The four hundred and twentieth eight chapters of the grace of support
Meng Jiao hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and saluted, "Excuse me, brothers, can I leave Longshan Pass without a customs clearance certificate?"
One of the leading businessmen glanced at them and said with a smile: "It seems that you don't have customs clearance documents either!"
"Exactly, we don't have a customs clearance document, and the Liupanguan guards refuse to let us pass. They want us to go to Pinggao County to find the governor."
"Liupan Pass has always been like this, with tighter inspections, but Longshan Pass is different. Longshan Pass is a tax customs. You have to rely on the tax bill to pass the customs. If there is no tax bill, you have to pay the tax. We finally got the customs clearance document. I think
We left through Liupan Pass, but accidentally lost it, so we had to go through Longshan Pass, so we couldn’t save the money.”
"But do we have to pay taxes even if we don't have goods?" Meng Jiao asked again.
"Of course you can't escape. As long as you go to Longshan Pass, you have to pay taxes. Their name is prepayment tax. They will give you a list and you can deduct it when you come back to pay the tax. It can be deducted when you come back, but the tax amount will also be required.
Bringing it up is actually the same thing."
A scholar next to him couldn't help but said: "But we are scholars, not businessmen!"
The leading businessman chuckled, "Don't you understand? They only recognize money and not people. In fact, the tax is not much. Everyone has money, so you can just treat it as money to buy money."
At this time, the shopkeeper came over and said: "It's not far to go to Longshan Pass. Leave the town and go southwest. There is a business road there, which is twenty miles farther than Liupan Pass."
Meng Jiao was overjoyed. Sure enough, there must be a road to the mountain. They bought some dry food, asked about the road, and set off again, heading to Longshan Pass in the southwest.
.........
A few days after Guo Song returned to Zhangye City, Shi Donglai, a great Sogdian businessman, also brought news about Shatuo.
In the governor's office, Shi Donglai sat down awkwardly and said: "My third son has sent a message on behalf of the governor. Shatuo Khan has publicly stated that he is willing to exchange prisoners of war with the governor. They will send someone over soon."
Having said this, Shi Donglai hesitated for a moment and then said: "Captain, there seems to be some instability within Shatuo."
"Why do you say that?" Guo Song asked with great interest. He understood what Shi Donglai meant by internal instability, which meant that internal strife had intensified.
"It seems that the Shatuo Elder Council was extremely dissatisfied with Zhu Xie Jinhai and unanimously asked the Khan to execute Zhu Xie Jinhai. However, the Shatuo military supported Zhu Xie Jinhai."
"How many tribes are there in Shatuo?" Guo Song asked again.
"Shatuo initially had three tribes, the Chuyue Tribe, the Chumi Tribe and the Prezhi Tribe. Later, they continued to conquer other tribes and added four more tribes, Lieshan Tribe, Wusun Tribe, Jinshan Tribe and Yiwu Tribe. Although there were seven
tribes, but the Chuyue tribe is still absolutely strong. The Khans and important official positions are all held by the nobles of Chuyue, and then three people from each tribe form the Council of Elders, and many important matters are decided by the Council of Elders."
"Did you hear something interesting, sir?"
Shi Donglai nodded, "My son's contact officer is Tutunfa, who is responsible for finance and trade in Shatuo, which is equivalent to our household minister. This Tutunfa also receives a lot of benefits from us. He told my son, Zhu Xie
Jin Hai was arrested as soon as he returned to Yiwu, and the Presbyterian Council wanted to publicly execute him, but that night he was rescued by close soldiers who escorted him and fled to Gaochang."
"Isn't Shatuo divided?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
"There won't be a split for the time being. The conflict between the Shatuo military and the Presbyterian Council has been going on for a long time. The Shatuo Khan is usually the mediator, but this time the losses of the Shatuo ministries are too great, and the Presbyterian Council cannot tolerate Zhu Xie Jinhai."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back. He was a little confused and said: "Isn't the Shatuo army coming from all the Shatuo tribes? What does the Shatuo army mean?"
"The governor doesn't know that the Shatuo army consists of two parts. One part is called the Shatuo Chuyue Army, which is the main force of the Shatuo Army, and the other part is called the Shatuo Tribal Army, which is composed of troops from six tribes other than the Chuyue Tribe.
It does not exist during normal times and is only temporarily organized when a war breaks out.
Usually there is only the Shatuo Chuyue Army, which is what the Shatuo Army refers to. This Zhangye battle consisted of 10,000 Shatuo Chuyue Army and 20,000 Shatuo Tribal Army. As a result, the entire army was destroyed, and all the tribes were very angry.
The Presbyterian Church is eager to cut Zhu Xie's five horses from the Golden Sea into pieces to relieve their hatred."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "The internal conflicts in Shatuo are actually the conflicts between the Chuyue tribe and the other six tribes, right?"
"It can be said that the Chuyue tribe is the leader of the clan, and the other tribes are all servants. In the past, when Shatuo was in the ascendant stage, the Chuyue tribe ate meat and other tribes drank soup. Although there were all kinds of unfair conflicts, they could live in peace.
Once Shatuo goes downhill, all kinds of conflicts will intensify."
