Jin San went out to greet him, entered the living room with Chen Xizhi, and said, "My lord, I have invited Xizhou to make Lord Lian inside." Don't quarrel with me, make my face ugly. ”

Chen Xizhi's face was gloomy and he nodded.

The people in the Gaochang area value money, and merchants with a lot of wealth have a higher status. Jin San is a big merchant, who was able to be the deputy envoy of Kaifeng tribute in the past, and his status is still above Chen Xizhi and Lian Cheng. Without this status, he could not invite two envoys.

Entering the living room, Lian Cheng, who was sitting in the seat, arched his hand coldly to Chen Xizhi, then turned his face away and stopped looking at him.

Sitting down with Chen Xizhi, Jin San ordered someone to bring hot water, and said to the two: "The tea drinking customs from the Central Plains are not like many rules in our place. Today I made tea for the two of us, shook hands and made peace, at least in Shengzhou, don't quarrel. To be honest, I have lived in this city for a few months, and I know that Du Jieshuai is not comparable to ordinary people. If you make a mistake under him, it is not uncommon for you to be put in a prison cell. At that time, not only the two will be humiliated, but even Xizhou and Yizhou will also be implicated. ”

Lian Chengdao: "Du Jieshuai defeated the Khitan and the party in a row, and the soldiers shocked the Quartet, needless to say. However, no matter how majestic it is, can it really send troops to Xizhou, thousands of miles away? No matter how much the Song army can fight, it will have to eat and drink, how can it transport grain and grass over? ”

Jin San said: "When you come to Shengzhou, you took the train from Hezhou, right?" ”

Lian Cheng nodded: "Not bad." The train is really a divine thing, a land of thousands of miles, which can be reached in one day and night. And don't pack horses, it's amazing! ”

Jin San smiled: "With all due respect, the most powerful thing about the train is not that it runs fast, but that it can travel thousands of miles day and night, and it doesn't need to stop to rest, nor does it need to replenish grain and grass, and it pulls a lot of goods." Just such a railway from the Central Plains to Shengzhou, there are no less than 300,000 soldiers and civilians on the Hequ Road, and all of them can be raised by the Central Plains, and there is no need to even tuntian here. I heard that the railway can be built to Blackwater City next year, and it is not difficult to garrison 120,000 troops there. How many miles is Blackwater City to Xizhou? Adults can calculate themselves, whether Song Jun can arrive or not. ”

Lian Cheng listened and was silent. There are more than 1,000 miles from Heishui City to Yizhou, and if the railway is really connected, it can be reached in more than a day. As long as you arrive in Yizhou, what is Xizhou, which is hundreds of miles away?

The forces in the Western Regions rely on a long way. Not only is the Central Plains a long way to get there, but the various forces are often separated by thousands of miles. It is useless to send fewer troops, but if you send more troops, before you wait for a war, logistics will drag you to death. If once the railway arrives, the supplies of the Central Plains can be endless, and all the previous experience will be useless. When the Han and Tang dynasties were in their heyday, they could only maintain a garrison of 10,000 or 20,000 at most. To organize a major war of 350,000 people, it is necessary for all forces in the Western Regions to work together, and to send troops and things to the army. The appearance of an army of more than 100,000 in the Central Plains in the Western Regions has never been a thing.

Seeing that Lian Cheng didn't speak, Jin San smiled, poured tea for the two, and said, "I asked someone to buy this tea from the capital, but Shengzhou can't buy it." One or two tea leaves are worth five taels of silver, and two people can taste it. ”

Lian Cheng drank the tea and said: "The taste is too light, and there is no fragrance, I can't wake up and refresh, where is it worth so much money!" ”

Jin Sandao: "My lord, now the people of the Central Plains drink tea, and they are not interested in frying, let alone adding ginger, medicine, and so on." Drinking tea like that, it is difficult to distinguish between good tea and bad tea, and the rich and noble people have long since changed. Although the taste of this tea is light, it will leave a fragrant lips and teeth after drinking, and there will be a faint sweet leaf. I have a word to the two adults, whether to listen or not, it is up to the two of them to hear it. Since the Song army entered Shengzhou, not only the Hequ Road has been different from before, but even Mobei and the Western Regions have been different from before. Mobei was under the rule of the Khitans, and the Tatars lived and scattered, and the Song army was not easy to start. The Western Regions are different, although the area is vast, the people are concentrated around a few cities. As long as the Song army repairs the railway, no one will be able to turn the sky. With all due respect, as long as the railway is repaired to Heishui, the Song army will definitely build the railway into the Western Regions. If you don't enter the Western Regions, what is the use of Blackwater City? ”

Chen Xizhi nodded: "The railway is so useful, I think it will definitely enter the Western Regions." Outside of the staff, what are the strategies? ”

Jin Sandao: "We people from the Western Regions value money the most. As long as there is money to be made, your net worth and life can be sold, not to mention the people in one city and one place. If it were me, I would ask the court for more money, as long as the money was in hand, no matter whether I was doing business in the future, or going elsewhere to be powerful, wouldn't I always enjoy wealth and nobility? For the sake of just a few cities, provoke the Song soldiers to come to the city, and the wise man will not take it. ”

Lian Cheng sighed: "Although the words make sense, but when the Song army enters the Western Regions, where else can they stand on their own?" To make money as a businessman, as long as the government says a word, you can take away all your net worth, which is not a long-term solution. ”

