Tibet

Chapter 406

Back in Suiye City, Li Ye immediately summoned senior officials to discuss the matter, and reported to them the results of his trip to Khanna.

Only then did everyone know that there were still a large number of war dividends that had not been cashed in. No wonder the governor was not in a hurry.

Especially when everyone heard that a large amount of gold and silver was about to arrive, they were all overjoyed. The Governor's Mansion has started to operate normally, but the biggest problem now is that they have no money and no tax revenue.

There is also a large amount of military salary to be paid every month, and there are only a few thousand coins left in the entire Governor's Mansion, which is simply a drop in the bucket.
"The gold and silver transported by Pull Khan can only last for a few months. We must establish a long-term source of income, and maintaining this source of income is the most important thing for our Dudu Mansion. The barbarians in the river do not need us to manage them. For thousands of Han households, it is enough to build a county government, so everyone must have a unified understanding, and don’t put the cart before the horse.”

Li Ye's words mean the same thing, everyone concentrates on making money, and leave the rest alone for the time being.

Chang Shi Xie Jin said: "When the governor was away, we also discussed that we have tens of thousands of camels, we can go to the Central Plains every year, buy silk, porcelain and tea from the imperial court, and transport them to broken leaves to sell to the barbarians. At least 20 guan can make a profit, but we need capital first, and this gold and silver came just in time, which solved the problem of capital.”

Li Ye nodded, "Trade is one of my three strategies. It's the middle of June, and I can go back. Five thousand camels are enough, and I don't need to buy any goods to bring them back. Gold and silver are the best goods." , In addition, the gemstones of broken leaves are very cheap, and you can buy some more gemstones, but you need an official to follow the camel caravan back.”

We have just been here for a few months and have to go back again. Thinking about the hard work of the long journey, everyone's eyes are full of fear.

At this time, Yang Shaohua, Cangcao's military and financial envoy, raised his hand and said, "This is a matter of a humble job, let's go back to the humble job!"

Li Ye said happily: "You have worked so hard to join the army, I will remember your first contribution this time!"

The first achievement is an extraordinary promotion, which means a promotion for an official, and a regularization for a staff officer like Yang Shaohua.

Going for three months, and returning for another three months, spending half a year on the road, this is not something ordinary people can bear, Yang Shaohua won the first prize, and everyone has no objection.

Chief Shi Xie Jin asked again with a smile: "I wonder what the governor's other two financial management strategies are?"

"The other two strategies, one is to mine and smelt silver, and the other is to collect tribute from the small country in the river. In addition to the previous trade, if the three strategies are the same, our finances will be worry-free."

Sima Zhonghui was a little worried and said, "I'm afraid the imperial court will not accept tribute from a small country?"

Every year, a small country pays tribute to the Tang Dynasty, usually to the imperial court. Li Ye is going to intercept it directly, and it is normal for officials to worry.

Li Ye sneered and said, "Then the imperial court will persuade Anxi Court to give us the tax!"

Sogdian merchants have to pay taxes when they go to Chang’an. There are both entry tax and exit tax. Generally, they are paid to Anxi and Beiting. It can be regarded as the imperial court’s support for Anxi and Beiting. To whom, the court did not coordinate.

Of course, Li Ye can completely intercept the entry tax, but this will inevitably offend Anxi and Beiting, and Li Ye does not want to do such offending things for the time being.

He is not good at intercepting taxes, so he will intercept tributes. As long as countries pay him protection fees, there is no need to go to the court to pay tributes.

The nine countries of Sogdia plus the countries of Tocharian, Bahana, Ge Luolu, etc., dozens of small countries, can receive an annual protection fee of 30 to [-] guan. In addition to mining and trade, they are not only self-sufficient, but also financially There will be a surplus, and everyone will have a better life.

Li Ye explained all kinds of income to the officials in detail. Although it was a bit risky, but thinking that it was beneficial to him, and the risk was also borne by the governor, everyone no longer objected.

At this time, Li Ye smiled lightly again: "Actually, we will still have a large war dividend, enough for our military expenditure for a year."

Li Ye immediately arranged for Qiu Xuan to be in charge of mining, and Qiu Xuan was in charge of intelligence, but right now there is no need for intelligence, making money is the most important thing.

Early the next morning, Qiu Xuan took a hundred soldiers and a dozen prospecting craftsmen to the mine, and hundreds of camels also went with a large amount of supplies.

Gao Xianzhi used to mine privately, and was afraid of being discovered by the supervising army if he moved too much, so he only dared to open a small mine secretly, and the scale was small.

But Li Ye has no such worries. He plans to recruit thousands of miners from the Tuqishi tribe to mine with great fanfare.

