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The Tao family has completely withdrawn from the Central Plains market since the previous year. Tao Sheng personally went to Lingzhou to purchase 100,000 hectares of land, and used generous conditions to recruit thousands of Han farmers from Guanzhong to cultivate and cultivate. Under his leadership, a group of Yizhou and Guanlong tribes also bought land to cultivate in Lingzhou. While making profits, they also helped the government restore the old prosperity of the pearls under the Han Dynasty as soon as possible.

However, the Tao family did not farm in Lingzhou for profit, and the food they harvested was also given to the government for free. In order to obtain political capital, the Tao family lost 100 million yuan in Lingzhou in the first year alone.

Lingzhou's huge losses must be compensated in other aspects. At Liu Jing's suggestion, the Tao family began trade in the Western Regions and used the huge profits of the Western Regions trade to make up for the losses in Lingzhou.

As compensation for the Tao family's donation of land in the capital, Liu Jing gave thousands of camels captured from the Huns to the Tao family and established the Tao family's first Western Regions caravan.

More than a year has passed, and the Tao family has traveled to and from the Western Regions many times and established a transit warehouse in Dunhuang County. They transported a large amount of Western goods to the Central Plains and transported porcelain and silk from the Central Plains to the West, making huge profits from it.

"I heard that my second uncle just returned from Dayuan, and he has gone far this time."

Taoli smiled and said, "This time I went to Dayuan mainly to explore and find the purchase channel. It was also the farthest time I went west in my life."

"Is Dayuan Kingdom still here?"

"The Dayuan Kingdom is still there, and was once under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate of the Great Han Dynasty. However, after the Western Regions Protectorate of the First Year of Yongchu, the Dayuan Kingdom was defeated by the Yuezhi people and surrendered to the Kushan Kingdom. As soon as you go, you can see the beacon towers and garrisons that the Great Han Dynasty once set up, but unfortunately they have been abandoned."

Liu Jing nodded silently, "One day, I will restore the Western Regions Protectorate and restore the grand spirit of the Han Dynasty."

"I hope I can see that day in my lifetime."

Taoli said this and smiled, "I went to Dayuan this time and wanted to buy Dayuan stallions, but Dayuan did not sell stallions at all. The investigation was very strict. Later, I got a sweat-blooded stallion through several Sogdian merchants. I planned to use them to make seeds and breed horse herds in Longxi."

Liu Jing was overjoyed, "Where is the stallion now?"

"In Longxi County Horse Farm, there are 205 horses in total."

Liu Jing frowned, "Didn't the second uncle just say that he bought the match?"

Taoli didn't say anything, and after a while he sighed, "There is another horse that was intercepted by the Ma Governor in Hexi."

"Ma Chao"

Taoli nodded and whispered, "Your Highness, there is a saying I don't know whether it should be said or not. It has something to do with Governor Ma. If Your Highness doesn't want to listen, I won't say it."

Liu Jing felt a bad feeling in his heart and said in a deep voice: "My second uncle just say it straight."

"I suggest that Your Highness transfer Ma Chao away as soon as possible. Keep him in Hexi sooner or later something will happen."

"I've actually heard everything about it in detail."

"Your Highness may not know that the Qiang people in Hexi bought a large amount of weapons and armor from the Kushan Kingdom last year, and several horse bandits appeared in the Hexi Corridor, all of which were Qiang people and Di people, specializing in looting and plundering passers-by merchants. If merchants want to cross Hexi safely, they must pay a considerable amount of protection fee in Suzhou, which led to a sharp reduction in profits of merchants and complaints."

Although Tao Li did not say it explicitly, it just implied that Ma Chao condoned the Qiang and Di people. Zhao Yun also said this at the beginning, but now Tao Li mentioned it again, the problem must be getting worse and worse.

In fact, when Liu Jing was in Hefei, he also received a certificate from Chang'an. Among them, the Hexi government accused Ma Chao of protecting the Qiang people, which led to a sharp conflict between Qiang and Han people in Hexi. Many Han people's land was occupied, their homes were burned, and they were forced to flee to Longxi.

However, the Han army fought against Cao's army with the whole country in Hefei and was unable to look west, so they could only appease Ma Chao and try not to touch his interests.

If Ma Chao collected protection fees from merchants in order to make money, Liu Jing might be tolerant, but Taoli mentioned that the Qiang people secretly bought armor from the Kushan Kingdom, which forced Liu Jing to be alert.

Once Ma Chao becomes independent in Hexi, the problem will be serious. Liu Jing thought to himself: It seems that the Hexi crisis cannot be delayed indefinitely and must be resolved as soon as possible.

.........

Sun Shangxiang looked at a few more swords and stopped watching. The reason was very simple. These swords were treasured by the store and were not sold to the public. No matter how much she saw, it was meaningless, but it made her feel disappointed.

Sun Shangxiang pushed the sword away and stood up to say goodbye. Although the owner of the shop, Shi Lin, was unwilling to sell the treasured sword, he did not want to offend the second concubine of the Han Dynasty. If he annoyed His Highness, would he still want to do business in Chang'an?

Shi Lin took out a short sword that had been treasured for many years and was also made of Uzi Steel and gave it to Sun Shangxiang. In Shi Lin's words, he would not sell this kind of sword, but only gave it to people who truly understand swords. This made Sun Shangxiang very happy. He took the sword, said goodbye and left.

At this time, the carriage was still in the business, but fortunately it was not far from the business. You could see the tall building from afar. Sun Shangxiang walked away and wandered around the market.

