zhang Qian does not persecute too much. smiled and waved his hand gently, "You surnamed Huang have suffered too heavy battle losses this year, so you have to keep some young and strong caretakers to avoid being spied on by others!" ”

"Thank you, Dashuai!" And clumsy suddenly made a moved look, kowtowing with red eyes. Immediately, the third elder Cha Ge, who was newly "promoted" by the Huang Tuqi Shi Department, was introduced to Zhang Qian.

In order to win people's hearts, Zhang Qian had to be kind and pleasant, and encouraged Elder Chage. Immediately, he asked about the preparation of winter materials for the Tuqi Shi tribe surnamed Huang, as well as the future development plans of the tribe. Elder Na had asked for the protection of Tang Jun, so he didn't hide it. He honestly replied that the wintering supplies were quite sufficient, especially after handing over these slaves, the tribe had saved a lot of rations. The Turgish people have always been taboo about eating fish, but they really have no food, so they dig some ice holes on the surface of Atami, and naturally some fish take the initiative to jump on the ice.

As for the coming year, the Huang surnamed Tuqishi can only be nomadic within a radius of 100 miles from Yezhi City. If you are too far away, you will easily clash with other tribes. If the other party is small, it is fine, and if there is a conflict between them, it can be resolved through negotiation. If the other party is large-scale, after the conflict occurs, it may bring disaster to the Huang Tuqi Shi Department.

"It's okay, if someone deliberately attacks the Tuqi Shi Department surnamed Huang, you can report to Wang Zhenshou by yourself. Since he has become the guardian of Yezhi Town, he has the responsibility to protect you! Listening to the pitiful words, Zhang Qian thought about it and made a promise with a smile.

Wang Zhihuan only brought 300 brothers to Yezhi, and even if he went out, he couldn't deal with a tribe that was stronger than the Huang Tuqi Shi tribe. However, Wang Zhilian's departure, to a certain extent, represents the attitude of Datang. Suddenly, he was moved again and his eyes were red, and he thanked him in a dumb voice: "Regardless of the previous suspicions, the handsome man gave my department a chance to reform himself, and my department is already grateful." Now, I have allowed my department to rely on the handsome people, but my subordinates really don't know, and they don't know what to do in order to repay the kindness of the handsome. ”

"It's very simple, in the future, when you see someone who speaks Tang Yan in trouble, you can help if you can!" Knowing that the other party's words and expressions may not be from the heart, Zhang Qian smiled and responded casually.

"Don't worry, Dashuai, when I see anyone who can speak Tang Yan in the future, I will treat them as Dashuai's cronies!" The newly "elected" elder Cha Ge reacted quickly, and Tang Yan spoke extremely fluently, following Zhang Qian's tone and expressing his position loudly.

"Then Zhang will have to work for everyone!" Zhang Qian nodded with a smile, then stood up, personally pulled up the three Turkey Elders from the ground one by one, and ordered with a smile, "Come with me, Zhang said that as long as you wait to obey the order, I will give you compensation." Zhang showed you an artifact, and your Huang surnamed Tuqi Shi has this thing, and you will definitely not worry about your livelihood in the future. ”

The three of them, Wan Qian and Cha Ge, didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd of "Zhang Dashuai", so they had to follow him nervously. After a short time, he was led to a steaming house, and all six eyes widened.

I saw that in the room, there were seven or eight cauldrons with a diameter of six feet wide. Under the pot, the firewood spewed hot flames. In the cauldron, I don't know what ingredients were added, but the foaming boiling water was bubbling and boiling the wool up and down, and the smell was smelly.

Rao is accustomed to dealing with sheepskin jackets and felt, and the three of them, Clumsy, Wan Qi and Cha Ge, were also directly smoked into tears by the smell of boiled wool. And Zhang Qian, as if he couldn't smell the pungent smell at all. With a smile, he led the three of them through the stinking house to another spacious and bright house.

