Chapter 0358 Liu Heng's Peach Blossom Tribulation (Date Tonight)
Qingtang and Ganzhou Uighurs are currently considered the strongest allies of the Song Dynasty.
In the battle of Xixia, the Qingtang and Ganzhou Uighurs contributed a lot.
It would be easier for Kou Ji to get horses from the Uighurs in Qingtang and Ganzhou.
Kou Ji originally thought that when he had free time, he would go to Qingtang and Ganzhou, and get some horses from the Qingtang Zanpu Corner and Ganzhou Uighur Khan.
But now An Ziluo came to his door, allowing Kou Ji to see a new path.
He may not need to go to Qingtang or Ganzhou. He only needs to pay a sufficient price. Qingtang Zanpujiao and Ganzhou Uighur Khan can help him send the horse to the Song Dynasty.
Although the number of Uighur horses in Qingtang and Ganzhou is far less than that of Xixia and Liao, it is far more than that of the Song Dynasty.
The number of horses is even greater than their population.
Kou Ji purchased horses from them in the name of the suzerain country and gave them enough benefits. I believe they will happily conclude a deal with Kou Ji.
What Kou Ji needs to do now is to touch the bottom of Qingtang and Ganzhou Uighurs to see what price it will cost to exchange them for good horses.
Kou Ji did not intend to do this himself, he planned to send Zhang Yuan.
It is not only necessary to find out the background of Qingtang and Ganzhou Uighurs, but it seems that Shazhou Uighurs and other horse-bearing vassals also need to be contacted.
Envoys from various vassals are now coming to Beijing one after another, just taking the opportunity to find out.
After some calculation, Kou Ji returned to the room.
With Xiang Yan waiting on her, she washed herself and lay down on the bed to sleep.
The next morning.
Kou Ji rarely put on court clothes, put on a large cloak, carried a hand warmer, and walked around in the court hall.
It's the end of the year.
Each department and government office is extremely busy.
The same is true for the Ministry of Industry.
The Ministry of Industry's newly acquired powers over the capital's water and farming areas need to consolidate some of the government affairs in the capital's water and farming areas in recent years.
Kou Ji threw all these government affairs to Wang Yunsheng and hid aside to take some time off.
Time flew by and two days passed.
During this period, An Ziluo visited Kou Ji twice.
An Ziluo didn't have many friends in Bianjing City, and the only Song minister he could chat with was Kou Ji, so when he was free, he liked to chat with Kou Ji.
Kou Ji happily chatted with An Ziluo, and by the way, he was able to get a feel for the horses in Qingtang.
Kou Ji spent his days leisurely at home.
Zhao Yuanyan was so angry that he threw things in his palace.
Kou Ji seemed to have forgotten the agreement he made with him. After the three-day deadline was up, he didn't even give him an accurate word.
"Pa..."
A porcelain vase from Jingdezhen was thrown to the ground by Zhao Yuanyan.
Zhao Yuanyan shouted angrily: "He doesn't take this king seriously at all."
Wang Qinruo dug his hands into his sleeves and said quietly: "Your Majesty, by doing this, Kou Ji obviously rejected you."
Zhao Yuanyan stared and shouted: "Even if he rejects me, he should still send someone to pass a message to me. If he ignores me like this, who does he think I am?"
Wang Qinruo sighed and said, "Your Majesty, please control your anger."
Zhao Yuanyan clenched his fists, snorted heavily, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "What should we do now?"
Wang Qinruo thought for a moment and asked, "Have the craftsmen in the house not figured out a way to cast new money?"
Zhao Yuanyan sat on the chair with a gloomy face and gritted his teeth and said: "I hope they will find a way to mint new money. I might as well expect Kou Ji to bow to me."
Apparently, Zhao Yuanyan ordered the craftsmen in his house to study the casting method of the copper coins used in Yizijiaozipu.
Unfortunately, it seems that the craftsmen in his house have not yet figured out how to cast the copper coins used in Yizijiaozipu.
Otherwise, Zhao Yuanyan would not have said this.
Wang Qinruo pondered: "Then we can only start with Kou Ji."
Zhao Yuanyan said harshly: "You have also seen that that little brat Kou Ji ignores me at all. I can't send someone to kidnap him and torture him to extract a confession, right?"
Wang Qinruo thought about it for a moment and then suggested: "Send Su Chan'er over again and ask Su Chan'er to lower her profile as much as possible."
Zhao Yuanyan said viciously: "Sooner or later, I will cut him into pieces."
When Wang Qinruo heard this, he wanted to speak, but he didn't.
Zhao Yuanyan sent someone to Wanhua Tower to deliver a message, asking Su Chan'er to go to the Kou Mansion.
After Su Chan'er heard the message, she hesitated for a long time in the Wanhua Building, gnashing her teeth, and finally had to obey Zhao Yuanyan's order, and went to the Kou Mansion in a gorgeous dress.
