Zhao Jun looked at the official who spoke and asked, "Outside Yunzhou County, where are you referring to?"
Perhaps it was the first time to face Zhao Jun, the most powerful person in Yunzhou County.
The official was a little excited and a little scared, but he didn't dare to delay and hurriedly replied:
"Over there on the Tatar grassland! Or the Huns. Even worse, if the prince can open up the trade route in the Hedong Corridor, we can also buy horses directly from the Western Regions.
The official once heard that there was a country called Dayuan in the Western Regions, and the Dayuan horses produced abundantly in the country were once captured by famous generals of the former dynasty and became his lifelong companions in war.
Thousands of years ago during the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of all nations who came to court obtained this kind of horse from the predecessor country of Dawan, and brought it back to China to cross-breed horses with grassland horses.
The improved war horse has really been greatly enhanced, both in endurance and speed.
If the two barbarian cholera attacks in the Central Plains had not eliminated and taken away large numbers of these excellent war horses, our Song people's war horses would not have been incompetent when facing foreign races.
It is said that the last dozen or so descendants of the improved war horses in the Song Dynasty are currently in His Majesty's Royal Horse Stable in Bianjing.
If our Yunzhou County can bring back a batch of Dawan horses from Dawan to improve the horse breed, maybe our Yunzhou County can regain the peak reputation of Han cavalry during the Hanshui Dynasty.
…”
Zhao Jun became more and more excited as he listened to what he said, and even went off topic, hurriedly waved his hand and interrupted: "We will talk about improving horse breeds later, but what our Yunzhou County is most lacking now is a large number of war horses.
What did you mean when you said buying horses from the Tatars and the Huns? "
After Zhao Jun finished speaking, everyone in the meeting hall looked at the official with suspicion.
No wonder they were looking at him like that, it was really his suggestion that puzzled them.
They are enemies with the Huns and Tatars. Wouldn't trading with them be siding with their enemies?
Although they can get war horses in the end, the Tatars and Huns will definitely become stronger because of the supplies they provide!
It's like making it more difficult for yourself!
This had to make them wonder whether this official was a spy sent by the Tatars, specifically looking for opportunities to replenish supplies for the Tatars.
No one who can become an official is stupid. When he sees the strange looks that people look at him.
He panicked and quickly began to explain.
"Everyone! Please listen to what I have to say first.
Although I proposed trading with the Tatars and Huns, it does not mean that we want to trade with them important military supplies that can improve their combat effectiveness!
We can trade with the Tatars with consumables that are expensive but cannot pose a threat to us.
In this way, we can buy the war horses we need without worrying about increasing the opponent's strength! "
"Consumables that are expensive but cannot pose a threat to us?"
Zhao Jun touched his chin and pondered. Is there anything in Yunzhou County that can meet these two conditions?
But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't figure out what kind of thing it was.
The officials below also started to speculate about this thing.
Some said it was for food, some said it was for use, and some said it was for play.
But no one is sure what it is?
You know, Tatars are not fools, and they can't want everything. If your things don't impress the Tatars enough, they will feel that they must buy it.
So no matter how fanciful you say it is, it is just a delusion.
Just when everyone was speculating, as the owner of the proposal, the official had no intention of hiding it and directly announced the answer!
"Wine! It has to be strong liquor!"
"Strong liquor?"
"Strong liquor!"
“Strong liquor!!!”
His answer was indeed beyond everyone's expectations.
No one thought that the thing he was talking about was wine!
It is true that compared to other things that can be traded with the Tatars, wine can indeed be sold at a high price, and it will not increase the Tatars' combat power. It is indeed a good product. options.
Because of their geographical location, the Tatars and Huns have a great thirst for spirits. It can even be said that most of them are drunkards. In the past, we could see this every time the Huns or Tatars entered the country. A group of Tatars or Huns blocked the door of the tavern and competed for drinks.
That posture is more positive than grabbing an iron pot!
but……
Making wine requires a large amount of food. There is already a shortage of food in the pass. Under the severe crackdown by the Song Dynasty court, there is already very little wine that can be formed every year.
This also made it more difficult for the Huns or Tatars to obtain spirits.
But if Yunzhou County can produce strong liquor, this must be said to be an extremely suitable business.
Zhao Jun is not stupid, and neither is everyone. He quickly figured this out.
Thinking again about the official's identity, Zhao Jun immediately asked him:
"Don't you know that making wine requires a lot of food?"
The official suddenly asked, "My lord, are you short of food?
Or is Yunzhou County short of food? "
His two questions immediately surprised all the officials.
Zhao Jun was even more stunned, and then burst into laughter.
interesting! So interesting!
According to the latest report from the Yunzhou County Sheriff's Office, the three counties collected a total of nearly 103 million yuan in spring tax this time.
Including the previous surplus grain, the grain reserves currently held by Yunzhou County have reached a terrifying level of more than 220 million dan.
So he is indeed not short of food, and there is even so much food that he has to build several more granaries to store food.
The amount of grain consumed in brewing is only a drop in the bucket in terms of Yunzhou County's huge grain reserves.
Zhao Jun laughed happily, laughed twice, said hello twice, and then said to the official:
"Since you proposed using wine in exchange for war horses with the Tatars, you must have a corresponding plan in mind.
As for the matter of exchanging wine for horses, I will leave it to you. I will give you certain authority. As long as the application submitted is reasonable, I will give you approval to use the grain in the inventory after reading it.
Another point is that I am not someone who doesn’t know how to make wine. I remember that even the fastest brewing of a batch of wine may take nearly a year, and now there is less than four months until mid-September.
This little time is not enough to brew a new batch of wine. I don’t know how you want to deal with this matter?
Also, at this juncture when we are about to attack Yunzhou County, whether the Tatars are willing to sell their war horses to us is also an issue that needs attention.
In short, although this is feasible, there are still many problems that need to be overcome.
But if you can overcome these one by one and complete the task assigned to you by this king.
Then I remember that the post of Director of the Grain Reserves Department is still vacant, right? "
Li Yi on the side immediately replied: "Prince Hui, due to the lack of officials and the special nature of the Grain Reserves Department, if he is not someone he really trusts, I would not dare to put him in the position of director of the Grain Reserves Department.
Therefore, the position of director of the Grain Reserves Department has always been filled by subordinate officials.
In fact it is still in limbo. "
Zhao Jun nodded, then turned to the official and promised: "If you can exchange enough war horses for our Yunzhou County before mid-September, then the position of director of the Grain Reserve Department will be yours!"
The official suddenly showed an excited expression when he heard this.
Wealth is found in danger, it seems that I made the right bet!
…
(End of chapter)
