This meal of steamed duck with cordyceps was very unpleasant to Liu Chengzong.
He had already predicted the economic situation of the Hexi Corridor in his mind, but he still had many romantic fantasies about the economic level there.
But Shili has nothing to say about what he saw when he came here. He can sum it up in two words: sand.
The road from Turpan to Hami is full of sand. From Hami to Guazhou, there are no people in Guazhou. There are only about 200 households surrounding the shrinking oasis.
Liu Chengzong asked about Dunhuang. It was a haunting name, and it was the place where the Han people's dream of the Western Regions began.
Shili just shook his head with a dull expression and said there was no Dunhuang.
It has been a full hundred years since Shazhou was abandoned by the Ming Dynasty. During this hundred years, it nominally belonged to Abdul Lain Khan of Turpan. However, in order to avoid further conflicts with the Ming Dynasty, Shazhou and Guazhou were between Turpan and the Gansu General Army of the Ming Dynasty. A tacit buffer zone.
Without human management, the Dunhuang oasis still stands in the endless Gobi desert, but all that remains are abandoned farmland and willow trees sown by wind and sand on both sides of the Dang River.
The fragile Gobi irrigation system has long since become a relic.
Maritime trade has impacted the Silk Road. Now it is just a golden road connecting the eight cities of Yarkand, Kashgar, Khotan, Yingisha, Aksu, Wush, Turpan, and Hami.
In the past thirty years, the Yarkand tribes have been attacking each other. In fact, the only people who still travel along the Silk Road are smugglers from Aksu, Turpan, and Hami.
People no longer need Dunhuang, and Yeerqiang, who is attacking in chaos, is unable to manage the Western Regions. The relationship between Ming Dynasty and Turpan and Hami has become a real barren land.
Hearing such news from the envoy from Turpan, Liu Chengzong was in a very low mood.
Although he had expected this in his mind, he still hadn't realized that the environment had deteriorated to this extent.
It wasn't until he led his army into the jurisdiction of Luhuo County, cooperated with the township official's work team in the northwest to destroy two noble manors, and announced that more than 400 slaves would be freed, that he felt a little better.
However, the impact of this incident was not high. In the mountains beside the Niqu River, his lion soldiers found many platforms suitable for farming.
Since Nangqian was carrying out a massive reclamation work, the Lion Army soldiers all knew that the commander-in-chief was worrying about the fields. Many of them were farmers, and some of them were experts in farming.
These people are very attentive to the soil along the way. Whenever they find a meandering section, they will go up to explore the soil and water on the platform, and they can often get good harvests.
The most fertile land here is the smaller plain in the mountainous area, also called Bazi. Almost all noble manors are located on Bazi. In addition to Bazi, the next most fertile land is the platform in the meandering section of the river valley. The area is small, but irrigation is easy and the soil is relatively small. Very fertile.
But in this area, most of them are river impact areas. The sloping land on both sides of the river can be transformed into terraces. The soil is not that good and the work is more laborious.
The guards registered the fields suitable for reclamation one by one, waiting for immigrants to call for reclamation later. For Liu Chengzong, he was more filled with emotion.
He has discovered a pattern. The closer to the border of the Ming Dynasty, the better the geographical environment and the better people's lives.
In most places under the rule of Kangning Prefecture, there is little farmland and a lot of pasture land. The entire Kangning Prefecture has more than one million hectares of pasture and countless cattle and sheep. However, this does not mean that it is rich. In fact, it is very poor.
Like the Mongolian herdsmen who cannot afford meat, the people in the pastoral areas mainly rely on a small amount of highland barley and dairy products to sustain their lives. Only the extremely wealthy nobles will slaughter and eat meat, but the nobles do not raise cattle, so it is equivalent to herdsmen not killing cattle.
Entering Luhuo County, Liu Chengzong could gradually see the Mongolians. Because the Mongolian people did not eat fish, there were many fishing experts on the river. When he got closer, he saw that all the people on the small fishing boats and rafts were holding poles. They were Mongols and they ran away when they saw the army.
After all, the river is not a grassland. There are cavalry on both sides of the boat holding boats. There is no place to run if they want to. When I call them over and ask, the Sichuan mandarin speaks better than anyone else.
They are not Tumote. Their ancestors were the troops who were transferred from Jiangxi to Chengdu with the prime minister in the late Yuan Dynasty to put down the rebellion.
Liu Chengzong did not pursue the question of how to put himself into the furnace when suppressing the rebellion in Chengdu. Anyway, these Mongolians are really good at punting and fishing skills. They have the spirit of fishing alone in the snow in the cold river. .
Ten miles northwest of Luhuo County, his uncle Cai Zhongpan took Muya, the chieftain of Changhe West, with his followers wrapped in thick fur robes, like a group of pandas standing in the ice and snow waiting for bamboo.
The men and horses were approaching from a distance, and Mu Ya was still complaining to Cai Zhongpan, saying that even though he was half a fellow villager, you actually hid such a big thing from me!
