Yelu Buhua returned to Dongjiazhai, still reminiscing about the taste just now, and discussed with Tao Qiqi with great interest. It happened that Du Zhongxiao was taking care of the official business in the village, and when he heard that he was back, he hurriedly called to the village hall.

The guest and the host sat down, Yelu Buhua took out the sugar he bought, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "I didn't expect that there was such a good thing as sugar here, and there was no sale in several places in previous years." Under the rule of Zhijun, it is really different from other places. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the local government is an official, it should be convenient for the people." The Volcano Army is a remote place, the land is barren and the people are poor, if you don't want to do some business, where will the people make money? In the past two years, the business of the field has been good, attracting merchants, and the goods sold naturally increased. ”

Yelu Buhua nodded, was silent for a while, and smiled: "Zhijun is right, doing business to make money is much more interesting than robbing for a few cattle and sheep." Sucrose is said to be produced in the extreme south, and it is rare in the southern part of the country, and it is considered a treasure in the Northern Dynasty. If the Zhijun can transport goods from the mainland, I am willing to buy them at a high price. This business alone is very profitable. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "I can naturally sell the goods, or I can sell them to Lang Jun." However, what does Lang Jun use to buy it? ”

Jerod was not stunned for a moment, but he had nothing to say. Of course, he knew what Du Zhongxiao meant, not to ask if he had the capital, but what to use for this transaction. Gold and silver are not allowed, and the Khitan is forbidden to export. Not to mention cash, the Khitan basically does not mint money, and it has to rely on smuggling copper coins from the Great Song Dynasty. As for cattle and sheep, it is impossible to do such a large trade.

Seeing that Yelu didn't spend money and didn't speak, Du Zhongxiao smiled and didn't speak. There is only one thing in the big trade between the northern grasslands and the Central Plains, that is, the horses can support it. If they don't sell horses, even if the goods here in Da Song are not for sale, they don't have the money to buy them. Border trade is different from ordinary transactions, currency basically does not work, and physical trade is the mainstay, and capital alone is not enough.

After being silent for a while, Yelu Buhua said: "The price of sugar is expensive, what do you want to exchange for this thing?" As far as I know, this area is all small and small, and there is nothing of value. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "City horses." This Chaohe Road City Horse has always been Fengzhou and Qilan Army. Now that Toyosu is abandoned, I have to take the city from the Volcano Army. There was not enough tea silk, so I had to add goods such as sugar. ”

Jerod was silent. The Khitan forbade the sale of horses to the Song Dynasty, and the only places where horses could be bought on Hedong Road were these small Tibetan tribes. In the past, it was concentrated in Fuzhou, Fengzhou and the Lan Army, but now Fengzhou is abolished, and the party items opposite Fuzhou do not sell horses, only the Volcano Army and the Lan Army remain.

Seeing Yelu Buhua's expression, Du Zhongxiao could see that he wanted to make money, but he didn't dare to openly violate the Khitan ban, and laughed secretly in his heart. Don't dare to openly disobey, if you give him a step down, it may not be.

After taking a few sips of tea, Du Zhongxiao said: "Tanglong Town has been looted by western thieves, the city is ruined, and the population has fled. A few years ago, we worked hard to find someone who came to the house, and we have sent it back to Tanglong Town, so that he can repair the city and soothe the Sui tribe. It was a place where the family came to guard, and the court did not want to ask much about their affairs. A few days ago, I reported to the imperial court that I wanted to build a place where all ethnic groups near and far could trade freely. Get some tax money, so that the family can keep their ancestral business. The goods in the field here will be sold there, and if Lang Jun is interested, he can go there to buy them. ”

Yelu raised his head suddenly: "What do you mean by knowing the army?" Please be clear! ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Tanglong Town was originally the territory of the Tibetan Cai and other clans, and the imperial court was just a feud. Doing business with them is like doing business with them, and they are not bound by all kinds of laws. This dynasty is like this, but I don't know about you. ”

Yelu Buhua carefully chewed on the meaning of Du Zhongxiao's words, slowly understood, nodded, and a smile appeared on his face.

