In the early morning, the rolling snow-capped mountains stand high in the sky, with thick mist hovering on the mountainside. From a distance, you can see a team leading pack horses on the road to the ridge, with flags curled in white frost and blowing fiercely in the wind.
ring.
Gao Xianzhi stood on the ridge of the mountain riding a white horse, with Li Siye riding a fat black horse beside him. Wherever he could see, the Bomichuan River like a jade belt was flowing slowly, and a square fortress stood on the bank.
Station.
He pointed at the post station and said in surprise: "When we came here three years ago, the business post station only extended to the outside of Congling Shouchuo City, but now it has spread to the Bomi River?"
Li Siye smiled but said nothing, and the military supervisor Bian Lingcheng said loudly next to him: "This must be a post station for merchants. To be able to build so many merchant stations on Congling, this merchant must have strong financial resources."
"Not necessarily. Maybe this post station was built by dozens of caravans." Li Siye asked Gao Xianzhi from the side: "How about? Let's go over and have a look."
Gao Xianzhi waved his riding crop and calmly said one word: "Let's go."
The army slowly advanced along the river valley bank, and finally approached the inn by the river.
This is a small earthen fortress made of rammed brown frozen soil on Congling Ridge. Next to the gate of the post station is a tall wooden pole with a white flag hanging on it, which reads "Bomi Post".
Dai Wang led the postmaster, postmen, and horsemen to greet him outside the door. The army's iron hooves slowly lined up along the river, and six black banners and crimson flags were scattered on the river beach.
He led everyone to kneel down on one knee and cross his hands and said: "Dai Wang from Qixi Merchant Traveler pays homage to Prime Minister Gao Gao and pays homage to all the generals."
Gao Xianzhi pulled the reins of the horse and walked out of the queue. He lowered his head and gave these people a majestic look. He reined in the horse's head and stopped in front of Dai Wang. He pointed at him with the whip and said, "Raise your head."
The atmosphere froze for a moment, and several people secretly glanced at the side of Dai Wang's face. He slowly raised his head, revealing a dark purple rosewood mask.
Gao Xianzhi leaned back and asked in surprise: "What's going on! Why don't you dare to see people with your true colors?"
"Reporting to Zhongcheng, a certain person's face was burned by a fire. In order to make it easier to go out and meet people, he put on a mask."
Gao Xianzhi nodded and asked him again: "Did you spend money to build this inn?"
Dai Wang's gaze slid across Li Siye's face, then he faced Gao Xianzhi and crossed his hands and said, "Zhongcheng, these stations were not built by Dai Wang alone, but were built by the joint efforts of dozens of caravans."
"These?" Gao Xianzhi asked in surprise: "How many stations have you built on Congling?"
"Reporting to Zhongcheng, in order to facilitate the transportation of pepper to Tianzhu, we jointly raised gold to build a post station. We strictly followed the requirements of the official post station and built a post station every thirty miles, extending all the way to Xiaobolu Kingdom and then to India.
.”
Gao Xianzhi praised happily: "There are actually such capable businessmen in our country in the Tang Dynasty. They have accomplished what our Anxi Protectorate wanted to do but did not have time to do. Connecting the post station to Xiaobolu and India is equivalent to
By directly controlling Little Bolu and bringing India closer, we can more easily command the Quy Nhon Army, further control the Big Bolu and other countries around Tibet, and even be able to include five or six countries in the Indus River region as allies in the future.
,Brother Siye, what do you think?"
Li Siye pretended not to know anything and nodded: "Yes, the Quy Nhon Army can use the post station to send messages back and forth, and the high and steep mountains are no longer a barrier."
Gao Xianzhi got off his horse, stepped forward to help Dai Wang up, and said to him: "When this expedition to Jie Shi Kingdom is over, I will personally return to Chang'an to pay tribute, and I will definitely connect Dai Lang and the merchants to Congling and Xiaoxiao.
Bolu India's feats are reported to the saint, and you deserve the saint's reward."
Dai Wang felt a little panicked. This post road was Li Siye's strategic trump card and should not be exposed to the court's sight. Chang'an was not safe now. Li Linfu was still in control of the Tang Dynasty. Who knew whether Li Linfu would see through the interests in it?
Chain, grab it in your own hands, it will really become a wedding dress for others.
He glanced at Li Siye like lightning from the corner of his eyes, and quickly crossed his hands and said to Gao Xianzhi: "Zhongcheng, you must not do this. We don't dare to take credit."
Bian Lingcheng was riding on the horse with his hands on his sleeves and sneered: "You ungrateful businessman, if you don't want the saint's reward, what do you want?"
