Larde staggered out of the Great Tang merchant's camp, his expression quite unsightly.
Even the seven people who came with him were filled with longing and longing. Their purpose of coming here was not to obtain any benefits from Zhang Xiaobao.
They just wanted to understand Zhang Xiaobao as much as possible so that they could make use of him in the future. No matter if Zhang Xiaobao was angry or weak in front of them, they would be able to grasp a bit of Zhang Xiaobao's personality.
However, they had evidently miscalculated. Zhang Xiaobao acted as if it had nothing to do with him and pushed a five-year-old child to the front. This five-year-old child did not seem like someone who had taught her what to say, and the conversation seemed to have come up on the spot.
Listening to a five-year-old Xiao Bao talk about the relationship between the person who flew the kite and the kite made one feel a bit dazed.
If it was an adult, one would be able to speak properly, but how could one explain clearly to a five-year-old child?
"Everything is strange; the people from Great Qin's Zhang Family and Wang Family can't be judged by common sense." When Larde returned to the camp and saw some people throwing away the cannons on the kites, he concluded.
"Are we going to fight or not? We can't just let them harm us once and pretend that nothing happened, "a person whose beard had been burned whispered to Larde.
After asking this question, he immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head to continue dismantling the kites that were not burning. He suddenly realized that he should not have asked – the other side had an army of 40,000 or so, and this did not include the slave army. With his 2,000 or so people, they would be able to return to the embrace of Allah if they charged over.
Larde did not have the time to scold others for being unwise. He was still worried about the current situation. If Great Qin's people really wanted to destroy his people, they would not need to send soldiers from so far away. With 130,000 people, they would be able to crush his people into pieces with just a pinch.
Larde's mission was to set up a camp here, and it would be best if he could communicate with the various factions and make them acknowledge his position. This would allow him to trade with Great Qin.
Great Qin had beautiful silk, beautiful ceramics, and even tea leaves that people would get used to after drinking them. A small amount of these things had already flowed into Zhao Fu's side, and they were incredibly valuable. If … if they could stabilize, then …?
It was a pity that recently, for some reason, Great Qin's Emperor, who had always been very open-minded, had actually sealed off all of the checkpoints, not allowing merchants to bring out things that were considered ordinary to Great Qin but were good things to Great Qin.
There were simply too few goods shipped out through Tubo and Turkic Khaganate. More importantly, the prices were much higher than in the Great Qin Empire.
After seeing how the Tibetans were constantly harassing Great Qin, Great Qin did not do anything too excessive and even opened up more channels of communication. As such, Zhao Fu decided to learn from Great Qin and send people to burn the haloxylon shuttle trees that Great Qin's people had planted in the desert.
Zhao Fu had thought that Great Qin's merchants would give up a portion of their profits for peace. However, after making a move, he found that things were not as they had expected; the people here were not willing to compromise at all.
Now he knew that the so-called Chamber of Commerce was not a simple trading team. The power behind them was frighteningly big. They actually brought over 40,000 soldiers from such a long distance and didn't fight, but just set up camp. What was their purpose? Or rather, what kind of goal did he want to achieve?
*****
"2,000 or so people aren't worth me making a move. Once we destroy them, we won't have any excuse to stay here. Xiao Bao, help me think of a way to drag in the Turks and Tubo. In about half a month, Ke Tuyu will receive news from the northern region of Hebei Province.
Back then, we took their seals to give them the misconception that we were trying to rope in their people. We did that, and a small portion of them agreed to come with us after the battle.
If Ke Tuyu finds out that he's going to be a figurehead, he might suddenly turn against us. I don't want any of my people to die, so give me an idea. "
Wang Juan was quite surprised at how smart Xiao Bei and the others were, and she started to think of a strategy. In terms of scheming and plotting, she trusted Zhang Xiaobao more.
Zhang Xiaobao was flipping through his account book. He had spent a lot of money on this trip, and he could not just put in effort and not receive anything in return.
When he heard Wang Juan's question, he stopped what he was doing and walked out of the tent. Looking at the sun that was about to reach the middle of the sky, he felt a little dizzy and finally thought of a solution.
"Tonight, arrange for our people to secretly burn a portion of the haloxylon ammondendron trees and say that there are bandits hiding in the depths of the desert. Let Ke Tuyu and the others lead 40,000 people in pursuit. At that time, it will be impossible for the people outside to pass the news to them."
"Will they believe it?"
"I don't care if they believe it or not. If I say there is, then there is. When they enter the desert, take the money to buy a large amount of livestock from the Turks and Tubo for supplies. They lack food, but they don't lack livestock.
