Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

At this point, the Han Kingdom and the second prince can only be said to hit it off.

With this banquet as a foreshadowing, ginseng, silk and porcelain naturally became popular objects in Antioch City.

The first thing that was sold out was ginseng. The reason is very simple. The nobles of the major Seleucid empires justly said: "This is a healing medicine. Of course we have to buy it at home for backup, and now that wars are so frequent, it must be The more the better!"

But everyone knows that the excuses for healing medicine are bullshit. These nobles are not looking for the curative effect of ginseng at all. What they value is only the effect of ginseng in that aspect.

In any case, in just one day, all the ginseng in the [-]-carriage caravan of the Dahan Kingdom following the arrival of the mission was snapped up.

Yes, all!The ginseng loaded in a hundred carriages is not a small number. Even if it is calculated based on the weight of one hundred catties of a carriage, there are tens of thousands of catties of ginseng, but the actual loading weight is still several times this amount. .

Besides ginseng, silk is also a very popular object.

Ginseng was mainly snapped up by Seleucid male nobles, and silk, needless to say, must have been welcomed by noble ladies and ladies.

For these noble women, it can be said that they have absolutely no resistance to this gorgeous, supple, and rare luxury.

In fact, when women spend money, they are even crazier than men.

Originally, the caravans of the Han Kingdom set the price for silk at 50 yuan for a middle-grade product, [-] yuan for a top-grade product, and [-] yuan for a top-quality silk. This is already an extremely expensive figure. The price of the department has doubled several times.

But what I didn't expect was that the price had at least doubled several times under the looting of many aristocratic wives and young ladies.

According to the final statistics, the average price of a medium-grade silk is 15 yuan, and the average price of a top-quality silk is 80 yuan. The only carload of top-quality silk was sold for a sky-high price of [-] yuan. Being directly wrapped up by the queen and her two best "best friends" noble ladies!The only one that is relatively normal is porcelain. Although porcelain is very exquisite, it actually has a small disadvantage, that is, it can only be placed at home, and it cannot "show its glory" on the bed like ginseng. It cannot be made into exquisite and beautiful clothes like silk, so most of the porcelain is sold at a premium higher than the price of the Han Dynasty caravan.

But even so, after calculating the cost and profit, all the merchants in the Han Kingdom caravan went crazy.

How much is this profit?

More than 500!Of course, everyone knows that this is mainly because ginseng, silk, and porcelain appeared for the first time, so the price is so high, but if it continues for a long time, even if the price falls in the future, the profit of about 200 is still very high. simple.

The great thinker Marx once said: "If the profit of capital is 20, it will be lively; if it has 50, it will cause active adventure; if it has 100, it will make people ignore all laws; if it has 300, it will make people Not afraid of crime, not even the danger of hanging."

Now, the profit of 500 is in front of them, and the profit of 200 is looking forward to the future. How can these businessmen in the Han Kingdom not be excited about it?

The business representatives of the major families who had been forced by Zhao Kuo to join the mission immediately begged to see Ambassador Liu Liang almost immediately. The reason was simple. Ambassador, we want to go back to the Imperial Capital!What are you doing back to Imperial Capital?

Get one, no, get ten caravans to Seleucid, and make money!For this, Ambassador Liu Liang naturally readily agreed.

"Very good, the old man will stay in Seleucus for a while, so you should go back and bring more caravans.

Don't just focus on the city of Antioch. With such a large territory of the Seleucid Empire, are you afraid that there is no other place where you can make money?

Let go of your thoughts, let go of your vision! "

For Ambassador Liu Liang's teachings, these business representatives naturally responded repeatedly. You are right in everything, as long as you can quickly let the Seleucids send a team to escort us back to China!Ever since, this group of business representatives and the thousands of horse-drawn carriages returned to the Han Kingdom in such a mighty way.

Unlike when they came, all the goods in the thousands of carriages had been sold out, and they were replaced by Seleucid coins full of them.

There were even many great Seleucid nobles who directly and secretly found various representatives of the caravan and ordered the next batch of goods.

Quite a few merchants haven't even left Antioch, and all the goods for the next few trips to and from Seleucus and the Han Kingdom have been fully booked!Such a huge business opportunity can be said to have taken all the people in the caravan by surprise, and it was something that even the most optimistic businessman had never thought of.