Jin Sandao: "I have been in Shengzhou for several months, and after a careful look, Du Jieshuai is not that kind of person. In the court of the Great Song Dynasty, as long as they did not commit adultery, the merchants were allowed to go free. What are we people! In the interior of the Central Plains, those wealthy businessmen have a lot of money at every turn, and they live like gods. ”

Lian Chengdao: "Xizhou has been under the rule of the Khan for hundreds of years, if it is completely suspended, we have nothing, how can the Khan be willing to stop?" Alas, let's discuss this matter later, I am only an envoy, and I cannot be the master of such a big thing. ”

Jin San said: "Today is just to talk to the two of you, I am a businessman, how to make decisions for the temple?" The two of you are new to the road, and you don't know the situation here on Hequ Road, since you are out of Gaochang together, you should tell you about it. As for what the future holds, what does it matter to us! In this place, I have built a place dedicated to receiving envoys and merchants from the Western Regions. When the two of you are in Shengzhou, when you feel bored, you can come and sit. After a while, I took the two of us to the shopping mall next to it. By the way, I bought some gifts, and when the two envoys returned, they brought them to the officials with whom I had some friendships, which was also a thought. ”

Chen Xizhi said: "I don't know what the shopping mall in Shengzhou is? You have to go and see it specifically. ”

Jin San said: "That's a good place, the world's goods, everything." If you don't go there, you're not qualified to do business. Especially the merchants of the Western Regions, if they are not careful, they will lose their capital. ”

Lian Cheng felt strange when he heard it: "Why? Since the Han Dynasty, the trade routes in the Western Regions have been more than 1,000 years, and the purchase and sale of goods are almost the same. ”

Jin Sandao: "It's different now than before, in the final analysis, it's because of the railway." The railway was connected to Mingzhou, and goods from the sea can now be easily transported to the capital. Although the sea route is windy and risky, it is still much cheaper than the land route. Many of the goods we trade come from the sea, and the price makes us cheaper. There are even some who are sold back to the Western Regions from Shengzhou, and there is still money to be made. ”

Lian Chengdao: "Mingzhou, I don't know where it is, I think it is a big port on the Central Plains sea route. It's just that I don't know which goods, they have them there, and we merchants in the Western Regions also sell them. ”

Jin Sandao: "The largest ones, such as spices." This item was not produced in the Western Regions, but was sold from elsewhere and then sold into the Central Plains. There are a lot of these things coming from the sea, and now the price is low, and there is no money to make in this business. Another example is the coral, hawksbill turtle and other treasures, originally produced in the sea, now some people directly into the Central Plains, and then do this business, most of them will lose money. What makes money and what doesn't make money has to be seen in the mall. ”

Whether it is the land Silk Road or the maritime Silk Road, the most important thing is to connect the Central Plains and Europe. The area around the Western Regions is actually a transit station, and there are not many local products. During this era, Persian merchants flourished, sea routes began to flourish, and the importance of the Western Regions declined.

Most of the bulk goods transported from the Western Regions to the Central Plains, except for jade, were transshipped from Persia, but the Central Plains did not know the details before. For example, for a long time, people in the Central Plains believed that spices were produced in the Western Regions, where they came from, and what trees they came from. In fact, the Western Regions did not produce it, but it was transshipped from the Persian region. Coral, pearls, ivory, jadeite, and so on. With the prosperity of maritime trade, the transshipment status of the Western Regions will inevitably decline.

These days, Jin San went to the mall almost every day and soon discovered this problem. Some of the traditional goods sold in the Western Regions have lost their advantages in the Central Plains and cannot be continued. The most typical is spices, the government treasury of the Song Dynasty had a large amount of inventory, and no longer wanted to buy them from the Western Regions.

When the conditions change, the content of trade must of course change with it. Jin San's keen sense of smell for a businessman made him think of another question. Once the railways are connected, transportation becomes easier, freight savings are significant, and new business opportunities arise. Now there is an advantage to the sea route, and if the railway is built all the way to the west, and the train replaces camels and horses, the traditional Silk Road trade is a different situation. At that time, it may be possible that the advantage of land will exceed that of sea.

This is also the reason why Jin San, as a merchant in the Western Regions, persuaded the two envoys not to fight against the Song army's westward advance, and it was best to give up the city. Let Da Song Shun build the railway smoothly, he doesn't care how many forces will die, the opportunity to make money is the most important.

Several so-called great powers in the Western Regions can raise up to 350,000 soldiers, and in front of the Song army, which has hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn, they are not qualified to fill in the gaps. What else to fight? Give up your hands and land as soon as possible, and don't delay the big businessmen to make money.

The cost of sea and land routes, which cost more and which costs less, has been changing over time. In this day and age, camels and horses were certainly not cheaper than sailing on the sea. Therefore, the bulk goods sold in the Central Plains on the land Silk Road have always been silk, and the Central Plains is in excess of the Western Regions. On the Maritime Silk Road, the bulk goods are porcelain, and the Central Plains is relatively superb. It is conceivable which trade route is more popular. Once the land Silk Road is replaced by a railway, it will be a different situation, and you will be able to grab the business of the maritime Silk Road.

Jin San was a businessman, and he had already figured out in a few months that the businessman would be attached to the trade route formed by the railway in the future. Whoever blocks the construction of the railway to the west will block the financial route of the merchants, and that is absolutely not allowed.

(There was an error in the name of the Yizhou envoy in the previous chapters, which has been corrected, so please forgive me.) ）