"There is a saying in the Rong people, if a leaf covers your eyes, you can't see Jitou Mountain, and it's me."

The next day, after sending Beidi County Lieutenant Heifu to leave Wushi County, Wushi Lu felt so much about his younger brother.

Yesterday's conversation with Heifu and Chen Ping touched Wu Shilu a lot.

He has always regarded the trade with the Xiongnu and the Yueshi as his own source of wealth, and only felt that if the two ministries were wiped out by Qin, the business of transit trade would not be able to continue, so he had a negative attitude towards the westward expansion plan.

But Heifu offered him a new idea: not only could trade continue, but the caravans of the Ushi could go further and be more profitable!

Wu Shilu had decided that in March, he would send a caravan to make a detour from Huangzhong to the so-called "Western Regions" of Heifu.

It was a distant deal, and before leaving, Hefu pointed out the nearest deal to Wu Shilu: wool.

When Heifu and Li Xin went to Jishi Mountain to worship the source of the river, the local Qiang people with rich shepherd experience told him that the Qiang sheep were domesticated from the wild argali, and there were two types of hair on the wild sheep, one was coarse hair, which was about the same thickness as human hair. The other is villi, which grows against the skin. Fluff is used to keep warm in winter, so every year after spring, the fluff on the sheep's body will fall off, and new fluff will grow back after autumn.

For thousands of years, the Qiang people have selected and bred wild sheep to form the Qiang sheep. The wool it produces no longer distinguishes between coarse and fluffy, and its thickness is somewhere in between. Moreover, it does not fall out in the spring, but continues to grow like human hair. As a result, not only is the uniformity of the wool very good, but the yield is also greatly improved.

Only such wool can be twisted into wool and woven into sweaters.

After coming to Beidi County, Heifu found that there were also sheep in the local area, but they were slightly different from the sheep in Longxi and Huangzhong, and they may be two subspecies. This kind of sheep is also called Tan sheep, the meat is delicious, and it is a delicacy until later generations. But its wool is as coarse as that of wild sheep, so the local Rong Department does not shear and spin cloth, but directly peels the skin to make fur, or uses it to weave some rough felt tents, and don't think about making clothes.

This is the reason why the woolen textile industry of Beidi and Xiongnu is not as good as that of Longxi and Qiangzhong.

The introduction of this new industry to the Northland is also a way to rejuvenate the local livestock industry.

"Yidun made his fortune from salt ponds because salt ponds are inexhaustible and must be eaten by everyone. The same is true of wool, even if it is only used by the border army army, it will take tens of thousands of pieces! If he walks the world every day, so that everyone in the north depends on it to survive the cold winter, it will take tens of millions! But now, in half a year, Longxi County can only weave 2,000 pieces......"

Although the sweaters of this era have heavy oil, relatively large taste, and are hand-woven, the style is fat and vulgar, which does not conform to the beauty of the Central Plains, but the degree of warmth is far better than silk and hemp. I don't dare to say anything else, in addition to Kansai, in the bitter cold Daibei, Yandi, and Liaodong, it will definitely be very popular.

Heifu hopes that Wushi can buy more Qiang sheep and raise them in the north, and develop the wool industry in the local area, which may be a new source of income.

The skins and meat of livestock are bought and sold at one time, but wool can be sheared continuously for ten years.

Of course, the Heijun Lieutenant was not selfless for the Wu family, and of the 2,000 sweaters woven by Longxi County last year, Longxi kept 1,000 for himself, and gave 500 to Beidi and Shangjun, which was really in short supply. If Beidi County can raise thousands of Qiang sheep and open a few textile workshops, the problem of dressing the county soldiers will be solved.

Any policy needs to be premised on the economy, and this is true of unification, and the same is true of expansion, and human beings will not do unprofitable things, and without economic ties, pure conquest cannot last. If the woolen industry can be further expanded and huge profits can be obtained, the Central Plains Dynasty may no longer regard the grassland as a "useless land", but will diligently control it! Perhaps, thousands of years later, the nomads who were forced to retreat step by step, ran to the desert, and had little place to live, will complain bitterly about this behavior of "sheep eating people......

Far and near Erce was in front of him, and Wu Shilu also had to admit: "The county lieutenant didn't lie, he did give my family a big deal of tens of thousands of dollars!" ”

For businessmen, pay attention to the peach, repay it with Li, Wu Shi instructed his younger brother, immediately prepare for February and March, send to the Xiongnu caravan, from now on, they Wu Shi, to do their best, to assist Qin Shi Huang in the westward expansion of the national policy!

