The patriarchs of the Jiang Tribe had a deep prejudice against the Lu Tribe. This prejudice was formed over a long period of time. It was hard to change it in a short time. It was too difficult to persuade them to make peace with the Lu Tribe. The hatred in their hearts was too great.
The second patriarch had traveled extensively when he was young, so he was more knowledgeable than the other patriarchs. Naturally, the hatred in his heart was the lowest. In addition, he had gone to the Lu Tribe to do business, but unfortunately, it did not go well. He thought it was a win-win situation, but the Lu Tribe thought he had made money, so they were unhappy. Therefore, the Lu Tribe also chose to go to Central Sichuan to buy goods and do business. In this way, it was equivalent to robbing the second patriarch's business. This made the second patriarch very unhappy. The commercial development in the Western Border Area was not good, and the population was not large. If all the tribes wanted to do business, then the business could not be done.
Originally, the second patriarch planned to sell some goods and make some profits. However, since all the tribes wanted to do business, it meant that the Jiang Tribe could not earn money from other tribes through business. This naturally made the other tribes unhappy. Because the Jiang Tribe was the closest to Central Sichuan, they controlled the commercial channel. In order to make trouble for the Lu Tribe, they deliberately blocked the road and did not let the Lu Tribe pass. In the end, it caused a series of conflicts.
It must be said that the Jiang Tribe was the one who stirred up trouble, but the Jiang Tribe Patriarchs did not think so. They felt that the roads in their territory were opened by their own people. How could the Lu Tribe not pay a toll when passing through their territory? Not only did the Lu Tribe not pay the toll, but they also robbed the Jiang Tribe of their business. This was not giving the Jiang Tribe any face. It was the Lu Tribe's fault.
In short, for the sake of interests, the relationship between the two clans was like fire and water. Although the Jiang Clan did not collect the toll in the end, the Patriarch disguised himself as a bandit and robbed the Lu Clan's caravan. The Lu Clan also robbed the Jiang Clan. The relationship between the two clans was really like fire and water. There were even serious incidents where clansmen were killed.
How could it be easy to make two tribes that were filled with hatred shake hands and make peace? It would require a lot of intelligence. Other than Ang Lee, no one else seemed to be able to do it.
The second chief knew that everyone had a deep prejudice against the Lu Tribe, but he still held it in. He felt that cooperation was the only way to achieve a win-win situation. Blindly fighting against the Lu Tribe was not good for the Jiang Tribe. Moreover, the Ge Tribe was not easy to deal with either. If the two tribes united, they would be stronger than the Jiang Tribe. Therefore, for the long-term development of the tribe, it was better to reconcile with the Lu Tribe and the Ge Tribe. Unfortunately, the resentment of the other chiefs was too strong. It would take time to persuade them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I know that the Lu Tribe is not honest, but Assistant Minister Li wants to make peace between us and the Lu Tribe. He said that he will personally go to the Lu Tribe to negotiate. In addition, we need too much charcoal. If this goes on for a long time, I'm afraid that all the trees on the mountain will be cut down. The most important thing is that the charcoal smelting effect is not good. Even for forging, coal is better. It can make the forged iron stronger and more durable."
The second chief said.
The Fourth Patriarch thought for a moment and said, "What Second Brother said seems to make sense. Everyone takes what they need, and no one will lose out. But when I think of the Lu Clan going against us, I feel anxious and in a bad mood."
This guy said what was on the minds of all the chiefs. In fact, they all knew that cooperation was a win-win situation. But it was hard to let go of the prejudice in their hearts. They always felt that doing this would be a great help to the Lu Tribe.
It would take time for the resentment to dissipate, but now, the iron smelting furnaces had been built one by one. The demand for dyes was huge. This required the Jiang Family to cut down a lot of trees to meet this huge consumption. But this consumption was too big. If this continued, it would lead to all the trees in the surrounding forest being cut down. And when all the trees were cut down, the ecology of this place would change.
Although it was a bit exaggerated, the trees in the mountains could not be cut down. But it was very likely that the trees near the workshop would be cut down. The most important point was that charcoal's burning performance was not as good as coal, and the quality of the fuel was not up to standard. It also had an impact on smelting and forging. Therefore, after the smelting workshop was opened, the Jiang Tribe still needed the coal produced by the Lu Tribe. It was necessary to exchange the surplus iron for coal.
