Chapter 4: Loulan (5b)

Wang Xun's heart suddenly froze. The old guy had something to say, obviously reminding him that the group of people under his command was also in the Loulan tribe, and if he insisted on returning to Datang, he would definitely still be a group of outcasts.

Wang Xun has also thought about these truths. But he couldn't give up the glory of being a Tang man. Although the moment this team left Chang'an, it had been abandoned like garbage by high-ranking officials. But from generation to generation, the grandparents have deeply engraved the word "Datang" into his soul, even if he wanders to death, his face will stubbornly turn to his hometown.

Lao Zheng, Xiao Zhao, and the Flying Dragon Guards whose names he couldn't remember, on that night of blood and fire, the final actions were almost identical. Turn your head and use the last bit of strength in your body to turn your head to Chang'an. People can't go back, and their souls have to float back.

Whenever he thought of this scene, Wang Xun's body began to tremble. Trying to ease his emotions as much as possible, he smiled and responded in a low voice: "The patriarch's words do sound very reasonable at first glance. But the reason why tea is expensive in the Western Regions is because it can only grow in the Central Plains. If you want to drink new tea, you will forcibly move the tea trees to the Western Regions. Even if you plant it next to a hot spring, apply the best fertilizer, and water it with nectar every day, I am afraid that it will not survive! ”

"Huh?" The gray hair raised her head from the parchment and took a quick look at Wang Xun, the expression on her face seemed to be smiling.

"It's simple. All things are born, and a place for it to survive has long been arranged. Wang Xun smiled and bowed his head, his eyes met the other party's, his eyes were full of honesty, "It's not human force at all." The good horses of the Western Regions sleep in the sand and lie in the snow, and can only eat grass roots in winter, but they will not get sick. If it is transported to the south of the Yangtze River to reproduce, there are four seasons like spring, and some fresh and tender grass can be eaten, but it will die of illness within a few days! It's better to let them run freely on the desert! ”

"Oh?" The surprise in the gray hair's eyes was even greater. "Where did you hear all these words? Why hasn't the old man heard about it! ”

You're clearly deliberately playing dumb! Wang Xun secretly scolded himself, but he still had a peaceful smile on his face, "The patriarch has to deal with a lot of official affairs every day, so naturally he has no time to dabble in these trivial matters. And in the homes of the younger generations, there are just a few shops. Almost all the goods in the southeast and northwest can go through a part. The younger generation watched from the side, and after a long time, they learned a little bit! ”

"Oh!" The gray hair nodded, and unceremoniously slid down the slope paved by Wang Xun, "No wonder you said that you are the head." But aren't you a hereditary viscount? How did you the! ”

This is obviously changing the topic, Wang Xun can hear it, but he can't twist it back. smiled generously and responded in a low voice, "Jingshi is the most prosperous place in the world, and everyone in the world yearns for it. Therefore, everything is expensive. If the younger generation's family didn't do some business, they would have been unable to make ends meet just by relying on the land earned by their ancestors! ”

"Then you are still in love with Chang'an!" The gray hair quickly caught a flaw in Wang Xun's words, and asked with a smile.

Because he had been prepared for a long time, Wang Xun's response was very fast, "It is human nature that it is difficult to leave the homeland." If I invite Xiao Shi to leave the tribe and live in Chang'an, even if he is given a big house and food and clothes every day, I am afraid he will be reluctant to leave here! ”

"That's right!" The gray hair was squeezed by Wang Xun again, grinning, and muttering in response.

Therefore, the younger generation did not dare to continue to harass Loulan's friends, and prepared to leave with the brothers as soon as possible. If there is a chance to ....... in the future, Wang Xun will have rehearsed the rhetoric that has been practiced a thousand times in his heart.

He was answered by silence. The gray hair plunged his head into the sheepskin pile again, and turned a deaf ear to Wang Xun's eloquent talk.

"Patriarch!" Seeing that the other party didn't listen to what he said at all, Wang Xun had no choice but to take the initiative to stop and raise his voice in protest.

"What's wrong? You see, you see, I'm an old fool, always trying to do two things, and I can't do anything well! Gray hair raised her head, her face full of innocence, "Where did we just go?" By the way, business, you have a lot of shops in your house. Doing a big deal of tea and war horses! That's the most lucrative business! ”

"Hmm!" Wang Xun was so angry that he almost fainted. What kind of people are old and confused, they are clearly looking for excuses to mess around! Well, since you're messing around, I'm not welcome. Smiling, he responded to the other party's words, "The patriarch has a good memory. The younger generation did open a lot of shops at home. So the younger generation has listened to a lot of business experience since childhood. I wonder if the patriarch is interested in this?! ”

"Tell me!" As long as he doesn't talk about leaving, the gray hair has the spirit to continue the conversation.

