Chapter 380 Purpose
Ma Chao's troops have not returned yet, but Xianbei's envoys arrived first.
"Mr. Zhongda, I, the Xianbei people, have always admired the great Han and have never offended him in the slightest. There must be some misunderstanding when this war started. I hope Mr. Zhongda will make it clear to His Majesty and to the Taiwei! "The Xianbei envoy did not dare to be disrespectful even if he was facing Sima Yi, the newly promoted doctor of the Ministry of Rites.
Xianbei has visited Dahan in the past, but it has never happened before that even a junior official who has just entered the official position must be extremely humble. In fact, Ma Chao beat Xianbei too hard this time, and the power he showed was too strong. On the frontal battlefield, Xianbei's 50,000 soldiers were beaten by 8,000 wolves, and they were unable to fight back. Naturally, when the envoys arrived in Chang'an, they could no longer stand up.
"Don't worry, I will try my best." Sima Yi reluctantly took his hands out of the other's hands, nodded with a smile and said, "Don't worry, the imperial court has issued an edict to withdraw troops."
In fact, it didn't happen, but Sima Yi estimated that the fight there was almost over. The main purpose of the imperial court's dispatch of troops this time was to let the new army go to the battlefield. At least that was the intention on the surface, but Sima Yi felt that things were not that simple. Lu Bu couldn't do things with only For this reason, especially since a large amount of silk and cloth has recently arrived from nowhere, someone had already said that there was no room for it in the warehouse, and Lu Bu began to prepare for the training of new recruits.
Sima Yi didn't believe it if he said that these two things had nothing to do with each other.
Finally, he sent away this clingy Xianbei envoy. Looking at his back, Sima Yi sighed. He was obviously just a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, but almost everything happened to him. Instead, it was Jia Xu, the Minister of Rites, who was supposed to be in charge of these things. , no one was seen all day long, and he was in the Ministry of Rites, living as a doctor and becoming a minister.
But...even if the Ministry of Rites is eliminated, what's the use? The work is all your own, and the Ministry of Rites itself is responsible for receiving envoys and sacrifices from various countries. It has a lot of work but not many rights. If you do it well, it is your duty. If you don't do it well, the blame will be on you.
Sima Yi discovered that his Shangguan was really bad!
Alas~
As the actual second-in-command of the Ministry of Rites, Sima Yi could only go to Jia Xu to discuss the matter. Others didn't know where he was, but Sima Yi probably knew.
In front of a tea stall in Nanshi, Jia Xu and Dian Wei were watching people perform together. Lu Bu had been discussing other things with Guo Jia, Xun You, and Pang Tong these past two days and had no time to come together.
"Shang Shu!" Sima Yi hurriedly came to Jia Xu and asked for a pot of tea from the tea stall next to Jia Xu and filled it with Jia Xu.
"Zhongda, why are you free to come here today?" Jia Xu took it with a smile, and that kind smile on his face deceived Sima Yi on the first day.
"Shang Shu, the Xianbei envoy is here again. I wonder what Taiwei means?" Sima Yi bowed.
The envoy from Xianbei came to beg for mercy for several days, but Lu Bu ignored the matter and didn't even see him. Jia Xu, who was supposed to meet him, was nowhere to be seen all day long, and he left the matter entirely to him, fearing that Xianbei would not be afraid when the time came. That's all, but if I mess up this matter, my career will be over in the future, but what should I do? At least give me some assurance.
"I didn't tell you?" Jia Xu looked at Sima Yi doubtfully.
Sima Yi: “…”
Jia Xu laughed and said: "Now there is a large amount of cloth in the treasury. My lord, the grassland people are considered Han people, and I can't bear to see them freeze to death or starve to death."
Sima Yi chuckled and cursed in his heart. He couldn't bear to see people freeze to death or starve to death, so he sent people to kill them directly, right? But he roughly understood the meaning: "The captain wants to sell these cloths to Xianbei?"
"Yes." Jia Xu nodded and said, "Yes, there was no need to beat them originally, but I was worried that the Xianbei people would reject their kindness, so I beat them first, and then let them exchange cattle, sheep, horses, and furs."
How would you know someone was going to refuse if you didn't tell me?
Sima Yi was a little speechless, then thought for a moment and said, "Does the Taiwei want to start trade with the Western Regions and the grasslands in general?"
"What do you think of Zhongda?" Jia Xu nodded and asked with a smile.
"I think it's not bad, but the grassland races, Xianbei and Xiongnu, may not trade obediently." Sima Yi sighed, the idea is good, but Xianbei or Xiongnu, even if they reach an agreement with their leader, It is difficult to restrain all the prairie people.
It's not that these leaders will be treacherous. In Lu Bu's day, these people don't have the courage, but as far as Sima Yi knows, most people on this grassland only have two ways of survival, grazing in spring and summer, and robbing in autumn and winter. What kind of truth can you tell them? It's useless. They will still cross the border to rob when they are hungry. Most people live by instinct, making it difficult for them to trade honestly.
"There is always a way. This Wanli grassland just happens to be a place for my big man to train his troops." Jia Xu shook his head: "Other things are not my responsibility in the Rites Department. You just go and get this done first."
"Here!" Sima Yi could only agree. Seeing that Jia Xu had no other instructions, he bowed to Jia Xu and Dian Wei and left.
