"That's," Guo Ziyi said: "The soldiers' weapons need to be brought by themselves, many people think that there is trouble on the road, and they go to the station to buy them, some people's own weapons are not good enough, and they want to replace them when they see a good one, and some people are damaged during training and need to be repaired or repurchased, so it is not surprising that there are many of them." ”

Kuro said with some sighs: "The craftsmanship of these craftsmen is really good, but it's a pity that our people can't learn it, it's really incomprehensible. ”

"Oh, the second brother sent someone to learn?" Zheng Peng asked with interest.

"Yes, it was not easy to persuade an old blacksmith to teach his skills, but I sent five shrewd people in the clan, and after three years of tossing, I still couldn't learn anything, so I had to give up." Kuro said with a wry smile.

Zheng Peng and Guo Ziyi glanced at each other, and then smiled very tacitly.

There is an old saying in Huaxia, Wanguan family wealth is not as good as a skill, there is a technology, most of them are hidden, not passed on to daughters, even if you accept apprentices, you have to keep a hand, so as not to starve the apprentice to death of the master, Kuluo spent a lot of money to apprentice, the old blacksmith must collect money and do not do things, hide the real ability, deliberately embarrassed.

Nomads are accustomed to being free, most of them lack patience, do not know a wide range of knowledge, can't hold their breath, with a dislike of bondage, yearning for freedom in their bones, those who have paid a lot of money for foreign apprentices are less and less free, or the more they learn, the more pressure they have, and finally give up on their own.

I don't know how to comfort this kind of thing, Zheng Peng changed the topic and said: "I just saw it, the horses here are very good, and the price is cheap, and the price of horses of the same quality is only about half of that of Chang'an Horse Market." ”

Lan Duo said with some contempt: "Even half of the price, it is also a horse dealer who has changed hands a few times, like a herdsman who sells people, and the money he gets is less than one-third of the final selling price, and he is all those insatiable merchants, who lower the price and raise the price, and most of the benefits are taken away by them." ”

The biggest source of income for the Turkish is the sale of livestock, of which the horses are the majority, and Lando saw that the price of horses in Chang'an was far higher than the price of buying from the territory of the Turkish, and the thought of raising those who had not yet sold made a lot of money, and his heart was a little unbalanced.

"You can't think like this," Zheng Peng said: "From the Western Regions to Chang'an, the mountains and rivers are far away, and businessmen need to pay costs and labor, and they also bear various risks, and they need to spend money on food and accommodation on the road, right?" I need to pay the entrance fee and tax rate, right? What should I do if my horse is sick or injured on the road? Who is responsible for being stolen, robbed, or lost? Do so many officials and bullies along the way want to deal with it? If you don't have a lot of money, who will ask for it? ”

Kuro nodded in agreement: "Sometimes, it is true that we can't look down on others, if it weren't for those traders, our horses wouldn't be able to sell, we can't eat meat every day, just like a sheep herder, and we can't be jealous of those warriors who fight on the battlefield to live a nourishing life." ”

Feeling that the atmosphere was a little strange, Kuro didn't mention this question anymore, turned his head to Landuo and said, "Landuo, what are you going to do when you get to Qiuzi?" Do you want to go back to your Turgish territory? ”

"No" Lan Duo said with some pride: "There is a major war in the Western Regions, which time can I be missing from my Turgy, every time there is a battle in Turkish, I will follow behind and wave the flag and shout, sooner or later I will encounter it." ”

This self-confidence, there is really no one.

Seeing that the weather was almost over, Zheng Peng chose a clean and elegant inn to live in, with one upper room for each person.

After a hard journey, it is finally time to get to the point, so it is natural to take a good rest and recuperate.

After settling down, the first thing Zheng Peng did was to treat himself well, he didn't even look at the menu, and ordered a whole sheep banquet as soon as he opened his mouth.

Not bad money anyway.

As long as you are willing to spend money, you can eat mutton anywhere, but you really have to compare where the mutton is the best, and the mutton in the Western Regions is recognized as good.

In addition to breeding sheep, the most important point is that the soil in the Western Regions is alkaline, and the grass that grows is eaten by the sheep, and the meat quality has become different.

The whole sheep banquet is to use sheep eyes, sheep brains, sheep hearts, mutton, sheep tails, etc., to prepare a table of dishes based on sheep, of course, a delicious and juicy roasted whole sheep.

