Chapter 445: North and South
From Anxi of the Tang Dynasty to the western countries, not all places can build railways, mountains and glaciers are simply impossible to build railways, and the border areas between Datang and the western countries, many are high mountains and snow-capped mountains, there are only a few places that can build railways, and there are two that make the Tang officials value the most. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
One route was to go south from the town of Shule and enter the Tocharian region through the Telmanchuan River to connect the Tocharian states and promote trade between the Tang Empire and Tocharo.
The other is from the city of Swap, through the treacherous Boda Ridge, into Broken Leaf City, and then through Broken Leaf City to the Talas of the Stone Country, and continue to connect the small countries in the land of the river, so as to promote the Tang Empire and the countries in the river.
In the western part of the Tang Dynasty, there are mainly these two small groups of countries, one is the Tocharian region, the other is the Hezhong countries, to connect Tocharian need to take the southern line, and to connect the Hezhong countries, you need to take the northern line, and whether it is the southern line or the northern line, there are many steep terrain, which is a great test for the construction of railways.
The Tang Dynasty is strong, but for the construction of the railway, I still feel a lot of pressure, if the two lines are built together, plus the domestic line, the pressure will be very huge, so Li Longji and most of the courtiers mean, that is, choose one of these two lines, first repair one, and then build another, and as for which one to choose, Li Longji and the ministers have not yet decided.
After discussing for half a month, it was not decided, among them, there was not only the game of the Tang magnates, but also the game between the countries in the river and the Tocharian group.
The land in the river is full of rich and small countries, and they united to bribe the Tang magnates, demanding that the Tang first build a railway to the countries in the river to promote the economic development of the countries in the river.
The Tocharian countries were not vegetarians, and they also adopted the method of bribing the Tang magnates, requiring the Tang Dynasty to build a railway to Tocharian first to promote the development of Tochar.
Both sides are dozens of small countries, and their strength is almost equal, so this caused a fierce confrontation in the court.
In fact, whether it is the countries in the river or Tocharo, they are all together, the countries in the river are in the north, and Tocharian is in the south, so no matter where the railway line of the Tang Dynasty goes, they can eventually be connected.
If you take the north road, start from the city of Swap, pass through the Bodaling to reach the city of Broken Leaves, continue west to Talas, then go south into the city of Tuozhi, then south to Savejian, cross the Bosi Mountain and continue south across the Wuhu River, and enter the Tocharian area.
Similarly, if you take the southern route, start from Shule Town, pass through the Telmanchuan River, enter the country of Humi, and then, gradually enter the Tocharian countries, cross the Wuhu River, and you can enter the countries in the river.
The north and south lines, no matter which line they take, will eventually connect the land in the river and the Tocharian region, thus promoting the connection between the two places and the Tang Dynasty.
But from a commercial point of view, the area directly connected to the Datang Railway can undoubtedly obtain greater benefits, moreover, very huge benefits.
After all, in any era, the transportation hub is always the most important, where the transportation hub area, there is no area that is not prosperous, the first to connect the Tang area, must be a transportation hub, so as to have the opportunity to obtain greater wealth.
Just imagine, when the Tang Dynasty's railway crossed the Bodaling and took the lead in entering the countries in the river, and then, the railway continued to be repaired to the south and entered the Tocharian region, so that the goods from the Tang Dynasty must pass through the land in the river before they can enter the Tocharian area, and similarly, the goods of Tocharian must also pass through the land in the river to enter the Tang Dynasty, so that the countries in the river will become the land of the Tang and Tocharian commodities after all, and a large number of Datang and Tocharian merchants must at least stay and rest when passing through the land in the river. Accommodation and food are indispensable, and in this way, it will naturally promote employment and make the countries of the river richer and richer.
Moreover, there are a lot of merchants in the countries of the river, they are very good at doing business, and they can also buy the goods of the Tang Dynasty and Tocharian at the same time, and sell them in their own countries, so that the merchants of the Tang Dynasty can buy the goods they need without entering the Tocharo, and similarly, the merchants of Tocharian do not need to go to Chang'an City, they can buy a lot of goods from the Tang Dynasty, so that if this development continues, the land in the river will become a commercial and trade center, and it will become more and more wealthy.
