CH 60

“If there is anything in the future, you only need to give an order, and the Red-Robed Army will do everything possible to assist.” Xie Yixiu promised.

Hearing him say this, Ming Yu’s heart calmed down a little. With his words, it is not too much of a loss to be able to use the Red Robe Army.

“Okay, then it’s decided.” The two made up their minds and reached an agreement.

Next, Ming Yu had to plan the place to genuinely build a horse farm, the land where the water and grass are abundant. In fact, Ming Yu had been paying attention to these for a long time, the biggest disadvantage of Liangzhou is that the water source is too scarce, while the Qifeng River is already a relatively large river, the terrain there is not very satisfactory.

“Since you want to build a horse farm, have Wang Ye chosen the location of the horse farm?” Xie Yixiu asked with concern.

If Ming Yu can really build the Great Yan’s first horse farm, then it will be a great thing for the Great Yan. At least the soldiers will not have to use infantry against the cavalry because of the lack of horses and their Red-Robed Army also had the opportunity to expand its scale. By that time, they really won’t have to be afraid of the invasion of the barbarians at all and adopt appropriate measures according to the situation. They will even be able to counterattack the barbarians’ imperial court sooner or later.

Ming Yu frowned, he was also troubled, “Before I thought about the east of the Qifeng River Valley, but that land is too small to be suitable for raising horses, other places are too far from the water source, and the water and grass are not abundant there, so naturally it is impossible to raise horses. Now Ben Wang is also at wits’ end and can’t think of a suitable place.”

Xie Yixiu pondered for a moment, and then suggested, “Then has Wang Ye seen the area around Changlan Mountain?”

“Changlan Mountain?” Ming Yu thought about it carefully, he still had some reflections. When he first came to Liangcheng, he passed through Changlan Mountain, where Xie Yixiu’s Red-Robed Army surrounded and annihilated the small group of the barbarians bandits who had entered Liangzhou. It was the first time he saw Xie Yixiu there, General Xie in a red robe, looking down on the entire battlefield, he was there as the king of the entire battlefield. Until now, that scene was still deep in Ming Yu’s mind.

“But there is no water source near Changlan Mountain?” Ming Yu said suspiciously.

Xie Yixiu nodded, “Does Wang Ye know? The Qifeng River passes east of Changlan Mountain, but it is blocked by Changlan Mountain. ”

Ming Yu was stunned, he didn’t notice this point at all. He pulled Xie Yixiu’s sleeve, “Let’s take a walk, let’s go and look at the sand map.” After saying that, he pulled the person and left in a hurry.

There is the guard camp, a map of Liangzhou, and a scaled-down terrain were all in the sand table.

Ming Yu can’t understand the map made by people here, so he made a sand table model, which is convenient and quickly understood at a glance.

He is now standing in front of the sand table, looking at the terrain around Changlan Mountain. Xie Yixiu was right, west of Changlan Mountain is a large area of flat grassland, but the Qifeng River is east of Changlan Mountain, because it was seperated by the Changlan Mountain, Ming Yu did not put this place under consideration.

It’s a pity, Ming Yu looked at the terrain for half a day, if it weren’t for the Changlan Mountain, this plain meadow would be the most suitable place to build a horse farm.

No matter how strong his ability is, it is impossible to remove the Changlan Mountain, it is also unrealistic to open a canal in the mountain. In this world, the production capacity is backwards, and no matter what it is, it can only be carried out by manpower. It is not like the later generations where Ming Yu once lived, where they used high-tech means such as mechanical explosives and substances to easily  accomplish this.

Xie Yixiu looked at Ming Yu’s expression, and pointed his finger somewhere not far from Changlan Mountain in the upper reaches of the Qifeng River on the sand table, and said softly: “Can you think of a way in this place?”

Ming Yu followed his fingers and looked over, but did not find anything special. He turned his head to look at Xie Yixiu in confusion. His eyes were full of inquiry.

