Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 201: Smooth Business

"What did you say?"

Inside the hall, Liu Jilong thought he had heard wrongly and frowned.

"General Jie, that Miss Xiaoqi is really good!"

Cao Mao was afraid that Liu Jilong would not believe him, so he immediately began to describe Miss Xiao Qi, and then continued:
"That Miss Xiaoqi is the granddaughter of the Feng family of Bohai. After you marry her, you will be considered a member of a prestigious family."

"in addition……"

Cao Mao praised Lady Xiao Qi to the skies, but Liu Jilong looked at him suspiciously, and only after he stopped did he ask:

"You, did you accept money from Yang Zhiwen?"

"I didn't!" Cao Mao explained like a cat with its fur standing on end:
"I just think that Miss Xiaoqi is indeed suitable for being a military commander. Besides, if you marry Shangshu Feng, the matter of relocating the hungry people will definitely be smoother!"

His words really forced Liu Jilong to think about it.

It is true that he did not care about the so-called eldest son of a famous family, but he cared about how to strengthen Longyou.

Feng was already so eager to recruit me as her son-in-law, and if I kept refusing, it would inevitably be a loss of face for Feng Ao.

Even if they won't break up with me over this matter, there will always be grudges in both sides' hearts.

If he married the so-called Miss Seventh and got Feng Ao's full support, the problem of insufficient population in Longyou would be solved quickly.

Before, he was afraid that Miss Xiaoqi was ugly, but now that Cao Mao said that Miss Xiaoqi was not bad, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

"General Jie, Minister Feng has increased the number of slaves in the dowry to 3,000..."

Cao Mao finally gave Liu Jilian a reason that he could not refuse, which was a dowry of three thousand people.

Most of the so-called slaves here were starving people, and Longxi was in urgent need of population, so these starving people were the labor force.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong hesitated for a moment before saying, "In that case, go to Gao Changshi and get five hundred taels of gold, one thousand taels of silver, and two thousand pieces of silk as a betrothal gift."

"The following matters, such as the proposal of marriage, the name of the bride, the proposal of good luck, the proposal of betrothal, the date of marriage, and the wedding ceremony, will be handled by you, Gao Changshi, and Cui Canjun together."

After all, it was just a marriage, and Liu Jilong didn't want to run around, so he just left it to Cao Mao and others.

Although the betrothal gifts were worth seven or eight thousand strings of cash, the three thousand slaves were worth far more than that, so it was no big deal for the Protectorate to pay for them.

"Yes!" Cao Mao was as excited as if he was getting married, and he retreated in a hurry.

But when he was halfway out, Cao Mao suddenly realized what was happening and turned around to ask, "General Jie, what is your courtesy name?"

"Father's name?" Liu Jilong was stunned for a moment, then he said after a moment: "Muzhi."

"Yes!" Cao Mao responded, turned around and continued walking out.

Three days later, Gao Jinda sent Chen Ying to lead 400 elite cavalry to escort Cao Mao and the betrothal gifts to Nanzheng County, Xingyuan Prefecture to propose marriage.

After they arrived in Shannan West Road, Yang Zhiwen brought two hundred elite cavalry to lead the way for them.

Although they are both elite cavalry, the Longyou elite cavalry and the Shannan elite cavalry are obviously different.

The elite cavalrymen in Longyou all ride two horses. Both the riding horses and the military horses are the offspring of the Western Region horses and the Hequ horses. They are nearly five feet tall, which is more than half a foot taller than the military horses ridden by the elite cavalrymen in Shannan.

This is the case even for horses, let alone elite cavalry.

The elite cavalrymen in Longyou are all strong and muscular. They must eat plenty of meat every time they train, and their bodies are a size larger than those of the elite cavalrymen in Shannan.

When both the men and horses were smaller than the enemy, the elite cavalry of Shannan could not help showing a little timidity.

On the first day of September, as Cao Mao, Chen Ying and others arrived in Nanzheng County, the seat of Xingyuan Prefecture, Feng Ao, Feng Bangyan and others also brought civil and military officials from the yamen to the gate of the yamen waiting for their arrival.

