Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 48 Trials of Overlord Strategy (2)

The nobles of the Liao Kingdom and the wealthy Han people in the vicinity heard about the whereabouts of the caravans of the Song Dynasty, and they kept coming to trade after hearing the news. In the absence of a satisfactory exchange of goods for both parties, gold, silver and copper coins are all acceptable. Currency, one tael of gold is equivalent to ten copper coins of the Song Dynasty or ten taels of silver. Through observation, Zhao Xingde found that merchants in the Liao Kingdom were more willing to accept gold than silver, while merchants in the Song Dynasty preferred silver. Copper coins were too bulky, while Xia China's "one or two" gold and silver money is good in weight and color, and there is no need to weigh it. Merchants from both Song and Liao Dynasties are very acceptable.

The small merchants in the caravan were also happy to get rid of their goods early. Some exchanged relatively heavy porcelain, silk and other items for gold and silver ingots that were easier to carry, some exchanged silver pancakes for salt, and some traded with the more trustworthy Liao The merchants of the country signed a contract to deliver the goods brought by the Song country first, and then drive the cattle and sheep back to the Song Dynasty from the Liao people on the return journey.Along the way, before reaching the final bulk trading market, the goods carried by the caravan stopped twice.

Han Shizhong told Xingde privately that he himself invested two thousand guan, and then persuaded his subordinates who came with him to pool up the capital of one thousand guan, and handed it over to a merchant to exchange it for porcelain and bring it with the caravan. More than doubled. "He's 'grandmother', if I had known that the business of smuggling goods is so lucrative, I should have paid more for the hard work of the guards." Han Shizhong scolded cheerfully, but he knew in his heart that most of these smuggling caravans With a background, in addition to buying fields and recruiting tenants to cultivate them, high-ranking officials in Hebei more or less invested some capital in this kind of caravan.

What Zhao Xingde was quite interested in was that, unlike the single-wheel single-drawn mule carts of the caravans of the Song Dynasty, almost all the carriages of the Liao Kingdom were four-wheeled carts, each with at least two large animals. He imagined that the face was ferocious, rude and savage.Because of the affluence of life and the belief in Buddhism, except for the occasional gloomy expression, even by the standards of the Central Plains, the appearance can be called rich, and there are more people wearing gold and silver than the Central Plains.He occasionally chatted with these servants of the nobles of the Liao Kingdom, and with a little temptation, these people would keep emphasizing that they were servants "in the house" or "in the house", not coolies in the "field" or "in the workshop".

The caravan finally came to a place called Wanhuai Village. The Nanjing Road in the Liao Dynasty strictly prohibited private building of city walls and silted paddy fields. In order to resist horse thieves and bandits, a low wooden fence was surrounded outside the village, and wooden fences were used inside. Several tall sentry towers and archery towers were erected. At this time, the crops in the north had been harvested, and piles of haystacks of different heights made the villages on the plain stand out.

Zhuangzi also kept a large herd of cattle and sheep in captivity, and when he approached, he could smell a strong stench of livestock excrement and urine. The pungent smell made Zhao Xingde sniff his nose unconsciously, which made him His expression was a bit strange when he bowed to the owner.Although the proprietor Wang Xiaojie is not yet forty, his temples have turned slightly white, and when he smiles, there is a faint scar on his left eye.

Han Shizhong asked Zhao Xingde to follow closely behind Xiao Yanshi, the great merchant who organized the caravan, and listening to the two people's transaction process, Zhao Xingde also kept his ears open, but this time Han Shizhong's shrewdness was really right. In addition to the [-] catties of shochu, [-] pieces of mink fur, and [-] catties of salt hoarded in Wanhuai Village, Wang Xiaojie's goods also included several thousand giant trees and [-] catties of Liaodong that would be transported by water to the Song Dynasty. Jin ginseng.Wang Xiaojie seemed to know Zhao Xingde's identity, smiled at him gently, and handed the Jiaozi to pick up the goods to Xiao Yanshi, Xiao Yanshi also pretended to be generous and handed the Jiaozi to Zhao Xingde for a look before putting it in his arms inside.

In the evening, the caravan stayed in Wanhuai Village. Zhao Xingde occupied a guest room all by himself. Before he went to bed, he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, there was a maid standing shyly at the door and asked softly: "Mr. Do the officials want servants to sleep with them?" Zhao Xingde looked her up and down a few times, her appearance and figure were quite impressive, there seemed to be a faint resentment between his brows, he suppressed some eager thoughts, and said softly: " Miss, please go back, and thank the owner for my kindness." The maid raised her head and took a deep look at him, then turned and left.

Zhao Xingde swallowed his saliva, closed the door, and 'felt' out the sachet that the capital brought out from his bosom. Although the fragrance had faded, he still felt a burst of warmth in his chest when he held it in his hand. He rubbed it for a long time under the candlelight , After calming down, I just fell into a deep sleep.

