"What kind of thing?" Wu Xingqi said.

"The barbarians are nomadic fishing and hunting peoples, and their mining and smelting technologies are extremely backward, although they sit in the north rich in mineral deposits, they can only equip the nobles of the tribe with armor, and ordinary soldiers can only wear leather armor. If it weren't for the fact that the barbarians had two major stele forests in the extreme north and had the background of star martial arts, I am afraid that it would be the turn of the northern countries to take turns to invade the barbarian territory. Seeing Wu Xing's pouting, Bagan's face flashed disappreciatively, so he asked directly: "Do you think that the barbarians are not as powerful as they imagined?" Do you think that the barbarians can only rely on the geographical advantages of the bitter cold land in the north to constantly attack the borders of the northern countries?"

"I had the same idea as you......" Bagen looked at the sunny sky after the snow and said, "Barbarians, in fact, include hundreds of tribes, large and small. In the Far North, there are two stele forests, known as the holy land of barbarians, where there is a golden family that calls itself 'Tomb Keepers', which is a barbarian tribe inherited from the previous dynasties of the old calendar, and is far older than the national Zuo of any of the seven countries of the Starfall Continent....... The barbarians, including the khans of the four totems, are just slaves of the Golden Family. Are you curious that the steppe barbarians are sitting on iron mines, and they have also taken a lot of craftsmen and young men from the northern countries over the years, so why is the barbarian armor rate extremely low?"

Bagan chuckled and continued, "This brings us back to the 'this kind of thing' you just asked. ”

"The barbarians did not let their mines grow grass unchecked. On the contrary, the iron mines, copper mines, and silver mines in the bitter cold land of the north are now estimated to be in full swing. The tribal patriarchs opened up the iron, copper, and silver mines in their territory to provide slaves, while some powerful people in the south produced craftsmen and masters, and the two sides 'cooperated in mining', and then the barbarians exchanged copper and silver for all the pig iron on the spot, and let the southern collaborators transport the copper and silver ingots away...... This kind of thing is repeatedly prohibited, because the barbarians often take the opportunity to cross the border, and even the tea cakes that the government has explicitly embargoed to the barbarians, and the six materials such as glue, silk, and lacquer required to make bows also take the opportunity to flow into the barbarian territory. ”

Wu Xing couldn't believe it: "Are these people crazy?! Are they asking for money and not dying?! Those pig iron will be made into armor to arm barbarian soldiers, and those arrows will be sent into the bodies of soldiers and even civilians in the northern countries! This is no longer an enemy, this is suicide!"

"Maybe those magnates think that pig iron has a lot of impurities, hard and brittle, and if the barbarians use it directly to arm the army, they will be happy to see it......" Bagan suddenly patted his head, laughed at himself, and said, "Haha! Maybe I didn't make it clear." When I say south, I don't mean the south of the north, but the only overlord of the south: the Southern Chu State. Although there are people in the northern countries who fish in troubled waters and secretly trade with barbarians, they dare not be so blatant. ”

Wu Xing was stunned for a moment, and then said with a wry smile: "Yes, this is reasonable! The Southern Chu Kingdom naturally wishes that the northern countries are at war with the barbarians all the year round, and they have no time to take care of the south. ”

Bagen chimed in: "Yes, although the northern countries do not all need to face the barbarian borders, they are not good neighbors and friendly to each other, and wars often break out because of border conflicts. In the northern countries, the big countries have several counties and are strong and strong, while the small countries even have only one county, so they can only take the sword to the front and from time to time engage in some strategies of combining vertical and horizontal lines. ”

"The northern kingdoms are at war all year round...... How did those copper and silver ingots cross the border? If you know that it is the copper and silver of the Southern Chu Kingdom, why don't you just seize it?" Wu Xing asked puzzled.

"How can it be so easy?" Bagan shook his head and said, "As far as I know, some of the copper and silver will be transported back to the Southern Chu Kingdom by sea. Legend has it that after the first emperor of the ages drove the dragon to the guests, several craftsmen who built dragon boats for him escaped the disaster of war and lived in seclusion in the territory of the Southern Chu State. It wasn't until the Seven Kingdoms divided the world that the descendants of those craftsmen came out to seek official positions and were treated favorably by the monarch of Southern Chu, and one of them even became the first director of the Maritime Affairs Department. As a result, the warships of Southern Chu formed a comprehensive suppression of the northern countries in a few decades, forcing the warships of the northern coastal countries to only cruise in the coastal area and serve as decorations. ”

"The other part of the copper and silver should be southward by land, and the specific flow is unknown. But according to my guess, it should be broken into pieces through the dart bureau and caravans through the northern countries, using commerce as a guise to exchange copper and silver for various materials and commodities, and then transport them back to the Southern Chu Kingdom through various channels. ”

Sizzle!

Hearing this, Wu Xing couldn't help but gasp and muttered, "If these strategies are really as you said...... It's also very vicious!"

Bagen smiled bitterly: "Not really! Moreover, it is not that the northern countries have not tried to disassemble it in other ways. Several major countries took the lead in introducing silver bills and silver banks, restricting the circulation of copper and silver throughout the country. In the end, it seems that because of the poor operation of the silver village, the profit-seeking nature of the merchants, and the indiscriminate issuance of silver tickets by the government, the common people suffered greatly from the silver tickets, and this is not over. ”

"The new policy implemented by the new monarch of the Zephyr Kingdom since he ascended the throne and succeeded to the throne has made a targeted solution to this situation of copper and silver poison. The amount of taxes levied on the north-south transit caravans was increased, and some of the materials that were in short supply in the Southern Chu State were restricted from leaving the country; then, through the "Zhangtian Law," the domestic fields were re-measured, registered, and distributed according to the actual Dingkou, and then all the other land except Zhangtian was forcibly repurchased through the official bank, basically starting a round of state annexation of land; and other things, such as the construction of regular liquidation positions set up to regulate grain prices and store grain for shortages to supply the government and the people, stabilized the prices of the people's daily necessities. If there are no adverse consequences after another year and a half, it is estimated that the northern countries will follow suit. ”

Wu Xing listened and pondered, and couldn't help but question: "It's hard to say about other new policies....... But I have never understood why the "Shoda Law" was implemented on what basis. Since the beginning of the previous dynasty of the old calendar, the Starfall Continent has always used the division of land as the greatest incentive and reward for the vassals, and even the common people have an almost innate desire for land. ”

Ba Gen smiled and prompted: "The "Zhangtian Law" is not fully implemented in the six counties of the West Wind Country, for example, Ba County and Shu County are not included. You are not from the government, and it is normal for you to know a little about these new laws. ”

Wu Xing said suddenly: "Ba County and Shu County were conquered by the first king during his reign, and the land is vast and sparsely populated, which is just right to attract those magnates and businessmen who have the ability to buy land. Those powerful and businessmen must not be easy to follow, family members, slaves, tenant farmers, nurses, plus a large group of people who are related to their families...... That would be a wave of immigration. In this way, it can not only greatly alleviate the problem of land annexation of the old four counties, but also carry out a round of large-scale development of Ba County and Shu County, and promote the integration of local Tusi into the system of Xifeng Country. In this process, the government only needs to provide necessary guidance and assistance to the immigrants. However, there is still a problem that cannot be avoided if this continues. The monarch didn't know when he would extend the "Zhangtian Law" to Ba County and Shu County, and those powerful people and businessmen were once again forced to exchange their land for official silver, wouldn't it become a vicious circle again?