On the official road to the northwest.
Before noon, a group of fierce northwestern soldiers dismounted and walked into the tavern.
"Boss, serve the food and drinks."
Li Sheng looked at this group of fierce soldiers and did not dare to neglect them, so he stepped forward to greet them personally.
Pei Rong was playing with a dagger with a cold expression.
The personal guard stepped forward and whispered, "General, the lady has sent a letter, hoping to see you."
"No! Tell her that I'm leaving the capital and returning to the northwest. Don't come to me for matters in the capital."
Pei Rong returned to Beijing to attend his sister Pei Man's wedding.
Gu Ting and Pei Man left the capital last month and headed to the northwest.
Pei Rong was delayed for more than a month because he had official business to deal with.
It was not until today that he finished everything and set off back to the Northwest Camp with his personal soldiers.
"Madam Zhao said that she didn't want to talk about the capital, but about the northwest, about Xiliang and Beirong."
Pei Rong snorted coldly, "Ask Liu Zhao to talk to me."
The guards were embarrassed, but also admired Gu Jiu. He had anticipated all the general's reactions and even prepared answers.
The guard bowed and said, "Madam Zhao said that it is inappropriate for His Highness to intervene in this matter."
hehe……
Pei Rong sneered in response.
He had never dealt with Gu Jiu and had only heard various rumors about him. He had a general impression of Gu Jiu.
He said to his personal guards, "Tell her that I am only talking to Liu Zhao. Her presence is useless."
Anyway, after this meal, the next time he returns to Beijing will be a few years later. The person who is anxious is the other person, not him.
The personal soldier fulfilled his responsibility of delivering the message, bowed his head and accepted the order, then hurried out of the tavern.
Military Advisor Mr. Dou asked quietly, "General, have you really not seen Madam Zhao?"
Pei Rong smiled. "Why would I want to meet her? We only have business dealings with her. Business matters are handled by our own people. It's useless for me to meet her. If she's delivering a message for Liu Zhao, then there's no need to meet her. It's impossible for our Pei family to cooperate with Liu Zhao, at least not at the moment."
Mr. Dou thought for a moment and said, "I feel that Madam Zhao's insistence on speaking to the general may have a deeper meaning."
"Humph! No matter what her deeper meaning is, this general will not pay any attention to it."
"Amitabha!"
Following a Buddhist chant, Master Wuwang walked into the small tavern.
Boss Li Sheng looked around and wisely sent all the waiters to the backyard. He also went to the kitchen.
In the lobby of the tavern, there were only a group of soldiers and Master Wuxuan who looked like a great monk.
Pei Rong sneered when he saw Wuwang, "How rare it is to see you here, Master. I hope you are well!"
"General, you are the same as always, thank you!"
Pei Rong played with the dagger and glanced at Wuxuan with contempt. "Master, who are you here for? Or are you here for your Buddha?"
"Amitabha, I am just helping someone deliver something to the general."
"What?"
Hopelessly reached into his arms.
In the lobby, weapons rang out.
Just one look is enough to make Hopeless bleed to death on the spot.
Hopelessly unmoved.
Pei Rong waved his hand, signaling his guards not to be so nervous. He knew it was hopeless and didn't have the courage to carry out the assassination.
Hopeless took out a receipt from his pocket.
"Someone asked me to give this document to the general for his review."
Pei Rong raised his chin, and the personal soldier took the document and placed it in front of him.
The documents were full of various goods, in large quantities and of great value.
Pei Rong sneered, "Showing this to me, are you trying to bribe me?"
"General, you're overthinking it. This is the cargo list, with a total value of 500,000 taels. If it can be successfully delivered to the capital of Xiliang, its value will be as high as 3 million taels."
boom!
Three million taels!
What is the concept?
The personal guards were all shocked by the three million taels that Wuwang mentioned.
Pei Rong narrowed his eyes, picked up the cargo list and looked at it carefully.
Ivory products, silks and satins, tea, brown sugar, white sugar, porcelain, jade, lacquerware, bronze, gold, various jewelry, exquisite cashmere and wool products, various books, and various ironwares that were extremely scarce on the grasslands...
Any item transported to the Xiliang Royal City will be looted.
The only thing you need to worry about is: you have the life to earn money but not the life to spend it.
Pei Rong's face was serious. He waved his hand and all his personal guards stood up and surrounded the entire tavern, not allowing anyone to enter.
