"I suggested that we find someone to talk to them, and that the merchants of the Central Plains at this time were no longer planning to sell silk and porcelain to the Uighur merchants. If they just buy the jade and leave...... This was a great loss for us, and if any Central Plains merchants came to the Uighurs in the future, they would not take anything with them, but would only bring an empty cart, buy jade, and leave. ”

The man who spoke was Ahmad, and he was the largest governor of the western state, the Western Qarakhan. He didn't really agree with knocking on the Central Plains people, because it was not easy for the Central Plains people to travel a long distance to Xizhou, although they made a lot of money, but it was also hard money, and they shouldn't be knocked so hard.

But Alimusa thought that the money should be extorted, because almost all of it went into his pocket. The most powerful man in the entire Western Prefecture was Alimusa, as he was the younger brother of the Uighur Khan Ge Renyu. The Uighur Khan was in Tingzhou, and he was in Xizhou, not far from Tingzhou.

Merchants from the Central Plains generally did not continue westward after arriving in Xizhou, so the Uighur Khan did not know about this incident, and it was all a ghost created by Alimusa. Occasionally knocking on a Central Plains businessman can make him squander for a long time, this time there are so many, how could he let go of this great opportunity to make money?

Mansour said: "I agree with Ahmad that my army will not kill unarmed merchants, and it is a feat for such a large caravan to re-enter the Silk Road, so why bother them? Then we will have an endless supply of silk and porcelain. ”

"Now that the Central Plains is in chaos, how can we have extra energy to manage the Silk Road? There will be no more, if we don't take advantage of this opportunity to make a big profit, I'm afraid that there will be no such opportunity in the future." Alimusa said: "I still advocate sending troops to attack, it's not about collecting taxes, just killing them all, robbing all their money and goods, so that it can really make a lot of money." ”

Ahmad said angrily: "The Uighurs are not bandits, and we are the people of the people, how can we do such a thing." Mansour, no matter how much he instigates it, must not send troops, you know?"

"You are the Western Qarahan, of course I will listen to you. "Of course, Mansour would not send troops to some ordinary merchants, and it would not sound good to spread the word like this. What's more, if the money doesn't reach his pocket, why should he do this? If these businessmen give money voluntarily, he can't do it, but if others don't want to, he won't force it.

Ahmad said, "I'll talk to their leaders in person, and let them go to the city to do business with the original tax money." If they only buy jade and return to the Central Plains, the trip will be in vain and the meaning of the Silk Road will be lost. The so-called Silk Road, of course, transports silk, and these silks must not be allowed to fall into the hands of others. ”

Ahmad knew the importance of silk to the Uighurs, and for the sake of silk, the Uighurs did not hesitate to turn against the Tang Dynasty, and they had food, clothing, shelter, and transportation...... Clothing naturally came first, and the Uighurs could make do with food, housing, and transportation, because the natural conditions here were such that there was no way to improve much, and their desire for fine silk far exceeded these things.

If the merchants of the Central Plains really wanted to transport these silk and porcelain back to the Central Plains and not sell them to the Uighurs, even Ahmad, who had a good character, wanted to send troops directly to loot them. It's a big deal to give them some money after the robbery.

In fact, the Uighurs are rich in minerals, and they are not short of money. The area is best known for its black sheep and fruits, and they are not short of food. It's just that the natural conditions here are really not good, and there is no way to breed fragile silkworms in large quantities, so silk is almost their only pursuit.

Everyone aspires to a better quality of life, and the Uighurs call the quality of life is silk. But the Uighurs themselves would not take the Silk Road, and they would always wait for the merchants of the Central Plains to send them to their doors.

There are some historical reasons for this, such as the fact that the Uighurs did not make any money on the Silk Road from the beginning of the Han Dynasty, and they all lost money. Because the Uighur people were simple at that time, they were always deceived by profiteers and the local government, and they lost all their profits when they were not ready to do business, so the Uighurs did not take the Silk Road, thinking that this road would not make any money at all, and only waited for the Central Plains merchants to send silk to the Uighurs, which was a sure deal.

............

That night, Ahmad asked Mansur to rush directly to Hotan Town with a large number of men and horses, not to fight, but to scare the merchants of the Central Plains so that they must obey their orders. Moreover, they have prepared very sufficiently, the tax is the same as usual, and only five taels of silver are charged for the goods of a car, so they should not continue to oppose it.

Today, the Central Plains merchants bought a large number of Kunlun jade, not only white jade, but also green jade and jasper black jade, all the quality of jade is very good, the Central Plains merchants have almost seen the mountains of silver in front of them, as long as this batch of goods is sold back to the Central Plains, it will be a fortune.

I was happy, so everyone paid for meat and wine, and held a bonfire party for Master Zongxin to wash the wind and dust, and even the residents and merchants of Hotan Town, as long as they had done business with them, did not care how much it costed.

