The first Taoist priest of the Tang Dynasty

The Qiang soldiers and horses stopped and stood there in unison like the Tang army, quietly watching what happened in the direction of the Tang army.

Under such an unknown situation, no one took any action.

The scouts also dispersed, but the reward was that no scouts from the Tang army were found.

At this time, the leader of the Qiang people became more and more startled.

This stalemate passed for another quarter of an hour.

As the sky gradually became brighter, the two parties had already seen each other's situation.

"Boss, the Tang army has not increased its troops. Shall we rush over and kill him?" A young general saw that the Tang army was still the same size as it was a few days ago, and the killing intent suddenly arose in his heart.

"No hurry, wait for the scouts to report back and see the situation." The leader didn't have the confidence in his heart, and he didn't dare to rush over at this time.

He was waiting for the scattered scouts to report back.

Another quarter of an hour later, the scout returned.

"Report to the leader, no Tang army was found within [-] miles from both ends of Chaka Salt Lake." The scouts explored the east and west ends of Chaka Salt Lake, but found no ambush.

"Haha, it seems that this Tang army is going to belong to me, Bo Haoren, today. Send an order, and rush over there after a drumbeat." The leader Bo Haoren laughed loudly after receiving the reward from the scouts.

Of course, he didn't want to give up such a good opportunity.

What's more, as long as this group of Tang troops is wiped out, his tribe can get a large amount of food and livestock, which is a big deal.

But when he, Bo Haoren, was happy, one of the Tang troops in front slowly walked towards their camp.

Just now, when Zhong Wen saw that the other party had not acted, an idea came to his mind, and he walked towards the group of people.

Li Daliang and Zhang Cheng couldn't stop them even if they wanted to, and watched Zhong Wen walk towards the group of people.

What Zhong Wen wanted to do, how could Li Daliang and the others stop him.

Even if he wanted to stop him, but with Zhong Wen's skills, who has such abilities?

At this time, the sky had begun to light up, and from a distance of several tens of feet, one could clearly see who the other party was.

The leader of the Qiang people saw a young man walking towards them, although he was not afraid, but thinking of some battlefield etiquette in the Tang Kingdom, he could only shout loudly at the slowly approaching man. "Who is coming?"

Battlefield etiquette can be regarded as the etiquette for envoys to negotiate with each other.

For example, when one side wants to surrender or does not want to fight, they will send envoys to the other side to have a talk.

But Bo Haoren saw that the person who came was a young man who looked like a literati, and thought that Zhong Wen must have come here to negotiate.

"The Prince of Tang Dynasty Shaobao Zhong Wen." When Zhong Wen walked slowly to ten feet away from the Qiang people, the Qiang people's archers pointed their bows at Zhong Wen.

"Tang Prince Shaobao? How could such a big man appear here?" The leader trembled in fear after hearing the sound.

Prince Shaobao, he still knows what kind of person he is, but he is a second-rank high-ranking official of the Tang Kingdom.

However, he couldn't understand that such a young person was Tang's Crown Prince Shaobao, and such a high-ranking official had arrived in the hinterland of Tuguhun, which was obviously a bit wrong.

With such an important person here, are there only these hundreds of soldiers guarding him?

According to the regular system, that is really impossible.

At this time, he, Bo Haoren, began to suspect that there must be ambushes on Tang Jun's side, and there are probably quite a few more, it's impossible that there are only a few hundred people.

There was a drum in my heart, and I was calculating whether to attack or not.

However, he was also afraid of death, and he was also afraid of being surrounded by Tang's ambushes.

Many questions flashed in his mind, but he just couldn't figure out what was going on inside. Then he asked Zhong Wen, "Why did the Tang army break into the hinterland of our Tuguhun? Could it be that the Tang country can enter other countries at will because of its military strength?"

"We're not here to fight, we're here to do business, and likewise, we're here for your livelihood." Zhong Wen looked at the archers in front of him, but there was no trace of nervousness or fear in his eyes.

For these ordinary people in front of him, if Zhong Wen really wanted to kill them, it was only a matter of time.

However, Zhong Wen didn't want this team of Tuyuhun's soldiers to kill him. After all, if there was a fight, more than 2000 people would fight against 700 people, even if Li Daliang was brave, it would probably be enough.

And no matter how fast he is, if the other party really wants to kill someone, he won't be able to stop him at all.

The purpose of Zhong Wen's coming here is to recruit these people and lay some foundations for his future saltworks.

At least, with the addition of Tuguhun's army, I think there will be fewer troubles in the future. As for whether it will be successful, we will talk about it later.

"Business? What kind of business?" Bo Haoren was puzzled by Zhong Wen's words.

Apart from the bitter salt in the salt lake, what other business can be done here?

