Chapter 815 The Caravan of the Western Regions Leading to the Junggar King's Tent
From the Tianshan Mountains to the north and west, all the way to thousands of miles away, there are vast tracts of grassland everywhere.
The boundless greenery stretches straight to the end of the earth, giving people a feeling that they will never reach the end.
Thousands of miles of fertile wilderness, lakes and lakes are dotted like pearls, and rivers are intertwined. Herds of cattle and sheep roam under the white clouds, wandering in the natural pastures with waves of grass, and wild flowers bloom in colorful colors.
Lin Zhao lay down and rested next to a small lake. The strong wind blew, and the lake water stirred up sparkling blue waves. Fish swam among them, teal ducks, swans, and wild geese were perching around the lake shore and looking for food. It was full of life.
This is a rare freshwater lake in the Junggar grassland, and it is also an important place for passing business groups to collect water.
Yes, Lin Zhao followed a caravan out of customs, and the purpose was Rostock, the seat of Count Osterman, the Eastern Governor of Eros. The Junggar name is Lebus, and it is also the location of the royal tent of Ostermann, the great Khan of Junggar.
.
You know, due to years of fighting, everything in the Junggar area is lacking, from iron to cloth, and even needles and threads. However, there are also materials that the Zhou Dynasty lacks on the grassland, such as livestock, alkali, and more importantly, grassland.
There is gold and silver on it.
The Eros Far Eastern Legion plundered the entire Dzungarian Khanate, so from the governor down to the Cossacks, they had a large amount of gold and silver treasures in their hands, some of which were plundered, some of which were from trade with Europe and Persia, and some of which were mines from various places.
, in terms of total volume, it may be far inferior to that of other places in the Zhou Dynasty, but it is far more concentrated than that of the Ming Dynasty.
Although Eros can also transport countless supplies from Europe itself, it is now only concerned about firearms and ammunition. For other things, it can only rely on the local Dzungarian tribe.
But Junggar originated from Oara, and they were good at conquests and plundering, but they had almost no production capacity. However, weapons, cloth and other materials were all necessary for them. Businessmen from the Zhou Dynasty were naturally not philanthropists, and they would risk offending
The risk of legality came to the grassland for high profits, and for the gold and silver treasures in the hands of various grassland tribes.
Merchants who had followed the Silk Road for generations in the past finally flourished again in the Great Zhou Dynasty after being cut off for hundreds of years. They traveled between the inland and the Western Regions, traveling across the line of fire, peddling various commodities and gaining a lot of wealth.
Due to various reasons, neither the Great Zhou Dynasty nor the Junggars, nor Eros's Eastern Army, placed any restrictions on them.
Only taxes have to be levied.
Lin Zhao was arranged by the military camp to join a small caravan. No one knew his identity. They only knew that he had a long spear in his hand. Although he was young, he had the courage to do anything. However, this caravan only had three large vehicles.
The car was dragging some silks and porcelain, and it only had twenty or thirty people, so it could only partner with some large caravans.
Qiao Dayong is the leader of the large caravan. After passing the mountainous area in the north, the goal is Lebus. The nobles there are different from other places. They like luxury goods, silks and satins, spices and porcelain. These prices
higher.
Caravans traveling through the Western Regions often travel together. Qiao Dayong's caravan is also together with several other caravans. Qiao Dayong has more than 20 large vehicles, and the others have ten large vehicles and three large vehicles.
.
There were three to four strong men beside each cart in Qiao Dayong's caravan, holding swords, spears, and even four muskets. Two carts were specially used to transport the rations and equipment of these guards.
.
There were more than a hundred guards, half of whom were on horses, and there were dedicated people to coordinate and direct them. Such a style was indeed extraordinary. When he left the pass, several other caravans who were waiting to join him to leave the pass followed him.
Come up and make an agreement. This time we will go across Alashan with a group and go to Lebush. We will give Qiao Dayong five taels of silver in a big car.
Qiao Dayong and his entourage are indispensable. It is common for Han caravans to join forces on the grassland. The caravans that have followed only have twenty carts in total. They are all pulling ordinary goods. They are here for a trip.
