Daqin Engineering Corps

Shen Bing asked:

"anything else?"

Xu Ying suddenly understood, he said:

"The general said... we can graze like the Huns?"

Shen Bing asked back:

"Why not?"

"There is a large area of ​​natural grassland in the southern mountainous area, but there are tens of millions of mu."

"If you drive the flocks to the mountains to graze and raise them for farming, why do you have to wait for two years?"

Xu Ying couldn't help but nodded his head:

"What the general said is reasonable, but it requires a large number of cattle and sheep."

"I don't know the North..."

Before Xu Ying finished speaking, Wang Ben replied:

"There are cattle and sheep in the north."

As he said that, Wang Ben looked at Shen Bing in surprise.

There are indeed cattle and sheep in the Northland.

The cattle and sheep were bought from the Huns...

As I said before, Shen Bing wanted to control the monopoly of the source of the Xiongnu gunpowder raw materials in his own hands at all costs.

But the term "losing money" is actually only a relative term... Buying raw materials from the people on the frontier at a high price and selling them to the Huns at a low price is of course a loss.

But it's actually not bad.

Because doing business with the Xiongnu is based on barter, and Shen Bing's only requirement for this business is to exchange cattle and sheep...

Only Wang Ben and a few others knew about this.

What surprised Wang Ben was that if Shen Bing had thought of this step a long time ago, this foresight would be a bit too terrifying!

However, this is not the end.

Shen Bing cupped his hands and said to Fusu:

"However, my subordinates believe that Xitao should not focus on agriculture."

Chapter 375 Service Industry

Wang Ben couldn't help but wonder:

"If you don't focus on agriculture, should you still focus on herding?"

All the generals in the tent were also a little surprised, especially Xu Ying.

As I said before, Qin is a farming country, and the farming country is based on land and farming. Otherwise, what are the seven countries in the Central Plains fighting for so many years?

Shen Bing shook his head and replied:

"Nature is not grazing."

Fusu asked:

"Could it be that the general wants to develop industries in Xitao?"

Shen Bing still shook his head.

This made the soldiers even more confused.

Neither agriculture nor industry, what else can be developed?

Shen Bing glanced at Yang Duanhe, and then explained:

"What General Yang said before is reasonable."

"Food is the most important thing for the people. If there is no food, the people will not be able to feed themselves and the soldiers will not be able to fight."

"So Xitao cannot be defended."

"Therefore, if we want to defend Western Taoism, we must develop agriculture!"

Yang Duan and Qi said:

"Then why did the general say..."

Shen Bing only asked back:

"The question is, why does our army defend Xitao?"

Yang Duanhe couldn't help being speechless.

Then he stared at the map and found that what Shen Bing said was indeed true.

The threats to Xitao mainly come from two directions, one is the Huns in the north, and the other is the Western Regions in the west.

As long as there are Wuyuan in the north, the Xiongnu will not be in danger.

And the Western Regions...

Not to mention that the Western Regions are the enemies of the Huns at this time, even if the Western Regions are threatened, the Hexi Corridor in the west is the first to bear the brunt.

So Yang Duanhe bowed his hands to Shen Bing and said:

"The general's words awakened the dreamer."

"If I wait to vigorously develop agriculture in Xitao and my army is far away in Hexi, then there will be difficulties in sending food and grass far away!"

"So the place where agriculture should be vigorously developed should be the Hexi Corridor, and the western part of the Hexi Corridor borders the Western Regions!"

What Yang Duanhe said was exactly what Shen Bing wanted to express.

In history, the reason why Meng Tian managed Xitao and built the Great Wall in Xitao was because the Qin Dynasty at that time did not know what was beyond Xitao, and thought that outside was the territory of the Huns, so they surrounded it with the Great Wall regardless of March 21 and [-]. .

At the same time, if it is surrounded by the Great Wall, there must be garrisons, and the garrisons need food, and the food needs to develop agriculture, so Xitao water conservancy irrigation has developed.

This is not to say that it is not good, but because of ignorance of the external terrain and situation, the development is too slow.