The wool, the whole house, was boiled and dried. It was as white as snow, and one after the other was stacked to the height of the ceiling. The three of them, Wan Qi and Cha Ge, have lived for half their lives, and they have only seen such white wool on the newborn lamb not long ago. And no matter how clean the lamb is, it also smells of saliva licked by the ewe. At this moment, the wool in the house exudes a natural fragrance of grass and trees.

It's just that no matter how clean the wool is, it can only be rolled out of felt, or used to wallow in clothes for warmth. The annual demand is very small, so in the Western Regions, the price of wool is as low as hay. To tell the truth, the firewood money wasted by cooking wool is probably higher than the wool in this room.

"Look over here!" As if guessing what the three of them were thinking, Zhang Qian smiled and led them through the back door of the house to another house.

The house is also spacious and bright, and the sunlight shines through the window inlaid with mussel shells, shining on a wooden frame more than half a person tall and with a strange shape, faintly and warmly. Zhang Qian, on the other hand, grabbed a large handful of wool with his right hand, walked to the wooden shelf with a smile, and gently stepped on the bottom pedal.

The pedals move up and down, pushing the big wheels on the shelf through an ingenious transmission lever. The big wheel rotates slowly, pulling a small roller three feet away through the belt. On the small roller, a piece of twine passes through a perforated far ball, slowly tightens and wraps around the outside of the roller. At the other end of the ball, the twine was mixed with the wool in Zhang Qian's hand, and a strand of wool was slowly pulled out and brought into the round hole, and then it was rotated and twisted into a wool thread, which was slowly wound on the small roller.

Zhang Qian stopped talking, and while pedaling, he bent down and grabbed the new wool with his left hand, and continued it with the wool in his right hand. The movements became faster and faster, and after just two dozen breaths, a huge ball of wool thread had appeared outside the small roller.

Slowly stopping the pedals, he waited quietly for the wheels to stop turning. The wool ball is then removed from the roller and put into a bamboo basket with a smile. Immediately, he took three long chopsticks, picked out a thread from the woolen thread, and moved quickly with his fingers between the chopsticks, and in the blink of an eye, the thread ball turned into a beautiful cylindrical fabric.

Putting down the "chopsticks", he handed the cylindrical fabric to his clumsy hand. Immediately, he opened another box, took out several pieces of fabric of the same material from inside, and handed them to the three Turkish elders one by one.

There are short coats, hats, gloves, socks, each of which is woven from woolen thread. Although it is several times thicker than linen and far less smooth than silk, it gives people a soft and warm feeling.

and knelt down clumsily, followed by Wan Qian and Cha Ge. Not daring to let the fabric in their hands touch the ground, they raised their hands above their heads. Before he could speak, tears were already rolling down his weather-covered face.

"If you want to learn to boil wool, spin wool and knit sweaters, send someone to learn it, and I can teach it to you. If you don't want to study hard, I can buy your wool for ten cents per catty! As much as you have, I will take as much as you have. Seeing a similar expression on the faces of the rescued slaves who had already been rescued, Zhang Qian didn't feel strange at all, smiled, and continued to whisper. It's as if I gave away a few handfuls of wool.

Moreover, the three of them, Wan Qi and Cha Ge, knew the true value of this gift. One by one, they held up the fabric in their hands and wept silently.

This time, they were really moved.

They thought that the so-called return, Zhang Qian just said it casually. As the victor, Zhang Qian did not go on a killing spree, did not rob the rations and livestock of the Huang surnamed Tuqishi, and promised to provide them with shelter, which was already a great kindness to them. They really don't dare to ask for more.

However, Zhang Qian personally opened a door for them, allowing them to see the hope that the tribe surnamed Huang would really live a good life!

