area51novel Chapter 387
Chapter 387
"Volcano, underground fire?"
The envoy understood and said immediately: "You stay for two days, I will gather people to find yellow stones. No one dares to harass you if you live in this yurt."
Atana immediately stood up, put his right hand on his left chest, and bowed slightly, saying:
"Okay, the more yellow stones the better!"
The envoy nodded, "Okay, I will try my best to send people to find more after I go back." He turned and left the yurt.
Atana followed the envoy out of the yurt, "Envoy, these fine salts, tea leaves and top-grade colored glaze are all given to you. Please accept them.
Please make sure to find more yellow stones."
The envoy instantly felt that Atana was very sensible, and bowed slightly to Atana for the first time:
"Hahaha, okay, please rest assured!"
Even if he handed over some of these tea leaves and top-grade colored glaze to the Khan, he would definitely get some.
It was worth the trip!
Atana watched the messenger leave with a big smile on his face.
This trip to the Western Regions might be a great achievement!
Then, Atana called the ten "servants" brought from the palace into the yurt.
"Everyone, we will stay here for two days. After they find the yellow stone, we can return to Chang'an." Atana said excitedly to everyone.
These ten people looked like servants, but Atana knew that they were all subordinates of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty.
So everyone was very polite along the way.
"And the Western Regions Royal Family will give Your Majesty 500 cattle and sheep this time."
Atana handed the sheepskin letter to a "servant" and asked, "Can you understand this?"
Whether it was the Tang Dynasty characters or the Western Region characters, Atana didn't recognize them.
"This is the Tang Dynasty writing, but it looks like a child's handwriting.
It says that the Western Regions will use cattle, sheep or gold to exchange fine salt, tea and silk fabrics with the Tang Dynasty in the future. Eighty carts of white folded flowers can be exchanged for one cart of fine salt, and one hundred cattle and sheep plus five hundred taels of gold can be exchanged for one cart of tea." The servant explained the contents of the sheepskin letter.
It is not difficult to see that the people of the Western Regions value tea more.
No one knows that the carts mentioned by the Western Regions are calculated according to Atana's loading standards. A cart of fine salt is about two hundred kilograms, and tea is difficult to estimate, probably more than fifty kilograms.
These are the results of careful research by the Western Regions royal family through various channels and according to the spoon used by Atana.
Atana had no idea about these numbers. He only wanted to do what Su Chen and the prince had told him to do, and strive to get the official Tang Dynasty ID card as soon as possible.
If the family can live in the Tang Dynasty permanently, ten taels of gold every year will be enough to live a good life.
At this time, Atana was already thinking about how to transport the cotton and yellow stones back. Fortunately, they brought many linen bags specially for cotton this time, because there are not so many textiles and carriages in the Western Regions.
"The cotton will be carried by oxen, and the carriages will be used to carry yellow stones." Atana thought of a solution instantly.
"Everyone, should we go for a walk or rest here?"
Several "servants" looked at each other, and one of the leading servants thought for a while and said, "So much gold needs someone to take care of it. You go, and the three of us stay.
In addition, we must buy a good horse and send someone to deliver this news to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as soon as possible, so that His Majesty can prepare early."
Atana and his men are located adjacent to the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty, and they can reach the border of the Western Regions in five days. Most of the journey is within the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and Longyou is far away from Chang'an in the interior.
It is not easy to drive the thousand cattle and sheep to Chang'an, and someone must be there to pick them up.
"Okay, when we come back, buy more high-quality mutton and enjoy it!" Atana laughed cheerfully, thinking that he would be able to return to Chang'an in a month, and he was very excited. After returning to Chang'an, he could go back to his hometown and bring his wife and children to the Tang Dynasty.
"Oh, I should have left some tea and fine salt. Gold is too expensive to buy cattle and sheep!"
Atana lamented in annoyance.
A spoonful of fine salt can buy half a mutton. If you use gold, you need a large piece, at least five taels.
