Yang Peng asked: "Are you coming from Persia?" The Persian businessman nodded and said: "We are all Persians. My name is Abu Hasan, and I am a Persian businessman."
Yang Peng asked in confusion: "How did you get here? I remember that the people from Xiliao have sealed the border." Abu Hassan said strangely: "Don't the general know that Xiliao has opened the border?" Yang Peng thought. Said: "That's what happened."
Abu Hassan looked around, secretly put a small package into Yang Peng's hand, and said with a smile on his face: "General, this is a little thought of mine, please accept it, General." Yang Peng naturally understood him. What he meant was very interesting. He weighed it and said with a smile: "It's a lot!" Abu Hassan said with a smile: "This is a little respect from me!"
The law of Yanyun strictly prohibits anyone from accepting bribes and gifts. As the king of Yan, Yang Peng should set an example, and naturally there is no exception. So Yang Peng returned the small package to Abu Hassan and said with a smile: "I understand your thoughts, but I can't accept the things!" Abu Hasan held the package and said hurriedly: "This is just a little thought from me, general, just accept it!" Yang Peng waved his hand and said with a smile: "Limited by the law, I cannot accept gifts! Abu Hassan had no choice but to say with great admiration: "I have done business in many places. Officials and generals in each place not only accept gifts, but often blackmail us businessmen! But only here, all the officials and generals actually Not only did they not blackmail us, they even refused to accept the gifts we offered, which is really unbelievable!"
After Yang Peng heard what he said, he knew that he had met some Yanyun officials and generals along the way. He tried to give gifts to open up relationships, but they all met with disappointment, so he couldn't help but smile. He glanced at Abu Hassan and asked, "Isn't this good?" Abu Hassan quickly shook his head: "No, this is very good! In this way, the environment for every businessman will be fair. We only need to Just run it carefully and you won’t have to worry about establishing relationships with the local government, and you’ll save a lot of expenses!”
Yang Peng smiled and asked: "What goods did you bring when you came to our Yanyun this time?" Abu Hassan showed pride and said: "I brought our Persian carpets, our Persian carpets It is the best carpet in the world, and there is nothing better than our carpet! And my carpet is the best carpet in Persia, it can be said to be the best of the best!”
Yang Peng nodded. He had already heard of Persian carpets when he was in modern society. Persian carpets have a long history and are famous all over the world. In the carpet industry, Persian carpets are definitely the best in the world, and no one can match them.
Abu Hassan continued: "In addition, I also brought our Persian spices and a large number of special handicrafts, which I believe many of you Orientals have never seen." Abu Hassan's words could not help but reveal a sense of pride.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Persian products naturally have their own uniqueness, but our Eastern things also have Eastern characteristics." Abu Hassan nodded with deep sympathy, and said with envy on his face: "Your Oriental silks The brocade is really a breathtaking masterpiece. It is as bright as clouds, but softer than cotton! And the porcelain is like gemstones. I heard that they are all made of clay. This is really amazing. It’s unbelievable!” He said, looking at Yang Peng with questioning eyes.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Porcelain is indeed made of clay!" Abu Hassan shook his head and sighed: "I really don't understand how you can make that kind of clay that can be seen everywhere into a work of art as exquisite as gems!" Yang He raised his eyebrows and asked curiously: "Is this the legendary Eastern magic?"
Yang Peng laughed.
Abu Hasan said: "I have heard about your Tianjing New City in Persia. It is said to be a very huge and glorious city! Our Persepolis is also a very majestic and magnificent city, a masterpiece of the gods! I I want to see the difference between your Tianjing New City and our Persepolis!"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "I heard that you have been controlled by the Seljuk Empire. Why do you still call yourself Persian?" In this era, the true Persian state in the past no longer exists, but it is controlled by the Seljuk Empire. The so-called Seljuk Empire was the predecessor of modern Turkey. This era can be said to be a golden age in Turkish history, and the territory it ruled was very vast. The real Persian Empire actually ceased to exist after the collapse of the so-called Sassanid Dynasty in the early Tang Dynasty. After that, Persia was ruled by Arab forces. Speaking of which, let me tell you a piece of history in the early Tang Dynasty.
In AD 651, the Sasanian dynasty of Persia was destroyed by the Arab Empire. The last emperor's son, Pilus, fled to China and asked Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty to send troops to fight and help repel the Arab Empire. The Tang Gao sect's army escorted him to the present-day Histan area of Afghanistan and established the Persian Protectorate. However, the Persian Protectorate was attacked and destroyed by the Arab Empire in 663 AD. Since then, the Persian Empire in the true sense has ceased to exist. Although dynasties have continued to change since then, Persia has been ruled by Arabs. However, the Persians were not completely enslaved. They still held real power locally.
