When Anze, King of Loulan, first heard that the King of Qin was coming to visit Loulan, he still had a grudge and guessed the intention of King Qin's visit.
Although I have doubts in my heart, I am not worried because the two countries are really far apart and have no communication with each other.
If they hadn't often heard about the Xiongnu and Xiqiang, the countries in the Western Regions wouldn't even think about their relationship with the Chinese ethnic groups.
The rich country in the legend is now raging with war, the heroes are divided, and the lives of the people are definitely not much better.
And there are rumors that the people in China can only afford grain, not cattle and sheep.
If you look at it this way, the quality of life of the Chinese people is even worse than that of the Western Regions.
But when he saw the good things from China today, King Loulan really liked them. For a moment, he even wanted to imitate King Xiqiang and exchange the land for these fragrant tea leaves, exquisite porcelain, and silk.
Fortunately, he held back.
But if you don't need to exchange it for land, then you can only exchange it for gold, silver, jewelry, cattle, sheep, and horses.
Thinking of this, King Loulan said: "Since Loulan and Da Qin have reached a consensus on cooperation, please ask King Qin to stay here for a while to work out the prices of various goods, and teach us the secrets of tea and how to distinguish silk and satin. Type, I wonder what it is?"
Ying Zheng thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "It should be so."
"Haha, okay, I am very happy to meet the King of Qin today. I will invite the King of Qin to try Loulan's mare's milk wine today. We will not return until we get drunk." King Loulan said with a smile.
However, the King of Xiqiang patted his belly and said with a smile: "I am not used to drinking your mare's milk wine, but I have brought my own goat's milk wine."
"Haha, I brought my own Lao Qin wine, why don't we even drink wine instead," Ying Zheng said.
The three of them laughed again.
Later, King Loulan held a banquet in honor of the two monarchs and their subordinates.
It was the first time for Ying Zheng to taste the palace delicacies of the Loulan Kingdom.
Loulan's singing and dancing are also very unique. They are unrestrained yet graceful, and elegant yet harmonious. The people in China are mesmerized and like they are in a dream.
"King Qin, how do you feel about this song and dance?" King Loulan asked while he was in the mood for wine.
"That's right!" Ying Zheng said with a smile, "This exotic customs is indeed very different from China."
"Then it wouldn't be better for King Qin to take these singers back to relieve the boredom of the harem." King Loulan said.
"Well, that's not a bad idea." Ying Zheng said after taking a sip of wine.
"I wonder how many pieces of silk satin can be exchanged for these singers from my king."
Ying Zheng almost spit out the wine in his mouth.
"Hahaha..." King Xiqiang laughed, "King Loulan, why don't you tell me how much silk you can exchange for this palace."
King Loulan: "..."
In this way, Ying Zheng was kept for three more days, and all the sergeants became tailors and tea masters.
Great Elder Yiqu now had a place to play. On the way here, he studied tea ceremony and chatted with various sergeants about tea.
Now that he wanted to teach the people of Loulan tea ceremony, he naturally became the most enthusiastic person.
There are many generalists in "our army". Because most of them are composed of Meng family troops and imperial guards, they are also members of the family with both civil and military skills. These things of spreading Chinese culture are naturally not a problem.
Ying Zheng ordered people to use three boxes of silk and satin to make Loulan-specific costumes for each of the dozen concubines of King Loulan.
It is undeniable that this Loulan's unique costume, after being made of silk and satin, is really bright and beautiful. When worn on the beauties of Loulan's harem, it looks even more enchanting and charming.
The concubines in the harem were all very happy. They were competing for beauty, and their charm was even more fascinating.
The one who is even happier than the harem is King Loulan. Since he married these concubines one by one, it seems that this day,
It is their most beautiful day.
As for the matter of trade with Da Qin,
These harem concubines naturally played a role in fueling the flames. From then on, waves of pillow wind will surely blow again and again.
I don’t know how many more envious looks from the harem from the countries in the Western Regions.
King Loulan's confidence in cooperating with Da Qin is getting stronger day by day.
Three days passed quickly, and Ying Zheng and King Xiqiang also waved goodbye to King Loulan with their followers.
The ones who are most reluctant to let Ying Zheng go are the beauties of King Loulan's harem.
When can you send me more sets of clothes? I can’t bear to take them off and change them just like this one.
This seems to be the collective sentiment of all the Loulan harem.
"They have gone to Jingjue to finish their work and will come back when they return to Da Qin. During this time, you can sort it out. If you want to get some more clothes, take out some of the jewelry you usually save and exchange them with others." After saying this, King Loulan sighed helplessly.
Ying Zheng and King Xiqiang left Loulan City and headed southwest.
Both the King of Western Qiang and Qiang Yu once told Ying Zheng that the Western Region was divided into two roads, the north and the south. The north road led to Qiuci. Along the way, there were rich products and many small countries.
The road to the south leads to Khotan, passing through Qiemo and Jingjue on the way.
As for the area in the middle, the periphery is divided up by various countries, and the core area is said to have a slowly rotating desert. For many years, no one who has gone there to find out what is going on has ever come back alive.
Later, people gave it a name, called Sand Millstone.
Therefore, there is an unwritten rule among the countries, that is, no one is allowed to go there easily, so as not to anger the gods and bring punishment to the Western Regions.
Over time, Sand Mill became the only uninhabited place in the Western Region, and also became the most ancient and mysterious place.
