Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

A few days later, Dugu Xin left Huazhou and returned to Longyou. The people who saw him off gathered in the west of Huazhou City and stayed for a long time. It wasn't until the afternoon that Dugu Xin was able to get out, wave goodbye to the people seeing him off, and head west.

Li Tai did not go to see off outside Huazhou City, but set off directly from Shangyuan and rushed to Shayuan to wait for Duguxin and his party. The reason for doing this is to hide their ears and steal the news. They don't want their close relationship to be known to outsiders too early.

The situation in Kansai is not stable, and everyone involved will inevitably be affected by the changes in the situation. Even Yuwentai is no exception, let alone Duguxin and Li Tai.

They both value this relationship very much, but they still have to wait for a while before they can truly form a good relationship. During this period, it is uncertain whether there will be any twists and turns or accidents, or whether someone will not like to see them come together and interfere.

Needless to say, there are so many people who want to marry Dugu Xin. Li Tai is not bad either, and to some extent is even more popular than Dugu Xin. Both parties believed that one thing would be worse than one thing less, so they would not tell outsiders about the matter unless necessary.

Here in Shayuan, the woods have become denser, several more forts have been added along the river, and a pasture has been expanded to raise thousands of war horses. Yuwentai really spared no effort and did everything in his expansion of the army.

Li Tai led his men to wander around the Shayuan for most of the day, and waited until late in the afternoon before Dugu Xin and his entourage arrived belatedly. After meeting, Dugu Xin sighed: "It's hard to let go of the crowd, it's distressing, and it's tiring." Bo Shan has been waiting for a long time. In order not to miss the departure date, let’s continue on the road at night.”

Although it is already late autumn, the season has not completely turned cold. There is even a bit of heat at dusk when day and night transition, so you are not afraid of the wind, cold and dampness when traveling at night.

On both sides of the Wei River between Chang'an and Huazhou, rivers and roads became increasingly prosperous, and there were many travels. The living environment in Guanzhong is becoming more and more stable, and agricultural production has increased year after year. Naturally, people's livelihood has become better and better, and exchanges between regions have become increasingly frequent.

Although it was already dusk, they were not the only ones walking on the road in Weibei. Some business travel teams, large and small, also travel day and night.

Among them there are even some barbarian caravans with high noses and deep eyes, and their costumes are full of exotic styles. Although the number is not large, they are very eye-catching.

Li Tai was also very curious about these groups of Hu merchants. He observed and asked about their origins and the goods they dealt with along the way.

But these Hu merchants looked deeply wary, and they were vague about all the questions raised by Li Tai, especially the goods they carried.

Although Li Tai was asking for trouble, he did not mind it. When he returned to the team, he smiled and said to Duguxin: "Longbian is connected to Hexi, so that you can sit there and show your authority in the far frontier. These Hu businessmen are really shrewd in making profits. Everything is possible..."

After hearing this, Dugu Xin looked at the groups of Hu merchants, shook his head and said, "I don't know where the Hu merchants are pretending to be distant travelers. They are not business travelers from the Western Regions at all. Even if there are any The goods I carry with me must be of inferior quality, and I want to defraud the ignorant rich people in the customs!"

Li Tai couldn't help but widen his eyes after hearing this. He saw that these Hu merchants were all very exotic, and they only shouted "I love Dawei" in a difficult accent. How could they be part of a group to defraud?

Duguxin casually explained to Li Tai the characteristics of the real Sogdian business group in the Western Regions. These Zhaowu Zhuhus have made a living by trade for generations, so a series of agreed-upon rules have been derived. There are clear and strict hierarchical divisions within the business group. There are even detailed etiquettes when talking to people and soliciting business.

It was also the first time for Li Tai to hear this knowledge. After hearing it, he compared these features with what he had seen before and found that they were completely inconsistent, which made him laugh.

The Hu people from the Western Regions with the nine surnames of Zhaowu are good at business and trade, and they are also the most important trading group on the Silk Road trade. Their presence means that business is developed and there are countless treasures.

These teams of Hu merchants on the road are obviously taking advantage of people's inertial thinking to carry out deception. Although he knew their background, Li Tai did not investigate deeply. After all, there was no conclusive evidence. He was not a local security officer, and he also secretly gloated about who would be deceived. of being taken advantage of.

After explaining this knowledge, Dugu Xin sighed again: "Although the governance of a big country is not based on business, the prosperity of business can also show whether the country's fortune is peaceful and prosperous. Although the Zhaowu Zhuhu in the Western Regions are benefiting, , everywhere, but there are really not many people who actually come to our country. These Hu merchants would rather go around Jinshan Qikou and go in and out on the white road, but rarely walk around Longbian. They used to catch Hu in other villages and ask questions. There are many people who know Jinyang. But few people know Chang'an..."

Li Tai didn't know much about the current business situation in Longbian, but he was not surprised when Dugu Xin said that the Hu people no longer knew where Chang'an was.

