Meng Jiao hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "May I ask a few brothers, if there is no customs clearance document, can Longshan Pass also go?" ”

One of the leading merchants glanced at them and said with a smile: "It seems that you don't have the customs clearance documents either!" ”

"Exactly, we didn't clear the customs documents, and the guards of Liupan Pass refused to let us pass the customs, and asked us to go to Pinggao County to find the history of the assassin."

"Liupanguan has always been like this, the investigation is tighter, but Longshan Pass is different, Longshan Pass is a tax pass, pass with a tax bill, no tax bill to make up the tax, we finally got the customs clearance documents, want to go from the Liupan Pass, and accidentally lost it, and have to go to Longshan Pass, can not save this money."

"But do we have to pay taxes if we don't have goods?" Meng Jiao asked again.

"Of course, you can't escape, as long as you go to Longshan Pass, you have to pay taxes, their name is called prepaid tax, give you a list, buy goods and come back to pay taxes when you deduct, you can indeed deduct when you come back, but the tax amount must also be raised, in fact, it is still the same thing."

A scholar next to him couldn't help but say: "But we are scholars, not businessmen!" ”

The leading merchant smiled, "Don't you understand? They only recognize money and don't recognize people, but in fact, there are not many taxes, and everyone has always paid money, so you can just treat it as road money. ”

At this time, the shopkeeper came over and said: "It's not far to go to Longshan Pass, go out of the town to the southwest, there is a business road there, and it is twenty miles more than Liupanguan." ”

Meng Jiao was overjoyed, sure enough, there must be a road before the car arrived at the mountain, they bought some dry food, asked the road, and then set off again, heading to Longshan Pass in the southwest direction.

.........

A few days after Guo Song returned to Zhangye, the great Sogdian merchant Shi Donglai also brought news of Shatuo.

In the governor's office, Shi Donglai sat down a little crampedly and said: "My third son has already passed the word for the governor, and Shatuo Khan has publicly expressed his willingness to exchange prisoners of war with the governor, and they will send someone over soon." ”

Speaking of this, Shi Donglai hesitated a little, and then said: "Dudu, there seems to be a little unrest within Shatuo. ”

"Why do you say that?" Guo Song asked with great interest, he understood what Shi Donglai meant by internal instability, that is, the internal strife had intensified.

"It seems that the elders of Shatuo will be extremely dissatisfied with Zhu Xie Jinhai and unanimously demand that the Khan execute Zhu Xie Jinhai, but the Shatuo military supports Zhu Xie Jinhai."

"How many tribes are there in Shatuo?" Guo Song asked again.

"Shatuo had three tribes at the earliest, the Yuebu, the Mi and the Pre-Branch, and later continued to conquer other tribes, and added the four tribes of Lieshan, Wusun, Jinshan, and Yiwu, although there are seven tribes, but the Chuyue Department is still in absolute strength, and the Khan and important official positions are held by the nobles of the Yue, and then each tribe has three people to form the Council of Elders, and many important matters are decided by the Council of Elders."

"Did Ling Lang hear anything interesting?"

Shi Donglai nodded, "My son's contact official is Sha Tuo's Tutun Fa, who is in charge of finance and trade, which is equivalent to our household Shangshu, and this Tutun Fa usually receives a lot of benefits from us, he told my son that Zhu Xie Jinhai was arrested as soon as he returned to Yiwu, and the Council of Elders wanted to publicly execute him, but he was rescued by his henchmen that night, and he fled to Gaochang with his guards." ”

"Isn't Shatuo divided?" Guo Song asked with a smile.

"The split will not be for the time being, the contradictions between the Shatuo military and the Council of Elders have been going on for a long time, and they are generally mediated by the Shatuo Khan, but this time the losses of the Shatuo departments are too great, and the Council of Elders cannot tolerate Zhu Xie Jinhai."

Guo Song took a few steps with his hands in his hands, and he was a little puzzled: "Isn't the Shatuo army from the Shatuo tribes, and what does the Shatuo military mean?" ”

"The governor doesn't know that the Shatuo army is composed of two parts, one part is called the Shatuo Chuyue Army, which is the main force of the Shatuo army, and the other part is called the Shatuo Tribal Army, that is, the six tribes outside the Chuyue Department are composed of troops, which do not exist in peacetime, and are only temporarily organized in the event of a major war.

In normal times, there is only the Shatuo Moon Army, and the Shatuo Army refers to them, and this Zhangye War is composed of 10,000 Shatuo Moon Army and 20,000 Shatuo Tribal Army, and as a result, the whole army was wiped out, and all the tribes were very angry, and the elders would be eager to divide the corpses of Zhu Xie Jinhai and the five horses to relieve their hatred. ”

Guo Song pondered for a moment and said, "Shatuo's internal contradiction is actually the contradiction between the Moon Department and the other six tribes, right?" ”

"It can be said that the Moon Department is the suzerain, and the other tribes are all servants, in the past, Shatuo was in the ascending stage, the Moon Department ate meat, and other tribes drank soup, although there are also all kinds of unfair contradictions, but they can also be peaceful, once Shatuo goes downhill, all kinds of contradictions will intensify."