You must know that in the Western Regions, a sheep can only be sold for fifty or sixty yuan, which is already a high price. In late autumn, when cattle and sheep must be slaughtered to ensure that there is no shortage of forage for the winter, the price of one sheep is almost equal to that of three chickens. As for the wool, if it is not used up, it can only be thrown away or burned as firewood. (Note: This is a fact, in the early 70s, a sheep in the pastoral area could only be sold for five yuan, and a chicken was sold for five yuan.) ）

If the wool is boiled as white as snow according to the method of "Zhang Dashuai", the smell is removed, the sun is dried and spun into wool, and then woven into clothes, hats, gloves and socks, I am afraid that its value will rise dozens of times. Even if it doesn't rise, according to the "Zhang Dashuai" gave, ten cents per catty of wool, the value of the wool cut from a sheep every year exceeds that of the past! (Note: Ordinary sheep produce about five catties of wool per year.) Merino sheep can produce 20 catties. ）

The easiest livestock to feed in the Western Regions is sheep. Especially around Atami, there is no shortage of water and good grass, and it is simply a large ranch gifted by the heavens. However, the Turgish tribes used to live very poorly. The low-level shepherds, in particular, were not much more prosperous than the slaves, except that they were fed more abundantly.

The reason why Suo Ge launched a rebellion and was able to get the response of the ten surnamed Turgish was also due to poverty. In order to live a better life for the low-level shepherds, and the nobles and elders to live as luxuriously as the officials of the Tang Dynasty, they can only learn from robbers to rob. Therefore, every time they conquered a city, they would loot it completely. As a result, the city quickly fell into disrepair, and they could no longer be provided with any supplies. Then, they have to look for the next target for robbery.

Now, Datang is angry, and Suo Ge is defeated and killed. The retribution of the robbery to the Turgish far outweighed the dividends. The Turkish tribes could only continue to live on nomadism, and the days became more and more impoverished. until it is swallowed up by a larger race, or dies out on its own.

And "Zhang Dashuai", at this time, told them that wool can be sold for money, can be spun, and can be made into clothes like hemp, kudzu, and cotton! It is tantamount to giving them a mountain of gold. And this mountain of gold is still alive, and it can continue to produce new gold, so that they never have to worry about spending it!

"Handsome Hongen, my surname Huang is riding up and down, and I don't forget it! Woo, woo, woo, woo......" When he was finally able to speak, and only halfway through his first sentence, it turned into a howl.

"Woo woo, woo woo, woo woo ......" Wan Qi and Cha Ge, also holding the woolen thread fabric, crying silently, "Dashuai, give me a way to live, my Huang surname Tuqi Shi up and down, if you regenerate the slightest disrespect for Dashuai, you will all be spurned by Changshengtian, and there will be no recovery!" ”

"Woo, woo, Dashuai, we can't repay Dashuai if we are cattle and horses. Woohoo, woohoo......"

"There is no need to reciprocate, it stands to reason that you are also Tang people. Zhang deserves to find a better way out for you than robbery! Zhang Qian's heart also had some mixed feelings, smiled and bent down, and pulled up the clumsy and others one by one. In addition, Zhang also has some things that I need your help with. ”

"Although the marshal commands, I don't dare to help, we are willing to serve the marshal!" Holding a sweater in his hand, he put his hands together and said loudly.

There is no such thing as lamb eaten for nothing! "Zhang Dashuai" gave the Huang surnamed Tuqi Shi such a great benefit, even if he let the Huang surnamed Tuqi Shi attack the city and plunder the land for him, it was a matter of course. Not to mention just doing something!

"Dashuai, the Huang surnamed Tuqi Shi is up and down, and they are all at your disposal. Which, which is not convinced, we dealt with him with our own hands! Wan Qi and Cha Ge also expressed their positions with red eyes. The woolen fabric in his hand has never been put down.