So much so that everyone was eager to return home, wishing they could grow their wings and fly back to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible, announcing loudly: "The Seleucids are stupid and rich, come quickly!"

On the other side, the Seleucid emperor Antiochus II naturally also received the ambassador Liu Liang.

Antiochus II looked at the letter of credence handed over by Liu Liang, and carefully examined it several times.

This letter of credence is also written in Chinese characters and Seleucid characters. What Zhao Kuo said in it is nothing more than reaffirming the peace treaty reached by the two parties before, and at the same time saying that you Seleucids are too far away, and I really don’t have the heart to go. Let's chat with you, let's do business friendly and so on.

After reading it, Antiochus II smiled and said to Liu Liang in front of him: "Messenger, Your Majesty the Emperor is indeed a peace-loving person, and our Seleucid Empire is also a peace-loving country. Believe us The two countries must be able to carry out friendly trade and establish a friendship between the two countries."

It can be said that none of the people present believed what Antioch II said.

Needless to say, such a large territory as the Han Dynasty and the Seleucid Empire was conquered by iron and blood, let alone other small countries that are indifferent to the world. These two great empires love peace?

That was hilarious.

But after all, Liu Liang is worthy of being one of the backbone forces of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Han Kingdom. He smiled and said to Antiochus II: "Your Majesty is right, and the Emperor of the Han Kingdom is also the same. Meaning, I hope you and my two countries can be friendly and help each other.

Our Majesty also said that although the Seleucid Empire can go west to destroy those damn traitors and restore the glory of the Alexander Empire. "

After Antiochus II heard Liu Liang's words, he couldn't help being a little surprised. The first one was that the envoy Liu Liang was clearly not a Seleucid, but he spoke fluent Seleucids. All the enemies know?

But after thinking about it, this shouldn’t be surprising. After all, the envoy’s Seleucid language is so fluent, so he must have had a relatively comprehensive understanding of Seleucus. Didn't you know that there were deadly enemies such as Ptolemy to the west of Seleucus?

Antiochus II rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "By the way, I heard that the weapon called musket in your Great Han Kingdom is very powerful. Since you and my two countries are now in a friendly and mutual assistance relationship, Why don't you ask your emperor to sell some muskets to us Seleucus, and you can just ask for the money."

Liu Liang laughed and said, "To tell you the truth, your majesty, this musket is still a relatively precious weapon for the time being, and it can't even meet the needs of our Han country, so it can't be sold for the time being."

Antiochus II burst out laughing when he heard the words. In fact, he didn't really think that the monarchs and ministers of the Han Kingdom would be naive enough to sell muskets. He just asked tentatively, so he didn't get angry when he was rejected.

So Antiochus II laughed again: "By the way, since everyone wants to do business with each other, what kind of interest does your Han country have in our Seleucid goods?"

This is mainly due to the idea of ​​equal trade. In Antiochus II's view, the Seleucid Empire is also vast and rich in resources. Why can you only buy things from the Han Kingdom, and can't let the people of the Han Kingdom also buy Seleucus? What about Ryukyu products?

Liu Liang obviously had thought about this a long time ago, and immediately said: "Actually, our people are very interested in Seleucid war horses and some books about Greek sages. At the same time, we also hope to be able to To further understand the culture of Greece, and animals like camels should also be welcomed by the nobles in our Han Dynasty, after all, they have never seen it before."

For Liu Liang, if he really wants to answer this question honestly, it must be: "We don't have anything in the Central Plains of China. Where do we need these junk things from your Seleucids?"

But as a diplomatic envoy, of course Liu Liang couldn't do this, so he made some demands in accordance with the interests of the Han Kingdom.

As a big empire, the Seleucid Empire connected Central Asia, the Western Regions and Arabia at the same time, and these three places were historically famous for producing good horses. The horse breeds in these places are to be honest It is better than the Mongolian horse native to China.

The advantage of Mongolian horses is that they have strong endurance and can be fed by eating whatever they want, but the horses in these three places are tall and explosive, and they can also travel thousands of miles a day with a horseshoe. , Although this kind of battery life is still inferior to Mongolian horses with horseshoes, it is a better choice for Chinese warhorses to surpass Mongolian horses in other places.

The camel is known as the boat of the desert, and it is also an artifact-level livestock for caravans crossing the desert, so it is natural to vigorously introduce it.