Dai Wang raised his head slightly and crossed his hands at the eunuch: "It's not that I don't want to take credit for reward, it's really that I don't dare to take credit. First of all, the construction of the station is not my own effort, but is jointly raised by many colleagues. When the time comes,
It is not good for the court to reward only one person, which will make other companions feel resentful. Secondly, we are building the inn to facilitate our companions to settle down and rest after doing business in India. This is actually to facilitate ourselves and we dare not take credit. Besides, we merchants are doing business.
It is not advisable to have a reputation that is too arrogant. Once you are rewarded by a saint, everyone in the world will know it. As the saying goes, colleagues are enemies. If all merchants know about us, they will all be my enemies."
Bian Lingcheng smiled rudely and said: "You merchants, no wonder the scholars call you such a businessman, you are more petty-minded than us eunuchs."
"The supervisor is right."
Gao Xianzhi nodded in agreement: "In this case, it's a pity. Dai Lang, take us in for a visit."
"Here."
He bowed in front to lead the way and led Gao Xianzhi into the Zhongmen Cave. The post station was surrounded by thick walls comparable to those of a small city, with crenellations on top. If encountering strongmen and bandits, they could stand high to resist the enemy. In the center was a rectangular courtyard, where the main building had a thatched hall.
It faces south in the middle and is used to entertain travelers. There are stables and granaries in the west and warehouses in the east. The facilities are complete and neat, not much worse than the inns built by the imperial court.
Dai Wang bowed to Gao Xianzhi again and crossed his hands and said: "I heard that Prime Minister Gao wanted to go to Congling again to attack Jie Shi Kingdom. We merchants are grateful to the imperial court for its kindness. If the Anxi Protectorate had not driven away the Tibetans and opened up Xiaobolu, we would have
There is no chance to take a shortcut from Red Buddha Hall to India through Xiaobolu. In order to support the Anxi Protectorate expedition, we specially bought food from the countries in the Western Regions to replenish our warehouses and provide food supplies for the armies passing along the way."
After hearing this, Gao Xianzhi praised again: "Dai Liulang is really a Confucian businessman. He has solved the worries of the army. I want to report to the saint more and more to ask for a reward for you. But since you are not willing to accept the reward from the court, Gao Xianzhi
I would like to give you some generous gifts. I promise here that from now on, when your caravan, Dai Liulang, passes through all the post stations in the territory of our Anxi Protectorate, horses and livestock can be replaced free of charge. In Shule and Qiuci
, entering the city from Khotan and other places will be exempted from city gate tax for three years!”
The moment to test his acting skills came again. Dai Wang showed a tearful expression and hurriedly bowed down.
"Xie Zhongcheng!"
In fact, under Li Siye's operation and intervention, not only the post stations along Congling, but also the official post stations on the entire Silk Road to Khotan have been reduced to shipping stations for the Western Region Chamber of Commerce, and the imperial post roads have become tools for making money.
But now that Dai Wang can get Gao Xianzhi's promise, it is like adding a double insurance. Because the large amount of pepper transportation on the trade route will reach Gao Xianzhi's ears sooner or later, it is better to actively bring it into his sight than to make him suspicious, but
He still doesn't want to be exposed.
In the afternoon, the army set off again and marched along the post road. Every time it encountered a post, it stopped to rest and replenish food. The eight thousand Anxi athletes always kept their dry food bags full. The sufficient supplies gave Gao Xianzhi more time for long-distance battles.
Thirteen days later, the Tang army entered Xiaobolu, and a part of 2,000 soldiers and horses from the Quy Nhon army joined the expedition to Jieshi Kingdom.
The team set off further west, and the nearest post station was only four hundred miles away from the Jieshi Kingdom. It was built on a bulging mountain. In terms of terrain and appearance, it looked more like a military fortress.
At this moment, only Gao Xianzhi and Li Siye were standing on the wall of the fortress. Gao Xianzhi looked at the plain under the clouds in the distance and suddenly said: "I have a question in my mind. Even if these businessmen groups work together to raise money to build the inn, there should be someone behind them."
A strong person is needed to integrate them, otherwise it will never succeed. I think it should not be the person wearing the mask."
Li Siye's expression changed slightly, and he raised his eyes to the sky. Gao Xianzhi put his hands on the arbor and said with a sly smile: "I will naturally not object to anything that is good for Anxi and Datang, but these people must have spent a lot of money on you.
Bar."
Li Siye suddenly understood and said quickly: "Yes, yes, these people are too ignorant of the rules. They didn't even greet the high school prime minister on the ground in Anxi. After returning this time, I will definitely ask them to prepare carefully.
"
"The meeting gift doesn't matter, we have the responsibility to protect our business travelers in Anxi."