The morning on the prairie is cold, but unfortunately there is always a stench in the city that the wind can't take away.

Chao Yong walked out of the courtyard, felt the stench in the air, and couldn't help but say to Shi Yong, who was keeping vigil next to him: "Today, drive all the Kereh people in the city to the river, let them bathe, and send all those who do not enter the water to the mine." ”

In addition to prisoners of war in the city, there were also women and children from some nearby tribes, and Chao Yong was obviously talking about women and children.

Although Shi Yong was a little puzzled as to why the prince was angry, he still gave up his life.

Chao Yong was eating breakfast when he heard a string of horses' hooves flying from far and near.

The sound of horses' hooves ended outside the house, and then a capital head ran in and reported: "Nearly 10,000 barbarians have come from the north, saying that they have captured Yelu Yanxi's concubines and princes, and they want to exchange them for prisoners of war and women from their tribe. ”

Chao Yong was also preparing to lead troops north to Zhenzhou today to arrest the remnants of the Liao State, but he didn't expect the barbarians to be so filial, so he nodded and said: "Okay, a Khitan royal family can be exchanged for ten barbarians, and if they are obedient to us, the women and children can be returned to them; Those who do not submit can be exchanged for cattle and sheep, otherwise all women, children, and prisoners of war will be reduced to slavery. ”

"Yes."

Chao Yong finished breakfast unhurriedly, and then came to the north gate with the five generals in front of the tent and his own soldiers.

Han Shizhong, who was in charge of guarding the city last night, had already negotiated with the barbarians at the north gate, but it seemed that there were still some differences.

Han Shizhong saw the arrival of the prince, and hurriedly went down to the city to greet him: "See the prince." ”

Chao Yong nodded and said, "Well, are the barbarians still entangled?" ”

Han Shizhong said: "Those barbarians think that a Khitan royal family should be exchanged for at least a hundred barbarians, and at first they still want to exchange a Khitan royal family for a tribe's people." ”

Chao Yong shook his head and said: "These barbarians don't regard themselves as human beings too much, and the Khitans are also a head, so why do they want to change a tribe with one." Okay, open the gates, and I'll go talk to them. If the negotiation is not proper, we will kill them and dare to come and block our city gates. ”

"Yes"

When Han Shizhong heard this, he hurriedly asked his subordinates to open the city gate.

The city gate slowly opened, and I saw a few barbarians riding horses blocking more than ten zhang away, and there were chaotic barbarians behind them who could not see the edge.

The barbarians in front saw that the prince of Daliang led his troops out of the city, and they turned their horses and retreated.

When the interpreter Kereh saw Daxu on the other side, he suddenly said: "It's Marhusi Khan who came, he is the son of Mogus Khan who led us against Liao. ”

Chao Yong heard that he was the son of the anti-Liao Mogusi. Qi Dao: "Mogus was killed against Liao, how can his son still become a Khan?" ”

"Mogus was unfortunately captured by the Liao when he sent troops once, and the tribe was not broken up by the Liao, and after Mogus was captured, Marhusi Khan became the leader of the tribe. Declared a vassal to the Liao State. The Liao State could not catch Marhusi Khan, so they had to admit his khan. However, Mogus was the Khan of all the Kereh tribes, and the Khan of Malhuth was only the Khan of several tribes. ”

Chao Yong nodded and said, "You go and ask him to come out and answer." ”

"Yes"

There were 5,000 warriors of the tribe under the command of Marhusi Khan, so that the Liao State could accept his vassalage. However, after Yelu Yanxi fled to Xiongzhou with 20,000 soldiers and horses, he was also under great pressure and had to join other small tribes to offer cattle, sheep and horses to Yelu Yanxi.

In yesterday's battle, he also brought 3,000 men to the battle. After the defeat, he entangled the people of several tribes near Zhaozhou, rushed to Zhenzhou non-stop, and copied Yelu Yanxi's nest.

As long as those useless Khitans are exchanged for the women and children of the Kereh tribes in the south and the prisoners of war captured by Daliang, they will get the support of the Kereh tribes in the south. He was soon able to unify the various tribes of the Kereh and become the Great Khan of the Kereh tribe, restoring his father's glory.

Marhusi Khan's idea was very good, but he didn't expect that Daliang would only be willing to exchange ten Kerehs for a Liao royal family. Even if you count Yelu Yanxi's concubines. The total number of Liao royal families he captured was only a few dozen. If he were to change it like that, he would only be able to exchange a few hundred people back. This favor could not make the southern tribes take refuge in him. So he asked the tribe to bargain with people who could speak party terms.