“Wang Ye came to Liangzhou recently so you didn’t know about this place. Every time in the previous years, when there was flooding season, the Qifeng River would flood here. When the flood is severe, the Qifeng River would change the flooding route to the west of Changlan Mountain.” Xie Yixiu said what he knew.

It is precisely because the rising water level receded that the sediment is left behind, gradually forming a flat land, so the land west of Changlan Mountain is fertile, and even the grass is more lush than other places.

“Is there such a thing?” Ming Yu was pleasantly surprised, so as long as the problem of water sources is solved, there is really hope that a horse farm can be built here.

Ming Yu leaned down and carefully looked at the place where Xie Yixiu’s finger pointed. He finally found some clues when he looked at it, this should be a canyon mouth. The terrain is much lower than anywhere else. If the Qifeng River’s water doesn’t flow it is good, but as long as the water flows there, it could flood the mouth of this canyon and flow across the Changlan Mountain to the plain grassland.

In this way, what Xie Yixiu said, it is not impossible to think of a way in this place. Ming Yu wrapped his arms around one hand and supported his chin with the other to make a thinking gesture.

Xie Yixiu didn’t bother him either, he just stood on the side and watched him frown and ponder. When Ming Yu thought about the problem, he lowered his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and only immersed himself in his own world.

Before, when Ming Yu discussed with him the strategy of encircling and suppressing the bandits, he often saw Ming Yu’s appearance like this, that person’s radiance made people unable to take their eyes off him.

After a long time, Ming Yu’s eyebrows gradually stretched, he lightly snapped his fingers, and said excitedly: “Yes, maybe we can really reroute this Qifeng River, as long as the river can flow west of Changlan Mountain and nourish this pasture, then this place is the most suitable place to become the largest horse breeding place in Liangzhou.” 

Ming Yu’s flying posture made Xie Yixiu also fly with his mood, Ming Yu always has the charm of his unique style, infecting the people around him.

Xie Yixiu’s eyes were soft, “That’s good.” 

Ming Yu was stunned, and directly wailed, “Ahh! But this is a big project, it needs to cost a lot of money, but Ben Wang is short of money! ”

He had never worried about money before, but now he felt more and more that money is not durable, everything needs money. This won’t do, he had to sell the goods brought back from the Western Regions as soon as possible.

As soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Xie Yixiu, who was caught off guard and had not had time to look away, he was only slightly stunned, but did not pay attention to it. He said with a smile: “General Xie, I heard that General Xie is rich! How about it, are you interested in investing a little together, it’s just a small investment now, but it will be a big return in the future! ”

He is a general, he only needs to lead troops to fight, where would he need to participate in the horse farm. With Mingyu, this Wang Ye here, he still has to avoid suspicion. So, Xie Yixiu shook his head and directly refused, “I have no family background, so how could i be wealthy? It may be that Wang Ye had misheard, right? ”

Ming Yu pouted and didn’t believe it, a man’s mouth, a deceitful ghost, Xie Yixiu had scooped out a lot of profit from his side, and he is still pretending to be poor here? However, he also knows the reason for officialdom to avoid suspicion, what he said was just a joke, it’s not necessary to recruit him to his side.

After a few more playful jokes, Ming Yu gave up, his mind fell on the matter in front of him.

Of course, diverting water to change the river channel is not a trivial matter that can be done overnight. It is necessary to conduct on-site field surveys to decide on the plan, it is too early to say anything now.

The most important thing is to put the money in place first, and then he can take the rest slowly, without money, don’t think about anything.

After going back, Ming Yu summoned Bu Atan overnight. Right now he can only hope on the batch of goods that Bu Atan brought back, if he can sell it out as soon as possible, he won’t have to worry so much.

Although Bu Atan was drunk yesterday, he had already sobered up at this time, he saw that it was late, and thought that Wang Ye would wait two days before summoning, but he did not expect to be summoned overnight in a hurry like this.

After freshening up, Bu Atan went to the prince’s residence, Ming Yu had been waiting for a long time, and at this time, he couldn’t be polite, and asked directly: “How many goods did you bring back from this trip to the Western Regions?”

