"100,000 cows and horses."
Li Shimin couldn't help but hold his breath. The price of an ordinary horse in the Tang dynasty was about 20 strings of cash. Good horses were more expensive. The price of cows was slightly lower, but not much lower.
100,000 cows and horses were nearly 200,000 strings of cash every year, which was not a small fortune. Li Shimin couldn't help but be tempted.
More importantly, the Tang dynasty had its own horse breeding land. The Qinghai horse was a good horse. It was tall and heavy, and good at long-distance raids. It was the best choice for cavalry. The weapons, equipment, and training quality of the Tang dynasty's soldiers had always been first-class. The most important reason why they were passive in the face of the grassland tribes was that the horses of the Tang dynasty were both good and bad. If they could occupy the Qinghai land, the Tang dynasty would make up for the last shortcoming.
"Yes, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. From now on, the military will have no shortage of horses." The militant Cheng Yaojin immediately shouted excitedly.
"The Qinghai horse is indeed the best choice for cavalry." Li Jing also nodded.
For a moment, the generals of the Ministry of War also nodded. Even if Hou Junji opposed Meton, he had to admit that occupying the Qinghai land was very important for the Tang dynasty. The Ministry of War immediately changed sides.
Li Shimin no longer had the urge to break Morton's legs when he looked at him. Instead, he had the urge of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and the more she looked at him, the more she liked him. Li Shimin hurriedly suppressed this unreasonable impulse and continued to put on a ferocious look.
Merton said, "The third reason is the Qinghai Salt Lake."
"Qinghai Salt Lake?"
The officials were puzzled. Of course, they knew about the Qinghai Salt Lake. The lake salt was also known as pond salt. However, the salt there was neither edible nor drinkable. It was useless.
Meton said proudly, "Mo has a skill that can purify the lake salt into table salt. The Qinghai Lake is vast and boundless. The lake salt is as common as sand. Just the salt of the Qinghai Lake is enough for the Tang dynasty to eat for ten thousand years. The Tang dynasty will no longer have to worry about the lack of salt after the Tang dynasty obtains the Qinghai Lake."
As soon as Meton's voice fell, all the officials were in an uproar. Linghu Defen, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was even more excited, "Is this true?"
Not to mention other places in the Tang dynasty, the Guanzhong area was abnormally short of salt, especially Longyou, which was far away from salt production......... if they could extract table salt from the Qinghai Lake, it would be a great blessing for Longyou..
...............................................
Linghu Defen frowned, "I heard that the Mohists' snow salt is refined from coarse salt?"
"That's the original method of this skill. After the tireless research of the Mo family, this skill can now directly refine the lake salt into the Mo family's snow salt," Meton said proudly.
"Refining the lake salt into snow salt?"
Many officials couldn't help but open their mouths.
"Since it's lake salt, it's also salt. The reason why it's inedible is because it contains other bitter substances. This skill is to refine these bitter substances and obtain edible salt.
Li Shimin couldn't help but jump up. If that was the case, wouldn't all the table salt in the entire Qinghai Lake be edible after being refined by the Mo skill? In that case, the value of the Qinghai Lake alone was simply immeasurable.
The important officials were delighted. The Mo family's snow salt had recently been popular in Chang 'an City. It was the first-class fine salt in Chang' an City. Everyone knew that the Mo family had this Mo skill, but they didn't expect it to be so valuable.
"Salt is the foundation of a country. It's a necessity for the people. However, the price of salt is too high, and the people are suffering." Meton couldn't help but glance at Censor Wang. Everyone knew that most of the salt in Yun City was controlled by the Taiyuan Wang family. The Wang family especially couldn't shirk the responsibility of the high price of salt.
"If we use this skill to make salt, the production of salt will definitely skyrocket. Moreover, it will be the first-class snow salt. With the increase in salt production, the price of salt will definitely drop greatly. It's even possible to sell it for one copper coin per catty. At that time, even the ordinary people will be able to enjoy it freely."
