Being a private salt dealer is a promising career.
Liu Chengzong originally thought that he would not be able to see his ship until the Haibei Shipyard was completed.
Unexpectedly, the brave Tang cavalry took the initiative to attack and captured two fishing rafts from the Mongolian Empire. They were overjoyed and the West Sea Fleet was formed!
Because the Tang soldiers were having a great time, they set up two bird cannons on the raft.
Therefore, the West Sea Fleet became the sole master of this ocean on the day it was formed, directly improving the average equipment level of the naval forces of various tribes in Qinghai Lake.
They have ship-borne artillery.
Since people in Xifan generally practice water burials and sky burials, the locals do not eat fish, so the Tubo Empire withdrew from the sea hegemony.
As a result, Liu Erye, who was born as a landlubber, has only the Mongolian Empire, which is good at fishing, as his competitor on this sea.
Evenly matched.
However, on the matter of shipbuilding, Liu Chengzong and Zhou Zhouqiang had quite different differences.
Liu Chengzong felt that the Tibetan Empire had withdrawn from the maritime hegemony, and the Mongolian Empire's navy had never dared to see the wind. Their ships were built casually, and building them as soon as possible was the only thing Zhou Qiang needed to consider.
After all, if the ship is built the day earlier, his troops will be able to build the station piers on the other side. By then, there will be less smoke on the other side, and support will be available day and night, and troops can be sent to occupy the Chaka Salt Pond.
He can have a business route that makes a lot of money every day.
According to the scale of 500,000 people in the Hehuang Valley, the value of salt consumed every day is more than a thousand taels. This is a big business with a market of 400,000 taels.
But Zhou Zhouqiang felt that willow wood shipbuilding was not good, and pine wood shipbuilding was enough for at least twenty years, and the hull was too weak to defeat others.
Liu Chengzong wanted to force Sunday to be sent to Chengyun's doctor and ask someone to take a look at his brain.
Is this guy hoping to build a warship that can fight the Qinghai Lake monster or what?
Liu Shishi said: "Just use pine wood. Pine wood is very good and can be used for twenty years."
In fact, many merchants engaged in maritime trade use pine wood to build boats because pine boats are cheap.
A boat costs dozens of taels of silver. As long as you can make a trip back to the Southeast Asia route, you can make money by dismantling the boat and burning it as firewood.
Of course, more people will abandon their boats on the coast. The Spaniards like to buy such cheap second-hand cargo ships.
For Liu Chengzong, the same is true for his use of ships. As long as he can bring back a ship of salt, the value of the salt is a hundred times greater than that on the ship.
But it takes at least hundreds of hours of work to build a ship, and they are in dire need of craftsmen.
Sunday Qiang's method of solving this matter was very official. He found two banner troops from Xining Guards and asked them to send a message to Lanzhou.
There are shipbuilding craftsmen on the Yellow River in Lanzhou. Their skills may not be that high, but they are enough for daily use of cargo ships.
They are better at shipbuilding than Shaanxi soldiers like them.
Liu Chengzong was busy planning a shipyard in Haibei, while his subordinate Dai Daozi was preparing for battle by the Chaka Salt Lake across a mountain in Hainan.
At Lazun's call, tens of thousands of herdsmen and Spanish soldiers, led by Nayan from various tribes, launched an attack on the Heka Grassland.
Baiyan was unwilling to devote his troops to such a fratricidal battle, so he only led 200 herdsmen and followed Lazun under the protection of Dai Daozi's group of Tangqi.
The reason why Dai Daozi stayed with him was because he was threatening Tai Ji.
He said, brother, you see, the mission given to you by the commander is to protect me and return to the station safely. But now that there is a war, if I die, your commander's wish will be in vain, so you have to protect me again.
For a moment.
Dai Daozi thinks...if you die, the commander-in-chief can't find someone else? In such a big Qinghai, it's hard to find a five-legged horse, and the two-legged Mongolians are all dissatisfied?
But it’s not a bad choice to follow Baiyan Taiji to explore the intelligence of the two large tribes.
On the hills in the southern part of the Heka Grassland, Dai Daozi's men were camping. Dozens of cattle and sheep were foraging on the grassland under the hills. They were all the livestock of this team of Tangqi.
"Guan team, another sheep."
There was an iron pot on the bonfire, and the thinly sliced mutton was simmering in the pot. Dai Daozi was bored with Tang Bing's report, so he responded, concentrated on picking up the mutton, dipped it in minced garlic and put it in his mouth.
Within half a month, Dai Daozi led Tangqi to participate in two battles.
To put it bluntly, Taiji is not stingy, and all the spoils obtained by Tangqi belong to them.