He didn't know the news that Liu Chengzong was coming until three days ago. Cai Zhongpan had been leaving him in Luhuo before, which made Muya uneasy and wondered whether Cai Zhongpan had discussed with Lijiang's chieftain to keep him here. .
It made him worry in vain for more than ten days, and then he realized that Liu Chengzong was coming... Damn it, it's a good thing, there's nothing to hide!
As long as it's not King Mu who comes, it's a good thing whoever comes.
When Liu Chengzong saw them from a distance, he rode his horse a few steps faster. When he got closer, he got off his horse and hugged his uncle. Then he looked at Muya next to him and said to Cai Zhongpan, "This is the long-haired man that my uncle mentioned to me." Hexi toast, right?"
Muya quickly clasped his fists and then saluted: "Yes, I'm Changhexi Muya, greeting the commander-in-chief!"
"Forget it, I don't like those bows. I heard from my uncle that Chief Mu and he are talking about the township party." Liu Chengzong laughed, then raised his hand and said: "Let's get on the horse and talk as we go. "
Mu Ya nodded when he heard the words, stepped forward and took Hong Qi's reins, glanced back, and saw a servant was about to step forward. Cai Zhongpan quickly pulled his sleeves and winked hard.
Cai Zhongpan said in his heart that based on his understanding of his nephew, if Muya pulled out a slave here to serve as a stepping stone for Liu Shizi, the two families would not have to talk about anything, and a war would inevitably occur.
He really didn't want Liu Chengzong to fight with Mu Ya, or even want Liu Chengzong to fight with anyone here.
It feels uncomfortable when you lose, but when you win, you get a piece of land to lose money.
In the hands of the chieftains, these lands were income, but in the hands of the Lion Army, the temples were demolished and the nobles were expelled, leaving a bunch of slaves waiting for food. They had to find ways to find food for them, leaving only to improve the living standards of others. .
No matter how great your prestige is, you can't keep doing this.
On the way, Cai Zhongpan and Liu Chengzong took a few steps forward, reported the recent situation, and said: "Commander, I checked Mu Ya's tone. As long as we draw a boundary, pay tribute, ask for money, food, and women, as long as If you can afford it, it’s no problem, just a little bit.”
To be honest, Liu Chengzong was not very interested in giving money and food to women. No matter how many things he asked for, these things would eventually be passed on to the people. He asked: "What?"
"Not too much. He still has to pay tribute to the court, and he hopes that the Lion Army can be his backer."
Liu Chengzong didn't quite understand the logic of this matter, and said: "It's easy to be a backer, but does he no longer plan to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty? Or does he want to expand abroad?"
"It's not the Ming Dynasty, nor expansion." Cai Zhongpan said: "It's Lijiang. There is no place to expand west of the Yangtze River. To the east is the Sichuan Chief Envoy of the imperial court, to the southeast is the Sichuan Capital Commander's Office, and to the south and west are the Lijiang Mujia people. Now that we have the territory, go two hundred miles west of Dajian Road and you will have the surname Mu."
With that said, Cai Zhongpan pointed north again: "Go northwest for two hundred miles. His surname is Liu. To the north, Jinchuan is building watchtowers. Where is he going to expand?"
Liu Chengzong couldn't help but smile, and asked why this Changhexi chieftain was so restless. In this environment, anyone would be restless.
"Uncle has done a good job, I know it well."
Liu Chengzong didn't say anything on the way, because Mu Ya vigorously introduced him to his relationship with Shaanxi merchants, and also said that he would let Liu Shishi taste his hometown cuisine.
It is a genuine hometown dish. Muya invited six Shaanxi cooks and six Sichuan cooks from Dajian Lu. With the ingredients transported from Sichuan, yesterday morning they started to sauce and blanch the black beans in the largest manor in Luhuo County. Bamboo shoot juice, braised vegetables, and soup stock.
Shaanxi businessmen are very pompous and don't hesitate to eat. Most of the cooks on the Sichuan side were brought here by wealthy businessmen and were employed by various chieftains to open restaurants in Dajian Lu.
Muya arranged the banquet according to the specifications of the salt merchants who came to Sichuan, making Liu Shizi feel like a bumpkin.
The cooks were all from Guanzhong, and Kuang Kuang set out nine large bowls of Lantian, including roasted elbow, stewed cabbage, sliver pork, short crispy pork, old tofu... among a bunch of hard-looking dishes, he only served the thick wine pot helmet. relatively familiar.
The chef from Central Sichuan served northern Sichuan jelly, honey-made cow's hoof flower, wine bone fermentation, hibiscus tofu, orange sauce spareribs, turtle soup and lactose tiger.
In fact, the last snack was originally a lactose lion. The raw materials were stone honey made from sugar and milk, plus cheese, to look like a lion. It has been a tribute to the imperial court from Sichuan since the Song Dynasty. Under the instruction of Cai Zhongpan Let the cook change the style and make it into a tiger.
"Touch Mu has put a lot of effort into preparing this banquet."