There were tens of thousands of women and children in several tribes under the tent of Marhusi Khan, but they were separated from the Central Plains by the Liao State and Western Xia, and none of them could speak Chinese, only a few could speak Dangxiang dialect and Khitan dialect.

Without women and children, the steppe tribes will not perish, they can rob the women of other tribes to reproduce and continue the tribe.

Therefore, although Daliang won Fangzhou and captured the women and children of several tribes, there were no barbarians to surrender.

When Marhusi Khan heard that the prince of Daliang had asked him to answer, he also came out on horseback and bowed to Chao Yong on his horse.

The conversation between the two began through the Kreh people who took refuge in Daliang.

Chao Yong looked at Mar and thought suddenly: "Wherever my dragon flag is planted, there is the land of Daliang." From today on, this grassland is the land of my Daliang, and if you submit to my Daliang, I can let you continue to live in this grassland. If you are not willing to submit, you can take people out of this land, otherwise the Great Liang Iron Cavalry will kill all those who covet the land of Great Liang. ”

When Malhusi heard Chao Yong's domineering declaration, he was also stunned, the barbarians behind him couldn't help but dance their scimitars, they have lived in this grassland for generations, and they are the masters of this grassland.

Malhusi also flashed a hint of anger, but when he saw that the cavalry of the Daliang military camp on the left had been assembled, he could only hold back his anger and said, "If we submit to Daliang, how many cattle and sheep do we need to pay tribute to Daliang every year?" ”

Chao Yong shook his head and said: "You have submitted to my Daliang, that is, the people of my Daliang, and you don't need to pay tribute." The merchants of Daliang will come here without restrictions, and your cattle and sheep can be exchanged for more things. ”

Hearing Chao Yong's words, the barbarians of all departments exchanged heads and ears in disbelief.

Even if they are all Kereh, if the small tribes want to be sheltered by the big tribes, they have to pay tribute to cattle and sheep, and they rebel against the Liao State only because the Liao State asks for more tribute than they can bear.

But Marhus wondered, "Are we going to fight for you like the party?" ”

Chao Yong listened to Malhusi's question, and said to the translator beside him: "You have been on Ningxia Road for a few months, and you must also know the military system of my Daliang, you can talk to him." ”

Chao Yong has always wanted to implement the national compulsory military system, but the Liang Liang was initially decided and could not be forced to promote it. Therefore, Daliang's current military system is still voluntary to join the army, and the generous military salary and feudal generals are very attractive. Therefore, the beam is not worried about the source of soldiers.

The party vassal army is also a warrior who voluntarily lives by swords and guns in various party departments, and they are different from the Liang Zhengjun, just because they were not trained from Tokyo, but the salary and the Liang Zhengjun are the same.

The party department that had settled down had already signed up like the Han Chinese, and then went to Tokyo to practice. The vassal army is still grazing tribes, but the Liang has also demarcated pastures for them, they can no longer be nomadic, and when the time is ripe, the Liang will cancel the vassal army. All soldiers and horses were trained by Tokyo to speed up the assimilation of the various ethnic groups.

Malhusi had also heard some things about Ningxia Road, but he didn't believe that there would be such a good thing, and many party members joined the army, so he always felt that it was the party people who worked hard for the big beam instead of paying tribute.

I heard that the Kereh people who went south in winter said that the party soldiers on Ningxia Road were completely voluntary. Moreover, all the people of Daliang do not have to pay taxes except for merchants, and Marhu wondered: "Only merchants pay taxes, so aren't the things of Daliang very expensive?" ”

Chao Yong said with a smile: "All the mines belong to the imperial court, and only the imperial court can sell tea and wine, and the imperial court has a lot of income, and the commercial tax is not high." In the Central Plains, one of your horses can probably be exchanged for **100 catties of tea, if it is transported here. How can you exchange it for four or five hundred catties. ”

Chao Yong is talking about coarse tea, and of course few barbarians know fine tea. In the Northern Song Dynasty, all the tea used by horses was coarse tea, and it was only in the Southern Song Dynasty that the barbarians began to ask for fine tea.

The Song Dynasty had few horses, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, they bought horses from Fanren with copper money. But later it was found that many people cast copper coins into weapons, and changed them to tea and horses. By the time of Zhao Ji, the price of a horse had risen to 250 catties of tea.

This is the price at which the Han and the Northwest Fan people exchange horses, and the Fan people will also resell the tea further north.

Tea can detoxify oiliness, detoxify and remove diseases. After the barbarians who mainly ate meat ate tea, they couldn't do without tea. It's just that the tea they eat is all transferred from Western Xia or Liao, and a horse can often only exchange for dozens of catties of tea.