When I arrived at the gate of Kou's mansion, I asked the doorman to report it, and then waited at the gate of Kou's mansion.
After a long time.
Kou Zhong appeared at the door and said calmly to Su Chan'er: "My young master said that he is out. My young master also said that cats and dogs will not be entertained in the house."
When Su Chan'er heard this, she was so angry that her orifices filled with smoke.
She didn't know whether Kou Ji was at the house or not.
But Kou Ji asked Kou Zhong to tell her such words, which was clearly because he was angry with her.
But she couldn't get angry yet, so she could only hold back the anger in her heart, lowered her posture and said: "Excuse me, please tell me that this little girl came to the Kou Mansion to apologize to Mr. Kou.
Previously, the little girl was arrogant to Mr. Kou and said some stupid things without restraint.
Now I come here specifically to apologize to Mr. Kou."
Kou Zhong looked at Su Chan'er, smiled faintly, and said, "Just wait here, I'll go in and deliver the message."
Kou Zhong had seen many people like Su Chan'er.
Kou Zhong could also guess why Su Chaner had lowered her attitude.
It's just that Kou Ji obviously doesn't want to see her, so Kou Zhong naturally can't help him pass the message.
Kou Zhong returned to the mansion and went straight into a side room.
There was a man in Qingyi sitting in the room. He was dressed like a Song Dynasty man, but when he was eating and talking, he revealed his identity as a Qingtang man.
This person is An Ziluo's long-term follower.
Every time An Ziluo visited Kou Ji in the Kou Mansion, this man would always come with him.
Kou Ji entertained An Ziluo, and Kou Zhong entertained him.
Kou Ji got the information from An Ziluo, and Kou Zhong got the information from An Ziluo.
After three conversations, Kou Zhong had already extracted a lot of useful information from this person.
Although this person was always secretive when talking to Kou Zhong and when he mentioned Qingtang affairs, Kou Zhong was able to analyze some useful things from the few words he revealed.
.
After Kou Zhong returned to the room, he poured wine for the man, and the two continued to talk.
He didn't care at all about Su Chan'er outside the house.
The two chatted for a long time.
Only when An Ziluo sent someone to summon him did he leave.
After this person left, Kou Zhong arrived at the Sijun Garden where Kou Ji was.
After seeing Kou Ji, he saluted.
Kou Ji asked with a smile: "How much useful information have you learned?"
Kou Zhong stood respectfully in front of Kou Ji and laughed in a low voice: "I'm sure I don't know as much as you, young master."
Kou Ji asked Kou Zhong to sit down, but Kou Zhong refused to sit down.
Kou Ji did not force himself and said with a smile: "After Qingtang Zanpujiao Siluo wiped out Wen Buqi, he gathered the Tubo tribes near Qingtang, and some weak Tubo tribes also attached themselves to his tent.
Now there are millions of people under his command, and so are the horses."
Kou Zhong smiled and said: "The same is true for the news that the old servant inquired about. The old servant not only inquired about the news about Qingtang, but also took the opportunity to inquire about the news about the Ganzhou Uighurs. Since the Ganzhou Uighurs occupied Xiliang Prefecture, their population has exceeded
There are as many as 400,000, including 100,000 elite soldiers and more than 300,000 horses."
Kou Ji lay on the back of the chair and said quietly: "The number of horses owned by the small Ganzhou Uighur far exceeds that of the Song Dynasty. Do you think this is a joke?"
Kou Zhong laughed softly and said: "An important minister in the court once said that we, the Song Dynasty people, are not good at raising horses."
"Shit!"
Kou Ji cursed disdainfully and said: "If I, the Song Dynasty, are really not good at raising horses, then what are the horses I raised in Baozhou? Those small Khitan tribes and vassals attached to the Zhe family are attached to the Cao family.
What are those small Tubo tribes and vassals?
As far as I know, they give Cao two hundreds of good horses every year."
When the late head of the Zhe family, Zhe Yuqing, was in charge of Fuzhou, more than 300 households from the small Khitan tribe came under his command and became vassals of the Song Dynasty.
Cao Wei had been in charge of the northwest frontier for many years, and many small tribes joined him and became vassals of the Song Dynasty.
After Taizong Zhao Guangyi obtained tens of thousands of horses from the Liao Kingdom, he gave them to these people to raise.
However, after the late emperor Zhao Zhen came to the throne, he took back the imperial horses from these people and distributed them to the prison officials.
When Kou Zhong saw Kou Ji cursing, he smiled and said: "Of course the old servant knows that there is someone in the Song Dynasty who can raise horses, so the old servant said that it was said by an important official in the court."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and didn't want to discuss this issue anymore. He asked, "I heard from An Ziluo that what Qingtang people are most in need of now is cloth, iron, and salt..."
