Chapter 332 Salt and Iron

Money is what you win in wars. Looking at the entire Tubo, although Maiqi Toast has been passed down for many years, what they have the most is not money but food.

Although food can be exchanged for money in many cases, the exchange process takes time. Now that they have raised the banner of rebellion, it will not be that easy to exchange food for money. Li Xiang's Although a box of gold is not much, it is enough for Mai Qi Toast to use for a while.

"Only for this box of gold?"

Although the money on the plateau is different from that in the Tang Dynasty, one tael of gold is exchanged for sixteen taels of silver, which is equivalent to sixteen guan of money. These two thousand taels of gold are equivalent to 32,000 guan of money, which does sound like a lot. , but if it is used in war, it will not last long.

"One box per month."

When Li Xiang said this, Chief Maiqi couldn't believe his ears. This was 30,000 yuan. In the past, his income for a whole year was only these two boxes of gold. Recently, they have been able to gain the upper hand. But after Lu Dongzan comes back, the war may take a turn for the worse. Once it reaches that stage, they will need money to recruit troops, but their own reserves...

Maggie Toast felt that his breathing was a little short. He had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth since he was a child. He was a person who had seen money, but he had never seen such a generous person.

"Don't you want anything in return?"

Chief Maiqi said with some suspicion, there is no one who doesn't want to repay these days, let alone a box of gold every month.

"Of course I want to repay you. I know you have a rule. As long as you win the battle, everyone in the other village will become a slave. I need slaves. I need a lot of slaves. I paid this money in advance. What I give you will be regarded as my advance payment.”

Li Xiang explained the three words "advance payment" again. If it were in Chang'an City, maybe the businessmen there would understand what advance payment is. Now in Tubo, Mai Qi Tusi should be the first one to understand. people.

Li Xiang did not take advantage of Mai Qi Tusi. Each slave would pay one point and one time the actual price, which meant that Li Xiang had to pay 10% more. In this way, Mai Qi Tusi was very satisfied, even if it was a business. If so, I would have earned ten percent more.

"It's a good way to alleviate my military expenditure problem, but it's not enough."

Chieftain Maiqi shook his head. Although they rebelled, they did not have much determination. Many people still wanted to negotiate peace with the central government. As long as the other party did not need their rights, they were willing to maintain their previous life.

But then again, that is when there is no chance of winning, but if Li Xiang continues to support them, then more chieftains will join in, and then the balance of strength will be fundamentally reversed, and they It is opposed to the centralization of power in Tubo, and it may be fought to the end at that time.

"Salt and iron."

When Li Xiang said this, a smile appeared on Chief Maiqi's face. All the salt and iron were transported from the Han people. Li Xiang knew that there were even salt lakes on the plateau, but there was no salt there. If it is not purified, people will even get sick if they eat the salt there, so even if they are guarding a big treasure, they still need to buy salt from the Han people.

"You can use slaves and land to exchange salt and iron with me. Of course, I can't give you too much. You also know the ban between the two countries. You can draw me a picture of weapons. I can find them in Chang'an City. Made by people.”

The weapons of the Han people are very sharp, which is what they have always wanted to pursue. Take Maiqi Tusi as an example. Tubo craftsmen also made weapons for him, but unfortunately the technology was too backward. Compared with the swords of the Han people, the sharpness was too different. Far.

"I need two thousand sets of armor."

Chieftain Mai Qi knows the importance of battle armor. If you wear battle armor, you will have an extra life on the battlefield.

"If we trade normally, I estimate that two thousand sets of armor can be exchanged for at least eight thousand slaves. We also need to trade. Of course, as a cooperation partner, if you can win over a chieftain, then I can I’ll give you three hundred sets for free.”

Although Li Xiang wants to support these people to continue the rebellion, it does not mean unconditional support. If it is unconditional support, the cost is too great. Take the current Tang Army's standard armor as an example, each cavalry costs nearly Two hundred guan of money, if this guy opened his mouth and said 2,000 guan, it would be 400,000 guan. Li Xiang would never be taken advantage of.

In fact, Chief Maiqi just said it tentatively. He also knew that the Han people were very shrewd, but now things are much better than before. You must know that in the past, there were no purchasing channels at all, and the borders were already closed. Dead, it is quite difficult to have such a purchasing channel now, not to mention that Lu Dongzan's army does not have a station.

Toast Maiqi looked at the box of gold with some reluctance. It seemed that sooner or later it would still belong to someone else, and we had to take the money out of the bank.

However, Chieftain Mai Qi also knew that as long as he could obtain the weapons of the Tang Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of his men could be doubled. After occupying more territories and capturing more slaves, the money would be enough. Back.

"Then it's settled, you may have to prepare 600 sets of armor for me."

Chieftain Maiqi said with a smile that they had not been idle recently. The rebel chieftains from the four families were divided into several groups, almost dragging down the surrounding chieftains.

This is also a normal thing. After all, Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongtsen want to take away the power from the chieftains. This is simply equivalent to killing them. As long as these four chieftains are moved to show their affection, Li, theoretically speaking, can bring down thirty chieftains.

Of course, the central government of Tubo will not let them do these things. After Lu Dongzan comes back, he will definitely fight for the remaining chieftains, so that those people try not to rebel, free up their hands to deal with these four chieftains, and then slowly Boil the frog in slow warm water.

It's too late today. Li Xiang doesn't have the time to analyze it for him. He has to analyze everything tomorrow. In addition to material resources, Li Xiang also has to come up with a few bad ideas for them to follow. His own path is against Lu Dongzan.

Half an hour later, Long Er sent a signal to the outside, and dozens of people filed into Chief Maiqi's official village, and the cooperation was reached...