Now the Tangqi all have their own Hequ horses, and other unused equipment will be placed on the edge of the camp after the battle, allowing the herdsmen from various tribes gathered by Lazun to purchase it.
How do you describe this kind of transaction?
Because the prices in the minds of both parties are different, it is like someone selling one stone of white flour and two taels of silver to Liu Chengzong in northern Shaanxi for a purchase price of one tael.
Both parties feel that the other party is very real and they have made a lot of money.
Dai Daozi wiped his mouth when he was full, and sighed: "If all the tribes in Qinghai are like this, I don't think the commander-in-chief will need to fight step by step, running around in circles. Qinghai will belong to the commander-in-chief."
In his eyes, Lazun's massive army was not worth mentioning.
Compared with the Xiongnu army 1,500 years ago, most of the components of this army have slightly worse equipment and slightly stronger tactics, so they are on a par.
But there are also surprises.
For example, the Qingbei of Kalkadai came from the mountain pass in the north to join the alliance.
Dai Qing is a subordinate of La Zun. The army has 800 cavalry. They generally use leather armor. The leather armor is often reinforced with iron bars. There are also many sabers and strong bows.
Taiji pretended that Dai Qing was once a nobleman of Khalkha, came from Mobei, and was Lazun's right-hand man.
"There may be a tough fight ahead. You all remember that no matter who returns to Haibei, they must tell the commander about the situation in the Khalkha Division."
In one of the two battles that Dai Daozi participated in, he fought side by side with Dai Qing and encountered a unit belonging to Guru Huang Taiji. The equipment of that unit was obviously better than that of Huo Luo Chibu.
What is particularly noteworthy is that the Mongolian team had muskets.
Dai Qing had a tacit understanding with that army. The two sides encountered a sudden encounter and each slowly withdrew from the battlefield. Finally, Dai Daozi followed Dai Qing and went to the side to rob a tribe of Guru Huangtaiji.
Dai Daozi felt that this Dai Qing, like himself, was more likely to find another fish monster.
There is always a reason why people do not work hard. Dai Daozi thinks that Tangqi is not worth fighting for Lazun, so why does Dai Qing?
Dai Daozi believes that it is probably also to spy on intelligence.
But this kind of thing is not something he worries about. He hangs out with a bunch of Mongolian tribes all day long, which greatly improves their sheep herding skills.
Dai Daozi just wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible and return to Haibei to report his findings to the commander.
This land is full of treasures. Lazun's land has fertile pastures, there are silver-lead mines near Bajiao City, and there is also a lot of peat.
In the ancient territory of Huang Taiji, we discovered several villages capable of mining silver ore, as well as mines that produced gold and lead.
There is drought gold below the hill where they are stationed, but they cannot mine these things.
Not to mention them, even the Mongolians who live here are too lazy to mine. Mining alluvial gold is a very complicated and cumbersome project.
This requires professional talents.
So he wrote down all these places one by one, just waiting to go back and report to Liu Chengzong.
Soon, Baiyan Taiji rode his horse from outside. It looked like he didn't intend to stay in the camp for a long time. However, when he saw Dai Daozi eating boiled mutton, Baiyan got off his horse and sat next to him. He asked someone for a pair of chopsticks.
Took two bites.
"The mutton tastes very good, how do you like it." Baiyan Taiji asked: "Do you have any plans to stay with me? You are all good men, and you can take care of the cattle and sheep."
It is said that Taiji really wants to keep Dai Daozi and his team.
During this period of time, he deliberately did not let Dai Daozi participate in the battle. He did not need to do anything at any time every day, as long as he stayed with him.
Dai Daozi's Tangqi team is like the biggest gem, making every nobleman who meets him envious of him.
Each of them is a seasoned soldier. Forty-nine of them have forty-nine sets of armor, and all of them are neat Ming army standard cotton armor... On the Gannan grassland, even Lazun's guards do not have such neat equipment.
.
The most important thing is that during this period, not only did Dai Daozi gain a lot of understanding of the Mongolian tribes in southern Gansu, but Baiyan also thought he knew Liu Shizi's troops very well.
Although most of the information comes from Chen Shifo, who knows nothing, some things are information that can easily be tricked out with false pretenses.
For example, Liu Shishi is from northern Shaanxi, and his army comes from Yulin, Ningxia, and Guyuan. Most of his senior officers come from his fellow Yan'an and Yulin colleagues.
Dai Daozi and this team of Tangqi are both from Ningxia.
In the eyes of Baiyan Taiji, this is equivalent to Daiqing of the Khalkha tribe who attached himself to Razun, basically leaving at will.
So I wanted to give it a try and let this team of people stay with me forever.