At first, when the two hundred elite cavalrymen from Shannan arrived, everyone did not think anything was wrong. However, when the four hundred elite cavalrymen from Longyou and the civilians carrying the betrothal gifts arrived, they felt something was different.

"Beep--"

As the wooden whistle sounded, four hundred elite cavalrymen dismounted in unison, two hundred of them stayed behind to guard the horses, and two hundred gathered in a small square formation in front of the yamen.

"Beep--"

The whistle sounded again, and two hundred elite cavalrymen bowed and saluted: "Greetings to Minister Feng..."

The movements were uniform and the singing was particularly solemn, which made the civil and military officials of Shannan West Road stand on end, and they all secretly sighed that Feng Ao had found an extraordinary grandson-in-law.

"Good good..."

Feng Ao had been the governor of Shannan West Road for several years, but he had never been treated like this by his officers and soldiers. He couldn't help but say happily:
"Meicheng, quickly arrange a table for Muzhi's soldiers and take them to have a good rest."

"Yes!"

Feng Bangyan was also very happy. The Feng family in Bohai was now in decline. His father had died early due to illness, and although his grandfather was appointed as the governor of Shannan West Road, he was too old after all.

If Grandfather passed away, there wouldn't be even one official above the fifth rank among the Feng family, and sooner or later the family would become a poor family.

Now that he had found a brother-in-law like Liu Jilong, even the imperial court would not dare to easily control his father-in-law, and he would rise to a high position in the political arena.

Thinking of this, Feng Bangyan became very enthusiastic towards Cao Mao, Chen Ying and even those brothers from the Longyou Army.

After the elite cavalry were taken away by Feng Bangyan to rest, Cao Mao also proposed marriage according to the etiquette. The two sides exchanged letters of engagement and then began to offer betrothal gifts.

Nacai means that the man's family notifies the woman's family of the wedding date one month before the wedding, which is called "sending the date".

The man's family will send the colored cloth and clothes for the woman to her family, which is called "sending the dowry", and will ask a blessed woman with both sons and daughters to cut clothes for the girl, which is called "cutting".

Although the two thousand pieces of silk were not presentable, they were sufficient in quantity. Moreover, Feng Ao and Feng Bangyan did not care about the amount of betrothal gifts offered by Liu Jilong. They had already prepared brocade clothes and other items.

"Liu Jilong of Jinchang, Guazhou, courtesy name Muzhi, was born on the first day of the eighth month of the seventh year of Emperor Wenzong's Taihe reign, at the third quarter of the morning on the day of Xinyou and the day of Renshen."

"The seventh lady of Bohai County was born on the first day of the ninth month of the fourth year of Kaicheng of Emperor Wenzong Xiao, at the hour of Hai on the day of Xinchou."

After the two parties sang the ceremony and exchanged their birth dates, Feng Ao immediately invited a Taoist priest to predict the luck and match the birth dates.

The Taoist priest just looked at the horoscope, did some calculations, and then began to praise both parties for having found a good match.

After the questioning and acceptance of the marriage proposal were completed, Feng Ao sent someone to bring the betrothal gifts sent by Liu Jilong into the mansion, and Cao Mao and Feng Bangyan performed the ceremony of laying the geese on his behalf.

When the process was over, Cao Mao bowed and said, "Since the negotiation is over, I will go back to Linzhou to collect the tax."

"No need, no need!" Feng Ao interrupted Cao Mao quickly when he heard him say that.

Nazheng means giving a betrothal gift, but Feng Ao does not want this so-called betrothal gift. After all, he knows that Liu Jilong cannot afford much betrothal gift.

"Now that the war has broken out, it's already good enough for Cao Langjun to send a betrothal gift to Mu Zhi. How can he also accept Mu Zhi as a betrothal gift?"

"In my opinion, we should skip the issue of paying the tax and just ask for the due date first."

Feng Ao looked at the Taoist priest next to him, who also quickly calculated and said, "September 20th is a very good date."

"Okay, okay... then let's set it for September 20th."

