Chapter 882 Caravan
In early June, Guan Qiulu came to the north bank of Sanggan River.
The rhizome planted in April has already grown very tall.
In the fields, a group of people gathered together, seeming to be listening to someone's story.
After Guanqiu Lu listened for a while, it turned out that the clerk of the shogunate Tiancao was teaching the Xianbei people how to interplant various crops in the fields.
To put it simply, it means planting a few mulberry trees in an acre of field, what kind of crops to plant, how many to plant, and how to plant them.
"Sangqian, mulberryqian, the river dries up when the mulberries are ripe, hey." Guanqiu Lu stopped listening.
They are the simplest planting techniques. Farmers in the Central Plains know it very well. Even he knows it because he participated in the management of the manor when he was young.
The Sanggan River Basin is probably the best agricultural land that modern people can obtain.
The planting time of 焄 is one month earlier than the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, and more than one and a half months earlier than some areas north of Yinshan Mountain.
Moreover, late-maturing varieties (long four months) can be grown here, which have good taste and high yields per mu. On the other hand, Ziao grown at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain can be harvested in three months, but the taste is poor and the yield per mu is low. The difference is very obvious.
However, the Sanggan River Basin is still not as good as Taiyuan.
Suotou should know this very well, so the word "Nantu" often appears in the mouths of upper-class people.
It seems like it’s all gone now!
Guan Qiulu turned around and took a quick look and saw Pu Gu Ting, the son of Pu Gu Lu.
I had a lot of contact with him in the past two days and successfully negotiated the use of his family's pasture land.
According to Guanqiu Lu's original intention, he just wanted to rent his family's pasture, but King Liang demanded that the nobles of the tribe must be involved in the deal and give them a share.
The Pugu clan has a lot of grazing land, so it would be okay to take out part of the wasteland called "idle field", but they are not confident enough about whether they can get the money.
This is useless to say, it can only be proven with facts.
When Pu Guting saw Guan Qiulu, he just nodded slightly, and then continued talking to the entourage around him, with a mix of worry and joy on his brows, not knowing what he was struggling with.
"Officer, the cake is baked." The attendant came over and said softly.
Guan Qiulu nodded, came to the bend of the river, sat directly on the grass, grabbed the soft baked biscuits and ate them.
The followers ate in batches.
Their caravan has a total of more than 100 vehicles and more than 400 people. One-third are old friends who have followed him all over the country for many years, one-third are members of the Guanqiu clan, and the other third One is an official slave given to him by the King of Liang.
Most people are issued with weapons, and even a horseman can fight with others.
Of course, they mainly rely on official support to do business, and their self-defense capabilities are only used to deal with small groups of bandits. If they encounter a robbery on a tribal scale, they will not be able to do it.
Tuoba Liugou was one of the official slaves given to him. Because he was skillful with bows and horses and could speak the Jin language, he was taken in by Guanqiu Lu and became one of his personal followers.
He is also eating Hu biscuits at this moment. They ate very carefully. If any cake scraps fell on the grass, they were carefully picked up and eaten. It looked like they had lived a hard life.
"Liu Gou." After Guan Qiulu finished eating two Hu cakes, he burped, took out a few fruits from the bag, threw them to Tuoba Liu Gou, and asked, "I just looked at you. Listen carefully, what do you hear?"
Tuoba Liugou quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Guardian, Pu Guting is reprimanding several clan leaders."
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"Why reprimand?" Guanqiu Lu asked curiously.
“Because the clan leaders listened to the shogunate peasants’ lectures on farming every day and seemed to be fascinated by them, Pu Gu Ting was not happy.”
“What did he say?”
"He borrowed the words of the shaman, saying that one person's spirit can occupy another person's body. Shanyu Duhufu is the spirit of the Jin people, and it will slowly occupy the body of Daiguo."
Guanqiu Lu laughed loudly.
The followers also laughed.
Don’t tell me, Chief Hu is quite knowledgeable.
When they just left Yanmen Pass and arrived in Yinguan County, there was the Wuhuan tribe there paying tribute and sending it to Pingcheng.
In fact, there are not many things, and most of them are physical objects. However, the Wuhuan people and the Xianbei people do not have their own writing, so this matter mainly depends on the records and delivery of the officials sent by Shanyu Duhufu.
There is no doubt that it is more formal than before, and it is more like that, but it is handled by officials from Zhongyuan from beginning to end. Although they have Xianbei officials above them, does that big boss understand? If you understand, tell me something else.
Over the years, ministers and leaders have been in contact with Han officials, and the influence cannot be underestimated.
From this perspective, what Pu Gu Ting said was correct. He instinctively felt the threat.
But how to put it, now their regime is facing the threat of Tuoba Yihuai, and they rely on the Jin State a lot. The Shanyu Protectorate has its own army, and there are also Jin troops in Yanmen Pass. It is unrealistic to turn against them directly. .
Moreover, Hanguan is really comfortable to use.
Everything is taken care of in an orderly manner and you don’t have to worry about it at all.
To put it bluntly, some ministers only know how many "flocks" of sheep they have, but they don't know how many "flocks" they actually have. After becoming a Han official, I now know, not only the number of cattle, sheep, horses and camels, but also the number of buttocks, equipment, grain, leather, carriages, and felt tents, which is very complete, highlighting a major.
Naturally, the Daigong Mansion and the Shanyu Protectorate Mansion will also know this number.
The father and son Pu Gulu and Pu Guting both love and hate the Han officials. I want to rely on them, but I am afraid that they will affect internal affairs.
One or two years may not matter, but what about ten or twenty years?
******
Guanqiu Lu did not stay long in Xinping, and then continued northward, arriving at Pingcheng on the tenth day of June.