Mal Husi usually can't do without tea, and when he heard Chao Yong say that a horse in Daliang can be exchanged for **100 catties of tea, he was also dumbfounded.

The shepherds in the back shouted even more excitedly, they also couldn't do without tea, but in the past, the price of tea was so high that no one could drink tea every day except for the tribal leaders and witch doctors. If a horse can exchange a few hundred catties of tea, they will be able to drink tea every day like the chief.

For the grassland people, the most attractive thing for them in the Central Plains is tea, cloth is a woman's hobby, and for rough men, it is okay to wear a sheepskin.

When Malhusi heard the discussion of the clansmen behind him, he knew that everyone was thinking the same as him, so he jumped off his horse and knelt down and said, "We are willing to submit to the Great Liang." ”

The barbarians behind saw that their sweat was kneeling, and they also dismounted and knelt on the ground.

Chao Yong didn't expect to subdue these 10,000 people so easily, and waved his hand: "Liang doesn't need to kneel, you all get up." ”

The cavalry in the barracks outside the city had also been assembled, and when they saw the prince say a few words, they made the barbarians fall to their knees, and they felt that the prince was extraordinary.

Chao Yong did not disappoint Malhusi, and directly sealed Malhusi for a Creeh Ministry inspection, making Malhusi fall to the ground again.

"Are there still Khitans in Zhenzhou?"

Marhusi shook his head and said: "No, there are only more than 1,000 Khitan soldiers in Zhenzhou, and they have all been killed by us." The Khitan soldiers who fled yesterday all followed Yelu Dashi of Liao to the west, probably to Victoria or Zhaozhou in the west. ”

Chao Yong was also stunned when he heard Yelu Dashi taking the Khitan soldiers westward.

In history, Yelu Dashi made a Western Liao, and it is difficult for him to make another Western Liao.

If Yelu Dashi really fled to Central Asia, Chao Yong would not chase him now. There are countless small countries in Central Asia, so let Yelu Dashi destroy them, and then Daliang will go to destroy Western Liao, which will undoubtedly save a lot of trouble.

Instead of hitting to the west, it is better to hit the east. Wipe out Japan and mine Japan's gold and silver mines to mint coins. The Daliang court minted gold and silver coins, but because of the scarcity of gold and silver, the gold and silver coins put in the market were basically collected by large households, or gold and silver utensils were created, and gold and silver coins were rarely seen circulating on the market, which allowed the large amount of silver tickets with the Daliang ticket number to be smoothly implemented.

Now the silver tickets of the girder can be cashed in the ticket number, and the royal ticket number will not issue silver tickets indiscriminately. But I can't tell when there will be a loser, and I will start to issue silver tickets indiscriminately, so that the credit of the royal ticket number will collapse, so Chao Yong is still ready to use gold, silver, and copper coins as currency after careful consideration, so as not to leave a gap for future generations to drill.

Japan is rich in gold and silver mines, and the Japanese are ready-made miners. As long as they threaten their emperor with force, or prop up a puppet to come out, let them offer a fixed amount of gold and silver to the Great Liang every year, and there is no need to send troops to garrison Japan for a long time.

It's no secret that Japan is rich in gold, but silver mining hasn't even begun.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, Japan excavated a large amount of gold, and a large number of envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty also lived in the Tang Dynasty on gold. The Song Dynasty imported a large amount of placer gold from Japan, and exported copper coins, silk, and ceramics.

Japan's reputation for gold spread to Central Asia and even Europe in the second half of the ninth century. Islamic geographer Ibn Ibn Ibn Hordazbe has recorded rumors about the Golden Country, and it is recorded that the chains of the dogs and the collars of the monkeys fed by the Wa people were made of gold.

Later Marco. Polo also wrote in his travelogue: "On the island of Japan, there are also precious pearls, the color of which are like roses, and they are very beautiful and very valuable. The pearls were large and round, and each man possessed an innumerable amount of gold, and the roof of the king's palace was covered with pure gold, and the gold on the floor was as thick as two fingers. Many of the rooms are furnished with small tables of solid gold, and the windows are decorated with gold, and the luxury of this palace is indescribable. ”

Of course, this is a description of the cheat, but it also shows that people knew that Japan was rich in gold at that time.

In February of this year. Japan sent envoys to pay homage to Daliang, and at the same time sent hundreds of students to learn the culture of Daliang. When the Japanese envoy heard that the prince of Daliang was going to set up a noble college, he immediately asked the court of Daliang to allow the Japanese prince to enroll. The Imperial Court crowned the King of Japan. Their prince was also theoretically knighted, so the court acceded to their request.

