Ever since Qi Yang recovered, Huo Qijing had been feeling particularly refreshed and smiling more often.

This time when he went out, there were actually people arranged by Huo Qijing with him, and he knew the general situation.

Han Yi's story was similar, in short, they had already run this trade route smoothly, and their connections were stable. In addition, they also recruited Qian Hou, the gang leader over there, to join the group.

But the person who openly collected the wool and cashmere was a businessman named Zheng Zhi, but in fact he was from Huo Qijing's side.

Xia Yuhui was shocked when he heard this.

He is not stupid, nor is he someone who focuses on academic research like Xu Wenqu. The reason why Xu Wenqu recommended him is because he is good at socializing, has done things in this area, and is an expert.

But this young lady Tang Shiyue really refreshes his cognition anytime and anywhere.

What surprised him at first was that the recently famous "Hero Wine" was actually related to Tang Shiyue, but gradually, he was shocked by their connections and methods.

Although Han Yi spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, he could hear all the aspects involved.

It was not until this moment that he put away all his laziness and self-satisfaction and began to truly take this "job" seriously.

...

...

So in the end, he just asked questions from time to time with a serious face, while Tang Shiyue and Huo Qijing ate and talked. Xia Yuhui just listened to the whispers in his ears, "chirp, chirp" like birds, and it was obvious that these two people were really engaged in the conversation.

Then the two of them politely stayed until Han Yi finished speaking, and then got up and left while chatting.

Han Yi looked at him silently, and Xia Yuhui also looked at him silently.

The two of them were both like, "Although my boss is awesome and trusts me, I should be very happy, but I always feel a sense of loss of being despised. How can I get rid of it?"

Then Xia Yuhui picked up the wine pot and poured him a glass of wine: "Come on, Ayi, let's drink and talk. Tell me about the next step of cashmere..."

In fact, Tang Shiyue really paid some attention to listen, but when she realized it was nothing serious, she stopped listening. She was mainly thinking of one thing.

There are many sheep on the Lanzhou grassland. To the people on the grassland, they just eat mutton and drink goat milk wine at most. But to them, the whole body of the sheep is a treasure!

If the door to collecting wool and cashmere is opened, and we are facing the same people, we can consider other things. For example, goat milk can be used to make milk curds, which is cheese, a delicious snack. Goat fat can also be used to make candles and soap.

So what they need to think about now is whether they should do this business themselves.

Huo Qijing had never thought before that there were so many businesses to do and it would be so easy to make money.

In fact, for him, the money earned from the Yingxiong Wine is enough, but since he can earn more, there is nothing wrong with it. If he is worried about being tabooed by others, he can do it in partnership with others.

Huo Qijing couldn't help but ask her: "Ayue, why don't you ask me what I want the money for?"

"It doesn't matter!" Tang Shiyue said, "I know you won't do anything bad."

Huo Qijing sighed silently: "I need silver, mostly to provide relief to the families of soldiers who died at the border. The rest I want to use to buy some winter clothes and rice, and send them to the border before the cold winter comes."

This was the first time he actually mentioned the border and his secret.

Tang Shiyue nodded quietly and obediently prepared to make a tree hole.

He glanced at her and whispered, "Ayue, do you still remember those Lanzhou merchants? Did they mention the Huo family army?"

She nodded again, and Huo Qijing was silent for a long time: "Since the founding of Dayan, the Huo family has been guarding the border. My grandfather Huo Bo was even known as the Victorious General, and his reputation was extremely high. But my father, he was weak since he was a child, and was good at calligraphy and painting, but not good at archery, horse riding, and even less at marching and deploying troops. Although he was forced to learn by my grandfather, he still failed."

He paused and said, "After that, I was born. It was said that I had some talent, so my grandfather stopped teaching me and only took me with him to teach me. But when I was ten years old, my grandfather died on the battlefield."

Tang Shiyue held his hand comfortingly, and then asked him: "That 'waste man from the border town', could it be your father?"

Huo Qijing was stunned.

He glanced at her and nodded: "Yes, it's my father. A Yue is so smart that nothing can be hidden from you."

Tang Shiyue said: "I just noticed that your expression was a little strange at that time."

Huo Qijing was stunned again.

He didn't expect that at that time, she would still pay attention to his expression, and her eyes couldn't help but warm up.

The Huo family army has been guarding the border for generations, and everyone in Dayan knows about it. Even Tang Shiyue, an outsider, has heard of it many times.

The Huo family was known as a family of great generals. What was rare was that the monarchs of all dynasties trusted them and named them the King of the Northwest. This was the only king of a different surname in Dayan, and the title was hereditary. The family was also allowed to stay in the border city, breaking the tradition of military generals and their families staying in the capital.

The relationship between the monarch and his ministers has become a legend, and the story of General Baisheng is also widely circulated among the people.

But I have never heard of Huo Qijing's father, Huo Yi.

Huo Qijing was raised and taught by his grandfather since he was a child, but when he was ten years old, Huo Bo died on the battlefield. In that era, there was a "hereditary father-son army", and Huo Yizi inherited his father's position and was forced to become the commander of an army.

Three years later, in a great battle, Yan's army was defeated, the enemy broke through the border town, and Huo's mother was killed in the chaos. Huo Yi lost his mind for a moment and rashly led his troops to counterattack, but was defeated again and suffered heavy casualties.

Huo Yi was seriously injured, and then he wrote a letter of apology in blood, admitting his guilt and requesting that his family not be implicated.

Then he committed suicide in public.

In fact, this was using the Huo family's merits over the generations to trick the emperor.

But the mistake had already been made, and in order to protect his family, Huo Yi had no other choice.

Afterwards, Emperor Ming Yan issued an edict to strip the Huo family of their title of King of the Northwest and demoted Huo Qijing and Huo Qiyang to commoners, but he did not add any more charges.

From then on, in the eyes of the border residents, Huo Yi became a bastard who indulged in love and ignored the national system, and he was also cursed after his death.

In the past two years, Huo Qijing has been working hard to earn money to provide relief to the families of the dead soldiers, especially those who died in the last battle, which can be regarded as atonement for his father.

Now this matter has come to an end.

Tang Shiyue listened to Huo Qijing's story and nodded slowly.

If Huo Yi is the "waste man from the border town", even Xu Wenqu admires him so much, which means he is very accomplished in calligraphy and painting. So, it is normal for a scholar who is good at calligraphy and painting to be not good at fighting.

It's just like asking Xu Wenqu to lead the troops, but he doesn't know how to lead them.

Huo Qijing said: "Although I left the border, the Huo family's private guards, many of my grandfather's old subordinates, are still in my hands... but..." He hesitated: "There are many of them, and we have different ideas and have drifted apart."

The commander guarding the border now is a general named Du Qisheng, who used to be Huo Bo's deputy general and they have been brothers who fought side by side for many years.

Many people think that Du Qisheng is ungrateful and has taken away the Huo family army and the position of the Huo family's chief general. They hope that Huo Qijing can drive Du Qisheng away and take back the tiger talisman of the chief commander.

Tang Shiyue asked: "What do you think?"

"There's nothing to think about," Huo Qijing said calmly, "The Huo family army is ultimately Dayan's army. No matter how many generations we have been in charge, it will never become the Huo family's private army. And General Du was appointed by the court to be the commander-in-chief, and he did not steal the Huo family's tiger talisman."

He sighed and said, "So, what they said was not right in the first place. In the final analysis, they were just unwilling to accept it."