"When it comes to doing business, no matter how big or small, the most important thing is the word 'integrity'!" Wang Xun cleared his throat, lest the other party have his ears behind his ears and bite the main points of his words very hard. "Pay attention to a child's undeceiving. You can't deliberately raise the price just because the guests are young. You can't ignore a guest just because he is shabby. Otherwise, you may be able to make a little profit for the time being, but over time, it will damage your own reputation. If you smash the signboard, there will be no customers coming to the door in the future. The shop will be yellow, and in the end it will only end up with nothing! ”

"Well, that makes sense. It does make sense! The gray hair and cheek are definitely thick enough, knowing that Wang Xun is pointing at Sang and scolding Huai, but he still nods frequently.

Wang Xun smiled indifferently and continued to talk about business, "There is an ancient saying in the Central Plains, there are three stars at the end of the scale rod, which is called Fu, Shou, and Lu. If you bully the guests with weak strength and give three points, you will fold all the blessings, life and wealth. Sooner or later, it will be damned. (Note 1)

"Really?" The gray hair sat up straight for a rare time, and continued to ask with an old face like orange peel: "The creed of a merchant is integrity!" But in the ancient sayings of the Central Plains, what is the creed of a robber? ”

He originally wanted to lure Wang Xun to say, 'I opened this mountain, and I planted this tree'. Unexpectedly, Wang Xun was not fooled at all, hesitated slightly, and replied with a smile: "There is a way to steal." When fighting, rush to the front, for bravery. When retreating, it is the queen of the companion temple, and it is righteousness. Knowing what can and can't be done is wise. Obtaining wealth can be divided equally among everyone, which is benevolent. rob the rich and help the poor, not afraid of evil, and be holy. If you just blindly rely on the strong and bully the weak, and you want to get rich, you can't even count as a thief. At best, a herd of beasts. And the group of beasts is no more than a thousand heads. Externally, they only know how to eat the strong, and internally, they are also forced to obey by force, and the killing is continuous, whoever has sharp teeth is justified, and it will never be possible to establish order! As for the establishment of the country and the feudal territory, don't even think about it! (Note 2)

The first half of the sentence is tampered with from "Zhuangzi", but the second half of the sentence is completely played by him. Although it was a bit nondescript, it just hit the sore spot in the gray hair's heart. After a while, the old fox finally put away his smile and asked in a deep voice, "Are you accusing me of being unruly?" Do you know where you're standing right now! ”

"The reason why a rule is a rule doesn't change because of where I stand." Wang Xun smiled, without the slightest fear in his tone, "As for whether the patriarch's behavior can be blamed, it must be in the eyes of the Fire God, I can see it more clearly than you and me!" ”

"Are you a citizen of Lord Mazda? I remember that there is a saying in the Central Plains, called temporary cramming! The white head was carried forward, and the beard was curled up one after another, obviously angry by Wang Xun.

"In the eyes of the god of fire, there is only the difference between light and darkness, good and evil. It doesn't vary from person to person! "These days, Wang Xun has put a lot of effort into the religion that the people of Loulan believe. So it's easy and effortless.

The gray beard was squeezed again, and smiled bitterly. After a while, I finally remembered a powerful counterattack, "There are indeed rules." The oath made by the people of Loulan in front of Lord Mazda will never be repented. But are you taking a caravan with you? ”

This is the biggest flaw in Wang Xun's negotiations with the sand thieves. I argued with Shi Huaiyi a few days ago, and I was caught by the other party once. Therefore, he tried his best to make up for it afterwards. At this moment, when he heard Hua Gray's hair mention it, he immediately smiled and gave a prepared statement, "Not counting the caravan, the junior is at most a group of dart masters who are responsible for escorting the goods." But the younger generation was not captured by the patriarch, a group of birds and beasts blocked the road in the name of sand thieves, and were defeated by the younger generation and the patriarch. Therefore, at this moment, we can only count as guests invited by the patriarch. ”

"Guest?" The gray hair was furious, and slapped the table with his hand, "The old man is full, so he invited you to be a guest." Believe it or not, the old man immediately dispatched troops and horses to take you and the others down. I remember that you still have a saying in the Central Plains, what is it called, toast and don't eat, but eat punishment wine. Yes, that's it! ”

"Do the people of Loulan have a rule for robbing and killing guests at home? Or is there such hospitality in the teachings of the god of fire? "Anyway, it's already out, Wang Xun is arguing with words,-for-tat.

