The cold wind whistles and snowflakes are flying. The southern end of the Yinshan Mountains welcomes the first snowfall in winter. Suiyuan has been covered with snow-white spaces. The brigade of carriages is driving on the snow-covered streets, making a "rustling" sound.

The last batch of goods arriving in Fengzhou before the Yellow River was frozen and the shipping was stopped must be transported to Wuchuan City, at the northern end of the Yinshan Mountains before the deadline, so even if the sky was full of wind and snow, the convoy was not allowed to rest.

Tea, salt, various daily necessities, cotton coats, quilts and other cold-resistant clothes from the Central Plains were all loaded on four-wheeled carriages, waiting to arrive in the hands of the final customers: the Turkic tribe, which has now been in the winter near Wuchuan, is waiting for these substances to be delivered.

After several years of development, there were more than 10,000 permanent residents in Suiyuan City, which did not include the garrison and their families. Therefore, the city was very popular and the business was prosperous. Even if it was already winter, the business was still booming.

The customers and friends in the store looked at the convoy passing by the street without any surprise, because such scenes often appeared before. Suiyuan's prosperity was due to the strong demand in the border market. The more fleets there were in the past, the more days in the future would become more prosperous.

There is Hei River in the south of Suiyuan City and the Yellow River in the southwest. Since the Yellow River (middle reaches) shipping has been opened, the Hei River enters the mouth of the Yellow River and becomes a big port. During the navigation season, steamers will arrive every day and transport a large amount of cargo.

The goods include tea, salt, sugar and various handicraft products. After being unloaded in the port area, they enter Baidao through Suiyuan, cross the Yinshan Mountains, arrive at Wuchuan on the northern foot of the country, and then sell to the grassland.

At the same time, there are cheese products produced in grassland and Fengzhou, and countless sheep arrive in the port area to load ships and head to Guanzhong downstream. Each steamer runs back and forth, and is loaded with cargo throughout the journey, bringing rich profits to the ship owners.

Thanks to the prosperous border trade, Hetao cities such as Suiyuan and Jiuyuan, which are located in "coats", are becoming more and more popular. Many border traders have opened residences in these cities, specializing in border trade.

Because the Hetao land can be grazed and farmed, a large number of people in the Central Plains have attracted to come here to open up land and farm or grazing. Some of these people are immigrants, and some are hired workers called "Gaymen".

The geese refer to these hired workers coming to Hetao to farm in the beginning of spring, returning to their hometown when autumn is about to begin winter, and waiting for the spring of the following year to return to Hetao, just like a geese.

But now, with the deepening of the development of the Hetao area, a large amount of wasteland has become fertile land. The local grain produced and the grain transported by steamships are enough to support a large number of garrisons and residents. Therefore, the "Gay Man" who once came to autumn and winter have become permanent residents of various cities.

By the street, the young Zhou Shaofan stood still. He heard from his followers that Suiyuan had developed in recent years. He was wearing military uniforms and was in a new military winter uniform, so he looked different from the soldiers in the garrison.

Zhou Shaofan looked at the slowly passing convoy, wondering if the tea on the car had the tea from his own tea garden.

Since the imperial court decided to promote border trade and agreed to carry out border markets with the Turks (Eastern Turks), Suiyuan's development has been changing with each passing day, and the sales of tea have surged year by year, and it has doubled, making the supply and demand of tea in the Huaihe River and Jiangnan increasingly in short supply.

His home has a tea garden, which is quite large. However, in the face of huge market demand, he has done his best to deal with orders from old customers.

The shopkeepers looked at the merchants who came to ask if there was any tea and returned disappointed. They were anxious, but they had to wait for a few years for the newly opened tea mountain to come out. Therefore, many tea gardens could only watch a large amount of copper coins flowing through the door, but could not put them in their pockets.

"Langjun?"

The follower's reminder made Zhou Shaofan come back to his senses from his imagination. He continued to move forward, turned a few streets, and came to the door of the Fengzhou General Administration Office.

In front of the soldiers on guard, Zhou Shaofan stopped his entourage from coming forward and submitted a famous post to the officer. The other party entered for a moment and then turned it out again. He was surprised, but he did not ask much questions. He led Zhou Shaofan in, and the other entourages also entered.

The officer led the way forward and took Zhou Shaofan around the official office, and finally transferred to the office of the General Administration.

The people who lined up in the small room to meet the supervisor, and watched the latecomer go straight into the line.

In the room, Zhou Fashang, the general manager of Fengzhou, was working. He heard the movement at the door, put down his pen and looked at the person coming.

After entering the door, Zhou Shaofan respectfully saluted: 'Father, the child is polite...'

"sit."

"Yes, father."

Zhou Shaofan sat down opposite the book case, with a straight body. Zhou Fashang looked at his youngest son with a "military school student style" and was very satisfied.

"How about it, are you still used to coming to Fengzhou?"

"Father, the child is used to it, there is no problem."

"That's good. I'm working for my father, only five minutes." Zhou Fashang finished speaking and looked at the clock. "You went to Wuchuan to experience it. You should go to the mountains and rivers to enjoy the waters. Do you know?"

"I know, the Ministry of War has arranged tasks for us. If the task is not completed well, the internship results will be affected..."

Zhou Shaofan briefly talked about his "internship" with his military academy classmates. In fact, his father Zhou Fashang knew about it, because since the military academy students were going to "internship" in the Fengzhou General Administration, it was impossible for them to know as the general administrator.

But that was a business. The military academy student arrived in Suiyuan and was in a "combat marching state". No one was allowed to leave the team without permission, otherwise it would be considered "escape at the last minute". Zhou Shaofan could only take advantage of the team's short stay in Suiyuan and ask for leave in advance, and then leave the military camp after approval.

Following the entourage sent by my father, I went to the General Administration Office to greet my father.

There are four places for military academy students to go to now, divided into four directions: southeast, west, northwest and north:

The east is Liaodong, the south is Jiaozhou, the west is the junction of Longyou and Xihai, and the north is the grassland. Specifically, it is the Yinshan Mountains and the area near Wuchuan at the northern end of Baidao.

Here, intern military academy students should learn on the spot how to march and fight on the vast grasslands and prepare for the future.

How long will this last? No one knows, because the Turks (Eastern Turks) surrender now, there may not be any war in the future, but as a warrior, you must be prepared for war at any time.

Zhou Fashang talked to his son for a while, looked at the time, and did not forget to explain: "If you want to win a battle in the future, you must know yourself and your enemy. If you know yourself, you will not talk about it. Knowing your enemy is easier said than done."

"If you arrive at the grassland, if you have the chance, you should deal with the nobles of various Turkic tribes. If you have time, think more about how you should deal with the cavalry of the Central Plains. After all, fighting on the grassland is different from being in the Central Plains."

Zhou Shaofan nodded and said, "The father and son haven't seen each other for several years, and they all rely on letters to communicate. After meeting, he only had only five minutes to speak. Seeing that the time was about the same, he quickly said, "Father takes care of himself in Suiyuan."

"good."

Zhou Shaofan took his leave, and Zhou Fashang looked at his son's back as he walked away, feeling a little moved.

Does Your Majesty want to cultivate a new generation to pacify the grassland?
Chapter completed!