Early the next morning, the grassland in the south of Jiuyuan County began to be busy, three thousand troops were all dispatched to dredge the silted river on both sides, generally speaking, the best way to dredge the river is in the summer, when the soil is soft, it is easier to dredge, and in winter because of the freezing, the land is frozen like a rock, and now the temperature is slightly warmer, it is a little easier than when the weather is cold.

But time has not given the army a choice, and in more than half a month they will start farming, and they must build a river channel and plough the land as soon as possible.

The construction site is in full swing, the soldiers use the soil method, the snow water is boiled and poured into the land, although it will freeze at night, but it can melt the ice and mud inside during the day, the effect is very good, three thousand soldiers shoulder to shoulder, only one day to dig more than 20 zhang, according to this progress, at most five days can dredge the canal.

Guo Song only participated in the labor on the first day, the next day he left Jiuyuan County, with dozens of cavalry to the west of the surrender city, although the people of Fengzhou spent the winter in peace, but as the chief officer of the second position, Guo Song did not have much time to rest, once the weather warmed up, he had to go to the three surrendered cities to inspect.

The city of the West Surrender has to pass through the Wolf Mountain in the north, about 300 miles away from Jiuyuan County, Guo Song went there shortly after defeating Xue Yantuo's army last year, and then went again before the heavy snow closed the road, and this time it was the first time after the beginning of spring.

Following Guo Song to the city of Xishou, there were dozens of caravans, large and small, about five or six hundred people, thousands of mules or camels, loaded with all kinds of goods, they were going to the spring market.

In the early spring of each year, the grassland herdsmen flock to the city from all directions, bringing a winter storage of goods, mainly sheepskins, medicinal herbs, cheese, dyes, furs, precious stones and horses, the goods are abundant, the price is cheap, they also have to purchase a large number of daily necessities, the goods brought by the merchants from the Central Plains can be sold at a good price, and they can buy back the grassland goods at a low price, and the profits in the middle are very high.

Therefore, every year as soon as spring begins, they will work tirelessly to come from Guannei, Hedong, and Guanzhong.

Although the profits are high, but the journey is very difficult, especially across the North Yellow River, everyone has to flow through the waist-deep river, the river has not completely thawed, but can not walk on the ice, must break the ice, the river is cold and biting, the weak can not bear it at all.

After crossing the North Yellow River, the team continued north, and in front of it was the Wolf Mountain, which was still covered in heavy snow, but the snow on the sunny side had begun to melt, and it could pass through the mountain canyon that was dozens of miles long.

Five days later, the team finally arrived at the city of Xishou, which is currently garrisoned by a thousand Tang troops, and the town general is Ma Wei, who fought side by side with him last year.

"General Ma, I haven't seen you for a few months, how is it going to be raised in one winter?" Guo Song asked with a smile when he saw Ma Wei.

"Hey! Not to mention, the hardest thing is winter, which is so stuffy that I'm going crazy. ”

Guo Song smiled slightly: "You can find something to do!" For example, organizing soldiers to play polo, practicing martial arts and archery, didn't I teach you a set of sword techniques last year, how did the brothers practice? ”

Ma Wei's face turned red, and the envoy said that it was all positive things, but in fact, the soldiers were more keen on drinking and gambling in winter, or visiting brothels, and there were many restaurants and brothels in the city of Xishou, and most of the soldiers' military salaries were spent on this.

Ma Wei squeaked and whined, not knowing how to answer, Guo Song knew it, and he didn't bother to ask, so he smiled and said: "This year, I will restore Feng'an County and bring the families of the soldiers to be placed there, so that the soldiers can go home and stay with their families in winter." ”

Ma Wei was overjoyed, this is a good way, there is basically no precautionary task in winter, the soldiers can go home, and come back in the spring, this is a long-term plan.

He said repeatedly: "If that's the case, then it's great, then is it possible to bring the family members directly to the Western Surrender City?" ”

Guo Song shook his head, "The farming conditions in the West Surrender City are not good, they must be placed in Fengzhou, Yongan County is the nearest county seat, and the soldiers can go home for a month except for winter, which is much better than those border soldiers who have not seen their families for several years, and this time I came to implement this matter." ”

"Ignorance, understood!"

The first batch of Tang Dynasty merchants arrived this year, breaking the dull atmosphere in the city, and nearly a thousand merchants ran to the street to welcome the merchants.

