"Ren Shilang is willing to lend us the extra iron plow, and let the Han Dynasty's tuntian pawn teach the Loulan farmer the method of cattle ploughing and accumulating fertilizer?"
Hearing Ren Hong say this, Shanshan Wang Wei Tu Qi was a little stunned, he has been in Chang'an for more than ten years, although he is a hostage, but he also has a confession, living a life of worry-free food and clothing, and often receives court rewards.Devoted to cockfighting, indulging in vocal music, who has ever paid attention to farming.However, there is no doubt that the agriculture of the Han Dynasty is more advanced than that of Shanshan, and although the people of Loulan began to grow wheat very early, they are half-cultivated and half-pastoral, and the agricultural level is still in the Spring and Autumn Period, four or five hundred years behind the Han Dynasty.Ren Hong said with a smile: "As soon as we come to this place and eat the valley of goodness, we naturally want to give back a little."
Second, if the oases in Shanshan can learn from the intensive cultivation of the Han Dynasty, and use less effort to get more grain, they can completely feed several times the people, which is what Confucius said. ”Tao Shaoru added in crepe words on the side: "That's right, Zi said: Enough food!"
King Shanshan wants to establish a ceremonial state, but if it is the property of the people, it is not enough to serve the parents, and it is not enough to give birth to a wife, and the happy years are bitter for life, and the fierce years are not exempt from death. ”The two sang and harmonized, one said it was profitable, and the other said it was polite, where could Wei Tuqi withstand it.Anyway, in his opinion, everything in the Han Dynasty is good, the etiquette system must be learned in the palace, and of course the agricultural technology must be learned, so he said: "Xiao Wang is a good man on behalf of Shan, thank you for serving as a servant!"
Today, I will send someone to select a suitable farmer to study in the Han Army's tuntian!
”"Don't worry, don't worry, let's give us some calves that are almost adult first, so that Litian can domesticate them into ploughing cattle."
Ren Hong coughed again and continued: "But it's not enough to have enough food, but also to make Shanshanguo's treasury rich!"
Otherwise, how will King Shanshan repair the palace and cast the bell in the future, and he can't ask your nobles for it every time?
”This point came to the heart of Wei Tu Qi, when he said today that he wanted to rebuild the palace and build the Han Que, he was unanimously opposed by the nobles, and they all complained bitterly.said that in order to repair the dock courtyard for the Han army and build a new house for King Shanshan, he had already donated all the surplus grain, and he had no spare strength to toss.And Yu Tuqi also went to the warehouse to see, indeed, there are not many silk cloths used as currency by the Loulan people, and the biggest wealth of the Loulan kings in the past: camels and cattle and sheep belonging to the royal family, was taken over by Hu Houyi to the Han Dynasty, and only sent him some old and young livestock.Therefore, Wei Tuqi was also distressed: "The country is small and the people are poor, how can they be rich?"
”"I'm afraid it's not enough to just collect taxes."
According to Ren Hong's understanding, the temporary tax in kind, the herd run by the royal family itself, the canal water fee levied on the peasants twice a year, and the toll fee of foreign caravans, this is Loulan & amp; amp; Shanshan's main source of finance.But there is a potential of mud, and Yu Tuqi may not have seen it yet.Ren Hong said with a smile: "King Shanshan, don't look at the mud, but it is a necessary place for the South Silk Road, and now the North Road is cut off by the Huns, and it is not passable."
Therefore, if the envoys and caravans of various countries want to go to Dahan, and the Han army and missions want to go to Dawan and other states, they have to pass through the mud!
”Yu Tuqi was attracted by the noun in Ren Hong's mouth: "Silk Road?
I've never heard of that. ”However, it is indeed very pertinent, forty years have passed since Zhang Qian hollowed out the Western Regions, and the Han Dynasty has had direct contact with the Western world.With the increasing number of envoys and merchants, the two sides have a deeper understanding of each other, and foreign countries are tired of Han coins, which are not expensive, because of aesthetic problems, lacquerware and other goods are difficult to sell at high prices.There was only one exception, and that was the silk that Wei Tuqi was also wearing.In the early Han Dynasty, for four generations, the Xiongnu Shan Yu, who rode on the head of the Han Dynasty, was able to obtain a large number of silk silk from the Central Plains as tribute every year.These silks did not conform to the customs and aesthetics of the Xiongnu, and they were more often transported westward, reaching the Western Regions, Central Asia, and Persia.It is silky and beautiful, the color is as beautiful as flowers, and the material is as light as spider silk, which is easy to carry and can be sold at a high price comparable to gold in the western regions of the green mountains, which is really an excellent commodity.The Sogdians, who were engaged in business, immediately realized the business opportunity and traveled thousands of miles to China.When the Han Dynasty counterattacked the Xiongnu and seized the Hexi Corridor, the trade route was opened for the first time, but the Sogdians, who arrived at Yumen Pass, were in the dust.The rich and powerful men were not interested in this extra money, but strictly controlled the number of merchants entering and leaving the customs.Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions for the second time, so that he carried "thousands of thousands of silks" to the states of the Western Regions, and the envoys of each state entered the Han Dynasty, and the rewards were mainly silk.Therefore, the Sogdians often pretended to be envoys of various states to enter the Yumen to pay tribute, trying to deceive the silk.The reason why it is so crazy is because silk, which has a limited number of silks, has quietly become popular in the West.In the Sabbatical Empire, the Persians used silk to decorate palaces, make the sacrificial robes of Zoroastrian monks, and even serve as brightly colored military flags.From Bactria to Tiaozhi and Ptolemy, the Greeks, who dominated the Middle East, called silk "Amorgos clothing", a rarity from distant and exotic lands, and a luxury item for princes and nobles to flaunt their status.It is said that this fashion has spread to Rome, and the senators and generals are about to go crazy for this splendid silk of the East.Although there are occasional wild silkworm silk in other places, it is completely incomparable to the Han Dynasty, which has lasted for thousands of years and has been very mature.Shu brocade, Lu Min, Luo Qi, yarn silk, all over the category of the competition, from the emperor and princes to the officials and commoners, is all walks of life can wear ordinary clothes, through the gift trade out of the jade gate of silk, is just a drop in the bucket.However, it has profoundly changed the Western Regions, and the originally separate oasis cities have become prosperous because of silk, which they use as currency, whether it is to buy and sell vineyards, slaves, or livestock, in Loulan, silk is used as a medium of exchange.Calling this road the "Silk Road" is truly worthy of its name.However, Ren Hong understands that this road is by no means a continuous long-distance trade leading directly to Rome, but a stop-by-stop, relay-style short-distance exchange.Even the Sogdians, who had traveled the farthest, at best, transported silk from Yumen to Kangju and sold it to the merchants of Anxi.Moreover, it was the army and envoys who played a major role on the Silk Road, not a handful of merchants.After all, the domestic policy of the Han Dynasty has not changed, and it still only accepts tribute gifts, and few Han merchants take the initiative to trade abroad in their personal capacity.Therefore, the prosperity of the Silk Road was driven by the Han army and hundreds of envoys from various states, and during the Taichu and Tianhan dynasties, when an endless stream of soldiers and envoys shopped in the local market, the trade of the mud city flourished.And when the Han army withdrew, and the king of Loulan Angui defected to the Xiongnu, and connived at the Xiongnu cavalry to rob and kill the Han envoys, Dawan and the rest envoys in the territory, the trade of the mud city immediately withered.Now that the Han Dynasty has returned to the Western Regions, the Silk Road can be opened again.Wei Tu Qi suddenly rubbed his hands: "In this case, I will double the toll fees of the envoys and merchants of the various states, what is it?"
”The soldiers of the Han mission passed by, and they didn't dare to ask for money if they gave him a hundred dares, but the rest of the countries were different.Wei Tuqi felt that the palace and buildings he wanted had to be scraped from them!
But whoever spends the night in the mud city will have a silver coin of Great Xia for each person, or a silk horse for five people, and pluck the feathers of the geese.Ren Hong shook his head again and again: "If this is the case, if the businessman can't make ends meet, who is willing to take the risk?"
The mission also felt that it was too cost-effective to go to Shanshanguo, and I am afraid that they would rather take a long detour.King Shanshan, if you want me to say, not only can it not be doubled, but the toll must even be halved!
”"Halving?"
Wei Tuqi didn't understand very much: "If it is halved, the money collected will be less, how can Shanshan be rich?"
”Ren Hong told him a story in the Central Plains: "When Guan Zhong was the prime minister, the customs market ridiculed but did not levy it, and only carried out the necessary inventory of foreign merchants, and exempted them from customs duties.For a time, merchants from all over the world gathered in Qi country, and Qi country got the goods that the country lacked, and sold the excess fish and salt to the country, so it was very rich!
”"Shanshan should learn the method of managing Zhong, after all, once the Northern Road of the Western Regions is opened in the future, the merchant delegation can also make a detour, and if the toll is halved, the merchant delegation will inevitably gather.Not only would they bring all kinds of goods needed by King Shanshan, but they would also eat and drink in Shanshan, go to the women's palace for recreation, and buy cattle, horses, and camels.In this way, the mud market can be prosperous, and the king of Shanshan will collect taxes from the market, won't he be able to make the Shanshan treasury rich, and the country will use it enough without endowment. ”In Ren Hong's plan, Shanshan plays the role of a specialized business station, and the more people come and go, the more prosperous it is.Although Wei Tuqi still had doubts about whether this trick would work, he still agreed to carry it out.At this point in the conversation, Wei Tuqi was already very convinced of Ren Hong, and felt that he was indeed dedicated to himself and Shanshanguo, so he solemnly avoided the table, respectfully bowed to Ren Hong, and asked the third thing."
What is the explanation of what is taught?"
Ren Hongdao: "King Shanshan thinks, how to judge whether a state is a state of etiquette?
”Wei Tuqi was stunned: "Let's see if it has a palace building, Zhong Ming Ding food, and Han family clothes?"
”Ren Hongda shook his head: "Although these are needed, they are not the most critical.Cang Liao knows etiquette, and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing.While making Loulan people rich and rich, they must also teach them to be polite!
”As he spoke, Ren Hong took out a roll of bamboo slips from his arms, and the beginning was "Zi said: Learn and learn from time to time, don't you also say?"
”Tao Shaoru looked at it, but it was the Analects that he had been ordered to copy to Ren Shilang before.As if preaching, Ren Hong stood up, solemnly said, and handed this volume of Analects, which was very precious in the Western Regions, to Yu Tu Qi with both hands."
Without words, without poetry and books, it cannot be called a state of etiquette!"
More than two months later, in late August.The camel bell is long, and a group of Sogdian merchants from Kangju led the camels and arrived at the mud in the capital of Shanshan Kingdom, which is no longer withered and deserted, but a little lively.In addition to meeting two young nobles of Shanshan wearing Han-style silk clothes, speaking broken Chinese, and comparing their learning results with each other outside the city gate, when they looked up, they saw a scene that had never been seen in the city-states along the way: there was no tall Han Que outside the west gate of Shanshan Kingdom, but a stone slab was inlaid in the middle of the door, on which four Chinese characters were deeply engraved in ink: "Han Shanshanguo!"
”PS: The second chapter is in the evening.In addition, I recommend a friend Sanhong's Heavens, Heavens, and Ten Thousand Worlds Divine Dragon System.