Li Siye looked up at Dai Wang, who was hiding under the mask and was expressionless, and refused with a smile: "I don't need to spend this money for the time being, I heard you say this, the warehouses and vehicles on the Green Ridge are missing at the moment, and the one in charge of this section is the Green Ridge to guard and hide the lord of the country." The people of the country like to graze argali. This kind of sheep is large, good at crossing mountains and mountains, although the weight is not as good as the yak, but it is better in the number of large, can be reduced to zero carrying. Load a small amount of pepper into each sheep, as long as you can send the goods to the green ridge to be caught, and you don't care what way. ”

Dai Wang was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "Located in Yangguan at the terminal, we need to build a commercial bank to accept and inspect goods, and this can't be saved." ”

"This can also be saved, I am now the Longyou Dao interview envoy, the Longyou Dao group pastoral envoy, and the Longyou Dao recruiting envoy, I don't know if these three official positions are good to speak, but it doesn't matter, I will personally go to Yangguan with you to see which Hexi Army is stationed in Yangguan, who their generals are, as long as there is him in the examination textbook submitted to me in Shazhou, I can handle it."

Dai Liulang stood silently on the side, he had been at the bottom of the officialdom in Chang'an City for half his life, of course he knew that Li Siye's face was called using power for personal gain, but now he can accept it. After knowing the nature of the world, you will no longer dwell on what the process will be, but chase the goal you want to achieve the final result.

Li Siye asked Dai Wang again: "When will you pick pepper in Tianzhu's fiefdom, and when will you start transshipment the first batch." ”

Dai Wang's tone was glorious: "Since last year, I have been rewarded by the king of Qunu City, and in addition to the status of Kshatriya, I have also been given a thousand slaves and a few hundred acres of fiefdom. My fiefdom has been harvesting peppers since last year, and they have been harvested and dried before being put into storage, so as of this year, the warehouses of the entire estate are full of peppers. When I returned from Tianzhu to Congling, I had already made a decision in advance, and decided that in March next year, regardless of the conditions, they would start to load and transport the goods with the first single number, and we could not care about the result, and we must put the whole line of post stations into operation before March next year. ”

He thought that Li Siye would be excited, or praise and encourage, but the other party's attitude was very calm, and he said directly: "The progress in March next year is a little slow, since the new single number is starting with the eighth year of Tianbao, then increase the time schedule by three months." Immediately sent someone to tell them that the delivery would begin on the third day after Yuan Zheng. ”

Dai Wang asked in surprise: "It's already November, and there are still two months before the second year of Yuanzheng, from Tianzhu to Xiaobolu, from Xiaobolu to Lingling, and then to the desert Gobi in South Khotan, eight thousand miles of clouds and moons, there are more than two hundred post stations in the middle, as long as one of them has a problem, the entire line will be interrupted, don't you think about it carefully?" ”

Li Siye shook his head resolutely: "The whole post road system is a complete domino, the only difference is that it reacts slower than the dominoes, let's not overestimate the delay caused by the distance it transmits, maybe the third day of the Lunar New Year will be shipped in the city of Qunu in India, and it will be able to pass to Yangguan in May." Moreover, all the first time there are defects, and only in the process of operation can problems be found and improved. ”

He patted the table and stood up, and said to Dai Wang: "I have decided, we will not only go to Yangguan, but also start from the Green Ridge to the east and pass through every post station, find those problems that are not easy to find, and try to solve the potential hidden worries." ”

Dai Liulang was immediately pleased, thinking that Li Siye really cared about it and began to really attach importance to the special trade road he designed. Dai Wang was very ambitious in this process, and although he spent more than 800,000 guan on all of his investment, which was equivalent to the fiscal and tax revenue of the Anxi Protectorate for four years, he had a conservative estimate in his heart, believing that this trade route would bring Li Siye and the entire Qixi an income equivalent to one-fifth of the total financial revenue of the Tang Dynasty in the future, that is, more than 2 million guan windfall per year.

Although the imperial court's military spending on border passes has been increasing every year, it has only just risen to a total of 2 million yuan. If this post road is fully mature, it will bring him countless fortunes every year. It is more than enough to use such a rich wealth to support the second army of the Anxi Northwest Court, even if it is counted together with the 70,000 children of Hexi, it is easy to have a large amount of surplus. If we can increase the ability to exploit India, it will not be a problem at all to increase the annual revenue to four or five million.

