"Fellow villagers, there's no need to be so polite.”Li Jian waved his hand and slowly sat down.
There were many powerful families in Bingzhou. The Yuan, Wang, and Dugu Families were the three biggest families.
The Dugu Clan had even produced Empress Dugu, the Empress of Emperor Wen of Sui.
Without the help of these three powerhouses, it would be difficult to achieve anything.
Li Jian knew this very well. She couldn't touch them now. Instead, she had to use them.
How to use them, of course, was to have enough temptation to make them move.
Li Jian had already thought about it. It was the Silk Road. The Central Plains had high-quality silk and tea leaves. There was a huge demand in the Western Regions. This was a very high business.
Now, the Silk Road was intermittent, and the volume of transactions was not very large. Because there were too many countries along the way, there were many layers of exploitation. Although the profits were high, the risks were too high.
What Li Jian did was to promise to completely open up the Silk Road, allowing merchants from the west to pass through without obstruction. This would allow the Silk Road to prosper again during the Han Dynasty hundreds of years ago. This was a stepping stone.
When Li Jian expressed his wish, all the aristocratic families, including the three aristocratic families, could not help but be attracted.
It was a common understanding that opening the Silk Road would inevitably lead to rolling profits.
However, how could he get through?
The road from Bingzhou to the Western Regions was thousands of miles long. To open up the Silk Road, he had to deal with those small tribes and countries.
Taking care of these obstacles on the road was Li Jian's " bait " for these wealthy families.
After Li Jian explained the general strategy of the Silk Road, the wealthy families became excited. How could they not know about the profits?
After defeating Xue Yantuo's two attacks, the wealthy families knew Li Jian's military ability. In short, this young prince was not to be trifled with.
As one of the representatives of the noble families, Dugu Mouhu was the first to stand up and say,""Your Highness, from Bingzhou to the Western Regions, we have to pass through the grasslands. There are Xue Yantuo's cavalry, Tuyuhun's cavalry, and Tubo's cavalry on the grasslands.”
"I wonder how Your Highness can get through? I just want to hear your plan. If you can guarantee that the merchants will not be robbed, I am willing to pay 100,000 wen to join your plan.”
Hearing this, Li Jian's expression paused slightly and he said in a clear voice,""This king will form an elite force of ten thousand people. Let's call it the Road Protection Army. The Road Protection Army will patrol the road to the Western Regions.”
"This army will protect all merchants. As long as they are robbed, this king will first compensate you for your losses, and then teach a lesson to anyone who offends our Great Tang, whether they are from Xue Yantuo, Tuyuhun, or Tubo.”
"In the first year, other than the cost of the road guards, there is no need to pay any taxes. This king welcomes all the rich people in Bingzhou to join the revival of the Silk Road!”
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone looked at Li Jian with enthusiasm and hope in their eyes.
"Your Highness, you said you want to protect us merchants?”
"First year of tax exemption?"
"Road Guards, our Great Tang's own army is protecting us and making us rich. Is this true? If it was true, that would be great!”
The aristocratic families didn't expect to receive such treatment. They thought it was an illusion. They stood up and looked at Li Jian fervently, afraid that everything was fake.
Seeing everyone's expectant gazes, Li Jian smiled and said,"
"You didn't hear wrongly. This is true. After General Xue Rengui has wiped out the local tyrants in each of your counties, he will become the first general of the road protection army.”
"This king will form this idea into a policy and submit it to His Majesty in the form of a memorial. This king can guarantee that His Majesty will not object.”
After a pause, Li Jian took a sip of tea and continued,"
"You may not know this, but there are five counties in Liangzhou that are also my fiefs. In other words, I have the power to control Liangzhou.”
"In less than a year, this king believes that everyone's income will double, and we will be even richer. Camel bells will ring day and night on the Silk Road, and you don't need to doubt the powerful fighting strength of the Road Protection Army.”
"This King has another method, which is to persuade Tuyuhun and Tubo to join the Silk Road. A win-win situation is better than war.”
After Li Jian finished speaking, she realized that everyone had already knelt down. Their faces were filled with gratitude.
From the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, no local official had ever made such a plan to fight for the interests of the people. Moreover, when they went out to do business, they were protected by the government.
In recent years, the Silk Road had not been closed, but there were only sporadic and small trades because the risks on the road were too great.
Silk, tea leaves, and other goods of the Great Tang were in high demand in the Western Regions.
Things that were not worth much in Bingzhou could be sold to the Western Regions for several times the price.
These wealthy families were more or less involved in trade with the Western Regions, but most of them were trading with the Tuyuhun people or the Tubo people.
The people of these two tribes were very greedy and took most of the profits from the trade.
If they directly traded with the Western Regions, only these wealthy families knew the benefits.
Looking at the gratitude of these wealthy families, Li Jian continued,""I was only talking about trade with the Western Regions, but I also talked about the reforms in Bing Province.”
From today onwards, you are not allowed to annex any land or hoard it. If you do these two things, you will be protected by this king. Otherwise, you will become the target of this king's attack!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。