Niu Xiu, the word Jinda, ancestral home Longxi, tired from the expedition, the official worship of the right Wuwei general, Langya County Gong, is the early Tang Dynasty general.

Compared with many well-known celebrities, Niu Jinda does not seem to be known to future generations. But he descended to the Tang Dynasty with Qin Shubao and Cheng Yanjin, and stayed in the Qin Mansion, and was also the confidant general of His Majesty Li Er.

Moreover, Niu Jinda was tired of expeditions and made great achievements, especially under the city of Songzhou, he attacked the Tubo military camp at night, beheaded thousands of people, and forced the Tubo army to retreat.

Of course, Niu Jinda may be inferior to Li Jing, Li Tao, Hou Junji and others in military command and strategy, because he failed to take charge of himself and established a great achievement similar to destroying the country and capturing the king.

This time, as the head of the march, he was ordered to lead tens of thousands of Guanzhong soldiers to arrive in Gansu and Su Prefectures first, and Niu Jinda was still somewhat resentful.

Without him, although the holy decree was euphemistic, and His Majesty Li Er had also seen the orders in person, after tens of thousands of soldiers arrived in Gansu and Suzhou, the meaning of listening to Xu Qilin's dispatch was certain.

First of all, Niu Jindaguan worships General Zuo Wuwei, the head of the march, and is much higher than Xu Qilin in rank.

Secondly, Xu Qilin, as an assassin, is a civilian official and assigns the army, which is suspected of overstepping his authority.

Of course, Xu Qilin's dispatch and command could not be a march to fight, but only labor production, and preparations for the conquest of Gaochang.

Although Niu Jinda was a little depressed in his heart, he also knew that he could not disobey. Moreover, this is also the reason why His Majesty Li Er sent him, knowing that he is low-key, honest and simple, and knows the general situation.

When leading the army through Liangzhou, Niu Jinda saw that although the local people had stabilized, their lives had not reached the level of affluence.

It's just that vehicles pass by frequently, and there are caravans from the mainland, as well as Hu merchants going to the mainland. The grain was transported by the convoy of the Great Surplus Treasury, which was used to support the army.

After all, it has not been a few years since Liangzhou completely settled down, and before the Tang army counterattacked Tuyuhun in the ninth year of Zhenguan, this place still suffered from war.

Niu Jinda didn't care much about this, but he felt that the farther west he went, the more desolate he should be, and in his heart there was already a picture of Ganzhou where the people were poor.

But to Niu Jinda's surprise, after entering Ganzhou, the more he walked, the more prosperous the scene became. The villages along the way are orderly, the roads are flat, and the people rarely have vegetables.

The arrangements on the road are also in place, and the camps have been designated, although the camps are not as strong as in wartime, but they make the soldiers less tired.

Although the army had its own food, the local area also provided salt, pickles, sauce, and bacon, which was much better than the food on the march.

This Xu Tingshi is not bad in governing the place, and it is very rich, Niu Jinda sighed at first.

Regarding Xu Qilin's identity background, Niu Jinda knows something. He thought that this was all relying on His Majesty's trust and grace, and Xu Qilin was in charge of the materials and money required by the imperial court.

But when he arrived in the urban area of Ganzhou, Niu Jinda opened his eyes. I didn't expect there to be such a prosperous city in Saishang, which is not inferior to the big cities in the interior, but the commercial atmosphere is even stronger.

In Ganzhou City, Xu Qilin naturally warmly greeted and entertained the Guanzhong soldiers who came from afar.

For this rough-looking, hairy black and hairy general, who looked like a fierce general, Xu Qilin was not afraid, and directly took out his plan and asked Niu Jinda to distribute soldiers to various places.

The so-called knowing oneself and knowing one's enemy, after Xu Qilin learned that it was Niu Jinda who led the army to assist in spring ploughing, he naturally learned about him and inquired.

Don't look at Niu Jinda who looks like the Bull Demon King, but his personality is kind and upright, and he really can't judge people by his appearance.

The current Niu Jinda, as a general, can be described as majestic. But he had a tragic teenage age, which also contributed to his character traits.

In the troubled times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, even if Niu Jinda was born in a county family, he was not immune to hardships. The people rose up because of hunger, bandits also ran rampant, and his father was finally killed by the rebels, and he was the only one in the family who survived.

It is precisely because of the tragic days of not having enough to eat that Niu Jinda still maintains a hard and simple life style after being named a general, and he is also quite low-key.

In the house, apart from his wife and a son with a broken leg, there was only one old servant servant. In other words, the life of the general Niu Jinda is no better than that of ordinary people, when General Niu used more resources to protect and take care of his fathers in Linzhang County when the city was broken, he couldn't help but be in awe.

