Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 148 White Sunset Kunming (4)

Li Yong then narrated many local customs and interesting stories in the hinterland of Dashi, and everyone was amazed and praised the magic of creation.

After half a cup of tea time, he ordered someone to take out a map. Zhao Xingde saw that it was much rougher than that of the marching army division, but the main mountains, rivers and rivers were clearly outlined. Obviously, the person who drew it had experienced it himself and was very impressed. Deep reason.

"This caravan started from Lumei, first transported salt, silk and tea to Lvyi Dashi by sea boat, changed river boats at the mouth of the Nile River, and went down the Nile River to cross the hot sand sea, passing through Kamal and other Dashi The famous city, along the way in exchange for gold, rhino horn, ivory, gemstones and spices, after arriving in Axum, part of the goods returned to Lumei along the Nile, and the other part of the goods was transferred to the packhorse team and went east to Tajura Bay, where they were transferred to sea ships , all the way to the country of Song." Li Yong's finger slid slowly on the map, and Zhao Xingde and the others followed his fingertips and drew a big arc on the map, and they all took a breath, This journey of smuggling goods was extremely long by sea and land, so one can imagine that there must be countless hardships and twists and turns.

"Why go to Song Kingdom instead of directly transporting all the goods back to Lumei?" Manshuer frowned.

"These goods are more expensive in Song Dynasty." Li Yong laughed.At this time, the servant brought up the fresh goat's milk in silver cups and bowls. Li Yong took a sip and said with a smile: "The milk goat and the servants who raised the goat were sent by Mukta, the court minister of Baghdad. Give it to me. But the taste is not much different than usual." Lumei's main enemies are the Roma Sultanate and the Green Food, not the Black Food.Although the black-clothed Dashi Baiyi dynasty occupying Baghdad is weak, it controls the orthodox caliphate of Dashi.The Bai Yi royal family also has some in-law relationship with Li Yong, and the noble man Shu'er knows about it.Xia Guo also prevented the Roma Sultanate from becoming an orthodox food overlord through the Baiyi Dynasty.

Zhao Xingde picked up the silver cup and took a sip, it didn't smell like mutton, but had a delicious 'milk' aroma.At this time, the servant brought up lamb and chicken roasted with palm oil, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, etc., and the aroma was overflowing.Zhao Xingde could see that not only did Li Yong have a very good relationship with the princes of the Great Cannibal, but even his own living habits were very similar to the Great Cannibal.

"Are the people of Song State richer than those of Xia State?" Manshuer asked curiously.Compared with the ubiquitous Xia Kingdom, the Song Kingdom is much farther away from Lu Mei.Even the merchants of the Song Kingdom called themselves Xia people in Lumei, and never mentioned the current dynasty. At most, they called themselves "Kandong people" at the gatherings of the Xia people, so the Lumei nobles knew very little about the actual situation of the Song country. .

"There are many rich people in the Song Dynasty." Li Yong did not answer his question directly, but said with a smile: "The price of food and cloth is higher in the Xia Kingdom than in the Song Dynasty. Ivory, rhino horn, gemstones and spices are more expensive in the Song Dynasty. Song State is more expensive than Xia State." He took a sip of tea, and then asked Zhao Xingde: "Brother Zhao is from the Kanto region, but you know a good friend, can you help sell these treasures?"

Zhao Xingde thought for a moment, nodded and said, "I recognize one." Although Chen Dong was removed from the genealogy by his father, he should know some big merchants in the southeast, and there are tens of thousands of gentry in the Neo-Confucian Society, who are interested in these treasures There should be quite a few.

"Oh?" Li Yong's eyes lit up, "If these treasures can be sold quickly, the price will be negotiable." He said with a smile, "The way of doing business is first and foremost to let the money flow like flowing water, endless. The treasures only need If they are sold in Song Guobian, they can be exchanged for Jiaozi in Lumei through Fuhaihang’s Pigeon Post, to buy the next batch of goods and arrange the second caravan to depart.”

Zhao Xingde briefly introduced Chen Dong's general situation to Li Yong, only saying that he was a good friend he met during his study tour in Guandong.Li Yong has been traveling in Dashi for many years, and he doesn't care much about the affairs of the Song Dynasty, nor does he delve into it.I only asked in detail whether this person is reliable, whether he really has the strength to sell treasures and other things.In the end, Li Yong laughed and said: "Things of a feather flock together. Chen Shaoyang is not only Brother Zhao's friend, but also a leader in scholarly circles. He must also be a gentleman who values ​​righteousness and trustworthiness." great hope.Since Chen Shaoyang is well-known in the Central Plains, he can easily confirm through Fu Haixing that what Zhao De said is true.

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said in a deep voice: "This matter is not trivial, we need to discuss it with Chen Shaoyang first, the correspondence between letters will take a long time, I'm afraid there will be a delay."

"This is easy." Li Yong said with a smile, "Brother Zhao only repairs one letter, and I will hand it over to Fuhaihang's Pigeon Station, and use the fastest flying pigeons to deliver it day and night. This letter is worth ten thousand gold, as long as it is done, What is the cost of a mere pigeon post?" He was able to become the guest of the princes from all over the world, not only because of his experience, but also because of his generous nature and not caring about small profits.

