Jinyi Night Walk

Xia Xun’s guide was a Sogdian. Sogdia was originally an ancient country in the Western Regions. Its activities ranged from the Zeravshan River Basin between the Amu Darya River and the Syr Darya River in Central Asia. Its capital, Malakanda, is now of Samarkand.

Sogdians are a Hui nationality who are good at doing business. During the Tang Dynasty, the Hui people with the largest number of people living in Dunhuang were Sogdians, and most of the merchants in Chang'an were Sogdians.During the Southern Song Dynasty, Sogdian was gradually invaded by Turkic forces, some of the Sogdians were assimilated, and more people fled to other places to specialize in business.However, having lost the foundation of their homeland, the Sogdians declined rapidly even though they were good at doing business. Now many Sogdians can only work as business guides and brokers, earning commissions from them.

Because of this precarious status, their professional ethics becomes more and more important. Although they have a slippery and cunning side, they must be absolutely loyal to their employers and wholeheartedly for their employers. This is the foundation of their lives.Because of this, Ying Zhan felt relieved to leave this Sogdian man with Xia Xun as his guide.

"Old man, the villain is called An Hanzi, and the nickname is Dumb, and the old man can just call me Dumb!"

The Sogdian guide introduced himself to Xia Xun with a smile, and looked at his shrewd eyes, but he was not at all dumbfounded: "Master, it's getting late, should we go to the city and find an inn to stay in? Master What are the goods, turn around and tell the little one, here, there are special stores for all kinds of goods, the real top-quality goods can only be sold at a price there, and what goods the old man wants to buy on the return journey, there is no question. Just tell the villain, and the villain promises to help Lao Hui buy the cheapest and most authentic top-quality goods."

"Well, good, then let's go into the city!"

Xia Xun has no interest in making money back, but just wants to use this to cover up his true identity, so he doesn't take these words very seriously, and just copes with them with a smile.He is not familiar with here, and the local common language is not Chinese, so with this guide, it is enough to have someone to guide him when he travels and lives.

That dumb immediately climbed onto the front camel, steered the camel skillfully, and led Xia Xun to the city.

As soon as you enter the city gate, it will be much more lively. There are all kinds of pedestrians coming and going. There are all kinds of people from the East and the West. On one side, an Arab man with a cloth kerchief on his head is loudly selling a machete, and on the other side a Han Hui man is holding a knife. With gorgeous silk draped on the shoulders..., the broad road is crowded, with carts, horses, cattle and camels, all kinds of livestock come and go slowly driven by merchant travelers.

From time to time, a wooden building like a ring can be seen on the side of the road. The slave owner is spitting on the stage and auctioning his slaves. The auctioneers include strong black slaves, wheat-colored slaves Fit and handsome women, children of seven or eight years old, and often old people who are nearly seventy years old. After listening to the dumb introduction, Xia Xun knew that these old people are skilled craftsmen with a certain specialty, so sometimes they are sought-after goods.

Liu Yujue looked at it very strangely, everywhere was full of exotic customs, Xia Xun's keen eyes were also scanning everything he saw, but what he paid attention to was completely different from Liu Yujue, what he was looking at were the roads and the lives of the residents in the city. ingredients.He soon discovered that this big city didn't seem to have a yamen management similar to returning to the government and returning to the government. The administrative management and the management of public security depended on those merchants who operated in fragments.

These merchants all employ private armed forces. These private armed forces are responsible for maintaining the safety of the owner’s business. A place completely governed by the residents of the city.

In fact, the same is true. The merchants here are not like the merchants in the Central Plains. Their own political status is low, and they have to rely on the rich and powerful. Here, as a successful big businessman, they are also local powerful. With a fairly high political status, the so-called city lord is just a big businessman. If there is any matter involving the whole city, he will call together influential big businessmen in the whole city to discuss and resolve it.

In this way, although the administrative efficiency here is relatively low, it has formed a quite relaxed living atmosphere. As long as you don't damage the interests of the public, no one will care about you.So, along the way, Xia Xun saw someone flogging the slaves and beating the slaves to the brink of death, and saw those who disagreed with each other draw their swords to a decisive battle. Applause, and if the party who died in battle has no relatives and friends to take care of him, the thief will immediately strip away all valuables and throw the bloody corpse into the stinky ditch.

Here, the order is made for the weak, as long as you are strong enough, you can defeat the strong at any time, overthrow the order he made, push out your order, and within the scope of your control, everyone must obey .

Dui rode on the camel, turning east and west continuously, and at the end, even Xia Xun could hardly remember the path he had traveled, and couldn't help calling him: "Dai, where are we going? I see that there are quite a few hotels nearby, should there be a place to stay?"

Dui reined in the reins, and when he caught up, he grinned and said, "Master Ying said that this is the first time that Master Ying came here to do business, and it is true. Master, there are indeed some inns here, but it is too chaotic here." , people die every day, and people throw things every moment. Mr. Ying said that Mr. Hui likes to be quiet, and his family is well-off, and he is not short of money. He asked me to find you a safe and quiet place, otherwise, just now You can stay."