Sheep traders from the Western Regions or the Turks only need four or five strings to buy from the Tang Dynasty, so they usually exchange cattle and sheep for Tang silk and ceramics.
The price of horses is completely different, ranging from fifty strings to one hundred strings.
... Turn your eyes back to the Tang Dynasty.
After appreciating the power of the explosives, Li Shimin returned to the manor with satisfaction.
After entering the living room, he laughed loudly, "Hahahaha... I am very satisfied with the power of the explosives. Don't worry about the sugarcane. No less than 20,000 kilograms of Lingnan sugarcane will be delivered to Chang'an by the end of the month."
After sending Princess Changle away, Su Chen was chatting with Empress Changsun in the living room.
Xiao Sizi and Jin'er were also there.
A single-horse carriage normally carries 1,000 kilograms. As Changsun Wuji said, even ifNo matter how difficult the road is, 500 kilograms is not a big problem.
Su Chen smiled and nodded. He was not in a hurry, and he was not waiting for the sugarcane to be cooked.
As long as he is not hungry, it's fine!
"It's getting late. I will go back to the palace first. You can come to the palace more often when you have time." Li Shimin walked up to Su Chen and looked at the young man in front of him with soft eyes.
At this moment, Li Shimin inexplicably had the idea of hoping that Su Chen would marry Princess Changle as soon as possible.
Gently patted Su Chen's shoulder, "I'm leaving, no need to see me off!"
Empress Changsun got up and came to Li Shimin with a package in her hand, smiling and said to Su Chen:
"Su Chen, it's cold, wear more clothes, don't catch a cold."
"Hehe, mother, don't worry, I'm thick-skinned!" Su Chen patted his chest and smiled foolishly.
Empress Changsun smiled, then looked at Little Sizi and asked:
"Mingda, would you like to go back to the palace with your mother?"
Little Sizi squeezed Jin'er's thigh, dodged his eyes, and said timidly: "I will go back to the palace after the school holiday!"
Empress Changsun shook her head. This child has become wild.
He doesn't even go home.
Li Shimin and his party came to the carriage in the square, followed by Su Chen, Jin'er and Little Sizi.
"Fuji, Xuanling, ride with me!"
Li Shimin first helped Empress Changsun into the carriage, and called Xuanling and Changsun Wuji.
The emperor drove six horses. If Li Shimin followed the emperor's regulations, the carriage would be pulled by six horses. It was because Li Shimin always came to the manor in casual clothes, and the carriage was pulled by two horses in parallel.
But the interior space of the carriage was not small, much larger than the carriage that Princess Changle rode.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not appropriate!" Fang Xuanling questioned. If Empress Changsun was not in the carriage, it would be understandable. It's not like she had never ridden with the emperor before.
Changsun Wuji was fine, because he was the emperor's brother-in-law.
"What's wrong? Get in the carriage quickly. I have something to ask you."
Li Shimin didn't say much to them and got on the carriage first.
When Fang Xuanling was hesitant, Empress Changsun half leaned out of the carriage and said with a smile:
"Fang Pushe, if it's inconvenient, I will take your place?"
Empress Changsun meant that she would go to the carriage with Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji.
"I dare not!"
Fang Xuanling reluctantly followed Changsun Wuji on the carriage.
Su Chen watched their boring negotiations from the side and was speechless.
Then, the carriage slowly drove away from the manor.
"Assistant, tell me, that guy made such a powerful explosive, but the first thing he thought of was to use it to blow up mountains and build roads. Instead of helping me conquer cities and expand territory."
Li Shimin had this doubt in his heart for a long time.
If Su Chen hadn't mentioned that he wanted to destroy Shuofang not long ago, Li Shimin would have thought that his view of Su Chen on the Mid-Autumn Night was wrong.
He always thought that Su Chen was very ambitious and wanted to help his Li Tang royal family unify the world.
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