Songtsen Gampo and Shang Xiang looked at each other, and you could see the joy in their eyes. This was... great!
Although they have rivers in Tubo, no one knows how to build any boats. After they came to the Harsha Dynasty, when they crossed the river, they had to catch people from the local area and help them build some boats.
They didn't understand how to build ships and docks and ports. When Songtsen Gampo promised Li Ke, he just wanted to recruit people to help him build it.
Unexpectedly now, he didn’t even have to spend this money!
Map of the Tang Dynasty in 639 AD.
And more importantly, he can now get his supplies faster.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Songtsen Gampo stood up and saluted Li Ke. He felt that he could only say these four words now.
Li Ke also stood up, stretched out his hand and patted Songtsen Gampo's shoulder, and said lightly: "Xiao Song, I don't like anything else but just making money. In this world, eating, drinking and having fun are the fundamentals. It’s meaningless to have royal power and wealth that you won’t take with you in life or death. Living happily and having fun are the most important things.”
"So, as long as they don't stop me from making money, I can be friends with anyone. But if someone stops me from making money, then there is an old saying in the Central Plains. Destroying a person's financial path is like killing his parents. The revenge of killing his father must be avenged. of."
Li Shimin: "..."
Songtsen Gampo hurriedly said: "It is my honor to make money for His Highness."
"Don't worry, when I make money, I like to cooperate with others and win-win. This is the way for us to win together. Although I say I am making money, you are also making money, right? For example, these lands and the people on the land, these are all It’s your fortune, Xiaosong.”
"And I just like gold and silver. Let's do it. I'm not afraid to tell you that before I came here, I went to Zhenwa and other places to negotiate business with them. For example, rice and other grains were exchanged for silk from my Tang Dynasty. The price was about forty shi of rice. Exchange it for a piece of silk."
"But here, I can give you 30 shi at this price! Whether you exchange it with rice or gold and silver, it's all fine." Li Ke said calmly, "Line cloth, silk, tea, porcelain, I only charge you 70% of the price of real wax.”
After Songtsen Gampo was stunned for a moment, his whole face was filled with ecstasy. He knew how cheap food was in the Harsha Dynasty. If it were before, he would never dare to think about this price because Tubo was also poor. The price of food is even more expensive than that of the Tang Dynasty.
But after coming here, Songtsen Gampo found that the food prices here were ridiculously low, and the key point was that silk, cloth, porcelain, etc. from the Tang Dynasty were ridiculously expensive.
In the early stage, he used the silk sold to him by Li Keping at a low price to exchange for a large amount of grain here.
Now he is not short of food. Of course, the slaves in Tubo must be short of food, but it would be good if those slaves can eat highland barley. Do you still want to eat rice? Of course, these rice must be exchanged with His Highness for these supplies first, and then used to earn a large amount of gold and silver.
As for the grain, he can exchange it with the Gouda Kingdom or the Chalukya Dynasty, so that he can earn a lot of grain for himself.
With this food, he can immigrate more slaves, and these slaves can help him stabilize his rule here.
"Besides, I can even sell you arrows, iron arrow arrows, or sell you some war horses." Li Ke suddenly said again.
Songtsen Gampo didn't know what to do. If His Highness King Qin did this, even if he was asked to call him daddy, he would still do it.
"Your Highness, don't worry, I, Tibet, are the most loyal ally of the Tang Dynasty." Songtsen Gampo said solemnly.
"It's not important." Li Ke smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and then said in a calm tone: "It doesn't matter whether you Tubo and Datang are loyal allies, as long as you don't stop me from making money, you Tubo If it is detrimental to us, the Tang Dynasty, that is not my business, Li Ke’s, but that of the countless generals of the Tang Dynasty.”
"At that time, they will naturally go to destroy you and Tubo. It has nothing to do with me, but as long as you help me make money."
Songtsen Gampo paused for a moment. He suddenly thought that the person in front of him was not the prince or the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. It seemed normal to have such thoughts.
It would be great if His Highness King Qin were the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty and could inherit the throne. Then they, Tubo, could buy more good things from the Tang Dynasty.
"I will ask someone to give you a price list later. The trade then will be carried out at the mouth of the river. Of course, if Tibet cannot defend these places, then trade between us can also be done It's terminated." Li Ke said lightly.
"Your Highness, please rest assured. If you can't even hold this little territory, how can I have the honor to help you make money?" Songtsen Gampo took a deep breath and said.
"I personally think that after you captured the city of Rajgir, you must have some war horses in your hands, but cavalry is not that easy to form. You can properly form some cavalry units to enter the Harsha Dynasty to harass you, just like Murong Shun did in your That’s what happened in Tubo.”
"In this case, firstly, you will train your cavalry troops, and secondly, you will weaken the enemy's strength so that they will not easily gather together, giving you more time to digest your territory." Li Ke gave him another suggestion.
In this way, you can attract most of the Harsha Dynasty's army. When I get to the other side of the Indian peninsula and the pirates from Monobe Village attack that land, I will naturally be empty of troops.
Indian peninsula layout
…
While Li Ke was drawing cakes for Songtsan Gambo, thousands of miles away in Chang'an, Li Shimin looked at the map in front of him and fell into deep thought.
There were two maps placed in front of him. The first map was sent back first.
It shows a map of Lingnan Road in the Tang Dynasty and Yazhou and other islands in the south, and then there is an additional Luzon Island on the map.
When the map was delivered, it also contained a memorial from Li Ke, which stated that the territory of the Tang Dynasty had expanded, and the island was officially included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty and named Luzon Island. It was also said that there were discoveries on the island. The gold mine is estimated to have at least 500 tons of reserves.
Li Shimin already knows the unit of ton, which is about 16 shi and closer to 17 shi. In other words, there are 8,000 stones of gold here!
Eight thousand stones, what a concept!
It's just that not long after Li Shimin digested this map, he received a second map not long ago.
But this time, the Linyi Kingdom on the map was no longer there. It had become the Xianglinyi County of the Tang Dynasty... It was said that the king and his family of the Linyi Kingdom were on their way to Chang'an to plead guilty.
The point is, the Tang Dynasty captured Lin Yi State, and then asked Zhen Wa for 10 million shi of food compensation? ! And in about the next two years, at least 40 million stones of rice will be transported from Zhenwa to Datang? !
Li Shimin was completely stunned. Forty million shi of rice? ! What a concept.
Counting the time, half a month has passed since I got the second map. Will... will the third map be coming? !
