Although Zhuang Yi is still only an official rank of a soldier and a horse envoy, this position is a bit overflowing, and there is not even a clear rank, but the affairs of officials and private affairs will always involve official affairs. Now that's it, when Zhuang Yi said that he would send someone to Xi Wangya's tent to report the good news, Duan Zhongzhong and Zhang Yitai began to talk.

"This is a happy event, you always have to send people to go, and now the ice and snow on the road have melted, since you want to go, you might as well send more people to the five parts of King Xi...... Oh...... Now it is six, and all the excess leather goods and slaughtered cattle, sheep and war horses have been recovered, but if you want to give them the goods, you can let the shopkeeper of the Cui family provide them, so that we can make a profit from them. Duan Zhongzhong said.

"Not only King Xi's tooth tent, but also Khitan, Bohai, and Silla can send caravans. I remember that Li Congyou was familiar with Silla, and as for Bohai, we also knew the Honglu Temple Cheng Wuliguo of the Bohai Kingdom, as well as the Wuzhongli who is now stationed in Andong, and by the way, he sent caravan envoys to discuss the reception of the three military towns of Huaiyuan, Wulu, and Liaoxicheng, and then went to the Shangjing Longquan Mansion of the Bohai State to learn more about the national conditions of the Bohai Sea. ”

Zhang Yitai continued: "The last is the Khitan, it is estimated that until now, the hostility of Yaoyuan Qinde has not disappeared towards us, but it doesn't matter, now our identity is the Pingliao Army under Youzhou Jiedu, what else can he do?" Besides, trade is a matter of mutual benefit, and there is no reason for Qinde to refuse! ”

"That's a good point...... This is all feasible, I think you can send Xia Yue back to King Xi's tooth tent, and it is best to bring back the families of those soldiers; The candidate for Silla is Li Congyou, the candidate for Bohai and Khitan...... "Speaking of which, Zhuang Yi is a little difficult, Duan Zhongzhong and Zhang Yitai will definitely not be able to leave, the others are still young, and they are not tactful and sophisticated enough, and they will suffer if they don't do well.

"The candidate who goes to Bohai can let my eldest man go, he is also married now, he should have gone out to see the world a long time ago, I will make this matter clear to him." Duan Zhongzhong said.

"Your eldest man is too honest, but there is no suitable candidate, when the time comes, I will repair a book, to explore the mouth of the King of Bohai, if you can get back the east bank of the Liao River and the land of Anton without soldiers, that is the best...... The other is the candidate to go to the Khitan. ”

Everyone was silent for a while, they went to Khitan to see Khan Yaochen Qinde, their status did not match, and Zhuang Yi and him were indirectly enmity, ordinary people went, maybe things would be done, and they would be insulted.

"The Khitan Khan Tent is not a Longtan Tiger's Den, if the military envoy can trust a certain family, let a certain go on this trip!" At this moment, the always taciturn servant suddenly stood up and bowed to salute.

When everyone in the hall heard this, they all looked at it with a look on their faces, and only a few local officials in Yingzhou nodded their heads in agreement.

"You? Well...... This identity is appropriate, but it is also on my behalf, and you have dealt with the Khitans before? Zhuang Yi was also quite curious, and couldn't help but be very interested in this.

"The humble can get a horse, can carry a knife, can afford to open a two-stone bow, although the martial arts are only average, I have also fought with the Khitans, done business, and have a few friends over there." The servant replied loudly.

"So...... Let you be a little official, it's really a talent, you say! Need a deputy? How else can I help? Zhuang Yi said with a smile.

"The envoy can give me all of them as a guard, but the goods must be prepared in advance...... A certain family also has some inventory, but the quantity is too small. Fuda said earnestly.

"So be it! The government can give you 10,000 yuan, you go out of Youzhou to buy goods first, and then go to the Khitan ......"

"10,000 yuan is a little less, but if you think of a way, you can scrape together 30,000 to 50,000 yuan of goods, and then return them with cattle and horses when you return."

Not to mention 10,000 yuan, even 350,000 yuan is not much, and inflation is very serious these days. During the Kaiyuan period, the rice was fifty to one hundred wen, and now the market price of grain in Youzhou is four or five hundred wen for rice; Silk and silk are transported from the south of the Yangtze River, and the price is as high as two or three hundred wen a horse. Unlike the early and middle Tang Dynasty, forty silk for one horse, the Tang Dynasty suffered a loss, and Hui Hui made a lot of money by exchanging war horses for silk.

"How...... You can figure it out by yourself, the government is very poor now, but it is also the time for you to contribute, and it is all credit for doing a good job, and I will use it myself. ”

Zhuang Yi smiled and encouraged, let the servant retreat, and then said to everyone: "All parties communicate with each other, this is a matter of everyone's benefit, we can't always send caravans, you guys this time to do business is a trivial matter, the important thing is to represent the Pingliao military government to send an envoy to discuss trade." We can consider setting up a bazaar in the border area of Yingzhou, which will be more convenient, and I will prepare the envoy documents later and distribute them to you. ”

Three days later, Zhuang Yi sent people to clear out all the small inventory in the treasury, and after registering them one by one, he sent four caravans, including Xia Yue, Duan Renzhen, Li Congyou, and Fuda, to carry the goods and the envoy documents of the Pingliao Army to various places in Liaodong to do business, and by the way to understand the situation and national conditions of the surrounding countries.

In fact, Zhuang Yi, as a small army leader, needs to be approved by Youzhou to send envoys to the surrounding areas, but Zhuang Yi's situation is different, he is only under the name of Youzhou Jiezhen, and he has this independent autonomy. Even if Youzhou wants to interfere, it can't interfere.

The caravan is sent out, it will take at least a month to come back, Zhuang Yi has a lot of things to do, everything needs money and food, but the most important thing is human resources, fortunately, Yingzhou now has a population of seventy or eighty thousand, but the strong labor force is only more than 20,000, and then the soldiers are rotated to join, things can still be done.

The Shangsi Festival on March 3 is a traditional festival that started in the Warring States Period of the Western Zhou Dynasty and went through the Han and Tang Dynasties.

The main activities include singing and purifying, that is, the days of spring bathing, wearing willow rings, exploring spring, going out, eating pure rice, and Lanting Yaji and so on. In addition to worshiping Fuxi, in the Tang Dynasty, this festival custom was extremely prosperous, and gradually developed into activities such as frolicking on the riverside, men and women meeting, and planting willows and enjoying flowers. In the Song Dynasty, it was regarded as a strange custom and ******** from then on.

Youzhou and Yingzhou are places where Huhua is very serious, but more than half of the Han population in Youzhou and the Han population in Yingzhou do not exist in ten, and the Shangsi Festival is relatively deserted, and the festival atmosphere is not strong. What's more, the government has already issued an order for the requisition and dispatch of the people in the township, and from tomorrow, the township order will lead the young people of the township to report to Liucheng with tools. The only good thing is that you don't have to bring your own food, and the villagers are still happy to go.

In addition to the fact that some villages have their own sacrifices, the Yingzhou Mansion is particularly lively on this day. Because this day is not only the Shangsi Festival, but also the birth of Zhuang Yi's daughter Zhuang Yanan ten days ago, Zhuang Yi held a banquet in the government to celebrate.

The banquet was held for officers above the battalion level of the Pingliao Army, and officers and soldiers below the battalion level also had additional meals. As well as the government officials, as well as the township officials from the townships around Liucheng, some of whom could not come due to official business, also sent their families to congratulate.