Chao Yong learned that the Ministry of Rites had agreed to the matter, and immediately refused, but later thought that his noble academy had not yet been seen. Japan has never been a peaceful nation. It's easy to catch their mistakes, and Chao Yong has already brought the secret agent to the attention of the students sent by Japan.

The navies of the Nguyen Thi Thiong, the Truong Heng brothers, and the Le Jun trio have all been formed. Chao Yong's boat ride has also been built.

When Zhao Ji was in power, he had been planning to build a large Shenzhou to envoy to Goryeo to show off his national prestige. During the time of Song Shenzong, the Song Dynasty built two giant boats, and the goal of Zhao Ji, who was so happy, was naturally to surpass the giant boat at the time of Song Shenzong. The wood and drawings have been drawn, but just as they were about to start manufacturing, the Song Dynasty collapsed, and the manufacture of Shenzhou was put on hold.

When the commander of the navy was ordered to build a sea ship, the shipyard reported the plan, and Chao Yong learned that there were ready-made materials and drawings, and immediately asked the shipyard to make them into his boat.

In addition to his flagship "Prince", three frigates were built together.

The frigate is more than ten zhang long, three zhang deep, two zhang and five feet wide, and carries 2,000 stones. The Prince's length, breadth, height, utensils, and number of people were all three times that of a frigate.

The main mast of the frigate is ten feet high, and the foremast is eight feet high, and a total of 110 sails are installed. The wind has eight sides, and it is only when the wind blows directly in front of you that it cannot move forward with a sail. However, there are also paddles and treadmills to keep the boat going.

(The data is the envoy ship of the Song Dynasty to Goryeo in the fifth year of Xuanhe, and the prince is a Shenzhou, there is no specific record of the load, but the estimated load is more than 1,000 tons)

Marhusi led all the troops to surrender, and Chao Yong immediately asked all the women and children of the submissive tribes to be released, but the prisoners of war had to be redeemed by cattle and sheep, and those who were not redeemed had to serve three years of labor for the imperial court.

Chao Yong wanted to build more cities in the grasslands, and in addition to employing people from various tribes, the most affordable thing was naturally prisoners of war.

After Marhusi obtained the official position of Daliang, he was also very active, and immediately sent people to persuade the other tribes of Kereh to submit.

Two days after Chao Yong led his troops north to Zhenzhou, all the Kereh tribes surrendered to Daliang, and thousands of Khitans who fled surrendered to Daliang, and thousands of people fled to the Uighurs in Xizhou with Yelu Dashi.

After recruiting the Kereh tribes, Chao Yong sent people to surrender the Naman, the Mi'er Begging Division, the Mongolian Division, the Tatar Division, the Wugu Division, the Enemy Lie Division, and other tribes, and at the same time invited more than 1,000 tribal leaders to attend the assembly of each tribe.

Because the various divisions were so scattered, and the farthest enemy was more than 2,000 miles away from Zhenzhou, Chao Yong set the date of the meeting of the leaders of the various departments on June 15.

In order to ensure the safety of the leaders of the various tribes, Chao Yong ordered that all the tribes should not attack and kill people from other tribes within three months.

Before the assembly of the various ministries, many tribes sent envoys to express their submission to the Great Liang. In their opinion, Guishun Daliang does not need to pay any tribute, but can buy Daliang's things cheaply, which is beneficial and harmless. If they resist the girders, they will have to face the girder iron riders. Although they didn't know what the strength of Daliang was, Daliang was able to carve up the Liao State together with the Jin State, and his strength was obviously greater than that of all the tribes in the grassland.

The meeting of the various ministries of the grassland was held at the place of the grassland, and before the arrival of the leaders of the various departments, Daliang prepared tents for the leaders of the various departments.

If you don't fight in actual combat, just looking at the equipment, the Daliang Iron Cavalry is undoubtedly more deterrent than the Khitan soldiers of the year. Many tribal leaders lost a trace of unruliness when they saw the well-equipped Liang Iron Cavalry, and they were obedient to the Liang from beginning to end.

Under the surrender of Daliang Kuanhe and the strong military deterrence, and the fact that many tribes had already surrendered in advance, all the departments participating in the meeting quickly surrendered to Daliang.

At the conference, Chao Yong announced the establishment of grassland roads, demarcated grasslands for various ministries, and selected 20 places to prepare for the establishment of cities, and would relocate millions of Han people from the Central Plains to cultivate and teach the various ministries to farm. Dong Ping served as the first chief soldier of the grassland road.

The steppe road stretches from the Altai Mountains in the west, to the Great Khingan Mountains in the east, from the desert in the south, to the northernmost point of Lake Baikal in the north. It spans more than 7,000 miles from east to west and 2,000 miles from north to south.

(To be continued)