The Uighurs have only wine, which is much stronger and more authentic than that of the Central Plains. There are also black goats in Xizhou, which naturally has a different flavor. Although the camel meat here is also a local specialty, the camel meat is still a little unaccustomed to the Central Plains people, and they prefer to eat mutton here.

When Ahmad arrived, none of the merchants showed panic, but a look of contempt, because Master Zongxin came, and it was a dead end for these people to bring no number of troops. They didn't dare to fight, and if they did, Master Zongxin would let them know what misery was.

Ahmad also looked confused, with an army of 2,000 people, these merchants did not have the slightest fear, and even had a mocking expression. What is the state of affairs? Could it be that the Central Plains has been in chaos to this extent? These businessmen are not afraid of the army at all.

Just thinking about it, Zongxin also led the team to Ahmad. Although there are few people on Zongxin's side, it gives people an extremely strong pressure. First of all, because Zong Xin's cultivation has been upgraded to another level, and secondly, there are nineteen huge wolves in Zong Xin's team, plus a black bull of Zhao Kuangyin...... Just looking at it is very scary.

"Monster ......" Ahmad almost ran away, but Mansur next to him grabbed him, Mansur is a military general, although he is also a little scared in his heart, but on the surface he wants to stabilize the morale of the army.

Zong Xin and Zhao Kuangyin respectively rode their mounts in front of Ahmad and Mansur, and at this time Zong Xin changed into his own monk's robe and robe, and was solemn.

"You...... Are you the leader of this group?"

Zong Xin said gently: "Amitabha, what if the poor monk is the leader?

"No, no, no, don't get me wrong, master. Ahmad said: "I just want to come and talk, it is better for the merchants of the Central Plains to go to the city to do business." ”

"Taxes are too expensive, I can't afford them. ”

Ahmad said: "It is already different, earlier it was the younger brother of the Uighur Khan who had to collect such a heavy tax, and I have already taught him a lesson, and now he is only charged five taels of silver per cart of goods, just like in other places." You have come from afar, and we can't be too unkind. Please also go to the city to trade, so that everyone can also make it convenient. ”

"Why? Now I know I'm scared? It's not such a cheap thing. Zhao Kuangyin said: "Don't think that you are too many to be powerful, only a few thousand people, and you can't beat our mounts alone." ”

Zong Xin waved his hand and said, "Don't get too excited, I'm not the kind of person who is not easy to speak." I just hope that there will be no heavy taxes in the future, the Silk Road has been opened, this is not the last, if you want to develop in the long run, I want the taxes to be a little less. ”

"I've already made concessions, so don't be too late. Ahmad said angrily: "Everyone collects the same tax, and I didn't bully the merchants in the Central Plains." ”

"What you said makes sense, now it's not you bullying the Central Plains merchants, it's the Central Plains merchants bullying you. Haven't you understood it yet?" Zong Xin suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "The fire is too small. ”

As soon as they heard Zongxin say that the fire was small, the merchants had already prepared and had been waiting for Zongxin to say this. The merchants sat around the fire, and all they sat were a few horses of silk. As soon as he heard Zongxin say that the fire was small, he immediately threw the silk under his buttocks into the fire, one, two, three, and soon threw all the silk he was sitting on into the fire.

For merchants in the Central Plains, these little things are a drop in the bucket and are not worth mentioning at all. If you take a piece of broken jade and return to the Central Plains, you can exchange it for countless silks, and they throw away relatively cheap varieties, not to burn silk, but to scare the Uighurs.

"Don't, don't...... Don't burn. Ahmad said, "Listen to you, how much tax do you say you should collect?"

Zong Xin said gently: "Two taels of silver is about the same." ”

"Okay, we only charge two taels of silver, but you must ensure that all the silk of these merchants is sold back to the Hurs, and that you must not take a single horse of silk with you after you leave Xizhou City. ”

Zong Xin glanced back, then nodded and said, "Things were originally meant to be sold, as long as the price is right, no one will hide them." For us Central Plains people, silk is just an ordinary commodity. ”

Ahmad also knew that these merchants from the Central Plains had come to Xizhou to sell silk to buy jade, and it was impossible for them to hide the silk and bring it back with them. And the price of silk in the territory of the Uighurs must have been more suitable than they had imagined.

Ahmad's purpose was not to collect taxes, he only wanted high-grade silk from the Central Plains. It doesn't really matter how much tax you collect, as long as the silk is in hand, you can earn back how much tax you can. But...... This is indeed a bit of a bully, the tax of five taels of silver suddenly became two taels, less than sixty percent. In the past, the merchants had to pay fifty taels of ...... I want to talk about "The Imperial Robe" with more like-minded people, and pay attention to "Youyue Literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find a confidant~