"You don't need to fight, Ben Shuai actually doesn't like to kill at all." Zhang Qian smiled and shook his head slightly. Immediately, he leaned over and opened another box, and showed the contents to the three Turk Elders one by one: "Ben Shuai needs saltpeter, sulfur, alkali stone, iron ore, copper ore, quartz, etc., but he doesn't know where to find them, so I need your help to pay attention to them." After all, you are a nomadic herder in this neighborhood all year round, and you know more about this place than Ben Shuai! ”

After a pause, he took out another delicate glass bottle, poured some of the black liquid inside, and showed it to the three elders in person, "There is also this fierce fire oil, I have found it in the warehouses of Broken Leaf and Gumo Prefecture." I don't know where I got it, but if you can help me find the source, or help me buy some back, Ben Shuai will definitely have another thanks. ”

"Soda stone and saltpeter can be found next to the big salt lake near Gumo Prefecture. But the best alkali blocks and saltpeter come from the Aral Sea, and the prices are very cheap, and as long as you offer the right price, the Sogdian merchants will definitely send them to you! Hearing that Zhang Qian only needed some ore and fierce fire oil, and the others immediately came to their senses, they didn't even bother to wipe away their tears, so they rushed to report.

"Copper and iron ore can be picked up in the mountains on the south side of Atami before. In the past, when Wu Zhile was there, he wanted to invite the big food craftsmen to come and open the mine, but the big cannibal refused to come because he didn't want to give him much money. ”

"The brimstone is on the east side of Cheling, and it's too easy to catch fire. So few people are willing to traffick. If you need it, when the weather is warm, you will take someone to dig it down. (Note: Cheling, now near Yining.) ）

"Don't dare to deceive the marshal, Suo Ge's fierce fire oil was smuggled by the big cannibal. He originally wanted to use it for siege, but he didn't figure out how to use it except for setting fires. If he wanted, he could also buy it from a great food merchant or a Sogdian merchant. Although the Great Food Country prohibits the sale of this thing. But the vendors only care about the price, so they don't care who they do business with. ”

……

Facts have proved that Zhang Qian will really ask the right person. Most of the mineral deposits he desperately needed could be found all over the Western Regions. At present, the only thing that is not produced locally in the Western Regions is fierce fire oil. But as long as he can pay the full price, the merchants are willing to risk smuggling it to him. (Note: Xinjiang's oil is buried very deep and cannot be mined in ancient times.) ）

Zhang Qian's fire dragon car has been burning with added alcohol. He had already burned him to the core. Therefore, after hearing that the three of them, Wan Qian and Cha Ge said that the fierce fire oil could be smuggled, they decisively entrusted them with the task of purchasing. Immediately, according to the actual processing capacity of Broken Leaf City, a batch of wool and fine wool thread was ordered from them. Finally, he told them to send their tribesmen and craftsmen over as soon as possible to learn the process of handling wool and the techniques of spinning and weaving sweaters.

The three elders surnamed Huang Tuqishi kowtowed with a thousand thanks, and then left. Zhang Qian's side hurriedly entrusted Wang Han to rush to the Gumo area with his own handwritten letter, and report the latest situation here to the old general Niu Shi Award, as well as his own arrangements for the ten surnamed Tuqi Shiren. At the end of the letter, he politely made a request, hoping to stay in Broken Leaf for two to three years, so as not to cause unstability and new changes in the hearts of the various tribes of the Turchaste.

"In Zhao, as the saying goes, ascend to Mien, fight Mi Hate. You are careful to give too many people to the Huang surname, and you will follow in Guo Yuanzhen's footsteps in the future! Wang Han took the letter, put it in a bamboo tube in front of Zhang Qian, and sealed it with fire paint. But he didn't rush to leave, but hesitated for a moment and carefully reminded.

The Wang family is in Bingzhou, and they do business with all the ethnic groups on the grassland. And Wang Han himself, before he got acquainted with Zhang Qian, had experienced in the border army. Therefore, the vices of some steppe tribes are well known. I was very worried that Zhang Qian would teach the wool processing method to the Tuqi Shi Department surnamed Huang, but instead he would raise a group of white-eyed wolves.

"It's okay, let's keep all the good things for ourselves!" As if wishing someone had asked him, Zhang Qian shook his head with a smile. Immediately, he opened the drawer next to him, took out a large roll of homespun cloth that looked extremely rough, and stuffed it into Wang Han's arms, "If you don't mention it, I almost forgot." Take this to the cow steward as well. Let him judge, if this thing is made into clothes, how is it better than Ge cloth and linen cloth? ”

"Not hemp?" Wang Han took a look, pinched the corner of the cloth with his fingers, and rubbed it gently.

