Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 56 The battle of ideas
"Peace?"

Inside the tooth gate, Liu Jilong was not surprised and just nodded.

"Yes!" Zhang Huairong nodded and said, "The place where Shandan and the Uighurs traded with each other was placed at the Longshou Mountain Beacon Tower."

"We need to build a small city there. The commodities we will trade include linen and iron knives, while the Uighurs will mainly trade oxen and draft horses."

Shandan has no shortage of sheep, but oxen and draft horses are still important resources.

"What is the limit for iron knives?" Liu Jilong asked without hesitation. Zhang Huairong also said straight to the point: "Two hundred knives per month, and every ten knives can be exchanged for one cow."

"In addition, there are also hemp, salt, wine and other commodities. I will have someone give you the corresponding prices later."

Zhang Huairong's words made Liu Jilong frown: "These swords will probably be melted into armor after they pass by."

"It's always better to have one more friend than one more enemy." Zhang Huairong also sighed.

Obviously, they all knew that trading with the Uighurs was like courting disaster, but that was the situation in Hexi.

If they did not win over the Uighurs, the Uighurs would turn to Tubo, so even if they would be exploited, they still had to do business.

"I asked Ma Cheng to take the Tangqi to notify them. Has the date for the trade been set?"

"They can trade with each other on the 15th of every month, but they cannot enter Longshou Mountain at other times."

Liu Jilong asked and Zhang Huairong answered, and the content was still full of vigilance and restrictions on the Uighurs.

Since Zhang Huaishen was on guard, Liu Jilong was no longer worried.

He told Zhang Huairong about what had happened in the past half month, especially the training of soldiers and the increase of rations.

Although Zhang Huairong frowned after hearing this, he didn't say anything in the end. Instead, he comforted Liu Jilong.

"This time when I went to Zhangye, I told the governor about your deeds. The governor also promised to transport 10,000 shi to Shandan after the autumn harvest. I will lead the troops to escort the transportation, and you will still take care of Shandan."

"By the way, is there any news from Suo Xun?"

He asked about Suo Xun in the direction of Qilian City. Liu Jilong shook his head, but added:

"Suo Guoyi didn't send anyone, but I sent Tangqi to Qilian City to check during this period."

"One side of Qilian City's wall has been repaired. If we add more people, the other three sides should be repaired before the autumn harvest."

Since he knew that Shang Bibi and Lun Kongre might enter Ganzhou from the direction of Qilian City, Liu Jilong naturally had to send people to investigate the terrain.

"If that's the case, I will personally lead a hundred brothers to Qilian City tomorrow to repair it before the autumn harvest and transport some grain."

Zhang Huairong said, and explained at the same time: "The governor asked Suo Xun to lead a group of soldiers to garrison on the spot after repairing Qilian City. I am worried that Suo Xun is reluctant."

"How about I go?" Liu Jilong volunteered. After all, Zhang Huairong and Suo Xun had a conflict every time they met, and he was afraid that Suo Xun would reject Zhang Huairong just to save face.

"It's okay. At worst, we can just tolerate him a little." Zhang Huairong waved his hand, and at this time a soldier came in holding a wooden tray.

When the wooden tray was put down, Zhang Huairong looked at the meat, vegetables and rice in the bowl and asked in amazement: "What kind of cooking method is this?"

"I asked someone to make a batch of iron pots, which are used for cooking." Liu Jilong gestured to Zhang Huairong to taste them.

Zhang Huairong took the bowl and tasted a few bites. His eyes lit up: "The dishes cooked in this iron pot are better than what I had in Shazhou."

"I had someone send two bites to Sima's house, so you can eat them when you get back."

Liu Jilong told Zhang Huairong about his earlier arrangements, which made Zhang Huairong happy.

I have to admit that Liu Jilong’s iron pan stir-fried dishes are delicious, but Zhang Huairong still resisted the urge to continue eating.

Coming from a wealthy family, he would not allow himself to appear ignorant of the world in front of outsiders.

However, his action gave Liu Jilong the opportunity to continue. "I am worried that Shang Bibi will be defeated. If Shang Bibi is defeated, I am afraid that she will take the Dadouba Valley Road and Sanxie Road to Shandan as I expected before."

"..." Hearing Liu Jilong's words, Zhang Huairong did not answer immediately, but remained silent for a while before saying:

"I went to Zhangye this time and told the governor about this matter. Everyone in the governor's mansion thought you were worrying too much."

"Unfounded worry?" Liu Jilong was a little impatient, but he still said calmly:
"They are in Zhangye, far enough away from Shandan and Qilian City. Even if Shandan is attacked, they have time to prepare, but we don't."

"Qi Lian City has not yet been completed. If the foreign soldiers take these two routes to enter Ganzhou, Suo Guoyi and his men will be unprepared, and Shandan will also be attacked."

"It will take more than a month for the crops outside the city to be harvested. By then, when the foreign soldiers attack, we won't have enough time to harvest them."

"The people in Zhangye think we are worrying too much. Does Governor Zhang think so too?"

Liu Jilong didn't believe that Zhang Huaishen would be so short-sighted, and facts proved that his guess was correct.

Zhang Huairong shook his head: "The governor didn't say that, but asked me to equip Qilian City with more horses so that if there is an attack, he can send fast horses to notify us in time."

"Before the end of the month, I will send some brothers to escort the militiamen from Qilian City back to Shandan, so that the grain harvest will not be delayed."

"As for Shanzhou, I will decide based on the situation."

"How to decide?" Liu Jilong couldn't help but ask, after all, this matter concerned the development of Shandan.

"Don't worry about this matter, I will take care of it."

Zhang Huairong didn't seem to want to continue this topic, so he changed the subject:
"You have been tired these days. Go back and rest early today. I will have someone send the documents for the past half month to the inner hall later."

Faced with his impatience, Liu Jilong felt helpless.

But for the sake of the overall situation, he still reluctantly bowed and said: "If Sima Zhang arrives in Qilian City, please send the Tang cavalry to take the Dadouba Valley Road and Sanxie Road to see if the foreign bandits intend to invade."

"Well, I understand, please step back."

Zhang Huairong picked up the bowl and chopsticks, and Liu Jilong had no choice but to walk out of the door.

Seeing him leave, Zhang Huaiman, the captain of the Fourth Regiment who had not dared to speak before, could not help but step forward and say, "Although Liu Jilong is quite talented, he is too self-righteous."

"In the past half month, he first changed the training date, then increased the soldiers' rations, and even killed sheep several times to reward the soldiers."

"Brother, what he did was too presumptuous..."

Zhang Huaiman admired Liu Jilong's talents, but he could not stand some of Liu Jilong's policies.

Apart from anything else, the change in the soldiers' training had added a lot of responsibilities to him, so he naturally felt a little resentful.

He wanted to say something, but Zhang Huairong glared at him.

"Before I left for Zhangye, I allowed him to do as he pleased. As long as it works, why not?"

"Yes……"

Seeing that Zhang Huairong was angry, Zhang Huaiman didn't dare to say anything more. Zhang Huairong simply ignored it and walked towards the inner hall with his bowl and chopsticks.

At the same time, Liu Jilian, who had just walked out of the Yamen, came to the school platform and looked down at the soldiers on the parade ground.

They held their bowls and squatted in the corner, chatting and laughing while eating, with noises of fighting coming from time to time.

I just don’t know how many of these brave soldiers will survive after the war reaches Shandan.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked up at the sky, looking at the heavy dark clouds, and could only pray that the autumn harvest would come soon...

(End of this chapter)