With Ke Tuyu's army in charge of cleaning up the wolves and other possible dangers, our people will enter the desert to collect useful resources and plant trees. There is strength in numbers. "
"That's good. If the Turks and Tubo don't sell … … I understand. If they don't sell to us, we will seal off the trade route between them and the Great Tang and not trade with them. There are still tens of thousands of strings of coins here. If there is no other way, we can buy them on credit first." Wang Juan followed Zhang Xiaobao's train of thought and said.
Zhang Xiaobao waved his hand and said, "Who will give them copper coins? Take out the printed money and give it to them. When the time comes, they will go to the Great Tang to spend it. We will not go back on our words and promote the circulation of paper money. As long as they acknowledge the status of paper money and are willing to accept paper money when they sell things in the future, the people will be able to get used to our paper money faster. "
Zhang Xiaobao was not willing to separate this matter and had to connect with other parties.
"Then let's burn it. Let's go and take a look at Xiaobei and the others. Don't let them hurt themselves." Wang Juan had a load off her mind. Thinking about the matter of Xiaobei and Larde not long ago, a smile appeared on her face and she walked out.
*****
"Let me summarize this matter. Not all of the kites were burned. Remember this lesson. The operation can be considered a success. Next, I will talk about the battle with the person whose beard was burned off. At that time, I was thinking …"
When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan came over, Xiaobei was like a little adult giving a post-battle summary. However, all the generals were clearly absent-minded and looked like they were about to fall asleep.
"Xiaobei, aren't you sleepy? You have already summarized it three times. I know you are good. Let us go to sleep. " Xiao Yuan lowered her head and recited the Book of Songs. Seeing that Xiaobei was still saying what she had already said twice, she could not take it anymore and interrupted.
Xiaobei was about to say something interesting when she was suddenly interrupted by Xiao Yuan. She said angrily, "So what if it's three times? Reviewing the past and learning the new. For information that can help us, let alone three times, even if it's thirty times or even three hundred times, we still have to treat it seriously. Where was I just now? Yes, I was talking about when I faced Larde. At that time, you guys don't know, but this is what I did … Xiao Yuan, repeat it again. "
"You were very quick-witted at that time. Through your unique logic, you made Larde speechless. Also … Xiaobei, let me go next time. I promise I won't repeat this nonsense again and again. It's almost time for lunch."
In order to get rid of this situation as soon as possible, Xiao Yuan praised Xiaobei as quickly as she could. In the end, she strongly requested.
"Let's go back. Don't worry about them. It seems that Xiaobei has the talent to be a politician." Zhang Xiaobao watched the group of people having a meeting and did not disturb them anymore. He walked away with Wang Juan.
***
That night, a patch of haloxylon ammondendron trees in the north furthest away from the camp suddenly burst into red flames. Amidst the shouts and chaotic footsteps, the news that bandits had ambushed the haloxylon ammondendron trees spread. Some people confirmed that the bandits had run into the depths of the desert after the ambush.
Wang Juan mobilized the army that very night, splitting it into five groups and charging into the depths of the desert to surround the bandits.
But even though Tuyu and the other generals clearly knew that something was wrong, they did not dare to directly jump out to oppose. They could only follow the army into the desert.
Two days later, it was impossible to find any trace of the forty-thousand-some people outside.
At the same time that the army entered the desert, Zhang Xiaobao sent two letters to the Tubo and Tujue. He also had the people who delivered the letters bring paper money, wanting to directly buy livestock.
On a warm afternoon in the northern part of Hebei Province, Li Xun received a letter. He found a clerk in the army and wrote one notice after another, sticking it up in the most bustling part of the Song Mo Commander-In-Chief's Office.
The locals all gathered around to watch the excitement, listening to the literate people explain the contents of the notice.
"The notice says that a lot of wild beasts have suddenly appeared in the northern part of the capital, harming pedestrians. They heard that the people here are good at hunting, so they want to find a thousand hunters to go there and stay there permanently. They can bring their families. Every month, even if there is no big game, they will give each hunter two hundred copper coins.
If they catch some game, they will give more. After arriving there, all the women in their families will also find work for them. The children in their families can go to school to learn to read without spending money. We only need a thousand people. Those who want to go quickly prepare. If there are enough people, we will not need them. "
The literate people enjoyed this kind of moment. Seeing the adoring look of the people around them, they felt a sense of accomplishment.
The common people here did not have time to consider the degree of accomplishment of the literate people. Seeing this kind of opportunity, they hurried back home, wanting to participate.
The same thing happened in various commander-in-chief's offices in the northern part of Hebei Province. Some were in the capital, some were in Luoyang. The requirements of each place were slightly different, but they all met the characteristics of the local people, so the treatment was also very high.
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