Chapter 889 A Dream of Youth 421
In addition to the new laws and discussions on the military, politics, and subjects of the Great Zhou, Zeng Fu also had someone bring up the cotton cloth he had bought. These were the cotton cloth, cotton clothes, and cotton quilts he had purchased in the Great Zhou.
King Wumeng had also seen this item before. After all, he had bought some when trading with the Northern Jin Dynasty. The quality was really good, and it was also warm, but it was too expensive.
Although it was cheaper than silk and satin, it was still very expensive for him.
Zeng Fu also knew about this, but what he bought in Da Zhou was different! It was much cheaper! Even ordinary people in Da Zhou could afford it!
King Wumeng was shocked. He knew that the Northern Jin would sell some items they bought from the Great Zhou at high prices to them, and then buy ginseng, deer antlers and animal hides from them at low prices and sell them to the Great Zhou at high prices.
King Wumeng was furious about this before, but he had no other choice, since they had no access to any merchants from the Great Zhou.
But things are different now. Now they can establish direct trade with the Great Zhou, so they can buy these cotton cloths at very low prices!
"Zeng Fu, when the trade market is established, you must write down this cotton cloth." Their winters are long and cold, and if there were such cheap and warm clothing, fewer people would die.
"I understand. It's not just the cotton cloth, but also medicine. I also saw a place that sells veterinary medicine and bought quite a lot. I've already taken some to treat sick cattle, sheep and horses. If it works well, I suggest that we also have more veterinary medicine traded."
King Wumeng nodded inwardly. Every year, many cattle and sheep die from disease in various tribes. If this medicine is effective, it can reduce a great deal of loss.
However, when it comes to medicine, King Wumeng thought of the Great Zhou's wound medicine, and he was really envious!
When he went to provide support, he fought off a group of soldiers from the Great Zhou and seized their belongings, including wound medicine. He found that the medicine was much more effective than the medicine he had on his own side.
But these healing medicines might be hard to trade, right?
When Zeng Fu heard King Wumeng ask about medicine for injuries, he smiled and said, “Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already asked the Empress of Great Zhou about this. She said that it is possible to trade, and she has even given us several kinds of prepared medicine, which are all very good. However… the Empress of Great Zhou said that we also need to give them medicinal materials.”
What medicinal herbs do they need?
King Wumeng raised an eyebrow. If it were something they had, that would be fine, but he was afraid that the other party was deliberately making things difficult. However, seeing Zeng Fu like this, the other party must be truly sincere.
As expected, the medicinal herbs Zeng Fu mentioned were all abundant in their area. Some of them were very precious, but many others were ones they had never seen before. However, the other party provided blueprints, and as long as they had such medicinal herbs, they could exchange them for finished medicine.
In terms of value, the Wumeng Kingdom actually lost out in this transaction, but they lacked the necessary technology.
Moreover, they suffered even greater losses when they traded with the Northern Jin, so King Wumeng felt that the conditions offered by the Great Zhou were nothing.
Zeng Fu stepped forward slightly. "Your Majesty, shall we choose to truly ally with the Great Zhou, or shall we still choose the Northern Jin?"
The fact that the people's livelihood in the Great Zhou Dynasty has recovered well means that the Great Zhou Dynasty has the strength to fight, and the enemy's gunpowder and other strategic materials are very strong.
Zeng Fu's movements in the capital were greatly restricted. After all, he was an envoy from another country, so it was difficult for him to find out more information. As things stand, the Great Zhou and the Northern Jin each have their own advantages.
King Wumeng thought so too, but he didn't want to choose either the Great Zhou or the Northern Jin.
The former emperor of the Northern Jin Dynasty was incompetent and tyrannical. If the current emperor were still the former emperor of the Northern Jin Dynasty, the King of Wumeng would dare to attack even if he did not ally with the Great Zhou Dynasty.
However, the current emperor of Northern Jin is young, and the other side also admires the Confucianism of the Han Dynasty. Half of the officials in Northern Jin are Han officials, and there is also the Xiao family, who are good at fighting. The resurgence of the Xiao family makes him quite wary.
Although King Wumeng was reluctant to admit it, their cavalry was indeed inferior to that of the Xiao clan, let alone the Great Zhou.
Although the Zhou cavalry was weak, they were very strong in other areas, especially in gunpowder.
If the Great Zhou hadn't produced gunpowder, the Northern Jin would probably have already razed the Great Zhou's capital. Even with reinforcements, they wouldn't have been of much use.
The reason why the King of Wumeng knew this so clearly was because the reinforcements that went there included a detachment from Wumeng, and it was even his troops who led them. At that time, Wumeng was still under the rule of the Northern Jin Dynasty.
Until the former chieftain was humiliated and died by the first emperor of the Northern Jin Dynasty.
The current King Wumeng is the seventh son of the former leader. He is certainly not a soft-hearted person to have reached this position. He killed all his brothers before becoming the leader and then inherited their estate, including his wife and children.
Initially, their tribe was not the most powerful in the Wumeng tribal alliance, but King Wumeng successfully led his warriors to subjugate the other tribes within a year and became the leader of the alliance.
Because the former leader was humiliated to death, King Wumeng took the opportunity to break away from the control of Northern Jin.
Naturally, the reason they were able to break free from the control of the Northern Jin Dynasty was not only due to the death of their leader, but also because the current King of Wumeng had used ruthless methods to control Wumeng, and Wumeng itself had developed to the point where it was able to break free from the control of the Northern Jin Dynasty.
The reason why the King of Wumeng was able to unite the entire Wumeng tribe was due to the various suppressions imposed on Wumeng by the former emperor of the Northern Jin Dynasty, which aroused their resistance.
If the late emperor of Northern Jin had been wise enough and the country had been peaceful, the King of Wumeng would probably have had to remain subservient and dare not harbor any rebellious thoughts. However, a century of peace and prosperity had already eroded the upper echelons of Northern Jin, leaving most of them only interested in pleasure.
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