"The chaka behind me is for business, and we came here this time for the bitter salt in the chaka. If you are willing to sit down and have a good talk, in the future, your tribe's food will be good, or it will be livestock. Or your clothes and so on can be obtained from the sale, I wonder if this leader would like to sit down and have a good discussion?" Zhong Wen said with a smile.

When Bo Haoren heard Zhong Wen mention food suddenly, his heart moved.

In fact, what their tribe lacks most is food.

And this time he, Bo Haoren, also got someone's promise, so he brought the men from the tribe to prepare to attack the Tang army in front of him.

But when he heard that he could do a business, and that he could get food and other things in this business, he, of course, Bo Haoren was unwilling to use the lives of his own tribe's men for a chance to gain food.

"How to do this business? It's hard to believe what you Tang people say." Bo Haoren was entangled in his heart, but this entanglement still couldn't resist the temptation of food.

"I am Shaobao, the majestic prince of the Tang Dynasty. Do you think it is necessary for me to deceive you? Besides, what can I gain by deceiving you? What I want is people, your people. With your people, you can use sarcasm. If you are willing to talk, then let’s sit down and talk, if you don’t want to talk, then please go.” Seeing that the leader seemed to be retreating, Zhong Wen threw out a direct condition.

"Collect bitter salt? Why do you need these bitter salt?" Bo Haoren is still puzzled.

It's not that he has never tasted the bitter salt in Chaka, even after boiling it many times, it still has a bitter taste. He couldn't figure out why the prince Shaobao in front of him wanted these bitter salts.

Moreover, most people in Tuyuhun eat this type of salt.

Except for the royal family and the princes and ministers in Fuqi City who only eat some refined salt, the people of Tuyuhun basically all eat this kind of similar bitter salt.

"Yes, what is the use of picking bitter salt? That's our business, and it has nothing to do with you. As long as you send someone to help pick bitter salt, I will deliver as much grain as the bitter salt you collect. Isn't that what buying and selling are for?" Zhong Wen responded.

What is it for?

This is a secret of my own family, and I can't say it casually.

If he said he had a way to turn this bitter salt into refined salt, what might the leader in front of him think?

When Bo Haoren listened to Zhong Wen's words, although he guessed in his heart that the Tang prince Shaobao in front of him might want to buy and sell the Chaka bitter salt, he thought of asking his own people to help dig it.

Bo Haoren thought that the people in his tribe had been in short supply of food, and he had a promise from someone that he would get a thousand stones of food after destroying this Tang army, but the thousand stones of food could only last three months for his tribe at most.

After three months, the food will still run out.

His tribe has a population of more than 5000 people, young and old, and even if Qianshi saves food, he will not be able to survive this winter.

This is what has been causing him headaches and irritability recently, otherwise, he would not have taken up the matter of besieging and killing Tang Jun.

Although his tribe has a lot of livestock, once winter comes, most of these livestock will freeze to death. Even if they eat meat every day, they will not be able to survive this winter.

What's more, most of these livestock have to be sold to exchange for some tea and cloth, and for the rest, it is estimated that they may not be able to exchange much for food.

Now in Tuguhun, one sheep can only be exchanged for one bucket of grain, or even less.

And a cow can only be exchanged for grain once. Of course, this is the previous price, and it cannot be exchanged recently.

In terms of horses, relatively speaking, you can get more food in exchange, but horses are the most fancy things for them, even if you want to sell them, there is no way.

"How to cooperate?" Bo Haoren stared at Zhong Wen in the distance and asked excitedly.

"That depends on how much you harvest. I only look at the quantity here, not the number of people. Once the salt is bitter, I will give you half a bucket of grain. Of course, you can also exchange sheep, cattle and horses from your tribe, and they are cheaper than the market price." It will be one or two higher, if you think it is reasonable, your soldiers and horses can retreat first, let's sit down and talk about it." Seeing that Bo Haoren's heart was moved, Zhong Wen threw out his bait again.

"What? Once bitter salt can really be exchanged for half a bucket of grain?" Bo Haoren exclaimed again in shock after Zhong Wen's words fell behind.

According to his understanding of mining bitter salt, one or two deniers can definitely be dug out in a day. If a family of five members work together, at least ten deniers can be dug out in a day.

Based on this calculation, ten deniers of bitter salt can be exchanged for five buckets of grain no matter what, and a family can get enough grain after working for two days.

And there are more than 5000 people in my own tribe, even if some small and old ones can't be removed, there are at least 4000 people.

The old and the young stayed behind to take care of the livestock, and some were sent out, and 3000 people were sent to collect bitter salt, and they could definitely get two or three hundred shi of grain a day.

Moreover, there is not much danger in collecting sarcasm, and it is definitely more cost-effective than the business of fighting, and there is no need to risk their lives to besiege and kill any Tang army.

