Zhang Xiaobao completely agreed with Wang Juan's words.
Even if ten catties of wheat could be exchanged for one copper coin in Great Tang, and this did not include the cost of transportation, one copper coin in Great Tang could only buy half a catty of wheat. So should he sell it? He had to sell it.
However, the money could not be exchanged for wheat in Great Tang. It could be exchanged for salt, other handy tools, or even a biology book for children in school.
This was the pressure of technology. Paying so much in exchange for a very basic technology of Great Tang, it was impossible to advance further unless one researched the basics themselves.
Then, one had to pay an even higher price. How high was the price? If others spent one hundred strings of cash to research a technology, one could forget about obtaining it without at least one million strings of cash.
This was because there was a connection and continuity between technologies. Spending one hundred strings of cash to research a basic technology did not mean that the technology itself was worth one hundred strings of cash. If one factored in military and productivity, one million strings of cash would be considered cheap.
The best method was to pay a large amount of resources to learn all the basic technologies of Great Tang and nurture a group of people. Then, one could continue to buy technology while one researched.
If it were a smart country or race, they would need a hundred years to catch up, and in this hundred years, they would have to endure the pressure of international trade.
In order to establish a world forest, one had to use the strength of one's nation.
However, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were not at all afraid of the people from the Anxi region and the Little Brahmins in front of them researching technology. They only restricted Japan and would not give them any chance. That nation was also very smart.
As for the Anxi region and the Little Brahman Kingdom, one was Myanmar, the other was India, and the same was true for the Polyphagia region and the Arabian region.
It was not that they were looking down on them, but even if you gave them technology, they would have to learn and learn for a very long time until the technology was eliminated.
But what if you tried Japan? They would definitely be able to learn and understand the technology in a short time and then derive other technologies from it.
Therefore, they had to get rid of them and not give them the slightest chance. Otherwise, they could only exterminate their families. This was not good. It did not match the spirit of Yan Huang and could not show the charm of Huaxia.
"All areas with Chinese people must have Chinatowns and Chinatowns. We are the only ethnic group in the world with this ability. Even the smart Jews can't do it. This shows that we are the most tenacious, the most adaptable, and the most tolerant.
I am willing to tolerate, but I will never allow threats to exist. I agree to include all races in the world into the Chinese nation, but I will not coexist with them as countries. Six Zhao, your last chance. If you miss it, don't blame me, Zhang Xiaobao, for being ruthless.
The universe is too vast, and we are wasting our time trying to influence you bit by bit. Anyone who hinders the integration of the races is a sinner. "
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's team had already arrived at the territory of the other Zhao. Zhang Xiaobao glanced at the people hiding in the woods and said as if he was talking to himself and making a declaration.
Wang Juan ordered not to shoot at the scouts of the other side. The team continued to move forward. She said to Zhang Xiaobao, "It's a good place to call the brothers and sisters of the Yunnan region. We have always called ourselves Yi Meng. Now that we have two surnames, it's enough. Yi Meng is Yi Meng with other Zhao, and Yi Meng without other Zhao is Yi Meng.
Myanmar will not exist because of the Six Zhao. Besides, there will be no Myanmar in the future. Buddhism will flourish because it is close to India. The Six Zhao will either happily become a part of the Tang Empire, or … or become a part of us passively. "
"I thought you were going to make the people with the surnames Meng and Cuan disappear, but in the end, you've become active and passive," Zhang Xiaobao said to Wang Juan as he waved at the locals who poked their heads out of the woods.
Wang Juan took half a step back and said, "I can't do it. I'm not like you. I only slaughter villages in the process of battle to achieve my goal. You fight to achieve the goal of slaughtering villages. Me killing civilians is a special case, you killing civilians is normal.
That's why soldiers are cute, and conspirators are shameful. This time, the number of people who die in the war is definitely far less than the number of people who die because of your economic means. No wonder you were captured and didn't die. A person like you is worth an army. "
"Don't, I don't dare. I can't compare to Grandpa Qian. That's why I like to sing Swallows Fly Twice. Without him, I don't even know what Swallows Fly Twice is. The kind me can't be a politician. A politician can not only ignore the lives of others, but is even willing to use the lives of his own people as a bargaining chip.