Dai Daozi found a Tang soldier who understood the Mongolian language. After hearing this, he laughed dryly. He knew what Taiji was thinking of by pretending to be pretentious. He shook his head and said: "As long as the trade between Taiji and the commander is completed, these things on us, you
You can buy them all easily."
Dai Daozi knew that the quality of the armor he wore was not very good. Every time the Lion Army gave them pocket money, they would go to the craftsmen to buy armor pieces.
Since Tangqi rarely participates in robbery missions, the main purpose of everyone is not to buy the best set of armor pieces, but just to buy a set of similar armor pieces.
He is also looking forward to the smooth development of the trade between the Lion Army and the Mongols. At that time, they can exchange their armor for eighty or ninety livestock, bring the livestock to Xining, and even buy the armor for his son.
Although most people do not have sons, as trade expands, they will soon have aunts.
I have never heard of a rich man who could not find his aunt.
Taiji smiled and said nothing more.
Although the prices here are like this, things are more expensive when they are scarce.
But in reality...there is no way to produce 5,000 livestock at once.
What's more, he doesn't want Liu Chengzong to really open up the market in Qinghai. This is human nature.
At this moment, only forty-nine people like Dai Daozi can be envied by others. When every noble can buy expensive equipment from Juerwan, will the forty-nine sets of armor still be enviable? p>
Without gaps and comparisons, how can people be happy?
"This battle is almost over, will you go back later?"
Dai Daozi nodded matter-of-factly and asked, "Is the battle going to be over?"
He feels that this battle has just begun.
He nodded and said: "We came here just to grab the horse. We have almost done it, so we can go back. How can we beat our brothers to death?"
After saying that, he looked around and whispered: "Do you think there is something wrong with Dai Qing?"
Of course Dai Daozi felt that something was wrong with Dai Qing, but he didn't say anything. He just asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
"He is a Khalkha. In ancient times, there were Khalkhas over there, and even farther west in Caidan, there were also Khalkhas in the tribe of Yongshebu."
Huaidan later became Qaidam, and now two tribes from Yongxiebu occupy it.
The Khalkha people from Mobei were mixed in with every force in Qinghai, which made Wei Yan worried.
"We brothers are fighting each other, and Choktu Taiji of Khalkha is watching from outside Suzhou. I always feel that Choktu Taiji is like a wolf and may attack us at any time."
Dai Daozi frowned when he heard the messy tribal names.
Especially when the names of these tribes also include the name of the leader, he has a big head.
He said: "Then what are your plans?"
Baiyan didn't speak for a long time.
His mood is very complicated. Both Lazun and Guru are his brothers. It is very uncomfortable for brothers to kill each other.
But brothers killing each other is not the most uncomfortable thing.
It would be the most uncomfortable thing if you weaken yourself and attract foreign enemies because of brothers fighting each other.
Because this not only makes people uncomfortable, but also makes their brothers look stupid.
Beside them, there is the wolf Choktu of Khalkha, and in the Bay of Juer, there is the lion Liu Chengzong.
Relatively speaking, the lion made him feel more at ease.
Because every Mongolian is willing to believe that no matter how powerful the Han people are, they will never be able to settle in Amdo. If they cannot stay in Kham, they will never enter Weizang.
The Mongols will not only pursue Kham, but also drive them into Uizang.
Both Lazun and Guru, at this time, just want to use their power to attack each other with the small tribes outside.
On the contrary, he can be an outsider and examine the increasing number of Mobei Khalkha people in Qinghai.
"After this battle is over, it won't be long before Guru will march to the Gannan grassland. I don't want to fight him, so you go back and ask the commander if I can lead the tribe across the Yellow River from Guide and pass through the Riyue Mountain.
Haibei resident pastor."
Dai Daozi laughed when he heard this: "Isn't Haibei the place where Lazun gave us the commander-in-chief?"
"Your commander-in-chief doesn't listen, and Lazun doesn't care about fighting with you, so naturally it's your commander-in-chief's place."
He pretended that there was nothing he could do about it. After seeing Liu Chengzong's army, he was actually more worried that Liu Shizi would send troops to attack them.
"I can go back and ask you, but don't hold out too much hope." Dai Daozi said, "We want to farm the land, and we won't let you work as pastoralists."
When Bai Yan heard that Dai Daozi was willing to tell him, his face became more relaxed: "I know this. Haibei is very big and there are many places where farming is not possible. I can just go to those places."
"But I have a request."
Baiyan Taiji looked at Dai Daozi, paused before continuing: "The Marshal and I have said that since we have made peace and the two families have become one family, we will get along well."
"If the foreign tribes in Khalkha want to invade Qinghai, I hope the commander-in-chief can lend me troops, and those of us in Qinghai will fight against the foreign enemies together."