Now that the decision was made, Li Ke decided to talk to a few people, but he did not choose to talk to them immediately. Instead, he waited for more than a month. Spring plowing began near Chang'an before Li Ke called three people over.
Li Ke met three people outside Chang'an City by the Wei River. When the three of them came over, Li Ke was fishing by the Wei River. Speaking of which, Li Ke had just been promoted to a junior fisherman in his two lifetimes. .
After the three people arrived, they were a little surprised when they saw each other. At the same time, they were also a little uneasy in their hearts. They didn't know why His Highness asked them to come.
"I have met Your Highness." All three of them saluted Li Ke.
"Sit." Li Ke pointed to the chairs around him and said.
The three of them hesitated for a moment, then each found a chair and sat down.
"I'm looking for three generals to come today. Actually, I have an important task that I want to talk to them about." Li Ke said with a smile.
"I don't know what His Highness's orders are. We will naturally go through fire and water without hesitation." Qibi Heli said.
"Actually, the matter is very simple. It has something to do with Xue Yantuo." Li Ke said.
"Your Highness, I dare to ask, does the Tang Dynasty want to use troops against Xue Yantuo?" Ashinadur thought for a while and asked.
"You can say yes or you can say no. This matter is in between. But I don't know if the three generals don't understand. If you know me well, you should know very well that I have always preferred not to fight. And conquer the enemy's soldiers." Li Ke said with a smile.
Li Ke's words are not bragging. In his opinion, fighting is certainly indispensable, but it is also possible to defeat others without fighting.
"Your Highness, if Xue Yantuo has a disobedient heart, as generals of the Tang Dynasty, we will naturally be willing to be the vanguard and lead the army to fight in person. We all have Turkic ancestry and are familiar with grassland warfare." Ashinadur was very happy. He said simply.
Li Ke naturally believed what they said. To be honest, the foreign vassal states of the Tang Dynasty were very loyal to a certain extent. At least compared to previous dynasties, their loyalty had a lot to do with Li Shimin's ability to accommodate these foreign ministers and generals.
It is absolutely impossible for these three to reach such a status in the Tang Dynasty if they were placed in a dynasty. At least Li Ke had never heard of other dynasties having so many foreign generals like the Tang Dynasty in history.
For example, Qibi Heli was even granted the title of Duke of Liang in the end.
Moreover, after Li Shimin's death, these three people expressed their willingness to commit suicide and be buried with Li Zhi, who succeeded him, but were rejected by Li Zhi.
No one wants to die, but being able to say this has proven that the other person is really loyal.
"No, I called you three here because I trust you three, so I told you some things directly. The reason I called you here this time is actually because I want you three to take Xue Yantuo, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty."
"As an envoy?" The three people were stunned for a moment.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhi lost his thoughts and said: "Your Highness, it's not that I and the other three are unwilling to take on this important task, but that I and the other three have read very little and are embarrassed to use it. That is, they have read some military books and other books. Very little has been read, and such matters as sending an envoy are of great importance."
Speaking of this, the faces of the three people Zhi lost Si Li were somewhat embarrassed. It can be said that the three of them are from Turks, but they are just from different tribes of Turks. The three of them usually have a good relationship, and they naturally understand each other's situation relatively well. .
They felt that they could not complete such a mission.
"Actually, you don't need to say anything more. This mission is relatively simple. Just say what you said." Li Ke smiled, then took out three pieces of clothes from the box next to him and handed them to them respectively. Three people.
The three of them were a little confused, but they still reached out and took it.
"Can you three tell what kind of clothes this is?" Li Ke asked with a smile.
The three of them were a little confused, but they still lowered their heads and looked at it. It was a pullover. It looked like the threads were very thick, but the threads were woven into a relatively dense pattern. The overall style was not ugly, and it felt good. It is very thick and very soft. Although it is not as soft as silk, it is much softer than linen.
"Your Highness, what is this?" The three people were a little confused.
"They are all made of wool." Li Ke said with a smile.
The three of them were stunned for a moment. After losing their strength, they subconsciously picked up the clothes in their hands and put them to their noses and smelled them. There was no smell.
"You can pull a thread from it, light it and smell it." Li Ke took out a lighter from his body and threw it over. "Press the black thing next to it and a flame will come out."
Qibi Heli hurriedly caught what Li Keren came over, and then clumsily pressed the black button with his thumb, and a flame immediately appeared next to it.
Qibi Heli and everyone were shocked, what kind of flint is this? So advanced?
However, he did not forget His Highness's instructions. The three of them pulled out a piece of thread from the clothes in their hands and lit it directly with the lighter in their hands. The smell of burnt wool immediately reached their noses.
After smelling it, the three of them were now sure that it was indeed a woolen garment, but they were a little confused... They didn't know what the meaning of His Highness showing them this garment was.
"You go, bring this clothes to Zhenzhu Khan, and tell him that I could actually destroy the entire Turkic people without a single blow, but I didn't do that." Li Ke said.
The three people were stunned for a moment, but they did not ask but waited for the next step.
"I have very advanced tools at hand. I can charge a lot of wool to make these sweaters, cardigans, etc. at a very low cost, not much more expensive than linen."
"This means that I have a large market in Datang, because for ordinary people, these are excellent winter clothes."
"I will purchase a large amount of wool with grain and even iron tools at the borders of Turkic tribes such as Datang and Xueyantuo. Wool is almost useless on the grassland, which means I can exchange a large amount of wool at a very high profit."
"In order for the Turkic nobles and herdsmen to survive better, they would raise a large number of sheep. In the first year, I bought wool. In the second year, I bought another product, cashmere, at ten times or even dozens of times the price! Cashmere It’s better quality and more quantity on goats.”
"When herdsmen start to raise goats in large quantities, the goats' habit of eating grass roots will gradually begin to destroy the pastures. It will not be noticeable in the first one or two years. In about three or four years, large areas of pastures on the grasslands will gradually be destroyed. , gradually becoming a desert."
"At that time, the nobles who were already accustomed to exchanging large amounts of silk, tea, grain, salt, and even porcelain and other important daily necessities with the Tang Dynasty would not lower their quality of life. They would gradually expand their grazing areas. In order to raise sheep on a larger scale, they will reduce the size of the cattle and horse herds that eat more."
"When the area of the desert becomes larger and larger, no matter if I suddenly announce a reduction in the purchase price of wool, or simply stop the purchase, the entire Turk will collapse internally."
"At that time, the desertification of the grasslands will be irreversible, and the homeland that the Turks rely on for survival will shrink." Li Ke said lightly.
Qibi, Heli and the other three couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. This...if His Highness hadn't said it, they were sure that no one on the grassland would be able to see through this plot, and they also knew...these things were destined to happen. of.