In the end, whether the resentment in their hearts was more important or the development of their tribe was very important. For the long-term development of their tribe, it was very important to let go of the prejudice in their hearts as soon as possible.
The second patriarch constantly persuaded the other patriarchs from a long-term point of view. From time to time, he mentioned Ang Lee, saying that the Jiang Tribe still had to obey the orders of the imperial court.
The other patriarchs also had resentment in their hearts. The resentment produced by the long-term confrontation made them not know how to face the Lu Tribe after the reconciliation. Even if they knew that reconciliation was beneficial to both sides, they still did not want to cooperate with the Lu Tribe easily.
After the second chief's multi-faceted analysis, the other chiefs did not insist, but they felt that the Jiang tribe should have more say in the pricing power. Using iron to exchange for coal, how much iron to exchange for coal, how much coal to exchange, how much iron to exchange, how much coal to exchange, how much iron to exchange, how much coal to exchange, or according to the market price in Sichuan, involved the interests of both sides. If the Lu tribe benefited too much, they would certainly not be happy. Anyway, they could make do with charcoal, so they felt that they had more advantages.
The second patriarch said that the two sides could talk about the price slowly. If they were not satisfied, they could just not do the business.
"The Lu Tribe also has blacksmiths. Assistant Minister Li went to the Lu Tribe. Will he also give the Lu Tribe the technology of forging iron products?"
The first patriarch suddenly asked.
The second patriarch sighed and said, "That's for sure. Assistant Minister Li didn't ask for any benefits from us, he just gave us the forging tools and iron smelting techniques. We didn't have any friendship with him before, so the same goes for the Lu Tribe. As long as we go, we will definitely give them the techniques. However, the Lu Tribe doesn't have our iron ore. Even if they learn how to forge iron, they will have to buy pig iron from us. Without our supply of pig iron, their techniques will be in vain, but we can use charcoal instead. Therefore, we still have the initiative in exchanging pig iron for coal."
Obviously, because Ang Lee would also give the Lu Tribe the technology of forging iron, it was not suitable for them to exchange iron products for coal. They could only exchange pig iron for coal. Anyway, they had too much pig iron and their blacksmiths could not use it all. It was definitely a win-win situation if they exchanged some of the extra pig iron for coal. And the extra iron products they made could be sold in Central Sichuan or sold to other tribes in the west. They could even directly enter the market of Dongnu Province. In short, as long as the products were produced and the quality was good, there was no need to worry about the lack of sales.
After a long discussion, the Clan Leaders finally reached an important consensus, which was that they could cooperate, but they must have the right to set the price. They couldn't let the Lu Clan take advantage of them. They analyzed it from different angles, and they all believed that they were less dependent on the Lu Clan, while the Lu Clan was more dependent on the Jiang Clan. Therefore, they should have the right to set the price, so as to protect their own interests and benefit them the most.
The soldiers in charge of searching for Duan Jianhan returned empty-handed. However, Li An wasn't too disappointed. The surrounding mountains were too big, and there were only a few people in Duan Jianhan's group. It was like a few needles falling into the sea. How could it be so easy to search? It was normal that they couldn't find him. If they really couldn't find him, the team could only continue moving forward and leave the responsibility of road safety to the local tribes. Other than that, there was no better way.
Since the Jiang Tribe did not oppose the cooperation with the Lu Tribe, Ang Lee naturally needed to go to the Lu Tribe to discuss the cooperation with the Lu Tribe's patriarch. He wanted the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe to be reconciled as before. Everyone would take what they needed and achieve common development and prosperity. The sooner he left, the better.
"That Duan guy still hasn't been found? Where did he hide? Why is it so hard to find him? "
Ang Lee asked.
Chen Long nodded and said, "Yes! The soldiers have tried their best, but they still haven't found him. If they still can't find him, they might as well give up and leave it to the nearby tribes. It's just a few people, they can't poke a hole in the sky. "
Obviously, these two days had really tired the soldiers out. Many of them had complaints in their hearts. After all, no one wanted to climb the mountain every day. If they could perform meritorious deeds and be rewarded, they would be willing to be tired. However, after searching for two days, they didn't find anything. Instead, they were exhausted. Naturally, the soldiers were dissatisfied.