Although Sun Shangxiang has realized that she cannot interfere with her husband's military and national affairs, she would better not interfere even in Jiangdong's affairs. Otherwise, not only will the Jiangdong issue not be able to solve it, but it will affect the relationship between husband and wife. Only when the husband asks her can she talk about this matter, and she cannot show her face to her husband and ignore her because of this.

Having said that, when she thought that Jiangdong was about to collapse and the foundation founded by her father and brothers was about to disappear, she still felt an indescribable feeling in her heart. As the daughter of the Sun family, she could not face the crisis in Jiangdong but was indifferent. She watched Jiangdong collapse, but she didn't know how to plead with her husband. This deep pain was pressed into her heart, making her heart difficult to resolve.

Sun Shangxiang was full of thoughts and most of them didn't know her. Several gangsters in the market saw that she was beautiful and wanted to tease her, but they saw four tall and burly followers with swords following her. They were so scared that they dared not provoke her, so they had to peek from afar.

After walking more than a dozen steps, Sun Shangxiang suddenly heard someone shouting loudly: "The best Dongwu lacquerware will be missing if you miss it."

The sound clearly had a strong Jiangdong accent. Sun Shangxiang heard the local accent at first, and was surprised in his heart. Looking back, he saw a small shop in the corner of the street. There were flags and banners hanging in front of the shop with the words lacquerware written on them. There was a nine-section bamboo lamp at the door, which was painted black and brightly, which was the famous Dongwu lacquerware.

Seeing things in her hometown made her more happy than the sword shop. She hurriedly walked over and saw that the shop was very small, less than six feet wide and about two feet long. It was divided from the grocery store next door. The person who opened the shop was a young couple, both of whom were pretty and had the temperament of Jiangnan people.

It can be seen that their business is not good and no one is there. The couple dressed simply and could only make a living by opening this store. When the man saw Sun Shangxiang paying attention to his small store, he quickly smiled and said, "This sister comes in and check it out. The lacquerware sold in the store is all authentic Dongwu lacquerware, and this one is the only one in Chang'an."

Sun Shangxiang walked into the shop, the woman greeted her and smiled, "Sister can choose whatever she wants."

Sun Shangxiang glanced at her and asked with a smile: "You are from Wujun."

She spoke in hometown dialect, and the couple looked at each other and smiled, "It turns out that my sister is also a fellow villager, and we are from Wucheng County."

Sun Shangxiang nodded, no wonder they didn't know themselves. It turned out that they were from Wucheng County, but Wucheng County also belonged to Wucheng County. She lived there for a while when she was a child, and Wucheng County left a good impression on her.

"My ancestral home is Fuchun County, but I grew up in Wuxian County. I have been to Wucheng County. The water chestnuts there are sweeter than those in Wuxian County, so our hometown is to talk about the lotus roots of Wucheng's water chestnuts in Wuxian County."

The woman smiled and said, "Sister is right, but Wucheng people say that the lotus root in Wuxian is not crisp enough, while Wuxian people say that the water chestnuts of Wucheng are not sweet."

Hearing this teasing and local verb, Sun Shangxiang's laughter echoed in the shop like a silver bell. She felt very happy and said, "It was the first time I met my hometown in Chang'an for several years. When did you come to Chang'an?"

"We came here to make a living at the beginning of last year, but there are many people from Jiangdong in Chang'an. Have you really not met my sister?"

"I rarely go out. Are there many people in Jiangdong in Chang'an?"

The young man smiled at the door and said, "There are at least tens of thousands of people, not necessarily in Chang'an. It is distributed in Guanzhong. There are thousands of people in Wucheng County alone."

Sun Shangxiang nodded and asked strangely: "Why are you all running out? Isn't your hometown good?"

The woman sighed softly, "Leaving her hometown is as cheap as a dog. If she hadn't been able to survive, who would have left her hometown?"

"Why?" Sun Shangxiang asked: "How could he not survive?"

The man said at the door: "It seems that the eldest sister rarely contacts her hometown. The Jiangdong taxes are heavy, and the government imposes heavy taxes. My family has been operating lacquerware for generations. More than half of the monthly income is required to pay commercial taxes, as well as head taxes, ship taxes, and western taxes. Young and strong men either go to the army. If they don't join the army, they will be in labor service. If they do, they will be in labor service for one month. Who can bear it? My family was originally in a good place, but in the end it collapsed. The government came to the door to force taxes every day, so they had to escape with their wife and follow their uncle to make a living in Chang'an."

"Does Wu Hou care about these things?" Sun Shangxiang said angrily.

The man sneered, "Sister is telling a joke. If Wu Hou really doesn't care, we won't escape from our hometown. He just cares a lot, he manages hard, asks for money and grain, and arrests Ding Congjun everywhere. My brothers, elder brothers and second brothers were both killed in battle, leaving orphans and widows. In the end, the eldest sister died of poverty and illness. The second sister and the second sister were gone with their children. Of course, they don't know that the elder sister is not in Jiangdong. People in Jiangdong call him Sun Jackalon, and they want to eat his flesh and sleep with his skin. If the Han army attacks Jiangdong, I will be the first to sign up for the army and kill back to my hometown."

Sun Shangxiang didn't know how she left the shop. Her heart was empty and full of loss. She never dreamed that Jiangdong would become like hell. The Sun family country captured by her father and brother was finally hated by the people and abandoned by the people.

She remembered what the young man said again. People in Jiangdong called him Sun Jackalon, and wished he could eat his flesh and sleep with his skin. If the Han army attacked Jiangdong, I would be the first to sign up to join the army and go back to my hometown.

Thinking of this sentence, all kinds of flavors surged into her heart. Sun Shangxiang couldn't help but sigh, "If my brother is really so unkind, what else can Jiangdong protect it from doing."
Chapter completed!