There was a complex expression on Abu Hassan's face, and he said categorically: "I believe that one day we will get rid of Arab rule!" Yang Peng nodded and said: "As long as you are determined, you can definitely do it. !”
Abu Hassan nodded vigorously, and then said gloatingly: "But the Seljuk people are not having a good life now. The Crusaders of the Catholic Church are constantly attacking them in the west, and the Khwarezm are constantly attacking in the east. Recently, The Seljuks suffered a huge defeat in the west, and the Crusaders established a Kingdom of Jerusalem on the coast! Haha, the Seljuks suffered heavy losses! I don’t think it will take long before we, Persia, can regain our kingdom! "
Yang Peng thought to himself: "How can it be so easy to restore the country!" You have always had to rely on yourself for everything and rely on external forces to help you achieve things. In the end, it is just a dream! Even if the Seljuks were finally defeated by the Crusaders, I'm afraid Persia would not be restored to its kingdom, but the rulers would just be replaced by Westerners from Seljuks! 'Yang Peng thought this, but did not say it out loud. The so-called friendship is shallow but not profound. Yang Peng and Abu Hassan just met by chance. There is really no need to talk about those things.
Abu Hassan looked at Yang Peng and asked curiously: "I heard that your Yanyun Army also seems to be at war with the Seljuks?" Yang Peng's heart moved and asked: "You are talking about our trade caravan. A battle with the Seljuk navy, right?" Abu Hassan nodded and said with admiration: "You are so powerful. Seljuk navy forces were defeated by you one after another!"
Yang Peng said: "Actually, we don't want to be enemies with them. Our fleet is just for business. But they shouldn't take the initiative to provoke. Since they come to provoke, we naturally cannot sit back and wait for death, so we have to teach them a lesson!"
Abu Hassan said with a look of disgust: "The Seljuks are very greedy, and it is impossible to live in peace with them! If you want peace, they will think that you are afraid of them, and then they will become more aggressive and deal with them. There is only one way, and that is to defeat them and be afraid of them. Only then will they put away their arrogant attitude and come to talk to you honestly!"
Yang Peng thought to himself: "Actually, it's not just the Seljuks who are like this. Which nation in the world is not like this!" When dealing with these ethnic groups or countries, it is naturally good to coexist peacefully, but there is a prerequisite for this. You must defeat them first. Only by defeating them can the road ahead be easy! There is actually no difference between human society and the animal world. The strong have always respected the weak and eaten the strong. If you don’t want to become a fish and survive with dignity, then pick up your knife first! This world is unreasonable, only about strength! The kind of person who can only reason is actually no different from a coward who begs! '
Abu Hassan said: "I heard that it was because the Seljuqs were defeated by your caravans one after another that they mobilized all the naval forces in the country to fight against you in the Southern Ocean. And precisely because all the naval forces were mobilized to the Southern Ocean, Therefore, there was no way to stop the Crusaders at sea in the direction of the Mediterranean. As a result, the Crusaders successfully landed! The Seljuks were caught off guard, so they suffered a huge defeat!"
After Yang Peng heard what he said, he realized that after a long time of trouble, his own navy had actually helped the Crusaders, and he couldn't help but smile. Abu Hassan said: "Why don't you just land in Arabia and completely defeat the Seljuk Empire? In this way, wouldn't it save a big trouble?" Yang Peng said with a smile: "I have never done this kind of thing before. I have considered it." Abu Hassan said secretly: "You are just a general, so naturally you don't go back to consider these things. King Yan will not and has not considered it." ’ Then he lowered his head and started thinking. …
Before evening, the teams from both sides arrived outside the west gate of Xiliang Mansion. When Abu Hasan saw the city in front of him, his eyes lit up and he couldn't help but admired: "What a big city, almost as big as our Persepolis!" He turned to look at Yang Peng and asked curiously: "Excuse me General, is your Tianjing New City as big as this?" Yang Peng smiled and said, "Xiliang is probably equivalent to one-tenth of the Tianjing New City."
Abu Hassan opened his mouth in surprise and exclaimed: "Such a big city is only equivalent to one-tenth of Tianjing New City!?" Yang Peng made a cross with his finger and said: "It's not a quarter. It's one tenth!" Abu Hassan's mouth opened wider, stunned.
The teams from both sides entered the city. At this time, the sun was about to set, and the lights on the streets were first lit, making it very lively. There was a loud bang-dong-dong-dong from the bell and drum towers behind them, and then the heavy city gates creaked shut, and some merchants rushed into the city. The travelers failed to enter the city in time, so they had to stay in the town near the city gate and settle down temporarily.