Dui pointed to the front, and said to Xia Xun with a beaming eyebrow: "Master, look, the alley you turned around is the place where the owner of the city, Mr. Hui, and the rich merchants and gentry of this city live together. Dui is going to take Mr. Hui there." The place is Lord Argus's tavern, where thieves and rascals dare not enter, there is the best wine, and the richest merchants, maybe the old man can find a buyer there , instead of running around!"

Xia Xun fumbled back the thick purse that Ying Zhan gave him before he left, took out one, flicked it with his fingers, shot it back at Dumb, and said with a smile: "Okay, don't babble, take us there quickly, I think what I need most now is to take a good bath, and then I need a big soft bed!"

Seeing a golden thread thrown down in the air in an arc, Dumb quickly stretched out his hands to catch it. When he received it, he saw that it was a gold coin. He couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly joked: "Mr. A beautiful and hot girl warms the bed, the old man is so generous, and so young and handsome, the girls there will definitely rush to sleep with the old man, hehehe, Lord Argus's tavern Inside, there is the most beautiful Saji (beauty serving wine) in the city."

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Argus's tavern can no longer be described as a tavern. It is a very luxurious hotel. Entering the majestic stone gate, there is a beautiful garden first, with square foundations and semicircular roofs. , often with gorgeous buildings supported by huge stone pillars and colonnades, hidden in the garden, you will faintly see the exquisite figures and animal carvings on the stone walls.

Outside is a chaotic metropolis, but once you enter here, it seems to be a completely different world, very quiet atmosphere, and the people who come and go are elegant gentlemen, some young and beautiful girls in maid costumes see Every guest will offer them the most gentle and charming smile.Compared with the outside, this place is heaven.

"Hey! An Hanzi, which honorable guest did you bring to our master?"

A man in charge greeted him with a smile. He actually knew Ah-Dai. He greeted Ah-Dai, but he had already bowed respectfully to Xia Xun. He could tell at a glance that the person in front of him was brought by An Hanzi Middle-earth merchant.

Duan hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and the two exchanged a few words of affection, then Duan turned to Xia Xun and said happily: "Master, he is the manager here, and his name is Halpagus. He said, you are a distinguished guest from Dunhuang, and you have brought the beautiful silk, tea and porcelain that Lord Argus likes most. He said that Lord Argus is going to celebrate his birthday soon, and he needs these just in time for a big banquet. stuff, and he will see you in person."

Dumb smiled and said: "The people there, the most important festival is birthday. Although it is the first time for the old man to come here to do business, he is very lucky, but he is very lucky. Let's see Mr. Argus first. ?”

Xia Xun nodded without hesitation, and a moment later, a tall, sturdy man strode out and said with a smile on his face, "I'm about to send someone to buy it, and I heard that someone has brought goods from the East. My hotel?"

Xia Xun glanced around, and saw that the visitor was about forty years old, very energetic, with a high nose and deep nose, two big curly beards, a broad forehead, and a white hat wrapped around his head.Dumb, who was busy, hurried over to introduce Xia Xun.Argus looked at Xia Xun, nodded arrogantly, and said in a tone: "Great, I'm going to hold a grand banquet soon to entertain all the dignitaries in the city, and I need some beautiful silk and exquisite porcelain And good tea, come, take me to see your goods first, whether it is worth my money to buy it!"

The language he spoke was incomprehensible to Xia Xun, so Ah-Dai immediately translated what Argus meant to Xia Xun. Before he finished speaking, Argus had already left Xia Xun and walked towards Xia Xun's camel Team, arrogantly said: "Move the goods down, let me have a look first!"

Duan immediately translated this sentence to Xia Xun, Xia Xun nodded to Liu Yujue, and several people moved boxes of goods down with the help of some strong servants from the hotel.Since Ying Zhan had already helped Xia Xun, he was not stingy with the goods. The goods he transferred to him were all the most exquisite and expensive top-grade goods. Argus inspected them one by one, nodded frequently, and the smile on his face gradually returned to joy.

Duan said to Xia Xun in Chinese: "Mr. Hui, don't be angry because of his impoliteness. People there are like this. Except for people from their own country, for foreigners, their courtesy and respect are generally based on the region. The closer they are to foreigners, the more they respect them, and the farther they are, the less they care about them.”

He looked at Argus, who was bending over and looking at Xia Xun's goods with great interest, and lowered his voice again, and said to Xia Xun: "However, they are the ones who like to use exotic items the most, and those who come from farther away , Local ordinary people can't use things, the more they like to want them, as for luxury goods, as long as they hear about them, they will try their best to buy them. Therefore, as long as they like it, the price is definitely not a problem, my lord, It looks like you're going to get rich!"

Xia Xun asked blankly, "Where is he from?"

Dumb shrugged, and asked back: "Except for Persia, has the old man ever heard of such a weird person?"

I originally wanted to write about the appearance of a surprise, but I am too tired, so I will leave this surprise tomorrow.Argus is the introduction of an important person, so I want to introduce it, uh... I have to trouble everyone to guess all night, sorry, sorry.

It was just at nine o'clock, and I was too tired to hold on, but I still gritted my teeth and persisted. With my hard work and seriousness, I sincerely ask Zhuyou for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets for support!Although I am still outside the top three, I did not admit defeat, and I believe my book friends did not admit defeat either. I gritted my teeth and persisted in this update. The competition on the list will continue, and I sincerely hope for your support. support!