"Shatuo is not from the river?"

Zhang Shu shook his head: "The Shatuo people are some of the Turkic tribes who originally moved west from the north to the Western Regions during the Tianwu Dynasty. However, when the King of Jin was conquering Huangchao, he borrowed some soldiers and horses from the Zhaowu Nine Divisions of Shatuoyan, and now the generals surnamed Kang Anmi, He Cao Shishi, and most of the generals in the Jin army are from the Zhaowu Nine Divisions. ”

"What's the difference?"

"Hehe, they believe in the Zoroastrian god of fire, but Emperor Wu is worshipping Buddha, what does Your Majesty think?" Zhang Shu sneered.

"What's the matter with the horse thieves on the prairie?"

"Do you think that these people in the river have escaped from the Zhaowu land west of Tocharo in the Western Regions, and what belongings are left? Fortunately, Lai Shatuo had some friendship with them, so he took them in. But where did the grazing horses, cattle, sheep and camels come from? The largest horse bandits in the desert grassland are the clansmen of these tribes, but they never rob the Shatuo tribe, and the tokens they gave to your family were originally in the hands of your fourth uncle, but with him being killed, the tokens given by the Zhaowu tribe were also lost. It turned out that they also paid 2,000 horses to the Jin army every year, and your grandfather was also very poor back then, so he selected more than 30 soldiers to follow them to do this unprofitable business. It's a pity that there are only six people left! And in recent years, contact has also been lost. ”

"What's going on?"

"You are so good at being a horse thief, it's all a bloody business!"

"Oh, the grudge with the Khitans has something to do with this?" Li Qi asked, when Li Keyong scolded Yelu Abaoji for his treachery before his death, it seems that Abaoji did not ask Zhu Wen, the king of Liang, for a title, that was later.

"As this Khitan tribe flourished, it threatened the survival of its subordinates operating north of Youzhou. Your grandfather went to the grassland to meet with Abaoji, and made an appointment as brothers, which means that as long as he does not rob the Khitan, Abaoji will turn a blind eye to these people on the grassland, and he will just treat them as if he didn't see them. This Abaoji promised well, and it is also to blame that these people relaxed their vigilance, maybe they got too many horses, more than 3,000. This Abaoji saw that his eyes were red, and one day he suddenly led a large army to surround these people in Tianling Village in Tanshan, slaughtering nearly a thousand people, and thousands of military horses that were ready to be sent to Jindi were also robbed. On that occasion alone, sixteen of the leaders of the Yi'er Army sent by Emperor Wu died! ”

"I said that my grandfather was so atmospheric, it turned out that there was a blood feud." "My father can't contact these people directly? ”

Zhang Shu shook his head and said: "At the beginning, Emperor Wu gave you the methods and tokens for contacting the Zhaowu people to your fourth uncle, and the King of Jin asked for it several times, but he refused to give it. This is his capital, and he will not hand it over easily, and then he dies, and the token is lost. ”

Li Qi said: "The benefits are still not enough, there is nothing in this world that cannot be exchanged." ”

Zhang Shu smiled when he heard this: "Your Majesty's words are ambitious. ”

Li Qi said: "The whole world belongs to my family, what kind of ambition is it?!" ”

Zhang Shu was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and then sighed: "The things of this world are very difficult to say!" ”

"It is up to people to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen!" Li Qi said with a smile: "If you plan first, you will prosper, and if you plan first, you will die, and it is always beneficial to make more preparations first." What I wish in my life is that the world is healthy and prosperous, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and China is just subdued by the Quartet! ”

Zhang Shu looked at him for a long time before he said, "But as Your Majesty said!" ”

Li Qi looked at the roof for a while, and suddenly asked, "Before Mr. Zhang died, he really didn't tell you about the secret spy department?" He was referring to the former Hedong supervisor who was originally in charge of the Jin army's secret spies, Zhang Chengye, the head of Jinyang Palace.

Zhang Shu shook his head for a moment, then shook his head and replied: "My father-in-law thinks that the secret spy division is the stuff of the former Tang Dynasty, so he didn't explain it at all, and now I'm afraid that those people have already dispersed." Moreover, Jinyang Palace was born dependent on the first emperor, if the old slave had a secret reporting channel, he would not sit back and watch the first emperor mess around. I couldn't help but sigh.

Li Qi was silent for a long time: "The embroidered clothes of the Han Dynasty, the bad people of the former Tang Dynasty...... The existence of the secret spy division naturally has its reason, since the stars are scattered, it will be slowly restored...... I'll leave it to you to take care of it. ”

Zhang Shu pondered for a while, and finally replied helplessly: "The old slave obeys the order." ”

After getting rid of Zhang Shu, Li Qi ordered someone to call Li Sifeng and Li Cunshuo, and in front of Zhang Shu, he told them that Zhang Shu would be responsible for contacting them in the future.

"How many of you have now?" After giving the order, Li Qi asked.

"Four villages, more than 500 brothers." Li Cunshuo replied.

"How many horse thieves are there in the Zhaowu Department on the Khitan side?"

"Due to the blows of the Khitans in recent years, not many horse thieves from the Zhaowu Department have remained in the northeast grassland, and now there are only seven or eight left, about more than 2,000 people and horses." Li Sifeng replied.

"You're still in touch with them?"

"Yes, they want to sell horses through our channels, and in addition, there are horse dealers in Youzhou who have contact with them." Li Cunshuo said.

"Okay, you don't have to come forward to rob anymore, my men and horses have other important uses, and there are important things for you to do." Li Qi said, "The cost of several cottages should be solved by going to Manager Zhang, and I will be responsible for supplying them in the future." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty obeys." The two replied with joy on their faces, they came to Jinyang in person this time because the Khitan side was very persecuted, and it was difficult for the cottage to survive, so they came to the Jin Wangfu to find a way. Unexpectedly, this young man didn't wait for them to speak, and took the initiative to take over the supply.

For the use of these people, Li Qi naturally has his own plans.

The Jinyang caravans maintained trade with the Northland during the winter.

The royal caravan under the command of Zhang Gan and Zheng Yu already had more than 160 four-wheeled carriages, and since there were not enough horses, they were busy converting them into ox carts. In the steppes, the number of horses is still much lower than that of cattle. Although the ox cart is slower, it is not a problem to transport goods.

The wild nature of the bullock scattered on the grassland is still untamed and needs to be tamed again.

After being castrated, they were put on the nose of the ox, and the bullock was pressed on their backs with two sacks full of wet sand, and their limbs trembled, and they looked very pitiful. The cost of raising cattle is only half that of horses, and for the tuntian area, it is much more cost-effective to use ploughing oxen to pull carts to plow the land than to raise horses.

For the Royal Chamber of Commerce, which developed on the basis of a few royal estates, there were too many commodities and raw materials to procure, and there were too few horses, and most of the transport vehicles had to be converted to ox carts.

It seems that mules are a better choice if it is simply to pull a cart, and this breed of donkey and horse crossbred is not as fast as a fast horse, but it is better than a strong enough to pull and has a more docile character.

……