Yang Peng said to Abu Hassan: "We are going to the post house." Abu Hassan saluted quickly and said: "Good riddance, general. I hope to see you again, general!" Yang Peng smiled and led everyone towards the post house. go. Abu Hassan and his party went to find an inn. When Yang Peng and his party came to the post house, they only said that they were generals mobilized by the Yan Palace. The post officials did not become suspicious and personally invited Yang Peng and his party to stay.
Yang Peng asked the postmaster: "I heard that there was a rebellion in Yinchuan. How is the situation now?" The postmaster smiled and said: "The general must have been ordered to suppress the rebellion! But the general arrived late, and the rebellion had already been put down by Princess Han Bing. "!" Yang Peng felt a little surprised, "Pettled down? But I heard that the rebellion this time was huge, with tens of thousands of people participating. How could it be pacified so quickly?" Yichen smiled and said: "Princess Hongyu When such a person comes, he can easily put down the rebellion! How can those rebels and traitors be the opponents of the Ruby Princess!"
Yang Peng felt relieved and asked: "So, the road to Yinchuan has been re-opened?" Yichen nodded and said: "It was re-opened a few days ago!" Then he said jokingly: "The general traveled thousands of miles to support Princess Han Bing. Unfortunately, he arrived too late. This trip was in vain!"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "It's not a waste of time. At least I enjoyed the scenery along the way. The yellow sand in the desert and the thousands of miles of grassland are a different kind of scenery that you can't see in the Central Plains! Finally, there is no need to make this trip!"
The post official raised his eyebrows and said excitedly: "It goes without saying that the scenery here is difficult to see in other places! The general finally came here, so why not just stay here for a while?" Yang Peng smiled. The messenger bowed and said, "I won't disturb the general's rest. I'll take my leave. If the general needs anything, just send someone to inform me. I will try my best to meet the general's needs!" Yang Peng nodded, "Thank you very much." The postmaster smiled, bowed, and retreated.
Early the next morning, Yang Peng and his party left the post house and headed towards Yinchuan. Soon after leaving the east city gate, I saw a huge caravan consisting of hundreds of camels and dozens of carriages marching ahead. It was the Persian caravan that I met yesterday. Yan Ji sighed and said strangely: "Why did they set off today? I thought they would stay in Xiliang for a while to sell goods!"
Yang Peng said: "I must have heard about the prosperity of Tianjing New City yesterday, so I was eager to go to Tianjing New City." Yan Ji asked in confusion: "Why is this?"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "As a businessman, he came all the way to Yanyun to make money! Yesterday he heard me say that the prosperity of Tianjing New City is more than ten times that of Xiliang, so he naturally felt that his goods were transported to Tianjing. Jingxin City can be sold at a better price, not to mention that Tianjing New City is the economic and political center of Yanyun!" Yan Ji felt that what Yang Peng said was reasonable, nodded, and then smiled and said: "These businessmen are really willing to give up. What a hard work! In order to earn more profits, you are willing to go such a long way!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "They came all the way to the Song Dynasty, and it doesn't matter if they walk two or three thousand miles more!" Ji said: "No wonder people often say that businessmen are only interested in profit. This statement couldn't be more correct!"
Yang Peng looked at Yan Ji in surprise. Yan Ji saw this and asked in confusion: "Why are you looking at me like this?" Yang Peng said: "Why are you..." Then he laughed and said: "It's nothing." Yan Ji said angrily: "It's weird." Yang Peng actually wanted to say just now, why do you seem to be different from the past? However, when the words came to her lips, she was worried that Yan Ji would be embarrassed if she said them, and she would turn back into the iceberg beauty that rejected people thousands of miles away, so she suppressed the words.
At this moment, the sound of a large group of people marching came from behind. Everyone looked back and saw several caravans leaving Xiliang City one after another. Those caravans ranged in size from large to small, including Han Chinese and barbarians. The knights were whipping and singing, and the camel bells were ringing. They lacked the cultural atmosphere advocated by Confucianism, but had more thriving vitality. This is life. Yang Peng smiled.
The Persian caravan in front turned to the southeast official road, while Yang Peng and others turned to the northeast. A few days later, Yang Peng and his party finally arrived in Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia. Han Bing, who had just received the news, quickly led his people to greet him. When I saw Yang Peng on the street, Han Bing's heroic and beautiful face showed a very excited and happy expression. He quickly stepped forward and looked at Yang Peng excitedly, speechless for a while.
Yang Peng asked with a smile: "Don't you know your husband?" Han Bing came back to his senses and glared at Yang Peng fiercely. At this moment, his eyes showed a thousand emotions of blame, blame and longing. The taste is in my heart! Everyone behind Han Bing clasped their fists and worshiped: "I have met King Yan!" Yang Peng nodded slightly.
Yan Ji and others clasped their fists together and said, "I've met the princess!" Han Bing nodded, his eyes lingered on Yan Ji for a moment, and then he glared at Yang Peng angrily. Yang Peng laughed awkwardly.
