Turbulent Times Chapter 82: The messenger of the horse thief king

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After arriving in the capital, the father and son of Changsun Sheng and Changsun Wuji; Tianxiang, these people must pay a visit, get acquainted with each other, and inquire about the situation in Kyoto by the way, so as not to be blinded when they enter the capital, and they don’t know when they will be tricked to death. A mortal enemy like Qiu Rui is secretly watching.

And when visiting these people, he was very particular about the gifts he brought. Even buying expensive gifts in Kyoto would not show his sincerity, so he had to buy some good things unique to this place.

The products exported from the Western Regions to the Central Plains were mainly horses, wine, agate gemstones, cattle and sheep, fur, and medicinal materials, etc., while the products exported to the Western Regions by the Sui Dynasty were grain, silk, porcelain, cloth, ironware, and handmade daily necessities. There is also tea, but at this time, the nomads did not know the importance of drinking tea to them who eat meat every day, so they have not started to drink a lot of tea. The importance of tea to them, starting to drink tea, this matter Wang Junlin has already started to arrange for Deng Yuzhuo to send caravans to various nomadic peoples such as Turkic and Tuyuhun to sell tea, which will become Wang Junlin's main means of collecting money.

At this time, the street was full of noise and hawking, and it was extremely lively. Groups of livestock passed by the street, and the air was filled with the sour smell of livestock, but everyone was in high spirits and was not affected at all. Central Plains businessmen, Turkic people, Tuyuhun people, big cannibals, Tubo people, Tiele people, and even Sogdians and Persians appeared. They are born businessmen, wherever there are business opportunities, there are them.

Wang Junlin is now the richest person in Gaotai City, and even Zhangye. The gifts he wants to buy are precious treasures. Get him to come in person.

It was just a lap, and apart from buying a fist-sized emerald with three hundred taels of gold in a shop opened by a Persian, there was nothing else that caught my eye.

Unknowingly, he walked to the central square at the intersection of four streets. This is the best location in Gaotai City, and the shops are relatively high-end.

At this time, Wang Junlin saw a big shop named "Samarkand Treasure Store". The stores are mainly engaged in jewelry, but also include other valuables. In short, as long as they are more precious things, they will buy or sell them.

Since he separated from Shaqianmo, the horse thief king of the Western Regions, Wang Junlin has carefully investigated and deliberated some things for more than a month, and came to a conclusion: the entire Western Regions, and even the entire Great Sui Dynasty, as long as it is the Chasodian businessman It is very likely that there is a shadow of Sha Qianmo behind the shop he opened.

The Sogdian merchants were already very famous in this era. They were famous all over the world for their proficiency in business. There were two kinds of Sogdian merchants in the Sui Dynasty. They can speak fluent Chinese, and like ordinary Sui Dynasty businessmen, they can open shops and buy properties, and even marry wives and have children in the Sui Dynasty. These Sogdians are still mainly engaged in business, and most of them are barbarian wine shops and jewelry stores. Unbeknownst to Wang Junlin, the four treasure shops in Gaotai City belonged to them.

There is also a kind of Sogdian merchants, that is, traveling merchants on the Silk Road. The silks, porcelains and papers were transported back to the Western Regions, even the West, and even as far as the eastern part of Europe. They would not stay for too long in the Sui Dynasty, and usually sold the goods directly to the shops of the Persian Mansion, all of whom were Sogdians. They share a common language and beliefs.

But Wang Junlin's investigation shows that these Sogdian merchants are inextricably linked with the Horse Thief King of the Western Regions. First of all, Sogdian merchants are almost never robbed by horse thieves on the Silk Road; secondly, Sha Qianmo's 30,000 most powerful horse thieves in the Western Regions rob countless goods and treasures every year, but they have never heard that Sha Qianmo has his own business. Teams or shops; finally, the Sogdians were originally descendants of Zhaowu’s nine surnames, okay?

According to the records of Sui Shu, a Chinese history book, the ancestors of the Sogdians originally lived in "Zhaowu City" under the Qilian Mountains (now Zhangye, Gansu). An and other nine small countries are the famous Zhaowu nine surnames in Chinese history books.

Therefore, Wang Junlin has reason to believe that behind these Sogdian merchants is the horse thief king Shaqianmo. Even Wang Junlin recalled that Shaqianmo's terrifying wealth and royal attitude at that time, it is very likely that Shaqianmo is these Sogdian merchants the king.

The shop that Wang Junlin saw was called 'Samarkand Treasure Store'. Samarkand means "fertile land", which translates into Chinese as "Kangju", so you can tell it is Zhaowujiu at a glance. Founded by the Kang people with the surname Zhong, the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu was established in Central Asia during the Sui Dynasty in history.

