Chapter 633 The teacher took me
"The herdsmen on the grassland are not only so easy to drive the sheep out, but also have a harder life than our farmers. They get up early and work in the dark every day, grazing, milking, cheese making, shearing, tanning, felting, spinning, and even There is also the need to take care of newborn animals, eunuchs, drying and picking up manure, and carrying water every day. In a herdsman family, no matter how old or young, everyone has their own tasks every day. The men work hard to graze, and the women It is also busy all day long, and neither the elderly nor children can relax."
Also have to guard against wild animals, worrying that wolves will steal sheep and eat them.
Beware of black disasters and white disasters. White disasters on the grassland are snow disasters. There is a lot of snow, and livestock are likely to freeze to death, and there is nowhere to graze and eat grass. die.
Sometimes the lack of rain on the grasslands will lead to black disasters. The result is the lack of water for livestock, the prevalence of epidemic diseases, the decline in fat and fat, and it is difficult to survive the winter, a large number of abortions, and even a large number of deaths.
This is not counting the turmoil on the grasslands, and there are very few long-term stable forces. The grassland is dominated by the weak and the strong, and there are serious conflicts among tribes. Even a large tribal alliance can hardly maintain its rule for more than a hundred years. Most of the time, various forces on the grassland compete with each other endlessly, and countless herdsmen will be involved in the war.
And if there is a relatively strong alliance in the grassland, there will be a strong khan, but it will cause the grassland tribes to go to war with the conflict in the Central Plains.
On the grassland, every time there is a white disaster or a black disaster, or a war, some tribes will disappear.
The Chinese civilization in the Central Plains has lasted for thousands of years. Although many dynasties have changed, the Han family has always been sitting. However, on the grassland, various tribes have migrated and disappeared.
Eating milk and drinking alcohol does not exist for most herdsmen. They are busy from morning to night all day long, and it is not easy for a family to squeeze some milk to make ends meet.
Ordinary people in the Central Plains can’t eat meat under normal circumstances. People in the Central Plains can raise pigs, chickens and ducks, but they can’t afford to eat their own livestock and poultry under normal circumstances. Eggs have to be saved for money, and livestock have to be sold. .
But the stability of the Central Plains dynasty is stronger than that of the grasslands. When the dynasty is stable, most ordinary people can eat two meals a day, and they may even eat some meaty food during the festivals.
And if you want to compare the grasslands with the nobles of the Central Plains, the barbarian leaders on the grasslands can't keep up with the consumption power of the nobles of the Central Plains even if they flatter them.
Just as after the Great Tang eradicated the Eastern Turks, there were 1.2 million Turkic people attached to the Great Tang that year, and they were placed near Monan and the Great Wall. They established grasslands and pastures, set up boundaries, and even helped these people build some towns and settlements, and taught them how to grow food simply on the Great Wall.
After the establishment of a large number of border markets, the cattle, sheep, livestock, cheese, fur, etc. of these East Turks began to be sold to the border markets in a steady stream, and then transported by merchants to various parts of the Central Plains. Their lives have become better than before.
The Turkic nobles, needless to say, were granted titles and rewards, and saved a lot of money through transactions. It was also more convenient and cheaper to buy goods such as salt, tea, sugar, wine, silk, porcelain, etc. in the Central Plains.
Even ordinary herdsmen have found that it is very cost-effective to sell surplus livestock cheese, fur, etc. to the Tang people, and then buy grain, salt, tea, etc. Now many herdsmen have begun to change their recipes, and they have also begun to steam steamed buns and cook rice. have eaten.
Because in comparison, it is more cost-effective to sell cattle and sheep for food, and I am still reluctant to eat it myself.
The Turkic livestock, fur, cheese, etc. were transported to the Central Plains. In fact, most of them were consumed by the nobles, powerful landlords and rich businessmen. Of course, many ordinary people could afford to eat occasionally.
Qin Lang instructed Cheng Qian to divide the mutton. Fresh lamb chops can be grilled or fried. Cut off the hind legs of lamb to make cumin lamb, which is delicious. The fat and thin lamb is used to make skewers, and then a few pieces of lanolin are sandwiched. It is a delicious...
Chengqian enjoyed this feeling very much, feeling free.
Qin Lang is a foodie, and he likes the feeling of cooking food by hand.
The kitchen has a variety of seasonings, many of which are even exclusively developed by Qin Lang, and the conditions are much better than those on the grassland.
Even all kinds of stoves, hanging pots, ovens, woks, hot pots, etc. are all available.
"Your Highness, do you know more about the grassland now?"
Chengqian finally ate the mutton kebabs he grilled. Under Qin Lang's personal guidance, the mutton kebabs were charred on the outside and tender on the inside, and the cumin and other secret seasonings sprinkled on top made the mutton tender, juicy and a little sweet. It has a spicy taste, but there is no smell of fishy smell.
"The teacher's words are really better than the thousands of words of those old men. Those old men only know how to talk about the distinction between Hua and Barbarians, and talk about benevolence, justice and morality. They have never talked about the conflict between the Central Plains and the grassland from this perspective. The essence, not to mention the changes after the Great Tang destroyed the Eastern Turks."
