Xia Xun's guide was a Sogdian, an ancient kingdom in the Western Regions that operated in the Zeravshan River valley between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers in present-day Central Asia, and its capital was Maracanda in present-day Samarkand.

Sogdia is a business-friendly people, during the Tang Dynasty, the largest minority living in Dunhuang was the Sogdians, and the Hushang merchants in Chang'an were also mostly Sogdians. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Sogdia was gradually invaded by Turkic powers, and some of the Sogdians were assimilated, while more people were exiled to other countries, specializing in commerce. However, having lost their roots in their homeland, the Sogdians, although they were good at business, quickly declined, and now many Sogdians can only work as business guides and brokers, earning commissions from them.

It is precisely because of this precarious position that their work ethic is all the more important, although they have a slick and cunning side, but they must be absolutely loyal to their employers, and wholeheartedly plan for their employers, which is the foundation of their lives. Because of this, Ying Zhan was very relieved to leave this Sogdian to Xia Xun as his guide.

"Master, the villain's name is An Hanzi, the nickname is Dumb, the master calls me Dumb!"

The Sogdian guide introduced himself to Xia Xun with a smile, looking at his shrewd eyes, but he was not stunned at all: "Master, you see that the sky is getting late, should we go to the city to find an inn to live in?" What goods do the lord have, turn around and say to the small, here, all kinds of goods have special stores, the real good goods to be sold at a price, what goods to enter when the lord returns, but also just inform the villain, the villain guarantees to help the lord buy the cheapest, the most authentic good goods. ”

"Well, okay, then let's go to the city!"

Xia Xun didn't have much interest in making money, he just wanted to cover up his true identity, so he didn't take these words to heart, but just smiled and dealt with it.

He is not familiar with the local language, and the local lingua franca is not Chinese, so with this guide, there is someone to guide him and live.

The dumb man immediately climbed onto a camel in front, skillfully drove the camel, and led Xia Xun to the city.

As soon as you enter the city gate, it is much more lively, with people of all colors coming and going, both Eastern and Western, here a cloth is wrapped around the head of an Arab shouting loudly selling a scimitar, and there is a Han man holding a gorgeous silk draped over his shoulders...... The wide roads were crowded, with carts, horses, oxen and camels, and all kinds of livestock, driven by caravans.

From time to time on the side of the road, you can also see a wooden building like a ring, the slave owner spits on the stage and auctions off his slaves, the auctioneers have strong black slaves, wheat "color" skin, skinned women, and seven or eight-year-old children, in addition to the old people who are close to the old, listening to the dumb introduction, Xia Xun knows that these old people are skilled craftsmen, there is a certain specialty, so sometimes it is also a sought-after goods.

Liu Yujue looked at it very curiously, 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, he looked at the road and the composition of the residents in the city. He soon found that this big city did not seem to have a yamen management similar to the local government, and the management of administration and public security depended on those merchants who operated in fragments.

These merchants employed private armies, who were responsible for keeping their master's business safe, and at the same time, they were responsible for policing and other duties within the area in which they operated, and it was a place where there was no 'government' and was completely self-governing by the inhabitants of the city.

In fact, the merchants here are not like the merchants of the Central Plains, their own political status is low, and they must rely on the wealthy and powerful, they are here, as a successful big businessman, they are local magnates, with a fairly high political status, the so-called city lord is just a big businessman, if there is any affairs involving the whole city, he will convene the influential big businessmen in the whole city to discuss and solve it together.

In this way, although the administrative efficiency of this place is relatively low, it has formed a rather relaxed living atmosphere, as long as you do not undermine the public interest, no one cares about you in anything. So, along the way, Xia Xun saw someone whipping the slave and beating the slave to death, and also saw the person who disagreed with him draw his sword to fight a decisive battle, not only no one cared, but there was also a group of people cheering around him, and if the party who died in the battle did not have relatives and friends to take care of him, he would immediately be stripped of all valuable things by the thief and throw the bloody corpse into the stinky ditch.

Here, order is made for the weak, and as long as you are strong enough, you can always defeat the strong, overthrow the order he has made, and introduce your order, and within your control, everyone must follow.

Dumb rode on the camel, constantly turning east and west, and when he turned to the back, even Xia Xun couldn't remember the road he had walked, and couldn't help but call him: "Dumb, where are we going, I see that there are many hotels around here, there should be a place to stay, right?" ”

Dumb grabbed the reins, waited for him to catch up, and grinned: "Master Ying said that this is the first time that the master has returned here to do business, and it is true." Master, there are indeed some inns here, but it's too chaotic here, people die every day, and someone throws things every moment, Master Ying said that the master likes to be quiet, and the family is solid, and there is no shortage of money, ask me to find you a safe and quiet place, otherwise, you can live. ”