With such financial and tax income, can an ambitious person still put the emperor and the court in his eyes?

Dai Wang was very glad that the next person at the helm of Qixi was Li Siye, not An Lushan, a feudal town with great ambitions to rebel.

Therefore, he also paid great attention to the tightness of the whole organization, and the envoys at each station of the more than 200 post stations were personally contacted by him, and if some people were really useless, he would use Li Siye's connections to replace these envoys.

In just two years, Dai Wang gathered a bunch of account staff, desert swordsmen and heroes under his command to ensure the perfect operation of the trade route, and he believed that in the near future, this trade route would be protected by countless people because of its own value, and there would be no need for any gray means.

……

Li Siye and Dai Wang began to set out from Shule City, marched along the post station in the direction of the Green Ridge, and arrived near the Green Ridge Guarding City. Dai Wang whispered an order to an entourage behind him, ordering him to personally guard and capture from the Green Ridge to Tianzhu, re-inspect the various post stations along the way, and then arrive at Qunu City to change the delivery time again.

They patrolled westward from the Green Ridge Guard, stopping to inspect every post they passed. Although Li Siye has moved left to Longyou to interview the envoy, with the name of the deputy capital protector of Anxi, he really can't control these post stations. It is also thanks to Zhao Chongyu, the town envoy of Shule Town, and Feng Changqing, the town envoy of Khotan Town, whether they are reciting the old love or the three caves of the cunning rabbit, they have opened the door for Dai Wang, and they also sent their subordinates to follow them along the road along the post station to inspect and inspect.

Facts have proved that Li Siye does not need an entourage, he really underestimated his influence, and more than 100 post stations on the post road in Khotan Town were built under his care, and the local post envoys and people were grateful to him.

This is the best way to reduce costs at present, and it is also the management that people rely on personal charm in the era when they are most unfamiliar with systems and regulations. If we continue to talk about this topic, we can even explore the sadness of human rule in society. If this trade route wants to run for a long time, it must get rid of the characteristics of personal influence, even if Dai Wang can quickly take over from him and change it into his own influence, but what about Dai Wang.

The purpose of the preparation of this trade route is entirely to meet Li Siye's expansion of power and deal with the military and political crisis at the end of Tianbao.

……

Yangguan is located 70 miles southwest of Dunhuang, is a city pass built on the Gobi Desert, only the thorn willow and poplar in the yellow sand are accompanied by the yellow and dry rammed earth city wall.

This city was built in the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, as the gateway to the Western Regions, it is an important pass on the southern Silk Road, and it is also a strategic place for soldiers to fight. In the early Han Dynasty, it was built to defend against the Xiongnu, and now it seems to be of little use as a military pass, but it has a certain economic role.

The route from Hexi to the Western Regions had to pass through two checkpoints, Yumen Pass or Yangguan Pass, and the army stationed at Yangguan had to collect a part of the commercial tax in addition to inspecting the passing merchants. These commercial taxes accounted for a large share of Hexi's fiscal revenue, which was used to support the Doulu army stationed nearby and the Yumen army stationed in Suzhou.

Everyone rode camels and horses to reach the pass, only to find that all around are bare Gobi hard rocks, only the lonely city pass stands on the Gobi desert, there is a river to the east, and there is a river valley to the west.

There were no ready-made buildings nearby, which made it difficult for them to plan a trading house and a stockpiling warehouse at the terminal. In Dai Wang's vision, it would cost 10,000 yuan to build a trading house near Yangguan, but if the trading house was moved to Yangguan, it would be necessary to pay a large amount of taxes for the goods that arrived next, and even if you wanted to avoid taxes, you would have to spend a lot of money on operation.

It's a pity that he is not yet the envoy of the Hexi Festival, even if he is now the envoy of Longyou, there are still some rules that must be followed.

The pass was guarded by a battalion of 500 men under the Doulu Army, which was garrisoned by a lieutenant general.

After they raised their eyes on the high slope, Li Siye waved his hand: "Let's enter the customs." ”