"Seems to work a lot?"
"Of course, all issues involving money, in fact, money is dominant, just like the trade between the Central Plains and the grasslands. As long as you explore carefully, you will find that border trade can make both parties greatly profitable. Whether it is the Central Plains court or the grassland khanate, or the upper-class aristocrats on both sides, they have all obtained many substantial benefits, and even the herdsmen at the bottom are also beneficiaries of this trade."
"It's like our Central Plains has a good harvest for several years, which has caused low grain prices to hurt farmers. The price of grain once reached the point of two or three cents per bucket of rice. The imperial court had to open open warehouses again and again to raise the market price to buy grain. Our current grain harvests are bumper year after year. The price of grain has plummeted, and farmers are actually very hurt. If we transport these grains to the north and trade with herdsmen, and exchange the grain for their cattle, sheep, fur, cheese, etc., then both sides will benefit, and the herdsmen will tire of eating milk. Not to mention that this food can be stored for a long time, and it is said to have a strong ability to resist disasters."
"For us people in the Central Plains, there is an additional export sales office for grain, and the demand will increase. The price will naturally rise and rise, and the interests of the people will be protected. On the other hand, a large number of livestock cheese and furs will be traded. Then On the dining table of the common people, you may occasionally be able to eat some milk and meat, and even buy some furs to make a leather boots sweater."
Cheng Qian was very interested in listening to it. This kind of class was more attractive to him than dry things like benevolence, righteousness and morality.
"Has Your Highness discovered that when this kind of trade volume continues to increase and more people are involved in this interest, then more people will become more and more inseparable from him, and in the Central Plains we The strength of Tang will inevitably occupy an increasingly dominant position in this kind of border trade, and at that time, we will even be able to influence those grassland tribes through trade and economic means, and even control them."
“There is a saying in the art of war, that is, to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Qin Lang told Cheng Qian something that no one had ever told him before. It was not a simple distinction between Hua and Barbarians, nor was it conquest and war. At that time, they will no longer be able to get off the hook. At that time, Datang may not need to fight, but only use economic means to control the grassland.
This seems to be an idea like a fantasy, but after hearing what Qin Lang said about the way of life of the prairie people, and the popularity and influence of the border market today, Chengqian actually agrees with this idea and thinks it will work.
"One day, the nobles and herdsmen of all the grasslands will be inseparable from Datang. They will herd cattle, sheep and horses for us, produce cheese for us, tan leather, and then come in exchange for our grain, our hands Industrial and commercial goods..."
Chengqian was thinking while eating the skewers.
"Teacher, if this kind of trade is completely linked, will our economy be inseparable from the grassland one day?"
Qin Lang smiled.
"Your Highness can think of this, which is very good. There is one point that His Highness may not have considered, that is, after we are linked to the grassland in the future, we will not only be linked to one side. The grassland forces will have the East Turks in Monan, and there will be Tie Jue in Mobei." Le tribes include the Xi, Khitan, Mohe, and Shiwei tribes in Liaodong, and even Tuyuhun and Dangxiang in the northwest, and even the Western Turks in the Western Regions."
Under this foreign trade system, the farming civilization of the Central Plains represented by Datang is the monopoly representative of one side of the trade, while the grassland side of the other side has multiple trading members.
When Datang waved the big stick of the trade war and imposed economic sanctions on a disobedient grassland force, Datang could still continue to trade with other grassland forces, but the sanctioned grassland force, because of the comprehensive link problem, a serious problem has occurred.
In the final analysis, Datang cannot be replaced, but the barbarians can replace it casually.
Many times in the past, although border market trade was also carried out, and sometimes economic sanctions were imposed, the trade volume was too small, and the means of sanctions were mainly to close the border market and prohibit smuggling. It was not powerful enough to hurt one thousand enemies and eight hundred.
The idea proposed by Qin Lang is a comprehensive link, the economy first, and then the cultural influence. The ultimate goal is to make these grassland forces become a purely colonial economic model and a single economic supply of goods, so that they will completely lose other industrial manufacturing capabilities. But they have to make them inseparable from the lifestyle they are used to.
For example, Datang sold pots, bowls, knives and other handmade goods to Turkic people through cost advantages, so that they could not even make a horseshoe, and completely relied on imports from Tang Dynasty. Finally, under the mobilization of economic interests, Turkic people completely gave up. For their own production and processing, they only engage in animal husbandry, and everything else depends on Datang's cheap and easy-to-use commercial products.
In this way, they will sooner or later become the economic vassals of Datang, and slowly through cultural influence, etc., they will naturally become the real vassals of Datang step by step.
Chengqian was shocked.
"Can it still be like this?"
"Of course it is possible in theory, but in practice, it is more complicated to operate, and it is not that easy, but it is worth a try." Qin Lang also told the truth.
What he said is actually a kind of economic plunder and control mode of the colonies by the suzerain of the later age of great navigation. It is quite cruel, but very successful.
The suzerain country deliberately suppressed the industrial development of those colonies, allowing them to only engage in a single industry, supply blood to the suzerain country, and even become pure raw material suppliers.
"Teacher, bring me, let's try together!" Cheng Qian said excitedly.
(end of this chapter)