Bu Atan had already prepared for Ming Yu’s question, he took out a pamphlet from his bosom and handed it to Ming Yu with both hands. “I’ve recorded the list of items for this trip in this booklet, please take a look, Wang Ye.”

Ming Yu took it and flipped it over, the book was full of more than a dozen pages of small characters, all of which were clearly recorded in categories.

“Wang Ye, the harvest this time was far more than that, but almost half of the goods were exchanged for the horses.” Bu Atan said truthfully.

Ming Yu nodded, he was surprised by the amazing return of foreign trade. When Bu Atan left, it was only more than ten carts of the Great Yan’s items, but when he came back, it was more than three or five times more. When these Western Regions goods are sold, the profits will be like fallin snowballs.

Although it shows that Ming Yu had already estimated this before, when he really saw it and held it in his hand, it still made Ming Yu’s heart jump a little unreal.

No wonder throughout the ages, great attention has been paid to foreign commerce and trade, there are even foreign trade taxes that are no less than the local taxes themselves. There were businessmen who risked their lives to smuggle goods, this was the huge profit that drove them.

This also made Ming Yu firmly confident that Liangcheng would become a foreign trade distribution center, so that Liangcheng could feed the entire Liangzhou just by collecting taxes from the merchants.

Ming Yu nodded, looking at the spices, gemstone agate, fur blankets and all kinds of treasures full of characteristics of the Western Regions in the booklet. Ming Yu squinted slightly, the rarer something is, the greater its value, he’s not worried that these things won’t be sold at a good price, his horse farm can all rely on these things.

“You guys did a great job.” Ming Yu praised, “When you follow Ben Wang, Ben Wang will not treat you badly, when the time is ripe in the future, Ben Wang will present the memorial to the imperial court including all of you’s merits.”

Bu Atan was overjoyed, Wang Ye’s words had already shown that he would no longer be a nobody, and he might even be rewarded by the Great Yan Imperial Court.

“To do things for Wang Ye, I do not dare to be greedy for merit. I’m only seeking to do my best to complete the task assigned by Wang Ye to repay Wang Ye for your kindness of recognizing my worth and letting me work under you.” Bu Atan said sincerely.

If it weren’t for Wang Ye, he might not have achieved anything until now. He had already experienced the risks on this trip, if it was not arranged by Wang Ye, then relying on his impulse to go trade in the West, he would never succeed. It is Wang Ye who has fulfilled his lifelong wish. In the future, he will not refuse to offer his life to jump into scalding water and raging fire for Wang Ye. 

Ming Yu smiled and waved his hand, “I will have to trouble you for the future trips to the Western Regions. Ben Wang is also not a harsh and merciless person, you just need to remember that if you invest, then you will be rewarded with the return, Ben Wang will remember this.” 

Ming Yu’s heartfelt words made Bu Atan extremely grateful, it was his luck to meet a master like Ming Yu.

“Wang Ye, according to your orders, we also collected a lot of seeds during this trip, but I don’t know if Wang Ye can use them.” Speaking of the tasks assigned by Wang Ye, in addition to exchanging good horses, he also let them collect seeds from the Western Regions, which is also the top priority that Wang Ye said, so Bu Atan did not dare to take it lightly, nevertheless he still did his best and collected a lot of seeds.

Ming Yu almost forgot this. After Bu Atan’s reminder just now, he patted his head and said happily: “Really? Quickly take it out for Ben Wang to see.”

Bu Atan hurriedly asked people to carry a small wooden box in, opened it in front of Ming Yu, and through the transparent light, Ming Yu saw many seeds that he didn’t know

Ming Yu reached out and grabbed a handful, his heart was full of joy, all he knew from these were walnuts, sesame, and broad bean seeds. These are all specialties of the Western Regions, things that the Great Yan Kingdom does not have at all.

When the time comes, Ming Yu will plant them and see who will say that they are poor in Liangzhou?

Suddenly, a flash of gold flashed in front of Ming Yu’s eyes, this… This is……