Naturally, Gao Shen and the others were not the only ones who wanted to interact with the Turks.
Most of them gather together just for profit. Some people may ask, besides war horses, cattle and sheep, what else can the Turks have worth trading?
That is really wrong. For the Central Plains Empire in the south, this is indeed the case, because the transactions between countries require large-scale transactions, and the Turks are war horses, and cattle and sheep can satisfy the appetite of the Central Plains Empire.
But from the perspective of merchants, those things are not of high value, especially since they travel long distances and take great risks. Naturally, they will not trade cattle and sheep. If it is war horses, they can still consider it.
Merchants who went north to trade with the Turks had much more abundant commodities, especially Turkic gold and silver products which were the most popular.
Prairie people have always liked yellow and white things, so gold and silver products flowed into the prairie tribes in large quantities. Merchants from the Central Plains could exchange exquisite handmade products for gold and silver, then take them back to the south for recasting, and then enter the door valves.
Go to the family home.
Merchants in the middle can earn extremely high profits, and countless millionaires have become wealthy in this way throughout the ages.
Of course, in addition to gold and silver, there are many things that merchants like, such as beautiful female slaves from the Western Regions, tall and weird Kunlun slaves, various spices, gems, and furs and pearls from the Northeast.
If you are lucky enough, you can also encounter rare treasures, such as the crown of the king of the Western Regions that Li Po snatched from the Turkic tribe.
When countries communicate with each other, these things are not worth mentioning, but in the eyes of businessmen, they are treasures that can make them rich overnight.
That's why merchants in the Central Plains are willing to travel thousands of miles and take great risks to trade with people in the Western Regions and northern grasslands, because it will bring them hundreds or thousands of times benefits.
Like Li Gui and Xue Ju, they were all such big businessmen at the beginning. How rich can they be? After dispersing their wealth, they can separate themselves into one party... These are some real rich men in the late Sui Dynasty.
The reappearance of Turkic envoys in Chang'an City aroused the thoughts of many people...and when Ashina Peony was walking around Chang'an, he spread the news of the mutual trade everywhere intentionally or unintentionally.
So some people headed by Gao Shen wanted to promote commercial exchanges between the two countries, but the emperor's attitude was resolute, so most of them stopped.
Gao Shen and his group had the same resolute attitude, and what made them quite emboldened was that the emperor was already on good terms with the Turks. If he himself was not upright, how could he control others?
They don’t believe that Yu Wenxin, the general manager of Daizhou, and Chen Xiaoyi, the general manager of Bingzhou in the north, didn’t take advantage of the convenience to raise a few caravans to travel between the two countries. Do you think no one believes it?
If others can do it, why can't the descendants of the Gao family and the Dugu family do it?
In addition, the Xiongnu, Di, Xianbei and other aristocratic clans formed during the long-term wars that devastated China. They have close ties with the Rouran, Turks and other nomadic peoples in the north.
The act of interacting with Turks had almost become a habit by the Sui Dynasty. No matter how the situation between the two countries changed, the exchanges between the upper-class nobles never stopped.
Therefore, in the eyes of Gao Shen and others, what they did was not a big deal. On the contrary, it was very unkind for the emperor to not allow everyone to form a caravan to go north.
Of course, what big nobles like them want is more than just money and goods. What they want more is political benefits. They can talk to the Turkic Khan or his close ministers. In their opinion, it will affect their official career and their family.
All will be of great help.
……………………
The moon was high in the sky, Xiao Cheng got into the carriage drunkenly, and the carriage started. Xiao Cheng listened to the crisp sound of horse hooves outside, finally put aside all pretense, and cursed fiercely in a low voice.
He felt that Gao Shen and Dugu Xiude were crazy. They actually wanted to embezzle some of their money and food to trade with the Turks. If they were caught, it would be more than worth the loss based on their status.
However, he immediately thought of the former head of the Dugu clan, Dugu Huaien. When Li Yuan sent Dugu Huaien to lead the troops to attack Yao Junsu in Puzhou, there was a rumor that he deducted the salaries and military supplies of the soldiers in the army... So,
Is it a fucking skill or a family tradition?
In the final analysis, he was still too timid. He regretted it a little, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. He stepped on someone else's boat. It would not be that easy to get off.
Rubbing his forehead, Xiao Cheng thought that he would have to discuss it with someone when he went back...
The carriage was passing through the dark streets, and the two servants were swaying on their horses in boredom. The public security in the capital was much better than last year, or even the previous two years.
The Left and Right Tunwei Mansion, the Left and Right Prison Gate Mansion, etc. returned part of the power of Chang'an's public security to the hands of the Chang'an Order, indicating that the chaos caused by the war was moving away from Chang'an.
The carriage drove far away, and two people were whispering in the shadow of an alley.
Then one person followed the carriage and left, while the other did not move at the same place until almost an hour later, Dugu Xiude's motorcade passed by...
……………………
Fufeng Pingling, the ancestral home of the Dou family.
General Dou Cong of the Youwu Guard burned incense in the ancestral temple and muttered words for a long time before leaving the Dou family's ancestral hall. The tribesmen outside gathered around him in twos and threes and exchanged greetings with Dou Cong.
A general will attract enough attention to any family, and the Dou family is no exception. Even if the Dou Cong brothers are from the Henan branch, as long as they have Fufeng Pinling as their ancestral home, they are the descendants of the Fufeng Dou family.
When he came here, Dou Cong also put away his unruliness and could laugh and chat with everyone, but he was just not in a good mood.
It has been several months since the beginning of spring, and he has been "suppressing bandits" outside. Today he "passed by" Fufeng and came to pay homage to his ancestors. If the emperor's ancestral hall had not been built yet, he would have paid a visit to the Li family in Fufeng.
one time.
Naturally, the bad mood was not because of any troubles caused by meeting the tribesmen, but because of the unsatisfactory official career. He was changed from General Zuo Tunwei to General Zuo Wuwei, which can be regarded as taking over Jiang Baoyi's position.
At the beginning, he and Jiang Baoyi had similar responsibilities. They led troops to guard the palace and were highly trusted by the emperor. In other words, they were close ministers of the emperor. Now, although they are still generals, they have obviously been alienated.
Traveling on the road for several months, suppressing countless bandits, and cooperating with the Ministry of Household Affairs to implement the new policy, he felt a lot of grievance. In contrast, he would rather replace his brother and escort grain and grass to the army. Fortunately, maybe
You can also see battle formations.
What made him even more distressed was that the title of Duke of Fufeng was gone. Although he asked for the title to be reduced, he couldn't help but feel extremely unlucky. He often muttered in his heart that Fufeng's land and environment were really damn evil.