Passing merchants and pedestrians, seeing this situation, dared not get close, for fear that they would escape too slowly and become victims of the sword.
Pei Rong placed the list of goods on the table and asked, "Did Madam Zhao send you here?"
"Exactly!" Wuwang said neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"She asked you to send this list. What does that mean?"
Hopeless's face was compassionate. "Madam wants to negotiate a deal with the general to help him on his western expedition."
Pei Rong looked at Military Advisor Dou calmly.
Military Advisor Dou nodded slightly.
Pei Rong asked, "Where is Madam Zhao?"
"Five-lit Pavilion ahead."
Pei Rong smiled and said, "Aren't you running errands for Liu Zhao? When did you become Madam Zhao's pawn?"
Wuwang smiled indifferently, "Thank you for your concern, General. I am willing to serve Madam Zhao."
Pei Rong laughed and said, "Lead the way!"
Wuwang turned around and left the tavern, riding away at a gallop.
Pei Rong brought his personal soldiers and military advisor Dou and followed behind.
Wuliting had already been cleaned up.
Qingzhu was using a small red clay stove to boil water and make tea.
Wang Yi secretly set up several trip ropes.
Xu Yousi led his men to stand at the intersection, looking in the direction of the tavern.
Gu Jiu was reading a book to pass the time.
Yu Ge'er stayed beside Gu Jiu, sitting obediently with a serious face, like a little adult.
Gu Jiu smiled at him and said, "Are you nervous about meeting General Pei?"
Yu Ge'er nodded, then shook his head.
"As long as my mother is here, I won't be nervous."
Gu Jiu touched his head and said, "It's normal to be nervous. He's a soldier, a soldier with great military achievements and countless murders. He carries a murderous aura that scares people from afar. You're so young, it's normal to be afraid and nervous. Don't feel ashamed."
"When my son grows up, I won't be afraid anymore."
"It's not enough to just grow taller, you also have to grow your brain and exercise your body. When you have enough confidence, you don't have to be afraid of anyone."
Yu Ge'er raised his head and asked, "What do you mean by confidence?"
"It's about how many chips you have in your hand." Gu Jiu explained simply.
Yu Ge'er seemed to understand but not quite.
In the distance, the ground vibrated and dust flew.
Soon, people arrived and raised a cloud of dust.
Fortunately, the pavilion was some distance away from the official road, so the dust did not drift over.
Pei Rong dismounted, wearing half armor and a sword at his waist, and strode towards the pavilion.
"General Pei, nice to meet you!"
Gu Jiu stood up and took the initiative to greet him.
Pei Rong smiled and looked at Gu Jiu with a bold gaze, "Are you Madam Zhao?"
"General Pei's memory is not good. I remember that we only met once at Gu Ting's wedding."
"I didn't take a closer look at that time."
Gu Jiu invited Pei Rong to sit down.
Qingzhu served tea.
"General Pei, have some tea."
"Tea is always available. Madam, please state your purpose directly. This general has limited time and cannot waste it on unnecessary eating and drinking."
Gu Jiu smiled softly, "General Pei is straightforward."
She clapped her hands, and Qingzhu took out a package of something wrapped in oil paper from the food basket and placed it on the stone table. It looked like food.
Then she gestured to Pei Rong to open it himself.
Pei Rong was full of questions. He opened the oil paper packaging and found meat cut into small pieces inside.
"This is?"
Gu Jiu said softly, "This is beef jerky. Over the years, the cattle and sheep captured by your Northwest Army on the grasslands have basically been purchased by our Sihai Trading Company through the Ministry of Finance. The purchase price is about four taels of silver per adult cattle, which is very fair."
Beef jerky is made from the cattle you captured from the grasslands, ensuring long-term storage. Beef jerky packaged like this has been proven to last for up to six months in humid, rainy areas. In dry, dry areas, it can easily last for a year or two.
We've also adjusted the production process to create beef jerky in a variety of flavors, including five-spice, spicy, numbing, sweet, and salty, ensuring there's something for everyone. "General Pei, would you like to try it? Have your personal guards have a taste, too?"
Pei Rong was skeptical. He picked up a piece of beef jerky, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.
He had the five-spice flavor, which was indeed delicious and chewy.
