On May 14th, it was midsummer on Guangnan West Road.

Fortunately, there are many rivers in Hengshanzhai area. Xie Qian, a northerner, came here for a month and after learning how to swim with the local people, he ran into the river every day to relieve the heat.

The melon farmer in front pushed the watermelon on a cart and went to the shade of the tree to start shouting.

The farmers in the fields are still busy.

Zhang An was shirtless and only wore underwear underneath. He walked towards the river with a smile.

"Jie Shuai, Jie Shuai!"

From a distance, Zhang An started shouting.

Xie Qian swam to the shore, and Zhang An came over and handed over the sugar cane.

"Shuai Xie, I have got some good things for you."

"Where did you get this?" Jie Qian asked.

Sugar cane was still a luxury product in the Song Dynasty and was not affordable for ordinary people.

"bought."

"Where did you buy it?"

"I bought it on the roadside. Eat it quickly. It's very sweet."

Xie Qian took the sugar cane and started chewing it.

Xie Qian was stunned for a moment, looked at the sugar cane, and said, "This sugar cane is better than what I ate before..."

"You want it to be sweet, right?"

"Yes! So sweet!"

"This is sugar cane transplanted from the islands in the South China Sea. I heard that people from the Nanhai Trading Company of the Song Dynasty transplanted a batch from there."

"Islands in the South China Sea?"

"It seems that there is a large island south of Liuqiu. The merchants who go to sea call it Nanbin Island. The islanders on the island have planted many of this kind of sugar cane."

Xie Qian looked at it again and found that the skin of the sugar cane was darker than the ones he had eaten before.

Zhang An continued: "I heard that Guangzhou Prefecture transplanted a lot of sugarcane, and Liangzhe and Jiangdong also transplanted a batch. However, it was later found that Liangzhe and Jiangdong were not suitable for this kind of sugarcane. However, the cultivation in the Yongzhou area of ​​Guangnan West Road was very successful. Now,

Many businessmen on Guangnan West Road are thinking of planting this plant."

The sugar cane Zhang An is talking about is black sugar cane.

Rice on Guangnan West Road can be grown twice a year, or three times a year.

However, the soil composition of Guangnan West Road is relatively unsuitable for growing crops such as rice. The yield of the same land is higher than that of Jiangdong and Jinghu.

However, Guangnan West Road is very suitable for growing sugar cane.

Xie Qian said: "The imperial court allocated a large amount of sugar to various military towns in the north, and the demand for sugar cane has also increased sharply, making the price of sugar cane more expensive than in the past. It seems that businessmen in the south are changing this situation."

Zhang An said casually: "That's right, didn't you also say that if there is demand, there will be output."

Jie Qian fell into thinking.

Zhang An asked curiously: "Xie Shuai, what are you thinking about?"

"There are merchants from Dali, Luodian and Ziqi in Hengshan Village. The imperial court sent me here. Firstly, I want to correct the horse buying in the southwest and expand the horse trade. Secondly, I want to establish a link from Hengshan Village to Qinzhou.

business lines, Qinzhou has begun to build a seaport, so it seems that the South China Sea is more profitable than we imagined."

While they were talking, someone came running up from the front and said, "Commander Xie, it's not good. There's a fight in front. The people from Qi State are fighting with our people."

Xie Qian quickly got up, wiped off the water on his body, and put on his clothes.

Zhang An went to fetch the horse, untied himself, climbed on his horse, and led everyone towards the gambling field.

At this time, in front of the gambling field, a group of people from the Qi Kingdom took bows and arrows and shot at the gambling field indiscriminately.

Several businessmen have been hit by arrows, and some businessmen from Dali are also among them.

The relationship between Ziqi State and the Song Dynasty is actually very good.

They did a lot of business with the Song Dynasty at the gambling market in Hengshanzhai on Guangnan West Road.

In recent years, the purchase of horses in the southwest of the Song Dynasty has grown rapidly, which has led to the rapid establishment of various post stations in the south, which is inseparable from Qi State.

But, some people from the Qi Kingdom are very savage and irritable, and they want to use a knife if they disagree with them.

At this time, they were shooting arrows and roaring angrily.

A man named Dingwu cursed in the local dialect: "None of these Song people are good, kill them all! Kill them!"

The merchants in the exchange ran away on the ground, even leaving their goods, and the horses there were also frightened.

When Jie Qian came over with his people, he couldn't help but get furious when he saw such a scene: "Get in formation!"

The Song army immediately took out their crossbows and stepped forward one after another, hiding behind wooden boards and earthen walls.

Zhang An, who was proficient in the Ziqi language, shouted loudly: "Put down your weapons, please discuss in advance, we are all here to do business."

Dinwu shouted loudly: "Don't listen to their nonsense, shoot them to death!"

Xie Qian said: "What did they say?"

"They said they were going to kill us."

"what reason?"

"Maybe the deal hasn't been finalized."

"You want to kill someone before the deal is concluded?"

"These Ziqi people have bad tempers and are very barbaric. They used to kill people in this area, and it is useless for the government to control them."

Xie Qian said angrily: "Then what are we talking about? Kill them!"

"Wait a minute, Commander Xie, if you kill these people, it will affect the trading in the horse market."

"If we don't punish them severely, there will never be peace here. Peace is not brought about by tolerance. Ziqi State and our DPRK are considered to be on good terms, but these people don't take the relationship between the two countries seriously. They don't respect us.

Don’t even think that we respect them!” Xie Qian said angrily, “Kill them without mercy!”

"Got the order!"

After receiving the order, the Song army began to rush out in small groups.

The Song army at the front held up a shield, and behind there were people holding crossbows and arrows, as well as sword and ax hands, forming a small formation and advancing quickly.

The bow and arrow fired from Qi State in front were bounced off the shield, and the distance between the two sides quickly shortened.

Song Army crossbowmen rushed out and started shooting at those people, and screams rang out.

After both sides finished firing a wave of shots, the Song Army saber and axemen behind them rushed out, wielding sharp weapons, and chopped off the enemy's head.

Click...

The bones were split with sharp knives and axes, the tendons and bones were broken, and blood poured out.

After a battle, the people from Qi State suffered heavy losses, and the remaining ones fled. Na Dingwu was captured alive and handed over to Jie Qian.

The relationship between the southwest and southwest has only now been slowly smoothed out by Zhao Ning.

The most powerful state in the southwest was Dali, and the Song Dynasty further strengthened its control over the Dali court.

From a long-term strategic perspective, Dali's territory will inevitably be incorporated in the future.

From the current point of view, using economic means to weaken Dali and produce more tea leaves will have immediate benefits:

First, we can focus on exports from Qinzhou Seaport.

Second, it can make up for the lack of tea consumption in the Song Dynasty.

Third, we can have strategic resources to enrich grassland tea diplomacy.

There is another thing, which is also an inseparable part of the southwest strategy.

What?

Yunnan horse!

Many of the origins of this Yunnan horse were made by Qi people.

The Yunnan Horse is related to the station and transportation system to the south, the resources of the south, and the recovery speed of people's livelihood in the north.

So, in fact, from these points of view, Guangnan West Road Hengshanzhai is not only close to tea, horses and shipping, it is also a great supplement to the southern transportation capacity.
Chapter completed!