CHAPTER 266: CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED NINETY

Zhao Yao nodded and said, "That’s natural, otherwise my second uncle wouldn’t have gone to Wusun first to take a look."

"I’m not very familiar with Wusun, so I won’t offer any suggestions." Mr. Xiao decided to look through some books on Wusun later.

"Actually, the most important reason I sent my second uncle and others to do business in Wusun is to purchase horses from there."

"Horses?" Mr. Xiao was slightly surprised, then quickly understood Zhao Yao’s intention. "The horses there are quite good; it’s worth buying some."

"I plan to buy a lot of breeding horses and bring them back to breed with our Great Zhou horses to see if we can cultivate good horses," Zhao Yao said seriously. "Also, Wusun is very close to Dayuan; let’s see if we can buy some sweat-blood horses."

"Sweat-blood horses are too precious and might be difficult to acquire," Mr. Xiao remarked. "As far as I know, there are only a few sweat-blood horses in the whole of Great Zhou."

"That’s my plan. Let my second uncle and them do business in Wusun first, and when they get familiar with it, then do business with several countries around Wusun," Zhao Yao said. "Sweat-blood horses are precious, but I think Dayuan might need some of our Great Zhou’s goods, then we can trade."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xiao said in surprise, "You also want to send people to do business in Dayuan and other countries?"

Zhao Yao winked at Mr. Xiao and said, "I want to form a team to visit the Western Regions."

Mr. Xiao chuckled and said, "That’s a very good and bold idea."

"Sir, isn’t there a saying that wealth is sought through danger?" Zhao Yao said with a smile. "I want to organize a professional team to do business in various countries in the Western Regions."

"This is not a simple task."

"Sir, nothing is simple when it first begins," Zhao Yao continued, "In this team, I want to include some scholars."

"Scholars?" Mr. Xiao didn’t understand why he wanted to include scholars and asked with a puzzled look, "What are they for?"

"To learn the cultures of the various countries in the Western Regions, and then spread our culture," Zhao Yao said, suddenly smiling meaningfully. "Let the people of the Western Regions learn our Confucian culture and then be influenced by it."

He smiled slyly again, "Not influenced, but assimilated. Our Confucian culture is most suitable for assimilation, isn’t it?"

In this world, besides Confucianism, there are also Taoism, the School of Legalism, the Yin Yang School, the Mo Family, and many other schools of thought. But Confucianism stands out among these because it is most suitable for rulers to manage the country.

"And another thing, the cultures of the various countries in the Western Regions are neither as splendid and rich nor as advanced as ours. They have always revered our culture and take pride in learning it. Sending scholars to promote our culture with them, isn’t that great?"

Mr. Xiao was very astonished; he couldn’t believe Zhao Yao was only six years old.

"It is very good."

"Another purpose is to collect intelligence from there, especially about the Xiongnu." As he mentioned the Xiongnu, Zhao Yao’s brows furrowed, and his expression became somewhat serious. "The Xiongnu have always been a scourge to our Great Zhou, and indeed a very dangerous one; they must be dealt with, or the northern border of Great Zhou will never be peaceful."

Mr. Xiao gasped in shock, "You want to gather intelligence?" Could this really be the thought of a six-year-old child?

"Yes, sir. Did you know the new Modu Chanyu is a capable and talented person? He has already annexed two or three tribes," Zhao Yao said. "He might be able to unify the various tribes of the Xiongnu and then restore the status of the Xiongnu Royal Court. At that time, the Xiongnu will surely invade southward to Great Zhou."

Regarding the affairs of the new Modu Chanyu, Mr. Xiao hadn’t heard anything. He hurriedly asked, "What’s going on with this new Modu Chanyu?"

"Sir, haven’t you heard?"

Mr. Xiao shook his head and said, "I haven’t heard a thing."

"Then let me tell you about it." Zhao Yao carefully told Mr. Xiao everything he knew about the new Modu Chanyu.

After listening, Mr. Xiao’s expression also became heavy.

"No wonder the court wants to befriend Wusun."

"This new Modu Chanyu is a troublesome figure, and my intuition tells me he won’t be easy to deal with." Zhao Yao guessed that the emperor, upon learning about the new Modu Chanyu, must have taken some measures, but the new Modu Chanyu probably wouldn’t be easy to handle. Perhaps in the coming years, or in ten years, the new Modu Chanyu will definitely move southward.

The Xiongnu would never give up the ’fat meat’ of Great Zhou. Even if they can’t swallow this ’fat meat’ whole, the Xiongnu will still take a big bite out of it.