As for the cultural classics of Greece, needless to say, as the birthplace of the Western civilization, the Greek Aegean Sea Ming must have a lot of excellent content. If these excellent things can be absorbed and added to the Chinese civilization, then the Chinese civilization will not Has it become stronger?

Huaxia Ming has always been known for its inclusiveness, and taking its essence is what Huaxia people like to do most, and it is also the most beneficial thing that can bring huge benefits to the entire Ming.

When Antiochus II heard this, he thought to himself, the Han Kingdom also needs a lot for our Seleucids.

And if you think about it carefully, what the Han Kingdom can sell us to Seleucus is nothing more than ginseng silk porcelain, but we Seleucus can also sell books to the Han Dynasty on war horses and camels. This wave is not a loss at all.

So Antiochus II also smiled: "Very good, since the envoys have said so, then don't worry, I will arrange officials to sell to you as much as possible for whatever you want. Everyone benefits from each other!"

Hearing this, Liu Liang smiled pleasantly: "Your Majesty, you are really wise!"

Both sides laughed, and the smiles on both sides were very pleasant.

Chapter 1164

This is a place called the West Sea area by the Han Kingdom.

This place belongs to the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. There are dense mountains, canyons and grasslands. The rivers flow slowly from the snow-capped mountains and gather in the fields. It has a unique style.

The iron hooves of an army broke the silence here.

A cavalry coalition of more than 5 cavalry troops composed of dozens of tribes from the Qiang people has just arrived here.

In the very center of the coalition forces, the leaders of several seemingly largest tribes were talking with each other.

"I still think we should have friendly negotiations with Dahan this time to see if we can resolve the war between the two sides."

A leader of the Qiang people who looked older said.

Regarding the words of the leader of the Qiang people, the other leaders seemed somewhat disapproving.

Another leader with a bone necklace on his neck said coldly: "Many years ago, Zhao Kuo had someone conquer the area east of the West Sea. The place to the west retreats.

But after so many years, Zhao Kuo not only did not let us go, but sent a large army to conquer us again, which is enough to explain Zhao Kuo's attitude towards us.

If we want to negotiate with them, the final result will definitely be that we will be slowly eaten away by them. It is absolutely impossible for me to negotiate with Zhao Kuo, and I must fight him to the end. "

What the leader of the Qiang people with the bone necklace said obviously got the approval of several other Qiang people's leaders, and they all said: "That's the reason, these people in the Central Plains have never been trustworthy."

"Decades ago we were able to survive in the west of Guanzhong, but now, we have all retreated to the west of the West Sea, but they still refuse to let us go."

"Maybe we are indeed not their opponents, but we are definitely not easy to bully.

Besides, they only sent 2 soldiers and horses this time, why should we be afraid of them? "

After hearing these other Qiang leaders speak, the aged Qiang leader could not help but sigh in disappointment.

This leader who advocated for peace may be able to decide the fate of his own tribe, but now that the entire Qiang tribe is united, it is not something that a mere tribe can resist.

After establishing a consensus, the tens of thousands of Qiang soldiers continued to move forward.

Soon there was a sound of exclamation directly in front of the Qiang soldiers and horses.

"People from the Central Plains are here!"

Accompanied by this sound, countless smoke and dust rose up on the distant horizon.

A force of 2 soldiers and horses rolled in, and the red flag was waving. It was the 2 Musketeers of the Han Kingdom led by Xiang Yan and Wang Jian.

Xiang Yan pulled down the horse and made the horse under his crotch stop slowly. Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at the Qiang soldiers and horses in front of him.

Xiang Yan's left is this time, his lieutenant Wang Jian.

Wang Jian's expression at the moment looked relatively calm, without any fluctuations.

On Xiang Yan's right is Zhao Qian, the supervising army this time, and also the prince of the Han Dynasty. The expression on Zhao Qian's face seemed to be getting more excited, and he talked with Zhao Zheng beside him from time to time.

"Brother Zheng, these Qiang people really drink their blood, they look very barbaric."

Zhao Zheng said calmly: "It is said that these Qiang people were originally descendants of the Xia Dynasty, and after the Xia Dynasty was overthrown by Shang Tang, they fled to this plateau.

What's even more sad is that when they fled to the plateau, they completely forgot about the enlightenment and transformation of their ancestors, and they willingly acted as barbarians, which is really very sad. "

Zhao Qian chuckled and said, "Actually, they just want to survive, but this time is fine. After we conquer them, this area will be completely under the rule of Huaxia."