For a hundred taels of silver, at least the guards would be provided with food to go back and forth. A penny saved would be an extra penny earned. If there were more people, there would be more to take care of, so why not do it.
When leaving the customs, Qiao Dayong's convoy guards only carried simple knives and other household items to prevent thieves. The border soldiers did not check much. When they exited the customs, they took out their bows, arrows, spears, and blunderbuss, and others followed.
The faces of several caravans were pale at that time. They also had guards, but there were only ten or eight of them. If Qiao Dayong acted maliciously on the grassland, no one would be able to go back.
Of course Lin Zhao didn't care, but he keenly discovered that Qiao Dayong's business group didn't seem to be a good bird, and there might be some contraband hidden in the cart.
But this is normal.
We walked cautiously into the evening and found that Qiao Dayong, a caravan guard, was paying close attention to his own car and didn't care about others at all. Everyone was relieved.
In fact, the road from Yili to Lebushe is not a vast grassland with no human habitation. It is similar to the post station in Dazhou. Within a day's journey, there are also some small tribes of Junggar people stationed. Such small tribes
The tribe consists of a hundred or several hundred people, and they make a living by doing small business with the caravans traveling north and south.
Although wars were frequent, the Eastern Governor of Eros also knew that one should not exhaust the land to catch the fish. He could not really destroy the Junggar tribe without completely defeating the Zhou army and marching into China.
We should treat them just like we treat the Torgut tribe. We should constantly collect taxes and soldiers to use them for war. This is one of the magic weapons for Eros to advance eastward.
Therefore, during this period, the small tribe of Junggar was still able to survive.
In the evening, this group of people set up camp on the spot. In the caravan with Qiao Dayong and others, the family with ten large cars said hello to the other families. After everyone added up, they simply named themselves and the nearby small tribes.
I bought two sheep and had them slaughtered by a small tribe. The muttons were roasted over a fire, and the sheep were stewed in water in a pot. I invited people from Qiao Dayong's side to come and eat with them.
After walking for a day, they ate cold dry food at noon. Smelling the aroma of meat, Qiao Dayong and his men couldn't help it. They declined with a few polite words and sat down.
Qiao Dayong was unambiguous and asked the people below to bring a jar of wine and some spices in the car. Once the wine was opened, he used a good Zhongyuan Shao knife to rub the spices on the sheep and put it into the pot. The fragrance continued.
People from nearby small tribes were lured over. Before the sheep could pass the test, the leader of the small tribe came over with a bag of kumiss to pay homage to the guests.
But Qiao Dayong understood what he meant and said with a smile:
"Old Cleo, who would want to drink that wine of yours? You want to be in my bar. So many people want to drink, so you can only drink one bowl. Isn't it too much?"
The man on the other end came over and took the bowl with the knife and the knife with a smile. He took a few sips and squinted his eyes without opening them for a long time. He looked extremely comfortable. Then he said a few polite words and left again.
With the food and wine, even if they were not familiar with each other, after a few sips of strong wine, they all became familiar with each other. The leaders of several caravans chatted with each other, but they were all flattering Qiao Dayong, either openly or covertly.
Shaodaozi is said to be "sweet in the mouth, soft in the throat, and irritating in the belly". It is also a strong drink. After drinking too much, Qiao Dayong also talked too much.
"Don't look at the Tatar's politeness, that is, the one who came with me and the three carts. You guys came over by yourselves and killed you in the middle of the night. The bodies were thrown three miles away and cut into pieces to feed the wolves. The carts and goods are yourselves.
If you sell it to Lebus, those Eros people will naturally not redress your grievances, and you won't even have a chance to file a complaint. Even though you have an extraordinary bodyguard, the roasted mutton also tastes good, so I'm afraid.
Cut into eight pieces, although you are handsome, the ladies in Junggar may not like you."
Qiao Dayong laughed and said, but later pointed the finger at Lin Zhao.
No one knew Lin Zhao's identity, but his roasted mutton was praised by Qiao Dayong, so he raised his head and smiled slightly: "How else can our boss work with you, Mr. Qiao? Our boss is a small businessman."
This business sells cashmere from Lanzhou, and we can't afford any guards! I was just traveling around the world, and happened to catch this scene, which made Master Qiao laugh."