Kou Zhong smiled and said: "The same is true for the Uighurs in Ganzhou... If we want to get horses from the Qingtang people and the Uighurs, we must exchange them for cloth, iron, and salt."
After a pause, Kou Zhong stared at Kou Ji and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, young master, you are building a textile workshop outside the city. Have you long planned to exchange cloth for horses from Qingtang people and Uighurs?"
Kou Ji laughed softly and said: "When I was thinking about helping the refugees make a living, I had a little idea."
Kou Zhong said with a bright smile: "You really have a long-term plan."
Kou Ji shook his head and said with a smile: "It's just a small calculation, it can't be put on the table. After Zhang Yuan returns home, you and Zhang Yuan go out and interact with the Qingtang people and the Uighurs to see how much cloth and salt you can exchange for a good horse."
horse."
Hearing this, Kou Zhong hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "Young Master, the Salt and Iron Department of the Third Division is in charge of salt and iron. Your relationship with Li Shen, the envoy of the Third Division, is not very good. Will he let you touch salt?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "Why don't you let me touch it? The third department is in charge of salt and iron, but those nobles are selling salt and iron secretly. He doesn't care about it, so why should he care about me?"
Kou Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "Young master, you can't say that."
Kou Ji waved his hand and said: "Anxiety, peace of mind... Since I dare to trade salt with the Qingtang people and the Uighurs, I have my own plans. The Ministry of Industry that I am in charge of has just obtained the power to farm fields. Tell me about the salt fields. They are fields."
?”
Kou Zhong looked stunned.
Kou Ji smiled and said: "If Li Shen dares to embarrass me about the salt issue, I can use my power to embarrass him."
When Kou Zhong heard this, he couldn't laugh or cry.
He cupped his hands and prepared to leave. After taking two steps, he turned around and said, "Young Master, the woman from Wanhua Tower is still waiting outside the house. Do you want to meet her?"
Kou Ji shook his head and said, "She has no good intentions, so she can't see her."
Kou Zhong nodded and exited the Sijun Garden.
After Kou Zhong left, Kou Ji got up, changed into less conspicuous clothes, and left the house through the back door.
He hadn't gone outside the city for a long time, and he didn't know how the forging iron workshops outside the city were doing. Building a forging iron workshop was far more time-consuming than building a textile workshop.
Kou Ji left Kou's mansion, and after walking a few steps, a person fell into his arms.
Before Kou Ji could take a closer look, he heard the man in his arms wailing, "Fourth brother, save me..."
Kou Ji lowered his head and looked at the person in his arms carefully, and said in slight shock: "Liu Heng, how did you become like this?"
Liu Heng raised his head, revealing two panda eyes. There were bruises on the corners of his mouth and face. A whip mark ran down Liu Heng's forehead and penetrated to his chin.
When Liu Heng saw Kou Ji, he seemed to have seen a savior and said: "Fourth brother, save me quickly."
Kou Ji helped Liu Heng stand upright and frowned: "What's going on? You are an official of the imperial court, how could you be beaten like this? Aren't the people who beat you afraid of the imperial court's punishment?"
Liu Heng said with a grimace: "I'm really not afraid..."
Kou Ji said in shock: "Could it be your father..."
Kou Ji looked Liu Heng up and down and said hesitantly, "But isn't he too cruel?"
Liu Heng shook his head and said: "It's not my father... he's a damn crazy girl."
"Crazy girl?"
Kou Ji was confused.
Liu Heng nodded heavily and said plaintively: "That crazy girl has been chasing me and beating me for three days."
Kou Ji wondered: "Your martial arts are not weak, how can you not do anything to a crazy girl?"
The corners of Liu Heng's mouth twitched a little, but he didn't speak.
Kou Ji looked at Liu Heng suspiciously and saw something different in Liu Heng's expression.
Just when he was about to ask Liu Heng for clarification, he heard the sound of horse hooves.
A few moments.
A woman in military uniform, holding a long whip, rushed into the alley astride a horse.
When the woman on the horse saw Kou Ji putting his hands on Liu Heng's arms, she immediately gave a sweet shout and whipped Kou Ji with her long whip.
"Crack!"
"Let go of my man!"
Kou Ji hurriedly pushed Liu Heng away, and the two of them avoided the whip.
Kou Ji looked at Liu Heng and the woman on the horse in astonishment.
"man?"
Kou Ji asked Liu Heng uncertainly.
Liu Heng pulled up his sleeves and covered his face, ashamed to see others.
The woman on horseback rode up to the two of them and raised her whip to teach Kou Ji a lesson. After seeing Kou Ji's face clearly, she said unexpectedly: "Are you the cripple?"
Kou Ji's face darkened, he stared at the woman on the horse and mused, "Are you An Ziluo's sister?"
It has been two years since Kou Ji last saw her, and the girl back then also felt a little more graceful.
Kou Ji almost didn't recognize her.
The woman sat on the horse and said proudly: "Not bad..."