Now Shen Bing and others already know the terrain of the outside world, and at the same time, the Hexi Corridor is also under the control of the Qin army... Li Yan led [-] Heinei soldiers to advance with Ji's caravan, and then occupied all the way to investigate, how much can it occupy? There is as much land as there is until you encounter an enemy country.

Of course, these [-] Hanoi soldiers brought a large amount of food and grass, as well as silk and cloth. These things are light in weight, small in size, easy to carry, and are more expensive than gold in the Western Regions. They can be exchanged for grain as military rations.

This is the advantage of monopolizing silk manufacturing... You must know that at this time, only the Central Plains can produce this thing in the world, so that it has become a "hard currency", which can be used as currency worldwide and is extremely sought after.

This is why the Central Plains was once called the "Silk Country".

The reason why Shen Bing sent 5 people into the Hexi Corridor was to expand the territory on the one hand, and to cultivate land on the other hand.

If the army does not garrison in Xitao, the enemy will be blocked from the Hexi Corridor, so is it necessary to build the Great Wall in Xitao and farm on a large scale?

Shen Bing went on to say:

"Of course, farming is still necessary."

"Just like what Shen Bing said before, farming in Xitao with animal husbandry."

"However, Tuntian is for the development needs of Xitao itself rather than focusing on it."

Fusu asked:

"So, what does the General think Xitao should focus on?"

Shen Bing replied without thinking:

"Focus on business!"

"Focus on service!"

Everyone was dumbfounded again.

They understand what it is to focus on business, and to focus on service... This is beyond their cognition.

Before they could ask, Shen Bing explained:

"It can be foreseen that Xitao will be the starting point for businessmen from all walks of life to do business in the Western Regions."

"Then merchants will need accommodation, food, supplementary food after they arrive here..."

"There are also problems such as insufficient horses, damaged carriages, and insufficient water bags and clothing."

"We even need the Merchant Escort Bureau and so on."

"Why don't we focus on this?"

Fusu said "Oh":

"Serving the caravan means putting the most emphasis on service."

"What the general said is right. In this way, there will be a large number of inns in Xitao soon."

"At that time, we don't even need to worry about food and grass."

Of course Shen Bing understood, but Yang Duanhe and the others were confused.

Wang Ben asked:

"Young master, there is a shortage of food in Xitao and the source of food is far away, why don't we need to worry about it?"

Fusu explained with a smile:

"This is the 'way of the market' taught to me by the general."

"If we focus on farming in Xitao, we will naturally have to fully consider issues such as water conservancy, labor, food and grass."

"However, if we focus on business and services..."

"For example, if someone wants to open an inn in Xitao, then the wine, meat and food must be handled by the shopkeeper."

"Whether buying, sorting or shipping are all taken care of by the shopkeeper, we don't need to worry about it at all."

Yang Duanhe asked:

"If there are few inns and many merchants, and the food is not enough for the merchants?"

Fusu replied:

"If there are fewer inns and more merchants, and the supply exceeds demand, the price of food will inevitably rise."

"So the inn has made a lot of money."

"When the inn makes more profits, it will attract countless people to open inns here, so the food will also increase!"

"It won't be long before supply and demand will match."

"So I don't need to worry about it."

Yang Duanhe and the others still didn't understand, but after thinking about it... they found that it was really the case.

This is actually a very simple question of supply and demand in modern times.

But it is easy for modern people to understand, but it is difficult to understand the self-regulation of this market economy in the Qin Dynasty, which emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, especially the generals who fought on the battlefield.

Shen Bing regretted not letting Yun Tian participate in this discussion. He should have some insights in this regard.

But it's not too late to go back and discuss it slowly.

At this time, Yuntian is opening banks in Beidi and Yanmen counties.

Opening a bank is not a small matter, and it can even be said to be a necessary condition for the development of Xitao...

Ordinary people don't even have the capital to open an inn, so even if they know that opening an inn in Xitao can make money, they can't do anything.

But with Qianzhuang, it is different.

They can use the land and house land granted by titles to borrow money, and then use the funds to open hotels in Xitao to develop the service industry.

All Shen Bing has to do is provide some necessary materials and conditions:

For example, build some water conservancy facilities.

Another example is stationing an army to protect security.

There are also rules for opening inns and a tax collection system to standardize their management and guide them reasonably...