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "They are not familiar with this place. How could this Duan guy hide so well? He must have been taken in by someone. Otherwise, he could not hide so well."
"Taken in? We have already spread the word. Who dares to take them in? Do they want to die? "
Chen Long said.
Ang Lee said, "Naturally, the people of Jirou Province don't have the guts. However, there are some bandits hiding in the mountains. These bandits are very familiar with the terrain. Even the people of Jirou Province can't find them, let alone outsiders like Ang Lee. Even if there are locals leading the way, it's difficult to find the bandits' hiding place. The mountains here are too dense. Many places are very steep and can only allow one person to pass through. As long as one person is on guard, outsiders will be found as soon as they appear."
"Then what should we do? Should we continue to search or keep going?"
Chen Long asked.
He listened to everything Ang Lee said. This was also his responsibility. As a subordinate, he naturally had to listen to Ang Lee's arrangement.
Li An thought for a moment and said, "Since we can't find him after two days, let's stop looking for him for the time being. The main force will head to Gezhou and leave a small number of people to lie in ambush near the mountain roads. Ten soldiers will lie in ambush at every intersection. We must not let anyone discover them. I don't think that Duan guy will be able to hide forever. As long as he thinks that we have left, he will come out to cause trouble.
As soon as he sees them, he will appear. "At this time, Duan Jianhan was in the dark, while Ang Lee's team was in the light. This was very passive. Duan Jianhan was likely to find that the Tang dynasty's team was searching the mountains, so he hid. If they knew that the next year's team had left, they would definitely come out to cause trouble. At that time, they could catch them all in one fell swoop.
As for why they didn't leave a few more soldiers, it was naturally to better hide themselves. If too many soldiers were left, they would be easily discovered by Duan Jianhan. In this way, they would not be able to lure them out. Moreover, the Tang dynasty's army was relatively strong. Even if there were only ten of them, they could fight against dozens of mobs. It was more than enough to deal with Duan Jianhan and his team. There was no need to worry about being wiped out at all. Moreover, there were people from other tribes around. Ang Lee would tell the tribal chiefs of each tribe to immediately ask for help once they found the enemy and let the nearby tribes send people to rescue them. Basically, they could guarantee that nothing would happen.
After a little preparation, the main force under Ang Lee's command set off to the Ge Tribe, while Ang Lee himself led a small number of people to the Lu Tribe on the other side. He was ready to reconcile the enmity between the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe and promote cooperation between them. Because the Lu Tribe relied more on the Jiang Tribe and was weaker, Ang Lee felt that the Lu Tribe should be easier to persuade.
When they set off, the tribal chiefs of the Jiang Tribe all came to see them off. The second tribal chief even held Ang Lee's hand and pinned all his hopes on Ang Lee. He hoped that the two tribes could reconcile. If the two tribes reconciled, their two tribes would be the biggest beneficiaries.
Ang Lee said that he would certainly do his best to help the Jiang Tribe mediate. He would definitely promote the reconciliation between the two tribes.
Knowing that Ang Lee was coming, the big shots of the Lu Tribe all greeted him on the way to show how much importance they attached to this matter. Ang Lee was a high official of the imperial court, so they had to pay attention to him. Moreover, they soon learned that Ang Lee was smelting iron in the Jiang Tribe. There were spies among the tribes, but they could only stay in the periphery and could not enter the core. However, the whole Jiang Tribe knew about the smelting iron, so naturally, the spies also knew about it and quickly reported it to the Lu Tribe.
Ang Lee brought the smelting iron and forging techniques to the Jiang Tribe. So, when he went to their tribe, would he also give them the techniques? No matter what, they had to perform well. As long as they performed well, they would not be afraid that Ang Lee would not give them the techniques.
Ang Lee was naturally very satisfied with the Lu Tribe's welcome. This was a kind of courtesy, which showed that the Lu Tribe valued him and put him in a very high position.
"Assistant Minister Li, your presence brings light to our humble dwelling of Luzhou!"
The tribal chief of the Lu Tribe, the so-called Provincial Governor of Luzhou, said and bowed to Ang Lee.
Ang Lee did not like to be polite, so he said, "Tribal chief, you don't have to be so polite. I heard that there is a coal mine here, so I came to take a look and give some advice to your blacksmiths."
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