The name Zhang Shiping is placed in the Three Kingdoms, but it is not famous.

It can even be said that in the entire history of the Three Kingdoms, the name Zhang Shiping has not appeared much, but if you have watched the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you can remember this name very clearly.

Because he appeared in the first episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He was the traveling merchant who funded Liu Bei's uprising.

In fact, Liu Zheng has also heard of Zhang Shiping.

Liu Zheng had personally been to Zhongshan Country before, and he went to see the Zhen family in Wuji County at that time, and the Zhang family where Zhang Shiping was located was also one of the several major families in Zhongshan Kingdom.

The Zhen family and the Zhang family also have many marriages and cooperation.

Liu Zheng went to the Zhen family before, but he didn't go to the Zhang family.

The Zhang family and the Su family have always been mainly engaged in business, and most of the time, they are going back and forth between Karasuma and Dahan.

Mainly in the horse business.

After Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping briefly describe his identity, he immediately thought of some impressions of Zhang Shiping in his mind.

I soon thought of this person, the businessman who funded Liu Bei's uprising in history.

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Although Zhang Shiping came to Jianye on the orders of Yuan Shang.

But what Yuan Shang asked him to come over for, Liu Zheng didn't know yet.

Hearing Liu Zheng's inquiry, Zhang Shiping didn't dare to hide anything, and saluted Liu Zheng while opening his mouth to say his intention.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I have been ordered by Yuan Shanggongzi to come and negotiate a deal with Your Majesty."

When Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping's words, he immediately showed a trace of curiosity.

"Oh? It's a bit strange to talk to me about the sale, but let's talk about what kind of deal can make you, the head of the Zhang family, visit the widow's Jianye City in person. ”

After Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping's words, he immediately showed interest, and Zhang Shiping was also surprised, so he didn't dare to hesitate, so he began to chat with him.

"I heard that Your Majesty has always wanted to buy some horses, and my Zhang family has been going to the Xianbei gathering places in the north all the year round to trade goods, and I often transport horses from there, if Your Majesty wants horses, our Zhang family can provide them for Your Majesty."

As soon as Zhang Shiping opened his mouth, he hit the key point, which immediately made Liu Zheng interested.

What was Liu Zheng's purpose in sending his soldiers and horses to the north to help Yuan Shang? Isn't it just to open up the border between the north and his territory, so that he can buy some horses from the north.

His territory is generally in the south, although the ships and sailors are powerful, but they lack war horses, and many times they do not have absolute dominance on the battlefield.

If he had more than 100,000 cavalry, he would have swept away the world a long time ago and completed the important task of dominating the world.

Why wait until now, nearly ten years have passed, and only half of the country has been laid.

It is precisely because of the absence of war horses that there is a lack of mobility.

If he can connect the north and have the Zhang family continuously provide him with the war horses of the Xianbei and Karasuma clans, then Liu Zheng's pace of conquering the world will be much faster.

This is also why when Liu Zheng heard Zhang Shiping's words, he immediately frowned, and hurriedly asked again.

"What does the head of the Zhang family mean by this?"

"Your Majesty, some time ago, we sent someone to the north again, and re-established contact with the people of the Xianbei clan, and after talking with them, we learned that they have been short of grain and grass recently, and they want to sell war horses, so I take this opportunity to think that this is a good opportunity to help Your Majesty exchange a large number of war horses from the north."

Zhang Shiping simply mentioned the point, and Liu Zheng immediately thought about it himself.

It's not hard to guess.

Northern part of Youzhou. In addition to the geographical scope under the control of the Han Dynasty, a large number of Karasuma people lived in the eastern and western Liaodong regions.

These Karasuma people are divided into large and small tribes.

The total population is less than one million. In fact, it is estimated that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 soldiers.

In the northern part of Karasuma people, a group of Xianbei people gathered.

There are more people than Karasuma people.

Of course, those people also communicate less with the big men.

However, some merchants are not far away and will run to the territory of the Xianbei tribe.

Because many times the territory of the Karasuma people does not have much profit at all, after all, it is too close.

Only by running farther away into the Xianbei clan can they have more bargaining power for the goods in their hands.

And it's November again.

It's winter in the north.

When winter comes, food is the most important thing for those nomads.

For the past two years, the north has been in a state of chaos. The major tribes are short of food.

If a large amount of grain and grass can be transported to the north at this time, it will definitely be exchanged. Quite a few war horses.

The last time Liu Zheng exchanged for war horses from the north was two or three years ago.

A new batch of foals has already grown into a major force on the battlefield.

So it's time for him, you to trade grain and grass to the north for horses.

Of course, if Liu Zheng went directly to exchange for the other party, he might not give it to him, especially those Karasuma people, who now fully support Yuan Xi.

If he knew that the person who exchanged for sycophants was Liu Zheng, he would definitely not fund Liu Zheng.

Therefore, they could only exchange the horses of the Xianbei tribe further north for horses.

In this case, it is necessary to have a caravan familiar with the north to carry out.

In fact, Liu Zheng's purpose of befriending the Zhen family before was the same.

He just took a fancy to the Zhen family's business status in the north.

Once he needed horses, he could directly ask the Zhen family's caravan to help him buy them from the north.

Recently, the Zhen family has really helped him a little, and has successively helped him buy two or three thousand war horses from the north.

But that's not enough.

After all, the Zhen family's main business is not to sell horses, and it is much more difficult for them to buy horses than the Zhang family.

In fact, Liu Zheng had already felt this when he went to Jizhou before, and the Zhen family had to go to the Su family to buy horses. It can be seen that it is really difficult for them to transport these war horses to the Jiangdong region these days.

However, it is different for the Zhang family and the Su family, their main business is to sell horses from the north to the south.

The profit in the middle is more than 10 times.

Originally, the Zhang family and the Su family could ignore Liu Zheng and do it secretly.

But people like them who can make the family so big are naturally not fools, and they must know that they are doing it secretly, and it must be more difficult than relying on a big person to work together and make a fortune together.

Doing it secretly by yourself, although you make a lot of money, but it is also risky, once you are noticed by the superiors, what they do will definitely interfere.