I'm far from that. My heart is too weak. I've always respected the song of loving my love with no regrets. That's the song in the old TV series. There's another song in this TV series that I like very much. It's written specifically for the female lead. "
Zhang Xiaobao said and waved to the person hiding behind the tree again. That guy was not brave enough to come out.
Wang Juan sighed. "From the beginning to the end, you've been spouting nonsense. In the beginning, you said that you were kind, but in the end, you said something about writing a song for the female lead. I'm writing a song for the author, San Mao, okay?"
"San Mao from The Vagabond? Are you coming out or not? If you don't come out, I'll shoot. "Zhang Xiaobao casually answered Wang Juan and shouted to the person.
The person hiding behind the tree came out with a bow. After thinking about it, he put down the bow and quiver. Step by step, he walked towards Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao stared at the person and suddenly said, "Throw away the bamboo pipe at your waist."
The person took off the bamboo pipe used for blow darts and put it on the ground. He walked until he was 15 steps away from Zhang Xiaobao and stopped.
"Tell me, what are you doing here?" Zhang Xiaobao asked.
The person's eyes were blank. He began to speak his own language and his hands were also gesturing. It was obvious that he couldn't understand and couldn't communicate.
Zhang Xiaobao was amused. Wang Juan also laughed.
Patting his forehead, Zhang Xiaobao said to the person, "I'm so worried. Who sent such an interesting thing like you? Could it be the person standing behind you? "
The person turned around and looked back. There was no one behind him.
"There's no one, right? I know there's no one, but I also know that you can understand me. Don't make me laugh. Come, it looks like you don't have it easy. Take this salt. I remember there was no embargo on you. Don't you usually eat salt? Your skin is really bad. "
When Zhang Xiaobao saw through the person, the person still pretended to be ignorant. Zhang Xiaobao had to signal the person next to him to take a bamboo tube of salt and throw it to the person. Then, he commented on the person's skin.
The person took the bamboo tube, opened the lid, dipped his hand in the white powder, put it in his mouth and sucked. His eyes immediately narrowed. He nodded repeatedly and said to Zhang Xiaobao in the Tang language, "Delicious, thank you."
"You're welcome." Zhang Xiaobao humbly replied.
The person licked again. "It's really delicious."
"Thank you." Zhang Xiaobao said.
"You're welcome." The person replied.
Wang Juan couldn't help but laugh and said to Zhang Xiaobao, "Are you doing crosstalk with him?"
"Crosstalk, crosstalk, you know? Come come come, little brother, seeing that you're younger than me, come closer. Don't worry, I won't harm you. There are canned food, one for each of us. We can chat while eating, and also drink some wine. "
Zhang Xiaobao beckoned the person forward. Someone brought over canned pork ribs, not the small kind, but more than two catties. Another person brought over a wine glass that could hold half a catty and filled it to the brim. There was no need to heat it, as the temperature here would make the wine warm.
The person hesitated.
"Come and eat. If I want your life, I don't need to use poison. I have something to ask you, and I need you to help me pass on a message." Zhang Xiaobao opened the canned food and invited the person again.
The person thought for a while and finally came in front of Zhang Xiaobao. The two of them sat on the ground.
Zhang Xiaobao passed a small knife to the person and took one for himself. He first put a piece of pork rib into his mouth and ate it.
The person took the knife and looked at it first, then looked at Zhang Xiaobao and learned to eat a piece of pork rib. After chewing twice, a satisfied look appeared on his face.
"Delicious, right? Come, let's drink. It's strong, slow down. " Zhang Xiaobao took a small sip. He couldn't raise his head and drink 60% wine. It wasn't that he couldn't drink half a catty, but it was a pity. When drinking strong white wine, one had to experience the mouth, esophagus, and stomach first cool down and then suddenly warm up. At the same time, there was also the smell of alcohol and the aftertaste.
Good wine had to be spicy when it entered the mouth, and then a line went down the stomach, and then the aftertaste was fragrant. Bad wine was fragrant when it was drunk, but the throat would first hurt, and then the stomach would be cold, and the aftertaste would be bitter. Aged wine belonged to the former, and blended wine belonged to the latter.