Dumb stretched out his hand and pointed ahead, and said to Xia Xun's eyebrows: "Look, sir, turning that alley, it is the settlement of the lord of the city and the wealthy merchants and gentry of the city, the place where Dumb wants to take the lord is the tavern opened by Lord Argus, thieves and hooligans dare not enter and leave Lord Argus's tavern, there is the best wine, and the richest merchants, maybe the lord can find a buyer there, without having to run around!" ”

Xia Xun "touched" and "touched" the thick money bag that Yingzhan gave him before leaving, "touched" one out of his hand, flicked his fingers, and "shot" at Dumb, and said with a smile: "Okay, don't rap, take us quickly, I think what I need most now is to take a good shower, and then I need a soft big bed!" Dumb saw a gold line drawn in the arc and thrown down in the air, and hurriedly stretched out his hands to pick it up, and when he received it, he saw that it was a gold coin, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly joked: "The lord is young and strong, and he should also need a beautiful and hot girl to warm the bed, the lord is so generous, and so young and handsome, the girl there will definitely rush to sleep with the master, hey, hey, Lord Argus's tavern, but there is the most beautiful Saji (the beautiful lady who serves the wine) in the city." "※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ Argus's tavern is a very luxurious hotel, and when you enter the imposing stone-carved gates, you will find a beautiful garden, with square foundations, semi-domes, and ornate buildings often supported by huge stone columns and colonnades, hidden in the garden, and you will faintly see the delicate carvings of people and animals on the stone walls.

Outside is a chaotic metropolis, but once you enter here, it seems to be a completely different world, very quiet and oxygen, come and go are elegant gentlemen, some young and beautiful girls dressed in maid costumes, will show each guest the gentlest and most charming smile. Compared to the outside, this is paradise.

"Hey! Anhanzi, which honored guest have you brought to our master? ”

A person in charge greeted him with a smile, he actually knew Dumb, he greeted Dumb, but he had already bowed respectfully to Xia Xun, and he could see at a glance that the person in front of him was the middle-earth merchant brought by An Hanzi.

Dumb hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and the two of them said a few words affectionately, Dumb turned to Xia Xun and said happily: "Master, he is the steward here, his name is Harpagos, I said to him, you are a distinguished guest from Dunhuang, and you have brought Lord Argus's favorite beautiful silk, tea and porcelain, and he said that Lord Argus is about to celebrate his birthday, and he is going to have a big banquet, and he needs these things just now, and he will see you in person." ”

Dumb smiled: "The people there pay the most attention to the festival is birthday, although the lord is the first time to come back here to do business, very lucky but very good, do you think we will meet Lord Argus first?" ”

Xia Xun nodded indispensably, and after a while, a tall and stout man strode out, and said with a smile: "I was about to send someone to buy, I heard that someone transported goods from the East to my hotel?" Xia Xun looked at it and saw that the person who came was about forty years old, very energetic, with a high nose and a deep nose, two curly beards, a broad forehead, and a white hat wrapped around his head. Dumb, who was busy, hurriedly ran over to introduce Xia Xun. Argus looked at Xia Xun, nodded arrogantly, and said in a tone of voice: "Great, I'm going to hold a grand banquet soon, banquet all the leading people in the city, need some beautiful silk, fine porcelain and fine tea, come, take me to see if your goods are worth my money!" ”

Xia Xun didn't understand the language he said, Dumb immediately translated the meaning of Argus to Xia Xun, he didn't finish speaking, Argus had left Xia Xun, walked to Xia Xun's camel caravan, and said with a command: "Move the goods down, let me see first!" ”

Dumb 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 sturdy servants in the hotel. Since Ying Zhan has already helped Xia Xun, he is not stingy with the goods, and the goods transferred to him are the most exquisite and expensive products, Argus inspected them one by one, nodded frequently, and the smile on his face gradually became happy.

Dumb said to Xia Xun in Chinese: "Don't be angry with him for his impoliteness, the people there are like this, in addition to their own people, for foreigners, their courtesy and respect are generally determined according to the distance of the region, the closer to them are foreigners, the more respectful they are, and the farther away they are, the less they care." ”

He looked at Argus, who was bending over and looking at Xia Xun's goods with great interest, lowered his voice again, and said to Xia Xun: "However, they are the people who like to use exotic items the most, the farther away they are, the more they like to ask for things, as long as they hear about it, they will try their best to buy it, therefore, as long as he likes it, then the price is definitely not a problem, my lord, it looks like you are going to get rich!" ”

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

Dumb shrugged his shoulders and asked rhetorically, "Aside from Persia, has the lord heard of such a strange person anywhere?" ”

I originally wanted to write about the surprise appearing, but I was too tired to see the bird, so I'll put this surprise tomorrow.

Argus is the introduction of an important person, so I want to introduce it, well, and bother everyone to guess for a night, sorry, sorry.

Just to nine o'clock, tired a little unbearable, but still gritted my teeth and persevered, with my diligence and seriousness, to Zhuyou City for monthly passes, recommended votes support! Although I am still outside the top three, I did not admit defeat, and I believe that my book friends did not admit defeat either.