At dawn the next day, the caravan packed up and set off. The return journey was much faster than when they came. Even the merchants including Xiao Yanshi couldn't hide their joy. The goods can not only catch the Liao people's eagerness to raise funds for the winter, but also because they are the last batch of northern goods exchanged from the Liao Kingdom, they can be regarded as rare goods in Hejian. Selling at a high price, although the time is rushed, compared with the huge profit, all this is worth it.At this time, everyone was carrying a cart full of goods, and they were all eager to return home, and they were urging the porters to hurry up so that they could return to the Song Dynasty as soon as possible.

Han Shizhong divided the cavalry into five teams as usual, with a team of reconnaissance cavalry cruising around the caravan, and personally brought the most elite cavalry team to support them.Walking side by side with Han Shizhong on the road, Zhao Xingde wanted to ask him several times if he also had a servant girl to sleep with him last night, but he refrained from asking.Even in the mansions of dignitaries and nobles in Bianjing, this kind of hospitality is as common as accompanying wine and singing. The acceptance and thank you of being a guest are very common, and there is really no need to get to the bottom of it.Unlike Zhao Xingde, who still had some ups and downs, Han Shizhong acted like nothing was the proper attitude.

A group of business travelers walked for two or three days along the tortuous business road, gradually left the area controlled by the Liao Kingdom, and entered the buffer zone between the Liao and Song Dynasties. Perhaps because of the colder weather, they encountered several groups of Liao cavalry on the way. While patrolling the border, there was no team on the return journey. All the merchants were happy that they would spend less money, but Han Shizhong frowned, and urged the scouts to be careful not to be ambushed by horse thieves and bandits.

Zhao Xingde also wondered in his heart, did Han Shizhong suddenly make a lot of money, so like a white-collar worker who won a super jackpot, he was afraid that someone would rob him, so he wanted to go out wearing sunglasses and a mask.Just as he was cursing, two crows suddenly flew up from the woods in the distance on the left front, with their sharp and ear-piercing sounds, startled several crows to fly up, screaming and fleeing in all directions.

"Enemy attack!" Although he had only been in the army for a few months, Zhao Xingde also knew what Mingyu meant. While pulling out the saber at his waist, he didn’t pull it out. Instead, he circled the horse, using the scabbard and whip to beat several volunteer leaders who were as at a loss as Zhao Xingde. He ordered loudly, holding the horse's belly between his legs, and ran back and forth among the scattered caravans. The dozens of cavalry who stayed in the caravan to support him also beat their horses around like Han Shizhong, urging the panicked porters to be stunned. The merchants, and the bodyguards who are in a hurry, Yiyong, hurriedly set up the car formation.

In the unobstructed northern plains, horse thieves are definitely one of the most hateful existences.Bandits often entrenched in one place, and they seldom do anything to kill them. It is bad policy to dry up the marsh for fishing, or burn the forest for hunting.Horse thieves, like locusts, are just the opposite. They move around in a huge range, act extremely hot, and take pleasure in killing them all.Judging from the eager response of the cavalry, what the scouts encountered in front should be a team of horse thieves, and their strength is not small, so that a team of ten scouts only had time to release two warning shots.

The leader yelled and scolded loudly, the volunteers below were in a hurry, and the merchants rushed to call the bodyguards to protect them like headless chickens. Even because two frightened mules ran around, three trucks crowded together. The group fell to the ground.Fortunately, although the volunteers in these states and counties have never experienced battle formations, they have practiced the most basic chariot formations. They finally gathered the head and tail of the business travelers to the middle, and barely arranged a carriage with goods in the first place. The connected chariot formation protects people, mules, horses and valuable goods in the formation.

When the sound of horseshoes approached, the volunteers had already taken out their crossbows, bows and arrows from the chariot, and waited in fear inside the chariot formation. Zhao Xingde also tied the hem of his robe around his waist, and took out his usual three-stone bow.If the chariot formation was destroyed by horse thieves, as usual, except for the mules and horses, even the porters would not be left behind.

The first to appear in everyone's sights were the three scouts who were desperately beating their horses. One of them was hit by two arrows in the back, and he leaned softly on the horse. More than a dozen enemy cavalry were chasing after them.Seeing the appearance of these horse thieves, Han Shizhong's heart sank again. All of them were wearing furs backwards. It didn't matter if they looked fierce. The horses they rode were all rare and healthy horses, and they didn't cover their faces. He is not pretending to be a gangster who has been on the run all year round.The horse thieves who were chasing after the three scouts held soft bows in their hands. The shooting range was not as long as that used by the iron cavalry, but it took advantage of the quick shooting. If the scouts were chased by them close I'm afraid that when I turn around and shoot an arrow, more than a dozen arrows will come back, and the arrows will go through the body.

Han Shizhong took this trip to protect the merchants, and brought out all the elite soldiers in the center of the camp. At this time, seeing that the team in front had lost seven people, he felt pain and anger in his heart, and immediately shouted angrily, regardless of the group of horse thieves. How many backups were there behind him? With his legs clamped around the horse's belly, the war horse neighed, and with all four hooves exerting force, he jumped out of the chariot formation like clouds and fog, and ran towards the three scouts who were being chased by horse thieves. The iron cavalry didn't dare to neglect, they rode their horses one after another, followed behind Han Shizhong at a high speed, shouted loudly and rushed to the enemy, although there were only a dozen cavalry, they fought like two armies fighting with the momentum of a million.