And any white wine that didn't exceed 50% was not a good white wine.
Zhang Xiaobao felt that the wine in his house was not bad, but this person just drank a mouthful and choked. It was as if there was a piece of cotton in his throat.
"I told you to drink less, but you insisted on drinking a big mouthful. Hold your breath and eat the canned food." Zhang Xiaobao complained.
This person was really obedient. He immediately ate a piece of pork rib and swallowed it. He let out a long breath, rolled his eyes, and praised: "Good wine, good meat."
"The wine is good wine, but the meat is just so-so. The two of us are eating canned pork ribs. I actually like to eat it, but more people like to eat lamb chops, steak, and deer chops. It's just that ordinary people can't eat the latter two.
If you have sheep herders here, we are willing to exchange a can for 20 catty of lamb chops. You feel that you are making a loss, but in fact, we need to transport the canned food here, and add a lot of spices.
When the lamb chops are raw, it is 20 catty, but when it is cooked, it will be reduced by a lot. You eat it every day, so you should know. There is also the leftover tin. In Tang, canned food is divided into glass jars, tin jars, and bamboo jars. Glass jars are usually filled with fruits because fruits have acid and will react with the tin. It's useless to tell you this.
Anyway, it's just tin tin. After eating the food inside, the tin can still be used. You can use the box as a bowl, right? The lid can be used as a knife. It's very sharp. If you don't believe me, you can gently cut it and see if you can cut it. Are you stupid? You're too honest. Who sent you here? You're too honest. Who sent you here? Someone come. "
Zhang Xiaobao tried his best to explain why the canned food could be exchanged for so much lamb. In the end, the other party used the lid of the can to cut his hand. Sure enough, it was cut, and blood kept flowing out from his index finger.
A medic brought gauze and medicine to help bandage it. It was just a small wound, so it was fine.
"Don't let your cut finger come into contact with water for two days. Take off the gauze before you sleep tonight. Luckily, I said cut your hand. If I said cut your neck, you would have committed suicide in front of me. How can I explain to your tribe? It's not that I care about killing one of you. The problem is that I am innocent. If I didn't kill you, then I didn't kill you. Why should I take the blame?
This roll of gauze and the rest of the medicine are all yours. Don't laugh as if you are taking advantage of me. I would rather not be injured than to take these things. "
Zhang Xiaobao was speechless. At the same time, he showed a sad expression.
This person tucked the gauze and medicine into the animal skin belt at his waist like he was hiding a treasure. He smiled at Zhang Xiaobao and said, "My name in Tang is Li Yunyun. Your medicine is very valuable. These medicine and gauze can be exchanged for five sheep."
"Li Yunyun is a girl's name, okay? Fine, you can call me that. In fact, the medicine you have now contains local herbs. It's just that when we use it, it's more effective than the medicine you make yourself.
The medicine and gauze are not even worth a catty of lamb. If you use five sheep to exchange for it, how much will you pay? That's why you should go back and tell your king that the current Tang is different from the past Tang. If he wants to destroy you, he can destroy you. If he wants to make your life better, he can make your life better.
It's not a complete surrender. In fact, it's just a small portion of you who want to have absolute power over the majority of you. They would rather have a bad life in the tribe than lose their power. It's a very selfish behavior. "
Zhang Xiaobao continued to say to the man who called himself Li Yunyun.
Li Yunyun lowered his head and thought. He ate two ribs and even chewed the bones. Then he asked, "Are you willing to give up your power?"
"You are asking a deep question. Of course I am not willing. But I can make the people who give me power live better lives. I also have the ability to maintain my power. I can also ensure that they are not bullied by others. If they bully others, I will help them bully others. Can your king do that?"
Zhang Xiaobao frankly admitted that he would not give up his power, but he also pointed out his advantages.
Li Yunyun shook his head. "No, but we are willing to fight to the end."
"The sheep you killed may also think the same. Do you care if the sheep resist?"
"In other words, you don't care about us, right?"