Du Zhongxiao's meaning is actually to build Tanglong Town into a special zone, bypassing many prohibitions of various countries, and becoming a free trade place. The Song Dynasty and the Khitan, including the party items, had a strong economic complementarity, and there was a strong demand for trade. However, they all control strategic materials, so that trade is subject to many restrictions and cannot develop. With the volume of the Song and Khitan, the transaction volume of one or two million guan a year is far from enough.

The core ruling area of the Khitan was in the east, and trade with the Song was also dominated by the four fields on the Hebei Road, which was also the most tightly controlled. The vast area west of Datong Province is actually dominated by the Dangxiang, Tatar, Turkic, Tuyuhun and other ethnic groups, and there are very few Khitan and Xi people. Du Zhongxiao aimed at this place, using various methods to bypass the ban of the Khitan and the party, and change horses from these places to enter the country.

Tanglong Town is a suitable place, where the land should be rushed, and there are avenues connecting with other places, especially the northern grasslands. It was also a semi-independent feudal town, nominally belonging to the Great Song Dynasty, but it was also a vassal to the Khitan and the party, and its relationship with the Three Kingdoms was unreasonable and chaotic.

In terms of military importance, Tanglong Town is actually not as good as the Biaotou Village, but it has a superior commercial status and great potential. Du Zhongxiao put so much effort into it, and the ultimate goal was to make it a trading city, a free place to avoid all kinds of prohibitions. Even if the Khitan and the party obstruct it, they must try to open up trade routes with the northern steppes.

In the trade of the three countries, the Song Dynasty naturally had a superior position, and the export goods basically did not include strategic materials. Free trade was beneficial to the Song Dynasty and harmless. And the main destination, the northern steppe, had the most urgently needed horses in the Song Dynasty.

On the prairie north and south of Yinshan Mountain, there are millions of horses, many of which are in a state of free-range, and the herdsmen catch them casually, which is worthless. The tribes there were controlled by the Khitan and could not trade with the Central Plains, and the Khitan did not lack horses, and horses were actually useless. In the final analysis, Du Zhongxiao's purpose was not to trade with the Khitan at all, but to target the northern grasslands, those tribes controlled and oppressed by the Khitan.

Yelu didn't take a moment to think about it, and he understood what Du Zhongxiao meant. The north of the Volcano Army is under the jurisdiction of the southwest of the Sekyo Road, and the Saikyo Road is newly built, and there is not much interference in local affairs, and everything is under the control of the Solicitation Mission. Since it is called the Recruiting Envoy Division, the principle of management of the subordinate tribes can be imagined, and the main means is to use force and coercion. The Khitans led to looting in this area, which was actually a common phenomenon.

The year before last, the Khitan was not reconciled to the failure of the party, and kept pressure on the party on the border. At the beginning of this year, Xiao Putar also led the army to attack the party and returned in a big way. Now the contradictions in this area are mainly Khitan and party items, and the Song Dynasty withdrew and became onlookers. Therefore, after the Song army occupied Tanglong Town, the party only sent people to ask, and did not dare to raise troops to attack.

Du Zhongxiao grasped this situation and sent troops to Tanglong Town and built a free trade city there.

After years of fighting, the Khitan tribe north of the Volcano Army had a hard time, and they had treasures stolen from the party in their hands, and they were in urgent need of trade. These tribes were highly independent and properly operated, and they were likely to trade with the Song regardless of the Khitan ban.

This is an act of digging the foot of the Khitan wall, but Yelu Buhua doesn't care about it, he only cares about whether he can make money from it. Horses on the prairie were of little use to the Khitan, they were cheap, and they were transported to the edge of Hedong Road to make huge profits. If Tanglong Town was not counted as the Song Realm, the horse trade would not be restricted, and the shackles of trade would be opened.