The mutton was roasting on the fire, Chen Qin took a few bottles of wine, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "This area is close to the mountains, and there are many parts in the mountains. A few days ago they had some people come and exchange these wines for some of our liquor. Although wine is not as powerful as white wine, it is sweet and delicious, and officials drink some. There are a lot of wild fruits in the surrounding mountains, and some of the small ones are also picked. ”

Wine is one of the famous products of Hedong, and legend has it that the brewing method has been passed down from the Western Regions for thousands of years. This wine was extremely prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, and after entering the Song Dynasty, it was no longer popular. Hedong Road is near the border, and it is also the place of Li Tang Longxing, which is already the center of wine at this time. However, due to the lack of progress in the brewing method of this era, the wine has retreated step by step in the face of the rise of rice wine, and it is only regarded as a novelty, and it is no longer a major alcohol.

Seeing the servant pouring dark wine into the bowl in front of him, Du Zhongxiao said: "Grape wine luminous glass, this wine is different from other wine, and the wine vessel should use a luminous cup or crystal cup to see its color." Poured into the magnetic bowl, lost its style, and looked a little vulgar. ”

Chen Qin said: "Everything is simple here, where is there any crystal cup luminous cup?" There will be some officials. ”

Du Zhongxiao laughed when he heard this: "You have those cups here, I have to ask where you got them." I mean that if the wine is different, the wine vessel should also be different, otherwise it will lose its flavor. In the Tang Dynasty, both official and non-governmental people liked to drink wine, but it was rare to see it in our Emperor Song Dynasty. ”

Cheng Wenli said: "This wine is popular with Hu people, and the brewing method is lost in the Han region, and the flavor is not good, so there are naturally fewer people who drink it." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and didn't say anything more. After the war of the late Tang Dynasty, agriculture in the Central Plains underwent many changes, including vegetables and fruits, and grapes were one of them. Compared with the Han and Tang Dynasties, watermelons, grapes and other fruits introduced from the Western Regions were planted less and less in the Central Plains due to various reasons, and the varieties gradually deteriorated. If you plant less, you will make less wine, and even the craft will gradually be lost.

Plants and animals, without the communication of the vast region, the varieties will be slowly localized, in a sense, the performance is degraded. Since the late Tang Dynasty, the exchanges between the Central Plains and the Western Regions have been interrupted, and a large number of varieties from the Han and Tang dynasties have slowly withdrawn from the stage. After that, there was an increase in exchanges by sea, and the flora and fauna that came from the South Seas slowly began to replace the Western Regions. Since the Song Dynasty, China's flora and fauna, including social customs, have changed greatly.

Looking up at the mountains in the north, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart, and he really wanted to reopen the mainland communication line in his lifetime. The reason why a big country is a big country is because the territory is complex and diverse, both geographically and culturally, and they exchange and influence each other, thus giving birth to a brilliant culture. Being enclosed in one area not only restricts human vision, but also degrades plants and animals.

After coming to the Volcano Army for a few months and understanding the geography and people here, Du Zhongxiao had a outline of future governance. This is a border military town, where people's livelihood is relatively unimportant, and the construction of camps and fields is also to support the army and provide financial resources. The most important thing is to open up outward.

Hedong Road is a transshipment road, and it is divided into four military roads, namely the four roads of Tongdai, Zelu, Shixi and Linfu, which are responsible for the military. The location of the Volcano Army is special, it is located between the parallel road and the Linfu road, which belongs to the parallel road, but has a close relationship with the Linfu road. To the north of the territory, among the mountains are a large number of small Tibetan tribes, each of which does not belong to the Khitan or the party.

Yuan Hao rebelled, attacked Tanglong Town, assisted in forcing a large number of Tibetan households to move westward, and broke Fengzhou, so that the Tibetan tribe there had no leader. Later, the Khitan conquered the party, used troops in these places, and took away some Tibetan tribes. Now around the Volcano Army, the area around Tanglong Town is a terra nullius, Fengzhou has been abandoned since it was broken by the party, and the 38 Tibetan tribes in the territory are in their own way. They have a feud with the party members in Jianxia, and they have been attacking for hundreds of years, and the party forces cannot enter. To the northeast was the newly established Khitan prefecture of Yongbyon, whose jurisdiction was unknown and not recognized by the Song Dynasty. The intention of the Khitan to establish a state was to use this as a base to gradually encroach on the surrounding Tibetan provinces. The Song Dynasty was unable to be tough on the Khitan, so they had to pretend not to know about the existence of this state.

