Winter turned to spring, and in the blink of an eye it was the fourth year of King Zhao Kuo's reign.
There is no big thing in the world.
But in March, a major event occurred in the Qin State that shocked everyone - the caravan heading to the far west came back alive.
To be honest, Qin Wangji had given up hope on this matter for a long time, and he almost forgot that there was still a group of people fighting for Qin to explore the way to the west.
But even so, this group of wandering travelers finally returned to Xianyang after two years and two months after countless hardships of life and death.
There were 200 people when we left, and more than 600 people when we came back, but only 18 of them were businessmen who went to the far west. The remaining 182 people all died on the road, and they couldn't even bring their bodies with them. return.
"Our country, Qin, will never forget you."
Qin Wangji, who had gray hair and a vicissitudes of life in his eyes, went to greet him outside the city in person. Regardless of the merchant's low status, he tightly grabbed the leader named Song Lu with both hands, personally helped him onto the chariot, and then let Wang Sunyiren drive for him.
"Please get on board." Qin Wangji waved his sleeves and pointed to a row of chariots behind him.
Each chariot is extremely luxurious and is pulled by four precious horses, second only to the chariot Song Lu just boarded.
The eighteen businessmen who came back alive had never been treated like this before. They had not been afraid or timid along the way, but their legs were weak at this moment, and they did not dare to take a step.
"You are all heroes of our Qin State, and you should take this car." Qin Wangji said again.
"The head of Guizhou thanks you, Your Majesty." Everyone saluted, and under the envious eyes of the people, they boarded the chariot tremblingly.
Qin Wangji boarded the front carriage and personally opened the way for them.
If he wasn't too old, he could do it himself.
Compared with the value brought by this group of people, the low status of the businessman is nothing at all.
A banquet had already been set up in the Xianyang Palace. Almost all the dignitaries of the Qin State, whether invited or not, came. Even Bai Qi and Sima Cuo from Xia Yang came after hearing the news.
They were also very interested in the Far West.
"Tell me, sir, where have you been?" After three drinks, Qin Wangji put down his glass and asked.
Everyone who was not full yet quickly put down their bowls, wiped the stains from the corners of their mouths, and stopped.
"Your Majesty, we first arrived in Guazhou (Dunhuang). A kind of melon is abundant here, which is sweet and delicious. However, it was spring when we came back. The melons had just been planted and had not yet produced fruit, so we were unable to bring them back to your Majesty for tasting."
"Guazhou was once the hometown of the Yueshi and Wusun. Later, when the Yueshi became stronger, they drove away the Wusun and took over Guazhou. However, later our King of Qin, General Jian, defeated the Yueshi and the remaining Yueshi fled westward. Now Guazhou It has been occupied by the Qiang and Rong people."
"Then we arrived at a small country called Loulan. There were only less than 2,000 households. It was surrounded by desert. They lived by water and grass, and mostly relied on camels and horses to travel."
"In the next year, we traveled along the mountains and deserts, to small countries such as Qiemo and Jingjue, and also came to the place where Yu's jade (Hetian jade) is produced. The precious jade there is as numerous as stones, and each piece is comparable to Zhao's He's jade is very cheap, so we used Shu brocade to exchange them for a large amount of Yu's jade."
"After that, we went to Yarkand and Shule, and finally stopped in a country called Dawan. This country is rich in fine horses that can travel thousands of miles a day. The sweat they shed is as red as blood, so it is called Bloody horse."
"Dawan is located in the center of the far west, and there are many merchants coming and going, so we did not continue westward and stayed there. We sold the silks, colored glazes, lacquerware, and porcelain we brought with us... in exchange for a large amount of jewelry, spices, Gold and silver.”
"Before we came back, the king of Dayuan heard that we came from a very far away country in the east. He hosted a banquet for us and gave us a pair of blood horses as a gift."
Song Lu spoke slowly, briefly recounting what happened along the way. Of course, some things were omitted.
Such as the dangers encountered along the way.
For example, two pairs of sweat horses were brought back from Dawan. One pair was given by the king of Dawan, and one pair was exchanged for silk. Later, one pair died on the road.
For example, although eighteen people came back alive, not all of the remaining one hundred and eighty-two people died on the road. A small number of people chose to stay in countries such as Dawan and Jingjue and were unwilling to return to Qin.
"Have you... found the Queen Mother of the West..." Qin Wangji couldn't help but ask.
"Your Majesty, no." Song Lu shook his head.
A look of regret flashed across Qin Wangji's face. It was not that he had to marry the Queen Mother of the West, but he had always had a thought in his heart for so many years, and it would be good to meet her once.
"Your Majesty, compared with Khan Blood Horse, compared with this entire trade route, the Queen Mother of the West is nothing at all." Lu Buwei stood up and said.
He roughly counted the goods brought back by Song Lu and others. Even without counting the inestimable value of the blood-stained BMW, the jewelry, jade, spices, gold and silver and other items alone were equivalent to five times the goods brought out originally.
This was only the first time. We must have encountered various dangers such as weather, ferocious beasts, bandits, etc. along the way, resulting in the loss of most of the goods. Even so, we still made four times the profit.
If a business route can be completely opened up, ten times, twenty times, or even fifty times the profits are possible. There are several businesses in the world that are more profitable than this. You must know that when he first started doing business, even if he only had 10% A large group of people are grabbing the profits.
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"Sir, what you said is that I am obsessed with it." Qin Wangji accepted it with an open mind.
"May I ask, sir, how long does it take to get from here to the far west?" Lu Buwei asked.
"Master Shaofu, if it is a caravan, it will take a year at best to go back and forth." Song Lu cupped his hands and said.
Lu Buwei breathed a sigh of relief. In the face of so much profit, one year is not unbearable.
Especially if the state comes forward to form a caravan, there is no need to wait for the previous caravan to come back, and a caravan can be sent out every one or two months.
This is simply a steady stream of money.
Of course, if caravans are sent frequently, silk and other items may not be sold at such high prices. No one knows how big the market in the far west is, not even Song Lu, who has been there.
Bai Qi picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and gave Wang Hao a look. Wang Hao understood, stood up, clasped his fists, and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to try the Dawan Blood Horse."
"Okay, I will try to accompany the general." Qin Wangji actually wanted to know whether the so-called sweat-blooded horse can really travel thousands of miles in a day.
You must know that even in the Central Plains, not every war horse in the Gangyuan Realm can travel thousands of miles in a day. Only war horses in the Transcendent Realm can do it 100%.
The horses that Song Lu brought back must not be extraordinary-level war horses. It is not certain whether there are extraordinary-level war horses in Dawan.