It's wool! The moment his fingers began to rub together, he felt it clearly. But the yarn of the weaving cloth is far thinner than the yarn that Zhang Qian showed to the Tuqi Shi people. The thickness of the cloth is similar to that of arrowroot, but it is much warmer than arrowroot. If it can be used to make clothes, the exterior clothing of the Anxi army can be solved locally, and there is no need to spend effort and money to transfer it from Chang'an!

"It is made of wool and straw cotton, and it is spun. I'm still slowly trying to figure out if I can make it thinner, thinner, and softer. Explained to Wang Han with a smile, and all the tiredness on Zhang Qian's face was instantly replaced by pride. Knitting sweaters and spinning yarn just to find a livelihood for the Turgish, and by the way, to get rid of the habit of homelessness. This is the foundation of our foothold here. ”

lest Wang Han not understand, he deliberately said the two words "foothold" very clearly. And the smart Wang Han also understood what he meant instantly, nodded, held the coarse wool and the lacquer bucket containing the letter, and left quickly.

Looking at Wang Han's back, Zhang Qian nodded and smiled. Then he gently tapped his fingers on the table, knocking out a string of rushing rhythms.

On the Chang'an side, he won't go back for the time being. And here in the Western Regions, what he wants to do has just begun, and it is not appropriate to leave halfway. Therefore, he must take root in Shattered Leaf City as quickly as possible, and accumulate enough strength as quickly as possible.

Only with enough power can he bring peace to this place and make his vision a reality. And the population and natural environment of Broken Leaf City did not allow him to develop step by step. Therefore, he must find a shortcut, even from the perspective of another time and space in the 21st century, this shortcut is to drink water to quench his thirst.

Broken leaves are cold, poor, sparsely populated, and far from abundant. But there is a benefit here that cannot be compared with other places, that is, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away!

No matter what shortcut he chooses in Broken Leaves, he doesn't have to worry about someone in the court. Therefore, he taught the techniques of boiling wool, pulling wool and knitting sweaters to the Tuqi Shi Department surnamed Huang. And he himself, for days, pondered how to spin wool into cloth like hemp.

After Suo Ge rebelled, he almost killed all the Tang people in Shaye, Gumo and other places, but according to tribal customs, the craftsmen were retained. With the help of these craftsmen, Zhang Qian easily transformed the linen weaving machine into a wool weaving machine. Although the efficiency of weaving cloth is not very high, the woolen cloth woven is also rough and thick, far less comfortable than linen cloth and arrowroot cloth. But warmth is far superior.

The water flow of the Broken Leaf River is abundant, and once the waterwheel is erected on the Broken Leaf River, Zhang Qian can guarantee that the efficiency of the textile machine will be increased by more than three times. The huge dividends of the wool textile industry will definitely bring a huge boost to various primary industrial products. Ren Cong, the successive emergence of various smelting workshops is inevitable. More than thirty percent of the people in Broken Leaf City have changed from shepherds and farmers to industrial workers. The vitality of this city is unsurpassed by no other city in the entire Western Regions.

And even the primitive industrialized civilization with high pollution and high energy consumption, which is so cruel that sheep eat people, can form an absolute crushing advantage over the surrounding nomadic civilization. At that time, the benefits of becoming a Tang person will be even more obvious. Attracted to the youth of all ethnic groups, they will flock to it!

And then......

This is the Western Regions, not Zhangjiazhuang outside Chang'an.

In Zhangjiazhuang, no matter what he does, he needs to look ahead and look backwards, and he has to beware of other people's snatching. And here, if he doesn't rob others, he is already doing good, there are examples of Suo Ge in the front, in a short time, who has the courage to rob him again?

At this moment, the Western Regions, in the eyes of others, may be a barren land. In his eyes, it was a blank piece of paper, just like the letter stroke!