In the same way, if the railway takes the southern route and enters the Tocharian region first, the situation will be completely reversed, and Tocharian will become a commercial center, thus becoming more and more prosperous, and even, after many years, completely replace the Transoxiana countries and become a transit point for trade between the Tang Dynasty and the West.
As for the countries in the river, once they lose their status as trade transit points, they will become withered, poor and backward over time.
Since ancient times, there are only a few reasons for the decline of a city and region, such as war, climate change, and the loss of the status of a transportation hub.
Therefore, the competition for the railway line will be a competition between the countries in the river and the Tocharian countries for the trade transit point, which is a major event related to the life and death of the countries in the river and the Tocharian countries, and it must not be underestimated.
Especially the countries in the river are the most nervous, after all, they have always been the transit point of trade between the Tang Dynasty and the West, and they have suppressed the Tocharian region to the death, once they lose their status as a trade transit station, they will be surpassed by Tocharo, so they will be very sad in their hearts.
The Tocharians were also very nervous, although their position in trade was not as good as that of the Transoxiana countries, but if the railroad was built, the gap would become more pronounced, the gap would become larger, and in this way, they would be suppressed even more severely.
In their positions, whether it is the countries of the river or the Tocharian countries, they are all planning for their own interests, and they are trying their best to curry favor with the magnates of the Tang Dynasty in order to gain the support of the magnates of the Tang Dynasty and achieve their goals.
And within the Transoxiana and Tocharian states, there are also various kinds of competition, and even the cities within a country also have a competitive relationship, after all, only where the railway built by the Tang Dynasty passes can bring prosperity and wealth there.
The controversy over the north-south line of the railway has been going on, and the homes of the powerful people of the Tang Dynasty are often patronized by the envoys of the western countries, especially heavyweights like Li An, who are the focus of the envoys of various countries.
"Alang, there's a guy named Kurban outside, asking to see you."
Zhao Liu opened his mouth and said.
Li An was resting on the rocking chair, and when he heard this, he was irritated for a while, then smiled slightly, and said, "Kurban is my friend, let him come in!" ”
The reason why he wanted to meet Kurban, the envoy, in person was not because of feelings, but because Li An had a plan in his heart, and even told the emperor about his plan, just asking the emperor not to make it public for the time being, so as to create the illusion that the north-south line has not yet been determined, so as to confuse the western countries and serve the greatest rights and interests of the Tang Dynasty.
"Kurban, my friend, we haven't seen each other for a long time."
As soon as Li An saw Kurban, he pounced enthusiastically, which made Kurban very stunned.
"Li Shilang, my friend, we haven't seen each other for almost half a year, I didn't expect Li Shilang to be so busy, and I haven't forgotten my old friend."
Kurban said excitedly.
"How can a friend forget? No matter how busy you are, you can't forget your friends! By the way, the king of your stone country, are you still satisfied with the generator set? ”
Li Ang smiled very sincerely, and his words were full of nostalgia for Kurban, of course, there was some kind of purpose hidden behind it.
"Satisfied, after the king got the generator set and light bulbs, he was very happy, knowing that Li Shilang had helped a lot, and said that he must thank Li Shilang, for this reason, he prepared a lot of gifts for Li Shilang, come on, quickly move the king's gifts in."
Kurban said excitedly and asked his entourage to bring the gifts in.
"Li Shilang, these are all local specialties of our Shiguo, please also ask Li Shilang to accept it with a smile."
A strange look suddenly flashed in Kurban's eyes, a look that all men understand.
"With so many gifts, you King Shiguo are really friends."
Since it was a gift from the king of Shiguo, of course, it was not accepted in vain, but a rather large box aroused Li An's strong interest.
This big box is gorgeously packaged and very large, and it looks like it contains good things.
"Kurban, what's in there? It's so mysterious. ”
Li An looked at the gorgeous big box and asked with a smile.