He was deeply touched by the low productivity and harsh production environment in Guanzhong. Even the local commercial activities in Guanzhong are almost non-existent and have come to a standstill, let alone large-scale foreign trade. No matter how worthless the Hu merchants' legs are, they must at least have benefits to attract them.

Li Tai was somewhat surprised to hear Dugu Xin say that Jinyang was even more famous among the Hu people than Chang'an.

It is said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Although Guanzhong has been abandoned for many years, Chang'an was once the ancient capital of the powerful Han Dynasty and the center of an empire. Although Jinyang is not bad, its real military and political significance is only that of Erzhu Rong and Gao Huan. Its popularity among the Hu people in the Western Regions is actually enough to be on par with Chang'an or even exceed it?

In the night, Duguxin didn't notice Li Tai's expression, but he just smiled and said: "Boshan, if you still insist on going out to defend Beizhou, I have a trick to teach you. Don't just defend Luoshui and just do farming. According to this plan, if we can train elite soldiers to drive between the rivers and Shuoshui rivers and hunt the Hu Jia in Monan, the benefits will be considerable. If we can kill the Hu Jia between Pingcheng and Jinyang, then I will. Longbian will also make great profits!”

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Dugu Xin may have just said it casually, but Li Tai took it seriously and hurriedly asked about the clues and connections.

Duguxin saw that he was very interested in this, so he told him the origin of it while rushing on the road at night.

As early as the Pingcheng period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the importance of the Longyou line of the Silk Road for trade exchanges between the East and the West was surpassed by the Monan grassland line. It was not until Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang that this situation was not reversed, but the Silk Road was The starting point in the east was moved from Pingcheng to Luoyang.

Jinyang is located exactly between Pingcheng and Luoyang. It has long served as a transit hub between the two places, and its commerce and handicraft industry have developed rapidly.

When Er Zhurong established his hegemony here, in order to consolidate his rule, he looted a large amount of Luoyang's productivity and production materials to Jinyang. After Gao Huan defeated the Er Zhu family, he naturally inherited all this, and in The important part of Hebei was added to the Erzhu family's original hegemonic territory, which further established Jinyang's status as the northern economic center.

It can be said without hesitation that in the current post-Three Kingdoms era, Jinyang is the central city with absolute advantages in all aspects of politics, economy and military in the entire north. The two ancient capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang are dwarfed by it. Yecheng, the capital of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty, was also inferior to Jinyang in terms of status and strength.

The reason why Jinyang can have a unique position in this era, in addition to factors such as strategy and current situation, there is also a key point, that is, Jinyang is the largest window for exchanges between the Central Plains, the grassland peoples, and even the countries in the Western Regions.

Tuyuhun, who was far away in the Qinghai region, was able to bypass the entire Western Wei territory and enter into a marriage alliance with the Eastern Wei. Although the Western Wei actually controlled Longyou, which bordered Tuyuhun, it still had nothing to do about it.

After listening to Dugu Xin's explanation, Li Tai had a preliminary understanding of this series of issues. Compared with the people who were born and raised in this era, he only has some more knowledge of the general trend of history, but when it comes to the specific details of the era, his knowledge is not as comprehensive and detailed as that of his contemporaries.

When it comes to pure productivity and production level, the Western Wei Dynasty is still far behind the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Therefore, although the Western Wei Dynasty has more geographical advantages than the Eastern Wei Dynasty, in cross-regional commercial activities such as Silk Road trade, the Eastern Wei Dynasty has a smaller It was beyond the reach of the Western Wei Dynasty.

There are naturally many reasons for this situation, and there is not only one solution. Duguxin showed Li Tai a clear way that he could do it. Although he couldn't do business with others, he could rob him!

Jinyang is the starting point of the eastern route of the Silk Road. Trade teams need to pass through the Monan Grassland along the Hetao line before entering the Western Region. Goods from the Western Regions want to reach Jinyang and enter Hebei, and the route is the same.

Therefore, if a flag can be planted on this line, the benefits will naturally be considerable, and it will also be a major blow to Jinyang's business security.

The reason why they didn't dare to do this before was because Rouran, the overlord of the grasslands, was also an important participant in this Silk Road trade. The Western Wei Dynasty still didn't dare to completely break up with Rouran.

But now, Rouran is already in a state of decline, unable to cope with the constant challenges from the Turks. Even if there is still some remaining power, Princess Weiwei has taken her to Jinyang to press pear blossoms with a branch of crabapple. What else is there to be afraid of?

Li Tai thought about it for a while and felt that this plan was feasible. If he could form a certain effective blockade around the northwest of Jinyang and plunder those Hu merchants who traveled to and from the Western Regions, not only would he benefit himself, he would also be able to drive away the caravans on the grasslands. Going back to Longyou Line, my father-in-law can set up a card to collect road and bridge tolls!

I’ll update one chapter first, and there will be another chapter in the afternoon. . .