Roasting a sheep takes more than an hour, just take advantage of the preparation of the dishes, and take a bath first.

For a toiling, dusty man, there's nothing more appealing than a bucket of hot water.

After soaking for half an hour, the water in the bath bucket was changed twice, and Zheng Peng walked out of the room refreshed.

At this time, the air was filled with the fragrance of roast mutton, Zheng Peng took a deep breath, walked to Guo Ziyi and sat down, looked left and right, and asked casually: "What about the second brother and Landuo, haven't they been washed yet?" ”

"I heard Dr. Tea say that when we were in the bath, they went out together, and they didn't know what to do." Guo Ziyi opened his mouth and answered.

Returning to the Western Regions is home for nomads like Landau and Kuro.

"Young Master, they're back." Ah Jun on the side said suddenly.

Zheng Peng turned his head and looked at it for a moment, only to see Curro and Landor riding here, behind them, followed by two middle-aged people on horseback, each middle-aged man holding a large handful of reins in his hand, and each reins was a horse.

Couro and Rando went out and brought the horse dealer back?

"Big brother, third brother, Ah Jun, you come out and pick a few horses you like." Kuro walked in and said with a smile on his face.

Guo Ziyi asked with some surprise: "Second brother, just now you went out with Lord Lando, did you go to buy horses?" ”

Lan Duo walked in and said with a proud face: "In the Western Regions, where there are places to sell horses, the horses of Tuqi Shi and Grolu are indispensable. ”

Turgish and Grolu are the two major tribes in the Western Regions, strong soldiers and horses, and have great influence in the Western Regions, Qiuzi is an important military town, there is a great demand for horses here, the two major tribes have sent people to operate horses here for a long time, Landuo and Kuro have a very high status in the clan, and after finding people, they have picked the best horses.

"The forehead is bulging, the eyes are prominent, the eyes are bright, the height and body are long, the hooves are like wine and medicine cakes, and the flesh on the horse's legs is like a strip of tendons, these are all good horses, second brother, these horses are not cheap, are they?" Guo Ziyi looked at the horse and touched the horse, and said with a smile.

In ancient times, horses were the most important means of transportation, and having a good horse was equivalent to having a good car in later generations.

Zheng Peng and his entourage set off, all using the horses of the post station, and after arriving in the Western Regions, the horses were returned to the post station, Guo Ziyi still wanted to pick up the horses tomorrow, but he didn't expect Curo and Lando's movements to be so fast, and the problem of the horses was solved so quickly.

Both of them are from nomadic people, they have dealt with horses since childhood, and the people who sell horses are their own people, and the horses they brought back this time are all good horses.

Guo Ziyi saw so many good horses, and her eyes lit up.

Kuro said with a straight face: "These are home-bred horses, what money do your brothers mention, if they raise money, they will look down on us." ”

"Yes, it's okay to pick a horse, you don't need to mention this money, or I'll let them take the horse away immediately." Rando chimed in.

Lan Duo and Ku Luo, who received a lot of help from Zheng Peng and Guo Ziyi in Chang'an, ate and drank a lot, especially to make a fortune with the two, and they had long wanted to express that they would send horses to Zheng Peng and discuss them on the way.

Speaking of which, Zheng Peng and the others were not polite, and each picked two good horses.

This time I went to the Western Regions, not to play, but to be a prisoner, one as a mount, the other as a transfer, by the way, you can carry weapons, dry food, if one is damaged, you can also have a replacement horse immediately.

For some soldiers with good conditions, it is not surprising that one person has three or four horses.

After picking the horse, the whole sheep banquet was almost ready, and the two guys in charge of roasting the sheep carried the roasted whole sheep to the table with a large plate, and Zheng Peng invited the two people who were responsible for sending the horses to enjoy it.

At the end of the long journey, successfully arrived at Qiuzi, it is worth celebrating, in the cold early winter, on the charcoal fire, while drinking and eating sheep is not bad, everyone is in a good mood, the table pushes the cup and changes the lamp, when the drink is interested, Kuro and the two middle-aged people also sing loudly.

This meal was very enjoyable, and after drinking, they went back to their rooms to rest without mentioning it.

Zheng Peng was happy, however, in the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate in Qiuzi Town, Zhang Xiaoting, who had been waiting for news from the imperial court, looked at the decree, frowned, and sighed bitterly.