When Zhao Qian was speaking, his chest was heaving and his face was a little weird. This was not because of any problem with Zhao Qian's body, but because of a common reaction, altitude sickness.

Altitude sickness is actually a matter of a person's physique. For Zhao Qian, his physique is relatively sensitive, so the altitude in front of him is actually not more than 3 kilometers , but Zhao Qian already felt rather uncomfortable.

Zhao Zheng obviously noticed this too, and said to Zhao Qian in a soft and relaxed tone, "If your highness is not feeling well, you might as well take a rest first, it looks like a decisive battle is about to begin."

What Zhao Zheng said sounds like something is wrong, but if you think about it carefully, you can understand the meaning.

As the crown prince, it is absolutely impossible for Zhao Qian to say that he will personally participate in the war this time, so the amount of restarting it is to watch from the sidelines, beat soy sauce, and cheer a few times.

Under such circumstances, it doesn't matter whether Zhao Qian rests or not.

After Zhao Qian heard Zhao Zheng's words, he obviously had some changes, but after a little hesitation, Zhao Qian still firmly refused.

"I can't do that, after all, I'm the prince of the Han Kingdom, if the soldiers see that the prince is such a cowardly person, how can it be possible?

I am here waiting for our soldiers to return from defeating the enemy! "

Seeing how Zhao Qian persisted, Zhao Zheng naturally had no way to continue persuading him.

On the other side, the real main general Xiang Yan was also communicating with the deputy general Wang Jian.

Xiang Yan said: "These Qiang people seem to have not learned the lesson of a few years ago.

They don't seem to know that it is a very stupid behavior to fight us head-on. "

Wang Jian smiled slightly and said, "It's no wonder, these Qiang people are too uninformed after all, and they don't know what weapons were used in the Central Plains War at all. They may think that we are united in the traditional way." world.

Under such circumstances, have we dispatched Chi Ling, then of course they will think that our 2 people are bones that are easier to gnaw. Think about it, if they can beat our 2 people, then maybe the next The Great Han Kingdom has not waged war against this place for several years. Isn't this a very worthwhile thing? "

Although Wang Jian and Xiang Yan said that one was born in the former state of Qin and the other was born in the state of Chu, the partners between the two were unexpectedly compatible.

After Xiang Yan heard Wang Jian's words, the smile on his face became brighter: "Maybe they really think that our 2 people are a very pure light cavalry.

Look at the lineup on the opposite side, we can also send the order to let the whole army dismount and set up a formation, ready to go to war. "

Yes, Xiang Yan's 2 Musketeers were mainly transformed from the previous Chi You Army and other elite troops, so of course they are all familiar with riding horses.

And the musketeer has another characteristic different from the cavalry, that is, the main combat method of the musketeer is to dismount and fight in formation, so the musketeer does not require you to shoot while riding a horse, but only requires you to be able to ride a horse. OK.

In this way, the standard for training and selecting musketeers is much lower than training a Chi You army. The lower threshold of friendship means that the scale of musketeers can be expanded even larger, which is for musketeers Saying it is good news in the true sense.

With Xiang Yan's order, 2 Musketeers dismounted immediately, took out their rifles in their saddle bags, and lined up actively and nervously.

Seeing this scene in the eyes of the leader of the Qiang people on the opposite side, it actually aroused their doubts again.

"What are these big Han people doing?

They actually chose to dismount, just wanting to fight us and fail. "

"It's just funny, we have horses, why should we fight an infantry war with them?"

"If they like to get off their horses, let them get off their horses. The good men of our Qiang people can just ride up on their horses and chop off their heads, isn't it all right?"

After a few short sentences, the leaders of these Qiang tribes immediately reached a consensus, so they stopped talking nonsense, and immediately sent orders to all the Qiang tribe soldiers and horses present to launch an attack.

Since this is a Qiang coalition army composed of many tribes, even if there are several common chiefs of the big tribes as a commander, their discipline and tactics are naturally impossible to compare with the regular army. , After the order is given, everyone rushes up noisily and it's over.

Xiang Yan looked at this scene, and the smile on the corner of her mouth became more and more intense.

"In fact, sometimes I wonder if there is an internal response among these Qiang people. We know that what we are most afraid of is fighting with the Qiang people, but I didn't expect them to gather together and want to fight us. decisive battle."