"The county lieutenant will arrange for some officials to blend into the caravan and follow the merchants deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu to investigate their armament and draw maps."

And the leader of these Qin officials is none other than Shi Chenping, the county governor!

……

"Chen Ping, do you really want to be a spy and go out with the merchant to investigate the reality of the Huns?"

After leaving Wushi County, Heifu called Chen Ping to ride in the same car, and finally asked him again.

Heifu is reluctant to Chen Ping to take risks, firstly, the two have known each other for several years, both superior and subordinate, but also a little bit of friendship, secondly, he knows that Chen Ping will be a talent in the future, if it is lost in the Huns, or if there is an accident, like Zhang Qian, Su Wu will be detained for many years, wouldn't it be a pity?

Chen Ping was very resolute: "Ming Jun is a virtuous general, so he moves and wins, and success comes from the many, and the prophet is also." The prophet shall not be taken from ghosts and gods, nor from things, nor from the degree, but from men, and from those who know the feelings of the enemy. ”

"Since the county lieutenant intends to use troops against the Xiongnu next year and seize Helan and other places, in addition to training the county soldiers and good families, the most important thing is to find out the reality of the Xiongnu.

Heifu shook his head: "Even so, you don't have to go in person." ”

He patted Chen Ping: "You are the county captain, the right-hand man of this captain, how can you lose?" ”

Chen Ping was a little moved, but still said: "The art of war, the affairs of the three armies, don't be close to the middle, don't be generous in the middle, and don't be close in the middle." Non-holy wisdom cannot be used, non-benevolence and righteousness cannot be used, and non-subtlety cannot be obtained! “

"With all due respect, the assistant officials and guests around the county lieutenant must be both cronies and wise, can observe words and feelings, and can explore subtleties, who else can there be such a person besides Chen Ping?"

Heifu groaned, if his old department Lixian was here, he would be a good candidate, but now, it is true that only Chen Ping can be used, and the rest of his subordinates such as Gongao and others, dancing with knives and swords, and risking arrows and stones are okay, but to be a spy? But never.

So after thinking about it, Chen Ping is the most suitable.

Heifu didn't know that in history, after Chen Ping belonged to Liu Bang, he first served as the captain of the Protector Army, and then as the Lieutenant of the Protector. The position of lieutenant of the protector army, which also existed in the Qin Dynasty, was a military intelligence agency directly under the emperor, and its internal duties were to supervise the subordinate generals on behalf of the king, and its external duties were to carry out espionage activities. Because he has internal and external information, he naturally participates in major decisions at the highest level and becomes the king's adviser. In the words of later generations, the lieutenant of the Guardian Army, the chief of intelligence, the head of the spy, is a bit like the ancient KGB.

Understanding this, it is not difficult to understand that Chen Ping is obviously a scholar of Huang Lao, but he is famous for his "conspiracy" in later generations, because this is his own job.

And now, the young Chen Ping is eager to make meritorious contributions, and if he wants to seize this rare opportunity, he actually has to embark on this road of no return in advance of this conspiracy......

……

Heifu finally agreed to Chen Ping's request, and asked him to go out of the fortress with Wu's caravan in February and March to explore the enemy situation of the Xiongnu, and he could not wait any longer.

When he was in Wushi County, Heifu heard that Li Xin, the lieutenant of Longxi County, had built a small town on the other side of Gaolan Mountain, in the later Lanzhou area, as a border post for the Qin army. Because some gold was dug up during the construction of the city, it was named "Golden City".

Since Jincheng was established, the matter of defending Tuntian could also be carried out locally. There were no powerful tribes in the area, and it was not far from Li Xin's control of the area hundreds of miles east of the Yellow River.

While Heifu was happy for Li Xin, he couldn't afford to fall behind. Qin Shi Huang was a king who liked to rush politics, and Heifu had to make a quick effort to show the emperor that the policy of westward expansion was firmly implemented in the prefecture.

Heifu and Chen Ping discussed espionage activities against the Xiongnu in a carriage, and their convoy traveled north from Wushi County, bypassing Jitou Mountain, and heading northeast along the Great Wall built by King Qin Zhao to inspect the border defenses.

The Great Wall of Beidi County is mostly rammed with loess on the spot, and outside the Great Wall is a deep ravine dug when taking soil, coupled with the natural mountain trend, it is equivalent to having three lines of defense, but it is more often not continuous, but intermittent, and it is not difficult to steal over.

In this way, after walking more than 300 miles along the Great Wall, the group arrived at the northernmost fortress in Beidi County: Beixiao Pass!