The merchants spent two days and one night arriving at the capital city of Dadan.
Dadan has a population of more than 200,000, most of whom live in the capital.
The planning layout of the city in the Western Region is similar to that of Daliang, but the architectural style of the houses is completely different. Daliang pays more attention to "squareness", while the Western Region pays more attention to "square and round", and the building materials are mostly sand and gravel. Due to being invaded by wind and sand all year round, no matter how good the paint is, It will fade to its original khaki color, and under the sunlight, the yellow color will be very dazzling.
The weathered cities embody a hazy beauty of vicissitudes of life. They use their bodies to tell the ancient stories of the Western Regions.
The people in Dadan don't seem to be very enthusiastic.
Soldiers strictly controlled the city gates and strictly inspected the merchants traveling through the city.
"Where did you come from?" The soldiers stopped Song Che's caravan. The pedestrians and merchants passing by stopped and looked curiously at this caravan dressed in strange clothes.
Song Che told the truth, "We are businessmen from Dongtu Daliang and came to your country to do business."
"Is he from Liang?" The soldier was more polite, "It's really rare. It's been a long time since Liang merchants visited Dadan."
As soon as they heard that it was Liang Ren, pedestrians came over one after another, as if they regarded Song Che and the others as rare ornamental animals. In the impression of people from the Western Regions, Liang people are synonymous with wealth and wealth.
"What about them? Their appearance and clothing don't look like Liang people." The soldier turned his attention to Bidenzhong Hu Shang.
Bideng touched his chest and saluted: "Dear sir, we are businessmen from Hu State, we -"
"Human!"
As soon as the soldier heard his identity, he hurriedly came up to him and glared in a very unpleasant way. The business travelers who were originally onlookers all showed disgust when they heard the word "Hu Guo".
"What are you barbarians doing here in Dadan? We don't welcome you bandits here!"
The soldiers approached with spears, and Biden was so frightened that he quickly hid behind Song Che and Tang Hulu, "We are not robbers, we are businessmen here to purchase pig iron..."
"Hmph! What a beautiful idea you have! No one will sell our iron to you barbarians!"
"That's right, I'll sell you the iron and you'll make weapons to capture us?"
"Catch these abominable barbarians and hang them! Hang them!"
It seems that the barbarians are really annoying to the people of Daran. The crowd was angry.
Song Che was quite satisfied with the attitude of the Dadan people. This showed that the contradiction between the two countries was deep and it was easier for them to adopt tactics of manipulation.
"Boss Song, help me quickly!" Biden exclaimed.
After all, Song Che was the group leader and explained to the crowd:
"Dear fellow Dadan folks, the Liang Dynasty was also persecuted by the Hu State, so I can understand your feelings. But now the Hu State has promised to reopen the Silk Road and is willing to coexist peacefully with all countries. Otherwise, we will not be able to reach your country. The country comes to do business;
These Hu businessmen are all members of my business group. I can assure you in the name of Daliang that they are all ordinary businessmen and not bandits. Even if you don't want to do business with the Hu people, please don't hurt them. "
After hearing this, the soldier slowly put away his spear, but still said: "Even if they are not bandits, we in Dadan City will not let the barbarians enter. Besides, we will soon go to war with the Huihe Kingdom. The iron produced is only enough to make weapons for myself, but there is no excess to sell to you."
fight?
Song Che frowned. If there were conflicts between these two great powers, his plan to unite the Western Regions to fight against the Hu people would come to nothing.
He took out the customs clearance document, gave it to the soldiers and said, "Please be sure to present this to your king, he will definitely be willing to receive me."
The soldier didn't say much, took the ultimatum and sent it into the capital.
Mo waited for about half an hour before a carriage drove out of the city gate and stopped next to Song Che. He saw an old man in white robes who was over fifty years old. He glanced at the caravan and came to Song Che, returning the gift with both hands. ultimatum, said in fluent Mandarin:
"Distinguished envoy, I am Hawiin, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Dardan. His Majesty the King asked me to invite you to the palace for a visit."
Song Che pointed to the caravan beside him: "What about my friends?"
Hawiin said: "Sir, please rest assured that you are all distinguished guests, and we will arrange an inn for them."
In this case, Song Che nodded and took only two guards, Nangong Yue and Lu Jingxiang, to sit in the carriage with Harvey and slowly drove into the capital of Dadan.
Although the Liang Dynasty has lost control of the Western Regions for many years, it is still a kingdom of Shangbang. With this ultimatum in hand, Song Che will be a distinguished guest of Shangbang wherever he goes.
The carriage drives from the street to the palace. Along the way, you can always hear the continuous "bang bang bang bang" sound of forging iron. When you open the curtains and look around, there is a blacksmith shop three or two meters away. The blacksmiths are shirtless and hammering hard to get out of the furnace. The pig iron is all armor and weapons. It seems that they are really ready for a battle.
In the carriage, Song Che asked Harvey about the reason why the two countries were preparing to go to war, and learned:
Uighur and Dadan were split from the same country and had certain conflicts. They could coexist peacefully in the first few years. However, this year the relationship has continued to deteriorate and the conflicts have deepened.
The Uighur Kingdom controls Lop Nur, the largest salt lake in the Western Regions. All countries’ salt must be imported from the Uighur Kingdom, including Dadan.
Countries in the Western Region rarely used gold and silver as currency. Most of them used barter for things. The country of Dardan used its own iron ore in exchange for salt.
Uyghur and Dadan were split from the same country, and there were certain conflicts in themselves. In the first few years, the two countries could coexist peacefully. However, in the first half of this year, Uyghur no longer purchased Dadan’s iron ore, and the two countries’ salt The iron trade was interrupted.
Salt is a necessity for the human body. Those in Dada who cannot get Huihe salt have to travel long distances to other countries to import it. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty of transportation and directly deepens the contradiction between the two countries.
You won't give it? Then I have to grab it myself! Dadan is currently preparing for war with this mental attitude.
"Actually, I don't want a war to happen, but the Huihe Kingdom is too selfish. Our people feel that they must be taught a lesson." Harvey said, clenching his fists.
Whether in modern times or ancient times, most wars are for the purpose of robbing resources. Song Che thought that if the resources of the two countries could be allocated reasonably, this war might be able to be prevented.
"As the Prime Minister of Dadan Kingdom, Lord Harvey, haven't you ever thought about using diplomatic means to achieve peace?" Song Che asked.
Harvey sighed deeply:
"I went on five missions to Uighur, but I only met their king for the first time. I was turned away the other four times.
The King of Uighur said that their country no longer needs iron tools. If we want salt, we have to exchange it for other things. But except for iron ore, we in Dadan have no other sustainable export commodities.
In addition, the Silk Road is closed, and goods from your Eastern countries cannot flow to the Western Regions. What can we offer them in exchange for salt? "