"Why do you think my lord likes doing business so much? It used to be the Western Region, but now it's the grassland." Dian Wei asked with a frown after Sima Yi left.
He is obviously a worthless hero, but he only thinks about business all day long, which makes Dian Wei a little incomprehensible.
"Beigong City is now producing more and more silk cloth, and the countries in the Western Regions cannot endlessly absorb silk. The value of silk in the Western Regions must be maintained, so try not to decentralize it to the private sector, otherwise it will easily lead to price drops." Jia Xu Explained casually.
The Western Region is too far away, so the ability to eat silk is limited. In the past, even a loom that was twenty-five times more powerful could still eat it. But now, as the technology in Beigong City becomes more advanced, more and more mulberry trees are planted, and the speed of silk production has increased. Naturally, it gets faster and faster.
Nowadays, the imperial court can become more and more prosperous and build water conservancy projects every year, relying on the huge benefits of silk on the Silk Road. However, if silk is flooded, it will inevitably lead to cheapness. In that case, even if silk is continued to be transported, it will be difficult to obtain the current profits, and what is even more terrifying is A large number of mulberry farmers will lose all their money, so the court must find a way to deal with this matter.
Of course, it can also be sold to the people at a low price, but firstly, the people will not use it. Secondly, if it is sold to the common people at a low price, the court will lose money. There will be an oversupply of silk on the market. Someone will definitely notice the difference. Collect silk at a low price and sell it to Hu merchants from the Western Regions at a high price.
If this matter goes out, it will easily arouse the dissatisfaction of the people in the Western Regions, so now the court is facing a large amount of hoarded silk and must find a new market. The northern barbarians are a good guest, but this guest is wild and untamable, so there is Lu Bu ordered Ma Chao to lead his army on an expedition.
The biggest characteristic of the Hu people is that they are scattered. Even the Chan Yu and the leader can hardly control all the tribes to do the same thing. If we don't fight this war, it will not be easy to open this road. Now let's start Give the Xianbei people a deterrent, and then send people to inspect Xianbei regularly, so that the Xianbei people don't dare to bully even the lone Han people, and give people the courage to make deals with the barbarians. This will basically work. .
The nobles on the grassland also have a huge demand for silk. However, silk was a status symbol in the Han Dynasty in the past. Even the officials in the court could not wear it. A group of barbarians were naturally not qualified to enjoy the same things as them.
But the situation is different now. The emergence of Beigong City has made silk production easier. Now the cost of making a piece of silk has not changed, but the time may be less than one percent of the time before. Silk is no longer official at least. It was a valuable commodity. In order to prevent the price of silk from falling instantly, they could only increase the price of silk from one liter to another while secretly looking for markets that could be opened up.
In this area, the Xianbei people were naturally chosen by Lu Bu.
Of course, if it can be sold to Kanto, it can also be sold well, but in this case, silk will be completely flooded in the Central Plains, and the things that Lu Bu and others are worried about will still appear.
"I don't know what Beigong City looks like now. I haven't been there for a long time." Dian Wei still has fresh memories of Beigong City. He has missed it a little since he hasn't been there for a while.
"Wait a minute, my lord said it will be almost ready for the next scientific examination." Jia Xu said casually.
"Doesn't that mean we have to wait more than two years?" Dian Wei exclaimed.
"It's not that long." Jia Xu replied, for something like the Yin-Yang furnace, you have to wait not to mention ten years, twenty years, or thirty years. As long as the east-west direction is correct, it will definitely become more and more popular in the future. Strong, besides, Beigong City was poor at the beginning and had to rely on the court to spend a lot of money to support it. Now it is not only self-sufficient, but even the production of cloth exceeds the demand, which is already very good.
"Do you think highly of this boy?" Dian Wei looked at Jia Xu. He remembered that Sima Yi often appeared recently.
"This son is indeed not bad in ability, and he has good knowledge and handles things in an orderly manner." Jia Xu nodded. In terms of ability, Sima Yi is indeed not bad. He has taken care of the entire Ministry of Rites in order.
However, Sima Yi's palace was very deep, he could endure it, and he had a sinister spirit, but it was difficult for others to see. This person could not be used, but he could not be used too much.
This is the result of the analysis between Jia Xu and Lu Bu that day, but there is no need to worry too much in this regard. Lu Bu has his own sense of proportion. The most important thing is that after having this person, Jia Xu has basically begun to live his old age ahead of schedule. Now that I have a new life, I go out for a walk every day, watch people playing chess, or play a few games myself. If I don’t want to move, I just go to the nearest restaurant and sit there. My life seems to be more relaxed and comfortable than before.
The imperial examination is good. The selected talents basically have the quality of hard work and hard work. With a little training, they can be independent.
Naturally, Dian Wei didn't care how Sima Yi was valued. He just frowned and looked in the direction Sima Yi left and said, "This kid...has a nasty feeling about him."
Jia Xu glanced at Dian Wei in surprise. This reckless man has no brains, but this feeling is quite accurate. For a person like Sima Yi, if you don't carefully analyze his every move, it will be difficult to detect what this person is hiding deep in his heart. restless and aggressive, but Dian Wei feels...
Jia Xu put down the tea bowl and took out a gambling ticket from his arms: "Do you think this will win?"
Dian Wei: "..."