Feng Ao nodded with a smile, and looked at Cao Mao at the same time: "Lord Cao, there is no need to take your men to retreat to Chengzhou or Wuzhou to wait. Just wait for the auspicious day in Xingyuan Prefecture."

Cao Mao also knew that Feng was eager to marry off Miss Xiao Qi, so he did not force anything but agreed to Feng Ao's request.

Their group of more than 400 people stayed in Xingyuan Prefecture, waiting to pick up the bride twenty days later.

At the same time, Yang Fugong of Jiannan Road also arrived in Dangzhou and proposed to go to Linzhou to meet with Liu Jilian.

After the news was passed back to Linzhou, Liu Jilong also wanted to know what Bai Minzhong was up to, so he allowed Yang Fugong to come to Linzhou to meet him.

On the tenth day of September, Yang Fugong arrived outside the city of Didao with more than thirty elite cavalrymen and more than ten horse-drawn carriages.

Facing the rammed earth and brick-covered Didao City, those from Jiannan Road couldn't help but sigh.

"Although Didao City is not as good as Chengdu, its walls are covered with bricks and are stronger than Chengdu."

"This land is not as flat as Chengdu, but it is long and narrow. I wonder how many acres of arable land can be reclaimed."

"What's the use of having a tall and strong city with so much wasteland? Look outside Didao City, there are not many people there."

"How come these people have so many horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts?"

It is now the time for autumn harvest, and the people of Didao City are basically harvesting crops outside the city.

There are only more than 12,000 people in Didao City now, and nearly 1,000 of them are soldiers. The population is indeed not large.

However, even in such a small city, it has more oxen and horses for working than in some large cities with a population of over 100,000.

The official road, which was four zhang wide, was filled with horse-drawn carts waiting to pull grain.

Yang Fugong and others could not imagine what a strong cavalry they would be able to train if they brought so many draft horses back to Chengdu.

"Please, everyone."

The brigade commander of the Longyou Army signaled everyone to follow, and then led them through the long corridor of the south gate of Didao.

When everyone entered the city, they found that the main road in the city was twelve meters wide, as wide as the main road in Chengdu.

It’s just that the main roads in Chengdu city are bustling with people, while the main roads in Didao city are deserted.

"I wonder how many people there are in Didao City?"

Yang Fugong asked the brigade commander who was leading the way. The brigade commander glanced at him and said, "This is not something you and I can discuss."

Yang Fugong was not angry even though he was rejected by a mere brigade commander. After all, Longyou was a powerful vassal state and not a place where he could run rampant.

He turned his gaze to the houses in Didao City, but saw that the two sides of the main road were not walls, but houses along the street.

Most of these houses were made of brick and wood, which surprised Yang Fugong and the soldiers of Jiannan Road. "Are these houses all built with bricks?"

"How much money and food will this cost..."

"Look at these small courtyards, two stories high along the street, all of which are the regulations for shops, but there are actually courtyards inside?"

"How could the people of Didao be so wealthy?"

In an era when most people still lived in mud houses with thatched roofs, brick and wooden houses were undoubtedly the kind of houses that only wealthy families could live in. However, in the city of Didao, every house had such a structure, which made the soldiers of Jiannan Road envious.

Of course, they did not know that most of the people living in Didao City were relatives of the soldiers who died in the National Cemetery, and that was why they could live in such houses.

But if they knew, they would probably be even more shocked.

Although the military men of the late Tang Dynasty were domineering, not everyone was qualified to be domineering.

Except for the generals and soldiers, ordinary state soldiers are not qualified to act arrogantly.

There were 8,000 guardsmen under the jurisdiction of Weizhou Town, while there were 60,000 to 70,000 provincial soldiers. Most of those who could live in brick and tile houses were guardsmen and a small number of provincial soldier generals.

The treatment of the guards and the state soldiers cannot be said to be worlds apart, but there is a huge gap.

In the eyes of Yang Fugong and others, the Longyou Army was basically composed of provincial soldiers, but their combat effectiveness was stronger than the elite troops of other armies, which was what they envied.