Due to the vastness of the country, the imperial court and merchants of the Xia Kingdom relied heavily on the pigeon station to deliver news. After hundreds of years of selection and elimination, the speed and durability of the carrier pigeon have been greatly improved. The post pigeon can fly four hundred miles per hour.Pigeon racing was popular among officials, aristocrats, wealthy businessmen in Xia Kingdom, and pigeon racing was held in Chang'an and Dunhuang in four seasons.Once there was a pigeon nicknamed Champion Hou who participated in the long-distance flight for Qin Guogong, and it actually reached an average speed of flying [-] miles per hour.Since then, it has been rumored that the sire pigeon of the champion Hou was bought by Xin Yin, Duke of Qin, in exchange for [-] good northern horses from Zhang Xi, Duke of Chu. Zhang Xi regretted it later.It is not easy to breed pigeons, and they will be worn out when used. Therefore, it is expensive to use the pigeon station to send messages. Sometimes the cost of sending a message is worth the price of buying a few good horses.But news worth tens of thousands of dollars can often avoid more serious losses.

Zhao Xingde nodded in agreement, Li Yong said again: "The letter is dead, does Brother Zhao have any reliable old friends in Kanto, does Chen Shaoyang also know it?"

Zhao Xingde thought for a while, nodded and said: "There is a brother named Zhao Bo, Chen Shaoyang also knows." Li Yong nodded and smiled: "If someone has faith, things will be easier." He talked about expanding business routes this time In the past, there was always endless optimism and enthusiasm, which unknowingly infected others.Zhao Xingde secretly thought, no wonder this person has a lot of friends, the proud Manshuer was also persuaded to give tens of thousands of money to support him.

The maid is cooking tea with a red clay stove, and a faint scent of tea spreads in the flower hall, making people feel refreshed and happy.When Zhao Xingde and Li Yong were talking, Liu Yuan listened with interest. When he heard that Zhao De said that he knew Chen Shaoyang, who was famous in Kanto, he couldn't help showing a little surprise, and looked at Zhao Xingde again, There is a little more meaning.Liu Zhiyuan didn't like to talk too much, and when Li Yong asked him to explain the geography of the mountains and rivers along the way, everyone found his deep and clear voice quite pleasant.Liu Zhiyuan's explanation was very detailed, and he had a rough estimate of the distance and time needed to travel from one city to another.The two nobles of Lumei remained silent, sipping tea lightly in a rather educated manner, with a noble and elegant demeanor.

After the business was almost finished, Li Yong clapped his palms twice, the luthier played the music, and a group of big food dancers came up to perform dances.Between the toasts and cups, Natalia got up and left her seat. When she walked to the door, Zhao Xingde saw that she seemed to be beckoning to him lightly. Before she recovered, she drifted away.At this time, Li Yong was talking with Manshuer about the interesting and secret stories in the palace of the Great Cannibal. His words were interesting, and from time to time he added a witty sentence or two to ridicule the Great Cannibal, which made the noble Manjur feel happy.Zhao Xingde maliciously guessed whether Li Yong talked about Lumei's nobles in the same tone among the big food princes.He pretended to get up and change his clothes, and apologized to the side. He saw a crescent moon hanging in the sky, on the small bridge of flowing water, and Natalia seemed to be watching the fish swimming in the bottom of the water, so Zhao Xingde walked over.

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind her, Natalia turned around. The cool night breeze was blowing her hair, and her beautiful face was brighter than the moonlight.She looked at Zhao Xingde, but there seemed to be some disgust in her eyes, and she asked, "Did you approach me on purpose?" She had bumped into this man a few times in Constantine's library, and thought it was just a coincidence. Now that they met again in Li Yong's mansion, they didn't believe that there was such a coincidence in the world, and thought that Zhao De intended to get close to her, and even the few meetings in the library in the past were deliberately arranged.Natalia had also encountered such peddlers in the past, not only pretending, but also stalking, which made her extremely angry.

Zhao Xingde was taken aback for a moment, then realized that he was misunderstood, and said with a wry smile: "There is absolutely no such thing."

Natalia snorted angrily, looked at Zhao Xingde suspiciously, and said with a straight face: "It's best if you tell the truth, I already have a sweetheart." She glanced at the brightly lit house, It is implied that it is her cousin, the noble Manjur Komnene, that no matter what, Zhao De will not be able to compete with Lumei's future emperor.

Zhao Xingde smiled unknowingly, and said with a stern smile: "It's true, I also have a family." He didn't want to entangle any more, cupped his hands, turned around and left.

Natalia Brinnius bit her lip and looked at his back angrily, feeling as if she had been taken advantage of, "What an annoying person."

When Zhao Xingde returned to the flower hall, Manshuer was getting up to say goodbye, saying that he would send Natalia back first.Li Yong laughed and said, "The noble ones can't bear the boringness here." He approached Manshuer and joked, "No matter from noble background or beautiful appearance, she is a well-deserved queen." Manshuer slightly With a smile, if he married Natalia, his heir would be Emperor Lumei with the purest Komnenos bloodline.He felt more and more that Li Yong was an interesting person, he bowed to him according to Xia Guo's etiquette, and politely bid farewell to Zhao Xingde and Liu Zhiyuan, and then left with Natalia.

Zhao Xingde watched many servants carry the sedan chairs away, and asked in confusion: "Isn't Princess Anna fighting for the throne with her brother, why are these two people walking together again?"

Li Yong said with a smile: "My mother is going to marry a Ross barbarian, and the daughter can't hold her back, so she gets angry and associates with the son of a political opponent." He and Zhao Xingde returned to the flower hall, took out the map again, and carefully considered After a long time on the trade route, he felt that sailing from Tajula to Song State was too far away, Li Yong couldn't help sighing: "It would be nice if there are a few ports of our Xia State on the way, so that the treasure ship can escape the storm and replenish fresh water. Regret flashed across his eyes, and then he smiled again: "Brother Zhao is very knowledgeable, have you heard of whales in the sea? It is said that the mermaid oil used to light the lamps in Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum is actually made from whale sebum." "He always seems to be full of curiosity about the things in this world.