Bo Haoren calculated this number in his heart, in addition to looking forward to it, he hoped that the Tang prince in front of him would keep his word.

"That's right, once the bitter salt is exchanged for half a bucket of grain, of course, as I said, once the bitter salt is dried, it must not be mixed with water, otherwise, it cannot be exchanged for half a bucket of grain. Zhong Wen replied with a smile.

Right now, Zhong Wen felt that there was no major problem.

According to the news that Zhong Wen got from Li Daliang recently, food, tea, and some daily necessities are the most scarce things in Tuyuhun.

Moreover, the bait he threw was too big, and he didn't believe that the leader in front of him would not be tempted.

Chapter 525 The Three Shots of the Cold Arrow

For Zhong Wen, there is no shortage of food in Lizhou. Even if there is some shortage, as long as there is salt, are you afraid that you will not be able to buy food?

Moreover, what Zhong Wen made was refined salt, not coarse salt that is commonly used.

According to what Zhong Wen learned in Chang'an City, the price of refined salt in Chang'an City is basically ridiculously high.

The price of a catty of refined salt is more than [-] guan, and it is still priceless.

After all, refined salt is hard to come by.

Except for the royal family and some nobles and rich people who can afford it, ordinary people can't afford refined salt.

Even if you can afford it, you have nowhere to buy it.

Coarse salt is relatively cheaper, and it can be divided into good and bad. There are five guans of high salt and three guans of low salt.

As for bitter salt, the price is relatively much lower, about the same price as usual.

But this time, Zhong Wen came to Tuguhun to collect salt and make salt. One stone of bitter salt can at least produce thirty catties of refined salt.

Moreover, for the refining of a stone of bitter salt, excluding some excavation, labor costs, and transportation costs, Zhong Wen can be sure that [-] catties can earn [-] catties for nothing and much more.

One stone of bitter salt is exchanged for half a bucket of grain, and it is very worthwhile to do the math.

A fool knows what to do to exchange dozens of pennies for a profit of nearly one or two hundred pennies.

However, since Tang Guo is far away from the tea card, Zhong Wen is naturally willing to choose to use local people.

Moreover, with the participation of local people.

First, it can reduce unnecessary disputes, second, it can reduce war chaos, third, it can assimilate these Tuyuhun people, and fourth, it can also get livestock from these people.

With so many benefits, whether it is for Zhong Wen, Lizhou, or Tang Guo, it is a big deal.

"Your words count?" After listening to Bo Haoren, it was difficult for him not to move.

However, he began to doubt Zhong Wen's identity.

It is obviously hard to imagine that Shaobao, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, came to the hinterland of Tuguhun.

Moreover, the Prince Shaobao of the Tang Kingdom in front of him is still so young, and based on Bo Haoren's understanding of the Tang Kingdom, this is unlikely to happen.

Seeing that Bo Haoren still had a lot of worries, Zhong Wen immediately took out the fish amulet from his body, threw it at the fish amulet and said, "This is my fish amulet, I wonder if you have seen it?"

Bo Haoren casually fished it out of the air, caught the fish amulet and checked it.

At this time, he, Bo Haoren, believed that the young man in front of him was a second-rank high-ranking official from Tang State, which made him have to believe in this person in front of him.

Fish Talisman, that is the identity proof carried by the Tang Kingdom's fifth-rank and above officials.

How could he, Bo Haoren, not know about this.

Fish symbols are further divided into left symbols and right symbols.

The left talisman is under the control of the inner court, while the right talisman is carried by officials, and can also be used for identity verification at any time.

After looking at the fish talisman, Bo Haoren threw it back to Zhong Wen and said: "Okay, I believe you, but this matter is very serious, I have to go back to my tribe to discuss it before I give you an answer."

Bo Haoren also had his own considerations, besides, the disputes between the tribes of Tuyuhun had a long history, and he had to unite with other tribes to dare to cooperate with Tang.

As for how they negotiated, Zhong Wen was out of control.

What Zhong Wen wanted was people, and Zhong Wen would not interfere with their internal affairs in Tuyuhun.

"Okay, but you want to give us an explanation about the two scouts from the Tang Kingdom. The Tang Kingdom's face is not for you to trample on at will." Seeing that the leader accepted the matter, Zhong Wen considered the matter finalized.

However, Zhong Wen couldn't let go of the matter of the two scouts who disappeared last night.

"Bring it up and return it to them." Bo Haoren waved his hand to the back.

After a while, Dabao and Erhu were dragged out with blood all over their bodies, approached Zhong Wen, and threw them in front of Zhong Wen.

"People, I'll give it back to you." Bo Haoren pointed to the Dabao and Erhu on the ground and said to Zhong Wen.

At this time, Li Daliang and the others were very excited when they saw that Dabao and Erhu were still alive, and they immediately gestured to Xiaowei Chen.