"One copper coin per catty of salt!" Censor Wang was dumbfounded. The Taiyuan Wang family's biggest source of income came from selling salt. If the Mo family's snow salt could only be sold for one copper coin per catty, it was likely that the Taiyuan Wang family's salt couldn't even be sold. The entire Taiyuan Wang family would lose their biggest source of income.
Everyone couldn't help but frown. If that was the case, wouldn't the Mo family, who had the ink technique, control the salt of the Tang dynasty?
Meton had already anticipated this situation. He said calmly, "This ink technique is related to the welfare of the world's people. The Mo family doesn't dare to keep this technique and is willing to offer it to the imperial court. "
"Offer it to the imperial court!" Hou Junji's heart was bleeding. Mo Jiazi was really a prodigal. Didn't he know how much profit there was? If it was handed to Hou Junji, he could find a few aristocratic families to partner with and firmly control the profits in his hands. Even the Emperor couldn't snatch it away.
However, Li Shimin understood the intention of Meton's move. He couldn't help but secretly scold Meton for being cunning. The nature of a catfish was exposed. It was very slippery and had a mouth full of sharp teeth. It was painful to bite back. This time, it was the Taiyuan Wang family who was hurt.
Once this method of making salt was revealed, it was bound to offend the Taiyuan Wang family who relied on salt as their lifeline. The Mo family obviously didn't want to confront this behemoth and wanted to take revenge on the Taiyuan Wang family for repeatedly targeting the Mo family. Therefore, they simply offered it to the imperial court and let the imperial court face the Taiyuan Wang family.
"Minister Mo, you are dedicated to the country. I thank you on behalf of the people of the world," Li Shimin said solemnly.
Li Shimin and the officials knew that this was the Mo family's overt plot, but they had to pinch their noses and admit it. After all, the benefits in this were too great.
With this ink technique alone, even if Tuyuhun didn't violate the border, Li Shimin still had the impulse to attack Tuyuhun and take over Qinghai Lake.
"Ink technique!"
Many officials couldn't help but sigh in their hearts. The Mo family's ink technique once again shocked the entire imperial court. A simple ink technique could solve the problem of salt shortage in the northwest and even the entire Tang dynasty.
Not long ago, they wanted to use the Mo family's ink technique to exchange for Tubo's support. Now, it seemed that they were very short-sighted. Everyone couldn't help but be speechless. They couldn't help but recall what Meton just said. They didn't understand how powerful the ink technique was. Now, Meton showed them the powerful power of the ink technique with iron-like facts.
However, that was not the end of it. Moton continued, "Apart from this, the Mohist Family has also discovered a fertilizer that can increase the yield of crops. If we can extract it, the yield of crops will definitely double, reaching a yield of more than eight loads per mu."
"Eight loads!" Linghu Defen's heart trembled. He looked at Merton in disbelief.
The Linghu family was also one of the Guanlong family. It was urgent to control the Yellow River. The entire Guanlong family was facing a very difficult situation. The wasteland reclamation was limited. Their only hope was to increase the grain production per mu. The Mo family's experimental field method could double the grain production, which had already made the Guanlong family unable to close their mouths.
No one thought that the Mo family would have such an ink technique. However, eight loads per mu was an output that they never dared to imagine.
Meton nodded and said, "This ink technique has been successfully tested in the Mo family. At present, some of it has been extracted from the lake salt of Yuncheng. I'm afraid that the specific effect will have to wait until next year's autumn harvest. I'll be waiting for you at the Mo family's experimental field. However, I can guarantee that the output will only increase."
"We will go." The officials of the Guanlong family said excitedly.
The Guanlong family occupied more than half of the imperial court. With their support, coupled with the support of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Agricultural Temple, they all supported the attack on the Tuyuhun. The entire imperial court, including the three provinces and six ministries, all supported the attack on the Tuyuhun.
Originally, the Tang dynasty only wanted to fight back and teach the Tuyuhun a lesson. In the end, it became a war of extermination. All of this change was due to Meton's own strength.
It was reasonable to say that Meton and the Tuyuhun envoy met for the first time, but Meton killed him. Was it really not because of Princess Changle? Other than that, the officials really couldn't think of any other reason.
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