In fact, not everyone can wait until the day of the spring market, even if they arrive at the spring market, the herdsmen may not necessarily come to buy your goods, they almost have their own channels, so the experienced old merchants will not wait until the day of the spring market, as long as the price of the store is good, they will clear the goods early, either buy the goods and return to the Tang Dynasty, or wait for the spring market with silver in hand.

There is a trading square in the West Surrender City, the merchants must first go to the tax office to verify the tax bill, and if they do not pay the tax, they will pay the tax, and then they are eligible to go to the Exchange Square to trade, this is the industry rule, if the merchant buys the goods that have not paid the tax, once it is reported and verified, he will be expelled from the West Surrender City, even if the Hu merchants are no exception.

The tax office of the western surrendered city was previously managed by the Shuofang Jiedu Mansion, and now the imperial court has established the Three Towns Jingluo Mansion, so all the military and political affairs of the three surrendered cities are under the management of the Jingluo Prefecture, including the tax office.

Guo Song rested for a while in the barracks, and then went to Exchange Square with great interest.

The Exchange Square was as big as a football field, and hundreds of merchants had already spread out their goods on the ground, and the originally deserted square suddenly became lively, not only Han Chinese merchants, but also many Sogdian merchants came to buy goods.

In fact, almost all of the goods transported by hundreds of merchants are low-end goods, and the prices that can sell high-end goods here are mainly silk, porcelain and tea cakes, and the others are daily necessities such as needles and threads, silver and copper jewelry.

The Exchange Square was full of people, bargaining came and went, and when the goods were sold, they happily packed up their stalls and went to the inn to stay.

At this time, Guo Song saw the merchants he met when he returned from hunting, and the old man had already sold more than 100 quintals of tea cakes and was counting the silver.

"My husband is selling well!" Guo Song asked with a smile.

The old man looked up at Guo Song, and hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Thanks to Guo Envoy's protection, this harvest is indeed good." ”

Guo Song glanced at the pile of goods next to him, and asked puzzledly: "I remember that my father-in-law's goods are more than two hundred loads!" How does it feel like it's so much less? ”

The old man smiled and said: "Half of it has been sold in Jiuyuan County, and the other half is sold here, it is generally like this, some goods, such as cloth, medicinal materials, etc., are not easy to sell here, but Jiuyuan County is easy to sell, and then my tea cake is not profitable in Jiuyuan County, so I can only sell it here." ”

Guo Song nodded, such as tea cakes, which are necessities of life, are generally supplied by the imperial court to Shuofang Jiedu Mansion, and then distributed to Fengzhou by Shuofang Jiedu Mansion, generally for the army, and the excess part is sold to local residents at a low price, and the distribution system is implemented, and each family has a quota, so tea cakes cannot be bought at a price in Jiuyuan, but they can be sold at a high price on the grassland.

"When does my husband plan to return to Taiyuan?" Guo Song asked with a smile again.

"Wait until the end of February! I'm going to buy a batch of fine sheepskins and go back, and it will be 30% cheaper to buy directly from the herdsmen than in the store. ”

Guo Song smiled and said: "Then I wish my husband a smooth deal, and if you have any difficulties, you can go to Fengzhou to find me." ”

"Thank you Guo Yuanjun for your concern!"

Guo Song walked around the trading market again, and then returned to the barracks.......

Early the next morning, on the military camp exercise ground, 1,000 soldiers stood in line, Guo Song walked on the high platform, immediately ushered in the warm applause of the soldiers, last year the 1,000 soldiers also participated in the war to defend Jiuyuan, Guo Song's outstanding command in this war won the worship of the soldiers, and in the subsequent distribution of war merit awards, the fair, open and fair distribution has also won the great trust of the soldiers.

Guo Song waved his hand and said with a smile: "Everyone, please be quiet!" ”

A thousand soldiers then became silent, Guo Song said slowly: "This time I came to the west to surrender to the city is a very important matter, related to the vital interests of all soldiers, I have decided to restore Yongfeng County, the residents of the county I hope to be everyone's wife, children, parents........"

As soon as Guo Song said this, there was a buzz below, this topic was too sensitive, and it immediately caused a lot of discussion among everyone.

"Quiet!"

Ma Wei shouted: "Everyone calm down for me and listen to Guo Yuanjun!" ”

The square fell silent again.