You don't forget your friends, and you don't get tired of being poor. can interpret this sentence well, Niu Jinda is exemplary.

Because of this, Niu Jinda also has a noble character than others, or the pursuit is more accurate.

He didn't care much about being promoted to a knighthood and enjoying glory and wealth, but he hoped that the people could live a stable and prosperous life and no longer experience the hardships he had suffered.

A noble man, a man who is detached from low tastes, a man who is determined to benefit the people...... Xu Qilin is really ashamed of himself.

Therefore, after learning about General Niu's temperament and deeds, Xu Qilin did not need to flatter him, and directly told the truth about his intention to borrow the army for spring plowing and production, benefit the people of Ganzhou, and live in peace for immigrants.

Sure enough, General Niu listened to Xu Qilin's introduction, and after reading the detailed plan formulated by the government, he readily agreed, and immediately sent all departments to the designated spring plowing area.

Since the people returned to prepare for farming and deliver grain to Fengyi, Xu Qilin handed it over to the army. And General Niu also led the guards, set off from Suzhou, and under the leadership of the guide, explored the road first.

More than ten days later, the spring ploughing was in full swing, and when it was all over in a few days, General Niu returned to Suzhou with his personal guards.

Although he didn't finish the journey, he just returned to Xingxing Gorge, and General Niu also made a judgment that this battle would be won.

For the conquest of Gaochang, everyone knows that the thousand-mile Gobi Desert is the biggest obstacle, and General Niu is no exception. On the way to Ganzhou, he imagined the difficulties more than once.

But after walking halfway through the Gobi, Niu Jinda felt that there were still difficulties, but they were far from as big as he imagined. Xu Qilin's preparation made him sigh with admiration.

Countless road signs, sand barriers on the side of the road, and grain and water storage in beacon posts...... Although these works are still ongoing, they have already made General Niu not lose his way and move extremely fast.

"The imperial court's financial support for Xu Tingshi is really sparing no effort!" Niu Jinda sighed, "Xu Tingshi also did an excellent job, and he also contributed to the victory of Gaochang." ”

The captain of the guard nodded in agreement and said, "How much does it cost to build a road in the Gobi Desert?" Without the support of the imperial court, how can it be done? ”

Niu Jinda and his soldiers didn't know that although Xu Qilin's road construction could not be as high as that of flat land, the money spent was not all transferred by Chang'an.

Moreover, Xu Qilin built the road not only to conquer Gaochang, but also to make the trade route smooth. The "Great Sea Road" is the most convenient trade route to the Western Regions, and even if it only reduces the difficulty of traveling, it will attract many merchants.

It's still the same sentence: If you want to get rich, build roads first. For infrastructure investment, Xu Qilin has never been stingy.

In the more than a year of operation in Ganzhou, Xu Qilin spent more money, but he had already shown His Majesty Li Er the return on investment through the calculated data, and the term was not long.

Therefore, His Majesty Li Er knew and agreed to Xu Qilin's use of the income of the city's shipping company, and the use of profits from renting land, selling houses, and selling cotton spinning products.

Even if there is no acquiescence from the court, Xu Qilin has no fear, and he is not worried that those idle imperial historians will impeach him.

This is called smart, things are done without leakage, the public money never reaches out, and there is the wall of His Majesty Li Er, no one is afraid of suing.

Others watched the rapid development of Ganzhou, but how did they know how much money Xu Qilin threw down? But these are all upfront inputs, and the larger the input, the faster and more generous the output.

For example, the arrival of the Guanzhong soldiers in Ganzhou ahead of schedule this time was, of course, greatly increased the amount of cultivated land in Gansu and Suzhou, and the planting area of cotton, soybeans, wheat, and other crops increased by several times.

Not counting remuneration, tens of thousands of people eat and drink is by no means a small amount. This, of course, is nothing compared to the political and economic benefits gained after the autumn harvest.

You must know that after the autumn harvest, not only will cotton be profitable due to the sharp increase in production, but the grain produced will also be enough to support the garrison in the Western Regions.

The data was clear, and His Majesty Li Er happily agreed, and sent the low-key General Niu to lead the army first, and cooperate with Xu Qilin well.

General Niu was talking casually with his own soldiers, and Fang Er slowed down his horse and came over with a shy face.

That's right, Fang Er is also one of the guides, or he wants to lobby to curry favor with General Niu and strive to enlist in the army.

Xu Qilin had already told him that it was useless, because of his father's appearance, General Niu would not agree if his IQ was online.

But Fang Er belongs to the kind of person who doesn't hit the south wall and doesn't give up, maybe it's also to avoid the entanglement of the people sent by the family, or run to mix in the pathfinding team.

