Early the next morning, I took Meng He and several personal guards to Wushi Mansion.
Nowadays, the largest number of people in the market where Da Qin merchants are located are not guests, but disguised imperial guards and guards from the Ba and Wu clans. Ying Jiang is worried that something will happen to me here, and the other two families are even more worried that I will get hurt here...
When we arrived at Wushi Mansion, except for Wushi Mu who was waiting at the door, he walked into the courtyard and saw no one.
I nodded slightly and thought to myself: 'The Wushi family is indeed a big family. They do everything in their work and are very aware of their status as businessmen. '
There was no courtesy to him and he went straight to the inner courtyard where Wushi Luo was.
When he entered, Wu Shiluo had already changed into a black robe and was sitting on the couch at the side of the main hall.
When he saw me coming in, he straightened up quickly and bowed deeply with the help of his neighbor Wu: "I have seen your Majesty. Please forgive me. I can no longer stand up."
I took a step forward and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, you are inconvenienced, Wu Shi Mu has already told me."
Wushi Luo was just like a feudal lord. Although he enjoyed political status and could be called a minister, he had no actual official position. As for his son and grandson, they were not qualified to inherit this status.
Wu Shiluo quickly made an invitation gesture: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Please sit down, Your Majesty."
I nodded, walked to the top and sat down.
"After I came to the throne, I never paid special attention to Daqin's businessmen. You were ill and never attended the court meeting. I thought you had returned to Wushi County. If Wushi Mu hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you were in Xianyang."
I actually want to say that I thought he was dead... After thinking about it, it's not polite to say this to an old man with white hair and beard. Let's put it another way...
Wu Shimu quickly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It is a villain's fault. I should have reported it to Your Majesty long ago. I am just afraid that these trivial matters will cause Your Majesty trouble."
Wushi Luo also apologized and said, "This is actually Wushi's fault."
I waved my hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter. Wu Shi understands the general situation and takes the overall situation into consideration. I am very pleased that he can consider the country."
When Wu Shiluo heard this, he cupped his hands, then raised his eyes to look at Wu Shilin. Wu Shilin understood, and immediately bowed his hands and left.
Wu Shiluo then continued: "Your Majesty is busy with everything, so I will speak frankly."
I nodded: "But it doesn't hurt to talk."
Wu Shiluo breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty, nine out of ten of our Wu clan's businesses are now livestock and cloth trading in Daqin, which are run by my grandsons Mu and Xie; the other part is with Hu people, The trade of the Qiang people and even the Huns was managed by Feng, the son of the minister.”
Wu Shiluo's son Feng seems to be the one who smuggled salt on the Donghu grassland.
Although I was a little surprised that Wu Shiluo actually took the initiative to tell me this, I already knew something about it before and didn't show it at all on my face. I still looked at him with a smile.
Wu Shiluo became a little uneasy when he saw that I didn't respond, so he could only continue: "The emperor knows these things. In the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor's reign, the emperor had just unified the world. He visited Longxi and the north and passed through Liupan Mountain. He heard that I The mountains were full of cattle and sheep, so he summoned me specially. At that time, I had already informed the emperor of these things."
I nodded and said calmly: "The late emperor not only did not punish you, but also gave you the supreme honor of becoming a king. Why is this?"
In fact, I already had some speculation in my mind, it was nothing more than spying on the military situation and providing livestock for Great Qin. Unexpectedly, Wu Shiluo's reason was completely beyond my expectation.
Wu Shiluo heard the words and responded: "Your Majesty, many of my cattle and sheep were traded from the grasslands, some with the Huns and some with the Hus, but they strictly controlled the transaction quantity, so that the transaction could be completed. , and will not cause the Xiongnu and Hu people to hoard too many supplies such as salt and cloth."
"Yes." I praised: "You have considered this quite carefully. At least from the battles with the Huns and Hus at the beginning of the year, we can see that they do not have too many strategic materials."
"Your Majesty is wise." Wu Shiluo raised his hand and said: "In the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor's reign, the Qin Dynasty had just unified the world and had not had time to attack the Xiongnu. At that time, the border troubles in the north were very serious. At that time, the emperor also did not allow trade with the tribes on the grassland. They couldn't get the necessary salt and cloth at all, so they tried their best to attack Daqin."
"The emperor was quite worried about this when he was talking to me. I have lived in the Wushi Rong tribe for a long time and have a little understanding of the grassland tribes. Every time they plundered, they went south through places without the Great Wall. In addition, there was no place in the north. We have a lot of troops, so I proposed a plan to Your Majesty, which is to first send troops to guard the existing Great Wall, and then connect the Great Walls of Zhao, Yan and Qin into one, so as to resist the invasion of the grassland tribes."
"What did you say? It was you who proposed the idea of connecting the Great Wall and attacking the Huns in the north?" I was shocked.
"Historical Records" records: In the 32nd year of Lu Sheng's death, "Hu Ye, the one who destroyed the Qin Dynasty", Ying Zheng ordered "to punish the jailers who are not straight, build the Great Wall and South Vietnam", and at the same time let Meng Tian lead 300,000 people to the north. How could it be that Wushi Luo proposed the idea of attacking the Xiongnu? And if Ying Zheng had adopted his suggestion, why would he have to wait until the 26th year and the 32nd year before sending troops to the Huns after six full years? Is it really just because of that nonsense?
Wu Shiluo was stunned for a moment, not understanding why I was so excited, and quickly said: "Your Majesty, it's absolutely true!"
I thought about it carefully. When the construction of the Great Wall stopped, I never asked when the construction of the Great Wall started, nor did I ask Meng Tian when he went to Beidi. If what Wu Shiluo said is true, then Tai Shigong has made a big joke!
"Keep talking!" I urged.
Wu Shiluo saw that I attached so much importance to him, so he spoke a little faster: "The emperor was overjoyed after hearing this. He thought that now that the world has been pacified, the Huns have repeatedly invaded the border and slaughtered the people. For the sake of Guizhou, the leader of the world, the northern troubles must be pacified as soon as possible. So he immediately General Mengtian was ordered to lead an army of 300,000 to the north, drive out Rongdi, capture Henan, build the Great Wall, and then set up Jiuyuan County and 44 counties in Henan, and moved the disciples to implement it until today."
"This is also the most important reason why the emperor gave me a humble merchant to be more important than the emperor. In addition, my livestock can help the agricultural development of the Qin Dynasty. Speaking of trading with the grassland tribes, it was also to delay the Xiongnu's march south. They only wanted to If I can survive, I am naturally not willing to risk my life to harass Da Qin. Later, it gradually evolved into spying on the military situation for Da Qin's border troops."
After listening to Wu Shiluo's words, I fell into deep thought.
If we follow what he said, isn't Tai Shigong's statement in "Historical Records" about Ying Zheng building the Great Wall and attacking the Huns from the north nonsense? I feel shuddering, that is the official history that Lu Xun called "the swan song of historians, the blank rhyme "Li Sao""!