Killing guests in front of one's tent is one of the few evils in Zoroastrianism that cannot be condoned. As a patriarch, gray hair certainly can't really take the lead in violating the canons. Seeing that Wang Xun couldn't be frightened by the cruel words, he immediately began to change the topic again. "If it hadn't been for the timely arrival of our samurai that day, you would have died in the desert! How can you get a chance to mess around with me?! Whether it's a guest or a captive, no one has ever heard of it, and you can vomit out what you eat in your stomach! ”

"The patriarch respects the rules, and the younger generations naturally respect the rules. Except for the Mo knife, all the other baggage, Loulan can leave two percent! ”

"Twenty percent?" The gray hair glanced at Wang Xun, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"The Mo knife is a sharp weapon for foot warfare. But the Loulan people are like the wind on horseback. It was useless to leave the Mo knife behind. Moreover, the entire Loulan clan can't get together a thousand suitable Mo swordsmen. Wang Xun was not afraid of the other party's trickery, but he was made furious by the sudden smile on his gray-haired face, sighed, and bargained with the other party.

The gray hair refused to speak, and continued to squint at him.

Wang Xun was forced to be helpless, so he had to continue to give in, "The brothers I brought, if anyone is willing to stay, they can stay." But if you don't want to stay, the patriarch can't force it. They all have a skill, and I believe they can bring a lot of benefits to your department. In addition, if the patriarch uses the Fubo crossbow well, he can also keep half of it. If the patriarch is not enough, I remember a few quick ways to train the army, which can be written down silently and left to your ministry in case of emergency? ”

"That's a good idea. Anything else? The gray hair was still not satisfied, and Nirvana squinted his eyes and continued to ask.

"It's gone!" Wang Xun took a long breath and agreed in a deep voice, "Also, at most, it is the personal gratitude of the juniors." If the patriarch really likes it. The younger generation promises that there will be rewards in the future! ”

With that, he looked at the gray hair, quietly waiting for the other party's reply. If the old guy still wants to make inches, he can only take risks. quickly pounced, took him hostage, and forced the Loulan people to leave. That was the last resort, and Wang Xun was reluctant to take action until it was absolutely necessary.

Unexpectedly, the gray-haired suddenly burst out laughing, and the two eyes that were not too big were squinted, smiling like a fox stealing chickens. "Boy, this is what you took the initiative to promise! I can leave two percent of the baggage. Half of the Fubo crossbow. And before you leave, you need to write a quick recipe for training to the old man. There is an old saying in your Central Plains, once a word is spoken, what horse is difficult to chase? ”

"It's hard to chase a horse!" keenly felt that something was wrong, Wang Xun still had to agree hard, "Except for Mo Dao, all the baggage is twenty percent." Half of the Fubo crossbow. A quick recipe for military training! ”

"That old man has to thank Captain Wang a lot!" The gray hair quickly stood up, stepped forward, and high-fived Wang Xun heavily. "Go back and write the secret recipe silently, the person who picked you up has already arrived in Yanqi. The old man will send someone to see you off tomorrow! ”

"The person who picked me up?" Wang Xun was taken aback, his face was dazed.

"yes. There are two people who have asked the old man to protect you through here safely. The old man was unwilling to do it, but he couldn't afford to offend them. I had no choice but to take the loss-making deal. Fortunately, your kid is a friend enough, and he didn't let the old man lose all his money! The old fox jumped back a few feet and smiled contentedly.

Fooled! Wang Xun came to his senses in an instant. No wonder the people of Loulan were so polite to everyone, it turned out that they were entrusted by others. No need to ask, one of them is Feng Changqing Feng Fourth Uncle! Only he, the envoy of the four towns of Anxi, and the deputy protector of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, can move the shaggy old fox in front of him.

Who else is this person?

Wang Xun's eyes quickly flashed Gao Shi's harmless smiling face. "Boy, take your hand off the hilt. Although Gao can't be called a thing that cherishes his name and betrays his friends, he doesn't dare to do it! ”

At this moment, he didn't care about fighting with the old fox anymore, and his heart was full of warmth.

Note 1: The ancient scale is hexadecimal, and the stars on the scale rod are according to the seven stars of the Big Dipper, the six stars of the South Dipper, plus the three stars of Fu, Shou and Lu.

Note 2: Most of the original text is from the Zhuangzi. This place was partially tampered with by Wang Xun.