Which Jiedushi in the Tang Dynasty did not mine?The imperial court could not afford so much military expenditure, so it could only give various economic powers to each Jiedu, and mining rights were only one of them.

Time is gradually approaching July, this morning, a team of hundreds of people came to Suiye City, and the guard of this army is the governor of Khorasan, Ziyad.

Caliph Abbas was going all out to fight against Rahman's army in the Western Dashi, and he had no time to take care of the river area. He got a message from the man who pulled Khan, and then he suddenly remembered that there were tens of thousands of prisoners in the river area.

Abbaston, who was facing a very tight supply of troops, was overjoyed and immediately ordered Ziad to go to Suiye to negotiate and redeem [-] prisoners of war for Dashi.

The large war dividend that Li Ye said was the ransom for the prisoners of war. Dashi was anxious to redeem the prisoners of war. How could he let go of this opportunity?
Sima Zhonghui and Fa Cao participated in the military and Li Deng went to Rehai to meet the Dashi envoy. Ziyad came to Suiye for the first time, and he also knew that this was the old nest of the Tang army in Hezhong. He was full of interest and curiosity about everything.

"This valley is really nice!"

Ziad admired the Chu River Valley, which is more than [-] miles long, "The territory is vast, the land is fertile, and the water source is abundant. It is indeed a good place for developing agriculture, and there are endless forests."

Fa Cao Shenjun Li Deng is a local Han in Suiye, who can speak Sogdian fluently. Suiye is a city with mixed ethnicities. The biggest advantage is that everyone can speak several languages, including the Hu people here. speak Chinese.

Li Deng translated Ziyad's praise to Zhong Hui, and Zhong Hui nodded and smiled: "We are too far away from the Central Plains, and the food in the Central Plains can't get through, so we can only rely on ourselves!"

Li Deng translated it, and Ziad smiled and said, "But I heard that you still buy wheat from the river, and even sell the wheat from Dashi to you. How many troops do you need to support?"

Zhong Hui pretended to sigh: "We need to support [-] troops, and the farmland of broken leaves is not enough. We can only buy food from the river."

Ziyad asked casually, and Zhong Hui answered casually, which seemed natural, but in fact, one was testing the number of Tang troops, and the other was deliberately exaggerating the number of troops. Both sides were playing tricks.

When Ziyad heard that the opponent had 1 troops, he was secretly surprised. His army in Mulu was less than [-], and the rest of the army had been transferred to Egypt. If the Tang army suddenly launched an offensive against Khorasan, how would he resist it?

Since Li Ye was able to send a letter to the Caliph through the Chamber of Commerce, he must also be able to get information about Mulu through the Chamber of Commerce. What does Li Ye mean when he asks for negotiations now?Is it to be polite before soldiers?
Ziyad suddenly felt that he was very passive, the other party had their information, in contrast, he knew nothing about Sui Ye.

Ziad secretly made up his mind, 'If a peace agreement is really reached this time, Dashi must build a chamber of commerce in Suiye! '

In fact, Ziyad was thinking too much, and Li Ye also didn't know the situation in Khorasan. He was now facing the westward expansion of the Tubo people, and he couldn't care about the food in black for the time being.

Ziad took up residence in the posthouse, and his army was stationed outside the city.

Li Ye immediately asked Zhong Hui to get some information in advance.

"He tempted me all the way!"

Zhong Hui said with a smile: "He is very concerned about the strength of Suiye's Tang army, and it can be seen that he is nervous."

"What did Zhong Sima say?" Li Ye asked.

"I told him that there were [-] Tang troops in the river, so food was scarce. It seemed that he believed it."

Dugu Ying smiled and guessed, "Is he afraid that we will use the negotiation as an excuse to launch an offensive against Dashi?"

Li Ye nodded, "It is possible that Ziyad came to Suiye to negotiate in person, which is actually a sign of his lack of confidence. Otherwise, the two parties can agree to negotiate in an intermediate place, such as Shiguo Tuozhi City. This is a kind of reciprocity. He is condescending to come to our site to negotiate now, which can only show one thing, he lacks confidence, and at the same time, he has something to ask of us."

Chief Shi Xie Jin hesitated and said, "Could it be that they urgently need prisoners of war?"

Li Ye sneered and said: "It must be like this. I heard from King Murdo that black-clothed Dashi is not good for war west of Egypt. Khorasan has always been a source of troops for Dashi. Mulu should have no army. There is an urgent need to take the prisoners back."

"How will the governor plan to negotiate tomorrow?"

Li Ye smiled faintly: "I will give him a very fair price!"

(End of this chapter)