As a system inherited from the Tang Dynasty to the Great Song Dynasty, the tea and horse exchange market did a great favor to the emperors before the Great Song Dynasty to a large extent, so that Tubo did not become a major problem in the Central Plains again for at least more than 160 years before the Great Song Dynasty. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

However, times have changed, and the environment has changed.

Today's Tubo can no longer pose a threat to the Central Plains, a place that can no longer pose a threat, and the meaning of the existence of the system between the two imperial courts is not so necessary.

However, as an old monster who has been in the world for 500 years, he said that it is still necessary to continue, and he has a certain reason.

Liu Xing, who wanted to abolish the Tea and Horse Division, decided to let him say the necessity, so he asked: "All the Tibetans belong to our dynasty, and there are two or three men left in the area, why do you think that the tea and horse market should be inherited?" Is it just because I can't hook up millions of people to go to that plateau, is it just because the plateau war horses and snowy yaks there are very important to Yang Yi's south-central expedition to Tianzhu in the future? ”

Nodding slightly, Hui didn't want to say anything, he replied immediately after answering the question: "The elephant soldiers of Tianzhu have completely let the soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty see its majesty on the snowy plateau this time, and many elephants can't even kill them with three or five shots. There are even some elephants that can still inflict great heavy damage on the Tibetan soldiers after the death of their pilots, or even trample them to death. ”

Halfway through his words, Hui raised his head and looked at Liu Xing, and continued: "And the Tubo soldiers who were able to escape from the elephant attack group, during and after the war, the generals of the leading soldiers gathered and reached a common understanding. That is, the yak can make the elephant fearful, thus finding a chance for the person riding on the yak to escape. ”

After the words stopped again, Hui Liao knew that whether it was Liu Xing, Wu Jue, Yue Fei, or even the vast majority of people in the Central Plains, they didn't know the power of that kind of plateau special creature, so he simply told the biological characteristics of the yak.

Since ancient times, yak has been the dominant breed of livestock and the dominant breed of livestock in the plateau pastoral area, and has tenacious vitality.

The wild yak can reach a shoulder height of up to two meters, and the domesticated yak herding area has tenacious vitality as the dominant breed of domestic animals and domestic breeds.

Domesticated yaks are generally only half as tall, wild yaks and domestic yaks have long hair to protect themselves from the cold, wild yaks are generally brown or black, and domestic yaks also have white.

Yaks are domesticated mainly for their milk and meat, but they are also used by local herders, traders and mountaineers to carry heavy loads.

Yaks live in different places throughout the year, congregating on the lakeside plains in winter and mating near the snow line of the plateau in summer and autumn.

During the summer and autumn mating and breeding season, the yak's temperament will become extremely fierce. People generally don't dare to touch it easily, and if they are angry, it will rush up with ten times the strength of the bull.

Once the yak is powerful, not to mention elephants, jackals, tigers and leopards, there is no animal that can match it. The season of the Battle of Tibet happened to be the season of summer and autumn.

Therefore, as soon as the yak was powerful, the elephant was naturally afraid, and the elephant retreated to avoid the yak that the bull was attacking, so that some Tubo soldiers could escape from the attack group of Tianzhu elephant soldiers......

After listening to Hui's words, Liu Xing suddenly laughed.

Smiling a little unpredictable, Liu Xing said: "This is really 'there is no tree in the world that covers the sky, everything is just one thing descending from one thing'." When the yak reaches the estrus period, the bull's energy is stimulated, and even the huge giant elephant is afraid of it. But the yak can't be in heat all year round, and naturally it can't be used as a good choice to fight against the Tianzhu elephant soldiers all year round, right? ”

"Naturally, it can't be all year round, because if you want to send troops to Tianzhu, it's not suitable for any time of the year."

Hui saw Liu Xing's strange and unpredictable smile, and said in a firm tone without knowing what it meant: "If you want to attack Tianzhu from Tubo and Dali to the south, the most suitable time to send troops every year is also the summer and autumn season. In spring and winter, snowflakes fly on the plateau, and when the wind blows, many caravans are often lost in the vast sea of snow. ”

The words stopped slightly, and his expression became undoubted, and he looked at Liu Xingdao: "When the yak is in heat, it is the most suitable time to send troops. If you want to have enough yaks to ride for battle, the only way to let the Tubo people raise more yaks. Because it is not possible for the military and civilians of the DPRK to learn the art of domesticating yaks in the short term, I said that it is necessary to continue the tea and horse market. ”

Hui's reasons were very good, but when he said these words, Liu Xing's idea of abolishing the Tea Horse Division became more mature.

When he finished speaking, Liu Xing still smiled, but said in the same firm tone: "All the state capitals have their own tea and horse divisions, and the so-called people who are promoted are uneven. The Ministry of Military Intelligence once reported that many tea and horse simen in the vicinity of Xiqiang and other places, especially in Dali, had fornicated with Tibet and Tianzhu. ”

After a slight pause, the smile on Liu Xing's face disappeared when he said this, and he changed into a somewhat cold expression and continued: "Although those actions of procuring fornications with Tubo and Tianzhu are mostly because it is convenient for them to act cheaply in the mutual market. However, as an official of my Great Song Dynasty, I can only be honest and loyal. Whoever has the two ends of the head and the rat cannot use it, and whoever is suspected of collaborating with the enemy cannot use it. ”

After another slight pause, Liu Xing finally threw out a sonorous and powerful sentence: "Therefore, it is imperative to clear the existing tea and horse division, and the tea and horse market has lost the significance of strategic checks and balances in the past, and it should be classified as merchant trade or monopoly trade." Therefore, I decided to abolish the existing tea and horse division. Monopoly departments have been set up in all localities, which are directly managed by the Financial Savings Administration, specializing in yak, war horses, tea, salt and iron, and other franchised trade. ”

The tea and horse market lost the significance of strategic checks and balances, and as soon as Liu Xing's idea and reason came out, Hui was speechless and came to refute it again.

Hui Li, like many ministers in the court, knew very well that the fundamental significance of the existence of the tea and horse market was not just to obtain plateau horses and yaks from the Tibetan people.

The greater significance was to earn military expenses for the Great Song Dynasty through trade between the two places, and at the same time, it was also necessary to balance the raw materials obtained by the Tubo people to obtain metals and make their weapons make the raw materials for making weapons subject to the Central Plains.

This fundamental significance was lost, and Liu Xing wanted to classify all the goods that were listed as the monopoly of the imperial court by the new law, such as tea and horses, salt and iron, and were not allowed to operate without citation, into a unified government department, and such a decision was understandable.

This kind of understandable source is that Fang Caihui heard the core new idea of the second half of the sentence, "lean soldiers and simple government". Even the imperial forces of the Great Song Dynasty had to be streamlined by "soldiers are more valuable than fine, and soldiers are more valuable than weapons," and the bureaucracy naturally had to be drastically eliminated, its establishment reduced, and its personnel reduced. (To be continued.) )