When Ying Zheng first heard about it, he thought it was quite strange, but then he thought about it carefully and wondered if it had any connection with the dragon vein. After all, Jingjue was on the edge of it, and the reason why Jingjue chose to be there was The founding of the country was due to the discovery of the Eye of Fire during the migration a long time ago.
Since it has flaming eyes, it must be unusual.
However, everything must first be visited by Jing Jue.
The team went very fast along the way, crossing the border of Loulan and entering Qiemo's territory.
There are no border gates, no garrison guards, and there is not even an obvious mark on the border between the two countries.
There really is no distinction between them.
After passing the junction, there was a gentle hillside. King Xiqiang ordered the team to stop and rest.
"After leaving the border of Loulan, we enter Qiemo. Although the scenery here is basically the same as Loulan, the Qiemo tribe is aggressive by nature, and most of them live in the Qiemo River Basin in the south." King Xiqiang introduced.
"Then we won't encounter any obstacles here, right?" Ying Zheng asked.
"It's really hard to say." King Xiqiang said, "Loulan is a big country in the Western Region, so its relationship with its neighboring country Qiemo is very normal. If it weren't for the restraints of the countries to the north, Loulan might have sent troops to defeat Qiemo."
"Besides, Jingjue is the trade hub in the southern part of the Western Region. If the tribes from the north want to reach Jingjue, they must pass through Qiemo. Therefore, scattered merchants often have their property robbed here."
"Yes." Elder Yiqu who was sitting next to him said, "It has gotten better in recent years. When I was young, I would not dare to take that shortcut unless I was traveling with a caravan of several hundred people. We can only go around from the northern edge."
Ying Zheng nodded and said, "So it seems that the relationship between Qie Mo and Jing Jue is normal?"
"That's right." King Xiqiang said, "The business traveler who came to Jingjue was robbed this time, so who will dare to come next time?"
"It seems that we still need to take care of this matter." Ying Zheng said thoughtfully, "After all, if Da Qin trades with the Western Regions in the future, it will have to ensure business travel.
safety. "
The King of Xiqiang smiled bitterly and said: "What King Qin said is reasonable, but it is quite difficult. There are not many people in the Mo tribe. If there is an enemy, they will all hide in the Ajin Mountain in the south to wait for the enemy."
After people retreated, they returned to the Qiemo River and lived as usual. This is why Loulan did not wipe it out. "
"Loulan has no choice, or maybe he's caring about his feelings." Ying Zheng's voice turned cold and said, "But we don't have any concerns."
Thorin looked at Ying Zheng blankly: "Brother Wang, could it be?"
"Haha, don't worry, I won't take the initiative to attack them." Ying Zheng sneered, "But let them take the initiative to show up, so that we can wait for work."
"Hahaha, I understand." Qiang Yu said with a smile, "Presumably, Brother Wang wants to use the caravan as bait, then lure them out, and then try to capture them, so that they will not be able to hide in the mountains. "
It has to be said that among all the people present, only Qiang You could guess Ying Zheng's thoughts.
"Yes, you are knowledgeable." Ying Zheng turned to look at Meng Tian and said, "Give the order, slow down the team's march, and then send out several groups, one group will set off every half an hour, if they meet The Qiemo people who rob the road must not be willing to fight, throw away the goods and run back, and do not fight with them.”
"Wei Chen takes orders." Meng Tian cupped his hands and said.
"Meng Yi." Ying Zheng looked at Meng Yi again.
"I'm here," Meng Yi responded.
"You should take people to hide on the flanks. You must ensure the safety of these people who are acting as bait. If they pursue you, kill them on the spot. If they only plunder goods, send two people to follow them secretly." Ying Zheng said.
"Take your orders!"
After finishing arranging his side, Ying Zheng said to King Xiqiang again: "King Xiqiang, please send a few people to spread some news, saying that some Chinese businessmen have reached a deal with Loulan and are now rushing to Jingjue. , talk about a bigger deal.”
"Okay, haha." King Xiqiang laughed, "I didn't expect that King Qin was so good at using his troops. He came up with such a clever plan in such a short time. Not bad, not bad."
Immediately, the entire team slowed down, and within half an hour, the sergeants, still dressed in business traveler attire, set off one after another with bulging luggage.
Meng Yi led people to protect the flanks.
The King of Xiqiang sent people to the homes of acquaintances of herdsmen to spread the news.
The first wave of people marched neither hastily nor slowly, and did not look around. They just lowered their heads and urged their horses on.
Although everyone seemed to be calm on the surface, everyone was full of energy.
The leader was a centurion from "our army" named Sun Qi, who used his peripheral vision to scan for movement in all directions from time to time.
After traveling for more than an hour, we saw some movement to the right.
Sun Qi waved his hand and slowed down his pace.
Suddenly, there was an unknown whistle, and a group of shepherds wearing strange clothes rushed out from that direction. About thirty people, all urging their horses to run towards this side, waving something like Ax with machete.
"Retreat!" Sun Qi shouted, turning the horses' heads together with the other four sergeants, and ran back.
Because it was carrying cargo, the sergeant's horse would definitely not be able to outrun the oncoming cavalry.
Sun Qi waved his hand and unloaded his package at the same time, throwing it behind him.
The foreign horse team behind saw that the people in front had thrown away their packages in order to survive, so they stopped chasing. After stopping their horses, they surrounded more than ten packages on the ground.
Several foreigners jumped off their horses, laughed and stepped forward to open the package. They were all stunned when they saw the contents inside, and then immediately said something to the leader Jiji Gugu.
The leader also chirped a few words, then waved his hand, took all the packages and disappeared into the forest.