The group of people walked towards the palace. The so-called palace was the former Xixia Palace, but now it has become the palace of King Yan, the lord of Yanyun. The pedestrians and civilians on the street dispersed on both sides, looking at Yang Peng and his group with curiosity and awe.
Yang Peng looked at the peaceful and bustling streets around him and asked, "Has the rebellion been completely resolved?" Han Bing nodded, looked at Yang Peng, and asked in confusion, "My little sister sent someone to Qingtang a few days ago. I reported to the army, didn’t my elder brother receive it?” Yang Peng thought to himself: “Nine times out of ten, we missed it when we were staying in the valley. ’ smiled and said, “Maybe I missed it on the way.”
Han Bing hummed and said: "Although the scale of this rebellion is not small, because the people did not support them, it did not take much effort to put down the rebellion." Li Tongren, who stayed in Yinchuan, said: "Actually, this time The reason why the rebellion was put down so quickly was all because of Princess Han Bing! Princess Han Bing is so famous that as soon as they arrived in Yinchuan, the rebels were so scared that they fell apart!"
Yang Peng looked at Han Bing with a smile. Han Bing said: "Thank you, Mr. Li." Then he said to Yang Peng: "Actually, before the little sister arrived in Yinchuan, there was a big problem within the rebels and they were fighting each other. It was already in chaos! As soon as the little sister arrived, Immediately, we gathered civilian troops and regular troops from all over the country and defeated the rebels in one go!"
Yang Peng asked in confusion: "Why are the rebels fighting among themselves?"
Han Bing said: "According to Li Dingkun's account, the conflict occurred because some of the rebels suddenly didn't want to fight." Li Dingkun, the former Xixia Iron Harrier General, on the eve of the fall of Xixia, he betrayed Qiurong and surrendered to Yanyun, and was named The prefect of Yinzhou. Li Dingkun was quite dissatisfied with this. He believed that he had made great contributions and that Yang Peng had treated him badly, so he had been planning a rebellion. Not long ago, he thought the time was ripe and suddenly launched an army. However, he did not expect that people's support had already turned against him. His long-planned rebellion , it was doomed to failure at the beginning. Although the movement was huge, it was completely suppressed in a short period of time.
Yang Peng nodded, looked at Han Bing, and asked with a smile: "Li Dingkun was captured?"
Han Bing nodded and said: "All the dozens of leaders below Li Dingkun were captured, and no one escaped the net!" Then he said: "The younger sister has followed the previous instructions of the eldest brother to ignore all the ordinary rebels and disperse them; while Li Dingkun and other leaders, The Fa-rectification was made public three days ago! All their properties were confiscated and all their families were moved to Tianjing New City!" Yang Peng nodded with a smile and said with a smile: "Han Bing is doing things, so what else is there to say! "Han Bing smiled sweetly. Li Tongren and others couldn't help but be stunned when they saw Han Bing showing such a beautiful smile. During this time, they were used to Han Bing's coldness and severity. They were all trembling in front of her for fear of doing something wrong. They had never seen this before. Han Bing actually has such a gentle side! Only then did they suddenly realize that this famous female general was really a stunning beauty that outshone all other beauties!
Han Bing restrained his smile and frowned: "Ningxia is bordered by Liao Kingdom to the north, Xiliao Kingdom to the west, and Tibet to the southwest. It only relies on 150,000 soldiers and horses to defend it, which seems a bit inadequate. My sister thinks that there should also be a defense force in Ningxia. Hundreds of military mansions to solve the problem of insufficient garrison strength in Ningxia."
Yang Peng nodded thoughtfully and said: "Not long ago, Cao Jun asked for instructions to build one hundred more military mansions in Datong and the Xijing Road area of the former Liao Kingdom. I have agreed. Now with the addition of one hundred military mansions in Ningxia, various places The total number of military mansions has reached 700, with a reserve strength of 700,000! Haha, the military strength of these military mansions alone is stronger than the national military strength of some countries!" Han Bing smiled and said: "We are now a family. Great cause!”
Yang Peng said with a smile: "The family has a big business and a big expense. Fortunately, we have gained a lot in Sichuan this time. Pay attention to the current expenses in all aspects!" Han Bing said: "Back then, the Qin State won the land of abundance in Sichuan. From then on, it had no worries about food and grass. In the end, Unify the world! Now that eldest brother has won the Kingdom of Abundance, he is destined to unify the world!"
Yang Peng laughed loudly, and then thought: "Now our plate has been spread out very big, and the total expenditure in all aspects is an astronomical figure. I wonder what the current income and expenditure situation is?" Han Bing said: "Brother, what are you doing? But you asked the wrong person, my little sister doesn’t know anything about economic issues!”
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