Guo Song said happily: "Thank you for your help, if you have any difficulties in the future, you can come directly to me, and I will try my best to help!" ”

Shi Donglai bowed and said with a smile: "Guo Dudu is a person who does great things, and it is also an honor for our family to be able to serve Guo Dudu. ”

Shi Donglai had something to say, how could Guo Song not understand, he smiled and nodded, "Then let's come to Japan!" ”

.........

Shi Donglai said goodbye and left, and Changshi Pan Liao walked in and said with a smile: "The governor has a big face!" Shi Donglai actually came to visit in person. ”

"Really? He's just a businessman, and it's my honor to come and visit me? ”

"The governor doesn't know, this Shi Donglai is not an ordinary businessman, he is one of the three most famous merchants in Sogdia, rich and rival the country, he generally lives in Chang'an, because the situation in Ganzhou is unstable, he ran back to sit in the town, after Zhangye dealt with it, he will go back to Chang'an, last spring he returned to Zhangye, Wang Lianen ran to visit him, but he said that he was sick, just let the eldest son meet Wang Lianen, I have been in Ganzhou for four years, he has visited me from the future, people are frequent visitors to the prime minister's house, even Yuan Zai is polite to him, Ordinary officials, he simply looked down on them. ”

Guo Song smiled: "Is his business in Zhangye very big?" Why put the foundation in Zhangye, I don't understand it a bit. ”

"Doesn't the governor know that Ganzhou is a holy place for the Sogdians?" Pan Liao's expression was a little surprised.

Guo Song shook his head, "I don't understand, why?" ”

"The Sogdians are the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Han Dynasty, living in Ganzhou for thousands of years, the Han Dynasty was defeated by the Xiongnu, and was forced [5200] to move west to the Hezhong region west of the Green Mountains, changed to the nine Sogdian countries, and a small number of Zhaowuhu people lived in various parts of the Hexi Corridor, although they migrated for hundreds of years, the race has changed, but the Sogdians still regard Ganzhou as their hometown, and Zhangye has always been the foundation of many Sogdian merchants, and the governor will slowly know about it later."

"Alright! Pan Changshi has something to do with me? Guo Song asked with a smile.

Pan Liao said in a low voice: "Du Du really wants to negotiate with the Shatuo people? ”

"Of course, I want to exchange the captured Tang Jun brothers back, and negotiation is necessary."

Pan Liao hesitated for a moment and said: "Should this matter be led by the imperial court, has the governor forgotten the incident that Chang Xiangguo accused at the beginning?" ”

Guo Song laughed, "Let's say that I have an affair and think about pairing!" ”

Pan Liao nodded, a little embarrassed and said: "I also have friends in the court, so I specially inquired about the governor's past, please don't blame the governor." ”

Guo Song waved his hand, "This is a small matter, there is no need to explain, but I believe that with Chang Gon's experience, no one will plant the hat of fornication on my head, besides, I am exchanging soldiers of the Ganzhou Army, as the commander of Ganzhou, isn't it normal to exchange prisoners of war?" There is no need for the imperial court to intervene? ”

"Maybe it's too cautious to be lowly, since the governor has decided, he will definitely make every effort to prepare for it."

"I heard Shi Dong say just now that the imperial court has issued an order to commend Ganzhou, and the generals of the Ganzhou Army and the officials of the Governor's Mansion have been promoted to the next level, and I want to congratulate Pan Changshi."

Pan Liao was suddenly surprised and delighted, he is now a sixth-rank upper-rank courtier, if he is promoted to one level, he will be a third-rank Chaosan doctor from the fifth rank, for him, this is a crucial promotion!

"Governor, this.... Is this news true? His voice trembled with excitement.

"It should be true, in my express report to the Son of Heaven, I specifically mentioned the preparation of the officials of the Governor's Mansion, not only Pan Changshi, but other officials should have been promoted to one level."

Pan Liao stood up and was deeply moved: "Everyone says that the governor loves his subordinates, and I now deeply realize that the grace of the governor is remembered in my heart!" ”

..........

At dusk, a cavalry galloped from a distance, and rushed directly into Zhangye City, the cavalry turned over and dismounted in front of the gate of Guo Song Mansion, and said to the soldiers at the door: "Report to the governor for me, there is an emergency in Dadou Tugu!" ”

Guo Song now has forty personal soldiers, led by Yang Jun and Zhao Xiu respectively, stationed in the small military camp next to the governor's mansion, and four soldiers stand guard outside the mansion every day, and one soldier hurriedly enters the mansion to report.

Soon, the soldier came out and said, "Put all your weapons outside, and follow me!" ”

The messenger handed over the sword, dagger, and war horse to the guard, and he followed the soldier into the mansion and came to the outer study, where Guo Song was already waiting.

In front of him was a map of the Great Dou Ba Valley, Guo Song was staring at the map, and he marked a few red circles on it, which was a dangerous place where troops could be stationed, except for the Tuniu Fort at the mouth of the valley, the other dangerous places were under the control of the Tuyuhun people.

Guo Song had always been concerned about the situation in the Great Dou Ba Valley, and his intuition told him that the Tubo people would never be absent from the war for the Hexi Corridor.