Among the dazzling array of dishes, Liu Chengzong felt that every dish was delicious, but what he liked most was the round pickles on the table. He asked, "What is that dish?"
The banquet was very satisfying, especially as Muya was very considerate. She knew that the Lion Army had been on an expedition all the way, and there were no good cooks. If the Lion Army prepared the same banquet, it would probably be a large quantity, so I'm afraid it would be best. The dishes are famous dishes in northern Shaanxi...
Hearing Liu Chengzong's question, Muya felt flattered. She patted her chest and said, "Commander, that's the Yutong pickled cabbage under our command. It's made from mountain round roots. It won't be part of today's banquet. If Commander If you like it, I’ll serve fried bacon with sauerkraut and sour soup noodles at night.”
Liu Chengzong nodded and said to Cai Zhongpan, "This is good. It can be used as military rations."
Mu Ya was choked by a sentence and didn't know how to answer it. After thinking for a long time, she smiled and said: "Commander, does he know what is the most precious thing about this banquet?"
Liu Chengzong blinked and replied, "Is he the chef we invited?"
Mu Ya waved her hand and said, "No, it's Sichuan salt. All the dishes today use the fine Sichuan salt brought by shopkeeper Zhao."
Liu Chengzong looked around and saw that this shopkeeper Zhao was a merchant that Cai Zhongpan asked Muya to find from Chengdu Prefecture. He used to be a shopkeeper from the same clan as the Zhao family in Weinan, and he was engaged in the sale of salt and tea.
Sitting at the table, I ate my meal very carefully, not saying a word.
After all, for Shopkeeper Zhao, the people at this table were either chieftains or rebel leaders. None of them were easy to get along with in their territory.
Liu Chengzong asked: "How expensive is Sichuan salt?"
"My chieftain's office, whose full name is Changhe Xiyutong Ningyuan Military and Civilian Xuanfu Division, does not produce salt." Mu Ya gently touched the table with his hand: "Twenty taels of Fritillaria, in exchange for four pounds of Sichuan salt, the salt When it arrives at Yutong, it’s already full of big chunks of rice cracker salt.”
Fritillaria is a medicinal material that has always been precious. It has a very good effect in relieving coughs and reducing phlegm. This is the Sichuan Fritillary in Sichuan Fritillary Loquat Cream.
Twenty taels of fritillaries can be exchanged for four pounds of salt. Liu Chengzong felt that he had underestimated the value of salt.
In his opinion, there is salt everywhere, which cannot be said to be precious, but this is based on the vast territory of the Lions Army.
If you look at toasts like Changhexi, which have not changed for hundreds of years, no salt means no salt.
"The commander-in-chief is a person who handles big things. He can't help with the big things in Changhe West. But if the commander-in-chief uses the territory of the superiors and subordinates, as long as you can give me some cheap salt, everything will be easy to discuss."
Mu Ya had been looking forward to what Liu Chengzong and Shopkeeper Zhao would talk about about the smuggling business. He thought it should be about salt, so he kept trying to bring the topic there, hoping that the Lion Army would give him a small opening when they used his territory to smuggle salt. Son.
But what Liu Chengzong wanted to do was immigrate. Although the salt wells in Sichuan were very close, large-scale smuggling did not mean much to him. The difference in altitude between the two places could even erase the long distance to transport salt from Nangqian.
But after Mu Ya said so, Liu Chengzong asked: "Mu Tusi, since you said so, everything can be discussed with salt?"
"Yes, as long as the price of the salt is not too expensive, even half a pound of fritillary for four pounds of salt will be fine."
"I don't lack fritillaries. There are them all over the grass dams I came here." Liu Chengzong looked at Mu Ya: "I lack one thing."
Muya came closer: "What?"
Liu Chengzong said: "Food."
Hearing these two words, Muya's heart skipped a beat.
He thought about Liu Chengzong's lack of money and other things, but he never thought about Liu Chengzong's lack of food. He didn't dare to think about it.
Anything you lack can be replaced, but lack of food often means war.
Because grain consumption is large, heavy, and difficult to transport, once there is a shortage of grain, it is not a problem that can simply be solved by trade.
He had seen Liu Chengzong's soldiers, and they were all strong and well-equipped. If these Shaanxi barbarians started to fight fiercely, he might not be able to defeat them even if he and Yazhou's soldiers were included.
The atmosphere on the big round table suddenly froze. Muya's back was soaked with sweat. He took a deep breath: "What do you mean, Marshal?"
"I have an idea. When I came here, I saw most of the land in Kangning Prefecture. Many places that could be cultivated for growing food were not cultivated."
Liu Chengzong didn't know where Mu Ya's tension came from. He was short of food, but the Lion Army's territory was large enough that the soldiers would not starve. There was just a big gap in food and grass for subsequent immigrants.
"Lease me the land west of the Dadu River that is suitable for cultivation but has not been cultivated, including mountains, valleys, terraces, and saline-alkali lands." Liu Chengzong opened his hand and said, "I will rent you as much as you can get for five acres and a pound of salt."
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