Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 586
"Achaemenid Kingdom, offer tribute: one hundred stones of gold essence, ten camels, two hundred stones of spices, ten altars of wine, ten beauties, one white elephant..."

"The Rao and Qiang Kingdom offered tribute: a thousand pieces of cashmere, some ambergris, a cart of raw jade, and a hundred stones of spices..."

"The Kingdom of Loulan offered tribute: a pair of crystal mica, a pair of agate and pearls, ten ostriches, and a pair of chain mail..."

"The Kucha Kingdom offered tribute: a hard-earned horse, a pair of Huo Qizhu, a hundred yaks, a hundred spices, ten altars of wine..."

"Dawan Kingdom offered two hard-earned horses, one beauty, and one hundred servants..."

The commander of the CRRC Mansion stood on the side of the majesty's platform, holding the gift list, and read out to the monarchs and ministers of the Wu Kingdom the tributes offered to Qingji by the western countries that entered the court this time.

Qing Ji knew the tributes offered to him by the small foreign countries in the west.

These tributes are not precious if they are precious, and they are not cheap if they are cheap.

It mainly depends on whether it is scarce or not.

As the saying goes, what is rare is more expensive.

Some items are not available in the Central Plains. If they are sold in the Central Plains, Wu Guo will naturally make a lot of money.

Most of the items that the countries of the Western Regions paid tribute to Wu State were local customs.

This time, there are quite a few countries from the Western Regions who came to pay homage to Wu.

Qingji will call these countries in the Western Regions "the 36 countries in the Western Regions", namely: Yaoqiang, Loulan (Shanshan), Qiemo, Xiaowan, Jingjue, Ronglu, Tangmi, Qule, Khotan, Pishan, Wugan, Xiye, Zihe, Puli, Yinai, Wulei, Nandou, Dawan, Taohuai, Xiuxun, Donating Drugs, Shache, Shule, Weitou, Gumo, Wensu , Qiuci, Yuli, Weixu, Yanqi, Gushi, Moshan, Jie, Huhu, Quli, and Wulei.

Among the 36 countries, some are nomadic tribes, and the other are city kingdoms.

The Western Regions are located on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, and the western edge belongs to the Aryans.

The eastern and northern states of the Tarim Basin belonged to the Tocharians.

The 36 countries in the Western Regions are actually just an approximate number.

This time, a total of 36 countries came to pay tribute to Wu, including the Persians and 55 countries in the Western Regions.

According to Zhu Di, their group, the Wu State caravan traveled tens of thousands of miles, passed through hundreds of small countries, tribes, and cities, and went straight to Macedonia...

Within four years, Wu's caravans had certainly visited so many countries.

But there are only 55 countries that come to worship Wu...

They have all realized that this Great Wu Kingdom is an extremely powerful country!

Not to mention the Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persians, the population of other small foreign countries ranges from tens of thousands to several thousand...

However, for Wu and Qingji, this is already the coming of all nations.

These envoys and caravans from western countries flocked to Wu State under the pretense of worshiping Wu State. What is the reason?

It's not hard for Qingji to guess——

Commerce!

Correct!
After seeing the huge profit margins of paper, ceramics, tea, silk and other items in the West, they would really want to do business with Wu.

After all, the state of Wu is not yet strong enough to force the Western countries to surrender with its own strength!
"Honorable King Wu, I am Mu Le, the envoy of the Achaemenid Kingdom..."

At this time, a tall middle-aged man with a high nose, sunken eye sockets, and a beard stood up and hugged Qingji on the majesty's platform.

When Mueller was speaking, Judy, who was proficient in Persian, sat on the side and translated for Qingji.

"I heard that the country of Wu usually returns gifts to countries that worship. This time, I think, why not discount it and use Wu's currency as a gift?"

After Judy's translation, Qingji understood the meaning of Mueller's words.

Just as Qingji expected, the Persians, as well as the foreign countries who came to pay homage to Wu, all wanted to barter...

Discount?

Qingji thought about it, and felt that it was harmless.

After all, the purpose of Qingji to open up the Silk Road is not only to make money, but also to let the Chinese people see the world with their eyes open.

These Westerners can be said to have fallen into the eyes of money!

"Precise play."

Qingji replied two words lightly.

"Thank you, Your Excellency King Wu!"

After receiving such a reply from Qing Ji, Mu Le was satisfied.

Such trade is actually a win-win result.

It is not so difficult for Wu to send a caravan to the west for business again.

If Westerners can take the initiative to present such a precious item as Qingji, wouldn't it save a lot of shipping costs?
Of course, the principle of what is rare is still the same.

Mu Le paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled slightly and said, "Your Excellency King Wu, I have heard that there are many wise men in Wu, who are far-sighted and well-informed..."

"I have a problem. I don't know if the wise men of the Wu Kingdom can solve it?"

Hearing this, Qingji narrowed his eyes.

Is Mueller making things difficult?

However, Qingji is not afraid of this.

After all, apart from Qingji, among the courts of Wu, Sun Wu, Fan Li, Wu Zixu, Confucius, etc., which one is not a wise man?
"Oh, I don't know what the problem is, sir, but it doesn't matter."

"May I ask my esteemed King Wu, in this world where people live, is it round? Is it square?"

Hearing this, Qingji replied: "The way of heaven is round, the way of earth is square, and the sages follow it, so they stand up and down, so they are called 'Tianxia'."

"My Wu people believe that the way of heaven is round, and the movement of essence and energy means 'the circle is complicated, and there is nothing to stay', the authentic way, 'everything has a different type and shape, and all have divisions'..."

Mrs. Judy, who was sitting on the side, was deeply speechless.

Qing Ji spoke so eloquently that it was really difficult for her to translate!

Fortunately, it is not impossible for Judy to simplify and translate it for Muller.

"The sky is the master, and the earth is the second. The sky is yang, and the earth is yin. The two interact with each other to form everything in the world."

Hearing this, Mu Le was deeply puzzled, and asked curiously: "So, Your Excellency King Wu thinks the sky is round?"

"otherwise."

Qing Ji shook his head and said, "My Chinese ancestors had the theory of 'round sky and earth', but it was only used in philosophy, not in practice."

"The ancients called the state of undivided heaven and earth and the beginning of chaos called Taiji. Taiji produces two appearances, which draws yin and yang and separates heaven and earth."

"They call the vast universe composed of many stars the 'sky', and the land on which they live is called the 'earth', because celestial bodies such as the sun and the moon are in endless and endless motion."

"It's like a closed circle without beginning and end. But the earth quietly carries the world there, just like a square object is still and stable, so the concept of 'round sky and earth' was born..."

The sky is round and the earth is just a concept, not a real proof that the world is "square".

(End of this chapter)