Take the military pay for example. The annual pay for ordinary soldiers in the Longyou Army was 12 shi of grain plus 10 pieces of linen. Occasionally, Liu Jilong would reward them with silk, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, etc.

All these miscellaneous things added up to no more than twelve or thirteen strings of cash.

In comparison, the military pay of the provincial soldiers in Jiannan Road is close to twenty strings of coins, and the elite troops guarding the western front need rewards from time to time, so the overall military pay is around twenty strings of coins.

If it is the Shen Ce Army or the Heshuo Yabing, the military pay will be even higher, almost five times that of the Longyou Army and three times that of the Jiannan Xichuan Army.

They didn't understand how Liu Jilian could train such a strong army with such a small amount of military pay.

"Everyone, please dismount. Only those above the level of brigade commander may enter the main hall!"

While they were immersed in why the people of Didao were so prosperous, they had already arrived at the Protectorate.

"Protectorate?"

"Isn't this the Observer?"

"This is beyond the limit..."

Looking at the plaque of "Longyou Protectorate", the soldiers of Jiannan Road whispered to each other.

Fortunately, they spoke the Shu dialect, which the brigade commander of the Longyou Army could not understand, otherwise Yang Fugong would have been in trouble before he even entered the door.

"Thank you, Commander, for leading the way."

Yang Fugong dismounted, bowed to the commander of the brigade, and then turned to tell the officers and soldiers he had brought with him, "Someone will come to take away these 300 pieces of brocade in a little while. Don't hinder them."

"Yes!" The Jiannan Road soldier bowed in response, then dismounted and waited for Yang Fugong to come out.

Yang Fugong walked towards the gate, where two groups of armored soldiers stood on both sides.

Although most of them are new recruits, their past experience as slaves makes them look intimidating and difficult to mess with.

Facing their eyes, Yang Fugong just thought they were veterans of many battles, just a little younger.

Thinking of this, he was led into the gate by the chief of the Longyou Army at the door and walked inside along the long corridor.

On both sides of the long road are the canteen, Yin Hotel, prison, fast gate and other government offices.

After walking along the long corridor, you will see the ceremonial gate and then the main gate.

As he walked into the main gate, he immediately saw the main hall more than 20 steps away. He quickened his pace and followed the team leader to the outside of the main hall.

"General Jie, Yang Jianjun from Jiannan Road is here!"

"Please invite Yang Jianjun in."

Liu Jilong's voice came out, his voice was steady and majestic, but he did not lose his tone.

Yang Fugong walked into the hall with his hips, and then bowed to everyone and said, "Yang Fugong, the military supervisor of Jiannan Road, has come here uninvited. Please don't be offended, General."

"General Yang, please take a seat."

Liu Jilong spoke, and Yang Fugong looked up and quickly glanced at Liu Jilong. He was amazed, but still remained calm.

Liu Jilian's appearance was much more handsome than those of the top three candidates in the imperial examinations over the years.

Such people were actually born as slaves, which made Yang Fugong feel that the Tibetans were too stupid.

"I heard that Supervisor Yang wants to do business with me. What is it?"

Liu Jilong sat in the main seat, while Gao Jinda, Zhang Chang and Cui Shu sat on the chairs on the right, leaving the chairs on the left for Yang Fugong.

Yang Fugong was sitting in the first seat on the left. When he saw Liu Jilong asking, he bowed and said:

"Jiannan Road is short of mules and horses, and Longyou was the top of the three major horse farms in the past, so I came here to bother you, hoping to buy some mules and horses."

"Mule and horses?" Liu Jilong was stunned. He had a lot of horses here, but not many mules.

"To be honest with you, the ranch under my command does have quite a few draft horses, but there aren't that many mules and horses."

"I wonder how many mules and horses the military supervisor needs to buy. If the number is not large, the ranch in Longyou should be able to get some."

Hearing this, Yang Fugong was also a little surprised. He didn't expect that Liu Jilong didn't even breed mules. But he quickly realized that this meant that there were a lot of horses on the Longyou Ranch.

Thinking of this, Yang Fugong bowed and asked, "I want to buy 2,700 mules and horses. I wonder what the price of mules and horses and draft horses is in Longyou?"