To the east of Pingcheng is like muddy water. There is a market to the east of the water, called "East City". Guan Qiulu purchased land and a house here, built a shop and warehouse, and left more than ten people to look after it.
He did not rush into the shop, but took a few followers to go around the newly opened Dongshi.
"If you want to dismount a hundred horses, come quickly if you are interested." The person shouting spoke a difficult-to-pronounce Jin dialect, his eyes rolling around.
Guanqiu Lu stopped and asked, "Is this the fruit dismount offered by Dongyi during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty?"
"Exactly." A follower replied: "It should come from Goguryeo."
"How can things from Goguryeo come here?" Guan Qiulu asked.
"Goguryeo and the Yuwen clan have a good alliance."
"That's it." Guan Qiulu nodded and said, "Is this horse really ridden?"
It's not that he looks down on it. This horse is really too short, at most three feet tall - judging from its size, it can indeed be ridden through fruit trees.
"The officials don't know something." The entourage said: "The king of Liang is brave and likes to ride on strong horses. He chases the horses with the officials from Pingyang, Bianliang and other places. But the world is big, and some scholars like to get off their horses. They can ride on them and walk on the road. Under the peach tree, I caress the fallen flowers with my hands, gently break the peach branches, and look graceful."
"There are also those who have fragile skin and soft bones, weak body and weak energy. They are still weak. If they want to ride on the horse, they have to dismount."
Guanqiu Lu kept laughing, and he felt a little sad at the end.
Fortunately, a strong man like King Liang came into being, otherwise this trend would have gone too far.
Men should be like men. What does it mean to be weaker than women?
"Fuyu Shanma, Diao Xiang, Meizhu..." Someone shouted loudly next to them.
"Why are there so many foreign merchants?" Guan Qiulu asked.
"Officials." Tuoba Liugou took a step forward and said, "They come every year, and only last year no one came during the war."
Guanqiu Lu nodded slightly.
"General Zuo Mohan became rich by selling goods outside the Great Wall into the Central Plains." The follower just now said: "Fuyu horses and Xianbei horses have the same basic characteristics. They are both good horses and are much taller than Xiongnu horses. And There are mink, rhinoceros, and mullet, and their fur is soft and creepy, so the world thinks it is called Qiu.”
"I only heard about the dog tail spawning the mink, could it be that the mink tail was also resold by Mo Han?" Guanqiu Lu asked.
"It's hard to say." The attendant smiled and said: "Maybe he is his ancestor."
After saying that, he added: "In fact, officials can buy good horses, famous furs, and beautiful pearls to return to the Central Plains. , We will definitely gain a lot of profits.”
“Is Fuyu State still there?” Guanqiu Lu asked.
Fuyu State is located more than a thousand miles north of Xuantu. It has cities, palaces and palaces, and the land is suitable for grains. It has 80,000 households (about 400,000 people).
This country is not a barbaric and ignorant people. They could farm, build cities, and had handicrafts, commerce, and river shipbuilding. They were destroyed by Goguryeo in history.
After the fall of Goguryeo, the Bohai Kingdom emerged in the Tang Dynasty. At its peak, it had a population of two to three million. Its rice, black beans and other items were used as tributes. It was known as the "Haidong Prosperous Kingdom" and was regarded by the Khitan At the time of death there were still over one million people.
This should also be the peak of civilization in the Northeast. Then it began to decline. By the late Ming Dynasty, it was dominated by tribes.
"The Fuyu Kingdom is still there." The entourage replied: "During the reign of Emperor Wu, tributes came frequently. During the reign of Emperor Hui, there was chaos in the country, and they rarely came. Up to now, tribute has been cut off for a long time. King Liang defeated the Xiongnu. , Guandong is rough, but I don’t know if Fuyu State will send envoys to pay tribute.”
Guanqiu Lu caressed his beard and pondered.
If you can get a few foreign envoys to enter the court, the king will have face and will look at him differently.
However, he quickly vetoed it. He couldn't handle this matter. It was better to give Yu Mian a favor.
After visiting the East Market, Guan Qiulu and his party returned to the business building.
To be honest, Wei Wei is a little surprised.
He is now beginning to rethink the business layout. Livestock trading must be done, but there are actually many other goods to trade, and the profits are quite considerable, especially the Fuyu Miju, which is as big as Jujube is really amazing.
When he was about to convene a meeting with his confidants, there was a sudden noise outside.
Tuoba Liugou’s eyes signaled him to go out to investigate.
A moment later, he came back and reported: "On behalf of the Duke, I ordered everyone to bring their own horses, equipment, and dry food to assemble in Wuzhouchuan within fifteen days. I heard that Helan Aitou was coming, and Wuzhou City There are many thieves outside."
"Dai Gong?" Guanqiu Lu was startled.
"Official, Mrs. Dai Guotai is in Changchun Palace." A follower reminded.
"It's already summer, why are you still in Changchun Palace?" Guan Qiulu asked subconsciously.
The entourage smiled and said: "There are rumors in Pingcheng that Tuoba Yulu fell into a dream and Mrs. Wang became pregnant due to sympathy. Maybe she is pregnant in Liujia and it is inconvenient to travel."
"Oh." Guanqiu Lu suddenly realized, Then he laughed and cursed: "What kind of friendship in a dream? It must be some old maid who is facing -"
The attendant coughed lightly, He said: "Last year, the king conquered Pingcheng and came to the stage. Mrs. Wang often went inside to discuss matters..."
Guanqiu Lu's face turned pale, he looked at everyone, changed the subject and said: "The current situation is in chaos, which is really annoying. . How can we do business during this battle? I will go to the city to see the royal guard later, and we will take stock of the goods here."
"Yes." Everyone responded with their heads lowered.
(End of this chapter)