To the north of the Volcano Army, there are many small tribes in the Song, Khitan and Dangxiang, whose ownership is unknown, and who is basically capable of effective rule can be brought under his own rule. The legal lawsuit is endless, and no one admits it, but it depends on who can effectively occupy it. The terrain here is complex, not suitable for large-scale army operations, and the scale of the war is limited.

After careful analysis, Du Zhongxiao found that this is an excellent place to encroach on the walled fort. In particular, the walled fort with muskets and artillery is simply invincible here. It does not require much manpower and material resources, as long as there are a few hundred musketeers, you can control hundreds of miles of land. With thousands of soldiers, the small place of the Volcano Army can still support it. Hedong Road also produces iron and gunpowder, which is the place where he can show his talents.

Just now, Du Zhongxiao said to Cheng Wenli and Pan Zhen that he wanted to make contributions, not casually. As long as the battalion and field affairs are established, and a firearms township army of about 1,000 people is organized on this basis, Du Zhongxiao can expand northward and regain the land lost in the past few decades. In this process, it is even possible to avoid the forbidden army and the box army, which saves a lot of trouble.

Retracting his gaze, Du Zhongxiao looked at Cheng Wenli and Pan Zhen, who were happily eating meat, and sighed secretly in his heart. Before he came, these two were just ordinary petty border officials, and his greatest wish was to have an official replace him as soon as possible and serve in the state army near the mainland. When they were officials, everything was based on the principle of not causing trouble. If there is a conflict between the surrounding small tribes, let them discuss it by themselves, the so-called peace with the Tibetan law. Khitan oppression, as long as it is not too much, try to tolerate it, suppress things, and everything is based on the principle of not having an accident. They came by themselves, built a large camp and fieldwork, and then they had to open up outward, and fate pushed them to a fork in the road, and they didn't know where they would end up.

Since there is no general judgment, Du Zhongxiao's authority in the Volcano Army is almost unlimited, and most things can be decided in a word. With abundant financial resources, the control over the surrounding small tribes is also getting stronger and stronger, and gradually they can directly interfere in the internal affairs of some tribes.

After drinking for a while, Chen Qin said: "Official, the people in the nearby mountains also trade slaves, and the price is extremely cheap. I don't have anyone in my family to call, and the Hun family wants to buy a female envoy, but I persuade them to buy it casually. ”

When Pan Zhen heard this, he was startled, and hurriedly said: "I can't help it!" Those Tibetan tribes have been attacking all year round, not only robbing cattle and sheep, but also robbing population. The female slaves they sell are all stolen from other tribes, so they are cheap. Buy their population, the easiest to make trouble, don't be greedy for that cheap. ”

Chen Qin sighed, a little pity. The Volcano Army had a small population, and even fewer Han Chinese, and it was almost impossible to hire Han slaves. In particular, the imperial court strictly forbade the Han people to enslave the Tibetans, and almost all the people that the Volcano Army could hire were Tibetans. Chen Qin's income is not much, and the few Han people cannot afford to hire them. Since you can only hire people, of course you want to save some money.

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you hire a Tibetan person as a slave, you can only hire it." Most of the people sold by Xiaofan are prisoners of war, so don't mess with them. If you really lack people in your family, you can go to the military city to hire them, and it is nothing more than spending more money. If you don't have enough money, you can go to Jingjing. ”

Chen Qin nodded and didn't mention the matter again. There are many Tibetan areas in the surrounding area, and human trafficking is commonplace. They have been attacking for many years, and many tribes are still feuding for hundreds of years, and most of the people they plundered were sold into slavery. The woman who won the battle to rob cattle and sheep was originally part of these Tibetan tribes. With the establishment of the camp and the field, this kind of business is booming recently. Many of the people who came to recruit and open the fields were men, and women were scarce, so many small tribes secretly trafficked women and sold them here. For the trafficked women, this is a centuries-old tradition in their tribe, and most of them do not rebel. The life of the camp is better than that in the mountains, and many people can live with peace of mind.

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