"General Niu-" Fang Er interjected with a smile, "I'll be in Guazhou ahead, and I can have a good rest." ”

Niu Jinda nodded and said politely, "Erlang has traveled all the way, and it has been really hard. ”

Fang Er grinned and waved his hand, "This hard work is just a trivial matter, but a certain is not a pampered child." As he spoke, he looked at Niu Jinda expectantly and said, "General Niu, a certain riding and archery martial arts is still passable, right?" ”

On the road, Fang Er deliberately behaved, and did not pay attention to the humility of the upper and lower levels, and wrestled with Niu Jinda's personal soldiers, just to let Niu Jinda know that he had the conditions to be a soldier.

Niu Jinda smiled and said, "What Erlang means, a certain family understands." It's just that the army has its own rules, and Erlang's identity is different, and a certain family can't accept Erlang into the army no matter what. ”

Fang Er blinked his eyes wide, and he sighed helplessly at the rejection again, looking dejected.

Niu Jinda smiled bitterly secretly, but he couldn't make the second room. Who put his father in a high position, and took the second house, wouldn't it cause endless trouble?

………………

General Niu and the others returned to Guazhou, but they happened to meet Xu Qilin.

Temporarily signing the history of Suzhou assassination, Suzhou must also be governed in a good way. In particular, Guazhou, since ancient times, has been a transportation hub for the east and west, and an important business town on the ancient Silk Road, how can Xu Qilin not pay attention to it?

In addition to vigorously developing agriculture and animal husbandry in the corridor plains of Guazhou, Xu Qilin also sent people to the mountainous Gobi in the north and south to explore and look for mineral deposits.

Of course, he is most interested in finding gold mines, and Guazhou's gold reserves and production are also among the highest in the country. Even if some mines are difficult to mine under today's conditions, as long as there is an open-pit deposit, it is not gold is very profitable.

The arrival of Niu Jinda and others naturally received Xu Qilin's warm hospitality.

Roasted whole sheep, twin tower fish, Suoyang wine...... Guazhou's specialties are the same, and for this group of people who have walked through the Gobi, it is simply a delicacy that can eat the tongue.

Niu Jinda's perception of Xu Qilin changed greatly, and more smiles appeared on his originally fierce face.

Moreover, he really had something to ask Xu Qilin about. I didn't know the details when I first arrived, but now is a good time.

Xu Qilin was also a little surprised when he heard Niu Jinda ask about cotton planting, this is not like General Niu's temperament!

After listening to the narration, Xu Qilin suddenly realized, he didn't expect General Niu to look like this, and he married a woman from a family as his wife!

General Niu's wife, Pei Shi, was born in Hedong and is a real family. General Niu's father-in-law, Pei Shen'an, was the governor of Kui, and later became the Duke of Chengcheng.

The windfall profits of cotton not only attracted the powerful bureaucrats, but also the big families. Engaging in planting is not as contemptible as that of merchants.

Therefore, the Pei family was entrusted by the family to let Niu Jinda go by the way to see if the market could spread in Gansu and Suzhou.

In this regard, Xu Qilin does not have to be embarrassed, there are ready-made normative documents, come if you want to! Of course, if you need care, he can also help.

Xu Qilin pondered for a while, and said to General Niu, "If the household registration is not in Gansu and Suzhou, it can only be rented land for planting, which is a regulation of the imperial court, and it is difficult to change." But even if the land is rented, the income from planting cotton is at least 50% more than that of growing grain. ”

Niu Jinda thought for a while and said, "I saw the price of cotton products in Chang'an, why is it so high?" ”

"One reason is the small quantity, and the other is the processing cost." Xu Qilin explained with a smile: "Fifty percent of the income is the purchase price of the government. If you process and sell it yourself, there will definitely be more. ”

Niu Jinda was stunned, nodded and said, "I see." Build your own workshop, I'm afraid it's technically inferior to the official workshop of the big surplus library, right? ”

Xu Qilin also did not shy away from saying, "The cotton spinning products of Dayingku Guanfang will be mainly exported in the future, and they are naturally very exquisite." If private workshops want to surpass in technology, it is difficult to do it in the short term, and the products can only be sold to ordinary people. ”

After a pause, Xu Qilin smiled and said, "Cotton is planted everywhere, and no one is clothed." Can General Niu imagine such a scene? Even if the price of coarse cloth for ordinary people has been reduced, it is still a profitable business. ”

"There are also bedding, which also do not have much technical content, and the market demand is very large. Counting the needs of the army in cold regions, military uniforms and luggage are also a long-term and stable customer. ”

……………

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Datang's first all-round gentleman