Seeing him asking, Liu Jilong looked at Gao Jinda, who also bowed and said, "I am Gao Jinda, the chief officer of Longyou Protectorate, and I am here to meet Yang Jianjun."

"Greetings, Mr. Gao..." Yang Fu bowed respectfully, and Gao Jinda also said:

"The price of a mule in Longyou is two strings of cash, and a draft horse is six strings of cash. What does the military supervisor think?"

"Two strings of cash?" Yang Fugong's eyes lit up. He didn't expect the price of mules and horses in Longyou to be so cheap.

This time he brought 372 pieces of brocade and 1,000 pieces of silk, worth at least 5,000 strings of cash.

Originally, he wanted to bring these brocades to test the price first, but he didn't expect that the price of mules and horses in Longyou was so cheap.

You must know that before Longyou was recovered, if Jiannan Road wanted to buy horses, it could only go from Lingzhou to Jingyuan, then go south to Fengxiang and Shannan Road, and then enter Jiannan Road.

Every time they passed through a vassal state, they would be exploited.

A draft horse that costs three strings of cash in Lingzhou will cost at least nine strings of cash when it is brought back to Jiannan Road.

The price of a horse in Longyou was only six strings of cash at the moment, and in addition to the brocades and silks he brought with him, he also had more than 6,500 pieces of silk in Fuzhou.

These 6,500 pieces of silk, even at the price of 800 coins per piece in Jiannan Road, were still worth more than 5,200 strings of cash.

This amount was enough to buy one thousand draft horses and two thousand mules, with some left over to take back.

Thinking of this, Yang Fugong asked, "I wonder how many mules and horses are there in the ranch?"

"There are only about 1,300 mules and horses that can be sold. Why don't you consider draft horses?"

Gao Jinda was worried that his price was too high. After all, they only paid two and a half strings of silver for the draft horses they purchased from Lingzhou.

After selling them to Yang Fugong, they can go to Lingzhou to buy cheaper Uighur and Tatar horses.

"I wonder if I can use brocade or silk to pay for the money?"

Yang Fugong did not make any purchases rashly, but instead asked how to pay.

"Of course." Gao Jinda was very happy because they could sell the brocade and silk to the eight garrison troops in Guannei Road and make money from both ends.

Yang Fugong was also very happy to hear him say this.

He didn't care how Gao Jinda made money. He only knew that being exploited by the Longyou Army was better than taking another route and being exploited by the Shuofang, Jingyuan, Fengxiang, Shannan and other armies.

"I brought 372 rolls of brocade and 1,000 rolls of silk this time. After buying 1,300 mules and horses, can I buy another 400 draft horses?"

Yang Fugong asked carefully, and Gao Jinda answered without hesitation: "Of course!"

Seeing this, the two of them were very happy to finalize the deal. Yang Fugong felt that he had saved money, while Gao Jinda felt that he had made a lot of money.

Seeing that the deal was done, Yang Fugong bowed to Liu Jilong and said:
"General Jie, I wonder if the price of purchasing mules and horses in the future will remain the same as it is today?"

"If so, when we, Jiannan Road, purchase mules and horses in the future, we will definitely consider Longyou. In addition, we are willing to open a trade route between the two places!"

Hearing this, Liu Jilong also smiled. He naturally had no reason to refuse.

As long as Jiannan Road is open to trade, it would be normal for him to steal and buy some slaves to Longxi.

As long as the number is not large, there is no need for Bai Minzhong to turn against me.

As for why Bai Minzhong bought so many mules and horses, Liu Jilong knew without hesitation that he was preparing for military training.

It's a pity that, judging from his historical performance, he seemed to have been transferred away from Jiannan Road after only a few years, and the troops of Jiannan Road performed poorly when facing the invasion of Nanzhao.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong nodded and said, "I clapped my hands and the price of the horse is set."

"In addition, if General Yang needs any commercial goods, you can also discuss it with Chief Secretary Gao. Longyou will definitely not refuse!"

(End of this chapter)