"Wrong. We care about you. We don't want to go to that step. We want to continue to expand and fight to the west. I can't sleep well if you are in the middle."
"What benefits can you give us?"
"Didn't we already give you the technology to build a factory?"
"What factory?" Li Yunyun curled his lips.
Zhang Xiaobao began to look at him again. After a while, he nodded and said, "I can see that you are not a scout. You are the person your tribe sent to contact and negotiate with us. And you are very familiar with many things. If I kill you now, your entire tribe will cry. "
"Not only will they cry, but they will also be very helpless." Li Yunyun smiled and said.
"You are a man with an Adam's apple. You smile like a woman. Change your name. I understand what you mean. You are the last person to take out. Your tribesmen are all looking at you, looking at us. I really can't kill you. I need someone who is familiar with the Tang Empire.
The technology to build the factory was provided because you participated in the Japanese's conspiracy against the Tang Empire. In a few days, there will be a large number of logistics and supply teams passing by your place. There are not many armed guards, and there are things there … "
"We can guard, and we can also take out all kinds of food to exchange with the supply team. I know that the supply team must have special goods for exchange. This way, we don't have to carry more food along the way. A cart of goods for exchange can be exchanged with others on the road for hundreds of carts of food supplies."
Without waiting for Zhang Xiaobao to finish, Li Yunyun interrupted Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao smiled. Wang Juan also smiled. The two looked at each other and immediately understood each other's thoughts.
It seemed that the people here did not only know how to wait for results, but also knew how to take the initiative to attack. Under the pressure of survival, no one was a fool.
The two of them thought of those small countries in the past. In order to survive in the international world, they had to curry favor with a large country while also threatening it. They were like fence-sitters, occasionally moving closer and sometimes moving away. They struggled to survive in the cracks, but even so, they were still attacked by other large countries.
Moreover, if not for the current Tang Empire, in normal history, the Six Zhao, Tubo, and Zhenla would indeed rely on the Tang Empire while also using it.
In the current situation, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan understood that this time, it was not a political and nominal compromise between a weak country and a strong country, but true harmony.
It was not that they did not want to, but that they had no choice. When the Tang Empire reached a certain level of strength, any small trick in exchange for absolute destruction.
Why did the small countries in the past have such illusions? Because the United States did not have absolute authority, and neither did the Soviet Union. In the end, it was the mutual compromise between the large countries that had tricked them. They wanted to rely on one large country to fight against another, but the other large country was not stupid.
So who could fight against the Tang Empire now? Could they still rely on the geographical environment and climate to make the Tang Empire consider whether it was worthwhile to attack? The Tang Empire had trained its soldiers to adapt to the geographical environment over the years. The small skirmishes with Duoshi and the disaster relief missions to Tubo were all for this moment.
"Have you thought it through?" Zhang Xiaobao, who had thought it through, asked Li Yunyun. Every time he thought of the other party's name, he felt very uncomfortable. He was clearly a man, but he had to use a woman's name.
"The canned food is very delicious. In the future, you can actually build a canning factory here. We are willing to help you build other factories further west. Here, we have beautiful mountains and clear waters. If you don't believe me, look at your guards and servants. None of them are affected by the climate."
Li Yunyun did not directly answer Zhang Xiaobao's question. Instead, she talked about the canned food and the factory, but the key was in the last sentence.
She said that when Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan came here, they did not care about mosquitoes, miasma, or other things. The main defense of the Six Zhao was the environment. It was not that the Tang Empire had not come here to attack before, but the losses were great. After conquering, they could not manage, and in the end, they had to hand over power.
Now, the other party's large army had come here without any problems. Was there a need to say anything more? The natural defense line had been broken. As for the battle with their army, if they could defeat more than ten thousand of them, they could directly declare that they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Tang Empire. The Tang Empire could not do anything to them, but was that possible?
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also understood the other party's meaning. Zhang Xiaobao said, "The mountains and rivers are indeed good. It will be a tourist attraction. The Tang Empire has other places that are not bad. You can send people to take your family members to see them."
"Understood. When things are stable, we will move most of our people to see them," Li Yunyun replied.
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