Seeing that Zhang Bai didn't follow the order of the rehearsal, Zirax began to sweat on the spot, is this to bring rhythm? Fortunately, Zhang Bai was off the rails for a while, and he was indeed reluctant to use hydrogen indiscriminately.

Seeing the excitement of the audience, Zhang Bai was already very satisfied, he felt that he was a rational person, so after releasing the hydrogen gas of his little finger, he finally stopped, and then looked at Zirax with an innocent face.

As soon as he waved his hand, a large group of long-awaited Zoroastrians rushed to the stone platform, knelt on the ground and worshipped, chanting the names of the king and Ahurama, causing the whole audience, including the nobles, to fall to the ground.

A smile finally appeared on the face of Ardaban V, which had not changed for thousands of years. After all, today, he is the most prominent, Zhang Bai is a teenager, no matter how much he is in shape, he is not as good as Ardaban V, so as soon as he comes to power, the king is the protagonist, and it is impossible for the disciples to ignore him.

As a result, new rumors began to spread: the young Parthian king had joined forces with the youngest Ahurama in history, and the new Ahurama, a thirteen-year-old boy who was temporarily under the protection of the Parthian king.

The prestige of the king and the Ahurama was initially established in the rumors.

The next step is to get back to Kushan, and Zhang Bai's Earth Longzhong plan has now completed the first step of stabilizing Parthia. The second step can begin, which is the alliance between Parthia and Kushan. He was well aware that these two empires, which were about to fall in real history, simply could not survive without an alliance with each other.

The decline of Parthia and Kushan was actually closely related to the trade situation of the Silk Road. At that time, the trade volume of the Silk Road was not only huge, but also the profit margin was the highest. For the affluent Central Plains and Rome, these profits could only play a supporting role. However, for the country or place through which the trade route passes, it is related to the fortune of the country.

Countries like Kushan, Xiongnu, Parthia, Sassanid, Armenian, Arab, and even Egypt and India were deeply affected.

Parthia was the most affected of them all.

Parthia was originally just a nomadic tribe in Central Asia, relying on their familiarity with horses and their horseback skills, they defeated the pre-Persian dynasty with horse archery, and the largest source of economy after the founding of the country was the large market from Seleucia.

Ctesiphon was built around the royal palace at a later date, so every time Rome won a substantial victory over Parthia, it ended with an invasion of Seleucia, and only after the seizures of Seleucia did he return to the court and declare victory.

And Seleucia can not take long to recover its prosperity after each raid, and the trade of the Silk Road is a very important reason, because Seleucia is the only way on the Silk Road, and it is the largest intersection node of the two Silk Roads in the north and south.

Any trade related to the Silk Road will pass through Parthia, and any business will be skinned by the Parthian Empire, so in the final analysis, the deepest contradiction between Rome and Parthia, which have been hostile all year round, lies in the Silk Road trade.

In order to bypass Parthia, Ban Chao of the Han Dynasty once sent Gan Ying as an envoy to Rome, but was deceived back by the Parthians.

And Rome did everything to get around Parthia. In addition to sending troops to attack Parthia, the Roman Empire also actively used sea routes, starting from the provinces of Egypt and passing through the Red Sea, bypassing the Arabian Peninsula to directly connect with the Kushans. The maritime trade between Rome and the Kushan Empire was formed, skipping Parthia.

It was this incident that caused Parthia to begin the process of decline, so Parthia also had a deep dissatisfaction with Kushan.

Other countries, such as Sassanid and Armenia, also had various contradictions, deep and shallow, with Parthia for similar reasons. Therefore, in the local area, Parthia does not die, and heaven does not tolerate it.

But when Parthia is finished, will everyone rejoice? Historically, the latecomer Sassanid was more troublesome than Parthia and a more serious obstacle to trade routes.

Therefore, Zhang Bai needed an alliance between Parthia and Kushan to form a situation in which the two countries could restrain each other in order to truly stabilize the Silk Road.

The next step is to swallow the Silk Road on the basis of consolidating its stability, but not by war, but by economy. So the third step of the plan is the unification of tariffs.

In later generations, this is what the Customs Union means. The implementation of the same tax rate between two countries can greatly facilitate trade, and a stable business environment will attract more businessmen to gather and form a larger unified market, and at the same time eliminate hostility between countries, and increase the country's tax revenue, which is a great benefit.

For Zhang Bai himself, he hoped to support the Han dynasty and change the historical development line, but Shu was a small country with a weak population, and it was completely unrealistic to rely on agriculture to compete with the core of the Central Plains, so foreign trade became very important.

Shu Han was the starting point of the overland Southern Silk Road, and if you want to completely skip the intermediate countries to trade with Rome, there is no other way than to ship by sea.

In this era, whether it is a sailing ship or a paddle boat, the sea vessel can travel along the coastline in the shallow sea, the journey is very long and dangerous, and the opening of the Maritime Silk Road is far from time.

Therefore, Zhang Bai's real intention is that after the third step of tariff unification, the fourth step will begin, that is, Shuhan, Parthia, and Guishan will also implement the unification of tariffs.

In this way, the three great powers have formed a de facto economic alliance. It can not only promote the economy of Shu and Han, but also exclude Wu and Wei from the Silk Road.

Then, in the near future, it will become very likely that Shu Han will surpass Wu economically and catch up with Wei.

At this time, the ceremony was still going on, and various performances were being staged one after another, and the king was sitting in the pavilion, watching the show intently, and bursts of applause and cheers came from the audience and the aristocratic seats, a scene of harmony between the monarch and the people.

The white eyes swept from the spectator to the king, and from the king to the soldiers and nobles, and his face smiled inadvertently with contempt.

Hardly anyone noticed his expression, except for one person, Dedalus Surin.

......

At the end of the ceremony, Zhang Bai looked respectful, sat on the apostle with the king, and took off, leaving behind the worshippers and people.

When the ship rose high enough, the king asked Zhang Bai to stay in the air for a while, and he said that he wanted to see the scenery. Zhang Bai immediately arranged it and accompanied the king to watch. Ardaban looked at his land and asked Zhang Bai thoughtfully, "Do you know, when did I first feel like a king?"

"Back to Your Majesty, I don't know for the minister!"

"It was on the spaceship, looking at the land, that I really liked it and felt a sense of responsibility. ”

"Your Majesty, the land is like a work of art, and we must be separated from life for a distance before we can appreciate its beauty. ”

Aldaban pondered these words and glanced at Zhang Bai appreciatively. "You really don't look like a teenager at all, if only you would stay in Parthia. ”

Zhang Bai said a little helplessly: "Your Majesty, do you want to keep me? I have received your kindness, and I am very grateful, but I must go back to Parthia to resume my life, and then I have to return to my hometown of Dahan." ”

"You know, being a king is not a martial artist, and it's useless to be strong on your own. So who should I rely on when you're gone? Of course, General Dad Hebone is a loyal servant, but you know his attitude towards me. Do I have to rely on the Armenian Zilax who once imprisoned me? I really don't want to live that humiliating life again. ”

Zhang Bai pondered for a while, he didn't expect that the king, who was usually serious and immovable, turned out to be an ordinary person, and he would also be worried and uneasy.

Feeling negligent, guilty, and unbearable, he replied, "I am considering leaving some loyal subordinates to continue to assist you, if Your Majesty deems it necessary." ”

"That's the only way to go, isn't it? you have to keep someone who is loyal, who can manage things, and who can keep me safe, I don't know if you have anyone like that?" Aldaban said with a pun intended.

This sentence is not only a request, but also a retention of Zhang Bai.