"Li Shilang, don't you open it and take a look."
Kurban sold the guanzi.
Li An smiled, walked over and opened the box, and suddenly, he was startled by the contents of it, in fact, it can't be called a thing, but a big living person, a beautiful little Lori.
Suddenly saw the little Lori drilled out of the box, Ang Lee thought it was an inflatable doll, after all, in later generations, Ang Lee had secretly bought this thing, and he still knew a lot about inflatable guys to the extent of fakeness.
However, soon Ang Lee discovered that the little Lori in front of him could not be inflatable, in the era of Datang, this thing is not yet produced, and the little Lori in front of him is too realistic, it doesn't look like an inflatable at all, but a big living person, looking at it, it is still an exotic girl from the Western Regions.
"Hello master, Mei'er has saluted the master."
The handsome little Lori smiled and saluted Ang Lee.
"Huh! Unexpectedly, Tang speaks so fluently, a very powerful little lady! Kurban, what does this mean? ”
Li An smiled slightly, in fact, he asked knowingly, in this era, it is the most normal thing to send women as goods, whether it is a large country or a small country, in ancient society, women are just appendages, and the low status is indescribable.
"Li Shilang, this is the beauty of our Shiguo, which was carefully selected by the king and wanted to give it to Li Shilang to thank Li Shilang for his help to us."
Kurban licked his face and laughed.
"Kurban, didn't you tell the king that there are many ladies in this official?"
Li An frowned and spoke.
Kurban was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, as if he didn't understand what Ang Lee meant.
"You sent such a beautiful little lady, are you planning to exhaust the official?"
Ang Lee said jokingly.
"Oh, hehehe! Li Shilang is so young, how can he be tired? Even if you send a few more, you won't be tired of Li Shilang! ”
Kurban grinned, making it clear that he was better at praising Li An.
"Master, Mei'er will serve you well and won't let you get tired."
Shi Guo's little lady smiled, looking very reasonable.
"Such a reasonable little lady, it seems that you have been cultivating for a long time! Such a stunner, your king doesn't keep it for himself, but gives it to his own official, what a friend! ”
Ang Lee sighed.
"Huh! As long as Li Shilang likes it, Mei'er, you must serve Li Shilang well. ”
Kurban grinned, looking rather lewd.
"Okay, since this is a gift from a friend, the official will accept it, Mei'er little lady, come out quickly! Take a walk around the yard on your own and familiarize yourself with the environment. ”
Li Ang happily accepted this gift, in the era of the Tang Dynasty, it is the most normal thing to accept a beautiful woman from others, there is nothing to be ashamed of, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.
"Master, Mei'er can't get out, so the master hugs Mei'er out."
Mei'er standing in the big box, it's really not easy to come out by herself, which Ang Lee ignored, and Mei'er began to be coquettish as soon as she appeared, which made Ang Lee quite surprised, and felt even more that Mei'er in front of her was a complete stunner, I'm afraid it was quite useful! And Ang Lee's future life is afraid that he will be happier.
"Mei'er, don't call me master, I'll call Ah Lang in the future, remember, come, let Ah Lang carry you out."
Of course, Ang Lee has nothing to be shy about, so he immediately stretched out his arms, hugged Mei'er out of the big box, and gently put it on the ground, but, holding such a soft body, Ang Lee couldn't bear to put it down, after all, Little Lori's body was soft, and Mei'er was more naughty, and when Ang Lee hugged her out, he deliberately wrapped his two arms around him, so that Ang Lee was comfortable and didn't want to put it down.
"Mei'er, don't be naughty, let go and walk around the yard casually!"
Li An gently broke Mei'er's hands and let Mei'er move casually, he knew that Kurban came not only to give gifts, there must be more important things, and this important matter, Li An is also very clear, that is, the issue of the railway.
Watching Mei'er follow a maid to another courtyard, Li An turned to look at Kurban and said, "Kurban, you came all the way to give me a gift!" If there's anything, just say it! ”
After speaking, he looked at Kurban and waited for Kurban's answer.