"Not to mention this thousand-jin iron door, if I give Mr. Song a fulcrum, I can move the entire Kunlun Mountain!"
"Ha... I didn't expect that there are such crazy people in the Liang Dynasty. I'm afraid even if you are a god descending to earth, you won't be able to pry the mountain away!"
"A man eight feet tall is trying to shake Kunlun. Mr. Song, your words are simply ridiculous!"
It is already very low-key to pry the Kunlun Mountains. Archimedes also pried the earth. How can you, the ignorant ancients, understand science?
"If there is no reward for the challenge, I always feel a bit disadvantaged... Otherwise, Mr. Arhan, if I can lift this iron gate by myself, can you give me ten more camels?"
As a businessman, how can you not give up some chips?
"No problem!" Arhan agreed readily.
"Okay!" Song Che greeted loudly: "Bring a thick hemp rope and remove the four axle wheels! I can pull up this iron gate with just one hand!"
The wheel is made into a fixed pulley and three movable pulleys. The iron gate itself has a traction iron rope, and the groove for hanging the iron rope is also ready-made. You only need to hang a fixed pulley and connect three movable pulleys in series.
In addition, there is a steering compass under the door, which is equivalent to five pulleys to pull the iron door. Fixed pulleys are not labor-saving, but they can change the direction of the force. The more movable pulleys, the more labor-saving they are.
A heavy iron door only weighs 500 kilograms. If the weight is removed by five pulleys, how difficult is it to pull it up?
After making the pulley device, Song Che tied the hemp rope to the compass. All the soldiers, merchants, and followers gathered around, looking forward to Song Che's performance.
Song Che rolled up his sleeves, tightened his belt, walked steadily, grabbed the turntable with one hand, and turned it clockwise.
The hemp rope became straighter and straighter, the pulley began to operate, and the heavy iron door was slowly lifted.
"It's... it's really exciting!"
"Hey! Kagura hey!"
"Of course, who is my brother-in-law? The gods are not as powerful as him! Humph!"
Even the Hu soldiers couldn't help but admire him.
Song Che pulled up the iron gate, asked someone to block it with logs, loosened the wheel, clapped his hands, and smiled at Arhan:
"Mr. Arhan, my labor-saving technology is hundreds of years ahead of the times. Let alone ten camels, it would be worth a hundred or a thousand for you."
Arhan's clenched teeth finally relaxed. He sighed softly and had to be convinced:
"Mr. Song is indeed an unparalleled scholar... Come, take the camel and prepare some fine wine!"
As approximately thirty-two camels and twenty-three servants were organized into the caravan, it was a great harvest.
Outside the pass, Arhan held up his wine glass and pointed at the long road ahead: "Mr. Song, after leaving Yumen Pass, we will reach the Western Regions, where various countries are divided. Please pay attention to it along the way!"
Song Che drank with them, bowed and thanked them, and called the caravan to set off.
Until the caravan disappeared, Arhan refused to look back. He even stood on tiptoes and looked at it, his eyes showing more worry.
"My lord, he is always a Liang man."
"Yes, if such a person cannot be used for his own purposes, he will not be able to stay in the world, otherwise our country of Hu will be in great trouble... From now on, you must guard the pass closely. If he returns from the Western Regions, capture it directly Send it to Dadu, but be sure not to harm your life."
"yes!"
…
"Well...the melons here are so sweet!"
Liu Xiang'er was riding a camel, holding a watermelon that was bigger than its head. She ate the pulp of the melon, and the camel ate the rind. One person and one animal chewed it happily.
On the second day after leaving Yumen Pass, the caravan arrived in Guazhou.
Guazhou, as its name suggests, is rich in all kinds of melons, especially watermelons, which are indispensable for cooling off and quenching thirst in the hot summer.
Guazhou is the westernmost Liang city. Although it has been ruled by the Hu people, it still retains the customs of the Liang people. However, the Liang people living here are classified as second-class citizens and their mental outlook is very bleak.
At least the melons grown are pretty good.
On the southwest side of Guazhou is a sandbank. In the official history of time and space, here is the most brilliant historical and cultural treasure, the Dunhuang murals.
Although the time and space of the Liang Dynasty were different, the customs and geographical location were similar. Even if there were no Dunhuang murals, there should be similar things.
Only after passing through Guazhou and Shazhou can we truly arrive at the Western Regions. The first Western Kingdom connected to Shazhou is called "Dadan", which is located on the southeast side of Tarim. To the north of Dadan is "Uihe", and further north from Uihe is "Uihe". It's "Gaochang"...
Most of these countries in the Western Region are located in the Tarim Basin, the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, the Tarim River Basin, and the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains, north of the Kunlun Mountains, and south of the Tianshan Mountains;
Extending further west, passing the Pami Plateau, you will reach Persia and Cathay in Central Asia. Going further west, crossing the Mediterranean Sea, you can reach ancient Egypt, ancient Rome and other European countries;
Don't think this is far away. The silks and footprints of Chinese merchants have visited it thousands of years ago.
After years of precipitation and baptism, the Silk Road has already matured in today's era. Even if there is a break along the way, merchants traveling north and south will try their best to open it up.
Regardless of Europe, Africa, or Central Asia, they all regard the Western Regions as a transit point on the Silk Road. Liang merchants would stop moving forward after delivering the goods here, waiting for merchants from other countries to come to purchase. In this way, both buyers and sellers could save a lot of distance.
Song Che's trip to the Western Regions will not be too far, and those small countries in the Western Regions with a population of only a few thousand or ten thousand are not his target.
If you want to unite the Western Regions to attack the Hu people, you must gather at least 80,000 cavalry, armaments, personnel, grain, and horses in the Western Regions. Only a big country can support this.
According to contemporary geographical records, the two largest countries in the Western Region are Uihe and Dadan, located in the north and south of the Tarim Basin. Both have a population of more than 200,000. Moreover, these two countries belong to the same ancestral ancestry. "Huihe Country" split away.
When Daliang controlled the Western Regions, it maintained close political, economic and cultural exchanges with Huihe. The Huihe tribe adopted the Liang official system, with positions such as prime minister and privy envoy;
Huihe Khan has always respected the Central Plains Dynasty as his uncle, and would send envoys to pay tribute two or three times every year in order to obtain canonization and silk silks.
Later, the Hu people rose rapidly in the Mongolian Plateau and went south to capture most of the Hexi Corridor. From then on, the Liang Dynasty lost control of the Western Regions and cut off its contact with Huihe.
When the Huihe tribe had the most extensive territory, Guazhou and Shazhou were also under its jurisdiction. Later, the Hui people separatized Beiliang and controlled Yumen Pass, expelling the Huihe tribe;
The Huihe troops were much weaker than the Hui people. They were forced to move westward due to the threat of war. During the migration process, due to internal conflicts, they split into two countries. One was the Uihe in the Lop Nur area in the north, and the Uihe in the south of the Taklimakan Desert. Dadan.
Regardless of the relationship between Uihe and Dadan, they have been on good terms with Daliang in their early years; in terms of contradiction, they have been persecuted by the Hu people and have a common enemy with Daliang;
If these two great powers in the Western Regions can be reunited and attack the Hu State from east to west with the Liang Dynasty, they will surely be called——
"The barbarians dare not go south to herd horses, and the scholars dare not bend their bows and complain"!