Wang Junlin has been thinking these days, if he hadn't come to this era, wouldn't Sha Qianmo have died of arsenic poisoning? The elite horse thief with the surname went to Central Asia and established nine small countries, which are the so-called Zhaowu Nine Kingdoms.

But now that history has been changed because of him, whether the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu will appear according to the original history, this matter makes Wang Junlin very entangled, maybe Shaqianmo wants to build a country that is stronger than the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu combined country, so he has been accumulating wealth and power.

As soon as I walked to the door of the store, a middle-aged Sogdian man wearing a roll-brimmed empty hat greeted him, bowed his hands and saluted with the etiquette of the Sui Dynasty: "Dear guest, welcome to our store, I don't know what I can give you." What kind of help do you provide?"

Wang Junlin waved his hand to let the four soldiers stay outside the door, and walked in by himself, and the little lynx ran in at his feet.

Wang Junlin noticed that the middle-aged Sogdian man had a strange expression on his face when he saw the little lynx under his feet, as if the smile on his face became more sincere at that moment, which made him more sure of his guess , but at this moment, an idea suddenly came to his mind, and he said casually: "Could it be that my elder brother asked you to wait for me here?"

The middle-aged Sogdian man suddenly looked surprised, and quickly scanned the other customers in the shop. After making sure that no one noticed this place, he said enthusiastically: "I originally wanted to go to the mansion to meet the second king at night, but I didn't want to see the second king." The king has already guessed the meaning of the king, the second king please sit in the back room."

Wang Junlin thought that the Sogdian was indeed the one who killed Qianmo, and then remembered what the other party said, and was a little surprised. He just had an idea suddenly, but it turned out that killing Qianmo really meant it.

"Also, is it called the second king? Playing poker! Return the second king. How can I become the second king, just because I and Sha Qianmo are sworn brothers with different surnames? No, Sha Qianmo is not so generous, there must be something wrong I need something from him." Wang Junlin muttered to himself.

Wang Junlin followed the shopkeeper into the living room of the back room. This is where Sogdian merchants entertain distinguished guests. The room is brightly lit and the walls are painted white. The cupboards are full of silverware made by famous Damascus craftsmen, and the floor is covered with thick Persian carpets, which are very luxuriously arranged.

He sat down on the hu couch, and the Sogdian merchant brought him a bowl of buttermilk, and then said: "The king just sent a decree yesterday, asking the villain to go to the second king to talk about something. The king came in person. The second king and the great king are indeed brothers."

Wang Junlin smiled, thinking that this psychological offensive has already begun, but in his future planning, the future Western Regions has an extremely important position, since he accidentally met Sha Qianmo, as if the other party came at this time Just like asking him for help, how could he not use the strength of the other party to do something, such as asking Sha Qianmo to send a team of horse thieves to Zhangye County for a run every time the emperor really wanted to transfer him away from Zhangye County.

So, he is not afraid that Sha Qianmo will beat him up for help, but he is afraid that he will not be able to help the other party because of his weak power. This will make his status in Sha Qianmo decline, so that he will not be able to call him a brother and carry out a bigger battle cooperate.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Just tell me what the elder brother wants me to do for him!" Wang Junlin has already discovered that the middle-aged Sogdian man in front of him is obviously not an ordinary Sogdian businessman, and he can represent Shaqianmo. Looking for him is likely to be an important person under Sha Qianmo's command.

The middle-aged Sogdian man smiled and said: "Second king, the villain's name is Kang Obama, and he is in charge of preparing military supplies under the command of the king. The king asked the villain to come to the second king because he wanted the second king to prepare some weapons. .”

Wang Junlin wondered if the historical transformation of Central Asia was about to begin?

He said with a little emotion: "You speak Chinese so fluently, it seems that you are often active in the Sui Dynasty. Let me ask you, is it possible that the king secretly recruited troops and raised some troops besides the 30,000 horse thieves, so That's why you asked me to prepare weapons and equipment."

Kang Obama thought to himself that it seems that the relationship between the king and this poisonous general of the Sui Dynasty is extraordinary, and he even told the most confidential things among the nine Zhaowu clans, he hesitated for a while, and then said: "That's right, Second Wang Mingjian, the Great King gathered another 30,000 troops and began to train troops secretly. In order not to attract the attention of the enemy, it is not easy to raise a large number of weapons in the Western Regions, so I asked the villain to ask the Second King for help."

Wang Junlin thought for a while and said, "How many weapons do you want, brother?"

Kang Obama said: "Sixty thousand knives, forty thousand bows, half a million feathered arrows, five thousand sets of armor."

PS: I'm sorry I've been out today because of something, and it's even later, so I'm sorry to ask for various tickets.