Guo Song said happily: "Thank you so much for your help, Master Shi. If you have any difficulties in the future, Master Shi, you can come to me directly and I will try my best to help!"
Shi Donglai leaned over and smiled and said: "Captain Guo is a man who does great things. It is an honor for our family to serve for Governor Guo."
There was something in Shi Donglai's words. How could Guo Song not understand it? He smiled and nodded, "Then let's live a long life!"
.........
Shi Donglai said goodbye and left. Then Chief Pan Liao walked in and said with a smile: "The governor is so proud! Shi Donglai actually came to visit in person."
"Really? He is just a businessman, and it is actually an honor for me to come to visit me?"
"What the governor doesn't know is that this Shi Donglai is not an ordinary businessman. He is one of the three most famous businessmen in Sogdia. He is as rich as anyone in the country. He usually lives in Chang'an. He ran away because of the unstable situation in Ganzhou.
When he comes back to take charge, he will return to Chang'an after Zhangye is dealt with. Last spring when he returned to Zhangye, Wang Lien ran to visit him, but he said he was ill and disappeared. He just asked his eldest son to see Wang Lien. I have been in Ganzhou for four years, and he has been there since
When he visited me in the future, he was a frequent visitor to the prime minister's house. Even Yuan Zai was polite to him, and he looked down on ordinary officials at all."
Guo Song laughed and said: "Is his business in Zhangye very big? Why should he put his foundation in Zhangye? I don't quite understand."
"Don't the governor know that Ganzhou is the holy land of the Sogdians?" Pan Liao looked a little surprised.
Guo Song shook his head, "I don't understand, why?"
"The Sogdians are the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Han Dynasty. They have lived in Ganzhou for thousands of years. During the Han Dynasty, they were defeated by the Xiongnu and were forced to move west to the Hezhong area west of Congling. They were changed to the Nine Kingdoms of Sogdiana, and a small part
The Zhaowu Hu people live in various parts of the Hexi Corridor. Although they have migrated for hundreds of years and their races have changed, the Sogdians still regard Ganzhou as their hometown. Zhangye has always been the base of many big Sogdian businessmen. In the future, the governor was slow to
You will know later."
"Okay! Pan Changshi has something to do with me?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Pan Liao whispered: "The governor really wants to negotiate with the Shatuo people?"
"Of course, I want to exchange the captured Tang Jun brothers back, and negotiation is necessary."
Pan Liao hesitated for a moment and said: "Should the imperial court take the lead in this matter? Has the governor forgotten the incident that Chang Xiangguo accused him of?"
Guo Song laughed and said, "You can tell me that I am having an affair and want to get married!"
Pan Liao nodded and said a little embarrassedly: "I also have good friends in the court, so I specifically asked about the governor's past affairs. Please don't blame the governor."
Guo Song waved his hand, "This is a small matter and there is no need to explain it, but I believe that with Chang Gun's experience, no one will ever accuse me of having an affair with a foreign race. Besides, I am exchanging soldiers from the Ganzhou Army.
As the coach of Ganzhou, isn't it normal to exchange prisoners of war? There is no need for the court to intervene? "
"Perhaps I am too cautious. Since the governor has decided, I will definitely make full preparations."
"I just heard from Shi Dong that the imperial court has issued a decree to commend Ganzhou, and the generals of the Ganzhou army and the officials of the governor's office have all been promoted to one rank. I would like to congratulate Pan Changshi."
Pan Liao was suddenly surprised and delighted. He was now an upper-rank Chao Yilang of the sixth rank. If he was promoted one level, he would be a Chaosan doctor from the fifth rank. For him, this was a crucial promotion!
"Captain, is this...is this news true?" He was so excited that his voice trembled.
"It should be true. In my express report to the emperor, I specifically mentioned the contribution of the officials of the Governor's Office in preparing for war. Not only Pan Changshi, but also other officials should have been promoted one level."
Pan Liao stood up, was moved and saluted deeply: "Everyone says that the Governor cares for his subordinates. Only now I deeply understand that the Governor's support and support will be engraved in my heart!"
...........
At dusk, a cavalryman came galloping from a distance and ran directly into Zhangye City. The cavalryman dismounted in front of the gate of Guo Song Mansion and said to the soldiers at the door: "Report to the governor for me that there is an emergency in the battle of valley pulling!
"
Guo Song now has forty soldiers under his command, led by Yang Jun and Zhao Xiu. They are stationed in a small military camp next to the Governor's Mansion. Every day, four soldiers stand guard outside the mansion, and a soldier hurriedly enters the mansion to report.
Soon, the soldier came out and said: "Put all your weapons outside and follow me!"
The soldier who reported the news handed the sword, dagger and war horse to the guard. He followed the soldier into the mansion in a hurry and came to the outer study, where Guo Song was already waiting.
In front of him was a map of Dadou Valley. Guo Song was staring at the map. He marked several red circles on it. They were dangerous places where troops could be stationed. Except for the Tuniu Fort at the entrance of the valley, there were other dangerous places.
They are all under the control of the Tuyuhun people.
Guo Song has always been paying close attention to the situation in Dadou Bago, and his intuition told him that the Tubo people would never be absent from the war for the Hexi Corridor.