He tried other flavors and found that he could tolerate five-spice, spicy, and salty flavors, but he didn't like spicy and sweet flavors.
He threw the remaining beef jerky to his personal guards and asked them to taste it too.
Gu Jiu laughed. "Beef jerky is easy to preserve, tastes good, and is filling. It can be used as dry food, suitable for long-distance marches, and also suitable for merchants who travel for a long time."
"Do you want to sell beef jerky to the Northwest Army?" Pei Rong asked.
Gu Jiu shook his head. "Like I said, our purchase price for an adult grassland cattle is four taels of silver. The hide can be used to make leather boots, leather backpacks, and leather armor. The bones can be ground into powder and mixed into food. The tendons, offal, and premium beef can be sold to restaurants and taverns."
The remaining beef is made into beef jerky and sold all over the country. General Pei, guess how much money can be earned from an adult cow after all the processing steps?"
Pei Rong vaguely grasped the truth.
He pretended not to know and asked, "How much silver?"
"Within the Great Zhou, we earn about 18 taels of silver. If we sell beef jerky and cowhide products to Xiliang, we can earn about 32 taels of silver."
"Buy it for four taels, but sell it for thirty-two taels?" Pei Rong frowned.
Gu Jiu laughed, "General Pei, why don't you think about it again? What will happen if we dump a large amount of this insignificant food like beef jerky into Xiliang?"
Buying at four taels and selling at thirty taels will soon empty the pockets of the Xiliang herdsmen.
Pei Rong was very smart and saw through the power of the small beef jerky at a glance.
Gu Jiu took out the cargo list again. "Half a hundred thousand worth of goods were successfully delivered to Xiliang King City. Conservatively estimated, the value would reach three million taels. What do you think of the items on the list, from General Pei's perspective?"
“Excellent!”
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "General Pei said it's excellent, so it must be very good. When this batch of goods is delivered to Xiliang Royal City, if nothing unexpected happens, it will definitely cause a rush of grabbing by the nobles and wealthy families in Xiliang. Those women and men will be fascinated by our goods.
We only accept transactions in gold and silver, or in exchange for cattle, sheep, and horses. In exchange for fine porcelain, silk, tea, and other goods, the wealthy nobles of Xiliang would unearth their hidden treasures from their cellars. If they ran low on gold and silver, they would trade for cattle, sheep, and horses from their ranches.
To meet the needs of the noble women of Xiliang, we will ensure that within three to four months, we deliver a batch of goods worth no less than three million taels to Xiliang Royal City. General Pei, guess how long it will take for such a transaction to drain Xiliang Royal City of gold and silver? And drain the cattle, sheep, and horses from the ranches?
When Xiliang was in fiscal deficit and economically bankrupt, the nobles would double down on exploiting the herdsmen in order to maintain their luxurious lifestyle.
This will form a vicious cycle.
Without external support, Xiliang would be doomed. The entire country would be dragged down by economic bankruptcy.
The King of Xiliang will not be able to maintain a decent army.
A country without an army is a piece of fat meat that anyone can rush to take a bite of.
Pei Rong had completely understood Gu Jiu's intention. "Using exquisite goods to drain Xiliang of its gold and silver is a good idea, but it's unrealistic. Xiliang also has smart people, not all of them are fools."
Gu Jiu nodded, then smiled and said, "At any time, smart people are always in the minority. Even if the smart people in Xiliang see through our purpose at a glance, what can they do? Can they stop the nobles and wealthy families in Xiliang from pursuing and loving exquisite porcelain and silk?
When the nobles of Xiliang are accustomed to a luxurious and refined lifestyle, asking them to tighten their belts and stop buying goods from the Great Zhou, based on General Pei's understanding of the King of Xiliang, does he have the courage to do so?
Pei Rong hesitated.
Military Advisor Mr. Dou asked, "Madam Zhao, are you sure this trick can drain Xiliang of its gold and silver and plunge it into civil strife?"
"I'm not sure, so I need Mr. Dou to give me some advice."
"I didn't expect Madam Zhao to know me."
"Mr. Dou, you're joking. Who wouldn't recognize Mr. Dou, the famous man who served the Marquis of Lu?"
Mr. Dou stroked his beard and looked at Pei Rong.
He didn't want to say much on this occasion.
Pei Rong laughed. "Madam Zhao, your idea is very good. What do you need me to do?"
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